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W.  D.  SOMERS,  S 


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DRBATfAt    ILLIIVOIS. 


j^        ITtlp  yoMTself  and  IleaTen  icilf  help  you. 


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■  A  HISTORY  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


AS  WELL   AS  A  HISTORY   OF   THE   KINGDOM. 


ILLUSTRATED    WITH 


SEVERAL  HUNDRED   WOOD-CUTS 


MONUMENTAL  RECORDS;   COINS;   CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  COSTUME;   DOMESTIC  BUILDINGS,  FURNITURC, 

AND  ORNAMENTS  ;   CATHEDRALS  AND  OTHER  GREAT  WORKS  OF  ARCHITECTURE  ;    SPORTS  AND 

OTHER    ILLUSTRATIONS    OF    3IANNERS  ;     MECHANICAL    INVENTIONS  ;    PORTRAITS    OF 

THE    KINGS    AND    aUEENS  ;    AND    REMARKABLE    HISTORICAL    SCENES. 


GEORGE  L  CRAIK  AND  CHARLES  MACFARLANE, 

ASSISTED    BY    OTHER    CONTRIBUTORS. 
VOLUME    I. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER   &    BROTHERS,    82    CLIFF  STREET. 

M.DCCC.XLVI. 


iH 


r 


The  publishers  respectfully  present  the  Pictorial  History  of  England  to  the  American 
people,  because  they  regard  it  as,  in  many  very  important  respects,  the  most  valuable  history 
that  has  ever  been  w^ritten  of  that  colossal  empire.  Its  entire  freedom  from  partisan  or  sectarian 
bias,  the  spirit  of  ardent  and  exact  research  by  which  its  pages  are  distinguished,  the  compre- 
hensiveness of  the  plan  upon  which  it  is  written,  and  the  admirably  faithful  and  accurate  manner 
in  which  that  plan  has  been  carried  out,  combine,  it  is  believed,  to  give  it  a  value  not  possessed 
by  any  other  work  of  a  similar  kind  accessible  to  the  American  public. 

It  was  originally  issued  in  London,  in  monthly  parts,  by  Charles  Knight,  the  well  known 
publisher  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge,  and  was  thus  sent  forth,  to  some 
extent  at  least,  under  the  supervision,  and  with  the  sanction,  of  that  renowned  association.  Its 
authorship  is,  of  course,  shared  by  a  number  of  writers ;  but  it  was  edited  by  Mr.  George  L. 
Craik,  whose  various  works  upon  the  literary  and  general  antiquities  of  Great  Britain  have  made 
him  favorably  known  in  this  department.  The  leading  and  most  prominent  merit  of  the  book  is 
the  completeness  of  the  historical  view  which  it  presents  of  the  history  of  England.  After  an 
introductory  sketch  of  the  primitive  history  of  the  British  Isles,  in  which  the  question  of  their 
original  population  is  discussed  with  great  learning  and  ability,  the  work  is  divided  into  succes- 
sive Periods,  the  history  of  each  Period  forming  a  separate  Book.  The  Books  are  sub-divided 
into  Chapters,  each  Chapter  being  devoted  to  a  distinct  department  in  the  history  of  the  entire 
Period.     Thus  we  have — 

I,  A  narrative  of  the  Civil  and  Military  transactions  of  a  Period,  in  which  is  presented  all  that 
is  usually  given  in  historical  works,  namely,  a  "narrative  of  the  progress  of  arms,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  military  power  of  the  empire,  its  achievements  and  conquests  at  home  and  abroad, 
;ind  the  more  marked  and  important  changes  effected  in  the  forms  of  government  and  legislation. 
The  constant  aim,  in  this  department  of  the  work,  has  been,  to  avoid  all  the  prejudices  and  sym- 
pathies connected  with  parties  and  sects,  which  have  so  seriously  distorted  most  of  the  English 
histories  that  have  hitherto  been  written,  and  rendered  them  adroit  and  elaborate  pleadings,  in 


arc 

.^escribed, 
..ch  these  events 
occurred,  accui^..  w«ie  Period,  and  spirited 

delineations  of  the  most  important  scenes,  copi^u  ---  ^.lotoncal  paintings  of  celebrated  artists 
of  acknowledged  merit.  This  portion  of  the  work,  constituting  the  first  chapter  of  each  Book, 
and  extending  in  all  to  above  two  thousand  pages,  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Chaules  M'Farlaxe. 

II.  Following  this,  we  have,  in  a  second  chapter  of  each  Book,  a  history  of  Religion,  written, 
with  one  exception,  by  Mr.  Thomas  Thomson,  in  which  the  progress  of  religion,  from  the  earliest 
period  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  and  then  the  changes  which  took  place  in  consequence  of 
the  prevailing  rehgious  conflicts,  are  clearly  presented  and  illustrated  by  pictorial  representations. 

III.  The  third  chapter  of  each  Book  is  devoted  to  a  history  of  the  Constitution,  Government, 
and  Laws  of  the  Period  embraced  in  the  general  division  to  which  the  Book  relates.  This  por- 
tion forms,  more  strictly,  the  constitutional  history  of  the  empire,  and  gives  a  clear,  connected, 
and  elaborate  view  of  the  growth  of  the  Constitution  of  England,  the  rise  and  progress  of  populai 
liberty,  and  all  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the  legislation  and  government  of  Great 
Britain.  This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  important  portions  of  the  work,  and  was  written 
by  Mr.  A.  Bisset,  barrister-at-law,  with  occasional  and  inconsiderable  exceptions. 

IV.  The  fourth  chapter  of  each  Book  embraces  a  history  of  the  National  Industry,  the  various 
occupations  which  chiefly  prevailed  in  the  successive  Periods,  the  methods  of  agriculture,  of 
mechanics,  of  all  the  useful  arts,  and  the  gradual  progress  of  the  people  from  the  pursuits  of  a 
rude  and  semi-savage  state  to  the  refinements  and  diversified  industry  of  later  and  more  culti- 
vated times.  This  department  forms  a  very  curious  and  valuable  portion  of  the  work,  and  will 
be  still  more  highly  prized  from  the  fact,  that  it  is  the  first  attempt  ever  made  to  present  a  history 
of  the  industry  of  the  nation.  This  chapter,  in  the  first  Book,  which  contains  an  iramensi; 
amount  of  recondite  and  most  curious  information,  was  \vi-itten  by  Mr.  Planche,  and  the  cor- 
responding chapters  for  the  succeeding  Periods  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Platt.  The  narrative  is  illustrated 
throughout  by  pictorial  representations  of  every  portion  of  the  subject — the  methods  of  plough- 
ing, sowing,  reaping,  digging,  spinning,  weaving,  threshing,  and,  indeed,  of  every  department  of 
agricultural,  mechanical,  and  domestic  labor,  copied  from  pictures  of  the  date  to  which  they  refer. 


He. 

second  an. 

fifth,  seventh,  ei^ 


flw  VI.   The  sixth  chapter  in  each  noun.  ^, ...^  o.^.counts  of  the  costume  and  furniture  in  use  at 

the  time,  furnished  by  Mr.  Planciie,  and  a  liistory  of  Manners  and  Customs  by  Mr.  Thomson, 
copiously  illustrated  by  well  drawn  and  authentic  pictorial  illustrations. 

VII.  The  seventh  chapter  in  each  Book  comprises  a  history  of  the  Condition  of  the  People, 
and  gives  a  comprehensive  view  of  their  Social  Position.  It  embraces  facts  which  could  not  con- 
veniently be  introduced  into  any  of  the  preceding  chapters,  and  treats  principally  of  the  National 
Civilization  of  the  Period — the  proportions  of  the  different  classes  into  which  the  population  was 
divided — the  incomes  and  costs  of  living  of  each  class — the  state  of  health  of  the  community — 
ordinary  length  of  life — statistics  of  vice  and  ciime,  and  some  account  of  the  judicial  institutions 
for  repressing  and  punishing  violations  of  the  law. 

This  detailed  statement  of  the  contents  of  the  work  is  here  presented,  in  order  that  an  idea  may 
be  formed  of  its  general  scope,  and  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  plan  upon  which  it  has  been 
executed.  It  gives  a  complete  history  of  the  People,  as  well  as  of  the  Government — of  the 
progress  of  Arts,  as  well  as  of  Arms — of  Manners  and  Customs,  as  well  as  of  Laws — a  picture 
of  the  Pursuits,  Habits,  and  Condition  of  the  great  mass  of  the  People,  as  well  as  of  the  more 
dazzling  and  ambitious  achievements  of  the  Warriors  and  Nobles.  Little  reflection  is  needed 
to  convince  any  one  that  this  is  the  only  way  in  which  the  actual  progress  and  growth  of  a 
nation  can  be  accurately  and  satisfactorily  traced.  The  true  life  of  a  nation  lies  in  these 
details.  Its  well-being  is  involved  in  them,  far  more  than  in  those  military  exploits  to  which 
historians  in  general  have  limited  their  attention.  They  funiish  the  elements  of  national  power, 
and  lay  the  foundation  of  national  greatness;  and  the  history  of  England  is  far  more  accurately 
to  be  learned  from  these  representations  of  the  growth  of  her  industry,  the  development  of  her 
resources,  the  extension  of  her  commerce,  and  her  general  advancement  in  civilization  and 
science,  as  shown  in  the  most  ordinary  pursuits  of  daily  life,  than  from  the  proudest  conquests  of 
her  world-encircling  arms.  The  pictorial  illustrations,  of  which  there  are  an  immense  number, 
add  greatly  to  the  value  of  the  work,  by  rendering  more  impressive  and  definite  the  representa- 
tions of  the  narrative.     They  present  to  the  eye  accurate  pictures  of  what  is  described  in  the 


i 


uan 
and  best 


Hitherto  the  very  high  price  of  the  tnguo^  .  ..„^  louuered  it  entirely  inaccessible  to  the 

great  body  of  the  American  people.  It  is  now  presented  in  a  form  and  at  a  price  which  will,  it  is 
confidently  believed,  place  it  within  the  reach  of  the  great  majority  of  the  reading  public  throughout 
tlie  United  States.  In  thus  republishing  this  extensive  work,  the  American  publishers  believe  they 
are  rendering  an  important  service  to  the  cause  of  popular  instruction  and  of  general  intelligence. 

Harper  and  Brothers. 


Introductory  View  of  tnt 

Primitive  History  of  the  x^ 

"^  BOOK    I. 

THE     BRITISH     AND     ROMAN      PERIOD  ;       FROM     B.C.     55     TO 
A.D.    449. 

CHAPTER  I.— Narrative  of  Civil  and  Military  Trans- 
actions      ........       22 

CHAPTER  II.— The  History  of  Religion. 

Section  I. — Druidism  ......       54 

Section  II. — Introduction  of  Christianity      .         .       67 
CHAPTER  III.— Histoiy  of  the  Constitution,  Govern- 
ment, and  Laws. 
Section  I. — Political  Divisions  of  the  British  Na- 
tions .         .         .         .71 

Section  II. — The  Government  and  Laws  of  the 
Ancient   Britons   before    the    Invasion   of   the 
Romans    .  .......       77 

Section   III.  —  The    Government    and   Laws   of 
Roman  Britain  .......       79 

CHAPTER  IV.— History  of  the  National  Industry  .       86 
CHAPTER  v.— The  History  of  Literatiure,  Science, 

and  the  Fine  Arts      .         .         .         .         .         .111 

CHAPTER  VI.— The  History  of  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .118 

CHAPTER  VII.— Histor)'  of  the  Condition  of  the 

People 127 

BOOK    II. 

the    period    from    the    arrival    of    the    SAXONS    to 

the    arrival    of    the    NORMANS,   A.D.    449-1066. 

CHAPTER  I.— History  of  Civil  and  Military  Trans- 
actions      ........     130 

CHAPTER  II.— The  History  of  Religion. 

Section  I. — Saxon  Paganism        ....     213 

Section  II. — Christianity 217 

CHAPTER  III.— History  of  the  Constitution,  Govern- 
ment, and  Laws         ......     234 

CHAPTER  IV.— Histoiy  of  the  National  Industry  .     250 


I  3tmmm..      .  270 

..i.  X  jt,lt   VI. — The  History  of  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms ........     31 

CHAPTER  VII.— Histor)'  of  the  Condition  of  the 

People 333 

BOOK    III. 

the    period   from  the    NORMAN   CONQUEST    TO   THE   DEATH 
OF    KING    JOHN,   A.D.    1066-1216. 

CHAPTER  I.— Narrative  of  Civil  and  Militaiy  Trans- 
actions      ........     345 

CHAPTER  II.— The  Histoiy  of  Rehgion  .         .     529 

CHAPTER  III.— History  of  the  Constitution,  Grovem- 

ment,  and  Laws        ......     543 

CHAPTER  IV.— History  of  the  National  Industry  .     565 

CHAPTER  v.— The  History  of  Literature,  Science, 

and  the  Fine  Arts 583 

CHAPTER  VI.— The  History  of  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms .........     613 

CHAPTER  VII.— History  of  the  Condition  of  the 

People C36 

BOOK    IV. 

THE    PERIOD    FROM    THE    ACCESSION    OF    HENRY   III.   TO    THE 
END  OF  THE   REIGN   OF   RICHARD   II.,   A.D.  1216-1399. 

CHAPTER  I.— Narrative  of  Civil  and  Military  Trans- 
actions      ........     648 

CHAPTER  II.— The  History  of  Religion         .         .     773 

CHAPTER  III.— History  of  the  Constitution,  Govern- 
ment, and  Laws         .         .         .         .         .         .781 

CHAPTER  IV.— History  of  the  National  Industry-  .     796 

CHAPTER  v.— The  History  of  Literature,  Science, 

and  the  Fine  Arts      .         .         .         .         .         .813 

CHAPTER  VI.— The  Histoiy  of  Manners  and  Cus- 
toms   834 

CHAPTER  VII.— History  of  the   Condition  of  the 

People 852 


k 


On 

Initia. 

Round  To 

Ornamental  i>i. 

Initial  Letter 

Head  of  Julius  Csesar 

Dover  Cliffs 

Landing  of  Julius  Caesar.     After  « 

Roman  Galley.     From  a  Coin 

11  Ditto.     From  Copper  Coins  of  the  time  of  Hadrian 

Plan,  Elevations,  and  Section  of  a  Roman  Galley.  From  a 
Model  presented  to  Greenwich  Hospital  by  Lord  Anson 

The  Thames  at  Coway  Stakes     .        .  ... 

Huts  in  a  Cingalese  Village  

British  War  Chariot,  Shield,  and  Spears. — De  Loutherbourg 

Roman  General,  accompanied  by  Standard-bearers,  and  com- 
mon Legionaries,  landing  from  a  Bridge  of  Boats.  From  a 
bas-relief  ou  the  Column  of  Trajan  .... 

Charge  of  Roman  Infantry.     From  the  Column  of  Trajan 

Head  of  Claudius  .  

Coin  of  Claudius,  representing  his  British  Triumph 

British  Camp  at  Caer-Caradoc.  From  Roy's  Military  An- 
tiquities        ...  .        . 

Caractacus  at  Rome. — Fuseli        .... 

Boadicea  haranguing  the  British  Tribes. — Stothard 

Head  of  Hadrian  ...  

Copper  Coin  of  Hadrian 

Head  of  Antoninus  Pius 

Copper  Coin  of  Antoninus  Pius,  commemorative  of  hisVictories 
in  Britain      ...  .  ... 

The  earliest  figure  of  Britannia  on  a  Roman  Coin.  From  a 
Copper  Coin  of  Antoninus  Pius         ..... 

Duntocher  Bridge,  on  the  line  of  Graham's  Dyke  .        .        . 

Profile  of  Roman  Vallum,  Agger,  and  Fosse 

Section  of  Wall  of  Severus       .        .  .        . 

Wall  and  Ditch  of  Severus 

Wall  of  Severus,  near  Housestead,  Northumberland 

Roman  Soldier      .  

Roman  Image  of  Victory  ... 

Roman  Citizen      ...  .        .  .        . 

Tombstone  of  a  young  Roman  Physician 
From  Sculptures  found  in  the  line  of  the  Wall  of  Severus. 

Wall  of  Severus,  at  Denton  Dean,  near  Newcastle-on-Tyne  . 

British  Gold  Coin  of  Carausius    . 

Head  of  Constantino  the  Great 

British  Coracles    .  ,  .        . 

Ensign  of  Kent 

Initial  Letter — Druidical  Circle  and  Oak 

Grove  nf  Oaks.    From  a  Picture  by  Ruysdael 

Kits  Coty  House,  a  Cromlech,  near  Aylesford,  Kent  . 

Group  of  Arch-Druid  and  Druids     .        .  .        . 

Silbury  Hill.AViltshire         ...  .        . 

Stonelienge       ....... 

Ground-Plan  of  Druidical  Temple  at  Avebury     . 

Plan  or  Map  of  the  whole  Temple  and  Avenues  at  ditto 

Gaulish  Deities.  FromRoman  bas-reliefs  under  the  Choirof 
Notre  Dame,  Paris 

Bronze  Bowl  or  Patera,  found  in  Wiltshire 

Initial  Letter 

Arch-Druid  in  his  full  Judicial  Costume 

Initial  Letter — Roman  and  Ring  Money 

Hare  Stone,  Cornwall 

Ground-Plan  and  Section  of  the  Subterranean  Chamber  at 
Carrighhill,  in  the  County  of  Cork      .... 

Plan  of  Subterranean  Chambers  on  a  Farm  near  Ballyhendon 

Plan  of  Subterranean  Chambers  at  Ballyhendon    . 

Section  of  a  Subterranean  Chamber  at  Kildrurapher  . 

Gaulish  Huts.    From  the  Antonine  Column  . 

Welsh  Pig-sty,  supposed  to  represent  the  form  of  the  Ancient 
British  Houses      .        .  ,         . 

Plan  and  Section  of  Chun  Castle  .... 

The  Herefordshire  Beacon 

Constantine  To!  man,  Cornwall 

Ancient  British  Canoe,  found  at  North  Stoke,  Sussex     . 


105 

_              •  ^^ 

._..  v^om  Mould       . 107 

/5  Remains  of  a  Roman  Hypocaust,  or  Subterranean  Furnace  for 

heating  Baths,  at  Lincoln 109 

76  Part  of  a  Roman  Wall,  near  St.  Albans 101) 

77  Roman  Arches,  forming  Newport  Gate,  Lincoln,  as  it  appeared 

in  1792 110 

78  Restoration  of  the  Roman  Arch,  forming  Newport  Gateway, 

Lincoln 110 

79  Initial  Letter— Roman  Lorica Ill 

80  Celtic  Astronomical  Instrument 115 

81  Initial  Letter— Ancient  Beacon 118 

82-84  Figures  of  Ancient  Gauls  in  the  Braccse,  Tunic,  and  Sa- 

guni.     From  the  Roman  Statues  in  the  Louvre  .        .        .  120 

8.5  Remains  of  a  British  Breast-Plate,  found  at  Mold       .        .  121 

86  Group  of  the  principal  Forms  of  Barrows        ....  123 

87  Contents  of  Ancient  British  Barrows 124 

88  Group  of  Vessels.     From  Specimens  found  in  Roman  Burial 

Places  in  Britain 125 

89  Contents  of  Roman-British  Barrows 12(i 

90  Metal  Coating  of  Ancient  British  Shield.     Found  at  Rhydy- 

gorse,  in  Cardiganshire,  (not  in  the  Witham,  as  stated  by 

mistake  in  page  126)     .                 126 

91  Initial  Letter         .                         127 

92  Ornamental  Border,  from  the  Title-page  of  Charlemagne's 

Bible 130 

93  Initial  Letter — Druidical  Serpent  Egg        ....  130 

94  Arms  and  Costume  of  the  Tribes  of  the  Western  Shores  of 

the  Baltic 131 

95  Vortigern  and  Rowena. — Angelica  Kauffinan      .        .        .  133 

96  Arms  and  Costume  of  a  Saxon  Military  Chief         .        .        .  136 

97  Remains  of  the  Abbey  of  Lindisfarne,  or  Holy  Island          .  138 

98  Rock  of  Bamborough,  with  the  Castle  in  its  present  state      .  139 

99  Silver  Coin  of  Offa 141 

100  Silver  Coin  of  Egbert 142 

101  Arms  and  Costume  of  Danish  Warriors        ....  143 

102  Silver  Coin  of  Ethelwulf 143 

103  Arms  and   Costume  of  an  Anglo-Saxon   King  and  Armor- 

Bearer  148 

104  Alfred  and  the  Pilgrim.— B.  West        .        ^       ...  150 

105  Alfred's  Jewel.     Found  at  Athelney 152 

106  Silver  Coins  of  Alfred 158 

107  Specimen  of  a  copy  of  the  Latin  Gospels,  given  by  King 

Athelstane  to  Canterbury  Cathedral 160 

108  Costume  of  King  Edgar,  a  Saxon  Lady,  and  a  Page    .        .  164 

109  St.  Mary's  Chapel,  Kingston,  as  it  appeared  about  fifty  years 

since 106 

110  Silver  Coin  of  Canute 171 

111  Canute  reproving  his  Flatterers. — Smirke       .        .                 .  174 

112  Silver  Coins  of  Edward,  the  Confessor          ....  177 

113  Harold  taking  leave  of  Edward  on  his  departure  for  Nor- 

mandy.    Frwu  the  Bayeux  Tapestry 186 

114  Harold  on  his  Journey  to  Bosham.    From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry  187 

115  Harold  entering  Bosham  Church.   From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry  187 

116  Harold  coming  to  Anchor  on  the  Coast  of  Normandy.     From 

the  Bayeux  Tapestry 188 

117  Harold's  appearance  at  the  Court  of  Duke  William.     From 

the  Bayeux  Tapestry 188 

118  Harold's  Oath  to  William.     From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry        .  189 

119  Harold's  Interview  with  King  Edward  on  his  Return  from 

Normandy.     From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry          .        .        .  190 

120  The  Sickness  and  Death  of  Edward  the  Confessor.    From  the 

Bayeux  Tapestry 191 

121  Funeral  of  Edward  the  Confessor  at  Westminster  Abbey. 

From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry       .        .        .        .        .        .  192 

122  Remains  of  the  Shrine  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  Westmin- 

ster Abbey 192 


133  Battle  of  Hastings.  I 

134  Ditto  Ditto 

135  Death  i)f  Harold.     From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry 

136  Srulptured  Stone,  dug  up  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Regulus,  at 

St.  Andrews 

137  Coronation  Chair,  with  the  Scottish  "  Stone  of  Destiny,''  kept 

in  Westminster  Abbey  ....... 

133  Sueno's  Pillar  at  Forres 

139  Initial  Letter 

140  Ruins  of  the  Monastery  of  lona,  or  I-columb-kiU 

141  Gregory  and  the  Angles. — Singleton 

142  Augustin  preaching  before  Ethelbert. — Treshani 

143  Consecration  of  a  Saxon  Church.    MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

144  Christian  Missionary  preaching  to  the  British  Pagans. — Mor- 

timer    .  

145  Ruins  of  Glastonbury  Abbey 

146  Portrait   of  St.    Dunstan   in  fuU  Archiepiscopal  Costume. 

From  an  Illuminated  MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

147  Pnrtrait  of  King  Alfred  

148  Initial  Letter   ...  

149  The  Witenagemot — The  King  presiding.     MS.  in  the  British 

Museum 

150  Saxon  Flagellation.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  . 

151  Saxon  Whipping  and  Branding.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

152  Initial  Letter 

153  Saxon  Ships 

154  Entrance  of  the  Mine  of  Odin,  Derbyshire  .... 

155  Beating  Acorns  for  Swine.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

156  Ploughing,  Sowing,  and  carr}ing  Com.     MS.  in  the  British 

Museum 

157  Wheel-Plough.     From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry 

158  Costume  of  Shepherds.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

159  Two-handed  \\Tieel-Plough,  drawn  by  Four  Oxen.     MS.  in 

the  British  Museum 

160  Harrowing  and  Sowing.     From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry 

Ifll  Sowing.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

162  Digging,  breaking  Earth  with  a  Pick,  and  Sowing.     MS.  in 

the  British  Museum  

163  ^\'heel-Plough  and  Spades.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum     . 

164  Reaping  and  Carting  Corn.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  . 

165  Felling  and  Carting  Wood.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 
106  Mowing.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum        .... 

167  Threshing  and  Winnowing  Com.     From  MS.  in  the  British 

Museum        .......... 

168  Ploughing,  Sowing,  Mowing,  Gleaning,  Measuring  Com,  and 

Harvest  Supper.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

169  Pruning  Trees.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

170  Raising  Water  from  a  Well  with  a  loaded  Lever.     MS.  in  the 

British  Museum 

171  Drinking  from  Cows'  Horas.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

172  Wine-Press.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

173  Saxon  Lantem.     From  Strutt's  Chronicle  of  England 

174  Candelabra.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  . 

175  Digging  and  Spinning.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

176  Smithy.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

177  Smithy  and  a  Harper.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 

178  Saxon  Ship.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  . 

179  Initial  Letter 

180  Jarrow,  at  the  Mouth  of  the  River  Tyne     . 

181  Golden  Gate  of  the  Palace  of  Diocletian  at  Spalatro 

182  Console  from  the  Palace  at  Spalatro     .... 
ia3  Basilica  of  St.  Paul,  Rome,  after  the  Fire  of  1823 

184  Ground-Plan  of  the  Church  of  Grisogono,  Rome 

185  Portico  at  Lorsch 

186  Capital  from  the  Doorway  of  Mcntz  Cathedral 

187  Capital  from  the  Portico  at  Lorsch 

188  Windows  from  the  Palace  at  Westnwnstcr 


268 
268 
268 
269 
269 

209 

270 
270 

271 
271 
272 
272 
272 
273 
274 
274 
275 
276 
278 
295 
295 
297 
298 
299 
299 
300 
300 


306 

..n     .  307 

c-um  .  30f 
MS.  m  the 

.  30(3 
310 

-am 310 

311 

J  -ornamented  Seat.     MS.  in  the  British 
311 

205  Saxon  Tables.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  311 

206  The  Puscy  Horn 312 

207  Fac-simile  of  the  Inscription  on  the  Pusey  Horn                  .  312 

208  Saxon  Bed.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  .        .         .313 

209  Saxon  Beds.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum          .  313 

210  Wheel  Bed.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum      .         .         .         .313 

211  Royal  Costume,  from  a  Picture  of  Herod  and  the  Magi.     MS. 

in  the  British  Museum 314 

212  Royal  Costume,  and  the  Harness  and  Equipment  of  Horses. 

From  a  Picture  of  the  Magi  leaving  the  Court  of  Herod. 

MS.  in  the  British  Museum 314 

213  Ornamented  Tunic.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum       .         .  315 

214  Saxon  Cloaks.  Plain  and  Embroidered  Tunics,  and  Shoes. 

MS.  in  the  British  Museum 315 

215  Ringed  Mail.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum         .        .         .  316 

216  Costume  of  Saxon  Female.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum       .  316 

217  Canute  and  his  Queen.     From  Strutt's  Horda  Angel  Cynnan  317 

218  King  Edgar.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum          .         .  3)7 

219  St.  Augustin.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum    .        .        .        .3)7 

220  Egbert,  King  of  Nortliumberland,  and  an  Ecclesiastical  Synod, 

offering  the  Bishopric  of  Hexham  to  St.  Cuthbert.     From 

MS.  Life  of  Bede 318 

221  Bishop  and  Priest.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum    .        .         .  318 

222  .Statue  of  St.  Cuthbert — from  one  of  the  external  Canopies  of 

the  Middle  Tower  of  Durham  Cathedral          .        .        .  31f 

223  Golden  Cross,  worn  by  St.  Cuthbert,  found  in  his  Tomb  in 

1827 3I« 

224  Costume  of  a  Soldier.     Saxon  MS.  in  the  British  Museum  319 

225  Battle  Scene.     Saxon  MS.  in  the  British  Museum     .        .  320 

226  Anglo-Saxon  Weapons 320 

227  Ditto                  321 

228  Feast  at  a  Round  Table.     From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry  .        .  323 

229  Dinner — the  Company  pledging  each  other.     MS.  in  the  Bri- 

tish Museum              323 

230  Dinner  Party— Servants  on  their  Knees  offering  Food   on 

Spits.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 323 

231  Convivial  Party.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum    ...  324 

232  Boar-Hunting.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  .                 .        .  328 

233  Hawking  Party.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum    ...  328 

234  Hawking.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  .        .         .         .328 

235  Killing  Birds  with  a  Sling.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum    .  329 

236  Dancing.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum 330 

237  Coffin  and  Grave-Clothcs,  from  a  Pictuie  of  Raising  of  Laza- 

rus, in  a  MS.  in  the  British  Museum                .        .        .  331 

238  Initial  Letter ...  333 

239  Ornamental  Border.     From  a  Saxon  MS.  in  the  British  .Mu- 

seum           .344 

240  Great  Seal  of  William  the  Conqueror 34.'i 

241  Initial  Letter "Mh 

242  Battle  Abbey,  as  it  appeared  about  1.50  years  since                 .  .340 

243  View  of  Winchester 3.50 

244  Rougemoiit  Castle,  Exeter 351 

245  York,  from  the  Ancient  Ramparts Si.'i 

246  Durham .I.W 

247  Richmond,  Yorkshire .361 

248  Croyland  Bridge,  with  the  Saxon  statue  of  St.  Ethelred  364 

249  Norwich  Castle 367 

250  Norman  Dice-playing.     From  Strutt's  Sports         .        .        .  360 

251  Church  of  St.  Stephen  at  Caen 37(1 

2.52  Statue  of  William  the  Conqueror,  placed  against  me  of  the 

external  Pillars  of  St.  Stephen's,  Caen        .        .  377 

253  Great  Se.il  of  William  Rufus       ...  ST** 

254  Ruins  of  Pevensey  Castle 3T<' 

255  Rochester  Castle :  the  Keep,  with  its  Entrance  Tower  3S1 


265 
266 

267 
268 
269 
270 
271 
272 
273 
■274 
275 
276 


279 
•280 
281 
282 
'«3 
284 
285 
286 
287 
288 
289 
290 
291 
292 
293 
294 
295 

296 

297 

298 

299 
300 
301 
302 
303 
304 
305 

306 
307 

308 

309 
310 
311 
312 

313 
314 
315 
316 
317 
318 
319 
320 
321 
322 
:t23 
324 
325 
326 
327 

:k!8 

329 


Pon 

Sir  h 
Standard  ot  > 
Remains  of  Olu  _ 
Arundel  Castle     . 
Lincoln     . 

Tower  of  Oxford  Castle 
The  Thames  at  Wallingford 
Great  Seal  of  Henry  II.        .  .        . 

Portrait  of  Henry  II.     From  the  Tomb  at  FontevrauJ  425 

Murder  of  Becket         ....                 .         .  440 

Penance  of  Henry  II.  before  tlie  Shrine  of  Becket.     From 

Carter's  Ancient  Sculptures         ....                 .  442 

Rnins  of  the  Ancient  Royal  Manor-House  of  Woodstock  465 

Gre«t  Seal  of  Richard  1 466 

Portrait  of  Richard  I.     From  the  Tomb  at  Fontevraud  467 

Ramparts  of  Acre     ...                  479 

Part  of  the  Walls  and  Fortifications  of  Jerusalem        .        .  482 

Castle  and  Town  of  TiernsteigTi 480 

Lynn,  Norfolk      ....                 ...  487 

Great  Seal  of  Kin^  John 497 

Portrait  of  King  John.     From  his  Tomb  at  Worcester        .  498 

Castle  of  Falaise       ....                  ....  501 

Hubert  and  Prince  Arthur. — Northcole        ....  502 

St.  Edmunds-bury .  509 

Runnymead           ........  511 

Tomb  of  King  John  at  Winchester                                            .  514 

Castle  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  .  518 

Ruins  of  Norham  Castle           ....                         .  522 

Seal  of  William  the  Lion,  of  Scotland          .                  .  527 

Initial  Letter    .        .                 .  529 

Baptism  of  the  Mother  of  Becket.     MS.  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum                                            .  534 

Group  of  Anglo-Norman  Fonts         ....  535 
Blarriage  of  the  Father  and  Mother  of  Becket.     MS.  in  the 

British  Museum 535 

Consecration  of  Becket  as  Archbishop.     MS.  in  the  British 

Museum 536 

Becket's  Crown,  a  Chapel  in  Canterbury  Cathedral    .        .  538 

Ruins  of  the  Augustine  Monastery  at  Canterbury .         .         .  540 

A  Benedictine .  .541 

A  Carthusian  .                 .  541 

A  Cistercian .  541 

A  Templar  in  his  Mantle 542 

Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  pronouncing  a   Pastoral  Blessing. 

MS.  in  the  British  Museum     .        .                 .                 .  542 

Initial  Letter .         .  543 

William  I.  granting  Lands  to  his  Nephew,  the  Eail  of  Brit- 
tany.    MS.  in  the  British  Museum           ....  547 
Specimen  of  Magna  Charta.   From  the  original  in  the  British 

Museum        .        .                 .  557 

Specimen  of  Domesday  Book        ...                 .        .  558 

Initial  Letter ...  565 

Ship-building.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum        .                 .  566 
Coiner  at  work.     From  the  Capital  of  a  Pillar  at  St.  Georges 

de  Bocherville,  Normandy    .                           ....  574 

Silver  Penny  of  William  I.                     ....  575 

Silver  Penny  of  William  II.     .        .  575 

Silver  Penny  of  Henry  I.     .        .                                           .  575 

Silver  Penny  of  Stephen           .                           ....  575 

Silver  Penny  of  Henry  II.     .                           ....  575 

Irish  Silver  Penny  of  John      .                 ...  576 

Reaping  and  Gleaning.     MS.  in  the  British  Museuin  577 

Threshing.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum        .        .        .  577 

Corn-sacks  and  Store-basket.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  578 

Fishing  with  a  Seine  Net.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum    .  580 

Ancient  Com  Hand-mill.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum          .  581 

Ancient  English  House-building.  MS.  in  the  Bntish  Museum  58l 

Initial  Letter    .        .                 583 

Window  of  Southwell  Minster 595 

Ditto       of  St.  Cross,  Hants    ....                          .  595 

Ditto       of  Caxton  Church,  Northamptonshire   .  595 

Ditto       of  Castle  Hedingham  Church  596 


.  i)U6 
607 

shire  .       •,      ^--»— »-             .  607 

..1-t.iace,  Conisborough  Castle 608 

351  Elevation  of  a  Norman  House.  From  the  Bayeui  Tapestry  .  608 

352  Doorway  of  St.  Leonard's  Chapel,  Stamford        .        .        .  609 

353  Sarcophagus  assigned  to  Archbishop  Theobald,  at  Canterbury  610 

354  Stone  Coffins,  Ixworth  Abbey,  Sutfolk 610 

355  One  of  the  early  Abbots  of  Westminster.  From  the  Cloisters, 

Westminster     ........  610 

356  Roger,  Bishop  of  Sarum.     From  Salisbury  Cathedral    .        .  610 

357  Andrew,  Abbot  of  Peterborough.     From  Peterborough  Ca- 

thedral              •        .  610 

358  Specimens  of  Ornamental  Letter  of  the  period.     MS.  in  the 

British  Museum 611 

359  Initial  Letter 613 

360  Chairs,  Ancient  Chess-men.     From  specimens  in  the  British 

Museum 613 

361  Cradle.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum                   .        .  613 

362  Ancient  Candlestick         .....                 .        .  614 

363  Cup,  found  in  the  Ruins  of  Glastonbury  Abbey                    .  614 

364  Groups  of  Soldiers.     From  Bayeux  Tapestry           .         .        .  615 

365  Matilda,  Queen  of  Henry  I.     From  a   Statue  in  the  West 

Door  oC  Rochester  Cathedral 615 

366  Costume  of  Anglo-Norman  Ladies  of  the  Twelfth  Century    .  615 

367  Female  Costume  of  the  time  of  William  Rufus  and  Henry  I. 

From  a  Psalter  of  the  Twelfth  Century  ....  616 

368  Laced  Bodice  and  Knotted  Sleeves  of  the  Twelfth  Century. 

MS.  in  the  British  Museum 616 

369  Effigy  of  Henry  II.     From  the  Tomb  at  Fontevraud           .  617 

370  Eleanor,  Queen  of  Henry  II.     From  the  Tomb  at  Fontevraud  617 

371  Berengaria,  Queeu  of  Richard  I.     From  the  Tomb  at  Fon- 

tevraud                                            .  617 

372  Mascled  Armor— Seal  of  Milo  Fitz- Walter          ...  618 

373  Examples  of  Mascled  Armor.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum   .  618 

374  Knight  of  Modcna.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum        .  618 

375  Tegulated  Armor— Seal  of  Richard,  Constable  of  Chester      .  618 

376  Avantailles 619 

377  Geoffrey  Plantagenet.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum      .        .  619 

378  William  I.,  andTonstain  bearing  the  Consecrated  Banner,  at 

the  Battle  of  Hastings.     From  the  Bayeux  Tapestry       .  619 

379  Ancient  Stag-hunting.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum      .        .  625 

380  Ancient  Royal  Rabbit-hunting.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  626 

381  Ladie«  hunting  Deer.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum        .        .  626 

382  Ancient  Quintain,  now  standing  on  the  Green  of  OfTham, 

Kent          .                                  628 

383  Water  Tournament.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum                  .  629 

384  Ancient  Chess-men,  preserved  in  the  British  Museum  630 

385  Country  Revel.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  631 

386  Balancing.     From  Strutt .631 

387  The  Daughter  of  Herodias  Tumbling.     From  Strutt     .         .  631 

388  Playing  Monkeys  and  Bears.     MSS.  in  the  British  Museum  632 

389  Playing  Bears.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  632 

390  Eijuestrian  Exercises.     From  Strutt       .        .  .632 

391  Horse-baiting.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  633 

392  Sword-fight.  Ditto  .         .  .633 

393  Ditto                                  Ditto  633 

394  Fencing.                            Ditto                                                    .  633 

395  Buckler-play.     From  Strutt        .        .  .  .633 

396  Sword-dance.     MS.  in  the  Bntish  .Museum                             .  633 

397  Wrestling.                        Ditto      .        .  6.34 

398  Bowling.                            Ditto 6,34 

399  Kayle  Pins                        Ditto <134 

400  Bob-Apple.                        Ditto 635 

401  Bird-catching  with  Clap-Net.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  635 

402  Crossbow  Shooting  at  Small  Birds.    MS.  in  the  British  Mu- 

seum         .                                  ......  635 

403  Initial  Letter            .        ,                 .                 .                         .  63« 


419  Ruuisu. 

4i0  Baliol  surrendennfe     .         •  eiii'r 

•fcJl  Slirling  Castle 

423  Ruins  of  Kildrummie  Castle    . 

4ia  Great  Seal  of  Edward  II.     .         .         . 

424  Edward  II.     From  the  Tomb  at  Gloucester   . 

425  Warwick  Castle — Guy's  Tower  . 

4iC  Leeds  Castle    .  .  ... 

427  Berkeley  Castle  .         .  .         . 

4i8  Great  Seal  of  Edward  111. 

429  Edward  III.     From  the  Tomb  in  Westminster  Abbey 

430  Queeii  Philippa.     From  the  Tomb  in  Westminster  Abbey 

431  Uunfermline  Abbey,  Fife  .  ... 

432  Ancient  Caves  near  Nottingham  Castle  . 

433  Mortimer's  Hole,  Nottingham  Castle  .... 

434  Genoese  Archer,  winding  up  or  bending  his  Cross-bow 

435  Cross-bow  and  Quarrel  .  ..... 

430  Queen  PhiUppa  interceding  for  the  Burgesses  of  Calais.— Bird 

437  Effigy  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince.     From  the  Tomb  in  Can- 

terbury Cathedral         .  

438  Great  Seal  of  Richard  II.     .  

433  Richard  II.     From  a  Painting  in  the  Old  Jerusalem  Cham- 
ber in  the  Palace  at  Westminster         .... 

440  Ruins  of  the  Savoy  Palace,  Strand 

441  Death  of  Wat  Tyler.— Northcote    . 

442  Field  of  the  Battle  of  Chevy  Chase.— Bird 

443  Meeting  of  Richard  and  Bolingbroke  at  Flint  Castle.   MS.  in 

the  British  Museum      ........ 

444  Bolingbroke  conducting  Richard  II.  into  London.    MS.  in  the 

British  Museum         .  ...... 

445  Parliament  assembled  for  the  Deposition  of  Richard  II.    MS 

in  the  British  Museum 

446  Initial  Letter 

447  Dominican  or  Black  Friar  .  ... 

448  Franciscan  or  Gray  Friar 

449  Archbishop  reading  a  Papal  Bull     . 

450  Specimen  from  a  copy  of  Wycliffe's  Bible 

451  Initial  Letter ... 

452  Initial  Letter 

453  Ships  of  the  time  of  Richard  II.     MS.  in  the  British  Mu 

seum     ......... 

454  Penny  of  Henry  III 

455  Penny  of  Edward  I.  

456  Penny  (supposed)  of  Edward  II.  .         .  .         . 

457  Penny  of  Edward  111 

458  Groat  of  Edward  HI 

459  Half-Groat  of  Edward  III. 
4fi0  Penny  of  Richard  II. 


781 
796 


803 

808 


809 
809 
809 


li 

-/".  89G 

.        .  827  I 

'     .        .  827  1 

■..*..  827 

829  I 

,  at  Lincoln         ...  829  | 

.  ork  Cathedral  830 '         j 

-iice,  in  Westminster  Abbey       .        .  831  , 

jgh  le  Despenser,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  and  his 

Countess,  in  Tewkesbury  Cathedral        ....  831  i 

490  Hand-Organ  or  Dulcimer,  and  Violin.     MS.  in  the  British  ' 

Museum        ..........  833 

491  Hand-Bells.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  .        .,  8X1  j 

492  Initial  Letter  834  I 

493  Ancient  Chair.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum      ...  834  | 

494  Ancient  Library  Chair,  Reading-Table,  and  Readiug-Desk.  , 

MS.  in  the  British  Museum 834  i 

495  Ancient  Bed.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum         .        .        .  835 

496  Ditto  Ditto 835  j 

497  Ancient  Female  Head-dresses.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  837  I 

498  Ladies'  Costume,  time  of  Edward  I.     MS.  in  the  British  Mu-  | 

seum  ......  .        .•  837  i 

499  Male  Costume,  time  of  Edward  II.     MS.  in  the  British  Mu- 

seum    .         .        .        .        .        .        .     '  .         .         .        .  837  I 

500  Effigy  of  Edward  II.  in  Gloucester  Cathedral      ...  838  i 

501  Head-dresses,  time  of  Edward  II.    MS.  in  the  British  Museum  838  ' 

502  Female  Dress,  time  of  Edward  II.  Ditto  .        .  838  j 

503  Cardinal's  Hat.  Ditto      .        .  838 

504  Male  Costume,  time  of  Edward  HI.  Ditto  .        .  839  I 

505  Female  Costume,  time  of  Edward  HI.  Ditto      .        .  839  ; 

506  Tomb  of  William  of  Windsor  and  Blanch  de  la  Tour,  in  I 

Westminster  Abbey 840  I 

507  Mourning  Habits.     From  the  Tomb  of  Sir  Roger  Kerdeston  840  .! 

508  Male  Costume,  time  of  Richard  II.     MS.  in  the  British  Mu- 

seum .        .  .......  841 

509  Female  Costume,  time  of  Richard  II.    MS.  in  the  British  Mu- 

seum    ...........  841 

510  Armor  of  the  Fourteenth  Century,  exhibited  in  the  Effigy  of  j 

John  of  Eltham,  from  his  Tomb  in  Westminster  .  842  ' 

511  St.  George,  at  Dijon     ....  .        .  843  j 

512  Shield  of  John  of  Gaunt  .        ...  .  844  ! 

513  Specimens  of  Ancient  Cannon 844  I 

514  Mounting  of  a  Cannon,  from  Froissart.     MS.  in  the  British  i 

Museum        .        .        .        .        '  ....  844 

515  Knights  preparing  to  Combat.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  845 

516  Knights  Jousting.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  .         .  846 

517  Knights  Combating.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  .         .  848 

518  Knights  Jousting.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum  .        .  846  ^ 

519  Ordeal  Combat  or  Duel.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum   .         .  847  j 

520  Playing  at  Draughts.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum    .  849  | 

521  Circular  Chess-board.     MS.  in  the  British  Museum      .  849  I 

522  Mummers.     Bodleian  MS 850  ! 

523  Tomb  of  the  Boy-Bishop,  Salisbury  851  j 

524  Initial  Letter  852 


*,*  It  IS  to  be  understood  that  the  Wood-Cuts  have  in  general  been  copied  from  drawings,  sculptures,  coins,  or  other  works  of  the  period 
which  they  are  employed  to  illustrate  ;  but,  among  so  great  a  number  of  subjects,  it  has  not  been  possible  to  adhere  to  this  rule  in  every 
instance  with  perfect  strictness.'  It  sometimes  happened  that  no  suitable  illustration  of  tlie  custom  or  other  matter  described  was  to  be  found 
among  the  remains  of  the  period  under  consideration  ;  in  a  <ew  such  cases  a  drawing  of  a  subsequent  period  has  been  made  use  of,  where  there 
was  reasim  to  believe  that  it  nevertheless  conveyed  a  sufficiently  accurate  representation  of  the  thing  spoken  of.  An  instance  occurs  at  page  547, 
where,  in  the  Chapter  on  the  Government  and  Laws  of  the  Early  Norman  Period,  the  mode  of  granting  lands  introduced  or  practiced  by  the 
Conqueror  is  illustrated  by  a  drawing  executed  in  the  thirteenth  century.  In  a  lew  instances  the  age  of  the  MS.  is  somewhat  doubtful,  and 
has  been  matter  of  dispute  ;  but  it  is  believed  that  no  misconception  as  to  any  material  point  can  be  occasioned  by  the  use  that  has  been  made 
i)f  any  authorities  as  to  which  such  difference  of  opinion  exists.  The  copies  of  modern  historical  pictures,  it  will  of  course  be  understood,  have 
been  given  for  other  reasons  altogether  than  their  fidelity  in  regard  to  costume  and  other  characteristics.  An  opportunity  has  been  taken  m 
the  above  List  of  correcting  a  few  misprints  in  the  titles  or  descriptions  of  the  Cuts 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW 


ORIGINAL   POPULATION  AND  PRIMITIVE   HISTORY 


THE   BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


!^^^'-  ''ks:^=.4^-^'^^^® 


O  question  in  histoiy  is 
moi"e  intricate  and  dififi- 
cult  than  that  of  the 
original  population  of 
the  British  islands. 
The  subject,  indeed, 
in  its  various  relations, 
is  entangled  with  near- 
ly all  the  darkest  ques- 
tions that  perplex  the 
primeval  antiquities  of 
our  race.  Every  part 
of  it  has  been  a  field  of  long  and  keenly  waged 
controversy,  where  all  the  resources  of  learning  and 
ingenuity,  and,  it  may  be  added,  all  the  license  of 
imagination  and  passion,  have  been  called  forth  in 
support  of  the  most  in-econcilable  opinions  and  sys- 
tems ;  and  still  there  is  scarcely  a  leading  point  in  the 
inquhy  that  can  be  said  to  be  perfectly  established, 
or  cleared  from  all  obscurity  and  confusion. 

Yet,  almost  in  direct  proportion  to  its  difficulty, 
and  the  degree  in  which  it  has  exercised  and  baffled 
speculation,  the  subject  is  interesting  and  tempting  to 
a  liberal  curiosity.  The  connexion  which  it  developes 
bet%veen  the  present  and  the  remotest  past — the  ex- 
tent of  the  space  over  which  the  survey  of  it  carries 
us — the  light,  however  faint  and  interrapted,  shed  by 
it  upon  that  wide  waste  of  the  time  gone  by,  which 
the  torch  of  history  has  left  in  utter  darkness — aU 
combine  to  excite  and  lure  on  the  imagination,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  give  to  the  investigation  much  of  a 
real  utility  and  importance. 

It  will  not  be  expected  that  we  should  here  enter 
upon  the  more  remote  inquiries  to  which  the  subject. 
If  pursued  to  its  utmost  extent,  might  conduct  us ; 
but  it  will  be  of  importance  to  the  understanding  of 
much,  especially  of  the  earliest  portion,  of  the  history 
which  is  to  follow,  that  the  reader  should,  in  the  first 
place,  be  put  in  possession  of  the  clearest  views  that 
can  be  obtained  with  regard  at  least  to  the  immediate 
parentage  of  each  of  the  various  races  which  appear 
to  have  occupied,  or  made  a  conspicuous  figure  in 

VOL.  1. 1 


these  islands,  before  the  comparatively  recent  date 
at  which  it  commences.  Even  confined  within  the 
limit  thus  marked  out,  the  investigation  is  beset  with 
difficulties ;  and  in  pursuing  it,  we  are  frequently 
obliged  to  be  satisfied  with  such  probable  conjectures 
as  we  are  enabled  to  make  when  deserted  by  every- 
thing like  clear  evidence,  and  left  to  grope  our  way 
among  a  crowd  of  doubts  and  perplexities  in  the  dim- 
mest twilight.  It  may  be  of  advantage  that  we  should 
preface  the  exposition  of  the  conclusions  to  which 
we  have  come,  by  a  statement  of  the  several  sources 
from  which  evidence  or  conjectural  intimations  upon 
subjects  of  this  kind  may  be  di-awn  ;  and  of  the 
general  principles  according  to  which  our  judgments 
ought  to  be  formed. 

1.  The  most  obvious  species  of  evidence,  in  regard 
to  the  events  that  have  happened  in  any  particular 
countiy,  or  the  actions  and  fortunes  of  nations  and 
races  of  men,  is  the  histoiy  of  them  recoi-ded,  either 
in  writing  or  by  monuments,  at  the  time,  or  while 
the  remembrance  of  them  was  still  fresh.  If  we  had 
such  records  in  all  cases,  bearing  sufficient  marks  of 
their  authenticity  and  faithfulness,  we  should  not 
need  to  have  recourse  to  any  other  kind  of  evidence, 
the  infei-ences  from  which  must  always  be  compara- 
tively conjectural,  uncertain,  and  vague.  A  contem- 
poraiy  histoiy  of  any  past  event  i»  the  nearest  thing 
that  can  be  obtained  to  the  actual  obsenation  of  it ; 
and  even  for  those  living  in  the  age  in  which  the  event 
takes  place,  with  the  exception  only  of  the  few  per- 
sons who  may  have  been  present  on  the  occasion, 
such  a  histoiy  or  narrative  constitutes  the  very  best 
information  which  it  is  possible  for  them  to  command. 
In  the  state  of  the  world  at  which  we  are  now  anived, 
with  the  mighty  printing-press  in  perpetual  opera- 
tion everywhere  like  another  power  of  nature,  it  is 
not  to  be  apprehended  that  any  important  movement 
in  human  affairs  can  happen,  at  least  in  the  eivilized 
parts  of  the  earth,  without  an  account  of  it  being 
immediately  drawn  up,  and  so  multiplied  and  dis- 
persed that  it  cannot  fail  to  go  down  to  posterity. 
Without  any  regular  machinery  established  and  kept 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


at  work  for  that  purpose,  the  transmission  of  a  knowl- 
edge of  eveiything  worth  noting  that  takes  place  to 
all  future  generations,  is  now  secured  much  more 
effectually  than  it  ever  was  in  those  times  when  pub- 
lic functionaries  used  to  be  employed,  in  many  coun- 
tries, to  chronicle  occurrences  as  they  arose,  expressly 
for  the  information  of  after-ages.  Such  were  the 
pontifical  annalists  of  ancient  Rome,  and  the  keepers 
of  the  monastic  registers  in  the  middle  ages  among 
ourselves,  and  in  the  other  countries  of  Christendom. 
How  meagre  and  valueless  are  the  best  of  the  records 
that  have  come  down  to  us  thus  compiled  by  authority, 
compared  with  our  newspapers,  which  do  not  even 
contemplate  as  at  all  coming  within  their  design  the 
preservation  and  handing  down  to  other  times  of  the 
intelligence  collected  in  them,  but  limit  themselves  to 
the  single  object  of  its  mere  promulgation  and  imme- 
diate dirt'usion!  So  much  more  effectually  do  we 
sometimes  attain  a  particular  end  by  leaving  it  to  be 
provided  for  by  what  we  may  call  the  natural  action 
of  the  social  economy,  than  by  any  artificial  apparatus 
specially  contrived  to  secure  it  in  what  may  appear 
to  us  a  more  direct  and  shorter  way.  In  the  present 
case,  the  preservation  of  the  memory  of  events,  which 
in  itself  is  an  end  that  never  could  be  expected  strongly 
to  engage  the  zeal  of  men  in  its  accomplishment,  and 
therefore  could  not,  generally  speaking,  be  well  at- 
tained by  being  directly  aimed  at,  is  secured,  in  the 
most  con)plete  and  perfect  form,  through  the  inter- 
vention, and,  as  the  incidental  consequence,  of  another 
endeavor,  which  is  found  to  command,  in  abundant 
measure,  the  most  active  and  eager  exertions.  The 
best  histoiy  for  posterity  is  obtained  out  of  materials 
which  were  originally  provided  without  any  view  to 
that  object  at  all.  Nor  is  this  true  only  of  the  written 
materials  of  history.  The  same  is  the  case  with 
nearly  all  the  monuments  and  memorials  of  eveiy 
kind  of  which  history  makes  use.  All  have  been 
produced,  in  the  first  instance,  chiefly  or  exclusively 
for  some  other  purpose  than  that  of  conveying  a 
knowledge  of  events  to  posterity.  Coins,  at  once  the 
most  distinct  and  the  most  enduring  witnesses  of 
public  transactions,  may  be  said  to  be  wholly  intended 
for  the  mere  present  accommodation  of  the  commu- 
nity. So  in  general  are  works  of  architecture,  which 
nevertheless  often  also  eventually  come  to  take  their 
place  among  the  most  valuable  of  our  historic  evi- 
dences. Even  a  medal  struck,  or  a  statue  or  other 
monument  raised,  professedly  in  honor  of  some  par- 
ticular event,  while  it  may  be  admitted  to  have  also 
in  view  the  pei-pe>tuation  of  the  memory  of  the  event, 
and  the  ti-ansmission  of  a  knowledge  of  it  to  future 
ages,  has  usually  for  its  main  end  the  present  orna- 
ment and  illustration  of  the  city  or  country  in  which 
it  makes  its  appearance,  and  the  gratification  of  those 
who  are  to  be  its  first  beholders.  Indeed,  were 
motives  of  this  selfish  description  wanting,  we  should 
probably  make  very  little  provision  for  posterity  in 
anything;  and  yet,  instigated  as  we  actually  are,  how 
constantly  and  imtiringly  are  we  making  such  pro- 
vision in  all  things !  Eveiy  year  that  an  advancing 
country  continues  to  be  inhabited,  it  is  becoming  a 
richer  inheritance,  in  eveiy  inspect,  for  all  its  future 


occupants.  The  ages,  hqwever,  which  witnessed  the 
dispersion  and  earhest  migrations  of  the  different 
races  of  the  great  human  family,  have  left  us,  for  the 
most  part,  neither  histoiy  nor  monuments.  The 
only  contemporary  accounts  that  we  have  of  the 
affairs  of  ancient  Europe  are  those  that  have  been 
presei-ved  by  the  (ireek  and  Roman  writers;  and  the 
portion  of  history  which  has  thus  been  illustrated 
with  any  degree  of  fulness  is  exti'emely  limited.  Of 
those  countries  which  the  writers  in  question  were 
accustomed  to  call  barbarous,  being  all  the  countries 
of  the  earth,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  inconsid- 
erable peninsulas  of  Italy  and  Greece,  they  have,  for 
the  most  part,  given  us  nothing  beyond  the  most 
scanty  and  unsatisfactory  notices.  They  scarcely, 
indeed,  advert  at  all  to  any  of  the  other  European 
nations  but  themselves,  till  the  late  period  of  the 
absorption  of  those  races  in  the  universal  empire  of 
Rome :  and  then  we  have  merely,  less  or  more  fully 
detailed,  the  history  of  the  generally  very  short  pro- 
cess by  which  their  subjugation  was  accomplished. 
Of  the  remoter  antiquities  of  these  races,  the  classic 
authorities  tell  us  scarcely  anything  that  is  much  to 
be  depended  upon ;  and,  indeed,  even  of  their  own 
origin  the  Greeks  and  Romans  have  recorded  little 
else  than  fables.  Still,  such  scattered  notices  as  their 
writings  contain,  respecting  the  various  nations  with 
which  they  came  in  contact,  are  not  to  be  neglected 
in  considering  the  subject  with  which  we  are  now 
engaged.  The  information  with  which  they  furnish 
us  is  no  doubt  frequently  enoneous,  and  is  always  to 
be  received  with  suspicion  till  found  to  be  corrobo- 
rated by  other  evidence,  and  by  the  probabilities  of 
the  case  ;  but  it  may  sometimes  afford  a  clue  to  guide 
us  in  the  investigation  when  bther  resources  fail. 
Although  a  great  deal  of  industry,  learning,  and  inge- 
nuity, has  been  expended  in  examining  the  testimo- 
nies of  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers,  respecting  the 
ancient  population  of  the  British  islands,  perhaps  all 
the  passages  that  might  be  quoted  in  reference  to  the 
matter,  from  the  entire  series  of  these  writers,  have 
scarcely  yet  been  brought  so  completely  as  they 
might  be  into  one  view,  and  considered  both  in  their 
connexion  among  themselves,  and  as  illustrating, 
or  illustrated  by,  the  evidence  derived  from  other 
sources. 

2.  Next  in  directness  among  the  evidences  upon 
this  subject  to  contemporary  history  (which  is  the 
only  history  that  is  not  inferential  and  conjectural), 
is  to  be  placed  the  testimony  of  tradition.  Tradition 
is  merely  unrecorded  history ;  but  the  circumstance 
of  its  being  unrecorded — that  ts  to  say,  of  its  being 
ti-ansmitted  from  one  generation  to  another  by  no 
more  secure  vehicle  than  tliat  of  oral  communication 
— very  materially  detracts,  of  course,  from  its  trust- 
worthiness and  value.  In  the  case  even  of  a  docu- 
ment or  written  history,  it  is  not  always  easy  to 
ascertain  that  it  really  is  what  it  professes  to  be,  that 
it  is  of  the  age  assigned  to  it,  and  that  it  has  not  been 
corrupted  or  falsified ;  in  the  case  of  a  ti'adition,  this 
matter  is  always  of  much  more  diftieult  determination. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  a  ti-adition  is  almost 
universally  nothing  more  than  an  emblematic  or  enig 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


raatical  representation  of  the  facts  on  which  it  is 
founded  ;  and  frequently  the  riddle  is  so  absurd  or  so 
obscure,  that  no  ingenuity  is  capable  of  giving  a  satis- 
factory interpretation  of  it.  A  tradition  is  obviously 
much  more  exposed,  in  its  descent  through  a  long 
course  of  time,  to  all  the  chances  of  alteration  and 
perversion,  than  a  written  history ;  and  the  metamor- 
phosis which  it  undergoes  is  sometimes  so  complete, 
as  to  leave  little  or  no  intelligible  trace  of  its  original 
form  or  import.  On  these  accounts,  the  dependence 
that  can  be  placed  on  this  source  of  information 
respecting  events  of  remote  antiquity,  must  neces- 
sarily be,  in  most  cases,  very  slight  and  dubious.  Still 
the  evidence  of  tradition  is  not  altogether  without  its 
value  in  such  inquiries  as  the  present.  WHien  the 
tradition  is  tolerably  distinct  in  its  affirmations — when 
it  appears  to  have  prevailed  for  a  long  period,  and  to 
have  been  uniform  in  its  tenor  for  all  the  time  through 
which  its  existence  can  be  ti-aced — when  it  is  found 
as  the  national  belief,  not  of  one  merely,  but  of  several 
counti'ies  or  races — and  when  it  harmonizes  with 
other  traditions  relating  to  tiiie  same  subject  pre- 
served in  other  parts  of  the  earth,  it  is  evidently 
entitled  to  examination  at  least,  if  not  to  implicit 
acquiescence.  Of  the  traditions,  however,  which  all 
nations  have  of  their  origin  or  remote  ancestors,  very 
few  present  all  these  characteristics.  Most  of  them 
probably  contain  some  truth,  but  it  is  usually  overlaid 
and  confused  by  a  large  mixture  of  fable,  so  that  it 
becomes  a  process  of  the  gi'eatest  nicety  and  difficulty 
to  extract  the  metal  from  the  ore. 

3.  The  religion,  the  laws,  the  manners,  and  the 
customs  of  a  people,  with  the  memorials  of  what 
these  have  been  in  past  ages,  constitute  a  species  of 
evidence  as  to  their  origin,  which,  although  it  may 
be  described  as  only  indirect  and  circumstantial,  is 
really  much  more  valuable  than  the  positive  testi- 
mony of  mere  tradition.  A  tradition  may  be  a  pure 
invention  or  fiction ;  it  may  be  nothing  more  than 
the  creation  of  national  vanity ;  even  where  it  has 
been  honest  from  the  first,  it  may  be  but  an  honest 
mistake ;  and  it  is  always  liable,  in  its  ti'ansmission 
through  a  succession  of  ages,  to  undergo  change  and 
vitiation  from  many  causes.  But  a  current  of  evi- 
dence furnished  by  all  the  m.ost  characteristic  pecu- 
liarities of  the  national  habits  and  feelings,  cannot 
lie.  It  may  be  misunderstood ;  too  much  or  too 
little  may  be  infeired  from  it ;  we  may  be  deceived 
while  considering  it  by  our  own  credulity,  prejudices, 
or  fancies  ;  but  we  are  at  any  rate  sure  that  the  facts 
before  us  are  really  what  they  seem  to  be.  They 
are  the  undoubted  characteristics  which  distinguish 
the  people ;  and  the  only  question  is,  how  did  they 
originate,  or  whence  were  they  derived  ?  It  is  true 
that  this  is  commonly  far  from  being  an  easy  question 
to  solve,  and  that  we  are  veiy  apt  to  be  misled  in 
our  interpretation  of  such  indications  of  the  connexion 
between  one  people  and  another,  as  facts  of  the 
kind  we  are  now  adverting  to  may  seem  to  supply. 
So  many  things  in  the  notions,  practices,  and  institu- 
tions, and  in  the  general  moral  and  social  condition 
of  a  people,  may  arise  from  principles  of  universal 
operation — may  be  the  gi-owth  of  what  we  may  call 


the  common  soil  of  human  nature — that  a  relationship 
between  nations  must  not  be  too  hastily  presumed 
from  resemblances  which  they  may  preseni  in  these 
respects.  Besides,  institutions  and  customs  may  be 
bonowed  by  one  nation  from  another  with  which  it 
has  no  connexion  of  lineage,  or  may  be  communi- 
cated by  the  one  to  the  other  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
If  France  or  Spain,  for  instance,  were  to  adopt  tlie 
present  political  constitution  of  Great  Bi'itain,  the 
establishment  of  that  constitution  in  either  of  these 
countries  would  form  no  proof,  some  centuries  hence, 
that  the  countiy  in  question  had  been  peopled  from 
England.  The  progi-ess  both  of  civilization  and  of 
religion  has  been,  for  the  most  part,  quite  indepen- 
dent of  the  genealogical  connexion  of  nations ;  they 
have  been  canied  from  one  country  to  another,  not 
in  general  along  the  same  Une  by  which  population 
has  advanced,  but  rather  by  intercourse,  either  casu- 
ally arising  between  two  countries,  or  opened  ex- 
pressly for  the  purpose  of  making  such  a  communi- 
cation. They  have  been  propagated  at  one  time  by 
friendly  missionaries,  at  another  by  conquering  ai*- 
mies.  But  still,  when,  in  the  absence  of  any  other 
known  or  probable  cause  sufficient  to  produce  the 
phenomenon,  we  find  a  pervading  similarity  between 
two  nations  in  all  their  gi-and*  social  characteristics, 
we  have  sti-ong  reasons  for  infeiTing  that  they  be- 
long to  the  same  stock.  When  such  is  the  case, 
however,  it  will  rarely  happen  that  there  are  not 
also  present  other  evidences  of  the  relationship,  ot 
a  different  kind ;  the  memoiy  of  it  will  probably  be 
preserved,  at  least,  in  the  popular  traditions  of  the 
two  counti'ies ;  and  the  identity  or  resemblance  of 
laws,  religion,  and  customs,  therefore,  has  usually  to 
be  considered  merely  as  coiToborative  proof. 

4.  Some  assistance  may  also  be  derived  in  such 
inquu'ies  from  an  attention  to  the  physical  charac- 
teristics of  nations.  Where  these  happen  to  be 
very  sti'ongly  marked,  as  in  the  case  of  the  leading 
distinctions  of  the  three  great  races  of  the  Whites, 
the  Malays,  and  the  Negi-oes,  they  furnish  veiy 
decisive  evidence ;  but  ig  regard  to  the  mere  subor- 
dinate varieties  of  the  same  race — and  the  contro- 
versy is  commonly  confined  to  that  gi'ound — the 
tests  which  they  afford  us  are  of  much  less  value. 
There  are  probably  no  distinctions,  for  instance,  be- 
tween the  Celtic  and  the  Germanic  races  which 
would  not,  in  course  of  time,  be  obliterated  by  the 
mere  influence  of  climate.  It  is  with  the  several 
Celtic  and  Germanic  races  alone  that  we  have  to 
do  in  discussing  the  question  of  the  population  of  the 
British  islands.  It  may  be  doubted  if  any  of  these 
could  have  long  presei-ved  a  distinct  physical  appear- 
ance, when  mixed  together,  as  they  would  be,  if  the 
country  is  to  be  supposed  to  have  been  indebted  for 
its  population  to  more  than  one  of  them.  They 
might,  however,  remain  distinguishable  from  each 
other  in  that  respect  for  some  time  ;  and  when  Taci- 
tus, for  example,  alleges  the  superior  size  and  the 
red  hair  of  the  Caledonians  of  his  time  as  a  proof  of 
their  Scandinavian  origin,  and  the  dark  complexions 
of  the  Silures,  who  inhabited  the  south  of  Wales,  as 
making  it  probable  that  they  were  of  Spanish  descent, 


INTRODUCTORY   VIEW  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


he  may  have  been  justified  in  so  reasoning  in  that 
iige,  when  the  supposed  innnigiations,  if  they  took 
place,  would  be  comparatively  recent,  and  the  difter- 
ent  tribes  or  nations  that  occupied  the  country  re- 
mained still  in  general  separate  and  unmixed.  At 
the  best,  however,  such  indications  can  hardly  be 
taken  as  anything  more  than  a  sort  of  makeweight — 
as  something  that  may 

" — help  to  thicken  other  proofs 
That  do  demonstrate  thinly." 

5.    Of  course,  in  attempting  to  trace  the  migrations 
of  nations,  the  relative  geogi-aphical  positions  of  the 
countries  from  one  to  another  of  which  they  are 
supposed  to  have  proceeded,  must  not  be  overlooked. 
It  is  indispensable  that  the  route  assumed  to  have 
been  taken  shall  be  shown  to  be  a  natural  and  a 
probable  one.     The  mere  distance,  however,  of  one 
country  from  another,  is  not  the  only  consideration 
to  be  here  attended  to.     Of  t^vo  inhabited  countries 
equally  near  to  another  pait  of  the  world   as  yet 
destitute   of  population,   or   not   fully  peopled,   the 
inhabitants  of  that  which  is  the  most  overcrowded, 
or  those  who  are  the  farthest  advanced  in  civilization, 
or  the  most  distinguished  for  their  adventurous  spirit 
and  their  habits   of  extended   intercourse,  will  be 
likely  to  be   the  first  to  reach  and  seize  upon  the 
unoccupied  territoiy.     It  has  been  a  disputed  ques- 
tion whether  the  first  xnigiations  of  mankind  Avere 
made  by  laud  or  by  sea  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
anything  can  be  generally  affirmed  on  the  subject. 
Some   tribes,  however,  seem  to  have  been  always 
more  addicted  to  navigation  than  others ;  and  there- 
fore they  may  be  supposed  to  have,  in  veiy  early 
times,  accomphshed  voyages  of  a  length  which  could 
not  be  probably  presumed  in  the  case  of  others.    In  so 
far  as  respects  the  British  islands,  however,  whether 
we  suppose  them  to  have  derived  their  population 
from  Gaul,  from  Scandinavia,  or  fiom  Spain,  there 
are  no  difficulties  presented  by  the  breadth  of  sea 
which  would  have  to  be  traversed  on  any  hypothesis. 
6.    Were  the   several  descriptions  of  circumstan- 
tial evidence   aheady   enumerated  our  only  guides 
when  deserted  by  the  direct  testimony  of  history,  it 
would  scarcely  be  possible  to  airive  at  much  certainty 
on  any  of  the  controverted  questions  relating  to  the 
pedigree  of  nations.     But  there  is  another  species  of 
evidence  which  is  in  many  cases,  in  respect  both  of 
its  distinctness  and  of  the  reliance  that  may  be  placed 
on  it,  worth  much  more  than  all  those  that  have  yet 
been  mentioned  put  together.     This  is  the  evidence 
of  Language.     Their  peculiar  language  indeed  is, 
strictly  speaking,  only  one  of  the  customs  of  a  people  ; 
but  it  stands  distingiiished  from   other  customs   in 
two  particulars,  which  give  it  an  important  advantage 
for  our  present  pui"pose.     In  the  first  place,  although 
it  may  be  admitted  that  there   are   certain   general 
principles  which  enter  into  the  structure  of  all  lan- 
guages, and  also,  possibly,  that  all  existing  languages 
are  spining  fi-om  one  original,  the  different  degi-ees 
'of  alliance  that  subsist  between  different  tongues  are 
yet,  in  most  cases,  verj'  distinctly  marked  ;  nor  is  it 
possible  in  the  nature  of  things  that  there  should  be 
a  pervading  similarity  between  two  tongues  that  have 


been  formed  quite  apart  from  each  other.     There  is 
not  here  any  such  common  soil  of  the  human  mind 
as  would  of  itself  produce  an  identity  of  results  in 
different  countries,  like  what  might  verj'  well  hap- 
pen, to  a  gieat  extent,  in  the  case  of  what  are  com- 
monly called  manners  and  customs,  and  even  in  that 
of  laws  and  institutions.     These  last  naturally  admit 
of  comparatively  little  variety  of  form.     It   would 
seem  nothing  at  all  wonderfiil,  for  example,  that  two 
nations  which  should  never  have  had  any  connexion 
of  blood  or  much  intercourse  with  each  other,  should 
yet,  at  the  same  stage  of  their  social  progiTSs,  ex- 
hibit   a    considerable    general   resemblance   in  their 
political    institutions   and  their  systems  of  laws — n 
certain  degree  of  civilization  naturally  resolving  itself 
into  nearly  the  same  forms   and   arrangements,  in 
these  respects,  by  its  own  spontaneous  action.     The 
same  is  the  case  with  many  of  the  ordinaiy  arts  and 
customs  of  life.     These  are  suggested  by  their  obvi- 
ous utility,  and  can  hardly  arise  except  in  one  and 
the  same  form  everjwhere ;  or,  if  we  suppose  them 
to  have  been  derived  by  every  people  fi'om   some 
common  source,  their  inherent  simplicitj'  would  in 
like  manner  preserve  them  from  variation  in  their 
transmission  through  ever  so  long  a  period  of  time ; 
and  in  this  view  also,  therefore,  they  would  fail  to 
furnish  any  indication  of  the  degree  of  affinitj'  be- 
tween   the   races  to  which  the  possession  of  them 
was  found  to  be  common.     But  the  sounds  of  articu- 
late language  admit  of  infinite  varietj',  and  there  is, 
generally   speaking,    no   natural   connexion   between 
the  objects  of  thought  and  their  vocal  signs;  so  that 
for  two  nations  that  never  had  anj^  communication 
with    each   other,   to   be  found    speaking  the   same 
language,  or  even  two  languages,  the  vocabularies  of 
which,  in  any  considerable  degi-ee,  resembled  each 
other,  would  be  a  phenomenon  altogether  miraculous 
and    unaccountable.       Nor    could   the    preservation, 
down  to  the  present  day,  of  a  strong  resemblance 
between  the  languages  of  two  particular  countries, 
be  in  any  degi-ee  explained  simply  by  the  supposition 
of  all  existing  languages  having  spnmg  from  a  com- 
mon  original ;   the   insufficiency  of  such   a   merely 
primitive  connexion  to  produce  the  resemblance  sup- 
posed, is  demonstrated  by  the  great  diversity  of  lan- 
guages which   actually   subsists.     We   are   entitled, 
therefore,  to  assume,  that  in  all  cases  where  we  find 
this    clear   and    decided   relationship   of  languages, 
there  must  have  been  a  comparatively  recent  con- 
nexion of  blood,  or  long  and  intimate  intercourse  of 
one  kind  or  another,  between  the  races  of  people  by 
whom  they  are  spoken.     For,  secondly,  it  is  another 
peculiarity  of  a    national   speech,  that   it  is   never 
adopted  from  another  people  on  merely  that  slight 
acquaintance  and  communication  which  has  some- 
times sufficed  not  onlj-  to  transfer  a  knowledge  of 
the  ordinary  arts  of  civUized  life,  but   to  inti'oduce 
into  and  establish  in  a  country,  whole  sjstems  of 
religion,  of  laws,  and  of  philosophy.     These  things, 
as  already  obsened,  have  frequently  been  conveyed 
from  one  part  of  the  earth  to  another  by  a  few  mis- 
sionaries^ or  chance  emigrants,  or  simply  by  the  op- 
portunities of  commerce  and  travel.     But  languages 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


5 


have  never  been  taught  in  this  way.  A  people  al- 
ways derives  its  language  either  from  its  ancestors, 
or  from  some  other  people  with  which  it  has  been 
for  a  long  time  thoroughly  mixed  up  in  the  relations 
of  social  and  domestic  life.  It  would,  we  apprehend, 
be  impossible  to  quote  an  instance  of  an  exchange  of 
the  popular  speech  of  any  country  being  produced 
by  anything  short  of  either  the  amalgamation,  or  at 
least  the  close  compression,  of  one  people  with 
another,  which  is  the  result  only  of  conquest.  This 
can  hardly  take  place  without  the  history  or  memory 
of  the  event  being  preserved,  and  therefore  there  is 
little  or  no  danger  of  a  language  thus  imposed  being 
ever  mistaken  for  one  derived  in  the  ordinary  way, 
or  of  any  difficulty  being  thereby  occasioned  in  the 
application  of  the  general  rule — that  where  the  lan- 
guages exhibit  a  strong  resemblance  to  each  other, 
the  nations  speaking  them  are  of  one  stock.  A  per- 
son, for  instance,  visiting  South  Britain  io  the  third 
or  fourth  century,  would  have  found  many  of  the 
people  speaking  Latin  ;  and  the  people  of  France,  or 
ancient  Gaul,  stiU  speak  a  dialect  of  the  Latin,  for 
the  modern  French  tongue  is  little  else ;  but  no  con- 
siderate inquirer  into  such  matters  would  ever  con- 
clude from  these  facts,  in  disregard  of  all  other  evi- 
dence, that  the  original  population  of  Britain  and  of 
Gaul  was  Roman.  The  prevalence  of  the  Roman 
speech  is  sufficiently  accounted  for,  in  these  cases, 
by  the  Roman  conquest  and  colonization  of  both 
countries,  which  are  events  that  have  left,  and  could 
not  fail  to  leave,  abundant  memorials  of  themselves 
behind  them,  in  a  great  variety  of  forms. 

7.  But  there  is  still  to  be  noticed  another  source 
of  evidence  sometimes  available  on  the  subject  of  the 
original  population  of  a  countiy,  which  is  of  kindred 
character  to  that  derived  from  the  language  spoken 
in  it,  and  of  equal  distinctness  and  ti'ustworthiness. 
This  is  the  evidence  supplied  by  the  topogi-aphical 
nomenclature  of  the  countiy,  or  the  language  to  which 
the  most  ancient  names  of  places  in  it  are  found  to 
belong.  Names  have  all  some  meaning  when  first 
imposed  ;  and  when  a  place  is  named,  for  the  first 
time,  by  any  people,  they  apply  to  it  some  term,  in 
early  times  generally  descriptive  of  its  natural  pecu- 
liarities, or  something  else  on  account  of  which  it  is 
remarkable,  from  their  own  language.  When  we 
find,  therefore,  that  the  old  names  of  natural  objects 
and  localities  in  a  countiy  belong,  for  the  most  part, 
to  a  particular  language,  we  may  conclude  with  cer- 
tainty that  a  people  speaking  that  language  formerly 
occupied  the  country.  Of  this  the  names  they  have 
so  impressed  are  as  sure  a  proof  as  if  they  had  left  a 
distinct  record  of  their  existence  in  words  engraven 
on  the  rocks.  Such  old  names  of  places  often  long 
outlive  both  the  people  that  bestowed  them,  and 
nearly  all  the  material  monuments  of  their  occu- 
pancy. The  language,  as  a  vehicle  of  oral  commu- 
nication, may  gi-adually  be  forgotten,  and  be  heard 
no  more  where  it  was  once  in  universal  use,  and  the 
old  topogi'aphical  nomenclature  may  still  remain  un- 
changed. Were  the  Irish  tongue,  for  instance,  ut- 
terly to  pass  away  and  perish  in  Ireland,  as  the 
speech  of  any  portion  of  the  people,  the  names  of 


rivers  and  mountains,  and  towns  and  villages,  all  over 
the  countiy,  would  continue  to  attest  that  it  had  once 
been  occupied  by  a  race  of  Celtic  descent.  On  the 
other  hand,  however,  we  are  not  entitled  to  conclude, 
from  the  absence  of  any  ti'aces  of  their  language  in 
the  names  of  places,  that  a  race,  which  there  is 
reason  for  believing  from  other  evidence  to  have  an- 
ciently possessed  the  country,  could  not  really  have 
been  in  the  occupation  of  it.  A  new  people  coming 
to  a  country,  and  subjugating  or  dispossessing  the  old 
inhabitants,  sometimes  change  the  names  of  places 
as  well  as  all  or  many  other  things.  Thus  when  the 
Saxons  came  over  to  this  island,  and  wrested  the 
principal  part  of  it  from  its  previous  possessors,  they 
seem,  in  the  complete  subversion  of  the  former  order 
of  things  which  they  set  themselves  to  effect,  to  have 
everywhere  substituted  new  names  in  their  own 
language,  for  those  which  the  towns  and  villages 
throughout  the  countiy  anciently  bore.  On  this  ac- 
count the  topogi'aphical  nomenclature  of  England  has 
ever  since  been,  to  a  large  extent,  Saxon ;  but  that 
circumstance  is  not  to  be  taken  as  proving  that  the 
countiy  was  first  peopled  by  the  Saxons. 

Guided  by  the  principles  that  have  been  laid  down, 
we  will  now  proceed  to  explain  those  views  respecting 
the  original  population  of  the  British  islands  which 
seem  best  to  accord  with  the  various  facts  bearing 
upon  the  question,  and  to  form  together  the  most 
consistent  whole.  It  will  be  convenient  to  consider 
the  several  parts  of  the  subject  in  the  order  of  the 
population,  I.  of  England;  II.  of  Ireland;  III.  of 
Scotland;  IV.  of  Wales. 

I.  For  a  long  time,  what  was  held  to  be  the  or- 
thodox belief  respecting  the  original  population  of  the 
southern  part  of  Britain,  was  the  stoiy  of  the  descent 
of  the  first  Britons  from  the  Trojans,  a  colony  of 
whom  was  supposed,  after  the  destruction  of  their 
native  city,  to  have  been  conducted  to  this  island  by 
Brutus,  a  gi-andson  or  gi-eat-gi-andson  of  jEneas,  more 
than  a  thousand  years  before  the  commencement  of 
our  era.  The  person  who  first  made  this  story  gen- 
erally known  was  the  famous  Geoffi-ey  ap  Arthur, 
Archdeacon  of  Monmouth,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of 
St.  Asaph,  who  flourished  in  the  twelfth  century  ;  but 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose,  as  has  been  sometimes 
asserted,  that  he  was  its  inventor.  His  Latin  history  is. 
in  all  probability,  what  it  professes  to  be,  a  translation 
of  an  Armorican  original,  entitled  "  Brut  y  Breninodd, 
or  a  Chronicle  of  the  Kings  of  Britain,"  which  was  put 
into  his  hands  by  his  friend  Walter  de  Mapes,  other- 
wise called  Calenius,  Archdeacon  of  Oxford,  who  had 
himself  brought  the  manuscript  from  Bretagne.  The 
same  legend,  which  is  found  in  so  amplified  a  form 
in  Geoflfrey's  work-,  is  more  briefly  detailed  in  various 
histories  of  a  much  earlier  date.  The  earliest  writer 
to  whom  it  can  be  traced,  appears  to  be  the  Welsh 
priest  Tysilio,  who  is  believed  to  have  flourished  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  seventh  century.  The  Brut 
(that  is,  the  Chronicle)  of  Tysilio  seems  to  have  been 
the  prototj'pe  both  of  the  work  which  G  eoffrey  ti-ans- 
lated  and  of  many  other  similar  performances. ' 

I  The  best  edition  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  is  printed  under  the 
title  of  Galfridus  Monumetensis  de  Origine  et  Gestis  Regum  Britanni- 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW  OF  THE  PRIiNIITIVE 


The  vanity  of  being  supposed  to  be  sprung  from 
the  Trojans  was  common,  in  early  times,  to  many  of 
the  European  nations;  but  the  English  probably  re- 
tained their  belief  in  the  notion  to  a  later  date  than 
any  of  the  rest.  It  is  gravely  alleged  by  Edward  I., 
in  a  letter  which  he  addressed  to  Pope  Boniface  in 
1301,  as  part  of  the  argument  by  which  he  attempts 
to  establish  the  supremacy  of  the  English  crown  over 
Scotland.  As  the  Romans  themselves  pretended  to 
a  Trojan  descent,  it  has  been  plausibly  conjectured 
that  the  various  nations  brought  under  subjection  by  j 
that  people  were  induced  to  set  up  the  same  claim,  i 
through  an  ambition  of  emulating  their  conquerors ; 
and  at  a  later  period  it  obviously  fell  in  with  the  views  I 
(»r  natural  prejudices  of  the  churchmen,  who  were 
for  the  most  part  the  compilers  of  our  histories,  to 
encourage  an  opinion  which  drew  the  regards  of  the 
people  towards  the  ecclesiastical  metropolis,  as  the 
head  city  of  their  race  as  well  as  of  their  religion. 
The  acute  and  judicious  Camden,  at  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  centurj',  was  almost  the  first  inquirer  into 
our  national  antiquities  who  ventured  to  question  the 
long-credited  tale ;  yet  nearly  a  hundred  years  after- 
wards we  find  a  belief  in  its  truth  still  lingering  in  the 
poetic  imagination  of  Milton. 

Geoffrey  makes  Brutus  and  his  Trojans  to  have 
found  Britain  nearly  uninhabited,  its  only  occupants 
being  a  few  giants  of  the  race  of  Cham,  over  whom 
the  famous  Gogmagog  ruled  as  king;  but  another 
tbrm  of  the  fable  settles  a  numerous  jwpulation  in  the 
countiy  at  a  much  earlier  date.  '•  As  we  shall  not 
doubt  of  Brutus  coming  hither,"  says  Holinshed,  "so 
may  we  assuredly  think  that  he  found  the  isle  peo- 
pled, either  with  the  generation  of  those  which  Albion 
the  giant  had  placed  here,  or  some  other  kind  of  peo- 
ple whom  he  did  subdue,  and  so  reigned  as  well  over 
them  as  over  those  which  he  brought  with  him." 
Vlbion  is  said  to  have  been  a  son  of  Neptune,  who  took 
the  island  from  the  Celts,  after  they  had  occupied  it 
for  above  three  hundred  years,  under  a  succession  of 
five  kings,  the  first  of  whom  was  Samothes,  the  eldest 
son  of  Japhet,  and  the  same  who  is  called  by  Moses 
Meshech.  From  Samothes,  Britain  received  the  first 
name  it  ever  had,  Samotliea.  Albion,  and  his  brother 
Bergion,who  was  King  of  Ireland,  were  eventually  con- 
quered and  put  to  death  by  Hercules.  The  inventor 
of  this  history  appears  to  have  been  Annius  or  Nanni, 
a  Dominican  friar  of  Viterbo  in  Italy,  who  published 
it  about  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  ceuturj-,  in  a  forged 
work  which  he  atti-ibuted  to  Berosus,  a  priest  of  the 
Temple  of  Belus,  at  Babylon,  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus.     It  was  afterwards  taken  up  and  fur- 

comm,  in  Jerome  Commeliue's  Britannicarum  Rerum  Scriptores  Ve- 
tustiores  et  Prscipui,  fol.  Heidelb.  1587.  It  has  been  translated  into 
English  by  Aaron  Thompson,  8vo.  Lond.  1718.  An  analysis  of  the 
work  is  given  hy  Mr.  Geo.  Ellis,  in  his  Specimens  of  Early  English 
Metrical  Romances,  vol.  i.  sec.  3  The  Brut  of  Tysilio  is  printed  in 
the  second  volume  of  the  Welsh  Archaiology,  3  vols.  8vo.  1801  ;  and 
there  is  an  English  translation  of  it  by  the  Rev.  Peter  Roberts,  8vo. 
Lond.  1810.  On  the  dispute  relating  to  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  see 
Warton's  Dissertation  on  the  Origin  of  Romantic  Fiction  in  Europe, 
prefixed  to  his  History  of  English  Poetry,  8vo.  edit.  Lond.  1824,  vol.  i. 
pp.  viii.-iiv.,  and  the  Preface  of  the  editor  (the  late  Mr.  Price),  pp. 
97-99;  Turner's  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  4th  edit.  8vo.  Lond. 
1833,  vol.  i.  p.  62 ;  and  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  4to.  Lond.  1836, 
pp  iiii.-ixiii. 


ther   illustrated   by  the   celebrated   English  Bishop 
Bale. 

Another   ancient  account  respecting  the   original 
population  of  Britain,  is  that  preserved  in  the  Welsh 
poetical  histories  known  by  the  name  of  the  Triads,  in 
allusion  to  the  three  events  which  each  of  them  com- 
memorates.    "  Three  names,"  says  the  first  Triad, 
"  have  been  given  to  the  isle  of  Britain  since  the  be- 
ginning.    Before  it  was  inhabited,  it  was  called  Clas 
Merddin  (literally,  the  country  with  sea-clifl^s),  and 
afterwards,  Fel  Ynis  (the  Island  of  Honey).     When 
government  had  been  imposed  upon  it  by  Prydain, 
the  son  of  Aedd  the  Great,  it  was  called  Inys  Prydain 
(the  Island  of  Prydain) :  and  there  was  no  tribute  to 
anj-  but  to  the  race  of  the  Cymry,  because  they  first 
obtained  it ;  and  before  them  there  were  no  more  men 
alive  in  it,  nor  anything  else  but  bears,  wolves,  bea- 
vers,  and   the   oxen  with   the  high   prominence. "* 
The   Cymry,  or  ancestors   of  the   present  Welsh, 
therefore,  were,  according  to  this  authority,  the  first 
inhabitants  of  Britain.     Another  triad  (the  fourth  of 
the  same  series)  states  that   their  leader  was  Hu 
Cadarn,  that  is,  Hugh  the  sti-ong,  or  the  mighty,  by 
wliom  they  were  conducted  through  the  Hazy,  that 
is,  the  German  Ocean,  to  Britain,  and  to  Llydaw,  that 
is,  Armorica,  or  Bretagne.     It  is  added,  tliat  they 
came  originallj'  from  the  countiy  of  Summer,  which 
is  called  Defrobani,  where  Constantinople  is.     Some 
interpreters  have  been  inclined  to  go  so  far  for  De- 
frobani as  to  the  island  of  Ceylon,  one  of  the  ancient 
Hames  of  which  was  Tabrobane  ;-  and  we  shall  find  in 
the  sequel  that  there  is  another  theory,  as  Avell  as 
that  of  the  Welsh  triads,  which  connects  the  British 
islands  with  Ceylon.     Subsequent  ti'iads  inform  us, 
that  the  next  people  who  came  to  Britain  were  the 
Lloegrwys,  who  came  from  the  land  of  Gwasgwj-n, 
or  Gascony,  and  were  of  the  same  race  with  the 
Cymry ;  as  were  also  the  next  colonists,  the  Brjthon, 
from  the  land  of  Llydaw  (Bretagne).     These,  it  is 
added,  were  called  the  three  peaceful   nations,  be- 
cause  they  came   one  to  another  with   peace    and 
tranquillity;  they  also  all  spoke  the  same  language. 
From  the  Lloegr^V3•s,  a  gieat  part  of  England  re- 
ceived  the   name  of  Lloegi-ia.     Afterwards,    other 
nations  came  to  the  countrj'  with  more  or  less  vio- 
lence ;  according  to  the  enumeration  of  Mr.  Turner, 
"  the  Romans  ;   the  Gwyddyl  Fficti  (the  Picts),  to 
AJban  or  Scotland,  on  the  part  which  lies  nearest  to 
the  Baltic;  the  Celyddon  (Caledonians),  to  the  north 
parts  of  the  island  ;  the  G^Nyddjl,  to  other  parts  of 
Scotland ;  the  Corraniaid  from  PvNyll  (perhaps  Po- 
land), to  the  Humber ;  the  men  of  Galedin,  or  Flan- 
ders, to  Wyth  ;  the  Saxons ;  and  the  Llychlynians, 
or  Northmen."^     The  ti'iads,  from  facts  mentioned 
in  them,  appear  not  to  be  older  than  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.,^  although  they  may  have  been  founded 

1  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  i.  33.  The  series  which  this  triad  intro- 
duces, and  which  is  stated  to  be  one  of  the  most  complete  that  exists, 
has  lieen  printed  in  the  Original  Welsh,  in  the  second  volume  of  the 
Welsh  Archaiology. 

2  Sketch  of  the  Early  History  of  the  Cymry,  by  the  Rev.  Peter 
Roberts,  8vo.  1803,  pp.  150,  &c. 

3  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  i.  54. 

*  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  pp.  i.— xiv.  At  the  end  of  Mr.  Tur- 
ner's History  is  an  elaborate  Vindication  of  the  Genuineness  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


upon  the  fragments  of  earlier  compositions  ;  but  even 
if  tliey  were  of  much  gi-eater  antiquity,  they  could 
be  no  authority  for  anything  more  than  the  ti-adi- 
tionaiy  accounts  of  the  first  peopling  of  the  countiy. 

Of  the  theories  which  have  been  proposed  upon 
this  subject  by  modern  inquhers,  one  supposes  the 
first  colonizers,  both  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  to  have 
been  the  Phoenicians.  The  original  suggester  of 
this  notion  appears  to  have  been  Aylett  Sammes,  a 
writer  of  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. ^  It  has  been  recently  advocated,  with  con- 
siderable ingenuity,  by  Su-  William  Betham,  who, 
however,  is  of  opinion  that  the  Phoenicians  were 
preceded  in  the  occupation  of  both  islands  by  the 
Caledonians,  afterwards  called  the  Picts,  whom  he 
conceives  to  have  been  a  people  of  Scandinavian 
origin,  the  Cimbri  of  antiquitj^  The  Phoenicians  he 
considers  to  be  the  same  people  with  the  Gael,  or 
Celts. 2 

Notwithstanding  any  diversity  of  views,  however, 
which  may  exist  as  to  some  of  the  remoter  points 
of  the  investigation,  it  may  be  affirmed  to  be  now 
admitted  on  all  hands  that  the  numerous  population 
which  the  Romans  found  in  the  occupation  of  the 
southern  part  of  this  island,  about  half  a  centuiy 
before  the  commencement  of  oiu-  era,  was  principally 
a  Celtic  race,  and  had,  in  all  probability,  been  im- 
mediately derived  from  the  neighboring  country  of 
France,  then  known  by  the  name  of  Gallia.  Csesar, 
the  first  of  the  ancients  who  saw  the  people,  or  who 
has  described  them,  informs  us  that  their  buildings 
were  almost  similar  to  those  of  the  Gauls,  and  that 
their  religion  was  the  same ;  and  it  appears  also 
from  his  narrative,  that  a  close  political  alliance  ex- 
isted between  the  states  of  Britain  and  those  of  Gaul, 
and  that  the  latter  were  all  along  aided  by  the  former 
in  their  resistance  to  the  Romans.  The  proximity 
of  the  one  countiy  to  the  other,  indeed — the  British 
coast  being  visible  from  that  of  Gaul — would  almost 
alone  authorize  us  to  conclude  that  the  one  could  not 
long  remain  unoccupied,  after  the  other  had  been 
settled.  Tacitus,  who  had  the  best  opportunities  of 
information,  has  expressly  recorded  that,  in  addition 
to  an  identity  of  religious  rites,  the  languages  of  the 
^Gauls  and  Britons  were  nearly  the  same ;  and  evi- 
dence of  this  fact  remains  to  the  present  day,  in  the 
Celtic  character  of  the  topogi-aphical  nomenclature 
of  the  south,  as  well  as  of  the  other  parts  of  Britain, 
in  so  far  as  it  has  not  been  obliterated  by  the  Saxon 
conquest.  Bishop  Percj^  has  observed  that  in  Eng- 
land, "  although  the  names  of  the  towns  and  villages 
are  almost  universally  of  Anglo-Saxon  derivation,  yet 
the  hills,  forests,  rivers,  &c.,  have  generally  retained 
their  old  Celtic  names."* 

It  is  certainly  possible  that  the  country  may,  pre- 

Ancient  British  Poems,  vol.  iii.  pp.  493—646.  See,  also,  Mr.  Robert's 
Preface  to  the  Poems  of  Aneurin  ;  and  Mr.  E.  Davie's  Celtic  Research- 
es, 8vo.  1804,  pp.  152,  &c. 

1  See  his  Britannia  Antiqua  Illustrata,  or  the  Antiquities  of  Ancient 
Britain  derived  from  the  Phoenicians,  fol.  1676.  Wood,  in  his  Athense 
Oionienses,  asserts  that  the  true  author  of  this  work  was  Roliert  Ay- 
lett, LL.D.,  a  Master  in  Chancery,  who  was  the  uncle  of  Sammes, 
and  left  his  papers  to  his  nephew. 

2  The  Gael  and  Cymbri.  6vo.  Dub.  1834. 

3  Preface  to  translation  of  Mallet's  Northern  Antiquities,  i.  xxxix. 


viously  to  the  arrival  of  the  Gauls,  have  been  occu- 
pied by  a  people  of  different  origin,  who  on  that 
event  were  obliged  to  retire  to  the  northern  parts  of 
the  island,  where  they  became  the  progenitors  of 
the  Caledonians  ;  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  bring 
forward  any  satisfactory  proof  that  such  was  the 
case.  This  supposed  previous  race  has  not  left  be- 
hind it  either  any  traces  of  its  language,  or  any  other 
monuments  of  its  existence.  Notliing  remains,  either 
on  the  face  of  the  soil,  or  in  the  customs  of  the 
people,  which  would  suggest  the  notion  of  any  earlier 
colonization  than  that  from  Gaul.  Everything  of 
greatest  antiquity'  that  survives  among  us  is  Celtic. 

At  the  same  time  this  view  of  the  subject  is  not 
free  from  some  difficulties,  which  it  is  fair  to  state. 
Caesar,  in  the  first  place,  in  his  account,  makes  a 
marked  distinction  between  the  inhabitants  of  the 
coast  of  Britain  and  those  of  the  interior,  not  only 
describing  the  latter  as  much  more  i-ude  in  their 
manners,  and  altogether  less  advanced  in  civilization 
than  the  fomier,  but  also  expressly  declaring  them 
to  be,  according  to  the  common  belief  at  least,  of  a 
different  race.  He  says  that  the  tradition  was,  that 
they  originated  in  the  island  itself;  whereas  the 
inhabitants  of  the  maritime  parts  had  come  over 
from  Belgium,  and  seized  by  violence  upon  the  por- 
tion of  the  countiy  which  they  occupied.  This  state- 
ment may  be  considered,  at  least,  to  establish  the 
fact,  that  the  occupation  of  the  coast  by  the  Belgic 
invaders  was  a  much  more  recent  event  than  the 
colonization  from  which  the  people  of  the  interior 
had  sprung.  The  phraseologj-  of  the  account  tlu'ough- 
out  is  very  precise  in  regard  to  the  distinction  inti- 
mated to  exist  between  the  two  races.  For  instance, 
it  is  said  in  one  place  that  those  inhabiting  Kent 
were  by  far  the  most  civilized  portion  of  the  British 
population,  and  that  in  their  customs  or  general 
manner  of  life,  they  differed  but  little  from  the  Gauls, 
while  most  of  those  in  the  interior  sowed  no  corn, 
lived  only  upon  milk  and  flesh,  and  were  clothed  in 
skins  ;  and  then  the  Avinter  immediately  proceeds  to 
mention  some  other  peculiarities  as  common  to  all 
the  Britons.^  It  is  ti'ue  he  does  not  affirm  that 
different  languages  were  spoken  on  the  coast  and  in 
the  interior ;  but  it  so  happens,  that  on  the  subject 
of  language  he  says  nothing  whatever  in  his  account 
of  Britain.  He  informs  us,  however,  that  Kent  and 
the  maritime  portion  of  the  countrj'  generally  was 
inhabited  by  Belgians ;  and  he  had  already  stated  in 
other  parts  of  his  work,  first,  that  the  Belgae  diflered 
from  the  Gauls  or  Celts  both  in  language,  in  institu- 
tions, and  in  laws,-  and  secondly,  that  they  were  a 
people  for  the  most  part  of  German  descent,  who 
had  acquired  a  settlement  for  themselves  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rliine  by  expelling  the  Gauls,  by 
whom  the  district  was  previously  occupied.*  In  so 
far,  therefore,  as  the  testimony  of  Caesar  is  worth 
anything,  it  would  seem  to  imply  that  the  Britons 

1  De  Bell.  Gal.  v.  14.  Tacitus  also  (Ag^ic.  xi.)  appears  to  have  in 
his  immediate  view  only  the  inhabitants  of  those  parts  of  Britain  which 
are  nearest  to  France,  when  he  describes  them  as  resembling:  the  Gauls 
in  language,  religion,  iScc. 

2  De  Bell.  Gal.  i.  1.  ^  ibid.  ii.  4. 


8 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


whom  he  describes  were  a  German  or  Teutonic 
race,  not  a  Celtic.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  maritime  parts  were  the  only  por- 
tion of  the  people  of  Britain  whom  lie  liad  any 
oppoitiinity  of  seeing.  But  if  this  be  the  case,  what 
is  the  value  of  his  assimilation  of  the  Britons  to  the 
Gauls,  as  proving  the  Celtic  lineage  of  the  forjner  ? 

Notwithstanding  what  Ciesar  has  said  in  the  pas- 
sages we  have  just  quoted,  it  has  been  a  much  con- 
troverted question  to  which  of  the  two  great  races 
from  whom  the  population  of  the  principal  part  of 
Europe  appears  to  be  derived — the  Celts  or  the 
Germans — the  ancient  Belgae  are  to  be  considered 
as  belonging.  It  has  been  argued,  that  when  Caesai* 
describes  them  as  differing  in  language  from  the 
Celts,  he  must  in  all  probability  be  understood  as 
meaning  only  that  they  spoke  a  different  dialect  of 
the  same  language ;  and  that  that  expression,  there- 
fore, is  not  to  be  taken  as  any  evidence  that  they 
were  not  a  Celtic  people.'  It  must  be  admitted 
that  the  point  is  an  exceedingly  doubtful  one.  The 
distinction,  in  respect  both  of  language  and  of  lineage, 
between  the  Celtic  and  the  Teutonic,  Germanic,  or 
Gothic  races,  may  be  said  to  be  the  fundamental 
canon  of  the  modern  philosophy  of  the  origin  and 
connexion  of  nations  ;  but  it  is  not  yet  very  long  since 
its  importance  came  to  be  understood.  The  old 
writers  on  the  subject  of  the  Celts,  all  include  both 
the  Celtic  and  the  Gothic  races  under  that  name.- 
Attention  seems  to  have  been  first  called  to  the  dis- 
tinction in  question  by  our  countryman  John  Toland,^ 
and  it  was  afterwards  much  more  fully  unfolded  b}^ 
Bishop  Percy.*  The  most  elaborate  discussion, 
however,  the  subject  has  met  with,  is  that  which  it 
received  from  tlie  late  John  Pinkerton,^  in  all  whose 
historical  investigations  the  radical  distinction  between 
the  Celtic  and  the  Gothic  races,  and  the  inherent 
inferiority  of  the  former,  are  maintained  with  as 
much  zeal  and  vehemence,  as  if  the  writer  had  a 
personal  interest  in  the  establishment  of  the  point. 
The  coiTectness  of  the  new  views,  in  so  far  as  re- 
spects the  general  position  of  the  non-identity  of  the 
Celtic  and  Germanic  nations,  and  also  their  impor- 
tance to  the  elucidation  of  the  whole  subject  of  the 
original  population  of  Europe,  are  now  universally 

1  Whitaker's  Genuine  History  of  the  Britons,  1773  ;  Chalmer's  Ca- 
ledonia, 1807,  vol  i.  p.  16;  Pritchard's  Researches  into  the  Physical 
History  of  Mankind,  1826,  vol.  ii.  Stral)0,  it  is  to  be  observed,  ex- 
pressly describes  the  three  great  nations  of  Gaul,  the  Cellar,  the  Bel- 
gaj,  and  the  Aquitani,  as  only  differing  slightly  from  each  other  in  lan- 
guage.    Geogr.  lib.  tv. 

2  See  Ph.  Clavier's  Germania  Antiqua,  fol.  1689  ;  J.  G.  Keysler's 
Antiquitates  Selects  Septentrionales  et  Celticae,  8vo.  1720  ;  BorUse's 
Antiquities  of  the  County  of  Cornwall,  fol.  1754,  p.  22  ;  S.  Pelloutier's 
Histoire  des  Celtea  et  particulierement  des  Ganlois  et  des  Germains, 
4to.  1778,  &c.  To  these  may  be  added  so  recent  a  work  as  P.  II.  Lar- 
cher's  G^ographie  d'llerodote,  in  the  last  edition,  published  in  1801. 

3  See  his  Specimen  of  a  History  of  the  Druids,  written  in  1718,  and 
published  in  Posthumous  Pieces,  1726,  vol.  i.  A  new  edition  of  To- 
land's  History  of  the  Druids  appeared  in  1814,  in  an  octavo  volume,  at 
Montrcye,  edited  by  Mr.  R.  Huddleston,  schoolmaster  of  Lunan,  who 
has  introduced  it  by  a  modest  and  sensible  preface,  and  appended  to 
the  original  tent  a  large  body  of  notes  which  display  very  considerable 
ingenuity  and  learning. 

*  Preface  to  Mallet's  Northern  Antiquities,  2  vols.  8vo.  1770. 

s  Dissertation  on  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Scythians  or  Goths, 
8vo  1787,  and  appended  to  the  second  volume  of  his  Enquiry  into  the 
History  of  Scotland  preceding  the  Reign  of  Malcolm  III.,  1789. 


admitted  ;  but  perhaps  in  avoiding  the  eiTor  of  their 
predecessors,  there  has  been  a  tendency  on  the  part 
of  modern  writers  to  run  into  the  opposite  extreme, 
and  to  assume  a  more  complete  disconnexion  between 
everything  Celtic  and  everything  Gothic,  than  can  be 
reasonably  supposed  to  have  existed.  It  is  to  be 
recollected  that  both  the  Celts  and  the  Goths  appeal- 
to  have  come  to  the  west  of  Europe,  though  at  dif- 
ferent times  and  by  different  routes,  from  the  same 
quarter ;  both  races  are  undoubtedly  of  eastern  origin, 
and  are  admitted  by  all  physiologists  to  have  been 
branches  of  the  same  great  paternal  stem.  Both 
are  classed  as  belonging  to  the  same  Caucasic  or 
Japetic  family.  This  being  the  case,  the  distinction 
between  them,  when  they  eventually  found  them- 
selves planted  alongside  of  each  other  in  the  different 
countries  of  Europe,  could  hardly  have  been  so  com- 
plete in  all  respects  as  it  is  usually  considered.  Their 
languages,  for  instance,  notwithstanding  the  striking 
dissimilarity  both  in  vocabulary,  in  sti-ucture,  and  in 
genius,  which  they  seem  now  to  exhibit,  may  not 
have  been  by  any  means  so  unlike  each  other  two 
thousand  years  ago,  seeing  that,  according  to  all 
historic  probability,  they  must  have  both  sprung  from 
the  same  common  ancesti-al  tongue.  Refen-ing  to 
Schilter's  '  Thesaurus  Antiquitatum  Teutonicarum,' 
and  Wachter's  '  Glossarium  Germanicum,'  "  these 
vastly  learned  authors,"  obsei-ves  a  late  writer,  "  de- 
monstrate, without  intending  it,  that  the  Celtic  and 
Teutonic  languages  had  a  common  origin. "i  Both 
the  Celtic  and  the  Teutonic  have  been  shown  to  enter 
largely  into  the  composition  of  the  Greek  and  Latin ; 
and  it  has  been  lately  conclusively  proved  by  Dr. 
Pritchard,  by  a  minute  comparison  of  vocabularies 
and  grammatical  peculiarities,  that  the  Celtic  belongs 
to  the  same  gi-eat  family  of  Indo-European  languages 
Avith  the  Sanskrit,  the  Greek,  the  Latin,  and  the 
German.* 

Upon  the  whole,  therefore,  the  probability  seems 
to  be,  that  although  the  inhabitants  of  the  inland  part 
of  South  Britain,  at  the  time  of  the  Roman  invasion, 
were  the  posterity  of  a  much  earlier  colonization  than 
that  which  had  peopled  the  maritime  parts  of  the 
island,  yet  both  the  tribes  of  the  coast  and  those  of 
the  interior  were  of  the  same  Celtic  descent,  and  all 
spoke  dialects  of  the  same  Celtic  tongue.  We  find 
the  evidences  of  this  community  of  language  and  of 
lineage  spread  over  the  whole  length  of  the  country, 
from  its  northern  boundary  to  the  channel ;  for  the 
oldest  names  of  natural  objects  and  localities,  even  in 
the  portion  of  this  range  which  is  commonly  under- 
stood to  have  been  eventually  occupied  by  Belgic  col- 
onies, are  equally  Celtic  with  those  that  occur  else- 
where. This  circumstance  must  be  considered  as  a 
testimony,  in  regard  to  the  original  population  of  the 
countiy,  far  oursveighing  the  meagre  and  vague  notices 
handed  down  to  us  upon  the  subject  by  Caesar  and 
Tacitus ;  and  it  is  to  be  explained  only  by  supposing 
either  that  the  seats  of  the  Belgic  tribes  in  Britain 
had,  before  their  arrival,  been  in  the  possession  of  a 
Celtic  race,  or  that  the  Belgians,  notwithstanding  their 

'  Chalmer's  Caledonia,  i.  12. 

"  The  Eastern  Origin  of  the  Celtic  Nations,  Svo.  1831 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


German  descent,  had,  before  their  invasion  of  Britain, 
become,  by  their  long  residence  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Rhine,  more  a  Celtic  than  a  Teutonic  people.  If 
there  was  any  difference  of  language  between  them 
and  the  other  inhabitants  of  South  Britain,  it  could 
scarcely  have  amounted  to  more  than  a  difference 
of  dialect.  There  is  certainly,  at  least,  no  indication 
in  the  topographical  nomenclature  of  the  countiy,  that 
any  Teutonic  people,  before  the  arrival  of  the  Saxons 
in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  of  our  era,  had  ever 
occupied  those  parts  of  it  of  which  they  then  came 
into  possession.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  a  few  settle- 
ments may  have  been  effected,  in  very  early  times, 
on  the  west  coast  by  the  Spaniards,  and  on  the  east 
coast  by  emigi-ants  from  the  opposite  Scandinavian 
regions  ;  but,  with  these  exceptions,  there  appears  to 
be  little  reason  to  doubt  that  the  whole  of  what  is 
now  called  England  was  first  occupied  by  a  Celtic 
population,  which  came  over  in  successive  swarms 
from  the  neighboring  country  of  Gaul.  Some  specu- 
lators have  even  attempted  to  show  that  Britain  was 
originally  united  by  land  to  Gaul.'  At  any  rate,  it 
may  be  assumed  that  the  first  migi'ation  from  the 
one  to  the  other  took  place  at  a  very  early  period, 
most  probably  considerably  more  than  a  thousand 
years  before  the  commencement  of  our  era.  The 
Belgic  colonization  of  the  southern  coast  seems  to 
have  been  an  event  of  historic  memory — that  is  to 
say,  not  yet  ti-ansformed  into  the  shape  of  fable — in 
Caesar's  day  ;  and,  therefore,  we  may  suppose  it  to 
have  happened  within  two  or  three  centuries  pre- 
ceding that  date. 

The  name  Britannia,  by  which  our  island  was 
known  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  was  doubtless 
formed  from  the  name  in  use  among  the  natives 
themselves.  With  respect  to  its  origin  and  meaning 
many  conjectures  have  been  proposed,  a  long  list  of 
which  may  be  seen  in  Camden.  Geoffrey  of  Mon- 
mouth, of  course,  and  the  other  retailers  of  the  story 
of  Brutus  and  his  Trojans,  derive  it  from  the  name  of 
that  leader.  We  have  seen  from  one  of  the  Welsh 
triads  quoted  above,  that  it  is  deduced  by  those  au- 
thorities from  an  eai-ly  king  of  the  country — the  first, 
it  is  affirmed,  by  whom  a  regular  government  was 
established  in  it — Prydain,  the  son  of  Aedd  the  Great. 
These  fables  are  deserving  of  no  attention ;  and  equally 
worthless  and  palpably  absurd  are  most  of  the  other 
etymologies  which  have  been  suggested  by  the  labo- 
rious ingenuity  of  learned  word-torturers.  Among 
the  more  plausible  interpretations  may  be  mentioned 
that  of  Whitaker,  who  contends  that  Britin,  which 
he  conceives  to  be  the  origin  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
Britannia,  was  not  the  name  of  the  island  but  of  its 
inhabitants,  and  that  it  is  a  plural  word,  of  which  the 
singular  is  Brit,  signifying  divided  or  separated.  The 
Britin,  therefore,  he  translates  the  separated  people, 

1  See  this  position  learnedly  maintained  in  a  dissertation,  De  Bri- 
tannia quondam  pene  Insula,  prefixed  to  Musgrave's  Antiquitates  Eri- 
tanno-BelgicE,  3  vols.  8vo.  1789.  It  will  appear  presently  that  Mr. 
Whitaker,  in  his  Genuine  Origin  of  the  Britons  Asserted  (1773),  has, 
without  any  view  to  the  establishment  of  this  point,  suggested  that 
the  term  Britin  means,  properly,  the  separated  people,  or  the  emigrants, 
as  he  explains  it.  This  epithet  would  be  better  accounted  for  upon  the 
supposition  of  the  actual  separation  of  the  two  countries  by  the  inter- 
vention of  the  sea. 


or  the  emigi-ants  ;  and  he  supposes  that  name  to  have 
been  given  them  by  their  kindred  in  Gaul,  whom  they 
left  in  order  to  occupy  the  island.  This  account  of 
the  matter,  however,  we  believe,  has  not  gained  much 
acceptance  among  Celtic  scholars.  Yet  it  is  not  veiy 
distant  from  the  notion  of  Sir  William  Betham,  who 
conceives  the  term  Britannia  to  have  been  formed 
from  the  Celtic  Brit  daoine,  that  is,  painted  peoi)le — 
the  name,  he  says,  which  "  the  Phcenician  Gallic 
colony,"  on  their  anival,  bestowed  upon  the  wild  na- 
tives of  Scandinavian  extraction  whom  thej^  found  in 
possession  of  the  countiy.  Whitaker  adverts  to  the 
application  of  the  word  Brit  in  the  sense  of  painted  ; 
it  is  the  same  word,  he  obsei-ves,  with  BriJc  or  Bre- 
chan,  the  name  still  given  to  his  tartan  plaid  by  the 
Scotch  Highlander,  and  signifying  properly  a  garment 
marked  with  divided  or  variegated  colors.  The  an- 
onymous author,  also,  of  the  lately  published  volume 
entitled  "  Britannia  after  the  Romans,"  (the  work  of 
a  scholar  and  a  man  of  talent,  who  is  apt,  hoAvever. 
to  have  more  charity  for  his  own  crotchets  than  might 
be  expected  from  his  contempt  for  those  of  other 
people,)  strenuously  maintains  the  derivation  of  the 
name  Briton  from  a  Welsh,  and,  as  he  conceives,  old 
Bi'itish,  word  signifying  painted.  Pezron,  he  ob- 
serves, although  his  authority  is  of  no  weight,  has, 
nevertheless,  the  merit  of  surmising  this  trae  ety- 
mology. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  element  tan  in 
Britannia  is  the  same  word  which  we  find  forming  a 
part  of  so  many  other  names  of  countries,  both  ancient 
and  modern,  such  as  Mauri-tan-ia,  Aqui-tan-ia,  Lusi- 
tan-ia,  Kur-dis-tan,  Afghanis-tan,  Kuzis-tan,  Louris- 
tan,  Hindos-tan,  &c.  It  appears  to  signify  merely  a 
land  or  country,  though  it  is  not,  we  believe,  found  in 
that  sense  in  any  existing  dialect  of  the  Celtic,  and 
for  anything  that  is  known,  it  may  after  all  be  really 
Daoine,  people,  as  suggested  by  Sir  William  Betham. 
Bruit,  again,  is  the  Celtic  term  for  tin,  or  metal  gene- 
rallj^ ;  so  that  Bruit-tan,  or,  as  smoothed  down  by  the 
Gi-eeks  and  Romans,  Britannia,  signifies  altogether 
the  metal  or  tin  land — an  epithet  which  would  be  na- 
turally bestowed  upon  the  country,  from  the  circum- 
stance for  which  it  probably  first  became  known  to 
other  nations.  The  meaning  of  the  name  is  exactly 
the  same  with  that  of  the  Greek  Cassiterides,  by 
which  alone  the  British  islands  were  known  to  Hero- 
dotus. 

II.  If  the  traces  of  an  original  Celtic  population  are 
still  to  be  found  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  south 
of  Britain,  such  traces  are  much  more  abundant,  and 
more  distinctly  legible,  over  the  whole  of  Ireland. 
The  ancient  topographical  nomenclature  of  that 
country  is  exclusively  Celtic,  as  the  speech  of  a  large 
proportion  of  the  people  still  continues  to  be.  A  Cel- 
tic race,  therefore,  must  either  have  formed  the  origi- 
nal population  of  the  country,  or  must  have  become 
its  predominant  population  in  veiy  ancient  times. 
W^ience  was  this  race  derived  ? 

The  traditional  histoiy  preserved  among  the  Irish 
people  makes  the  island  to  have  been  possessed  by 
three  nations  in  succession — the  Firbolgs,  the  Tuath 
de  Danans,  and  the  Milesians,  or  Scots— the  last- 


10 


INTRODUCTORY  V^EAV  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


Round  Tower  of  Donoughmork.i 


mentioned  of  whom  it  represents  as  the  progenitors 
of  the  present  Celtic  population.  The  question  of 
who  these  races  were  has  given  occasion  to  endless 
controversy.  What  is  certain  is,  that  both  the  Fir- 
bolgs  and  the  Tuath  de  Danans  existed  in  the  countiy 
within  what  may  be  properly  called  the  historic 
period.  The  Firbolgs  are  generally  believed  to  have 
been  a  Belgic  colony  or  invading  band  ;  and  the  Tuath 
de  Danans  a  Scandinavian  people.  Another  theory, 
however,  makes  the  latter,  and  not  the  Milesians,  to 
be  the  Celtic  people,  from  whom  have  descended  the 
great  bulk  af  the  present  population  of  the  island. 

There  come  to  us  through  the  long  night  of  the 
past  many  strange  glimmerings  of  an  extraordinary 
civilization  existing  in  Ireland  in  a  very  remote  an- 
tiquitj%  and  of  a  wide-spread  renown  which  the  island 
had  once  enjoyed^  as  a  peculiarly-favored  seat  of  let- 
ters, the  arts,  and  religion.  That  during  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  period  which  we  are  accustomed 
to  call  the  dark  ages,  the  light  of  learning  and  philos- 
ophy continued  to  shine  in  Ireland  after  it  had  been 
extinguished  throughout  all  the  rest  of  Christendom, 
although  so  remarkable  a  circumstance  has  been  little 
noticed  by  most  of  the  historians  of  modern  Europe, 


must  be  regarded  as  a  fact  as  well  established  as  any 
other  belonging  to  that  period.  From  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  seventh  till  towards  the  close  of  the 
eighth  century,  Ireland,  under  the  name  of  Scotia, 
was  undoubtedly  the  recognized  centime  and  head  of 
European  scholarship  and  civilization.  This  is  abund- 
antly proved  by  the  testimony  of  contemporaiy  ^^Titers 
in  other  countries,  as  well  as  by  the  i-emaining  works 
of  the  early  theologians  and  philosophers  of  Christian 
Ireland  themselves.  But  long  before  this  Christian 
civilization,  there  would  seem  to  have  been  another 
period,  when  the  arts  existed  in  that  countiy  in  a  high 
state  of  advancement,  in  the  midst  of  surrounding 
barbarism.  If  there  were  no  other  evidences  of  this 
than  those  extiMordinary  erections,  the  Round  Tow- 
ers, which  are  still  found  standing  in  so  many  places, 
the  inference  would  not  be  easily  resisted.  The 
argument  derived  from  these  buildings  is  very  short 
and  direct.  We  have  evidence  which  cannot  be 
questioned,  not  only  of  their  existence  in  the  twelfth 
century,  but  of  their  great  antiquity  even  at  that 
date.  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  who  then  visited  Ire- 
land, describes  them  in  such  terms  as  show  that  the 
memorj'  of  their  origin  had  been  ah'eady  long  lost 


'  In  most  instances  the  cnt  of  a  particular  local  object  will  have  reference  to  its  existing  state,  except  when  otherwise  expressed. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


11 


among  the  people.  If,  as  has  been  supposed  by  some 
writers,  they  had  been  erected  by  the  Danes,  who 
occupied  a  part  of  the  island  two  or  three  centuries 
before,  this  could  not  have  been  the  case.  But  the 
notion  that  the  Danes  were  the  architects  of  the 
Round  Towers  of  Ireland  is  altogether  untenable  on 
other  giounds.  No  similar  sti'uctures  are  to  be  found, 
nor  any  trace  of  such  ever  having  existed,  either  in 
the  native  country  of  the  Danes,  or  in  any  other 
country  in  which  they  ever  obtained  a  settlement. 
Nay,  in  Ireland  itself,  it  is  curious  enough,  that  while 
Round  Towers  are  found  in  many  parts  of  the  coun- 
try where  the  Danes  never  were,  in  other  parts 
which  these  invaders  are  well  known  to  have  occu- 
pied, there  are  none.  Nor  can  these  Round  Towers 
■with  any  probability  be  looked  upon  as  Christian  mon- 
uments ;  there  are  no  such  buildings  in  any  other 
part  of  Christendom,  nor  anywhere,  indeed,  through- 
out the  western  world,  if  we  except  Scotland,  which, 
from  many  other  evidences,  appears  to  have  been  in 
part  colonized  from  Ireland.  We  are  forced  there- 
fore to  ascend  in  search  of  their  origin  beyond  the 
date  of  the  establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  latter 
country,  which  is  well  ascertained  to  have  taken  place 
in  the  early  part  of  the  fifth  century.  But  for  some 
centuries  at  least  preceding  that  date  there  is  certainly 
no  reason  to  believe  that  there  existed  in  Ireland  any 
such  superior  civilization  or  knowledge  of  the  arts  as 
would  account  for  the  erection  of  the  Round  Towers. 
On  the  contrary,  it  appears  probable,  from  all  the 
facts  that  can  be  collected,  and  all  the  contemporaiy 
notices  that  have  come  down  to  us,  that  at  the  time 
of  the  invasion,  and  during  the  occupation  of  Britain 
by  the  Romans,  the  Irish  were  in  much  the  same 
semi-barbarous  condition  with  the  Britons.  The 
primitive  civilization  of  Ireland,  therefore,  whether 
under  the  same,  or,  what  is  more  likely,  under  a  dif- 
ferent dominant  race,  must  be  sought  for  in  a  yet 
more  remote  antiquity.  The  only  structures  that 
have  been  any^vhere  found  similar  to  the  Irish  Round 
Towers  are  in  certain  countries  of  the  remote  east, 
and  especially  in  India  and  Persia.  This  would  seem 
to  indicate  a  connexion  between  these  countries  and 
Ireland,  the  probability  of  which,  it  has  been  attempted 
to  show,  is  coiToborated  by  many  other  coincidences 
of  language,  of  religion,  and  of  customs,  as  well  as  by 
the  voice  of  ti'adition,  and  the  light,  though  faint  and 
scattered,  which  is  thrown  upon  the  subject  by  the 
records  of  histoiy.  The  period  of  the  first  civilization 
of  Ireland  then  would,  under  this  view,  be  placed  in 
the  same  early  age  of  the  world  which  appears  to 
have  witnessed,  in  those  oriental  countries,  a  highly 
advanced  condition  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  as  well 
as  flourishing  instittitions  of  religious  and  civil  politj', 
which  have  also,  in  a  similar  manner,  decayed  and 
passed  away.  Nothing  can  be  more  certain  than  that 
the  first  period  of  human  civilization  is  at  any  rate 
much  more  ancient  than  the  oldest  written  histories 
we  now  possess.  The  civilization  of  Egyjit  was  on 
the  decline  when  Herodotus  vsTote  and  ti-aveled, 
nearly  tsventy-tliree  centuries  ago.  The  vast  archi- 
tectural monuments  of  that  countiy  were  of  venei*able 
antiquity,  even  when  his  eye  beheld  them.     The 


earliest  civilization  of  Phoenicia,  of  Persia,  and  of 
Hindostan,  was,  perhaps,  of  still  more  ancient  origin. 
We  know  that  the  navigating  nation  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians had,  long  before  tlie  time  of  Herodotus,  estab- 
lished flourishing  colonies,  not  only  in  the  north  of 
Africa,  but  also  on  the  opposite  coast  of  Spain.  Even 
the  foundation  of  Marseilles,  on  tlie  coast  of  France, 
by  a  Greek  colony,  has  not  been  stated  by  any  au- 
thority to  be  more  recent  than  six  hundred  years 
before  the  commencement  of  our  era,  and  there  are 
some  reasons  for  believing  a  town  to  have  been 
established  there  at  a  much  earlier  date.  There  is, 
therefore,  no  such  improbability  as  is  apt  to  strike 
persons,  not  conversant  with  such  investigations,  in 
the  supposition  that  Ireland  also  may  have  been  col- 
onized by  a  civilized  people  at  some  veiy  remote 
period.  It  seems,  indeed,  to  be  scarcely  possible 
otherwise  to  account  either  for  the  Round  Towers, 
or  for  the  other  relics  and  memorials  of  a  formerly 
advanced  state  of, the  arts  which  the  countiy  stiU 
contains — the  extensive  coal-works  and  other  mining 
excavations  which  appear  in  various  places,  and  the 
many  articles  of  ornamental  workmanship  in  gold  and 
silver  which  have  been  found  in  almost  everj'  pait  of 
the  island,  geneially  buried  deep  in  the  soil — all  un- 
questionably belonging  to  a  time  not  comprehended 
within  the  range  of  the  historic  period.^ 

It  is  remarkable,  and  may  be  taken  as  some  confir- 
mation of  the  evidence  afforded  by  circumstances  of 
another  kind  which  appear  to  indicate  a  connexion  in 
very  ancient  times  between  Ireland  and  the  east,  that 
nearly  all  the  knoAvledge  of  the  country  of  which  Ave 
find  any  traces  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers  seems 
to  have  been  derived  from  oriental  sources.  If  the 
Orphic  poem  on  the  voyage  of  the  ship  Argo  be  of  the 
age  to  which  it  has  been  assigned  by  some  of  the  ablest 
critics,  namely,  five  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ,  it  is  there  that  we  have  the  first  mention  of 
Ireland  by  its  Celtic  name.  The  wi-iter  speaks  of  an 
island  which  he  calls  lernis,  as  situated  somewhere  in 
the  Atlantic  ;  and,  from  various  passages  of  his  poem, 
he  is  believed  to  have  had  much  of  his  information 
from  the  Phoenicians.  He  makes  no  mention  of  Bri- 
tain. Herodotus,  a  century  later,  had  only  heard  of 
the  British  islands  bj'  the  descriptive  epithet  of  the 
Cassiterides,  or  Tin  Islands.  Even  Eratosthenes,  in 
the  third  centuiy  before  Chi'ist,  appears  not  to  have 
been  aware  of  the  existence  of  Ireland,  although  the 
island  is  mentioned  by  the  name  of  lerne,  in  a  work 
attributed  to  Aristotle,-  and  which  has  been  supposed 
to  be  at  least  of  the  age  of  that  philosopher,  who  floii- 

1  See  these  and  other  arguments  to  the  same  effect,  copiously  illus-  % 
trated,  though  applied  to  the  maintenance  of  somewhat  varying  hypo- 
theses, in  the  several  puhlirations  of  General  A'allancey  ;  Lord  Ross's 
Vindication  of  the  Will  of  the  Right  Honorable  Henry  Flood  ;  Dr. 
Villanueva's  Phcpnician  Ireland,  translated  by  the  late  Mr.  H.  O'Brien  ; 
Mr.  O'Brien's  highly  ingenious  and  learned,  though  occasionally  rather 
fanciful  work  on  the  Round  Towers  (2nd  edit.  8vo.  Loud.  18.14)  ;  Sir 
William  Betham's  Gael  and  Cymbri  (8vo.  Dublin,  1834)  ;  and  the  first 
volume  of  Mr.  Thomas  Moore's  History  of  Ireland  (12mo.  Lojid.  ]S^5) 
— a  work  not  more  distinguished  by  those  graces  of  conipo.«ilion  which 
were  to  have  been  expected  from  its  eminent  author,  than  by  extensive 
erudition  and  varied  and  laborious  resean-h. 

3  Xitpt  KotJiiOV.  The  writer  says  that  in  the  sea  beyond  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules  (the  Straits  of  Gibraltar)  are  two  large  islands,  called  the 
British  Islands,  Albion  and  leme. 


12 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


rished  in  the  fourth  centuiy  before  the  commencement 
of  our  era.  Polybius,  in  the  second  century  befoi-e 
Christ,  just  notices  Ireland.  On  the  other  hand, 
Ptolemy,  who  is  known  to  have  composed  his  work 
from  materials  collected  by  tlie  Tyrian  writer  Mari- 
nus,  gives  us,  in  his  Geogi-aphy,  a  more  full  and  accu- 
rate account  of  Ireland  than  of  Britain.  Another  very 
curious  notice  of  Ireland  is  that  which  has  been  pre- 
served in  the  Latin  geogi-aphical  poem  of  Festus  Avie- 
nus,  a  ^\^•iter  of  the  fourth  century,  but  who  tells  us 
expressly  that  he  drew  his  information  on  the  subject 
from  the  Punic  records.  Avienus  gives  us  the  only 
account  which  we  possess  of  the  voyage  made  by  the 
Carthaginian  navigator  Himilco  to  the  seas  north  of 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  at  the  same  time  that  Hanno, 
whose  Periplus  has  come  down  to  us,  set  out  in  the 
opposite  direction  from  the  same  straits.  These  voy- 
ages seem  to  have  been  undertaken  about  a  thousand 
years  before  our  era.  In  the  narrative  given  by  Avie- 
nus, which  is  a  veiy  slight  sketch,  the  islands  with 
which  the  Carthaginians  were  wont  to  trade  are 
designated  the  CEstrumnides,  by  which  name  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  meant  the  Scilly  Islands  ;i  and  two 
days'  sail  from  these  is  placed,  what  is  said  to  have  been 
called  by  the  ancients,  the  Sacred  Island,  and  to  be 
inhabited  by  the  nation  of  the  Hiberni.  The  island 
thus  described  there  can  be  no  doubt  is  Ireland.  Near 
either  to  the  CEsti-umnides  or  the  island  of  the  Hiberni 
(it  is  not  very  clear  which  is  intended),  is  said  to  ex- 
tend the  island  of  the  Albiones,  that  is,  Britain. 

The  existence  of  an  abode  of  science  and  the  arts, 
and  the  seat  probably  also  of  some  strange  and  myste- 
rious religion,  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  waters  of  the 
farthest  west,  and  withdrawn  from  all  the  rest  of  the 
civilized  world,  could  hardly  have  failed,  however  ob- 
scurely and  imperfectlj'  the  tale  might  have  been  ru- 
mored, to  make  a  powerful  impression  upon  the  fancy 
oflhe  imaginative  nations  of  antiquitj^  Some  specu- 
lators have  been  disposed  to  ti-ace  to  the  Ireland  of  the 
primeval  world,  not  only  the  legend  of  the  famous 
island  of  Atlantis  mentioned  by  Plato  and  other  writers, 
but  also  the  still  earlier  fables  of  the  Isle  of  Calypso, 
and  the  Hesperides,  and  the  Fortunate  Islands,  and 
the  Elysian  Fields  of  Homer  and  other  ancient  poets. 
"The  fact,"  observes  Mr.  Moore,-  "that  there  existed 
an  island  devoted  to  religious  rites  in  these  regions, 
has  been  intimated  by  almost  all  the  Greek  wi-iters 
who  have  treated  of  them  ;  and  the  position  in  every 
instance  assigned  to  it,  answers  perfectly  to  that  of 
Ireland.  By  Plutarch  it  is  stated  that  an  envoy  de- 
spatched by  the  Emperor  Claudius  to  explore  the 
British  Isles,  found,  on  an  island  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Britain,  an  order  of  magi  accounted  holy  by  the 
people  ;  and  in  another  work  of  the  same  WTiter,  some 
fabulous  wonders  are  related  of  an  island  lying  to  the 
west  of  Britain,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  a  holy 
race ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  a  connexion  between 
them  and  Carthage  is  indistinctly  intimated."  In  a 
passage  which  Stiabo  has  extracted  from  an  ancient 
geogi-apher,  it  is  expressly  stated  that  in  an  island  near 

I  See  a  curious  interpretation  of  this  name  in  Davies'  Celtic  Re- 
searches, p.  228. 

*  History  of  Ireland,  i.  13. 


Britain  sacrifices  were  offered  to  Ceres  and  Proser- 
pine, in  the  same  manner  as  at  Samothrace,  in  the 
Egean,  the  celebrated  isle  where  the  Phoenicians  had 
established  the  Cabiric  or  Guebre  worship,  that  is,  the 
adoration  of  the  sun  and  of  fire,  which  they  again  ap- 
pear to  have  received  from  the  Persians.  "  From  the 
words  of  the  geogi'apher  quoted  by  Strabo,"  continues 
Mr.  Moore,  "  combined  with  all  the  other  evidence 
adduced,  it  may  be  inferred  that  Ireland  had  become 
the  Samothrace,  as  it  were,  of  the  western  seas;  that 
thither  the  Cabiric  gods  had  been  wafted  by  the  early 
colonizers  of  that  region ;  and  that,  as  the  mariner 
used,  on  his  departure  from  the  Mediterranean,  to 
breathe  a  prayer  in  the  Sacred  Island  of  tlie  East,  so 
in  the  seas  beyond  the  Pillais,  he  found  another  Sa- 
cred Island,  where,  to  the  same  tutel.iry  deities  of  the 
deep,  his  vows  and  thanks  were  offered  on  his  safe 
arrival." 

But  the  most  curious  of  all  the  legends  presened 
by  the  classical  >vi"iters,  which  have  been  supposed 
to  allude  to  Ireland,  is  the  account  given  by  Diodorus 
Siculus  of  the  Island  of  the  Hyperboreans,  on  the 
authority,  as  he  says,  of  several  investigators  of 
antiquity,  and  es]iecially  of  Hecatteus,  an  author  who 
is  believed  to  have  flourished  in  the  sixth  century  be- 
fore our  era.  The  island,  in  the  first  place,  is  stated 
to  lie  in  the  ocean  over  against  Gaul,  and  under  the 
aretic  pole — a  position  agi'eeing  with  that  assigned  to 
Ireland  by  Strabo,  who  describes  it  as  situated  be- 
yond Britain,  and  as  scarce  habitable  for  cold.  It  is 
affirmed  to  be  as  large  as  Sicily,  which  is  a  suffi- 
ciently correct  estimate  of  the  size  of  Ireland.  The 
soil,  the  narrative  goes  on  to  say,  is  so  rich  and  fruit- 
ful, and  the  climate  so  temperate,  that  there  are  two 
crops  in  the  year.  Mention  is  then  made  of  a  fa- 
mous temple  of  round  form,  which  was  here  erected 
for  the  sei-vice  of  Apollo,  whom  the  inhabitants  wor- 
shiped above  all  other  gods,  his  mother  Latona  hav- 
ing been  born  in  the  island.  Here  seems  to  be  an 
evident  reference  to  the  Round  Towers,  and  the 
Cabiric  rehgion,  of  which  they  were  in  all  probability 
the  temples.  The  remainder  of  the  account  contains 
apparent  allusions  to  the  skill  of  the  inhabitants  in 
playing  on  the  harp,  and  to  their  knowledge  of  as- 
ti-onomy,  a  study  which  has  always  been  associated 
with  the  worship  of  the  sun.  Upon  the  supposition 
that  this  relation  refers  to  Ireland,  the  famous  Abaris, 
who  is  said  to  have  come  from  the  Hyperboreans  on 
an  embassy  to  Athens,  six  centuries  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  era,  and  of  whose  learn- 
ing and  accomplishments  so  many  wonderful  stories 
are  told  by  various  authors,  would  be  an  Irishman.^ 

These,  and  other  seeming  indications  of  an  oriental 
connexion  have  appeared  so  irresistible  to  many  of 
the  ablest  and  most  laborious  inquirers  into  the  an- 
tiquities of  Ireland,  that,  however  variously  they  may 

1  For  a  more  complete  examination  of  the  narrative  in  Diodorus  Si- 
culus, see  O'Brien's  Round  Towers,  chaps,  iv.  and  xxvii.  Toland,  how- 
ever, conceives  the  island  of  the  Hyperboreans  to  be  "  the  great  island 
of  Lewis  and  Harris,  with  its  appendages,  and  the  adjacent  island  of 
Skye"  in  the  Hebrides.  (History  of  the  Druids,  p.  155,  &c.)  Davies 
is  decidedly  of  opinion  that  it  was  Great  Britain.  (Celtic  Researches, 
lgl_]99,  and  Appendix,  549,  &C.)  There  is  a  curious  article  on  Aba- 
ris in  Bayle's  Dictionary. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


13 


have  chosen  to  shape  their  theories  in  regard  to  sub- 
ordinate details,  they  have  found  themselves  obliged 
to  assume  an  early  colonization  of  the  country  by 
some  people  of  the  east,  as  the  leading  principle  of 
their  investigations.  Whatever  question  there  may 
be,  however,  as  to  who  this  people  were,  it  is  agi-eed 
on  all  hands  that  they  were  a  people  speaking  the 
present  Irish  language.  The  popular  tradition,  which 
makes  the  Milesians  or  Scots  to  have  been  a  Scythian 
colony,  considers  them  nevertheless  to  be  Gael,  or 
Gauls.  Colonel  Vallancey,  who  in  his  latter  days 
adopted  the  hypothesis  that  the  original  Irish  people 
were  a  colony  of  Indo-Scythians,  and  denied  that 
they  were  either  Gauls  or  Celts,  maintained  at  the 
same  time  that  the  Irish  was  not  a  Gallic  or  Celtic 
tongue.  Mr.  O'Brien,  who  deduces  the  Irish  pop- 
ulation from  Persia,  makes  the  Irish  to  have  been 
the  ancient  language  of  that  country.^  Finally, 
Sir  William  Betham  and  others,  whose  system  is 
that  Ireland  was  colonized  by  the  Phoenicians,  con- 
tend that  the  ancient  Phoenician  or  Punic  language 
was  the  same  with  the  modern  Irish,  and  hold  them- 
selves to  be  able  to  make  out  that  point  from  the 
remains  of  it  which  we  yet  possess.  In  particular, 
they  supply,  by  the  aid  of  the  Irish  tongue,  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  celebrated  scene  in  Punic,  in  the 
"  Pcenulus"  of  Plautus,  which  has  at  least  a  very 
imjwsing  plausibility.-  "  The  complete  identity  of 
the  Phoenician  and  Irish  languages,"  observes  Sir 
William  Betham,  "  explains,  makes  palpable,  and 
elucidates,  not  only  the  history  and  geography  of 
Europe,  but  most  of  the  ancient  maritime  world,  and 
in  fact  removes  every  difficulty  to  the  acquirement 
of  connect  notions  of  the  events  of  the  earliest  times." 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  it  may  be  here  observed, 
that  the  Irish  is  a  Celtic  tongue,  and  essentially  the 
saiTie  with  that  which  was  anciently  spoken  by  the 
chief  part  of  the  population  both  of  Gaul  and  of  the 
south  of  Britain.  Colonel  Vallancey  and  others  who 
have  doubted  or  denied  this  identity  have  been 
misled  by  taking  it  for  gi'anted  that  the  ti'ue  rep- 
resentative of  the  Celtic  tongue  of  the  ancient  Brit- 
ons and  Gauls  is  the  modern  Welsh,  which,  as  we 
shall  presently  have  occasion  to  hotice  more  particu- 
larly, appears  really  to  be  a  different  language  al- 
together. 

It  may  also  be  remarked  that  there  does  not  appear 
to  be  any  uTcconcilable  discordance  between  the  two 
principal  modern  theories  on  the  subject  of  the  an- 
cient connexion  of  Ireland  with  the  East,  namely 
that  which  atti-ibutes  the  colonization  of  the  country 
to  the  Phoenicians,  and  that  which  deduces  the  peo- 
ple, together  with  their  language  and  their  religion, 
from  Persia.  It  is  far  from  improbable  that  the 
Phoenicians  were  originally  a  Persian  people.  The 
ancient  writers  generally  bear  testimony  to  the  fact 

'  The  identity  of  the  Celtic  people  and  the  Persians,  and  of  the 
Celtic  and  Persian  langTiages,  is  also  considered  by  Pelloutier  as  ad- 
mitting of  no  doubt.     See  his  Histoire  des  Celtes. 

2  This  interpretation  was  first  published  by  the  late  General  Vallan- 
cey, by  whom,  however,  it  appears  to  have  been  obtained,  though  that 
fact  was  not  acknowledged,  from  a  manuscript  of  an  Irish  scholar  of 
the  name  of  Neachtan.  It  is  given  in  the  most  complete  form  in  Sir 
W.  Belhara's  Gael  and  Cymbri,  pp.  ]  13-138. 


that  the  district  called  Phoenicia,  at  the  extremity  of 
the  Mediterranean,  was  not  then*  original  seat.  They 
seem  to  have  found  their  way  thither  from  some 
couutiy  farther  to  the  east  or  the  south-east.  He- 
rodotus makes  them  to  have  been  Chaldseans,  and 
Strabo  brings  them  from  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Persian  Gulf.  Their  religion,  as  has  been  already 
observed,  appears  to  have  been  the  same  Cabiric  or 
Guebre  worship  which  prevailed  among  the  ancient 
Persians. 

The  popular  ti'adition  brings  the  progenitors  of  the 
people  of  Ireland  immediately  from  Spain,  making 
that  country  one  of  the  principal  resting-places  of  the 
Gaelic  or  Milesian  race  in  their  progiess  from  the 
East.  This  view  also  would  sufficiently  harmonize 
with  the  supposition  that  Ireland  was  indebted  for  its 
earliest  civilization  and  its  language  to  the  Phoeni- 
cians, who  had  settlements  in  Spain,  and  are  ex- 
pressly stated  by  Strabo  and  other  ancient  ^^Titers 
to  have  canned  on  a  ti'ading  intercourse  from  very 
remote  times  with  the  British  Islands.  The  Irish 
traditional  history,  however,  it  is  to  be  obsei-ved, 
brings  the  Spanish  colonizers  of  the  countiy,  not  from 
Gades,  which  Sti-abo  speaks  of  as  the  place  from 
which  the  voyages  to  Britain  were  chiefly  made,  but 
from  Gallicia,  at  the  opposite  exti-emity  of  Spain. 
Particular  mention  is  made  of  a  lighthouse  which 
stood  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  port  now  called 
Corunna,  and  was  of  gi-eat  service  in  the  navigation 
between  that  coast  and  Ireland ;  and  a  remarkable 
coincidence  has  been  noticed  between  this  part  of 
the  tradition  and  an  account  given  by  .S^thicus,  the 
cosmogi-apher,  of  a  lofty  pharos,  or  lighthouse,  stand- 
ing formerly  on  the  sea-coast  of  Gallicia,  and,  as  his 
expressions  seem  to  imply,  serving  as  a  beacon  in 
the  direction  of  Britain.  WTiatever  may  be  thought, 
indeed,  of  the  share  that  either  the  Phoenicians  or 
some  other  eastern  people  may  have  had  in  coloniz- 
ing Ireland,  or  at  least  in  communicating  to  the  coun- 
try its  earliest  civilization  and  religion,  little  doubt  can 
be  entertained  that  the  gi-eat  body  of  the  Celtic  pro- 
genitors of  its  present  population  was  derived,  not,  as 
in  the  case  of  Britain,  from  Gaul,  but  from  Spain. 
Even  some  of  the  British  tribes,  as  we  have  already 
hinted,  were  probably  of  Spanish  extraction.  Taci- 
tus, as  has  been  observed  above,  conjectures  that  the 
Silures,  who  inhabited  the  south  of  Wales,  had  come 
from  Spain,  from  their  swarthy  countenances,  their 
curled  hair,  and  the  position  of  the  disti-ict  in  which 
they  dwelt,  facing  that  countiy.  Ireland,  from  its 
position,  in  hke  manner,  offered  the  most  inviting 
field  for  the  occupation  of  colonists  from  the  same 
quarter.  Many  of  the  names  of  the  ancient  Irish 
ti-ibes,  as  recorded  by  Ptolemy,  are  the  same  with 
those  of  tribes  forming  part  of  the  Spanish  popula- 
tion. "  So  irresistible,  indeed,"  observes  Mr.  Moore, 
"is  the  force  of  tradition  in  favor  of  a  Spanish  col- 
onization, that  every  new  propounder  of  an  hypothe- 
sis on  the  subject  is  forced  to  admit  this  event  as  part 
of  his  scheme.  Thus  Buchanan,  in  supposing  colo- 
nies to  have  passed  from  Gaul  to  Ireland,  contrives 
to  caiTy  them  first  to  the  west  of  Spain ;  and  the 
learned  Welsh  antiquary,   Lhuyd,  who  traces  the 


14 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


origin  of  the  Irish  to  two  distinct  sources,  admits  one 
of  those  primitive  sources  to  have  been  Spanisli.  In 
the  same  manner,  a  late  ^VTiter,'  who,  on  account  of 
the  remarkable  similarity  which  exists  betsveen  his 
countiy's  Round  Towers  and  the  Pillar-temples  of 
Mazanderan,  deduces  the  origin  of  the  Irish  nation 
from  the  banks  of  the  Caspian,  yields  so  far  to  the 
cun-ent  of  ancient  tradition,  as,  in  conducting  his  col- 
ony from  Iran  to  the  west,  to  give  it  Spain  for  a  rest- 
ing-place. Even  Innes,  one  of  the  most  acute  of 
those  wTiters  wlm  have  combated  the  Milesian  pre- 
tensions of  the  Irish,  yet  bows  to  the  universal  voice 
of  tradition  in  that  country,  which,  as  he  says,  pe- 
remptorily declares  in  favor  of  a  colonization  from 
Spain."  ^ 

At  the  same  time,  as  Mr.  Moore  has  elsewhere 
remarked,  there  are  sufficient  evidences  that  Gothic 
tribes  from  Germany  have  effected  settlements  in 
Ireland  as  well  as  the  Celts  from  Spain.  This  would 
be  proved  by  Ptolemy's  map  of  the  country  alone,  in 
which  there  are  several  tribes  set  down  whose  names 
clearly  indicate  them  to  have  been  of  Teutonic  origin. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe,  indeed,  as  we  shall 
liave  occasion  to  show  in  the  sequel,  that  the  most 
famous  of  all  the  Irish  ti-ibes,  the  Scots,  a  people 
who  seem  to  have  eventually  established  a  dominion 
over  all  the  other  races  in  the  island,  were  not  Celts, 
but  Germans  or  Goths.  Not^vithstanding  these  mix- 
tures, however,  the  mass  of  the  population  I'emained 
essentially  Celtic,  as  it  had  been  from  the  first ;  and 
so  thoroughly  was  the  Celtic  character  impressed 
upon  and  worked  into  the  whole  being  of  the  nation, 
that  it  speedily  fused  down,  and  assimilated  every- 
thing foreign  with  which  it  came  in  contact.  "  It  can- 
not but  be  regarded  as  a  remarkable  result,"  obsei-ves 
Mr.  Moore,  "  that  while,  as  the  evidence  adduced 
sti'ongly  testifies,  so  many  of  the  foreign  tribes  that  in 
turn  possessed  this  island  were  Gothic,  the  gi-eat  bulk 
of  the  nation  itself,  its  language,  character,  and  insti- 
tutions, should  have  remained  so  free  from  change, 
that  even  the  conquering  ti'ibes  themselves  should,  one 
after  another,  have  become  mingled  with  the  general 
mass,  leaving  only  in  those  few  Teutonic  words, 
which  are  found  mixed  up  with  the  native  Celtic,  any 
vestige  of  their  once  separate  existence.  The  fact 
evidently  is,  that,  long  before  the  period  when  these 
Scythic  invaders  first  began  to  arrive,  there  had  al- 
ready poured,  from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  into  the 
country  an  abundant  Celtic  population,  wliich,  though 
but  too  ready,  from  the  want  of  concert  and  coalition 
which  has  ever  characterized  that  race,  to  fall  a  weak 
and  easy  prey  to  successive  bands  of  adventurers,  was 
yet  too  numerous,  as  well  as  too  deeply  imbued  with 
another  sti-ong  Celtic  characteristic,  attachment  to 
old  habits  and  prejudices,  to  allow  even  conquerors 
to  innovate  materially  either  on  their  language  or 
their  usages."  ^ 

According  to  Sir  William  Betham,  the  proper 
Celtic  name  of  Ireland  is  not,  as  commonly  stated, 
Erin,  but  Eire,  of  which  Erin  is  the  genitive,  and 
which  is  pronounced  precisely  as  lar,  a  word  still  in 

1  Popular  History  of  Ireland,  by  Mr.  Wliitty,  Part  I. 

2  History  of  Ireland,  i.  !8.  3  ibid.  j.  Qg. 


common  use,  and  signifying  the  west,  the  end,  eveiy- 
thing  last,  beyond,  the  extremity.  So,  he  observes, 
we  find  by  the  Periplus  of  Hanno  that  the  last 
Phoenician  settlement  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa 
was  called  Cerne,  pronounced  Kerne,  or  Heme, 
being  the  same  word  with  Erin.  Strabo  also  tells  us 
that  the  promontory  forming  the  most  western  point 
on  the  coast  of  Spain  was  called  lerne.  lerne  and 
lernis  are  among  the  forms  wliich  the  Celtic  name 
of  Ireland  assumes  in  the  pages  of  the  Greek  and 
Romnn  authors.  The  same  original  has,  without 
doubt,  also  given  rise  to  the  forms  Juvernia  and  Hi- 
bernia,  and  to  the  common  Latin  names  for  the  peo- 
ple Hiberni  and  Hiberniones.  The  derivation  of  the 
Celtic  name  of  Ireland  from  a  word  signifying  the 
extremity,  or  the  remotest  point,  is  as  old  as  the 
time  of  Camden. 

It  is  an  important  part,  however,  we  ought  to  note, 
of  Mr.  O'Brien's  theory,  that  this  name  is  nearly  the 
same  word  with  Iran,  the  old  and  still  the  native  name 
of  Persia.  Iran,  he  says,  means  the  Sacred  Land, 
and  Irin  the  Sacred  Island.  In  support  of  this  ex- 
planation he  quotes  a  statement  by  Sir  John  Mal- 
colm, to  the  effect  that  he  had  been  told  by  a  learned 
Persian  that  Eir  or  Eer  signified  in  the  Pahlavi,  or 
court  dialect  of  Persia,  a  believer,  and  that  that  was 
the  root  of  the  name  of  the  country.  The  uniform 
spelling  of  Erin,  or  Irin,  in  the  oldest  manuscripts, 
according  to  Mr.  O'Brien,  is  Eirin.i 

III.  The  most  ancient  name  by  which  the  northern 
part  of  Britain  was  known,  appears  to  have  been  Cale- 
donia. We  have  no  evidence,  however,  that  this  name 
was  in  use  among  the  inhabitants  of  tlie  countiy  them- 
selves. It  seems  to  have  been  that  Avhich  was  em- 
ployed to  designate  them  by  the  southern  Britons, 
from  whom  no  doubt  the  Romans  learned  it.  Caoill 
signifies  wood  in  Celtic,  as  naluv,  Jcalon  (which  ap- 
pears to  be  the  same  word),  does  in  Greek ;  and  the 
Caledonii  of  the  Roman  Avi'iters  has  been  supposed, 
with  much  probability,  to  be  merely  a  classical  trans- 
formation of  Caoill  daoin,  literally,  the  people  of  the 
woods,  or  the  wnld  people.  The  meaning  of  the  terra, 
indeed,  is  exactlj"  expressed  by  the  modern  word  sav- 
ages, in  French  sauvages,  in  Italian  selvaggie,  the 
original  of  which  is  the  Latin  silva,  a  wood. 

If  it  could  be  shown  that  the  northern  Britons  of 
the  time  of  the  Romans  called  themselves  Caledoni- 
ans, or  Caoill  daoin,  this  circumstance  would  aflford 
some  evidence  that  they  were  a  Celtic  people.  But 
the  name  in  itself,  if  the  commonly  received  interpre- 
tation of  it  be  correct,  does  not  appear  to  be  one  which 
a  people  would  be  very  likely  to  adopt  as  their  national 
appellation.  Notwithstanding  this  probably  Celtic 
name,  therefore,  by  which  they  were  known  to  the 
Romans  and  to  the  southern  Britons,  the  Caledonians 
may  not  have  been  a  Celtic  race. 

As  tlie  south  of  Britain  was  in  all  probability  chiefly 
peopled  from  Gaul,  and  Ireland  chiefly  from  Spain, 
so  it  has  been  conjectured  that  the  main  source  of  the 
original  population  of  North  Britain  was  in  like  man- 
ner the  part  of  the  continent  immediately  opposite  to 
it,  namely,  the  noi-th  of  what  was  then  called  Gei-- 

'  The  Round  Towers,  chap.  ix. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


15 


many,  including  modern  Holland  and  Denmark,  and 
also  Nonvay  and  Sweden,  or  the  region  anciently 
comprehended  under  the  general  name  of  Scandina- 
via. Tacitus,  as  already  noticed,  expressly  tells  us 
that  the  red  hair  and  big  bones  of  the  Caledonians 
asserted  their  German  origin.  If  this  view  be  cor- 
rect, the  earliest  occupants  of  the  North  of  Britain 
were  a  people  not  of  Celtic,  but  of  Teutonic  race. 

In  the  later  days  of  the  Roman  domination  the 
name  Caledonians  appears  to  have  gi-adually  fallen 
into  disuse,  and  in  their  stead  the  Picts  appear  on  the 
scene.  Everything  connected  with  the  Picts — then- 
name,  their  language,  their  origin,  their  final  histoiy 
— has  been  made  the  subject  of  long  and  eager  con- 
b'oversy.  But  it  may  now  be  said  to  be  agi'eed  on  all 
hands  that,  whether  we  are  to  consider  them  as  hav- 
ing been  Gothic  or  Celtic,  the  Picts  were  really  of  the 
same  stock  with  the  Caledonians. 

The  Picts  are  mentioned  for  the  first  time  about 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  by  Eumenius, 
the  author  of  a  Panegyric  on  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tine,  who  speaks  of  the  Caledonians  as  being  a  tribe  of 
Picts  :  Caledones  aliique  Picti — the  Caledonians  and 
the  other  Picts — is  his  expression.  About  a  cen- 
tury later  Ammianus  Marcellinus  describes  the  Picts 
as  divided  into  two  nations,  the  Dicaledones,  or,  ac- 
cording to  another  reading,  Deucaledones,  and  the 
Vecturiones.  Upon  this  passage,  a  late  wi'iter,  who 
holds  that  both  the  Caledonians  and  the  Picts  were 
Celts,  observes — "  The  term  Deucaledones  is  attend- 
ed with  no  difficulty.  Duchaoilldaoin  signifies,  in  the 
Gaelic  language,  the  real  or  genuine  inhabitants  of 
the  woods.  Du,  pronounced  short,  signifies  black ; 
but  pronounced  long,  signifies  real,  genuine ;  and  in 
this  acceptation  the  word  is  in  common  use ;  Du 
Erinnach,  a  genuine  Irishman;  Du  Albinnach,  a 
getiuine  Scotsman.  The  appellation  of  Deucaledones 
served  to  distinguish  the  inhabitants  of  the  woody 
valleys  of  Albinn,  or  Scotland,  from  those  of  the  clear- 
ed country  on  tlie  east  coast  of  Albinn,  along  its  whole 
extent,  to  certain  distances  westward  along  its  moun- 
tains in  the  interior  parts  of  the  countiy.  These  last 
were  denominated,  according  to  Latin  pronunciation, 
Vecturiones  ;  but  in  the  mouths  of  the  Gael,  or  native 
inhabitants,  the  appellation  was  pronounced  Uachta- 
rich,^^^  We  do  not  find,  however,  that  any  explana- 
tion of  this  last  term  is  attempted  further  than  the  fol- 
lowing : — "  That  a  portion  of  the  countiy  was  knoAvn 
in  ancient  times  by  the  name  of-  Uachtar,  is  evinced 
by  the  well-known  range  of  hills  called  Druim-Uach- 
tar,  from  which  the  country  descends  in  every  direc- 
tion towards  the  inhabited  regions  on  all  sides  of  that 
mountainous  range."  -  Sir  William  Betham,  also, 
explaining  the  names  recorded  by  Marcellinus  from 
the  Welsh,  will  have  the  Dicaledones  to  mean  the 
separated  Caledonians ;  di,  he  says,  in  that  language, 
having  the  same  disjunctive  effect  with  the  particle 
dis  in  English;  while  he  considers  Vecturiones  to 
come  from  the  two  words  Uc,  chief,  and  Deyrn,  lord, 
and  to  signify  a  superior  reahn,  or  the  chief  district, 

1  Thovights  on  the  Origin  and  Besoent  of  the  Gael.  By  James 
Grant,  Esq.,  of  Corrimony.    8vo.  Lond.  1828,  p.  376. 

2  Ibid.  p.  277. 


the  residence  of  the  Ucdeyrn,  or  sovereign  prince. 
Pinkerton  considers  the  Latin  Vecturiones  to  be  a 
corruption  of  Peohtar  or  Pehtar,  which  is  the  form 
in  which  the  name  Picts  was  anciently  vsTitten.' 
Chalmers,  also,  derives  the  Latin  appellation  from 
the  old  name  of  the  Picts,  which  he  conceives  to  have 
been  Peithi,  or  Peithwyi-,  a  word  that  in  Welsh  is 
said  to  signify  those  that  are  out  or  exposed,  the  peo- 
ple of  the  open  country."  In  Scotland  the  name  is 
still  pronounced  Pechts,  or  Pechs,  with  a  strong 
enunciation  of  the  guttural.  After  all,  the  name 
Picti  may  not  improbably  be  merely  the  common 
Latin  term  signifying  painted,  bestowed  upon  the 
northern  barbarians,  from  their  custom  of  dyeing  or 
tattooing  their  bodies,  for  the  existence  of  which  there 
is  abundant  evidence.  The  Latin  wi'iters  themselves 
seem  to  have  generally  understood  the  name  in  this 
sense. 

With  regard  to  the  language  of  the  Picts,  Bede, 
wi-iting  while  that  name  was  still  their  recognized 
national  designation,  distinctly  informs  us  that  it  was 
different  from  that  of  the  Britons.  He  has  also  pre- 
served one  Pictish  word,  and  that  does  not  belong  to 
the  Gaelic  either  of  Ireland  or  Scotland.-  So,  when 
the  Irish  saint,  Columba,  in  the  sixth  century,  went 
to  the  court  of  the  Pictish  king,  for  the  purpose  of 
converting  that  prince  and  his  subjects  to  Christianity, 
it  is  expressly  recorded  by  his  biogi-apher,  Adomnan, 
in  more  than  one  passage,  that  he  employed  an  inter- 
preter. But  the  strongest  proof  of  all  is  derived  from 
the  old  names  of  places,  which,  throughout  the  whole 
of  that  part  of  Scotland  formerly  constituting  the  king- 
dom of  the  Picts,  are  not  Irish  or  Gaelic,  but  belong 
to  another  language.  The  same  is  also  the  case  with 
the  names  of  the  Picti-sh  kings,  several  lists  of  which 
have  been  preserved.  The  people  therefore  that 
originally  occupied  the  territory  in  question  would 
appear  not  to  have  been  a  Celtic  race. 

The  kingdom  of  the  Picts,  which  subsisted  under 
that  designation  in  an  independent  state,  till  the  mid- 
dle of  the  ninth  century,  extended,  as  is  well  known, 
along  the  east  coast  of  Scotland,  from  the  Firth  of 
Forth  northwards.  As  for  the  countiy  to  the  south 
of  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde,  it  did  not  properly  be- 
long to  ancient  Scotland  at  all.  But  while  the  Picts 
thus  occupied  the  lowland  country,  the  hilly  country 
to  the  west  was  undoubtedly  in  the  possession  of  a 
people  of  genuine  Celtic  lineage,  the  progenitors  of 
the  present  Scottish  Highlanders.  Of  those  writers 
who  consider  the  Caledonians  to  have  been  Celts, 
several  hold  that  the  modern  Highlanders  are  tlie 
descendants  of  those  earliest  occupants  of  Nortli 
Britain.  This,  for  instance,  is  the  view  propounded 
by  jMr.  James  jNIacpherson  in  the  inti'oduction  pre- 
fixed to  his  celebrated  translation  of  the  Poems  of 
Ossian  (1762),  and  also  by  his  relation.  Dr.  James 
Macpherson,  in  his  Dissertations  on  the  Caledonians, 
&c.,  which  the  translator  of  Ossian  edited  (1768). 
Yet  both  these  writers  contend  that  the  Picts  also 
were  the  descendants  of  the  same  Caledonians  ;  or, 

1  Inquiry  into  the  History  of  Scotland  preceding-  the  reign  of  Mal- 
colm III. 

=  Caledonia,  i.  203. 


16 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


in  other  ■words,  that  the  Highlanders  and  the  Low- 
landers  were  really  the  same  people — a  fact  which 
would  make  it  extremely  difFicult  to  account  for  the 
complete  distinction  between  the  two,  which  we  find 
preserved  in  all  the  historical  notices  that  liave  come 
down  to  us  respecting  them.  The  Scottish  High- 
landers consider  themselves  to  be  of  Irish  descent,  as 
Dr.  James  Macpherson  admits.  In  these  respects 
their  own  ti-aditions  perfectlj'  agree  with  the  uniform 
voice  of  the  traditional  history  of  Ireland.  It  may 
now  indeed  be  said  to  be  admitted  on  all  hands  that 
the  Scottish  Highlanders  are  the  descendants  of  a 
band  of  Irish  who  settled  in  Argjieshire  about  tlie 
middle  of  the  third  centiuy,  under  a  leader  named 
Carbry  Riada,  the  lord  of  a  territory  in  Antiim,  named 
after  himself,  Dalriada.  The  descendants  of  these 
Irisli  colonists,  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, founded  in  that  district  of  Scotland  what  was 
long  called  the  Dalriadic  kingdom,  or  kingdom  of  the 
Dab-eudini,  and  which  eventually,  on  the  seizure  of 
the  Pictish  throne,  by  Kenneth  Macalpine,  in  the 
year  843,  became  the  kingdom  of  all  Scotland.  This 
is  the  view  concuiTed  in  by  Innes,  O'Connor,  Chal- 
mers, and  all  the  ablest  modern  inquirers. 

Indeed,  until  the  appearance  of  the  publications  of 
the  Macphersons,  the  Irish  origin  of  the  Scottish 
Highlanders  does  not  appear  ever  to  have  been  doubt- 
ed or  called  in  question,  either  among  themselves  or 
by  others.  Their  own  name  for  their  language  is 
Erse  or  Ersh,  that  is,  Irish.  They  designate  them- 
selves Gael,  and  they  call  the  Irish  by  the  same  name 
at  this  day. 

Of  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  term  Gael,  it  does 
not  appear  possible  to  give  any  satisfactory  account. 
The  Irish  tiadition  is  that  the  name  is  derived  from 
Gaodhal  (pronounced  Gael),  gi-andson  of  Feine  Farsa, 
the  first  gi'eat  leader  of  the  colony,  variously  desig- 
nated Milesian,  Scotic,  Gaelic,  and  Phoenician,  from 
which  the  Celtic  population  of  Ireland  is  sjn'ung.  It 
has  been  supposed  by  some  that  the  word  Gael,  or 
Galli,  is  really  the  same  with  Celts  (pronounced 
Keltae),  as  well  as  with  Galatse,  the  name  given  to  the 
mhabitants  of  Galatia,  or  Gallo-Graecia,  in  Asia  Minor. 
Sir  William  Betham  conceives  that  the  Phoenicians, 
long  before  the  Christian  era,  called  themselves  Gael 
and  Gaeltach,  from  the  latter  of  which  names  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  formed  their  Keltoi  and  Celtae. 
Others,  however,  think  Celtee  to  be  a  corruption  of 
Caoildch,  which  signifies  a  woodland  people,  from 
Caoill,  wood,  already  mentioned.  The  commonly 
received  classical  derivation  of  the  name  Celts  is  from 
the  old  Greek  word,  used  by  Homer,  Kf;ij?f,  Keles 
(originally  iiTc^e^s),  a  horse,  the  Celts  being,  it  is  said, 
every^vhere  distinguished  for  their  skill  in  horseman- 
ship. Perhaps  the  word  ought  rather  to  be  deduced 
at  once  from  the  verb  KeUu,  Kello,  to  move  about, 
from  which  Ke/rjc  is  itself  considered  a  derivative. 
The  wandering  character  of  the  race  would  go  to 
vindicate  this  etjmology ;  but  we  do  not  know  that 
there  is  any  Celtic  word  con-esponding  in  sound  and 
sense  to  the  Greek  Ke/2u.  Caesar  tells  us  that  the 
people  of  ancient  France,  whom  the  Romans  called 
Galli,  were  called  Celts  in  their  own  language  ;  and 


Pausanias  also  testifies  that  the  ancient  name  of  the 
Gauls  was  Celts.  Herodotus,  who  mentions  the 
Celts,  is  silent  as  to  the  Gauls. 

The  words  (iael  and  Galli  have  also  been  by  some 
supposed  to  be  identical  with  the  modern  names 
Waldenses  or  Walloons,  and  Waelsh  or  Welsh. 
Nothing  certainly  is  more  common  than  the  conver- 
sion of  the  sound  g  into  w  or  giv,  and  therefore  the 
name  Waelsh,  by  which  the  Saxons  were  latterly 
wont  to  designate  the  alien  race  who  occupied  the 
western  corner  of  South  Britain,  might  possibly  be 
merely  a  corruption  of  Gael.  At  the  same  time,  as 
the  Welsh  never  have  called  themselves  Gael,  it 
would  be  somewhat  difficult  to  account  for  the  Saxons 
bestowing  upon  them  that  name,  if  it  was  thereby 
intended  to  identify  them  with  the  Gael  of  Ireland 
and  of  Scotland.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
word  Welsh  is  the  same  with  the  modern  German 
Waelsch,  which  is  still  applied  in  that  language  to 
designate  generally  all  strangers  or  foreign  nations. 
The  Italians,  in  particular,  are  called  fit  this  day, 
AVaelsch  or  Welsch  by  the  Germans,  their  language 
the  Welsh  tongue,  and  their  country  Welsh-land. 
Precisely  in  the  same  way  our  German  ancestors,  the 
Saxons,  called  the  race  of  distinct  blood  and  language 
who  occupied  the  west  of  England  Welsh,  and  the 
disti-ict  they  inhabited  Wales. 

What  original  connexion  there  may  have  been 
between  the  two  words  Gael  and  Waelsh  (or  Wael, 
as  it  may  perhaps  have  been  in  its  simplest  form), 
when  the  Celtic  and  Teutonic  tongues  were  less 
widely  divided  than  they  eventually  came  to  be,  we 
shall  not  take  upon  us  to  conjecture.  If  any  relation- 
ship could  be  established,  it  might  perhaps  help  us  to 
the  true  meaning  of  the  name  Gael.  It  is  worth 
remarking  that  there  appears  to  be  another  genaine 
Celtic  word,  which,  fi-om  llie  similarity  of  its  sound, 
is  apt  to  be  confounded  with  the  word  (Jael,  Dut  to 
which  is  atti-ibuted  exactly  the  signification  of  the 
German  Waelsch.  This  fact  is  obscurely  noticed  by 
Buchanan,  who  states  that  the  ancient  Scots  divided 
all  the  nations  of  Britain  into  Gaol  and  Galle,  which 
names  he  translates  by  the  Latin  Galli  and  Gallaeci. 
But  the  matter  is  more  clearly  explained  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage  from  a  modern  work  : — "  Gaoll,  in  the 
Gaelic  language,  signifies  a  stranger.  All  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  whose  native  lan- 
guage is  not  Gaelic,  are  by  the  Gael  called  Gaoill ; 
Gaoll,  nom.  singular ;  Gaoill,  nom.  plural,  that  is, 
strangers  ;  so  GaoUdock  is  the  countiy  of  the  Scots 
who  speak  English,  as  Gaeldoch  is  the  country  of  the 
Highlanders  who  speak  Gaelic.  Caithness,  that  part 
of  the  northern  extremity  of  Scotland  which  has  been 
for  many  centuries  inhabited  by  Anglo-Saxon  colo- 
nies, is  called  by  the  Gael,  Gaollthao,  the  quarter  of 
strangers  ;  and,  for  the  same  reason,  the  Hebrides, 
after  their  conquest  by  the  Danes,  got  the  name  of 
Insegaoll,  which  signifies  the  islands  inhabited  by 
strangers.  Circumstances  of  a  like  nature  gave  the 
names  of  Galloway  and  Galway  to  the  districts  of 
countiy  known  by  these  appellations  in  Scotland  and 
Ireland."^     The  author  of  "  Britannia  after  the  Ro- 

1  Grant's  Origin  of  the  Gael,  p.  154. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


17 


mans''  conceives  tliat  Wal  and  Gaul  are  the  same 
word,  and  is  convinced  "  that  the  words  Wal,  Wealli, 
Welsch,  and  Walsch  were  all  primarily  applied  to 
that  extensive  family  of  ti-ibes  which  we  distinguish 
from  the  Teutonic  towards  the  west,  and  that  when- 
ever it  obtained  the  general  force  of  stranger  or  for- 
eigner, it  had  been  among  such  tribes  of  Teutons  as 
had  then  little  collision  with  any  other  description  of 
foreigners."  ^  But  how  will  this  theory  account  for 
the  Gael  themselves  calling  foreigners  Gaoll  / 

But  all  this  while  who  and  whence  were  the  Scots  ? 
and  from  whom  has  North  Britain  received  the  name 
of  Scotland  ?  In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  obseiTed, 
that  down  to  the  eleventh  or  twelfth  century  the 
name  Scotia  was  appropriated  not  to  what  is  now 
called  Scotland,  but  to  Ireland,  and  by  the  Scots  was 
meant  the  Irish,  or  at  least  a  people  dwelling  in  that 
countiy.  This  is  now  universally  admitted.  The 
Scots  are  first  mentioned  by  Ammianus  Marcellinus 
under  the  year  360,  as  fighting  in  alliance  with  the 
Picts.  If  these  Scots  were  a  British  people,  they 
must  be  supposed  to  have  been  a  portion  of  that  band 
of  colonists  fiom  Ireland,  who,  as  aheady  mentioned, 
had  a  short  time  before  this  obtained  a  settlement  in 
Argyleshire.  But  it  is  far  from  being  certain  that  the 
Scots  spoken  of  by  Marcelhnus,  and  whom,  on  another 
occasion,  he  describes  as  per  diver sa  vagantes — vag- 
abondizing fi-om  one  place  to  another,  as  the  words 
may  be  tianslated — were  not  native  Irish  who  had 
come  over  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  the  predatoiy 
expeditions  in  which  they  are  represented  as  having 
been  engaged.  We  find,  at  any  rate,  that  the  ti-ibes 
of  the  north  of  Britain  were  sometimes  joined  in  their 
attacks  upon  the  Roman  province  by  bands  of  Scots, 
who  are  expressly  stated  to  have  come  from  Ireland. 
Thus,  the  poet  Claudian,  describing  the  chastisement 
inflicted  by  Theodosius,  in  the  year  368,  upon  the 
Saxons,  Picts,  and  Scots,  says  that  of  the  last-men- 
tioned people  icy  Ireland  (glacialis  lerne)  wept  the 
heaps  that  were  slaughtered.  We  have  seen  above 
that  the  notion  of  Ireland  commonly  entertained 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  was  that  the  island 
was  situated  very  far  to  the  north,  which  accounts 
for  the  epithet  here  made  use  of.  Another  expres- 
sion in  the  poem,  proceeding  from  the  same  miscon- 
ception, occurs  in  the  passage  in  which  it  is  affirmed 
that  Theodosius,  in  pursuing  the  flying  Scots,  broke 
with  his  daring  oars  the  Hyperborean  waves.  This 
may  remind  us  of  the  island  of  the  Hyperboreans, 
commemorated  by  Diodorus  Siculus.  In  like  man- 
ner, in  another  poem,  in  which  he  celebrates  the 
exploits  of  Stilicho,. about  thirty  years  later,  on  the 
same  scene  of  war,  he  makes  Britannia  exclaim, 
"  By  him  was  I  protected" — 

"  totam  cum  Scutus  lemen 
Movit,  et  infesto  spumavit  remise  Tethys" — 

that  is,  as  it  has  been  ti'anslated  by  Dr.  Kennet  in 
(iibson's  Camden, 

"  When  Scots  came  thundering-  from  the  Irish  shores, 
And  the  ocean  trembled,  struck  with  hostile  oars." 

It  may  be  considered,  then,  not  to  admit  of  any 
dispute,  that  the  Scots  were  originally  an  Irish  peo- 

i  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  p.  Ixxviii. 
vol..   T-    ■? 


pie.  "It  is  certain,"  observes  Camden,  "that  the 
Scots  went  fiom  Ireland  into  Britain.  Orosiiis,  Bede, 
and  Eginliard  bear  indisputable  testimony  that  Ire- 
land was  inhabited  by  the  Scots."  Bede,  indeed, 
who  yet  had  never  heard  of  North  Britain  being 
called  Scotland,  expressly  informs  us  that  the  nation 
of  the  Scots  first  came  into  that  part  of  Britain  which 
belonged  to  the  Picts,  from  Ireland,  under  their 
leader  Reuda — the  Riada  mentioned  in  a  preceding 
page.  As  the  country  eventually  received  its  kings, 
so  it  also  received  its  name  from  these  Ii-ish  colonists. 
The  proper  Scots,  accordingly,  Camden  describes  to 
be  those  commonly  called  Highlandmen;  "for  the 
rest,"  he  adds,  "  more  civilized,  and  inhabiting  the 
eastern  part,  though  comprehended  under  the  name 
of  Scots,  are  the  farthest  in  the  world  from  being  Scots, 
but  are  of  the  same  German  origin  with  us  English." 
The  name  Scot  has  been  usually  supposed  to  be  the 
same  with  Scythian,  and  to  be  a  Celtic  term  signify- 
ing a  scattered  or  wandering  people.  It  has  been 
suggested,  however,  that  it  may  be  a  truncated  form 
of  the  Welsh  Ysgo-do-gion  or  Ysgotiaid,  which  names 
appear  to  have  been  applied  to  the  Scots  by  the 
Welsh  in  the  twelfth  centuiy,  and  to  be  derived 
from  Ysgawd,  signifying  shade,  as  if  meaning  a  people 
of  the  woods. '  We  doubt,  at  all  events,  the  deriva- 
tion from  Ysgawd. 

But  having  found  the  Scots  settled  in  Ireland 
before  they  were  known  in  Britain,  we  have  still  to 
endeavor  to  discover  when  and  whence  they  found 
their  way  to  the  former  countiy  ;  and  these  are  much 
darker  questions.  The  Irish  traditionary  account,  as 
we  have  seen,  is,  that  the  Scots,  or  the  Milesians, 
were  that  great  nation  who,  arriving  in  Ireland  many 
centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  brought  with 
them  the  present  Irish  or  Gaelic  language,  and 
became  the  progenitors  of  the  gieat  body  of  the  pre- 
sent Irish  population.  But,  to  pass  over  all  the  other 
improbabilities  involved  in  this  legend,  it  is  sufficient  to 
remark,  that  the  account  of  the  geogi-aphy  of  Ireland 
given  by  Ptolemy,  sufficiently  proves  that  there  were 
no  Scots  in  Ireland  at  the  time  when  Marinus  of 
Tyre  collected  the  materials  from  which  that  writer 
drew  his  information.  And  still  more  decisive  is  the 
evidence  of  a  work  of  unquestionable  authenticity, 
"  The  confession  of  St.  Patrick,"  written  so  recently 
as  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  from  a  passage  in 
which  it  appears  that  even  then  the  Scots  were  a 
distinct  race  from  the  Hiberionaces,  or  great  body  of 
the  Irish  people.  The  manner,  however,  in  which 
they  are  here  spoken  of,  as  well  as  the  ascendancy 
which  their  name  afterwards  acquired,  would  seem 
to  imply  that  they  formed  a  superior  class  ;  and  the 
probabiUty  is,  that  they  were  really  a  foreign  people 
who,  perhaps  a  century  or  two  at  most  before  our  era, 
had  effected  a  settlement  in  the  countiy  by  force,  and 
eventually  reduced  the  natives  to  subjection.  One 
supposition,  that  proposed  by  Whitaker  in  his  Histoiy 
of  Manchester,  is,  that  the  Scots  were  emigi-ants 
fi-om  Britain,  and  consequently  Celts ;  but  this  hy- 
pothesis is  entirely  unsupported  by  evidence,  and  is 
directly  contraiy  to  the  uniform  tenor  of  tlie  Iiish 

1  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  p.  Ixiji. 


18 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


tiadition  respecting  the  people  in  question,  which 
pereniptoril}-  asserts  them  to  have  been  of  Scythic  or 
Germanic  race.  Pini<ertoii,  Wood  (in  his  "  Inquiiy 
into  the  Primitive  Inhabitants  of  Ireland"),  and  others, 
conceive  the  Scots  to  have  been  Beliiians ;  but  the 
whole  course  of  early  Irish  history,  as  ^Ir.  Moore  has 
remarked,  "runs  counter  to  this  conjecture — the  Bel- 
gx  and  Scoti,thouf;lijoinin<!;  occasionally  as  alUes  in  the 
field,  being  represented  throughout  as  distinct  races." 
On  the  whole,  we  are  disposed  to  agree  with  this  last- 
mentioned  writer,  that  the  Scots  were  really  a  tribe 
of  Scythians,  that  is,  a  people  from  Germany,  or  the 
north  of  Europe,  who  arrived  in  Ireland  subsequently 
to  the  Firbolgs  or  Belg;e,  and  that  they  were  there- 
fore of  Teutonic  blood  and  language.  Although  they 
appear  to  have  in  course  of  time  reduced  all  the  otlier 
inhabitants  of  the  island  under  their  authority,  and  to 
have  given  their  name  to  the  whole  country,  their 
numbers  were  probably  very  small  as  comjjared  with 
those  of  the  original  Celtic  poj)ulation.  Hence  the 
language  of  the  country  continued  to  be  Celtic,  and 
eventually,  both  in  this  and  in  other  particulars,  the 
conquering  tribe  came  to  be  melted  down  among  the 
mass  of  those  whom  it  had  subdued — ^just  as  after 
the  Norman  invasion  England  still  continued  to  be 
essentially  a  Saxon  country.  It  is  not  therefore 
necessary  to  conclude  from  the  facts  of  the  High- 
landers of  North  Britain  being  sprung  from  a  colony 
of  Irish,  and  of  that  country  inheriting  from  Ireland 
the  name  of  Scotland,  that  the  Irish  progenitors  of 
the  Scottish  Highlanders  were  of  the  Scotic  race 
properly  so  called ;  long  before  the  name  of  Scoti 
was  transferred  to  the  Highlanders  of  North  Britain, 
it  had  entirely  lost  its  original  distinctive  meaning, 
and  was  applied  to  all  the  people  of  Ireland  indis- 
criminately. The  Irish  colonists  of  Scotland,  for  any- 
thing that  is  known,  may  not  have  even  had  a  drop  of 
Scotic  or  Scythic  blood  in  their  veins.  It  is  certain, 
at  least,  that  they  were  Celts  or  Gael  in  speech,  and 
that  their  descendants  to  this  day  have  never  called 
themselves  Scots,  or  anything  else  but  Gael. 

In  distinguishing  themselves  from  the  Irish,  the 
Scottish  Highlanders  designate  that  people  Gael 
Erinnich,  or  Gael  of  Erin,  and  themselves  Gael 
Albinnich,  or  Gael  of  Albin.  Alhin,  or  Albion,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  anciently  the  name  of  the  Avhole 
island  of  Great  Britain,  and  that  by  which  it  was  first 
known  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  The  Avriter  of 
the  geographical  treatise  ascribed  to  Aristotle,  to 
Avliich  we  have  referred  in  a  former  page,  says  that 
the  two  British  islands  were  called  Albion  and  lerne. 
Pliny  intimates  that,  the  whole  gi'oup  of  islands 
being  called  Britannia,  the  former  name  of  that  then 
called  Britannia  was  Albion.  Eustathius,  the  com- 
mentator on  the  Greek  geogi-aphical  poem  of  Diony- 
sius  Periegetes,  tells  us  that  the  British  islands  are 
trsvo  in  number,  Ouernia  and  Alou'ion,  or  Bcrnia  and 
Albion.  Albinn,  according  to  Mr.  (xrant,  means  in 
Gaelic  ichife  or  fair  island.  "The  Gael  of  Scotland 
and  Ireland,"  he  observes,  "  never  knew  any  other 
name  for  Scotland  than  that  of  Alhinn  ;  it  is  the 
name  used  by  them  at  this  day ;  the  apjjellation  of 
Scotia,  or  any  appellation  similar  to  it  in  sound,  is 


entirely  unknown  to  them.  The  Gael  have  pre- 
served, and  apply  at  this  day  to  the  kingdom  of  Scot- 
land, the  most  ancient  name  known  to  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  to  denominate  the  whole  island  of 
Great  Britain.  The  etymology  of  the  name  serves 
to  show  that  it  was  denominated  Albinn  by  the  con- 
tinental (iauls,  and  was  naturally  called  by  them  the 
Fair  or  White  Island,  from  the  chalky  appearance 
of  the  British  coast  opposite  to  the  nearest  part  of  the 
coast  of  ancient  Gaul."  '  An  old  name  given  to  the 
island  by  the  Welsh  is  stated  to  have  been  Innis-wen, 
which  also  in  their  language  signifies  the  Fair  or 
White  Island.- 

IV.  The  Welsh,  as  every  one  is  aware,  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  regarding  themselves  as  the 
genuine  descendants  and  representatives  of  the  an- 
cient Britons,  who  possessed  the  whole  of  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  island  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Saxons,  and  were  indeed  the  same  people  that  in- 
habited the  coimtry  when  it  was  first  invaded  by  the 
Romans,  and  had  proi)ably  occupied  it  for  many 
preceding  centuries.  This  descent  being  assumed, 
the  AVelsh  language  has  generally  been  held  to  be 
a  Celtic  dialect,  and  essentially  the  same  that  was 
spoken  by  the  original  Britons,  only  mixed  with  some 
words  of  Latin  derivation,  which  it  is  supposed  to 
have  received  from  the  intercourse  of  those  who 
used  it  with  the  Roman  colonists. 

It  would  probably  be  difficult  to  produce  any  direct 
evidence  for  these  notions  ;  but  they  have  been,  until 
very  recently,  the  almost  universally  received  faith 
among  the  students  of  British  antiquities. 

Yet  it  is  certain,  in  the  first  place,  that  no  ti-ace 
is  to  be  found  in  the  notices  of  Britain  by  the  (ireek 
or  Roman  writers,  of  any  people  or  tribe  settled  in 
the  district  now  called  Wales,  from  which  the  Welsh 
can  with  any  probabilitj-  be  supposed  to  have  sprung. 
They  exhibit  no  marks  which  would  lead  us  to  sus- 
pect their  progenitors  to  have  been  the  SUures, 
whose  swarthy  countenances  and  curled  hair  gave 
them  to  Tacitus  the  appearance  of  a  Spanish  race. 
The  Welsh  have  always  called  themselves  Cymry; 
there  is  no  resemblance  between  this  name,  and 
either  that  of  the  Silures,  or  that  of  the  Demetse,  or 
that  of  the  Ordovices,  the  only  British  tiibes  whom 
we  read  of,  either  in  Ptolemy,  or  in  any  of  the  his- 
torians of  the  Roman  wars,  as  occupying  Wales  in 
the  time  of  the  Romans.  Indeed,  no  name  resem- 
bling the  Cymry  occurs  any^vhere  in  the  ancient 
'  geogi'aphy  of  the  island,  so  far  as  it  is  to  be  collected 
from  these  authorities.  It  is  not  pretended  that  this 
appellation  has  been  adopted  by  the  Welsh  since  the 
I  time  of  the  Romans;  if  therefore  the  people  bearing 

1  Tlioughts  oil  the  Gael,  p.  297. 
I      2  The  authnr  of  "  Britannia  after  the  Romans,*'  however,  contends 
I  that  we  must  consider  the  ancient  and  correct  form  of  Albion  to  be 
i  Alouion  or  Alwion.     "  Neither/)  nor  i,"  he  is  pleased  to  say,  "  is  ca- 
pable of  mutation  into  u» ;  nor  is  the  converse  possible."    Tlie  Romans, 
he  proceeds,  modified  the  sound  of  the  word   "to  suit  the  etyniologj- 
furnished  by  their  own  language,  but  not  existing  in  the  Greek,  albus. 
I  white.     And  they  harped  upon  that  idea  so  long,  that  it  was  adopted 
I  in  the  island  itself  while  it  was  their  province."'    Alwion,  he  is  inclined 
]  to  think,  is  the  Land  of  Gwion,  which  appears  to  have  been  a  name  of 
"  the  Hermes,  or  Mercury,  whom  the  ancient  Britons  revered  above  all 
other  deities,  and  who  (in  the  alchemic  sii])ersytion&J  presided  over  thi 
permutations  of  n->ture." — pp.  hiv — Ixviii. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


19 


it  were  then  in  the  island,  and  more  especially  if 
they  formed,  as  the  common  account  would  seem  to 
imply,  the  most  ancient  and  illustrious  of  all  the 
ti-ibes  by  which  the  countiy  was  occupied,  how  did 
it  happen  that  they  wholly  escaped  notice  ?  How 
are  we  to  account  for  the  fact  of  tribes  with  other 
appellations  altogether  being  set  down  by  contempo- 
raiy  geogi-aphers  and  historians  in  the  very  district 
which  the  Cymry  claim  as  their  proper  and  ancient 
residence  ? 

But  further,  it  clearly  appears,  and  has  been  ac- 
knowledged by  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  learned 
of  the  Welsh  antiquaries  themselves,  that  the  dis- 
h'ict  now  called  Wales  must  have  been  inhabited  in 
ancient  times  by  another  race  than  the  present 
Welsh.  The  oldest  names  of  natural  objects  and 
localities  throughout  Wales  are  not  Welsh.  This 
was  long  ago  stated  by  Humphrey  Lhuyd,  and  has 
been  since  abundantly  established. 

Lhuyd's  statement  is  that  the  old  names  through- 
out Wales  are  Irish;  and  until  very  lately  it  was 
universally  assumed  that  the  Welsh  and  the  Irish 
were  only  two  dialects  of  the  same  Celtic  speech. 
It  was  unquestionable  that  the  Irish  and  Scottish 
Gaelic  was,  {is  its  name  imports,  the  language  of  the 
ancient  Gael  or  Celts ;  and  as  no  doubt  was  enter- 
tamed  that  the  Welsh,  as  descendants  of  the  old 
Britons,  were  a  Celtic  race,  it  was  taken  for  gi'anted 
that  their  language  also  was  only  another  sister  dia- 
lect of  the  Celtic.  But  it  would  seem  that  this  too 
was  another  notion  adopted  without  any  evidence, 
and  indeed  in  the  face  of  evidence,  if  it  had  been 
looked  into,  quite  sufficient  to  disprove  it.  It  would 
not,  we  apprehend,  be  possible  to  quote,  in  support 
of  the  asserted  identity  of  the  Welsh  and  Irish,  or 
Gaelic,  the  authority  of  any  wi'iter  who  had  reaUy 
made  himself  master  of  the  t\vo  languages,  or  even 
examined  them  attentively  with  the  view  of  ascer- 
taining in  how  far  they  resembled  or  differed  from 
each  other,  and  whether  they  were  properly  to  be 
regarded  as  belonging  to  the  same  or  to  different 
stocks.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  in  denial  of 
their  relationship  the  distinctly  pronounced  judgment 
both  of  Welshmen,  of  Irishmen,  and  of  inquirers 
having  no  partialities  of  origin  to  influence  their  con- 
clusions, all  speaking  upon  a  question  which  they 
iiave  deliberately  considered,  and  which  some  of 
them,  at  least,  possessed  all  the  necessary  quahfica- 
tions  for  deciding.  The  same  opinion  that  had  been 
fii'st  expressed  upon  the  subject  by  the  learned  and 
acute  Bishop  Percy,  an  Englishman,  has  since  been 
maintained  as  not  admitt'mg  of  any  doubt  both  by  the 
Welsh  antiquary  Roberts,  and  the  Irish  O'Connor, 
and  has  also  been  adopted  by  the  German  Adelung, 
,  and  finally,  to  all  appearance,  unanswerably  estab- 
lished by  Sir  William  Betham,  who  has  devoted 
many  years  to  the  study  of  both  languages.  All  these 
authorities  declare  in  substance  that  the  Cymiaog 
tongue  spoken  in  Wales,  and  the  Gaelic  spoken  in 
[reland  and  Scotland,  exhibit  little  resemblance  even 
in  vocabulaiy,  and,  to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  O'Con- 
nor, "  are  as  difl'crent  in  their  syntactic  coush'uction 
as  any  two  tongues  can  be."     It  mav  be  added,  that 


this  seems  also  to  have  been  the  opinion  of  the  late 
learned  General  Vallancey. 

This  view  of  the  Welsh  language  throws  an  en- 
tirely new  light  upon  other  points  that  have  given 
occasion  to  a  world  of  contioversy.  We  have  ab-eady 
seen  that  nearly  all  inquirers  are  agi*eed  in  consider- 
ing the  Picts  to  have  been  of  the  same  race  with  the 
ancient  Caledonians.  But  it  had  still  continued  to 
be  a  keenly  agitated  question,  whether  the  Picts 
were  a  Celtic  or  a  Teutonic  people.  Without  en- 
tering into  any  detail  of  this  long  conti'oversy,  hi 
which  the  Celtic  origin  of  the  Picts  has  been  main- 
tained by  Camden,  Lloyd  (Bishop  of  St.  Asaph), 
the  very  learned  and  able  Father  Innes,  and  the  late 
George  Chalmers,  in  his  elaborate  work  entitled 
"  Caledonia,"  while  the  opposite  side  of  the  question 
has  been  supported  by  Archbishop  Usher,  Bishop 
Stillingfleet,  and  the  late  John  Pinkerton,  to  whom 
may  be  added,  Dr.  Jamieson,  in  the  Inti-oduction  to 
his  Scottish  Dictionaiy ;  we  shall  merely  remark, 
that  the  assertors  of  the  Teutonic  lineage  of  the  Picts 
have  evidently  all  along  had  the  best  of  the  argument 
on  all  other  gi-ounds,  excepting  only  on  the  important 
ground  of  the  evidence  afforded  by  the  language  of 
the  lost  people.  All  the  historical  evidence  is  in 
favor  of  their  Teutonic  or  Germanic  descent.  StUl. 
if  it  could  be  clearly  proved  that  they  spoke  a  Celtic 
language,  that  single  fact  would  go  far  to  prove  them 
to  have  been  Celts,  notwithstanding  even  all  the 
direct  historical  testimony  there  is  to  the  contrary. 
Now,  this  Camden  and  his  followers  conceive  not  to 
admit  of  any  doubt,  from  the  remains  of  the  Pictish 
language  which  are  still  to  be  collected,  and  Chal- 
mers especially  has,  by  a  minute  examination  of  the 
old  topogi-aphical  nomenclature  of  the  part  of  Scot- 
land fonnerly  occupied  by  the  Picts,  completely,  as 
he  thinks,  established  the  position  that  their  language 
was  Celtic.  But  how  is  this  demonsti-ation  made 
out?  Altogether  by  the  assumption,  never  for  a 
moment  suspected  to  be  unfounded  or  doubtful,  thai 
the  ancient  British  Celtic  tongue  is  still  substantially 
preserved  in  the  modern  Welsh.  All  the  instances 
adduced  by  Camden,  and  the  much  longer  list  enu- 
merated by  Chalmers,  are  instances  of  Pictish  names 
of  places  which  are  not  Irish  or  Gaelic,  but  Welsh. 
Chalmers  even  shows  that  on  the  countiy,  after 
having  been  occupied  by  the  Picts,  felling  into  the 
possession  of  the  Celtic  Scots,  the  Welsh,  or,  as  he 
calls  it,  the  Cambro-British  name  was  in  some  cases 
changed  into  a  Celtic  name  of  the  same  impoit. 
The  Welsh  Aber,  for  example,  applied  to  places  situa- 
ted at  the  mouths  of  rivers,  is  found  to  have  in  this  way 
given  place  in  several  names  to  the  coiresponding 
Gaelic  term  Inver.  In  examining  the  list  of  the 
Pictish  kings,  the  same  WTiter  obsei-ves  that  the 
names  of  those  kings  are  not  Irish,  and,  "  conse- 
quently," he  adds,  "  they  are  British  :"  "  they  are," 
he  sajs  elsewhere,  "  undoubtedly  Cambro-British." 
And  in  like  manner,  the  single  Pictish  word  which 
Bede  has  preserved,  Pengvahel,  the  name  of  tlie 
place  where  the  Pictish  wall  commenced,  is  ac- 
knowledged to  be  not  Gaelic,  but  Welsh. 

The  opinion  expressed  by  Camden  and  Inncs,  that 


20 


INTRODUCTORY  VIEW  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE 


the  Picts  were  "Welsh,  may  therefore  be  admitted, 
without  the  consequence  which  they  supposed  to  be 
involved  in  it,  that  either  were  Celts,  being  at  all 
established.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  appear  from 
what  has  been  said  above,  that  the  fact  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Picts  having  been  the  same  with  that 
spoken  by  the  present  inhai)itants  of  Wales,  is  the 
best  of  all  proofs  that  the  former  people  were  not 
Celts.  It  comes  in  confirmation  of  all  the  other 
arguments  bearing  upon  the  question,  the  decided 
tendency  of  which  is  to  make  it  probable  that  they 
were  a  Teutonic  I'ace. 

Here,  then,  we  have  two  remarkable  facts ;  the 
one,  that  the  part  of  England  now  occupied  by  the 
Cymry,  as  the  present  Welsh  call  themselves,  was 
appiirently  not  occupied  by  them  in  ancient  times; 
the  other,  that  the  part  of  Scotland  known  to  have 
constituted  what  is  called  the  Pictish  kingdom,  was 
in  ancient  times  occupied  by  a  people  speaking  the 
same  language  with  the  modern  Welsh.  It  seems 
impossible  to  resist  the  conclusion,  that  the  same 
Cymry  who  are  now  settled  in  the  west  of  England 
were  previously  settled  in  the  east  of  Scotland — in 
other  words,  that  the  present  Welsh  are  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Picts. 

Usher  has,  without  reference  to  the  evidence  of 
langiiage,  and  merely  upon  the  sti'ength  of  the  his- 
toric testimony  and  the  general  probabilities  of  the 
case,  advanced  the  opinion  that  the  Picts  were  Cim- 
brians.  The  name  of  Cymri,  borne  by  the  Welsh, 
has  long  ago  suggested  a  belief  that  they  are  a  rem- 
nant of  the  ancient  Cimbri.  Their  own  traditions, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  make  them  to  have  been 
conducted  into  Britain  by  their  gi-eat  leader,  Hu 
Cadarn,  across  the  German  Ocean.  Bede  expressly 
states  that  the  Picts  came  from  Scythia,  a  name 
which,  as  is  well  known,  comprehended  at  one  time 
all  the  regions  forming  the  north  of  modern  Germany 
and  Denmark,  the  Cimbric  Chersonesus,  or  Penin- 
sula of  Jutland,  among  the  rest.  Bede  also  informs 
us,  that,  before  ai'riving  in  Britain,  the  Picts  were 
driven  towards  Ireland,  and  touched  in  the  first  in- 
stance at  that  island.  In  this  relation  the  venerable 
Saxon  historian  is  confirmed  by  the  Irish  bardic  his- 
tories, which,  in  like  manner,  represent  the  Picts  to 
have  sought  a  settlement  in  Ireland,  before  they 
resorted  to  Britain.  Finally,  it  may  be  mentioned  as 
a  curious  confirmation  of  the  identity  here  assumed 
of  the  Cimbri  and  the  modern  Welsh,  that  the  only 
word  which  has  been  preserved  of  the  language  of 
the  former  people,  namely,  the  term  Morimarusa, 
which  Pliny  quotes  as  meaning  the  Dead  Sea,  ap- 
I)ears  to  be  Welsh,  Mor  in  that  language  signifying 
the  sea,  and  Maru  dead.^ 

That  the  Welsh,  indeed,  were  in  very  ancient 

1  We  find  the  following  passage  in  a  forgotten,  and,  in  most  respects, 
sufficiently  absurd  book,  entitled,  "  The  Pronunciation  of  the  English 
language  Vindicated,"  &c.,  by  the  Rev.  James  Adams,  8vo.,  Edin., 
1799  : — "  The  Welsh  dialect  (of  the  English  language)  is  characterized 
hj'  a  peculiar  intonation, .  . .  and  by  the  vicarious  change  of  consonants, 
k  for  g,  t  for  d  and  p,  f  for  v,  and  s  for  z.  .  .Now  this  twang  and  change 
lieing  common  to  the  Germans, .  .  and  moreover  not  being  found  in 
Irish  or  Highland  English  (the  author  means  the  pronunciation  of  Eng- 
lish by  the  Scotch  Highlanders),  there  is  an  opening  for  a  curious  in- 
ijuiry  I  never  met  w^ith." — pp.  144,  145. 


times  established  in  Scotland,  is  matter  of  authentic 
and  undoubted  history.  Their  kingdom  of  Strath- 
clyde,  or  Reged,  otherwise  called  Regnum  Cum- 
brense,  or  the  kingdom  of  the  Cymry,  lay  in  the 
south-west  of  Scotland.  There  are  certainly  no 
probable  gi'ounds  for  believing  that  there  were  any 
Cymry  in  England  till  an  age  subsequent  to  the 
establishment  of  this  northern  kingdom.  "  Most  of 
the  gi'eat  Welsh  pedigi'oes,"  obsei-ves  Mr.  Moore, 
"  commence  their  line  from  princes  of  the  Cumbrian 
kingdom,  and  the  archaiologist  Lhuyd  himself  boasts 
of  his  descent  from  ancestors  in  the  '  province  of 
Reged  in  Scotland,  in  the  fourth  centuiy,  before  the 
Saxons  came  into  Britain.'  To  this  epoch  of  their 
northern  kingdom,  all  the  ti-aditions  of  the  modern 
Welsh  refer  for  their  most  boasted  antiquities  and 
favorite  themes  of  romance.  The  name  of  their 
chivalrous  hero,  Arthur,  still  lends  a  charm  to  much 
of  the  topogi-aphy  of  North  Britain ;  and  among  the 
many  romantic  traditions  connected  with  Stirling 
Castle,  is  that  of  its  having  once  been  the  scene  of  the 
festivities  of  the  Round  Table.  The  poets  Aneurin 
and  Taliessin,  the  former  born  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  banks  of  the  Clyde,  graced  the  court,  we  are 
told,  of  Urien,  the  king  of  Reged  or  Cumbria ;  and 
the  title  Caledonius  bestowed  on  the  enchanter  Mer- 
lin, who  was  also  a  native  of  Sti-ath- Clyde,  suflft- 
ciently  attests  his  northern  and  Pictish  race."^ 

We  have  thus,  however  cursorily,  taken  a  survey 
of  the  subject  of  the  original  population  of  these 
islands,  in  its  whole  extent,  and  have  endeavored,  as 
we  went  along,  both  to  note  the  principal  of  the 
various  opinions  that  have  been  entertained  on  the 
many  obscure  and  difficult  questions  it  presents,  and 
to  collect,  from  the  lights  of  histoiy,  and  the  evidence 
of  facts  together,  what  appears  to  be  the  most  con- 
sistent and  otherwise  probable  conclusion  on  each 
conti'overted  j)oint.  The  following  may  be  given  as 
a  summary  of  the  views  that  have  been  offered. 
Beginning  with  Ireland,  it  may  be  affirmed  that 
everything  in  that  countiy  indicates  the  decidedly 
Celtic  character  of  its  primitive  population ;  and 
taking  the  geogi'aphical  position  of  the  island  along 
with  the  traditions  of  the  people,  we  can  have  little 
doubt  that  the  quarter  from  which  chiefly  it  was 
originally  colonized  was  the  opposite  peninsula  of 
Spain.  That  settlements  were  also  effected  in  va- 
rious parts  of  it,  before  the  dawn  of  recorded  history, 
by  bodies  of  people  from  other  parts  of  the  continent 
— from  Gaul,  from  Germany,  from  Scandinavia,  and 
even  possibly  from  the  neighboring  coast  of  Britain 
— is  highly  probable ;  but  although  several  of  these 
foreign  bands  of  other  blood  seem  to  have  acquired 
in  succession  the  dominion  of  the  countiy,  their 
numbers  do  not  appear  in  any  instance  to  have  been 
considerable  enough  to  alter  the  thoroughly  Celtic 
character  of  the  gi-eat  body  of  the  population,  of 
their  language,  of  their  customs,  and  even  of  their 
institutions.  Thus,  the  Scots,  who  appear  to  have 
been  originally  a  Teutonic  people  from  the  northern 

I  History  of  Ireland,  p.  103.  The  view  that  has  been  taken  of  the 
origin  of  the  Welsh  is  substantially  the  same  with  that  given  both  by 
Mr  Moore  and  by  Sir  William  Betham 


HISTORi'  OF  THE  BRITISH  ISLANDS. 


21 


parts  of  the  European  continent,  although  they  even- 
tually subjugated  the  divided  native  Irish  so  com- 
pletely as  to  impose  their  own  name  upon  the  island 
and  the  whole  of  its  inhabitants,  were  yet  themselves 
more  truly  subjugated,  by  being  melted  down  and 
absorbed  into  the  mass  of  the  more  numerous  Celtic 
race  among  whom  they  had  settled.  The  invasion 
of  Ireland  by  the  Scots,  and  the  subsequent  inter- 
mixture of  the  conquerors  with  the  conquered,  re- 
sembled the  subjugation  of  Saxon  Britain  by  the 
Normans,  or  still  more  nearly  that  of  Celtic  or  Ro- 
manized Gaul  by  the  Franks,  in  which  latter  case 
the  conquerors,  indeed,  as  happened  in  Ireland, 
gave  their  name  to  the  countiy,  but  the  native  inhab- 
itants in  turn  gave  their  language  to  the  conquerors. 
In  this  manner  it  happened  that  the  Irish,  after  they 
came  to  be  called  Scots,  were  really  as  much  a  Celtic 
or  Gaelic  people  as  ever.  The  Scots  from  Ireland 
who  colonized  the  western  coast  of  North  Britain, 
and  came  at  last  to  give  their  name  to  the  whole  of 
that  part  of  our  island,  were  undoubtedly  a  race  of 
Gael.  They  were  called  Scots  merely  because  the 
whole  of  Ireland  had,  by  that  time,  come  to  be  known 
by  the  name  of  the  country  of  the  Scots,  who  had 
obtained  the  dominion  of  it.  The  original  population 
of  ancient  Caledonia,  however,  appears  to  have  been 
of  Gothic  lineage,  and  to  have  come  from  the  opposite 
coasts  of  Germany,  and  what  is  now  called  Den- 
mark. Long  after  the  an-ival  of  the  Irish  Scots  in 
the  western  part  of  the  countiy,  this  original  Gothic 
race,  or  possibly  another  body  of  settlers  who  had 
subsequently  poured  in  from  the  same  quarter, 
retained,  under  the  name  of  the  Picts,  the  occupa- 
tion and  sovereignty  of  by  far  the  greater  portion  of 
what  is  now  called  Scotland.  But  most  probably 
some  ages  before  they  were  deprived  of  their  Scot- 
tish sovereignty  by  the  successful  arms  or  intrigues 
of  the  king  of  the  Highland  Gael,  bands  of  Picts 
appear  to  have  established  themselves  in  the  west  of 
England,  where  they  came  eventually  to  be  known 


to  their  Saxon  neighbors  by  the  name  of  the  for- 
eigners, or  the  Welsh.  The  Welsh,  however,  still 
do  and  always  have  called  themselves  only  the 
Cymiy,  which  appears  to  be  the  same  name  with 
that  of  the  Cimbri  or  Cimmerii,  so  famous  in  ancient 
times  ;  and  taking  this  circumstance,  along  with  the 
tradition  they  have  constantly  presei-ved  of  their 
original  emigi-ation  into  Biitain  from  a  country  on 
the  other  side  of  the  German  Ocean,  there  seems  to 
be  every  reason  for  concluding  that  the  Cymry  of 
Britain,  called  by  their  neighbors  of  other  blood  at 
one  time  Picts  (whatever  that  name  may  mean), 
at  another  Welsh,  are  really  the  remnant  of  the 
Cimbri  of  antiquity. 

There  remains  only  to  be  noticed  the  original 
population  of  the  rest  of  South  Britain,  or  of  that 
part  of  the  island  now  properly  called  England.  It 
can  hardly  admit  of  a  doubt  that  the  whole  of  the 
south  of  Britain  was  originally  colonized  mainly  from 
the  neighboring  coast  of  Gaul.  Some  bands  of  Ger- 
mans may  have  settled  along  the  east  coast,  and  some 
Celtic  tribes  from  Spain  may  have  established  them- 
selves in  the  west ;  but  the  great  body  of  the  inhabi- 
tants by  whom  the  country  was  occupied  when  it 
first  become  known  to  the  Romans  were  in  all 
probability  Celts  from  Gaul.  We  are  inclined  to 
think  that  even  the  Belgic  tiibes  who,  some  cen- 
turies before  Caesar's  invasion,  appear  to  have  ob- 
tained the  possession  of  the  greater  part  of  the  south 
coast,  were  either  really  of  mixed  German  and  Celtic, 
hneage,  or  had  adopted  the  Celtic  tongue  from  the 
previous  occupants  of  the  territory,  with  whom  they 
intermixed  after  their  arrival  in  Britain,  and  who 
were  probably  much  more  numerous  than  their  inva- 
ders. There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  evidence 
either  that  what  are  called  the  Belgic  tribes  of  Britain 
spoke  a  different  language  fi-om  the  rest  of  the  natives, 
or  that  any  people  speaking  a  Gothic  dialect  had  ever 
been  spread  over  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
south  of  Britain  in  those  eai'ly  times. 


BOOK  I. 


THE  BRITISH  AND  ROMAN  PERIOD;  FROM  B.C.  55  TO  A.  D.  449. 


CHAPTER  I. 
NARRATIVE  OF  CIVIL  AKD  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


HE  con- 
quests of 
Julius  Caj- 
sar  in  Gaul 
brought  him 
within  sight 
of  the  coast 
of  Britain, 
and  having 
established 
the  Roman 
authority  in 
the  nearest  countries  on  the  continent, 
which  are  now  called  France  and  Belgium, 
It  was  almost  as  natural  for  him  to  aim  at 
the  possession  of  our  island,  as  for  tlie  mas- 
ters of  Italy  to  invade  Sicily,  or  the  con- 
queroi-s  of  India  the  contiguous  island  of 
Ceylon.  The  disjunction  of  Britain  from 
the  rest  of  the  world,  and  the  stormy  but 
naiTow  sea  that  flows  bet^veen  it  and  the 
main,  were  circumstances  just  sufficient  to 
give  a  bold  and  romantic  character  to  the 
enterprise,  witliout  being  real  barriers  to  a 


skilful  and  courageous  general.  But  there 
were  other  motives  to  impel  Ceesar.  Bri- 
tain, or  the  far  greater  part  of  it,  was  in- 
habited by  a  people  of  the  same  race,  lan- 
guage, and  religion  as  the  Cauls,  and  during 
his  recent  and  most  arduous  campaigns  the 
islanders  had  assisted  their  neighbors  and 
kindred  of  the  continent,  sending  important 
aid  more  particularly  to  the  Veneti,  who 
occupied  Vanues  in  BretJigne,  and  to  other 
people  of  Western  Gaul  who  lived  near  the 
sea-coast.  Csesar,  indeed,  says  himself  that 
in  all  his  wars  with  the  Gauls  the  enemies 
of  the  Republic  had  always  received  assist- 
ance from  Britain,  and  that  this- fact  made 
him  resolve  to  pass  over  into  the  island. 
This  island,  moreover,  seems  to  have  had 
the  character  of  a  sort  of  Holy  Land  among 
the  Celtic  nations,  and  to  have  been  consid- 
ered the  great  centi-e  and  stronghold  of  tlie 
Druids,  the  revered  priesthood  of  an  iron 
superstition  that  bound  men,  and  ti-ibes,  and 
nations  together,  and  inflamed  them,  even 
more  than  patriotism,  against  tlie  Roman 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


23 


conquerors.  With  respect  to  Druidisra,  Britain  per- 
haps stood  in  the  same  relation  to  Gaul  that  the  island 
of  Mona  or  Anglesey  bore  to  Britain ;  and  when  the 
Romans  had  established  themselves  in  Gaul  they  had 
the  same  motives  for  attacking  our  island  that  they 
had  a  centuiy  latei%  when  they  had  fixed  themselves 
in  Britain,  tor  falling  upon  Anglesey,  as  the  centre  of 
the  Druids  and  of  British  union,  and  the  source  of 
the  remaining  national  resistance. 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  also,  that,  whatever  may 
liave  been  the  views  of  personal  ambition  from  which 
Cipsar  principally  acted,  the  Romans  i-eally  had  the 
best  of  all  pleas  for  theu'  wars  with  the  Gauls,  who 
had  been  their  constant  enemies  for  centuries,  and 
originally  their  assailants.  Their  possession  of  Italy, 
indeed,  could  not  be  considered  as  secure  until  they 
had  subdued,  or  at  least  impressed  with  a  sufficient 
dread  of  their  arms,  the  fierce  and  restless  nations 
both  of  Gaul  and  Germany,  some  of  whom — down  al- 
most to  the  age  of  Caesar — had  not  ceased  occasionally 
to  break  through  the  barrier  of  the  Alps,  and  to  carry 
fire  and  sword  into  the  home  territories  of  the  republic. 
These  and  the  other  northern  barbarians,  as  they 
were  called,  had  had  their  eye  upon  the  cultivated 
fields  of  the  Italic  peninsula  ever  since  the  irruption 
of  Bellovesus  in  the  time  of  the  elder  Tarquiii ;  and 
the  war  the  Gauls  were  now  canying  on  with  Caesar 
was  only  a  part  of  the  long  contest  which  did  not  ter- 
minate tiU  the  empire  was  overpowered  at  last  by  its 
natural  enemies  nearly  five  centuries  aftei^wards.  In 
the  meantime  it  was  the  turn  of  the  Gauls  to  find  the 
Roman  valor,  in  its  highest  condition  of  discipline  and 
efficiency,  irresistible ;  and  the  Britons,  as  the  active 
allies  of  the  Gauls,  could  not  expect  to  escape  sharing 
in  their  chastisement. 

According  to  a  curious  passage  in  Suetonius,  it  was 
reported  that  Caesar  was  tempted  to  invade  Britain  by 
the  hopes  of  finding  pearls.'  Such  an  inducement 
seems  scarcely  of  sufficient  importance,  although  we 
know  that  pearls  were  very  highly  esteemed  by  the 
ancients,  and  Pliny,  the  naturalist,  tells  us  that  Caesar 
offered  or  dedicated  a  breastplate  to  Venus  ornamented 
with  pearls  which  he  pretended  to  have  found  in  Bri- 
tain. But  Caesar  might  be  tempted  by  other  real  and 
more  valuable  productions,  and  he  could  not  be  igno- 
rant of  the  existence  of  the  British  lead  and  tin  which 
the  Phoenicians  had  imported  into  the  Mediterranean 
ages  before  his  time,  and  in  which  the  Phocaean  colo- 
ny of  Massilia  or  Marseilles  was  actually  carrying  on 
a  trade.  Caesar  himself,  indeed,  says  nothing  of  this  ; 
but  within  a  few  miles  of  our  coasts,  and  among  a  peo- 
ple with  whom  the  British  had  constant  intercourse, 
he  must  have  acquired  more  information  than  appears 
respecting  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the 
mineral  and  other  productions  of  the  island.  From 
evident  reasons,  indeed,  the  Gauls  in  general  might 
not  be  very  communicative  on  these  subjects ;  but 
among  that  people  Caesar  had  allies  and  some  stea'dy 
friends,  who  must  have  been  able  and  ready  to  satisfy 
all  his  inquiries.  His  subservient  instrument  Comius, 
who  will  presently  appear  upon  the  scene,  must  have 
possessed  much  of  the  information  required.     His  love 

'  Vit.  Jul.  Caes.  ch.  47. 


of  conquest  and  glory  alone  might  have  been  a  suffi- 
cient incentive  to  Caesar,  but  a  recent  and  philosophic 
writer  assigns  other  probable  motives  tor  his  expedi- 
tions into  Britain, — such  as  his  desire  of  dazzling  his 
countrymen,  and  of  seeming  to  be  absorbed  by  objects 
remote  from  internal  ambition  by  expeditions  against 
a  new  world,  or  of  furnishing  himself  with  a  pretence 
for  prolonging  his  provincial  command,  and  keeping 
up  an  army  devoted  to  him,  till  the  time  should  arrive 
for  the  execution  of  his  projects  against  liberty  at 
Rome.' 


Julius  Cssar. 
Frum  a  Copper  Coiu  in  the  British  Museum. 

Whatever  were  his  motives,  in  the  year  55  before 
Christ,  Caesar  resolved  to  cross  the  British  Channel, 
not,  as  he  has  himself  told  us,  to  make  then  a  conquest, 
for  which  the  season  was  too  far  advanced,  but  in 
order  merely  to  take  a  view  of  the  island,  learn  the 
nature  of  the  inhabitants,  and  survey  the  coasts,  har- 
bors, and  landing-places.  He  says  that  the  Gauls 
were  ignorant  of  all  these  things ;  that  few  of  them, 
except  merchants,  ever  visited  the  island ;  and  that 
the  merchants  themselves  only  knew  the  sea-coasts 
opposite  to  Gaul.  Having  called  together  the  mer- 
chants from  all  parts  of  Gaul,  he  questioned  them 
concerning  the  size  of  the  island,  the  power  and  cus- 
toms of  its  inhabitants,  their  mode  of  warfare,  and  the 
harbors  they  had  capable  of  receiving  large  ships.  He 
adds,  that  on  none  of  these  points  could  they  give  him 
information ;  but,  on  this  public  occasion,  the  silence 
of  the  ti-aders  probably  proceeded  rather  from  unwil- 
lingness and  caution  than  ignorance,  while  it  is  equally 
probable  that  the  conqueror  received  a  little  more  in- 
formation than  he  avows.  He  says,  however,  that 
for  these  reasons  he  thought  it  expedient,  before  he 
embarked  himself,  to  dispatch  C.  Volusenus,  wth  a 
single  galley,  to  obtain  some  knowledge  of  these  things ; 
commanding  him,  as  soon  as  he  had  obtained  this  ne- 
cessary knowledge,  to  return  to  head-quarters  with 

1  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Hist.  Eiig.  vol.  i.  p.  12. 


24 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boo£  1. 


all  haste.  He  then  himself  marched  Avith  his  whole 
army  into  the  ten-itoiy  of  the  Morini,  a  nation  or  tribe 
of  the  (4aiil.s  who  iiiliabited  the  sea-coast  between  Ca- 
lais and  Boulogne, — "  because  thence  was  the  shortest 
passage  into  Britain."  Here  he  collected  many  ships 
from  the  neighboring  ports. 

Meanwhile  many  of  the  British  states  having  been 
warned  of  Ca-sar's  premeditated  expedition  by  the 
merchants  that  resorted  to  their  island,  sent  over  am- 
bassadors to  him  with  an  offer  of  hostages  and  sub- 
mission to  the  Roman  authority.  He  received  these 
ambassadors  most  kindly,  and  exhorting  them  to  con- 
tinue in  the  same  pacific  intentions,  sent  them  back 
to  their  own  country,  dispatching  with  them  Comius, 
a  (iaul,  whom  he  had  made  king  of  the  Ati'ebatians, 
a  Belgic  nation  then  settled  in  Artois.  Caesar's  choice 
of  this  envoy  was  well  du'ected.  The  Belgje  at  a  com- 
paratively recent  period  had  colonized,  and  they  still 
occupied,  all  the  southeastern  coasts  of  Britiiin ;  and 
these  colonies,  much  more  civilized  than  the  rest  of 
the  islanders,  no  doubt  held  frequent  commercial  and 
friendly  intercourse  with  the  Atrebatians  in  Artois, 
and  the  rest  of  the  Belgic  stock  settled  in  other  places. 
CcBsar  himself  saj^s  not  only  that  Comius  was  a  man 
in  whose  virtue,  ^visdom,  and  fidelity  he  placed  gi'eat 
confidence,  but  one  "whose  authority  in  the  island  of 
Britain  was  very  considerable."  He  therefore  charged 
Comius  to  visit  as  many  of  the  British  states  as  he 
could,  and  persuade  them  to  enter  into  an  alliance 
with  the  Romans  ;  informing  them,  at  the  same  time, 
that  Caesar  intended  to  visit  the  island  in  pei^son  as 
soon  as  possible 


C.  Volusenus  appears  to  have  done  little  service 
with  his  galley.  He  took  a  view  of  the  British  coast 
as  far  as  was  possible  for  one  who  had  resolved  not  to 
quit  his  vessel  or  ti-ust  himself  into  the  hands  of  the 
natives,  and  on  the  fifth  day  of  his  expedition  returned 
to  head-quarters.  With  such  information  as  he  had 
Cssar  embarked  the  infantry  of  two  legions,  making 
about  12,000  men,  on  board  eighty  ti'ansports,  and  set 
sail  from  Portus  Itius,  or  Witsand,  between  Calais 
and  Boulogne.  The  cavahy,  embai'ked  in  eighteen 
other  transports,  were  detained  by  conti-ary  >vinds  at 
a  port  about  eight  miles  off,  but  Caesar  left  orders 
for  them  to  follow  as  soon  as  the  weather  permitted. 
This  force,  however,  as  will  be  seen,  could  never  make 
itself  available,  and  hence  mainly  arose  the  reverses  of 
the  campaign. 

At  ten  o'clock  on  a  morning  in  autumn  (Halley, 
the  asti'onomer,  in  a  paper  in  the  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions, has  almost  demonsti'ated  that  it  must  have 
been  on  the  26th  of  August)  Ca?sar  reached  the  Bri- 
tish coast,  near  Dover,  at  about  the  worst  possible 
point  to  effect  a  landing  in  face  of  an  enemy ;  and  the 
Britons  were  not  disposed  to  be  friends.  The  sub- 
mission they  had  offered  through  their  ambassadors 
was  intended  only  to  prevent  or  retard  invasion  ;  and 
seeing  it  fail  of  either  of  these  effects,  on  the  return 
of  their  ambassadors  with  Comius,  as  Caesar's  envoy, 
they  made  that  prince  a  prisoner,  loaded  him  with 
chains,  prepared  for  their  defence  as  well  as  the  short- 
ness of  time  would  permit ;  and  when  the  Romans 
looked  from  their  ships  to  the  steep  white  cliffs  above 
them,  they  saw  them  covered  all  over  by  the  armed 


Dover  Cuffs 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


25 


Landing  of  Julius  CjEsab. — After  a  Picture  by  Blakey. 


Britons.  Finding  that  this  was  not  a  convenient  land- 
ing-place, Caesar  resolved  to  lie  by  till  the  third  hour 
after  noon,  in  order,  he  says,  to  wait  the  airival  of  the 
rest  of  liis  fleet.  Some  laggard  vessels  appear  to  have 
come  up,  but  the  eighteen  transports,  bearing  tlie  cav- 
ahy,  were  nowhere  seen.  Caesar,  however,  favored 
by  both  wind  and  tide,  proceeded  at  the  appointed 
hour,  and  sailing  about  seven  miles  further  along  the 
coast,  prepai-ed  to  land  his  forces,  on  an  open,  flat 
shore,  which  presents  itself  between  Walmer  Castle 
and  Sandwch.'  The  Britons  on  the  clifl's  perceiving 
his  design,  followed  his  motions,  and  sending  their 
cavalry  and  war-chariots  before,  marched  rapidly  on 
with  their  main  force  to  oppose  his  landing  anywhere. 
Caesar  confesses  that  the  opposition  of  the  natives  was 
a  bold  one,  and  that  the  difficulties  he  had  to  encoun- 
ter were  very  great  on  many  accounts ;  but  superior 
skill  and  discipline,  and  the  employment  of  some  mil- 
itary engines  on  board  the  war-galleys,  to  which  the 
British  were  unaccustomed,  and  which  projected  mis- 
siles of  various  kinds,  at  last  ti-iumphed  over  them, 
and  he  disembarked  his  two  legions.  We  must  not 
omit  the  act  of  the  standard-bearer  of  the  tenth  legion, 
wliich  has  been  thought  deserving  of  particular  com- 

1  Horsley  (in  Britannia  Romana)  shows  that  Caesar  must  have  pro- 
ceeded to  the  north  of  the  South  Foreland,  in  which  case  the  landing 
must  have  been  eflFected  between  Walmer  Castle  and  Sandwich.  Oth- 
ers, with  less  reason,  think  he  sailed  sonthward  from  the  South  Fore- 
land, and  landed  on  the  flats  of  Romney  Marsh. 


meraoration  by  his  general.  While  the  Roman  sol- 
diers were  hesitating  to  leave  the  ships,  chiefly  de- 
terred, according  to  Caesar's  account,  by  the  depth  of 
the  water,  this  officer,  having  first  solemnly  besought 
the  gods  that  what  he  was  about  to  do  might  prove 
fortunate  for  tlie  legion,  and  then  exclaiming  with  a 
loud  voice,  "  FoUow  me,  my  fellow-soldiers,  unless 
you  will  give  up  your  eagle  to  the  enemy !  I,  at  least, 
will  do  my  duty  to  the  republic  and  to  our  general !" 
leaped  into  the  sea  as  he  spoke,  and  dashed  with  his 
ensign  among  the  enemy's  ranks.  The  men  instantly 
followed  their  heroic  leader ;  and  the  soldiers  in  the 
other  ships,  excited  by  the  example,  also  crowded  for- 
ward along  with  them.  The  two  ai'mies  were  for 
some  time  mixed  in  combat ;  but  at  length  the  Britons 
withdrew  in  disorder  from  the  well-contested  beach. 
A's  their  cavahy,  however,  was  not  yet  arrived,  the 
Romans  could  not  pursue  them  or  advance  into  the 
island,  which  Cfesai"  says  prevented  his  rendering  the 
victory  complete. 

The  native  mai"itime  tribes,  thus  defeated,  sought 
the  advantages  of  a  hollow  peace.  They  dispatched 
ambassadors  to  Caesar,  offering  hostages,  and  an 
entire  submission.  They  liberated  Comius,  and 
restored  hun  to  his  employer,  tllI•o^\'ing  the  blame  of 
the  harsh  ti-eatment  his  envoy  had  met  \N-ith  upon 
the  multitude  or  common  people,  and  entreating 
Csesai'  to  excuse  a  fault  wliich  proceeded  solely  from 


26 


HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


the  popular  ignorance.  The  conqueror,  after  re- 
proachino;  them  for  sending  of  their  own  accord  am- 
bassadors into  Gaul  to  sue  for  peace,  and  then  making 
war  upon  him,  u-ithout  any  reasc/n,  forgave  them  theii* 
offences,  and  ordered  them  to  send  in  a  certain  num- 
ber of  hostages,  as  security  for  their  good  behavior 
in  future.  Some  of  these  hostages  were  presented 
immediately,  and  the  Britons  promised  to  deliver  the 
rest,  who  lived  at  a  distance,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
days.  The  native  forces  then  seemed  entirely  dis- 
banded, and  the  several  chiefs  came  to  Caesar's  camp 
to  offer  allegiance,  and  negotiate  or  inti'igue  for  their 
own  separate  interests. 

On  the  day  that  this  peace  was  concluded,  and  not 
before,  the  unlucky  ti-anspoi-ts,  with  the  Roman  cav- 
alry, were  enabled  to  quit  their  port  on  the  coast  of 
Gaul.  They  stood  across  the  channel  with  a  gentle 
gale  ;  but  when  they  neared  the  British  coast,  and 
were  even  within  view  of  C;rsar's  camp,  thoy  were 
dispersed  by  a  tempest,  and  were  finally  obliged  to 
return  to  the  port  where  they  had  been  so  long  de- 
tained, and  whence  they  had  set  out  that  nioruing. 
That  very  night,  Caesar  says,  it  happened  to  be  full 
moon,  when  the  tides  ahvays  rise  highest — "  a  fact 
at  that  time  wholly  unknown  to  the  Romans"' — and 
the  galleys  which  he  had  with  him,  and  which  were 
hauled  up  on  the  beach,  nvere  filled  with  the  rising 
waters,  while  his  heavier  ti-ansports,  that  lay  at  an- 
chor in  the  roadstead,  were  either  dashed  to  pieces, 
or  rendered  altogether  unfit  for  sailing.  This  dis- 
aster spread  a  general  consternation  through  the 
camp ;  for,  as  every  legionary  knew,  there  were  no 
other  vessels  to  carry  back  the  ti'oops,  nor  any  ma- 
terials with  the  army  to  lepair  the  ships  that  were 
disabled ;  and  as  it  had  been  from  the  beginning 
Caesar's  design  not  to  winter  in  Britain,  but  in  Gaul, 
he  was  wholly  unprovided  with  corn  and  provisions 
to  feed  his  troops.  Suetonius  says,  that  during  the 
nine  years  Caesar  held  the  militarj*  conmiand  in 
Gaul,  amidst  a  most  brilliant  series  of  successes,  he 
experienced  only  three  signal  disasters ;  and  he  counts 
the  almost  entire  destruction  of  hi-s  fleet  by  a  storm 
in  Britain,  as  one  of  the  three. 

Nor  were  the  invaded  people  slow  in  perceiving 
the  extent  of  Caesar's  calamity,  and  devising  means 
to  profit  by  it.  They  plainly  saw  he  was  in  want 
of  cavalry,  provisions,  and  ships ;  a  close  inspection 
showed  that  his  troops  were  not  so  numerous  as  they 
had  fancied,  and  probably  familiarized  them  in  some 
measure  to  their  Wiu-like  weapons  and  demeanor; 
and  they  confidently  hoped,  that  by  defeating  this 
force,  or  suiTounding  and  cutting  off  their  reti'eat, 
and  staiTing  them,  they  should  prevent  all  future 
invasions.  The  chiefs  in  the  camp  having  previously 
held  secret  consultations  among  themselves,  retired 
by  degrees  from  the  Romans,  and  began  to  draw 
the  islanders  together.  Caesar  says,  that  though  he 
was  not  fully  apprised  of  their  designs,  he  pai'tly 
guessed  them,  from  their  delay  in  sending  in  the  hos- 

1  The  operations  of  the  Roman  troops  had  hitherto  been  almost  con- 
fined to  the  Mediterranean,  where  there  is  no  perceptible  tide.  Yet, 
during  their  stay  on  the  coast  of  Gaul,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  chan- 
nel, they  ought  to  have  become  acquainted  with  these  phenomena. 
ProlaHly  they  had  never  attended  to  the  irregularities  of  a  spring-tide. 


tages  promised  from  a  distance,  and  from  other  cir- 
cumstances, and  instantly  took  measures  to  provide 
for  the  worst.  He  set  part  of  his  army  to  repair  his 
shattered  fleet,  using  the  materials  of  the  vessels 
most  injured  to  patch  up  the  rest ;  and  as  the  sol- 
diers wrought  with  an  indefatigability  suiting  the 
dangerous  urgency  of  the  case,  he  had  soon  a  num- 
ber of  vessels  fit  for  sea.  He  then  sent  to  Gaul  for 
other  materials  wanting,  and  probably  for  some  pro- 
visions also.  Another  portion  of  his  ti'oops  he  em- 
ployed in  foraging  parties,  to  bring  into  the  camp 
what  corn  they  could  collect  in  the  adjacent  country. 
This  supply  could  not  have  been  great,  for  tlie  na- 
tives had  everywhere  gathered  in  their  harvest,  ex- 
cp])t  in  one  field  ;  and  there,  by  lying  in  ambush,  the 
Britons  made  a  bold  and  bloody  attack,  which  had 
well  nigh  proved  fatal  to  the  invaders.  As  one  of 
the  two  legions  that  formed  the  expedition  were  cut- 
ting down  the  corn  in  that  field,  Caesar,  who  was  in 
his  fortified  camp,  suddenly  saw  a  gi-eat  cloud  of  dust 
in  that  direction.  He  rushed  to  the  spot  with  two 
cohorts,  leaving  orders  for  all  the  other  soldiers  of  the 
legion  to  follow  as  soon  as  possible.  His  an-ival  was 
very  opportune,  for  he  found  the  legion,  which  had 
been  surprised  in  the  corn-field,  and  which  had  suf- 
fered considerable  loss,  now  suiTounded  and  pressed 
on  all  sides  by  the  cavalry  and  war-chariots  of  the 
British,  w'ho  had  been  concealed  in  the  neighboring 
woods.  He  succeeded  in  bringing  off  the  engaged 
legion,  with  which  he  wthdrew  to  his  enti-enched 
camp,  declining  a  general  engagement  for  the  pre- 
sent. Heavy  rains  that  followed  for  some  days, 
confined  the  Romans  within  their  entrenchments. 
Meanwhile  the  British  force  of  horse  and  foot  was 
increased  from  all  sides,  and  they  gi-adually  drew 
round  the  intrenchments.  Caesar,  anticipating  theu- 
attack,  marshalled  his  legions  outside  of  the  camp, 
and,  at  the  proper  moment,  fell  upon  the  islanders, 
who,  he  says,  not  being  able  to  sustain  the  shock, 
were  soon  put  to  flight.  In  this  victory  he  attaches 
great  importance  to  a  body  of  thirty  horse,  which 
Comius,  the  Ati-ebatian,  had  brought  over  from  Gaul. 
The  Romans  pursued  the  fugitives  as  far  as  their 
sh-ength  would  permit ;  they  slaughtered  many  of 
them,  set  fire  to  some  houses  and  villages,  and  then 
returned  again  to  the  protection  of  their  camp.  On 
the  same  day  the  Britons  agcain  sued  for  peace,  and 
Caesar  being  anxious  to  return  to  Gaul  as  quickly  as 
possible,  "  because  the  equinox  was  approaching,  and 
his  ships  were  leaky,"  granted  it  to  them  on  no 
harder  condition  than  that  of  doubling  the  number  of 
hostages  they  had  promised  after  their  first  defeat. 
He  did  not  even  wait  for  the  hostages,  but  a  fair 
wind  springing  up,  he  set  sail  at  midnight,  and  ar- 
rived safely  in  Gaul.  Eventually  only  two  of  the 
British  states  sent  their  hostages  ;  and  this  breach  of 
treaty  gave  the  Roman  commander  a  ground  of  com- 
plaint by  which  to  justify  his  second  invasion. 

In  the  spring  of  the  followng  year  (b.  c.  54)  Caesar 
again  embarked  at  the  same  Portus  Itius  for  Britain. 
This  time  peculiar  attention  had  been  paid  to  the 
build  and  the  equipment  of  his  fleet :  he  had  800 
vessels  of  all  classes,  and  these  cairied  five  legions 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


27 


and  2000  cavalry,  an  invading  force  in  all  not  short 
of  32,000  men.i  At  the  approach  of  this  formidable 
armament  the  natives  retired  in  dismay  from  the 
coast,  and  Caesar  disembarked,  without  opposition,  at 
"  that  part  of  the  island  which  he  had  marked  out 
the  preceding  summer  as  being  the  most  convenient 
landing-place."  This  was  probably  somewhere  on 
the  same  flat  between  Walmer  Castle  and  Sandwich, 
where  he  had  lauded  the  year  before.  Having  re- 
ceived intelligence  as  to  the  direction  in  which  the 
Britons  had  retired,  he  sat  out  about  midnight  in 
quest  of  them,  leaving  ten  cohorts,  with  300  horse, 
behind  him  on  the  coast,  to  guard  his  camp  and  fleet. 
After  a  hurried  night-march,  he  came  in  sight  of  the 
islanders,  who  were  well  posted  on  some  rising 
grounds  behind  a  river,  probably  the  Stour,  near 
Canterbury.  The  confederate  army  gallantly  dis- 
puted the  passage  of  the  river  with  their  cavalry  and 
chariots ;  but  being  repulsed  by  tlie  Roman  horse, 
they  retreated  towards  the  woods,  to  a  place  strongly 
fortified  both  by  nature  and  art,  and  which  Caesar 
judged  had  been  strengthened  before,  on  occasion  of 
some  internal  native  war  ;  "  for  all  the  avenues  were 
secured  by  strong  barricades  of  felled  tiees  laid  upon 
one  another."  This  shoughold  is  supposed  to  have 
been  at  or  near  to  the  spot  where  the  city  of  Canter- 
buiy  now  stands.  Strong  as  it  was,  the  soldiers  of 
the  seventh  legion  (the  force  that  had  suffered  so 
much  the  preceding  campaign  in  the  corn-field) 
carried  it  by  means  of  a  mound  of  earth  they  cast 
up  in  front  of  it ;  and  then  they  drove  the  British 
from  the  cover  of  the  wood.  The  evening  closed 
on  their  retreat,  in  which  they  must  have  suf- 
fered little  loss,  for  Caesar,  fearful  of  following  them 
thi'ough  a  countiy  with  which  he  was  unacquainted, 
stiictly  forbade  all  pursuit,  and  employed  his  men 
in  fortifying  then*  camp  for  the  night.  The  Roman 
eagles  were  scarcely  displayed  llie  following  morn- 
ing, and  the  trumpets  had  hardly  sounded  the  ad- 
vance, when  a  pai'ty  of  horse  brought  intelligence 
from  the  coast  that  nearly  all  the  fleet  had  been 
driven  on  shore  and  wrecked  during  the  night. 
Commanding  a  necessaiy  halt,  Caesar  flew  to  the 
sea-shore,  whither  he  was  followed  by  the  legions 
in  full  reti-eat.  The  misfortune  had  not  been  exag- 
gerated :  forty  of  his  ships  were  iiretrievably  lost, 
and  the  rest  so  damaged  that  they  seemed  scarcely 

1  In  this  calculation  an  allowance  of  500  is  made  for  sickness,  casu- 
alties, and  deficiencies.  At  this  period  the  infantrv  of  a  legion,  wken 
complete,  amounted  to  6100  men. 


capable  of  repah-.  With  his  characteristic  activity, 
he  set  all  the  carpenters  of  the  army  to  work,  WTote 
for  more  artisans  from  Gaul,  and  ordered  the  legions 
stationed  on  that  coast  to  build  as  many  new  ships 
as  they  could.  Apprehensive  alike  of  the  storms  of 
the  ocean  and  the  fierce  attack  of  the  natives,  Caesar 
ordered  that  all  his  ships  should  be  drawn  up  on 
diy  land  and  inclosed  within  his  fortified  camp.  Al- 
though the  ancient  galleys  were  small  and  light  com- 
pared to  our  modern  men-of-war,  and  the  tians- 
ports  and  tenders  of  his  fleet  in  all  probability'  little 
more  than  sloops  and  barges,  this  was  a  laborious 
operation,  and  occupied  the  soldiers  ten  days  and 
nights.  Having  thus  secured  his  fleet,  he  set  oft'  in 
pursuit  of  the  enemy,  who  had  made  a  good  use  of 
his  absence  by  increasing  their  army,  and  appointing 
one  chief  to  the  supreme  command  of  it.  The 
choice  of  the  confederated  states  fell  upon  Cassivel- 
launus  (his  Celtic  name  was  perhaps  Caswallon), 
whose  territories  were  divided  from  the  maritime 
states  of  the  river  Thames,  at  a  point  which  was  be- 
toeen  seventy  and  eighty  miles  from  Caesar's  camp 
on  the  Kentish  coast.  This  prince  had  hitherto 
been  engaged  in  almost  constant  wars  with  his  neigh- 
bors, whose  aff'ection  to  him  must  have  therefore 
been  of  recent  date  and  of  somewhat  doubtful  con- 
tinuance ;  but  he  had  a  reputation  for  skill  and  bra- 
very, and  the  dread  of  the  Romans  made  the  Britons 
forget  their  quarrels  for  a  time,  unite  themselves 
under  his  command,  and  inh-ust  him  with  the  whole 
conduct  of  the  war.  Caesar  found  him  well  posted 
at  or  near  to  the  scene  of  the  last  battle.  Cassivel- 
launus  did  not  wait  to  be  attacked,  but  charged  the 
Roman  cavaliy  with  his  horse  supported  by  his 
chariots.  Caesar  says  that  he  constantly  repelled 
these  charges,  and  drove  the  Britons  to  then-  woods 
and  hills ;  but  that,  after  making  gieat  slaughter, 
venturing  to  continue  the  pursuit  too  far,  he  lost 
some  men.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  British 
reti'eated  far;  and  some  time  after  these  skir- 
mishes they  gave  the  Romans  a  serious  check. 
Sallying  unexpectedly  from  the  wood,  they  fell  upon 
the  soldiers,  who  were  employed  as  usual  in  fortify- 
ing the  camp  or  station  for  the  night,  and  cut  up  the 
advanced  guard.  Caesar  sent  two  cohorts  to  their 
aid,  but  the  Britons  charged  these  in  separate  parties, 
broke  tlirough  them,  routed  them,  and  then  retii-ed 
without  loss.  A  military  tribune  was  slain,  and  but 
for  the  timely  aiTival  of  some  fiesh  cohorts  the  con- 
flict would  have  been  veiy  disastious.      Even  as  it 


GvLLEY.— From  a  Copper  Coin  in  the  British      Gallky.— From  a  Copper  Coin  in  the  British      Gallcy.— From  a  Copper  Coin  in  the  British 
Museum,  ol  the  time  of  Antony.  Museum,  of  the  time  of  Hadrian.  Museum,  of  the  time  of  Hidrian. 


28 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


SiDK  Elevation. 


Midship  Section. 


Elevation  of  Uend  and  Stern. 


SCALE      OF      TEN      FEET. 


Roman  Galley. — Talien  from  the  Model  presented  to  Greenwich  Hospital  by  Lord  Anson.' 


was,  and  though  Csesar  covers  the  fact  by  a  some- 
what confused  narrative,  it  should  appear  that  a  good 
part  of  his  array  was  beaten  on  this  occasion.  He 
says  that  from  this  action,  of  which  the  whole  Ro- 
man anny  were  spectators,  it  was  evident  that  his 
heavy-armed  legions  were  not  a  fit  match  for  the 
active  and  light-armed  Britons,  who  always  fought  in 
detachments  with  a  body  of  resei-ve  in  their  rear, 
that  advanced  fresh  supplies  when  needed,  and  cov- 
ered and  protected  the  forces  when  in  retreat ;  that 
even  his  cavalry  could  not  engage  without  great  dan- 
ger, it  being  the  custom  of  the  Britons  to  counterfeit 
a  retreat,  until  they  had  drawn  the  Roman  horse  a 
considerable  way  from  the  legions,  when  suddenly 
leaping  from  their  chariots,  they  charged  them  on 
foot,  and,  by  this  unequal  manner  of  fighting,  ren- 
dered it  equally  dangerous  to  pursue  or  retire. 

The   next  day   the    Britons   only    showed   small 
bodies  on  the  hills  at  some  distance  from  the  Roman 


camp.  This  made  Caesar  believe  they  were  less 
willing  to  skirmish  with  his  cavalry;  but  no  sooner 
had  he  sent  out  all  his  cavalry  to  forage,  supported 
by  three  legions  (between  horse  and  foot  this  foraging 
party  comprised  considerably  more  than  half  the 
forces  he  had  with  him),  than  the  Britons  fell  upon 
them  on  all  sides,  and  even  charged  up  to  the  solid 
and  impenetrable  legions.  The  latter  bold  step  was 
the  cause  of  their  ruin :  the  superior  arms,  the 
defensive  armor,  and  the  perfect  discipline  of  those 
masses,  rendered  the  contest  too  unequal ;  the 
British  warriors  were  repulsed, — thrown  off  like 
waves  from  a  mightj-  rock, — confusion  ensued,  and, 
CcEsar's  cavalry  and  infantry  charging  together,  ut- 
terly broke  the  confederate  army.  The  conqueror 
informs  us  that  after  this  defeat,  the  auxiliary'  troops, 
which  had  repaired  from  all  parts  to  Cassivellaunus' 
standard,  returned  severally  to  their  own  homes ; 
and  that  during  the  rest  of  the  campaign  the  enemy 


•  The  construction  of  Roman  galleys  has  been  more  completely  investigated  since  Lord  Anson's  time  ;  but  as  this  model  was  prepared  with 
great  care,  and  is  open  to  public  inspection,  we  give  an  engraving  of  it. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


29 


never  again  appeared  against  the  Romans  with  their 
whole  force. 

These  severe  contests  had  not  brought  Caesar  far 
into  the  interior  of  the  island ;  but  now  he  followed 
up  Cassivellaunus,  who  retired,  for  the  defence  of 
his  own  kingdom,  beyond  the  Thames.  Marching 
through  Kent  and  a  part  of  SuiTey,  or  the  beautiful 
country  which  now  bears  those  names,  the  Romans 
reached  the  right  bank  of  the  Thames,  at  Coway- 
stakes,  near  Chertsey^  in  Surrey,  where  the  river 
was  considered  fordable.  The  passage,  however, 
was  not  undisputed :  Cassivellaunus  had  drawn  up 
his  troops  in  gi'eat  numbers  on  the  opposite  bank ; 
he  had  likewise  fortified  that  bank  with  sharp  stakes, 
and  driven  similar  stakes  into  the  bed  of  the  river, 
yet  so  as  to  be  concealed  or  covered  by  the  water. 
Of  these  things  Caesar  says  he  was  informed  by 
prisoners  and  deserters.  It  should  appear  that  he 
overcame  the  obstacles  raised  at  the  ford  with  great 
ease ;  he  sent  the  horse  into  the  river  before,  order- 
ing the  foot  to  follow  close  behind  them,  which  they 
did  with  such  rapidity  that,  though  nothing  but  their 
heads  appeared  above  water,  they  were  presently  on 
the  opposite  bank,  where  the  enemy  could  not  stand 
their  charge,  but  fled. 

The  rest  of  his  army  having  disbanded,  Cassivel- 
launus now  retained  no  other  force  than  4000  war- 
chariots,  with  which  he  harassed  the  Romans,  always 

1  This  point,  like  most  of  the  other  localities  mentioned  by  Caesar, 
has  been  the  subject  of  dispute.  We  venture  to  fix  it  where  we  do, 
on  the  authority  of  Camden,  and  Mr.  Gale,  a  writer  in  the  Archseo- 
Ingia,  vol.  i.  p.  183. 


keeping  at  a  distance  from  their  main  body,  and  re- 
tiring, when  attacked,  to  woods  and  inaccessible  places ; 
whither  also  he  caused  such  of  the  inhabitants  as  lay 
on  Caesar's  line  of  march,  to  withdraw  with  their 
cattle  and  provisions.  Being  perfectly  acquainted 
with  the  countiy,  and  all  the  roads  and  defiles,  he 
continued  to  fall  upon  detached  paities  ;  and  the  Ro- 
mans were  never  safe,  or  masters  of  any  giound, 
except  in  the  space  covered  by  their  entrenched  camp 
or  their  legions.  On  account  of  these  frequent  sur- 
prises, Caesar  would  not  peraiit  his  horse  to  forage 
at  any  distance  from  the  legions,  or  to  pillage  and 
destioy  the  country,  unless  where  the  foot  was  close 
at  hand  to  support  them. 

The  fatal  want  of  union  among  the  petty  states  into 
which  the  island  was  frittered,  and  the  hatred  some 
of  them  entertained  against  their  foiTner  enemy  Cas- 
sivellaunus, now,  however,  began  to  appear  and  to 
disconceit  all  that  chief's  measures  for  resistance. 
The  Trinobantes,  who  dwelt  in  Essex  and  Middlesex, 
and  who  formed  one  of  the  most  powerful  states  in 
those  parts,  sent  ambassadors  to  Caesar.  Of  this 
state  was  Mandubratius,  who  had  fled  to  Caesar  into 
Gaul,  in  order  to  avoid  the  fate  of  his  father,  Imanu- 
entius,  who  had  held  the  sovereignty  of  the  state,  and 
whom  Cassivellaunus  had  defeated  and  put  to  death. 
The  ambassadors  entreated  Caesar  to  restore  their 
prince,  who  was  then  a  guest  in  the  Roman  camp,  to 
defend  him  and  them  against  the  fuiy  of  Cassivellau- 
nus, promising,  on  these  conditions,  obedience  and 
entire  submission  in  the  name  of  all  the  Trinobantes. 


-^-^ 


The  Thames  at  Cowat-stakes. 

It  is  stated,  upon  local  tradition,  that  the  passage  was  made  at  the  bend  of  the  River 


30 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[IjOOK    1. 


Hits  in  a  Cingalese  Village. 


Caesar  demanded  foitj'  hostages,  and  that  they  should 
supply  his  army  with  corn.  The  general  does  not 
confess  it,  but  it  is  very  probable  tliat,  through  the 
wise  measures  of  Cassivellaunus,  the  Romans  were 
at  this  time  sorely  distressed  by  want  of  provisions. 
The  Trinobantes  delivered  both  the  corn  and  the 
hostages,  and  Csesar  restored  to  them  their  prince. 
Immediately  upon  this,  other  tribes,  whom  Csesar 
designates  the  Cenimagni,  Segontiaci,  Ancjilites,  Bi- 
broci,  and  Cassi,  also  sent  in  their  submission.  Some 
of  tliese  people  informed  Ca?sar  that  he  was  not  far 
from  the  capital  of  Cassivellaunus,  which  was  situated 
amidst  woods  and  marshes,  and  whither  multitudes 
of  the  British  had  retired  with  their  cattle,  as  to  a 
place  of  safety.  This  town  is  supposed  to  have  been 
near  to  the  site  of  St.  Alban's,  and  on  the  spot  where 
the  flourishing  Roman  colony  of  Verulamiura  arose 
many  years  after.  Though  called  a  town,  and  a 
capital,  it  appears  from  Ctesar  to  have  been  nothing 
but  a  thick  wood  or  labja-inth,  with  clusters  of  houses 
or  villages  scattered  about  it,  the  whole  being  sur- 
rounded by  a  ditch  and  a  rampart,  the  latter  made  of 
mud  or  felled  ti-ees,  or  proljably  of  both  materials 
mixed.  In  many  respects  the  tow*ns  of  the  Cingalese 
in  the  interior  of  Ceylon,  and  the  mode  of  fighting 
against  the  English  practised  by  that  people,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  centiiry,  resemble  the  British 
towns  and  the  British  warfare  of  nineteen  centuries 
ago. 

Cfesar  soon  appeared  with  his  legions  before  the 
capital  of  Cassivellaunus  ;  and  he  saj's,  that  though 
the  pliicc  seemed  verj-  sti'ong  both  by  art  and  nature, 


he  resolved  to  attack  it  in  two  several  points.  He 
was  once  more  successful :  the  Britons  fled  to  another 
wood,  after  a  short  stand,  and  the  Romans  took  many 
prisoners  and  vast  numbers  of  cattle.  Though  thus 
defeated  in  the  inland  districts,  Cassivellaunus  still 
hoped  to  redeem  the  fortunes  of  his  country  by  a 
bold  and  well-conceived  blow,  to  be  stiuck  on  the 
sea-coast.  While  the  events  related  were  passing 
beyond  the  Thames,  he  dispatched  messengers  to  the 
four  princes  or  kings  of  Cantium  (Kent),  to  insti'uct 
them  to  draw  all  their  forces  together,  and  attack  the 
camp  and  ships  of  the  Romans  by  surprise.  The 
Kentish  Britons  obeyed  their  instructions,  but,  ac- 
cording to  Csesar,  the  Romans,  sallying  from  their 
enti'enchments,  made  a  gi-eat  slaughter  of  theu-  troops, 
took  one  of  the  princes  prisoner,  and  returned  in 
safety  to  the  camp.  At  the  news  of  this  reverse, 
the  brave  Cassivellaunus  lost  heart ;  he  sent  ambas- 
sadors to  sue  for  peace,  and  availed  himself  of  the 
mediation  with  Ctesar  of  Comius,  the  king  of  the 
Atrebatians,  with  whom,  at  one  time  or  other,  he 
appears  to  have  had  friendly  relations.  The  Roman 
general,  as  we  have  noticed,  states  that  the  authoiity 
or  influence  of  Comius  in  the  island  was  veiy  consid- 
erable. It  would  be  curious  to  see  how  he  exercised 
it  in  favor  of  his  Roman  patron  ;  but  here  we  are  left 
in  the  dark.  Csesar  turned  a  ready  ear  to  the  over- 
tures of  Cassivellaunus,  and  gi-anted  him  peace  on 
such  easy  conditions,  that  some  writers  have  been 
induced  to  believe  that  he  was  heartily  tired  of  the 
harassing  war.     For  himself  he  onlj"  says  that  he 

was  in   a  hunv  t'>  rr>t:ivii  tn  Cnil     on  nroonvf  of   the 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


31 


frequent  insurrections  in  that  countiy.  He  merely 
demanded  hostages,  appointed  a  yearly  tribute  (the 
amount  of  which  is  nowhere  named,  and  which  was 
probably  never  paid),  and  charged  Cassiveliaunus  to 
respect  Mandubratius  and  the  Tiinobantes.  Having 
received  the  hostages,  he  led  his  troops  back  to  the 
Kentish  coast,  and  crowding  them  into  his  ships  as 
closely  and  quickly  as  he  could,  he  set  sail  by  night 
for  Gaul,  fearing,  he  says,  the  equinoctial  storms  which 
were  now  at  hand.  He  tells  us  he  had  many  prison- 
ers ;  but  he  certainly  did  not  erect  a  fort,  or  leave  a 
single  cohort  behind  him,  to  secure  tlie  ground  he  had 
gained  in  the  island. ' 

Tacitus,  writing  150  years  later,  says  distinctly, 
that  even  Julius  Caesar,  the  first  who  entered  Britain 
with  an  army,  although  he  struck  terror  into  the 
islanders  by  a  successful  battle,  could  only  maintain 
himself  on  the  sea-coast ; — that  he  was  a  discoverer 
rather  than  a  conqueror.  He  only  saw  a  small  portion 
of  the  island ;  but  the  farther  he  got  from  the  coast 
and  the  Belgic  colonies,  the  more  fierce  and  barbarous 
he  found  the  natives. 

We  have  dwelt  more  particularly  on  these  cam- 
paigns, as  we  have  the  accomplished  general's  own 
account  to  guide  us,  and  as  many  of  his  details  may 
be  applied  to  explain  the  other  Roman  wars  which 
followed,  when  there  was  no  Cfesar  to  describe  in 
the  closet  his  exploits  in  the  field.  The  sequel,  indeed, 
when  we  must  follow  professional  historians,  who 
were  never  even  in  Britain,  is  comparatively  unin- 
teresting and  monotonous.  We  shall,  therefore,  set 
down  the  great  results,  without  emban-assing  the 
reader  with  unnecessary  details  ;  but  at  this  point  it 
will  be  well  to  pause,  in  order  to  ofier  a  few  general 
remarks,  which  will  equally  elucidate  the  past  and 
future  campaigns  of  the  Romans  in  our  island. 

The  contest  which  had  thus  taken  place  between 
the  British  bands  and  the  famed  Roman  legions  at  a 
period  when  the  discipline  of  those  coi-]>s  was  most 
perfect,  and  when  they  were  commanded  by  the 
greatest  of  their  generals,  was  certainly  very  une- 
qual ;  but  less  so  (even  without  taking  into  account 
the  superiority  of  numbers  and  other  advantages,  all 
on  the  side  of  the  invaded)  than  is  generally  imagined 
and  represented.  A  brief  examination  of  the  arts  and 
practices  of  war  of  the  two  contending  parties  may 
sei-ve  to  explain,  in  a  great  measure,  what  is  past, 
and  render  more  intelligible  the  events  which  are  to 
ensue.  The  first  striking  result  of  such  an  examina- 
tion is  a  suspicion,  and  indeed  a  proof,  that  the  Britons 
were  much  farther  advanced  in  civilization  than  the 
savage  tribes  to  which  it  has  been  the  fashion  to  com- 
pare them.  Were  this  not  the  case,  the  somewhat 
u,nsuccessful  employment  against  them  of  so  large 
an  army  as  that  of  Caesar,  would  be  disgraceful  to  the 
Roman  name.  Their  war-chariots,  which  several 
times  produced  tremendous  effects  on  the  Romans, 
and  the  use  of  which  seems  at  that  time  to  have  been 
peculiar  to  the  Britons,  would  of  themselves  prove  a 
high  degi-ee  of  mechanical  skill,  and  an  acquaintance 
with  several  arts.     These  cars  were  of  various  forms 

■   For  the  preceding  part  of  our  narrative,  see  Cssar  de  Bcllo  Gallico. 
'.iCH,k  :v.  cti.  IS,  l^  bj  1.  v.  cli.  I'J  fincV-?ivri, 


and  sizes,  some  being  rude,  and  others  of  curious  and 
even  elegant  workmanship.  Those  most  commonly 
in  use,  and  called  Esseda,  or  Essedee,  by  the  Romans, 
were  made  to  contain  each  a  charioteer  for  driving, 
and  one,  two,  or  more  warriors  for  fighting.  They 
were  at  once  strong  and  light ;  the  extremity'  of  their 
axles  and  other  salient  points  were  armed  with  scythes 
and  hooks  for  cutting  and  tearing  whatever  fell  in 
their  way,  as  they  were  driven  rapidly  along.  The 
horses  attached  to  them  were  perfect  in  training,  and 
so  well  in  hand,  that  they  could  be  driven  at  speed 
over  the  rougheal  country,  and  even  through  the 
woods,  which  then  abounded  in  all  directions.  The 
Romans  were  no  less  astonished  at  this  dexterity 
than  at  the  number  of  the  chariots.  The  way  in 
wliich  the  Britons  brought  the  chai-iots  into  action, 
was  this  :  at  the  beginning  of  a  buttle  they  drove 
about  the  flanks  of  the  enemy,  throwing  darts  from 
the  cars  ;  and,  according  to  Ctesar,  the  very  dread  of 
the  horses,  and  the  noise  of  the  rapid  wheels,  often 
broke  the  ranks  of  his  legions.  When  they  had 
succeeded  in  making  an  impression,  and  had  winded 
in  among  the  Roman  cavalry,  the  warriors  leaped 
from  their  chariots,  and  fought  on  foot.  In  the 
meantime,  the  drivers  retired  with  the  chariots  a 
little  from  the  combat,  taking  up  such  a  position  as  to 
favor  the  retreat  of  the  warriors  in  case  of  their  being 
overmatched.  "  In  this  manner,"  says  Caesar,  "they 
perform  the  part  both  of  rapid  cavahy  and  of  steady 
infantry ;  and,  by  constant  exercise  and  use,  they 
have  arrived  at  such  expertness,  that  they  can  stop 
their  horses  when  at  full  speed,  in  the  most  steep 
and  difficult  places,  turn  them  which  Avay  they  please, 
run  along  the  carriage-pole,  rest  on  the  harness,  and 
throw  themselves  back  into  their  chariots  with  incred- 
ible dexteritj'." 

For  a  long  time  the  veteran  legions  of  Rome  could 
not  look  on  the  clouds  of  dust  that  announced  the  ap- 
proach of  these  war-chariots  Avithout  ti-epidation. 
The  Gauls  had  once  the  same  mode  of  fighting,  and 
equally  disti-essed  the  Romans  with  their  war-char- 
iots. Nearly  300  years  before  the  invasion  of  Bri- 
tain, when  the  Gauls  were  established  in  parts  of  Italy, 
and  in  close  alliance  with  the  Samnites,  a  successful 
charge  of  the  Roman  cavalry  was  repulsed,  and  the 
whole  army  thrown  into  dismay,  by  a  mode  of  fight- 
ing to  which  they  were  utter  stiangers  :  "  A  number 
of  the  enemy,"  says  Livy,  "mounted  on  chariots  and 
cars,  made  towards  them  with  such  a  terrible  noise, 
from  the  tramphng  of  the  horses  and  the  rolling  of 
the  wheels,  as  affrighted  the  horses  of  the  Romans, 
unaccustomed  to  such  operations.  By  this  means, 
the  victorious  cavahy  were  dispersed,  and  men  and 
horses,  in  their  headlong  flight,  were  thrown  in  heaps 
to  the  ground.  The  same  cause  produced  disorder 
even  in  the  ranks  of  the  legions  :  through  the  impetu- 
osity of  the  horses,  and  the  carriages  they  dragged 
through  the  ranks,  many  of  the  Roman  soldiers  in  the 
van  were  trodden  or  bruised  to  death  ;  and  the  Gauls, 
as  soon  as  they  saw  the  enemy  in  confusion,  followed 
up  the  advantage,  nor  allowed  them  bresithing-time."' 
The  use   of  war-chariots,  however,  seems  to  have 


32 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


^?pifeiH^v,ai 


British  War  Chariot,  Shield,  and  Speaks. — De  Loutlierbourg. 


fallen  out  of  fashion  among  the  Gauls,  during  the  long 
period  that  had  intervened  ;  for  Caesar  never  makes 
mention  of  them,  in  describing  his  many  battles  with 
that  people  on  the  continent. 

The  existence  of  the  accessories — the  hooks  and 
scythes  attached  to  the  wheels  or  axles — has  been 
questioned,  as  neither  Cssar,  nor  Tacitus,  nor  any 
early  writer,  with  the  exception  of  the  geogi-apher 
Pomponius  Mela  (who  wrote,  however,  in  the  first 
century),  expressly  mentions  them  in  describing  the 
war-chariots.  Weapons,  answering  to  the  descrip- 
tion, have,  however,  been  found,  on  the  field  of  some 
of  the  most  ancient  battles.  Between  the  Roman 
invasion  under  Caesar,  and  that  ordered  by  the  Em- 
peror Claudius,  the  cars  or  chariots  of  the  British 
atti-acted  notice,  and  were  exliibited  in  Italy.  They 
were  seen  in  the  splendid  pageantry  with  which  Ca- 
ligula passed  over  the  sea  from  Puteoli  to  Baiae,  on 
his  mole  and  bridge  of  boats.  The  emperor,  Sueto- 
nius tells  us,  rode  in  a  chariot  drawn  by  two  famous 
horses,  and  a  party  of  his  friends  followed,  mounted 
in  British  chariots.  Probably  Caesar  had  earned 
some  of  the  native  war-cai-s  to  Rome,  as  curiosities, 
just  as  our  navigators  bring  the  canoes  of  the  Indians 
and  South-Sea  Islanders  to  England.  At  subsequent 
periods,  the  war-chariots  of  the  Britons  were  fre- 
([uently  alluded  to  by  the  poets  as  well  as  historians 
of  Rome. 

The  ancient  Britons  were  well  provided  with  horses, 
of  a  small  breed,  but  hardy,  spirited,  and  yet  docile. 


Their  cavahy  were  armed  with  shields,  broad-swords, 
and  lances.  They  were  accustomed,  like  the  Gauls, 
and  their  own  chariot-men,  to  dismount,  at  fitting 
seasons,  and  fight  on  foot;  and  their  horses  are  said 
to  have  been  so  well  ti-ained,  as  to  stand  firm  at  the 
places  where  they  were  left,  till  their  masters  re- 
turned to  them.  Another  common  practice  among 
them  was,  to  mix  an  equal  number  of  their  swiftest 
foot  with  their  cavalry,  each  of  these  foot-soldiers 
holding  by  a  horse's  mane,  and  keeping  pace  with  him 
in  all  his  motions.  Some  remains  of  this  last  custom 
were  obsei-ved  among  the  Highland  clans  in  the  last 
century,  in  the  civil  wars  for  the  Pretender ;  and  in 
more  modern,  and  regular,  and  scientific  warfare,  an 
advantage  has  often  been  foimd  in  mounting  infantry 
behind  cavalry,  and  in  teaching  cavalry  to  dismount, 
and  do  the  duty  of  foot-soldiers.  A  gi'eat  fondness 
for  horses,  and  a  skill  in  riding  them,  and  breaking 
them  in  for  cars  and  chariots,  were  observable  in  all 
the  nations  of  the  Celtic  race.  The  scythe-armed 
cars  of  the  Britons  maj^  be  assumed  as  one  of  the 
many  links  in  that  chain  which  seems  to  connect  them 
with  Persia  and  the  east,  where  similar  vehicles 
were  in  use  for  many  ages. 

The  infantiy  of  the  Britons  was  the  most  numerous 
bodj%  and,  according  to  Tacitus,  the  main  strength  of 
their  armies.  They  were  very  swift  of  foot,  and  ex- 
pert in  swimming  over  rivers  and  crossing  fens  and 
marshes,  by  which  means  they  were  enabled  to  make 
sudden  attacks  and  safe  reti'eats.     They  were  slightly 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


33 


clad  ;  throwing  off  in  battle  the  whole,  or  at  least  the 
greater  part,  of  whatever  clothing  they  usually  wore, 
according  to  a  custom  which  aj)pears  to  have  been 
common  to  all  the  Celtic  nations.  They  were  not 
encumbered  with  defensive  armor,  carrying  nothing 
of  that  sort  but  a  small  light  shield ;  and  this,  added 
to  their  swiftness,  gave  them,  in  some  respects,  a 
gi'eat  advantage  over  the  heavily-armed  Romans, 
whose  foot  could  never  keep  pace  with  them.  This, 
indeed,  was  so  much  the  case  in  the  ensuing  wars, 
that  the  turn  of  a  battle  was  often  left  to  depend,  not 
on  the  legions,  but  on  their  barbnrian  auxiliaries,  some 
of  whom  were  as  lightl}- equipped  as  the  Britons  them- 
selves. In  coming  to  their  offensive  arms,  we  reach  a 
point  where  they  were  decidedly  inferior  to  the  Ro- 
mans ;  and  a  cause,  perhaps,  as  principal  as  any  other, 
of  their  invariable  defeat  when  they  came  to  close 
combat.  Their  swords  were  long  and  unwieldy, 
without  points,  and  only  meant  for  cutting — awkward 
and  offenceless  weapons  compared  to  the  compact, 
manageable,  cut-and-thrust  swords  of  their  enemies, 
which  could  be  used  in  the  closed  tnch'e.  But  an  im- 
portant circumstance,  which  throws  the  advantage  still 
more  on  the  side  of  the  Romans,  is,  that  while  their 
weapons  were  made  of  well-tempered  steel,  the 
swords  and  dirks  of  the  Britons  were,  in  all  probabil- 
ity-, only  made  of  copper,  or  of  copper  mixed  with  a 
little  tin.  We  are  told  that  the  swords  of  their  neigh- 
bors, the  Gauls,  were  made  of  copper,  and  bent  after 
the  first  blow,  which  gave  the  Romans  a  gi-eat  advan- 
tage over  them. 

A  prodigious  number  of  warlike  implements,  as 
axes,  swords,  spear-heads,  all  made  of  copper,  or  of 
copper  mixed  with  tin,  and  known  among  antiquaries 
by  the  general  name  of  "  Celts,"  have  been  dug  up 
in  different  parts  of  our  island  ;  but  we  are  not  aware 
of  the  discovery  of  any  things  of  the  sort  made  of 
ii-on,  that  can  safely  be  referred  to  the  manvifactiu-e 
of  the  ancient  Britons.  In  the  absence  of  metals, 
they  used  bones  and  flints  to  tip  their  arrows,  their 
spears,  and  lances.  Heavy  black  stones,  perforated 
to  receive  a  wooden  handle,  served  them  as  maces  or 
battle-axes.  These  are  the  veiy  weapons  of  savages  ; 
and  perhaps  those  which  have  been  found  in  such 
abundance  buried  in  the  earth,  are  much  more  ancient 
than  the  period  of  Ca?sar's  invasion,  or  were  only  used 
at  that  and  later  periods  in  the  interior  and  northern 
parts  of  the  country. 

In  addition  to  their  clumsy  sword,  the  British  in- 
fantiy  carried  a  short  dirk  and  a  spear.  The  spear 
was  sometimes  used  as  a  missile  weapon,  having  a 
leather  thong  fixed  to  it,  and  retained  in  the  hand 
when  thrown,  in  order  that  it  might  be  recovered 
again  :  at  the  butt-end  of  this  spear  was  sometimes  a 
round  hollow  ball  of  copper,  or  mixed  copper  and  tin, 
with  pieces  of  metal  inside,  and,  shaking  this,  they 
made  a  noise  to  frighten  the  horses  when  they  en- 
gaged with  cavalry. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Druids,  all  the  young 
men  among  the  Britons  and  other  Celtic  nations 
were  trained  to  the  use  of  arms.  Frequent  hostili- 
ties among  themselves  kept  them  in  practice,  and 
hunting  and  martial  sports  were  among  their  princi- 
VOL.  I. — 3 


pal  occupations  in  their  brief  periods  of  peace.  Even 
in  tactics  and  sti'atagetics,  the  more  difficult  parts  of 
war,  they  displayed  veiy  considerable  talent  and  skill. 
They  drew  up  their  h'oops  in  regular  order ;  and  if 
the  form  of  a  wedge  was  not  the  very  best  for  infan- 
try, it  has  been  found,  by  the  Turks  and  other  east- 
ern nations,  most  eftective  for-cavahy  appointed  to 
charge.  They  knew  the  importance  of  keeping  a 
body  in  resei-ve  ;  and  in  several  of  their  battles  they 
showed  skill  and  prompitude  in  outflanking  the  ene- 
my, and  turning  him  by  the  wings.  Their  infantiy 
geiierally  occupied  the  centre,  being  disposed  in  sev- 
eral lines,  and  in  distinct  bodies.  These  corps  con- 
sisted of  the  wai-riors  of  one  clan,  commanded  each 
by  its  own  chieftain  ;  they  w^ere  commonly  formed  in 
the  shape  of  a  wedge,  presenting  its  sharp  point  to 
the  enemy  ;  and  they  were  so  disposed,  that  they 
could  readily  support  and  relieve  each  other.  The 
cavalry  and  chariots  were  placed  on  the  wings,  but 
small  flying  parties  of  both  manoeuvred  along  the 
front.  In  the  rear  and  on  their  flanks  they  fixed 
their  ti-avelling  chariots  and  their  wagons,  with  their 
respective  families  in  them,  in  order  that  those  vehi- 
cles might  serve  as  barriers  to  prevent  attack  in  those 
directions,  and  that  their  courage  might  be  inflamed 
by  the  presence  of  all  who  were  most  dear  to 
them. 

Some  of  the  native  princes  displayed  eminent  abil- 
ities in  the  conduct  of  war.  Accordmg  to  the  Roman 
writers,  Cassivellaunus,  Caractacus,  and  Galgacus  all 
formed  combined  movements  and  enlarged  plans  of 
operation,  and  contrived  stratagems  and  surprises 
which  would  have  done  honor  to  the  greatest  cap- 
tains of  Greece  and  Rome.  Their  choice  of  gromid 
for  fighting  upon  was  almost  invariably  judicious,  and 
they  availed  themselves  of  their  superior  knowledge 
of  the  countiy  on  all  occasions.  In  the  laborious  arts 
of  fortifying,  defending,  or  attacking  camps,  castles, 
and  towns,  they  were,  however,  deficient.  Their 
strongest  places  were  surrounded  only  by  a  shallow 
ditch  and  a  mud  wall,  while  some  of  their  towns  had 
nothing  but  a  parapet  of  felled  trees  placed  length- 
wise. While  the  Roman  camps,  though  occupied 
only  for  a  night,  were  strongly  fortified,  their  own 
camps  w^ere  merely  surrounded  by  their  cars  and 
wagons,  a  mode  of  defence  stiE  common  among  the 
Tartar  and  other  nomadic  tribes  in  Asia.  But,  as 
the  Roman  war  proceeded,  we  frequently  find  them 
giving  more  attention  to  the  defence  of  their  night 
camps ;  and  some  of  the  more  permanent  positions 
they  took  up  were  strengthened  with  deep  ditches 
and  stone  walls. 

The  armies  of  the  ancient  Britons  were  not  divided 
into  bodies,  mixed,  but  distinct  as  a  whole,  consisting 
each  of  a  determinate  number  of  men  recruited  from 
diflerent  families  and  in  different  places,  and  com- 
manded by  appointed  officers  of  various  ranks,  like 
the  Roman  legions  and  our  modern  regiments  ;  but 
all  the  fighting-men  of  each  particular  clan  or  gi-eat 
family  formed  a  separate  band,  commanded  by  the 
chieftain  or  head  of  that  family.  By  this  system, 
which  had  other  disadvantages,  the  command  was 
frittered  away  into  minute  fractions.     All  the  several 


34 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  L 


MM^^^ 


Roman  General,  accompanied  by  Standard  Bearers  and  common  Legionaries,  landing  from  a  Bridge  of  Boats. 
Drawn  from  a  Bas-relief  on  the  Column  of  Trajan. 


clans  which  composed  one  state  or  kingdom  were 
commanded  in  chief  by  tlie  sovereign  of  that  state  ; 
and  when  two  or  more  states  formed  an  alliance  and 
made  war  in  conjunction,  the  king  of  one  of  these 
states  was  chosen  to  be  generalissimo  of  the  whole. 
These  elections  gave  rise  to  jealousies  and  dissen- 
sions, and  all  through  the  system  there  were  too 
many  divisions  of  command  and  power,  and  too  gi'eat 
a  disposition  in  the  wan-iors  to  look  up  only  to  the 
head  of  their  own  clan,  or  at  furthest  to  tlie  king  of 
their  own  limited  state. 

Fai-  different  from  these  were  the  thorougUy  or- 
ganized and  inter-dependent  niasses  of  the  Roman 
army,  where  the  commands  wei'e  nicely  defined  and 
graduated,  and  tlie  legions  (each  a  small  but  perfect 
army  in  itself)  acted  at  tlie  voice  of  the  consul,  or  its 
ime  supreme  chief,  like  a  complicated  engine  set  in 
motion  by  its  main-wheel.  As  long  as  Rome  main- 
tained her  militaiy  gloiy,  tlie  legions  were  composed 
only  of  free  Roman  citizens,  no  allies  or  subjects 
of  conquered  nations  being  deemed  worthy  of  the 
honor  of  fighting  in  their  ranks.  Each  legion  was 
divided  into  horse  and  foot,  the  cavaby  bearing  what 
is  considered,  by  modem  scientific  ^vriters,  a  just 
propoi-tion,  and  not  more,  to  the  infantiy.  Under  the 
old  kings  a  legion  consisted  of  3000  foot,  and  300 
horse ;  under  the  consuls,  of  4200  foot,  and  400  horse ; 
but  under  Caesar  and  the  emjjerors  it  amounted  to 
6100  foot,  and  726  horse.     Like  oui'  regiments,  the 


legions  were  distinguished  from  each  other  by  their 
number ;  being  called  the  first,  the  second,  the  third, 
(kc.  In  the  early  ages  of  the  repubhc  they  had  no 
more  than  four  or  five  legions  kept  on  foot,  but  these 
were  increased  with  increase  of  conquest  and  terri- 
toiy,  and  under  the  empire  they  had  as  many  as 
twenty-five  or  thirty  legions,  even  in  time  of  peace. 
The  infantiy  of  each  legion  was  divided  into  ten  co- 
horts. The  first  cohort,  which  had  the  custody  of 
the  eagle  and  the  post  of  honor,  was  1105  strong; 
the  remaining  nine  cohorts  had  555  men  each. 

Instead  of  a  long,  awkward  sword  of  copper,  every 
soldier  had  a  short,  manageable,  well-tempered  Span- 
ish blade  of  steel,  sharp  at  both  edges  as  at  the  point ; 
and  he  was  always  instructed  to  thrust  rather  than 
cut,  in  order  to  inflict  the  more  fatal  woimds,  and  ex- 
pose his  own  body  the  less.  In  addition  to  a  lighter 
spear,  the  legionaiy  caiTied  the  formidable  pilum,  a 
hea\y  javelin  six  feet  long,  terminating  in  a  strong 
ti-iangular  point  of  steel,  eighteen  inches  long.  For 
defensive  armor  they  wore  an  open  helmet  Avitli  a 
lofty  crest,  a  breast-plate  or  coat  of  mail,  greaves  on 
their  legs,  and  a  large,  sti'ong  shield  on  theii-  left 
arms.  This  shield  or  buckler,  altogether  unlike  the 
small,  round,  basket-looking  thing  used  by  the  Bri- 
tons, was  fom-  feet  high,  and  two  and  a  half  broad ; 
it  was  framed  of  a  light  but  firm  wood,  covered  with 
bull's  hide,  and  strongly  guarded  with  bosses  or  plates 
of  iron  or  bronze. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS 


35 


Charge  of  Roman  Infantry.— From  the  Column  of  Trajan. 


The  cavalry  of  a  legion  was  divided  into  ten  ti'oops 
or  squadrons ;  the  first  squadron,  as  destined  to  act 
with  the  strong  first  cohort,  consisting  of  132  men, 
whilst  the  nine  remaining  squadrons  had  only  66  men 
each.  Their  principal  weapons  were  a  sabre  and  a 
javelin  ;  but  at  a  later  period  they  borrowed  the  use 
of  the  lance  and  iron  mace  or  hammer  from  foreign- 
ers. For  defensive  armor  they  had  a  helmet,  a 
coat  of  mail,  and  an  oblong  shield.  The  legions 
seiTing  abroad  were  generally  attended  by  auxilia- 
ries raised  among  the  provinces  and  conquests  of  the 
emphe,  who  for  the  most  part  retained  their  national 
arms  and  loose  modes  of  fighting,  and  did  all  the 
duties  of  hght  troops.  Their  number  varied  accord- 
ing to  circumstances,  being  seldom  much  uifeiior  to 
that  of  the  legions  ;  but  in  Britain,  where  mention  of 
the  barbarian  auxiliaries  constantly  occurs,  and  where, 
as  we  have  intimated,  they  performed  sei-vices  for 
which  tlie  legions  were  not  calculated,  they  seem  to 
have  been  at  least  as  numerous  as  the  Roman  sol- 
diers. Three  legions,  say  the  historians,  were  com- 
petent to  the  occupation  of  Britain  ;  but  to  this  force 
of  20,478  we  must  add  the  auxiliaries,  which  will 
swell  the  number  to  40,956.  Gauls,  Belgians,  Bata- 
vians,  and  Germans  were  the  hordes  tliat  accompanied 
the  legions  in  our  island. 

Such  were  the  main  features  and  appointments  of 
the  Roman  legions  in  their  prime,  and  such  they  con- 
tinued during  their  conflict  with  the  Britons,  and  long 
after  all  the  southern  parts  of  our  island  were  subju- 
gated by  their  might.  They  were  aftei-wards  sadly 
diminished  in  numbers  and  in  consideration.  They 
lost  their  discipline  ;  the  men  threw  off  their  defen- 
sive armor  as  too  heavy  for  them  to  wear ;  changes 


were  made  in  their  weapons ;  and,  not  to  notice 
many  intermediate  variations,  a  legion,  at  the  final 
departure  of  the  Romans  fi-om  Britain,  consisted 
only  of  from  2500  to  3000  indifferently  armed  men. 

After  the  departure  of  Caesar,  Britain  was  left  un- 
disturbed by  foreign  arms  for  nearly  one  hundred 
years.  But  few  of  the  events  that  happened  dur- 
ing that  long  interval  have  been  transmitted  to  us. 
We  can,  however,  make  out  in  that  dim  obscurity 
that  the  country,  and  more  particularly  those  mari- 
time parts  of  it  occupied  by  the  Belgse,  and  facing 
the  coast  of  Gaul,  made  considerable  advances  in 
civilization,  borrowing  from  the  Gauls,  with  whom 
they  were  in  close  communication,  some  of  those 
useful  and  elegant  arts  which  that  people  had  learned 
from  the  Roman  conquerors,  now  peaceably  settled 
among  them.  Besides  theii-  journej's  into  Gaul, 
which  are  well  proved,  it  is  supposed  that  during  this 
long  interval  not  a  few  of  the  superior  class  of  Britons, 
from  time  to  time,  crossed  tlie  Alps,  and  found  their 
way  to  Rome,  where  the  civilization  and  aits  of  the 
world  then  centred. 

This  progi'ess,  whatever  it  was,  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  accompanied  by  any  improvement  in  the 
political  system  of  the  country,  or  by  any  union  and 
amalgamation  of  the  disjointed  parts  or  states.  In- 
ternal wars  continued  to  be  waged  ;  and  this  disunion 
of  the  Britons,  their  constant  civil  dissensions,  and 
the  absence  of  any  steady  system  of  defence,  laid 
them  open  to  the  Romans  whenever  those  conquer- 
ors should  think  fit  to  revisit  their  fair  island  and  re- 
new the  sti'uggle  in  earnest. 

That  time  at  lengtli  anived.  In  the  ninety-seventh 
year  after  Caesar's  second  expedition  (a.  d.  43),  the 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[B00K~I. 


Claudius. 
From  a  Copper  Com  in  the  British  Museiim. 


Coin  of  Claudius,  representing  his  British  triumi)h.     From  the 
British  Museum. 

Emperor  Claudius'  resolved  to  seize  the  island,  and 
Aulus  Plautius,  a  skilful  commander,  landed  with 
four  complete  legions,  -which,  with  the  cavahy  and 
auxiliaries,  must  have  made  above  50,000  men.  The 
Britons,  who  had  made  no  preparations,  at  first  offered 
uo  resistance ;  and  when  they  took  the  field  under 
Caractacus  and  Togodumnus,  sons  of  the  deceased 
Cvuiobelinus,  Avho  is  supposed  to  have  been  king  of 
the  Trinobantes,  they  were  thoroughly  defeated  in 
the  inland  country  by  the  Romans.  Some  states  or 
ti'ibes,  detaching  themselves  from  the  confederacj', 
then  submitted  ;  and  Aulus  Plautius,  leaving  a  gar- 
rison in  those  parts  which  included  Gloucester.shire 

and  portions  of  the  contiguous  counties,  followed  up  |  by  surprise,  and  defeated  with  gi-eat  loss, 
his  victories  beyond  the  river  Severn,  and  made  con 
sidernble  progi-ess  in  subduing  the  inhabitants.     After  ;  all  the  country,  as  far  as  the  Severn,  that  had  been 


swamps.  Though  Togodumnus  was  slain,  it  does 
not  appear  that  the  natives  were  defeated  in  this 
battle ;  and  Plautius,  seeing  their  determined  spirit, 
withdrew  his  army  to  the  south  of  the  Thames,  to 
await  the  anival  of  the  Em|)eror  Claudius,  whose 
presence  and  fresh  forces  he  earnestly  solicited. 
Claudius  eml)arked  with  reinforcements  at  Ostia  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Tyber,  landed  at  Massilia  (Mar- 
seilles), and  proceeded  through  Gaul  to  Britain.  It 
is  said  that  some  elephants  were  included  in  the  force 
he  brought,  but  we  hear  nothing  of  those  animals 
after  his  arrival  in  the  island.  There  is  some  confu- 
sion as  to  the  immediate  effect  of  the  emperor's  ar- 
rival, the  two  biief  historians'  of  the  events  conti-a- 
dicting  each  other ;  but  we  believe  that,  without 
fighting  any  battles,  the  pusillanimous  Claudius  ac- 
companied his  army  on  its  fresh  advance  to  the  north 
of  the  Thames,  was  present  at  the  taking  of  Camalo- 
dunum,  the  capital  of  the  Trinobantes,  and  that  then 
he  received  the  proffered  submission  of  some  of  the 
states,  and  returned  to  enjoy  an  easily-earned  tri- 
umph at  Rome,  whence  he  had  been  absent  alto- 
gether somewhat  less  than  six  montlis. 

\\niile  Vespasian,  his  second  in  command,  Avho 
was  aftei-Avards  emperor  under  the  same  name,  em- 
ployed himself  in  subduing  Vectis  (the  Isle  of  Wight) 
and  the  maritime  states  on  the  southern  and  eastern 
coasts,  Aulus  Plautius  prosecuted  a  long  and,  in  good 
part,  an  indecisive  warfare  with  the  inland  Britons, 
who  Avere  still  commanded  by  Caractacus.  Between 
them  both,  Plautius  and  Vespasian  thoroughly  re- 
duced no  more  of  the  island  than  what  lies  to  the 
south  of  the  Thames,  with  a  narrow  sti'ip  on  the  left 
bank  of  that  river ;  and  when  Plautius  was  recalled 
to  Rome,  even  these  tenitories  were  overrvni  and 
thrown  into  confusion  by  the  Britons.  Ostorius  Sca- 
pula, the  new  proinaetor,  on  his  arrival  in  the  island 
(a.d.  50),  found  the  attiiirs  of  the  Romans  in  an  all  but 
hopeless  state ;  their  allies,  attacked  and  plinidered 
on  all  sides,  were  falling  from  them,  the  boldness  of 
the  unsubdued  states  was  rapidly  increasing,  and 
the  people  they  held  in  subjection  were  ripe  for  re- 
volt. But  Ostorius,  who  had  probably  brought  rein- 
forcements into  the  island,  was  equal  to  this  emer- 
gency :  knowing  how  much  depends  on  the  beginning 
of  a  campaign,  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  light 
ti'oops,  and  advanced  against  the  marauding  enemy 
by  rapid  marches.  The  Britons,  who  did  not  expect 
he  would  open  a  campaign  in  the  winter,  were  taken 

It  should 
•ippear  from  Tacitus  that  Ostorius  at  once  recovered 


sustaining  a  gi-eat  defeat  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Severn,  the  Britons  reti*eated  eastward  to  some  marsh- 
es on  the  Thames,  where,  availing  themselves  of  the 


conquered,  or  rather  temporarily  occupied,  by  his 
predecessor  Plautius  ;  for  the  gi-eat  historian  tells  us, 
immediately  after,  that  he  erected  a  line  of  forts  on 


nature  of  the  gi-ound,  they  made  a  desperate  stand,  and    the  Sabrina  (Severn)  and  the  Antona  (Nene) ;  but  it 


caused  the  Romans  gi"eat  loss.  In  these  cam])aigns 
Plautius  made  great  use  of  his  light-armed  barbarian 
Auxiliaries  (chiefly  Germans),  many  of  whom,  on  this 
particular  occasion,  were  lost  in  the  deep  bogs  and 

1  PompoiMus  Mela,  who  wrote  in  the  time  of  Claudius,  expresses  a 
hope  that  the  success  of  the  Roman  arms  will  soou  make  the  island  and 
.  its  savai'e  inhabitants  better  known. 


is  more  probable  that  this  advance  was  made  by  a 
series  of  battles,  rather  than  by  one  hasty  blow  stinick 
in  the  winter  by  the  light  division  of  his  army.  Osto- 
rius was  the  first  to  cover  and  protect  the  conquered 
territory  by  forts  and  lines;  the  line  he  now  drew 

1  Dio  Cass,  (in  the  abridgment  by  Xiphilinus),  lib.  Ix.     Suetonius  in 
I  C.  Claud,  c.  xvii. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


3T 


cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  island  nearly  all  the  south- 
ern and  south-eastern  parts,  which  included  the  more 
civilized  states  who  had  either  submitted  or  become 
willing  allies,  or  been  conquered  by  Plautius  and  Ves- 
pasian. It  was  by  the  gi-adual  advance  of  lines  like 
these  that  the  Romans  brought  the  whole  of  England 
south  of  the  Tyne  under  subjection.  Ostorius,  also, 
adopted  the  cautious  policy  of  disarming  all  such  of 
the  Britons  within  the  line  of  forts  as  he  suspected. 
This  measure,  always  odious,  and  never  to  be  carried 
into  effect  without  shameful  abuses  of  power,  partic- 
ularly exasperated  those  Britons  within  the  line,  who, 
like  the  Iceni,  had  not  been  conquered,  but,  of  their 
own  good  and  fi-ee  will,  had  become  the  alUes  of  the 
Romans.  Enemies  could  not  treat  them  worse  than 
such  friends — the  surrender  of  arms  was  the  worst 
consequence  that  could  result  fi'om  defeat  in  a  war 
which  they  had  not  yet  essayed.  It  would  also  nat- 
urally occur  to  them  that  if  the  Romans  were  per- 
mitted to  coop  them  up  within  military  posts,  and 
sever  them  from  the  rest  of  the  island,  their  inde- 
pendence, whether  unarmed  or  armed,  was  completely 
sacrificed. 

The  Iceni,  a  brave  ti'ibe  who  are  supposed  to  have 
dwelt  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  took  up  arms,  formed 
a  league  with  their  neighbors,  and  chose  their  gi-ound 
for  a  decisive  battle.  They  were  beaten  by  Ostorius, 
after  having  fought  obstinately  to  the  last  and  given 
signal  proofs  of  courage.  After  the  defeat  of  the 
Iceni  and  their  allies,  the  Romans  marched  beyond 
their  hue  of  demarcation  against  a  people  called  the 
Cangi,  and,  Tacitus  says,  got  within  a  short  march 
of  that  sea  that  lies  between  Britain  and  Ireland. 
From  the  pursuit  of  this  timid  enemy,  Ostorius  was 
recalled  by  a  rising  of  the  Brigantes,  who  occupied 
Yorkshire,  with  parts  of  Lancashire  and  the  adjoin- 
ing counties.     Having  subdued  these  in  then-  turn, 


and  drawn  a  camp  and  fixed  a  colony  of  veterans 
among  them,  Ostorius  marched  rapidly  against  the  Si- 
lures, — the  inhabitants  of  South  Wales, — the  fiercest 
and  most  obstmate  enemies  the  Romans  ever  encoun- 
tered in  South  Britain.  To  their  natural  ferocity, 
says  Tacitus,  these  people  added  the  courage  which 
they  now  derived  from  the  presence  of  Caractacus. 
His  valor,  and  the  various  turns  of  his  fortune,  had 
spread  the  fame  of  this  heroic  chief  throughout  the 
island.  His  knowledge  of  the  country,  his  admirable 
skill  in  the  sti'atagems  of  war,  were  gi"eat  advantages  ; 
but  he  could  not  hope,  with  inferior  forces,  to  beat  a 
well-disciplined  Roman  army.  He  therefore  retired 
to  the  territory  of  the  Ordovices,  which  seems  to  have 
included  within  it  nearly  all  North  Wales.  Having 
dra^vu  thither  to  his  standard  all  who  considered  peace 
with  the  Romans  as  another  word  for  slavery,  he  re- 
solved to  wait  firmly  the  issue  of  a  battle.  According 
to  the  great  histoiian,  he  chose  his  field  with  admira- 
ble art.  It  was  rendered  safe  by  steep  and  craggy 
hills.  In  parts  where  the  mountains  opened  and  the 
easy  acclivity  afforded  an  ascent,  he  raised  a  rampart 
of  massy  stones.  A  river  which  offered  no  safe  ford 
flowed  between  him  and  the  enemy,  and  a  part  of 
his  forces  showed  themselves  in  fi-ont  of  his  ram- 
parts. 

As  the  Romans  approached,  the  chieftains  of  the 
confederated  British  clans  rushed  along  the  ranks  ex- 
horting their  men,  and  Caractacus  animated  the  whole, 
exclaiming, — "This  day  must  decide  the  fate  of  Bri- 
tain. The  era  of  liberty  or  eternal  bondage  begins 
from  this  hour !  Remember  your  brave  ancestors 
who  drove  the  gi-eat  Caesar  himself  from  these  shores, 
and  preserved  their  freedom,  their  property',  and  the 
persons  and  honor  of  their  wives  and  children!" 
There  is  a  lofty  hill  in  Sliropshire,  near  to  the  con- 
fluence of  the  rivers  Coin  and  Teme,  which  is  gener- 


British  Camp  at  Caer-CaraJ)OC  — From  Roy's  Military  AntiquitieB. 


38 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


f\     y       .V  ^^^  '^^ 


Caractacus  at  Rome. — Fuseli. 


ally  believed  to  be  the  scene  of  the  hero's  last  action. 
Its  ridges  are  furrowed  by  ti-enches  and  still  retain 
fragments  of  a  loose  stone  rampart,  and  the  hill  for 
many  centuries  has  been  called  by  the  people  Caer- 
Caradoc,  or  the  castle  or  fortified  place  of  Cai^adoc, 
supposed  to  be  the  British  name  of  Caractacus.  Os- 
torius  was  astonished  at  the  excellent  arrangement 
and  spirit  he  saw,  but  his  numbers,  discipline,  and 
superior  arms  once  more  gained  him  a  victory.  Ta- 
citus says  that  the  Britons,  having  neither  breast- 
plates nor  helmets,  could  not  maintain  the  conflict, — 
that  the  better  Roman  swords  and  spears  made 
dreadful  havoc,  —  that  the  victory  was  complete. 
Caractacus  escaped  from  the  carnage ;  but  his  wife 
and  daughter  were  taken  prisoners,  and  his  brothers 
surrendered  soon  after  the  battle.  The  hero  himself 
did  not,  however,  escape  long,  for  having  taken  refuge 
wth  his  stepmother,  Cartismandua,  queen  of  the 
Brigantes,  that  heartless  woman  caused  him  to  be 
put  in  chains,  and  delivered  up  to  the  Romans. 
From  the  camp  of  Ostorius  he  was  caiTied,  with  his 
wife  and  all  his  family,  to  the  foot  of  the  emperor's 
tlirone.  All  Rome — all  Italy — were  impatient  to 
gaze  on  the  indomitable  Briton,  who  for  nine  years 
liad  bidden  defiance  to  the  masters  of  the  world. 
His  name  was  everywhere  known,  and  he  was 
everywhere  received  witli  marked  respect.  In  the 
presence  of  Claudius,  his  friends  and  family  quailed 
and  begged  foi'  mercy ;  he  alone  was  superior  to  mis- 
fortune :  his  speech  was  manly  wnthout  being  inso- 
lent,— ^liis  countenance  still  unaltered,  not  a  symptom 


of  fear  appearing — no  sorrow,  no  mean  condescen- 
sion ;  he  was  gi-eat  and  dignified  even  in  ruin.  This 
magnanimous  behavior  no  doubt  contributed  to  pro- 
cure him  milder  ti-eatment  than  the  Roman  conquer- 
ors usually  bestowed  on  captive  princes ;  his  chains 
and  those  of  his  family  were  instantly  struck  off.  At 
this  crisis  Tacitus  leaves  him,  and  his  subsequent 
history  is  altogether  unknown. 

Their  sanguinary  defeat  and  the  loss  of  Caractacus 
did  not  break  the  spirit  of  the  Silures.  They  fell 
upon  the  Romans  soon  after,  broke  up  their  fortified 
camp,  and  prevented  them  from  erecting  a  line  of 
forts  across  their  country.  The  prefect  of  the  camp, 
with  eight  centurions  and  tlie  bravest  of  his  soldiers, 
was  slain ;  and,  but  for  the  arrival  of  reinforcements, 
the  whole  detachment  would  have  been  sacrificed. 
A  foraging  party,  and  the  strong  detachments  sent  to 
its  support,  were  routed ;  this  forced  Ostorius  to 
bring  his  legions  into  action,  but,  even  with  his  whole 
force,  his  success  was  doubtful  and  the  loss  of  the 
Silures  very  inconsiderable.  Continual  and  most  ha- 
rassing attacks  and  sui-prises  followed,  till  at  length 
Ostorius,  the  victor  of  Caractacus,  sank  under  the 
fatigue  and  vexation,  and  expired,  to  the  joy  of  the 
Britons,  who  boasted  tliat  though  he  had  not  fallen 
in  battle,  it  was  still  their  wai-  which  had  brought 
him  to  tlie  grave.  The  countiy  of  the  Silures,  in- 
tersected by  numerous  and  rapid  rivers,  heaped  into 
mountains,  with  winding  and  narrow  defiles,  and 
covered  with  forests,  became  die  gi-ave  of  many 
other  Romans ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  reign  of  Yes- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


39 


pasian,  and  more  than  twenty  years  after  the  death 
of  Ostorius,  th-^t  it  was  conquered  by  Julius  Fronti- 

DUS. 

For  some  time  the  Roman  power  in  Britain  was 
stationary,  or,  at  most  it  made  very  little  progress 
under  Aulus  Didius  and  Veranius,  the  immediate 
successors  of  Ostorius.  Indeed,  under  these  gov- 
ernors, the  Emperor  Nero,  who  had  succeeded  his 
father  Claudius,  is  said  to  have  seriously  entertained 
the  thought  of  withdrawing  the  troops  and  abandon- 
ing the  island  altogether, — so  profitless  and  uncertain 
seemed  the  Roman  possession  of  Britain. 

But  the  next  governor,  Paulinus  Suetonius,  an 
officer  of  distinguished  merit  (a.  d.  59-Gl),  revived 
the  spirit  of  the  conquerors.  Being  well  aware  that 
the  island  of  Mona,  now  Anglesey,  was  the  chief 
seat  of  the  Druids,  the  refuge  place  of  the  defeated 
British  warriors  and  of  the  disaffected  generally,  he 
resolved  to  subdue  it.  In  order  to  facilitate  his 
approach,  he  ordered  the  consti-uction  of  a  number 
of  flat-bottomed  boats ;  in  these  he  transported  his 
infantry  over  the  strait  which  divides  the  island 
from  the  main  (the  Menai),  while  the*  cavalry  were 
to  find  their  way  across,  partly  by  fording  and  partly 
by  swimming.  The  Britons  added  the  terrors  of 
their  superstition  to  the  force  of  their  arms  for  the 
defence  of  this  sacred  island.  "  On  the  opposite 
shore,"  says  Tacitus,  "there  stood  a  wildly-diversified 
host :  there  were  armed  men  in  dense  airay,  and 
women  running  among  them,  who,  in  dismal  dresses 
and  with  disheveled  hair,  like  furies,  carried  flaming 
torches.  Around  were  Druids,  pouring  forth  cm'ses, 
lifting  up  then-  hands  to  heaven,  and  striking  terror, 
by  the  novelty  of  their  appearance,  into  the  hearts 
of  th«  Roman  soldiers,  who,  as  if  their  limbs  were 
paralyzed,  exposed  themselves  motionless  to  the 
blows  of  the  enemy.  At  last,  aroused  by  the  exhor- 
tations of  then*  leader,  and  stimulating  one  another 
to  despise  a  frantic  band  of  women  and  priests,  they 
make  their  onset,  overthrow  their  foes,  and  burn 
them  in  the  fires  which  they  themselves  had  kindled 
for  others.  A  garrison  was  afterwards  placed  there 
among  the  conquered,  and  the  groves  sacred  to  their 
cruel  superstition  were  cut  down." 

But  while  Suetonius  was  engaged  in  securing  the 
sacred  island,  events  took  place  in  his  rear  which 
went  far  to  commit  the  safety  of  the  entire  empire 
of  the  Romans  in  Britain.  His  attack  on  the  Druids 
and  the  grove  of  jMona  could  not  fail  to  exasperate 
all  the  British  tribes  that  clung  to  their  ancient  wor- 
ship ;  other  and  recent  causes  of  provocation  were 
particular  to  certain  of  the  states.  The  Romans,  in 
the  colonies  they  had  planted  in  the  island,  indulged 
too  freely  in  what  are  called  the  rights  of  conquest : 
they  treated  the  Britons  with  cruelty  and  oppression ; 
they  drove  them  from  their  houses,  and  adding 
insult  to  wrong,  called  them  by  the  opprobrious 
names  of  slaves  and  captives.  In  these  acts  the 
veterans  or  superiors  were  actively  seconded  by  the 
common  soldiery, — a  class  of  men  who,  in  the  words 
of  Tacitus,  are  by  their  habits  of  life  trained  to 
licentiousness.  The  conquerors,  too,  had  introduced 
priests  of  their  own  creed  ;  and  these,  "with  a  pre- 


tended zeal  for  religion,  devoured  the  substance  of 
the  land."  Boadicea,  widow  of  king  Prasutagus, 
and  now  queen  of  the  Iceni,  probably  because  she 
remonstrated  against  the  forcible  seizure  of  the 
territory  her  husband  bequeathed  her,  or  possibly 
because  she  attempted  to  resist  the  Romans  in  their 
plunder,  was  ti'eated  with  the  utmost  barbarity : 
Catus,  the  procurator,  caused  her  to  be  scourged, 
her  daughters  to  be  violated  in  her  presence,  and 
the  relations  of  her  deceased  husband  to  be  reduced 
to  slavery.  Her  unheard-of  wrongs,  the  dignity  of 
her  birth,  the  energy  of  her  character,  made  Boa- 
dicea the  proper  rallying  point ;  and  immediately  an 
extensive  armed  league  entrusted  her  with  the 
supreme  command.  Boadicea's  own  subjects  were 
joined  by  the  Trinobantes ;  and  the  neighboring' 
states,  not  as  yet  broken  into  a  slavish  submission, 
engaged  in  secret  councils  to  stand  forward  in  the 
cause  of  national  liberty.  They  were  all  encouraged 
by  the  absence  of  Suetonius,  and  thought  it  no  difii- 
cult  enterprise  to  oveiTun  a  colony  undefended  by  a 
single  fortification.  Tacitus  says  (and  the  statement 
is  curious,  considering  their  recent  and  uncertain 
tenure)  that  the  Roman  governors  had  attended  to 
improvements  of  taste  and  elegance,  but  neglected 
the  useful, — that  they  had  embellished  the  province, 
but  taken  no  pains  to  put  it  in  a  state  of  defence. 
The  storm  first  burst  on  the  colony  of  Camalodunum, 
which  was  laid  waste  with  fire  and  sword,  a  legion 
which  marched  to  its  relief  being  cut  to  pieces. 
Catus,  the  procurator,  terrified  at  the  fury  his  own 
enormities  had  mainly  excited,  fled,  and  effected  his 
escape  into  Gaul.  On  receiving  the  news  of  these 
disasters,  Suetonius  hurried  across  the  Menai  strait, 
and,  marching  through  the  heart  of  the  country  came 
to  London,  which  city,  though  not  yet  dignified  with 
the  name  of  a  Roman  colony,  was  a  populous,  ti'ading, 
and  prosperous  place.  He  soon  found  he  could  not 
maintain  that  important  town,  and  therefore  deter- 
mined to  evacuate  it,  in  order  to  secure  the  rest  of 
the  provinces.  The  inhabitants,  who  foresaw  the 
fate  of  the  fair  town,  implored  him  with  tears  to 
change  his  plan,  but  in  vain.  The  signal  for  the 
march  was  given,  the  legions  defiled  through  the 
gates,  but  all  the  citizens  who  chose  to  follow  their 
eagles  were  taken  under  their  protection.  They 
had  scarcely  cleared  out  from  London  when  the 
Britons  entered  :  of  all  those  who  from  age,  or  weak- 
ness, or  the  attractions  of  the  spot,  had  thought 
proper  to  remain  behind,  scarcely  one  escaped.  The 
inhabitants  of  Vei-ulamium  were  in  hke  manner  ut- 
terly annihilated,  and,  the  carnage  still  spreading,  no 
fewer  than  70,000  Romans  and  their  confederates 
fell  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  The  infuriated 
insurgents  made  no  prisoners,  gave  no  quarter,  but 
employed  the  gibbet,  the  fire,  and  She  cross,  without 
distinction  of  age  or  sex. 

Suetonius,  having  received  reinforcements  which 
made  his  army  amount  to  about  10,000  men,  all 
highly  disciplined,  chose  an  advantageous  field,  and 
waited  the  battle.  The  Britons  were  also  reinforced, 
and  from  all  quarters:  Tacitus  says  they  were  an 
j  incredible  multitude  ;  but  their  ranks  were  swelled 


40 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


BoADicEA  Haranguing  the  British  Tribes.— Stortiard. 


and  weakened  by  women  and  children.  They  were 
the  assailants,  and  attacked  the  Romans  in  the  front 
of  their  strong  position. 

Previously  to  the  first  charge,  Boadicea,  niaftnted 
in  a  war-chai-iot,  Avith  her  long  yellow  hijir  stream- 
mg  to  her  feet,  with  her  two  injured  daughters 
beside  her,  drove  through  the  ranks,  and  harangued 
the  tribes  or  nations,  each  in  its  turn.'  She  reminded 
them  that  she  was  not  the  fii-st  woman  that  had  led 
the  Britons  to  battle  ;  she  spoke  of  her  own  in-epara- 
ble  WTongs,  of  the  A^Tongs  of  her  people,  and  all  their 
neighbors  ;  and  said  whatever  was  most  calculated 
to  spirit  them  against  their  proud  and  licentious  op- 
pressors. The  Britons,  however,  were  defeated 
with  tremendous  loss  ;  and  the  -wi-etched  Boadicea 
put  an  end  to  her  existence  by  taking  poison.  As  if 
iK>t  to  be  behind  the  barbarity  of  those  they  em- 
phatically stjied  barbarians,  the  Romans  committed 
an  indiscriminate  massacre,  visiting  with  fire  and 
sword  not  only  the  lands  of  those  who  had  joined 
the  revolt,  but  of  those  who  were  thought  to  have 
wavered  in  their  allegiance.  Tacitus  estimates  the 
number  of  the  Britons  who  were  thus  destroyed  at 
80,000 :  and  in  the  ti-ain  of  war  and  devastation 
followed  famine  and  disease.     But  the  despondence 

1  Dio  has  described  her  costume  as  being  a  plaited  tunic  of  various 
colors,  a  chain  of  ^old  round  her  waist,  and  a  long  mantle  over  all. 
Vio  Nic.  apud  Xiphil. 


of  sickness  and  the  pangs  of  hunger  could  not  induce 
them  to  submit;  and  though  Suetonius  received 
important  reinforcements  from  the  continent  (accord- 
ing to  Tacitus,  by  the  directions  of  the  Emperor 
Nero,  2000  legionary  soldiers,  8  auxiliaiy  cohorts, 
and  1000  horse,  were  sent  to  him  from  German}-), 
and  retained  the  command  some  time  longer,  he  left 
the  island  without  finishing  this  war ;  and  notwith- 
standing his  victories  over  the  Druids  and  Boadicea, 
his  immediate  successors  were  obliged  to  relapse  into 
inactivity,  or  merely  to  stand  on  the  defensive,  without 
attempting  the  extension  of  their  dominions. 

Some  fifteen  or  sixteen  jears  after  the  departure 
of  Suetonius  the  Romans  recommenced  their  for- 
ward movements,  and  (a.d.  75-76)  Julius  Frontinus 
at  last  subdued  the  Silures.  This  general  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Cn<eus  Julius  Agricola,  who  was  fortunate, 
as  far  as  his  fame  is  regarded,  in  having  for  his  son- 
in-law  the  great  Tacitus,  the  partial  and  eloquent 
recorder  of  his  deeds.  Exaggeration  and  favor  apart, 
however,  Agricola  appears  to  have  had  a  skill  in  the 
arts  both  of  peace  and  war.  He  had  served  undei 
Suetonius  during  the  Boadicean  war  ;  he  was  beloved 
by  his  army,  and  well  acquainted  with  the  country ; 
and  now,  before  he  left  the  supreme  command,  he 
completed  the  conquest  of  South  Britain,  and  showed 
the  victorious  eagles  of  Rome  as  far  north  as  the 
Grampian  hills.     One  of  his  first  operations,  wliich 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


41 


proves  with  what  tenacity  the  British  held  to  their 
own,  was  the  reconquest  of  Mona ;  for  scarcely  had 
Suetonius  turned  his  back  wheu  they  repossessed 
themselves  of  that  island.  Having  made  this  suc- 
cessful beginning,  and  also  chastised  the  Ordovices, 
who  had  cut  a  division  of  cavalry  to  pieces,  he  en- 
deavored by  mild  measures  to  endear  himself  to  the 
acknowledged  provincials  of  Rome,  and  to  conciliate 
the  British  tribes  generally,  by  acts  of  kindness. 
"  For,"  says  Tacitus,  "  the  Britons  willingly  supply 
our  armies  with  recruits,  pay  their  taxes  without  a 
uiurmur,  and  they  perform  all  the  sei^'ices  of  gov- 
ernment with  alacritj%  provided  they  have  no  reason 
to  complain  of  oppression.  Wheu  injured,  their 
resentment  is  quick,  sudden,  aud  impatient:  they 
are  conquered,  not  spirit-broken ;  they  may  be  re- 
duced to  obedience,  not  to  slavery." 

At  the  same  time  Agricola  endeavored  to  subdue 
theh*  fierceness  and  change  their  erratic  habits,  by 
teaching  them  some  of  the  useful  arts,  aud  accustom- 
ing them  to  some  of  the  luxuries  of  civilized  life.  He 
persuaded  them  to  settle  in  towns,  to  build  comforta- 
ble dwelling-houses,  to  raise  halls  aud  temples.  It 
was  a  capital  part  of  his  policy  to  establish  a  system 
of  education,  and  give  to  the  sons  of  the  leading  British 
chiefs  a  tincture  of  polite  letters.  He  praised  the 
talents  of  the  pupils,  and  aheady  saw  them,  by  the 
force  of  their  natural  genius,  outstripping  the  Gauls, 
who  were  distinguished  for  their  aptitude  aud  abilities. 
Thus,  by  degrees,  the  Britons  began  to  cultivate  the 
beauties  of  the  Roman  language,  which  they  had  before 
disdained,  to  wear  the  Roman  toga  as  a  fashionable 
part  of  dress,  and  to  indulge  in  the  luxuries  of  baths, 
porticos,  and  elegant  banquets. 

In  the  second  year  of  his  government  (a.  d.  79), 
Agi'icola  advanced  into  the  north-western  parts  of 
Britain,  and  partly  by  force  and  tnore  by  clemency, 
brought  several  tribes  to  submission.  These  are  not 
named  by  Tacitus,  but  they  probably  dwelt  in  the 
heart  of  the  country  to  the  east  of  tlie  Ordovices  and 
the  Silures.  Wherever  he  gamed  a  district  he 
erected  fortifications  composed  of  castles  and  ram- 
parts. 

In  his  third  campaign  (a.  d.  80)  Agricola  led  his 
anuy  still  further  north ;  but  the  line  of  march,  and 
the  degree  of  progi'ess  made  in  it,  are  not  easily  ascer- 
tained. The  outlines  presented  to  us  by  Tacitus  are 
vague  and  indistinct,  which  may  be  ascribed  both  to 
the  generality  of  that  writer's  language,  and  to  the 
limits  of  his  information. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  a  late  ■WTiter,^  however,  that 
Agi-icola,  setting  out  from  Mancunium,  the  3Ianches- 
ter  of  present  times,  led  his  army  towards  the  north- 
western coasts,  and  npt  towards  the  north-eastern, 
as  is  commonly  stated  ;  and  that  after  traversing  parts 
of  Lancashu-e,  Westmoreland,  and  Cumberland,  he 
came  to  the  Tau,  which  this  writer  contends  was 
not  the  river  Tay,  but  the  Solway  Frith.  The  Tau, 
he  says  (the  Taus  of  Tacitus)  was  a  British  word, 
signifying  an  estuaiy,  or  any  extending  water;  it 
might  equally  imply  the  Solway,  the  Tay,  or  any 
otlier  estuaiy.     Besides,  it  was  the  plan  of  this  cau- 

1  Chalmers'  Caledduia. 


tious  general,  it  is  argued,  to  advance  by  degi-ees, 
and  fortify  the  country  as  he  advanced  ;  and  we  ac- 
cordingly find  him  spending  the  remainder  of  this 
season  in  building  a  line  of  foits,  in  the  most  conve- 
nient situations  for  keeping  possession  of  the  territoiy 
he  had  gained.  The  raising  of  a  part,  if  not  of  the 
whole  of  that  rampart  drawn  right  across  the  island, 
from  the  Solway  to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne, 
and  called  Agi'icola's  Wall,  is  supposed  to  have  taken 
I)Iace  in  this  year.  It  must  be  confessed,  however, 
that  the  tenor  of  Tacitus's  uaiTative,  and  some  of  his 
expressions  in  particular,  require  considerable  strain- 
ing before  we  can  reconcile  them  with  this  account. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  he  speaks 
of  Agi-icold"s  march  to  the  Taus  in  his  third  summer, 
as  merely  an  inroad,  the  effects  of  which  were  to 
discover  the  country,  to  lay  it  waste,  and  to  strike 
terror  into  the  inhabitants.  It  appears  to  be  clear  that 
the  occupation  of  it  was  not  at  that  thne  attempted  or 
thought  of.  Then,  when  the  historian  proceeds  to 
relate  the  operations  of  the  next  campaign,  he  ex- 
pressly informs  us  that  the  country  which  Agricola 
employed  this  fourth  summer  in  taking  possession  of 
and  fortifying,  was  that  which  he  had  thus  in  the 
preceding  summer  overrun.  No  word£  are  used 
which  can  imply  that  he  penetrated  into  any  new 
country  in  his  fourth  campaign ;  the  statement  dis- 
tinctly is,  that  he  onlj^  occupied  and  secured  what  he 
had  already  surveyed  aud  laid  waste. 

According  to  the  view,  however,  which  supposes 
him  not  till  now  to  have  ever  been  beyond  the  Solway, 
his  fourth  summer  (a.  d.  81)  was  employed  in  ex- 
ploring and  overrunning  the  country  extending  from 
that  arm  of  the  sea  to  the  Friths  of  Clyde  and  Forth, 
and  in  securing,  as  usual,  the  advance  he  had  thus 
made.  Tacitus  describes  the  place  where  the  waters 
of  the  Glotta  aud  Bodotria  (the  Friths  of  Clyde  and 
Forth)  are  prevented  from  joining  oijy  by  a  narrow 
neck  of  land,  aud  teUs  us  that  Agricola  drew  a  chain 
of  forts  across  that  isthmus.  These  forts  are  sup- 
posed to  have  stood  in  the  same  fine  where  LoUius 
Urbijjus  afterwards  erected  his  more  compact  rampait, 
and  not  far  from  the  modern  canal  wliich  connects 
the  two  estuaries. 

But  in  making  this  advance,  Agi'icola  seems  to  have 
neglected  the  gieat  piomontory  of  Galloway,  which 
lay  between  the  Solway  and  the  Clj'de,  and  was  then 
occupied  by  the  Novautse,  and,  in  part,  by  the  Selgovae 
and  Damnii ;  we  mean  more  particularly  the  country 
now  included  in  Wigton,  Kirkcudbright,  Dumfries, 
and  AjTshire.  In  his  fifth  campaign  (a.d.  8'2),  there- 
fore, he  thought  it  prudent  to  subdue  these  tribes, 
who,  in  the  advance  he  contemplated  for  the  next 
year  beyond  the  Frith  of  Forth,  would,  from  their 
western  position,  have  been  in  his  rear.  He  accord- 
ingly invaded  "  that  part  of  Britain,"  says  Tacitus, 
"  which  is  opposite  to  Ireland,"  being  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  Galloway ;  and,  to  do  this,  he  is  supposed  to 
have  sailed  from  Kilbride  Loch,  in  Cumberland  asid 
on  the  Solway,  and  to  have  Itmded  on  the  estuaiy  of 
Locher.i  From  the  Galloway  coast  he  saw  the 
distant  hills  of  Ireland  ;  and  the  sight  jf  said  to  have 

'  Chalmers'  Caleduuia. 


42 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


suggested  the  idea  of  a  fresh  invasion,  to  wliich, 
moreover,  he  was  incited  by  an  Irish  chieftain,  who, 
being  expelled  from  his  native  country,  had  taken 
refuge  with  the  Konian  commander.  Having,  after 
various  engagements,  cleared  the  south-west  of  Scot- 
land as  far  as  his  fortified  works  on  the  Frith  of  Clyde, 
he  seems  to  have  put  the  mass  of  his  army  into  winter 
quarters  along  the  line  he  had  drawn  from  that  estu- 
ary to  the  Frith  of  Forth,  so  as  to  have  them  ready 
for  next  year's  campaign. 

In  his  sixth  year  (a.d.  83),  Agi'icola  resolved  to 
extend  his  conquests  to  the  north-east,  beyond  the 
Frith  of  Forth.  His  fleet  had  already  survej-ed  the 
coasts  and  harbors,  and  his  naval  officers  showed  him 
the  most  commodious  passage, — at  Inchgarvey,  as  it 
is  su|)posed, — where  he  seems  to  have  been  met  by 
a  part  of  his  fleet,  and  wafted  over  to  the  advancing 
point  in  Fife,  now  called  Northfeny.^  Other  writers, 
however,  suppose  that  he  marched  along  the  southeru 
side  of  the  Forth,  to  a  point  where  the  river  was 
narrow  and  fordable,  and  crossed  it  somewhere  near 
Stu'ling.  It  is  possible  that  both  courses  may  have 
been  adopted  by  different  divisions  of  the  troops.  On 
the  north  side  of  the  Forth  the  troops  were  attended 
and  supported  by  the  ships;  so  that  their  march 
must  have  been  along  the  east  coast.  The  fleet  kept 
so  near  the  shore,  that  the  mariners  frequently  landed 
and  encamped  with  the  land  forces — each  of  these 
bodies  entertaining  the  other  with  marvelous  tales  of 
what  they  had  seen  and  done  in  these  unknown  seas 
and  regions.* 

Having  crossed  the  Frith  of  Forth,  Agricola  found 
himself,  for  the  first  time,  fairly  engaged  with  the 
real  Caledonians — a  people,  at  the  least,  as  fierce  and 
brave  as  any  he  had  hitherto  contended  with.  They 
were  not  taken  by  surprise,  nor  did  they  wait  to  be 
attacked.  Descending  from  the  upper  country,  as 
Agricola  advanced  into  Fife,  strong  bands  of  them  fell 
upon  the  new  Roman  forts  on  the  isthmus  between 
the  Forth  and  Clyde,  which  had  been  left  behind 
without  sufficient  defence.  Soon  after,  they  made  a 
night  attack  on  the  ninth  legion,  one  of  the  divisions 
of  the  main  army,  and  nearly  succeeded  in  cutting  it 
to  pieces,  in  spite  of  the  strong  camp  in  which  it  was 
inti-enched.  This  camp  was  probably  situated  at 
Loch  Ore,  about  two  miles  to  the  south  of  Loch 
Leven,  where  ditches  and  other  traces  of  it  are  still 
seen.  In  a  general  battle,  however,  to  which  this 
nocturnal  attack  led,  the  Caledonians  were  beaten ; 
and,  without  any  other  successful  exploit,  the  Romans 
wintered  north  of  the  Frith  of  Forth,  in  Fife,  where 
their  fleet  supplied  them  with  provisions,  and  kept 
open  their  communications  with  the  forts  in  the  south. 
The  Caledonians,  no  way  disph'ited,  mustered  all 
their  clans  for  the  next  summer's  campaign,  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  supreme  command  of  Galgacus,  who 
ranks  with  Cassivellaunus  and  Caractacus,  as  one  of 
the  heroes  of  the  British  wars. 

At  the  opening  of  his  seventli  and  last  campaign 
(a.d.  84),  when  Agricola  moved  fonvard,  he  found 
the  enemy,  to  the  number  of  30,000,  posted  on  tlie 
acclivities  of  Mons  Grampius,  determined  to  oppose 

1  Chalmers'  Caledonia.  '  Tacit.  Vit.  Agric.  chap.  xxv. 


his  progress  in  a  general  battle.  The  position  of  the 
Caledonians  on  this  occasion,  and  the  field  of  the  gi-eat 
battle,  although  they  have  been  much  disputed,  seem 
to  admit  of  being  fixed  on  very  probable  gi-ounds. 
From  the  nature  of  the  countiy,  Agi-icola  would  direct 
his  line  of  march  by  the  course  of  the  Devon,  would 
turn  to  the  right  from  Glen-Devon,  through  the 
opening  of  the  Ochil  hills,  along  the  coui-se  of  the 
rivulet  which  forms  Glen-Eagles,  leaving  the  Braes 
of  Ogilvie  on  his  left.  He  would  then  pass  between 
Blackfoid  and  Auchterarder,  towards  the  Grampians 
(or  Gran-Pen  of  the  British,  meaning  the  head  or 
chief  ridge  or  summit),  which  he  would  see  before 
him  as  he  defiled  from  the  Ochils.  An  easy  march 
would  then  bring  him  to  the  Moor  of  Ardoch,  at  the 
roots  of  the  Grampians,  where  there  are  very  evident 
signs  of  ancient  conflicts.  The  large  ditch  of  a  Roman 
camp  can  still  be  traced  for  a  considerable  distance ; 
weapons,  both  British  and  Roman,  have  been  dug  up  ; 
and  on  the  hill  above  Ardoch  Moor,  are  two  enormous 
heaps  of  stones,  called  Carnwochel,  and  Carnlee — 
probably  the  sepulchral  cairns  of  the  Caledonians  who 
fell  in  the  battle.^ 

The  host  of  Galgacus  fought  with  gi'eat  obstinacy 
and  bravery ;  but  they  were  no  more  able  to  resist 
the  disciplined  legions  of  Rome  in  a  pitched  battle, 
than  their  brethren  the  southern  Britons  had  been. 
They  were  defeated,  and  pursued  with  gi-eat  loss ; 
and  the  next  day  nothing  was  seen  in  front  of  the 
Roman  army  but  a  silent  and  deserted  country,  and 
houses  involved  in  smoke  and  flame.  Tacitus  relates 
that  some  of  the  flying  natives,  after  tears  and  tender 
embraces,  killed  their  wives  and  children,  in  order  to 
save  them  from  slavery  and  the  Romans.  In  the 
battle  the  Caledonians  used  war-chariots,  like  the 
southern  Britons ;  and  the  Roman  Avi-iter  mentions 
tjheir  broadswords  and  small  tai-gets,  which  remained 
so  long  after  the  peculiar  arms  of  the  Highlanders. 
The  victory  of  Agi'icola,  however  valueless  in  its  re- 
sults, was  complete ;  and,  though  Tacitus  does  not 
record  his  death  on  the  field,  he  speaks  no  more  of 
the  brave  Galgacus. 

In  the  course  of  these  two  campaigns  north  of  the 
Forth  the  Romans  seem  to  have  derived  an  uncommon 
degree  of  assistance  from  theii'  fleet,  which  was  prob- 
ably much  better  appointed  and  commanded  than  on 
any  former  occasion.  After  defeating  Galgacus,  Agri- 
cola sent  the  ships  from  the  Frith  of  Tay  to  make  a 
coasting  voyage  to  the  north,  which  may  veiy  properly 
be  called  a  voyage  of  discoveiy ;  for  though  nearly  a 
century  and  a  half  had  passed  since  Caesar's  invasions, 
the  Romans  were  not  yet  quite  certain  that  Britain 
was  an  island,  but  thought  it  might  have  joined  the 
European  continent  either  at  the  exti-eme  north  or 
north-east,  or  at  some  other,  to  them,  unknown  point. 
Agi'icola's  fleet  doubled  the  promontory  of  Caithness 
and  Cape  Wrath,  ran  down  the  western  coast  from 
the  end  of  Scotland  to  the  Land's  End  in  Cornwall, 
then  turning  to  the  east,  arrived  safe  at  the  Trutulen- 
sian  hai-bor  (supposed  to  be  Sandwich),  and  sailing 
thence  along  the  eastern  coast,  retui'ned  with  glon 

1  Chalmers'  Caledonia,  b.  1.  ch.  iii.  Roy's  Military  Antiquities, 
plate  10.     Slobie's  map  of  Perth. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


43 


to  the  point  from  which  it  had  started,  having  thus, 
according  to  Tacitus,  made  the  first  certain  discovery 
that  Britain  was  an  island. 

The  fears  and  imagination  of  the  mariners  were  no 
doubt  much  excited  during  this  periplus  ;  and  Tacitus, 
who  probably  heard  the  recital  from  his  father-in-law 
Agricola,  and  some  of  the  officers  of  the  fleet,  was 
not  proof  against  exaggeration.  He  tells  us  that  the 
cluster  of  islands  called  the  Orcades,  till  then  wholly 
uiTknown,  was  added  to  the  Roman  empire  (he  omits 
all  mention  of  the  Hebrides) ;  that  Thule,  which  had 
lain  concealed  in  gloom  and  eternal  snows,  was  seen 
by  the  navigators,  and  that  the  sea  in  those  parts  was 
a  sluggish  mass  of  stagnated  water,  hardly  yielding  to 
the  stroke  of  the  oar,  and  never  agitated  by  winds  and 
storms.'- 

Agi-icola  did  not  keep  his  army,  this  second  winter, 
north  of  the  Friths ;  but  withdrawing  them  by  easy 
marches,  put  his  troops  in  cantonments  behind  his 
works  on  the  isthmus,  if  not  behind  those  on  the 
Solway  and  Tyne.  Soon  after  this  he  was  recalled 
from  his  command  by  the  jealous,  tyi-annical  Domi- 
tian.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Agricola  left  any 
garrison  on  the  north  of  the  Frith  of  Forth ;  and  it 
appears  probable  that  most  of  the  forts  thrown  up  in 
the  passes  of  the  Grampians  to  check  the  incursions 
of  the  Caledonians,  remains  of  which  still  exist  at 
Coupar-Angus,  Keithock,  Harefaulds,  Invergovsrie, 
and  other  places,  were  either  temporary  encamp- 
ments made  on  his  march  northwai'ds,  or  were 
erected  at  a  later  period  by  the  Emperor  Severus, 
and  never  maintained  by  the  Romans  for  any  length 
of  time.  The  great  difficulty  in  these  regions  was 
not  the  act  of  advancing,  but  that  of  remaining ;  and 
the  poverty  of  the  country  was,  no  doubt,  as  good  a 
defence  as  the  valor  of  its  inhabitants. 

It  was  under  Agricola  that  the  Roman  dominion 
in  Britain  reached  its  utmost  permanent  extent ;  for 
a  few  hurried  marches,  made  at  a  later  period,  far- 
tlier  into  the  north  of  Caledonia,  are  not  to  be  counted 
as  conquests  or  acquisition  of  territory.  For  the  long 
period  of  thirty  years  the  island  remained  so  tranquil 
that  scarcely  a  single  mention  of  its  affairs  occurs  in 
the  Roman  annals ;  and  we  need  scarcely  remark 
that,  as  history  has  usually  been  written,  the  silence 
of  historians  is  one  of  the  best  proofs  of  a  nation's 
happiness. 

But  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian"  the  Romans  were 
attacked  all  along  their  northern  frontiers  by  the 
Caledonians,  and  the  whole  state  of  the  island  was 
so  disturbed  as  to  demand  the  presence  of  that  ener- 
getic emperor  (a.d.  120).  The  conquests  of  Agri- 
cola north  of  the  Tyne  and  Solway  were  lost,  his 
advanced  line  of  forts  between  the  Forth  and  the 
Clyde  swept  away ;  and  Hadrian  contented  himself, 
without  either  resigning  or  reconquering  all  that  ter- 
ritory, with  raising  a  new  rampart  (much  stronger 
than  that  drawn  by  Agi'icola)  between  the  Solway 

1  Vit.  Agric.  ch.  x.  and  xxiviji. 

2  In  a  general  description  of  the  Roman  empire,  under  Trajan,  the 
immediate  predecessor  of  Hadrian,  Appian  says  that  the  emperor 
possessed  more  than  one-half  of  Britain,  that  he  neglected  the  rest 
of  the  island  as  useless,  and  derived  no  profit  from  the  part  he  pos- 
sessed. 


ItADRIAN. 

From  a  Copper  Coin  in  the  British  Museum. 


Copper  Com  of  Hadrian,  from  one  in  the  British  Museum. 

Frith  and  the  German  Ocean.  Perhaps  it  would 
have  been  wise  in  the  Romans  to  have  kept  to  this 
latter  line  ;  but  in  the  following  reign  of  Antoninus 
Pius  (a.  d.  138),  the  governor  of  Britain,  Lollius 
Urbicus,  advanced  from  it,  drove  the  barbarians  before 
him,  and  again  fixed  the  Roman  fi-ontier  at  the  isth- 
mus between  the  Clyde  and  Forth,  where  he  erected 
a  strong  rampart  on  the  line  of  Agi-icola's  forts.  The 
prtetentura  or  rampart  of  Lollius  Urbicus  consisted 
of  a  deep  ditch,  and  an  earthen  wall  raised  on  a  stone 
foundation.  There  were  twenty-one  forts,  at  inter- 
vals, along  the  line,  which,  from  one  exti-emity  to  the 
other,  measured  about  thirty-one  miles.  A  militaiy 
road,  as  a  necessary  appendage,  ran  within  the  ram- 
part, affording  an  easy  communication  from  station 
to  station.  The  opposite  points  are  fixed  at  Caer- 
ridden  on  the  Forth,  and  Dunglas  on  the  Clyde. 
The  woi-ks  appear  to  have  been  finished  about  a.d 
140 ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  perishable  materials, 
the  mound  can  be  traced  after  the  lapse  of  seventeen 
centuries.  Among  the  people,  whose  traditions  have 
always  retained  some  not-ion  of  its  original  destination, 
it  is  called  Gramme's  or  Graham's  Dyke.  Inscribed 
stones  have  been  discovered  there,  recording  that  the 
2d  legion,  and  detachments  from  the  6th  and  the 


44 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


20th  legions,  with  some  auxiliaries,  were  employed 
upon  the  works.' 

It  had  been  the  boast  of  the  Romans,  even  from 
the  time  of  Agi'icola,  that  this  fortified  line  was  to 


Antoninus  Pius. 
From  a  Copper  Coin  in  the  British  Museum. 

•  Roy's  Milit.  Antiq. 


Copper  Coin  of  Antoninus  Pius,  commemorative  of  his  victories 
in  Kritain,  from  one  in  the  Britisli  Museum. 


The  earliest  figure  of  Britannia  on  a  Roman  Coin,  from  a  Copixir 
Coin  of  Antoninus  Pius,  in  the  British  Museum. 


cover  and  protect  all  the  fertile  territories  of  the 
south,  and  to  drive  the  enemy  as  it  were  into  another 
island,  barren  and  barbarous  Uke  themselves.  But 
the  northern  tribes  would  not  so  understand  it :  in 
the  reign  of  Commodus  (a.d.  183)  they  again  broke 


DuNTOCHER  Bridge. 

On  the  line  of  Graham's  Dyke,  said  in  the  neigliliorhooii  to  have  been  a  Roman  work,  but  conjectured  by  Roy  to  Iiave  been  erected  nt  a 

later  but  very  disitant  period,  and  of  the  stones  from  the  wall  of  Urbicus.    The  Bridge  is  over  Duntocher  Burn,  which  falls  into  the  Clyde. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


45 


through  this  bari'ier,  and  swept  over  the  country 
which  lay  between  it  and  the  wall  of  Hadrian,  and 
which  became  the  scene  of  several  sanguinary  bat- 
tles with  the  Romans.  About  the  same  time  a  mu- 
tinous spirit  declared  itself  among  the  legions  ia 
Britain,  and  symptoms  were  everywhere  seen  of 
that  decline  in  discipline  and  military  virtue  which 
led  on  rapidly  to  the  entire  dissolution  of  the  Roman 
empire.  Shortly  after,  the  succession  to  the  empire 
was  disputed  with  Severus  by  Clodius  Albinus,  the 
governor  of  Britain.  The  unequal  contest  was  de- 
cided by  a  great  battle  in  the  south  of  France ;  but 
as  the  pretender  Albinus  had  drained  the  island  of 
its  best  troops,  the  northern  tiibes  took  that  favorable 
opportunity  of  breaking  into  and  desolating  the  settled 
Roman  provinces.  These  desti'uctive  ravages  con- 
tinued for  years,  and  cost  the  lives  of  thousands  of 
the  civilized  British  subjects  of  Rome. 

The  Emperor  Severus,  in  his  old  age  (a.d.  207), 
and  though  oppressed  by  the  gout  and  other  maladies, 
resolved  to  lead  an  army  in  jierson  against  the  north- 
ern barbarians.  Having  made  gi'eat  preparations, 
he  landed  in  South  Britain,  and  almost  immediately 
began  his  mai'ch  to  the  northern  frontier,  which  was 
once  more  marked  by  the  walls  of  Agricola  and 
Hadrian,  between  the  Solway  Frith  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Tyne.  The  tremendous  difficulties  he  en- 
countered as  soon  as  he  crossed  that  line,  sufficiently 
show  that  the  countiy  beyond  it  had  never  been 
thoroughly  conquered  and  settled  by  the  Romans, 
who  invariably  attended  to  the  construction  of  roads 
and  bridges.  Even  so  near  to  the  walls  as  the  pres- 
ent county  of  Durham  the  countiy  was  an  impassa- 
ble wilderness.  Probably  there  is  some  exaggeration 
in  the  number,  and  a  part  of  the  victims  may  have 
fallen  under  the  spear  and  javelins  of  the  natives ; 
but  it  is  stated  that  Severus,  in  his  march  north- 
ward, lost  50,000  men,  who  were  worn  out  by  the 
incessant  labor  of  draining  morasses,  throwing  raised 
roads  or  causeways  across  them,  cutting  down  for- 
ests, leveling  mountains,  and  building  bridges.  By 
these  means  he  at  length  penetrated  farther  into  the 
heart  of  Caledonia  than  any  of  his  predecessors,  and 
struck  such  terror  into  the  native  clans  or  tribes, 
who,  however,  had  most  prudently  avoided  any 
general  action,  that  they  supplicated  for  peace.     He 


went  so  far  to  the  north  that  the  Roman  soldiers 
Avere  much  struck  with  the  length  of  the  summer 
days  and  the  shortness  of  the  nights ;  but  the  Arcs 
Flnium  Imperii  Ro?nani,  and  the  exti'eme  pomt  to 
which  Severus  attained  in  this  arduous  campaign, 
seems  to  have  been  the  end  of  the  narrow  promon- 
tory that  separates  the  Murray  and  Cromarty  Friths, 
the  conqueror  or  explorer  still  leaving  Ross,  Suther- 
land, and  Caithness,  or  all  the  most  northern  parts 
of  Scotland,  untouched. ^  The  uses  of  this  most 
expensive  militaiy  promenade  (for,  with  the  excej)- 
tion  of  the  road-making,  it  was  nothing  better)  aie 
not  veiy  obvious ;  no  Roman  army  ever  followed  his 
footsteps,  and  he  himself  could  not  maintain  the  old 
debatable  ground  between  the  Tyne  and  the  Forth. 
Indeed,  after  his  return  from  the  north,  his  first  care 
was  to  erect  a  new  frontier  barrier  in  the  same  line 
as  those  of  Agi'icola  and  Hadrian,  but  sti'onger  than 
either  of  them,  thus  acknowledging,  as  it  were,  the 
uncertain  tenure  the  Romans  had  on  the  country 
beyond  the  Solway  and  the  Tyne.  For  two  years 
the  Romans  and  their  auxiliaries  were  employed  iii 
building  a  wall,  which  they  vainly  hoped  would  for- 
ever check  the  incursions  of  the  northern  clans. 

The  wall  of  Agi'icola,  which  has  been  so  frequently 
alluded  to,  was  in  reality  a  long  bank  or  mound  of 
earth,  with  a  ditch,  on  the  borders  of  which  he 
built,  at  unequal  distances,  a  range  of  forts  or  castles. 
This  work  very  nearly  extended  from  sea  to  sea,  being 
about  seventy-four  miles  long  ;  beginning  three  miles 
and  a  half  east  of  Newcastle,  and  ending  twelve  miles 
west  of  Carlisle.  After  existing  thirty-seven  years, 
this  work,  which  had  been  much  injured,  was  re- 
paired (about  A.D.  121)  by  Hadi'ian,  who  added 
works  of  his  own  to  strengthen  it.  He  dug  an  ad- 
ditional and  much  larger  ditch,  and  raised  a  higher 
rampart  of  earth,  making  his  new  works  run  in 
nearh'  parallel  lines  with  the  old.  Fi'om  the  date  of 
these  operations  and  repab's  the  name  of  Agi-icola 
was  lost ;  and  the  whole,  to  this  day,  has  retained 
the  name  of  Hadrian's  Wall.-  During  the  ninety 
years  that  intervened  between  the  labo-rs  of  Hadrian 
and  those  of  Severus,  the  rampart,  not  well  calcu- 
lated to  withstand  the  fi'osts  and  rains  of  a  cold  and 
wet  climate,  had,  no  doubt,  suffered  extensively,  and 

1  Chalmers"  Caledonia.  ^  Huttuu's  Hist,  of  the  Romau  Wall. 


Pro.ile  iif  Uie  Roiiiiii  W;:!!  and  Valhin:,  ;ie  ir  the  South  A2!;er  Tort  G.ite. 


ecLioa  ol'  Wall  uf  Scveius. 


Wall  and  Ditch  of  Severus. 


46 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I 


Wall  of  Seterus,  near  Housesteao,  Northumberland. 


the  barbarians  had  probably  broken  through  the 
earthen  mound  in  more  places  than  one.  Severus — 
in  this  surpassing  his  predecessors — determined  to 
build  with  stone  :  the  wall  he  raised  was  about  8  feet 
thick  and  12  high  to  the  base  of  the  battlements,  so 
that,  viewed  in  profile,  a  section  of  it  would  appear 
much  like  a  chair,  the  main  part  forming  the  seat 
and  the  embattled  part  the  back.'  To  the  wall  were 
added,  at  unequal  distances,  a  number  of  stations  or 
towns,  81  castles,  and  3.30  castelets  or  tuiTets.  At 
the  outside  of  the  wall  (to  the  north)  was  dug  a 
ditch  about  36  feet  wide  and  from  12  to  1.5  feet  deep. 
Severus'  works  run  nearly  parallel  with  the  other 
two  (those  of  Agricola  and  Hadrian),  lie  on  the  north 
of  them,  and  are  never  far  distant,  but  may  be  said 
always  to  keep  them  in  view  :  the  gi'eatest  distance 
between  them  is  less  than  a  mile,  the  nearest  dis- 
tance about  20  yards,^ — the  medium  distance  40  or 
50  yards.  Exclusive  of  his  wall  and  ditch,  these 
stations,  castles,  and  tuiTets,  Severus  consti"ucted  a 
variety  of  roads, — jet  called  Roman  roads, — 24  feet 
wide  and  18  inches  high  in  the  centre,  which  led 
from  tun-et  to  turret,  from  one  castle  to  another,  and 
still  larger  and  more  distant  roads  from  the  wall, 
which  led  from  one  station  or  town  to  another,  be- 
sides the  grand  military  way  (now  our  main  road 
from  Newcastle  to  Carlisle),  which  covered  all  the 

1  nutton. 


woi'ks,  and  no  doubt  was  first  formed  by  Agricola, 
improved  by  Hadrian,  and,  after  Ijing  neglected  for 
1500  years,  was  made  complete  in  1752.' 

As  long  as  the  Roman  power  lasted  this  ban-ier 
was  constantly  garrisoned  by  armed  men.  The 
stations  were  so  near  to  each  other  that,  if  a  fire 
was  lighted  on  any  one  of  the  bvilwarks,  it  was  seen 
at  the  next,  and  so  repeated  from  bulwark  to  bul- 
wark, all  along  the  line,  in  a  veiy  short  time. 

Severus  had  not  finished  his  works  of  defence  when 
the  Caledonian  ti'ibes  resumed  the  offensive.  The 
iron-hearted  and  iron-framed  old  emperor  marched 
northward  with  a  dreadful  vow  of  extermination ; 
but  death  overtook  him  at  Eboracum  (York),  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year  211.  Caracalla,  his  son  and 
successor,  who  had  been  sening  with  him  in  Britain, 
tired  of  a  warfare  in  which  he  could  gain  compara- 
tively little,  hopeless  perhaps  of  ever  succeeding  in 
the  so-frequently-foiled  attempt  of  subjecting  the 
countiy  north  of  the  walls,  and  certainlj-  anxious  to 
reach  Rome,  in  order  the  better  to  dispose  of  his 
brother  Geta,  whom  his  father  had  named  co-heir  to 
the  empire,  made  a  hasty  peace  with  the  Caledonians, 
formally  ceding  to  them  the  debatable  ground  be- 
tween the  Sohvay  and  Tj'ne  and  the  Friths  of  Clyde 
and  Forth,  and  then  left  the  island  for  ever. 

After  the  departure  of  Caracalla  there  occurs  an- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


47 


Roman  Soi.bier. 


Roman  Citizen. 


Tomb-stone  of  a  Young  Roman  Physician 


The  above  Cu»«  were  drawn  from  a  large  coIlecUon  of  sculptures  found  in  the  line  of  the  Wall  of  Severus,  and  preserved  in  the 

Newcastle  Museum. 


48 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


other  long  blank,  supposed  to  have  been  a  tranquil 
inteiTiil,  lor  during  nearly  seventy  years  history 
scarcely  devotes  a  single  page  to  Britain  and  its  affairs. 
The  formidable  stone  rampart  of  Severus  had,  no 
doubt,  its  part  in  preserving  the  tianquillitj'  of  the 
southern  division  of  the  island,  but  it  wius  not  the 
sole  cause  of  this  happy  effect.  The  territory  ceded 
by  Caracalla,  extending  eighty  miles  to  the  north  of 
Severus'  wall,  and  averaging  in  breadth,  from  sea  to 
sea,  not  less  than  seventy  miles,  was,  in  good  part,  a 
fertile  country,  including  what  are  now  some  of  the 
best  lands  in  Scotland.  The  clans  left  in  possession 
of  this  valuable  settlement  would  naturally  acquire 
some  taste  for  the  quiet  habits  of  life,  would  imbibe 
some  civilization  from  the  Roman  provincials  of  the 
south  side  of  the  wall,  and  then  their  instinctive  love 
of  propeity  and  quiet  would  make  them  restrain, 
with  arms  in  their  hands,  the  still  barbarous  moun- 
taineers to  the  north  of  their  own  teiritory,  whilst 
tlieir  own  civilization,  such  as  it  might  be,  would 
make  some  little  progi-ess  among  the  clans  in  that 
direction.  And  it  certainly  did  happen  that,  even 
when  the  Roman  power  had  long  been  in  a  state  of 
decrepitude,  no  great  or  decisive  invasions  took  place 
from  the  north  to  the  south,  until  the  Scots,  a  new 
enemy,  pouring  in  from  Ireland  with  an  ovenvhelm- 
ing  force,  drove  clan  upon  clan,  and  advanced  be- 
yond the  wall  of  Severus.  This  latter  event  ought 
always  to  bo  taken  in  connexion  with  the  growing 
weakness  of  Rome  to  account  for  the  catastrophe 
which  followed. 

Though  it  has  been  generally  overlooked,  there  is 


another,  and  a  great  cause  too,  which  will  help  to 
account  for  the  ti-anquillity  enjoyed  in  the  south,  or 
in  all  Roman  Britain.  Caracalla  imparted  the  free- 
dom of  Rome,  and  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
Roman  citizen,  to  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire ; 
and  thus  the  Briton,  exenqjted  from  arbitrary  spolia- 
tion and  opi)ression,  enjoyed  his  patrimony  without 
fear  or  challenge.'  Such  a  boon  merited  seventy- 
years  of  a  grateful  quiet. 

When  Britain  reiippcars  in  the  annals  of  history, 
we  find  her  beset  by  fresh  foes,  and  becoming  the 
scene  of  a  new  enterprise,  which  was  frequently 
repeated  in  the  course  of  a  few  following  years.  In 
the  reign  of  Diocletian  and  Maximian  (a.d.  288), 
the  Scandinavian  and  Saxon  pirates  began  to  ravage 
the  coasts  of  Gaul  and  Britain.  To  repress  these 
marauders,  the  emperors  appointed  Caiausius,  a 
Menapiiin,  to  the  command  of  a  stiong  fleet,  the 
head-quarters  of  which  was  in  the  British  Channel. 
The  Menapians  had  divided  into  several  colonies : 
one  was  settled  in  Belgium,  one  in  Hibernia,  one  in 
the  islands  of  the  Rhine,  one  at  Menevia  (now  St. 
David's),  in  Britain — and  Carausius  was  by  birth 
either  a  Belgian  or  a  Briton — it  is  not  veiy  certain 
which.  Wherever  he  was  born,  he  appears  to  have 
been  a  bold  and  skilful  naval  commander.  He  beat 
the  pirates  of  the  Baltic,  and  enriched  himself  and 
his  mariners  with  their  plunder.  It  is  suspected  that 
he  had  himself  been  originally  a  pirate.  He  was 
soon  accused  of  collusion  with  the  enemy,  and  autici- 

1  Palgrave's  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Cormnonweallh, 
chap.  X. 


y,/t^:- 


Wall  of  Sbvprus,  on  the  S:ind-stone  Quarries,  Denton  Dean,  near  Newcastle  upon-Tyne. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


pating,  fi-om  his  gi-eat  wealth  and  power,  that  he 
would  throw  off  his  allegiance,  the  emperors  sent 
orders  from  Rome  to  put  him  to  death.  The  wary 
and  ambitious  sailor  fled,  in  time,  with  his  fleet  to 
Britain,  where  the  legions  and  auxiliaries  rallied  round 
his  victorious  standard,  and  bestowed  upon  him  the 
imperial  diadem.  The  joint  emperors  of  Rome, 
after  seeing  their  attempts  to  reduce  him  repelled 
with  disgi-ace  to  their  own  arms,  were  fain  to  pur- 
chase peace  by  conceding  to  him  the  government  of 
Britain,  of  Boulogne,  and  the  adjoining  coast  of  Gaul, 
together  with  the  proud  title  of  Emperor.  Under 
his  reign  we  see,  for  the  first  time,  Britain  figuring 
as  a  gi-eat  naval  power  :  Carausius  built  ships  of  war, 
manned  them  in  part  with  the  intrepid  Scandinavian 
and  Saxon  pirates,  against  whom  he  had  fought ;  and 
remaining  absolute  master  of  the  Channel,  his  fleet 
swept  the  seas  from  the  mouths  of  the  Rhine  to  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar.     He  sti-uck  numerous  medals, 


British  Coin  of  Caravsius. 
From  a  unique  Gold  Coin  in  the  British  Museum. 

with  inscriptions  and  devices,  "  which  show  the  pomp 
and  state  he  assumed  in  his  island  empire."  The 
impressive  names  he  borrowed  were,  "  Marcus  Au- 
relius  Valerius  Ctirausius."' 

He  had  escaped  the  daggers  of  pii'ates  and  empe- 
rors, but  a  surer  executioner  rose  up  in  the  person  of 
a  friend  and  confidential  minister.  He  was  murdered 
in  the  year  297,  at  Eboracum  (York),  by  Allectus,  a 
Briton,  who  succeeded  to  his  insular  empire,  and 
reigned  about  three  years,  when  he  was  defeated 
and  slain  by  an  officer  of  Constantius  Chlorus,  to 
whom  Britain  fell  in  succession  on  the  resignation  of 
Diocletian  and  Maximian  (a.d.  296).  In  this  shoit 
war  we  hear  of  a  strong  body  of  Franks  and  Saxons, 
who  formed  the  main  strength  of  Allectus'  army, 
and  who  attempted  to  plunder  London  after  his 
defeat.  Thus,  under  Cai'ausius  and  Allectus,  the 
Saxons  must  have  become  acquainted  even  with  the 
interior  of  England.  Constantius  Chlorus  died,  in 
the  summer  of  a.d.  306,  at  Eboracum,  or  York,  a 
place  which  seems  to  have  been  singularly  fatal  to 
royalty  in  those  days.  Constantine,  aftenvards  called 
the  Great,  then  began  his  reign  at  York,  where  he 
was  present  at  his  father's  death.  After  a  very 
doubtful  campaign  north  of  the  wall  of  Severus,  the 
details  of  which  are  very  meagre  and  confused,  this 
prince  left  the  island,  taking  with  him  a  vast  number 
of  British  youths  as  recruits  for  his  army.  From 
this  time  to  the  death  of  Constantine,  in  337,  Britain 
seems  again  to  have  enjoyed  ti-anquillity. 

The  Roman  power  was,  however,  decaying ;  the 
removal  of  the  capital  of  the  empire  from  Rome  to 
Constantinople  had  its  effects  on  the  remote  prov- 
inces of  Britain,  and,  under  the  immediate  successors 
ot  Constantine,  while  the  Frank  and  Saxon  pirates 

1  Pa!jTavr's  Hist.  England,  chap   i 
VOL.   I  —  4 


ravaged  the  ill-defended  coasts  of  the  south, 
Scots,  and  Attacots — all  mentioned  for  the 


49 

the  Picts. 
first  time 


Constantine  the  Great. 
From  a  Gold  Coin  in  the  British  Museum. 

by  historians  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  fourth  century — 
began  to  press  upon  the  northern  provinces,  and  defy 
Severus'  deep  ditches  and  wall  of  stone.  As  the  Scott 
came  over  from  Ireland  in  boats,  and  frequently  made 
their  attacks  on  the  coast  line,  it  seems  not  improb- 
able that  in  some  instances  their  depredations  were 
mistaken  for,  or  mixed  up  with  those  of  the  Saxons. 
According  to  our  insufficient  guide,'  however,  it  was 
the  Picts  and  Scots  alone,  that,  after  breaking  through 
the  wall  of  Severus,  and  killing  a  Roman  general, 
and  Nectaridius,  the  "  Count  of  the  Saxon  Shore,"  in 
the  reign  of  Julian  the  Apostate,  were  foimd,  about 
three  years  after  (a.d.  367),  in  the  time  of  the  Em- 
peror Valentinian,  pillaging  the  city  of  London  (Au- 
gusta), and  canying  off  its  inhabitants  as  slaves. 
Theodosius,  the  distinguished  general,  and  father  of 
the  emperor  of  that  name,  repelled  these  invaders, 
and  repaired  the  wall  and  the  ruined  forts  in  different 
parts  of  the  south  ;  but  the  northern  districts  were 
never  aftenvards  reduced  to  order  or  tranquillitj-;  and 
even  for  tlie  partial  and  temporaiy  advantage  they 
obtained,  the  Romans  were  compelled  to  foUow  the 
host  of  pirates  to  the  exti'emity  of  the  British  islands. 
"when,"  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  verses  of  the  poet 
Claudian,  upon  this  achievement,  "  the  distant  Or- 
cades  were  drenched  with  Saxon  gore." 

By  watching  these  occurrences,  with  others  that 
were  equally  fatal,  step  by  step,  as  they  happen,  we 
shall  be  the  better  able  to  understand  how  Britain. 
when  abandoned  by  the  Roman  legions,  was  in  so 
reduced  and  helpless  a  state  as  to  fall  a  prey  to  the 
barbarians.  If  that  fact  is  presented  to  us  in  an 
isolated  manner,  it  almost  passes  our  comprehension  : 
but,  taken  in  connexion  Avith  gi-eat  causes  and  the 
events  of  the  two  centuries  that  preceded  the  Saxon 
conquest,  it  becomes  perfectly  intelligible. 

Following  an  example  which  had  become  very 
prevalent  in  difterent  parts  of  the  disorganized  em- 
pire, and  which  had  been  first  set  in  Britain  b}- 
Carausius,  several  officers,  relying  on  the  devotion  of 

1  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  lib.  xxvii.  and  ixviii. 


50 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


the  legions  and  auxiliai'ies  under  their  command,  and 
supported  sometimes  by  the  affection  of  the  people, 
cast  ofl'  their  allegiance  to  the  emperor,  and  declared 
themselves  independent  sovereigns.  It  was  the 
fashion  of  the  servile  historians  to  call  these  provin- 
cial emperors  "  tyrants,"  or  usurpers,  and  to  describe 
Britain  especially  as  being  "  insula  tjTannorum  fer- 
tilis" — an  island  fertile  in  usurpers.  But,  in  sober 
truth,  these  provincial  monarchs  hud  as  pure  and 
legititnate  a  biisis  for  their  authority  as  any  of  the 
later  emperors  of  Rome,  in  whose  succession  hered- 
itary right  and  the  will  of  the  governed  were  alike 
disregarded,  and  whose  election  depended  on  the 
chances  of  war  and  the  caprices  of  a  barbarian  sol- 
diery; for  the  right  of  nomination  to  the  vacant 
empire  so  long  assumed  by  the  pra?torian  bands,  and 
which  right,  questionable  as  it  was,  was  still  certain 
and  ascertainable — still  something  like  a  settled  rule 
— was  soon  overset,  and  disallowed  by  the  men  of  all 
nations  in  arms  on  the  frontiers.  If  a  pretension  had 
lieen  set  up  for  purity  of  Roman  blood,  or  a  principle 
established  that  the  sovereign  should  be  at  least  a 
Roman  born,  there  would  have  been  a  line  of  exclu- 
sion drawn  against  the  provincial  officers  ;  but  so  far 
from  this  being  the  case,  we  find  that  the  large  ma- 
jority of  the  so-called  legitimate  Roman  emperors 
were  barbarians  by  race  and  blood — natives  of  lUyria 
and  other  more  remote  provinces,  while  several  of 
the  most  distinguished  of  their  number  sprang  from 
the  very  lowest  orders  of  society. 

The  most  noted  of  the  provincial  emperors  or  pre- 
tenders that  raised  their  standard  in  Britain  was 
Maximus  (a.d.  382) ;  certainly  a  man  of  rank,  and 
probably  connected  with  the  imperial  family  of  Con- 
stantiue  the  Great.  If  not  born  in  Britain,  he  was  of 
British  descent,  and  had  long  resided  in  the  island, 
where  he  had  repelled  the  Picts  and  Scots.  Brave, 
skilful,  and  exceedingly  popular  in  Britain,  Maximus 
might  easily  have  retained  the  island,  but  his  ambition 
induced  him  to  aim  at  the  possession  of  all  that  por- 
tion of  the  Western  Roman  empire  which  remained 
to  Gratian ;  and  this  eventually  not  only  led  to  his 
ruin,  but  inflicted  another  dreadful  blow  on  British 
prosperity.  He  withdrew  nearly  all  the  troops,  and 
so  many  of  the  Britons  followed  him  to  Gaul,  that 
the  island  was  left  almost  defenceless,  and  utterly 
deprived  of  the  flower  of  its  youth  and  nobilitj-. 
Many  of  these  were  swept  off  on  the  field  of  battle, 
many  prevented  by  other  causes  from  ever  returning 
home.  Gaul  and  Germany  also  gave  willing  recruits 
to  the  army  of  Maximus,  who  was  left,  by  the  defeat 
and  death  of  Gratian,  the  undisputed  master  of  Brit- 
ain, Gaul,  Spain,  and  Italy.  He  established  the  seat 
•of  his  government  for  some  time  at  Treves,  and  is 
!fl,id  to  have  declared  Victor,  his  son  by  a  British  wife, 
his  partner  in  the  empire  of  the  west — a  proceeding 
which  could  scarcely  fail  of  gi-atifying  the  host  of 
Britons  in  his  army.  But  Theodosius,  called  the 
Great,  the  emperor  of  the  east,  marched  an  over- 
powering army  into  the  west,  and,  after  being  defeated 
in  two  great  battles,  Maximus  retired  to  Aquileia, 
near  the  head  of  the  Adi'iatic  gulf,  on  the  confines  of 
ItHly  and  lUyria,  where  he  was  betrayed  to  the  con- 


queror, who  ordered  him  to  be  put  to  death  in  the 
summer  of  388. 

Theodosius  the  Great  now  reunited  the  Roman  em- 
pires of  the  east  and  west.  While  Maximus  was  ab- 
sent, conquering  many  lands,  the  Scots  and  Picts 
renewed  their  depredations  in  Britain.  We  are 
wearied  of  this  sad  repetition,  but  the  moment  oi 
crisis  is  now  at  hand.  Chrysantus,  an  able  general, 
and  the  heutenant  of  Theodosius  in  Britain,  wholly 
or  partially  expelled  the  invaders.  Soon  after  this, 
Theodosius  the  Great  died  (a.  d.  395),  and  again 
divided,  by  his  will,  the  empire  which  his  good  for- 
tune had  reunited.  Britain,  with  Gaul,  Italy,  and 
all  the  countiies  forming  the  empire  of  the  west,  he 
bequeathed  to  his  son  Houorius,  a  boy  only  ten  years 
of  age,  whom  he  placed  under  the  guardianship  of  the 
famous  Stilicho,  who  fought  long  and  bravely,  but  in 
vain,  to  prop  the  faUing  dignity  of  Rome.  Theodosius 
was  scarcely  cold  in  his  gi-ave,  when  Picts,  Scots,  and 
Saxons  again  sought  what  they  could  devour.  Stili- 
cho claimed  some  temporary  advantages  over  them, 
but  the  inflated  verses  of  his  panegyi'ist  are  probably 
as  far  from  the  truth,  as  Claudian  is  from  being  a  poet 
equal  to  Virgil.' 

While  these  events  were  passing  in  Britain  (a.d. 
403),  the  withered  majesty  of  Rome  was  shrouded 
for  ever  :  Africa  was  dismembered  from  her  empire  ; 
Dacia,  Pannonia,  Thrace,  and  other  provinces  were 
laid  desolate  ;  and  Alaric  the  Goth  was  ravaging  Italy, 
and  on  his  way  to  the  eternal  citj%  In  this  extrem- 
ity, some  Roman  ti'oops  which  had  been  lately  sent 
into  the  island  by  Stilicho,  were  hastily  recalled  for 
the  defence  of  Italy,  and  the  Britons,  again  beset  by 
the  Picts  and  Scots,  were  left  to  shift  for  themselves. 

The  islanders  seem  to  have  felt  the  natural  love  of 
independence,  but  there  was  no  unanimity,  no  politi- 
cal wisdom,  and  probably  but  httle  good  principle 
among  them.  Seeing  the  necessitj'  of  a  common 
leader  to  fight  their  battles,  they  permitted  the  sol- 
diery to  elect  one  Marcus  emperor  of  Britain  (a.d. 
407) ;  and,  shortly  after,  they  permitted  the  same 
soldiery  to  dethrone  him,  and  put  him  to  death.  The 
ti'oops  then  set  up  one  Gratian,  whom,  in  less  than 
four  months,  they  also  deposed  and  murdered.  Their 
third  choice  fell  upon  Constantine,  an  officer  of  low 
rank,  or,  according  to  others,  a  common  soldier.  They 
are  said  to  have  chosen  him  merely  on  account  of  his 
bearing  the  imperial  and  auspicious  name  of  Constan- 
tine ;  but  he  soon  showed  he  had  other  properties 
more  valuable  than  a  name ;  and  had  he  been  con- 
tented with  the  sovereign  possession  of  Britain,  he 
might  possibly  have  foiled  its  invaders,  and  reigned 
with  peace  and  some  glory.  But,  like  Maximus,  he 
aspired  to  the  whole  empire  of  the  west,  and,  like 
Maximus,  he  fell  (a.d.  411),  after  having  caused  the 
loss  of  vast  numbers  of  British  youths,  whom  he  dis- 
ciplined and  took  ^^■itll  him  to  his  wars  on  the  conti- 
nent. At  one  part  of  liis  short  career,  Constantine 
made  himself  master  of  nearly  the  whole  of  Gaul, 
and  put  his  son  Constans,  who  had  previously  been  a 
monk  at  Winchester,  in  possession  of  Spain.  In  the 
course  of  this  Spanish  campaign,  it  is  curious  to  re- 

'  Claud,  de  Bcllo  Gallico 


n 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


51 


mark,  that  iu  Constantine's  army  there  were  two 
bands  of  Scots  or  Attacotti.^ 

Soon  after  the  fall  of  Constantine  we  find  Geron- 
tius,  a  powerful  chief,  and  a  Briton  by  birth,  cultiva- 
ting a  close  connexion  with  the  Teutonic  tribes  ;  and, 
at  his  instigation,  the  barbarians  from  beyond  the 
Rhine,  by  whom  we  are  to  understand  the  Saxons, 
continued  to  invade  the  unhappy  island.  Such  un- 
derhand villanies  are  always  common  in  the  downfall 
of  nations  (but  can  the  Romanized  Britons  fairly  be 
called  a  nation?);  and  we  find  other  chiefs,  worse 
than  Gerontius,  in  secret  league  with  the  more  bar- 
barous Picts  and  Scots. 

It  appears  that  after  the  death  of  Constantine,  Ho- 
norius,  during  the  short  breathing-time  allowed  him 
by  his  numerous  enemies,  twice  sent  over  a  few  troops 
for  the  recoveiy  and  protection  of  Britain,  the  sove- 
reignty of  which  he  still  claimed  ;  but  his  exigencies 
soon  obliged  him  to  recall  them,  and  about  the  year 
420,  nearly  five  centuries  after  C?esar's  first  invasion, 
and  after  being  masters  of  the  best  part  of  it  during 
nearly  four  centuries,  the  Roman  emperors  finally 
abandoned  the  island.  The  Britons  had  already  de- 
posed the  magistrates  appointed  by  Rome,  proclaimed 
their  independence,  and  taken  up  arms  for  that  de- 
fence against  their  invaders  which  the  emperor  could 
no  longer  give  ;  but  the  final  disseverance  was  not  ac- 
companied by  reproach  or  apparent  ill-will.  On  the 
contrary,  a  mutual  friendship  subsisted  for  some  time 
after  between  the  islanders  and  the  Romans  ;  and  the 
Emperor  Honorius,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  states 
or  cities  of  Britain,  seemed  formally  to  release  them 
from  their  allegiance,  and  to  acknowledge  the  national 
independence. 

For  some  years  after  the  departure  of  the  Romans 
the  historian  has  to  gi'ope  his  way  in  the  dark ;  nor 
is  it  easy  to  determine  the  precise  condition  of  the 
country.  It  appears,  however,  that  the  free  munici- 
pal government  of  the  cities  was  presently  overthrown 
by  a  multitude  of  military  chiefs,  who  were  princi- 
pally of  British,  but  partly  of  Roman  origin.  It  was 
a  period  to  appreciate  the  warrior  who  could  fight 
against  the  Scots  and  Picts  rather  than  the  peaceful 
magistrate ;  and  the  voice  of  civil  libeily  would  be 
rarely  hear(}  in  the  din  of  war  and  invasion.  In  a 
very  few  years  all  traces  of  a  popular  govei-nment 
disappeared,  and  a  number  of  petty  chiefs  reigned 
absolutely  and  tyi-annically  under  the  pompous  name 
of  kings,  though  the  kingdoms  of  few  of  them  could 
have  been  so  large  as  a  second-rate  modern  county  of 
England.  Instead  of  uniting  for  their  general  safety, 
at  least  until  the  invaders  were  repelled,  these  roite- 
lets,  or  kinglings,  made  wars  upon  each  other  in  the 
presence  of  a  common  danger ;  and,  unwiser  even  than 
their  far  less  civilized  ancestors  in  the  time  of  Csesar, 
they  never  thought  of  forming  any  gi-eat  defensive 
league  until  it  was  too  late. 

It  is  chiefly  in  this  mad  disunion  that  we  must  look 
for  the  cause  of  what  has  created  astonishment  in  so 
many  wi-iters, — the  miserable  weakness  of  Britain  on 
the  breaking  up  of  the  Roman  government.  Other 
causes  of  decline,  however,  had  long  been  at  work. 

'  ^|'olitia  Imperii,  sect,  xirviii. 


Almost  from  the  first  establishment  of  the  Roman 
power,  the  British  youths  raised  as  recruits  were 
drafted  off  to  the  continent,  where  they  were  disci- 
plined, and  whence  few  ever  returned.  It  was  con- 
traiy  to  the  policy  of  the  Romans  to  teach  the  provin- 
cials the  arts  of  war,  and  establish  them  as  troops  in 
their  own  countiy.  The  soldiers  of  Britain  were 
scattered  from  Gaul  to  the  extremities  of  the  empire ; 
the  sedentary  and  unwarlike  remained  at  home.  All 
this,  we  think,  may  account  for  the  absence  of  a  well- 
disciplined  force  in  the  time  of  need.  Moreover,  dur- 
ing nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  the  drain  upon  the 
population  for  the  purposes  of  Roman  war  must  have 
been  prodigious.  In  308  Constantine  took  with  him 
a  vast  number  of  Britons  to  the  continent ;  this  exam- 
ple was  followed  as  the  enemies  of  the  empire  increased 
in  number  and  audacity,  or  as  one  pretender  disputed 
the  imperial  crown  with  another ;  and  we  have  shown, 
at  periods  so  recent  as  a.d.  383  and  411,  how  the 
pride  and  flower  of  the  youth  were  sacrificed  in  foreign 
warfare.  The  exterminating  inroads  of  the  Scots  and 
Picts,  which  began  early  in  the  fourth  century,  and 
lasted,  almost  without  intermission,  until  long  after  the 
departure  of  the  Roman  legions  in  the  fifth  century, 
must  have  fearfully  thinned  the  population  in  the 
north,  where  arms  were  most  wanted.  The  curses 
that  destroy  mankind  were  many,  and  there  were 
none  of  the  blessings  that  tend  to  their  increase. 
Gaul  and  other  provinces  with  which  Britain  traded, 
were  in  as  bad  a  condition  as  herself,  and  thus  an  end 
was  put  to  foreign  commerce,  while  the  internal  trade 
of  the  countiy  was  gradually  destroyed  by  divisions 
and  wars  which  made  it  unsafe  for  the  inhabitant  of 
one  district  to  ti-ansport  his  produce  into  the  next, 
although  only  at  a  few  miles'  distance.  Under  such 
a  state  of  things,  moreover,  agriculture  would  be 
neglected,  for  men  would  not  sow  in  the  sad  uncer- 
tainty whether  they  or  the  enemy  should  reap.  Fa- 
mine and  pestilence  ensued  ;  and  Britain,  in  common 
with  the  gi-eater  part  of  Europe,  where  the  same 
causes  had  been  in  operation,  was  still  further  depop- 
ulated by  these  two  scourges. 

We  can  scarcely  credit  Gildas,  who  wrote  about 
the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  when  he  asserts  that, 
at  the  departure  of  the  legions,  the  Britons  were  sunk 
in  such  helplessness  and  ignorance  that  they  could  not 
repair  the  stone  wall  of  Severus  without  the  guidance 
and  assistance  of  Roman  workmen ;  but  we  can  un- 
derstand how  they  could  not  muster  forces  sufficient 
to  man  that  rampart,  and  also  how  the  Picts  and  Scots 
sliould  render  it  of  no  avail  by  turning  the  wall  on  its 
flanks,  and  landing  in  its  rear  at  such  distances  as  best 
suited  their  convenience.  To  maintain  an  adequate 
gaiTison  against  a  vigilant  and  restless  enemy,  along  a 
line  upwards  of  seventy  miles  in  length,  would  demand 
a  very  large  disposable  force.  The  northern  barba- 
rians would  not  hesitate  to  launch  their  boats  in  the 
Solway  Frith,  or  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne,  north  of 
the  wall,  and,  by  sailing  south,  pass  that  rampart  at 
one  of  its  extremities,  and  land  on  the  coast  within 
the  wall,  or  ascend  rivers,  where  that  defence,  left  far 
in  the  r  rear,  could  present  no  obstacle  to  their  pi"o- 
gi'ess.     Their  rudest  coracles  might  have  performed 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


J^^/y;^///:? 


British 
this  coasting  service  in  fine  weather;  but  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  during  their  occasional  connexions  with 
the  Teutonic  or  Saxon  pirates,  who  had  made  some 
progress  in  naval  architecture,  the  Scots  came  into 
possession  of  larger  and  better  vessels.  An  obvious 
fact  is,  that  from  the  arrival  of  the  latter  peo})le  from 
Ireland,  the  rampart  of  Severus  began  signally  to  fail 
in  answering  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  intended, 
though,  perhaps,  if,  instead  of  taking  the  usual  ex- 
pression of  their  breaking  through  the  wall,  we  read 
that  they  turned  it  at  one  or  other  of  its  extremities, 
by  means  of  their  shoals  of  boats,  we  shall  generally, 
in  regard  to  their  earlier  inroads,  be  nearer  the  truth. 

But  the  time  was  now  come  when  such  sti-atagems, 
or  circuitous  courses,  were  unnecessary,  and  the 
Scots  and  Picts  leaped  the  ditches  and  scaled  the  ill- 
defended  walls  at  all  points.  The  fertile  provinces 
of  the  south  tempted  them  forward  till  they  reached 
the  very  heart  of  the  countiy,  which  they  racked 
with  a  most  bai'barous  hand.  It  was  not  their  object 
to  occupy  the  countiy  and  settle  in  it  as  conquerors 
(had  such  been  their  plan,  the  Britons  would  have 
suffered  less) ;  their  expeditions  were  forays ;  they 
came  to  plunder  and  desti-oy :  and  the  booty  they 
canied  off,  season  after  season,  was  a  less  serious  loss 
than  the  slaughter  and  devastation  that  marked  their 
advance  and  reti'eat. 

At  this  horrid  crisis  the  more  southern  and  least 
exposed  parts  of  the  island  appear  to  have  been  occu- 
pied by  two  gi"eat  parties  or  factions,  which  had  ab- 
sorbed all  the  rest,  but  could  not  come  to  a  rational 
understanding  with  each  other.  One  of  these  was  a 
Roman  party,  including,  no  doubt,  thousands  of  Ro- 
man citizens  who  had  remained  on  the  estates  thev 


Coracles. 
had  acquired,  and  the  many  native  families  that  must 
have  been  connected  with  them  by  mari'iage  and  the 
various  ties  of  civil  life  ;  the  other  was  a  British  paity, 
composed,  or  pretending  to  be  composed,  exclusively 
of  Britons.  As  soon  as  such  a  line  of  distinction  was 
drawn,  dissension  was  inevitable.  The  Roman  party 
was  headed  by  Aurelius  Ambrosius,  a  descendant  of 
one  of  the  emperors ;  the  British  rallied  round  the 
notorious  ^'^ortigern.  It  is  not  very  clear  whether, 
when  it  was  determined  a  third  time  to  implore  the 
aid  of  the  Romans,  both  these  parties  consented  to 
that  measure,  or  whether  Aiuelius  Ambrosius  did 
not  take  it  upon  himself,  as  his  rival  Vortigern  did  the 
calling  in  of  the  Saxons  only  three  years  after. 

The  abject  prayer,  however,  entitled  "  The  Groans 
of  the  Britons,"  and  addressed  to  ^tius,  thrice  consul, 
was  sent  to  the  continent  (a.d.  441).  "The  barba- 
rians," said  the  petitioners,  "chase  us  into  the  sea; 
the  sea  throws  us  back  uj)on  the  barbarians  ;  and  we 
have  only  the  hard  choice  left  us  of  perishing  by  the 
sword  or  by  the  Avaves."  But  jEtius,  though  as  great 
a  warrior  as  Stilicho,  was  then  contending  with  Attila, 
a  more  tenible  enemy  even  than  Alaric,  and  could 
not  afford  a  single  cohort  to  the  supplicants,  whose 
last,  faint  reliance  on  Rome  thus  fell  to  the  ground. 

Religious  conti-oversy  and  the  mutual  hatred  that 
inflames  men  when  they  fix  the  charge  of  heresy  on 
one  another,  completed  the  anarchy  of  Britain.  This 
is  also  a  very  common,  though  a  very  strange  concom- 
itant with  the  fall  and  last  agonies  of  nations  ;  and  the 
Britons,  like  the  Jews  some  centuries  before,  and  like 
the  Greeks  at  Constantinople,  besieged  by  the  Turks, 
ten  centuries  after,  consumed  their  time  in  theologi- 
cal subtleties  and  disputations  when  the  enemy  was 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


63 


at  their  gates,  and  their  last  defences  were  falling 
above  their  heads.  Had  some  of  the  disputants  been 
animated  with  the  same  martial  spirit  as  Germanus 
of  Auxerre,  a  Gallic  bishop,  who  was  sent  over  by  the 
pope  to  decide  the  controversy,  their  ruin  might 
have  been  delayed ;  but  his  was  a  solitary  instance. 
Germanus,  who  had  been  a  soldier  before  he  became 
a  priest,  sallied  out  with  a  number  of  Britons,  and  to 
the  shouts  of  Hallelujah,  if  we  may  believe  the  nai*- 
rative  of  the  Venei-able  Bede,  cut  up  a  partj-  of  Picts 
that  were  plundering  the  coast.  But  this  Hallelujah 
victory,  as  it  was  called,  was  far  from  being  sufficient 
to  stay  the  march  of  the  invaders,  and  at  length  Vor- 
tigeru  took  his  memorable  step,  and  called  the  Saxons 
to  his  assistance — a  fierce  and  predatory  people  who 
had  frequently  ravaged  the  island,  sometimes  by 
themselves,  at  others  in  union  with  the  Picts  and 
Scots,  whom  they  were  now  to  oppose.  The  people 
of  Armorica  or  Brittany  had  ah-eady  set  the  example, 
and  more  fortunate  than  their  neighbors  proved  in 
the  end,  they  had  succeeded,  by  means  of  some 
Saxon  allies,  in  maintaining  the  independence,  and 
securing  the  tranquillity  of  their  country. 

It  may  be  suspected  that,  even  at  this  exti'emity, 
Vortigern  applied  for  the  aid  of  foreign  arms,  as 
iimch  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  Roman  party 
in  the  island,  as  for  the  expulsion  of  its  invaders ; 
and  this  suspicion,  though  not  proved,  gains  some 
strength  from  their  past  and  existing  disputes,  from 
the  reports  of  the  deadly  hati-ed  and  bloody  conflicts 
which  ensued  between  Aurelius  Ambrosius,  the  head 
of  the  Roman  party,  and  Yortigern,  and  from  the 
circumstance  that  Aurelius,  from  the  first  landing, 


made  head  against  the  Saxons,  while  his  enemy  lived 
in  peace  and  amity  with  them  for  some  time. 

But,  whatever  were  his  motives,  Yortigern  (a.d 
449)  called  the  hardy  freebooters  of  the  Baltic  and 
northern  Germany,  and  they  came  most  readily 
at  his  call.  The  story  of  a  formal  embassy  to  the 
court  or  general  assembly  of  the  Saxons,  and  the  pa- 
thetic speeches  put  into  the  mouths  of  the  British 
envoys,  seem  to  be  pure  inventions  of  the  old  histo- 
rians. Three  Chiules  (keels),  or  long  ships,  were 
cruising  in  the  British  Channel,  under  the  command  of 
two  brothers,  distinguished  wan-iors  or  pirates  among 
the  Saxons,  who  are  called  Hengist  and  Horsa,  though 
it  is  possible  those  may  not  have  been  really  their 
names,  but  designations  merely  derived  from  the  stan- 
dards they  bore.^  It  appears  to  have  been  on  the  deck 
of  these  marauding  vessels  that  the  Saxons  received 
the  invitation,  which  eventually  led  to  the  conquest 
of  a  gi-eat  kingdom.  Yortigern  appointed  his  ready 
guests  to  dwell  in  the  east.part  of  the  land,  and  gave 
them  the  Isle  of  Thanet  for  their  residence,  an  insu- 
lated and  secure  ti-act  to  those  who,  like  the  Saxons, 
had  the  command  of  the  sea  ;  for  the  nan-ow,  and,  at 
times,  almost  invisible  rill  which  now  divides  Thanet 
from  the  rest  of  Kent,  was  then  a  channel  of  the  sea, 
nearly  a  mile  in  width.  From  this  date  begins  the 
history  of  the  Saxons  in  Britain. 

*  Hengst,  or  Hengist,  signifies  a  stallion  ;  and  Horsa,  or  Hross,  does 
not  require  any  explanation.  It  may  be  remarked,  however,  that  in 
Danish,  hors  signifies  not  a  horse,  but  a  mare.  The  snow-white  steed 
still  appears  as  the  eusign  of  Kent,  in  England,  as  it  anciently  did  in 
the  shield  of  the  "  old  Saxons''  in  Germany.  Hence  the  White  Horse 
is  still  borne  on  the  royal  shield  of  Brunswick-Hanover. — Palgrave, 
Hist.  chap.  ii. 


Ension  of  Kent. 


54 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


Section  I. — Druidism. 


HERE  are  tsvo  views 
under  which  the  his- 
toiy  of  religion  may 
form  a  part  of  the  his- 
tory of  a  countr)-  or 
a  people.  There  is 
the  histoiy  of  religious 
opinion,  and  there  is 
the  history  of  the  es- 
tablished church  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  in- 
stitutions of  the  state. 
There  never  probably  was  a  period  in  the  history  of 
this  counhy  when  religion  was  more  mixed  up  with 
civil  affairs  than  in  that  earliest  period  of  which  we 
are  now  treating.  Among  the  ancient  Britons  the 
ministers  of  religion  appear  to  have  been  also  the 
chief  legislators  and  administrators  of  the  law,  as  well 
as  almost  the  sole  depositories  of  whatever  knowledge 
and  civilization  existed  in  the  country.  As,  however, 
no  British  histoiy,  properly  so  called,  of  any  kind, 
has  been  presei-ved,  all  the  information  that  can  be 
given  in  regard  to  the  religious  system  which  we 
have  reason  to  believe  then  prevailed,  is  such  a  gen- 
eral account  of  it  as  we  are  enabled  to  present  of  the 
state  of  the  island  and  its  inhabitants  in  those  remote 
ages  in  other  respects.  But  even  for  this  our  mate- 
rials are  scanty'  and  unsatisfactoiy  ;  much  of  the  sub- 
ject is  concealed  in  a  darkness  which  we  can  have 
DO  hope  of  piercing ;  and  there  is  so  much  of  fanciful 
speculation  and  conjecture  in  the  interpretation  that 
has  been  put  upon  the  few  facts  from  which  we  must 
deduce  our  conclusions,  that  at  the  best  the  endeavor 
to  shape  them  into  order  and  meaning  is  very  like 
tracing  pictures  in  the  clouds. 

The  ancient  religion  of  the  Britons  is  generally 
believed  to  have  been  the  same  with  that  of  their 
Gallic  neighbors  and  kinsmen.  It  is  proper,  how- 
ever, to  observe  that  the  skepticism  of  some  modern 
historicaUvi-iters  has  carried  them  so  far  as  to  incline 
them  to  doubt  whether  the  Druidism  of  Gaul  ever 
generally  prevailed  in  Britain.  It  appears  from  the 
narrative  which  has  been  given  of  the  Roman  con- 
quest, that  there  were  Druids  in  the  island  of  An- 
glesey ;  but  it  is  rather  remarkable  that  no  ancient 
author  has  expressly  mentioned  the  existence  of 
Druidism  in  any  other  part  of  the  country.  Both 
Caesar  and  Pliny,  indeed,  have  spoken  of  the  British 
Di"uids  generally ;  but  their  expressions  may  very 
well  refer  merely  to  the  Druidism  of  Anglesey,  or 
even,  as  has  been  suggested,  to  that  of  Ireland,  which, 
as  Pliny  himself  informs  us,  was  included  under  the 
name  of  the  British  Islands.  If  the  matter  therefore 
depended  entirely  on  the  testimony  of  the  Greek 


and  Roman  wi'iters,  the  common  opinion  would 
scarcely  rest  on  sufficient  gi'oimds.  But  the  general 
prevalence  of  Druidism  in  Britain  appears  to  be 
abundantly  established  both  by  the  mateiial  monu- 
ments of  that  system  of  religion  which  are  spread 
over  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  by  popular  customs 
and  superstitions,  derived  from  the  same  source,  which 
have  either  survived  to  our  own  day,  or  have  only 
recently  disappeared. 

Caesar,  who  of  all  the  ancients  has  given  us  the 
fullest  and  clearest  account  of  the  Druids,  expressly 
records  it  to  have  been  the  common  opinion  of  the 
Gauls  that  the  Druidical  discipline  was  discovered  or 
invented  in  Britain,  and  from  thence  brought  over  to 
Gaul ;  and  he  adds  that  those  of  the  Gauls  who 
wished  to  obtain  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
system  were  still  wont  to  pass  over  into  Britain  to 
study  it.  Although,  therefore,  his  sketch  professes 
to  relate  only  to  the  Di'uidism  of  Gaul,  we  may  safely 
assume  that  it  is  in  general  equally  applicable  to  that 
of  Britain.  The  Druids,  according  to  Caesar,  formed 
throughout  the  whole  of  Gaul  one  of  the  two  honor- 
able classes  of  the  population,  the  Equites,  or  military 
order,  forming  the  other.  The  office  of  the  Druids 
was  that  of  presiding  over  sacred  things,  of  perform- 
ing all  public  and  private  sacrifices,  and  generally  of 
duecting  all  religious  matters.  They  were  also  the 
teachers  of  gi'eat  numbers  of  youth,  who  resorted  to 
them  for  instiuction  in  their  discipline.  But  the 
function  which  procured  them  the  highest  honor  was 
that  which  they  discharged  as  the  judges  by  whom 
were  determined  almost  all  disputes  or  litigations, 
both  public  and  private.  If  any  criminal  act  was 
done,  if  any  murder  was  committed,  if  any  difference 
arose  about  an  inheritance  or  the  boundaries  of  land, 
the  decision  lay  with  them ;  they  appointed  the  re- 
ward or  the  penalty.  But  even  in  this  capacity-  of 
administi-ators  of  the  law,  religion  was  the  instrument 
the)-  made  use  of  to  enforce  obedience  to  their  sen- 
tences. "Whoever  he  was,  whether  a  private  indi- 
vidual or  a  person  discharging  a  public  office,  that  on 
any  occasion  refused  to  abide  by  their  decree,  they 
interdicted  him  from  being  present  at  the  sacrifices. 
The  exercise  of  this  power,  resembling  the  modern 
ecclesiastical  weapon  of  excommunication,  inflicted  a 
punishment  of  the  greatest  severity.  The  person 
interdicted  was  held  as  one  impious  and  accursed  ;  all 
men  shunned  him,  and  fled  from  his  approach  and 
converse,  lest  they  should  receive  injury  from  his 
very  touch  ;  he  lost  the  protection  of  the  law,  and 
was  excluded  from  all  offices  of  honor. 

The  Druidical  hierarchy,  it  is  plain  from  this  ac- 
count, held  in  their  hands  the  regulation  and  control 
of  by  far  the  most  important  part  of  the  internal  affairs 


^ 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


55 


of  the  community,  thus  occupying  a  position  in  the 
state  very  similar  to  that  formerly  held  in  many  coun- 
tries by  the  Christian  priesthood  ;  but,  if  anything, 
still  more  commanding  than  that  was,  even  in  the 
darkest  period  of  modern  history.  It  was  distinctly 
another  power,  if  not  superior  to  the  civil  power,  at 
least  certainly  not  in  any  respect  in  subjection  to  it. 
Caesar  goes  on  to  tell  us  that  there  was  one  head 
Druid  set  over  the  whole  body,  who  was  elected  to 
his  place  of  supreme  authority  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
rest,  whenever  it  happened  that  there  was  no  single 
individual  of  their  number  whose  merits  were  so  pre- 
eminent as  to  prevent  all  competition  for  the  vacant 
dignity.  The  struggle,  however,  among  the  parti- 
sans of  various  candidates  for  the  primacy  sometimes 
came  to  a  contest  of  arms.  The  Druids  of  Gaul  were 
wont  to  hold  a  meeting  at  a  certain  time  of  everj'  year 
in  a  consecrated  place  in  the  territory  of  the  Car- 
nutes,  which  was  considered  to  be  the  central  region 
of  Gaul ;  and  hither  all  people  flocked  who  had  any 
litigations,  and  submitted  themselves  to  their  decisions 
and  judgments.  The  spot  here  refeired  to  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  that  on  which  the  town  of  Dreux, 
in  the  Pais  de  Chartiain,  now  stands ;  and  here  it  is 
thought  the  chief  Druid  had  his  residence.  The 
seat  of  the  Druidical  primacy  in  Britain  is  conjectured 
to  have  been  the  Isle  of  Anglesey. 

Caesar  goes  on  to  state  that  the  Druids  were  not 
accustomed  to  take  part  in  war,  nor  did  they  pay  anj^ 
taxes,  enjoying  both  exemption  from  military  service 
and  freedom  from  all  other  public  burdens.  The 
consequence  of  these  privileges  was,  that  numbers 
of  persons  both  came  of  their  own  accord  to  be  ti-ained 
up  in  their  discipline,  and  were  sent  to  them  by  their 
parents  and  relations.  A  part  of  the  education  of 
these  pupils  was  said  to  consist  in  learning  by  heart 
a  great  number  of  verses,  and  on  that  account  some 
of  them  remained  twenty  years  at  their  studies  ;  for 
the  Druids  did  not  deem  it  right  to  commit  their  in- 
structions to  wi'iting,  although,  in  most  other  things, 
and  in  both  their  public  and  private  affairs  of  business, 
they  used,  Caesar  seems  to  say,  according  to  the  read- 
ing of  most  manuscripts  of  his  text,  the  Greek  charac- 
ters. Even  if  the  epithet  Greek  is  an  interpolation 
here,  as  some  critics  have  supposed,  the  important 
part  of  the  statement  remains  unaffected,  namely, 
that  the  Druids  were  familiar  with  the  art  of  A\Titing. 
Caesar  supposes  that  they  refrained  from  committing 
their  religious  doctrines  to  writing  for  two  reasons  : 
first,  because  they  did  not  wish  that  the  knowl- 
edge of  their  system  should  be  diffused  among  the 
people  at  large  ;  secondly,  because  they  thought  that 
the  learners,  having  wTitten  characters  to  trust  to, 
would  bestow  less  pains  in  cultivating  their  memoiy, 
it  generally  happening  that  diligence  in  acquiring 
knowledge,  and  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  memoiy, 
are  relaxed  under  a  sense  of  the  security  which 
written  characters  afford. 

He  then  proceeds  to  give  an  account  of  the  doc- 
trines taught  by  the  Druids.  The  chief  doctrine 
which  they  inculcated  was  that  commonly  known  by 
the  name  of  the  metempsychosis  or  h-ansmigration 
of  souls,  a  favorite  principle  of  some  of  the  most  an- 


cient religious  and  philosophical  creeds  both  of  the 
east  and  of  the  west.  They  asserted  that  when  a 
man  died  his  spirit  did  not  perish,  but  passed  imme- 
diately into  another  body ;  and  this  article  of  faith,  by 
its  power  of  vanquishing  the  fear  of  death,  they  con- 
sidered to  be  the  most  efficacious  that  could  be  in- 
stilled into  the  minds  of  men  for  the  excitement  of 
heroic  virtue.  They  also  discussed  and  delivered  to 
their  pupils  many  things  respecting  the  heavenly 
bodies  and  their  motions,  the  magnitude  of  the  uni- 
verse and  the  earth,  the  nature  of  things,  and  the 
force  and  power  of  the  immortal  gods.  The  whole 
nation  of  the  Gauls,  Caesar  remarks,  was  gi-eatly  given 
to  religious  observances ;  and  on  that  account  those 
persons  who  were  attacked  by  any  serious  disease, 
or  were  involved  in  the  dangers  of  warfare,  were  ac- 
customed either  to  immolate  human  victims,  or  to 
vow  that  they  would,  and  to  employ  the  Druids  to 
perform  these  sacrifices  ;  their  opinion  being  that  the 
gods  were  not  to  be  pi-opitiated,  unless  for  the  life  of 
a  man  the  life  of  a  man  were  offered  up.  There 
were  also  sacrifices  of  the  same  kind  appointed  on 
behalf  of  the  state.  Sometimes  images  of  wicker 
work,  of  immense  size,  were  constructed,  which, 
being  filled  with  living  men,  were  then  set  fire  to,  and 
the  men  perished  in  the  flames.  They  regai-ded  the 
destruction  in  this  manner  of  persons  taken  in  the 
commission  of  theft  or  robbery,  or  any  other  delin- 
quency, as  most  agreeable  to  the  gods  ;  but  when  the 
supply  of  such  criminals  was  insufiicient,  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  make  victims  of  the  innocent. 

The  account  is  concluded  by  a  short  enumeration 
of  the  divinities  worshiped  by  the  Gauls.  The  chief 
object  of  their  adoration,  it  is  stated,  was  Mer- 
cury :  of  this  god  they  had  nmFierous  images ;  they 
regarded  him  as  the  inventor  of  all  arts,  as  the  guide 
of  men  in  highways  and  in  their  journeys,  and  as 
having  the  greatest  power  in  eveiything  belonging  to 
the  pursuits  of  wealth  and  commerce.  After  hun 
tliey  worshiped  Apollo,  Mars,  Jupiter,  and  Minei-va, 
holding  nearly  the  same  opinion  with  regard  to  each 
as  other  nations  ;  namely,  that  Apollo  warded  off  dis- 
eases— that  Minerva  was  the  first  instructor  in  man- 
ufactures and  handicrafts — that  Jupiter  was  the  sov- 
ereign of  the  inhabitants  of  heaven — that  Mais  was 
the  ruler  of  war.  To  him,  when  they  came  to  the 
determination  of  engaging  in  a  battle,  thej^  commonly 
devoted  whatever  spoil  they  had  taken  in  war ;  out 
of  what  remained  to  them  after  the  fight,  they  sacri- 
ficed everj'thing  that  was  alive,  and  gathered  the 
rest  together  into  one  spot.  Heaps  of  things  thus 
put  aside  in  consecrated  places  were  to  be  seen  in 
many  of  the  states,  and  it  was  rarely  that  any  person 
was  so  regardless  of  religion  as  to  dare  either  secretly 
to  retain  any  part  of  the  spoil  in  his  own  possession, 
or  to  take  it  away  when  thus  laid  up :  for  such  a 
crime  there  was  appointed  a  very  severe  punishment, 
accompanied  with  torture.  It  is  added  that  all  the 
Gauls  believed  themselves  to  be  descended  from 
Father  Dis  or  Pluto,  saying  that  the  fact  was  de- 
clared to  be  so  by  the  Druids.  On  that  account, 
they  reckoned  time  not  by  days  but  by  nights,  so 
regulating   their   birthdays,  and   the    beginnings   of 


36 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


raontlis  and  years,  that  the  night  came  first  and  then 
the  day.^ 

Such  is  the  outline  of  tlie  Druidical  superstition 
;ind  system  of  ecclesiastical  polity  which  has  been 
left  to  us  by  this  accurate  and  sagacious  obsei-ver, 
not  WTiting  from  hearsay,  but  describing  what  he 
saw  with  his  own  eyes,  or  had  othenvise  the  best 
opportunities  of  learning  on  the  spot.  Of  all  the 
writers  in  whom  we  find  any  notices  of  the  disci- 
pline or  docti-ines  of  the  Druids,  there  is  perhaps 
scarcely  another  who  can  be  regarded  as  speaking 
to  us  on  the  subject  from  his  own  obseiTation.  We 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  any  of  the  rest  ever 
wa-s  in  a  counhy  where  the  Druidical  religion  was 
established.  Some  of  the  ancient  authorities  who 
are  commonly  refeiTed  to  can  scarcely  be  considered 
as  even  the  contemporaries  of  Druidism  either  in 
IJritoin  or  Gaul. 

As  in  these  circumstances  was  to  be  expected, 
rhe  account  given  by  Ciesar  may  be  affirmed  not  to 
be  conti-adicted  in  any  material  particular,  by  those 
supplied  to  us  from  other  quarters ;  but  his  sketch 
is  a  rapid  and  general  one,  and  other  ancient  ^^Titers 
have  enabled  us  to  fill  it  up  in  various  parts  with 
some  curious  and  interesting  details.  Such  of  these 
:is  seem  to  be  most  deserving  of  attention,  we  shall 
now  proceed  to  notice. 

It  is  remarkable  that  Ca?sar  nowhere  makes  any 
mention  of  the  sacred  gioves  and  the  reverence  paid 
to  the  oak,  which  makes  so  great  a  figure  in  most  of 
the  other  accounts  of  Druidism.  Among  various 
derivations  which  have  been  given  of  the  name  of 
the  Druids,  the  most  probable  seems  to  be  that 
which  brings  it  from  Drui,  the  Celtic  word  for  an 
oak,  con-uptly  written  in  the  modern  Irish  I>roi, 
and  more  corruptly  Draoi,  but  without  the  pro- 
nunciation being  altered,  and  making  in  the  plural 
Drvidhe.'^  Drui  is  the  same  word  with  Drus, 
which  signifies  an  oak  in  the  Greek  language ;  and 
also,  indeed,  with  the  English  tree,  which  in  the  old 
Mfesogothic  was  triu.  The  name  Dryades  given  to 
their  nymphs  or  goddesses  of  the  woods  by  the 
Greeks,  is  only  another  form  of  the  name  Druids, 
given  to  their  priests  of  the  woods  by  the  Celts.  It 
is  curious  that  Diodorus  Siculus  calls  the  philosophers 
and  theologians  of  the  Gauls,  by  wliich  he  evidently 
means  the  Druids,  Saronides  ;  the  original  significa- 
tion of  the  Greek  word  Saron,  according  to  Hesy- 
chius,  being  an  oak. 

"If  you  come,"  says  the  philosopher  Seneca, 
writing  to  his  friend  Lucilius,  "to  a  grove  thick 
planted  w'\ih  ancient  trees  which  have  outgrown  tlie 
nsual  altitude,  and  which  shut  out  the  view  of  the 
heaven  with  their  interwoven  boughs,  the  vast  height 
of  the  wood,  and  the  retired  secrecy  of  the  place, 
and  the  wonder  and  awe  inspired  by  so  dense  and 
unbroken  a  gloom  in  the  midst  of  the  open  day,  im- 
press you  with  the  conviction  of  a  present  deity."^ 
These  natural  feelings  of  the  human  mind  were 
taken  advantage  of  and  turned  to  account  by  the 
■Druids,  as  we  find  them  to  have  been  in  the  other 
1  Caesar  de  Bello  Gallico,  ri.  13,  14,  16,  17.  18. 
3  Taland,  p-  1".  ^  M.  A.  Seneca  Epist.  41 


most  primitive  and  simple  forms  of  ancient  supersti- 
tion. Pliny  informs  us  that  the  oak  was  the  tree 
which  they  principally  venerated,  that  they  chose 
gloves  of  oak  for  their  residence,  and  performed  no 
sacred  rites  without  the  leaf  of  that  tree.  The 
geographer  Pomponius  Mela  describes  them  as  teach- 
ing the  youths  of  noble  families,  that  thronged  to 
them  in  caves,  or  in  the  depths  of  forests.  We 
have  seen  that  when  (a.d.  61)  Suetonius  Pauhnus 
attacked  and  made  himself  master  of  the  isle  of 
Anglesey,  he  cut  down  the  Druidical  groves,  "hal- 
lowed," sajs  Tacitus,  "  with  cruel  superstitions ;  for 
they  held  it  right  to  stain  then-  altars  with  the  blood 
of  prisoners  taken  in  war,  and  to  seek  to  know  the 
mind  of  the  gods  from  the  fibres  of  human  victims."' 
The  poet  Lucan,  in  a  celebrated  passage  on  the 
Druids  and  the  doctrines  of  their  religion,  has  not 
forgotten  their  sacred  groves  : — 

"  The  Druids  now,  while  arms  are  heard  no  more, 
Old  mysteries  and  barbarous  rights  restore  ; 
A  tribe,  who  singular  religion  love,' 
And  haunt  the  lonely  coverts  of  the  grove. 
To  these,  and  these  of  all  mankind  ,ilone, 
The  gods  are  sure  reveal'd,  or  sure  unknown. 
If  dying  mortals'  dooms  they  sing  aright. 
No  ghosts  descend  to  dwell  in  dreadful  night ; 
No  parting  souls  to  grisly  Pluto  go, 
Nor  seek  the  dieary  silent  shades  below  ; 
But  forth  they  fly,  immortal  in  their  kind, 
And  other  bodies  in  new  worlds  they  find. 
Thus  life  forever  runs  its  endless  race, 
And  like  a  line  Death  but  divides  the  space, 
A  stop  which  can  but  for  a  moment  last, 
A  point  between  the  future  and  the  past. 
Thrice  happy  they  beneath  their  northern  skies, 
Who  that  worst  fear,  the  fear  of  death,  despise  : 
Hence  they  no  cares  for  this  frail  being  feel, 
But  rush  undaunted  on  the  pointed  steel ; 
Provoke  approaching  fate,  and  bravely  scorn 
To  spare  that  life  which  inust  so  soon  return. "2 

No  Druidical  giove,  we  believe,  now  remains  in 
any  part  of  Great  Britain ;  but  within  little  more 
than  a  century,  ancient  oaks  were  still  standing 
around  some  of  the  circles  of  stones  set  upright  in 
the  earth,  which  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  tem- 
ples of  the  old  religion.  In  the  parish  of  Holj~wood 
in  Dumfriesshire,  for  instance,  there  is  such  a  tem- 
ple, formed  of  twelve  very  large  stones,  inclosing  a 
piece  of  gi'ound  about  eighty  yards  in  diameter,  and 
although  there  are  now  no  trees  to  be  seen  near  the 
spot,  "  there  is  a  ti-adition,"  says  an  account  of  the 
parish  published  in  1791,  "  of  their  existing  in  the 
last  age  ;"  and  it  is  added,  "  many  of  their  roots  have 
been  dug  out  of  the  gi'ound  by  the  present  minister, 
and  he  has  still  one  in  his  possession."*  As  far  as 
can  be  gathered  from  the  vestiges  of  such  of  these 
sacred  inclosures  as  remain  least  defaced,  they  seem 
in  their  perfect  state  to  have  generally  consisted  of 
the  circular  row  or  double  row  of  stones  in  the  cen- 
tral open  space  (the  proper  lucus,  or  place  of  light), 
and  beyond  these,  of  a  wood  surrounded  by  a  ditch 
and  a  mound.  A  holy  fountain,  or  rivulet,  appears 
also  to  have  usually  watered  the  grove.  The  rever- 
ence for  rivers  or  streams,  and  more  especially  for 
springs  or  wells,  is  another  of  the  most  prevalent  of 

1  Tac.  An.  xiv.  30. 

2  Pharsalia  i.  462  ;  Rowe's  translation.     See  also,  iii.  399,  4;c 

3  Sinclair's  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,  i.  18. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


57 


Grove  of  Oaks. — From  a  Picture  by  Ruysdael. 


ancient  superstitions ;  and  it  is  one  which,  having, 
along  with  many  other  Pagan  customs,  been  adopted 
and  sanctioned,  or  at  least  tolerated,  by  Christianity 
as  first  preached  by  the  Roman  missionaries,  and 
being,  besides,  in  some  sort  recommended  to  the 
reason  by  the  high  utility  of  the  object  of  regard, 
has  not  even  yet  altogether  passed  away.  The 
cultivation,  too,  or  the  decay  from  lapse  of  time, 
which  has  almost  everywhere  swept  away  the  an- 
tique religious  grove,  has  for  the  most  part  spared 
the  holy  AveU.  In  the  centre  of  the  circle  of  upright 
stones  is  sometimes  found  what  is  still  called  a  crom- 
lech, a  flat  stone  supported  in  a  horizontal  position 
upon  others  set  perpendicularly  in  the  eartli,  being 
apparently  the  altar  on  which  the  sacrifices  were 
oflfered  up,  and  on  which  the  sacred  fire  was  kept 
burning.  The  name  cromlech  is  said  to  signify  the 
stone  for  bowing  to  or  worshiping.  Near  to  the 
temple  frequently  rises  a  carnedd,  or  sacred  mount, 


from  which  it  is  conjectured  that  the  priests  were 
wont  to  address  the  people. 

The  Platonic  philosopher  Maximus  Tyrius  tells 
us  that  the  Celtic  nations  all  Avorshiped  Jupiter 
under  the  visible  representation  of  a  lofty  oak.  But 
the  most  remarkable  of  the  Draidical  superstitions 
connected  AAith  the  oak,  Avas  the  reverence  paid  to 
the  parasitical  plant  called  the  mistletoe,  when  it  was 
found  groAving  on  that  ti"ee.  Pliny  has  given  us  an 
account  of  the  ceremony  of  gathering  this  plant, 
which,  like  all  the  other  sacred  solemnities  of  the 
Druids,  Avas  performed  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  moon, 
probably  because  the  planet  has  usually  at  that  age 
become  distinctly  visible.  It  is  thought  that  the 
festival  of  gathering  the  mistletoe  was  kept  always  as 
near  to  the  10th  of  March,  Avhich  was  their  New 
Year's  Day,  as  this  rule  would  permit.  Having  told 
us  that  the  Druids  believed  that  God  loved  the  oak 
above  all  the  other  trees,  and  that  everything  grow- 


58 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  I. 


ing  upon  that  tree  came  from  heaven,  he  adds,  that 
there  is  nothing  they  held  more  sacred  than  tlie 
mistletoe  of  the  oak.  Whenever  the  plant  was  found 
on  that  tree,  which  it  very  rarely  was,  a  procession 
was  made  to  it  on  the  sacred  day  with  gi-eat  form 
and  pomp.  First  two  white  bulls  were  bound  to  the 
oak  by  their  horns ;  and  then  a  Druid  clothed  in 
white  mounted  the  tree,  and  with  a  knife  of  gold  cut 
the  mistletoe,  which  another,  standing  on  the  ground, 
held  out  his  white  robe  to  receive.  The  sacrifice  of 
the  victims  and  festive  rejoicings  followed.  The 
saci'edness  of  the  mistletoe  is  said  to  have  been  also 
a  part  of  the  ancient  religious  creed  of  the  Persians, 
and  not  to  be  yet  forgotten  in  India ;  and  it  is  one  of 
the  Druidical  supei-stitions  of  which  traces  still  sur- 
vive among  our  popular  customs.  Virgil,  a  diligent 
student  of  the  poetiy  of  old  religions,  has  been 
thought  to  intend  an  allusion  to  it  by  the  golden 
branch  which  iEneas  had  to  pluck  to  be  his  passport 
to  the  infernal  regions.  Indeed  the  poet  expressly 
likens  the  bi-anch  to  the  mistletoe  : — 

"Quale  solet  silris  brumali  frigore  viscum 
Fronde  virere  nuva,  quod  non  sua  seminat  arbos, 
Et  croceo  fetu  tcretes  circumdare  truncos  ; 
Talis  erat  species  auri  frondentis  opac^ 
Ilice  ;  sic  leni  crepitabat  bractea  vento." 

iEx.  vi.  109. 
As  in  the  woods  beneath  mid-winter's  snow 
Shoots  from  the  oak  the  fresh-leaved  mistletoe, 
Girding  the  dark  stem  with  its  saffron  glow  ; 
So  sprung  the  bright  gold  from  the  dusky  rind, 
So  the  leaf  rustled  in  the  fanning  wind. 

The  entire  body  of  the  Druidical  priesthood  ap- 
pears to  have  been  divided  into  several  orders  or 


classes ;  but  there  is  some  uncertainty  and  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  the  characters  and  offices  of  each. 
Strabo  and  Ammianus  Marcellinus  are  the  ancient 
authorities  upon  this  head ;  and  they  both  make  the 
orders  to  have  been  three — the  Druids,  the  Vates, 
and  the  Bards.  Marcellinus  calls  the  Vates,  accord- 
ing to  one  reading,  Euhages,  which  is  most  probably 
a  corruption,  but  according  to  another  Eubates. 
which  is  evidently  the  same  with  Strabo's  Ouates,  oi- 
Vates.  It  is  agreed  that  the  Bards  were  poets  and 
musicians.  MarceUinus  says  that  they  sung  the 
brave  deeds  of  illustrious  men,  composed  in  heroic 
verses,  with  sweet  modulations  of  the  lyre ;  and 
Diodorus  Siculus,  who  does  not  include  them  among 
the  theologians  and  philosophers  whom  he  calls  Sa- 
ronides,  also  mentions  them  in  nearly  the  same  terms. 
He  states  that  they  composed  poems,  some  of  which 
were  celebrations,  and  others  invectives,  and  sung 
them  to  the  music  of  an  instrument  resembling  the 
Greek  and  Roman  lyi'e.  The  Vates,  according  to 
Strabo,  were  priests  and  physiologists :  but  Marcel- 
linus seems  to  assign  to  them  only  the  latter  office, 
saying  that  they  inquired  into  nature,  and  en- 
deavored to  discover  the  order  of  her  processes  and 
her  sublimest  secrets.  The  Latin  word  vates,  it 
may  be  observed,  although  frequently  used  for  a 
poet,  and  sometimes  indeed  for  a  person  of  very 
eminent  skill  in  other  intellectual  arts,  seems  prop- 
erly to  have  always  implied  something  prophetic  or 
divine.  Such  is  said  also  to  be  the  signification  of  th»' 
Celtic  Faidh,  which,  in  modern  Irish,  is  used  for  a 
prophet,   and    is  believed   to  have   been   in  former 


Kits  Coty  House,  a  Cromlech,  near  .'Vylesford,  Kent 


Chap.  II. j 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


59 


Group  of  ARrn-DRuiD  and  Druids 


times  the  name  of  an  order  of  soothsayers  or  sacred 
poets,  both  in  Ii-eland  and  in  Scotland.  The  Druids 
Strabo  speaks  of  as  combining  the  study  of  physiol- 
ogy with  that  of  moral  science.  Marcellinus  de- 
scribes them  as  persons  of  a  loftier  genius  than  the 
others,  who  addressed  themselves  to  the  most  occult 
and  profound  inquiries,  and  rising  in  their  contem- 
plations above  this  human  scene,  declared  the  spirits 
of  men  to  be  immoital.  Some  modern  wa-iters,  dis- 
regarding altogether  these  ancient  authorities,  have 
conjectured  that  the  Dnaids,  as  forming  the  chief 
order  of  the  hierarchy,  had  under  them  first  the 
Bards,  whom  they  make  the  same  with  the  Saron- 
ides,  and  to  have  been  poets  and  musicians ;  second- 
ly, the  Euhages  or  Eubages,  who  studied  natural 
philosophy ;  and,  thirdly,  the  Vates,  who  performed 
the  sacrifices.  It  is  at  least  highly  probable  that  all 
these  classes  were  considered  as  belonging  to  the 


Druidical  body.^  A  remarkable  fact  mentioned  by 
MarceUinus  is  that  the  Druids,  properly  so  called, 
lived  together  in  communities  or  brotherhoods. 
This,  however,  cannot  have  been  the  case  with  all 
the  members  of  the  order ;  for  we  have  reason  to 
believe  that  the  Druids  frequently  reckoned  among 
their  number  some  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  Celtic 
states,  whose  civil  duties  of  course  would  not  per- 
mit them  to  indulge  in  this  monastic  life.  Divitia- 
cus,  the  ^duan  prince,  who  performed  so  remarkable 
a  part,  as  related  by  Cccsar,  in  the  drama  of  the  sub- 
jugation of  his  country  by  the  Roman  arms,  is  stated 
by  Cicero  to  have  been  a  Druid.  Cicero  tells  us  thai 
he  knew  Divitiacus,  who  was  wont  both  to  profess 

1  Strabo  iv. ;  Ammian.  Marcell.  xv.  9 ;  Diod.  Sic.  v.  31  ;  Toland's 
History  of  the  Druids,  pp.  24-29  ;  Rowland's  Mona  Antiqua,  p.  65  ; 
Borlase's  Cornwall,  p.  67  ;  Macpherson's  Dissertations,  p.  203  ;  Bouche's 
Histoire  de  Provence,  i.  68;  Fosbroke's  Encycloptedia  of  Antiquities, 
II.  662. 


60 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


to  be  familiar  with  that  study  of  nature  which  the 
Greeks  called  physiology,  and  to  make  predictions 
respecting  future  events,  partly  by  augury,  partly  by 
conjecture.'  Strabo  records  it  to  have  been  a  notion 
among  the  Gauls  that  the  more  Druids  they  had 
among  them,  the  more  plentiful  would  be  their  liar- 
vests,  and  the  greater  their  abundance  of  all  good 
things ;  and  we  may  therefore  suppose  that  the 
numbers  of  the  Druids  were  very  considerable. 

Toland,  who  in  what  he  calls  his  "  Specimen  of 
the  Critical  History  of  the  Celtic  Religion  and 
Learning,"  has  collected  many  curious  facts,  and 
who  probably  had  authorities  of  one  kind  or  another 
for  most  of  the  things  he  has  advanced,  although  they 
were  unfortunately  resen'ed  for  a  subsequent  W'ork 
of  gi'eater  detail,  which  never  appeared,  has  given 
us  the  following  account  of  the  dress  of  the  Druids. 
Eveiy  Druid,  he  informs  us,  cairied  a  wand  or  staff', 
such  as  magicians  in  all  counh-ies  have  done,  and 
had  what  was  called  a  Druid's  egg  (to  which  we 
shall  avert  presently)  hung  about  his  neck  inclosed  in 
gold.  All  the  Druids  wore  the  hair  of  their  heads 
short,  and  their  beai'ds  long ;  while  other  people 
wore  the  hair  of  then-  heads  long,  and  shaved  all  then* 
beards  witli  the  exception  of  the  upper  lip.  "  They 
Ukewise,"  he  continues,  "  all  wore  long  habits,  as  did 
the  bards  and  tlie  Vaids  (the  Vates) :  but  the  Druids 
had  on  a  white  surplice  whenever  they  religiously 
officiated.  In  Ireland,  they,  with  the  gi-aduate  Bards 
and  Vaids,  had  the  privilege  of  weai'ing  six  colors 
in  their  breacans  or  robes  (which  ^vere  tlie  stinped 
braccEB  of  the  Gauls,  still  worn  by  the  Highlanders) ; 
whereas  the  king  and  queen  might  have  in  theirs  but 
seven,  lords  and  ladies  five,  governors  of  forti-esses 
four,  officers  and  young  gentleman  of  quality  three, 
common  soldiers  two,  and  common  people  one. 
These  particulai's  appear  to  have  been  collected  from 
the  Irish  traditions  or  Bardic  manuscripts. 

It  is  commonly  said  that  there  were  Druidesses 
as  well  as  Druids,  and  some  modern  \\Titers  have 
even  given  us  a  minute  account  of  the  several  de- 
grees or  orders  of  this  female  hierarchy ;  but  the 
notion  does  not  seem  to  rest  upon  any  sufficient 
authority.  On  the  conti-ary,  Striibo  expressly  tells 
as  that  it  was  a  rule  with  the  Druids,  which  they 
most  stiictly  obsei-ved,  never  to  communicate  any  of 
their  secret  doctrines  to  women,  having  no  faith,  it 
seems,  in  the  docti'ine  held  by  some  of  the  moderns, 
that  a  woman  can  keep  a  secret. 

Vopiscus,  indeed,  relates  that  the  Emperor  Au- 
relian  on  one  occasion  consulted  certain  female  for- 
tune-tellers of  Gaul,  whom  this  historian  calls  Druid- 
esses, and  that  one  of  these  personages  also  another 
time  delivered  a  w'arning  to  Alexander  Severus ;  but 
tlie  women  in  question  seem  to  have  been  merely  a 
sort  of  sibyls  or  witches.  The  art  of  divination,  as 
we  ha\'e  aheady  seen  from  the  example  of  Divitiacus, 
was  one  of  the  favorite  pretensions  of  the  Druidical, 
as  it  has  been  of  most  other  systems  of  superstition. 
The  British  Druids,  indeed,  appear  to  have  professed 
the  practice  of  magic  in  this  and  all  its  other  depart- 
ments. Pliny  observes  that  in  his  day  this  supernat- 
*  De  Pivinatifine,  i.  41. 


ural  art  was  cultivated  with  such  astonishing  cere- 
monies in  Britain,  that  the  Persians  themselves 
might  seem  to  have  acquued  the  knowledge  of  it 
from  that  island.  In  the  Irish  tongue  a  magician  is 
still  called  Drui,  and  the  magic  art  Diiiidlieach,  that 
is  Druidity,  as  it  might  be  literally  tianslated.'  In 
the  Irish  ti-anslation  of  the  Scriptures  the  magicians 
of  Egj'pt  ai-e  called  the  Druids  of  Egypt,  and  the 
same  name  is  given  to  the  magi  or  wise  men  from 
the  east  mentioned  in  the  gospel  of  St.  Mattliew. 
jElian  tells  us  that  the  Druids  of  Gaul  were  hberally 
paid  by  those  who  consulted  them  for  tlieir  revela- 
tions of  the  future,  and  the  good  fortune  they  prom- 
ised. Among  their  chief  methods  of  divination  was 
that  from  the  entrails  of  victims  oflered  in  sacrifice. 
One  of  their  practices  was  remarkable  for  its  strange 
and  horrid  cruelty,  if  we  may  believe  the  account  of 
Diodorus  Siculus.  In  sacrificing  a  man  they  would 
give  him  the  mortal  blow  by  the  sti'oke  of  a  sword 
above  the  diaphragm,  and  then,  according  to  rules 
W'hich  had  descended  to  them  from  their  forefathers, 
they  would  draw  their  predictions  from  inspection  of 
the  posture  in  which  the  dying  >\Tetch  fell,  the  con- 
vulsions of  his  quivering  limbs,  and  the  direction  in 
which  the  blood  flowed  from  his  body.  A  wild  stoiy 
is  told  by  Plutarch,  in  his  Treatise  on  the  Cessation 
of  Orjicles,  about  a  discovery  made  by  a  person 
named  Demetiius,  of  an  island  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Britain,  inhabited  by  a  few  Britons  who  were 
esteemed  sacred  and  inviolable  by  their  countrymen. 
Immediately  after  his  arrival,  it  is  affirmed,  the  air  ^ 
gi-ew  black  and  troubled,  and  strange  apparitions 
were  seen ;  the  winds  rose  to  a  tempest,  and  fiery 
spots  and  wiiirlwinds  appeared  dancing  towards  the 
earth.  Demetrius  was  told  that  all  this  turmoil  of 
the  elements  was  occasioned  by  the  death  of  one  of 
a  certain  race  of  invisible  beings  who  frequented  the 
isle.  It  has  been  conjectiu-ed  that  this  island  was 
either  Anglesey,  or  one  of  the  Hebrides,  and  that 
the  persons  inhabiting  it  were  Druids,  who  thus 
affected  a  commerce  with  the  world  of  spirits  and 
supernatm'al  powers.  Somewhat  resembling  tliis 
account  is  that  given  by  Mela  of  the  island  of  Sena, 
which  he  describes  as  situated  in  the  British  sea, 
opposite  to  the  coast  inhabited  by  the  Osismi,  and 
which  is  believed  to  be  the  isle  of  Sain,  near  the 
coast  of  Britany.  It  was  famous,  according  to  the 
ancient  geogi-apher,  for  the  oracle  of  a  certain  Gallic 
divinity.  The  priestesses,  who  were  called  Bar- 
rigenae,  were  said  to  be  nine  in  number,  and  to  have 
vowed  perpetual  virginity.  They  were  thought  to 
be  endowed  with  vaiious  singular  powers,  such  as 
that  of  raising  the  waves  and  winds  with  their  songs, 
of  changing  themselves  into  whatever  animals  they 
chose,  of  healing  diseases  which  were  incurable  by 
the  skill  of  others,  and  of  knowing  and  predicting 
future  events  ;  these,  however,  they  revealed  onlj"  to 
mariners  wiio  came  on  purpose  to  consult  them.  It 
is  highly  probable  that  the  moon  was  the  deity  wliich 
was  here  worshiped.-  i 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Druids,  like  1 

1  T.iland,  p.  20. 

'  Don  Marline :  Religion  des  GauUoig. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


61 


other  ancient  teachers  of  religion  and  philosophy, 
had  an  esoteric  or  secret  doctrine,  in  which  the 
members  of  the  order  were  insti-ucted,  of  a  more 
refined  and  spiritual  character  than  that  which  they 
preached  to  the  multitude.  Diogenes  Laertius  ac- 
quaints us,  that  the  substance  of  their  system  of 
faith  and  practice  was  comprised  in  three  precepts, 
namely,  to  worship  the  gods,  to  do  no  evil,  and  to 
behave  courageously.  They  were  reported,  how- 
ever, he  says,  to  teach  their  philosophy  in  enigmatic 
apophthegms.  Mela  also  expresses  himself  as  if 
he  intended  us  to  understand  that  the  greater  part 
of  their  theology  was  reserved  for  the  initiated. 
One  doctrine,  he  says,  that  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  they  published,  in  order  that  the  people  might 
be  thereby  animated  to  bravery  in  war.  The  lan- 
guage of  this  AVi'iter  would  rather  imply,  that  what 
they  promised  was  merely  the  continuance  of  ex- 
istence in  another  world.  The  people,  he  tells  us, 
in  consequence  of  their  belief  in  this  docti-ine,  were 
accustomed  when  they  buried  their  dead  to  burn 
and  inter  along  with  them  things  useful  for  the 
living ;  a  statement  which  is  confirmed  by  the  com- 
mon contents  of  the  baiTOws  or  graves  of  the  ancient 
Britons.  He  adds  a  still  better  evidence  of  the 
sti-ength  of  theii-  faith.  They  were  wont,  it  seems, 
to  put  off  the  settlement  of  accounts  and  the  exac- 
tion of  debts,  till  they  should  meet  again  in  the 
shades  below.  It  also  sometimes  happened,  that  per- 
sons not  vrishing  to  be  parted  from  their  friends  who 
had  died,  would  throw  themselves  into  the  funeral 


piles  of  the  objects  of  their  attachment,  with  the 
view  of  thus  accompanying  them  to  their  new  scene 
of  life.  It  does  not  seem  to  be  easy  to  reconcile 
these  statements  with  the  common  supposition  that 
the  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  taught  by  the  Druids,  was  that  of  the  Metemp- 
sychosis, or  its  ti-ansmigi-ation  immediately  after 
death  hito  another  body.  Yet  we  find  the  practice 
of  self-immolation  also  prevjilent  in  India,  along  with 
a  belief  in  the  soul's  transmigration,  under  the 
Braminical  system  of  religion.  Perhaps  we  may 
derive  some  assistance  in  solving  the  difificulty,  from 
the  statement  which  has  been  little  noticed  of  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus.  This  writer,  speaking  of  the  Gauls, 
says  that  they  believed  that  the  souls  of  the  dead 
returned  to  animate  other  bodies  after  the  lapse  of  a 
certain  number  of  j^ears.  In  the  mean  time,  it 
seems  to  have  been  thought,  they  lived  with  other 
similarly  disembodied  spirits  in  some  other  world ; 
for  it  is  added  that,  in  this  belief,  when  they  buried 
their  dead  they  were  wont  to  address  letters  to  their 
deceased  friends  and  relations,  which  they  threw 
into  the  funeral  pile,  as  if  the  persons  to  whom  they 
were  addressed  would  in  this  way  receive  and  read 
them.  Other  ^\Titers,  in  their  account  of  the  Draidi- 
cal  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  expressly 
afifirm  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  were  thought  to 
enjoy  their  future  existence  only  in  another  world.* 
There  has  also  been  some  dispute  as  to  whether  the 
Druidical  metempsychosis  included  the  transmigra- 

1  Annnian.  Marcell.  lib.  xt. 


SiLBCRY  Hill,  in  Wiltshire.— Conjectured  to  be  a  colossal  Barrow 


62 


HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


ton  of  the  soul  into  animals,  as  well  as  from  one  to 
another  human  form.' 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  the  Druidical  esoteric  doctrine  was  the  be- 
lief in  one  God.  For  popular  effect,  however,  this 
opinion,  if  it  ever  was  really  held  even  by  the  initi- 
ated, appears  to  have  been  from  the  first  wrapped 
up  and  disguised  in  an  investment  of  materialism,  as 
it  was  presented  by  them  to  the  gross  apprehension 
of  the  vulgar.  The  simplest,  purest,  and  most  an- 
cient form  of  the  public  religion  of  the  Druids,  seems 
to  have  been  the  worship  of  the  celestial  luminaries 
and  of  fii'e.  The  sun  appears  to  have  been  adored 
under  the  same  name  of  Bel  or  Baal,  by  which  he 
was  distinguished  as  a  divinity  in  the  paganism  of  the 
east.''  We  have  ab-eady  had  occasion  to  notice  their 
obsei-vance  of  the  moon  in  the  regulation  of  the  times 
of  their  gi'eat  religious  festivals.  These  appear  to 
have  been  four  in  number  :  the  first  was  the  10th  of 
March,  or  the  sixth  day  of  the  moon  nearest  to  that, 
which,  as  already  mentioned,  was  their  New  Year's 
Day,  and  that  on  which  the  ceremony  of  cutting  the 
mistletoe  was  performed ;  the  others  were  the  1st  of 
May,  Midsummer  Eve,  and  the  last  day  of  October. 
On  all  these  occasions  the  chief  celebration  was  by 
fire.  On  the  eve  of  the  festival  of  the  1st  of  May, 
tlie  tradition  is,  that  all  the  domestic  fires  through- 
out the  country  were  extinguished,  and  lighted  again 
the  next  day  from  the  sacred  fire  kept  always  burn- 
ing in  the  temples.  "  The  Celtic  nations,"  observes 
Toland,  "  kindled  other  fires  on  Midsummer  eve, 
which  are  stiU  continued  by  the  Roman  Catholics 
of  Ireland,  making  them  in  all  their  gi'ounds,  and 
cariying  flaming  brands  about  their  cornfields.  This 
they  do  likewise  all  over  France,  and  in  some  of  the 
Scottish  isles.  These  Midsummer  fires  and  sacri- 
fices were  to  obtain  a  blessing  on  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  now  becoming  ready  for  gathering;  as  those 
of  the  1st  of  May,  that  they  might  prosperously 
grow ;  and  those  of  the  last  of  October  were  the 
thanksgiving  for  finishing  their  harvest."  In  Ireland, 
and  also  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  the  first  of  May, 
and  in  some  places  the  21st  of  June,  is  still  called 
Beltein  or  Beltane,  that  is,  the  day  of  the  Bel  Fire ; 
and  imitations  of  the  old  superstitious  ceremonies 
were  not  long  ago  still  generally  performed.  In  Scot- 
land a  sort  of  sacrifice  was  offered  up,  and  one  of  the 
persons  present,  upon  whom  the  lot  fell,  leaped  three 
times  tlirough  the  flames  of  the  fire.  In  Ireland  the 
cottagers  all  drove  their  cattle  through  the  fire. 
Even  in  some  parts  of  England  the  practice  still  pre- 
vails of  lighting  fires  in  parishes  on  Midsummer  eve.' 

The  adoration  of  fire  was  the  adoration  of  what 
was  conceived  to  be  one  of  the  great  principles  or 
sovereign  powers  of  nature.  Water  was  another  of 
the  elements,  or  ultimate  constituents  of  things,  as 

1  See  Borlase's  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  pp.  94,  95  ;  and  Fosbrokc's 
Encyclopedia  of  Antiquities,  il  662. 

2  Tlie  author  of  "  Britannia  after  the  Romans,"  however,  denies  that 
the  Celtic  Beli  or  Belinus  has  any  connexion  with  the  Oriental  Baal  or 
Bel. 

3  See  Statistical  Account  of  Scotland,  iii.  105,  t.  M,  and  xi.  620  : 
Vallancey's  Essay  on  the  Antiquity  of  the  Irish  Language,  p.  19  ;  and 
Brande's  Popular  Antiquities,  i.  238,  <fec 


they  were  long  deemed  to  be,  which  appears  to  have 
been  in  like  manner  held  sacred,  and  in  some  sort 
worshiped.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  as  the 
sun  and  moon,  although  sometimes  worshiped  to- 
gether, had  at  other  times  their  rival  and  contending 
votaiies ;  so  the  adorers  of  water  were  sometimes 
considered  as  the  opponents  of  those  of  fire.  We 
know,  at  least,  that  contests  took  place  between  them 
in  the  east ;  and  there  arc  some  traces  to  be  detected 
of  the  separation  and  mutual  aversion  of  the  two 
creeds,  also  in  the  west.  All  these  differences,  no 
doubt,  originated  in  the  preferences,  gradually  more 
and  more  displayed,  by  some  persons  for  one,  by  others 
for  another,  of  several  imaginaiy  deities  which  had 
been  all  at  first  the  objects  of  a  common  worship,  till 
at  last  the  preference  became  an  exclusive  adoption, 
and  the  god  of  the  rival  sect  was  either  altogether 
deprived  of  divine  honors  and  veneration,  or,  what 
was  more  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  supersti- 
tion, was  denounced  as  a  demon  or  power  of  evil,  and 
as  such  still  believed  in,  though  with  trembling  and 
abhori'ence.  But  after  this  state  of  things  had  lasted 
for  some  time,  it  might  naturally  enough  happen,  in 
favorable  circumstances,  that  the  divided  creeds  would 
lay  aside  their  hostility  and  again  coalesce  ;  the  wor- 
ship of  Baal,  for  instance,  thus  recombining  with  that 
of  Ashtaroth,  or  the  adorers  of  fire  and  those  of  water 
consenting  to  bow  down  and  make  their  offerings  to- 
gether to  both  deities.  Some  indication  of  such  a 
reconcilement  as  this  last,  seems  to  be  presented  in 
the  doctrine,  according  to  Strabo,  held  by  the  Druids  % 
respecting  the  destiny  of  the  material  world,  which 
they  taught  was  never  to  be  entirely  destroyed  or 
annihilated,  but  was  nevertheless  to  undergo  an  endless 
succession  of  gi"eat  revolutions,  some  of  Avhich  were  to 
be  effected  by  the  power  of  fire,  others  by  that  of  water. 
Another  of  the  most  remarkable  principles  of  prim- 
itive Druidism  appears  to  have  been  the  worship  of 
the  Serpent ;  a  superstition  so  widely  extended  as  to 
evince  its  derivation  from  the  most  ancient  traditions 
of  the  human  race.  Pliny  has  given  us  a  curious 
account  of  the  anguinum,  or  serpent's  egg,  which  he 
tells  us  was  worn  as  their  distinguishing  badge  by  the 
Druids.  He  had  himself  seen  it,  he  says,  and  it  was 
about  the  bigness  of  an  apple,  its  shell  being  a  carti- 
laginous incrustation,  full  of  little  cavities  like  those 
on  the  legs  of  the  polypus.  ]MaiTels  of  all  kinds  were 
told  of  this  jnoduction.  It  was  said  to  be  formed,  at 
first,  by  a  great  number  of  serpents  twned  together, 
whose  hissing  at  last  raised  it  into  the  air,  when  it  was 
to  be  caught,  ere  it  fell  to  the  gi'ound,  in  a  clean  white 
cloth,  by  a  person  mounted  on  a  swift  horse,  who  had 
immediately  to  ride  off  at  full  speed,  the  enraged  ser- 
pents pursuing  him  until  they  were  stopped  (as  witches 
still  are  supposed  to  be  in  the  popular  faith)  by  a  run- 
ning water.  If  it  were  genuine  it  would,  when 
enchased  in  gold  and  thrown  into  a  river,  swim  against 
the  stream.  All  the  virtues  also  of  a  charm  were 
ascribed  to  it.  In  particular,  the  person  who  carried 
it  about  with  him  was  insured  against  being  overcome  j 

in  any  dispute  in  which  he  might  engage,  and  might  I 

count  upon  success  in  his  attempts  at  obtaining  the 
favor  and  friendship  of  the  great.     It  has  been  con- 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


63 


Stonehenge. 


jectured  on  highly  probable  gi'ounds,  that  the  great 
Druidical  temples  of  Avebury,  of  Stonehenge,  of 
Carnac  in  Britany,  and  most  of  the  others  that  remain 
both  in  Britain  and  Gaul,  were  dedicated  to  the  united 
worship  of  the  sun  and  the  serpent,  and  that  the  form 
of  their  construction  is  throughout  emblematical  of 
this  combination  of  the  tsvo  religions.^ 

But,  however  comparatively  simple  and  resti'icted 
may  have  been  the  Druidical  worship  in  its  earliest 
stage,  there  is  sufficient  evidence  that,  at  a  later  period, 
its  gods  came  to  be  much  more  numerous.  Caesar, 
as  we  have  aheady  seen,  mentions  among  those 
adored  by  the  Gauls,  Mercuiy,  Apollo,  Mars,  Jupiter, 
and  Minerva.  It  is  to  be  regi'etted  that  the  historian 
did  not  give  us  the  Celtic  names  of  the  deities  in 
question,  rather  than  the  Roman  names  which  he 
considered,  from  the  similarity  of  attributes,  to  be 
their  representatives.  Livy  however  tells  us  that  the 
Spanish  Celts  called  Mercmy,  Teutates ;  the  same 
word,  no  doubt,  with  the  Phoenician  Taaut,  and  the 
Egj'ptian  Thoth,  which  are  stated  by  various  ancient 
writers  to  be  the  same  with  the  Hermes  of  the  Greeks, 
and  the  Mercury  of  the  Latins."  Mercury  is  proba- 
blyj  also,  the  Oriental  Budha,  and  the  Scandinavian 
Woden ;  the  same  day  of  the  week,  it  is  observable, 
being  in  the  Oriental,  the  Northern,  and  the  Latin 
countries  respectively,  called  after  or  dedicated  to 
these  three  names.  Hesus  appears  to  have  been 
the  Celtic  name  for  Mars.     Apollo  seems  to  have 


'  See  on  this  subject  a  curious  Dissertation  by  the  Ro 
in  the  Archaologia,  toI.  xav.  (for  1834),  pp.  188-229. 
s  Philobiblius  ex  Sanconiath.     Cic.  de  Nat.  D.  iii.  22 


B.  Deano, 


been  considered  the  same  with  the  Sun,  as  he  also 
was  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  to  have  been 
kno-vvn  by  the  name  of  Bel,  the  same  ^\ith  the  Oriental 
Baal.  Jupiter  is  thought  to  have  been  called  Jow. 
which  means  young,  from  his  being  the  youngest  son 
of  Saturn,  whom  both  Cicero  and  Dionysius  of  Hali- 
carnassus  affirm  to  have  been  also  adored  by  the  Celtic 
nations.  Bacchus,  Ceres,  Proserpine,  Diana,  and 
other  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome,  also  appear  to  have 
all  had  their  representatives  in  the  Druidical  worship : 
if,  indeed,  the  classic  theology  did  not  borrow  these 
divinities  from  the  Celts.  Another  of  the  Celtic 
gods  was  Taranis,  whose  name  signifies  the  God  of 
Thunder. 

The  eai-liest  Druidism  seems,  like  the  kindred  su- 
perstition of  Germany,  as  described  by  Tacitus,  to 
have  admitted  neither  of  covered  temples  nor  of 
sculptured  images  of  the  gods.  Jupiter,  indeed,  is 
said  to  have  been  represented  by  a  lofty  oak,  and 
Mercuiy  by  a  cube — the  similarity  of  that  geometrical 
figure  on  all  sides  tjpifyiug  that  perfect  ti-uth  and 
unchangeableness  which  were  held  to  belong  to  this 
supreme  deity  ;  but  these  are  to  be  considered  not  as 
attempts  to  imitate  the  supposed  bodily  forms  of  the 
gods,  but  only  as  emblematic  illustrations  of  their  at- 
tributes. At  a  later  period,  however,  material  con- 
figurations of  the  objects  of  worship  seem  to  have 
been  introduced.  Gildas  speaks  of  such  images  as 
still  existing  in  gi-eat  numbers  in  his  time  among  the 
unconverted  Britons.  They  had  a  greater  number 
of  gods,  he  says,  than  the  Egyptians  themselves,  there 
being  hardly  a  river,  lake,  mountain,  or  wood,  which 


64 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


Booii  I. 


Section  1  to  2 


[No.  1  —  Ground  Plan  of  the  Temple,  with  a  sectional  view  of  the  same  from  1  to  2 — t.  e.  from  east  to  west.  The  plan,  though  on  a  small 
scale,  shows  ibe  relative  proportions  and  arrangements  of  the  lofty  bank,  or  vallum,  e ;  the  ditch,  or  moat,/;  the  commencement  of  the  west- 
ern, or  Beckhampton  Avenue,  a  ;  the  southern,  or  Kennet  Avenue,  b  ;  the  southern  inner  temple,  c ;  the  northern  inner  temple,  d.] 

[No.  2. — Plan-  or  Map  of  the  whole  Temple,  with  its  two  avenues,  c  and  d;  the  temple,  a ;  a  small  temple,  e;  Silbury  HiU,  /;  hisrh 
eround.  g :  a  line  of  road,  or  British  track-way,  A;  the  course  of  the  river  Kennet,  t ;  line  of  Roman  road  from  Bath  to  London,  i  •  '  *  bar- 
fjws  ;  sites  of  villages,  1.] 


Gauu^-h  Deities. — From  Roman  Bas-reliefs  under  the  Choir  of  Xotre  Dame,  Paris 


had  not  its  dinnity.  ^Nlontfaucon  has  given  an  en- 
gi'aving  of  an  image  of  the  god  Hesus,  and  another  of 
another  Celtic  god,  who.se  name  appears  to  have  been 
Cernunnos,  from  bas-reUefs  found  under  the  chou"  of 
the  church  of  Noti-e  Dame,  at  Paris,  in  1711.  Above 
we  have  inserted  copies  of  both. 

With  regard  to  the  peculiar  forms  of  the  Dniidical 
worship,  little  information  has  come  do\\ii  to  us. 
Pliny  has  merely  recorded  that,  in  offering  the  sacri- 
fice, tlie  officiating  priest  was  wont  to  pray  to  the 
divinity'  to  send  down  a  blessing  upon  the  offerer. 
Popular  ti-adition  has  preserved  the  memory  of  the 
practice  by  the  worshipers  of  the  Deasuil  or  Deisol, 


which  consisted  iu  moving  round,  in  imitation  of  the 
apparent  course  of  the  sun  from  the  east  by  the 
south  to  the  west.^  Pliny  states  that  at  some  of  the 
sacred  rites  of  the  Britons  the  women  went  naked, 
only  having  their  skins  stained  dark  with  the  juice  of 
the  woad. 

As  for  the  human  sacrifices  of  which  Ciesar  speaks, 
his  account  is  fully  borne  out  by  the  testimonies  of 
various  other  ancient  authors.  Stiabo  describes  the 
image  of  wicker  or  sti-aw,  in  which,  he  says,  men  and 
all  descrij)tions  of  cattle  and  beasts  were  roasted  to- 
gether.    He  also  relates,  that  sometimes  the  victims 

>  See  upon  this  subject  Borlase's  .Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  p.  123,  Ac. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


65 


were  crucified,  sometimes  shot  to  death  with  arrows. 
The  statement  of  Diodonis  Siculus  is,  that  criminals 
were  kept  under  gi'ound  for  five  years,  and  then 
offered  up  as  sacrifices  to  the  gods  by  being  impaled, 
and  burned  in  great  fires  along  with  quantities  of  other 
offerings.  He  adds,  that  they  also  immolated  the 
prisoners  they  had  taken  in  war,  and  along  with  them 
devoured,  burned,  or  in  some  other  manner  destroyed 
likewise  whatever  cattle  they  had  taken  from  their 
enemies.  Plutai'ch  tells  us,  that  the  noise  of  songs 
and  musical  instruments  was  employed  on  these  oc- 
casions to  drown  the  cries  of  the  sufferers.^  Pliny  is 
of  opinion  that  a  part  of  every  human  victim  was  ate 
by  the  Druids ;  but  what  reason  he  had  for  thinking 
so  does  not  appear,  nor  does  the  supposition  seem  to 
be  probable  in  itself.  Upon  the  subject  of  the  prac- 
tice of  human  sacrifice  it  has  been  observed,  that,  "  if 
we  rightly  consider  this  point  we  shall  perceive  that, 
shocking  as  it  is,  it  is  yet  a  step  towards  the  human- 
izing of  savages  ;  for  the  mere  brute  man  listens  only 
to  his  ferocious  passions  and  horrid  appetites,  and 
slays  and  devours  all  the  enemies  he  can  conquer ; 
but  the  priest,  persuading  him  to  select  only  the  best 
and  bravest  as  sacrifices  to  his  protecting  deity, 
thereby,  in  fact,  preserves  numberless  lives,  and  puts 
an  end  to  the  cannibalism  which  has  justly  been 
looked  upon  as  the  last  degradation  of  human  na- 
ture."^ 

The  origin  of  Druidism,  and  its  connexion  with 
other  ancient  creeds  of  religion  and  philosophy,  have 
given  occasion  to  much  curious  speculation.  Diogenes 
Laertius  describes  the  Druids  as  holding  the  same 
place  among  the  Gauls  and  Britons  with  that  of  the 
Philosophers  among  the  Greeks,  of  the  Magi  among 
the-  Persians,  of  the  Gymnosophists  among  the  In- 
dians, and  of  the  Chaldeans  among  the  Assyrians. 
He  also  refers  to  Aristotle  as  affirming  in  one  of  his 
lost  works  that  philosophy  had  not  been  taught  to  the 
Gauls  by  the  Greeks,  but  had  originated  among  the 
former,  and,  from  them,  had  passed  to  the  latter. 
The  introduction  into  the  Greek  philosophy  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Metempsychosis  is  commonly  attrib- 
uted to  Pythagoras ;  and  there  are  various  passages 
in  ancient-authors  which  make  mention  of,  or  allude 
to  some  connexion  between  that  philosopher  and  the 
Druids.  Abaris,  the  Hyperborean,  as  has  been  no- 
ticed above,  is  by  many  supposed  to  have  been  a 
Druid ;  and  he,  lamblicus  tells  us,  was  taught  by 
Pythagoras  to  find  out  all  truth  by  the  science  of 
numbers.^  Marcellinus,  speaking  of  the  conventual 
associations  of  the  Druids,  expresses  himself  as  if  he 
conceived  that  they  so  lived  in  obedience  to  the  com- 
mands of  Pythagoras  ;  "as  the  authority  of  Pythago- 
ras hath  decreed,"  are  his  words.''  Others  affirm 
thpt  the  Grecian  philosopher  derived  his  philosophy 
from  the  Druids.  A  report  is  preserved  by  Clement 
of  Alexandria  that  Pythagoras,  in  the  course  of  his 
travels,  studied  under  both  the  Druids  and  the  Brah- 
mins.^    The  probability  is  that  both  Pythagoras  and 

1  De  Superstitione. 

2  Introduction  to  History,  in  Encycki-^dia  Metropolitana,  p.  63. 

3  Vita  Pythag.  c.  xii.  Ammian.  Marcel,  xv.  9. 
»  Strom,  i.  35. 

VOL.   I 5 


the  Dioiids  drew  their  philosophy  from  the  same 
fountain. 

Several  of  the  ablest  and  most  laborious  among 
the  modern  investigators  of  the  subject  of  Druidism 
have  found  themselves  compelled  to  adopt  the  theory 
of  its  oriental  origin.  Pelloutier,  from  the  numer- 
ous and  strong  resemblances  presented  by  the  Dru- 
idical  and  the  old  Persian  religion,  concludes  the  Celts 
and  Persians,  as  Mr.  O'Brien  has  lately  done,  to  be 
the  same  people,  and  the  Celtic  tongue  to  be  the  an- 
cient Persic.^  The  late  Mr.  Reuben  Burrow,  dis- 
tinguished for  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
Indian  astronomy  and  mythologj^,  in  a  paper  in  the 
Asiatic  Researches,  decidedly  pronounces  the  Druids 
to  have  been  a  race  of  emigiated  Indian  philosophers, 
and  Stonehenge  to  be  evidently  one  of  the  Temples 
of  Budha.-  It  may  be  recollected  that  some  of  the 
Welsh  antiquaries  have,  on  other  gi-ounds,  brought 
their  assumed  British  ancestors  from  Ceylon,  the 
great  seat  of  Budhism.^  The  same  origin  is  also  as- 
signed by  Mr.  O'Brien  to  the  primitive  religion  and 
civilization  of  Ireland.  This  question  has  been  ex- 
amined at  great  length  in  a  "Dissertation  on  the 
Origin  of  the  Druids,"  by  Mr.  Maurice,  who,  consid- 
ering the  Budhists  to  have  been  a  sect  of  the  Brah- 
mins, comes  to  the  conclusion  that  "the  celebrated 
order  of  the  Druids,  anciently  established  in  this 
country,  were  the  immediate  descendants  of  a  tribe 
of  Brahmins  situated  in  the  high  northern  latitudes 
bordering  on  the  vast  range  of  Caucasus  ;  that  these, 
during  a  period  of  the  Indian  empire,  when  its  limits 
were  most  extended  in  Asia,  mingling  with  the  Cel- 
to-Scythian  tribes,  who  tenanted  the  immense  deserts 
of  Grand  Tartary,  became  gi-adually  incorporated, 
though  not  confounded  with  that  ancient  nation ;  in- 
troduced among  them  the  rites  of  the  Brahmin  re- 
ligion, occasionally  adopting  those  of  the  Scythians, 
and  together  with  them  finally  emigrated  to  the  west- 
ern regions  of  Europe."* 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  Druidical  system, 
as  established  in  Gaul  and  Britain,  has  altogether 
very  much  the  appearance  of  something  not  the 
growth  of  the  country,  but  superinduced  upon  the 
native  barbarism  by  importation  from  abroad.  The 
knowledge  and  arts  of  which  they  appear  to  have 
been  possessed,  seem  to  point  out  the  Druids  as  of 
foreign  extraction,  and  as  continuing  to  form  the 
depositories  of  a  civilization  greatly  superior  to  that 
of  the  general  community  in  the  midst  of  which  they 
dwelt.  It  was  quite  natural,  however,  that  Druidism. 
supposing  it  to  have  been  originally  an  imported  and 
foreign  religion,  should  nevertheless  gradually  adopt 
some  things  from  the  idolatry  of  a  different  form 
which  may  have  prevailed  in  Britain  and  Gaul  pre- 
vious to  its  introduction  ;  just  as  we  find  Christianity 
itself  to  have  become  adulterated  in  some  countries 
by  an  infusion  of  the  heathenism  Avith  which  it  was 
brought  into  contact.     On  this  hypothesis  we  may 

1  Histoire  des  Celtes,  p.  19.  See  also  Borlase's  Antiquities  of  Corn- 
wall, c.  xrii. — "Of  the  Great  Resemblance  betwixt  the  Druid  and  Per 
sian  Superstition,  and  the  Cause  of  it  inquired  into." 

2  Asiatic  Researches,  ii.  468.  ^  See  ante,  p.  9 

*  Indian  Antiqutties,  vol.  vi.  part.  i.  p.  18. 


66 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


perhaps  best  account  for  those  apparent  traces  of  the 
Druidical  religion  which  are  to  be  detected  in  some 
Celtic  countries,  where,  at  the  same  time,  we  have 
no  reason  to  believe  that  there  ever  were  any  Druids. 
It  has  been  contended  that  although  there  were  no 
Druids  anywhere  except  in  Britain  and  Gaul,  the 
Druidical  religion  extended  over  all  the  north  and 
west  of  Europe.'  It  is  probable  that  what  have  been 
taken  for  the  doctrines  or  practices  of  Diiiidism  in 
other  Celtic  counti'ies,  were  really  those  of  that  elder 
native  superstition  from  which  pure  Druidism  event- 
ually received  some  intermixture  and  conuption. 

The  Germans,  Caesar  expressly  tells  us,  had  no 
Druids ;  nor  is  there  a  vestige  of  such  an  institution 
to  be  discovered  in  the  ancient  history,  traditions, 
customs,  or  monuments  of  any  Gothic  people.  It 
was  probably  indeed  confined  to  Ireland,  South  Bri- 
tain, and  Gaul,  until  the  measures  taken  to  root  it 
out  from  the  Roman  dominions  seem  to  have  com- 
pelled some  of  the  Druids  to  take  refuge  in  other 
countries.  The  emperor  Tiberius,  according  to  Pliny 
and  Strabo,  and  the  emperor  Claudius,  according  to 
Suetonius,  issued  decrees  for  the  total  abolition  of 
the  Druidical  religion,  on  the  pretext  of  an  abhorrence 
of  the  atrocity  of  the  human  sacrifices  in  which  it 
indulged  its  votaries.  The  true  motive  may  be  sus- 
pected to  have  been  a  jealousy  of  the  influence  among 
the  provincials  of  Gaul  and  Britain  of  a  native  order 
of  priesthood  so  powerful  as  that  of  the  Druids. 
Suetonius,   indeed,   states  that  the  practice   of  the 

1  Borlase's  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  p.  70. 


Druidical  religion  had  been  already  interdicted  to 
Roman  citizens  by  Augustus.  We  have  seen  in 
the  course  of  the  preceding  naiTative  how  it  was 
extirpated  from  its  chief  seat  in  the  south  of  Britain 
by  Suetonius  Paulinus.  Such  of  the  Druids  as 
survived  this  attack  are  supposed  to  have  fled  to  the 
Isle  of  Man,  which  then  became,  in  place  of  Angle- 
sey, the  head-quarters  of  British  Druidism.  It  was 
probably  after  this  that  the  Druidical  religion  pene- 
trated to  the  northern  parts  of  the  island.  The 
vestiges,  at  all  events,  of  its  establishment  at  some 
period  in  Scotland  are  spread  over  many  parts  of 
that  country,  and  it  has  left  its  impression  in  various 
still  sui-viving  popular  customs  and  superstitions.  The 
number  and  variety  of  the  Druid  remains  in  North 
Britain,  according  to  a  late  learned  \\Titer,  are  almost 
endless.  The  principal  seat  of  Scottish  Druidism  is 
thought  to  have  been  the  parish  of  Kirkmichael,  in 
the  recesses  of  Perthshire,  near  the  great  moun- 
tainous range  of  the  Grampians.' 

Di-uidism  long  sui-vived,  though  in  obscurity  and 
decay,  the  thunder  of  the  imperial  edicts.  In  Ire- 
land, indeed,  where  the  Roman  arms  had  not  pene- 
trated, it  continued  to  flourish  down  nearly  to  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century,  when  it  fell  before  the 
Christian  enthusiasm  and  energy  of  St.  Patrick. 
But  even  in  Britain  the  practice  of  the  Druidical 
worship  appears  to  have  subsisted  among  the  peoi)le 
long  after  the  Druids,  as  an  order  of  priesthood, 
were   extinct.     The   annals  of  the   sixth,   seventh, 

1  Chalmers'  Caledonia,  i.  pp.  69-78. 


Tlircc  views,  copieJ  from  Horslev's  Britannia  Romana,  of  a  sjilondid  bronze  bnwl,  or  patera,  found  in  Wiltshire,  and  supp.^sed  to  linvn  l.een 
uied  for  the  joint  libation  of  the  chief  magistrates  of  the  five  Roman  towns  whose  names  appear  on  its  margin. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


67 


and  even  of  the  eighth  century,  contain  numerous 
edicts  of  emperors,  and  canons  of  councils,  against 
the  worship  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  mountains,  rivers, 
lakes,  and  trees. ^  There  is  even  a  law  to  the  same 
effect  of  the  English  king  Canute,  in  the  eleventh 
centuiy.  Nor,  as  we  have  already  more  than  once 
had  occasion  to  remark,  have  some  of  the  practices 
of  the  old  superstition  yet  altogether  ceased  to  be 
remembered  in  our  popular  sports,  pastimes,  and 
anniversary  usages.  The  ceremonies  of  All-Hal- 
lowmass,  the  bonfires  of  May-day  and  Midsummer 
eve,  the  virtues  attributed  to  the  mistletoe,  and  vari- 
ous other  customs  of  the  villages  and  country  parts 
of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  still  speak  to  us 
of  the  days  of  Druidism,  and  evince  that  the  impres- 
sion of  its  glim  ritual  has  not  been  wholly  obliterated 
from  the  popular  imagination,  by  the  lapse  of  nearly 
twenty  centuries. 

On  the  settlement  of  the  Romans  in  Britain,  the 
established  religion  of  the  province  of  course  became 
the  same  classic  superstition  which  these  conquer- 
ors of  the  world  still  maintained  in  all  its  ancient 
honors  and  preeminence  in  their  native  Italy,  which 
was  diffused  alike  through  all  the  customs  of  their 
private  life  and  tlie  whole  system  of  their  state 
economy,  and  which  they  cari-ied  with  them,  almost 
as  a  part  of  themselves,  or  at  least  as  the  very  living 
spirit  and  sustaining  power  of  their  entire  politj'  and 
civilization,  into  every  foreign  land  that  they  colonized. 
In  this  far  island,  too,  as  in  the  elder  homes  of  poetiy 
and  the  arts, 

"  An  age  hath  been  when  Earth  was  proud 
Of  lustre  too  intense 
To  be  sustained  ;  and  mortals  bowed 
The  front  in  self  defence." 

Beside  the  rude  gi'andeur  of  Stonehenge,  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  gloom  of  the  sacred  groves,  glittering 
temples,  displaying  all  the  grace  and  pomp  of  finished 
architecture,  now  rose  to  Jupiter,  and  Apollo,  and 
Diana  and  Venus ;  and  the  air  of  our  northern  clime 
was  peopled  with  all  the  bright  dreams  and  visions 
of  the  mythology  of  Greece.  A  temple  of  Minei-va, 
and  probably  other  sacred  edifices,  appear  to  have 
adorned  the  city  of  Bath :  London  is  supposed  to 
have  had  its  temple  of  Diana,  occupying  the  same 
natural  elevation  which  is  now  crowned  by  the  mag- 
nificeht  Cathedral  of  St.  Paul's  ;  and  the  foundations 
and  other  remains  of  similar  monuments  of  the  Roman 
Paganism  have  been  discovered  in  many  of  our  other 
ancient  towns.  But  perhaps  no  such  material  me- 
morials are  so  well  fitted  to  strike  the  imagination,  and 
to  convey  a  lively  impression  of  this  long  past  state  of 
things,  as  the  passage  in  the  Annals  of  Tacitus  in 
which  we  find  a  string  of  prodigies  recounted  to  have 
happened  in  diflferent  parts  of  the  province  of  Britain 
immediately  before  the  insurrection  of  Boadicea,  just 
as  the  same  events  might  have  taken  place  in  Italy  or 
in  Rome  itself.  First,  in  the  town  of  Camalodunum, 
the  image  of  the  goddess  Victory,  without  any  ap- 
parent cause,  suddenly  falls  from  its  place,  and  turns 
its  face  round,  as  if  giving  way  to  the  enemy.  Then, 
females,  seized  with  a  sort  of  prophetic  fury,  would 
be  heard  mournfully  calling  out  that  destiuction  was 

1  PeUoutier's  Hist,  des  Celtes,  iii.  4 


at  hand,  their  cries  penetrating  from  the  streets  both 
into  the  curia,  or  council-chamber,  and  into  the  the- 
atre. A  representation,  in  the  air,  of  the  colony  laid 
in  ruins  was  seen  near  the  mouth  of  the  Thames, 
while  the  sea  assumed  the  color  of  blood,  and  the 
receding  tide  seemed  to  leave  behind  it  the  phantoms 
of  human  carcasses.  The  picture  is  completed  by 
the  mention  of  the  temple  in  which  the  Roman  sol- 
diery took  refuge  on  the  rushing  into  the  city  of  their 
infuriated  assailants, — of  the  undefended  state  of  the 
place,  in  which  the  elegance  of  the  buildings  had 
been  more  attended  to  than  their  strength — of  another 
temple  which  had  been  raised  in  it  to  Claudius  the 
Divine, — and,  finally,  of  its  crew  of  rapacious  priests, 
who,  under  the  pretence  of  religion,  wasted  every 
man's  substance,  and  excited  a  deeper  indignation  in 
the  breasts  of  the  unhappy  natives  than  all  the  other 
cruelties  and  oppressions  to  which  they  were  sub- 
jected. 


Section  II. 

INTRODUCTION    OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

Another  result,  however,  of  the  Roman  invasion 
of  Britain  was  the  introduction  into  the  island  of  the 
Christian  faith.  An  event  so  important  might  be  ex- 
pected to  hold  a  prominent  place  in  our  eai'ly  Chron- 
icles. The  missionary  by  whom  Christianity  was 
first  brought  to  this  island,  the  manner  in  which  it  was 
impressed  upon  the  belief  of  so  primitive  a  people,  and 
the  persons  by  whom  its  profession  was  earliest  adopt- 
ed, are  particulars  which  it  would  have  been  interest- 
ing and  gi-atifying  to  find  recorded.  But  from  the 
obscurity  that  pervades  the  ecclesiastical  records  of 
the  first  centuiy,  and  the  unobti'usive  silence  with 
which  the  commencing  steps  of  the  Christian  faith 
were  made,  it  cannot  be  accounted  sti-ange  if  Britain, 
a  country  at  that  time  so  remote  and  insignificant, 
should  have  the  beginning  of  her  religious  history 
involved  in  much  obscurity. 

The  investigations  of,  the  curious  however  have, 
partly  by  bold  conjectures  and  partly  from  monkish 
legends,  attempted  to  show  how  Britain  either  was,  or 
might  have  been,  Christianized.  Some  have  attribu- 
ted the  work  to  St.  Peter,  some  to  James  the  son  of 
Zebedee,  and  others  to  Simon  Zelotes ;  but  for  so 
important  an  ofifice  as  the  apostleship  of  this  island  the 
majority  of  ^\Titers  will  be  contented  with  no  less  a  per- 
sonage than  St.  Paul ;  and  they  ground  their  assump- 
tion upon  the  fact  that  several  of  the  most  active 
years  of  his  life  are  not  acccounted  for  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles.  They  think  that  therefore  some  part 
at  least  of  this  intei-val  must  have  been  employed 
among  the  Britons.  By  others  again,  such  inferior 
personages  a-s  Aristobulus,  who  is  incidentally  men- 
tioned by  St.  Paul,^  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  the 
disciples  of  Polycarp,  have  been  honored  as  the 
founders  of  Christianity  in  Britain.  Some  of  these 
accounts  would  imply  that  British  Christianity  is  as 
old  as  the  apostolic  age ;  and,  although  this  point  too 
must  be  considered  as  verj'  uncertain,  a  few  shght 
collateral  facts  have  been  adduced  as  affording  ev'  ■ 

I  Romans,  xvi.  10 


68 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


dence  that  the  island  contained  some  converts  at  that 
early  date.  Thus,  about  the  middle  of  the  first  cen- 
tmy,  we  find  Pomponia  Graecina,  a  British  lady,  and 
\vife  of  the  proconsul  Plautius,  accused  of  being 
devoted  to  a  strange  and  gloomy  superstition,  by 
which  it  has  been  thought,  not  improbably,  that 
Christianity  is  implied ;'  and  Claudia,  the  wife  of 
Pudens  the  senator,  a  British  lady  eulogized  by  Mar- 
tial,^ is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  the  person  of 
the  same  name  mentioned  by  St.  Paul.^ 

All  that  can  be  regarded  as  well  established  is,  that 
at  a  comparatively  early  period  Christianity  found  its 
way  into  the  British  islands.  Even  before  the  close 
of  the  first  century,  not  only  Christian  refugees  may 
have  fled  thither  from  the  continent  to  escape  perse- 
cution, but  Christian  soldiers  and  civilians  may  have 
accompanied  the  invading  armies.  The  path  thus 
opened,  and  the  work  commenced,  successive  mis- 
sionaries, fiom  the  operation  of  the  same  causes, 
would  follow,  to  extend  the  sphere  of  action  and 
increase  the  number  of  the  converts.  Circumstances, 
too,  were  peculiarly  favorable  in  Britain  for  such  a 
successful  progress.  The  preceding  subtle  and  influ- 
ential priesthood  of  Druidism,  who  might  have  the 
most  effectually  opposed  the  new  faith,  had  been 
early  desti'oyed  by  the  swords  of  the  conquerors,  and 
the  latter  were  too  intent  upon  achieving  the  complete 
subjection  of  the  country,  to  concern  themselves  about 
the  transition  of  the  inhabitants  from  one  system  of 
religious  opinions  to  another.  In  this  manner  it 
would  appear  that  Christian  communities  were  grad- 
ually formed,  buildings  set  apart  for  the  purposes  of 
public  worship,  and  an  ecclesiastical  government 
established.  But  the  same  obscurity  that  pervades 
the  origin  of  Chinstianity  in  Britain,  extends  over  the 
whole  of  its  early  progi-ess.  Unfortunately,  those 
monastic  ^vi-iters  who  attempted  to  compile  its  history 
were  more  eager  to  discover  mii-acles  than  facts. 
Even  of  the  venerable  Bede,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
his  credulity  appears  to  have  been,  at  least,  equal  to 
bis  honesty.  The  favorite  legend  with  which  these 
writers  decorate  their  history  of  the  first  centuries  of 
the  British  church  is  that  of  King  Lucius,  the  son  of 
Coilus.  According  to  their  account,  Lucius  was  king 
of  the  whole  island,  and,  having  consented  to  be  bap- 
tized at  the  instance  of  the  Roman  emperor,  he 
became  so  earnest  for  the  conversion  of  his  people 
that  he  sent  to  Eleutherius,  bishop  of  Rome,  for 
assistance  in  the  important  work.  In  consequence  of 
this  application  several  learned  doctors  were  sent, 
by  whose  instrumentality  Paganism  was  abolished 
throughout  the  island,  and  Christianity  established  in 
its  room.  They  add,  moreover,  that  three  arch- 
bishops and  twenty-eight  bishops  were  established, 
for  the  government  of  the  British  church,  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  Pagan  hierarchy  ;  and  that  to  them  were 
made  over,  not  only  the  revenues  of  the  former  priest- 
hood, but  also  large  additional  means  of  support.  Not 
to  waste  a  moment  in  pointing  out  such  impossibilities 
as  a  king  of  the  whole  island  at  this  time,  or  a  heathen 
emperor  laboring  for  his  conversion  in  concert  with  a 


1  Tac.  Annal.  xiii.  32. 


3  2  Timothy,  iv.  21. 


Epigram  xi.  53. 


Roman  bishop,  we  see  dimly  shadowed  forth  in  this 
monkish  legend,  some  petty  British  king  or  chieftain, 
in  vassalage  to  Rome,  who,  with  the  aid  of  Roman 
missionaries,  effected  the  conversion  of  his  ti'ibe.  A 
passing  allusion,  in  the  writings  of  Tertullian,  gives  us 
a  more  distinct  idea  of  the  state  of  Christianity  in 
Britain  than  can  be  obtained  from  any  such  nanatives 
as  this.  In  his  work  against  the  Jews,  written  a.d. 
209,  he  says  that  "  even  those  places  in  Britain  hith- 
erto inaccessible  to  the  Roman  arms  have  been  sub- 
dued by  the  gospel  of  Christ."  From  this  sentence 
we  may  form  a  conjecture  as  to  the  extent  to  which 
the  new  religion  had  spread  even  at  this  early  period. 
It  must  have  been  planted  for  a  considerable  time  in 
the  south,  and  obtained  a  material  ascendancy  before 
it  could  have  penetrated  beyond  the  northern  boundaiy 
of  the  province.  We  cannot  suppose,  however,  that 
in  circumstances  so  much  more  unfavorable  it  could 
make  much  progi-ess  in  these  barbarous  regions.  The 
wild  tribes  of  Scotland,  still  unconquered,  were  also 
disunited,  or  employed  in  mutual  hostility ;  and  the 
native  priesthood  possessed  an  influence  that  would 
materially  impede  the  success  of  the  new  faith.  We 
discover  accordingly  that,  at  a  much  later  period, 
Kentigern  and  Columba  found  the  Scots  and  Picts 
still  heathens.  The  expressions  of  Tertullian,  how- 
ever, may  very  possibly  refer  to  the  extension  of 
Christianity,  not  so  much  to  Scotland,  as  to  Ireland, 
in  which  latter  part  of  Britain,  for  so  it  was  then 
accounted,  there  are  other  reasons  for  supposing  that 
this  religion  reckoned  some  converts  even  at  that 
early  period. 

As  yet,  the  remoteness  of  Britain,  and  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  Druids,  had  equally  preserved  its  humble 
church  from  foreign  and  domestic  persecution ;  but 
the  time  arrived  when  it  was  to  share  in  those  afflic- 
tions which  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Chi-istian  world  at 
large.  Diocletian,  inspired  with  hatred  and  jealousy 
at  the  predominance  of  doctrines  which  were  sup- 
posed to  menace  all  civil  authority,  addressed  him- 
self to  the  entire  destruction  of  Christianity;  and 
edicts  were  published  in  every  part  of  the  empire  for 
the  suppression  of  its  rites,  and  the  persecution  of  its 
followers.  In  a  storm  so  universal  Britain  was  no 
longer  overlooked  ;  and  St.  Alban.  the  first  mart^T  of 
our  island,  perished,  with  many  others  whose  names 
have  not  been  recorded.  This  event,  according  to 
Bede,  took  place  in  the  year  286 ;  but  if  it  really  hap- 
pened in  the  great  persecution  under  Diocletian,  a 
date  at  least  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  later  must 
be  assigned  to  it.  Although  Constantius,  who  at  this 
time  directed  the  affairs  of  Britain,  was  favorably 
inclined  towards  the  Christians,  he  durst  not  oppose 
the  imperial  mandate ;  and  hoAvever  he  might  indi- 
rectly alleviate  its  severities,  yet  the  inferior  magis- 
trates had  no  such  scruples.  One  incident  at  this 
time  betrayed  his  friendly  disposition  towards  the 
persecuted.  Assembling  the  officers  of  his  house- 
hold, he  announced  to  them  the  pleasure  of  the  em- 
peror, requiring  the  dismission  of  the  Christians  from 
office,  and  gave  those  who  were  of  that  religion  their 
choice  either  to  renounce  their  creed  or  resign  their 
situations.     Some  of  them,  unwilling  to  make  tlie 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


69 


required  sacrifice,  abjured  their  faith ;  upon  which 
Constantius  discharged  them  from  his  service ;  de- 
claring that  those  who  had  renounced  their  God 
could  never  prove  true  to  a  master.'  This  persecu- 
tion continued  to  rage  in  Britain,  according  to  Gildas, 
for  the  space  of  two  years,  during  which  numbers  of 
the  Christian  churches  were  desti-oyed,  and  multitudes 
who  escaped  from  death  were  obliged  to  fly  to  the 
forests  and  mountains.  But  at  last  Diocletian,  having 
laid  down  the  purple,  and  compelled  his  colleague 
Maximian  at  the  same  time  to  abdicate,  a  persecution 
that  had  been  conducted  upon  a  more  regular  system 
than  any  that  had  preceded  it,  and  had  almost  extin- 
guished the  Christian  faith,  subsided  as  suddenly  as 
it  had  commenced,  and  the  British  church  was  re- 
stored to  its  former  ti'anquilltty. 

Of  the  histoiy  of  Christianity  in  our  island  during 
the  third  century  we  know  little  or  nothing;  those 
subtle  or  incomprehensible  religious  disputes  which 
agitated  the  churches  of  the  East  and  West  appear 
to  have  been  of  too  refined  a  character  for  the  simple 
understandings  of  the  Britons  ;  and  by  these  we  may 
perhaps  assume,  from  the  silence  of  histoiy,  that  they 
remained  nearly  unmolested.  From  the  time  of  the 
accession  of  Constantino,  however,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  fourth  century,  the  hitherto  secluded  church 
of  Britain  seems  to  have  become  united  to  the  civil- 
ized world,  and  to  have  been  considered  as  making  a 
part  of  the  spiritual  empire  which  he  established.  In 
the  year  314,  Eborius,  bishop  of  York,  Restitutus, 
bishop  of  London,  and  Adelphius,  bishop  of  Richbo- 
rough,  attended  the  council  at  Aries ;  and  as  three 
bishops  formed  the  full  representation  of  a  province, 
it  appears  that  Britain  was  thus  placed  on  an  equality 
with  the  churches  of  Spain  and  Gaul.  The  liberality 
of  Constantine  gave  opportunities  to  the  ecclesiastics 
of  acquiring  wealth  and  distinction,  of  which  many 
were  eager  to  avail  themselves ;  but  while,  in  Italy 
and  the  east,  they  gradually  began  to  rival  the  pomp 
of  temporal  princes,  nothing  of  this  kind  was  exhibited 
in  Britain.  In  fact,  we  are  rather  justified  in  the 
conclusion  that  the  British  bishops  had  hitherto  been, 
and  still  continued  poor,  on  account  not  only  of  the 
national  poverty,  but  of  the  partial  conversion  of  the 
people,  many  of  whom  still  remained  attached  either 
to  the  classical  or  Druidical  worship.  This  view  is 
corroborated  by  a  circumstance  that  occurred  in  the 
succeeding  reign.  When  Constantius  offered  to 
maintain  the  bishops  of  the  West  fi-om  the  royal  rev- 
enues, only  those  of  Britain  acceded  to  the  proposal, 
while  the  rest  rejected  it.  This  would  seem  to  im- 
ply that  the  British  bishops  must  have  been  but  in- 
differently provided  for  from  other  sources. 

It  has  generally  been  supposed  that,  during  the 
fourth  centm-y,  the  British  church  was  considerably 
tainted  with  tliose  corruptions  in  doctrine  that  so 
largely  overspread  the  continental  churches  ;  and  that 
Arianism,  so  triumphant  in  the  west,  extensively 
prevailed  in  our  island  :  and  in  proof  of  this  Gildas  is 
quoted,  who  describes  the  progi-ess  of  that  heresy 
among  his  countrymen  with  many  mournful  amplifi- 
cations. In  opposition  to  the  statement  of  Gildas,  St. 
I  Euseb.  Vit.  Constant,  i.  16 


Jerome  and  St.  Chrysostom  frequently  allude,  in  their 
writings,  to  the  orthodoxy  of  the  British  church. 
This  contradiction  may  perhaps  be  reconciled  by  the 
supposition  that  while  these  fathers  regarded  merely 
the  nafional  creed,  the  historian  described  the  private 
interpretation  of  its  doctrines  which  may  have  been 
cherished  by  certain  ecclesiastics. 

It  must  be  acknowledged  that,  during  this  century, 
the  bishops  of  Britain,  if  we  may  believe  the  account 
of  Facundus,'  exhibited  in  one  instance  but  a  weak 
and  compromising  spirit.  At  the  council  of  Arimi- 
num,  summoned  by  Constantius,  in  tlie  year  359, 
they  are  asserted  to  have  allowed  themselves  to  be 
influenced  so  much  by  the  persuasions  or  threats  of 
the  emperor,  as  to  subscribe  to  sentiments  in  favor  of 
Arianism ;  but,  upon  their  return  to  Britain,  they 
hastened  to  reti'act  these  concessions,  and  renew 
their  allegiance  to  the  Nicean  creed.  These  cu'cum- 
stances  would  seem  to  show,  that  though  the  doctrines 
of  Arius  may  have  been  partially  cherished,  yet  they 
were  unpopular,  and  that  the  body  of  the  church 
remained  comparatively  orthodox  and  undivided. 
The  only  ostensible  difference  by  which  the  British 
church  was  distinguished,  during  this  period,  from 
the  churches  on  the  continent,  was,  its  observing  the 
Asiatic  computation  of  time  in  keeping  Easter, 
instead  of  the  Roman — a  distinction  frivolous  in  itself, 
but  important  in  its  consequences  at  a  later  period, 
when  the  Roman  pontiffs  laid  claim  to  universal  rule, 
and  sought  to  secure  it  by  enforcing  a  universal  con- 
formity. 

After  the  Christian  church  had  been  established 
in  power  and  splendor,  the  same  results  were  ex- 
hibited in  Britain  as  in  other  countries ;  and  while 
the  Italian  and  Greek  infused  into  the  Christian 
faith  the  classical  Paganism  of  his  fathers,  the  Briton 
leavened  it  with  his  ancestral  Druidical  superstitions.- 
To  these  also  were  added  the  religious  follies  that 
were  now  of  general  prevalence.  Pilgrimages  to  the 
Holy  Land  became  fashionable,  and  were  performed 
by  numerous  devotees.  The  oi'ders  of  monks  also 
became  more  numerous,  though  they  were  obliged, 
from  the  poverty  of  the  country,  to  procure  their 
subsistence  by  manual  labor. 

In  the  fifth  century,  the  opinions  of  Pelagius, 
most  probably  a  native  of  Ireland,  were  zealously 
disseminated  through  the  British  islands,  by  his 
disciples  and  countrymen,  Agincola  and  Celestius: 
and  we  are  told  by  Bede,  that,  alarmed  at  the  rapid 
progress  of  these  doctrines,  but  unable  to  refute 
them,  the  British  ecclesiastics  implored  assistance 
from  the  bishops  of  Gaul.  The  latter  sent  Ger- 
manus,  bishop  of  Auxeire,  and  Lupus,  bishop  of 
Troyes  to  their  aid,  who  arrived  in  Britain  about 
the  year  429.  After  having  been  welcomed  by  the 
orthodox  clergy,  they  appointed  a  meeting  for  public 
disputation  with  the  Pelagians.  The  latter,  accord- 
ing to  the  narrative  of  the  venerable  historian,  came 
to  the  arena  in  great  pomp,  and  advocated  their 
cause  ^v^th  the  most  showy  rhetoric,  but  Germanus 
and  Lupus,  when  it  was  their  turn  to  reply,  so  over- 

1  Facund.  t.  30.     Du  Pin.  Hist.  Cent.  iv. 
*  Southey's  Book  of  the  Church,  i.  16. 


70 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  T. 


■svhelmed  them  with  arguments  and  authorities,  that 
they  were  completely  silenced,  and  the  whole  as- 
sembly triumphed  in  their  discomfiture.  Bede  was 
too  orthodox  and  too  credulous  to  have  doubted  the 
tradition,  if  it  had  affirmed  that  the  arguments  of  the 
Gallic  bishops  on  this  occasion  struck  their  antagonists 
dead  as  well  as  dumb. 

But  these  bishops  were  skilled  in  the  handling  of 
other  weapons  as  well  as  those  of  controversy.  We 
have  already  related  how  the  militaiy  force  of  the 
South  Britons,  being  led  on  by  Germanus  against 
the  Scots  and  Picts,  put  the  barbarians  to  flight  with 
shouts  of  "Hallelujah."  Having  thus  conquered  the 
temporal  as  well  as  the  spiritual  enemies  of  Britain, 
the  bishops  departed.  In  a  short  time,  however, 
the  narrative  proceeds,  the  baffled  Pelagians  again 
raised  their  heads,  and  their  cause  became  more 


triumphant  than  before.  A  fresh  application  was  in 
consequence  made  to  the  victorious  Germanus,  the 
British  bishops  having,  as  it  would  seem,  profited 
little  by  the  arguments  with  which  he  had  formerly 
defended  their  cause.  He  leturned  in  44G,  accom- 
panied by  Severus,  bishop  of  Treves ;  and  this  time, 
not  contented  with  merely  silencing  the  Pelagians 
for  the  moment,  he  procured  the  banishment  of  their 
leaders  from  the  island ;  and  thus  peace  and  order 
were  restored  for  the  short  intei-val  that  preceded 
the  arrival  of  the  Saxons.  It  would  appear,  there- 
fore, that  equally  disunited  and  helpless,  the  church 
and  the  state  were  at  this  period  both  obliged  to 
invoke  aid  against  their  domestic  adversaries.  Bede 
has  gai'nished  the  whole  of  this  detail  with  many 
miraculous  circumstances,  wliich  we  have  not  con- 
sidered it  necessary  to  retain. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


71 


CHAPTER  III 
HISTORY  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


Section  I. 

POLITICAL   DIVISIONS   OF   THE   BRITISH    NATIONS. 


EFORE  proceeding  to 
the  sketch  which  the 
brief  notices  of  the  an- 
cient writers  enable  us 
to  give  of  the  form  of 
government  that  ap- 
pears to  have  prevailed 
in  Britain  before  the 
Roman  Conquest,  it  will 
be  convenient  to  take 
a  rapid  survey  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  countiy  was  divided  among  the 
several  nations  or  ti'ibes  that  inhabited  it.  These 
tribes  were  not  only  distinguished  by  different  names, 
and  by  the  occupation  of  separate  territories,  but 
they  were  to  a  certain  extent  so  many  different 
races,  which  had  come  to  the  island  from  various 
districts  of  the  opposite  continent,  and  still  continued 
to  preserve  themselves  as  unmixed  with  each  other 
as  they  were  in  their  original  seats.  Thus  Csesar 
tells  us  that  the  several  bodies  of  Belgians  which  he 
found  settled  on  the  sea-coast,  although  they  had 
united  to  wrest  the  ti'act  of  which  they  were  in  pos- 
session from  the  previous  inhabitants,  had  almost  all 
retained  the  distinguishing  names  of  their  mother 
states ;  and  the  same  thing  no  doubt  had  been  done 
in  most  instances  by  the  earlier  settlers  from  Gaul 
and  elsewhere. 

We  derive  all  the  direct  information  we  possess 
respecting  the  ancient  British  nations  partly  from 
Caesar,  Tacitus,  Dio  Cassius,  and  the  other  authors 
who  have  given  us  details  of  the  military  operations 
of  the  Romans  in  the  island,  and  partly  from  certain 
professedly  geogi*aphical  accounts  of  it.  One  of  these 
is  that  contained  in  the  gi-eat  geographical  compilation 
of  the  celebrated  Ptolemy  of  Alexandria,  who  wrote 
in  the  early  part  of  the  second  century,  but  who,  as 
we  have  already  obsei'ved,  is  believed  to  have  drawn 
the  materials  for  much  of  his  work,  and  for  the  por- 
tion of  it  relating  to  the  British  islands  in  particular, 
from  sources  of  considerably  greater  antiquity.  We 
may  probably  regard  his  description,  thei-efore,  as, 
in  part  at  least,  applicable  to  the  country  rather 
before  Caesar's  invasion  than  after  the  Roman  con- 
quest; in  other  words,  rather  as  it  was  known  to 
the  Phoenicians  than  to  the  Romans.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  Ptolemy  must  have  made  a  good 
many  additions  to  his  original  TjTian  authorities 
from  later  accounts.  Another  detailed  description 
of  Britain  is  that  contained  in  what  is  called  the 
Itinerary  of  Antoninus,  a  most  valuable  survey  of  all 
the  roads  throughout  the  Roman  empire,  evidently 


drawn  up  by  public  authority,  and  the  last  additions 
to  Avhich  do  not  appear  to  have  been  made  later  than 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  centuiy,  while  its  original 
compilation  has  been  ascribed,  on  probable  gi'ounds, 
to  the  time  of  Julius  C^sar.  It  presents  us  with  a 
view  of  the  high  roads  and  chief  towns  of  South 
Britain  dui'ing  the  most  flourishing  period  of  the 
Roman  occupation.  Another  ancient  account  of  Ro- 
man Britain  of  undoubted  authenticity  is  that  found 
in  the  work  entitled  "  Notitia  Imperii,"  Avhich  is  an 
enumeration  of  the  civil  and  militaiy  establishments 
of  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire,  brought  down, 
according  to  the  title,  to  beyond  the  times  of  Arca- 
dius  and  Honorius.  In  the  case  of  Britain,  the 
Notitia  may  be  understood  to  give  us  the  imperial 
establishment  at  the  latest  date  at  which  the  island 
formed  a  part  of  the  Roman  empire.  It  has  pre- 
served the  names  (though  unfortunately  merely  the 
names)  of  the  several  provinces  into  which  Roman 
Britain  wras  divided,  and  of  the  several  militaiy  sta- 
tions. Lastly,  there  is  a  remarkable  performance, 
professing  to  be  a  geographical  account  of  Britain  in 
the  time  of  the  Romans,  drawn  up  from  the  papers 
of  a  Roman  general,  by  a  Benedictine  monk  of  the 
fourteenth  centuiy  named  Richard  of  Cirencester. 
Of  the  existence  of  Richard  of  Cirencester  there  is 
no  doubt ;  we  have  other  works  from  his  pen,  of 
which  some  have  been  printed,  and  others  remain  in 
manuscript.  It  may  also  be  admitted,  that  if  he 
really  wrote  the  present  work,  he  did  not,  in  its  com- 
position, draw  upon  his  own  learning  or  ingenuity, 
which  appear  to  have  been  quite  unequal  to  such  an 
achievement,  but  transcribed  what  he  has  set  down 
from  some  other  document.  The  only  reasonable 
doubt  is,  whether  the  work  be  not  altogether  a 
modern  forgery.  It  was  never  heard  of  till  the 
year  1757,  when  the  discovery  of  the  manuscript 
was  announced  by  Mr.  C.  Bertram,  Professor  of  the 
English  Language  in  the  University  of  Copenhagen, 
and  a  copy  of  it  ti"ansmitted  to  this  country  to  Dr. 
Stukely,  by  whom  an  extract,  containing  the  most 
material  part  of  the  work,  was  immediately  printed. 
The  whole  was  published  the  same  year  at  Copen- 
hagen by  Mr.  Berti-am.  The  original  manuscript, 
however,  we  believe,  has  never  since  been  seen,  and 
no  trace  of  it  was  to  be  found  among  Mr.  Bertram's 
papers  after  his  death.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
internal  evidence  has  appeared  to  many  persons  to 
be  in  favor  of  the  authenticity  of  the  work ;  and  it 
has  been  very  generally  received  as  an  important 
contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  ancient  Britain. 
Richard  of  Cirencester's  description,  which   is   ac- 


72 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


companied  by  a  rudely-drawn  map,  contains  much 
information,  if  we  could  be  assured  of  its  trust- 
worthiness, especially  respecting  the  geography  of 
the  northern  part  of  the  island,  which  is  not  to  be 
found  either  in  Ptolemy  or  the  Itinerary. 

Cwsar,  in  his  two  descents  upon  Britain,  saw  no 
more  than  a  corner  of  the  country.  The  farthest 
point  to  which  he  penetrated  was  the  capital  of  Cas- 
sivellaunus,  which  is  generally  supposed  to  have  stood 
on  the  site  of  the  now  ruined  town  of  Verulam  in  the 
vicinity  of  St.  Alban's,  in  Hertfordshire.  Cecsar  him- 
self describes  the  dominions  of  this  prince  as  lying 
along  the  north  bank  of  the  Thames,  at  the  distance 
of  about  eighty  miles  from  the  sea,  by  which  he  prob- 
ably means  the  east  coast  of  Kent,  from  which  he 
began  his  march.  Unfortunately  we  are  nowhere 
told  of  what  people  Cassivellaunus  was  king.  The 
only  British  nations  mentioned  by  Cssar  are  the  peo- 
ple of  Cantium,  the  Trinobantes,  the  Cenimagni,  the 
Segontiaci,  the  Ancalites,  the  Bibroci,  and  the  Cassi. 
All  these  must  have  dwelt  in  the  part  of  the  country 
which  he  hastily  overran.  Cantium  was  undoubtedly 
Kent,  so  called  from  a  Celtic  word  signifying  a  head 
or  promontory.  The  Saxons,  it  has  been  observed,^ 
called  Kent  Cantirland,  whence  our  present  Canter- 
bury ;  and  we  may  therefore  conjecture  that  the  origi- 
nal name  of  the  disti-ictwas  Cean-tir,  that  is,  the  head 
or  protruding  part  of  the  land,  the  same  word  with 
Cantire,  the  name  still  borne  by  the  long  peninsular 
tract  which  forms  the  south-western  exti-emity  of  Ar- 
gjieshire.  "  Vanguard  of  Liberty  !"  exclaims  a  mod- 
ern poet, 

"Ye  men  of  Kent, 
Ye  children  of  a  soil  that  doth  advance 
Its  haughty  brow  against  the  coast  of  France  I" 

Ptolemy,  it  may  be  noted,  sets  down  London,  or  as 
he  writes  the  name,  Londinium,  as  one  of  the  towns 
of  the  Cantii ;  and  from  this  it  has  been  conjectured, 
with  much  probability,  that  the  original  London  stood 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Thames.  Caesar  mentions 
no  such  place ;  but  indeed  he  has  not  recorded  the 
name  of  a  single  British  town.  The  Trinobantes, 
called  by  Ptolemy  the  Trinoantes,  occupied  Essex, 
and,  probably,  the  gi-eater  part  of  Middlesex.  Lon- 
don on  the  north  bank  of  the  Thames,  therefore,  the 
proper  foundation  of  the  present  British  metropolis, 
was  one  of  their  towns.  Geoffi-ey  of  Monmouth's 
story,  however,  about  that  people  having  derived  their 
name  from  Trinovant,  that  is.  New  Troy,  the  origi- 
nal name  of  London,  cannot  be  received.  Trinoban- 
tes is  said  to  mean,  in  Celtic,  a  powerful  people.^ 

Of  the  other  tribes  mentioned  by  Ctesar  none  are 
noticed,  at  least  under  the  same  names,  by  any  other 
authority  except  Richard  of  Cirencester.  He  enu- 
merates the  Bibroci,  the  Segontiaci,  and  the  Cassi, 
whom  he  calls  the  Cassii.  The  Bibroci  are  commonly 
supposed  to  have  been  the  inhabitants  of  Berkshire, 
and  to  have  left  their  name  to  that  county ;  the  Se- 
gontiaci of  Hampshire ;  and  the  Cassi  of  Hertford, 
one  of  the  hundreds  of  which,  that  in  which  St.  Al- 
bans stands,  still  retains  the  name  of  Cassio.  The 
Cassi  would  therefore  appear  to  have  been  the  sub- 

1  Betham's  Gael  and  Cymri.  =*  Betham. 


jects  of  Cassivellaunus,  if  Verulam  was  his  capital ; 
but  this  supposition,  it  must  be  admitted,  does  not 
appear  to  be  very  consistent  with  the  narrative  of 
Cassar,  in  which  the  Cassi  are  stated  to  have  made 
their  submission  along  with  other  tribes,  while  Cas- 
sivellaunus still  held  out.  The  Cenimagni  have  been 
supposed  to  be  the  same  with  the  Iceni  mentioned 
by  Richard  and  also  by  Tacitus,  and  with  the  Semini 
of  Ptolemy,  who  appear  to  have  inhabited  the  shires 
of  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  and  Cambridge ;  and  the  Anca- 
lides  with  the  Atrebatii  of  Ptolemy  and  the  Atti-ebates 
of  Richard,  whose  residence  is  placed  in  Wiltshire. 
If  this  latter  notion  be  well  founded,  it  is  probable 
that  the  name,  which  only  occurs  once  in  Caesar,  has 
not  come  down  to  us  as  he  wrote  it ;  for  he  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  Atrebates  of  Belgic  Gaul  (the  an- 
cient occupants  of  the  territory  «f  Artois),  of  whom 
this  British  people  are  supposed  to  have  been  a  colony, 
and  could  not  have  mistaken  the  name  when  it  met 
him  again  here.  On  the  whole,  it  must  be  confessed 
that  nothing  can  be  more  unsatisfactoiy  than  these 
attempted  identifications  of  the  tribes  of  whom  Caesar 
speaks.  We  should  be  inclined  to  think  that  they 
were  not  spread  over  nearly  so  gi'eat  an  extent  of  ter- 
ritory as  they  are  by  this  account  made  to  occupy. 
All  of  them,  except  the  Cantii,  who  are  not  recorded 
to  have  submitted,  would  almost  appear,  from  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  mentioned,  to  have  been 
merely  dependent  upon  the  Trinobantes,  whose  policy 
in  making  terms  with  the  Roman  general  they  are 
stated  instantly  to  have  followed,  and  that  is  really  all 
that  is  said  of  them.  We  do  not  believe  that  any  of 
them  ever  formed  part  of  the  confederation  organized 
to  oppose  the  invasion,  at  the  head  of  which  Cassivel- 
launus w^as. 

According  to  Ptolemy,  who,  after  all,  is  the  only 
authority  upon  whom  much  dependence  can  be  placed, 
the  space  over  which  the  tribes  mentioned  by  Caesar, 
and  by  no  other  writer,  if  we  cast  aside  the  very  sus- 
picious authority  of  Richard  of  Cirencester,  have  been 
commonly  diffused,  appears  to  have  been  fully  occu- 
pied by  other  ti-ibes.  The  following  is  the  order  in 
which  he  enumerates  the  several  nations  inhabiting 
what  we  now  call  South  Britain,  with  the  manner  in 
which  he  appears  to  distribute  the  country  among 
them. 

1.  The  Brigantes.  Their  ten-itoiy  is  described 
as  extending  across  the  island  fi'om  sea  to  sea,  and  it 
appears  to  have  comprehended  the  greater  part  of 
the  modern  counties  of  Durham,  York,  Cumberland, 
Westmoreland,  and  Lancashire.  The  Brigantes 
were  considered  the  most  powerful  of  the  British 
nations.  Among  their  towns  mentioned  by  Ptolemy 
are  Eboracum,  now  York,  and  Isurium,  now  Aldbo- 
rough,  reduced  to  a  small  village,  though  it  retained 
till  lately  the  right  of  sending  a  member  to  parliament, 
an  evidence  of  its  importance  even  in  comparatively 
modern  times. 

2.  The  Parisi  are  stated  to  have  been  adjacent  to 
the  Brigantes,  and  about  the  well-havened  bay.  They 
are  thought  to  have  occupied  the  south-eastern  angle 
of  Yorkshire,  now  called  Holderness,  lying  along  the 
coast  of  Bridlington  or  BurHngton  Bay. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


73 


3.  The  Ordovices  dwelt  to  the  south  of  the  Bri- 
gantes  and  the  Parisi,  in  the  most  westerly  part  of 
the  island  They  appear  to  have  been  the  inhabitants 
of  North  Wales. 

4.  The  CoRNAVii  were  east  from  these  last,  and 
seem  to  have  occupied  Cheshu'e,  Shropshire,  Staf- 
ford, Worcester,  and  Warwick.  Their  towns  men- 
tioned by  Ptolemy  are  Deuna,  now  Chester,  and  Ui- 
roconium,  supposed  to  be  Wroxeter,  near  Shrews- 
bury. 

5.  The  CoRiTANi  are  described  as  adjacent  to  the 
Cornavii.  They  probably  occupied  the  whole  of  the 
space  intervening  between  the  Cornavii  and  the  east 
coast,  comprehending  the  modern  counties  of  Derby, 
Nottingham,  Lincoln,  Leicester,  Rutland,  and  part 
of  Northampton.  Their  chief  towns  were  Lindum, 
now  Lincoln,  and  Rhage,  now  Leicester. 

6.  The  Catyeuchlani  (or  Catuellani,  as  they  are 
called  by  Dio  Cassius)  come  next  in  the  list.  They 
are  conjectured  to  have  occupied  the  remainder  of 
Nortliampton,  and  all  Buckingham,  Bedford,  Hertford, 
and  Huntingdon.  To  these  we  should  be  inclined  to 
add  the  southwestern  portion  of  Oxfordshire,  lying 
along  the  Thames.  One  of  their  towns  mentioned 
by  Ptolemy  is  Urolanium,  universally  admitted  to  be 
Verulam,  near  St.  Alban's.  It  does  not  necessarily 
follow,  however,  that  this  was  the  capital  of  Cassivel- 
launus,  although  it  is  perhaps  most  probable  that  this 
prince  was  really  the  chief  of  the  Catyeuchlani. 

7.  The  SiMENi  are  described  as  adjacent  to  these 
last,  and  are  supposed  to  have  occupied  Norfolk,  Suf- 
folk, and  Cambridge.  They  are  conjectured,  as  has 
been  already  stated,  to  be  the  same  with  the  Iceni, 
of  whom  mention  is  made  by  Tacitus.  Ptolemy  as- 
signs to  them  only  one  town,  and  to  that  he  gives  the 
name  of  Uenta  or  Venta,  which  appears  to  have  been 
a  common  British  name  for  the  capital  of  a  state. 
The  Venta  of  the  Simeni  or  Iceni  is  supposed  to  have 
been  at  Caister,  near  Noi*wich. 

8.  The  Trinoantes  (or  Trinobantes,  as  they  are 
called  by  CaBsar  and  Tacitus),  the  next  nation  men- 
tioned, are  placed  more  to  the  eastward  than  the  Si- 
meni ;  and  this  may  suggest  a  doubt  as  to  these  last 
being  really  the  same  with  the  Iceni,  who  appeal-, 
from  the  Itinerary,  to  have  certainly  inhabited  Nor- 
folk. Probably,  however,  Ptolemy  erroneously  sup- 
posed the  coast  of  Essex  to  stretch  farther  to  the  east 
than  that  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk.  He  places  Canm- 
lodanum,  the  capital  of  the  Trinoantes,  half  a  degi-ee 
to  the  east  of  the  Venta  of  the  Simeni.  Camuloda- 
num,  or,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Itineraiy,  Camoludu- 
num,  is  generally  supposed  to  be  Maldon,  though 
some  place  it  at  Colchester.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
as  to  Essex  being  the  district,  or  part  of  the  disti'ict, 
assigned  by  Ptolemy  to  the  Trinoantes,  since  he  set- 
tles them  beside  the  estuary  lamensa,  or,  as  the  word 
is  found  written  in  another  place,  lamissa,  evidently 
a  transcriber's  corruption  of  Tamissa,  the  Thames. 

9.  The  Demet^:  follow  next  in  the  enumeration, 
being  described  as  dwelling  to  the  south  of  the  tribes 
already  mentioned,  and  in  the  extreme  western  part 
of  the  island.  They  seem  to  have  occupied  the  three 
south  Welsh  counties  of  Caermarthen,  Cardigan,  and 


Pembroke.     One  of  their  towns,  Maridunum,  is  be- 
lieved to  be  the  present  Caermarthen. 

10.  The  SiLURES  were  to  the  east  of  these,  occu- 
pying, it  is  supposed,  the  modern  counties  of  Radnor, 
Brecknock,  Glamorgan,  Hereford,  and  Monmouth. 
Ptolemy  makes  no  mention  of  two  important  towns 
which  were  certainly  situated  in  the  ten'itory  of  the 
Silures,  namely  the  Venta  Silurum,  now  Caerwent, 
and  Isca  Silurum,  now  Caerleon,  both  in  Monmouth- 
shire. 

11.  The  DoBUNi  (probably  the  same  who  are  called 
by  Dio  Cassius  the  Boduni)  are  described  as  next  to 
the  Silures,  and  probably  inhabited  Gloucestershire 
with  the  greater  part  of  Oxfordshire.  Their  chief 
town,  Corinium,  appears  to  be  the  present  Ciren- 
cester. 

12.  The  Atrebatii  follow  in  the  enumeration. 
They  are  thought,  though  the  point  is  disputed,  to 
have  been  the  occupants  of  Berkshire.  As  they 
were,  if  we  may  ti'ust  to  their  name,  a  Belgic  people, 
it  is  more  probable  that  they  were  seated  to  the  south 
than  to  the  north  of  the  Thames ;  and  the  order  in 
which  they  are  enumerated  by  Ptolemy — among  the 
nations  to  the  south  of  the  Catyeuchlani  and  the  Tri- 
nobantes— appears  also  clearly  to  indicate  the  former 
position. 

13.  The  Cantii  are  described  as  adjacent  to  the 
Ati-ebatii,  and  as  extending  to  the  eastern  coast  of  the 
island.  These  two  states,  therefore,  probably  met 
somewhere  in  the  north  part  of  SuiTey.  Besides 
Londinium,  Ptolemy  mentions  Daruenum  (believed 
to  be  Canterbury)  and  Rutupiae,  the  Rutupae  of  the 
Itinerary  (probably  Richborough,  near  Sandwich),  as 
towns  of  the  Cantii. 

14.  The  Regni  are  next  mentioned,  and  are  stated 
to  lie  to  the  south  of  the  Atrebatii  and  the  Cantii. 
They  therefore  occupied  Surrey,  Sussex,  and  prob- 
ably the  greater  part  of  Hampshire. 

15.  The  Belgje  are  described  as  situated  to  the 
south  of  the  Dobuni,  and  are  supposed  to  have  pos- 
sessed the  eastern  part  of  Somerset,  Wilts,  and  the 
western  part  of  Hampshire.  Their  towns  were  Venta 
Belgarum,  generally  beheved  to  be  Winchester;  Is- 
chalis,  probably  Ilchester ;  and  the  Hot  Springs  (ia 
Latin,  Aquae  Calidae),  undoubtedly  Bath. 

16.  The  DuROTRiGES  are  described  as  south-west 
from  the  Belgae.  Their  seat  was  the  present  Dor- 
setshire, which  still  preserves  their  name,  signifying 
in  the  Celtic  the  dwellers  by  the  water.  Their  town 
Dunium  is  supposed  to  be  the  present  Dorchester. 

17.  The  DuMNONii  (or  Damnonii,  as  they  are 
called  in  the  Itinerary)  close  the  list,  and  are  described 
as  occupying  the  western  exti-emity  of  the  island. 
They  were  the  inhabitants  of  Devon,  Cornwall,  and 
the  west  of  Somerset ;  their  name  Dumn,  or,  as  it 
would  be  in  Celtic,  Duvn,  probably  still  subsisting  in 
the  modern  Devon.  Their  capital  was  Isca  Dumno- 
niorum,  supposed  to  be  the  present  Exeter. 

Of  course,  although  we  have  thus  indicated  the 
localities  of  the  several  tribes  by  the  names  of  our 
present  counties,  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that  the 
ancient  boundaries  were  the  same  as  those  of  these 
comparatively  modern    divisions.     But   to  ascertain 


74 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


the  precise  line  by  which  each  tenitory  was  separated  ; 
from  those  adjacent  to  it,  is  now  in  most  instances 
utterly  impossible.  All  that  can  be  attempted  is,  to 
determine,  generally,  the  part  of  the  country  in  which 
each  lay.  In  a  good  many  cases  the  evidence  of  in- 
scriptions and  of  other  remains  has  confirmed  Ptole- 
my's account ;  and,  making  allowance  for  a  very  cor- 
rupt text,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  his  distribution  of 
the  several  ancient  British  states  lias  not  been  proved 
to  be  erroneous  in  any  material  resjx'ct  by  the  dis- 
coveries of  this  kind  that  have  from  time  to  time  been 
made.  We  do  not  believe  that  a  viewof  the  ancient 
geography,  at  least  of  the  southern  part  of  the  island, 
on  the  whole,  so  complete,  so  distinct,  and  so  accordant 
at  once  with  the  testimony  of  history  and  of  monu- 
ments, as  that  which  he  has  given  us,  is  to  be  obtained 
from  any  other  source,  or  from  all  other  existing 
sources  of  information  combined.  The  ti-ibes  men- 
tioned by  Richard  of  Cii-encester,  in  addition  to  those 
enumerated  by  Ptolemy,  within  the  space  we  have 
now  been  surveying,  are,  the  Segontiaci,  Ancalites, 
Bibroci,  and  Cassii  (as  already  noticed),  the  Hedui  in 
Somersetshire,  the  Cimbri  in  Devonshire,  the  Volantii 
and  Sistuntii  in  Lancashire,  and  the  Rhemi  in  Surrey 
and  Sussex;  but  these  last  are  probably  intended  to 
be  considered  the  same  people  with  the  Regni  of 
Ptolemy.  Richard's  list  also  includes  the  Cangiani, 
supposed  to  be  the  same  with  the  Cangi  mentioned 
by  Tacitus,  and  with  the  Cangani  of  Dio.  These, 
however,  do  not  appear  to  have  been  a  distinct  nation, 
but  to  have  been  those  of  the  youths  of  each  tribe, 
or  at  least  of  many  of  the  tribes,  who  were  employed 
as  the  keepers  of  the  flocks  and  herds.'  Richard 
fixes  them  in  Caernarvonshire,  a  location  which  by 
no  means  helps  to  make  the  passages  in  which  they 
are  mentioned  by  the  ancient  historians  more  intel- 
ligible. 

Ptolemy's  description  of  North  Britain  is,  in  various 
respects,  not  so  satisfactory  as  that  which  he  has  given 
of  the  southern  portion  of  the  island.  In  particular, 
his  account  is  rendered  obscure  and  confused  by  a 
strange  mistake,  into  which  he  has  fallen,  as  to  the 
direction  of  the  land,  which  he  extends,  not  towards 
the  north,  but  towards  the  east.  In  other  words,  he 
gives  !is  differences  of  longitude  what  he  ought  to 
have  given  as  differences  of  latitude.  His  enumera- 
tion of  the  northern  tribes  may  also  be  safely  pre- 
sumed to  be  more  imperfect  than  that  which  he  gives 
of  those  in  the  south. 

18.  The  NovANTi  are  the  first  people  he  men- 
tions. He  describes  them  as  dwelling  on  the  north 
coast  of  the  island  (by  which  we  must  understand 
the  west),  immediately  under  the  peninsula  of  the 
same  name.  The  peninsula  or  promontory  of  the 
Novantae  is  admitted,  on  all  hands,  to  be  what  is 
now  called  the  Mull  of  Galloway ;  and  the  Novantae 
are  considered  to  have  occupied  the  county  of  Wig- 
ton,  the  western  hiilf  of  Kirkcudbright,  and  the 
southern  extiemity  of  Ayi'shire,  their  boundaries 
probably  being  the  Irish  Sea,  the  Sohvay  Frith,  the 
river  Dee,  and  the  hills  dividing  the  districts  now 
called  Galloway  and  Carrick.     One  of  their  towns 

1  Baxter  Gloss   Biit. 


was  Loucopibia,  supposed  to  be  the  present  WTii- 
thorn. 

19.  The  SelgovjE  are  described  as  under,  or 
south  (meaning  east)  from  the  Novanta-,  and  appear 
to  have  occupied  the  eastern  half  of  Kirkcudbright 
and  the  greater  part  of  Dumfriesshire.  They  are 
supposed  to  have  given  its  present  name  to  the  Sol- 
way,  along  which  their  territory  extended,  or  to 
have  received  theirs  from  it.  The  Sohvay  is  called 
by  Ptolemy  the  Ituna,  probably  from  the  Eden,  which 
falls  into  that  estuary. 

20.  The  Dammi  lay  north  from  these,  and  would 
seem  to  have  extended  over  the  shires  of  Ayr,  La- 
nark. Renfrew,  and  Stirling,  a  corner  of  that  of 
Dumbfirton,  and  a  small  pait  of  that  of  Perth. 
Among  their  towns  were  Vanduara,  believed  to  be 
Paisley,  and  Lindum,  which  has  been  generally 
supposed  to  be  Linlithgow,  but  which  Chalmers 
places  at  Ardoch  in  Perthshire,  where  there  is  a 
famous  Roman  camp.  The  wall  of  Antoninus  passed 
through  the  territory  of  the  Damnii. 

21.  The  Gadeni,  of  whom  all  that  Ptolemy  says 
is,  that  they  were  situated  more  to  the  north.  This 
cannot,  however,  mean  more  to  the  north  than  the 
Damnii  List  mentioned,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
placed  along  the  sea  coast  of  what  Ptolemy  under- 
stands to  be  the  north  side  of  the  island.  The 
meaning  must  be  more  to  the  north  than  the  Otadeni, 
who  are  next  mentioned,  and  are,  by  a  corresponding 
epithet,  described  as  more  to  the  south.  With  the 
notion  which  Ptolemy  had  of  the  shape  of  the  island, 
this  would  place  the  Gadeni  along  a  tract  in  the 
interior,  which  might  extend  from  the  Tyne  to  the 
Forth,  embracing  the  north  of  Cumberland,  the  west 
of  Northumberland,  the  west  of  Roxburgh,  together 
with  the  counties  of  Selkirk,  Peebles,  west  Lothian, 
and  the  gi-eater  part  of  Midlothian.  There  is  no 
pretence,  on  a  fair  interpretation  of  Ptolemy's  words, 
for  saying,  as  has  been  done  by  some  of  the  sup- 
porters of  the  authority  of  Richard  of  Cirencester,^ 
that  he  places  the  Gadeni  on  the  north  of  the  Damnii 
beyond  the  Clyde,  conti-ary  to  the  evidence  of  in- 
scriptions. In  his  geography  the  sea  only  was  to 
the  north  of  the  Damnii.  The  town  of  Jedburgh 
and  the  river  Jed,  on  which  it  stands,  in  Roxburgh- 
shire, seem  still  to  preserve  the  name  of  the  Gadeni. 

22.  The  Otadexi,  lying  to  the  south  of  this 
tract  in  Ptolemy's  notion,  in  reality  to  the  southeast 
of  it,  woTild  occupy  the  space  intervening  between 
it  and  the  sea  coast,  comprehending  the  remainder 
of  Northumberland  and  Roxburgh,  and  the  whole  of 
Berwick  and  East  Lothian. 

23.  The  Epidii  lay  east  (that  is,  north)  from 
the  Damnii,  but  more  northerly  (that  is,  westerly), 
stretching  eastwards  (that  is,  northwards),  from  the 
promontory  Epidium.  The  promontory  in  question 
is  undoubtedly  the  peninsula  of  Cantyre;  and  the 
Epidii,  therefore,  were  the  inhabitants  of  this  dis- 
tiict,  and  of  nearly  all  the  rest  of  Argyleshire  from 
the  Frith  of  Clyde  on  the  east  to  Loch  Linne  on  the 
west. 

24.  The  Cerones  were  next  to  the  Epidii,  and 

'  Chalmers'  Caledonia. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


75 


are  supposed  to  have  inhabited  the  part  of  Argyle- 
shire  to  the  west  of  Loch  Linne,  and  the  continua- 
tion of  the  same  tract  forming  the  western  half  of 
Inverness. 

25.  The  Creones,  who  are  described  as  lying  to 
the  east  (that  is,  the  north)  of  the  Cerones,  probably 
occupied  nearly  the  whole  of  the  present  shire  of 
Ross.  But  it  may  be  doubted  if  the  Cerones  and 
the  Creones  were  not  the  same  people,  in  which 
case,  their  territory  must  have  included  the  whole 
space  we  have  assigned  to  the  two. 

26.  The  Carnonac^  came  next,  and  would,  there- 
fore, occupy  the  west  coast  of  Sutherland,  including 
probably  a  small  part  of  the  north  of  Ross. 

27.  The  Careni,  who  lay  beyond  them,  may  be 
supposed  to  have  inhabited  the  north  coast  of  Suth- 
erland, and  perhaps  a  small  portion  of  Caithness. 
Richard  of  Cii'encester,  indeed,  calls  them  the  Catini, 
in  which  name  it  has  been  suggested  we  may  find 
the  origin  of  the  present  Caithness. 

28.  The  CoRNAVii  are  described  as  lying  to  the 
east  (that  is,  the  north)  of  these,  and  as  being  the 
last  people  in  that  direction.  They,  therefore,  oc- 
cupied the  north  and  east  of  Caithness.  In  their 
countiy  were  the  three  promontories,  of  the  Tar- 
vedrum,  or  Orcas,  now  Dunnet  Head  ;  the  Vir- 
vedrum,  now  Duncansby  Head ;  and  the  Virubium, 
now  the  Noss  Head. 

29.  The  Caledonii,  properly  so  called,  are  the 
next  people  mentioned  by  Ptolemy ;  but  the  enu- 
meration here  starts  from  a  new  point,  namely,  from 
the  Lelamnonian  Bay  on  the  west  coast,  which  ap- 
pears to  be  Loch  Fyne.  The  Caledonii  are  described 
as  extending  from  that  bay  across  the  country  to 
the  estuary  of  Varar,  undoubtedly  the  Moray  Frith, 
a  river  falling  into  the  upper  part  of  which  still  retains 
the  ancient  name.  They,  therefore,  occupied  the 
eastern  portion  of  .Inverness,  with  probably  the  ad- 
joining parts  of  the  shires  of  Argyle,  Perth,  and 
Ross.  In  the  northwestern  part  of  this  tract  was 
the  great  Caledonian  Forest. 

30.  The  CantjE  were  more  to  the  east  (that  is, 
the  north),  and  are  supposed  to  have  possessed  the 
eastern  angle  of  Rossshire  included  between  the 
Murray  and  the  Dornoch  Friths. 

31.  The  LoGi  were  between  them  and  the  Cor- 
navii,  and  must,  therefore,  have  occupied  the  south- 
east part  of  Sutherland,  and  probably  a  portion  of 
the  south  of  Caithness. 

32.  The  Mertje  lay  north  (that  is,  northwest) 
from  the  Logi,  which  would  place  them  in  the 
central  parts  of  Sutherland. 

33.  The  Vacomagi  are  described  as  lying  to  the 
south  (that  is,  the  southeast)  of  the  Caledonii,  and 
appear  to  have  occupied  the  counties  of  Nairn,  Elgin, 
and  Banff,  with  the  west  of  Aberdeenshire,  and 
perhaps  a  small  portion  of  the  east  of  Inverness. 

34.  The  Venicontes  are  described  as  lying  south 
from  these  last,  to  the  west,  and  as,  along  with  the 
Texali,  they  appear  to  have  occupied  the  whole 
space  between  the  tribes  to  the  south  of  the  Foilh, 
the  Caledonians,  and  the  Vacomagi,  we  must  assign 
to  them  the  whole   of  the  peninsula  now  forming 


the  counties  of  Fife,  Kinross,  and  Clackmannan,  with 
a  portion  of  the  east  and  southeast  of  Perth,  and 
probably  also  the  counties  of  Forfar  and  Kincardine. 
Richard  of  Cirencester,  however  (who  calls  the 
Venicontes,  Venricones),  places  the  tribe  of  the  Ho- 
restii  (mentioned  by  Tacitus  under  the  name  of  the 
Horesti)  in  the  peninsula  of  Fife.  All  that  appeal's 
with  regard  to  the  situation  of  the  Horestii,  from  the 
narrative  of  Tacitus,  is,  that  they  lay  somewhere 
between  the  Grampian  Hills  and  the  previously  con- 
quered nations  to  the  south  of  the  Forth.  It  is 
probable  enough  that  they  may  have  been  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Fife  ;  but  they  may  also  veiy  possibly  have 
dwelt  on  the  north  side  of  the  Frith  of  Tay.  They 
seem  to  be  included  by  Ptolemy  under  the  name  of 
the  Venicontes. 

35.  The  Texali  are  desci'ibed  as  lying  also  to  the 
south  of  the  Vacomagi,  and  to  the  east,  that  is,  the 
northeast  of  the  Venicontes.  As  Kinuaird's  Head 
appears  to  have  been  called  after  them  the  promon- 
tory Taizalum  (probably  an  error  for  Texalum,  or 
Taixalum),  and  as,  moreover,  their  chief  town  is 
designated  Devana,  and  appears  to  have  stood  on  the 
Diva  (the  modern  Dee),  either  where  Old  Aberdeen 
now  stands,  or  more  probably  on  the  spot  occupied 
by  Norman-Dykes,  about  six  miles  farther  from  the 
sea,  we  can  scarcely  have  any  doubt  that  the  present 
Aberdeenshire,  with,  perhaps,  a  part  of  Kincardine, 
formed  the  territory  of  the  Texali. 

Besides  the  Horestii,  two  other  tribes,  the  Albani, 
or  Damnii  Albani,  and  the  Attacotti,  are  mentioned 
by  Richai'd  of  Cirencester,  and  not  by  Ptolemy. 
The  Albani  are  placed  in  the  mountainous  region 
now  forming  the  district  of  Breadalbane  and  Athol 
in  the  west  of  Perth,  and  south  of  Invernessshire  ; 
but  it  is  admitted  that  they  had  been  subjugated  by 
the  Damnii,  and  that  this  region,  therefore,  might 
be  considered  as  forming  part  of  the  territory  of  the 
latter.  The  Attacotti  are  mentioned  by  Ammianus 
Marcellinus ;  but  it  must  be  considered  as  very 
doubtful  whether  they  were  a  British  or  an  Irish 
nation.  A  territory  is  found  for  them,  on  the  au- 
thority of  Richard,  in  the  space  between  Loch  Fyne 
and  Loch  Lomond,  comprehending  a  portion  of 
Argyle  and  the  greater  part  of  Dunbartonshire. 

Another  name  mentioned  by  some  later  writers, 
and  not  occurring  in  Ptolemy,  is  that  of  the  Mseatae. 
This  term,  of  the  meaning  of  which  different  inter- 
pretations have  been  offered,  appears  to  have  been  a 
collective  name  given  to  the  ti'ibes  included  between 
the  wall  of  Antoninus  Pius,  which  joined  the  Friths 
of  Forth  and  Clyde,  and  that  of  Severus,  extending 
from  the  Solway  Frith  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne. 
These  tribes  were,  the  Novantae,  the  Selgovae,  the 
Gadeni,  the  Otadeni,  and,  in  part,  the  Damnii.  In 
a  loose  way  of  speaking,  the  Mseatse  and  the  Cale- 
donii seem  to  have  come  at  length  to  be  used  as  a 
general  expression  for  all  the  tribes  beyond  the  more 
limited  Roman  province  ;  the  Mseatse  being  under- 
stood to  mean  the  inhabitants  of  the  comparatively 
level  and  open  country ;  the  Caledonii,  those  who 
dwelt  among  the  woods  and  mountains  of  the  north 
and  west.     From  about  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 


76 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


ceiiturj',  we  begin  to  find  the  Caledonians  and  Mseatae 
giving  place  to  the  new  names  of  the  Scots  and  Picts. 
A  late  writer  has.  from  this  and  other  considerations, 
inferred  that  the  Picts  were  the  same  people  with 
the  Maeata? ;'  but  perhaps  all  that  we  are  warranted 
in  concluding  is,  that  the  same  prominent  place  which 
the  fierce  Irish  tribe  of  the  Scots  had  now  assumed 
among  the  mountaineers  had  been  taken  by  the  Picts 
among  the  Lowlanders.  The  Picts,  if  not  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Mseatw,  appear  certainly,  at  least, 
to  have  been  their  successors  in  the  occupation  of 
the  same  tract  of  country. 

It  may  here  be  convenient  very  shortly  to  recapitu- 
late the  progress  of  the  Roman  arms  as  it  affected 
the  several  British  tribes  that  have  just  been  enume- 
rated.    Tacitus,  in  his  Life  of  Agi'icola,  has  sketched 
it  very  distinctly  up  to  the  commencement  of  the 
campaigns  of  that  celebrated  general.     The   eflforts 
of  Claudius  and'the  two  first  governors,  Aulus  Plau- 
tius  and  Ostorius  Scapula,  had,  by  a.d.  50,  either 
subdued  by  force  or  otherwise  obtained  the  submis- 
sion of  all  the  nations  included  within  the  line  of  forts 
by  which  Ostorius  may  be  said  to  have  in  some  de- 
gree connected  the  opposite  estiiaries  of  the  Wash 
and  the  Severn  ;  namely  (taking  them  in  the  order 
of  Ptolemy's  enumeration),   the   Catyeuchlani,   the 
Iceni  (supposing  this  people  to  be  the  same  with  the 
Semini),  the  Trinobantes,  the  Dobuni,  the  Atrebatii, 
the   Cantii,  the  Regni,   the  Belgae,  the  Durotriges, 
and  the  Dumnonii.     Some  of  these,  however,  were 
not  so  completely  reconciled  to  the  yoke  as  not  after- 
wards to  make  repeated  attempts  to  regain  their  in- 
dependence ;  and,  in  fact,  it  was  not  till  about  a.d. 
64  or  65,  under  Petronius  Tarpilianus,  that  the  whole 
of  this  section  of  the  island,  now  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Province,  could  be  said  to  be  brought  into  a  state 
of  entire  subjection  and  tranquillity.     Meanwhile,  be- 
yond the  boundary  of  the  Province,  incursions  had 
been  made  into  the  territories  of  the  Brigantes  in  the 
north,  and   of  the   Silures,  the  Ordovices,  and  the 
people  of  Anglesey  in  the  west ;  but  no  permanent 
impression  had  been  made  in  those  parts.     It  was 
not  till  the  reign  of  Vespasian  (a.d.  70 — 78)  that  the 
Brigantes  were  subdued  by   Petilius   Cerealis,  and 
the  Silures  by  Julius  Frontinus.     Agi-icola  assumed 
the  government  a.d.  78,  and  the  same  summer  com- 
pletely conquered  the  Ordovices  and  the  island  of 
Anglesey.     In  the  course  of  the  next  three  years 
he  appears  to  have  reduced  to  subjection  all  the  na- 
tions to  the  south  of  the  rampart  which  he  consti'uct- 
ed  between  the  Friths  of  Forth  and  Clyde,  with  the 
exception  only  of  those  inhabiting  the  part  of  the 
west  coast  nearest  to  Ireland — the  Novantae  and  the 
Selgovae  in  all  probability — whom,  however,  he  re- 
duced in  his  next  campaign.     This  was  really  the 
utmost  extent  to  which  the  conquest  of  the  country 
by  the  Romans  was  ever  earned.     Agricola,  indeed, 
afterwards  defeated  the  Caledonians  in  the  famous 
battle  fought  at  the  foot  of  tlie  Grampians  ;  but  it  is 
not  alleged  that  the  victory  was  followed  by  any  per- 
manent results,  or  that  even  a  single  new  tribe,  the 
Horesti  only  excepted,  made  their  submission  for  the 

1  Lingard,  History  of  England,  i.  54. 


moment.  Certainly  no  establishments  were  ever 
attempted  by  the  Romans  beyond  the  Forth  ;  nor 
were  the  conquests  made  by  Agricola  long  maintained 
even  up  to  that  limit.  Within  twenty  or  thirty  years 
after  his  time,  we  find  the  emperor  Hadrian  abandon- 
ing everj'thing  beyond  the  Solway.  Antoninus  Pius, 
indeed,  soon  after  extended  the  province  to  its  former 
boundaiy ;  but  it  was  found  impossible  eflectually  to 
reduce  the  turbulent  native  occupants  of  the  country 
between  the  fvvo  walls ;  and  in  the  beginning  of  the 
second  centurj-,  the  attempt  to  hold  it  may  be  said 
to  have  been  finally  given  up,  first  by  the  erection  of 
the  new  barrier  between  the  Solway  and  the  Tyne 
by  Severus,  and,  a  few  years  afterwards,  by  the  for- 
mal cession  of  the  greater  part  of  the  disputed  teiTi- 
toiy  by  Caracalla.  After  this,  although  the  legions 
may  have  been  sometimes  found  in  conflict  with  the 
barbarians,  perhaps,  at  a  considerable  distance  be- 
yond the  wall  of  Severus,  yet  there  seems  to  be  no 
ground  for  believing  that  the  Roman  power  ever  re- 
newed the  attempt  to  gain  a  footing  in  these  outer 
regions.  The  common  hypothesis  that,  after  this 
time,  in  the  decline  and  rapidly  accumulating  diffi- 
culties of  the  empire,  a  new  province,  whether  under 
the  name  of  Valentia  or  of  Flavia  Caesariensis,  was 
formed  in  this  part  of  the  island,  cannot  be  received 
upon  the  slight  evidence  that  is  brought  fonvard  in 
its  support.  At  all  events,  if  any  such  province  was 
really  established,  as  is  assumed,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  fourth  centurj^  it  is  quite  impossible  that  the  ex- 
tension of  the  empire  in  that  direction  could  have 
been  more  than  nominal.  When  the  northern  tribes, 
on  the  final  retirement  of  the  imperial  legions  not 
many  years  after  this,  poured  in  upon  the  provincials, 
we  hear  of  no  obstruction  whatever  that  they  met 
with  till  they  came  to  the  wall  of  Severus. 

Although  the  native  British  tribes,  before  their  sub- 
jugation by  the  Romans,  were  so  far  from  being  united 
into  one  community  that  they  were  very  generally 
at  war  one  with  another,  yet  there  are  circumstances 
which  indicate  that,  to  a  certain  extent,  many  of  them 
felt  themselves  to  have  a  common  interest  as  the  oc- 
cupants of  the  same  countiy.  Even  their  intestine 
wars  would  of  necessity  often  array  them  into  op- 
posing confederacies,  and  thus  establish  among  them 
the  habits  and  feelings  of  a  mutual  relationship  and 
dependence.  But  it  is  not  easy  to  form  a  judgment 
as  to  the  range  of  territoiy  over  which,  in  such  a  state 
of  society,  any  connexion,  or  even  any  communica- 
tion, was  kept  up  between  the  various  tribes.  Per- 
haps their  intercourse  with  each  other  was  carried 
on  between  points  more  remote  from  each  other  than 
we  should  be  at  first  inclined  to  suppose.  The  na- 
tions to  the  south  of  the  Thames  and  the  Severn,  or 
rather  we  ought  probably  to  say  of  the  Severn  and 
the  Wash,  appear  evidently  to  have  been  all  accus- 
tomed to  cooperate  on  emergencies,  and  to  consider 
themselves  as  in  some  sort  forming  one  society  :  al- 
though even  when  pressed  by  a  common  danger,  their 
differences  of  origin  may  have  afforded  great  facilities 
for  fomenting  divisions  between  those  of  Belgic  de- 
scent, for  instance,  and  the  aborigines  (as  Caesar  calls 
them)  of  the  interior;  and  the  inhabitants  of  Devon 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


77 


and  Cornwall,  withdrawn  within  their  peninsula,  may 
be  supposed  to  have  been  apt  to  feel  less  interest  than 
the  rest  in  the  general  cause.  But  even  the  Brigantes 
in  the  north  seem  early  to  have  taken  a  part  in  the 
resistance  to  the  Roman  invasion  ;  and,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  we  find  them  apparently  acting  in  con- 
cert with  the  insurgent  tribes  within  the  conquered 
territory  or  with  the  yet  unsubdued  combatants  in 
the  west.  The  notion  of  a  common  nationality,  how- 
ever, even  in  its  faintest  form,  seems  scarcely  to  have 
extended  beyond  the  Brigantes  ;  the  ruder  occupants 
of  the  bleak  and  wild  country  farther  to  the  north 
were  probably  always  regarded  as  the  people  of  an- 
other land.  Yet  although  we  do  not  find  any  actual 
association  of  the  tribes  of  the  north  and  south,  as 
thus  distinguished,  we  should  perhaps  be  in  error  if 
we  were  to  assume  that  they  kept  up  no  intercourse 
with  each  other.  If  any  reliance  is  to  be  placed  on 
the  correctness  even  of  the  general  import  of  the 
speech  which  Tacitus  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the 
Caledonian  general  Galgacus,  we  must  suppose  that 
the  events  which  had  happened  in  South  Britain, 
since  the  arrival  of  the  Romans,  were  both  well 
known,  and  had  excited  a  deep  interest  beyond  the 
Grampians.  Galgacus,  in  rousing  the  valor  of  his 
followers,  makes  his  appeal  throughout  to  feelings 
which  he  assumes  to  be  common  to  all  Britons,  and 
he  alludes  to  the  revolt  of  the  Trinobantes  under 
Boadicea,  and  to  other  passages  of  the  conquest  of 
the  southern  tribes,  as  to  transactions  that  were  fa- 
miliar to  all  his  hearers. 


Section  II. 

THE     GOVERNMENT     AND     LAWS     OF     THE     ANCIENT 
BRITONS  BEFORE  THE  INVASION  OF  THE  ROMANS. 

We  learn  from  Caesar,  whose  account  is  confirmed 
by  other  writers  of  good  authority,  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  ancient  British  nations  was,  in  form  at 
least,  monarchical.  We  are  scarcely,  however,  en- 
titled to  assume  that  each  of  the  tribes  or  nations 
we  have  enumerated  had  its  own  king  or  chief,  and 
fonned,  in  all  respects,  a  distinct  and  independent 
state.  The  same  sovereign  may  in  some  cases  have 
governed  several  tribes  ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  what 
is  described  as  a  single  district  inhabited  only  by  one 
people,  may  have  been  divided  into  several  sovereign- 
ties. Caesar,  for  instance,  mentions  four  kings  in 
Kent ;  and  yet  no  geographer,  or  other  ancient  writer, 
has  spoken  of  that  territory  as  occupied  by  more 
than  one  nation.  Of  the  niles  of  succession  to  the 
royal  authority  little  is  known.  We  are  informed, 
however,  that  they  made  no  distinction  of  sexes  in 
the  succession  to  the  royal  office  ;'  differing  in  this 
from  the  tribes  of  the  Germanic  stock.  We  have 
examples  of  British  female  sovereigns  in  Boadicea 
and  Caitismundua. 

But  though  the  form  of  government  was  monar- 
chical, the  British  princes  appear  to  have  possessed 
but  a  small  portion  of  the  substance  of  sovereignty. 
One  of  their  chief  prerogatives  was  that  of  command- 
ing the  forces  of  their  respective  ti'ibes  in  the  time 

1  Tacit.  Agric.  xv 


of  war.  But  even  then  their  authority  was  very 
much  circumscribed  by  their  nobility,  and  still  more 
by  their  priests.  The  Druids,  as  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  obsei-ve,  were  possessed  of  very  great 
power  among  the  rude  Britons,  almost,  it  would  ap- 
pear, as  much  as  was  possessed  by  the  Egyptian 
priesthood ;  insomuch  that  the  government  among 
the  ancient  Britons  was  more  properly  a  theocracy 
than  either  a  monarchy,  aristocracy,  or  democracy. 

Dio  Chrj'sostom  says,  speaking  of  the  Celtic  na- 
tions generally,  "  Their  kings  are  not  allowed  to  do 
anything  without  the  Dniids ;  not  so  much  as  to  con- 
sult about  putting  any  design  into  execution  without 
their  participation.  So  that  it  is  the  Druids  who 
reign  in  reality  ;  and  the  kings,  though  they  sit  on 
thrones,  feast  in  splendor,  and  live  in  palaces,  are  no 
more  than  their  instruments  and  ministers  for  exe- 
cuting their  designs."  But  the  government  appears 
to  have  had  also  a  mixture  in  it  of  popular  elements. 
Ambiorix,  king  of  a  people  of  Gaul,  made  this  excuse 
to  Caesar  for  having  assaulted  his  camp  : — "  That  it 
had  not  been  done  with  his  advice  or  consent ;  and 
that  his  government  was  of  such  a  nature  that  the 
people  had  as  much  power  over  him  as  he  had  over 
them."  The  British  princes  made  a  similar  excuse 
to  Caesar  for  having  seized  and  imprisoned  his  am- 
bassadors,— that  is,  they  laid  the  blame  upon  the 
multitude.  These  slight  intimations,  however,  are 
not  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  form  any  opinion  as  to 
the  share  which  the  people  really  had  in  the  gov- 
ernment. With  regard  to  the  power  of  the  Di-uids 
we  have  more  distinct  information. 

Among  most  rude  nations  the  laws  receive  their 
force  from  being  regarded  as  the  express  commands 
of  their  gods.  Where  a  particular  order  of  men  are 
supposed  to  be  the  only  persons  to  whom  the  gods 
have  communicated  the  knowledge  of  their  com- 
mands, this  order  of  men  are  of  course  the  only  per- 
sons capable  of  declaring  and  explaining  those  com- 
mands to  the  people.  In  a  word,  they  are  the  sole 
legislators  of  that  people.  Moreover,  the  violations 
of  these  laws  being  considered  as  violations  of  the 
will  of  heaven,  the  punishment  of  such  violations 
could  not  be  committed  to  any  but  the  ministers  of 
heaven — to  wit,  the  order  of  men  above  specified. 
In  an  early  state  of  society  a  very  large  proportion 
of  these  laws  are  penal,  consequently  punishment  is 
the  chief  employment  of  the  judicial  office.  Conse- 
quently, too,  we  have  the  same  men  who  have  de- 
clared the  law  as  the  ministers,  and  as  it  were  the 
secretaries  of  the  gods,  executing  it  in  virtue  of  the 
same  privilege.  That  is,  we  have  the  same  men 
performing  the  legislative  and  judicial  functions. 
Among  the  ancient  Britons  these  vast  powers  were 
enjoyed  by  the  Druids.' 

Of  the  times,  places,  and  forms  of  the  judicial 
proceedings  of  these  ghostly  judges  little  or  nothing 
is  known.  Most  of  the  notices  preserved  by  Caesar 
in  relation  to  these  matters  we  have  already  given 
in  our  general  abstract  of  his  account  of  the  Druidi- 
cal   system.      The   courts   of  justice  in  which   the 

1  Diod.  Sicul.  V.  31.— Strabo  iv.  p.  107.  (LutetiiE  1620.)— Casar 
B.  G.  vi.  13,  16. 


78 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  1. 


Druids  presided  were,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  like 
their  temples,  open  to  the  sky.  The  vestiges  of 
that  in  which  the  chief  British  tribunal  is  supposed 
to  have  been  held  are  still  to  be  traced  iu  the  Isle  of 
Anglesey,  and  are  thus  described  by  Rowland  :  "  In 
the  other  end  of  this  township  (of  Tre'r  Dryw), 
wherein  all  these  ruins  already  mentioned  are,  there 
first  appears  a  large  cirque  or  theatre,  raised  up  of 
earth  and  stones  to  a  great  height,  resembling  a 
horseshoe,  opening  directly  to  the  west,  upon  an 
even,  fair  spot  of  gi-ound.  This  cirque  or  theatre  is 
made  of  earth  and  stones,  carried  and  heaped  there 
to  form  the  bank.  It  is,  within  the  circumvallation, 
about  twenty  paces  over;  and  the  banks,  where 
whole  and  unbroken,  above  five  yards  perpendicu- 
lar height.  It  is  called  Bryn-Gwyn,  or  Brein- 
Gwjni,  i.  e.  the  supreme  or  royal  tribunal.'"  It  ap- 
pears from  Caesar  that  the  extraction  of  evidence  by 
torture  was  a  form  of  judicial  procedure  sometimes 
resorted  to  among  the  Gauls,  and  most  probably  it 

1  Mona  Antiqua,  pp.  89,  80. 


was  also  in  use  among  the  Britons.  Cwsar  tells  us 
that  it  was  applied  by  the  Gauls  in  the  case  of 
women  who  were  suspected  of  having  occasioned 
the  death  of  their  husbands;  but  he  does  not  say  that 
this  was  the  only  case  in  which  it  was  applied.  One 
of  the  few  laws  of  the  Gauls  which  he  expressly  men- 
tions is,  that  when  a  woman  was  found  guiltj'  of  this 
crime,  she  was  delivered  to  the  flames,  and  put  to 
death  by  the  aid  of  excruciating  torments.  We  may 
here  obseiTe  that,  notwithstanding  what  is  related 
respecting  the  promiscuous  concubinage  in  use 
among  the  Britons,  the  marriage  connexion  appears 
still  to  have  been  distinctly  acknowledged  and  pro- 
tected by  the  law.  The  histoi-y  of  Cartismundua, 
whose  subjects  rose  in  revolt  against  her  and  drove 
her  from  her  kingdom,  in  their  indignation  at  her 
profligate  abandonment  of  her  husband's  bed,  shows 
the  general  feeling  that  was  entertained  upon  this 
subject.  Cffisar  also  informs  us  that  among  the 
Gauls  the  husbands  had  the  power  of  life  and  death 
both  over  their  wives  and  their  children.     Another 


/■^■^ 


■.s> 


.viuu-Uki  IB  ill  his  full  Judicial  Costume,  and  wearing  the  Breastplate  of  Juilginent,  pronouncing  Sentence. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


79 


Gallic  law  relating  to  marriage  which  he  mentions 
is,  that,  whatever  dowiy  the  husband  received  with 
his  wife,  he  added  to  it  an  equivalent  amount ;  the 
whole  then  continued  the  common  property  of  the 
tsvo  so  long  as  both  lived,  and,  after  the  death  of 
either,  devolved,  with  all  accumulations,  upon  the 
sui"vivor.  It  also  appears  from  his  account  of  the 
Druids,  already  quoted,  that  theft  and  some  other 
crimes  were  punished  capitally,  according  to  the 
laws  administered  by  these  judges.  Their  system 
of  law,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  was  of  as  sangui- 
naiy  a  character  as  their  system  of  religion,  of  which 
it  made  a  part. 

Of  the  taxes  paid  by  the  Britons  to  their  kings 
we  know  nothing  further  than  that  the  Druids,  as 
already  mentioned,  took  care  to  be  exempted  from 
them,  as  well  as  from  serving  in  war,  and  indeed  all 
other  burdens. 

We  shall  conclude  this  section,  necessarily  a  veiy 
meagi'e  one  (since  we  refrain  from  swelling  out  our 
history  with  idle  conjectures),  with  the  account 
given  by  Solinus  of  a  singularly  constituted  govern- 
ment, Avhich  he  places  in  the  Western  Islands  of 
Caledonia,  and  to  which  possibly  in  some  features 
the  government  of  the  other  British  nations  may 
have  borne  a  resemblance.  These  islands,  called 
the  Hebrides,  "  being  only,"  he  says,  "  separated 
from  each  other  by  naiTow  firths,  or  amis  of  the  sea, 
constitute  one  kingdom.  The  sovereign  of  this  king- 
dom has  nothing  which  he  can  properly  call  his  own, 
but  he  has  the  free  use  of  all  the  possessions  of  all 
liis  subjects.  The  reason  of  this  regulation  is,  that 
he  may  not  be  tempted  to  acts  of  oppression  and 
injustice,  by  the  desire  or  hope  of  increasing  his 
possessions,  since  he  knows  that  he  can  possess  no- 
thing. This  prince  is  not  even  allowed  to  have  a 
wife  of  his  own,  but  he  has  free  access  to  the  wives 
of  all  his  subjects,  that,  having  no  children  which  he 
knows  to  be  his  own,  he  may  not  be  prompted  to 
encroach  on  the  privileges  of  his  subjects,  in  order 
to  aggrandize  his  family."  It  is  curious  that  this 
was  one  of  the  means  devised  by  Plato  in  his  Re- 
public, to  guard  against  the  same  evil.  Solinus, 
however,  is  not  a  writer  of  any  authority,  and,  al- 
though most  of  his  stories  are  stolen,  no  confirma- 
tion or  trace  of  tliis  very  strange  statement  is,  we 
believe,  to  be  found  anywhere  else.  It  is  not  un- 
likely that  he  may  be  merely  here  exercising  his 
invention  in  giving  a  "  local  habitation  and  a  name" 
to  the  philosophical  fiction  of  Plato. 


Section  III. 

THE   GOVERNMENT  AND   LAWS   OF   ROMAN  BRITAIN. 

,  The  transformation  of  South  Britain  into  a  Roman 
province  necessarily  swept  away  the  native  govern- 
ment, and  estabhshed  another  in  its  place  ;  the  least 
of  the  novel  characteristics  of  which  was,  that  it  was 
a  government  of  for^ners.  It  was  a  sudden  substi- 
tution of  the  institutimis  of  civilization  for  those  of  a 
condition  nearly  approaching  to  barbarism.  The 
Romans  were  certainly,  as  a  nation,  the  gi-eatest 
practical  statesmen  whom  the  world  has  yet  beheld. 


Among  other  people  individuals  have  from  time  to 
time  arisen  who  have  exhibited  vast  genius  in  devi- 
sing schemes  of  government,  or  have  shown  gi-eat 
capacity  for  administration.  But  among  the  Romans 
alone  there  existed  institutions  which  were  able  to 
ensure  a  succession  of  men  who  were  systematically 
taught  to  "  sway  the  rod  of  empire."  The  celebra- 
ted lines  of  their  great  poet  were  no  mere  poetical 
rhapsody — no  vain  and  empty  boast. 

Exnudent  alii  spirantia  mollius  aera, 
Credo  equidem  :   vivos  ducent  de  marmore  vultus  ; 
Orabunt  causas  melius  ;  Cfplique  meatus 
Describent  radio,  et  surgentia  sidera  dicent: 
Tu  regere  imperio  populos,  Romanp,  memento  ; 
Hse  tibi  erunt  artes  ;  pacisque  iniponere  morem, 
Parcere  subjectis,  et  debellare  superbos. 

JEneid,  vi.  648. 
Let  others  better  mould  the  running  mass 
Of  metals,  and  inform  the  breathing  brass  ; 
And  soften  into  flesh  a  marble  face  : 
Plead  better  at  the  bar ;  describe  the  skies, 
And  when  the  stars  descend,  and  when  they  rise. 
But  Rome,  'tis  thine  alone,  with  awful  sway. 
To  rule  mankind,  and  make  the  world  obey  ; 
Disposing  peace  and  war  thy  own  majestic  way  : 
To  tame  the  proud,  the  fettered  slave  to  free  ; 
These  are  imperial  arts,  and  worthy  thee. 

Jirydcn's  Translation. 

The  Roman  was  probably  the  wisest  oligarchy  that 
ever  existed.  In  Rome,  unlike  what  we  have  seen 
happen  in  other  oligarchies,  the  education  of  the 
ruling  class  was  as  careful!}'  attended  to,  as  jealously 
watched  over,  as  the  preservation  of  their  privileges. 
The  Roman  pati-ician  was  carefully  and  systemati- 
cally instructed  in  the  art  of  war,  and  in  such,  and 
such  only,  of  the  arts  of  peace  as  were  to  be  the 
source  of  power,  the  foundation  of  dominion  over 
those  who  aimed  at  universal  dominion.  Thus,  they 
made  their  law,  and  above  all  their  actiones  legis — 
their  law  of  procedure — a  mystery  into  which  a 
plebeian  could  never  penetrate,  but  with  which 
they  themselves  took  care  to  be  familiar.  Thus 
among  the  Romans  we  sometimes  see  the  most  vari- 
ous and  apparently  (at  least  to  our  modern  notions  on 
the  subject)  inconsistent  qualities  united  in  the  same 
individual.  Without  bringing  forward  cases  such  as 
that  of  the  all-accomplished  Julius  Ca;sar,  of  men  of 
great  power  and  extent  of  original  genius,  we  might 
cite  instances  from  the  Roman  annals  of  the  same 
man  being  juriscorisult,  general,  public  professor  of 
law,  pontifex  maximus,  consul,  dictator.^  When  we 
consider  that  to  these  various  accomplishments  were 
added  in  the  Roman  an  iion  discipline,  and  a  cour- 
age, cool,  steady,  collected,  we  shall  not  wonder  that 
his  march  was  to  uninteri-upted  victory  and  universal 
empire. 

Long  after  a  military  despotism  had  succeeded  to 
the  power  of  that  mighty  oligarchy,  Rome  still  con- 
tiimed  as  much  of  her  ancient  policy  as  required  that 
able  men,  though  no  longer  so  exclusively  selected 
from  one  class,  should  be  appointed  to  govern  her 
provinces  and  command  her  armies.  We  have  only 
to  look  at  the  result  to  be  convinced  that  Britain  was 
not  an  exception  to  this  salutary  rule. 

The  ministers  of  the  Roman  state,  Avhether  called 

1  Oranna  Orig.,  lib.  i.  cap.  47  et  seq.  See  also  Ilciueccii  Ilistoria 
Juris  Romani. 


80 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  1. 


republic  or  empire,  the  representatives  of  the  majesty 
of  the  Roraau  name,  were  educated  soldiers,  juris- 
consults,^ statesmen ;  and  whatever  might  be  their 
en-ors  and  their  vices — and  they  were,  no  doubt, 
many — they  conquered,  and,  up  to  a  certain  point, 
civilized  a  large  portion  of  the  world.  In  a  greater 
degi-ee  than  any  other  people  have  done,  the  Romans 
communicated  to  the  nations  they  conquered  (not 
merely,  as  is  often  falsely  asserted,  their  vices,  but) 
whatever  of  the  blessings  of  civilization  they  them- 
selves possessed. 

It  is  interesting  to  an  inhabitant  of  Great  Britain 
at  the  pi-esent  day,  to  reflect  that,  towards  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era,  more  than  1500  years 
ago,  this  island  actually  possessed,  for  a  period  of 
above  300  years,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Roman 
civilization ;  that,  in  the  second  and  third  centuries 
of  the  Cliristian  era,  the  inhabitants  of  Britain  en- 
jojed  personal  security ;  and,  after  the  payment  of 
the  Roman  taxes,  security  of  propeity  ;  arts  and  let- 
ters; elegant  and  commodious  buildings;  and  roads, 
to  which  no  roads  they  have  had  since  could  bear 
comparison,  till  the  establishment  of  the  present  rail- 
ways. As  we  look  along  the  line  of  the  Greenwich 
railroad,  and  contemplate  its  massive  yet  elegant 
arches, — its  compact  and  solid  masoniy, — its  iron 
highway,  and  the  ponderous  yet  compact  carriages 
that  fly  along  it,  and  reflect  that  the  whole  kingdom 
will  soon  be  intersected  with  similar  gigantic  sti-uc- 
tures,  we  feel  as  if  the  times  of  Roman  enterprise, 
as  regards  vastness  of  design  and  durability  of  work- 
manship, had  returned.  It  is  an  inquiiy  of  no  com- 
mon importance  and  interest  to  attempt  to  learn  Avhat 
were  the  principal  features  of  that  civilization  which 
rose  so  early,  and,  after  lasting  some  three  centuries, 
was  so  rapidly  and  totally  desti'oyed. 

The  Roman  settlements  were  originally  divided 
mto  colonies,  municipia,  and  Latin  cities ;  but,  in  tlie 
decline  of  the  empire,  the  distinctions  between  them 
were  obliterated,  and  they  were  all  invested  with 
equal  rights.  However,  from  the  importance  of  the 
subject,  it  is  fit  that  we  should  say  something  of  the 
rise  and  progress,  as  well  as  of  the  leading  charac- 
teristics of  the  municipia.  When  we  come  to  ti-eat 
of  the  military  government  of  the  province,  we  shall 
have  to  say  something  of  the  colonies.  One  leading 
distinction  between  them,  noted  by  Aulus  Gellius, 
we  may  mention  here,  that  the  colonies  were  sent 
out  from,  the  municipia  taken  into,  the  Roman  state. 

The  Romans,  in  their  conquests,  so  far  pursued  a 
diflferent  system  from  that  of  most  of  the  ancient 
nations,  that  they  neither  sought  to  exterminate  nor 
reduce  to  slavery  the  nations  they  conquered.  It  is 
the  opinion  of  M.  Guizot,'  whose  opinion  on  most 
points  of  the  philosophy  of  history  is  entitled  to  gi-eat 
respect,  that  this  difference  arose  from  the  situation 
of  most  of  the  neighboring  tribes  on  which  Rome  at 
first  made  war.  They  were  assembled  in  towns, 
not  dispersed  over  the  country.  At  first,  the  Ro- 
mans did  not  venture  to  leave  their  former  inhabitants 
in  the  conquered  towns.     They  were  occupied  either 

1  Essais  sur  I'Histoire  de  France  :  Paris,  1634.  Premier  Essai,  Du 
Regime  Municipal  dans  I'Empire  Romain,  p.  5,  et  seq. 


by  soldiers,  or  by  inhabitants  taken  from  Rome. 
Cffire  was  the  first  which  presened  its  laws  and 
magistrates,  and  received,  in  part  at  least,  the  rights 
of  Rome.'  This  example  soon  became  genei-al. 
There  were  different  degrees,  however,  of  the  privi- 
lege ;  and  it  was  only  the  highest  degree  that  con- 
feiTed  the  right  of  voting  at  Rome  like  the  Romans. 
The  towns  of  the  last  class,  whose  citizens  were  thus 
admitted  to  all  the  rights  of  Roman  citizens,  were 
called  municipia. 

Thence  arose  in  those  towns  a  separation  between 
the  municipal  rights  and  duties,  and  the  political 
rights  and  duties :  the  former  were  exercised  upon 
the  spot ;  the  latter  were  transported  to  Rome,  and 
could  only  be  exercised  within  its  walls.  The  prin- 
cipal matters  which  remained  local  were  —  1.  The 
religious  worship.  2.  The  administration  of  the  mu- 
nicipal property  and  revenues.  3.  The  police,  to  a 
certain  extent ;  Avith  4.  A  few  judicial  functions  spe- 
cially connected  with  it. 

All  these  local  aflfairs  were  regulated  either  by  in- 
dividual magistrates,  named  by  the  inhabitants,  or  by 
the  curia  of  the  town,  that  is,  the  college  oi  decuriones, 
or  inhabitants  possessed  of  a  territorial  revenue  to  a 
certain  amount.  In  general,  the  magistrates  were 
named  by  the  cmia,  though  sometimes  by  all  the 
inhabitants.  As  a  necessaiy  consequence  of  slavery, 
there  were  few  free  men  who  were  not  admissible 
into  the  curia.  Later,  the  decuriones  were  called 
curiales. 

When  the  Roman  government  from  an  aristocracy 
was  changed  into  an  absolute  monarchy,  the  chief 
men  of  the  municipia,  who  had  repaired  to  Rome  for 
the  purpose  of  exercising  their  political  powers,  and 
from  a  natural  ambition  to  share  in  the  government, 
having  no  longer  the  same  motive  to  go  to  Rome, 
remained  at  their  respective  municipia.  Thus  the 
municipia  obtained  a  portion  of  the  importance  which 
Rome  lost.  This  was  the  flourishing  time  of  the 
Roman  municipia.  Their  importance  during  this 
epoch  is  attested  by  the  number  of  laws  regarding 
them,  and  the  attention  bestowed  upon  them  by  the 
jurisconsults. 

But  this  epoch  of  their  history  was,  in  process  of 
time,  succeeded  by  another  far  less  prosperous.  The 
imperial  despotism  had  difficulties  to  struggle  with 
which  required  vast  sums  of  money.  On  one  side 
were  the  barbarians,  who  were  either  to  be  bought 
off,  or  beaten.  In  either  case  money  was  wanted — 
in  the  first,  to  pay  the  barbarians ;  in  the  second,  to 
pay  the  soldiers  who  fought  them.  On  the  other 
side  was  a  vast  and  increasing  populace,  to  be  fed, 
amused,  and  kept  under.  In  order  to  obtain  re- 
sources, an  administrative  machinery  was  created, 
capable  of  extending  its  action  eveiywhere,  but  vast 
and  complicated,  and  consequently  itself  a  source  of 
great  expense.  The  revenues  of  the  towns,  as  well 
as  those  of  individuals,  came  to  be  in  this  way  laid 
under  contribution.  At  different  times  the  emperor 
seized  a  great  quantity  of  munieipkl  property.  Never- 
theless, the  local  burdens  for  which  that  property 
was  intended   to   provide,   remained   the   same,   or 

■  Liv.  lib.  V.  cap.  i. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


81 


rather  went  on  increasing,  from  the  increase  of  the 
population.  When  the  revenues  of  a  municipality 
were  insufficient  for  its  expenses,  the  members  of 
the  cmia  (or  corporation)  were  obliged  to  provide  for 
them  out  of  their  private  property.  Thus  the  station 
of  decurio  became  a  source  of  ruin  to  those  who  held 
it,  that  is,  to  all  the  inhabitants  in  easy  circumstances 
of  all  the  municipia  of  the  empire.  And  thus  was 
desti'oyed  the  middle  class  of  citizens,  and  the  way 
prepared  most  effectually  for  the  total  ruin  of  the 
empire. 

This  result  was  accelerated  by  an  exemption  from 
the  curial  functions  being  gi-anted  to  certain  individu- 
als and  classes  as  a  privilege.  So  that,  as  the  bui-dens 
of  the  decuriones  increased,  this  privilege  came  in  to 
diminish  their  numbers.  Consequently,  the  weight 
pressed  with  increased  and  increasing  force  on  those 
that  remained,  till  it  ultimately  annihilated  the  order  ; 
and,  for  a  season,  a  middle  class  may  be  said  to  have 
disajjpeared  from  among  mankind.  And  as  human 
society,  without  that  middle  class,  is  as  infirm  as  any 
fabric  of  which  the  extremities  are  not  bound  to- 
gether, or  are  bound  but  by  a  rope  of  sand,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  the  Roman  world  should  have  fallen 
an  easy  prey  to  the  hordes  of  warlike  barbai'ians  that 
poured  in  upon  it.' 

Besides  the  main  incorporation,  each  city  contained 
various  colleges,  or  corporations  of  operatives,  who 
held,  says  Sir  Fi-ancis  Palgi'ave,  an  ambiguous  station 
between  slavery  and  freedom.  In  these  societies 
employments  were  hereditaiy,  so  that  the  son  of  the 
handicraftsman  became  a  member  of  the  college  by 
birth  or  caste.  It  is  foreign  to  our  present  purpose 
to  enter  into  an  account  of  these  Roman  guilds ;  but 
we  refer  the  reader  who  wishes  for  more  information 
respecting  them,  to  the  elaborate  and  learned  dis- 
cussion on  the  subject  contained  in  the  tenth  chapter 
of  Sir  Fi-ancis  Palgrave's  work  on  the  "  Rise  and 
Progi-ess  of  the  English  Commonwealth."  That 
prince  of  jurisprudential  expositors,  Heineccius,  has 
also  -wTitten  a  work,  "  De  Collegiis  et  Corporibus 
Opificum." 

When  the  Romans  had  established  themselves 
in  Britain,  they  proceeded,  according  to  their  usual 
policy,  to  make  Venilamium  a  municipium,  or  free 
town,  bestowing  on  the  inhabitants  all  the  privileges 
of  Roman  citizens.  Wlien  this  first  happened,  the 
municipal  system  was  in  the  second  stage  or  epoch 
of  the  progi-ess  which  we  have  briefly  traced  above, 
that  is,  it  was  in  its  flourishing  state.  London,  too, 
though  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  municipium, 
nor  even  distinguished  by  the  name  of  a  colony, 
was,  we  are  informed  by  Tacitus,^  famous  for  its 
trade,  enjoying,  no  doubt,  some  of  the  advantages  of 
the>  Roman  Municipia.     The  fact  in  this  paiticular 

1  In  the  above  brief  account  of  the  Roman  municipia,  we  have  chiefly- 
followed  the  essay  of  M.  Guizot,  above  quoted. 

2  Annal.  lib.  xiv.  cap.  xxxiii.  His  words  are  "Londinium— cogno- 
mento  quidem  colonic  non  insigne,  sed  copia.  negotiatorum  et  commea- 
tuLim  maxime  celebre."  He  expressly  calls  Verulamium  a  municipium. 
See  also  Suetonius,  Vit.  Neron.  cap.  ixxix.  Both  Tacitus  and  Sue- 
tonius use  the  words  civium  et  sociorum,— while  civium  may  refer  to 
Verulamium,  sociorum  to  London.  Seo  also  Horsley's  Britannia  Ro- 
mana,  pp.  16  and  28. 

VOL.   I G 


instance  of  Britain,  agi-ees  with  and  illustrates  the 
general  fact  stated  above.  In  a  few  years  the  two 
places  above  named  were  crowded  with  inhabitants, 
who  were  all  zealous  partisans  of  the  Roman  govern- 
ment. Both  these  facts  are  demonstrated  by  what 
happened  to  these  two  cities  in  the  great  revolt  under 
Boadicea.  The  revolted  Britons,  as  already  related, 
attacked  with  fury  London  and  Verulamium,  on 
account  of  their  attachment  to  the  Romans,  and  des- 
troyed no  fewer  than  70,000  of  their  inhabitants — a 
sufficient  proof  of  the  populousness  of  those  towns. 

That  populousness  also,  in  so  short  a  time  after 
the  establishment  of  the  Romans  in  the  island,  is  a 
sufficient  proof  of  the  wise  policy  of  the  Romans,  in 
reconciling  the  conquered  people  to  their  domina- 
tion, by  their  municipal  institutions  ;  for  the  wonder 
is,  not  that  a  part  of  the  Britons  made  the  revolt 
above  alluded  to,  but  that  so  many  of  them  were 
already  quietly  settled,  along  with  the  colonists  sent 
out  from  Italy,  or  their  descendants,  in  London  and 
Verulamium.  The  principal  towns  of  every  Roman 
province,  besides,  as  we  have  already  stated,  being 
governed  by  laws  and  magisti-ates  similar  to  those  of 
Rome,  were  adorned  with  temples,  courts  of  justice, 
theati'es,  statues,  and  other  public  buildings  and 
monuments,  in  imitation  of  that  mighty  citj^ — thus 
imitating  the  external  and  physical,  as  well  as  the 
internal  and  moral  characteristics  of  their  metropolis. 
"  The  country  was  replete,"  says  Sir  Francis  Pal- 
grave,  "  with  the  monuments  of  Roman  magnificence. 
Malmesbury  appeals  to  those  stately  ruins  as  testi- 
monies of  the  favor  which  Britain  had  enjoyed  ;  the 
towers,  the  temples,  the  theatres,  and  the  baths,, 
which  yet  remained  undestroyed,  excited  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  the  chronicler  and  the  traveler ;: 
and  even  in  the  fourteenth  century,  the  edifices 
raised  by  the  Romans  were  so  numerous  and  costly, 
as  almost  to  excel  any  others  on  this  side  the  Alps. 
Nor  were  these  sti'uctures  among  the  least  influ- 
ential means  of  establishing  the  Roman  power.  Ar- 
chitecture, as  cultivated  by  the  ancients,  was  not 
merely  presented  to  the  eye ;  the  art  spake  also  to 
the  mind.  The  walls  covered  with  the  decrees  of  the 
legislature,  engi-aved  on  bronze,  or  sculptured  in  the 
marble  ;  the  triumphal  arches,  cro-\vned  by  the  statues 
of  the  princes  who  governed  the  province  fi'om  the 
distant  Quirinal ;  the  tesselated  floor,  pictured  with 
the  mythology  of  the  state,  whose  sovereign  was  its 
pontiff — all  contributed  to  act  upon  the  feelings  of 
the  people,  and  to  impress  them  with  respect  and 
submission.  The  conquered  shared  in  the  fame, 
and  were  exalted  by  the  splendor  of  the  victors."^ 

The  government  of  Britain,  so  long  as  it  formed 
only  one  province,  is  supposed  to  have  been  com- 
mitted, according  to  custom,  to  a  single  president, 
whose  powers  appear  to  have  at  first  been  almost 
discretionary,  and  but  little  controlled  even  by  the 
established  laws  of  the  empire.  It  is  sufficiently 
clear,  from  what  Tacitus  says  in  his  Life  of  Agi'i- 
cola,  that  the  government  of  the  Romans  in  Britain, 
before  the  airival  of  Agricola,  was  exti'emely  op- 

1  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  vol.  i.  part,  i.pi^ 
323.     4to  London,  1832. 


82 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  1. 


pressive.  That  excellent  person  employed  his  first 
winter  in  redressing  the  ginevances  of  the  Britons, 
which  had  been  so  great  as  to  occasion  frequent 
revolts,  and  render  a  state  of  peace  more  terrible  to 
them  than  a  state  of  war.  One  remark  of  Tacitus, 
in  describing  the  course  of  policy  pursued  by  his 
tather-in-law,  seems  to  contain  nearly  the  whole 
secret  of  the  Roman  art  of  governing  their  provinces, 
iis  distinguished  from  the  barbarous  imbecilitj'  usually 
displayed  by  conquering  states  in  their  conduct  to- 
wards the  conquered.  "  Doctus,"  he  says  of  Agri- 
cola,  "  per  aliena  experimenta,  ^jarum  profici  armis, 
si  injuriee  sequerentur ;" — taught  by  the  experience 
of  others,  that  little  was  gained  by  arms,  if  success 
was  followed  by  injuries.  The  edict  of  Hadrian, 
however,  promulgated  a.  d.  131,  and  called  the  per- 
petual edict,  had  no  doubt  the  eftect  of  mitigating 
the  tjTanny  of  the  provincial  presidents,  since  it  con- 
rained  a  system  of  rules  by  which  they  were  to 
regulate  their  conduct  in  their  judicial  capacity,  and 
by  which  the  administration  of  justice  was  rendered 
imiform  throughout  all  the  empire.' 

From  the  promulgation  of  the  perpetual  edict  of 
the  Emperor  Hadrian  to  the  final  departure  of  the 
l\omans  out  of  this  island,  was  about  300  years ; 
and  during  that  period  the  laws  of  Rome  were  firmly 
established  in  all  the  Roman  dominions  in  Britain. 
In  our  sketch  of  the  municipal  institutions  we  have 
already  given  the  substance  of  a  portion  of  those 
laws, — and  in  what  remains  to  be  said  we  shall  have 
to  allude  to  others.  Most  of  them  were  embodied 
in  the  Theodosian  Code,  by  command  of  the  Em- 
;)eror  Theodosius,  about  the  year  438.  This  code 
did  not,  however,  as  Montesquieu  seems  to  suppose, 
constitute  the  whole  body  of  the  Roman  law  in  the 
fifth  century.  It  was  a  collection  of  the  constitutions 
of  the  emperors  from  Constantine  to  Theodosius  the 
younger.-  Independently  of  those  constitutions,  the 
law  of  the  Twelve  Tables;  the  ancient  senatus-con- 
sulta,  and  plebiscita  ;  the  edicts  of  the  preetors,  or 
rather  the  perpetual  edict  of  Hadrian,  which  had 
superseded  these;  and,  lastly,  the  responsa  pruden- 
tum,  the  opinions  of  the  jurisconsults,  formed  part  of 
the  Roman  law.  Indeed,  in  the  year  426,  by  a  con- 
stitution of  Theodosius  the  younger  and  Valentinian, 
the  works  of  five  of  the  gi'eat  jurisconsults.  Papinia- 
nus,  Paullus,  Gains,  ITlpianus,  and  Modestinus,  and 
of  four  others,  secundo  loco,  Scaevola,  Sabinus,  Ju- 
lianus,  and  Marcellus,  had  expressly  received  the 
force  of  law.^  The  Theodosian  Code,  however, 
doubtless  contained  the  most  important  portion  of 
the  law  of  the  empire,  and  is  also  the  document 
which  throws  most  light  on  that  epoch,  particularly 
when  aided  by  the  veiy  learned  commentary  of 
.facobus  Gothofred.  To  attempt  to  give  any  de- 
tailed account  of  that  vast  body  of  laws  in  this  place 
would  evidently  be  futile. 

It  is  ahnost  unneoessary  to  add  that  the  corpus 

1  Heinec.  Antiq.  Roman,  lib.  i.  cap.  it.  $  104.     See  also  Heineccii 
Hist.  Jur.  Rom.  i.  5  275  and  Gravinse  Origin,  lib.  i.  cap.  38. 

2  Heineccii  Hist.  Jur.  Rom.  lib.  i.  §  379.     Gra^-inte  Orig.  lib.  i.  cap. 
Ul. 

3  Heineccii  Hist.  Jur.  Rom.  lib.  i.  ^  368. 


juris,  or  body  of  law,  promulgated  by  Justinian,  con- 
tains in  substance  much  of  what  ^^^ls  in  the  Theodo- 
sian Code,  as  well  as  in  the  works  of  those  great 
jurisconsults.  And  although  we  cannot  join  in  the 
admiration  expressed  by  some  for  the  "  regular 
order"  of  that  digest,  where  order  there  is  none,  we 
must  needs  admit  that,  as  a  body  of  law,  it  remains  a 
monument  of  the  good  sense  of  that  illusti'ious  people, 
and  of  their  great  practical  talents  for  government 
and  legislation. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  with  historical  wiiters' 
to  attribute  much  of  the  progress  of  modem  Eu- 
ropean civilization  to  the  revival  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  Roman  law,  by  the  discoveiy  of  a  copy  of  the 
Pandects  of  Justinian  at  Amalphi,  a.  d.  1137.  Von 
Savigny,  in  his  Histoiy  of  the  Roman  Law  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  has  completely  proved  that  the 
Roman  law  had  never  perished,  and  therefore  that 
the  story  of  its  resuscitation  by  the  discovery  of  the 
Pandects  at  Amalphi  in  the  twelfth  century  is  en'o- 
neous.  Indeed,  more  than  half  a  centuiy  before  the 
appearance  of  the  work  of  Von  Savigny,  Heineccius 
had  aiTived  at  nearly  the  same  conclusion,  though 
he  did  not  go  into  such  fulness  of  detail  as  ^"on 
Savigny.-  But  the  reported  discovery  of  the  Pan- 
dects, and  the  rapid  effects  ascribed  to  that  one 
cause,  bear  about  them  sometliing  of  that  air  of  the 
miraculous  which  has  always  found  such  favor  with 
mankind. 

For  the  purposes  of  administration,  the  Roman 
territories  in  Britain  were,  about  150  years  after  its 
first  occupation  by  these  conquerors,  divided  into 
two  provinces,  to  which  three  more  were  aftenvards 
added.  The  only  notice  of  these  divisions  which 
can  be  perfectly  depended  on,  so  far  as  it  goes,  is 
contained  in  the  "  Notitia,"  already  mentioned,  a 
document  which  is  of  about  the  same  date  with  the 
Theodosian  Code  ;^  but  all  that  we  learn  from  this 
document  is,  that  the  names  of  the  five  provinces 
were  Flavia  Cresariensis,  Britannia  Prima,  Britannia 
Secunda,  Valentia,  and  Maxima  Cspsariensis.  As 
to  the  parts  of  the  i.sland  to  which  these  names 
were  respectively  applied,  we  are  altogether  in  the 
dark.  It  is  even  doubtful  whether  they  were  all 
contained  within  the  wall  of  Severus,  or  whether 
one  of  them  (but  which  is  matter  of  conjecture)  did 
not  comprehend  the  space  between  that  rampart  and 
the  wall  of  Antoninus.  Richard  of  Cirencester  adds 
a  sixth  province,  to  which  he  gives  tlie  name  of 
Vespasiana,  and  which  he  makes  to  extend  from 
the  wall  of  Antoninus  to  the  Moray  Frith. 

The  machinery  for  governing  Britain  as  well  as 
the  other  provinces  of  the  Roman  eiripire,  varied 
with  the  extent  of  that  empire.  We  shall  now 
give  an  account  of  it  when  it  was  in  its  most  com- 
plete and  extensive  form.  In  the  fifth  centuiy,  the 
Emperor  Constantine  the  Great  divided  the  whole 

1  See  Henry.  Hist,  of  Britain,  book  1.  chap.  iii.  §  3.  Also  Heinec- 
cius, Robertson,  Hume,  Ac. 

3  Heineccii  Hist.  Jur.  Rom.  lib.  i.  §  413,  414,  415. 

3  The  best  edition  of  it  is  that  with  the  Commentary  of  Pancirolus, 
given  in  the  seventh  volume  of  the  Roman  Antiquities  of  Grffivius.  An 
account  of  the  portion  of  it  relating  to  Britain  will  be  found  in  Hors- 
ley's  Britannia  Romana. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


83 


Roman  empire  into  the  four  prefectures  of  the  East, 
Illyricum,  Italy,  and  Gaul,  over  each  of  which  he 
established  a  prefect.^  Each  of  these  prefectures 
was  subdivided  into  a  certain  number  of  dioceses, 
each  of  which  was  governed,  under  the  prefect,  by 
an  officer  called  the  vicar  of  the  diocese.  The 
diocese  of  Britain,  as  well  as  those  of  Gaul  and 
Spain,  was  comprehended  in  the  prefecture  of  Gaul. 
The  court  of  the  vicar  of  Britain,  who  resided 
chiefly  at  London,  was  composed  of  the  following 
officei-s  : — a  principal  officer  of  the  agents ;  a  prin- 
cipal secretaiy ;  two  chief  accountants ;  a  master  of 
the  prisons ;  a  notary ;  a  secretaiy  for  dispatches ; 
an  assistant ;  under-assistants ;  clerks  for  appeals  ; 
sergeants  and  other  inferior  officers. 

Each  of  the  five  provinces  of  Britain  had  a  par- 
ticular governor,  styled  a  president,  who  resided 
within  the  province.  From  these  governors  appeals 
lay  to  the  vicar,  and  fi'om  him  to  the  prefect  of  Gaul. 
The  title  of  the  vicar  of  Britain  was  Spectabilis,  and 
the  ensigns  of  his  office  were  a  book  of  instructions 
in  a  gi'een  cover,  and  five  castles  representing  the 
five  provinces  under  his  jurisdiction,  and  placed 
within  a  line  which  imitated  the  triangular  form  of 
the  island.  Two  of  the  provinces — probably  the 
two  most  northerly — ^were  governed  by  persons  of 
consular  dignity,  the  three  others  by  persons  styled 
presidents.  The  court,  or  more  properly  bureau,  of 
each  of  these  governors  v/as  almost  an  exact  copy, 
on  a  smaller  scale,  of  that  of  the  vicar  of  the  diocese 
and  of  the  prefect  of  the  prefecture.* 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  into  more  detail  in 
regard  to  the  various  subordinate  administrative  offi- 
ces. It  is  sufficient  to  observe  that  they  form  a 
complete  example  of  pure  and  simple  administrative 
despotism.  There  is  no  independence  for  the  func- 
tionaries ;  they  are  subordinate  one  to  another,  up 
to  the  emperor,  who  has  the  absolute  disposal  of 
their  destiny.  There  is  no  appeal  for  the  subjects 
against  the  functionaries,  but  to  their  superiors. 
We  meet  with  no  coordinate  powers  destined  to  act 
as  checks  upon  one  another ;  everything  proceeds 
according  to  a  strictly  gi-aduated  scale ;  and  yet  M. 
Guizot  thinks,  and  not  a  few  will  agree  with  him, 
that  this  administrative  machinery  of  the  imperial 
despotism  was  less  grievous  to  those  who  lived  under 
it  than  the  powers  which  preceded  it, — whether 
the  short-lived,  but  on  that  account  more  rapacious, 
tyranny  of  the  Roman  proconsul,  republican  at  least 
in  name,  or  the  barbarous  oppression  of  their  native 
nilers, — their  ignorant  and  ferocious  chieftains,  and 
fanatic  priests.  With  respect  to  the  administration 
of  the  laws,  the  Roman  governors  had  the  sole 
judgment  of  all  causes,  without  other  appeal  than  to 
the  emperor.  In  the  first  ages  of  the  empire,  and 
conformably  to  the  ancient  customs,  he  to  whom 
the  jurisdiction  belonged,  whether  praetor,  governor 
of  the  province,  or  municipal  magistrate,  when  a 
case  came  before  him  for  trial,  did  nothing  but 
determine   the   rule   of   law.     He    then   appointed 

1  Heineccii  Hist.  Jur.  Romani,  lib.  i.  §  365.— Notitia  Imperii,  with 
Pancirolus'  Commentary. 
-  Notitia  Imperii,  chap.  ilix.    Heineccii  Antiq.  Rom.  Append,  lib.  i. 


a  private  citizen,  called,  ^'wc^ex  (literally  "judge"), 
corresponding  to  our  jury,  who  examined  and  decided 
upon  the  point  of  fact.  The  principle  laid  down  by 
the  magisti-ate  was  applied  to  the  fact  recognized  by 
the  judex,  and  the  tiial  was  completed. 

In  proportion  as  the  imperial  despotism  was  es- 
tablished, the  intervention  of  the  judex  became  less 
regular.  The  magistrates,  without  having  recourse 
to  that  contrivance,  decided  certain  aflfairs  which 
they  called  extraordinarice  cognitiones.  Diocletian 
formally  abolished  the  institution  of  the  judex  in  the 
provinces ;  it  no  longer  appeared  but  as  an  exception 
to  a  rule  ;  and,  in  the  time  of  Justinian,  it  seems  to 
have  fallen  completely  into  desuetude.^ 

From  this  it  will  appear  that,  in  Britain  as  else- 
where, the    governors   had   two  sorts  of  duties : — 

1.  They  were  the  emperor's  ministers,  intiusted 
with  the  collection  of  the  revenues,  with  the  com- 
mand and  recruiting  of  the  armies,  with  the  manage- 
ment of  the  imperial  posts,  and,  in  a  word,  of  every 
relation  in  which  the  emperor  stood  to  his  subjects; 

2.  They  had  the  administration  of  justice.'^'  The 
administrative  and  judicial  departments  were  thus, 
conti'ary  to  some  of  the  most  important  principles  of 
good  government,  sti'ictly  combined ;  the  Roman 
emperors  not  being  of  the  opinion  of  George  III., 
when  he  declared  that  "he  looked  upon  the  indepen- 
dence and  uprightness  of  the  judges  as  essential  to 
the  impartial  administration  of  justice — as  one  of  the 
best  securities  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  his  sub- 
jects— and  as  most  conducive  to  the  honor  of  the 
crown."* 

When  the  Romans  conquered  a  people,  they  gen- 
erally pursued  with  them  one  of  two  modes; — they 
either  imposed  on  them  an  annual  ti'ibute,  or  they 
took  from  them  their  lands,  colonizing  them  from 
Rome,  or  restoring  them  to  the  conquered  people 
on  the  condition  of  their  paying  a  certain  proportion 
of  the  revenue  of  them  to  the  conquerors.  Those 
treated  in  the  former  manner  were  called  tributarii; 
those  ti-eated  in  the  latter,  vectigales.  At  first  Bri- 
tain belonged  to  the  former  class,  but  afterwards  to 
the  latter.  The  vectigales  paid  from  their  arable 
land  a  tax  called  decumce,  from  their  pasture  a  tax 
called  scriptura,  and  from  their  ports  a  tax  called 
portoriurn.* 

The  decumee,  as  the  name  implies,  was  properly  a 
tithe ;  but  this  proportion  varied,  being  sometimes 
less,  sometimes  more,  than  a  tenth,  according  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  occasion  and  the  poverty  and  fertility 
of  the  country.^  Afterwards,  under  the  emperors, 
the  proportion  was  settled  by  the  Canon  frumentarius, 
or  law  for  supplying  Rome,  and  aftei-wards  Constan- 
tinople, with  corn.^  Certain  grievances  in  the  man- 
ner of  levying  this  tax  imposed  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  Britain  were  remedied  by  Agi'icola.^     This  tax  was 

1  Instit.  lib.  iv.  tit.  17.  De  officio  Judicis. — Guizot.  Cours  d'Histoire 
Moderiie,  vol.  ii.  p.  54.     Heinecc.  Antiq.  Rom.  ubi  supra. 

2  Heineccii  Antiq.  Rom.  Appendix,  lib.  i.  §  iii. 

3  Commons'  Journals,  3rd  March,  1761. 
*  Hein.  Antiq.  Rom.  App.  lib.  i.  $  114. 

s  Hein.  Id.  §  115. — Burmann.  de  Vectigal.  Pop.  Rom.  cap.  ii 
«  Jac.  Gothofred.  ad  Tit.  Cod.  Theod.  Can.  Frum. 
■'  Tacit.  Agric.  cap.  xix. 


84 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


also  levied  on  otlier  things  besides  corn,  such  as  vine- 
yards and  orchards. 

The  Romans  also  levied  a  tax  on  pasture-grounds 
and  fruits.  This  tax  was  called  scriptura,  because 
the  collector  of  it  wrote  down  in  his  books  the  num- 
ber of  the  cattle.'  Under  the  emperors,  this  tax  was 
partly  levied  in  kind.*  This  tax,  when  first  imposed 
on  them,  proved  very  oppressive  to  the  Britons,  their 
property  chiefly  then  consisting  in  cattle,  and  they 
being  obliged  to  borrow  money  from  some  of  the 
wealthy  Romans  at  an  exorbitant  rate  of  inter- 
est. Seneca  is  said  to  have  lent  the  Britons  above 
32'3,0(X)/. ;  and  his  demanding  it  with  rigor  at  a  time 
when  they  were  unable  to  pay  is  supposed  to  have 
contiibuted  to  the  great  revolt  under  Boadicea.^ 

Another  important  tax  was  the  portoria,  or  cus- 
toms, which  in  Britain  are  said  to  have  been  remark- 
ably heavy.  Another  was  raised  from  mines  of  eveiy 
description.  Besides  these,  there  were  various 
other  taxes,  which  pressed  heavily  on  the  conquered 
people.* 

The  charge  of  collecting  all  these  taxes  was  com- 
mitted to  an  imperial  procurator,  who  had  the  super- 
intendence of  all  the  inferior  officers  employed  in  this 
branch  of  administration ;  and  in  Britain,  as  else- 
where, the  principal  taxes  were  let  to  fanners  at  a 
yearly  rent.  We  have  the  authority  of  Tacitus,  that 
the  Britons  were  exposed  to  grievous  extortions  in 
the  raising  of  them. 

The  troops  which  the  Romans  stationed  in  Britain 
to  secure  their  conquest  were,  according  to  their 
usual  policy,  collected  from  many  distinct  and  remote 
provinces  of  the  empire,  and  differed  from  the  Bri- 
tons and  from  each  other  in  their  manners  and  lan- 
guages.* About  the  same  time  that  the  changes 
which  have  been  described  were  made  in  the  civil 
administration  of  the  empire,  a  similar  change  was 
made  in  the  government  of  the  mihtary  establish- 
ment. Constantine  the  Great  deprived  the  praetorian 
prefects  of  their  militaiy  command,  and  appointed  in 
their  stead  tAvo  new  officers  called  magistri  militum, 
one  of  whom  had  the  command  of  the  cavahy,  the 
other  of  the  infantry.  These  had  not  their  ordinary 
residence  in  Britain;  but  the  Roman  troops  there 
were  commanded  under  them  by  the  tlii'ee  following 
officers:  1.  Comes  Littoris  Saxonici  per  Britan- 
niam,  the  Count  of  the  Saxon  Shore  in  Britain. 
•2.  Comes  Britanniae,  the  Count  of  Britain.  3.  Dux 
Britanniarum,  the  Duke  of  Britain.*^ 

Wherever  the  government  is  a  pure  despotism,  the 
principal  officers  of  state  will  be,  at  least  to  a  certain 
extent,  the  private  friends  or  associates  of  the  mon- 
arch, or  individual  in  whose  hands  is  lodged  the  sov- 
ereign power.     These  will  be  his  counseUors  and  his 

1  Heinecc.  Id.  $  116. 

2  Burmann.  de  Vectig-al.  Pop.  Rom.  cap.  iv.  p.  65,  et  seq. 

3  Xiphilinus,  Epitome  Diunis  NicEi  in  Nerone. 

*  Heinecc.  Id.  $  118. 

5  Notitia,  §  52,  63,  or  71^^,  lib.  ii.  of  Pancirolus'  division. 

*  Notitia,  <i  52,  53,  63  in  Horsley  ;  or  71,  72,  87,  lib.  ii.  of  Panciro- 
lus' division.  This  is  the  order  in  which  they  occur  in  the  Notitia,  as 
■vi-e  apprehend,  without  reference  to  their  rank.  For  it  is  probable,  for 
reasons  which  will  be  assigned  in  the  note  on  the  Count  of  Britain, 
that  the  Duke  of  Britain,  though  placed  last,  was  at  least  equal  in 
rink  to  the  other  two  functionaries. 


ministers.  Thus,  in  the  courts  of  the  middle  ages,  as 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  remark  hereafter,  those 
who  held  offices  about  the  king's  person,  many  of 
which  we  should  consider  menial,  were,  in  effect, 
the  king's  ministers.  In  fact,  the  more  modern  prac- 
tice was  borrowed  from  the  later  Roman  and  Byzan- 
tine emperors.  In  the  courts  of  the  Roman  empe- 
rors, from  Augustus  downwards,  these  counsellors 
were  styled  Comites  Augustales,  or  Comites  Augusti, 
companions  of  the  emperor,  from  their  constant  at- 
tendance on  his  person.  They  were  divided  into 
three  oi'ders  or  degi-ees.  When  they  left  the  impe- 
rial court,  to  take  upon  them  the  government  of  a 
province,  town,  or  castle,  in  the  exercise  of  any  office, 
they  were  no  longer  called  Comites  Augustales,  but 
Comites  of  that  province,  town,  castle,  or  office.'  Of 
this  the  Comites  Britanniarum,  the  Counts  of  Britain, 
and  the  Comites  Littoris  Saxonici  per  Britanniam, 
the  Counts  of  the  Saxon  Shore  in  Britain,  were 
examples. 

The  Counts  of  Britain-  are  supposed  to  have  had 
the  command  originally  of  about  3000  foot,  and  600 
horse,  in  the  interior  parts  of  Britain.  But  after- 
wards these  forces  seem  to  have  been  withdrawn,  or 
stationed  on  the  frontiers ;  for,  in  the  section  of  the 
Notitia,  where  the  court  of  this  officer  is  described, 
there  is  no  mention  of  any  forces  under  his  com- 
mand.' 

In  the  third  century  the  south  and  east  coasts  of 
Britain  began  to  be  much  infested  by  Saxon  pirates ; 
and  thence  it  is  supposed  to  have  got  the  name  of 
Littus  Saxonicum,  the  Saxon  shore.*  To  protect 
the  country  from  these  pirates,  the  Romans  not  only 
kept  a  fleet  on  these  coasts,  but  also  built  a  chain  of 
forts,  which  they  garrisoned.  The  officer  who  com- 
manded in  chief  all  these  forts  and  garrisons,  was 
called  Comes  Littoris  Saxonici  per  Britanniam,  the 
Count  of  the  Saxon  Shore  in  Britain.  These  forts 
were  nine  in  number,  and  were  situated  at  the  fol- 
lowing places :  1.  Branodunum,  Brancaster.  2.  Gari- 
annonum,  Burghcastle,  near  Yarmouth,  both  on  the 
Norfolk  coast.  3.  Othona,  Ithanchester,  not  far 
from  Maiden,  in  Essex,  now  overflowed  by  the  sea. 

'  Selden's  Titles  of  Honour,  p.  941,  et  seq.  Du  Cange,  Gloss,  voc 
Comites. 

2  Sir  Francis  Palgrave  (Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Common- 
wealth, vol.  i.  part  i.  p.  359)  says  that  the  Comites  Britanniarum  are 
conjectured  to  have  been  the  supreme  commanders  of  the  diocese. 
This,  too,  is  the  opinion  of  Brady.  (Hist.  p.  41.)  We  do  not  think 
this  conjecture  well  founded.  There  appears  reason  to  believe  (see 
particularly  Cotl.  Theod.  lib.  vi.  t.  14,  1,  3,  and  Gothofred's  Commen- 
tary upon  it)  that  generally  the  dux  was  a  military  officer  of  superior 
rank  to  the  Comes.  The  law  referred  to  is  for  the  express  purpose  of 
placing  certain  Comites  primi  ordihis  ret  militaris  upon  an  eyuality 
with  the  duces,  with  the  special  exception  of  two — the  "  duces  .SIgypti 
et  PonticsB." 

3  Notitia,  72.  lib.  ii.,  edit,  of  Pancirolus. 

♦  On  this  subject  Sir  Francis  Palgrave  has  the  following  remark : 
"  It  has  been  conjectured  that  this  extensive  tract  was  so  denominated, 
in  consequence  of  being  continually  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the 
Saxons  ;  but  is  it  not  more  reasonable  to  assume  that  they  had  already 
fixed  themselves  in  some  portion  of  the  district  1  For  it  is  a  strange 
and  anomalous  process  to  name  a  country,  not  from  its  inhabitants,  but 
from  its  assailants,  and  on  the  opposite  "littus  Saxonicum,"  afterwards 
included  in  Normandy,  they  had  obtained  a  permanent  domicile  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Baieux." — Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Common- 
wealth, vol.  i.  part.  i.  p.  384.  And  yet  the  reader  will  remark,  that  the 
Roman  forts  were  all  situated  on  the  very  verge  of  the  ocean,  some  of 
them  on  places  which  it  has  since  overflowed. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


85 


4.  Regulbium,  Reculver.  5.  Rutupse,  Richborough. 
6.  Dubi-se,  Dover.  7.  Lemanae,  Lime ;  these  four 
last  on  the  coast  of  Kent.  8.  Anderida,  Hastings,  or 
East  Bourn,  in  Sussex.  9.  Portus  Allurnus,  Ports- 
mouth, in  Hampshire. 1  They  were  garrisoned  by 
about  2200  foot,  and  200  horse.  The  ensigns  of  the 
count  of  the  Saxon  shore  in  Britain  were,  a  book  of 
instructions,  and  the  figures  of  nine  castles,  repre- 
senting the  nine  forts  under  his  command.  His  court 
was  composed  of  the  following  officers  ; — a  principal 
officer  fi-om  the  court  of  the  master  of  the  foot ;  two 
auditors  fi-om  the  same  court;  a  master  of  the  pris- 
ons, fi-om  the  same;  a  secretary;  an  assistant;  an 
under-assistant;  a  registrar;  a  clerk  of  appeals ;  ser- 
geants and  other  inferior  officers.^ 

The  word  dux  (which  originally  signified  the  leader 
of  an  army  in  general)  became,  under  the  lower  em- 
pire, the  title  of  a  particular  military  officer,  who 
commanded  the  Roman  forces  in  a  certain  district, 
commonly  on  the  frontiers.^  Such  was  the  Dux 
Britanniarum,  the  Duke  of  Britain,  who  liad  com- 
mand on  the   northern    frontier  over  thirty-seven 

1  Horsley,  Brit.  Rom.,  p.  472. 

2  Notitia,  >>  71,  lib.  ii, ;  edition  of  Pancirolus. 

3  Jac.  Gothofred.  ad  Jib.  vii.  Cod.  Theod.  (de  re  militari)  ;  see  par- 
tJcuJarlj  torn,  iL  p.  256,— SeUeo's  TitJtes  of  Honour,  p,  263,  , 


fortified  places,  and  the  troops  stationed  in  them. 
Twenty-three  of  these  forts  were  situated  on  the 
line  of  Severus'  wall,  and  the  other  fourteen  at  no 
great  distance  from  ii.^  In  these  thirty-seven  forts 
about  14,000  foot  and  900  horse  were  stationed.'^ 
The  court  of  the  Duke  of  Britain  was  exactly  similar 
to  that  of  the  Count  of  the  Saxon  Shore,  which  has 
been  described  above. 

The  Roman  soldiers  were  not  less  remarkable  for 
their  industry  than  for  their  disciphne  and  valor. 
These  several  bodies  of  troops,  composing  the  stand- 
ing army  of  the  Romans  in  Britain,  besides  perfoi-m- 
ing  the  then  important  sei-vices  of  guarding  the  coasts 
against  the  Saxon  pirates,  presei-ving  the  internal 
tranquillity  of  the  country,  and  protecting  the  north- 
ern frontiers  from  the  incursions  of  the  Scots  and 
Picts,  executed  many  of  those  noble  works  of  utility 
and  ornament,  the  vastness  and  durability  of  which, 
though  only  contemplated  after  numerous  hordes  of 
desti'oying  barbarians  have  swept  over  them,  have 
excited  the  astonishment  and  admiration  of  eveiy 
successive  generation  of  mankind. 

1  Horsley,  Brit.  Rom.  p.  481,  et  seq. 

2  Pancirolus  ad  Notitiam,  lib.  ji.  cap,  87,  according  to  bis  division. 
Brad/,  Hist,,  vol,  i,  p,  47, 


86 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
HISTORY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


NDER  this  title  we 
propose  to  present  a 
view  of  the  state  and 
progress,  in  each  pe- 
riod, of  all  those  arts 
commonly  called  the 
^  useful  arts,  the  object 
of  which  is  to  make 
provision  for  the  main- 
tenance and  physical 
accommodation  of  hu- 
man life,  and  which 
in  every  country  must  necessarily  employ  the  labors 
of  the  gi-eat  body  of  its  inhabitants.  The  cultivation 
of  the  earth  and  all  other  modes  of  procuring  food — 
the  different  handicrafts  and  manufactures  practised 
by  the  people — the  means  of  communication  and  con- 
veyance made  use  of  by  them — their  internal  trade 
and  foreign  commerce,  will  fall  to  be  here  considered. 
Some  of  these  applications  of  skill  and  industiy  con- 
stitute the  indispensable  foundation  on  which  the 
whole  of  the  national  civilization  stands ;  the  rest 
may  be  said  to  form  the  main  body  of  the  fabric. 
All  else  that  can  be  added  to  adorn  and  elevate  the 
social  condition  of  man  depends  for  its  existence  upon 
these ;  for  the  fine  or  ornamental  arts  are  to  the  ne- 
cessaiy  or  useful  arts  only  what  the  pillars,  and  sculp- 
tures, and  domes,  and  pinnacles  of  a  building  are  to 
the  apartments  within,  to  which  indeed  they  may  be 
made  to  serve  for  something  more  than  mere  deco- 
rations, but  without  which  to  decorate,  and  in  part 
also,  it  may  be,  to  support  and  cover,  they  never  would 
have  appeared. 

As  in  nearly  everything  else  relating  to  the  British 
islands  during  tlie  period  at  present  under  review,  so 
with  regard  to  the  arts  of  life  practised  by  the  natives, 
our  knowledge  is  extremely  limited  and  imperfect. 
No  written  records,  or  other  literary  remains,  either 
of  the  Britons  or  of  the  Gauls,  have  come  down  to 
us.  A  small  number  of  scattered  notices  in  the  Greek 
and  Roman  writers,  few  of  whom  had  any  good  op- 
portunity of  ascertaining  the  facts  of  which  they  make 
mention,  while  the  subject  was  probably  not  one  about 
which  they  felt  much  interest,  make  up  all  the  direct 
information  we  possess.  Our  other  hghts  are  to  be 
extracted  from  the  few  ruined  monuments  and  other 
almost  obliterated  reUcs  and  memorials  of  the  primi- 
tive Britons  which  the  waste  of  time  has  spared,  the 
fragmeuts  of  a  -vvieck  which  scarcely  tell  us  anything 
positively  or  distinctly,  and  many  of  which  do  nothing 
more  than  afford  some  mystic  hints  for  fancy  and  con- 
jecture to  work  upon. 

In  disti-ibuting  our  scanty  materials,  we  will  begin 
by  noticing  the  intercourse  and  h-affic  which  appear 


to  have  been  maintained  with  this  island  in  early 
times  by  foreign  nations,  the  facts  belonging  to  this 
part  of  the  subject  constituting  our  first  knowledge 
of  the  ancient  Britons,  and  the  natural  introduction 
to  an  examination  of  the  internal  condition  of  the 
country. 

The  small  beginnings,  hidden  in  the  depths  of  an- 
cient time,  of  that  which  has  become  so  mighty  a 
thing  as  British  commerce,  have  an  interest  for  the 
imagination,  the  same  in  kind  with  that  belonging  to 
the  discovery  of  the  remote  spring  or  rill  which  forms 
the  apparently  insignificant  source  of  some  famous 
river,  but  as  much  higher  in  degree  as  the  history  of 
human  affairs  is  a  higher  study  than  the  histoiy  of 
inanimate  natiu'e. 

The  Phcenicians,  the  great  trading  people  of  anti- 
quity, are  the  first  foreigners  who  are  recorded  to 
have  opened  any  commercial  intercourse  with  the 
British  islands.     There  are  some  facts  which  make  it 
probable  that  this  extremity  of  the  globe  was  visited 
even  by  the  navigators  of  the  parent  Asiatic  states  of 
Sidon  and  Tyre.     Tin,  a  product  then  to  be  obtained 
only  from  Britain  and  Spain,  was  certainly  used  in 
considerable  quantities  by  the  civilized  nations  of  the 
earliest  times.     It  was  the  alloy  with  vrhich,  before 
they  attained  the  knowledge  of  the  art  of  giving  a  high 
temper  to  ii-on,  they  hardened  copper,  and  made  it 
serve  for  warlike  instruments  and  many  other  pur- 
poses.    A  mixture  of  copper  and  tin,  in  due  propor- 
tions, was  perhaps  fitted,  indeed,  to  take  a  sharper 
edge  as  a  sword  or  spear  than  could  have  been  given 
to  iron  itself,  for  a  long  time  after  the  latter  metal 
came  to  be  known  and  wrought.     It  is  certain  at  least 
that  swords  and  other  weapons  fabricated  of  the  com- 
pound metal  continued  to  be  used  long  after  the  intro- 
duction of  u-on.     This  composition  was  really  what 
the  Greeks  called  chalcus  and  the  Romans  aes,  al- 
though these  words  have   usually  been  improperly 
translated  brass,  which  is  compounded  not  of  copper 
and  tin,  but  of  copper  and  zinc.     There  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  zinc  was  at  all  known  to  the  ancients  ; 
and  if  so,  brass,  properly  so  called,  was  equally  un- 
known to  them.     What  is  commonly  called  the  brass 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  being,  as  we  have  said,  a 
mixture  of  copper  and  tin,  is  not  brass,  but  bronze. 
This  is  the  material,  not  only  of  the  ancient  statues, 
but  also  of  many  of  their  other  metallic  aiticles  both 
ornamental  and  useful.     It  was  of  this,  for  instance, 
that  they  fabricated  the  best  of  tlieir  mirrors  and 
reflecting  specula;    for  the  composition,  in   certain 
proportions,  is  capable  of  taking  a  high  polish,  as  well 
as  of  being  hammered  or  filed  to  a  sharp  and  hard 
edge  in  others.     This  also  is  the  material  of  which  so 
many  of  the  Celtic  antiquities  are  formed,  and  which 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


87 


on  this  account  is  sometimes  called  Celtic  brass, 
although  it  might  with  as  much  propriety  be  called 
Greek  brass,  or  Roman  brass.  In  like  manner  the 
swords  found  at  Cannje,  which  are  supposed  to  be 
Carthaginian,  are  of  bronze,  or  a  composition  of  cop- 
per and  tin.  Tin,  too,  is  supposed,  with  much  prob- 
ability, to  have  been  used  by  the  Phoenicians  at  a  very 
early  period  in  those  processes  of  dyeing  cloth  for 
which  Tyre  in  particular  was  so  famous.  Solutions 
of  tin  in  various  acids  are  still  applied  as  mordants  for 
fixing  colors  in  cloth.  Tin  is  understood  to  be  men- 
tioned under  the  Hebrew  term  oferet,  in  the  Book  of 
Numbers ;'  and  as  all  the  other  metals  supposed  to 
have  been  then  known  are  enumerated  in  the  same 
passage,  it  would  be  difficult  to  give  another  probable 
translation  of  the  word.  This  would  carry  the 
knowledge  and  use  of  tin  back  to  a  date  nearly  1500 
years  antecedent  to  the  commencement  of  our  era. 
At  a  much  later  date,  the  prophet  Ezekiel  is  sup- 
posed to  mention  it  under  the  name  of  bedil  as  one 
of  the  commodities  in  which  Tyre  ti-aded  with  Tar- 
shish,  probably  a  general  appellation  for  the  countries 
lying  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  The  age  of 
Ezekiel  is  placed  nearly  six  centuries  before  the  birth 
of  Clu-ist ;  but  we  have  evidence  of  the  knowledge 
and  employment  of  tin  by  the  Phoenicians  at  a  much 
earlier  period  in  the  account  of  the  erection  and  dec- 
oration of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  the  principal 
workmen  employed  in  which — and  among  the  rest 
the  makers  of  the  articles  of  brass,  that  is,  bronze, 
and  other  metals — ^were  brought  from  Tyre. 

The  oldest  notice,  or  that  at  least  professing  to  be 
derived  from  the  oldest  sources,  which  we  have  of 
the  Phoenician  ti-ade  with  Britain,  is  that  contained 
in  the  nan-ative  of  the  voyage  of  the  Carthaginian 
navigator  Himilco,  which  is  given  us  by  Festus  Avi- 
enus.^  This  voyage  is  supposed  to  have  been  per- 
formed about  1000  years  before  the  commencement  of 
our  era.  Himilco  is  stated  to  have  reached  the  isles 
of  the  CEstiymnides  within  less  than  four  months 
after  he  had  set  sail  from  Carthage.  Little  doubt 
can  be  entertained,  from  the  description  given  of  their 
position  and  of  other  circumstances,  that  these  were 
the  Scilly  islands.  The  CEstrymnides  are  placed  by 
Avienus  in  the  neighborhood  of  Albion  and  of  Ireland, 
being  two  days'  sail  from  the  latter.  They  were 
rich,  he  says,  in  tin  and  lead.  The  people  are  de- 
scribed as  being  numerous,  high-spirited,  active,  and 
eagerly  devoted  to  trade  ;  yet  they  had  no  ships  built 
of  timber  wherewith  to  make  their  voyages,  but  in  a 
wonderful  manner  eifected  their  way  along  the  wa- 
ters in  boats  consti'ucted  merely  of  skins  sewed  to- 
gether. We  must  suppose  the  skins  or  hides  were 
distended  by  wicker-work  which  they  covered,  al- 
though that  is  not  mentioned.  There  are  well-au- 
thenticated accounts  of  voyages  of  considerable  length 
made  in  such  vessels  as  those  here  described  at  a 
much  later  period. 

It  is  observable  that  in  this  relation  neither  the 
CEsti-ymnides,  nor  the  Sacred  Isle  of  the  Hiberni, 
nor  that  of  the  Albiones  in  its  neighborhood,  appear 
to  be  spoken  of  as  discoveries  made  by  Himilco ;  on 

'  xxxi.  22.  s  See  ante,  p.  12. 


the  contrary,  the  Isle  of  the  Hiberni  is  described  as 
known  by  the  epithet  of  the  Sacred  Isle  to  the  an- 
cients, and  the  resort  for  the  purposes  of  traffic  to  the 
CEstiymnides  is  declared  to  have  been  a  custom  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Tartessus  and  Carthage. 

No  mines  of  any  kind  are  now  wrought  in  the 
Scilly  islands ;  but  they  present  appearances  of  an- 
cient excavations,  and  the  names  of  two  of  them,  as 
Camden  has  remarked,  seem  to  intimate,  that  mining 
had  been  at  one  time  carried  on  in  them.  They  may 
in  early  times  have  produced  lead  as  well  as  tin ;  or, 
these  metals  here  obtained  by  the  Phoenicians  or 
their  colonists  of  Tartessus  and  Carthage,  may  have 
been  brought  from  the  neighboring  peninsula  of  Corn- 
wall, which  produces  both,  and  which  besides  was 
most  probably  itself  considered  one  of  these  islands. 
Pliny,  it  may  be  noted,  has  preserved  the  ti'adition, 
that  the  first  person  who  imported  lead  (by  which 
name,  however,  he  designates  both  lead  and  tin)  from 
the  island  of  Cassiteris  was  Midacritus,  which  has 
been  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  Mehcartus,  the 
name  of  the  Phoenician  Hercules.  Cassiteris  means 
merely  the  land  of  tin,  that  metal  being  called  in 
Greek  cassiteron. 

The  next  notice  which  we  have  of  the  trade  of  the 
Phoenicians,  or  their  colonists,  with  Britain,  is  that 
presei-ved  by  Strabo.  His  account  is,  that  the  traffic 
with  the  isles  called  the  Cassiterides,  which  he  de- 
scribes as  being  ten  in  number,  lying  close  to  one 
another,  in  the  main  ocean  north  from  the  Artabri 
(the  people  of  Gallicia),  was  at  first  exclusively  in  the 
hands  of  the  Phoenicians  of  Gades,  who  carefully  con- 
cealed it  from  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  Only  one  of 
the  ten  islands,  he  states,  was  uninhabited ;  the  peo- 
ple occupying  the  others  wore  black  cloaks,  which 
were  girt  about  the  waste  and  reached  to  their  ancles : 
they  walked  about  wdth  sticks  in  their  hands,  and  then- 
beards  were  as  long  as  those  of  goats.  They  led  a 
pastoral  and  wandering  life.  He  expressly  mentions 
their  mines  both  of  tin  and  lead,  and  these  metals,  he 
adds,  along  with  skins,  they  give  to  the  foreign  mer- 
chants who  resort  to  them  in  exchange  for  earthen- 
ware, salt,  and  articles  of  bronze. 

We  may  here  obsei-ve  that  the  geogi-apher  Dio- 
nysius  Periegetes  gives  the  name  of  the  Isles  of  the 
Hesperides  to  the  native  countiy  of  tin,  and  says  that 
these  isles,  which  he  seems  to  place  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Britain,  are  inhabited  by  the  wealthy  descend- 
ants of  the  famous  Iberians.  It  is  remarkable  that 
Diodorus  Siculus  describes  the  Celtiberians,  or  Celts 
of  Spain,  as  clothed  in  black  and  shaggy  cloaks,  made 
of  a  wool  resembling  the  hair  of  goats,  thus  using 
almost  the  same  terms  which  Strabo  employs  to 
describe  the  dress  of  the  people  of  the  Cassiterides. 
The  chief  island  of  the  Scilly  group  is  called  Silura 
by  Solinus;  and  perhaps  the  original  occupants  of 
these  isles  were  the  same  Silures  who  are  stated  to 
have  afterwards  inhabited  South  Wales,  and  whose 
personal  appearance,  it  may  be  remembered,  Tacitus 
has  expressly  noted  as  betokening  a  Spanish  origin.. 

It  was  undoubtedly  through  the  extended  commei-- 
cial  connexions  of  the  Phoenicians,  that  the  metallic 
products  of  Britain  were   first  distributed  over  the 


So 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  1. 


civilized  world.  A  regular  market  appears  to  have 
been  found  for  them  by  these  enterprising  traffickers 
in  some  of  the  most  remote  parts  of  the  earth.  Both 
Pliny  and  Arrian  have  recorded  their  export  to  India, 
where  the  former  writer  says  they  were  wont  to  be 
exchanged  for  precious  stones  and  pearls.  It  is  prob- 
able that  this  commerce  was  at  one  time  carried  on, 
in  part  at  least,  through  the  medium  of  the  more  an- 
cient Palmyra,  or  Tadmor  of  the  Desert,  as  it  -svas 
then  called,  which  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by 
Solomon  a  thousand  years  before  our  era.' 

The  Phoenicians,  and  their  colonists  settled  in  Afri- 
ca and  the  south  of  Spain,  appear  to  have  retained 
for  a  long  period  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  trade 
with  the  British  islands,  even  the  situation  of  which 
they  contrived  to  keep  concealed  from  all  other  na- 
tions. It  appears  fi'om  Herodotus,  that,  in  his  time, 
about  four  centm-ies  and  a  half  before  the  birth  of 
Christ,  although  tin  was  known  to  come  from  certain 
islands  which,  on  that  account,  went  by  the  name  of 
the  Cassiterides,  or  Tin  Isles,  yet  all  that  was  knovra 
of  their  situation  was,  that  they  lay  somewhere  in  the 
nortli  or  northwest  of  Europe.  It  is  generally  sup- 
posed that  the  first  Greek  navigator  who  peueti-ated 
into  the  seas  in  this  part  of  the  world  was  Pytheas  of 
Marseilles,  who  is  said  to  have  flourished  about  a  hun- 
dred years  after  the  time  of  Herodotus.  From  this 
celebrated  colony  of  Marseilles  something  of  the 
Greek  civilization  seems  early  to  have  radiated  to  a 
considerable  distance  over  the  sunounding  regions ; 
but  whether  tiiere  ever  was  any  direct  intercourse 
between  Marseilles  and  Britain  we  are  not  informed. 
The  only  accounts  of  the  trade  which  have  come 
down  to  us,  represent  it  as  carried  on  through  the 
medium  of  certain  ports  on  the  coast  of  Gaul,  neai'est 
to  our  island  ;  and  we  are  probably  to  understand  that 
the  ships  and  traders  belonged,  not  to  Marseilles,  but 
to  these  native  Gallic  towns.  From  the  northwest 
coast  of  Gaul,  the  tin  and  lead  seems  to  have  been  for 
a  long  time  transported  across  the  countiy  to  Mar- 
seilles, by  land-caniage. 

Strabo  relates  on  the  authority  of  Polybius,  that 
when  Scipio  Africanus  the  younger  made  inquiry 
respecting  the  tin  islands  of  the  people  of  Marseilles, 
they  professed  to  be  totally  ignorant  of  where  they 
lay.  From  this  we  must  infer,  either  that  the  Mas- 
silians  had  adopted  the  policy  of  the  Carthaginians 
with  regard  to  the  navigation  to  these  isles,  and  studi- 
ously concealed  what  they  knew  of  them,  or,  what  is 
more  probable,  that  they  really  knew  nothing  of  the 
countries  from  which  their  tin  came,  the  trade  being, 
in  fact,  caiTied  on,  as  we  have  just  supposed,  through 
the  medium  of  the  merchants  of  the  northwest  coast 
of  Gaul.  The  Romans,  according  to  the  account  given 
by  Strabo  in  another  place,  had  made  many  endeavors 
to  discover  the  route  to  these  mysterious  isles,  even 

I  See  in  Maurice's  Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  pp.  249,  &c.,  a  "Dis- 
sertation on  the  Commerce  carried  on  in  very  remote  ages  by  the  Phce- 
nicians,  Carthaginians,  and  Greeks,  with  the  British  Islands,  for  their 
ancient  staple  of  tin,  and  on  their  extensive  barter  of  that  commodity 
with  those  of  the  Indian  Continent ;  the  whoJe  confirmed  by  extracts 
from  the  Institutes  of  Menu,  &c."  The  extracts  from  the  Institutes  of 
Menu,  however,  hardly  deserve  this  formal  announcement ;  and  the 
essay,  altogether,  is,  like  everything  else  of  this  author's,  a  very  wordy 
performance. 


while  the  trade  was  still  in  the  exclusive  possession  of 
the  Carthaginians.  He  relates,  that,  on  one  occiision, 
the  master  of  a  Carthaginian  vessel  finding  himself 
pursued,  while  on  his  way  to  the  Cassiterides,  by  one 
whom  the  Romans  had  appointed  to  watch  him,  j)ur- 
posely  ran  his  vessel  aground ;  and  thus,  althougli  he 
saved  his  life,  sacrificed  his  cai'go,  the  value  of  which, 
however,  was  repaid  to  him,  on  his  return  home,  out 
of  the  public  ti'easui-y.  But  the  Romans,  he  adds,  at 
length  succeeded  in  discovering  the  islands,  and  get- 
ting the  tin  trade,  or  at  least  a  part  of  it,  into  their 
own  hands.  As  Strabo  died  a.d.  25,  this  commercial 
intercourse  of  the  Romans  with  the  southwest  of 
Britain  must  have  long  preceded  the  invasion  of  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  countiy  by  Claudius,  and 
may  very  possibly  have  preceded  even  the  earlier 
invasion  by  Ciesar.  It  is  remarkable  that  Strabo 
does  not  speak  of  it  as  having  been  a  consequence  of, 
or  in  any  degi'ee  connected  with  the  last-mentioned 
event.  He  says,  that  some  time  after  its  commence- 
ment, a  voyage  was  made  to  the  island  by  a  Roman 
navigator  of  the  name  of  Publius  Crassus,  who,  find- 
ing the  inhabitants  of  a  pacific  disposition,  and  also 
fond  of  navigation,  gave  them  some  instructions,  as  the 
words  seem  to  imply,  for  cairying  it  on  upon  a  larger 
scale.  This  passage  has  attiacted  less  attention  than 
it  would  seem  to  deserve ;  for,  if  the  Cassiterides  be, 
as  is  generally  supposed,  the  Scilly  islands,  we  have 
here  the  first  notice  of  any  commercial  intercourse 
carj'ied  on  with  Britain  by  the  Romans,  and  a  notice 
which  must  refer  to  a  date  considerably  ef^rlier  than 
that  at  which  it  is  usually  assumed  that  the  country 
first  began  to  be  resorted  to  by  that  people. 

We  are  inclined  to  believe,  however,  that  the  trade 
of  the  Romans  with  the  Cassiterides  was  entirely 
confined  to  their  colonial  settlements  in  the  south  of 
Gaul.  Of  these  the  city  of  Narbonne,  situated  about 
as  far  to  the  west  of  the  mouth  of  the  Rhone  as  the 
Greek  city  of  Marseilles  stood  to  the  east  of  it,  was 
the  chief,  as  well  as  one  of  the  oldest,  having  been 
founded  about  the  year  b.c.  120.  The  historian  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus,  who  was  contemporaiy  with  Julius 
Caesar,  has  given  us  an  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  trade  between  Britain  and  Gaul  was  canied 
on  in  his  day,  which,  although  it  does  not  expressly 
mention  the  participation  of  either  the  Romans  or 
any  of  their  colonies,  at  least  shows  that  the  Cassi- 
terides and  the  island  of  Britain  had  become  better 
known  than  they  were  a  hundred  years  before  in  the 
time  of  the  younger  Scipio.  Diodorus  mentions  the 
expedition  of  Caesar,  of  which  he  promises  a  detailed 
account  in  a  part  of  his  history  now  unfortunately 
lost ;  but  he  tells  us  a  good  many  things  respecting 
the  island,  the  knowledge  of  which  could  not  have 
been  obtained  through  that  expedition.  We  must, 
therefore,  suppose  that  he  derived  his  information 
either  through  an  intercourse  with  the  country  which 
had  arisen  subsequent  to  and  in  consequence  of  Cae- 
sar's attempt,  or,  as  is  much  more  probable,  from  the 
accounts  of  those  by  whom  the  southwestern  coast 
had  been  visited  long  before.  Indeed,  various  facts 
concur  to  show  that,  however  ignorant  of  Britain 
Caesar  himself  may  have  been  when  he  first  medita- 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


89 


ted  his  invasion,  a  good  deal  was  even  then  known 
about  it  by  those  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  who 
were  curious  in  such  inquiries.  Csesar  notices  the 
fact  of  tin,  or  white  lead,  as  he  calls  it,  being  found  in 
the  country ;  but  he  erroneously  places  the  stores  of 
this  mineral  in  the  interior  {in  mediterraneis  region- 
ihus),  probably  from  finding  that  they  lay  a  gi-eat  dis- 
tance from  the  coast  at  which  he  landed  ;  and  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  any  suspicion  that  this  was  really 
the  famous  Land  of  Tin,  the  secret  of  whose  situa- 
tion had  been  long  guarded  with  such  jealous  care  by 
its  first  discoverers,  and  which  his  own  countrymen 
had  made  so  many  anxious  endeavors  to  find  out. 
But  a  century  and  a  half  before  Polybius,  as  he  tells 
us  himself,  had  intended  to  write  respecting  Britain ; 
and  Sti-abo  informs  us  that  the  gi-eat  historian  had 
actually  composed  a  treatise  on  the  subject  of  the 
British  islands,  and  the  mode  of  preparing  tin.  His 
attention  had  probably  been  drawn  to  the  matter  by 
the  inquiries  of  his  friend  Scipio  ;  for  Polybius,  as  is 
well  known,  was  the  companion  of  that  celebrated 
general,  in  several  of  his  military  expeditions  and 
other  journeys.  No  doubt,  although  the  people  of 
Marseilles  were  unwilling  or  unable  to  satisfy  the 
curiosity  of  the  ti-avelers,  they  obtained  the  informa- 
tion they  wanted  from  some  other  quarter.^  And  in 
the  title  of  this  lost  treatise  of  Polybius,  as  quoted  by 
Stiabo,  it  is  important  to  remark,  that  we  find  the  tin 
country  distinctly  recognized  as  being  the  British 
islands,  the  vague  or  ambiguous  name  of  the  Cassite- 
rides  being  dropped.  It  is  so,  likewise,  in  the  ac- 
count given  by  Diodoi'us.  That  A\Titer  obsei-ves  that 
the  people  of  the  promontory  of  Belerium  (the  Bole- 
rium  of  Ptolemy,  and  our  present  Land's  End)  were 
much  more  civilized  than  the  other  British  nations, 
in  consequence  of  their  intercourse  with  the  great 
number  of  foreign  traders  who  resorted  thither  fi-om 
all  parts.  This  statement,  written  subsequently  to 
Cccsar's  expedition,  warrants  us  in  receiving  that 
winter's  assertion  as  to  the  superior  refinement  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Kent,  as  true  only  in  a  restricted 
sense.  In  fact,  there  were  tsvo  points  on  the  coast 
of  the  island  separated  by  a  long  distance  from  each 

1  Camden  has  here  expressed  himself  in  a  manner  singularly  con- 
trasting with  his  customary,  and,  it  may  be  justly  added,  characteristic 
accuracy.  First,  in  order  to  prove  "  that  it  was  late  before  the  narme 
of  the  Bntons  was  heard  of  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,"'  he  quotes  a 
passage  from  Polybius,  which  in  the  original  only  implies  that  it  was 
doubtful  whether  the  north  of  Europe  was  entirely  encompassed  by  the 
sea,  but  which  he  renders  as  if  it  asserted  that  nothing  was  known  of 
Europe  to  the  north  of  Marseilles  and  Narbonne  at  all.  Polybius  has, 
in  fact,  himself  described  many  parts  of  Gaul  to  the  north  of  these 
towns.  Next  he  makes  the  historian  to  have  been  the  friend,  not  of 
the  younger,  but  of  the  elder  Africanus,  and  to  have  traveled  over 
Europe  not  about  B.C.  150,  but  370  years  before  Christ.  Even  if  he 
had  been  the  contemporary  of  the  elder  Scipio,  this  would  be  a  mon- 
strous mistake.  The  whole  of  this  passage  in  Camden,  however  (it  is 
■  in  his  chapter  on  the  Manners  of  the  Britons),  is  opposed  to  his  own 
opinions  as  expressed  in  other  parts  of  his  work.  The  authority  of 
Festus  Avienug,  which  he  here  disclaims,  he  elsewhere  makes  use  of 
very  freely  (see  his  chapter  on  the  Scilly  islands,  at  the  end  of  the  Bri- 
tannia). And  whereas  he  contends  here  that  Britain  had  never  been 
heard  of  by  the  Greeks  till  a  comparatively  recent  date,  he  has  a  few 
pages  before  a  long  argument  to  prove  that  it  must  have  been  known 
"to  the  most  ancient  of  the  Greeks."  In  the  same  chapter  (on  the 
Name  of  Britain)  he  quotes  a  passage  from  Pliny,  in  which  that  writer 
characterizes  the  island  as  famous  in  the  writings  (or  records,  as  it 
may  be  translated)  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans—"  clara  Grsuis  nostris- 
que  monumentis." 


Other,  at  Avhich  the  same  cause,  a  considerable  for- 
eign commerce  and  fiequent  intercourse  with  sti-an- 
gers,  had  produced  the  same  natural  effect.  Diodo- 
rus  goes  on  to  describe  the  manner  in  which  these 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Cornwall  prepared  the  tin  which 
they  exported.  To  this  part  of  his  description  we 
shall  aftei-wards  have  occasion  to  advert.  After  the 
tin  has  been  refined  and  cast  into  ingots,  he  says,  they 
convey  it  in  wheeled  carriages  over  a  space  which  is 
dry  at  low  water,  to  a  neighboring  island,  which  is 
called  Ictis ;  and  here  the  foreign  merchants  purchase 
it,  and  transport  it  in  their  sliips  to  the  coast  of  Gaul. 
The  Ictis  of  Diodorus  has,  by  the  majority  of  recent 
wi'iters,  been  assumed  to  be  the  Isle  of  Wight,  the 
Uectis  of  Ptolemy,  and  the  Vectis  or  Vecta  of  some 
of  the  Latin  writers.  But  this  seems  to  us  alto- 
gether an  untenable  supposition.  It  is  impossible  to 
believe  either  that  Diodorus  would  call  the  Isle  of 
Wight  an  island  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  promon- 
tory of  Bolerium,  seeing  that  it  is  distant  from  that 
promontory  about  200  miles,  or  that  the  people  of 
Bolerium,  instead  of  carrying  down  their  tin  to  their 
own  coast,  would  make  a  practice  of  transporting  it 
by  land-carriage  to  so  remote  a  point.  Least  of  all  is 
it  possible  to  conceive  how  a  journey  could  be  accom- 
plished by  wheeled  caiTiages  from  the  Land's  End  to 
the  Isle  of  Wight  over  the  sands  which  were  left  dry 
at  low  water,  as  Diodorus  says  was  the  case.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  Ictis  was  one  of  the 
Scilly  isles,  between  which  group  and  the  exti-emity 
of  Cornwall  a  long  reef  of  rock  still  extends,  part  of 
which  appears,  from  ancient  documents,  to  have 
formed  part  of  the  main  land  at  a  comparatively 
recent  date,  and  which  there  is  no  improbability  in 
supposing  may  have  afforded  a  dry  passage  the  whole 
way  in  the  times  of  which  Diodorus  WTites.  The 
encroachments  of  the  sea  have  unquestionably  eflfect- 
ed  extensive  changes  in  that  part  of  the  British  coast; 
and  at  a  very  remote  period  it  is  evident  fi'ora  present 
appearances,  as  well  as  from  facts  well  attested  by 
records  and  tradition,  that  the  distance  between  the 
Scilly  isles  and  the  main  land  must  have  been  very 
much  less  than  it  now  is.  "  It  doth  appear  yet  by 
good  record,"  says  a  %vriter  of  the  latter  part  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  "  that  whereas  now  there  is  a  great 
distance  between  the  Syllan  Isles  and  point  of  the 
Land's  End,  there  was  of  late  years  to  speak  of 
scarcely  a  brooke  or  drain  of  one  fathAin  water  be- 
tween them,  if  so  much,  as  by  those  evidences  ap- 
peareth  that  are  yet  to  be  seen  in  the  lands  of  the 
lord  and  chief  owner  of  those  isles."^  Some  of  the 
islands  even  may  have  been  submerged  in  the  long 
course  of  years  that  has  elapsed  since  tlie  Ictis  was 
the  mart  of  the  tin  trade;  and  the  numerous  group 
of  islets  which  we  now  see  may  very  possibly  be  only 
the  relics  left  above  water  of  the  much  smaller  num- 
ber, of  a  considerable  size,  which  are  described  as 
forming  the  ancient  Cassiterides.  It  may  be  added 
that  if  thef  southwest  coast  of  Brittany,  where  the 
maritime  nation  of  the  Veneti  dwelt,  was,  as  seems 
most  probable,  the  part  of  the  continent  from  which 
the  tin  ships  sailed,  the  Isle  of  Wight  was  as  much  out 
'  Harrison's  Description  of  England,  b.  iii.  c.  7. 


90 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


of  their  way  as  of  that  of  the  peojjle  of  Bolerium. 
The  shortest  and  most  direct  voyage  for  the  mer- 
chants of  V'anues  was  right  across  to  the  very  point 
of  the  British  coast  where  the  tin  mines  were.  It 
appears  to  us  to  admit  of  Httle  doubt  that  the  Ictis  of 
Diodorus  is  the  same  island  which,  on  the  authority 
of  the  old  Greek  historian,  Timseus,  is  mentioned  by 
Pliny  under  the  name  of  Mictis,  and  stated  to  lie  six 
days'  sail  inward  (introrsus)  from  Britain  (which 
length  of  navigation,  however,  the  Britons  accom- 
plished in  their  wicker  boats),  and  to  be  that  in  which 
the  tin  was  produced.  It  must  no  doubt  have  taken 
fully  the  space  of  time  here  mentioned  to  get  to  the 
Scilly  isles  from  the  more  distant  parts  even  of  the 
south  coast  of  Britain. 

Diodorus  goes  on  to  inform  us  that  tlie  foreign 
merchants,  after  having  purchased  the  tin  at  the 
Isle  of  Ictis,  and  conveyed  it  across  the  sea  to  the 
opposite  coast  of  Gaul,  were  then  wont  to  send  it 
overland  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rhone,  an  operation 
which  consumed  thirty  days.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
Rhone  it  was  no  doubt  purchased  by  the  merchants 
of  Marseilles,  and  at  a  later  period  also  by  their 
rivals  of  Narbonne,  if  we  are  not  rather  to  suppose 
that  the  Gallic  tiaders  who  brought  it  from  Britain 
were  merely  their  agents.  Ceesar,  however,  ex- 
pressly informs  us  that  the  Veneti,  who  occupied  a 
part  of  the  present  Bretague,  had  many  ships  of 
their  own,  in  which  they  were  accustomed  to  make 
voyages  to  Britain.  From  the  two  great  emporia  in 
the  south  of  France  the  commodity  was  diffused 
over  all  other  parts  of  the  earth,  as  it  had  been  at  an 
earlier  period  from  Cadiz  and  the  other  Phoenician 
colonies  on  the  south  coast  of  Spain. 

It  appears  from  Strabo,  however,  that  the  operose 
and  tedious  mode  of  conveyance  by  land  carriage 
from  the  coast  of  Brittany  to  the  gulf  of  Lyons  was 
eventually  abandoned  for  other  routes,  in  which 
some  advantage  could  be  taken  of  the  natural  means 
of  ti'ansportation  afforded  by  the  country.  By  one 
of  these,  the  British  goods  being  brought  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Seine,  in  Normandy,  were  sent  up 
that  river  as  far  as  it  was  navigable,  and  then,  being 
carried  on  horses  a  short  distance  overland,  were 
transmitted  for  the  i-emainder  of  the  way  down  the 
Rhone,  and  afterAvards  along  the  coast  to  Narbonne 
and  Marseilles.  It  is  probable  enough  that  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  which  is  opposite  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Seine,  may  have  been  used  as  the  mart  of  the 
British  trade  in  this  navigation,  for  which  purpose  it 
was  also  well  adapted,  as  lying  about  midway  between 
Cornwall  and  Kent,  and  being  therefore  more  con- 
veniently situated  than  any  other  spot  both  for  the 
supply  of  the  whole  line  of  coast  with  foreign  com- 
modities, and  for  the  export  of  native  produce. 
When  the  route  we  are  now  describing  came  to  be 
adopted  for  the  British  trade  generally,  even  a  por- 
tion of  the  tin  of  Cornwall  may  have  found  its  way 
to  this  central  depot.  But  even  after  land  carriage 
came  to  be  displaced  by  river  navigation,  a  large 
portion  of  the  British  trade  still  continued  to  be  car- 
ried on  from  the  west  coast  of  Gaul,  through  the 
medium  botli  of  the  Loire  and  tlie  Garonne.     The 


Loire  seems  to  have  been  taken  advantage  of  chiefly 
to  convey  the  exports  from  Narbonne  and  Marseilles 
down  to  the  sea-coast  after  they  had  been  brought 
by  land  across  the  countiy  from  Lyons,  to  which 
point  they  had  been  sent  up  by  the  Rhone.  The 
Garonne  was  used  for  the  conveyance  to  the  south 
of  France  of  British  produce,  which  was  sent  up  that 
river  as  far  as  it  was  navigable,  and  thence  carried  to 
its  destination  over  land. 

This  is  nearly  all  that  is  known  respecting  the 
commercial  intercourse  of  Britain  with  other  parts 
of  the  world  before  the  countrj-  became  a  province  of 
the  Roman  empue.  The  traffic  both  with  Carthage 
and  the  Phoenician  colonies  in  the  south  of  Spain 
had  of  course  ceased  long  before  Caesar's  invasion ; 
at  that  date  the  only  direct  trade  of  the  island  was 
with  the  western  and  northwestern  coasts  of  Gaul, 
from  the  Garonne  as  far  probably  as  to  the  Rhine ; 
for,  in  addition  to  the  passage  of  commodities,  as  just 
explained,  to  and  from  Provence,  the  Belgic  colonists, 
who  now  occupied  so  large  a  portion  of  the  maritime 
disti'icts  in  the  south  of  Britain,  appear  also  from 
their  first  settlement  to  have  kept  up  an  active  inter- 
course wth  their  original  seats  on  the  continent, 
which  stretched  to  the  last-mentioned  river.  The 
British  line  of  communication,  on  the  other  hand, 
may  be  presumed  to  have  extended  from  the  Land's 
End  to  the  mouth  of  the  Thames;  though  it  was 
probably  only  at  two  or  three  points  in  the  course  of 
that  long  distance  that  the  continental  vessels  were 
in  the  habit  of  touching.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
any  of  the  vessels  in  which  the  trade  Avitli  the  con- 
tinent was  carried  on  belonged  to  Britain.  The 
island  in  those  days  seems  only  to  have  been  resorted 
to  by  strangers  as  the  native  place  of  certain  valuable 
commodities,  and  to  have  maintained  little  or  no  inter- 
change of  visits  with  foreign  shores.  Even  from  this 
imperfect  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the  world, 
however,  the  inhabitants  of  all  this  line  of  coast  must 
have  been  enabled  to  keep  up,  as  we  are  assured 
they  did,  a  verj-  considerably  higher  degi'ee  of  civil- 
ization than  would  be  found  among  the  back-woods- 
men bej'ond  them.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  no 
small  amount  of  the  commercial  spirit  may  exist  in  a 
country  which  maintains  no  intercourse  with  for- 
eigners except  in  its  own  ports.  The  situation  of 
Britain  in  this  respect,  two  thousand  years  ago,  may 
be  likened  indeed  to  tliat  of  Spitzbergen  or  New 
Zealand  at  present;  but  the  same  peculiarity,  which 
at  first  sight  seems  to  us  so  remarkable  and  so  unnat- 
ural, characterizes  the  great  commercial  empire  of 
China.  There  the  national  customs  and  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  government  have  done  their  utmost 
to  discourage  and  restrain  the  spirit  of  commercial 
enterprise  ;  but  that  spirit  is  an  essential  part  of 
the  social  principle,  and  as  such  is  unextinguishable 
wherever  the  immutable  circumstances  of  physical 
situation  are  not  adverse  to  its  development.  Hence, 
although  their  laws  and  traditionaiy  morality  have 
operated  with,  so  much  effect  as  to  prevent  the  peo- 
ple of  China  from  pushiag  to  any  extent  what  may 
be  called  an  aggi'essive  commerce,  that  is  to  say, 
from  seeking  markets  for  their  commodities  in  foreign 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


91 


countiies,  these  adverse  influences  have  not  been  able 
so  far  to  overcome  the  natural  incentives  arising  out 
of  their  geogi-aphical  position  as  to  induce  them  to 
refrain  equally  from  what  we  may  call  admissive 
commerce,  or  indeed  to  be  other  than  very  eager 
followers  of  it.  The  case  of  the  early  Britons  may 
have  been  somewhat  similar.  The  genius  of  most 
of  the  Oriental  religions  seem  to  have  been  opposed 
to  foreign  intercourse  of  eveiy  kind,  the  prohibition 
or  systematic  discouragement  of  which  the  priests 
doubtless  regarded  as  one  of  their  most  important 
securities  for  the  preservation  of  their  influence  and 
authority ;  and  very  probably  such  may  also  have  been 
the  spu-it  of  the  Celtic  or  Druidical  religion.  It  is 
remarkable,  at  least,  that  the  well-ascertained  Celtic 
tribes  of  Europe,  though  distributed  for  the  most  part 
along  the  sea-coast,  have  never  exhibited  any  striking 
aptitude  either  for  navigation  or  for  any  employment 
in  connexion  with  the  sea. 

The  most  particular  account  of  the  exports  and 
imports  constituting  the  most  ancient  British  trade  is 
that  quoted  above  from  Stiabo,  and  it  is  probably 
not  very  complete.  It  only  adds  the  single  article  of 
skins  to  the  tin  and  lead  mentioned  by  Festus  Avienus 
and  others.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  island 
was  known  for  a  few  other  products  besides  these, 
even  before  the  first  Roman  invasion.  Caesar  ex- 
pressly mentions  iron  as  found,  although  in  small 
quantities,  in  the  maritime  disti'icts.  And  it  appears 
from  some  passages  in  the  Letters  of  Cicero,  that 
the  fame  of  the  British  war-chariots  had  already 
reached  Rome.  Writing  to  Trebatius,  while  the 
latter  was  here  with  Csesar,  b.c.  55,  after  obsei-ving 
that  he  hears  Britain  yielded  neither  gold  nor  silver, 
the  orator  playfully  exhorts  his  friend  to  get  hold  of 
one  of  the  esseda  of  the  island,  and  make  his  way 
back  to  them  at  Rome  with  his  best  speed.  In  an- 
other epistle  he  cautions  Trebatius  to  take  care  that 
he  be  not  snatched  up  and  carried  off  before  he 
knows  where  he  is,  by  some  driver  of  one  of  these 
rapid  vehicles.  Strabo's  account  of  the  foreign  com- 
modities imported  into  Britain  in  those  days  is,  that 
they  consisted  of  earthenware,  salt,  and  articles  of 
bronze,  which  last  expression  is  undoubtedly  to  be 
understood  as  meaning  not  mere  toys,  but  articles  of 
use,  in  the  fabrication  of  which  bronze,  as  we  have 
explained  above,  was  the  great  material  made  use  of 
in  early  times.  Cresar  also  testifies  that  all  the  bronze 
made  use  of  by  the  Britons  was  obtained  from  abroad. 
The  metal,  however,  as  we  shall  presently  have  oc- 
casion to  show,  was  probably  imported  to  some  ex- 
tent in  ingots  or  masses,  as  well  as  in  manufactured 
articles.  Much  of  the  bronze  which  was  thus  brought 
to  them,  whether  in  lumps  of  metal,  or  in  the  shape 
of  weapons  of  war  and  other  necessary  or  useful 
articles,  had  no  doubt  been  formed  by  the  aid  of  their 
own  tin.  Neither  the  Britons  themselves,  nor  any 
of  the  foreigners  who  traded  with  them  at  this  early 
period,  appear  to  have  been  aware  of  the  abundant 
stores  of  copper  which  the  island  is  now  known  to 
contain.  Indeed  the  British  copper-mines  have  only 
been  wrought  to  any  considerable  extent  in  very 
recent  times. 


Having  thus  collected  and  arranged  the  few  but 
interesting  facts  that  have  been  preserved  relating 
to  the  earliest  interchange  of  their  own  commodities 
for  those  of  foreign  parts,  carried  on  by  the  ancient 
Britons,  we  now  proceed  to  take  a  survey,  as  far  as 
our  scanty  sources  of  information  enable  us  to  do,  of 
the  different  aits  of  life  which  appear  to  have  been 
known  and  practised  among  themselves. 

We  begin  with  their  modes  of  obtaining  subsist- 
ence. The  country,  as  has  already  appeared,  is 
presented  to  us,  when  the  first  light  of  history  dawns 
upon  it,  as  inhabited  by  a  mixed  race  of  people,  di- 
vided into  many  tribes,  varying  more  or  less  from 
each  other  in  dress,  customs,  and  acquirements ; 
those  situated  farthest  fi-om  the  south  coast  being 
the  rudest  in  their  manner  of  life,  and  the  most  de- 
ficient in  general  information.  These,  as  we  are 
informed  by  Caesar,  never  sowed  their  land,  but  fol- 
lowed the  primitive  callings  of  the  hunter  and  the 
herdsman,  clad  in  the  skins,  and  living  upon  the  flesh 
and  the  milk  of  their  flocks  and  herds,  and  the  spoils 
of  the  chace,  which  was  at  once  their  sport  and  their 
occupation.  Although  they  had  abundance  of  milk, 
however,  some  of  the  Britons,  according  to  Strabo, 
were  ignoi-ant  of  the  art  of  making  cheese ;  and  it 
is  asserted  by  Xiphilinus,  that  none  of  them  ever 
tasted  fish,  although  they  had  multitudes  in  their 
lakes  and  rivers ;  but  whether  from  an  ignorance  of 
the  art  of  fishing,  or  from  some  religious  or  other 
prejudice,  does  not  appear.  Caesar,  who  says  noth- 
ing of  this,  states  that  they  thought  it  wrong  to  eat 
either  the  hare,  the  common  fowl,  or  the  goose, 
although  they  reared  these  animals  for  pleasure. 
The  limits  of  pasturage  were  marked  as  in  the  patri- 
archal times,  recorded  in  the  Scriptures,  by  large, 
upright,  single  stones,  numbers  of  which  are  still  to 
be  found  all  over  the  kingdom,  and  are  known  by 
the  names  of  hoar  or  hare  stones  (t.  e.  literally  border 
or  boundary  stones)  in  England,  and  maen  hir  or 
menni  gwyr  in  Wales.' 

The  southern  ti-ibes  inhabiting  the  coasts  of  the 
British  channel,  and  more  particularly  the  Cantii  or 
people  of  Kent,  are  distinguished  by  Caesar  as  re- 
sembling in  habits  and  manners  the  Belgic  Gauls,  their 
opposite  neighbors  and  kinsmen.  They  possessed 
the  same  knowledge  of  agriculture,  and,  according  to 
Pliny,  were  not  only  acquainted  with  the  modes  of 
manuring  the  soil  in  use  in  other  counti'ies,  but  prac- 
tised one  peculiar  to  themselves  and  the  Gauls.  This 
was  the  application  of  marl  to  that  purpose  ;  and  one 
white  chalky  sort  is  mentioned,  the  effects  of  which 
had  been  found  to  continue  eighty  years  ;  "  no  man," 
it  is  added,  "  having  yet  been  known  to  have  manured 
the  same  field  twice  in  liis  lifetime."  Of  the  British 
insti-uments,  and  methods  of  ploughing,  sowing,  and 
reaping,  we  have  no  information ;  but  thej'  were 
probably  the  same  as  in  Belgium  and  Gaul,  and  little 
diff'erent  from  those  used  in  Italy  at  that  period. 

To  the  flail  the  Britons  appear  to  have  been 
strangers ;    for  Diodorus    Siculus  tells  us  they  had 

1  Menhars  in  Armoricisaboundstone.  See  on  this  subject  a  learned 
and  highly  curious  letter  by  the  late  William  Hamper,  Esq.,  F.S.A  ,  in 
the  23lh  vol.  of  the  Archaeoloda. 


93 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


Hare  Stone,  Cornwall. — From  King's  Munimenia  Antiqua. 


granaries  or  subten-anean  chambers,  in  which  they 
housed  their  corn  in  the  ear,  beating  out  no  more 
tlian  they  required  for  the  day ;  then,  drying  and 
bruising  the  grain,  they  made  a  kind  of  food  of  it  for 
immediate  use.  Some  vestiges  of  this  ancient  prac- 
tice were  remaining  not  long  ago  in  the  western  isles 
of  Scotland.  "  It  is  called  graddan"  says  Martin, 
"from  the  Ii-ish  word  grad,  which  signifies  quick. 
A  woman,  sitting  down,  takes  a  handful  of  corn, 
holding  it  by  the  stalks  in  her  left  hand,  and  then 
sets  fire  to  the  ears,  which  are  presently  in  a  flame ; 
she  has  a  stick  in  her  right  hand,  which  she  manages 
very  dextrously,  beating  off  the  grain  at  the  very 
instant  when  the  husk  is  quite  burnt ;  for,  if  she  miss 
of  that,  she  must  use  the  kiln ;  but  experience  has 
taught  them  this  art  to  perfection.  The  corn  may 
be  so  dressed,  winnowed,  ground,  and  baked  within 
an  hour."' 

1  Description  of  the  Western  Isles  of  Scotland,  p.  204. 


■<t> 


GeoundPlan    anil   i-^Ecxios   of  the   Sibterrasean  Chamber  at 
Carrighuill,  in  the  Countv  or  Cork. 


Several  subterranean  caves  were  discovered  in 
1829,  on  a  farm  named  Garranes,  in  the  parish  of 
Carrighhill,  about  nine  miles  east  of  Cork,  perfectly 
corresponding  with  the  descriptions  of  Diodorus  and 
Tacitus,  tlie  latter  of  whom  mentions  the  existence 
of  a  similar  practice  amongst  the  ancient  Germans. 
They  were  situated  within  a  circular  intrenchment, 
commonly  but  improperly  called  a  Danish  fort.  They 
consisted  of  five  chambers  of  an  oval  or  circular  form. 


Plan  of  Chambers  on  a  Farm  Twelve  Miles  from  Ballyhendon. 


Section  of  a  Chamber  at  Kildrcmpber. 
about  seven  or  eight  feet  each  in  diameter,  commu- 
nicating with   each   other  by  narrow  passages.      A 
considerable  quantity  of  charcoal  was  found  in  them, 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


93 


and  the  fragments  of  a  quei-n  or  hand-mill.'  More 
were  subsequently  discovered  in  other  parts  of  the 
south  of  Ireland,  differing  only  from  the  above  in 
their  being  lined  with  stone  f  and  some  are  still  re- 
maining in  the  western  isles  of  Scotland^  and  in 
Cornwall.^  The  pits  near  Crayford  and  at  Faver- 
sham  in  Kent,  at  Tilbury  in  Essex,  and  at  Royston 
in  Hertfordshire,  are  also  presumed  to  have  been 
made  for  or  appropriated  to  that  purpose.^  Of  gar- 
dening Strabo  expressly  states  that  some  of  the 
Britons  knew  nothing,  any  more  than  others  did  of 
agriculture  ;  and  we  have  no  notices  of  any  fruits  or 
garden  vegetables  cultivated  in  the  country  before 
its  subjugation  by  the  Romans. 

With  regard  to  the  houses  of  the  Britons,  at  the 
period  of  the  Roman  invasion,  we  have  the  testimony 
of  Caesar,  that  on  the  southern  coast,  where  they 
were  numerous,  they  were  nearly  of  the  same  de- 
scription with  those  of  the  Gauls.  Diodorus  Siculus 
calls  them  wretched  cottages,  constructed  of  wood 
and  covered  with  straw ;  and  those  of  Gaul  are  de- 
scribed by  Strabo  as  being  constructed  of  poles  and 
wattled  work,  in  the  form  of  a  circle,  with  lofty, 
tapering,  or  pointed  roofs.     Representations  of  the 


Gaulish  Hdts. — From  the  Antonine  Column. 

Gaulish  houses  occur  on  the  Antonine  column, 
agreeing  sufficiently  with  the  description  of  Strabo, 
but  the  roofs  are  in  general  domed.  They  all  have 
one  or  more  lofty  arched  entrances ;  but  from  want 
of  skill  in  the  artist,  they  certainly  appear,  as  a 
modern  writer  has  remarked,  more  like  the  large  tin 
canisters  set  up  as  signs  by  grocers,  than  habitable 

1  Archffiologia,  vol.  xxiii.  p.  79.  2  Ibid.  p.  82 

3  Martin's  Description,  p.  154, 

*  Borlase's  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,  p.  292-3. 

6  Vide  Cough's  Additions  to  Camden's  Brit.,  vol.  i.  p.  341  ;  vol.  ii.  p. 
41.  Hasted's  Hist,  of  Kent,  vol.  i.  p.  211,  and  vol.  ii.  p.  717,  and  King's 
Munimenta  Antiqua,  vol.  i.  p.  53 


buildings.'  At  Grimspound,  Devonshire,^  in  the 
island  of  Anglesey,^  and  in  many  other  parts  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  vestiges  are  to  be  seen  of  stone 
foundations  and  walls,  apparently  of  circular  houses. 
Near  Chun  Castle,  in  Cornwall,  are  several  dilapi- 
dated walls  of  circular  buildings,  the  foundations 
detached  from  each  other,  and  consisting  of  large 
stones  piled  together  without  mortar :  each  hut 
measures  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  and 
has  a  dooi-way  with  an  upright  stone  or  jamb  on 
each  side.  There  is  no  appearance  of  chimneys  or 
windows.* 

They  had  nothing  amongst  them  answering  to  the 
Roman  ideas  of  a  city  or  town.  "  What  the  Britons 
call  a  town,"  says  Caesar,  "is  a  tract  of  woody 
country,  suiTounded  by  a  vallum  (or  high  bank)  and 
a  ditch  for  the  security  of  themselves  and  cattle 
against  the  incursions  of  their  enemies ;"  and  Strabo 
observes,  "  The  forests  of  the  Britons  are  their 
cities  ;  for,  when  they  have  inclosed  a  very  large 
circuit  with  felled  trees,  they  build  within  it  houses 
for  themselves  and  hovels  for  their  cattle.  These 
buildings  are  very  slight,  and  not  designed  for  long 
duration."  What  Caesar  calls  a  vallum  and  ditch  is 
expressed  in  Welsh  by  the  words  caer  and  din  or 
dinas  ;  the  same  with  the  Gaelic  dun.  The  caer  is 
generally  found  to  consist  of  a  single  vallum  and 
ditch.  Such  is  the  circular  intrenchment  called 
Caer  Morus,  in  the  parish  of  Cellan,  county  of  Car- 
digan. The  dun,  din,  or  dinas  was  a  more  important 
work,  and  generally  crested  like  a  fortress  some  very 
commanding  situation.  The  Catterthuns  in  Angus- 
shire,  Scotland,  are  posts  of  great  sti-ength.  The 
mountain  on  which  they  stand  is  bifurcated  with  a 
fortress  on  each  peak,  the  highest  called  the  White, 
the  other  the  Black  Catterthun.  The  White  is  of 
an  oval  form,  and  made  of  a  stupendous  dike  of 
loose  white  stones,  whose  convexity  from  the  base 
within  to  that  without  is  122  feet.  On  the  outside 
of  a  hollow  made  by  the  disposition  of  the  stones,  is 
a  rampart  suiTounding  the  whole,  at  the  base  of 
which  is  a  deep  ditch,  and  below  that,  about  100 
yards,  are  vestiges  of  another  that  went  round  the 
hill.  The  area  within  the  stony  mound  is  flat :  the 
greatest  extent  of  the  oval  is  436  feet;  the  transverse 
line  is  200.  Near  the  east  side  is  the  foundation  of 
a  rectangular  building,  and  on  most  parts  are  the 
foundations  of  others,  small  and  circular.  There  is 
also  a  hollow,  now  almost  filled  with  stones,  which 
was  once  the  well  of  the  place.^      • 

The  towns  of  the  warlike  Britons  were  all,  in 
fact,  military  posts ;  and  we  have  the  testimony  of 
Caesar,  that  they  evidenced  distinguished  skill  in 
fortification  and  castrametation.     The  capital  of  Cas- 

1  Vide  also  King's  Munimenta  Antiqua,  vol.  i.  p.  112,  for  vignette 
representing  a  Welsh  pig-sty,  numbers  of  which  occur  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Llaudaff,  and  have  been  supposed  to  have  been  built  in  im- 
itation of  the  ancient  British  houses.  However  unfounded  the  notion, 
there  can  be  but  one  opinion  of  their  accordance  in  shape  to  those  de- 
scribed by  Strabo. 

*  Lyson's  Brit.  vi.  cccvi. 

3  Rowland's  Mona  Antiqua,  pp.  88,  89. 

*  Borlase.  Britton's  Architectural  Antiquities,  ii.  p.  57.  ArchffiO- 
logia,  vol.  xxii.  p.  300,  and  Appendix. 

5  Munimenta  Antiqua,  vol.  i.  p.  27.  Meyrick's  Orig.  Inhab.  p.  7 
Pennant's  Tour  in  Scotland,  part.  ii.  p.  157. 


94 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  I. 


Welsh  Pig  sty,  supposed  to  represent  the  form  of  the  Ancient  British  Houses.     (See  Xote.) 


sivellaunus  he  describes  as  admii-ably  defended  {egre- 
gie  munitum)  both  by  nature  and  art.  Chun  Castle, 
which  we  have  before  mentioned,  is  another  highly 
interesting  specimen  of  an  ancient  British  dun,  or 
fortress.  It  consists  of  two  circular  walls,  having  a 
teiTace  thirty  feet  wide  between.  The  walls  are 
built  of  rough  masses  of  granite  of  various  sizes, 
some  five  or  six  feet  long,  fitted  together  and  piled 
up  without  cement,  but  presenting  a  regular  and 
tolerably  smooth  surface  on  the  outside.     The  outer 

West. 


Section. 
Plan  and  Section  of  Chun  Castle. 


wall  was  surrounded  by  a  ditch  nineteen  feet  in 
width  :  part  of  this  wall  in  one  place  is  ten  feet 
high,  and  about  five  feet  thick.  Borlase  is  of  opinion 
that  the  inner  wall  must  have  been  at  least  fifteen 
feet  high ;  it  is  about  twelve  feet  thick.  The  only 
entrance  was  towards  the  southwest,  and  exhibits  in 
its  arrangement  a  surprising  degree  of  skill  and  mili- 
tary knowledge  for  the  time  at  which,  it  is  supposed 
to  have  been  constructed.  It  is  six  feet  wide  in  the 
narrowest  part,  and  sixteen  in  the  widest,  where  the 
walls  diverge,  and  are  rounded  ofl^  on  either  side. 
There  also  appear  indications  of  steps  up  to  the 
level  of  the  area  within  the  castle,  and  the  remains 
of  a  wall,  which,  crossing  the  ten-ace  from  the  outer 
wall,  divided  the  entrance  into  two  parts  at  its  widest 
end.  The  inner  wall  of  the  castle  incloses  an  area 
measuring  175  feet  north  and  south,  by  180  feet  east 
and  west.  The  centre  is  without  any  indication  of 
buildings ;  but  all  around,  and  next  to  the  wall,  are 
the  remains  of  circular  inclosures,  supposed  to  have 
formed  the  habitable  parts  of  the  castle.  They  are 
generally  about  eighteen  or  twenty  feet  in  diameter, 
but  at  the  northern  side  there  is  a  larger  apartment 
thirty  by  twenty-six.^  Castle  an  Dinas  and  Caer 
Bran,  both  in  the  same  county  of  Cornwall,  exhibit 
similar  vestiges  of  circular  stone  walls,  containing 
smaller  inclosures.  The  first  is  situated  on  one  of 
the  highest  hills  in  the  hundred  of  Penwith ;  the 
second  on  a  hill  in  the  parish  of  Sancred.^  A  fine 
specimen  of  a  triple  ramparted  British  camp  exists 
on  one  of  the  Malvern  Hills,  called  the  Herefordshire 
Beacon.  Of  ancient  British  earth-works  also  there 
is  a  most  interesting  relic  at  Tynwald,  in  the  Isle  of 
Man.^     It  is  a  round  hill  of  earth,  cut  into  terraces, 

1  ArrhsBologia,  vol.  xxii.  p.  300.  2  Ibid. 

3  En^aved  in  Grose,  vol.  viii.  p.  61.     Described  in  Cough's  Cam- 
den, 700.  701. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


95 


The  Herefordshire  Beacon. 


and  ascended  by  steps  of  earth  like  a  regular  stair- 
case. The  enti'ance  into  the  area  had  stone  jambs, 
covered  with  ti-ansverse  imposts,  fixed  by  the  con- 
trivance called  a  tenon  and  mortice,  like  those  at 
Stonehenge. 

The  last-named  stupendous  monument,  and  similar 
circles  and  inclosures  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
are  evidences  of  a  much  higher  degi'ee  of  archi- 
tectural skill  than  is  displayed  either  in  the  domestic 
or  the  military  erections  we  have  noticed.  The 
application  of  the  principle  of  the  lever  must  have 
been  known  to  those  by  whom  such  enormous  blocks 
of  stone  were  lifted  from  the  quany,  conveyed  to 
the  place  where  they  were  to  be  used,  and  hoisted 
and  disposed  in  then-  present  form.  It  thus  appears, 
that  although  the  towns  of  the  Britons  may  be 
likened  to  the  kraals  of  the  Hottentots,  their  for- 
tresses, castles,  and  the  pillared  circles  dedicated  to 
the  worship  of  their  divinities,  or  the  solemn  delibera- 
tions of  their  kings  or  legislators,  are  not  to  be  pai'al- 
leled  amongst  savages. 

With  regard  to  the  furniture  and  interior  decora- 
tions of  the  habitations  of  the  Britons,  a  knowledge 
of  which  would  throw  considerable  light  upon  the 
degree  of  civilization  to  which  they  had  attained,  we 
are  completely  in  the  dark.  But  however  poorly 
furnished  the  houses  of  private  individuals  may  have 
been,  it  is  probable  enough  that  the  residences  of 
their  kings,  their  sages,  and  their  chiefs,  were  not 
destitute  of  such  comforts  and  even  ornaments  or 
elegancies  as  their  intercourse,  first  with  the  Phoeni- 


cians, and  afterwards  with  the  Gauls,  would  have 
procured  them,  supposing  them  to  have  been  abo 
riginal  savages,  instead  of  colonists,  bearing  with 
them  the  arts,  customs,  and  manners  of  the  counti'ies 
from  whence  they  came .  Of  the  handicrafts  in  which 
they  themselves  excelled,  that  of  basket-making  or 
wicker-work  has  been  particularly  mentioned  by  the 
Roman  poets,  Juvenal  and  Martial.  The  Latin 
hascauda,  fiom  whence  is  the  modern  basket,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  British  word.  Wicker-work 
was  used  in  the  construction  of  their  smaller  boats 
by  the  Britons ;  and  of  this  manufacture  were  made 
the  gigantic  idols  in  which  they  burned  their  victims 
at  their  religious  festivals.  Long  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Romans,  it  is  obvious  that  the  Britons  must 
have  possessed  certain  implements  required  for  the 
cutting,  smoothing,  shaping,  and  joining  of  wood.^ 
Besides  their  houses,  they  had,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  at  the  time  of  Caesar's  invasion,  not  only  instru- 
ments of  husbandry,  but  caiTiages  both  for  war  and 
for  other  purposes.  These  war-carriages  have  al- 
ready been  described  in  our  narrative  of  their  pro- 
ti-acted  contest  with  their  invaders.  The  Greek  and 
Roman  writers  mention  the  British  wheel-carriages 
under  the  six  different  names  of  Benna,  Petoritum, 
Currus  or  CaiTus,  Covinus,  Essedum  or  Esseda, 
and    Rheda ;    and  it   is   thought  by  some,    though 

1  See  a  great  variety  of  those  instruments  called  celts  in  the  fifth 
vol.  of  the  Archaeoloeia,  p.  106,  shaped  so  as  to  serve  for  chisels,  adzes, 
hatchets,  &c.  Some  have  been  found  with  cases  to  them,  as  if  to  pre- 
serve their  edge. 


96 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


CoNSTANTiNE  ToLMAN,  Cornwall;  consisting  of  a  vast  stone  33  feet  long,  14i  deep,  and  18A  across,  pl.nced  on  the  points  of  two  natural 
rocks.    The  stone,  which  is  calculated  to  weigh  750  tons,  points  due  south  and  noilti. 


perhaps  without  sufficient  reason,  that  each  of  these 
terms  designated  a  particular  description  of  can-inge. 
The  covinus  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  cliariot 
which  was  armed  with  a  scythe.- 

There  is  no  reasonable  ground  for  supposing,  as 
some  writers  have  done,  that  the  ancient  Britons 
possessed  any  description  of  navigating  vessels  which 
could  properly  be  termed  ships  of  war.  The  notion 
has  been  taken  up  on  an  inference  from  a  passage  in 
Caesar,  or  rather  from  a  comparison  of  several  pas- 
sages, which  the  language  of  that  vsTiter  rightly 
understood,  certainly  does  not  at  all  authorize.  C?e- 
sar  gives  us  in  one  place  an  account  of  a  naval  en- 
gagement which  he  had  with  the  Veneti  of  western 
Gaul,  whose  ships  appear,  from  his  description,  to 
have  been  very  formidable  military  engines.  Tn  a 
preceding  chapter  he  had  informed  us,  that  in  making 
preparations  for  their  resistance  to  the  Roman  arms, 
the  Veneti,  after  fortifying  their  towns,  and  collect- 
ing their  whole  naval  sti'ength  at  one  point,  associated 
with  them  for  the  purpose  of  carrj'ing  on  the  war, 
the  Osismii,  the  Lexobii,  and  other  neighboring  tribes, 
and  also  sent  for  aid  out  of  Britain,  which  lay  directly 
over  against  their  coast.  But  it  is  not  said  that  the 
assistance  which  they  thus  obtained,  either  from 
Britain  or  any  other  quarter,  consisted  of  ships.  It 
does  not  even  appear  that  it  consisted  of  seamen ;  for, 
although  it  so  happened  that  the  war  was  terminated 
by  the  destruction  of  the  naval  power  of  the  Veneti, 
in  the  engagement  we  have  just  mentioned,  prepara- 

1  "  Agmina  falcifero  circumvenit  arcta  Covino,"  Silius  Italicus.  So 
also  Mela,  iii.  6.  See  the  Collect,  de  Reb.  Hih.  pi.  11,  for  a  represen- 
tation of  one  (as  it  is  presumed)  thirteen  inches  long. 


tions  had  evidently  been  made  in  the  first  instance 
for  carrying  it  on  by  land  as  well  as  by  sea.  The 
supposition  that  the  Britons  possessed  anj'  ships  at 
all  resembling  the  high-riding,  strong-timbered,  iron- 
bound  vessels  of  this  principal  maritime  power  of 
Gaul — provided,  amongst  other  things,  Cffisai'  assures 
us,  with  chain  cables  (anchora,  j^^o  funihus,  Jerreis 
catenis  revinctee) — is  in  violent  contradiction  to  the 
general  bearing  of  all  the  other  recorded  and  probable 
facts  respecting  the  condition  of  our  island  and  its 
inhabitants  at  that  period.  There  is  no  evidence  or 
reason  for  believing  that  they  were  masters  of  any 
other  navigating  vessels  than  open  boats,  of  which  it 
may  be  doubted  if  any  were  even  furnished  with 
sails.  Their  common  boat  appears  to  have  been 
what  is  still  called  the  currach  by  the  Irish,  and  the 
coracle  (cwrwgyl)  by  the  Welsh,  formed  of  osier 
twigs,  covered  with  hide.  The  small  boats  yet  in 
use  upon  the  rivers  of  Wales  and  Ireland  are  in 
shape  like  a  walnut-shell,  and  rowed  with  one  pad- 
dle. Pliny,  as  already  noticed,  quotes  the  old  Greek 
historian  Timaeus,  as  affirming  that  the  Britons  used 
to  make  their  way  to  an  island  at  the  distance  of 
six  days'  sail  in  boats  made  of  wattles,  and  covered 
with  skins ;  and  Solinus  states  that  in  his  time,  the 
communication  between  Britain  and  Ireland  was  kept 
up  on  both  sides  by  means  of  these  vessels.  Caesar, 
in  his  history  of  the  Civil  War,  tells  us  that,  having 
learned  their  use  while  in  Britain,  he  availed  himself 
of  them  in  crossing  rivers  in  Spain  ;  and  we  learn 
from  Lucan,  that  they  were  used  on  the  Nile  and 
the  Po,  as  well  as  by  the  Britons.  Another  kind  of 
British  boat  seems  to  have  been  made  out  of  a  single 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY, 


97 


tree,  like  the  Indian  canoes.  Several  of  these  have 
been  discovered.  In  1736  one  was  dug  up  from  a 
morass  called  Lockermoss,  in  Dumfries,  Scotland. 
It  was  seven  feet  long,  dilated  to  a  considerable 
breadth  at  one  end  :  the  paddle  was  found  near  it. 
Another,  hollowed  out  of  a  solid  ti-ee,  was  seen  by 
Mr.  Pennant,  near  Rilblain.  It  measured  eight  feet 
three  inches  long,  and  eleven  inches  deep.  In  the 
year  1720  several  canoes  similar  to  these  were  dug 
up  in  the  marshes  of  the  river  Medway,  above  Maid- 
stone ;  one  of  them  so  well  preserved  as  to  be  used 
as  a  boat  for  some  time  afterwards.  On  draining 
Martine  Muir,  or  Marton  Lake,  in  Lancashire, 
there  were  found  sunk  at  the  bottom,  eight  canoes, 
each  made  of  a  single  ti-ee,  much  like  the  American 
canoes.'  In  1834  a  boat  of  the  same  description 
was  found  in  a  creek  near  the  village  of  North  Stoke, 
on  the  river  Arun,  Sussex.  It  is  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  measures  in  length  thirty-five  feet  four 
inches  ;  in  depth  one  foot  ten  inches ;  and  in  width, 
m  the  middle,  four  feet  six  inches.  There  are  three 
bars  left  at  the  bottom,  at  different  distances  from 
each  other,  and  from  the  ends,  which  seemed  to 
have  served  the  double  purpose  of  strengthening  it 
and  giving  firm  footing  to  those  who  rowed  or  paddled 
the  canoe.  It  seems  to  have  been  made,  or  at  least 
finished,  by  sharpened  instruments,  and  not  by  fire, 
according  to  the  practices  of  the  Indians.- 

Although  Strabo  mentions  articles  of  earthenware 
among  the  supplies  brought  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
tin  islands  by  the  foreign  merchants,  it  is  probable 
that  the  art  of  manufacturing  certain  descriptions  of 
such  articles  was  not  unknown  to  the  Britons.  The 
Gauls  had  numerous  and  extensive  potteries.  The 
British  earthenware,  however,  appears  to  have  been 
of  an  inferior  description,  composed  of  veiy  coarse 
materials,  nidely  formed,  before  the  use  of  the  lathe 
was  known,  imperfectly  baked,  and  subject,  therefore, 
to  crack  by  mei-e  exposure  to  the  weather.  The 
ornaments  chiefly  consisted  of  the  zigzag  pattern, 

^  King's  Munimenta  Antiqua,  vol.  i.  page  28,  &c. 
2  Archaeologia,  vol.  xivi.  p.  257,  <fec. 


and  of  lines  evidently  worked  by  some  pointed  in- 
strument, W'ith  the  hand,  and  not  formed  in  a  mould. 
The  vases  most  frequently  found  are  dii^ed  by  Sir 
R.  Colt  Hoare  into  three  kinds.  1.  The  large  sepul- 
chral or  funeral  urn,  which  contains  the  burnt  bones 
of  the  deceased,  sometimes  in  an  upright,  but  more 
frequently  in  a  reversed  position.  It  is  usually  a 
truncated  cone,  plain,  standing  mouth  downwards  in 
a  dish  to  fit,  like  a  pie  dish,  worked  with  zigzags.  2. 
The  drinking  cup,  most  frequently  found  with  skele- 
tons, and  placed  at  the  head  and  feet,  of  a  ban-e) 
form,  but  widening  at  the  mouth,  always  neatly  or- 
namented with  zigzag  or  other  patterns,  and  holding 
about  a  quart  in  measure  :  they  are  supposed  to  have 
contained  articles  of  food  for  the  dead.  3.  Incense- 
cups,  or  thuribula,  diminutive,  more  fantastic  in  shape 
and  ornaments  than  the  former,  frequently  perforated 
in  the  sides,  and  sometimes  in  the  bottom,  like  a 
cullender.  These  are  supposed  to  have  been  filled 
with  balsams  and  precious  ointments,  or  frankin- 
cense, and  to  have  been  suspended  over  the  funeral 
pile.' 

Among  the  useful  arts  practised  by  the  ancient 
Britons,  they  must  be  allowed  to  have  had  some 
acquaintance  with  those  relating  to  the  metals,  but 
how  much  it  is  not  easy  to  determine.  Both  Strabo 
and  Diodorus  Siculus  have  briefly  noticed  their 
mode  of  obtaining  the  tin  from  the  earth.  The  for- 
mer obsei-ves  that  Publius  Crassus,  upon  his  visit  to 
the  Cassiterides,  found  the  mines  worked  to  a  very 
small  depth.  It  may  be  inferred  from  this  expres- 
sion, that  the  only  mining  known  to  the  natives  was 
that  which  consisted  in  digging  a  foAv  feet  into  the 
earth,  and  collecting  what  is  now  called  the  stream 
tin,  from  the  modern  process  of  washing  and  sepa- 
rating the  particles  of  the  ore  thus  lodged  by  direct- 
ing over  their  bed  a  stream  of  water.  No  tools  of 
which  they  were  possessed  could  have  enabled  them 
to  cut  their  way  to  the  veins  of  metal  concealed  in 
the  rocks.  The  language  of  Diodorus  supports  the 
same  conclusion.      He  speaks  of  the  tin  as  being 

'  Ancient  Wiltshire,  Inlrod.  i.  25 


Side  View 


Foreshortened  View,  showing  the  End 


Anciknt  British  C.vmoes.— Found  at  North  Stoke,  Susses 


VOL.  1.— 7 


98 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  1 


mixed  with  earth  when  it  is  first  dug  oiit  of  the  mine  ; 
but,  from  what  he  adds,  it  would  api)ear  that  the 
islanders  knew  how  to  separate  the  metal  fiom  tlie 
dross  by  smelting.  After  it  was  thus  purified,  they 
prepared  it  for  miirket  by  casting  it  into  ingots  in  the 
shape  of  dice.  What  lead  they  had  Avas  no  doubt 
procured  in  like  manner  from  the  surface  of  the  soil 
or  a  vei-y  small  depth  under  it.  Phny  indeed  ex- 
pressly states  that,  even  in  his  time,  this  latter  metal 
was  found  in  Britain  in  gi-eat  plenty  lying  thus  ex- 
posed or  scarcely  covered. 

There  is  eveiy  reason  to  believe  that  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  art  of  working  in  metals  was  possessed 
by  the  Britons  before  the  Roman  invasion.  Moulds 
for  spear,  aiTow,  and  axe  heads  have  been  freauently 


Moulds  for  Spear-Heads. 

found  both  in  Britain  and  Ireland  ;'  and  the  discovery 
in  1735,  on  Easterly  Moor,  near  York,  of  100  axe- 
heads,  with  several  lumps  of  metal  and  a  quantity  of 
cinders,  may  be  considered  sufficient  testimony  that 
at  least  the  bronze  imported  into  Britain  was  cast 
into  shapes  by  the  inhabitants  themselves.^  The 
metal  of  which  the  British  weapons  and  tools  were 
made  has  been  chemically  analyzed  in  modern  times, 
and  the  proportions  appear  to  be,  in  a  spear-head, 
one  part  of  tin  to  six  of  copper ;  in  an  axe-head,  one 
of  tin  and  ten  of  copper;  and  in  a  knife,  one  of  tin  to 
seven  and  a  half  of  copper.^ 

1  Archaeologia,  vol.  xiv.  pi.  Iv.  and  vol.  xv.  pi.  xxxiv.  Collectanea  de 
Reb.  Hibem.  vol.  iv.  pi.  i. 

2  Borlase's  Conivfall,  p.  287. 

3  Meyrick's  Original  Inhabitants,  and  Philosophical  Transactions  for 
1790,  p.  395.  &c. 


Axe-IIeads,  commonly  called  Celts. 

Wliatever  knowledge  the  Gauls  possessed  of  the 
art  of  fabricating  and  dyeing  cloth,  the  more  civilized 
inhabitants  of  the  south  of  Britum,  having  come 
originally  from  Gaul,  and  always  keeping  uj)  a  close 
intercourse  with  the  people  of  that  country,  may  be 
fairly  presumed  to  have  shared  with  them.  The 
long  dark-colored  mantles  in  which  Strabo  describes 
the  inhabitants  ol'  the  Cassiterides  as  attired,  may 
indeed  have  been  of  skins,  but  were  more  probably 
of  some  woolen  texture.  The  Gauls  are  stated  by 
various  ancient  authors  to  have  both  woven  and  dyed 
wool ;  and  Pliny  mentions  a  kind  of  felt  which  they 
made  merely  by  pressure,  which  was  so  hai-d  and 
sh-ong,  especially  when  vinegar  was  used  in  its  man- 
ufacture, that  it  would  resist  the  blow  of  a  sword. 
Caesar  tells  us  that  the  ships  of  the  Veneti  of  Gaul, 
notwithstanding  their  superior  strength  and  size,  had 
only  skins  for  sails ;  and  he  expresses  a  doubt  as  to 
whether  that  mateiial  was  not  employed  either  from 
the  want  of  linen  or  ignorance  of  its  use.  At  a  some- 
wbat  later  period,  liowever,  it  appears  from  Pliny 
that  linen  cloth  was  fabricated  in  all  parts  of  Gaul. 
The  dyes  which  the  Britons  used  for  their  cloth 
were  probably  exti'acted  from  the  same  plant  from 
which  they  obtained  those  with  which  tliey  marked 
their  skin,  namely,  the  isatis,  or  woad.  "  Its  color," 
says  a  late  WTiter,  "was  somewhat  like  indigo,  which 

has  in  a  gieat  degi-ee  superseded  the  use  of  it 

The  best  woad  usually  yields  a  blue  tint,  but  that 
herb,  as  well  as  indigo,  when  partially  deoxidated, 

has  been  found  to  yield  a  fine  gi-een The  robes 

of  the  fanatic  British  women,  witches,  or  priestesses, 
were  black,  vestis  feralis  ;  and  that  color  was  a  thu"d 
prepaivation  of  woad  by  the  application  of  a  gi-eater 
heat."  '  Woad  is  still  cultivated  for  the  purposes  of 
dj'eing  in  France,  and  also,  to  a  smaller  extent,  in 
England. 

Some  of  the  facts  stated  above  would  seem  to 
afford  us  reason  for  suspecting  that  Britain  was  bet- 
ter known  even  to  tlie  Roman  world  before  the  two 
expeditions  of  Cwsar  than  is  commonly  supposed,  or 
than  we  should  be  led  to  infer  from  Caesar's  own 
account  of  those  attempts.  We  may  even  doubt 
whether  he  was  himself  as  ignorant  of  the  coimtiy 

1  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  p.  56. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


99 


WoAD — (Isatis  Tmctoria. 

as  he  aflfects  to  have  been.  He  may  veiy  possibly 
Imve  wished  to  give  to  his  achievement  the  ah'  of  a 
discovery  as  well  as  of  a  conquest.  Tacitus,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  disposed  to  claim  for  Agi'icola,  a  century 
and  a  half  later,  the  honor  of  having  first  ascertained 
Britain  to  be  an  island,  although  even  Csesar  pro- 
fesses no  doubt  about  that  point;  and  from  the  lan- 
guage of  every  preceding  ^^Titer  who  mentions  the 
name  of  the  country,  its  insular  character  must  evi- 
dently have  been  well  known  from  time  immemorial. 
The  Romans  did  nothing  directly,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing all  their  conquests,  little  even  indirectly  in  geo- 
gi'aphical  discovery  ;  almost  wherever  they  peneti-ated 
the  Greeks  or  the  orientals  had  been  before  them  ; 
and  any  reputation  gained  in  that  field  would  naturally 
be  valued  in  proportion  to  its  rarity.  But  however 
this  may  be,  Cajsar's  invasion  certainly  had  tiie 
immediate  effect  of  giving  a  celebrity  to  Britain 
which  it  had  never  before  enjoyed.  Lucretius,  the 
oldest  Roman  writer  who  has  mentioned  Britain,  is 
also,  we  believe,  the  only  one  in  whose  works  the 
name  is  found  before  the  date  of  Caesar's  visit.  Of 
the  interest  which  that  event  excited,  the  Letters  of 
Cicero,  to  some  passages  of  which  we  have  aheady 
refeiTed,  written  at  the  time  both  to  his  brother 
Quintus,  who  was  in  Caesar's  army,  and  to  Atticus 
and  his  other  friends,  afford  suflScient  evidence.  In 
the  firet  instance,  expectations  seem  to  have  been 
excited  that  the  conquest  would  probably  yield  more 
than  barren  laurels  ;  but  tliese  were  soon  dissipated. 
"  It  is  ascertained,"  Caesar  A\Tites  to  Atticus,  before 
the  issue  of  tlie  expedition  was  yet  known  at  Rome, 
"  that  the  approaches  to  tlie  island  are  defended  by 


natural  impediments  of  wonderful  vastness  {mirificis^ 
molihus) ;  and  it  is  known  too  by  this  time  that  there 
is  not  a  scruple  of  silver  in  that  island,  nor  the  least 
chance  of  booty,  unless  it  may  be  from  slaves,  of 
whom  you  will  scarcely  expect  to  find  any  very  highly 
accomplished  in  letters  or  in  music." '  So,  also,  in 
the  epistle  immediately  following  to  the  same  corres- 
pondent, he  mentions  having  had  letters  both  from 
his  brother  and  from  Caesar,  informing  him  that  the 
business  in  Britain  was  finished,  and  that  hostages 
had  been  received  from  the  inhabitants  ;  but  that  no 
booty  had  been  obtained,  although  a  pecuniaiy  tribute 
had  been  imposed  {imjyerata  tamen  j^ecunia). 

Although  the  island  was  not  conquered  by  Caesar, 
the  way  was  in  a  manner  opened  to  it,  and  its  name 
rendei-ed  ever  after  familiar,  by  his  sword  and  his 
pen.  Besides  the  reduction  of  Gaul,  which  he  ef- 
fected, removed  the  most  considerable  barrier  be- 
tween the  Romans  and  Britain.  After  that,  whether 
compelled  to  receive  an  imperial  governor  or  left 
unattacked,  it  could  not  remain  as  much  dissociated 
from  the  rest  of  the  world  and  unvisited  as  before. 
A  land  of  Roman  arts,  letters,  and  government, — of 
Roman  order  and  magnificence,  public  and  private, — 
now  lay  literally  under  tlie  eyes  of  the  natives  of 
Britain ;  and  it  was  impossible  that  such  a  spectacle 
should  have  been  long  contemplated,  and  that  the 
intercoui-se  which  must  have  existed  between  the 
two  closely  approaching  coasts  could  have  long  gone 
on,  without  the  ideas  and  habits  of  the  formerly  seclud- 
ed islanders,  semibarbarians  themselves  and  encom- 
passed by  semibarbarians,  undergoing  some  change. 
Accordingly  Strabo  has  intimated  that,  even  in  his 
time,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  reign  of  Augustus,  the 
Roman  arts,  manners,  and  religion  had  gained  some 
footing  in  Britain.  It  appears  also,  from  his  account, 
that  although  no  annual  payment  under  the  obnox- 
ious name  of  a  tribute  was  exacted  from  the  Britons 
by  Augustus,  yet  that  prince  derived  a  considerable 
revenue,  not  only  from  the  presents  which  were 
made  to  him  by  the  British  princes,  but  also  by 
means  of  what  would  certainly  now  be  accounted  a 
veiy  decided  exercise  of  sovereignty  over  the  island, 
the  imposition  of  duties  or  customs  upon  exports  and 
imports.  To  these  imposts,  it  seems,  the  Britons  sub- 
mitted without  resistance  ;  yet  they  must  of  course 
have  been  collected  by  functionaries  of  the  imperial 
government  stationed  within  the  island,  for  it  is  well 
known  to  have  been  a  leading  regulation  of  the 
Roman  financial  system  that  all  such  duties  should 
be  paid  on  goods  exported  before  embarkation,  and 
on  goods  imported  before  they  were  landed.  If  the 
duties  were  not  paid  according  to  this  rule,  the  goods 
were  forfeited.  The  right  of  inspection,  and  the 
other  rights  with  which  the  collectors  were  invested 
to  enable  them  to  appoition  and  levy  these  taxes, 
were  necessarily  of  the  most  arbitrary  description ; 
and  they  must  have  been  even  more  than  ordinarily 
so  in  a  country  where  the  imperial  government  was 
not  established,  and  there  was  no  regular  superin- 
tending power  set  over  them.  Strabo  says  that  a 
great  part  of  Britain  had  come  to  be  familiarly  known 

1  Epist.  ad  Att.  iv.  16 


100 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


to  the  Romans  through  the  intercourse  with  it  which 
was  thus  maintained. 

All  this  implies,  that  the  foreign  commerce  of  the 
island  had  already  been  considerably  extended  ;  and 
such  accordingly  is  proved  to  have  been  the  case 
even  by  the  catalogue — probably  an  incomplete  one 

of  its  exports  and  imports  which  Strabo  gives  us. 

Amon"  the  former  he  mentions  gold,  silver,  and 
iron,  but,  strangely  enough,  neither  lead  nor  tin; 
corn,  cattle,  skins, — including  both  hides  of  horned 
cattle  and  the  skins  and  fleeces  of  sheep, — and  dogs, 
wliich  he  describes  as  possessing  various  excellent 
qualities.  In  those  days  slaves  were  also  obtained 
from  Britain  as  they  now  are  from  the  coast  of  Af- 
rica; and  it  may  be  suspected  from  Cicero's  allusion 
already  quoted,  that  this  branch  of  trade  was  older 
even  than  Cajsar's  invasion.  Cicero  seems  to  speak 
of  the  slaves  as  a  well  known  description  of  British 
produce.  These  several  kinds  of  raw  produce  the 
Britons  appear  to  have  exchanged  for  articles  the 
manufacture  of  which  was  probably  of  more  value 
than  the  material,  and  which  were,  for  the  gi-eater 
part,  rather  showy  than  useful.  The  imports  enu- 
merated by  Strabo  are  ivory  bridles,  gold  chains, 
cups  of  amber,  drinking  glasses,  and  a  variety  of 
other  articles  of  the  like  kind.  Still,  all  these  are 
articles  of  a  very  ditferent  sort  from  the  brass  but- 
tons and  glass  beads,  by  means  of  which  trade  is 
can"ied  on  with  savages. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Roman  dominion 
in  the  country,  its  natural  resources  were  no  doubt 
much  more  fully  developed,  and  its  foreign  trade 
both  in  the  way  of  exportation  and  importation,  but 
in  the  latter  more  especially,  must  have  assumed 
altogether  a  new  aspect.  The  Roman  colonists  set- 
tled in  Britain  of  course  were  consumers  of  the 
same  necessaries  and  luxuries  as  in  other  parts  of 
the  empire  ;  and  stich  of  these  as  could  not  be  obtained 
in  the  country  were  imported  for  their  use  from 
abroad.  They  must  have  been  paid  for,  on  the 
other  hand,  by  the  produce  of  the  island,  of  its  soil, 
of  its  mines,  perhaps  of  its  seas,  and  by  the  native 
manufactures,  if  there  were  any  of  these  suited  to 
the  foreign  market. 

The  chief  export  of  Roman  Britain,  in  the  most 
flourishing  times  of  the  pi-ovince,  appears  to  have 
been  corn.  This  island,  indeed,  seems  eventually 
to  have  come  to  be  considered  in  some  sort  as  the 
Sicily  of  the  northern  part  of  the  empire  ;  and  in 
the  fourth  century  we  find  the  armies  of  Gaul 
and  Germany  depending  in  gi'eat  part  for  their  sub- 
sistence upon  the  regular  annual  an-ivals  of  corn 
from  Britain.  It  was  stored  in  those  countries  for 
their  use  in  public  gi-anaries.  But  on  extraordinary 
emergencies  a  much  gi-eater  quantity  was  brought 
over  than  sufficed  for  this  object.  The  historian 
Zosinus  relates  that  in  the  year  359,  on  the  Roman 
colonies  situated  in  the  Upper  Rhine  having  been 
plundered  by  the  enemy,  the  Emperor  Julian  built  a 
fleet  of  800  barks,  of  a  lai-ger  size  than  usual,  which 
he  dispatched  to  Britain  for  corn ;  and  that  they 
brought  over  so  much  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
plundered  towns  and  disti'icts  received  enough  not 


only  to  support  them  during  the  winter,  but  also  to 
sow  their  lands  in  the  spring,  and  to  serve  them  tiU 
the  next  harvest.  It  is  probable  also  that  Britain 
now  supplied  the  continental  j)arts  of  the  empire 
with  other  agi'icultural  produce  as  well  as  grain. 
No  doubt  its  cattle,  which  were  abundant  even  in  the 
time  of  Caesar,  frequentl}'  supplied  the  foreign  mar- 
ket with  caicases  as  well  as  hides,  and  were  also 
exported  alive  for  breeding  and  the  plough.  The 
British  horses  were  highly  esteemed  by  the  Romans 
both  for  their  beauty  and  their  training.  Various 
Latin  poets,  as  well  as  the  geogi'apher  Strabo,  have 
celebrated  the  preeminence  of  the  British  dogs  above 
all  others  both  for  courage,  size,  strength,  fleetness, 
and  scent.'  Cheese,  also,  which  many  of  the  British 
tiibes  when  they  first  became  known  to  the  Romans 
appear  not  to  have  understood  how  to  make,  is  said 
to  have  been  afterwards  expoi'ted  from  the  island  in 
large  quantities.  The  chalk  of  Britain,  and  probably 
also  the  lime  and  the  marl,  seem  to  have  been  held 
in  high  estimation  abroad ;  and  an  altar  or  votive 
stone  is  stated  to  have  been  found  in  the  seventeenth 
century  at  Donburgh,  in  Zealand,  with  an  inscrip- 
tion testifying  it  to  have  been  dedicated  to  a  goddess 
named  Nehalennia,  for  her  preservation  of  his  freight, 
by  Secundus  Silvanus,  a  British  chalk-merchant 
(Negociator  Cretarius  Britannicianus). 

We  may  fairly  presume  that  the  trade  in  the 
ancient  metallic  products  of  the  island,  tin  and  lead, 
was  greatly  extended  during  the  Roman  occupation. 
It  seems  to  have  been  then  that  the  tin-mines  first 
began  to  be  worked  to  any  considerable  depth,  or 
rather  that  the  metal  began  to  be  procured  by  any 
process  which  could  properly  be  called  mining.  It 
has  been  supposed  that  convicted  criminals  among 
the  Romans  used  to  be  condemned  to  work  in  the 
British  mines.-  Roman  coins,  and  also  blocks  of 
tin,  with  Latin  inscriptions,  have  been  found  in  the 
old  tin-mines  and  stream-works  of  Cornwall.     The 

1  See  a  curious  collection  of  these  testimonies  in  Camden's  Britan- 
nia, by  Gibson,  i.  139-40.  See  also  Harrison's  Description  of  England, 
B.  iii.  c.  7.  2  lb.  ii.  1523. 


^                        d 

u                                          ii 

"3;    ESeH:M31liMHrA 

mm   ! 

,,  WCM»lf M@')icec  SYDD 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


101 


British  Museum  contains  several  pigs  of  lead  stamped 
by  the  Romans,  which  have  been  discovered  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country.  Britain  then,  as  now, 
seems  to  have  produced  much  more  lead  than  all  the 
rest  of  Europe.  But  we  shall  return  to  this  subject 
presently,  when  we  come  to  speak  of  the  improve- 
ments in  the  useful  arts  inti'oduced  by  the  Romans. 
We  have  no  direct  information  as  to  any  actual  ex- 
ports of  the  metals  from  Britain  in  the  Roman  times, 
and  can  merely  infer  the  fact  from  the  mention  which 
we  find  made  of  them  as  important  products  of  the 
countiy,  and  from  the  other  evidences  we  have  that 
they  were  then  obtained  in  considerable  quantities. 
On  these  grounds  it  has  been  supposed  that  supplies 
were  in  those  days  obtained  from  Britain  not  only  of 
lead  and  tin,  but  also  of  iron,  and  even  of  the  pre- 
cious metals.  Tacitus  expressly  mentions  gold  and 
silver  as  among  the  mineral  products  of  the  island.^ 

The  same  writer  adds  that  Britain  likewise  pro- 
duces pearls,  the  color  of  which  however  is  dusky 
and  livid,  but  this  he  thinks  may  probably  be  at- 
tributed to  the  unskilfulness  of  the  gatherers,  who 
do  not  pluck  the  fish  alive  from  the  rocks,  as  is  done 
in  the  Red  Sea,  but  merely  collect  them  as  the  sea 
throws  them  up  dead.  The  pearls  of  Britain  seem 
to  have  very  early  acquired  celebrity.  We  have 
already  quoted  the  tradition  preserved  by  Suetonius 
about  Julius  Caesar  having  been  tempted  to  invade 
the  island  bj'  the  hope  of  enriching  himself  with  its 
pearls  ;  and  what  Pliny  tells  us  of  the  shield  studded 
with  British  pearls,  which  he  dedicated  to  Venus, 
and  suspended  in  her  temple  at  Rome.  Solinus 
aflfirms  that  the  fact  of  the  pearls  being  British  was 
attested  by  an  inscription  on  the  shield,  which  agi'ees 
very  well  with  Pliny's  expression,  that  Csesar  wished 
it  to  be  so  understood.  The  oldest  Latin  wTiter,  we 
believe,  who  mentions  the  British  pearls  is  Pompo- 
nius  Mela,  who  asserts  that  some  of  the  seas  of 
Britain  generate  pearls  and  gems.  They  are  also 
mentioned  in  the  second  century  by  Aelian  in  his 
History  of  Animals,  and  by  Origen  in  his  Commen- 
tary on  St.  Matthew,  who,  although  he  describes 
them  as  somewhat  cloudy,  affirms  that  they  were 
esteemed  next  in  value  to  those  of  India.  They 
were,  he  says,  of  a  gold  color.  Some  account  of  the 
British  pearls  is  also  given  in  the  fourth  centuiy  by 
Marcellinus,  who  describes  them,  however,  as  gi-eatly 
inferior  to  those  of  Persia.  In  the  same  age  the 
poet  Ausonius  mentions  those  of  Caledonia  under 
the  poetical  figure  of  the  white  shell-berries.^  But 
the  British  pearls  have  also  been  well  known  in 
modern  times.  Bede  notices  them  as  a  product  of 
the  British  seas  and  rivers  in  the  eighth  century. 
There  is  a  chapter  upon  those  found  in  Scotland  in 
the  description  of  that  country  prefixed  to  Hector 
Boece's  History,  in  which  the  writer  gives  an  ac- 
count of  the  manner  of  catching  the  fish  in  his  time 

'  Agric.  12. 

2  "  Albentes  concharum  g-ermina  baccas  ;"  literally,  the  white  ber- 
ries, the  buds  of  shells.  Ausonius  in  iloseUa.  This  appears  to  be 
the  origin  of  the  verse  "  Gignit  et  insignes  antiqua  Britannia  baccas," 
quoted  by  Camden  and  by  other  writers  after  him,  from  Marbodaeus,  a 
Frenchman  of  the  eleventh  century,  who  wrote  a  Latin  poem  entitled 
"De  Gemraarum  Lapidumque  preciosorum  fnrmis,  natura,  et  viribus." 
Of  course  a  writer  of  that  age  can  be  no  authority  in  this  case. 


(the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century).  It  is  very 
different  from  that  which  Tacitus  has  noticed,  as 
will  appear  from  the  passage  which  is  thus  given  in 
HaiTison's  English  ti'anslation  : — "  They  are  so  sensi- 
ble and  quick  of  hearing,  that  although  you,  standing 
on  the  bi-ae  or  bank  above  them,  do  speak  never  so 
softly,  or  throw  never  so  small  a  stone  into  the  water, 
yet  they  will  descry  you,  and  settle  again  to  the 
bottom,  without  return  for  that  time.  Doubtless 
they  have,  as  it  were,  a  natural  carefulness  of  their 
own  commodity,  as  not  ignorant  how  gi-eat  estima- 
tion we  mortal  men  make  of  the  same  amongst  us ; 
and  therefore  so  soon  as  the  fishermen  do  catch 
them,  they  bind  their  shells  together,  for  otherwise 
they  would  open  and  shed  their  pearls,  of  purpose 
for  which  they  know  themselves  to  be  pursued. 
Their  manner  of  apprehension  is  this ;  first,  four  or 
five  persons  go  into  the  river  together,  up  unto  the 
shoulders,  and  there  stand  in  a  compass  one  by 
another,  with  poles  in  their  hands,  whereby  they 
rest  more  surely,  sitli  they  fix  them  in  the  gi-ound, 
and  stay  Avith  one  hand  upon  them ;  then,  casting 
their  eyes  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  water,  they 
espy  where  they  lie  by  their  shining  and  clearness, 
and  with  their  toes  take  them  up  (for  the  depth  of 
the  water  will  not  suffer  them  to  stoop  for  them), 
and  give  them  to  such  as  stand  next  them."  The 
Scotch  pearls,  according  to  Boece,  were  engendered 
in  a  long  and  large  sort  of  mussel,  called  the  horse- 
mussel.  On  the  subject  of  the  origin  of  the  pearl 
he  follows  Pliny's  notion.  These  mussels,  he  says, 
"  early  in  the  morning,  in  the  gentle,  clear,  and  calm 
air,  lift  up  their  upper  shells  and  mouths  a  little 
above  the  water,  and  there  receive  of  the  fine  and 
pleasant  breath  or  dew  of  heaven,  and  afterwards, 
according  to  the  measure  and  quantity  of  this  vital 
force  received,  they  first  conceive,  then  swell,  and 
finally  product  the  pearl."  •'  The  pearls  that  are  so 
got  in  Scotland,"  he  adds,  "  are  not  of  small  value  ; 
they  are  very  orient  and  bright,  light  and  round,  and 
sometimes  of  the  quantity  of  the  nail  of  one's  little 
finger,  as  I  have  had  and  seen  by  mine  own  experi- 
ence." In  his  own  Description  of  England,  also, 
written  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  centuiy, 
Harrison  notices  those  still  to  be  found  in  that  part 
of  the  island.  He  accounts  for  their  having  fallen 
into  disrepute  in  a  curious  way.  "  Certes,"  he 
writes,  "  they  are  to  be  found  in  these  our  days, 
and  thereto  of  divers  colors,  in  no  less  numbers  than 
ever  they  were  of  old  time.  Yet  are  they  not  now 
so  much  desired,  because  of  their  smallness,  and 
also  for  other  causes,  but  especially  sith  church- 
work,  as  copes,  vestments,  albes,  tunicles,  altar- 
cloths,  canopies,  and  such  trash  are  worthily  abol- 
ished, upon  which  our  countrymen  superstitiously 
bestowed  no  small  quantities  of  them.  For  I  think 
there  were  few  churches  or  religious  houses,  besides 
bishops'  mitres,  books,  and  other  pontifical  vestures, 
but  were  either  thoroughly  fretted  or  notably  gar- 
nished with  huge  numbers  of  them."  He  adds,  "  I 
have  at  sundry  times  gathered  more  than  an  ounce 
of  them,  of  which  divers  have  holes  already  entered 
by  nature,  some  of  them  not  much  inferior  to  great 


102 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


peason  (peas)  in  quantity,  and  thereto  of  sundry 
colors,  as  it  happeneth  among  such  as  are  brought 
from  the  easterlj"  coast  to  Saffron  Waldon  in  Lent, 
when  for  want  of  flesh  stale  stinking  fish  and  welked 
mussels  are  thought  to  be  good  meat,  for  other  fish 
is  too  dear  amongst  us  when  law  doth  bind  us  to  use 
it.  They  (pearls)  ai-e  also  sought  for  in  the  latter 
end  of  August,  a  little  before  which  time  the  sweet- 
ness of  the  dew  is  most  convenient  for  that  kind  of 
fish  which  doth  engender  and  conceive  them,  whose 
form  is  flat,  and  much  like  unto  a  lempit.  The 
further  north,  also,  that  they  be  found,  the  brighter 
is  their  color,  and  their  substances  of  better  valure, 
as  lapidaries  do  give  out."  In  another  place,  Harri- 
son mentions,  as  found  in  England,  what  he  calls 
mineral  pearls,  "which,"  he  says,  "as  they  are  for 
gi-eatness  and  color  most  excellent  of  all  other,  so 
they  are  digged  out  of  the  main  land,  and  in  sundry 
places  far  distant  from  the  shore."  Camden,  and 
his  translator,  Gibson,  have  given  us  an  account  of 
pearls  found  in  the  river  Conway  in  their  time. 
"  The  pearls  of  this  river,"  says  the  latter,  "  are  as 
large  and  well  colored  as  any  we  find  either  in  Britain 
or  Ireland,  and  have  probably  been  fished  for  here 
ever  since  the  Roman  conquest,  if  not  sooner."  The 
writer  goes  on  to  inform  us,  that  the  British  and 
Irish  pearls  are  found  in  a  large  black  mussel ;  that 
they  are  peculiar  to  rapid  and  sti'ong  rivers ;  and  that 
thej-are  common  in  Wales,  in  the  north  of  England, 
in  Scotland,  and  some  parts  of  Ireland.  They  are 
called  b}-  the  people  of  Caernarvonshire,  kretjin  diliw, 
or  deluge  shells.  The  mussels  that  contain  pearls 
are  generally  known  by  being  a  little  contracted,  or 
contorted  from  their  usual  shape.  A  Mr.  Wynn 
bad  a  valuable  collection  of  ])earls,  procured  fi-ora  the 
Conway,  amongst  which,  Gibson  says  that  he  noted 
a  stool-pearl,  of  the  form  and  bigness  of  a  lesser 


button  mould,  weighing  seventeen  gi-ains.  A  Con- 
way pearl  presented  to  the  queen  of  Charles  II.,  by 
her  chamberlain.  Sir  Richard  Wynn  (jjerhaps  of  the 
family  of  this  Mr.  Wynn),  is  said  still  to  be  one  of 
the  ornaments  of  the  British  crown.  Camden  also 
speaks  of  pearls  found  in  the  river  Irt,  in  Cumber- 
land. •'  These,"  he  says,  "  the  inhabitants  gather 
up  at  low  water;  and  the  jewelers  buy  them  of  the 
poor  people  for  a  trifle,  but  sell  them  at  a  good  piice." 
Gibson  adds  (writing  in  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century),  that  not  long  since  a  patent  had  been 
gi-anted  to  some  persons  for  pearl  fishing  in  this 
river ;  but  the  pearls,  he  says,  were  not  very  plenti- 
ful here,  and  were  most  of  the  dull-colored  kind, 
called  sand-pearl.  Mention  is  made  in  a  paper  in 
the  Philosophical  Transactions,  of  several  pearls  of 
large  size  that  were  found  in  the  sixteenth  century 
in  Ireland  ;  among  the  rest,  one  that  weighed  thirty- 
sL\  caiats.'  Pennant  (Toui*  in  Scotland.  17G9)  gives 
an  account  of  a  pearl-fislieiy  then  canied  on  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Perth,  in  Scotland,  which,  though 
by  that  time  nearh'  exliausted,  had,  a  few  years 
before,  produced  between  three  and  four  thousand 
pounds'  worth  of  pearls  annually.  An  eminent 
naturalist,  we  observe,  has  recently  expressed  some 
surprise  that  the  regular  fisheries  which  once  existed 
for  this  native  gem  should  have  been  abandoned.* 
The  pearl,  however,  though  still  a  gem  of  prize,  is  not 
now  held  in  the  same  extraordinarj'  estimation  as  in 
ancient  times,  when  it  appears,  indeed,  to  have  been 
considered  more  valuable  than  any  other  gem  Avhat- 
ever.  "  The  chief  and  topmost  place,"  says  Pliny, 
"among  all  precious  things,  belongs  to  the  pearl." ^ 
Another  product  of  the  British  waters,  which  was 

1  Phil.  Trans,  for  1693,  p.  659. 

a  SwaiiisoQ  on  the  Zoolog^y  of  England  and  Wales,  in  Maculloch's 
Statistical  Account  of  the  British  Empire,  vol.  i.  p.  IGO. 
3  Nat.  Hist.  ix.  54. 


BritWh  Pearl  Shells     Natural  Size. — a.  Duck  Fresh-Water  Pearl  Mussel  (Anodon  Auatinus).    b.  Swan  ditto  (Anodon  Cygneusl. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


103 


highly  prized  by  the  luxurious  Romans,  was  the  oys- 
ter. From  the  manner  in  which  the  oysters  of  Bri- 
tain are  mentioned  by  Pliny,  their  sweetness  seems 
to  have  been  the  quality  for  which  they  were  espe- 
cially esteemed.^  Juvenal  speaks  of  them  as  gath- 
ered at  Rutupiae,  now  Richborough,  near  Sandwich.- 
Pliny,  who  mentions  as  among  the  greatest  delicacies 
of  Britain  a  sort  of  geese,  which  he  calls  cheaerotes, 
and  describes  as  smaller  than  the  anser,  or  common 
goose. ^ 

Soliuus^  celebrates  the  gi'eat  store  found  in  Britain 
of  the  stone  called  the  gagates,  in  English  the  black 
amber,  or  jetstone.  This  mineral,  as  may  be  seen 
from  Pliny,^  was  held  by  the  ancients  to  be  endowed 
with  a  gi-eat  variety  of  medical  and  magical  virtues. 
Camden  mentions  it  as  found  on  the  coast  of  York- 
shire. "  It  grows,"  he  says,  "  upon  the  rocks,  within 
a  chink  or  cliff  of  them  ;  and  before  it  is  polished 
looks  reddish  and  rusty,  but  after,  is  really  (as  Soli- 
nus  describes  it)  diamond-like,  black,  and  shining." 
"  Certain  it  is,"  says  Harrison,  "  that  even  to  this  day 
there  is  some  plenty  to  be  had  of  this  commodity  in 
Derbyshire  and  about  Berwick,  whereof  rings,  salts, 
small  cups,  and  ^[undry  trifling  toys  are  made ;  al- 
tliough  that  in  many  men's  opinions  nothing  so  fine  as 
that  which  is  brought  over  by  merchants  daily  from 
the  main."  Marbodaeus,  however,  gives  the  prefer- 
ence to  the  jets  of  Britain  over  those  of  all  other 
countries. 

The  inhabitants  of  Britain  under  the  Roman  gov- 
ernment, no  doubt  carried  on  traffic  with  the  other 
parts  of  the  empue  in  ships  of  their  own ;  and  the 
province  must  be  supposed  to  have  possessed  a  con- 
siderable mercantile  as  well  as  military  navy.  It  is 
of  the  latter  only,  however,  that  the  scanty  histoiy  of 
the  island  we  have  during  the  Roman  domination  has 
preserved  any  mention.  A  powerful  maritime  force, 
as  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  observe,  was  main- 
Sained  by  the  Romans  for  the  defence  of  the  east,  or, 
as  it  was  called,  the  Saxon  coast ;  and  about  the  end 
of  the  third  century  we  have  the  first  example  of  an 
exclusively  British  navy  imder  the  sovereignty  of  the 
famous  Carausius.*  The  navy  of  Carausius  must  have 
been  manned  in  gi-eat  part  by  his  own  Britons ;  and  the 
superiority  which  it  maintained  for  years  in  the  sur- 
rounding seas,  preserving  for  its  master  his  island 
empire  against  "  the  superb  fleets  that  were  built  and 
equipped,"  says  a  contemporary  writer,'  "simultane- 
ously in  all  the  rivers  of  the  Gauls  to  overwhelm  him," 
may  be  taken  as  an  evidence  that  the  people  of  Bri- 
tain had  by  this  time  been  long  famihar  with  ships  of 
all  descriptions. 

Wholly  uncultivated  as  the  greater  part  of  the 
country  was  when  it  was  first  visited  by  the  Romans, 
it  was  most  probably  not  unprovided  with  a  few  great 
highways,  by  which  communication  was  maintained 
between  one  disti-ict  and  another.  Ca?sar  could 
scarcely  have  marched  his  forces  even  so  far  into  the 

1  Nat.  Hist.  ix.  29,  and  ixiii.  21.  2  Sat.  iv.  141. 

3  Nat.  Hist.  I.  29.  *  Polyhistnr,  22. 

5  Nat.  Hist,  xxxvi.  34.  6  See  ante,  p.  49. 

'  The  orator  Mamertinus,  c.  xii. ;  <juoted  in  Britannia  after  the  Ro- 
mans, p.  10 


interior  as  he  did,  if  the  districts  through  which  he 
passed  had  been  altogether  without  roads.  Rude  and 
imperfect  enough  these  British  roads  may  have  been, 
but  still  they  must  have  been  to  a  certain  extent  arti- 
ficial; they  must  have  been  cleared  of  such  incum- 
brances as  admitted  of  being  removed,  and  carried  in 
a  continuous  line  out  of  the  way  of  mhrshes  and  such 
other  natural  impediments  as  could  not  be  otherwise 
overcome.  Tacitus  would  seem  to  be  speaking  of 
the  native  roads,  when  he  tells  us  that  Agi-icola,  on 
preparing  in  his  sixth  summer  to  push  into  the  re- 
gions beyond  the  Forth,  determined  first  to  have  a 
sui-vey  of  the  country  made  by  his  fleet;  because  it 
was  apprehended  that  the  roads  were  infested  by  the 
enemy's  forces.  The  old  tradition  is,  that  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  island  was,  in  the  British  times, 
crossed  in  various  directions  by  four  gi-eat  highways, 
still  in  gi-eat  part  to  be  traced,  and  kno^vn  by  the 
names  of  the  Fossej  Watling-sti-eet,  Ermine-street, 
and  the  Ichenild.  The  Fosse  appears  to  have 
begun  at  Totness,  in  Devonshire,  and  to  have  pro- 
ceeded by  Bristol,  Cirencester,  Chipping  Norton, 
Coventry,  Leicester,  and  Newark,  to  Lincoln.  Wat- 
ling-street  is  said  to  have  commenced  at  Dover,  to 
have  proceeded  thence  through  Kent,  by  Canterbury, 
to  London;  then  to  have  passed  towards  the  north, 
over  Hampstead  Heath,  to  Edgeware,  St.  Alban's, 
Dunstable,  Stony  Stratford,  in  Northamptonshire, 
along  the  west  side  of  Leicestershire,  crossing  the 
Fosse  near  Bosworth,  and  hence  to  York  and  Ches- 
ter-le-Street,  in  the  county  of  Durham.  Some  carry 
it,  in  later  times,  from  this  point  as  far  as  to  Lanark 
and  Falkirk,  in  Scotland;  and  others  even  to  Caith- 
ness, at  the  extremity'  of  the  island.  The  Ermine- 
street  is  understood  to  have  run  from  St.  David's,  in 
Wales,  to  Southampton,  crossing  the  Fosse  between 
Cirencester  and  Gloucester.  The  Ichenild  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  so  called  from  having  begun  in 
the  country  of  the  Iceni,  on  the  east  coast.  It  is 
commonly  thought  to  have  crossed  Watling-sti-eet,  at 
Dunstable,  and  thence  to  have  taken  a  northeasterly 
direction,  through  Staffordshire,  to  the  west  side  of 
the  island.  The  utmost,  however,  that  can  be  con- 
ceded in  regard  to  these  roads  being  of  British  origin, 
is,  that  lines  of  communication  in  such  directions  may 
have  existed  in  the  time  of  the  Britons.  It  was  the 
Romans,  undoubtedly,  by  whom  they  were  ti-ans- 
formed  into  those  elaborate  and  almost  monumental 
woi'ks  which  their  remains  declare  them  to  have  been. 
Roads  constructed  to  last  for  ever  were  laid  down  by 
that  extraordinary  people,  as  the  first  foundations  of 
their  empire  wherever  they  planted  themselves,  and 
seem  to  have  been  considered  by  them  as  the  indis- 
pensable veins  and  aiteries  of  all  civilization.  In 
Britain  it  is  probable  that  they  began  their  operations 
with  the  great  native  high-roads,  the  course  of  which 
would  be  at  least  accommodated  to  the  situation  of 
the  principal  towns  and  other  more  important  locali- 
ties throughout  the  countiy.  These  they  no  doubt 
leveled,  sti-aightened,  and  paved,  so  as  to  fit  them 
not  only  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  pedestrian  and 
carriage  communication,  but  also  for  the  movements 
of  large  bodies  of  infantrj'  and  cavalry,  in  all  weathers 


104 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


and  in  all  seasons.  But  they  formed  also  many  new 
lines  of  road,  leading  from  one  to  another  of  the  many 
new  stations  which  they  established  in  all  parts  of  the 
country.  Camden  describes  the  Koman  ways  in 
Britain  as  i-unning  in  some  places  through  drained 
fens,  in  others  through  low  valleys,  raised  and  paved, 
and  so  broad  tliat  they  admit  of  two  carts  easily  pass- 
ing each  other.  In  this  country,  as  elsewhere,  the 
Roman  roads  were  in  great  part  the  work  of  the  sol- 
dier}', of  whose  accomplishments  skill  in  this  kind  of 
labor  was  one  of  the  chief.  But  the  natives  were 
also  forced  to  lend  their  assistance ;  and  we  find  the 
Caledonian  Galgacus,  in  Tacitus,  complaining,  with 
indignation,  that  the  bodies  of  his  countrymen  were 
worn  down  by  their  oppressors,  in  clearing  woods 
and  draining  marshes — sti-ipes  and  indignities  being 
added  to  their  toils.  To  this  sort  of  work  also  crimi- 
nals were  sentenced  as  well  as  to  the  mines.  The 
laws  of  the  empire  made  special  provision  for  the 
repair  of  the  public  ways,  and  they  were  given  in 
charge  to  overseers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  them 
kept  in  order.  The  ancient  document  called  the 
Itinerary  of  Antoninus,  enumerates  fifteen  routes  or 
journeys  in  Britain,  all  of  which  we  may  presume 
were  along  regularly  formed  high-roads;  and  prob- 
ably the  list  does  not  comprehend  the  whole  number 
of  such  roads  tlie  island  contained.  In  eveiy  instance 
the  distances  from  station  to  station  are  marked  in 
Roman  miles ;  and  no  doubt  they  were  indicated  on 
the  actual  road  by  milestones  regularly  placed  along 
ihe  line.     Of  these,  the  famous  London  stone,  still 


London  Stone. 


to  be  seen  leaning  against  the  south  wall  of  St.  Swith- 
in's  church,  in  Cannon-street,  London,  is  supposed 
to  have  been  the  first,  or  that  from  which  the  others 
were   numbered,  along  the   principal   roads,  which 


appear  to  have  proceeded  from  this  point  as  from  a 
centre.  The  Roman  roads  in  Britain  have  under- 
gone so  many  changes  since  their  first  formation, 
from  neglect  and  dilapidation  on  the  one  hand,  and 
from  many  repairs  which  they  are  known  to  have 
received  long  after  the  Roman  times,  and  in  styles  of 
workmanship  veiy  different  from  the  Roman,  that  the 
mode  in  which  they  were  originally  constructed  is  in 
most  cases  not  very  easy  of  discovery.  One  of  those 
which  had  probably  remained  most  nearly  in  its  prim- 
itive condition,  was  that  discovered  by  Sir  Christo- 
pher Wren,  under  the  present  Cheapside,  London, 
while  he  was  prejjaring  to  erect  the  church  of  St. 
Mary-le-Bow.  "Here,"  says  the  account  in  the 
Parentalia,  "to  his  surprise,  he  sunk  about  eighteen 
feet  deep  through  made  ground,  and  then  imagined 
he  was  come  to  the  natural  soil  and  hard  gi-avel;  but 
upon  full  examination,  it  appeared  to  be  a  Roman 
causeway  of  rough  stone,  close  niM  well  rammed, 
with  Roman  brick  and  rubbish  at  the  bottom  for  a 
foundation,  and  all  firmly  cemented.  This  causeway 
was  four  feet  thick.  Underneath  this  causeway  lay 
the  natural  clay,  over  which  that  part  of  the  city 
stands,  and  which  descends  at  least  forty  feet  lower." 
Wren  eventually  determined  to  erect  the  tower  of 
the  church  upon  the  Roman  causeway,  as  the  firmest 
foundation  he  could  obtain,  and  the  most  proper  for 
the  lofty  and  weighty  structure  he  designed.  Some 
of  the  other  Roman  roads  in  Britain,  however,  and 
especially  those  connecting  some  of  the  fines  of  mili- 
tar)'  posts,  were  constmcted  in  a  more  ambitious  style 
of  workmanship  than  appears  to  have  been  here  em- 
ployed— being  paved,  like  the  faiuous  Appian  way  and 
others  in  Italy,  with  flat  stones,  although  of  different 
sizes,  yet  carefully  cut  to  a  uniform  rectangular  shape, 
and  closely  joined  together.  Some  of  our  great  roads 
still  in  use  were  originally  formed  by  the  Romans,  or 
were  used  at  least  in  the  Roman  times.  One  ex- 
ample is  the  great  western  road  leading  to  Bath  and 
Bristol,  at  least  for  a  considerable  part  of  its  course. ^ 

We  may  here  most  conveniently  notice  the  subject 
of  the  description  of  money  Avhich  appears  to  have 
been  in  use  among  the  ancient  Britons.  Caesar's 
statement  is,  distinctly,  that  they  had  no  coined 
money.  Instead  of  money,  he  says  they  used  pieces 
either  of  bronze  or  of  iron,  adjusted  to  a -certain 
weight.  There  is  some  doubt,  owing  to  the  disa- 
greement of  the  manuscripts,  as  to  whether  he  calls 
these  pieces  of  metal  rings,  or  thin  plates,  or  merely 
tallies  or  cuttings  (talea»);  but  the  most  approved 
reading  is  rings.  A  curious  paper  on  this  ring-money 
of  the  Celtic  nations  has  been  lately  printed  by  Sir 
William  Betham.-  Specimens  of  this  primitive  cur- 
rency, according  to  the  ^vl•iter,  have  been  found  in 
gi-eat  numbers  in  Ireland,  not  only  of  bronze,  but  also 
of  gold  and  silver.  Sometimes  the  form  is  that  of  a 
complete  ring,  sometimes  that  of  a  wire  or  bar,  merely 
bent  till  the  two  extremities  are  brought  near  to  each 
other.     In  some  cases  the  extremities  are  armed  with 

1  In  the  "United  Service  Journal"  for  January,  1836,  is  an  account 
of  a.  Surrey  of  the  Roman  Road  from  Silchester  to  the  Station  on  the 
Thames,  called  Pontes,  lately  made  by  the  officers  studying  at  the 
Senior  Department  of  the  Royal  Military  College. 

2  Papers  read  before  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  4to.,  Dublin,  1836. 


I 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


105 


flattened  knobs,  in  others  they  are  rounded  out  into 
cup-like  hollows.  Sometimes  several  rings  are  joined 
together  at  the  circumferences ;  other  specimens  con- 
sist of  rings  linked  into  one  another.  The  most  im- 
portant peculiarity,  however,  distinguishing  these 
curious  relics,  and  that  which  the  Avriter  conceives 
chiefly  proves  them  to  have  really  served  the  purpo- 
ses of  money,  is,  that  upon  being  weighed,  by  far  the 
gi-eater  number  of  them  appear  to  be  exact  multiples 
of  a  certain  standard  unit.  The  smallest  of  gold 
which  he  had  seen,  he  says,  weighed  twelve  grains, 
or  half  a  pennyweight ;  and  of  others,  one  contained 
this  quantity  three  times,  another  five,  another  ten, 
ancrther  sixteen,  another  twenty-two,  another  four 
hundred  and  eighty  (a  pound  troy),  and  another  five 
hundred  and  thirty-fovir.  The  case  he  affirms  to  be 
similar  both  with  those  of  silver  and  those  of  bronze. 
All,  he  says,  with  a  very  few  exceptions,  which  may 
easily  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  of  partial 
waste  or  other  injury,  weigh  each  a  certain  number  of 
half  pennyweights.  The  smallest  specimens  even  of 
the  bronze  ring  money  are  quite  as  accurately  balanced 
as  those  of  the  more  valuable  metals ;  and  among 
these  bronze  specimens,  indeed,  the  author  states, 
that,  after  having  weighed  a  gi'eat  many,  he  has 
never  found  a  single  exception  to  their  divisibility 
into  so  many  half  pennyweights.  It  would  thus 
appear  that  the  ancient  Celtic  scale  was  the  same 
with  that  which  we  now  call  troy  weight.  The  wri- 
ter conjectures  that  the  Latin  uncia,  an  ounce,  is  the 
Celtic  word  unsha,  which  he  says  signifies  one-sixth; 
in  which  case  we  must  suppose  the  original  integral 
weight  of  which  the  ounce  was  a  fraction,  to  have 
been  half  our  present  pound  troy.  "  To  what  remote 
period  of  antiquity,"  he  observes,  "do  these  singular 
facts  carry  us  back !  To  many  ages  before  the  time 
of  Caesar,  or  even  Herodotus.     The  latter  speaks  of 


the  Lydians  as  the  first  who  coined  metallic  money, 
at  least  six  centuries  before  our  era.  These  are  no 
visionaiy  speculations ;  we  have  here  the  remains  and 
imperishable  relics  of  those  early  times  to  verify  the 
whole ;  and  recent  investigations  and  discoveries,  in  a 
most  singularly  convincing  manner,  come  to  our  aid, 
by  showing  that  the  fresco  paintings  in  the  tombs  ot 
Egypt  exhibit  people  bringing,  as  tribute  to  the  foot 
of  the  throne  of  Pharaoh,  bags  of  gold  and  silver  rings, 
at  a  period  before  the  exodus  of  the  Israelites." 
These  things,  however,  are  not  the  only  specimens 
that  have  been  found  of  the  substitutes  used  by  the 
Britons  before  the  introduction  of  coined  money. 
Both  in  barrows  and  elsewhere  there  have  been  occa- 
sionally turned  up  hoards  of  what  has  all  the  appear- 
ance of  being  another  species  of  primitive  currency, 
consisting  of  small  plates  of  iron,  mostly  thin  and  rag- 
ged, and  without  any  impression. 

Of  British  coined  money,  the  description  which  is 
apparently  of  gi-eatest  antiquity,  is  that  of  which  the 
specimens  present  only  certain  pictorial  figures,  with- 
out any  legends  or  literal  characters.  Of  this  sort 
of  coins  a  considerable  collection  was  discovered 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  on  the  top  of 
Carnbre  Hill,  in  Cornwall.  Of  these,  some  were 
stamped  with  figures  of  horses,  oxen,  hogs,  and 
sheep ;  a  few  had  such  figures  of  animals  on  one 
side,  and  a  head  apparently  of  a  royal  personage  on 
the  other.  All  of  them  were  of  gold  ;  and  perhaps 
it  was  only  money  made  of  the  more  precious  metals 
which  it  was  thought  necessary  at  first  to  take  the 
ti-ouble  of  thus  impressing.  When  the  convenience 
of  the  practice  had  been  experienced,  and  perhaps 
its  application  facilitated,  it  would  be  extended  to  the 
bronze  as  well  as  to  the  gold  and  silver  currency. 
Although  even  that  point  has  been  disputed,  it  may 
be  admitted  as  most  probable  that  the  Carnbre  coins 


Group  or  Rino  Coins. 


i06 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


were  really  British  money,  that  is  to  say,  that  they 
were  not  only  cuirent  in  Britain,  but  had  been 
coined  under  the  public  authority  of  some  one  or 
more  of  the  states  of  this  island.  This  we  seem  to 
be  entitled  to  infer,  from  the  emblematic  figures 
impressed  on  them,  which  distinguish  them  from 
any  known  Gallic  or  other  foreign  coins,  and  are  at 
the  same  time  similar  to  those  commonly  found  on 
what  appears  to  be  the  British  money  of  a  some- 
what later  period.  The  questions,  however,  of  when, 
where,  and  by  whom  were  they  coined,  still  remain. 
Although  the  figures  upon  them  are  peculiar,  they 
still  bear  a  general  resemblance  to  the  money,  or 
what  has  been  supposed  to  be  the  money,  of  the 
ancient  Gauls ;  and  as  well  from  this  circumstance, 
as  from  the  whole  character  of  the  early  British 
civilization,  which  appears  to  have  been  mainly  bor- 
rowed from  Gaul,  we  may  presume  that  they  were 
either  fabricated  in  that  country,  or  were  at  least 
the  work  of  Gallic  artists.     It  is  remarkable  that 


these  coins  are  all  formed  of  pure  gold  ;  and  Diodo- 
rus  Sicnlus  informs  us,  that  in  no  articles  which 
they  made  of  gold  did  the  Gauls  mix  any  alloy  with 
the  precious  metal.  As  to  then-  date,  it  would  seem 
to  be  subsequent  to  the  time  of  Ciesar,  since,  accord- 
ing to  his  account,  the  Britons  were  then  unaccpiainted 
with  the  use  of  coined  money  of  any  description  ;  and 
it  may  be  placed  with  most  probability  in  the  interval 
between  his  invasion  and  that  of  the  Emperor  Claudius 
— a  period,  as  we  have  already  endeavored  to  show, 
during  which  British  civilization  must  have  made  a 
very  considerable,  though  unrecorded,  progress. 

Besides  this  merely  pictured  metallic  money,  how- 
ever, there  exist  numerous  British  coins,  or  what 
bear  the  appearance  of  being  such,  which  are  marked 
not  only  with  figures  of  various  kinds,  but  also  with 
legends  in  Roman  charsicters.  One  of  these,  from 
having  the  letters  Sego  inscribed  upon  it,  has  been 
attributed  to  Segonax,  who  is  mentioned  by  Cicsar 
as  one  of  the  four  kings  of  Kent ;  but  it  is  obvious 


Ancilnt  iiuiiisH  Coins. 


that  upon  such  an  inference  as  this,  no  reliance  can 
be  j)laced.  The  gi-eater  number  of  the  coins  in 
question  bear,  either  in  full  or  abbreviated,  the  name 
of  Cunobelinus,  who  is  said  to  have  lived  in  the 
reign  of  Augustus.  Some  of  these  have  the  name 
Cunobilin  at  full  length ;  one  has  Cunohelinus  Re, 
the  latter  word  being  probably  the  Latin  Rex  ;  others 
have  the  abbreviations  Cun,  Cuno,  Cunob,  or  Cunobe. 
Several  have,  in  addition,  what  has  been  supposed 
to  be  the  abbreviated  name  of  their  place  of  coinage; 
being  most  frequently  Cam,  or  Caynu,  for  Camulo- 
dunura,  as  it  is  conjectured;  in  one  instance  Ver, 
perhaps  for  Verulamium ;  in  other  cases  No,  or 
Novane,  or  Novanit,  of  which  no  probable  interpreta- 
tion has  been  given.  And  in  addition  to  these  in- 
scriptions, the  greater  number  present  the  singular 
word  Tascia,  or  Tascio,  either  written  at  length,  or 


indicated  by  two  or  more  of  its  commencing  letters. 
This  word  has  given  occasion  to  much  disputation ; 
but  perhaps  nothing  has  been  projjosed  on  the  sub- 
ject so  probable  as  Camden's  suggestion,  who  con- 
ceives that  the  word,  derived  apparently  from  the 
Latin  taxatio,  signified,  in  the  British  language,  a 
tribute,  or  tribute-money.  The  figures  upon  these 
coins  of  Cunobeline  are  very  various.  Some  have  a 
head,  probably  that  of  the  king,  occasionally  stir- 
rounded  with  what  seems  to  be  a  fillet  of  pearls,  in 
allusion,  we  may  suppose,  to  the  ancient  fame  of 
the  island  for  that  highly-prized  gem  ;  others  have  a 
naked  full-length  human  figiu-e,  with  a  club  over  his 
shoulder;  many  have  the  figure  of  a  horse,  some- 
times accompanied  by  a  wheel ;  which  has  been 
supposed  to  convey  an  allusion  to  the  formation  of 
highways,  but  perhaps  is  rather  intended  to  indicate 


Chaf.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


107 


the  national  war-chariot :  a  crescent,  an  ear  of  corn, 
a  star,  a  comet,  a  tree,  a  hog,  a  dog,  a  sheep,  an  ox, 
a  lion,  a  sphinx,  a  centaur,  a  Janus,  a  female  head, 
a  woman  riding  on  an  animal  like  a  dog,  a  man  play- 
ing on  a  harp,  are  some  of  the  representations  that 
have  been  detected  on  others.  One  shows  what 
evidently  appears  to  be  a  workman  in  the  act  of 
making  money ;  he  is  seated  in  a  chair,  and  holds  a 
hammer  in  his  hand,  while  a  number  of  pieces  lie 
before  him.  About  forty  of  these  coins  of  Cunobe- 
line  have  been  discovered.  Many  others  also  exist, 
which,  from  the  names,  or  fragments  of  names  in- 
scribed on  them,  have  been  assigned  to  Boadicea, 
Cartismandua,  Caractacus,  Venutius,  and  other  Bri- 
tish sovereigns.  The  legends  on  most  of  these, 
however,  are  extremely  obscure  and  dubious.  What 
is  somewhat  remarkable  is,  that  no  two,  we  believe, 
have  been  found  of  the  same  coinage.  They  are 
almost  all  more  or  less  dish-shaped,  or  hollowed  on 
one  side — a  circumstance  which  is  common  also  to 
many  Roman  coins,  and  may  be  supposed  to  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  want  of  the  proper  guards  to 
prevent  the  metal  from  being  bent  over  the  edges  of 


Roman  Coin  Mocld. 

the  die  by  the  blow  of  the  hammer.  The  British 
coins  thus  inscribed  with  Roman  characters  are 
some  of  them  of  gold,  some  of  silver,  some  of  bronze, 
some  of  copper.  Unlike  also  to  the  coins  mentioned 
above,  without  legends,  all  of  them  that  are  formed 
of  the  more  precious  metals  are  much  alloyed. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  whole  subject  of 
these  supposed  British  coins,  notwithstanding  all  the 
disputation  to  which  they  have  given  rise,  is  still 
involved  in  very  considerable  obscurity.  It  has  even 
been  denied  that  they  ever  served  the  purposes  of  a 
currency  at  all.  "They  are  works,"  observes  a 
late  Awiter,  "  of  no  earlier  date  than  the  apostacy  and 
anarchy  after  the  Romans.  Moreover,  they  were 
not  money.  They  were  Bardic  works  belonging  to 
that  numerous  family  of  Gnostic,  Mitliriac,  or  Ma- 
sonic medals,  of  which  the  illustration  has  been 
learnedly  handled  in  Chifflet's  'Abraxas  Proteus,' 
Von  Hammer's  '  Baphometus,'  the  Rev.  R.  Walsh's 
'Essay  on   Ancient   Coins,'   and   (as   applicable   to 


these  very  productions)  the  Rev.  E.  Davies's 'Essay 
on  British  Coins.'  The  coins  engraved  by  Dom  B. 
de  Montfaucon  as  remnants  of  ancient  Gaulish 
money,  are  productions  of  similar  appearance  and  of 
the  same  class.  Paracelsus  alludes  to  them  as  money 
coined  by  the  gnomes  and  distiibuted  by  them  among 
men.  Their  uses  have  never  been  known ;  but  I 
explain  them  thus.  Money  is  a  ticket  entitling  the 
bearer  to  goods  of  a  given  value.  .  .  Masonic 
medals  were  tickets  entitling  one  initiate  to  receive 
assistance  from  another.  It  may  be  objected  that 
there  was  no  gi-eat  difficulty  of  stealing  or  forging 
them.  True ;  but  to  be  a  beneficial  holder  of  these 
baubles  it  was  necessary  that  you  should  be  able  to 
explain  the  meaning  of  all  the  devices  upon  them. 
According  to  the  sort  of  explanation  given  by  the 
partj-,  it  would  appear  whether  he  was  an  authorized 
holder,  and,  if  such,  what  rank  of  initiation  he  had 
attained,  and  consequently  to  what  degi-ee  of  favor 
and  confidence  he  was  entitled.  The  names  selected 
to  adorn  these  British  medals  are  unequivocally 
marked  with  hatred  for  the  Romans,  and  love  for 
the  memory  of  those  Britons  who  warred  against 
them ;  and  they  imply  an  exhortation  and  a  compact 
to  expel  and  exclude  the  Roman  nation  from  the 
island."'  This  view  is  supported  by  some  plausible 
ai'guments ;  but  it  is  far  from  being  altogether  satis- 
factory. The  deriial,  however,  of  the  title  of  these 
coins  or  medals  to  be  accounted  a  species  of  ancient 
money,  is  no  mere  piece  of  modern  skepticism. 
Camden,  though  he  inclines  to  a  different  opinion, 
expresses  himself  upon  the  point  with  the  gi'eatest 
hesitation.  "For  my  part,"  he  says,  "I  freely  de- 
clare myself  at  a  loss  what  to  say  to  things  so  much 
obscured  by  age ;  and  you,  when  you  read  these 
conjectures,  will  plainly  perceive  that  I  have  groped 
in  the  dark."  "  Whether  this  sort  of  money  passed 
cuiTent  in  the  way  of  trade  and  exchange,''  he 
observes  in  conclusion,  "  or  was  at  first  coined  for 
some  special  use,  is  a  question  among  the  learned. 
My  opinion  (if  I  may  be  allowed  to  interpose  it)  is 
this.  After  Caesar  had  appointed  how  much  money 
should  be  paid  j-early  by  the  Britons,  and  they 
were  oppressed  under  Augustus  with  the  payment 
of  customs,  both  for  exporting  and  importing  com- 
modities, and  had,  by  degi'ees,  other  taxes  laid  upon 
them,  namely,  for  corn-grounds,  plantations,  gi'oves, 
pasturage  of  gi'eater  and  lesser  cattle,  as  being  now 
in  the  condition  of  subjects,  not  of  slaves ;  I  have 
thought  that  such  coins  were  first  stamped  for  these 
uses ;  for  gi'eater  cattle  with  a  horse,  for  lesser  with 
a  hog,  for  woods  with  a  tree,  and  for  corn-ground 
with  an  ear  of  corn ;  but  those  with  a  man's  head 
seem  to  have  been  coined  for  poll  money.  Not  but 
I  gi-ant  that  afterwards  these  came  into  common 
use.  Nor  can  I  reconcile  myself  to  the  judgment  of 
those  who  would  have  the  hog,  the  horse,  the  ear, 
the  Janus,  &c.  to  be  the  arms  of  particular  people  or 
princes ;  since  we  find  that  one  and  the  same  prince 
and  people  used  several  of  these,  as  Cunobeline 
stamped  upon  his  coins  a  hog,  a  horse,  an  ear,  and 
other  tilings.     But  whether  this  tribute-money  was 

'  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  pp.  218,  &c. 


108 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


coined  by  the  Romans,  or  the  provincials,  or  their 
kings,  when  the  whole  world  was  taxed  by  Augustus, 
1  cannot  say.  One  may  guess  them  to  have  been 
stamped  by  the  British  kings,  since  Britain,  from  the 
time  of  Julius  Casar  to  that  of  Claudius,  lived  under 
its  own  laws,  and  was  left  to  be  governed  by  its  own 
kings,  and  since  also  they  have  stamped  on  them 
the  effigies  and  titles  of  British  princes." 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Roman  dominion  in 
the  island,  the  coins  of  the  empire  would  naturally 
become  the  currency  of  the  new  province ;  and 
indeed  Gildas  expressly  states  that  from  the  time  of 
Claudius  it  was  ordained  by  an  imperial  edict  that 
all  money  current  among  the  Britons  should' bear  the 
imperial  stamp.  These  expressions,  by  the  by, 
would  rather  seem  to  countenance  the  opinion,  that 
coined  money  not  bearing  the  imperial  stamp  had 
been  in  circulation  in  the  countiy  before  the  publica- 
tion of  the  edict.  Great  numbers  of  Roman  coins  of 
various  ages  and  denominations  have  been  found  in 
Britain.  "  There  are  prodigious  quantities  found 
here,"  obsen'es  Camden,  "  in  the  ruins  of  demol- 
ished cities,  in  the  ti'easure -coffers  or  vaults  which 
were  hidden  in  that  age,  and  in  funeral  urns ;  and  I 
was  very  much  surprised  how  such  great  abundance 
should  remain  to  this  day,  till  I  read  that  the  melting 
down  of  ancient  money  was  prohibited  by  the  im- 
perial constitutions."  It  is  highly  probable,  also, 
that  some  of  this  imperial  money  was  coined  in  Bri- 
tain, where  the  Romans  may  be  presumed  to  have 
established  mints,  as  they  are  known  to  have  done  in 
their  other  provinces.  There  are  several  coins  ex- 
tant both  of  Carausius  and  of  Allectus,  and  these  it 
can  hardly  be  doubted  were  the  productions  of  a 
British  mint.  It  is  remarkable  that  in  the  sepulchral 
barrows  there  has  been  found  imperial  money  of  the 
times  of  Avitus  (a.d.  455),  of  Anthemius  (a.d.  467- 
472),  and  even  of  Justinian  (a.d.  527-565).  Many 
of  the  Roman  coins,  also,  or  imperial  medals  struck 
upon  particular  occasions,  from  the  time  of  Claudius, 
bear  figures  or  legends  relating  to  Britain,  and  form 
interesting  illustrations  of  the  history  of  the  island.^ 

We  now  proceed  to  notice  shortly  the  chief  im- 
provements in  the  necessary  or  useful  arts  for  which 
the  Britons  appear  to  have  been  indebted  to  then- 
Roman  conquerors. 

The  Romans,  themselves  devoted  to  agi'iculture, 
eagerly  encouraged  and  assisted  the  British  hus- 
bandmen ;  and  we,  therefore,  as  has  been  already 
noticed,  find  the  island  eventually  not  only  producing 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  corn  for  the  support  of  its 
own  inhabitants  and  the  Roman  troops  in  occupation, 
but  affording  a  large  surplus  annually  for  exportation. 
In  addition  also  to  an  improved  and  extended  tillage, 
the  Romans  appear,  immediately  on  their  obtaining  a 
firm  establishment  in  Britain,  to  have  introduced  the 
practice,  previously  scarcely  known  to  the  natives,  of 
useful  and  ornamental  gardening.  Tacitus  tells  us 
they  began  to  plant  orchards,  and  found,  by  ex- 
perience, that  the  soil  and  climate  were  favorable  to 
tlie   giowth  of  all  kinds  of  fi-uit  ti-ees  except   the 

I  See  upon  this  subject,  "  The  Coins  of  the  Romans  relating  to 
Britain,"  by  J.  G.  Akerman   ]2mo.     Lond.  1836. 


vine  and  the  olive,  and  of  all  plants  and  vegetables 
save  a  few  which  were  peculiar  to  warmer  countries. 

Notwithstanding  also  his  particular  exception  of 
the  vine,  it  is  said  that  permission  was  granted  long 
aftei-wards  by  the  Emperor  Probus  to  plant  vines 
and  to  make  wine  in  Britain,  and  that,  if  so,  it  was 
not  granted  in  vain,  appears  probable  from  the  fact 
that  the  vine  was  certainly  flourishing  here  in  the 
time  of  the  Saxons ;  the  continual  mention  of  vine- 
yards in  their  wills  and  deeds  affording  us  indis- 
putable evidence  of  its  general  cultivation. 

On  the  settlement  of  the  Romans  a  change  of 
course  took  place  in  the  architecture  of  the  British 
houses  and  towns,  for  the  commencement  of  which 
the  country  appears  to  have  been  indebted  to  the 
policy  of  Agi-icola,  the  most  excellent  of  the  Roman 
governors.  "  That  the  Britons,"  says  Tacitus,  "who 
led  a  roaming  and  unsettled  life,  and  were  easily 
instigated  to  war,  might  contract  a  love  of  peace  and 
tianquillity  by  being  accustomed  to  a  more  pleasant 
way  of  living,  he  exhorted  and  assisted  them  to  build 
houses,  temples,  courts,  and  market-places.  By 
praising  the  diligent  and  reproaching  the  indolent,  he 
excited  so  gi'eat  an  emulation  amongst  the  Britons, 
that  after  they  had  erected  all  those  necessary  edifices 
in  their  towns,  they  proceeded  to  build  others  merely 
for  ornament  and  pleasure,  such  as  porticos,  galle- 
ries, baths,  banqueting-houses,  6cc." 

Giraldus  Cambrensis  has  left  us  an  account  of  the 
remains  of  the  city  of  Caerleon,  in  Wales,  as  he 
beheld  it  himself  in  the  twelfth  century.  "  It  was," 
he  says,  "  elegantly  built  by  the  Romans  with  brick 
walls.  Many  vestiges  of  its  ancient  splendor  still 
remain,  and  stately  palaces  which  formerly,  witli  the 
gilt  tiles,  displayed  the  Roman  gi'andeur.  It  was 
first  built  by  the  Roman  nobility,  and  adorned  with 
sumptuous  edifices,  with  a  lofty  tower,  curious  hot 
baths,  temples  now  in  ruins,  and  theatres  encom- 
passed with  stately  walls,  in  part  yet  standing.  The 
walls  are  three  miles  in  circumference,  and  within 
these,  as  well  as  without,  subterraneous  buildings 
are  frequently  met  with,  as  aqueducts,  vaults,  hypo- 
causts,  stoves,  &;c." 

Matthew  Paris  also,  in  his  "Lives  of  the  Abbots," 
mentions  the  numerous  interesting  remains  of  Roman 
architecture  discovered  near  St.  Alban's,  at  the  ancient 
Verulam,  by  two  abbots,  previous  to  the  Norman  Con- 
quest, and  consisting  of  dilapidated  temples,  subverted 
columns,  altars,  idols,  and  the  foundations  of  a  large 
palace. 

The  more  recent  discoveries  of  these  Roman  Bri- 
tish ruins  it  would  be  endless  here  to  enumerate  and 
useless  to  describe,  as  there  appears  to  have  been 
nothing  to  distinguish  them  from  those  of  the  Romans 
themselves  ;  we  have  however  the  authority  of  one  of 
the  best  informed  writers  on  the  subject,  that  "noth- 
ing very  good  of  Roman  work  ever  existed  in  Brit- 
ain." ....  "All  the  fragments  of  architecture  which 
have  been  discovered,  whether  large  or  small,  wheth- 
er the  tympanum  of  a  temple  as  found  at  Bath,  or  m 
small  altars  as  found  in  many  places,  1  believe,"  says  ^ 
Mr.  Rickman,'  "were  all  deficient  either  in  corapo- 
1  Letters  on  Architecture,  vol.  xxv,  of  the  Archeulogia,  p.  1G7. 


Cii.vp.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


109 


Remains  of  ii  Roman  Hypocaust,  or  Subterranean  Furnace,  for  Heating  Baths,  at  Lincoln 


^^J^^^^-P^^^^  ^^ 


Part  of  a  Roman  Wall,  or  the  Site  of  the  Ancu:nt  Verulam,  near  St.  Alban's. 


sition  or  in  execution,  or  in  both,  and  none  that  I 
know  of  have  been  better,  if  so  good,  as  the  debased 
work  of  the  Emperor  Diocletian  in  his  palace  at  Spa- 
latro.  With  these  debased  examples  we  cannot  ex- 
pect that  the  inhabitants  of  Britain  would  (while 
harassed  with  intestine  warfare)  improve  on  the 
models  left  by  the  Romans." 

"  It  is  not  now  to  be  ascertained,"  he  continues, 
"  whether  any  examples  of  the  actual  use  of  columns, 
with  an  architrave  incumbent,  were  left  by  the  Ro- 
mans, but  we  have  various  examples  of  the  plain  arch 
with  a  pier.  As  a  specimen,  the  north  gate  of  Lin- 
coln, now  used,  as  it  was  many  centuries  ago,  for  a 
gate,  is  perhaps  the  most  perfect.     This  plain  square 


pier  and  a  semicircular  arch  I  believe  to  have  been 
imitated  in  the  Saxon  buildings;  and  thus  I  find 
actually  now  a  part  of  Brixworth  Church  with  a  bond 
tier  of  what  we  call  Roman  brick  {i.  e.  flat  tiles) 
carried  tlu-ough  the  work." 

The  use  of  mortar,  plaster,  and  cement,  of  the 
various  tools  and  implements  for  building,  the  art  of 
making  the  flat  tiles  abovementioned,  and  all  things 
connected  with  masonry  and  bricklaying,  as  known 
and  practised  by  the  Romans,  must,  of  course,  in  the 
progi-ess  of  these  works,  have  been  communicated  to 
their  new  subjects  ;  and  it  appears  that,  by  the  close 
of  the  third  century,  British  builders  had  acquired 
considerable  reputation.     The  panegyrist  Eumenius 


110 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


tells  us  that  when  the  Emperor  Constantius  rebuilt 
tlie  city  of  Autun,  in  Gaul,  about  the  end  of  the  third 
century,  he  broujjht  the  workmen  chiefly  from  Britain, 
which  very  much  abounded  with  the  best  artificers. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  labors  of  the 
Romans  in  the  improvement  of  the  old  roads  of  the 
country,  and  the  formation  of  many  new  ones.  Their 
attention  was  at  the  same  time  given  to  the  working 
of  the  valuable  mines  throughout  the  island.  The 
primitive  mode  of  procuring  the  various  metals,  by 
searching  the  beds  of  rivers  and  the  depths  of  valleys, 
or  extracting  proti'uding  lumps  of  ore  from  fractured 
lodes  in  the  fissures  of  the  mountains,  was  replaced 
l)y  the  art  of  mining.  A  beautiful  specimen  of  the 
Roman  mode  of  driving  levels  exists  at  a  place  called 
Pynsaint,  in  the  parish  of  Caeo,  Caermarthenshire. 

In  the  British  Museum,  as  previously  stated,  are 
preserved  several  pigs  or  masses  of  British  lead,  one 
of  which  has  the  name  of  the  Emperor  Domitian 
inscribed  on  it,  another  that  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian, 


and  a  third  bears  that  of  a  private  individual.  "  These 
pigs  or  oblong  masses,"  observes  a  late  writer,  "  afford 
undoubted  evidence  that  the  lead-mines  of  Derby- 
shire and  its  neighborhood  were  worked  in  the  Ro- 
man time.  The  inscriptions  also,  which  they  bear, 
usually  indicating  the  emperor  in  whose  time  the 
metal  was  obtained,  confirm  the  testimony  of  Pliny, 
who  says,  'that  in  Britain  lead  is  found  near  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth  in  such  abundance  that  a  law  is 
made  to  limit  the  quantity  which  shall  be  taken.'  It 
was  therefore  necessary  in  the  royal  mines  to  mark 
the  lead  with  the  emperor's  name.'  In  a  few  instan- 
ces such  pigs  apparently  bear  the  name  of  a  private 
proprietor,  but  all  show  that  the  article  was  under 
fiscal  regulation,  which  accounts  for  the  form  in 
which  the  lead  was  cast ;  the  inscription,  and  some- 
times a  border  which  surrounds  it,  always  covering 
the  upper  area  of  the  piece  to  its  full  extent.'" 

^  Library  of  Entertaining  Knowledge ;  The  Townley  Gallery,  vol 
ii.  p.  283. 


Roman  Arches  foiiiiing  Xe«tort  Gate,  Lincoln,  as  it  nijpoared  in  17!>2. 


Restoration  of  the  Roman  Arch  forming  Newport  Gate,  Linc 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


Ill 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


HIS  division  of  our  histo- 
ry will  contain  an  account 
of  the  state  and  progress 
under  each  period  of  those 
higher  kinds  of  krfowl- 
edge  and  skill,  which  are 
distinguished  from  the 
arts  treated  of  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  by  not 
being  directly  contiibu- 
tory  to  the  sustenance  or 
physical  accommodation  of  life,  but  having  in  view, 
at  least  immediately  and  in  the  first  instance,  the  ex- 
ercise, gratification,  and  improvement  of  the  intellec- 
tual faculties,  and  of  those  other  powers  and  tastes 
which  peculiarly  constitute  our  humanity,  and  the 
general  exaltation  and  embellishment  of  the  social 
condition.  The  intellectual  character  of  the  time ; 
the  branches  of  learning  and  science  that  were  chiefly 
cultivated  in  our  OAvn  country  and  elsewhere,  and  the 
manner  in  which  they  were  cultivated  ;  the  schools, 
colleges,  and  other  institutions  for  the  maintenance 
or  diffusion  of  erudition  and  philosophy  that  existed 
in  these  islands ;  the  state  and  progi-ess  of  the  na- 
tional language  ;  the  more  eminent  literary  and  sci- 
entific names  by  which  the  age  was  adorned ;  the 
gi'eat  literary  works  that  were  produced,  and  the  sci- 
entific discoveries  that  were  made;  and  finally,  the 
state  of  the  fine  arts  of  music,  painting,  engraving, 
&c.,  and  of  the  popular  taste — will  all  fall  under  this 
part  of  our  survey.  We  need  scarcely  remark,  that 
these  things  are  much  more  than  the  mere  ornamen- 
tal flower  and  crown  of  our  civilization  ;  they  are  the 
very  sti'ength  of  its  fibres,  and  the  main  element  of 
its  growth  and  expansion ;  for,  while  it  is  ti'ue  that 
the  exclusively  useful  arts  both  naturally  originate 
learning  and  the  fine  arts,  and  form  the  indispensable 
basis  and  support  without  which  they  could  neither 
flourish  nor  exist,  it  is  equally  ti'ue  that  the  lattei',  in 
the  end,  amply  repay  the  debt,  and  that  the  sure 
effect  of  the  advance  of  every  form  of  intellectual 
culture  is  to  extend  or  consolidate  the  fabric  of  that 
other  prosperity  which  rests  upon  the  operations  of 
manual,  mechanical,  and  mercantile  industry.  And, 
indeed,  what  is  the  worth  to  a  nation  of  the  highest 
state  of  manufacturing  and  commercial  greatness,  if 
it  do  not  at  the  same  time  assert  to  itself  a  high  place 
in  regard  to  those  tastes  and  pursuits  which  can  alone 
prevent  the  pursuit  of  wealth  from  being  at  once  the 
most  stupid  and  most  debasing  of  aU  idolati'ies  ? 

The  title  of  the  chapter,  in  the  strictest  acceptation 
of  its  terms,  is  scarcely  applicable  to  what  we  shall 
have  to  state  in  regard  to  the  present  period,  when 
literature,  science,  and  the  fine  arts  can  scarcely  be 


said  to  have  yet  had  their  birth  in  our  island.  At  all 
events,  whatever  existed  in  those  remote  times  de- 
serving the  name  of  learning  or  scientific  knowledge, 
never  having  been  committed  to  writing,  and  having 
consequently  perished  with  the  general  subversion  of 
the  order  of  things  then  established,  cannot  be  re- 
garded as  having  been  even  the  beginning  or  rudi- 
mental  germ  of  that  which  we  now  possess.  The 
present  literary  civilization  of  England  dates  its  com- 
mencement only  from  the  next,  or  Saxon  period,  and 
not  from  a  very  early  point  in  that. 

A  learned  writer  of  the  last  century  commences  a 
"  Literaiy  History  of  the  Britons  before  the  Arrival 
of  Csesar,"  by  gi'avely  infoi-ming  us  that  "  King  Sa- 
mothes  was  the  first  who  established  a  school  in  this 
island  for  instructing  the  Giants  in  arts  and  sciences."* 
We  shall  not  cany  our  review  quite  so  far  back,  but 
leaving  Samothes  and  his  giants  at  their  studies  undis- 
turbed, shall  content  ourselves  with  taking  up  the 
histoiy  of  learning  in  Britain  from  the  days  of  the 
race  of  people  of  ordinary  dimensions  who  were 
found  inhabiting  the  island  on  its  invasion  by  the 
Romans. 

At  this  time,  as  has  been  already  shown,  the  south 
of  Britain  was  occupied  by  a  population  which,  al- 
though divided  into  many  distinct  tribes,  bore  through- 
out the  appearance  of  being  of  Gallic  origin.  In  par- 
ticular, we  are  expressly  informed  that  the  language 
of  Britain  differed  very  little  from  that  of  the  Gaul. 
Some  of  the  British  tribes  seem  to  have  come  from 
Celtic,  and  others  from  Belgic  Gaul ;  but  it  is  prob- 
able, as  indeed  Strabo  distinctly  assures  us,  that  the 
Celts  and  the  Belgians  spoke  merely  two  slightly  dif- 
fering dialects  of  the  same  tongue.  The  evidence  of 
the  most  ancient  names  of  localities  throughout  the 
whole  of  South  Britain  confirms  this  account ;  eveiy- 
where  these  names  appear  to  belong  to  one  language, 
and  that  the  same  which  is  still  spoken  by  the  native 
Irish  and  the  Scotch  Highlanders  ;  the  latter  of  whom 
call  themselves,  to  this  day,  Gael  or  Gauls.  The 
same  evidence  goes  to  prove  that  this  Gallic  tongue 
was  then  the  popular  speech  in  the  part  of  the  coun- 
try now  called  Wales,  as  well  as  throughout  the  rest 
of  south  Britain ;  for  the  oldest  names  of  places  in 
Wales  are  not  Welsh  but  Gaelic.  Nor  does  the 
peculiar  dialect  of  Cornwall  appear  to  have  been  at 
this  time  known  any  more  than  its  sister  Welsh,  in 
the  southern  parts  of  the  island.  The  Celtic  or  Gaelic 
was  also  undoubtedly  the  language  of  the  gi-eat  body 

1  Primus  qui  scholam  ad  instruendos  Gigantes  in  artibus  et  scientiis 
erexit,  erat  Rex  Samothes,  qui,  ex  Armenia  per  Galliam  profectus,  ad 
Htora  Britannias  appulit,  anno  post  diluvium  CCLII,  <tc.  Rev.  et 
Doct.  V.  Davidis  Wilkinsii  Prsefatio,  Historiam  Literariam  Britannico- 
rum  ante  Csesaris  Adventum  complectens,  apud  Bibliothecam  Britanno- 
Hibcrnicam,  auctore  Thoma  Tannero  ;  fol.,  Lond.  1748. 


112 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


of  the  people  of  Ireland.  The  tribes  by  whom  North 
Britain  was  occupied,  on  the  other  hand,  seem  to  have 
been  for  the  greater  part  of  German  or  Scandinavian 
extraction  ;  and,  if  so,  tliey  must  be  supposed  to  have 
spoken  a-Teutonic  dialect.  But  in  the  absence  of  all 
direct  evidence,  historical,  traditional,  or  monumental, 
the  point  is  one  upon  which  it  is  impossible  to  affirm 
anjthino;  with  confidence.  As  far  as  the  topograph- 
ical nomenclature  of  the  countiy  affords  us  any  light, 
it  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  greater  part  of 
modern  Scotland  was  anciently  occupied  by  a  people 
speaking  a  language  very  nearly  allied  to  the  present 
Welsh. 

It  is  with  the  Britons  of  the  south  exclusively,  how- 
ever, that  we  are  now  concerned ;  for  among  these 
onlj'  have  we  reason  to  believe  that  any  kind  of  leai-n- 
ing  or  scientific  knowledge  whatever  existed  at  the 
time  to  which  our  inquiry  relates.  Among  the  South 
Britons  there  was  undoubtedly  established  a  class  of 
persons,  forming  a  clergj-,  not  only  in  the  modern, 
but  in  the  original  and  more  extensive  signification 
of  the  term ;  that  is  to  say,  a  body  of  national  func- 
tionaries intiusted  with  the  superintendence  over  all 
the  departments  of  learning.'  The  Druids  were  not 
merely  their  theologians  and  priests,  but  their  law- 
yers, their  physicians,  their  teachers  of  youth,  their 
moral  and  natural  philosophers,  their  asti-onomers, 
their  mathematicians,  their  architects,  their  musi- 
cians, their  poets,  and  in  that  character,  no  doubt, 
also  their  only  historians.  To  them,  in  short,  were 
left  the  care  and  contiol  of  the  whole  intellectual  cul- 
ture of  the  nation. 

It  is  most  pi'obable  that,  in  discharging  this  duty, 
the  Druids  proceeded  upon  the  principle  of  imparting 
none  of  their  knowledge  except  to  such  as  they 
trained  up  to  be  members  of  their  own  bodj-.  The 
state  of  society"  would  scarce^  admit  of  any  diffu- 
sion of  their, insti'uctions  among  the  people  at  large; 
and  the  genius  of  their  system,  as  far  as  it  can  be 
detected,  appears  to  have  been  wholly  opposed  to 
any  such  lavish  communication  of  that  to  which  they 
owed  all  their  ascendancy  over  their  fellow-country- 
men. To  them  knowledge  was  power,  not  onlj'  in 
the  sense  in  which  it  is  so  to  eveiy  individual  in  the 
possession  of  it,  as  enabling  him  to  do  those  things 
the  way  of  doing  which  it  teaches,  but  besides,  and 
to  a  much  larger  extent,  as  putting  into  their  hands 
an  instrument  of  authority  and  command  over  all 
around  them.  This  latter  advantage,  unlike  the  for- 
mer, they  could  not  share  with  others  without  leav- 
ing less  of  it  for  themselves  ;  its  value  lay  in  its  exclu- 
siveness.  They  naturally  enough,  therefore,  no  more 
thought  of  communicating  their  knowledge  to  the 
multitude,  than  people  would  now  think  of  so  com- 
municating their  money  or  their  estates. 

Yet  their  institution  seems  to  have  had  the  impor- 
tant merit  of  being  no  mere  hereditary'  oligarchy,  or 
other  close  corporation,  but  of  being  open  to  all  who 
chose  to  undergo  the  requisite  preparatoiy  training, 
and  of  being  accustomed  in  this  way  to  sustain  itself 
by  constant  drafts  from  the  mass  of  the  nation.  Al- 
though the  point  has  been  disputed,  there  is  no  evi- 

1  Coleridge  on  the  Constitution  of  the  Church  and  State,  pp.  46,  &c. 


dence  for  the  supposition  that  the  Druidical  rank  was 
a  hereditary  dignity.  We  know  that  the  chief  Druid 
obtained  his  place  by  election ;  and  it  does  not  seem 
likelj-  that  this  would  have  been  the  case  if  the  insti- 
tution generallj-  had  been  founded  upon  the  heredi- 
tary piinciple.  The  Druidical  clergy  appear  lather  to 
have  been  a  body  of  the  same  "sort  with  the  clergj"  of 
any  modern  Christian  church  ;  that  is  to  say,  consist- 
ing not  of  the  members  of  particular  families,  but  of 
persons  educated  to  the  profession  from  any  of  all  the 
lamilies  in  the  land.  It  may  be  assumed,  however, 
that  they  were  principally  derived  from  the  more 
opulent  or  honorable  classes.  Ctesar  describes  the 
young  men  who — some  of  their  o^vTl  accord,  others 
sent  by  their  pjirents  and  relations — resorted  to  the 
Druids  of  Gaul  to  obtain  instruction  in  their  system, 
and  to  be  trained  to  become  members  of  their  body, 
as  very  numerous.  Pomponius  Mela  speaks  of  their 
pupils  as  consisting  of  the  most  noble  individuals  of 
the  nation. 

In  regard  to  the  particular  studies  in  which  these 
crowds  of  pupils  were  exercised,  our  information,  as 
might  be  expected,  is  very  unsatisfactory'.  Both  Cje- 
sar  and  Mela  state  the  fact  of  their  sometimes  re- 
maining twentj-  jears  under  tuition  ;  and  the  former 
reports  that  they  were  said  in  the  course  of  that  time 
to  learn  a  great  number  of  verses.  Caesar  adds,  as 
has  been  detailed  in  a  former  chapter  nearly  in  his 
own  words,  that  besides  the  theological  instruction 
which  they  imparted,  the  Druids  instructed  their 
scholars  in  many  things  respecting  the  heavenly 
bodies  and  their  motions,  the  magnitude  of  the  uni- 
verse and  the  earth,  and  the  nature  of  things — the 
last  phrase  designating,  we  may  suppose,  a  sort  of 
mixed  course  of  phjsics  and  metaphysics. 

All  these  instructions,  it  seems,  they  communica- 
ted orally,  the  employment  of  the  art  of  writing  being 
dispensed  with  for  two  reasons — first,  that  the  things 
taught  might  be  more  secure  from  the  chance  of 
coming  into  the  possession  of  the  multitude  or  the 
uninitiated ;  secondly,  for  the  sake  of  better  exercis- 
ing the  meniorv-  of  the  learners.  Caesar  expressly 
informs  us,  however,  that  the  Druids  were  acquainted 
vyith  letters,  and  used  them  on  all  common  occasions. 
The  characters  which  they  used,  however,  would 
hardly  seem  to  have  been  those  of  the  Greek  alpha- 
bet, as  the  common  reading  of  the  passage  asserts, 
seeing  that,  independently  of  other  objections  to  that 
reading,  we  find  Ca*sar  upon  one  occasion  in  Gaul, 
when  he  had  a  letter  to  dispatch  to  some  distance 
which  he  was  afraid  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
natives,  ^\Titing  it  in  the  Greek  language,  in  order 
that  they  might  not  be  able  to  read  it.  It  has  been 
suggested,  indeed,  that  the  Druids  might  use  the 
Greek  letters,  or  letters  resembling  those  of  the 
Greek  alphabet,  without  understanding  the  Greek 
tongue.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance  that  in  the 
number  and  powers  of  the  letters,  the  Celtic  alphabet, 
which  has  been  used  from  time  immemorial  in  Ire- 
land, exactly  corresponds  with  the-  original  Greek 
alphabet  said  to  have  been  brought  by  Cadmus  from 
Phoenicia,  although  the  ancient  forms  of  the  former 
have  been  exchanged  in  modern  times  for  those  of 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE.  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


113 


the  Saxon  characters  expressing  the  same  sounds. 
The  Druids,  therefore,  may  have  obtained  possession 
of  letters  resembfing  those  of  the  Greeks  without 
having  been  indebted  for  them  to  that  people.  The 
Gallic  God  of  Eloquence,  as  we  learn  from  Lucian, 
was  called  Ogmius  ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  certain 
ancient  inscriptions  in  an  unknown  character  found 
engi'aved  upon  the  rocks  and  elsewhere  in  Ireland, 
have  always  been  known  among  the  people  by  the 
name  of  Ogam  or  Ogma.  This  coincidence  would 
seem  to  warrant  us  in  inferring  a  connexion  between 
the  ancient  Celtic  eloquence  and  the  use  of  letters. 

The  art  of  eloquence  was  no  doubt  assiduously 
cultivated  and  held  in  the  highest  honor  both  by  the 
Druids  and  by  the  other  leading  personages  among 
the  Celtic  nations.  In  the  state  of  society  which 
then  subsisted  this  was  the  most  powerful  instru- 
ment for  ruling  the  popular  mind,  as  it  still  is  among 
the  islanders  of  the  South  Sea  and  the  Indians  of 
America,  in  a  much  less  advanced  social  condition. 
Among  both  the  Gauls  and  the  Britons  we  read  of 
displays  of  oratory  in  all  their  public  proceedings. 
The  debates  of  theii-  councils  and  the  direction  of 
their  armies  alike  demanded  the  exercise  of  this 
popular  accomplishment.  The  harangues  delivered 
on  certain  memorable  occasions  by  Galgacus,  Boadi- 
cea,  and  other  British  chiefs,  have  been  preserved  to 
us  by  the  Roman  wTiters.  Tacitus  has  depicted  the 
Druids  of  Mona,  when  that  sanctuary  was  attacked  by 
the  Roman  general  Suetonius,  rushing,  with  burning 
torches  outsti'etched  before  them,  through  the  ranks 
of  their  armed  countiymen  arrayed  to  repel  the  inva- 
ders, and  inflaming  their  courage  by  pouring  forth 
fi-enzied  prayers  Av-ith  their  hands  uplifted  to  heaven. 
On  other  occasions,  accoi'ding  to  Diodorus  Siculus, 
they  would  evince  their  powers  of  persuasion  by 
throwing  themselves  between  two  bodies  of  combat- 
ants ready  to  engage ;  and  by  the  charm  of  their 
words,  as  if  by  enchantment,  appeasing  their  mutual 
rage,  and  prevailing  upon  them  to  throw  down  their 
arms.  In  the  administration  of  the  laws  also,  and  in 
the  celebration  of  their  religious  solemnities,  they 
would  no  doubt  often  have  occasion  to  address  the 
people.  The  artificial  mounts  called  Cornedds,  still 
remaining  in  Anglesey  and  in  other  parts  of  Wales, 
are  supposed,  as  has  been  already  noticed,  to  have 
formed  the  stations  from  which  they  were  wont  to  de- 
liver their  regular  insti'uctions  and  admonitions  to  the 
listening  crowd.  The  account  which  Lucian  gives 
of  the  manner  in  which  their  god  Ogmius  was  repre- 
sented by  the  Gauls  shows  forcibly  the  high  estima- 
tion in  which  the  art  was  held  over  which  he  was 
supposed  to  preside.  The  epithet  of  Ogmius,  or  the 
God  of  Eloquence,  was  given  by  them  to  Hercules, 
whose  matchless  sh-ength,  they  finely  conceived,  did 
not  lie  in  his  thews  and  sinews,  but  in  the  power  of 
his  persuasive  >words,  by  which  he  took  captive  the 
reason  and  subdued  the  hearts  of  all  men  ;  a  thought 
which  we  might  almost  call  an  anticipation  of  the 
sti-iking  and  beautiful  expression  of  Burke  when  he 
described  the  common  mother  tongue  of  Englishmen 
and  Americans  as  uniting  the  two  nations  by  "a  tie 
lighter  than  air,  but  sti'onger  than  iron."  The  Gauls 
VOL.  I — 8  "^ 


accordingly  painted  their  Hercules  Ogmius  as  an  old 
man  surrounded  by  a  gi-eat  multitude  of  people,  who 
seemed  attached  to  him  in  willing  subjection  by  slen- 
der chains  reaching  from  his  tongue  to  theu-  ears. 
They  made  him  old,  they  said,  because  the  richest 
and  sti-ongest  eloquence  was  that  of  age  ;  and  it  might 
also  be  because  they  in  this  way  the  more  distinctly 
showed  that  it  was  not  by  bodily  sti-ength  he  eflected 
the  subjugation  of  his  fellow  men.  This  allegory,  it 
may  be  added,  both  in  its  conception  and  in  the  mannei- 
in  which  it  was  represented  to  the  senses,  evinces  a 
very  considerable  advance  in  civilization  and  intellec- 
tual culture,  and  would  be  enough  of  itself  to  place 
these  Celtic  nations  of  antiquity  in  a  different  cate- 
gory altogether  in  these  respects  from  the  modern 
savage  communities  with  which  they  have  sometimes 
been  compared. 

Poetry,  and  its  then  inseparable  accompaniment, 
Music,  were  doubtless  also  cultivated  by  the  British 
and  Gallic  Druids,  or  by  that  particular  division  of 
their  body  called  the  Bards.  It  was,  as  we  have 
already  related,  the  especial  office  of  these  bards, 
whom  Sti-abo  designates  by  the  epithet  of  Hymners, 
to  celebrate  in  verse  the  praises  both  of  the  gods  and 
heroes  of  their  nation.  Then*  compositions  would 
thus  contain  all  that  was  by  any  artificial  process 
preserved  from  oblivion  of  the  national  history. 
Their  recitations  were  most  probably  chanted  to  the 
accompaniment  of  some  musical  insti-ument  resem- 
bling the  ancient  lyre  or  the  modern  harp. 

Of  the  Theology  of  the  Druids  a  sufficiently  full 
account  has  already  been  given.  This  formed  not 
only  the  chief  department  of  the  Druidical  learning, 
but  that  with  the  spirit  of  which  all  the  rest  of  their 
learning  was  impregnated.  Their  law,  their  medi- 
cine, their  ethics,  their  astronomy,  their  system  oi 
the  physical  constitution  of  the  universe,  were  all 
accommodated  to  their  theological  doctrines,  or,  to 
speak  more  correctly,  were  all  only  so  many  parts  of 
their  theology.  Of  their  views  and  the  extent  oi 
their  knowledge  in  all  of  these  sciences,  accordingly, 
we  have  ah-eady  had  occasion  to  detail  most  of  the 
few  particulars  that  are  known  in  explaining  their 
religious  system.  A  few  words  may  be  added  how- 
ever on  one  or  two  of  the  branches  of  their  physical 
knowledge. 

Their  medicine  seems  to  have  been  iq  its  general 
character,  and  in  most  of  its  professions  and  practices,, 
a  medley  of  their  all  alike  vain  and  delusive  theology, 
astrolog}\  divination,  and  magic,  and  must  have  owed' 
the  greater  part  of  any  efficacy  that  may  have  belonged 
to  it  to  its  mere  power  over  the  imagination.  But 
they  seem  also  to  have  been  possessed  of  a  limited 
materia  medica,  and  may  even  have  known  some 
useful  secrets  i-especting  the  preparation  or  adminis- 
tration of  simples  of  which  we  are  at  present  ignorant. 
Pliny  has  told  us  of  several  herbs  which  were  vener- 
ated by  the  Druids  of  Gaul  for  their  supposed  medi- 
cinal virtues,  and  were  appHed  by  them  to  cure  vari- 
ous diseases.  We  have  ah'eady  quoted  his  account 
of  the  sacred  character  and  moral  influences  atti'ibuted 
bj^  them  to  the  mistletoe.  This  plant,  which  they 
called  by  a  name  signifying  all-heaUng,  would  seem 


114 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


to  have  been  also  their  sovereign  remedy  for  most  : 
bodily  disorders.     The  mistletoe  is  said  to  have  been  ; 
found  useful  in  modern  times  in  cases  of  epilepsy.' 
Another  medical  herb  of  the  Druids  was  what  Pliny 
calls  the  selago,  and  describes  as  resembhng  savin, 
and  which  has  been  supposed  to  be  a  species  of 
hedge-hyssop.     This,  too,  they  regarded  as  an  ex- 
cellent protection  against  diseases  in  general,  and  its 
smoke   as  particularly   salutary  for  ailments   of  the 
eyes.     Another  which  he  mentions  was  the  samolus, 
or  marsh-wort ;  this  they  administered  to  cattle  as 
well  as  to  human  patients.     But  of  all  vegetable  pro- 
ductions, with  the  exception  only  of  the  mistletoe  it- 
self, that  which  they  held  in  the  highest  estimation 
seems  to  have  been  the  ver\'ain.     It  is  described,  with 
the  usual  mixture  of  medical  and  talismanic  atti'ibutes, 
as  of  efficacy  to  enable  those  who  anointed  themselves 
with  it  to  obtain  the  objects  of  their  wishes,  as  having 
the  power  to  repel  fevers,  to  conciliate  friendships, 
tuid  to  cure  eveiy  disease.     Mixed  with  wine,  it  was 
good  against  serpents.     Veiy  little  reUance  however 
was  placed  by  the  Druidical  physicians  upon  the  mere- 
ly uatiu'al  properties  of  these  precious  plants.     Eve- 
rything depended  upon  the  ceremonial  with  which 
they  had  been  gathered.     Some  were  to  be  cut  from 
their  stalks  with  an  instrument  of  iron,  others  were 
to  be  plucked  by  the  hand  ;  some  were  to  be  gathered 
by  the  left  hand,  others  by  the  right ;  some  while  the 
sun  was  shining,  others  in  the  moonlight,  others  in 
the  absence  of  both  these  luminaries  and  under  the 
ascendancy  of  some  appropriate  star.     In  some  cases 
the  person  who  went  culling  was  to  be  attired  in 
white ;  in  others  he  was  to  go  barefooted  ;  in  others, 
fasting.-     All  these  minute  formalities,  in  addition  to 
their  main  purpose  of  impressing  the  seal  of  religion 
upon  eveiything,  would  have  the  secondary  advantage 
of  aftbrding  a  convenient  shelter  for  the  credit  of  the 
drug  and  the  doctor  in  all  cases  in  which  the  prescrip- 
tion failed  of  its  promised  effect ;  the  ready  explanation 
would  be  some  neglect  or  irregularity  in  these  cere- 
monial observances.     Some  knowledge  of  real  value 
however  may,  as  we  have  said,  have  been  hidden 
under  all  this  delusion  and  imposture.     If  the  Druids 
possessed  any  recondite   knowledge  whatever  (and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  possessed  a  great 
deal),  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  those  productions 
of  the  earth  by  which  they  were  sunounded  in  the 
woodland  retreats  where  they  spent  so  much  of  their 
studious  lives  can  hardly  be  denied  to  them.     The 
few  scattered  notices  in  Pliny  of  their  medicine  and 
botany  have  evidently  no  pretensions  to  be  considered 
a  full  account  of  their  knowledge  in  these  sciences  ; 
an-d  it  is  probable  enough  that  his  details  may  be  in 
many  respects  as  erroneous  as  they  are  obviously 
fragmentaiy  and  imperfect.     We  have  seen  that  Ci- 
cero testifies  to  the  extensive  information  possessed 
by  one  of  the  fraternity  in  all  that  the  Greeks  called 
physiology,  that  is,  natural  science  in  general.     It 

'  See  Dissertation  on  the  Mistletoe,  by  Sir  John  Colbach,  1729 ;  and 
Treatise  on  Epilepsy,  and  the  Use  of  the  Viscus  Quercinus,  or  Mistle- 
toe of  the  Oak  in  the  Cure  of  that  Disease,  by  Henry  Fraser,  M.D.,  1806. 

-  For  the  particulars  with  regard  to  each  plant,  see  the  following 
passages  in  Pliny's  Natural  History  : — on  the  Mistletoe,  xvi.  95  ;  on  the 
Selago,  xxiv.  62 ;  on  the  Samolus,  xxiv.  63  ;  on  the  Ver%ain,  xxv.  59. 


may  also  be  presumed  that,  practised  as  they  were 
in  the  sacrifice  both  of  brute  and  of  human  victims, 
the  Druids  could  hardly  fail  to  have  attained  a  good 
deal  of  anatomical  knowledge  ;  but  as  to  whether  they 
made  this  available  either  in  their  medical  practice 
or  in  any  operations  of  surgeiy,  we  have  no  informa- 
tion. 

The  branch  of  science  respecting  the  cultivation  of 
which  in  these  islands  in  early  times  we  have  the 
most  direct  historical  testimony,  and  also  perhaps  the 
best  conoborative  evidence  of  another  kind,  is  that  of 
astronomy.  Here,  in  an  especial  manner,  we  find 
science  springing  out  of,  and  taking  the  form  almost  of 
a  part  of,  the  national  religion,  if  indeed  we  ought  not 
rather  to  regard  the  religion  as  the  daughter  of  the 
science,  and  to  suppose  the  worship  of  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars  as  divinities,  to  have  been  originally  merely 
the  popular  exhibition  made  of  their  discoveries  by 
the  sages  who  studied  the  movements  of  these  celes- 
tial bodies.  Wherever,  at  all  events,  this  particular 
species  of  idolatry  prevailed,  the  observation  of  the 
celestial  motions,  in  other  words,  the  study  of  astron- 
omy appears  to  have  been  blended  with  it ;  and  no 
doubt  can  be  entertained  that,  whether  it  was  so  in 
the  first  instance  or  not.  many  scientific  truths  came 
eventuallj'  to  be  hieroglyphically  signified  both  in  the 
mythology  and  in  the  ceremonial  forms  of  the  super- 
stition. Ingenious  speculators  have  endeavored  to 
detect  an  astronomical  meaning  in  the  disposition  of 
the  stones  of  Stonehenge  and  Avebuiy,  and  of  other 
similar  Druidical  or  supposed  Druidical  temples.  The 
Irish  Round  Towers  are  also  conjectured,  in  combi- 
nation with  their  design  as  sacred  or  emblematical 
monuments,  to  have  sen'ed  the  purpose  of  observato- 
ries or  watch-towers  of  the  heavens.  They  have 
generally,  near  the  top,  four  openings  or  windows 
facing  the  four  cardinal  points.'  Both  C<esar  and 
INIela  (apparently  copying  him)  bear  testimony,  in 
passages  which  we  have  already  had  occasion  to 
quote,  to  the  reputation  of  the  Gallic  Druids  for  an 
acquaintance  both  with  the  movements  and  the  mag- 
nitudes of  the  heavenly  bodies.  We  are  not  aware, 
however,  of  any  evidence  for  the  supposition,  although 
not  unlikely  in  itself,  that,  in  addition  to  its  general 
religious  application,  the  science  of  astronomy  was 
cultivated  by  these  priests  as  being  imagined  to  afford 
them  the  means  of  looking  into  futurity,  or,  in  other 
words,  for  ash'ological  purposes,  unless  we  are  to  con- 
sider so  much  to  be  intimated  by  the  expression  of 
Mela,  who  mentions  their  profession  of  being  able  to 
tell  the  intentions  of  the  gods  immediately  after  hav- 
ing infonued  us  of  their  knowledge  of  the  motions  of 
the  stars,  as  if  their  divination  had  been  a  part  of  their 
astronomy.  Another  cu'cumstance  that  in  all  the  an- 
cient ceremonial  religions  tended  to  maintain  an  inti- 
mate alliance  between  religion  and  asti"onomical 
science,  was  the  necessity  of  some  skiU  in  the  latter 
for  the  regulation  of  the  various   annual   festivals. 

1  See  upon  this  subject  Moore's  History  of  IVeland,  pp.  33,  and  68- 
71  ;  and  O'Brien's  Round  Towers,  pp.  48-62.  This  last  writer,  how- 
ever, while  he  admits  the  astronomical  purposes  of  the  towers,  assigns 
their  erection  to  another  order  of  priests,  of  the  Budhist  faith,  who,  he 
contends,  preceded  the  Druids,  and  far  surpassed  them  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  astronomy  and  in  all  other  learning. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


115 


Such  festivals,  as  we  have  seen,  constituted  a  remark- 
able feature  of  the  Druidical  system  of  worship.  The 
slight  notices  which  the  classical  writers  have  preserved 
would  lead  us  to  infer  that  among  the  Gauls  and  Bri- 
tons, and  also  among  the  Germans,  all  their  periods 
were  made  to  depend  upon  the  movements  of  the 
moon.  Even  what  Tacitus  has  recorded  of  the  Ger- 
mans and  Csesar  of  the  Gauls,  that  they  reckoned 
time  not  by  days  but  by  nights,  would  favor  this  sup- 
jwsition.  We  find  both  nations,  also,  holding  their 
great  solemnities  always  under  some  particular  aspect 
of  the  moon  ;  the  Germans,  according  to  Tacitus,  at 
the  time  of  the  new  or  full  moon  ;  the  Gauls,  as  Pliny 
informs  us,  when  that  luminary  was  six  days  old.  From 
the  sixth  day  of  the  moon,  also,  according  to  Pliny, 
the  Druids  began  the  reckoning  not  only  of  then- 
months  and  years,  but  likewise  of  their  great  cycle, 
which  he  says  was  a  period  of  thirty  years.  It  is  re- 
markable that  in  the  description  given  by  Diodorus 
Siculus  from  Hecat?eus  of  the  wonders  of  the  Hyper- 
borean Isle,  which  has  been  supposed  to  be  Britain 
or  Ireland,  the  cycle  of  nineteen  years,  called  the  cy- 
cle of  the  moon,  because  after  that  number  of  solar 
revolutions,  the  relation  of  the  moon's  place  in  the 
heavens  to  that  of  the  sun  becomes  the  same  as  it 
was  at  the  commencement  of  the  period,  is  mentioned 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  seem  to  indicate  that  it  was 
applied  as  the  gi*eat  regulator  of  the  national  religious 
calendar.  The  Hyperboreans  believe,  the  historian 
tells  us,  that  Apollo  descends  to  their  isle  at  the  end 
of  every  nineteen  years,  and  plays  upon  the  harp, 
and  sings  and  dances  all  the  night  from  the  vernal 
equinox  to  the  rising  of  the  Pleiades  (about  the  au- 
tumnal equinox),  as  if  rejoicing  in  the  honors  rendered 
to  him  b}'  his  votaries.  The  knowledge  of  the  lunar 
cycle,  liowever,  would  imply  a  nearly  correct  knowl- 
edge of  the  solar  year ;  and  that  also,  accordingly, 
both  upon  this  and  upon  other  grounds,  has  been 
claimed  for  the  ancient  British  and  Irish  astronomers. 
The  passage  in  Diodorus  has  even  been  adduced  as 
sanctioning  the  supposition  that  their  observation  of 
the  heavenly  bodies  may  not  have  been  unassisted  by 
optical  instruments.  The  ancient  authorities  from 
whom  Diodorus  copied  his  account  afifirmed,  it  seems, 
that  in  this  Hyperborean  isle  the  moon  appeared  as 
if  it  were  near  to  the  earth,  and  exhibited  distinctly 
protuberances  upon  its  surface  like  the  mountains  on 
our  globe.  This  is  certainly  verj'  much  tlie  shape 
which  would  be  assumed  in  times  of  wondering  igno- 
rance by  the  rumors  transmitted  from  a  distant  land, 
and  perhaps  through  a  long  succession  of  generations, 
of  such  an  unintelligible  marvel  as  the  drawing  down 
of  the  heavens  towards  the  earth  by  the  optician's 
glass.  The  doctrine,  however,  that  the  moon  was  a 
globular  body  like  the  eaith,  and  that  its  surface  was 
similarly  varied  by  elevations  in  one  place  and  depres- 
sions in  another,  may  naturally  enough  have  been 
adopted  by  these  ancient  astronomical  sages,  merely 
on  general  considerations  of  theoiy  or  probability',  and 
without  having  been  suggested  by  any  spots  or  ex- 
crescences actually  detected  on  the  planet  by  the  eye. 
An  account  of  a  curious  relic  found  in  Ireland, 
which  is  supposed  to  be  an  ancient  Celtic  astronomi- 


cal instrument,  has  lately  been  communicated  by  Sir 
William  Betham  to  the  Royal  Irish  Academy.    Parts 


Astronomical  Instrument. 

of  similar  instruments  have  before  been  found  in  that 
country,  but  the  present  is  the  only  perfect  specimen 
that  is  known  to  exist.  It  is  of  what  is  called  Celtic 
brass,  that  is,  bronze,  and  "  consists,"  to  quote  the  de- 
scription of  Sir  William  Betham,  "  of  a  cii-cle,  the 
outside  edge  of  which  represents  the  moon's  orbit, 
having  on  it  eight  rings  representing  the  different 
phases  of  the  planet.  In  the  inside  of  this  circle  is 
another  fixed  on  an  axis,  in  the  line  of  the  inclination 
of  the  poles,  on  which  this,  which  represents  the 
earth,  ti-averses."  The  size  of  the  insti-ument  is  not 
given,  but  it  is  conceived  to  have  been  in  common 
use,  probably  in  teaching  the  science  of  astronomy, 
and,  in  its  exhibition,  to  have  been  suspended  fi-om 
the  ring  representing  the  moon  in  its  first  quarter  by 
another  ring,  which  was  found  loose  in  that. 

Several  circles  of  ancient  stones,  it  may  be  added, 
exist  both  in  Wales  and  in  Ireland,  which  still  bear, 
in  the  language  of  the  people,  the  names  of  the  As- 
h-onomers'  Circles,  and  are  supposed  to  mark  the 
sites  of  Druidical  observatories,  or  seminaries  for 
instruction  in  asti-onomical  science.  But  this  study 
could  not  have  been  prosecuted  to  any  extent  without 
a  considerable  proficiency  in  the  absti-act  sciences  both 
of  mathematics  and  numbers ;  and  these  branches 
also,  therefore,  we  must  suppose  to  have  formed  a 
part  of  the  Druidical  learning,  and  of  that  extensive 
course  of  instruction  which  we  are  told  the  pupils  of 
the  Drviids  sometimes  spent  twenty  years  in  passing 
through. 

On  the  whole,  shrouded  from  our  distinct  view  as 
the  facts  of  the  subject  are  by  the  remoteness  of  the 
time,  and  the  scantiness  of  the  light  shed  upon  them 
by  history,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  these  studi- 
ous Celtic  priests  had  accumulated  no  contemptible 
stock  of  knowledge  in  various  departments  of  science 
and  philosophy.  According  to  Ammianus  Marcelli- 
nus,  it  was  to  the  Druids  that  the  Gauls  were  in- 
debted for  nearly  all  that  they  possessed  of  civilization 
and  learning;  and  the  same  thing  in  all  probability 
might  have  been  said  of  the  Britons.  That  with  the 
real  and  valuable  knowledge  possessed  by  the  Druids, 
there  was  much  eiTor  and  superstition  mixed  uj- 
there  can  be  no  doubt;  everything  they  believed. 


116 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


and  evei-j  thing  they  taught  may  have  been,  at  the 
best,  but  a  mixture  of  ti'uth  and  falsehood ;  but  still 
it  would  be  very  far  from  being  worthless  on  that 
account.  In  the  most  advanced  state  to  which 
human  knowledge  has  yet  attained,  it  has  perhaps 
in  no  department  been  purified  from  all  alloy  of 
error ;  and  in  the  gi-eater  number  of  the  fields  of  philo- 
sophical speculation,  the  conjectural  and  doubtful  still 
forms  a  large  portion  of  the  most  successful  investi- 
gations that  the  wit  of  man  has  been  able  to  achieve. 
Civilization  could  never  make  any  progi'css,  if  noth- 
ing except  knowledge  free  from  all  error  could  cairy 
it  forward.  Nor  shall  we  perhaps  be  disposed,  ujjon 
reflection,  to  pass  a  very  severe  judgment  upon  the 
Druids,  even  if  they  should  appear  to  us,  in  their 
endeavors  to  secure  an  influence  over  the  popular 
mind,  not  to  have  scrupled  sometimes  to  employ  such 
arts  of  deception  as  their  superior  knowledge  enabled 
them  to  play  off.  It  is  not  necessaiy  to  assume  tliat 
in  practising  these  pious  fi-auds,  they  set  no  other 
object  before  them  except  the  maintenance  of  their 
own  ascendancy ;  that  object  may  not  have  been 
overlooked,  but  in  pursuing  it  they  may  have  believed 
at  the  same  tune  that  they  were  adopting  the  best 
course  for  the  people  over  whom  they  exercised  so 
powerful  a  sway.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  the 
soundness  of  their  reasoning,  this  may  have  been 
their  motive  ;  such  a  consideration  may  be  supposed 
to  have  actuated  them,  even  if  we  admit,  as  is  very 
hkely,  that  their  judgment  in  the  case  was  somewhat 
biassed  by  their  self-interest.  Undoubtedly  neither 
fraud  nor  force  seems  to  be  a  suitable  instrument  of 
civilization  ;  but  it  is  also  not  to  be  doubted  that  both 
have  often  been  so  employed,  not  only  with  the  most 
honest  intentions,  but  what  is  more,  not  without 
some  degi-ee  of  success.  They  may  not  be  the  best 
civilizers  in  ordinary  circumstances,  or  their  use  may 
not  be  justifiable  on  principle  in  any  circumstances ; 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  they  have  never  been  used 
either  with  any  good  effect  or  with  any  good  design. 
Perhaps  what  was  good  in  the  effect  has  always 
been  counterbalanced  by  what  was  bad  in  its  accom- 
paniments ; — it  has  doubtless  always  been  impaired 
in  that  way  ; — but  still  in  many  instances  the  attempt 
canrot  reasonably  be  charged  as  being,  at  the  very 
worst,  anything  worse  than  a  mistake  of  the  judg- 
ment. The  Druidical  religion  was  a  system  of  de- 
lusion and  imposture,  vmquestionably ;  we  mean,  it 
was  not  only  a  false  religion,  but  it  was  one  which  its 
priests  systematically  sought  to  support  by  deluding 
the  understandings  of  the  people,  and  by  a  thousand 
devices  and  conti-ivances  which  they  must  liave 
known  to  be  fraudulent  and  dishonest.  All  this  it 
was,  in  common  with  nearly  every  other  form  of 
ancient  superstition.  Nevertheless,  we  shall  certainly 
not  judge  either  charitably  or  wisely  if  we  at  once 
assume  that  in  all  these  old  idolatries,  some  of  which 
have  held  in  awe  half  the  nations  of  the  earth  for 
thousands  of  years,  the  priests  were  nothing  else  but 
an  uninteiTupted  succession  of  knaves  and  hypocrites, 
cherishing  no  thought  and  pursuing  no  end  but  that 
of  the  aggrandizement  of  their  own  order  and  the 
coiTuption    and    degradation    of   their    fellow-men. 


They  were,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  most  generally 
deceived  as  well  as  the  rest ;  even  wliile  deceiving, 
and  consciously  deceiving,  others,  they  remained,  to 
a  gi-eat  extent,  deceived  themselves ;  they  believed 
that  it  was  the  truth  which  they  supported  even  by 
their  stratagems  and  ti'icks.  And  the  more  philo- 
sophical minds  among  them,  with  whom  the  religion 
in  no  part  of  it  had  any  credit  as  a  supernatural 
revelation,  may  still  liave  deemed  its 'influences  on 
the  multitude  salutary  on  the  whole,  and  so  have 
justified  to  themselves  their  profession  and  support 
of  it.  The  national  religion  was  in  almost  all  these 
cases  the  principal  cement  of  tlie  national  civilization, 
and  the  latter  would  have  crumbled  to  pieces  if  the 
former  had  been  suddenly  destroyed  or  removed. 

When  the  south  of  Britain  be^came  a  part  of  the 
Roman  empire,  the  inhabitants,  at  least  of  the 
towns,  both  adopted  generally  the  Latin  language, 
and  applied  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  Latin 
literature  and  art.  The  diffusion  among  them  of 
this  new  taste  was  one  of  tlie  first  means  employed 
by  their  politic  conquerors,  as  soon  as  they  had  fairly 
established  themselves  in  the  island,  to  rivet  their 
dominion ;  and  a  more  efficacious  they  could  not 
have  devised.  Happily,  it  was  also  the  best  fitted  to 
turn  their  subjugation  into  a  blessing  to  the  conquered 
people.  Agi'icola,  having  spent  the  first  year  of  his 
administration  in  establishing  in  the  province  that 
order  and  tranquillity  which  is  the  first  necessity  of 
the  social  condition,  and  the  indispensable  basis  of  all 
civilization,  did  not  allow  another  winter  to  pass 
without  beginning  the  work  of  thus  training  up  the 
national  mind  to  a  Roman  character.  Tacitus  in- 
forms us  that  he  took  measures  for  having  the  sons 
of  the  chiefs  educated  in  the  liberal  arts,  exciting 
them  at  the  same  time  by  professing  to  prefer  the 
natural  genius  of  the  Britons  to  the  studied  acquire- 
ments of  the  Gauls ;  the  effect  of  which  was,  that 
those  who  lately  had  disdained  to  use  the  Roman 
tongue  now  became  ambitious  of  excelling  in  elo- 
quence. In  later  times,  schools  were  no  doubt  es- 
tablished and  maintained  in  all  the  principal  towns 
of  Roman  Britain,  as  they  were  throughout  the 
empire  in  general.  There  are  still  extant  many 
imperial  edicts  relating  to  these  public  seminaries, 
in  which  privileges  are  conferred  upon  the  teachers, 
and  regulations  laid  down  as  to  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  to  be  appointed,  the  salaries  they  were  to 
receive,  and  the  branches  of  learning  they  were  to 
teach.  But  no  account  of  the  British  schools  in  par- 
ticular has  been  preserved.  It  would  appear,  how- 
ever, that,  for  some  time  at  least,  tlie  older  schools 
of  Gaul  were  resorted  to  by  the  Britons  who  pursued 
the  study  of  the  law :  Juvenal,  who  lived  in  the  end 
of  the  first  and  the  beginning  of  the  second  century, 
speaks,  in  one  of  his  Satu'es,  of  eloquent  Gaul  in- 
structing the  pleaders  of  Britain.  But  even  already 
forensic  acquirements  must  have  become  very  general 
in  the  latter  country  and  the  surrounding  regions,  if 
we  may  place  any  reliance  on  the  assertion  which 
he  makes  in  the  next  line,  that  in  Thule  itself  people 
now  talked  of  hiring  rhetoricians  to  manage  their 
causes.     Thule,  whatever  may  have  been  the  par- 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


117 


ticular  island  or  countiy  to  which  that  narae  was 
given,  was  the  most  northern  land  known  to  the 
ancients. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  while  a  good  many 
names  of  natives  of  Gaul  are  recorded  in  connexion 
with  the  last  age  of  Roman  literatm-e,  scarcely  a 
British  name  of  that  period  of  any  literaiy  reputation 
has  been  preserved,  if  we  except  a  few  which  figure 
in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.  The  poet 
Ausonius,  who  flourished  in  the  fourth  century, 
makes  frequent  mention  of  a  contemporary  British 
writer  whom  he  calls  Sylvius  Bonus,  and  whose 
native  name  is  supposed  to  have  been  Coil  the  Good, 
but  of  his  works,  or  even  of  their  titles  or  subjects, 
we  know  nothing.  Ausonius,  who  seems  to  have 
entertained  strong  prejudices  against  the  Britons, 
speaks  of  •'sylvius  with  the  same  animosity  as  of  the 
rest  of  his  countiymen.  Among  the  early  British 
churchmen  the  celebrated  heresiarch  Pelagius,  his 
disciple  Celestius,  St.  Ninian  the  converter  of  the 
southern  Picts,  and  St.  Patrick  the  great  apostle  of 
Ireland,  might  all  be  included  in  this  period ;  but 
the  missionary  exertions  of  the  two  last-mentioned 
will  fall  to  be  noticed  more  conveniently  in  our  next 
chapter  on  the  History  of  Religion.  Pelagius,  al- 
though he  has  been  claimed  as  a  native  of  South 
Britain,  was  more  probably,  like  his  disciple  Celes- 
tius, a  Scot ;  that  is  to  say,  a  native  of  Ireland.  He 
is  said  to  have  been  a  monk  of  Bangor ;  but  whether 
this  was  the  monastery  of  Bangor  in  Wales,  or  that 
of  Bangor,  or  Banchor,  near  Carrickfergus  in  Ireland, 
has  been  disputed.     Pelagius  supported  bis  peculiar 


opinions  with  his  pen  as  well  as  orally ;  and  some 
controversial  writings  attributed  to  him  still  exist. 
Until  he  began  to  propagate  the  heretical  opinions 
which  have  made  him  so  famous,  he  appears  to  have 
enjoyed  the  highest  esteem  of  his  contemporaries 
for  his  moral  qualities  as  well  as  for  talent  and  elo- 
quence ;  the  extraordinary  success  with  which  he 
diffused  his  views  may  suffice  to  attest  his  intellect- 
ual ability  and  accomplishments.  The  reputation  of 
his  disciple  Celestius  was  nearly  as  great  as  his  own. 
Many  of  the  followers  of  the  Pelagian  heresy  indeed 
styled  themselves  Celestians.  Celestius  also  appears 
to  have  been  an  Irishman.  St.  Jerome,  the  gi-eat 
opponent  of  him  and  his  master,  almost  says  as  much 
when,  in  one  of  his  passionate  invectives,  he  calls 
him  a  blockhead  swollen  with  Scotch  pottage,  that 
is,  what  we  should  now  call  Irish  flummery.'  We 
may  quote  as  a  specimen  of  the  eloquence  of  the  age, 
and  also  of  its  most  orthodox  Christianity,  a  little 
more  of  the  "  splendid  bile"  of  the  learned  saint. 
He  goes  on  to  describe  Celestius  as  "  a  gi'eat,  corpu- 
lent, barking  dog,  fitter  to  kick  with  his  heels  than  to 
bite  with  his  teeth ;  a  Cerberus,  who,  with  his  mas- 
ter Pluto  (so  Pelagius  is  designated),  desen'ed  to  be 
knocked  on  the  head,  and  so  put  to  eternal  silence." 
There  still  exist  some  epistles  and  other  works 
ath-ibuted  to  Celestius,  which  are  believed  to  be 
genuine. 

1  The  orig^inal  Latin  is  "  Scotorum  pultihus  pTjrsfravatns." — Vossiiis, 
however,  ui  his  Dissertation  upon  Pelagianism,  considers  the  Irish 
flummery  with  which  Celestius  is  here  said  to  have  been  swollen,  as 
meaning  the  notions  of  his  master  Pelagius,  and  adduces  the  words  as 
a  testimony  in  favor  of  the  Irish  origin  of  the  latter. 


118 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


N  the  present  period, 
under  this  head,  al- 
though it  would  not 
be  difficult  to  collect 
a  gi'eat  deal  of  matter, 
by  availing  ourselves 
of  all  that  has  been 
related  of  communities 
conceived  to  be  in  the 
same  state  of  social 
advancement  with  the 
ancient  Britons,  and 
thence  assuming,  by 
analogy  or  conjecture,  the  particulars  of  the  domestic 
life  and  habits  of  the  latter,  the  real  information  we 
possess  amounts  to  very  little.  All  that  we  know 
upon  the  subject  is  to  be  found  in  the  incidental 
notices  that  have  fallen  from  the  Roman  writers  in 
the  course  of  their  historical  naiTatives,  or  to  be 
deduced  from  the  few  relics  of  the  British  people 
that  have  survived  the  destruction  of  time ;  and  even 
when  these  sources  are  most  carefully  studied,  what 
we  learn  from  both  of  them  together  is  extremely 
scanty  and  unsatisfactory. 

We  have  already  described  the  houses  of  the 
Britons.  Of  the  manner  in  which  these  rude  hovels 
were  furnished  we  know  scarcely  anything.  In 
some  of  the  coins  of  Cunobeline  we  find  the  interior 
of  a  habitation  furnished  with  seats  resembling  our 
modern  chairs,  stools  like  the  crickets  of  our  peas- 
antry, and  others  composed  of  a  round  block  of  wood, 
while  the  arms  of  the  family  are  ranged  along  the 
wall.'  The  floor  probably  served  for  a  bed,  and  the 
mantle  of  the  sleeper  for  a  blanket ;  in  winter  they 
might  have  recourse  to  the  additional  warmth  of 
shaggy  skins.  Wooden  bowls  and  platters,  and  their 
celebrated  baskets  of  osier  work,  would  contain  their 
provisions  and  other  necessaries  ;  and  in  addition  to 
these  they  had,  as  already  mentioned,  articles  of 
coarse  pottery,  consisting  of  bowls,  cups,  and  jars. 
According  to  Sti-abo,  they  also  had  cups  and  other 
vessels  of  glass  ;  but  as  these  were  articles  of  impor- 
tation, it  is  probable  that  they  were  confined  to  the 
houses  of  the  chiefs.  Though  the  Britons  were  a 
hardy  race,  yet  their  climate  would  make  the  com- 
forts of  a  fire  desirable  during  the  winter,  and  ac- 
cordingly we  may  suppose  that  they  adopted  the 
obvious  resource  of  a  fire  upon  the  floor,  until  the 
Romans  introduced  among  them  the  luxury  of  a 
brazier.  Their  forests  supplied  them  abundantly 
with  fuel ;  but,  in  addition  to  this,  they  appear  to 
have  been  acquainted  with  coal  before  the  aiTival  of 
their  conquerors,  collections  of  this  mineral  having 
been  found  in  various  places,  attesting  their  British 

1  Pegge  on  the  Coins  of  Cunobelinus. 


deposition.'  The  only  coal  they  had,  of  course,  was 
gathered  upon  or  near  the  surface,  and  used  in  cases 
where  wood  could  not  easily  be  obtained.  Theii* 
diet,  no  doubt,  corresponded  with  the  poverty  of 
their  dwellings  and  the  general  simplicity  of  their 
lives.  The  country,  where  it  was  cultivated  by  that 
superior  race  who  occupied  the  sea-coast  opposite 
Gaul,  was  productive  in  grain,  and  the  pastures  were 
covered  with  flocks  and  herds,  so  that  the  fortunate 
natives  of  these  quarters  were  well  supplied  with 
the  materials  at  least  of  even  comfortable  living.  Of 
the  milk  they  made  curds  ;  and  while  the  Romans, 
contented  with  their  own  olives,  Avere  ignorant  of 
butter,  it  was  probably  known  to  the  Britons,  as 
Pliny  informs  us  it  was  generaUy  to  the  barbarous 
nations.^  Salt  was  an  imported  article  at  the  period 
of  the  Roman  invasion,  and  probably  was  a  luxury 
attainable  only  by  a  few. 

While  such  were  the  articles  of  subsistence  among 
the  more  favored  and  better  civilized  of  the  ancient 
Britons,  their  more  barbarous  cduntiymen  must  have 
been  in  a  state  of  considerable  destitution.  This  is 
evident  from  the  testimony  of  several  Roman  authors. 
Caesar,  who  attests  the  fertility  of  Kent  and  the 
superiority  of  its  people,  informs  us  also  that,  in  the 
interior  of  the  island,  the  inhabitants  sowed  no  gi'ain, 
but  lived  on  the  milk  and  flesh  of  their  flocks  and 
herds.  The  inhabitants  of  the  northern  parts  of  the 
island  were  in  a  still  more  wretched  condition  in  the 
article  of  food.  We  are  told  of  the  Mseatse  and 
Caledonians,  that  they  lived  upon  the  milk  of  their 
flocks,  upon  wild  fruits,  and  whatever  they  could 
procure  in  hunting.^  This  was  their  food  even  under 
favorable  circumstances  ;  for  it  is  added  Hist,  when 
they  were  in  the  woods,  they  fed  upon  iroots  and 
leaves.  A  melancholy  proof  of  their  Avi-etchedness 
may  be  deduced  from  what  we  are  told  of  the  sub- 
stitute they  employed  in  the  want  of  natural  suste- 
nance. It  was  a  certain  composition,  by  which,  it  is 
said,  when  they  had  eaten  about  the  quantity  of  a 
bean,  their  spirits  were  so  admirably  supported  that 
they  no  longer  felt  hunger  or  thirst.*  This  inven- 
tion, to  which  such  miraculous  eflfects  are  attributed, 
was  probably  nothing  more  than  a  drug  made  use  of 
by  them  to  deaden  the  gnawings  of  hunger,  just  as 
Indian  hunters,  in  similar  cases,  gird  a  bandage 
tightly  upon  their  stomachs.  The  game  upon  which 
the  more  needy  or  more  adventurous  natives,  both 
of  the  north  and  south,  chiefly  subsisted,  was  probably 
of  a  kind  only  to  be  procured  with  difficulty, — the 
bison,  the  boar,  and  the  moose-deer,  against  which 
their  imperfect  weapons  must  have  been  frequently 
unavailing.     Antiquarians  have   been  more  curious 

1  Whittakcr's  Manchester,  sec.  iii.  chap.  9. 
2  Nat.  Hist.  xi.  96.  ^  Xiphilin.  in  Sever.  *  Idem. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


119 


about  how  this  game  was  cooked  than  were  probably 
the  hunters  themselves ;  and  while  some  have  al- 
leged that  the  ancient  Britons  ate  it  raw  in  the 
forests,  after  expressing  the  blood  between  flat  stones 
or  pieces  of  timber,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the 
Scotch  Highlanders  in  former  times,  others  have  sup- 
posed that  the  carcase  was  baked  in  a  pit  lined  with 
heated  flints,  as  is  done  in  the  present  day  by  the 
New  Zealanders. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  abstinence  of  the 
Southern  Britons  from  hares  and  poultiy,  and  that 
of  those  in  the  north  from  fish.  It  is  remarkable 
that  in  this  last  particular  the  ancient  occupants  of 
the  northern  part  of  our  island  were  till  lately  imi- 
tated by  their  representatives,  the  Scottish  High- 
landers. But  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause  of 
this  avoidance  of  what  we  should  deem  some  of  the 
most  natural  and  salutary  kinds  of  food,  the  early 
Britons  have  been  accused  of  not  abstaining  from  the 
most  revolting  of  all  the  gi'atifications  of  a  depraved 
appetite.  Antiquity  has  subjected  them  to  the  odious 
charge  of  cannibalism.  Diodorus  Siculus  and  Strabo 
both  mention  the  existence  of  a  report  to  that  effect 
respecting  the  Irish  ;  St.  Clnysostom,  in  one  of  his 
sermons,  speaks  of  it  as  a  practice  that  had  prevailed, 
in  th-e  exclamation — "  How  often  was  human  flesh 
eaten  in  Britain  ?"  and  St.  Jerome  seems  expressly 
to  aflirm  that  when  he  was  a  young  man,  in  Gaul, 
he  saw  some  of  the  Attacotti,  a  British  nation,  eating 
human  flesh.  Gibbon  has  adduced  this  as  the  tes- 
timony of  an  eyewitness  to  the  fact  of  the  cannibalism 
of  some  of  the  Britons,  and  has  declared  that  he  finds 
no  reason  to  question  the  veracity  of  the  saint ;  but 
the  account  is  certainly  in  some  respects  a  strange 
one.  It  is  difficult  to  believe,  in  the  first  place,  that 
an  exhibition  of  cannibalism  could  be  publicly  tole- 
rated in  the  fourth  centuiy  in  the  Roman  province  of 
Gaul.  But  Jerome  not  only  would  seem  to  say  that 
he  saw  the  Attacotti  eating  human  flesh ;  he  adds, 
as  equally  what  he  had  ascertained  bj^  his  own  ob- 
sei-vation  iu  Gaul,  that  these  British  savages,  when 
they  found 'herds  of  hogs  and  cattle  in  the  woods,  were 
wont  to  CTit  off  and  devour  certain  parts  of  the  bodies 
of  the  shepherds,  which  they  accounted  particularly 
delicate.  Now  this  certainly  he  could  not  have  seen 
with  his  own  ej'es,  although  he  may  have  heard  it 
reported.  Although,  therefore,  his  words  are  not  so 
cautious  as  they  ought  to  have  been,  and  are  dictated 
with  a  view  to  rhetorical  effect,  we  seem  to  be 
justified  in  regarding  him  as  testifying  not  to  what  he 
had  seen,  but  only  to  what  he  had  heard,  in  the  whole 
story.  Still  his  statement  will  be  evidence  to  the 
reputation  of  the  Attacotti  for  man-eating ;  and  all 
we  can  say  is,  that  it  is  not  impossible  they  may 
hiive  deserved  the  character  they  appear  to  have 
acquired.  The  frequent  existence  of  the  practice  of 
cannibalism  among  tribes  not  always  in  the  lowest 
stage  of  barbarism,  has  now  been  completely  estab- 
lished. The  Battas  of  Sumati-a,  who  have  a  wi-itten 
language,  and  have  in  other  respects  made  con- 
siderable advances  in  civilization,  have  perhaps  carried 
the  practice  further  than  it  has  been  carried  in  any 
other  country. 


We  know  nothing  about  the  habits  of  the  Britons 
in  regard  to  temperance  in  drinking.  Mead,  or  me- 
theglin,  was  probably  the  common  beverage  at  their 
social  feasts,  as  it  is  said  to  have  been  among  the 
Celtic  nations  generally.  They  are  also  said  to  have 
used  a  preparation  fi"om  barley,^  forming  a  coarse 
sort  of  wine,  or  "  spurious  Bacchus,"  as  the  Italians 
called  it,  which  was  of  a  much  more  intoxicating 
quality.  This  was  nothing  more  than  a  species  ol' 
ale  common  to  the  Gauls,  the  Spaniards,  and  the 
nations  of  the  west  and  north,  and  alluded  to  by 
several  writers,'^  who  admired  the  ingenuity  of  savages 
in  making  even  water  intoxicate.  With  wine  they 
probably  had  little  if  any  acquaintance. 

In  their  personal  appearance,  the  Britons  seem  to 
have  been  a  people  of  large  limbs  and  much  muscular 
strength  and  activity.  This  much  may  be  gathered 
even  from  the  narrative  of  their  various  encounters 
in  fight  with  the  Roman  legions.  Strabo  mentions 
that  he  had  seen  some  British  young  men  at  Rome 
half  a  foot  taller  than  even  the  Gauls,  who  were  a 
bulky  race  compared  with  the  Italians.  He  alleges, 
however,  that  they  were  not  strongly  and  gi-acefully 
formed  in  proportion  to  their  great  stature,  and  did 
not  stand  very  firmly  upon  their  legs ;  but  this  was 
perhaps  owing  to  the  immaturity  of  those  juvenile 
specimens  that  came  under  his  notice. 

Their  clothing,  both  for  warmth  and  ornament,  is 
one  of  the  chief  signs  by  which  the  degree  of  civili- 
zation among  an  early  people  is  indicated.  The 
half-naked  savage  shivering  amidst  the  storm  of  the 
elements,  with  no  better  defence  than  a  loose  cloak 
of  skin,  betokens  a  human  being  in  the  lowest  stage 
of  helplessness,  and  whose  intellectual  capacities  are 
as  yet  in  great  part  dormant.  The  addition  of  a 
single  pin  or  button,  by  which  his  garment  is  rendered 
more  comfortable,  indicates  an  advance  in  intellect 
that  will  operate  equally  upon  all  his  other  arrange- 
ments ;  and  as  one  piece  after  another,  for  conveni- 
ence or  decoration,  is  added  to  his  attire,  we  may 
commonly  trace  the  progress  of  his  general  civiliza- 
tion. Mei-e  expediency  was  at  first  his  standard ; 
but  as  his  wants  increase  and  his  tastes  improve,  the 
narrow  limits  of  necessity  are  soon  overstepped  for 
those  of  decency,  gracefulness,  and  splendor. 

The  Maeatse  and  Caledonians  are  described  by  the 
Romans  as  living  in  a  state  of  nudity ;  but  as  thev 
seldom  saw  these  warlike  tribes  except  in  battle  or 
flight,  their  want  of  clothing  may  have  been  only 
temporaiy,  and  for  convenience,  during  their  de- 
sultory warfare.  The  flinging  off  of  their  garments 
in  battle  was  a  custom  general  among  the  Celtic 
nations.  Livy  informs  us  that,  at  the  battle  of  Can- 
nae, there  were  Gauls,  who  fought  naked  from  the 
waist  upwards ;  and  Polybius  says  that  some  Belgic 
Gauls  fought  entirely  naked,  but  it  was  only  on  the 
day  of  battle  that  they  stripped  themselves.  It 
was  thus  that,  in  the  battles  of  modern  times,  the 
Scottish  Highlanders  were  accustomed  to  throw  ofl" 
their  plaids,  by  which  they  sometimes  astonished 
their  antagonists  by  the  view  of  then-  naked  limbs,  as 
much  as  their  prototypes  did  the  Roman  legions, 

1  Dioscorid.  lib.  ii.  c.  110.  2  pHny,  Orosius,  Isidorus. 


120 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  L 


and  incurred  an  equal  charge  of  barbarism.  Ca;sar 
himself  informs  us  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  interior 
of  Britain  wore  clothing  of  skins.  Wlien  this  was 
the  case  with  the  least  refined  part  of  the  population, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  more  advanced  portion  of  th^em, 
who  inhabited  the  sea-coast,  must  have  possessed  a 
more  plentiful  and  less  primitive  wardrobe.  Of  the 
several  kinds  of  cloth  manufactured  in  Gaul,  one, 
according  to  PUny  and  Diodorus  Siculus,  was  com- 
posed of  fine  wool  dyed  of  several  colors,  which 
bein"  spun  into  yarn,  was  woven  either  in  stripes  or 
checkers;  and  of  this  the  Gauls  and  Britons  made 
their  summer  garments.  Diodorus  describing  the 
Belgic  Gauls,  says,  they  wore  dyed  tunics,  betlow- 
ered  with  all  manner  of  colors.  With  these  they 
wore  close  trowsers,  which  they  called  hracca. 
These  trowsers,  an  article  of  dress  by  which  all  the 
barbaric  nations  seem  to  have  been  distinguished 
from  the  Romans,  were  made  by  the  Gauls  and 
Britons  of  their  sti'iped  or  checkered  cloth,  called 
breach,  brycan,  or  breacan,  brcac  in  Celtic  signifying 
anything  speckled,  spotted,  striped,  or  in  any  way 
party-colored.  Over  the  tunic  both  the  Gauls  and 
the  Britons  wore  a  short  cloak,  called  a  sagum  by 
the  Romans,  from  the  Celtic  word  saic,  which,  ac- 
cording to  Varro,  signified  a  skin  or  hide,  such  hav- 
ing been  the  material  which  the  invention  of  cloth 
bad  superseded.  The  British  sagum  was  of  one 
uniform  color,  generally  either  blue  or  black.'     The 

1  Diodor.  v.  33. 


FiovREs  OF  ANCIENT  Gavls  IN  THE  Bracc*,  Tcnic,  AND  Sagum.— Drfiwn  fnim  Koman  Statues  in  the  Louvre. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


121 


predominating  tint  in  the  checkered  trowsei's  and 
tunic  was  red.  Their  hau-  was  turned  back  upon 
the  crown  of  the  head,  and  fell  down  in  long  and 
bushy  curls  behind.  Men  of  rank  amongst  the  Gauls 
and  Britons,  according  to  Caesar  and  Diodorus,  shaved 
the  chin,  but  wore  immense  tangled  mustaches. 
The  ornaments  of  the  Britons  consisted,  like  those 
of  the  Gauls,  of  rings,  bracelets,  and  armlets  of  iron, 
copper  or  brass,  silver  or  gold,  according  to  the  rank 
or  means  of  the  wearer,  and  that  peculiar  decoration 
the  torch  or  dorch.  Latinized  torques,  which  was 
probably  a  symbol  of  nobility  or  command.  When 
the  captive  Caractacus  was  led  through  the  sti-eets 
of  Rome,  several  of  these  chains, — the  spoils  which 
he  had  taken  from  his  conquered  enemies  in  Britain, 
— were  carried  in  the  procession. ^  It  was  a  sort  of 
necklace  or  collar  composed  of  flexible  bars  of  gold 
or  silver,  twisted  or  moulded  like  a  rope  or  wreath, 
and  hooked  together  behind.  Sometimes  the  tor- 
ques were  formed  of  bronze ;  and  Herodian  says 
that  those  of  the  northern  part  of  the  island  wore 
torques  of  iron,  "  of  which  they  were  as  vain  as  other 
barbarians  were  of  gold."-  Specimens  of  those  of 
gold,  silver,  and  bronze  have  been  frequently  found 
both  in  Britain  and  Ireland.  Two  splendid  specimens 
of  gold  torques  found  in  the  county  of  Meath  have 
been  supposed,  from  their  size,  to  be  meant  for 
girdles  instead  of  collars,  as  Herodian  mentions  they 
were  also  worn  round  the  waist.  From  the  hook  of 
one  proceeded  a  gold  wue,  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick 
and  eight  inches  long,  terminating  in  a  solid  knob,  an 
appendage  never  before  seen  in  any  specimen.  The 
weight  of  the  whole  torque  was  twentj'-five  ounces.' 
The  ring,  Phny  tells  us,  was  worn  by  the  Britons 
and  Gauls  upon  the  middle  finger. 

Of  the  weapons,  offensive  and  defensive,  of  the 
ancient  Britons  sevei'al  specimens  have  been  pre- 
served. The  most  complete  collection  is  undoubtedly 
that  at  Goodrich  Court.  Hatchets  or  battle-axes 
of  stone,  aiTow-heads  of  flint  and  lances  of  bone, 
supposed  to  have  been  the  primitive  weapons,  and 
others  of  the  same  form  but  of  mixed  copper  and 
tin ;  the  leaf-shaped  sword  of  the  same  metal,  worn 
also  by  the  Gauls,  and  the  metal  coatings  of  the  flat 
circular  shields  or  targets,  called  tarians  or  dashers, 

1  Tac.  Annal.  xii.  36.  2  L.  iii.  c.  xlvii. 

3  Meyrick's  Orig.  Inhab.  p.  14,  note.  Sir  W.  Betham,  however, 
we  suppose,  would  consider  this  and  other  such  specimens  to  have 
been  pieces  of  money.     See  ante,  pp.  104,  105i 


the  concentric  circles  on  which,  separated  by  rows 
of  little  knobs,  forcibly  remind  us  of  the  Highland 
target,  are  all  to  be  seen  there  in  perfect  preservation. 
The  shields  have  a  hollow  boss  in  the  centre,  to 
admit  the  hand,  as  they  were  held  at  arm's  length 
in  action. 1 

A  most  interesting  relic  of  this  period  was  lately 
discovered  in  a  earn  at  Mold,  in  Flintshire.  It  is  a 
golden  breastplate  or  gorget,  embossed  with  a  figured 
pattern  in  various  degi-ees  of  relief.  It  was  found 
containing  the  bones  of  the  deceased  warrior,  and  in 
the  position  in  which  it  would  have  been  worn,  with 
remnants  of  coarse  cloth  or  serge,  beads  of  amber, 
and  pieces  of  copper,  upon  which  the  gold  had  been 
probably  fastened.  Its  extreme  length  is  three  feet 
seven  inches,  being  made,  apparently,  to  pass  under 
the  arms  and  meet  in  the  centre  of  the  back ;  and 
its  width  in  front,  where  it  is  hollowed  out  to  receive 
the  neck,  eight  inches.  Some  separate  pieces  found 
with  it  appear  to  have  passed  over  the  shoulders  like 
straps,  but  the  mutilation  of  the  corslet  at  the  very 
point  on  each  side  at  which  they  must  have  been 
affixed  unfortunately  prevents  us  from  ascertaining 
precisely  the  mode  of  their  application.  The  breast- 
plate is  here  engraved  from  the  original,  which  is 
now  in  the  British  Museum.^ 

We  have  already  more  than  once  had  occasion  to 
advert  to  the  painted  skins  of  the  Britons.  Caesar, 
the  first  of  the  Roman  writers  who  mentions  this 
national  peculiarity,  describes  it  to  have  consisted 
merely  in  staining  themselves  of  a  cerulean  color 
with  the  herb  vitnim  or  woad.  Solinus,  however, 
represents  the  process  as  a  laborious  and  painful  one, 
but  permanent  in  its  eflfect,  and  speaks  of  the  painting 
as  consisting  chiefly  of  the  figures  of  animals  that 
grew  with  the  groAvth  of  the  body.  Herodian  says 
they  punctured  their  bodies  with  the  figures  of  all 
sorts  of  animals.  Isidore  is  still  more  explicit,  for, 
in  speaking  of  the  Picts  whose  name  he  derives 
from  their  colored  skins,  he  tells  us  that  the  painting 
was  done  by  squeezing  out  the  juice  of  certain  herbs 
upon  the  body,  and  puncturing  the  figures  with  a 
needle.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  same  process  of 
tattooing  which  is  performed  in  the  present  day  by 
the  natives  of  the  South  Sea  islands.  Caesar  sup- 
poses the  Britons  to  have  colored  their  skins  for  the 

1  See  also  Archaeologia,  vol.  xitiii.  p.  95. 

2  See  also  engraving  and  account  by  Mr.  Gage  in  vol.  iivi.  of  the 
ArchiEologia,  p.  22. 


Re.mains  of  .k  British  Breast  Plate,  found  at  Mold 


183 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


purpose  of  teriifyins  their  enemies ;  but  such  could  I  might  prove  a  brave  warrior  and  die  on  the  field  of 
scarcely  have  been  the  object  with  a  people  among  i  battle 
whom  the  practice  was  universal,  and  whose  wars        '^^ 


were  international.     Probably  this  skin-painting  was 
the  national  dress,  and  existed  in  its  highest  state 
of  perfection   at  a  period  considerably  prior  to  the 
Roman   invasion,  when  the  clothing  of  the  people 
was  more  scanty  than  in  the  days  of  Caesar.     They 
miiiht  attempt  by  the  operation,  also,  to  indurate  the 
skin  more  effectually  against  the  inclemency  of  the 
elements.     But  a  still  stronger  motive  for  the  endur- 
ance of  such  pain  and  labor  as  the  practice  occasioned, 
is  to  be  sought  in  that  love  of  ornament  so  natural  to 
mankind  at  large,  and  so  especially  powerful  in  the 
savatJe.     The  ancient  Briton,  in  the  absence  of  other 
distinctions   in  the  way  of  clothing  and   decoration, 
would  find,  in  these  fantastic  ornaments,  his  badge 
of  rank  in  society,   and  his  chief  attraction   in  the 
eyes  of  the  other  sex.     As  the  process  also  was  per- 
formed in  early  youth,  it  was  a  probation,  among  a 
rude   people,   for   a  life  of  hardihood;  and   by  the 
profusion  of  its  lines  and  figures,  the  wearer  evinced 
his  contempt  of  pain  and  power  of  endurance.     But 
when  the  body  began  to  be  covered,  such  a  profusion 
was  found  superfluous  ;  and  as  the  articles  of  raiment 
were  increased,  the  blue  figures  were  proportionably 
discontinued,  so  that  the  practice  gradually  declined, 
and  was  at  last  wholly  abandoned.     It  is  therefore 
that  we  heai-  no  more  of  this  tattooing  in  the  south 
after   it  was   subdued   and  civilized  into   a   Roman 
province;  though  it  still  continued  among  the  rude 
tribes  of  the  north,  where  it  lingered  until  it  was 
banished  thence  also  by  the  full  attire  of  civilization.' 
We  may  here   observe   that,  by  the   same  giadual 
process,  this  pi-actice  is  on  the  wane  in  New  Zealand, 
and  probably,  in  the  course  of  a  centuiy,  will  be  re- 
corded among  the  things  that  have  been. 

A  still  more   singular  distinction  than   that   of  a 
painted   or   punctured    skin    separated    the    ancient 
Britons  morally  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  as  much 
as  their  insular  position  did   geogiaphically.     This 
was  the  nature  of  theii-  institutions  or  customs  of 
marriage.     Those  rights  of  exclusive  property  in  a 
wife,  which  even  among  the  rudest  tribes  are  prized 
so  highly,  and  guarded  with  such  jealous  care,  are 
asserted  to  have  been  straiigety  disregarded  by  the 
early  inhabitants  of  this  island.     According  to  Caesar, 
ten  or  twelve  families  used  to  live  under  the  same 
roof,  the  husbands  having  their  wives   in  common. 
The  ties  of  previous  consanguinity,  also,  so  far  fiom 
being  a  check,  seem  rather  to  have  been  considered 
as  a  recommendation  in  these  strange  associations,  in 
which,  we  are  told,  for  the  most  part  brothers  joined 
with  brothers,  and  parents  with   their   sous.     The 
paternity  of  the  children  was  settled  by  their  affilia- 
tion upon  the  person  by  whom  their  mothers  had 
been  first  maiTied.     Of  the   manner  in  which  the 
children  were  reared,  all  the  information  we  have  is 
a  story  told  by   Solinus,  who  relates  that  the  first 
morsel  of  food  was  put  into  the  infant's  mouth  on  the 
point  of  his  father's  sword,  with  the  prayer  that  he 


1  We  shall  find  in  th; 
the  Saxous. 


sequel,  however,  that  it  reappeared  among 


These  matiumonial  clubs  have  ajjpeared  so  prepos- 
terous and  incredible  to  inquirers  of  the  present  day, 
that  many  have  been  dis|)Osed  to  class  them  among 
the  fictions  of  antiquity.     It  has  been  supposed  that 
the  Romans  drew  a  wrong  conclusion  from  the  Bri- 
tish mode  of  living,  which  was  so  unlike  their  own, 
and,  finding  so  many  families  huddled  together  under 
one  roof,  too  hastily  assumed  that  they  lived  in  all 
respects  in  common.     But  the  Romans  were  never 
so  mistaken  when  they  found  other  rude  tiibes  thus 
crowded  together :  while  they  brought  this  revolting 
charge  against  the  Britons,  they  have  imputed  noth- 
ing of  the  kind  to  the  Germans,  for  instance,  who 
were  placed   in    similar   circumstances.     The   fact, 
too,  does  not  depend  upon  the  solitary  testimony  of 
Caesar.     It   is   also   stated   by  Dio    Cassius,   or   his 
abridger  Xiphilinus ;  and  that  writer  rejmrts  a  con- 
versation respecting  it  between  the  Empress  Julia 
and  tlie  wife  of  a  British  chief,  in  which  the  latter, 
on  being  rallied  about  the  man-iages  of  her  country- 
women, at  once   admits  the  charge,  only  retorting 
that  the  Roman  matrons  acted  in  a  manner  much 
more    indefensible    by   indulging   themselves   in   an 
equal  licence  covertly,  and  in  violation  of  the  laws  of 
their  country.     St.  Jerome  also  speaks  of  the  prac- 
tice as  still  prevailing  in  his  day,   in  the   northern 
parts  of  Britain.     It  fingered   in  these   regions,  of 
course,  long  after  civilization  and   Christianity  had 
extirpated   it  in  the   south.     But   even   during   the 
general  prevalence   of  this   promiscuous  polygamy, 
the  virtue   of  conjugal   fidelity,   as   already   noticed, 
seems  still  to  have  been  perfectly  well  understood, 
and  also  held  in  much  respect.     Their   marriages, 
however  extraordinary  their  nature  appears  to  us, 
may  still  have  been  protected  by  a  law,  the  provisions 
of  which  it  was  both  dangerous  and  disreputable  to 
U'ansgi'ess.     Cartisraandua,  the   Queen   of  the  Bri- 
gantes,  when  she  ti'ansferred  her  affections  from  lier 
husband   to   her   armor-bearer,   may  very  probably 
have  violated  the   established   regulations,  however 
liberal ;  and  hence  the  universal  storm  of  indignation 
which  her  conduct  raised.     Or,  the  community  of 
husbands  and  lovers  may  have  been  customary  only 
among  the  lower  classes,  and  not  tolerated  by  the 
general  opinion  in  the  case  of  the  princes  and  chiefs. 
Female   honor  also  appears,   from  the   instance   of 
Boadicea,  and  from  various  scattered  notices  in  the 
,  Roman  WTiters,  to  have  been  highly  appreciated  by 
the  Britons.     The  general  respect  in  which  women 
were  held,   indeed,   is  attested  by  various  circum- 
stances.     They,  as  well  as  men,   appear  to  have 
assiuned  the  prophetic   office,  and  dictated  for  the 
emergencies    of  the   future.     Women   occasionally 
both  held  the  sovereignty  of  states,  and  commanded 
armies   in   the  field   of  battle.     This    is  the   reason 
that  some  of  the  female  sepulchres,  when  opened, 
display  an  assortment  like  the  commodities  of  Ulysses, 
when  he  went  to  discover  Achilles,  viz.,  implements 
of  housewifery,  ti'inkets,  and  warlike  weapons. 

Those  affections  that  have  cherished  a  friend  or 
relative  when  living,  ai-e  generally  expressed  for  his 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


123 


lifeless  remains  in  a  great  variety  of  forms;  and  as 
love  and  friendship  are  most  intense  among  the  un- 
civilized, the  rudest  ti-ibes  are  found  to  present  the 
most  striking  indications  of  these  passions,  in  their 
funeral  ceremonies  and  modes  of  burial.  The  in- 
tensity of  their  feelings  on  such  occasions  the  ancient 
Britons  have  sufficiently  announced  to  posterity,  in 
the  numerous  barrows  that  exist  in  the  southern 
division  of  the  island,  and  the  cairns  that  are  found 
in  the  northern.  What  paiticular  ceremonies  they 
used  in  their  interment  of  the  dead  we  know  not ;  but, 
from  the  contents  of  the  gi-aves,  we  find  that,  like 
otlier  rude  nations,  they  buried  with  the  body  what- 
ever they  accounted  most  valuable.  Weapons  of 
war  and  of  the  chace,  ornaments  of  every  kind,  and 
even  articles  of  jewehy  were  thus  deposited ;  and 
frequently  also  the  relics  of  dogs  and  deer  are  found 
mixed  with  human  bones.  All  this  had,  doubtless,  a 
prospective  view  to  the  existence  of  the  departed 
individual  in  a  future  state ;  he  was  thus  not  only 
arrayed  for  that  other  scene  in  a  manner  befitting 
his  rank  and  former  estimation,  but  furnished  with 
the  means  of  defence,  subsistence,  and  amusement. 
The  prodigious  labor  with  which  the  old  British  bar- 
rows were  evidently  constructed,  by  soil  in  many 
cases  brought  from  a  gi-eat  distance,  and  the  care  and 
ingenuity  displayed  in  their  forms,  excite  the  wonder 


of  modern  ages.  These  strange  sepulchres  exhibit 
gi-eat  variety  both  in  size  and  shape,  an4  by  this,  in 
some  cases,  we  can  conjecture  not  only  the  period  of 
their  consti'uction,  but  also  the  condition  of  those 
whom  they  were  designed  to  commemorate.  Thus 
the  immense  mounds  of  earth  of  an  oblong  form  and 
rude  consti-uction,  some  of  which  are  about  400 
feet  in  length,  but  containing  few  bones,  and  fewer 
valuable  rehcs,  were  probably  the  earliest  graves  of 
the  island,  and  designed  for  chieftains,  who  could 
more  easily  obtain  the  labor  of  a  thousand  vassals, 
than  the  possession  of  a  single  tiinket.  Next  to 
these  may  perhaps  be  classed  the  bowl-shaped  bar- 
rows, as  they  are  called,  which  are  plain  hemispheric 
mounds  of  earth.  The  bell-shaped  baiTow  is  evi- 
dently of  still  later  date,  being  an  improvement  upon 
the  former,  having  its  sides  gi'acefully  curved  inward, 
immediately  above  the  surface,  and  exhibiting  gi'eater 
skiU  and  labor  in  its  construction.  To  these  may 
be  added  Avhat  have  been  improperly  termed  the 
Druid  barrows :  these  are  the  most  elegant  of  the 
whole  series  of  gi-aves,  and  appear  to  have  been  in 
general  occupied  by  females,  from  containing  trinkets 
of  a  finer  and  more  feminine  character,  and  bones  of 
a  smaller  size  than  those  of  the  others.  It  would 
appear  also  that  these  vast  piles  were  reserved  only 
for  chiefs  and  personages  of  elevated  rank ;   while 


a.  Loll?  Barrow. 


Group  of  the  Principal  Forms  of  Barrows. 
i,  c.   Druid  Barrows.         d.  Bell-shaped13arruw.        e.  Conical  Barrow. 


/.  Twin  Barrows. 


124 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


Flint  Arrow  Heads. 


'  Celts. 


1. 
2. 
3. 

4. 

5.  Weapon. 

6.  PlM. 

7.  Arrow  Head. 

8.  Dirk  or  Knife. 


Of  Bronze. 


Of  Bronze. 


9.  Spear  Head. 

10.  Lance  Head. 

11.  Brass   Knife  in  sheath,  set  m 

stag's  horn  handle. 

12.  Flint  Spear  Head. 

13.  Ivorv  Tweezers. 

14.  Ivory  Bodkin. 

15.  Amber  Ornament. 


16.  Necklace  of  Shells. 

17.  Beads  of  Glass. 

18.  Ivory  Ornament. 

19.  Nippers. 

20.  Stone  for  Sliner. 

21.  Stone  to  sharpen  bone. 

22.  Ring  Amulet. 


23.  Breastplate  of  Blue  Slate. 

24.  lu'-ense  Cup. 

25.  Ditto. 

26.  Ditto. 

27.  Whetstone. 
28  to  32.  Urns. 

33  to  37.  Drinking  Cups. 


Contents  of  Ancient  British  Barrows. 


the  common  people,  as  in  other  counti-ies,  were 
buried  in  those  more  humble  receptacles  whose 
traces  are  soon  erased. 

In  the  interment  of  the  dead,  the  Britons  appear 
to  have  observed  a  variety  of  modes  in  the  disposition 
of  the  body.  In  all  probability  the  earliest  was,  to 
place  it  in  a  cist,  with  the  legs  bent  up  towards  the 
head.  This  practice  is  generally  found  to  have  been 
adopted  in  the  long  barrows  mentioned  above  ;  and  in 
these,  along  with  the  remains  of  the  body,  there  are 
sometimes  found  daggers  of  bronze,  and  drinking-cups 
of  the  rudest  workmanship.  Sometimes  they  laid 
the  body  in  the  grave  at  full  length.  In  these  cases, 
the  articles  of  bronze  and  iron,  such  as  spear-heads, 
lances,  swords,  bosses  of  shields,  and  ornaments  of 
chain-work,  together  with  beads  of  glass  and  amber, 
and  other  trinkets,  proclaim  a  more  refined  period, 
and  gi'eater  skill  in  the  arts.  In  some  instances,  their 
practice  seems  to  have  assimilated  more  nearly  to 
that  now  followed,  the  bodies  being  inclosed  in  a  sti'ong 
wooden  coffin,  riveted  with  bronze,  or  an  unbarked 
piece  of  a  tree,  hollowed  out  in  the  centre.  It  ap- 
pears, however,  that  they  were  also  in  the  frequent 
practice  of  consuming  tlie  body  by  fire.  In  many  of 
the   baiTows,   tlie    charred   or  half-burnt  bones  are 


found  carefully  collected  on  the  floor,  or  deposited 
within  a  cist  cut  in  the  chalk.  A  still  more  classical 
mode  of  burial  was  also  frequently  followed  among 
the  Britons.  When  the  body  had  been  consumed  on 
the  pile,  the  ashes  were  carefully  collected,  inclosed 
in  a  linen  sheet,  which  was  secured  by  a  brass  pin, 
and  deposited  in  an  urn.  Many  of  the  barrows,  on 
being  opened,  are  found  to  contain  these  urns,  which 
are  placed,  in  most  instances,  with  the  bottom  upper- 
most. This  practice  of  sepulture  by  burning,  appears 
to  have  been  whoUj'  confined  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
southern  part  of  Britain,  making  it  probable  that  they 
had  learnt  it  from  the  Romans.  As  for  the  Caledo- 
nians, it  would  seem  that  they  were  contented  with 
laying  the  body  in  the  earth  entire,  and  raising  over 
the  spot  a  loose  heap  of  stones,  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  the  departed.' 

Such  are  nearlj-  all  the  facts  that  are  now  to  be 
collected  under  the  head  of  the  private  life  and  social 
habits  of  the  Britons,  while  they  remained  an  uncon- 
quered  people.  The  ti'ansformation  of  the  island,  or 
the  gi'eater  part  of  it,  into  a  Roman  province,  also  in 
course  of  time  transformed  the  inhabitants  into  Ro- 

'  See    Hoare's    Ancient    Wiltshire  ;    Douglas'    Nenia    Britannica. 
Cough's  Sepulchral  Remains  of  Britsin,  &c. 


Chap.  V^.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


125 


Group  of  Vessels. — From  Specimens  found  in  Roman  Burial  Places  in  Britain. 


mans,  in  their  tastes,  manners,  and  modes  of  life. 
The  countiy  now,  in  eveiy  respect,  assumed  a  new 
aspect.  The  forests  were  opened,  and  roads  con- 
sti'ucted  in  every  direction  ;  and  the  wild  beasts  being 
dislodged,  the  occupation  of  the  hunter  ceased,  or  be- 
came an  occasional  amusement.  The  building  of 
towns,  and  the  extension  of  ti-affic,  banished  those 
rude  practices  or  inconvenient  customs,  that  were 
only  tolerable  amidst  the  dreariness  of  the  woods  and 
the  idleness  of  their  inhabitants.  Superior  modes  of 
agi-iculture  were  introduced ;  and  the  natives,  thus 
taught  the  fertility  of  their  soil,  forsook  a  precarious 
mode  of  subsistence  for  the  settled  life  of  the  hus- 
bandman. Houses  of  brick  or  stone  gradually  super- 
seded those  of  mud  or  timber,  and  while,  in  the  pro- 
gress of  improvement,  the  tesselated  pavement  and 
domestic  ornaments  of  the  "  eternal  city"  adorned  the 
habitations  of  the  British  kings  and  chieftains,  their 
retainers  would  also,  in  their  humbler  sphere,  vie  with 
each  otlier  in  the  comforts  of  then-  dwellings.  In  this 
manner,  too,  the  sports  and  recreations  of  the  people 
would  be  either  changed  or  modified.  The  chariot 
being  laid  aside,  as  unserviceable  in  the  Roman  mode 
of  fighting,  that  enthusiasm  for  horsemanship  which 
it  cultivated  must  necessarily  have  decayed.  Now 
that  the  several  native  ti'ibes  were  no  longer  permit- 
ted to  war  against  each  other,  the  warlike  exercises 
ra  which  their  youth  and  manhood  were  formerly 
trained  became  unnecessary,  and  perhaps  were  pro- 
hibited by  the  law.  Their  religious  practices,  and  .su- 
perstitions of  common  Ufe,  must,  in  like  manner,  have 
rapidly  faded  away  with  the  disappearance  of  the 
Druids,  by  whose  authority  they  were  enforced,  and 
the  advances  of  Christianity  and  a  higher  civilization. 
Among  other  things,  the  external  appearance  of 


the  Romanized  Britons  was  altogether  different  fi-om 
that  of  their  conquered  ancestors.  We  are  informed 
by  Tacitus,  that  so  early  as  during  the  command  of 
Agricola  in  Britain,  the  sons  of  the  British  chieftains 
began  to  affect  the  Roman  dress.  The  braccse 
were  abandoned  by  them,  and  the  Roman  tunic, 
reaching  to  the  knee,  with  the  cloak  or  mantle,  still 
called  the  sagum,  became  the  general  habit,  at  least 
of  the  superior  classes.  The  change  in  the  female 
garb  was  less  remarkable,  perhaps,  as  it  had  originally 
been  similar  to  that  of  the  Romans.  The  hair  of 
both  sexes  was  cut  and  dressed  after  the  Roman 
fashion. 

In  their  arms  and  weapons  similar  alterations 
appear  to  have  taken  place,  even  before  the  complete 
subjugation  of  the  country.  The  metal  coating  of  a 
shield,  supposed  to  have  been  fabricated  by  the  Bri- 
tons after  they  had  been  induced  to  imitate  the 
Roman  fashions,  was  found  some  years  since  in  the 
bed  of  the  river  Witham,  in  Lincolnshire,  with 
several  broken  swords  and  spear-heads  of  bronze, 
and  is  now  in  the  Meyrick  collection.  It  bears  a 
strong  resemblance  to  the  Roman  scutum.  It  ap- 
pears originally  to  hare  been  gilt,  and  is  adorned  on 
the  umbo,  or  boss,  with  the  common  red  carneUan 
of  the  countiy.  While  its  shape  is  Roman,  the 
ornamental  detail  partakes  sti'ongly  of  the  character 
of  the  British  patterns  ;  and  the  learned  proprietor 
remarks,  that  "it  is  impossible  to  contemplate  the 
artistic  portions  without  feeling  convinced  that  there 
is  a  mixture  of  British  ornaments  with  such  resem- 
blances to  the  elegant  designs  on  Roman  works  as 
would  be  produced  by  a  people  in  a  state  of  less 
civilization."'  ^**v 

'  Arcliaeologia,  vol.  sxiii. 


126 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


3«^ 


1.  Bronze  Spear  Head. 

2.  Ditto  Dasher. 

3.  Iron  Knife. 

4.  Bronze  Lance  Head. 

5.  Iron  ditto. 

6.  Celt. 

7.  Bronze  Lance  Head. 

8.  Bronze  Celt. 

9.  Ivorv  Arrow  Head. 
10.  Iron'  Boss  of  a  Shield. 


11.  Bronze  Buckle. 

12.  Iron  Crook. 

13.  Iron  Ring. 

14.  Plated  Iron  Stud. 

15.  Bronze  Pin. 

}^'  I  Ditto  with  Ivory  Handles 

18.  Bronze  Ornament. 

19.  Ditto. 

20.  Amulet. 


•  Gold  Ornaments. 


21.  Gold  Box. 
22. 

23.  . 

24.  Amber  and    Bead   Neck- 

lace. 

25.  Gold  Breastplate 

26.  Patera. 

27.  Ivory  Bracelet. 

28.  Drinking  Cup 

29.  Incense  Cup. 


30.  i 

31.  >  Drinking  Cups. 

32.  S 

„^'  I  Double  Drinking  Cups 

.35:1 

36.  VI 

37.  S 


•  Urns. 


B.  Druidical  Hook  for  gathering 
the  Sacred  Mistletoe. 


12,  13,  18,  19,  22,  23,  24,  25,  38,  are  conjectured  to  have  belonged  to  the  Priesthood. 
Contents  of  Roman-British  Barrows. 


AVhile  these  changes  were  gradunlly  taking  place, 
however,  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  island,  the 
north,  beyond  the  wall  of  Hadrian,  remained  in  its 
oriffinal  wild  and  uncultivated  state.  When  the 
Emperor  Seveiiis  invaded   Caledonia  in  the  begin- 


ning of  the  third  century,  a  contemporary  author^ 
describes  the  Maeata?  and  Caledonians  in  almost  the 
same  words  as  Caesar  had  the  Britons  of  the  interior 
more  than  two  centuries  before. 

1  Xiphilou  ex  Dione  Nic.  in  Sever 


Circular  British  Shikld,  rorND  in  the  Witha>i 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


127 


CHAPTER  VII. 
HISTORY  OF  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


natiuDttl  cinL^atiOij,   bj 


HE  account  of  each 
period  will  be  con- 
cluded by  a  chap- 
terunder  this  tifle, 
the  objectof  which 
Avill  be,  to  take  a 
general  view  of 
the  whole  social 
condition  of  the 
people,  and  to  en- 
deavor to  estimate 
the  amount  and 
character  of  the 
cullectiiig  into  a  focus  the 
light  that  may  be  thrown  upon  these  subjects,  both 
by  the  vai-ious  particulars  akeady  noticed,  and  by 
certain  additional  classes  of  facts  not  admitting  of 
being  conveniently  intioduced  under  any  of  the  pre- 
ceding heads.  The  additional  facts  will  consist  prin- 
cipally of  such  authentic  information  as  can  be  ob- 
tained relating  to  the  distribution  of  property,  the 
proportions  in  which  the  population  appears  to  have 
been  divided  into  the  different  classes  composing  it, 
the  incomes  and  rates  of  living  of  these  several 
classes,  the  health  and  sickness  of  the  community, 
the  prevalent  diseases,  the  ordinary  length  of  life, 
with  the  other  matters  belonging  to  the  department 
of  what  has  been  called  Vital  Statistics,  and  the  sta- 
tistics of  vice  and  crime,  including  toth  the  kinds 
and  extent  of  crime  committed,  and  the  institutions 
for  preserving  order,  and  repressing  and  punishing 
violations  of  the  law. 

The  sources  of  information  of  this  description, 
however,  are  lamentably  deficient  even  in  regard  to 
the  most  recent  times ;  and  in  the  earlier  periods 
of  our  history  no  regular  record  of  such  facts  is  to  be 
found,  even  in  the  most  meagi'e  form.  In  the  re- 
mote and  obscure  period  with  which  we  are  at 
present  engaged,  where  we  are  nearly  without  any- 
thing that  can  properly  be  called  history  of  any  kind, 
we  have  only  a  few  incidental  notices  to  guide  us  to 
some  vague  general  conclusions  on  one  or  two  points 
of  the  inquiry. 

On  the  question  of  the  degi'ee  of  civilization  pos- 
sessed by  the  Britons  at  the  time  of  the  Roman  inva- 
sion, although  it  would  be  easy  enough  to  draw  up  a 
plausible  argument  in  support  of  any  hypothesis  that 
might  be  proposed,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  come 
to  any  certain  or  perfectly  satisfactory  determination. 
The  facts  upon  which  we  have  to  form  our  judgment 
are  too  few  and  too  unconnected  to  afford  us  more 
than  the  merest  glimpses  of  the  subject.  And  from 
the  insulated  and  fragmentaiy  way  in  which  they 
are  stated,  it  is  a  business  of  the  most  conjectm-al 


specidation  to  attempt  to  reconcile  them  with  one 
another,  and  to  weave  them  into  a  consistent  whole. 
On  the  one  hand,  we  have  a  country  covered  in 
great  part  with  woods  and  marshes,  without  towns, 
except  such  forest  fastnesses  as  have  been  found 
even  among  the  rudest  savages  (although  those  of 
the  Britons  may  have  been  more  artificially  de- 
fended from  hostile  assaults),  and  in  all  probability 
without  any  roads,  except  some  two  or  three  great 
tracks,  sufficing  rather  to  point  the  way  from  one 
locality  to  another,  than  to  serve  as  the  means  of 
convenient  communication.  We  have  a  people,  in 
fight  at  least,  showing  themselves  naked  or  half 
naked — without  books  or  letters, — without  any  arts, 
as  far  as  our  evidence  goes,  save  the  simplest  and 
rudest, — without  even  other  habitations,  apparently, 
than  mud-hovels,  not  reared  for  permanent  occupa- 
tion, but  hastily  put  together  to  be  crept  into  for  a 
few  months  or  weeks,  and  then  possibly  to  be  aban- 
doned or  set  fire  to  on  the  approach  of  an  enemy  or 
on  any  other  occasion  that  might  make  it  convenient 
for  their  occupants  to  shift  their  quarters.  Thus, 
in  the  impressive  sketch  of  Tacitus,  the  day  following 
the  fatal  battle  of  the  Grampians  is  described  as 
having  displayed  to  the  view  of  the  victors  a  vast 
silence  all  around,  the  hills  a  wide  expanse  of  loneli- 
ness, houses  smoking  in  the  distance,  not  a  human 
being  to  be  met  with  anywhere  by  the  parties  sent 
out  to  scour  in  all  directions.  This,  indeed,  was  in 
the  wilder  regions  of  the  north ;  but  we  can  hardly 
doubt  that  in  the  wars  between  the  different  tribes 
which  we  are  told  raged  incessantly  even  in  the 
southern  parts  of  the  island,  the  people  must  havie 
been  accustomed  in  like  manner  to  fly  for  safety  to 
the  woods,  when  a  hostile  band,  too  strong  to  be 
resisted,  sAvept  the  country,  and  without  hesitation 
to  leave  their  slight  and  miserable  dwellings  to  be 
ransacked  and  trodden  under  foot.  AVe  learn  even 
from  tlie  brief  narrative  of  Cwsar's  campaign,  that 
the  natives  made  for  the  woods,  and  hid  themselves 
there  after  every  defeat,  and  that  it  was  from  the 
woods  they  came  forth  whenever  they  ventured 
again  to  attack  the  invaders.  In  short,  they  evi- 
dently were  in  the  gi-eater  part  a  people  living  in  the 
woods,  which  probably  covered  most  of  the  country, 
and  in  which,  as  has  been  just  noticed,  we  are  ex- 
pressly told  that  the  only  groups  of  cottages  they 
had  that  could  be  called  towns  or  villages  Avere  all 
hidden.  These  are  the  habits  of  mere  savages,  in 
as  far  as  the  climate  of  a  high  latitude  wll  allow. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  find  coexistent  with  all  this 
rudeness,  many  indications  of  a  much  more  advanced 
social  state.  These  Britons  appear  to  have  long 
maintained  a  commercial  intercourse,  not  only  with 


128 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I. 


the  adjacent  coast  of  Gaul,  but  with  other  and  much  ' 
more  distant  parts  of  the  world,  from  which  traders 
regularly  resorted  to  more  than  one  point  of  the 
island.  The  inhabitants  of  the  south  coast,  we  are 
expressly  told,  were  not  clothed  in  skins  ;  from  which 
we  may  infer  that  they  had  garments  made  of  woolen 
cloth,  or  some  other  woven  or  manufactured  material. 
Indeed,  the  common  statement  of  Caesar  and  other 
writers,  that  they  did  not  differ  much  in  their  way 
of  life  from  the  Gauls,  never  could  have  been  made 
of  a  people  who  went  naked.  The  Britons  of  the 
south  were  not  even  dependent  for  their  subsistence 
solely  either  upon  the  chace  or  upon  pasturage  ; 
they  sowed  corn,  as  well  as  possessed  gi-eat  plenty  of 
cattle.  They  were  a  large  population,  and  their 
houses  also  were  very  numerous.  They  had  a  sort 
of  money,  perhaps  not  ruder  than  that  which  appears 
to  have  been  in  use  in  Egjpt  in  the  time  of  the 
Pharaohs.  They  showed  not  only  much  bravery, 
but  also  vei-y  considerable  skill  in  war — venturing  to 
encounter  even  the  Roman  legions  both  in  sudden 
surprises  and  in  pitched  battles,  and  evincing  military 
organization  and  array  in  the  latter,  as  well  as  strat- 
agem in  the  former.  Although  their  offensive  arms 
were  not  of  the  best  material,  they  were  still  of 
metal,  and  not  merely  of  wood,  or  bone,  or  stone. 
Their  war-chariots,  both  in  their  management  and 
their  construction,  were  machines  which  never  could 
have  been  found  among  a  people  altogether  without 
civilization.  Yet  we  find  them  in  the  possession  of 
Galgacus  and  his  Caledonians,  as  well  as  of  the  Bri- 
tons of  the  south.  Without  taking  into  account  the 
scj'thes  with  which  they  are  said  to  have  been  armed, 
the  fact  that  they  were  carriages  running  rapidty 
upon  wheels,  and  capable  of  being  driven  impetuously 
to  and  fro  according  to  the  sudden  exigencies  of 
battle,  is  enough  to  prove  the  existence  of  considera- 
ble mechanical  knowledge  and  ingenviitj'  among  a 
people  provided  with  such  engines  of  war.  Then 
\,  there  seems  to  have  been  established  in  each  ti-ibe  a 
".  regular  government,  presided  over  by  a  single  chief 
or  king,  whose  power,  however,  was  not  absolute, 
but  was  controlled  by  an  aristocracy,  and  perhaps 
also,  in  some  degree,  by  the  community  at  large. 
Dio  Cassius,  in  an  account  of  the  northern  ti'ibes, 
tells  us  that  the  people  had  a  gi-eat  share  in  the 
government — a  circumstance,  by  the  by,  which  some- 
what tends  to  corroborate  the  supi)osition  of  the 
Germanic  origin  of  these  tribes.  Fvuther,  the  Bri- 
tish states,  though  often  at  enmity  among  them- 
selves, had  made  a  sufficient  advance  in  policy,  to  be 
accustomed  to  provide  against  a  common  danger, 
by  both  leaguing  themselves  together,  and  placing 
the  general  direction  of  affairs  for  the  time  in  the 
hands  of  a  single  chief,  selected  for  his  supposed 
fitness  to  hold  the  supreme  command.  It  was  thus 
that  they  combined  under  Cassivellaunus,  to  repel 
the  first  invasion  of  the  Romans,  and  long  afterwards 
under  Boadicea  to  destroy  their  conquerors,  after  the 
latter  had  gained  possession  of  the  country,  and 
although  they  were  defeated  in  both  these  attempts, 
and  the  animosities  and  conflicting  interests  or  views 
of  the  different  ti'ibes  seem  also  in  both  instances  to 


have  interfered  to  hinder  the  league  from  being 
either  so  extensive  or  so  compact  as  it  otherwise 
might  liave  been,  yet  such  general  movements, 
however  unsuccessfully  conducted,  could  only  have 
sprung  from  a  spirit  of  patriotism  or  nationalitj'  much 
too  comprehensive  as  well  as  too  considerate  for 
mere  barbarians.  Above  all,  there  existed  among 
these  Britons  a  numerous  order  of  persons,  con- 
stituting what  we  should  now  call  one  of  the  estates 
of  the  realm,  who  were  possessed  of  a  knowledge  of 
letters,  and  also,  we  have  eveiy  reason  to  believe,  of 
a  very  considerable  amount  of  scientific  knowledge. 
They  had  a  system  of  laws  regularly  taught  and 
administered  by  these  learned  sages,  and  a  religion 
of  mysterious  doctrines  and  an  imposing  ritual  of 
which  they  were  the  ministers.  These  Druids  of 
Britain  and  Gaul,  as  we  may  gather  fi"om  the  in- 
stance of  Divitiacus,  mentioned  by  Cicero,  were 
qualified  by  their  intellectual  acquirements  to  asso- 
ciate with  the  most  eminent  among  the  literaiy  men 
of  Rome ;  and  in  some  departments  of  natural 
knowledge  they  were  probabl}'-  more  accomplished 
than  any  Roman  or  Grecian  philosoi)her.  Even  if 
we  suppose  the  Druidical  learning  to  have  been 
originally  an  importation  from  abroad,  and  never  to 
have  spread  beyond  the  members  of  the  Druidical 
body,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  the  mass  of  the 
population,  in  the  midst  of  which  such  a  permanent 
light  was  fed  and  sustained,  could  have  been  wholly 
without  a  civilization  of  their  own,  although  it  may 
have  differed  in  many  of  its  features  from  the  civili- 
zation of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  from  that 
which  the  modern  nations  of  Europe  have  in  gi-eat 
part  inherited  fi'om  them. 

The  civilization  of  the  Southern  Britons  was  the 
same  in  kind,  though  perhaps  inferior  in  degree, 
with  that  of  their  neighbors  and  kindred,  the  Gauls. 
It  was  a  social  state,  implying  the  possession  of  many 
of  the  more  homely  accommodations  of  life,  but  of 
very  few  of  its  luxuries,  or  at  least  of  what  we 
should  designate  by  that  name.  Of  luxuries,  indeed, 
in  the  strictest  sense,  that  is  to  say,  of  something 
more  than  the  indispensable  necessaries  of  existence, 
no  human  condition  is  wholly  destitute  ;  the  savage 
as  well  as  the  civilized  man  has  his  enjoyments  be- 
yond what  nature  absolutely  requires ;  but  the  luxu- 
ries of  the  latter  only  are  artificial  refinements.  Of 
that  description  of  luxm'ies  there  was  no  general 
diffusion  under  the  civilization  of  the  ancient  Britons; 
their  chief  extra  gi-atifications  were  still  no  doubt 
those  of  the  savage  state — war,  and  the  chace,  and 
the  pleasures  of  roving  adventure,  and  festive  mer- 
riment, and  such  other  indulgences  of  little  more 
than  mere  animal  passion,  which  enlist  no  arts  in 
their  service,  and  demand  no  other  materials  but 
such  as  are  spontaneously  furnished  by  nature. 
But  even  the  highest  civilization,  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered, does  not  throw  these  things  entirely  aside ; 
and  their  existence,  therefore,  as  an  accompaniment 
of  the  social  condition  of  the  Britons,  affords  in  itself 
no  criterion  of  the  general  character  of  that  social 
condition.  It  evidently,  however,  as  has  been  ob- 
served, stood  elevated  in  many  other  respects  far 


I 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


129 


above  the  possession  of  the  mere  necessaries  of 
existence  ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  not  a  savage  state. 
It  was  a  state,  although  of  low  civilization,  yet  in 
which  the  principle  of  progi-ession  was  at  work,  and 
out  of  which  a  higher  civilization  would  probably,  in 
course  of  time,  have  evolved  itself.  That  peculiarity 
is  the  gi-eat  characteristic  distinction  between  civili- 
zation and  barbarism. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  came  suddenly  and 
by  force  the  substitution  of  the  different  and  no 
doubt  much  more  advanced  civilization  of  Rome. 
Order  and  magnificence,  arts  and  literature,  now 
took  the  place  of  the  imperfect  government,  the 
constant  internal  wars,  the  uninstructed  intellects, 
the  mud  hovels,  the  towns  in  the  woods,  and  the 
generally  rude  accommodations  of  the  Britons.  The 
country  assumed  a  new  face,  and  looked  as  if  the 
light  of  a  new  and  brighter  day  had  been  let  in  upon 
it.  Cultivation  was  improved  and  extended  ;  forests 
were  swept  away,  with  the  beasts  of  prey  by  which 
they  were  tenanted ;  roads  were  formed ;  towns 
arose,  exhibiting,  for  the  first  time,  piles  of  regular, 
stately,  and  decorated  architecture,  and  multitudes 
of  people  moving  along  in  "  the  sweet  security  of 
streets."  There  cannot  be  a  question  that,  after  the 
period  of  transition  and  conflict  was  over,  this  change 
was  on  the  whole  a  happy  one  for  Britain.  The 
very  silence  of  history,  in  regard  to  the  province 
during  a  long  period  of  the  Roman  domination, 
attests  the  tranquillity  which  it  enjoyed.  That  dom- 
ination lasted  altogether  for  nearly  four  hundred 
years ;  and  with  the  exception  of  the  incursions  of 
the  northern  barbarians  in  the  reigns  of  Hadrian  and 
Severus,  which  the  energetic  proceedings  of  these 
emperors  speedily  put  an  end  to,  little  or  nothing 
seems  to  have  occurred  to  disturb  the  southern 
parts  of  the  island  throughout  almost  the  whole  of 
the  second  and  thud  centuries.     At  this  time  it  was 

VOL.  I — 9 


probably  as  flourishing  and  as  happy  a  province  as 
any  other  in  the  empire.  It  was  now  occupied  by 
a  population  no  longer  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  lagging  in  the  rear  of  civilization,  but  in 
possession  of  all  the  literature  and  science,  and  of  all 
the  useful  and  elegant  arts,  that  were  cultivated  in 
the  most  refined  parts  of  the  earth,  and  qualified, 
therefore,  to  turn  the  natural  advantages  of  the 
country  to  the  best  account.  The  panegyric  of  the 
orator  Eumenius  on  Constantine  the  Great  may  be 
received  as  testifying  to  the  general  behef  of  the 
prosperous  and  happy  condition  of  Britain,  even  at  a 
later  date.  "  Oh,  fortunate  Britannia !"  he  ex- 
claims, "  thee  hath  nature  desei-vedly  enriched  with 
the  choicest  blessings  of  heaven  and  earth.  Thou 
neither  feelest  the  excessive  colds  of  winter  nor  the 
scorching  heats  of  summer.  Thy  harvests  reward 
thy  labors  with  so  vast  an  increase,  as  to  supply  thy 
tables  with  bread  and  thy  cellars  with  liquor.  Thy 
woods  have  no  savage  beasts ;  no  serpents  harbor 
there  to  hurt  the  traveler.  Innumerable  are  thy 
herds  of  cattle,  and  the  flocks  of  sheep,  which  feed 
thee  plentifully  and  clothe  thee  richly.  And  as  to 
the  comforts  of  life,  the  days  are  long,  and  no  night 
passes  without  some  glimpses  of  light."  Another 
panegyi-ist  of  the  same  age,  in  like  manner  expatiates 
upon  the  excellencies  of  Britain  as  "  a  land  so  stored 
with  corn,  so  flourishing  in  pasture,  so  rich  in  variety 
of  mines,  so  profitable  in  its  tributes  ;  on  all  its  coasts 
so  furnished  with  convenient  harbors,  and  so  immense 
in  its  extent  and  cu'cuit."  "  It  is  the  masterpiece 
of  Nature,"  affectionately  adds  our  own  Camden,  after 
quoting  these  ancient  testimonies,  "  pei-formed  when 
she  was  in  her  best  and  gayest  humor,  which  she 
placed  as  a  little  world  by  itself,  by  the  side  of  the 
gi'eater,  for  the  admiration  of  mankind ;  the  most 
accurate  model,  which  she  proposed  to  herself,  by 
which  to  beautify  the  other  parts  of  the  universe." 


BOOK  11. 


THE  PERIOD  FROM  THE  ARRIVAL  OF  THE  SAXONS  TO 
THE  ARRIVAL  OF  THE  NORMANS.  A.D.  449-1066. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HISTORY  OF  CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


OME 
etymo- 
-'^^li'  logists 
have 
deriv- 
ed the 
vk'ord 
Saxon 
from 
the 
term 
Seax,  a 
short 
sword  with  which  the  warlike 
natives  of  the  shores  of  the  Bal- 
tic, the  Elbe,  the  Weser,  and 
the   Rhine,   are    supposed,    but 
on  somewhat  doubtful  authority, 
to  have  been  generally  armed. 
It  is  much  more  probable,  how- 
ever, that  the   Saxons  are  the 
Sakai-Suna,   or  descendants   of 
the  Sakai,  or  Sacse,  a  tribe  of 
Scythians,  who  are  mentioned 
by   ancient  WTiters    as   making 
their  way  towards  Europe  from 
the  East  so  early  as  in  the  age 
of  Cyrus.     Pliny  tells  us  of  a 
branch  of  the  Sacfe,  who  called 
themselves  Sacassani ;  and  Ptol- 
emy designates  another  branch 
by   the   name    Saxones,    which 
seems    to    be    merely    another 
form  of  the  same  word.     But 
whatever  was  the  etymology  of 
the   name,  it  was  certainly,  at 


the  time  of  the  British  invasion, 
applied,  in  a  very  general  sense, 
to  ti'ibes  or  nations  who  were 
separate,  and  differing  in  some 
essentials,  though  they  had  most 
probably  all  sprung  from  the 
same  stock  at  no  very  distant 
period,  and  still  preserved  the 
same  physical  features,  the 
same  manners  and  customs,  and 
nearly,  though  not  quite,  the 
same  unaltered  language,  which, 
at  the  distance  of  fourteen  cen- 
turies, is  the  basis  and  staple  of 
the  idiom  we  speak.  They  were 
all  of  the  pure  Teutonic  or  Go- 
thic rfice,  and  all  their  kings 
claimed  their  descent  from  Wo- 
din,  or  Odin,  an  ancient  sove- 
reign, magnified  by  veneration 
and  superstition  into  a  god,  the 
traces  of  whose  capital  (real  or 
traditional)  are  still  shown  to 
the  ti'aveler  at  Sigtuna,  on  the 
borders  of  the  gi-eat  Malar  Lake, 
between  the  old  city  of  Upsala 
and  Stockholm,  the  present  cap- 
ital of  Sweden.  Other  tribes 
that  issued  both  before,  and  after 
the  fifth  century  from  that  fi'uit- 
ful  store-house  of  nations,  Scan- 
dinavia, were  of  the  same  Teu- 
tonic origin;  and  the  Franks, 
the  Danes,  the  Norwegians,  the 
Norse,  or  Northmen,  and  the 
most   distinguished   of  the   last 


BiiRDER  TO  TiiK  Title-Page  OF  Charlemaone's  Bible,  Writtes  BY  Alcvix.— Reduced  from  the  Original  in  the  British  Museum. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


131 


mentioned,  tiiose  known  throughout  Europe  under 
the  name  of  Normans,  were  all  of  the  same  race, 
and  commenced  their  career  from  the  same  regions, 
though  differing  subsequently,  owing  to  the  time  and 
circumstances  of  their  disseverance  from  the  great 
northern  stock,  the  direction  in  which  their  migra- 
tions and  conquests  had  lain,  and  the  character,  physi- 
cal and  moral,  the  habits,  and  the  language  of  the 
people  they  had  conquered,  or  among  whom  they 
had  settled  and  been  mixed.  It  would  neither  be  a 
profitable  nor  a  very  easy  task  to  trace  all  these 
kindred  streams  to  their  pi'imitive  fountain-head,  by 
the  shores  of  the  Caspian  in  Asia,  and  thence  follow 
them  back  again  to  the  coasts,  promontories,  and 
islands  of  the  Baltic  and  the  Rhine  ;  but  it  is  necessary 
to  give  a  local  habitation  to  the  particular  tribes  that 
now  began  to  work  a  total  change  in  Britain.  Al- 
though classed  under  one  general  head  as  Saxons, 
these  tribes  were  three  in  number:  1.  The  Jutes. 
2.  The  Angles.  3.  The  Saxons.  The  Jutes  and 
the  Angles  dwelt  in  the  Cimbric  Chersonesus,  or 
peninsula  of  Jutland  (now  a  province  of  Denmark), 
and  in  parts  of  Schlesswig  and  Holstein,  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Angles  extending  as  far  as  the  modern 


town  of  Flensburg.  In  Holstein  there  is  a  district 
still  called  Anglen  (the  real  old  England)  ;  and  the 
narrowness  of  its  limits  need  not  interfere  with  oui' 
belief  that  this  was  the  seat  of  the  tribe  (the  Angles) 
that  gave  its  name  to  our  island.  The  Saxons  Proper, 
to  the  south  of  the  Jutes  and  Angles,  were  far  more 
widely  spread,  extending  from  the  Weser  to  the 
Delta  of  the  Rhine,  and  occupying  the  countiues  now 
called  Westphalia,  Friesland,  Holland,  and  probably 
a  part  of  Belgium.  Their  precise  hmits  are  not  fixed, 
but,  it  seems,  their  gi-adual  encroachments  on  the 
continent  had  brought  them  fiom  the  Baltic  to  the 
neighborhood  of  the  British  Channel,  when  they 
embraced,  as  it  were,  our  southeastern  coast.  P^rom 
the  very  close  resemblance  the  old  Frisick  dialect 
bears  to  the  Anglo-Saxon,  a  recent  writer  conject- 
ures that  the  conquerors  of  Britain  must  have  come 
principally  from  Friesland.^  But  many  known  fluxes 
and  refluxes  of  population  took  place  between  .the 
fifth  and  the  twelfth  centuries :  the  Jutes  and  the 
Angles,  whose  language  may  have  been  as  like  that  of 
our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors  as  the  old  Frisick  dialect, 
were  partially  dispossessed  of  their  territory  in  the 
1  Palgrave,  Hist.  Eng 


;  '/' 


Arms  and  Costume  of  the  Tribes  on  the  Western  Shores  of  the  Baltic. 
Hesigneil  from  a  Plate  In  Sir  S.  Meyrick's  "  Ancient  Costume  of  the  British  Islands;"  and  tiken  by  liim  from  some  Danish  horns  of  gdld. 


132 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


l)eninsula  of  Jutland,  and  mixed  up  with  newer  tribes 
from  Scandinavia,  who  eventually  formed  the  Danish 
kingdom,  and  must  have  influenced  the  dialect  there, 
as  afterwards  in  Schlesswig  and  Holstein.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  occupants  of  the  remarkable  district 
of  Friesland,  where  language,  manners,  usages — 
where  all  things  seem,  even  in  our  days,  to  retain  an 
ancient  and  primitive  stamp,  may,  from  local  situation 
or  other  causes,  have  escaped  the  intermixture  that 
befel  the  other  Saxons.  It  is  generally  admitted 
that  Horsa,  Hengist,  and  their  followers,  were  Jutes, 
and  that  the  tribe  or  nation  they  first  called  in  to 
partake  in  the  pay  and  spoils  of  the  Britons,  were 
their  neighbors  the  Angles,  from  Holstein,  and  not 
the  Saxons,  from  Friesland,  though  the  latter  soon 
joined  the  enterprise,  and  probably  derived  some  ad- 
vantage from  being  nearer  than  the  others  to  the 
scene  of  action. 

When  the  conquests  of  the  Romans,  in  the  first 
century  of  our  era,  brought  them  into  contact  with  the 
Saxons,  they  found  them  as  brave  as  the  Britons,  but, 
like  the  latter  people,  unprovided  with  steel  blades 
and  the  proper  implements    of  war.      During   the 
three   centuries,   however,    that   had   elapsed   since 
then,  in  their  wars  with  the  Roman  armies,  and  their 
friendly  intercourse  with  the  Roman  colonies  in  Gaul 
and  on  the  Rhine,  they  had  been  made  fully  sensible 
of  their  wants,  and  learned,  in  part,  how  to  supply 
rhem.     In  their  long-continued   piratical  excursions 
they  had  looked  out  for  bright  arms  and  well-wrought 
steel,  as  the  most  valuable  article  of  plunder,  and  a 
constant  accumulation  must  have  left  them  well  pro- 
vided with  that  ruder  metal  which  commands  gold. 
When  tliey  appeared  in  Britain,  they  certainly  felt 
no  want  of  good  arms.     Every  warrior  had  his  dag- 
ger,  his  spear,  his  battle-axe,  and  his  sword,  all  of 
steel.     In  addition  to  these  weapons,  they  had  bows 
and  arrows,  and  their  champions  frequently  wielded 
a  ponderous  club,  bound  and  spiked  with  iron,  a  sort 
of  sledge-hammer,  a  copy,  possibly,  from  the  Scan- 
dinavian type  of  Thor's  "mighty  hammer."     These 
two  weapons,  the  battle-axe  and  the  hammer,  wield- 
ed by  nervous  arms,  were  the  dread  of  their  enemies, 
and  constantly  recun-ing  images  in  the  songs  of  their 
l)ards,  who  represent  them  as  cleaving  helmets  and 
brains   w^ith    blows   that    nothing    could    withstand. 
When  their  depredations  first  attracted  the  notice  of 
the  Romans,  they  ventured  from  the  mouth  of  the 
13altic  and  the  Elbe,  in  crazy  little  boats ;  and  shoals 
of  these  canoes  laid  the  coasts  of  Gaul,  Britain,  and 
other  parts  of  the  empire  under  contribution.    Though 
larger,  the  best  of  these  vessels  could  scarcely  have 
l)een  better  than  the  coracles  of  the  British ;  they 
were  flat-bottomed,  their  keels  and  ribs  were  of  light 
timber,  but  the  sides  and  upper  works  consisted  only 
of  wicker,  with  a  covering  of  strong  hides.     In  the 
fifth  century,  however,  their  chiules,'  or  war  ships, 
were  long,  strong,  lofty,  and  capable  of  containing 
each  a  considerable  number  of  men  with  provisions 
and  other  stores.     If  they  had  boldly  trusted  them- 
selves to  the  stormy  waves  of  the  Baltic,  the  German 
ocean,  the  British  channel,  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  in 
'  Hence  our  word  heel. 


their  frail  embarkations,  they  would  laugh  at  the 
tempest  in  such  ships  as  these.  All  their  contempo- 
raries speak  of  their  love  of  the  sea,  and  of  their  gi-eat 
familiarity-  with  it  and  its  dangers.  "  Tempests,"  snya 
Sidonius,  "which  inspire  fear  in  other  men,  till  them 
with  joy :  the  storm  is  their  protection  when  they 
are  pressed  by  an  enemy — their  veil  and  cover  when 
they  meditate  an  attack."  This  love  of  a  maritime 
life  afterwards  gained  for  some  of  the  northmen  the 
title  of  Sea-kings.  The  passion  was  common  to  all 
the  Saxons  and  to  the  whole  Teutonic  race ;  and  a 
recent  historian  has  suggested  that  the  settlement  of 
so  many  pirates  in  England,  the  natives  of  every 
country  from  the  Rhine  to  the  North  Cape,  may  have 
conti'ibuted  to  cultivate  those  nautical  propensities 
which  form  a  part  of  the  English  character.^ 

Thus  supposing  that  the  Britons  retained  the  arms 
of  the  Roman  legions — and  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  they  did,  though  the  Roman  discipline  was 
lost — their  new  enemy  was  as  well  armed  as  them- 
selves ;  while  the  Saxons  had  over  them  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  much  greater  command  of  the  sea,  and 
could  constantly  recruit  their  armies  on  the  continent, 
in  the  midst  of  their  warlike  brethren,  bring  them 
over  in  their  ships,  and  land  them  at  whatever  point 
they  chose. 

At  the  period  of  their  invasion  of  Britain,  the  Sax- 
ons were  as  rough  and  uncouth  as  any  of  the  barba- 
rian nations  that  overturned  the  Roman  empire.  Of 
civilization  and  the  arts,  they  had  only  borrowed  those 
parts  which  strengthen  the  arm  in  battle  by  means  of 
steel  and  proper  weapons,  and  facilitate  the  work  of 
destruction.  They  were  still  Pagans,  professing  a 
bloody  faith  that  made  them  hate  or  despise  the 
Christian  Britons.  Revenge  was  a  religious  duty, 
and  havoc  and  slaughter  a  delight  to  their  savage 
tempers.  Their  enemies  and  victims  who  drew  their 
porti'aits  darkened  the  shades;  and  the  Saxons  had, 
no  doubt,  some  of  those  rude  virtues  which  are  gene- 
rally attached  to  such  a  condition  of  society. 

The  obscurity  that  comes  over  the  history  of  Bri- 
tain with  the  departure  of  the  Romans,  continues  to 
rest  upon  it  for  the  two  following  centuries.  In  the 
first  instance,  Hengist  and  Horsa  appear  to  have 
fulfilled  their  part  of  the  engagement  upon  which 
they  had  come  over  by  marching  with  the  Jutes, 
their  follow^ers,  against  the  Ficts  and  Scots,  and  driv- 
ing these  invaders  li-om  the  kingdom.  Soon  after 
this,  if  it  occurred  at  all,  must  be  placed  the  story 
of  the  feast  given  by  Hengist,  at  his  stronghold  of 
Thong-caster,  in  Lincolnshire,  to  the  British  King 
Vortigern,  and  of  the  bewitchment  of  the  royal  guest 
by  the  charms  of  Rowena,  the  young  and  beautiful 
daughter  of  his  entertainer.  Rowena's  address,  as 
she  gracefully  knelt  and  presented  the  wine  cup  to 
the  king,  Liever  Kyning  trass  heal  (Dear  king,  j-our 
health),  is  often  quoted  as  the  origin  of  our  still  exist- 
ing expressions,  wassail  and  wassail-cup,  in  which, 
however,  the  word  wassail  might  mean  health  drink- 
ing, or  pledging,  although  it  had  never  been  uttered 
by  Rowena.  But  as  the  story  goes  on,  the  action 
and  the  words  of  the  Saxon  maid  finished  the  con- 

'  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Hist.  Eng. 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


133 


V'oRTiGERN  and  RowENA. — Angelica  Kauffman. 


quest  over  tlie  heart  of  the  king  which  her  beauty 
had  begun ;  and,  from  that  time,  he  rested  not  till  he 
had  obtained  the  consent  of  her  fether  to  make  her 
his  wife.  The  latest  writer  who  has  investigated  the 
history  of  this  period,  sees  no  reason  to  doubt  the 
story  of  Rowena,  and  has  advanced  many  ingenious 
and  plausible  arguments  in  proof  of  its  truth.'  But, 
at  any  rate,  it  appears  that,  either  from  Vortigern's 
attachment  thus  secured,  or  from  his  gi-atitude  for 
martial  services  rendered  to  him,  or  from  an  inability 
on  his  part  to  prevent  it,  the  Jutes  were  allowed  to 
fortify  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  and  to  invite  over  fresh 
forces.  The  natural  fertility  and  beauty  of  Britain, 
as  well  as  its  disorganization  and  weakness,  must 
long  have  been  familiar  to  the  pirates  on  the  conti- 
nent ;  and  as  soon  as  they  got  a  firm  footing  in  the 
land,  they  conceived  the  notion  of  possessing  at  least 
a  part  of  it,  not  as  dependent  allies  or  vassals,  but  as 
masters.  The  conquest  of  the  whole  was  probably 
an  after-thought,  which  did  not  suggest  itself  till  many 
generations  had  passed  away.  The  sword  was  soon 
drawn  betsveen  the  Britons  and  their  Saxon  guests, 
who,  thereupon,  allied  themselves  with  their  old 
friends  the  Scots  and  Picts,  to  oppose  whom  they 
had  been  invited  by  Vortigern.  That  unfortunate 
king  is  said  to  have  been  deposed,  and  his  son  Vorti- 
mer  elected  in  his  stead.  A  partial  and  uncertain 
league  was  now  formed  bet^veen  the  Roman  faction 
and  the  Britons ;  and  several  battles  were  fought  by 
their  united  forces  against  the  Saxons.  In  one  of 
these  engagements,  Vortigern  is  said  to  have  com- 
manded the  Britons.     Then,  after  a  time,  the  two 

1  Britannia  after  the  Rumans,  pp.  42,  6'2,  etc. 


nations,  according  to  the  story  commonly  told,  agi'eed 
to  terminate  their  contention ;  and  a  meeting  was 
held,  at  which  the  chief  personages  of  both  were 
mixed  together  in  festive  enjojment,  when,  suddenly. 
Hengist,  exclaiming  to  his  Saxons,  Nimed  eure  seaxa-s 
(Unsheath  your  swords),  they  pulled  forth  each  a 
short  sword  or  knife,  which  he  had  brought  with 
him  concealed  in  his  hose,  and  slew  all  the  Britons 
present,  Vortigern  only  excepted.  This  stoiy,  too, 
has  been  treated  as  a  fiction  by  most  recent  writers ; 
but  the  same  ingenious  and  accomplished  inquirer  who 
has  vindicated  the  historic  existence  of  Rowena,  has 
also  argued  ably  and  powerfully  in  favor  of  the  truth 
of  this  other  ancient  tividition.  "  The  h'ausaction," 
he  observes,  "  certainly  occun-ed.  It  has  been  un- 
justly brought  into  doubt.  The  memory  of  it  is  gen- 
erally difiused  among  the  British  :  it  is  detailed  in 
their  Bruts :  it  is  refeired  to  in  their  Triads  as  a  no- 
torious event ;  and  it  is  alluded  to  by  their  bards,  in 
language  of  dark  and  mysterious  allusion,  which 
proves  its  reality  better  than  the  dire.ct  narratives 
do."i  This  writer,  however,  considers  Hengist  and 
his  Saxons  to  have  been  the  parties  plotted  against, 
and,  in  what  they  did,  to  have  acted  only  on  the  de- 
fensive. The  bloody  congi-ess  appears  to  have  taken 
place  at  Stonehenge,  on  a  May-day.  In  the  end, 
Eric,  the  son  of  Hengist,  remained  in  possession  of 
all  Kent,  and  became  the  founder  of  the  Kentish,  or 
first  Saxon  kingdom,  in  our  island. 

The  conquerors  of  "  Cantwara  Land,"  or  Kent, 
seem  to  have  been  Jutes  mixed  with  some  Angles ; 
but  now  the  Saxons  appeared  as  their  immediate 

1  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  p.  46. 


134 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


neighbors.  In  the  year  477,  Ella,  the  Saxon,  with 
his  thi-ee  sons,  and  a  formidable  force,  landed  in  the 
ancient  territory  of  the  Regni,  now  Sussex,  at  or  near 
to  Withering,  in  the  isle  of  Selsey.  The  Britons, 
who  had  certainly  recovered  much  of  their  martial 
spirit,  miide  a  vigorous  resistance ;  but  they  were 
defeated  with  gi-eat  slaughter,  and  di-iven  into  the 
forest  of  Andreade,  or  Andredswold.'  According  to 
the  old  writers,  this  forest  was  120  miles  long,  and 
.{0  broad ;  prodigious  dimensions,  which  astonish  us, 
although  informed  that  even  at  the  evacuation  of  the 
countiy  by  the  Romans,  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
island  was  covered  with  primeval  woods,  forests,  and 
marshes.  Continuing  to  receive  accessions  of  force, 
Ella  defeated  a  confederacy  of  the  British  princes, 
became  master  of  nearly  all  Sussex,  and  established 
There  the  second  kingdom,  called  that  of  the  South 
Saxons.  Taking  the  coast  line,  the  invaders  now- 
occupied  fi-om  the  estuary  of  the  Thames  to  the 
river  Arun ;  and  to  obtain  this  short  and  naiTow  slip 
had  cost  them  half  a  century.  Cerdic,  with  another 
band  of  Saxons,  extended  the  line  westward  a  few 
years  after,  as  far  as  the  river  Avon,  by  conquering 
Hampshire  and  the  Isle  of  Wight ;  when  he  founded 
Wessex,  or  the  kingdom  of  the  West  Saxons.  The 
countiy  to  the  west  of  the  Hampshii-e  Avon,  remained 
for  many  years  longer  in  possession  of  the  Britons, 
who  now  yielded  no  gi-ound  without  hard  fighting. 

The  next  important  descent  was  to  the  north  of 
the  estuaiy  of  the  Thames,  where  Ercenwine,  about 
627-9,  took  possession  of  the  flats  of  Essex,  with 
some  of  the  contiguous  country,  and  formed  the  state 
of  the  East  Saxons.  Other  tribes  cairied  their  arms 
in  this  direction  as  far  as  the  Stour,  when  there  was 
a  short  pause,  which  was  not  one  of  peace,  for  the 
Britons,  driven  from  the  coasts,  pressed  them  inces- 
santly on  the  land  side.  About  the  year  547,  Ida,  at 
rhe  head  of  a  formidable  host  of  Angles,  landed  at 
riamborough  Head,  and  leaving  a  long  lapse  on  the 
coast  between  him  and  the  East  Saxons,  proceeded 
to  settle  between  the  Tees  and  the  Tyne,  a  wild 
country,  which  now  includes  the  county  of  Durham, 
but  which  was  then  abandoned  to  the  beasts  of  the 
forest.  This  conquest  obtained  the  name  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Bernicia.  Other  invaders,  again,  step- 
ped in  between  the  Tees  and  the  Humber,  but  it 
(!Ost  them  niuch  time  and  blood  before  they  could 
establish  their  southern  fi-ontier  on  the  Humber. 
Their  possessions  were  called  the  Kingdom  of  Deira. 
At  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  a  general  emigration 
seems  to  have  taken  place  from  Anglen,  or  Old  Eng- 
land; and  under  chiefs  that  have  not  left  so  much 
as  a  doubtful  name  behind  them,  the  Angles,  in  two 
great  divisions,  called  the  Southfolk  and  the  Northfolk, 
rushed  in  between  the  Stowe  and  the  Great  Ouse 
and  Wash,  and  gave  a  lasting  denomination  to  our 
two  counties  of  Suffolk  and  Norfolk.  Their  conquest 
was  called  the  Kingdom  of  East  Anglia.  The  ten-i- 
tory  thus  seized  by  the  East  Angles  was  almost  insu- 
lated from  the  rest  of  the  island,  by  a  succession  (on 
its  western  side)  of  bogs,  meres,  and  broad  lakes, 
connected,  for  the  most  part,  by  numerous  sti-eams. 

1  The  forest,  or  wold,  is  also  called  Anderida 


Where  these  natural  defences  ended,  the  East  An- 
gles dug  a  deep  ditch,  and  cast  up  a  lofty  rampart  of 
earth.    In  the  middle  ages  this  was  called  the  "  Giants' 
Dyke,"  a  name  which  was  afterAvards  changed  into 
the    more    popular    denomination    of    the    "Devil's 
Dyke."     The    marshes   upon   which   it  leant   have 
been  drained,  but  the  remarkable  mound  is  still  very 
perfect.     The  other  Angles  advanced  from  beyond 
the  Humber,  and  fresh  tiibes  pouring  in  from  the 
peninsula  of  .lutland  and  Holstein,  the  territory  now 
forming  Lincolnshire,  between  the  Wash   and   the 
Humber,  was  gradually  but  slowly  conquered  from 
the  Britons,  and  the  only  lapse  or  chasm  filled  up, 
that   existed  in  the   Saxon  line  of  coast  from   the 
Hampshire  Avon  to  the  Northumbrian  Tyne.     This 
line  was  extended  as  far  north  as  the  Frith  of  Forth 
by  the  Angles  of  Bernicia  and  Deira,  who  were  uni- 
ted  under   one   sceptre,   about   the   year   617,    and 
thenceforward  were  called  Norflivmlrians.     All  the 
western  coast  from  the  Frith  of  Clyde  to  the  Land's 
End,  in  Cornwall,  and  the  southern  coast  from  the 
Land's  End  to  the  confines  of  Hampshire,  remained 
unconquered   by  the   Saxons.     Such   had   been  the 
security  of  Cornwall,  and  its  indifference  to  the  fate 
of  the  rest  of  the  island,  that,  while  the  states  of  the 
south  were  falling  one  by  one  under  the  sword  of  the 
Saxon  invaders,  twelve  thousand  armed  Britons  left 
its  shore  to  take  part  in  a  foreign  war.     This  curious 
event  took  place  about  the  year  470,  when  Gaul  was 
overran  by  the  Visigoths,  and  Anthemius,  who  reigned 
in  Italy,  was  unable  to  protect  his  subjects  noitli  of 
the  Alps.     He  purchased  or  otherwise  procured  the 
services  of  Riothamus,  an  independent  British  king, 
whose  dominion  included,  besides  Cornwall,  parts  of 
Devonshire.     The  Britons  sailed  iip  the  river  Loire, 
and  established  themselves  in  Berry,  where,  acting 
as  oppressive  and  insolent  conquerors,  rather  than  as 
friends  and  allies,  they  so  conducted  themselves,  that 
the  people  were  rejoiced  when  they  saw  them  cut  to 
pieces  or  dispersed  bj-  the  Visigoths.' 

The  breadth  of  the-  Saxon  territories  or  their  fi-on- 
tiers  inland,  were  long  uncertain  and  wavering,  now 
advancing,  and  noAV  receding,  according  to  the  fortune 
of  war.  Under  the  name  of  Mi/rcna-ric,  latinized 
Mercia,"  a  branch  of  the  Angles,  penetrating  into  the 
heart  of  the  island,  founded  a  kingdom  that  extended 
over  all  the  midland  counties,  from  the  Severn  to  tlie 
Humber,  and  that  pressed  on  the  borders  of  Wales. 
In  this  district,  however,  the  population  was  not  de- 
stroyed or  expelled ;  the  Britons  lived  mixed  up,  in 
about  equal  numbers,  -vAnth  the  Saxons.  The  Mer- 
cian Angles,  who,  at  one  period,  had  spread  to  the 
south  and  east,  until  they  reached  the  Thames,  and 
included  London  in  their  dominion,  contributed  most 
extensively  to  the  conquest  of  the  island,  and  formed 
a  kingdom,  which  was  one  of  the  last  of  the  Heptar- 
chy to  be  overthrown   or  absorbed.     During  their 

1  Jornandes,  cap.  xlv.     Sidonius,  lib.  iii.  Epist.  9. 

2  "  We  ore  generally  told  that  Mercia  signifies  the  march  or  frontier 
— a  signification  peculiarly  impmpRr  for  a  central  country.  Myrcna-ric, 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon,  signifies  the  woodland  kingdom,  which  agrees  very 
closely  with  Coilani,  the  latinized  name  of  the  old  British  inhahitants, 
signifying  woodland  men  or  foresters." — Macpherson's  Annals  of  Com- 
merce, i.  237. 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


135 


power,  the  Mercians  more  than  once  followed  the 
bold  mountaineers  of  Wales,  who  maintained  a  con- 
stant hostility,  right  through  their  country  to  the 
shores  of  St.  George's  channel  and  the  Irish  sea; 
but  they  were  never  able  to  subdue  that  rugged  land. 
The  other  Anglo-Saxons  who  seized  then*  dominions 
in  the  ninth  and  tenth  century,  were  not  more  suc- 
cessful than  the  Mercians ;  and  although,  at  a  later 
day,  some  of  its  princes  paid  a  trifling  tribute,  and 
the  countiy  was  reduced  to  its  present  limits  of  Wales 
and  Monmouthshire,  Cambria  was  never  conquered 
by  the  Saxons  during  the  six  hundred  years  of  their 
domination.' 

The  people  of  Sti-athclyde  and  Cumbria,  which 
teiTitories  extended  along  the  western  coast  from 
the  Frith  of  Clyde  to  the  Mersey  and  the  Dee, 
appear  to  have  been  almost  as  successful  as  the 
Welsh,  and  by  the  same  means.  Their  disposition 
was  fierce  and  warlike,  their  hatred  to  the  Saxons 
inveterate,  and,  above  all,  their  country  was  moun- 
tainous and  abounding  with  lakes,  marshes,  moors, 
and  forests.  Part  of  the  territoiy  of  Strathclyde, 
moreover,  was  defended  by  a  ditch  and  a  rampart  of 
earth.  This  work,  which  is  popularly  called  the 
Catrail  or  the  March  Dykes,  can  still  be  traced  from 
the  Peel-feU,  on  the  Borders,  between  Northumber- 
land and  Roxburghshire,  to  Galashiels,  a  little  to  the 
north  of  Melrose  and  the  river  Tweed,  and  near  to 
Abbotsford.^  In  our  Introduction  we  have  stated 
the  grounds  there  are  for  a  belief  that  the  Welsh 
and  the  occupants  of  Strathclyde  and  C  umbria  were 
both  the  same  people,  and  descended,  not  from  the 
ancient  Britons,  but  the  Picts.  But  lower  down  on 
the  western  coast,  the  Saxon  arms  were  more  suc- 
cessful. Even  there,  however,  the  slowness  of  their 
progress  denotes  the  sturdy  resistance  they  met  with. 
Nearly  two  centuries  had  elapsed  since  their  landing 
at  Thanet  before  they  found  their  way  into  Dum- 
nonia  or  Devonshire,  which,  together  with  Cornwall, 
appears  to  have  remained  in  the  occupation  of  a  great 
undisturbed  mass  of  British  population.  The  King 
Cadwallader  had  resigned  his  earthly  crown  and 
gone  to  Rome  as  a  pilgrim,  in  search  of  a  crown  of 
gloiy  ;  disunited  and  disheartened,  the  nobles  of  the 
land  fled  beyond  sea  to  Armorica  or  Brittany,  and, 
at  the  approach  of  the  invaders,  hardly  any  were 
left  to  oppose  them  except  the  peasantiy.  From 
the  traditions  of  the  country,  and  the  signs  of  camps, 
ti'enches,  and  fields  of  battle  spread  over  it,  we 
should  judge  that  the  rustics  made  a  vigorous  de- 
fence.=*  They  made  a  stand  on  the  river  Exe  ;  but, 
being  routed  there,  retreated  to  the  right  bank  of 
the  Tamar,  abandoning  all  the  fertile  plains  of  Devon- 
shire, but  still  hoping  to  maintain  themselves  in  the 
billy  country  of  Cornwall.  Defeat  followed  them 
to  the  Tamar  and  the  countiy  beyond  it,  upon  which 
they,  in  a.  d.  647,  submitted  to  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
who  by  this  time  may  be  called  the  English. 

'  A  portion  of  Monmouthshire  was,  however,  thoroughly  conquered 
a  short  time  before  the  Norman  invasion,  when  the  Saxons  occupied 
the  towns  of  Monmouth,  Shepstow,  Caerwent,  and  Caerleon.— Coxe, 
Monmouthshire. 

2  Gordon's  Iter  Septentrionale.     Chalmers'  Caledonia. 

3  Borlase.     Mrs.  Bray's  Letters  to  Southey. 


In  this  rapid  and  general  sketch  of  the  Saxon  con- 
quest, which,  from  the  dates  that  have  been  given, 
wiU  be  perceived  to  have  occupied  altogether  a  space 
of  nearly  200  years, — of  which  above  100  were  con- 
sumed even  before  the  eastern  and  central  parts  of 
the  island  were  subdued,  and  the  last  of  the  several 
new  Saxon  kingdoms  established,  a  sufficient  proof 
of  the  obstinate  resistance  of  the  Britons, — we  have 
omitted  all  details  of  the  achievements  of  the  British 
champions,  not  excepting  even — 

— "  what  resounds 
In  fable  or  romance  of  Uther's  son," 

as  Milton  has  chosen  to  designate  the  history  of  the 
famous  King  Arthur.  It  seems  impossible  to  arrive 
at  any  certainty  with  regard  to  the  chronology  or 
particular  events  of  a  period  the  only  accounts  of 
which  are  so  dark  and  confused,  and  so  mixed  up 
and  overrun  with  the  most  palpable  fictions.  But  as 
to  Arthur,  there  appear  to  be  the  strongest  reasons 
for  suspecting  that  he  was  not  a  real  but  only  a  my- 
thological personage,  the  chief  divinity  of  that  system 
of  revived  Druidism  which  appears  to  have  arisen 
in  the  unconquered  parts  of  the  west  of  Britain  after 
the  departure  of  the  Romans,  the  name  being  often 
used  in  the  poetiy  of  the  bards  as  the  hieroglyphical 
representative  of  the  system.  This  is  the  most  im- 
portant of  the  subjects  upon  which  new  light  has 
been  thrown  by  the  researches  of  the  author  of 
"  Britannia  after  the  Romans,"  and  his  elaborate  and 
masterly  examination  of  the  question  of  Arthur 
certainly  seems  to  go  veiy  near  to  settle  the  con- 
ti'oversy.  "  The  '  Saxon  Chronicle,'  "  he  observes 
upon  the  several  probabilities  of  the  case  (the  only 
part  of  his  argument  to  which  we  can  here  advert), 
"  does  not  suppress  the  names  of  islanders  with 
whom  the  Saxons  had  to  deal,  but  mentions  those  of 
Vortigern,  Natanleod,  Aidan,  Brochvael,  Geraint, 
Constantino  of  Scots,  and  CadwaUon.  Its  author 
betrays  no  knowledge  of  Arthur's  existence.  The 
venerable  Beda  either  never  heard  of  it  or  despised 
it  as  a  fable."  Nor  is  it  mentioned,  he  goes  on  to 
remark,  either  by  Florence  of  Worcester  or  by  Gil- 
das.  Yet,  as  he  observes  elsewhere,  "  the  name  of 
Arthur  is  so  gi-eat,  that  if  such  a  man  ever  reigned 
in  Britain,  he  must  have  been  a  man  as  great  as  the 
circumscribed  theatre  of  his  actions  could  permit." 
And  again ;  "  The  Arthurian  era  was  one  in  the 
course  of  which  the  British  frontier  receded,  and 
Hants,  Somerset,  and  other  districts  passed  for  ever 
into  the  hands  of  the  invader.  It  is  not  by  suffering 
a  series  of  severe  defeats  that  any  Saxon  or  other 
man  conquers  provinces :  it  is  done  by  gaining  suc- 
cessive victories.  If  Arthur  lived  and  fought,  he  did 
so  with  a  preponderance  of  ill  success,  and  with  the 
loss  of  battles  and  of  provinces.  But  exaggeration 
must  be  built  upon  homogeneous  truth.  For  a  Cor- 
nish prince  to  be  renowned  through  all  countries, 
and  feigned  a  universal  conqueror,  he  must  really 
have  been  a  hero  in  his  own  land  and  a  signal  bene- 
factor to  it.  No  man  was  ever  deified  in  song  for 
being  vanquished  and  losing  half  a  kingdom.  But 
the  God  of  War  would  retain  his  rank  in  any  case... 
The  God  of  War  would  keep  his  station  and  preside 


136 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


over  valiant  acts,  whether  the  results  of  war  were 
fortunate  or  not.  But  the  disasters  of  the  British, 
historically  and  geogiaphically  certain  as  they  are. 
make  it  also  clear  that  they  were  commanded  by  ao 
king  fit  for  their  bards  to  canonize."  * 

To  bring  the  course  of  the  invaders  and  the  per- 
manent settlement  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  under  one 
point  of  view,  we  have  glanced  from  the  middle  of 
the  fifth  to  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century.  We 
may  now  reti-ace  our  steps  over  part  of  that  dark 
and  utterly  confused  interval,  but  in  doing  so  we 
shall  not  venture  into  the  perplexing  labyi-inth  pre- 
sented by  the  more  than  half  fabulous  histoiy  of 
the  Heptai'chy,  or  seven  separate  and  independent 
states  or  kingdoms  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  Modern 
^^Titers  have  assumed,  that  over  these  separate  states 
there  was  always  a  lord  paramount,  a  sort  of  emperor 
of  England,  who  might  be  by  inheritance  or  conquest, 
sometimes  the  king  of  one  state  and  sometimes  the 
king  of  another.  This  ascendant  monarch  is  called 
the  Britvvalda,  or  Bretwalda,  a  Saxon  term  which 
signifies  the  wielder,  or  dominator,  or  ruler,  of  Brit 
(Britain).     According  toBede  and  the  Saxon  Chron- 

1  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  pp.  70-141.  For  a  defence  of  the 
historic  reality  of  Arthur,  see  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  i.  268-283. 


icle,  seven  or  eight  of  the  Saxon  princes  in  irregular 
succession  bore  this  i)roud  title  ;  and  perhaps  it  may 
be  infeiTed  from  Bede's  expressions  that  the  other 
six  kings  of  the  island  acknowledged  themselves  the 
vassals  of  the  Bretwaldas.  We  are  not  thoroughly 
convinced  of  any  such  supremacy  (even  nominal), 
and  in  the  real  operations  of  war  and  government 
we  continually  find  each  state  acting  in  an  inde- 
pendent manner,  as  if  separate  from  all  the  rest,  a 
proof  at  least  that  the  authority  of  the  lord  paramount 
was  very  limited  or  very  uncertain.  As,  however, 
their  whole  history  is  uninteresting,  and  as  it  is 
easier  to  trace  the  reigns  of  the  more  marking 
monarchs  than  to  enter  into  seven  separate  dynasties, 
we  shall  follow  the  modern  example. 

Ella,  the  conqueror  of  Sussex,  and  the  founder 
there  of  the  kingdom  of  the  South  Saxons, — the 
smallest  of  all  the  new  states, — was  the  first  Bret- 
walda, and  died,  little  noticed  by  the  English  chron- 
iclers, about  the  year  510.  After  a  long  vacancy, 
Ceawlin,  King  of  Wessex,  who  began  to  reign  about 
568,  stepped  into  the  dignity,  which,  however,  was 
contested  with  him,  by  Ethelbert,  the  fourth  king 
of  Kent,  who  claimed  it  in  right  of  his  descent  fi-om 
Hengist,  the  brother  of  Horsa.     The  dispute  led  to 


Arm?  anil  Costu.mi:  nf  a  Sa.\on  .Military  CmKr.— Designed  from  a  Saxon  Illumination  in  Bib.  Harl.  No,  Q03. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


137 


hostilities ;  for  long  before  the  Anglo-Saxons  had 
subdued  all  the  Britons,  they  made  fierce  wars  upon 
one  another.  The  fiist  example  of  this  practice, 
which  must  have  retarded  their  general  progress  in 
the  subjugation  of  the  island,  was  set  by  Ethelbert, 
who,  after  sustaining  two  signal  defeats  from  his 
rival,  and  many  other  reverses,  during  the  twenty-two 
years  that  Ceawlin  reigned,  acquired  the  dignity  of 
Bretwalda  (a.d.  593)  soon  after  that  prince's  death. 
Ceawlin,  by  the  law  of  the  sword,  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  kingdom  of  Sussex,  and  seems  to  have 
fought  as  often  against  his  Saxon  brethren  as  against 
the  Britons. 

The  gi-and  incident  under  the  reign  of  this,  the 
third  Bretwalda,  was  the  conversion  of  himself  and 
court  by  Augustine  and  forty  monks,  chiefly  Italians, 
who  were  sent  for  that  purpose  into  Britain,  by  Pope 
Gregory  the  Great.  Ethelbert's  change  of  religion 
was  facilitated  by  the  circumstance  of  his  having 
espoused  a  Christian  wife  shortly  before.  This  was 
the  young  and  beautiful  Bertha,  sister  or  daughter  of 
Charibert,  King  of  Paris,  to  whom,  by  stipulation,  he 
gi-anted  the  free  exercise  of  her  religion  when  she 
came  into  the  island.  Ethelbert's  close  connexion 
with  the  more  enlightened  nations  of  the  continent, 
and  his  frequent  intercourse  with  French,  Roman, 
and  Italian  churchmen,  who,  ignorant  as  they  were, 
were  infinitely  more  civilized  than  the  Saxons,  proved 
highly  beneficial  to  England  ;  and  in  the  code  of  laws 
this  prince  published  before  his  death,  he  is  supposed 
to  have  been  indebted  to  the  suggestions  and  science 
of  these  foreigners,  although  the  code  has  more  of 
the  spirit  of  the  old  German  lawgivers  than  of  Justi- 
nian and  the  Roman  jurisconsults.  This  code  was 
not  octroyed,  as  from  an  absolute  sovereign  (a  quality 
to  which  none  of  the  Saxon  princes  ever  attained), 
but  was  enacted  by  Ethelbert  with  the  consent  of 
the  states  of  his  kingdom  of  Kent,  and  formed  the 
first  wi'itten  laws  promulgated  by  any  of  the  northern 
conquerors ;  the  second  being  the  code  of  the  Bui'- 
gundians,  published  a  little  later ;  and  the  third,  that 
of  the  Longobardi  or  Lombards,  which  was  promul- 
gated in  their  dominions  in  the  north  of  Italy,  about 
half  a  centuiy  after  Ethelbert's  code.  As  king  of 
Kent,  Ethelbert's  reign  was  a  very  long  and  happy 
one  ;  as  Bretwalda,  he  exercised  considerable  author- 
ity or  influence  over  all  the  Saxon  princes  south  of 
the  Humber.  He  died  in  616,  and  was  succeeded, 
as  King  of  Kent,  but  not  as  Bretwalda,  by  his  son  Ead- 
bald.  The  Anglo-Saxons  at  this  period  were  very 
volatile  and  fickle  in  their  faith,  or  very  imperfectly 
converted  to  the  Christian  religion.  Passionately 
enamored  of  the  youth  and  beauty  of  his  step-mother, 
Ethelbert's  widow,  Eadbald  took  her  to  his  bed  ;  and 
as  the  Christians  reprobated  such  incestuous  mar- 
riages, he  broke  with  them  altogether,  and  returned 
to  his  priests  of  the  old  Teutonic  idolatry.  The  whole 
Kentish  people  turned  with  him,  forsook  the  mission- 
aries and  the  churches,  expelled  the  Christian  bishop, 
and  again  set  up  the  rude  altars  of  the  Scandinavian 
idols.  Such  a  relapse  as  this  was  not  uncommon 
among  the  recently  converted  heathen  of  other  coun- 
tries, but  the  sequel  is  curious,  and  makes  our  Saxon 


ancestors  appear  like  a  flock  of  sheep  following  the 
bell-wether.  Laurentius,  the  successor  of  Augustine 
in  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  prevailed  on  Ead- 
bald to  put  away  his  step-mother  and  return  to  his 
fold  ;  and  no  sooner  had  the  king  done  so  than  all  his 
subjects  returned  with  him,  without  murmur  or  dis- 
putation. 

We  have  said  that  Eadbald  did  not  succeed  to  the 
dignity  of  Bretwalda.  It  appears,  however,  he  made 
a  claim  to  it,  and  that  the  other  princes  refused  their 
concurrence  and  obedience.  The  dignity  of  Bret- 
walda would  seem  from  this  and  other  instances  not 
to  have  been  obtained  by  regular  and  free  election, 
but  to  have  been  conceded  to  him  who  showed  him- 
self ablest  to  maintain  his  claim  to  it  by  the  sword. 
The  three  first  Bretwaldas,  Ella,  Ceawlin,  and  Ethel- 
bert, were  Saxons  or  Jutes,  but  now  the  dignity  passed 
to  the  more  powerful  Angles  in  the  person  of  Red- 
WALD,  about  the  year  617.  Redwald  was  King  of 
East  Anglia,  and  a  kind  of  a  Christian,  having  been 
converted  some  years  before  by  the  Bretwalda  Eth- 
elbert. But  his  wife  and  people  were  attached  to 
the  old  idolatry,  and,  yielding  to  their  importunities,  he 
reopened  tlie  temples,  taking  care,  however,  to  place 
a  Christian  altar  by  the  side  of  the  statue  of  Woden, ^ 
in  doing  which  he  no  doubt  hoped  to  conciliate  both 
parties.  During  his  reign  the  Scots,  who  had  re- 
newed hostilities  in  the  north,  were  beaten  by  the 
now  united  and  extended  Saxon  kingdom  of  North- 
umbria.  At  a  later  period  Redwald  himself  was 
hostilely  engaged  with  the  Northumbrian  king  Edil- 
frid,  who  is  said  to  have  destroyed  more  Britons  than 
all  the  other  Saxon  kings.  The  ai'mies  of  the  Saxon 
kings  met  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Idel,  in  Notting- 
hamshire, where  victory,  after  a  sanguinary  engage- 
ment, rested  on  the  crest  of  the  Bretwalda.  Edil- 
frid  was  slain. 

Edwin,  the  fifth  Bretwalda,  succeeded  (about  621), 
in  a  somewhat  irregular  manner,  both  to  the  dignitj' 
of  Redwald  and  the  kingdom  of  Edilfrid  ;  and  so  suc- 
cessful was  he  in  his  wars  and  his  politics  that  he 
raised  Northumbria  to  a  superiority  over  all  the  Saxon 
kingdoms,  thus  transferring  the  ascendancy  from  the 
south  to  the  north  of  the  island.  After  wavering 
some  time  betw^een  the  old  national  faith  of  the  Sax- 
ons and  Christianity,  Edwin,  as  we  shall  afterwards 
have  to  relate  more  particularly,  was  converted  by 
the  preaching  of  Paulinus,  a  Roman  missionary,  and 
the  influence  of  his  fair  wife  Edilberga,  who  was 
daughter  of  Ethelbert,  the  Bretwalda  and  King  of 
Kent,  and  a  Christian,  before  she  married  Edwin. 
The  happiest  eflects  are  asserted  to  have  followed 
the  conversion  of  the  hitherto  ferocious  Northum- 
brians. "In  this  time,"  says  one  of  the  old  chroni- 
clers, "was  so  gi-eat  peace  in  the  kingdom  of  Edwin 
that  a  woman  might  have  gone  from  one  town  to  an- 
other without  grief  or  noyaunce  (molestation) ;  and 
for  the  refreshing  of  way-goers,  this  Edwin  ordained, 
at  clear  wells,  cups  or  dishes  of  brass  or  iron  to  be 
fastened  to  posts  standing  by  the  said  wells'  sides; 
and  no  man  was  so  hardy  as  to  take  away  those  cups, 
he  kept  so  good  justice."-  Edwin  added  the  Jsles  of 
1  Bede.  2  Fal'jan. 


138 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Man  and  Anglesey  to  his  Northumbrian  dominions, 
and  was  so  powerful  that  all  the  Saxon  kings  acknowl- 
edged his  authority,  and  paid  him  a  kind  of  tribute. 
According  to  some  accounts,  he  also  maintained  a 
supremacy  over  the  Scots  and  Picts.  In  wi-iting  to 
him,  in  the  year  625,  the  pope  styles  Edwin  "  Rex 
Anglorum," — King  of  the  Angles,  or  English.  In  his 
person  the  dignity  of  Bretvvalda  had  a  significant  and 
clear  meaning;  but  he  did  not  hold  it  very  long. 
About  the  year  633  Penda,  the  Saxon  prince  of  Mer- 
cia,  rebelled  against  his  authority,  and,  forming  an 
alliance  with  Ceadwalla,  or  Cadwallader,  the  king  of 
North  Wales,  he  fought  a  great  battle  at  Hatfield, 
or  Heathfield,  near  the  river  Trent,  in  which  Edwin 
was  defeated  and  slain  (a.d.  634).  The  alliance  of 
one  paity  of  the  Saxons  with  the  Welsh  to  fight 
against  another  party  of  Saxons  is  remarkable,  but 
the  case  was  often  repeated.  The  confederate  ar- 
mies between  them  committed  a  horrible  slaughter, 
sparing  neither  old  men  nor  children,  women  nor 
monks.  Cadwallader  and  the  Welsh  remained  in  the 
ten-itory  of  the  Northumbrians  at  York,  but  Penda 


marched  into  Norfolk  against  the  East  Angles.  This 
people  had  embraced  the  Christian  faith  some  seven 
years  before,  at  the  earnest  representations  of  the 
Bretwalda  Edwin,  and  Sigebert,  their  old  king,  had 
lately  renounced  his  crown  to  his  cousin  Egeric,  and 
retired  into  a  monastery.  But  at  the  approach  of 
Penda  and  his  pagan  host  the  old  soldier  left  his  holy 
retirement  and  directed  the  manoeuvres  of  his  army, 
with  a  while  rod  or  wand,  his  religious  scruples  not 
permitting  him  to  resume  the  sword  and  battle-axe. 
Penda  was  as  successful  here  as  he  had  been  against 
the  Christians  of  Northumbria,  and  both  Sigebert 
and  Egeric  fell  in  battle.  At  this  time  a  struggle  for 
supremacy  seems  to  have  existed  between  the  con- 
verted and  the  unconverted  Saxons  ;  and  Penda,  as 
head  of  the  latter,  evidently  aimed  at  possessing  the 
full  dignity  of  Bretwalda  as  it  had  been  exercised  by 
Edwin  of  Northumbria.  But  the  latter  prince  had 
laid  a  broad  and  sure  basis,  which  enabled  the  North- 
l^mbrians  to  retain  the  advantage  in  their  own  coun- 
tiy,  and  transmit  the  dignity  to  two  members  of  his 
family. 


liEMAINS    or  TUK    AbbEY  OF    LlNDISFAK.NE.    HoLY    IsLAND. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


139 


In  the  year  634,  Oswald,  the  nephew  of  Edwin, 
raised  his  banner  in  Northumbria,  where  Cadwalla- 
der,  after  many  successes,  seemed  to  despise  precau- 
tion. He  and  his  Welsh  were  surprised  near  Hex- 
ham, and  totally  defeated  by  inferior  numbers.  On 
the  part  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  the  battle  began  with 
kneeling  and  prayers  ;  it  ended,  on  the  part  of  the 
Welsh,  in  the  death  of  Cadwallader,  whose  detest- 
able cruelty,  cunning,  and  treacheiy  prevent  us  fi-om 
honoring  his  braveiy  or  pitying  his  fall,  and  in  the 
annihilation  of  his  army,  which  appears  to  have  as- 
sumed the  title  of  "  the  invincible."  Oswald  being 
equally  recognized  by  the  two  Northumbrian  states 
of  Bernicia  and  Deira,  then  regained  all  that  his  uncle 
Edwin  had  lost,  and  soon  after  most  of  the  Saxons 
acknowledged  him  as  Bretwalda.  He  attributed  his 
success  to  the  God  he  worshiped ;  and,  to  show  his 
gratitude,  he  invited  many  monks  to  complete  the 
conversion  of  the  people  of  Northumbria.  The  do- 
nation of  Lindisfarne,  or  Holy  Island,  and  the  mag- 
nificent monastery  that  rose  there,  testified  to  his 
munificence.  Churches  and  monasteries  sprang  up 
in  other  parts  of  the  north,  and  undoubtedly  for- 
warded civilization,  to  a  certain  point,  more  than  any 
other  measures  or  establishments.  Oswald,  who  re- 
paired to  the  court  of  Cynegils,  the  king  of  that  coun- 
tiy,  to  demand  his  daughter  in  marriage,  took  an 
active  part  in  the  conversion  of  Wessex ;  and  when 
Cynegils  made  a  donation  of  land  to  Birinus,  the 
Roman  missionary  and  bishop,  he  confirmed  it  in  his 
quality  of  Bretwalda. 

As  Bretwalda,  Oswald  exercised  an  authority  over 


the  Saxon  nations  and  provinces  fully  equal  to  that  of 
his  uncle  Edwin  j  and  he  is  said,  beside,  although  the 
fact  is  disputed,  to  have  compelled  the  Pictish  and 
Scottish  kings  to  acknowledge  themselves  his  vassals. 
Oswald  was  slain  in  battle  (a.d.  642)  like  his  uncle 
Edwin,  and  by  the  same  enemy,  the  fierce  and  still 
unconverted  Penda,  King  of  Mercia,  who  was  as 
desirous  as  ever  of  establishing  his  own  supremacy. 
But  the  Northumbrians  once  more  rallied  round  the 
family  of  the  beloved  Edwin,  and  on  the  retreat  of 
the  heathens  from  the  well-defended  rock  of  Bambo- 
rough,  they  enabled  Oswald's  brother,  named  Os^vy, 
or  Oswio,  whose  wife  was  the  daughter  of  the  gieat 
Edwin,  to  ascend  the  throne  of  his  father-in-law. 
His  succession,  however,  was  not  undisputed,  nor  did 
his  murder  of  one  of  his  competitors  preserve  the 
integrity  of  the  Northumbrian  kingdom.  About  the 
year  651  it  was  redivided  into  its  two  ancient  inde- 
pendent states  ;  and  whilst  Oswy  retained  to  himself 
Bernicia,  the  more  northern  half,  Odelwald  reigned 
in  Deira,  or  the  southern  part.  The  disseverance 
was  a  fatal  blow  from  which  Northumbria  never  re- 
covered. 

Oswy  had  soon  to  contend  with  the  old  enemy  of 
his  house,  the  sjayer  of  his  two  predecessors.  Pen- 
da,  still  anxious  to  obtain  the  dignity  of  Bretwalda, 
which,  as  on  other  occasions,  seems  to  have  been  in 
abeyance  for  some  years,  after  driving  the  Christian 
king  of  Wessex  from  his  throne  (a.d.  652),  advanced 
once  more,  and  this  time  with  fire  and  sword,  into 
Northumberland.  Burning  every  house  or  hut  he 
found  in  his  way,  this  savage  ma]'ched  as  far  as  Bam- 


RocK  or  Bamborough,  with  the  Castle  in  its  Present  State. 


140 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


borough.  Trembling  at  his  recollections  of  the  past,  I 
and  his  present  danger,  Osw}'  entreated  for  peace, 
which  he  at  length  obtained  by  means  of  rich  presents, 
hostages,  and  an  arrangement  of  intermarriage.  His 
second  son  was  sent  as  an  hostage  to  Penda's  court. 
Alchfrid,  his  eldest  son,  espoused  one  of  Penda's 
daughters,  and  shortly  after  Penda's  son,  Peada,  or 
VVeda,  married  one  of  Os^^'J•'s  daughters,  the  fair 
and  Christian  Alchfreda,  who  carried  four  priests  in 
her  train,  and  became  instrumental  in  converting  the 
people  of  Mercia.  "Thus,"  says  Hume,  "the  fair 
sex  have  had  the  merit  of  introducing  the  Christian 
doctrine  into  all  the  most  considerable  kingdoms  of 
the  Heptarchy." 

But  as  long  as  Penda  was  alive  in  the  land  there 
could  be  no  lasting  peace.  Having  desolated  East 
Anglia  (a.d.  654),  he  advanced  once  more  against 
the  Northumbrians,  his  army  being  swelled  by  the 
forces  of  thirty  vassal  kings  or  chieftains,  Welsh  or 
Cumbrians,  as  well  as  Saxons.  This  time  gifts  and 
oft'ers  were  of  no  avail.  OsAvy  was  obliged  to  fight ; 
and  the  hardest  fought  battle  that  had  been  seen  for 
many  years  before,  took  place  between  him  and 
Penda,  not  {>\y  from  York.  Here,  at  last,  this 
scourge  of  Britain  or  England  (for  tlie  first  name  is 
now  scarcely  appropriate)  perished  by  that  violent 
deatli  he  had  caused  so  many  princes,  and  thirty  of 
his  chief  captains  were  slain  with  him.  Another 
account  is,  that  of  the  thirty  vassal  kings  or  chiefs 
who  followed  him  to  the  field,  only  one  escaped,  and 
that  this  one  was  the  King  of  Gwynedh,  a  state  in 
North  Wales,  which  seems  to  have  comprised  Cardi- 
ganshire, part  of  Merionethshire,  and  all  Caernar- 
vonshire. Twelve  abbeys,  with  bi-oad  lands  attached, 
showed  the  gi-atitude  of  Oswy  for  his  unexpected 
victory ;  and,  according  to  a  custom  which  was  now 
obtaining  among  all  the  northern  conquerors,  he  ded- 
icated an  infant  daughter  to  the  sei-vice  of  God,  and 
took  her  to  the  Lady  of  Hilda,  who  short Ij^  after  re- 
moved with  her  nuns  from  Hartlepool  to  the  vale  of 
Whitby,  where  there  soon  arose  one  of  the  most 
famed  and  splendid  monasteries  of  the  middle  ages. 
But  all  the  proceedings  of  the  victor  were  not  of  so 
pious  or  tranquil  a  nature.  After  Penda's  death  Os- 
wy rapidly  overran  the  country  of  his  old  enemies 
the  Mercians,  on  whom  he  inflicted  a  cruel  ven- 
geance. He  attached  all  their  territoiy  north  of  the 
Trent  to  liis  Northumbrian  kingdom  ;  and  Peada,  his 
son-in-law,  being  treacherously  murdered  soon  after 
(it  is  said  by  his  own  wife,  who  was  Oswy's  daugh- 
ter), he  seized  the  southern  part  of  Mercia  also.  It 
was  probably  at  this  high  tide  of  his  fortune  (a.d.  655) 
that  OswY  assumed  the  rank  of  Bretwalda.  The 
usual  broad  assertion  is  made,  that  the  Picts  and 
Scots,  and  the  other  natives  of  Britain,  acknowledged 
his  supremacj*.  There  w-as  soon,  however,  another 
Bretvvalda ;  the  first  instance  we  believe  of  two  such 
suns  shining  together  in  our  hemisphere. 

In  656  the  eoldermen  or  nobles  of  Mercia  rose  up 
in  arms,  expelled  the  Northumbrians,  and  gave  the 
crown  to  Wulfere,  another  of  Penda's  sons,  whom 
they  had  carefully  concealed  from  the  eager  search 
of  Oswy.     This  Wuh'ere  not  only  retained  posses- 


sion of  Mercia,  but  extended  his  dominions  by  con- 
quests in  Wessex  and  the  neighboiing  countries ; 
after  which  he  became  king  of  all  the  "Australian 
regions,"  or  Bretwalda  in  all  those  paits  of  the  island 
that  lie  south  of  the  Humber.  About  the  same  time 
Oswy  was  further  weakened  by  the  ambition  of  his 
eldest  son  Alchfrid,  who  demanded  and  obtained  a 
part  of  Northumbria  in  independent  sovereignty. 
The  sickness  called  the  yellow,  or  the  yellers  plague, 
afflicted  Oswy  and  his  enemies  alike ;  for  it  began  in 
the  south,  giadually  extended  to  the  north,  and  at 
length  raged  over  the  whole  island  with  the  exception 
of  the  mountains  of  Caledonia.  Among  the  earliest 
victims  of  this  pestilence  were  kings,  archbishops, 
bishops,  monks,  and  nuns.  As  the  plague  now  makes 
its  appeai'ance  annually  in  some  of  the  countries  of 
the  East,  so  did  this  yellow  sickness  break  out  in  our 
island  for  twenty  years.  King  Oswy,  who  is  gene- 
rally considered  the  last  of  the  Bretwaldas,  though 
others  continue  the  title  to  Ethelbald,  King  of  Mercia, 
died  in  670,  during  the  progress  of  this  fearful  dis- 
ease, but  not  of  it. 

Although  we  here  lose  the  convenient  point  of  con- 
centration afforded  by  the  reigns  of  the  Bretwaldas, 
it  is  at  a  point  where  the  seven  kingdoms  of  the  Hep- 
tarchy had  merged  into  three  ;  for  the  weak  states 
of  Kent,  Sussex,  Essex,  and  Ea^  Anglia  were  now 
reduced  to  a  condition  of  vassalnge  by  one  or  the 
other  of  their  powerful  neighbors  :  and  the  gi'eat 
game  for  supreme  dominion  remained  in  the  hands 
of  Northumbria,  3Iercia,  and  Wessex  We  are  also 
relieved  from  any  necessity  of  detail.  The  preceding 
narrative  will  convey  a  sufficient  notion  of  the  wars 
the  Anglo-Saxon  states  waged  with  one  another ;  and 
as  we  approach  the  junction  of  the  three  great  streams 
of  Northumbria,  Mercia,  and  Wessex,  which  were 
made  to  flow  in  one  channel  under  Egbert,  we  shall 
notice  only  the  important  circumstances  that  led  to 
that  event. 

Oswy  was  succeeded  in  the  gi-eater  part  of  his 
Northumbrian  dominions  by  his  son  Egfrid,  who  was 
scarcely  seated  on  that  now  tottering  throne  when 
the  Picts  seated  between  the  Tj-ne  and  the  Forth 
broke  into  insunection.  With  a  strong  body  of  cav- 
ahy,  Egfrid  defeated  them  in  a  bloody  battle,  and 
again  reduced  them  to  a  doubtful  obedf^-nce.  Some  j 
eight  years  after,  ambitious  of  obtaining  all  the  power  fl 
his  father  had  once  held,  Egfrid  invaded  Mercia.  A 
drawn  battle  was  fought  (a.d.  679)  by  the  rival  Sax- 
ons on  the  banks  of  the  Trent,  and  peace  was  then 
restored  by  means  of  a  holy  servant  of  the  church ; 
but  it  was  beyond  the  bishop's  power  to  restore  the 
lives  of  the  brave  who  had  fallen,  and  whose  loss  sadly 
weakened  both  Mercia  and  Northumbria.  In  685 
Egfrid  was  slain  in  a  war  wnth  Brude,  the  Pictish 
king ;  and  the  Scots  and  some  of  the  northern  Welsh 
joined  the  Picts,  and  can-icd  their  arms  into  England. 
In  the  exposed  parts  of  Northumbria  the  Anglo-Sax- 
ons were  put  to  the  sword  or  reduced  to  slavery,  and 
that  kingdom  became  the  scene  of  wretchedness  and 
anarchy.  In  the  course  of  a  centuiy  fourteen  kings 
ascended  the  throne  in  a  manner  as  iiregular  as  their 
descent  from  it  was  rapid   and  ti'agical.     Six  were 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


141 


murdered  by  their  kinsmen  or  other  competitors,  five 
were  expelled  by  their  subjects,  tsvo  became  monks, 
and  one  only  died  with  the  crown  on  his  head. 

Although  exposed,  like  all  the  Anglo-Saxon  states, 
to  sanguinary  revolutions  in  its  government,  Mercia, 
the  old  rival  of  Northumbria,  for  a  considerable  period 
seemed  to  rise  on  the  decline  of  the  latter,  and  to  bid 
fair  to  be  the  victor  of  the  three  gi-eat  states.  After 
many  hardly-contested  battles  the  kings  of  Wessex 
were  reduced  to  serve  as  vassals,  and  by  the  year 
737  Ethelbald,  the  Mercian  king,  ruled  with  a 
paramount  authority  over  all  the  country  south  of 
the  Humber,  with  the  exception  only  of  Wales.  But 
five  years  after  the  vassal  state  asserted  its  indepen- 
dence, and  in  a  great  battle  at  Buxford,  in  Oxford- 
shire, victoiy  declared  for  the  Golden  Di-agon,  the 
standard  of  Wessex.  Between  the  years  757  and 
794  the  superiority  of  31ercia  was  successfully  reas- 
serted by  King  Offa,  who,  after  subduing  parts  of 
Sussex  and  Kent,  invaded  Oxfordshire,  and  took  all 
that  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Wessex  that  lay  on  the 
left  of  the  Thames.  Then  turning  his  arms  against 
the  Welsh,  he  drove  the  kings  of  Powis  from  Peng- 
wern  (now  Shrewsbury)  beyond  the  river  Wye,  and 
planted  strong  Saxon  colonies  between  that  river  and 
the  Severn.  To  secure  these  conquests  and  protect 
his  subjects  from  the  inroads  and  forays  of  the  Welsh, 
he  resorted  to  means  that  bear  quite  a  Roman  char- 
acter-. He  caused  a  ditch  and  rampart  to  be  drawn 
all  along  the  frontier  of  Wales  (a  line  measuring  100 
miles),  beginning  at  Basingwerke  in  Flintshire,  not 
far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Dee,  and  ending  on  the 
Severn  near-  Bristol.  There  are  extensive  remains 
of  the  work,  which  the  Welsh  still  call  "  Clawdh 
Offa,"  or  Offa's  Dyke.  But  the  work  was  scarcely 
finished  when  the  Welsh  filled  up  part  of  the  ditch, 
broke  through  the  rampart,  and  slew  many  of  Offa's 
soldiers  while  they  were  pleasantly  engaged  in  cele- 
brating Chi'istmas.  Offa  the  Terrible,  as  he  was 
called,  took  a  terrible  vengeance.  He  met  the  moun- 
taineers at  Rhuddlan,  and  encountered  them  in  a 
battle  there,  in  which  the  king  of  North  Wales,  and 
the  pride  of  the  Welsh  youth  and  nobility,  were  cut 
to  pieces.  The  prisoners  he  took  were  condemned 
to  the  harshest  condition  of  slavery.  Master  of  the 
south,  it  is  said  that  he  now  compelled  the  Northum- 
brians beyond  the  Humber  to  pay  him  tribute ;  but 
the  year  is  not  mentioned,  and  the  fact  is  not  very 
clear.  Ten  years  of  victory  and  conquest,  say  his 
monkish  eulogists,  neither  elated  him  nor  swelled 
him  with  pride  ;  "  yet,"  adds  one  of  them,  "  he  was 
not  negligent  of  his  regal  state  ;  for  that,  in  regard  of 
his  gi"eat  prerogative,  and  not  of  any  pride,  he  first 
instituted  and  commanded,  that  even  in  times  of 
peace,  himself,  and  his  successors  in  the  crown, 
should,  as  they  passed  through  any  city,  have  trump- 
eters going  and  sounding  before  them,  to  show  that 
the  presence  of  the  king  should  breed  both  fear  and 
honor  in  all  who  either  see  or  hear  him."^  We 
would  forgive  him  the  trampets,  cracked  and  out  of 
tune  as  they  might  be ;  but  Offa,  in  reality,  had  the 
worst  kind  of  pride — ^the  most  insatiable   ambition  ; 

1  The  Ligger  Book  of  St.  Alban's,  as  quoted  m  Speed's  Chronicles. 


and  he  was  guilty  of  a  series  of  cruel  and  treacherous 
murders  that  makes  the  heart  shudder,  even  in  the 
midst  of  these  barbarous  annals,  where  almost  every 
alternate  page  is  soaked  through  and  tlu'ough  with 
blood.  William  of  Malmesbuiy  declares  he  is  at  a 
loss  to  determine  whether  the  merits  or  crimes  of 
this  prince  preponderated  ;  but  as  Offa  was  a  most 
munificent  benefactor  to  the  church,  the  monks  in 
general  (the  only  historians  of  those  times)  did  not 
partake  of  this  scruple,  and  praised  him  to  excess. 
As  a  sovereign,  how^ever,  Offa  had  indisputable  and 
high  merits,  and  the  country  made  some  progress 
under  his  reign  and  by  his  example.  He  had  some 
taste  for  the  elegancies  of  life  and  the  fine  arts;  he 
built  a  palace  at  "  Tamworth  town,"  which  was  the 
wonder  of  the  age  ;  and  his  medals  and  coins  are  of 
much  better  taste  and  workmanship  than  those  of  any 
other  Saxon  monarch.^     He  maintained  an  epistolary 


Silver  Coin  of  Offa. — From  British  Museum. 

correspondence  WMth  Charlemagne ;  and  it  is  highly 
interesting,  and  a  consoling  proof  of  progression,  to 
see  the  trade  of  the  nation  and  the  commercial  inter- 
course between  England  and  France  made  a  subject 
of  discussion  in  these  royal  letters.  When,  towards 
the  close  of  his  reign,  his  body  being  racked  with 
disease  and  his  soul  with  a  late  remorse,  he  gave 
himself  up  to  monkish  devotion  and  superstitious  ob- 
servances, there  was  still  a  certain  taste  as  well  as 
gi-andeur  in  his  expiatoiy  donations,  and  a  remarkable 
happiness  of  choice  (though  this  is  said  to  have  been 
directed  by  the  accidental  discovery  of  a  few  bones) 
in  his  site  for  the  Abbey  of  St.  Alban's,  the  most 
magnificent  of  all  the  ecclesiastical  edifices  he  erected.* 
According  to  some  of  the  old  writers,  his  last  warlike 
exploit  was  the  defeat  of  a  body  of  Danish  invaders  : 
and  it  is  generally  allowed  that,  during  the  latter  part 
of  his  reign,  a  few  ships'  crews,  the  precursors  of 
those  hordes  that  desolated  England  soon  after,  eftec- 
ted  a  landing  on  our  coast,  and  did  some  mischief. 
On  the  death  of  Offa,  after  a  long  reign,  in  the  year 
795,  the  great  power  of  Mercia,  which  his  craft, 
valour,  and  fortune  had  built  up,  and  which  his  ener- 
gies alone  had  supported,  began  rapidly  to  decline ; 
and  as  Northumbria  continued  in  a  hopeless  condition, 
Wessex,  long  the  least  of  the  three  great  rival  states, 
soon  had  the  field  to  herself. 

At  the  time  of  Offa's  death  the  throne  of  Wessex 
was  occupied  by  Brihtric,  or  Beortric,  whose  right 
was  considered  very  questionable  even  in  those  days, 
when  the  rule  of  succession  was  very  far  fi-om  being 
settled.  Egbert,  the  son  of  Alchmund,  had  a  better 
title  but  fewer  partisans ;  and,  after  a  short  and  un- 

1  Palgrave,  Hist. 

2  The  present  venerable  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Alban's,  which  stands 
on  the  site  of  that  erected  by  Offa,  was  built  three  centuries  later,  by 
William  Rufus.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  materials  employed  are 
Roman  bricks  or  tiles  taken  from  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  city  of  ^  eru 
lamium,  which  stood  in  the  ncighborhoed. 


142 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAxND. 


[Book  II. 


successful  struggle  for  the  crown,  he  fled  for  his  life, 
and  took  refuge  in  the  court  of  Oftii,  the  Mercian. 
His  triumphant  rival,  Beortric,  then  dispatched  am- 
bassadore  into  Mercia,  charged  with  the  double  duty 
of  demanding  the  hand  of  Eadburgha,  one  of  Offa's 
daughters,  and  the  head  of  Egbert.  Ofla  reatlily 
gave  his  daughter  (he  could  hardly  have  givet!  a 
greater  curse),  but  he  refused  the  second  request. 
He,  however,  withdrew  his  protection  from  his  royal 
guest,  who  fled  a  second  time  for  his  life.  Egbert  re- 
pau-ed  to  the  court  or  camp  of  the  Emperor  Charle- 
magne, who  received  him  hospitably,  and  emplojed 
him  in  his  armies.  During  a  residence  of  fourteen  or 
fifteen  years  on  the  continent,  living  chiefly  among 
the  French,  who  were  then  much  more  polished  tlian 
the  Saxons,  ^Egbert  acquired  many  accomplishments; 
and,  whether  as  a  soldier  or  statesman,  he  could  not 
have  found  a  better  instructor  than  Charlemagne. 
Eadburgha,  the  daughter  of  Ofla,  and  wife  of  Beortric, 
was  a  woman  of  a  most  depraved  character — inconti- 
nent, wanton,  perfidious,  and  cruel.  AVhen  men 
thwarted  her  love  or  otherwise  gave  her  ofl'ence,  she 
armed  the  uxorious  king  against  them ;  and  wlien  he 
would  not  be  moved  to  cruelty,  she  became  the  exe- 
cutioner of  her  own  vengeance.  She  had  prepared 
a  cup  of  poison  for  a  young  nobleman  who  was  her 
husband's  favorite  ;  by  some  inadvertence  this  was  so 
disposed  that  the  king  drank  of  it  as  well  as  the  in- 
tended victim,  and  died  a  horrid  death  (a.d.  800). 
According  to  another  version  of  the  stoiy  she  had 
filled  the  bowl  expressly  for  the  king,  and  many  of 
his  householders  and  warriors  were  poisoned  by  it. 
The  crime  was  discovered,  and  the  queen  degraded 
and  expelled ;  the  thanes  and  men  of  Wessex  de- 
creeing, at  the  same  time,  that  for  the  future  no  king's 
wives  should  be  called  queens,  nor  sufl'ered  to  sit  by 
their  husbands'  sides  upon  the  throne.  She  also  took 
refuge  with  Charlemagne,  who  assigned  her  a  resi- 
dence in  a  convent  or  abbey.  But  in  process  of  time 
she  began  to  conduct  herself  so  viciously,  that  she 
was  turned  out  of  this  place  of  shelter.  Some  years 
after  her  expulsion  a  woman  of  foreign  mien,  and 
faded  beauty,  was  seen  begging  alms  in  the  streets  of 
Pavia,  in  Italy;  it  was  Eadburgha,  the  widow  pf 
the  king  of  the  West  Saxons — the  daughter  of  Ofla, 
monarch  of  all  England  south  of  the  Humber.  It 
is  believed  she  ended  her  days  at  Pavia. 

As  soon  as  Egbert  learned ihe  death  of  Beortric,  he 
returned  from  France  to  Wessex,  when  the  thanes 
and  the  people  received  him  with  open  arms.  The, 
first  years  of  his  reign  were  employed  in  establishing 
his  authority  over  the  inhabitants  of  Devonshire  and 
Cornwall ;  but  he  had  then  to  meet  the  hostility  of 
the  jealous  Mercians,  who  invaded  Wessex  with  all 
their  forces.  Egbert  met  them  at  Elyndome,  or 
Ellandum,  near  Wilton,  in  Wiltsliire,  with  an  army 
very  inferior  in  numbers,  but  in  superior  fighting  con- 
dition ;  being,  to  use  the  expression  of  one  of  our 
quaint  old  chroniclers,  "  lean,  meagi-e,  pale,  and  long- 
breathed,"  whereas  the  Mercians  were  "fat,  corpu- 
lent, and  short-winded."  He  gained  a  complete  vic- 
tory, and  was  soon  after  enabled  to  attach  Mercia 
and  all  its  dependencies  to  his  kingdom.     He  estab- 


lished subreguli,  or  under-kings,  in  Kent  and  East 
Anglia;  and  not  satisfied  with  the  dominion  of  the 
island  south  of  the  Humber,  he  crossed  that  river, 
and  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  Northumbria.  He 
invaded  that  once  powerful  state  when  anarchy  was 
at  its  height.  Incapable  of  resistance,  the  Northum- 
brians made  an  offer  of  entire  sulimission  (a.d.  825) ; 
and  Eanred,  their  king,  became  the  vassal  and  tribu- 
tary of  the  great  monarch  of  Wessex.  It  appeai-s, 
however,  that  Egbert  granted  much  milder  terms  of 
dependence  to  the  Northumbrans  than  to  any  of  the 
rest. 


Silver  Coin  of  Egbert. — From  British  Museum 

Thus,  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  ninth  century, 
and  three  hundred  and  seventj'-six  jears  after  the 
first  landing  of  Hengist  and  Horsa,  was  effected  what 
some  historians  call  the  reduction  of  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  Heptarchy  under  one  sovereign.  Egbert, 
however,  did  not  assume  the  title  of  King  of  England. 
He  contented  himself  with  the  style  of  King  of 
Wessex,  and  with  the  dignity  and  authority  of  Bret- 
walda.  This  authority  was  sometimes  questioned 
or  despised  in  more  than  one  part  of  the  kingdom ; 
but  counting  from  the  river  Tweed  to  the  shores  of 
the  British  Channel  and  the  exti'emity  of  Cornwall, 
there  were  none  could  make  head  against  him  ;  and 
during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  reign  he  possessed, 
or  absolutely  controlled,  more  teiritory,  not  only  than 
any  Saxon  sovereign  that  preceded  him,  but  than 
any  that  followed  him.  Even  Wales,  if  not  con- 
quered, was  at  one  time  coerced  and  kept  in  a 
dependent  state. 

But  no  sooner  had  England  made  some  approaches 
towards  a  union  and  consolidation,  and  the  blessings 
of  a  regular  government,  than  the  Danes  or  North- 
men appeared  in  force,  and  began  to  throw  every- 
thing into  confusion  and  horror.  In  the  year  832, 
when  Egbert  was  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power,  a 
number  of  these  ferocious  pirates  landed  in  the  Isle 
of  Sheppey,  and  having  plundered  it  escaped  to  their 
ships  without  loss  or  hinderance.  The  veiy  next 
year  the  marauders  landed  from  thirty-five  ships, 
and  were  encoimtered  by  the  brave  and  active  Eg- 
bert at  Charmouth,  in  Dorsetshire.  The  English 
were  astonished  at  the  ferocity  and  desperate  valor 
of  these  new  foes,  who,  though  they  lost  great  num- 
bers, maintained  their  position  for  awhile,  and  then 
made  good  their  retreat  to  their  ships.  Indeed, 
some  accounts  state  that  Egbert's  army  was  defeated 
in  the  engagement ;  that  two  chief  captains  and  tAVO 
bishops  were  slain ;  and  that  Egbert  himself  only 
escaped  by  the  covert  of  night.  In  cruising  along 
the  English  coasts,  where  they  frequently  landed  in 
small  bodies  at  defenceless  places,  the  robbers  of  the 
north  formed  an  acquaintance  with  the  inhabitants 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


U3 


Arms  and  Costume  of  Danish  Warriors. 

Designed  from  a  Plate  in  Sir  S.  Meyrick's  "  Ancient  Costume  of  the  British  Islands:"  taken  by  him  from  figures  on  a  Danish  Bass-relief; 

and  from  Mr.  Astle's  Eeliquiary,  engraved  in  the  "  Vetusta  Monumenta." 


of  Cornwall,  which  ended  in  an  ill-assorted  alliance. 
The  rugged  promontory  which  'stretches  out  to  the 
Land's  End  had  never  been  invaded  by  the  Saxon 
conquerors  of  the  island  until  the  comparatively  re- 
cent period  of  647,  and  even  then,  as  we  have  shown, 
the  native  population  there  was  not  much  disturbed. 
As  recently  as  809  Egbert  had  invaded  their  teni- 
tory,  where  he  found  them  in  such  force  and  spirit 
that  he  lost  many  of  his  ti'oops  before  he  could  re- 
duce them  to  a  nominal  obedience.  They  must 
even  now  have  been  numerous  and  warlike,  for  on  the 
stipulated  landing  in  their  territory  of  their  Danish 
allies,  in  834,  they  joined  them  in  gi-eat  force,  and 
-marched  with  them  into  Devonshire,  where  they 
found  many  old  Britons  equally  willing  to  rise  against 
the  Saxons  who  had  settled  among  them.  But 
Egbert  was  again  on  the  alert.  He  met  them  with 
his  well-appointed  army  at  Hengsdown-hill,  and  de- 
feated them  with  enormous  slaughter. 

This  was  the  last  martial  exploit  of  Egbert,  who 
died  in  836,  after  a  long  reign.  The  kingdom  he 
had  in  a  manner  built  up  out  of  many  pieces  began 
to  fall  asunder  almost  before  his  coffin  was  deposited 


in  the  church  of  Winchester.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  eldest  surviving  son  Ethelwulf,  one  of  the 
first  operations  of  whose  government  was  to  give  the 


Silver  Coin  of  Ethelwulf. 

kingdom  of  Kent,  with  its  dependencies,  Sussex  and 
Essex,  in  separate  sovereignty,  to  his  son  Athelstane.' 
He  retained  Wessex ;  but  Mercia,  which  Egbert 
had  subdued,  again  started  into  independence  ;  and 
thus,  when  union  was  becoming  more  and  more 
necessarj-,  to  face  an  enemy  as  ten-ible  to  the  Sax- 
ons as  the  Saxons  had  been  to  the  Britons,  the  spirit 

1  Elhelwulf  had  been  sub-regulus  of  Kent  under  his  father,  but  then 
he  was  in  reality  subordinate  to  Egbert,  who  maintained  full  authority 
It  is  not  quite  clear  whether  Athelst;r;ie  was  the  eldest  son  or  the  bro- 
ther of  Etbelwulf. 


144 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


of  disunion,  jealousy,  and  discord  assumed  a  fatal 
ascendency. 

The  Scandinavian  pirates  soon  found  there  was  no 
longer  an  Egbert  in  tlie  land.  They  ravaged  all  the 
southern  coasts  of  the  kingdoms  of  AVessex  and 
Kent ;  they  audaciously  sailed  up  the  Thames  and 
the  Medway ;  and  stormed  and  pillaged  London, 
Rochester,  and  Canterbuiy.  The  idea  of  the  need 
of  a  common  cooperation  at  last  suggested  itself,  and 
a  sort  of  congi'ess  composed  of  the  bishops  and  thanes 
of  Wessex  and  Mercia,  was  held  at  Kingsbuiy,  in 
Oxfordshire  (a.d.  851).  Some  energetic,  and  for 
the  most  part  successful  measures  followed  these 
deliberations.  Barhulf,  King  of  Mercia.  was  defeated 
and  slain ;  but  Ethelwulf  and  his  son  Ethelbald,  at 
the  head  of  their  men  of  Wessex,  gained  a  complete 
victory  over  the  Danes  at  Okeley,  in  Surrey,  and 
achieved  such  a  slaughter  as  those  marauders  had 
never  before  suftered  in  any  of  the  several  countries 
they  had  invaded.  Soon  after  Athelstane,  the  King 
of  Kent,  with  Alchere,  the  eolderjxian,  defeated  the 
pirates,  and  took  nine  of  their  ships  at  Sandwich. 
The  west  of  England  also  contributed  a  victory ;  for 
Ceorl,  with  the  men  of  Devon,  defeated  the  Danes 
at  Wenbury.  These  severe  checks,  together  with 
the  disordered  state  of  France,  which  favored  their 
incursions  in  that  direction,  where  they  soon  laid 
Paris  in  ashes,  seem  to  have  induced  the  marauders 
to  suspend  for  awhile  their  great  attacks  on  England  ; 
but  such  was  the  mischief  they  had  done,  and  the 
apprehensions  they  still  inspired,  that  the  Wednes- 
day of  each  week  was  appointed  as  a  day  of  public 
prayer  to  implore  the  Divine  assistance  against  the 
Danes.  During  the  confusion  their  attacks  caused 
in  England,  the  Welsh  many  times  descended  from 
theu-  mountains,  and  fell  upon  the  Saxons.  Ethel- 
wulf is  said  to  have  taken  vengeance  for  this,  by 
marching  through  their  country  as  far  as  the  Isle  of 
Anglesey,  and  compelling  the  Welsh  to  acknowledge 
his 'authority ;  but  precisely  the  same  stories  are 
vaguely  related  (as  this  is)  of  several  Saxon  kings, 
who  certainly  never  preserved  any  conquest  or 
authority  there  for  any  length  of  time. 

Ever  since  then*  conversion  the  Saxons  of  superior 
condition  had  been  singularly  enamored  of  journeys 
or  pilgrimages  to  Rome ;  and  besides  the  prelates 
who  went  upon  business,  many  princes  and  kings, 
crowned  or  uncrowned  and  dethroned,  had  told  their 
orisons  before  the  altar  of  St.  Peter.  Ethelwulf, 
whose  devotion  was  fei-vent,  though  his  sense  of 
some  moral  duties  was  languid,  now  felt  the  general 
desire,  and,  as  the  island  was  tranquil,  he  passed  over 
to  the  continent  (a.d.  853),  and,  crossing  the  Alps 
and  the  Apennines,  arrived  at  Rome,  where  he  was 
lionorably  received,  and  tarried  nearly  one  year. 
On  his  return,  forgetting  that  he  was  an  old  man,  he 
became  enamored  of  Judith,  the  fair  and  youthful 
(laughter  of  Charles  the  Bald,  King  of  the  Franks, 
and  espoused  that  princess  with  gieat  solemnity  in 
the  cathedral  of  Rheims,  where  he  placed  her  by 
Ills  side,  and  caused  her  to  be  crowned  as  queen. 
Alhelstane,  his  eldest  son,  was  dead,  but  Ethelwulf 
had  still  three   sons  of  man's   estate,  —  Ethelbald, 


Ethelbert,  and  Ethelred,  besides  Alfred,  then  a  boy, 
who  was  destined  to  see  his  brothers  ascend  and 
descend    the    throne    in    rapid    succession,    and    to 
become    himself   "  the    Great."      From   the   usual 
thirst   for   power,    it   is   probable   that,    before    this 
French  marriage,  Ethelbald,  who  was  already  in- 
tiiisted  with  the  government  of  part  of  his  father's 
kingdom,  was  anxious  to  possess  himself  of  the  whole  ; 
but  the  marriage  and  the  circumstances   attending 
it  gave  plausible  grounds  of  complaint,  and   Prince 
Ethelbald,  Adelstane,  Bishop   of  Sherborn,  Enwulf, 
Earl  of  Somerset,  and  the  other  thanes  and  men  of 
Wessex  that  joined  in  a  plot  to  dethrone  the  absent 
king,  set  forth  in  their  manifesto  that  he  had  given 
the  name  and  authority  of  queen  to  his  French  wife, 
had  seated  her  by  his  side  on  the  throne,  and  "  openly 
eaten  with  her  at  the  table ;"  all  which  was  against 
the  constitution  and  laws  of  Wessex,  which  had  for 
ever  abolished  the  queenly  dignity,  in  consequence  of 
the  crimes  of  Eadburgha.     It  is  probable  also  that 
the  favor  shown  to  the  boy  Alfred  had  some  share  in 
Ethelbald's  resentment.     EthehvTilf  had  carried  his 
favorite   son  with  him  to  Rome,   where  the    pope 
anointed  him  as  king  with  holy  oil,  and  with  his  own 
hands.     It  is  more  than  likely  that  Alfred  had  al- 
ways been  destined  by  his  father  to  fill   a   minor 
throne  in  the  kingdom,  but  this  act,  and  the  wonder- 
ful estimation  the  oil  of  consecration  was  held  in,  in 
those    days,    especially  when   administered   by  the 
pontiff  of  the  Christian  world,  luay  have  induced  his 
brothers  to  suspect  that  the  Benjamin  of  the  family 
was  to  be  prefen-ed  to  them  all.     A  recent  historian 
— an  indefatigable  searcher  into  the  old  chronicles 
and  records   of  the   kingdom — is   of  opinion   that, 
though  the  fact  is  not  mentioned  in  express  terms  in 
our  ancient  historians,  Osburgha,  his  first  wife,  and 
the  mother  of  his  children,  was  not  dead  at  the  time, 
but  merely  put  away  by  Ethelwulf  to  make  room 
for  Judith.'     In  spite  of  their  devotion  and  zeal  for 
the  church,  such  proceedings  were  not  uncommon 
among  kings  in  the  middle  ages  ;  but  if  Ethelwulf  so 
acted,  the  undutifulness  of  his  eldest  son,  who  had  a 
mother's  wrongs  to  avenge,  would  appear  the  more 
excusable.     Whatever  were  their  motives  and  griev- 
ances, a  formidable  faction,  in  arms,  opposed  Ethel- 
^\'ulf  when  he  returned  to  the  island  with  his  young 
bride.     Yet   the   old   king   had   many   friends ;   his 
part^'  gained  strength  after  his  an'ival  among  them, 
and  it  was  thought  he  might  have  expelled  Ethel- 
bald and  his  adherents.     But  the   old  man  shrunk 
from  the  accumulated  hoiTors  of  a  civil  wai*  waged 
between  father  and  son,   and  consented  to  a  com- 
promise, which,  on  his  part,  was  attended  with  great 
sacrifices.     Retaining  to  himself  the  eastern  part  of 
the  kingdom  of  Wessex,  he  resigned  all  the  western, 
which  was  considered  the  richer  and  better  portion, 
to   Ethelbald.     "  And   this   unequal   division,"   says 
Speed,  "  gave  great  suspicion  that  the  revolt  was 
rather  grounded  upon  ambition  than  any  inclination 
they  had  for  their  laws."     Ethulwulf  did  not  long 

J  According  to  some  of  the  chroniclers,  the  Queen  Osburgha  was 

alive  twenty-seven  years  after  Ethelwulfs  marriage  with  Judith,  and 

I  in  8T8  repaired  to  Athelney,  in  Somersetshire,  the  retreat  of  her  son 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


145 


survive  this  partition,  dying  in  857,  in  the  twenty- 
first  year  of  iiis  reign. 

Ethelrald  then  not  only  succeeded  to  the  whole 
of  his  father's  kingdom,  but  to  his  young  widow  also  ; 
for,  according  to  the  chroniclers,  howsoever  unwilling 
he  had  been  that  this  fair  queen  should  sit  in  state 
by  his  fiither's  side,  yet,  contrary  to  all  laws  both  of 
God  and  man,  he  placed  her  by  his  own,  and  by 
nuptial  rites  brought  her  to  his  sinful  and  incestuous 
bed.  A  tolerably  well-grounded  supposition  that 
Judith  was  only  twelve  years  old  when  Ethelwulf 
married  her,  and  that  their  marriage  had  never  been 
consummated,  may  diminish  our  horror ;  but  such 
a  union  could  in  no  sense  be  tolerated  by  the  Romish 
Church,  which,  by  means  of  its  bishops  in  England, 
at  last  gained  Ethelbald's  reluctant  consent  to  a 
divorce.  According  to  other  old  authorities,  the 
mari'iage  was  only  dissolved  by  his  death,  and  priests 
and  people  generally  attributed  the  shortness  of 
his  reign,  which  did  not  last  two  years,  to  the  sinful 
marriage,  which  had  drawn  down  God's  vengeance. 
As  she  is  connected  by  her  posterity  with  many 
succeeding  ages  of  our  history,  we  must  devote  a 
few  words  to  the  rest  of  the  checkered  career  of 
Judith.  Either  on  her  divorce,  or  at  the  death  of 
Ethelbald,  she  retired  to  France,  and  lived  some  time 
in  a  convent  at  Senlis,  a  few  miles  to  the  north  of 
Paris.  From  this  convent  she  either  eloped  with, 
or  was  forcibly  carried  off  by,  Baldwin,  the  gi'and  for- 
ester of  Ardennes.  Her  father,  Charles  the  Bald, 
made  his  bishops  excommunicate  Baldwin  for  having 
ravished  a  widow  ;  but  the  pope  took  a  milder  view  of 
the  case,  and  by  his  mediation  the  marriage  of  the  still 
youthful  Judith  with  her  third  husband  was  solem- 
nized in  a  regular  manner,  and  the  earldom  of  Flan- 
ders was  bestowed  on  Baldwin.  Judith  then  lived 
in  great  state  and  magnificence :  her  son,  the  second 
earl  of  Flanders,  espoused  Elfrida,  the  youngest 
daughter  of  our  Alfred  the  Great,  from  whom, 
through  five  lineal  descents,  proceeded  Maud,  or 
Matilda,  the  wife  of  William  the  Conqueror,  from 
whom  again  descended  all  the  subsequent  kings  of 
England. 

Ethelbald  was  succeeded  in  the  kingdom  of  Wes- 
sex  by  his  brother  Ethelbert,  who  had  a  short 
reign,  troubled  beyond  measure  by  the  Danes,  who 
now  made  inroads  in  almost  every  part  of  the  island. 
He  had  the  mortification  to  see  them  burn  Winches- 
ter, his  capital,  and  permanently  establish  themselves 
in  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  which  they  made  their  nucleus, 
and  the  key  of  their  conquests,  just  as  the  Saxons 
had  done  more  than  four  centuries  before.  This 
king  died  in  the  year  866  or  867,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother  Ethelred,  who,  in  the  course  of  one 
year,  had  to  fight  nine  pitched  and  murderous  bat- 
tles against  the  Danes.  Whilst  he  was  thus  busied 
in  resisting  the  invaders  in  the  south  and  west  parts 
of  the  island,  the  kings  and  chiefs  of  Mercia  and 
Northumbria  wholly  withdrew  from  their  covenanted 
subjection  or  alliance,  and,  only  thinking  of  them- 
selves, they  gave  no  timely  aid  to  one  another  or  to 
the  common  cause.  Thus  left  to  their  own  re- 
sources, the  men  of  Wessex  maintained  a  doubtful 
VOL.  I — 10 


sti'uggle,  at  times  losing,  and  at  others  gaming  bat- 
tles. According  to  the  old  writers,  the  destruction 
of  the  Danes  was  immense ;  and  during  the  five  or 
six  years  of  Ethelred's  reign  there  were  killed  in  the 
field  nine  yarls  or  earls,  one  king,  "  besides  others 
of  the  meaner  sort  without  number."  But  this  loss 
was  constantly  supplied  by  fresh  forces  from  the 
north,  who  brought  as  eager  an  appetite  for  plunder 
as  their  precursors,  and  whose  vengeance  became 
the  more  inflamed  as  the  number  of  deaths  of  their  ' 
brethren  was  increased.  In  most  of  these  con- 
flicts Alfred,  who  was  already  far  more  fitted  to 
command,  fought  along  with  Ethelred,  the  last  of 
his  brothers ;  and  at  Ashton  or  Ashenden,  in  Berk- 
shire, while  the  king  was  engaged  at  his  prayers, 
and  would  not  move  with  his  division  of  the  Saxon 
army  till  mass  was  over,  Alfred  sustained  the  brunl 
of  the  whole  Danish  force,  and  mainly  contributed 
to  a  splendid  victoiy.  The  victory  of  Ashton  was 
followed  by  the  defeats  of  Basing  and  Mereton  ;  and, 
soon  after,  Ethelred  died  (871),  at  Whittingham,  of 
wounds  received  in  battle,  upon  which  the  crown 
fell  to  Alfred,  the  only  surviving  and  the  best  of  all 
the  sons  of  Ethelwulf.  But,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, the  crown  was  a  jewel  of  no  price,  and  for 
many  years  the  hero  had  to  fight  for  territory  and 
for  life  against  the  formidable  Danes. 

The  piratical  hordes  called  Danes  or  Norsemen 
by  the  English,  Normans  by  our  neighbors  the 
French,  and  Normanni  by  the  Italians,  were  not 
merely  natives  of  Denmark,  properly  so  called,  but 
belonged  also  to  Norway,  Sweden,  and  other  coun- 
tries spread  round  the  Baltic  sea.  They  were  oflT- 
shoots  of  the  great  Scandinavian  branch  of  the  Teu- 
tons, who,  under  different  names,  conquered  and 
recomposed  most  of  the  states  of  Europe  on  the 
downfall  of  the  Roman  empire.  Such  of  the  Scan- 
dinavian tribes  as  did  not  move  to  the  south  and  the 
west  to  establish  themselves  permanently  in  fertile 
provinces,  but  remained  in  the  barren  and  bleak 
regions  of  the  north,  devoted  themselves  to  piracy  as 
a  profitable  and  honorable  profession.  The  Saxons, 
then  scattered  along  the  south  of  the  Baltic,  did  this 
in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  and  now,  in  the 
ninth  century,  they  were  becoming  the  victims  of 
their  old  system,  earned  into  practice  by  their  kin- 
dred the  Danes,  Swedes,  Norwegians,  and  others. 
All  these  people  were  of  the  same  race  as  the  Sax- 
ons, being  an  after-ton-ent  from  the  same  Scandina- 
vian fountain-head ;  and  though  time,  and  a  change 
of  country  and  religion  on  the  part  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  had  made  some  difference  between  them, 
the  common  resemblance  in  physical  appearance, 
language,  and  other  essentials,  was  still  strong.  It 
is  indeed  remarkable  that  the  three  difterent  con- 
quests of  England  made  in  the  course  of  six  centu- 
ries, were  all  the  work  of  one  race  of  men,  bearing 
diff'erent  names  at  diff'erent  epochs ;  for  the  Nor- 
mans of  the  eleventh  centuiy  were  called  Danes  in 
the  ninth,  and  were  of  the  same  stock  as  the  Danes 
and  Saxons  they  subdued  in  England.  A  settlement 
of  200  years  in  France,  and  an  intermixture  with 
the  people  of  that  country,  had  wonderfully  modified 


146 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


the  Scandinavian  character,  but  still  the  followers 
of  William  the  Conqueror  had  a  much  greater  af- 
finity with  the  Danes  and  Anglo-Saxons  than  is  gen- 
erall}'  imagined. 

Hume  and   other  historians  are   of  opinion   that 
the  remorseless  cruelties  practised  by  Charlemagne 
from  the  year  772  to  803,  upon  the  Pagan  Saxons 
settled  on  the  Rhine  and  in   Germany,  were  the 
cause  of  the  fearful  reaction  and  the  confirmed  idol- 
atry of  that  people.'     There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
this  was  partly  the  case ;  and  it  is  a  well-established  , 
fact  that  the  Northmen  or  Normans  made  the  imbe- 
cile posterity  of  Charlemagne  pay  dearly  for  their 
father's   cruelty.      Retieating   from   the   arras,   the  [ 
priests,  and  the  compulsory  baptisms  of  this  con-  | 
queror,  many  of  these  Saxons  fixed  their  homes  in 
the  peninsula  of  Jutland,  which   had    been   nearly 
evacuated  tliree  centuries  before  by  the  Jutes  and 
Angles  who  went   to   conquer  England.     A  mixed 
population,  of  which  the   Jutes  formed  the   larger 
portion,  had,  however,  grown  up  in  the  interval  on 
that  peninsula,  and,  as  they  were  unconverted,  thej- 
w^ere  inclined  to  give  a  friendly  reception  to  brethren 
sufl'ering  in  the  cause  of  Woden.     The   next  step 
was  obvious,  and  in  the  reprisals  made  on  the  French 
coasts,   which  were  ravaged   long   before    those   of 
England  were  touched,  the  men  of  Jutland  were 
probably  joined  by  many  of  their  neighbors  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Baltic,  the  islands  of  Z eland,  Funen, 
and  the  islets  of  the  Cattegat.     All  these  might  prob- 
ably be  called  Danes ;  but  there  are  reasons  for  be- 
heving  tliat  the  invaders  of  our  island,  under  Alfred 
and  his  predecessors,  were  chiefly  Norwegians  and  | 
not   Danes ;    and   that   the   real   Danish   invasions,  j 
which  ended  in  final  conquest,  were  not  commenced  • 
until  nearly  a  century  later.     Our  old  chroniclers,  i 
who  applied  one  general  name  to  all,  call  Rollo,  "  the  ! 
Ganger,"  one  of  the  most  formidable  of  our  invaders, 
a  Dane,  and  jet  it  is  well  ascertained  that  he  was  a 
Norwegian  nobleman.     It  is  difficult,  however,  and 
not  very  imjwrtant,  to  distinguish  between  two  na-  ] 
tions  speaking  the   same   language   and  having  the  i 
same  manners  and  pursuits.     All  the  maritime  Scan- 
dinavian  tribes,  from   Jutland   to   the  head  of  the  ; 
Baltic — from  Copenhagen  nearly  to  the  North  Cape  ; 
— ^were  pirates  alike  ;  and  the  fleet  that  sailed  fi-om  j 
the  coasts   of  Norway  would  often  be  mixed  with  i 
ships  from  Jutland  and  Denmark,  and  vice  versa,  i 
Moreover,  on  certain   great  occasions,   when   their  j 
highest   numerical  force  was   required,   the   "  Sea-  ' 
kings,"  the  leaders  of  these  hordes,  were  known  to  ! 
make  very  extensive  leagues. 

In  their  origin  the  piratical  associations  of  the 
Northmen  partook  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  our 
privateering  companies  in  war-time,  but  still  more 
closely  resembled  the  associations  of  the  Corsairs  of 
the  Barbary  coast,  who,  crossing  the  Mediterranean 
as  the  Danes  and  Norwegians  did  the  German  Ocean 
and  the  British  Channel,  for  many  ages  plundered 

1  Charlemapne  massacred  the  Saxons  by  thousands,  even  after  they 
bid  laid  down  their  arms.  "Hie  alternative  he  oflered  was  death  or  a 
Christian  baptism.  Those  who  renounced  their  old  gods,  or  pretended 
to  do  so,  he  sent  in  colonies  into  the  interior  of  France.  Some  were 
even  hurried  into  Italy. 


every  Cliristian  ship  and  country  they  could  approach. 
The  governments  at  home,  such  as  they  were,  licensed 
the  depredations,  and  partook  of  the  spoils,  having, 
as  it  seems,  a  regularly  fixed  {x»rtion  allotted  them 
after  every  successful  expedition.  Like  the  Saxons 
we  have  described,  the  Danes,  the  Norwegians,  and 
all  the  Scandinavians  were  familiar  with  the  sea  and 
its  dangers,  and  expert  mariners.  Every  family  had 
its  boat  or  its  ship,  and  the  younger  sons  of  the  no- 
blest of  the  land  had  no  other  fortune  than  theii' 
swords  and  their  chiules  (keels).  With  these  they 
fought  their  way  to  fame  and  fortune,  or  perished 
by  the  tempest  or  battle,  which  were  both  considered 
most  honorable  deaths.  All  the  males  were  prac- 
tised in  the  use  of  arms  from  their  infancy,  and  the 
art  of  war  was  cultivated  with  more  success  than  by 
any  nation  in  Europe.  The  astonishing  progress  of 
the  Danes  (as  they  were  called)  in  England,  of  the 
Normans  in  France,  and  later,  in  Italy  and  Sicily, 
not  only  prove  their  physical  vigor,  their  valor  and 
perseverance,  but  their  militarj*  skill  and  address. 
Their  religion  and  literature  (for  they  had  a  litera- 
ture at  least  as  early  as  the  eighth  century)  were 
subservient  to  the  ruling  passions  for  war  and  plun- 
der, or,  more  properly  speaking,  they  were  both  cast 
in  the  mould  of  those  passions,  and  stamped  with 
the  deep  impress  of  the  national  character.  The 
blood  of  then-  enemies  in  war,  and  a  rude  hospitaUty, 
with  a  barbarous  excess  in  drinking,  were  held  to  be 
the  incense  most  acceptable  to  the  god  Woden,  who 
himself  had  perhaps  been  nothing  more  than  a  mighty 
slayer  and  drinker.  War  and  feasting  were  the  con- 
stant themes  of  their  scalds  or  bards ;  and  what  they 
called  their  history,  which  is  mixed  with  fable  to 
such  a  degi-ee  that  the  fragments  remaining  of  it  ai"e 
seldom  intelligible,  recorded  little  else  than  piracy 
and  bloodshed.  Like  their  brethren  the  Saxons, 
they  were  not  at  one  time  very  bigoted,  or  very  in- 
tolerant to  other  modes  of  faith,  but  when  they  came 
to  England,  they  were  embitteied  by  recent  perse- 
cution, and  they  treated  the  Saxons  as  renegados 
who  had  forsaken  the  faith  of  their  common  ances- 
tors to  embrace  that  of  their  deadly  enemies.  This 
feeling  was  shown  in  their  merciless  attacks  on 
priests,  churches,  monasteries,  and  convents. 

With  good  steel  arms  the  Danes  were  abundantly 
provided.  Their  weapons  seem  to  have  been  much 
the  same  as  those  used  by  the  Saxons  at  their  inva- 
sion of  the  island,  but  the  Scandiua\ian  mace  and 
battle-axe  were  still  more  conspicuous,  particularly  a 
double -biaded  axe.  '■  To  shoot  well  with  the  bow" 
was  also  an  indispensable  qualification  to  a  Danish 
warrior ;  and  as  the  Saxons  had  totally  neglected 
archeiy,  it  should  seem  the  English  were  indebted 
to  the  conquest,  and  intermixture  wth  them,  of  the 
Danes  for  the  high  fame  they  afterwards  enjoyed  as 
bowmen.  They  had  great  skill  in  choosing  and  for- 
tifying the  positions  they  took  up.  Wherever  a 
camp  was  established,  a  ditch  was  dug,  and  a  ram- 
part raised  with  extraordinary  rapidity ;  and  all  the 
skill  and  bravery  of  the  Saxons  were  generally  baf- 
fled by  these  intrenchments.  Their  ships  were  large 
and  capable  of  contaioing  many  men ;  but  in  most  of 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


147 


theii'  expeditions  they  were  attended  by  vessels  draw- 
ing little  water,  that  could  easily  run  up  the  creeks 
and  rivers  of  our  island.  Many  of  our  rivers,  how- 
ever, must  have  been  deeper  in  those  times,  for  we 
constantly  hear  of  their  ascending  such  as  would  not 
now  float  the  smallest  embarkation.  They  frequently 
drew  their  vessels  on  shore,  and  having  formed  an 
intrenchment  around  them  (as  Caesar  had  done  with 
his  invading  fleet),  they  left  part  of  their  force  to 
guard  them,  and  then  scattered  themselves  over  the 
country  to  plunder  and  destroy.  On  many  occasions 
they  dragged  their  vessels  overland  from  one  river 
to-  another,  or  from  one  arm  of  the  sea  to  another 
inlet. 

If  they  met  a  superior  force,  they  fled  to  their 
ships,  and  disappeared ;  for  there  was  no  dishonor 
in  retreat,  when  they  can-ied  off"  the  pillage  they  had 
made.  They  then  suddenly  appeared  on  some  other 
distant  or  unprepared  coast,  and  repeated  the  same 
manoeuvres  ;  thus,  at  length,  as  their  numbers  in- 
creased more  and  more,  keeping  every  part  of  Eng- 
land in  a  constant  state  of  alarm,  and  preventing  the 
people  of  one  countiy  from  marching  to  the  assist- 
ance of  those  of  another,  lest  in  their  absence  their 
own  district  should  be  invaded,  and  their  own  fami- 
lies and  property  fall  the  victims  of  the  marauders. 
The  father  and  brothers  of  Alfred  had  established  a 
sort  of  local  dista-ict  militia ;  but  the  same  causes  of 
self-interest  and  alarm  continued,  and  it  was  sel- 
dom that  a  sufficient  force  could  be  concentrated  on 
one  point,  in  time  to  prevent  the  depredations  of  the 
pu'ates.  On  some  occasions,  however,  these  armed 
burghers  and  peasants,  throwing  themselves  between 
the  Danes  and  their  ships,  recovered  the  bootj%  and 
inflicted  a  fearful  vengeance  ;  quarter  was  rarely 
given  to  the  defeated  invaders.  For  a  considerable 
time,  the  Danes  carefully  avoided  coming  to  any  gen- 
eral engagement ;  for,  like  the  Picts  and  Scots  of  old, 
their  object  was  merely  to  make  forays,  and  not  con- 
quests and  settlements.  Their  success,  with  the 
weakness  and  divisions  of  England,  gradually  enlarged 
their  views.  They  brought  no  horses  with  them ; 
but  as  cavalry  was  necessary  to  scour  the  country, 
and  an  important  component  of  an  armed  force,  they 
seized  and  mounted  all  the"  horses  they  could  catch  ; 
and  as  their  operations  extended  inland,  their  first 
care  was  to  provide  themselves  with  those  animals, 
for  the  procuring  of  which  they  would  promise  neu- 
trality or  an  exemption  from  plunder,  to  the  people 
or  districts  that  furnished  them.  Thus,  on  one  occa- 
sion, the  men  of  East  Anglia  mounted  the  faithless 
robbers,  who  rushed  upon  the  men  of  Mercia,  vow- 
ing they  would  not  injure  the  horse-lenders.  But  no 
promises  or  vows  were  regarded — no  treaty  was  kept 
sacred  by  the  Danes,  who  had  always  the  ready  ex- 
cuse (when  they  thought  fit  to  make  one),  that  the 
peace  or  truce  was  broken  by  other  bands,  over 
whom  those  who  made  the  treaty  had  no  control. 
Thus,  when  the  men  of  Kent  resorted  to  the  fatal 
expedient  of  offering  money  for  their  forbearance, 
the  Danes  concluded  a  treatj%  took  the  gold,  and, 
breaking  from  their  permanent  head-quarters  in  the 
Isle  of  Thanet,  ravaged  the  whole  of  their  country 


shortly  after.  The  old  writers  continually  call  them 
"  truce-breakers  ;"  and  the  Danes  well  deserved  the 
name. 

We  need  not  foUow  the  gi-adual  development  of 
this  sanguinary  story,  nor  trace,  step  by  step,  how 
the  Danes  established  themselves  in  the  island.  It 
will  be  enough  to  show  their  possessions  and  power 
on  the  accession  of  Alfred  to  the  degraded  throne. 
They  held  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  which  gave  them  the 
command  of  the  river  Thames  and  the  coasts  of  Kent 
and  Essex  ;  they  had  thoroughly  overrun  or  conquer- 
ed all  Northumbria,  from  the  Tweed  to  the  Hum- 
ber ;  they  had  planted  strong  colonies  at  York,  which 
city,  destroyed  during  the  wars,  they  rebuilt.  South 
of  the  Humber,  with  the  exception  of  the  Isle  of 
TJianet,  their  iron  grasp  on  the  soil  was  less  sure, 
but  they  had  desolated  Nottinghamshire,  Lincoln- 
shire, Cambridgeshire,  Norfolk,  and  Suffolk;  and, 
with  numbers  constantly  increasing,  they  ranged 
through  the  whole  length  of  the  island  on  this  side 
the  Tweed,  with  the  exception  only  of  the  western 
counties  of  England,  and  had  established  fortified 
camps  between  the  Severn  and  the  Thames.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  standard  had  been  gradually  retreating 
towards  the  southwestern  corner  of  our  island, 
which  includes  Somersetshire,  Devonshire,  and  Corn- 
wall, and  which  was  now  about  to  become  the  scene 
of  Alfred's  most  romantic  adventures.  For  awhile, 
the  English  expected  the  anlval  of  their  foes  during 
tlie  spring  and  summer  months,  and  their  departure 
at  the  close  of  autumn  ;  but  now  a  Danish  army  had 
wintered  seven  years  in  the  land,  and  there  was  no 
longer  a  hope  of  the  blessing  of  their  ever  departing 
from  it. 

But  Alfred,  the  savior  of  his  people,  did  not  de- 
spair, even  when  worse  times  came  :  he  calmly 
abode  the  storm  over  which  his  valor,  but  still  more 
his  prudence,  skill,  and  wisdom,  finally  triumphed. 
Though  only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  he  had  been 
already  ti-ied  in  many  battles.  He  had  scarcely  been 
a  month  on  the  throne,  when  his  army,  very  inferior 
in  force  to  that  of  the  Danes,  was  forced  into  a  gen- 
eral engagement  at  Wilton.  After  fighting  despe- 
rately through  a  great  part  of  the  day,  the  heathens 
fled ;  but  seeing  the  fewness  of  those  who  pursued, 
they  set  themselves  to  battle  again,  and  got  the  field. 
Alfred  was  absent  at  the  time,  and  it  is  probable  his 
army  was  guilty  of  some  imprudence  ;  but  the  Danes 
suffered  so  seriously  in  the  battle  of  Wilton,  that 
they  were  fain  to  conclude  a  peace  with  him,  and 
evacuate  his  kingdom  of  Wessex,  which  they  hardly 
touched  again  for  three  years.  The  invading  army 
withdrew  in  the  direction  of  London,  in  which  city 
they  passed  the  winter.  In  the  following  spring, 
having  been  joined  in  London  by  fresh  hosts,  both 
from  Northumbria  and  from  their  own  country,  they 
marched  into  Lyndesey,  or  Lincolnshire,  robbing 
and  burning  the  towns  and  villages  as  they  went,  and 
reducing  the  people,  whose  lives  they  spared,  to  a 
complete  state  of  slavery.  From  Lincolnshire  the)' 
marched  to  Derbyshire,  and  wintered  there  at  the 
town  of  Repton. 

The  next  year  (a.d.  875)  one  armj-  under  Half- 


148 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Arms  and  Costi'mb  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  Kino  and  Armor-Bearer. 
Designed  from  a  Saxon  IlIuminHted  US.  Cotton  Lib.  Claudius  B.  IV. 


den,  or  Halfdane,  was  employed  in  settling  North- 
umbria,  and  in  waging  war  witli  that  probably  mixed 
population  that  still  dwelt  in  Cumberland,  Westmore- 
land, and  Galloway,  or  what  was  called  the  kingdom 
of  Strathclyde.  They  now  came  into  hostile  collision 
with  the  Scots,  who  were  forced  to  retreat  beyond 
the  Friths  of  Clyde  and  Forth.  Halfdane  then  di- 
vided the  mass  of  the  Northumbrian  territory  among 
his  followers,  who,  settling  among  the  Anglo-Saxons 
there,  and,  intermarrying  with  them,  became,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  generations,  so  mixed  as  to  form  al- 
most one  people.  It  is  not  easy,  from  the  vagueness 
of  the  old  writers,  to  fix  hmits;  but  this  fusion  was 
probably  felt  strongest  along  our  northeastern  coast 
between  the  Tees  and  the  Tweed,  where  some 
Danish  peculiarities  are  still  detected  among  the 
people.  W^lile  Halfdane  was  pursuing  these  mea- 
sures in  the  north,  a  still  stronger  army,  commanded 
by  three  kings,  marched  upon  Cambridge,  which 
they  fortified  and  made  their  winter-quarters.  By 
this  time  the  Anglo-Saxon  kingdoms  of  Northumbria, 
Mercia,  and  East  Anglia  were  entirely  obliterated. 


and  the  contest  lay  between  the  Danes  and  Alfred's 
men  of  Wessex. 

At  the  opening  of  the  year  876,  the  host  that  had 
wintered  in  Cambridge,  took  to  their  ships,  and, 
resolving  to  carry  the  war  they  had  renewed  into 
the  heart  of  Wessex,  they  landed  on  the  coast  of 
Dorsetshire,  surprised  the  castle  of  Wareham,  and 
scoured  the  neighboring  countiy.  But  in  the  inter- 
val of  the  truce,  Alfred's  mind  had  conceived  an  idea 
which  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  embryo  of  the 
naval  glory  of  England.  After  their  establishment 
in  our  island,  the  Saxons,  who,  at  their  first  coming, 
were  as  nautical  a  people  as  the  Danes,  imprudently 
neglected  sea  affairs ;  but,  in  his  present  straits,  Al- 
fred saw  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  em- 
ploj'ment  of  ships  along  tlie  coast,  where  they  might 
either  prevent  the  landing  of  an  enemy,  or  cut  off 
their  supplies  and  reinforcements,  which  generally 
came  by  sea,  and  as  frequently  from  the  continent 
as  elsewhere.  The  first  flotilla  he  set  afloat  was 
small  and  almost  contemptible  ;  but  in  its  very  first 
:  encounter  with  the  enemy,  it  proved  victorious,  at- 


Chap.  T.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


149 


tacking  a  Danish  squadron  of  seven  ships,  one  of 
which  was  taken,  the  rest  put  to  flight.  This  hap- 
pened immediately  after  the  surprise  of  Wareham  ; 
and  when,  in  a  few  days,  the  Danes  agi-eed  to  treat 
for  peace,  and  evacuate  the  territoiy  of  Wessex,  the 
consequences  of  the  victory  were  magnified  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people.  In  concluding  this  peace,  after 
the  Danish  chiefs  or  kings  had  sworn  by  their  golden 
bracelets — a  most  solemn  form  of  oath  with  them — 
Alfred,  who  was  not  above  all  the  superstitions  of 
his  age,  insisted  that  they  should  swear  upon  the 
relics  of  some  Christian  saints.^  The  Danes  swore 
by  both,  and  the  very  next  night  fell  upon  Alfred  as 
he  was  riding  with  a  small  force,  and  suspecting  no 
mischief,  towards  the  town  of  Winchester.  The 
king  had  a  narrow  escape ;  the  horsemen  who  at- 
tended him  were  nearly  all  dismounted  and  slain, 
and,  seizing  their  horses,  the  Danes  galloped  off  in 
the  direction  of  Exeter,  whither,  as  they  were  no 
doubt  informed,  another  body  of  their  brethren  were 
proceeding,  having  come  round  by  sea,  and  landed 
at  the  mouth  of  the  £xe.  Their  plan  now  was  to 
take  Alfred  in  the  rear  of  his  stronghold  in  the  west 
of  England,  and  to  rouse  again  the  people  of  Corn- 
wall against  the  Saxons.  A  formidable  Danish  fleet 
sailed  from  the  mouth  of  the  Thames  to  reinforce 
the  troops  united  in  Devonshire  ;  but  Alfred's  infant 
navy,  sti^engthened  by  some  new  vessels,  stood  ready 
to  intercept  it.  A  storm  which  arose,  caused  the 
wreck  of  half  the  Danish  ships  on  the  Hampshire 
coast ;  and  when  the  others  aiTived  tardily  and  in  a 
shattered  condition,  they  were  met  by  the  Saxon 
fleet  that  blockaded  the  Exe,  and  entirely  destroyed, 
after  a  gallant  action.  Before  this,  his  second  sea 
victory,  Alfred  had  come  up  with  his  land  forces,  and 
invested  Exeter ;  and  King  Guthrun,  the  Dane,  who 
held  that  town,  on  learning  the  desti'uction  of  his  fleet, 
capitulated,  gave  hostages  and  oaths,  and  marched 
with  his  northmen  from  Exeter  and  the  kingdom  of 
Wessex  into  Mercia. 

Alfred  had  now  felt  the  value  of  the  fleet  he  had 
created,  and  which,  weak  as  it  was,  maintained  his 
cause  on  the  sea  during  the  reti-eat  to  which  he  was 
now  about  to  be  condemned.  The  crews  of  these 
ships,  however,  must  have  been  oddly  constituted  : 
for,  not  finding  English  mariners  enough,  he  engaged 
a  number  of  Fri'esland  pirates  or  rovers  to  serve  him. 
These  men  did  their  duty  gallantly  and  faithfully.  It 
is  curious  to  reflect,  that  they  came  from  the  same 
country  which  ages  before  had  sent  forth  many  of 
the  Angles  to  the  conquest  of  Britain  ;  and  they  may 
have  felt  even  at  that  distance  of  time  a  strong  sym- 
pathy with  the  Anglo-Saxon  adherents  of  Alfi-ed. 
The  reader  has  already  weighed  the  value  of  a  Dan- 
ish treaty  of  peace.  Guthrun  had  no  sooner  retreated 
from  Exeter,  than  he  began  to  prepare  for  another 
war ;  and  this  he  did  with  great  art,  and  by  employ- 
ing all  his  means  and  influence  ;  for  he  had  learned 
to  appreciate  the  qualities  of  his  enemy,  and  he  was 
himself  the  most  skilful,  steady,  and  persevering  of 
all  the  invaders.  He  fixed  his  head-quarters  at  no 
greater  distance  from  Alfi-ed  than  the  city  of  Glou- 
1  Asser,  28 


cester,  around  which  he  had  broad  and  fertile  lands 
to  distribute  among  his  warriors.  His  fortunate  ra- 
ven attracted  the  birds  of  rapine  from  every  quarter; 
and  when  eveiything  was  ready  for  a  fresh  incursion 
into  the  west,  he  craftily  proceeded  in  a  new  and 
unexpected  manner.  A  winter  campaign  had  hith- 
erto been  unknown  among  the  Danes,  but  on  the  first 
day  of  January,  878,  his  choicest  warriors  received 
a  secret  order  to  meet  him  on  horseback,  at  an  ap- 
pointed place.  Alfred  was  at  Chippenham,  a  sti-ong 
residence  of  the  Wessex  kings.  It  was  the  feast  of 
the  Epiphany,  or  Twelfth-night,  and  the  Saxons 
were  probably  celebrating  the  festival,  when  they 
heard  Guthrun  and  his  Danes  were  at  the  gates. 
Surprised  thus,  by  the  celerity  of  an  overwhelming 
force,  they  could  ofl'er  but  an  ineffectual  resistance. 
Many  were  slain ;  the  foe  burst  into  Chippenham, 
and  Alfred  escaping  with  a  little  band,  retired,  with 
an  anxious  mind,  to  the  woods  and  the  fastnesses  of 
the  moors.  As  the  story  is  generally  told,  the  king 
could  not  make  head  against  the  Danes ;  but  other 
accounts  state  that  he  immediately  fought  several 
battles  in  rapid  succession.  We  are  inclined  to  the 
latter  belief,  which  renders  the  broken  spirits  and 
despair  of  the  men  of  Wessex  more  intelligible;  but 
all  are  agreed  in  the  facts  that,  not  long  after  the 
Danes  stole  into  Chippenham,  they  rode  over  the 
kingdom  of  Wessex,  where  no  army  was  left  to  op- 
pose them ;  that  numbers  of  the  population  fled  to 
the  Iste  of  Wight  and  the  opposite  shores  of  the  con- 
tinent, while  those  who  remained  tilled  the  soil  for 
their  hard  task-masters  the  Danes,  whom  they  tried 
to  conciliate  with  presents  and  an  abject  submission. 
The  brave  men  of  Somerset  alone  retained  some 
spirit,  and  continued,  in  the  main,  ti'ue  to  their  king; 
but  even  in  their  country,  where  he  finally  sought  a 
refuge,  he  was  obliged  to  hide  in  fens  and  coverts, 
for  fear  of  being  betrayed  to  his  powerful  foe  Guth- 
run. Near  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  Thone  and 
Parret,  there  is  a  tract  of  country  still  called  Athel- 
ney,  or  the  Prince's  Island.  The  waters  of  the  little 
rivers  now  flow  by  corn-fields,  pasture-land,  a  farm- 
house, and  a  cottage;  but  in  the  time  of  Alfred,  the 
whole  ti'act  was  covered  by  a  dense  wood,  the  seclu- 
ded haunt  of  deer,  wild  boars,  wild  goats,  and  other 
beasts  of  the  forest.  It  has  now  long  ceased  to  be 
an  island  ;  but  in  those  days,  when  not  washed  by  the 
two  rivers,  it  was  insulated  by  bogs  and  inundations, 
which  could  only  be  passed  in  a  boat.  In  this  secure 
lurking-place  the  king  abode  some  time,  making  him- 
self a  small  hold  or  fortiess  there.  For  sustenance, 
he  and  his  few  followers  depended  upon  hunting  and 
fishing,  and  the  spoil  they  could  make  by  sudden  and 
secret  forays  among  the  Danes.  From  an  ambiguous 
expression  of  some  of  the  old  writers,  we  might 
believe  he  sometimes  plundered  his  own  subjects ; 
and  this  is  not  altogether  improbable,  if  we  consider 
his  pressing  wants  and  the  necessity  under  which  he 
lay,  of  concealing  who  he  was.  This  secret  seems 
to  have  been  most  scrupulously  kept  by  his  few  ad- 
herents, and  to  have  been  maintained,  on  his  own 
part,  ^vith  infinite  patience  and  forbearance.  A  well- 
known  story,  endeared  to  us  all  by  our  earliest  recol- 


150 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


lections,  is  told  bj'  his  contemporaiy  and  bosom  friend, 
the  monk  Asser ;  it  is  repeated  by  all  the  writers 
who  lived  near  the  time,  and  may  safely  be  consid- 
ered as  authentic  as  it  is  interesting.  In  one  of  his 
excursions  he  took  refuge  in  the  humble  cabin  of  a 
swineherd,  where  he  stayed  sometime.  On  a  certain 
day,  it  happened  that  the  wife  of  the  swain  prepared 
to  bake  her  loudas,  or  loaves  of  bread.  The  king, 
sitting  at  the  time  near  the  hearth,  was  making 
ready  his  bow  and  arrows,  when  the  shrew  beheld 
her  loaves  burning.  She  ran  hastily  and  removed 
them,  scolding  the  king  -  for  his  shameful  negli- 
gence, and  exclaiming,  "  You  man !  you  will  not 
tm*n  the  bread  you  see  burning,  but  you  will  be  glad 
enough  to  eat  it."  "  This  unlucky  woman,"  adds 
Asser,  "  little  thought  she  was  talking  to  the  king 
Alfi-ed." 

From  his  all  but  inaccessible  reti*eat  in  Atholney, 
the  king  maintained  a  correspondence  with  some  of 
his  faithful  adherents.  By  degrees,  a  few  bold  war- 
riors gathered  round  him  in  that  islet,  which  they 
more  sti-ongly  fortified,  as  a  point  upon  which  to  re- 
treat in  case  of  reverse  :  and  between  the  Easter  and 
Whitsuntide  following  his  flight,  Alfred  saw  hopes  of 
his  emerging  from  obscm-ity.  According  to  some  of 
the  superstitious  old  chroniclers,  these  hopes  were 
first  raised  by  a  supernatural  intervention.  We  have 
passed  in  silence  over  the  miracles  and  marvels  that 
swarm  in  all  these  ages,  but  the  following  is  a  good 
tniit  of  the  times,  and  a  touching  picture  of  Alfred's 


destitution  and  benevolence.  The  incident  is  thus 
related  by  an  old  writer :  *'  Upon  a  time,  when  his 
company  had  departed  from  him  in  search  of  victuals 
to  eat,  and  he  for  pastime  was  reading  on  a  book,  a 
poor  pilgrim  came  to  him,  and  asked  his  alms,  in  God's 
name.  The  king  lifted  up  his  hands  to  heaven,  and 
said,  'I  thank  God  of  his  grace  that  he  visiteth  his 
poor  man  this  day  by  another  poor  man,  and  vouch- 
safeth  to  ask  of  mo  that  which  he  hath  given  me.' 
Then  the  king  anon  called  his  servant,  that  had  but 
one  loaf  and  a  very  little  wine,  and  bade  him  give  the 
half  thereof  unto  the  poor  man,  who  received  it  thank- 
fully, and  suddenly  vanished  from  his  sight,  so  that 
no  step  of  him  was  seen  on  the  fen  or  moor  he  passed 
over ;  and  also  what  was  given  to  him  by  the  king, 
was  left  there  even  as  it  had  been  given  unto  hiui. 
Shortly  after,  the  company  returned  to  their  master, 
and  brought  with  them  gi'eat  plenty  of  fish  that  they 
had  then  taken.  The  night  following,  when  the  king 
was  at  his  rest,  there  appeared  to  him  one  in  a  bish- 
op's weed,  and  charged  him  that  he  should  love  God, 
and  keep  justice,  and  be  merciful  to  the  poor  men, 
and  reverence  priests ;  and  said,  moreover,  '  Alfred ! 
Christ  knoweth  thy  will  and  conscience,  and  now 
will  make  an  end  of  thy  sorrow  and  care;  for  to- 
mon'ow  strong  helpers  shall  come  to  thee,  by  whose 
help  thou  shalt  subdue  thine  enemies.'  '  Who  art 
thou?'  said  the  king.  'I  am  St.  Cuthburt,'  said  he: 
'  the  poor  pilgrim  that  yesterday  was  here  with  thee, 
to  whom  thou  gavest  both  bread  and  wine.     I  am  busy 


Ali  Rtn  \xp  THE  Pilgrim —B  West 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


151 


for  thee  and  thine  ;  wherefore  have  thou  mind  here- 
of when  it  is  well  with  thee.'  Then  Alfred,  after 
this  vision,  was  well  comforted,  and  showed  himself 
more  at  large." 

To  descend  to  more  sober  history.  The  men  of 
Somersetshire,  Wiltsliire,  Dorsetshire,  and  Hamp- 
shire began  to  flock  in ;  and,  with  a  resolute  force, 
Alfred  was  soon  enabled  to  extend  his  operations 
against  the  Danes.  In  the  intei-val,  an  important 
event  in  Devonshire  had  favored  his  cause.  Hubba, 
a  Danish  king  or  chief  of  great  renown,  in  attempt- 
ing to  land  there,  was  slain,  with  eight  or  nine  hun- 
dred of  his  followers  ;  and  their  magical  banner,  a 
raven,  which  had  been  embroidered  in  one  noon-tide 
by  the  hands  of  the  three  daughters  of  the  great 
Lodbroke,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Saxons.  Soon 
after,  receiving  the  welcome  news  at  Athelney,  the 
king  determined  to  convert  his  skirmishes  and  loose 
partisan  warfare  into  more  decisive  operations.  Pre- 
viously to  this,  however,  he  was  anxious  to  know 
the  precise  force  and  condition  of  the  army  which 
Guthrun  kept  together ;  and,  to  obtain  this  informa- 
tion, he  put  himself  in  gi-eat  jeopardy,  ti'usting  to  his 
own  resources  and  address.  He  assumed  the  habit 
of  a  wandering  minstrel,  or  gleeman,  and  with  his 
instruments  of  music  in  his  hands,  gained  a  ready 
entrance  into  the  camp  and  the  tents  and  pavilions 
of  the  Danes.  As  he  amused  these  idle  warriors 
with  songs  and  interludes,  he  espied  all  their  sloth 
and  negligence,  heard  much  of  their  councils  and 
plans,  and  was  soon  enabled  to  return  to  his  friends 
lit  Athelney  with  a  fuU  and  satisfactory  account  of 
the  state  and  habits  of  that  army.  Then  secret 
messengers  were  sent  to  all  quarters,  requesting  the 
trusty  men  of  Wessex  to  meet  in  arms  at  Egbert's 
stone,  on  the  east  of  Selwood  forest.'  The  sum- 
mons was  obeyed,  though  most  knew  not  the  king 
had  sent  it ;  and  when  Alfi-ed  appeared  at  the  place 
of  rendezvous,  he  was  received  with  enthusiastic 
joy — the  men  of  Hampshire,  and  Dorset,  and 
Wilts  rejoicing  as  if  he  had  been  risen  from  death 
to  life.  In  the  general  battle  of  Ethandune  which 
ensued  (seven  weeks  after  Easter),  the  Danes  were 
taken  by  surprise,  and  thoroughly  beaten.  Alfred's 
concealment,  counting  from  his  flight  from  Chippen- 
ham, did  not  last  above  five  months. 

It  is  reasonably  supposed  that  the  present  Yat- 
ton,  about  five  miles  from  Chippenham,  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  Ethandune,  or  Assandune  ;  but  that  the 
battle  was  fought  a  little  lower  on  the  Avon,  at  a 
place  called  "  Slaixghter-ford,"  where,  according  to 
a  ti'adition  of  the  country  people,  the  Danes  suffered 
a  great  slaughter.  Guthrun  retreated  with  the 
mournful  residue  of  his  army  to  a  fortified  position. 
Alfred  followed  him  thither,  cut  oflf  all  his  communi- 
cations, and  established  a  close  blockade.  In  four- 
teen days,  famine  obUged  the  Danes  to  accept  the 
conditions  off'ered  by  the  Saxons.  These  conditions 
■  were  liberal ;  for,  though  victorious,  Alfred  could 
not  hope  to  drive  the  Danes  by  one,  nay,  nor  by 

1  Asser,  33.  The  wond  extended  frjm  Frome  to  Burliam,  and  was 
jirobably  much  larger  at  one  lime. 


twenty  battles,  out  of  England.  They  were  too 
numerous,  and  had  secured  themselves  in  too  con- 
siderable a  part  of  the  island.  The  first  points  in- 
sisted upon  in  the  treaty  were,  that  Guthrun  should 
evacuate  all  Wessex,  and  submit  to  be  baptized. 
Without  a  conversion  to  Christianity,  Alfred  thought 
it  impossible  to  rely  on  the  promises  or  oaths  of 
the  Danes  ;  he  saw  that  a  change  of  religion  would, 
more  than  anything  else,  detach  them  from  their 
savage  Scandinavian  brethren  across  the  seas ;  and 
as  he  was  a  devout  man,  with  priests  and  monks  for 
his  counsellors,  religion,  no  doubt,  was  as  precious 
to  him  as  policy,  and  he  was  moved  with  an  ardent 
hope  of  propagating  and  extending  the  Christian 
faith.  Upon  Guthrun's  ready  acceptance  of  these 
two  conditions,  an  extensive  cession  of  teri'itoiy  was 
made  to  him  and  the  Danes ;  and  here  the  great 
mind  of  Alfred  probably  contemplated  the  giadual 
fusion  of  two  people — the  Saxons  and  the  Danes — 
who  differed  in  but  few  essentials,  and  foresaw  that 
the  pm'suits  of  agriculture  and  industry,  gi'owing 
up  among  them,  after  a  tranquil  settlement,  would 
win  the  rovers  of  the  north  from  their  old  plunder- 
ing, piratical  habits.  As  soon  as  this  took  place, 
they  would  guard  the  coasts  they  formerly  desolated. 
If  it  had  even  been  in  Alfred's  power  to  expel  them 
all  (which  it  never  was),  he  could  have  had  no 
security  against  their  prompt  return  and  incessant 
attacks.  There  was  territory  enough,  fertile  though 
neglected,  to  give  away,  without  straitening  the  Sax- 
ons. In  the  most  happy  time  of  the  Roman  occupa- 
tion, a  great  part  of  Britain  was  but  thinly  inhabited ; 
and  the  famines,  the  pestilences,  the  almost  inces- 
sant wars  which  had  followed  since  then,  had  de- 
populated whole  counties,  and  left  immense  tracts  of 
land  without  hands  to  till  them,  or  mouths  to  eat  the 
produce  they  promised  the  agriculturist. 

Alfred  thus  drew  the  line  of  demarkation  between 
him  and  the  Danes  : — "  Let  the  bounds  of  our 
dominion  stretch  to  the  river  Thames,  and  from 
thence  to  the  water  of  Lea,  even  unto  the  head  of 
the  same  water ;  and  thence  straight  unto  Bedford, 
and  finally,  going  along  by  the  river  Ouse,  let  them 
end  at  Watling-street."  Beyond  these  lines,  all  the 
east  side  of  the  island,  as  far  as  the  Humber,  was 
surrendered  to  the  Danes  ;  and  as  they  had  estab- 
lished themselves  in  Northumbria,  that  territory  was 
soon  united,  and  the  Avhole  eastern  country  from  the 
Tweed  to  the  Thames,  where  it  washes  a  part  of 
Essex,  took  the  name  of  the  Dane-lagh,  or  "  Dane- 
law," which  it  retained  for  many  ages,  even  down 
to  the  time  of  the  Norman  conquest.  The  cession 
was  large  ;  but  it  should  be  remembered  that  Alfred, 
at  the  opening  of  his  reign,  was  di'iven  into  the 
western  corner  of  England,  and  that  he  noAV  gained 
ti'anquil  possession  of  five,  or  perhaps  ten  times  more 
territoiy  than  he  then  possessed.'  In  many  respect'^, 
these  his  moderate  measures  answered  the  end  be 


1  Mercia  fell  completely  into  the  power  of  Alfred,  after  the  defeat  of 
Guthrun.  He  abolished  the  reg^al  honors  of  that  state,  and  intrusteri 
the  military  command  of  it  to  Ethelred,  who  was  afterwards  marrip<i 
to  one  of  his  daughters.  Ethelred  seems  to  have  been  merely  styled 
the  "  Eolderman  of  Mercia."' 


152 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


proposed.  Soon  iifter  the  conclusion  of  the  ti'euty, 
Guthrun,  relying  on  the  good  fuith  of  the  Saxons, 
went  with  only  thirty  of  his  chiefs  to  Aulre,  near 
Athelney.  His  old  but  gallant  and  generous  enemy, 
Alfred,  answered  for  hiui  at  the  baptismal  font,  and 
the  Dane  was  christened  under  the  Saxon  name  of 
Athelstan.  The  next  week  the  ceremony  was  com- 
pleted >vith  gieat  solemnity  at  the  royal  town  of 
Wedmor,  and  after  spending  twelve  days  as  the 
guest  of  Alfred,  Guthrun  departed  (a.  d.  878), 
loaded  with  presents,  which  the  monk  Asser  says 
were  magnijicent.  Whatever  were  his  inward  con- 
victions, or  the  efficacy  and  sincerity  of  his  conver- 
sion, tlie  Danish  prince  was  certainly  captivated  by 
the  merits  of  his  victor,  and  ever  afterwards  con- 
tinued the  faithful  friend  and  ally  (if  not  vassal)  of 
Alfi'ed.  The  subjects  under  his  rule  in  the  Dane- 
lagh, or  "  Dane-law,"  assumed  habits  of  industiy  and 
tranquillity,  and  gi-adually  adopted  the  manners  and 
customs  of  more  civihzed  life.  By  mutual  agi-ee- 
ment,  the  laws  of  the  Danes  were  assimilated  to 
those  of  the  Saxons ;  but  the  former  long  retained 
many  of  their  old  Scandinavian  usages.  In  the  juris- 
prudence of  those  days,  the  life  of  an  Englishman 
was  estimated  according  to  his  rank,  at  so  many 
shillings  or  pieces  of  coined  money  ;  and  now  it  wei^ 
agreed  that  the  lives  of  the  Danes  should  be  con- 
sidered of  equal  value  with  the  lives  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.  In  other  words,  the  same  money  was  to 
be  paid  in  fine  by  him  who  killed  a  Dane,  as  by  him 
who  slew  an  Englishman,  supposing  always  the  rank 
of  the  slain  to  be  equal.  The  fines  payable  for  all 
offences  were  determined  both  in  Danish  and  Saxon 
moneys,  to  prevent  disputes  arising  from  their  diflfer- 


Alfred's  ''Jewel." 

Ad  ornament  of  gold,  apparently  intended  to  hang  round  the  neck, 
found  in  Athelney,  and  now  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford.  The 
inscription  on  the  side  here  represented,  around  the  female  figure  hold- 
ing flowers,  is  "  Aelfred  mr  haet  sewercan"  (Alfred  had  me  wrought). 
On  the  other  side  is  a  flower.     The  workmanship  is  in  good  style. 


ence  of  cuiTency.  A  wise  regulation,  considering 
the  recent  hostilities  and  implacable  hatred  that  had 
existed  between  those  forces,  forbade  all  secret  in- 
tercourse between  the  soldiery  of  the  Saxon  and 
Danish  armies.  All  sales,  whether  of  men,  horses, 
or  oxen,  were  declared  illegal,  unless  the  purchaser 
produced  the  voucher  of  the  seller.  This  was  to 
put  a  stop  on  both  sides  to  the  lifting  of  cattle,  and 
the  carrying  oflf  of  the  peasantry  as  slaves.  Both 
kings  engaged  to  promote  the  Christian  religion,  and 
to  punish  apostasy.  We  are  not  well  infomied  as  to 
the  progi'ess  the  faith  made  among  his  subjects  on 
Guthrun's  conversion ;  but  it  was  probably  rapid, 
though  imperfect,  and  accompanied  with  a  lingering 
at!'ection  for  the  divinities  of  the  Scandinavian  my- 
tliology. 

It  was  about  this  time,  or  very  soon  after  Alfred's 
breaking  up  from  his  retreat  at  Athelney,  and  gain- 
ing the  victory  of  Ethandune,  that,  moved  by  the 
love  of  humane  letters  which  distinguished  him  all 
his  life,  he  invited  Asser,  esteemed  the  most  learned 
man  then  in  the  island,  to  his  court  or  camp,  in 
order  that  he  might  profit  by  his  insti'uctive  conver- 
sation. The  monk  of  St.  David's,  who  was  not  a 
Saxon,  but  descended  from  a  Welsh  family,  obeyed 
the  summons,  and,  according  to  his  own  account,  he 
was  introduced  to  the  king  at  Dene,  in  Wiltshire, 
by  the  thanes  who  had  been  sent  to  fetch  him.  A 
famihar  intercourse  followed  a  most  courteous  recep- 
tion, and  then  the  king  invited  the  monk  to  live  con- 
stantly about  his  person.  The  vows  of  Asser  and 
his  attachment  to  his  monastery,  where  he  had 
been  nurtured  and  instructed,  interfered  with  this 
arrangement ;  but,  after  some  delays,  it  was  agreed 
he  should  pass  half  his  time  in  his  monastery,  and 
the  rest  of  the  year  at  court.  Returning  at  length 
to  Alfred,  he  found  him  at  a  place  called  Leonaford. 
He  remained  eight  months  constantly  with  him, 
conversing  and  reading  with  him  all  such  books  as 
the  king  possessed.  On  the  Christmas  eve  follow- 
ing, Alfred,  in  token  of  his  high  regard,  gave  the 
monk  an  abbey  in  Wiltshire,  supposed  to  be  at  Ames- 
bury,  and  another  abbey  at  Banwell,  in  Somerset- 
shire, together  with  a  rich  silk  pall,  and  as  much 
incense  as  a  strong  man  could  cany  on  his  shoulders, 
assuring  him  at  the  same  time,  that  he  considered 
these  as  small  things  for  a  man  of  so  much  merit, 
and  that  hereafter  he  should  have  greater.  Asser 
was  subsequently  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Sher- 
burn,  and  thenceforward  remained  constantly  with 
the  king,  enjoying  his  entire  confidence  and  affection, 
and  sharing  in  all  his  joys  and  soitows.  This  nire 
friendship  between  a  sovereign  and  subject  continued 
unbroken  till  death ;  and  when  the  gi-ave  closed  over 
the  great  Alfred,  the  honorable  testimony  was  read 
in  his  will,  that  Asser  was  a  person  in  whom  he  had 
full  confidence.  To  this  singular  connexion  Alfred 
and  his  subjects  were,  no  doubt,  indebted  for  some 
improvements  in  the  ro5al  mind,  which  wrought 
good  alike  for  the  king  and  for  the  people  ;  and  we, 
at  the  distance  of  nearly  a  thousand  years,  owe  to  it 
an  endearing  record  of  that  monarch's  personal 
\  character  and  habits.     Asser  was  a  sort  of  Boswell 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


153 


of  the  dark  ages ;  and  the  hero  whose  private  as 
well  as  public  life  he  deUneated,  well  deserved  so 
attentive  a  chronicler. 

But  some  time  had  yet  to  pass  ere  Alfi'ed  could 
give  himself  up  to  quiet  enjoyments,  to  law-making, 
and  the  intellectual  improvement  of  his  people. 
Though  Guthrun  kept  his  contract,  hosts  of  maraud- 
ing Danes,  who  were  not  bound  by  it,  continued  to 
cross  over  from  the  continent,  and  infest  the  shores 
and  rivers  of  our  island.  In  879,  the  very  year  after 
Guthrun's  treaty  and  baptism,  a  great  army  of  Pa- 
gans came  from  beyond  the  sea,  and  wintered  at 
FuUanhara,  or  Fulham,  hard  by  the  river  Thames. 
From  Fulham,  this  host  proceeded  to  Ghent,  in  the 
Low  Countries.  At  this  period  the  Northmen  al- 
ternated their  attacks  on  England,  and  their  attacks 
on  Holland,  Belgium,  and  East  France,  in  a  curious 
manner,  the  expedition  beginning  on  one  side  of  the 
British  channel  and  German  Ocean  frequently  end- 
ing on  the  other  side.  The  rule  of  their  conduct, 
however,  seems  to  have  been  this — to  persevere 
only  against  the  weakest  enemy.  Thus,  when  they 
found  France  strong,  they  tried  England ;  and  when 
they  found  the  force  of  England  consolidated  under 
Alfred,  they  turned  off  in  the  direction  of  France, 
or  the  neighboring  shores  of  the  continent.  It  is  a 
melancholy  fact,  that  England  then  benefited  by  the 
calamities  of  her  neighbors.  In  the  year  886,  while 
the  armies  of  the  Northmen  were  fully  employed 
in  besieging  or  blockading  the  city  of  Paris,  Alfred 
took  that  favorable  opportunity  to  rebuild  and  fortify 
the  city  of  London.  Amongst  other  cities,  we  are 
told,  it  had  been  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the  people 
killed ;  but  he  made  it  habitable  again,  and  com- 
mitted it  to  the  care  and  custody  of  his  son-in-law, 
Ethelred,  earl  or  eolderman  of  the  Mercians,  to 
whom  before  he  had  given  his  daughter  Ethelfleda. 
Each  of  the  six  years  immediately  preceding  the 
rebuilding  of  London,  he  was  engaged  in  hostihties ; 
but  he  was  generally  fortunate  by  sea  as  well  as  by 
land,  for  he  had  increased  his  navy,  and  the  care  due 
to  that  truly  national  service.  In  the  year  882  his 
fleet,  still  officered  by  Frieslanders,  took  four,  and, 
three  years  after  (in  one  fight),  sixteen  of  the 
enemy's  ships.  In  the  latter  year  (885)  he  gained 
a  decisive  victory  over  a  Danish  host  that  had  as- 
cended the  Medway,  and  were  besieging  Rochester, 
having  built  them  a  strong  castle  before  the  gates  of 
that  city.  By  suddenly  faUing  on  them,  he  took 
their  tower  with  little  loss,  seized  all  the  horses  they 
had  brought  with  them  from  France,  recovered  the 
greater  part  of  their  captives,  and  drove  them  with 
the  sword  in  their  reins  to  their  ships,  with  which 
they  returned  to  France  in  the  utmost  distress. 

Alfred  was  now  allowed  some  breathing  time, 
which  he  wisely  employed  in  strengthening  his 
kingdom,  and  bettering  the  condition  of  his  people. 
Instead,  however,  of  tracing  these  things  strictly  in 
their  chronological  order,  it  will  add  to  the  perspicuity 
of  the  narrative,  if  we  follow  at  once  the  warlike 
fvcnts  of  his  reign  to  their  close. 

The  siege  of  Paris,  to  which  we  have  alluded, 
and  which  began  in   886,  employed  the  Danes  or 


Northmen  two  whole  years.  Shortly  after  the 
heathens  burst  into  the  country  now  called  Flanders, 
which  was  then  a  dependency  of  the  Prankish  or 
French  kings,  and  were  employed  there  for  some 
time  in  a  difficult  and  extensive  warfare.  A  horrid 
famine  ensued  in  those  parts  of  the  continent,  and 
made  the  hungry  wolves  look  elsewhere  for  suste- 
nance and  prey.  England  now  revived  by  a  happy 
repose  of  seven  years ;  her  corn-fields  had  borne 
their  plentiful  crops ;  her  pastures,  no  longer  swept 
by  the  tempests  of  war,  were  well  sprinkled  with 
flocks  and  herds ;  and  those  good  fatted  beeves, 
which  were  always  dear  to  the  capacious  stomachs 
of  the  Northmen,  made  the  island  a  very  land  of 
promise  to  the  imagination  of  the  famished.  It  is 
true  that  of  late  years  they  had  found  those  ti-easures 
were  well  defended,  and  that  nothing  was  to  be  got 
under  Alfred's  present  government  without  hard 
blows,  and  a  desperate  contest,  at  least  doubtful  in 
its  issue  ;  but  hunger  impelled  them  forward  ;  they 
were  a  larger  body  than  had  ever  made  the  attack 
at  once  ;  they  were  united  under  the  command  of  a 
chief  equal  or  superior  in  fame  and  military  talent  to 
any  that  had  preceded  him ;  and  therefore  the 
Danes,  in  the  year  893,  once  more  turned  the  prows 
of  their  vessels  towards  England.  It  was  indeed  a 
formidable  fleet.  As  the  men  of  Kent  gazed  sea- 
ward from  their  cliffs  and  downs  they  saw  the 
horizon  darkened  by  it; — as  the  winds  and  waves 
wafted  it  forward  they  counted  two  hundred  and 
fifty  several  ships ;  and  every  ship  was  full  of  war- 
riors, and  horses  brought  from  Flanders  and  France 
for  the  immediate  mounting  of  them  as  a  rapid, 
predatory  cavalry.  The  invaders  landed  near  Rom- 
ney  marsh,  at  the  eastern  termination  of  the  great 
wood  or  weald  of  Anderida  (already  mentioned  in 
connexion  with  an  invasion  of  the  Saxons),  and  at 
the  mouth  of  a  river,  now  dry,  called  Limine.  They 
towed  their  ships  four  miles  up  the  river  towards  the 
weald,  and  there  mastered  a  fortress  the  peasants 
of  the  country  were  raising  in  the  fens.  They  then 
proceeded  to  Apuldre  or  Appledore,  at  which  point 
they  made  a  strongly  foitified  camp,  whence  they 
ravaged  the  adjacent  country  for  many  miles. 
Nearly  simultaneously  with  these  movements,  the 
famed  Haesten,  or  Hasting,  the  skilful  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  entire  expedition,  entered  the  Thames 
with  another  division  of  eighty  ships,  landed  at  and 
took  Milton,  near  Sittingbourn,  and  there  threw  U]) 
prodigiously  strong  entrenchments.  Their  past  re- 
verses had  made  them  extremely  cautious,  and  for 
nearly  a  whole  year  the  Danes  in  either  camp  did 
little  else  than  fortify  their  positions  and  scour  the 
country  in  foraging  parties.  Other  piratical  squad- 
rons, however,  kept  hovering  round  our  coasts  to 
distract  attention  and  create  alarm  at  many  points 
at  one  and  the  same  time.  The  honorable  and 
trustworthy  Guthrun  had  now  been  dead  three 
years  ;  and  to  complete  the  most  critical  position  of 
Alfred,  the  Danes  settled  in  the  Danelagh,  even 
from  the  Tweed  to  the  Thames,  violated  their  oaths, 
took  up  arms  against  him,  and  joined  their  maraud- 
ing brethren  imder   Hasting.     It  was  in  this  cam- 


154 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


paign,  or  rather  this  succession  of  campaigns,  which 
lasted  altogether  three  years,  that  the  military  genius 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  monarch  shone  with  its  greatest 
lustre,  and  was  brought  into  full  play  by  the  ability, 
the  wonderful  and  eccentric  rapidity,  and  the  great 
resources  of  his  opponent  Hasting.  To  follow  their 
Dperations  the  reader  must  place  the  map  of  Eng- 
land before  him,  for  they  ran  over  half  of  the  island, 
and  shifted  the  scene  of  war  with  almost  as  much 
rapidity  as  that  with  which  the  decorations  of  a 
theatre  are  changed. 

The  first  great  difficulty  Alfred  had  to  encounter 
was  in  collecting  and  bringing  up  sufficient  forces  to 
one  point,  and  then  in  keeping  them  in  adequate 
number  in  the  field ;  for  the  Saxon  "  fyrd,"  or 
levie  en  masse,  were  only  bound  by  law  to  serve 
for  a  certain  time  (probably  forty  days),  and  it  was 
indispensable  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  towns, 
almost  everywhere  threatened,  and  to  leave  men 
sufficient  for  the  cultivation  of  the  country.  Alfred 
overcame  this  difficulty  by  dividing  his  army,  or 
militia,  into  two  bodies ;  of  these  he  called  one  to 
ihe  field,  while  the  men  composing  the  other  were 
left  at  home.  After  a  reasonable  length  of  service 
those  in  the  field  returned  to  their  homes,  and  those 
left  at  home  took  their  places  in  the  field.  The 
spectacle  of  this  large  and  permanent  army,  to  which 
thej'  had  been  wholly  unaccustomed,  struck  Hasting 
and  his  confederates  with  astonishment  and  dismay. 
Nor  did  the  position  the  English  king  took  up  with 
it  give  them  much  ground  for  comfort.  Advancing 
into  Kent,  he  threw  himself  between  Hasting  and 
the  other  division  of  the  Danes  :  a  forest  on  one 
side,  and  swamps  and  deep  waters  on  the  other, 
|)rotected  his  flanks,  and  he  made  the  front  and  rear 
of  his  position  so  strong  that  the  Danes  dared  not 
look  at  them.  He  thus  kept  asunder  the  Uvo  armies 
of  the  Northmen,  watching  the  motions  of  both, 
being  always  ready  to  attack  either,  should  it  quit 
its  intrenchments ;  and  so  active  were  the  pati'ols 
and  troops  he  threw  out  in  small  bodies,  and  so  good 
the  spirit  of  the  villagers  and  town-folk,  cheered  by 
the  presence  and  wise  dispositions  of  the  sovereign, 
that  in  a  short  time  not  a  single  foraging  party  could 
issue  from  the  Danish  camp  without  almost  certain 
destruction.  Worn  out  in  body  and  spirit,  the 
Northmen  resolved  to  break  up  from  their  camps, 
and,  to  deceive  the  king  as  to  their  intentions,  they 
sent  submissive  messages  and  Iwstages,  and  prom- 
ised to  leave  the  kingdom.  Hasting  took  to  his 
shipping,  and  actually  made  sail,  as  if  to  leave  the 
well-defended  island ;  but  while  the  eyes  of  tlie 
Saxons  were  fixed  on  his  departure,  the  other  divi- 
sion, in  Alfred's  rear,  rushed  suddenly  from  their 
entrenchments  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  in 
order  to  seek  a  ford  across  the  Thames,  by  which 
t'ley  hoped  to  be  enabled  to  get  into  Essex,  where 
the  rebel  Danes  that  had  been  ruled  by  Guthrun 
would  give  them  a  friendly  reception,  and  where 
they  knew  they  should  meet  Hasting  and  his  divi- 
sion, who,  instead  of  putting  to  sea,  merely  crossed 
the  Thames,  and  took  up  a  strong  position  at  Ben- 
fleet,  on  the  Essex  coast.     Alfred  had  not  ships  to 


pursue  those  who  moved  by  water ;  but  those  who 
marched  by  land  he  followed  up  closely,  and  brought 
them  to  action  on  the  right  bank  of  the   Thames, 
near  Farnham  in  Surrey.     The  Danes  were  thor- 
oughly defeated.     Those  who   escaped  the   sword 
and  drowning  marched  along  the  left  bank  of  the 
Thames  through   Middlesex  into  Essex  ;  but  being 
hotly  pursued    by  Alfred,   they  were  driven   right 
through  Essex  and  across  the  river  Coin,  when  they 
found  a  strong  place  of  refuge  in  the  isle  of  Mersey. 
Here,   however,  they  were  closely  blockaded,  and 
soon  obliged  to  sue  for  peace,  promising  hostages,  as 
usual,  and  an  immediate  departure  from  England. 
Alfred    would   have   had    this   enemy   in   his   hand 
through  sheer  starvation,  but  the  genius  of  Hasting 
and  the  defection  of  the  Northmen  of  the  Danelagh 
called  him  to  a  distant   part   of  the   island.     Two 
fleets,  one  of  a  hundred  sail,  the  second  of  forty,  and 
both  in  good  part  manned  by  the   Danes  who  had 
been  so  long,  and  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  so  peace- 
fully, settled  in  England,  set  sail  to  attack  in  two 
points  and  make  a  formidable  diversion.     The  first 
of  these,  which  had  probably  been  equipped  in  Nor- 
folk and  SuflTolk,  doubled  the  North  Foreland,  ran 
down  the  southern  coast  as  far  as  Devonshire,  and 
laid  siege  to  Exeter :  the  smaller  fleet,  which  had 
been  fitted  out  in  Northumbria,  and  probably  sailed 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne,  took  the  passage  round 
Scotland  and  the  extreme  north  of  the  island,  ran 
down  all  the  western  coast  from  Cape   Wrath  to 
the  Bristol  Channel,  and,  ascending  that  arm  of  the 
sea,  beleaguered  a  fortified  town  to  the  north  of  the 
Severn.     Though   Alfred  had   established   friendly 
relations  with  the  people   of  the  west  of  England, 
who  seem  on   many  occasions  to  have  served  him 
with  as  much  ardor  as  his  Saxon  subjects,  he  still 
felt   Devonshire  was   a  vulnerable    part.     Leaving, 
therefore,   a  part  of  his  army  on  the  confines  of 
Essex,  he  moimted  all  the  rest  on  horses,  and  flew 
to  Exeter.     Victory  followed  him  to  the  west ;  he 
obliged  the  Danes  to  raise  the  siege  of  Exeter ;  he 
beat  them  back  to  their  ships  with  great  loss,  and 
soon  after  the   minor  expedition   was   driven   from 
the  Severn.     The  blockade  of  the  Danes  in  the  islo 
of  Mersey  does  not  appear  to  have  been  well  con- 
ducted during  his  absence,  and  yet  that  inten'al  was 
not  devoid  of  great  successes :  for,  in  the  mean  time, 
Ethelred,  eolderman  of  the  Mercians  and  Alfred's 
son-in-law,  with  the  citizens  of  London  and  others, 
went  down  to  the  fortified  post  at  Benfleet,  in  Esse\. 
laid    siege   to  it,   broke   into   it,  and  despoiled   it  of 
great  quantities  of  gold,  silver,  horses,  and  garments  : 
taking  away  captive  also  the  wife  of  Hasting  and 
his   t\vo   sons,   who  were  brought  to  London  and 
presented  to  the  king  on  his  return.     Some  of  his 
followers  urged  him  to  put  these  captives  to  death, 
— others  to  detain  them  in  prison  as  a  check  upon 
Hasting;  but  Alfred,  with  a  generosity  which  was 
never   properly   appreciated    by   the   savage   Dane, 
caused    them    immediately   to    be   restored    to   his 
enemy,  and  sent  many  presents  of  value  with  theni. 
By  this  time  the  untiring  Hasting  had  thrown  u" 
another  formidable  entrenchment  at  South  Show- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


155 


bury,  in  Essex,  when  he  was  soon  joined  by  numbers 
from  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  from  Noithumbria,  from 
all  parts  of  the  Danelagh,  and  by  fresh  adventurers 
from  beyond  sea.  Thus  reinforced,  he  sailed  boldly 
up  the  Thames,  and  thence  spread  the  mass  of  his 
forces  into  *he  heart  of  the  kingdom,  while  the  rest 
returned  with  their  vessels  and  the  spoil  they  had 
so  far  made  to  the  entrenched  camp  at  South  Show- 
bury.  From  the  Thames  Hasting  marched  to  the 
Severn,  and  fortified  himself  at  Buttington.  But 
here  he  was  surrounded  by  the  Saxons  and  the 
men  of  North  Wales,  who  now  cordially  acted  with 
them  ;  and  in  brief  time  Alfred,  with  Ethelred  and 
two  other  eoldermen,  cut  off  all  his  supplies,  and 
blockaded  him  in  his  camp.  After  some  weeks, 
when  the  Danes  had  eaten  up  nearly  all  their  horses, 
and  famine  was  staring  them  in  the  face.  Hasting 
rushed  from  his  entrenchments.  Avoiding  the 
Welsh  forces,  he  concentiated  his  attack  upon  the 
Saxons,  who  formed  the  blockade  to  the  east  of  his 
position.  The  conflict  was  terrific  ;  some  hundreds 
(some  of  the  chronclers  say  thousands)  of  the  Danes 
were  slain  in  their  attempt  to  break  through  Alfred's 
lines ;  many  were  thrown  into  the  Severn,  and 
drowned;  but  the  rest,  headed  by  Hasting,  effected 
their  escape,  and,  marching  across  the  island,  reached 
their  entire nchment  and  their  ships  on  the  Essex 
coast.  Alfred  lost  many  of  his  nobles,  and  must 
have  been  otherwise  much  crippled,  for  he  did  not 
molest  Hasting,  who  could  have  had  hardly  any 
horse  in  any  part  of  his  retreat.  Most  of  the  Sax- 
ons who  fought  at  Buttington  were  raw  levies,  and 
hastily  got  together.  When  Hasting  next  showed 
front  it  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  North  Wales, 
between  the  rivers  Dee  and  Mersey.  During  the 
winter  that  followed  his  disasters  on  the  Severn  he 
had  been  again  reinforced  by  the  men  of  the  Dane- 
lagh, and  at  early  spring  he  set  forth  with  his  usual 
rapidity,  and  marched  through  the  midland  counties. 
Alfred  was  not  far  behind  him,  but  could  not  over- 
take him  until  he  had  seized  Chester,  which  was 
then  almost  uninhabited,  and  secured  himself  there. 
This  town  had  been  very  sti-ongly  fortified  by  the 
Romans,  and  many  of  the  works  of  those  con- 
querors, still  remaining,^  no  doubt  gave  sti'ength  to 
Hasting's  position,  which  was  deemed  too  formida- 
ble for  attack.  But  the  Saxon  ti-oops  pressed  him 
on  the  land  side,  and  a  squadron  of  Alfred's  ships, 
which  had  put  to  sea,  ascended  the  Mersey  and 
the  river  Wirall,  and  prevented  his  receiving  succour 
in  that  direction.  Dreading  that  Chester  might 
become  a  second  Buttington,  the  Danes  burst  away 
into  North  Wales.  After  ravaging  part  of  that 
country,  they  would  have  gone  off  in  the  direction  of 
the  Severn  and  the  Avon,  but  they  were  met  and 
turned  by  a  formidable  royal  army,  upon  which  they 
retraced  their  steps,  and  finally  marched  off  to  the 
northeast.  They  ti-aversed  Northumbria,  Lincoln- 
shire, Norfolk,  Suflfolk,— nearly  the  whole  length  of 
the  Danelagh,  where  they  were  among  fi-iends  and 

»  Some  noblo  arched  gateways  built  by  the  Romans  were  standing 
klniost  eutire  until  a  recent  period,  when  they  were  laid  low  by  a  bar- 
ij«rotts  decree  of  the  Chester  corporation. 


allies,  and  by  that  circuitous  route  at  length  regained 
their  fortified  post  at  South  Showbury,  in  Essex, 
where  they  wintered  and  recruited  their  strength  as 
usual. 

Eai'lier  next  spring  the  persevering  Hasting  sailed 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Lea,  ascended  that  river  with  his 
ships,  and  at  or  near  Ware,^  about  twenty  miles  above 
London,  erected  a  new  fortress  on  the  Lea.  On  the 
approach  of  stimmer  the  burgesses  of  London,  with 
many  of  their  neighbors,  who  were  sorely  harassed 
by  this  movement  of  the  Danes,  attacked  the  strong- 
hold on  the  Lea,  but  were  repulsed  with  great  loss. 
As  London  was  now  more  closely  pressed  than  ever, 
Alfred  found  it  necessaiy  to  encamp  his  army  round 
about  the  city  until  the  citizens  got  in  their  harvest. 
He  then  pushed  a  strong  reconnoissance  to  the  Lea, 
which  (far  deeper  and  broader  than  now)  was  covered 
by  their  ships,  and  aftenvards  surveyed,  at  great  per- 
sonal risk,  the  new  fortified  camp  of  the  Danes.  His 
active  ingenious  mind  forthwith  conceived  a  plan 
which  he  confidently  hoped  would  end  in  their  inevi- 
table destruction.  Bringing  up  his  forces,  he  raised 
two  fortresses,  one  on  either  side  the  Lea,  somewhat 
below  the  Danish  station,  and  then  dug  three  deep 
channels  from  the  Lea  to  the  Thames,  in  order  to 
lower  the  level  of  the  tributary  stream.  So  much 
water  was  thus  drawn  oflT,  that  "  where  a  ship,"  says 
an  old  writer,  "  might  sail  in  time  afore  passed,  then 
a  little  boat  might  scarcely  row," — and  the  whole  fleet 
of  Hasting  was  left  aground,  and  rendered  useless. 
But  yet  again  did  that  remarkable  chieftain  break 
through  the  toils  spread  for  him,  to  renew  the  war  in  a 
distant  part  of  the  island.  Abandoning  the  ships  where 
they  were,  and  putting,  as  they  had  been  accustomed  to 
do,  their  wives,  their  children,  and  their  booty  under 
the  protection  of  their  friends  in  the  Danelagh,  the 
followers  of  Hasting  broke  from  their  entrenchments 
by  night,  and  hardly  rested  till  they  had  traversed 
the  whole  of  that  wide  tract  of  country  which  sepa- 
rates the  Lea  from  the  Severn.  Marching  for  some 
distance  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Severn,  they  took 
post  close  on  the  river  at  Quatbridge,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  Quatford,  near  Bridgenorth,  in  Shrop- 
shire. When  Alfred  came  up  with  them  there,  he 
found  them  already  strongly  fortified. 

On  our  first  introducing  the  Northmen  we  men- 
tioned their  skill  in  choosing  and  sti'engthening  mili- 
tary positions,  and  the  course  of  our  narrative  will 
have  made  their  skill  and  speed  in  these  matters  evi- 
dent, especially  in  the  campaigns  they  performed  un- 
der Hasting,  who  had  many  of  the  qualities  that  con- 
stitute a  great  general.  Alfred  was  compelled  to  re- 
spect the  entrenchments  at  Quatbridge,  and  to  leave 
the  Danes  there  undisturbed  during  the  winter.  In 
the  mean  time  the  citizens  of  London  seized  Has- 
ting's fleet,  grounded  in  the  Lea.  Some  ships  they 
burned  and  desti'oyed,  but  others  they  were  enabled 
to  get  afloat  and  conduct  to  London,  where  they  were 
received  with  exceeding  great  joy. 

For  full  three  years  this  Scandinavian  Hannibal 
had  maintained  a  war  in  the  countiy  of  the  enemy ; 

'  Some  topographers  contend  that  this  fortified  camp  was  nft  at 
Ware,  b-.t  at  Hertfird. 


156 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boos:  n. 


but  now  watched  on  every  side,  worn  out  by  constant 
losses,  and  probably  in  good  part  forsaken,  as  an  un- 
lucky leader,  both  by  his  brethren  settled  in  the  Dane- 
lagh and  by  those  on  the  continent,  his  spirit  began 
to  break,  and  he  prepared  to  take  a  reluctant  and  in- 
dignant farewell  of  England.  In  the  following  spring 
of  897,  by  which  time  dissensions  had  broken  out 
among  their  leaders,  the  Danes  tumultuously  aban- 
doned their  camp  at  Quatbridge,  and  utterly  disbanded 
their  army  soon  after,  flying  in  small  and  separate 
parties,  in  various  directions.  Some  sought  shelter 
among  their  bretlu'en  ofthe  Danelagh,  either  in  North- 
umbria,  or  Norfolk  and  Suffolk ;  some  built  vessels, 
and  sailed  for  the  Scheldt  and  the  mouth  ofthe  Rhine ; 
while  others,  adhering  to  Hasting  in  his  evil  fortune, 
waited  until  he  was  ready  to  pass  into  France.  A 
small  fleet,  bearing  his  drooping  raven,  was  hastily 
equipped  on  our  eastern  coast,  and  the  humbled 
chieftain,  according  to  Asser,  crossed  the  Channel. 
^^  sine  lucro  et  sine  honore," — without  profit  or  honor. 
It  appears  tliathe  ascended  the  Seine,  and  soon  after 
obtained  a  settlement  on  the  banks  of  that  river  (prob- 
ably in  Normandy)  from  the  weak  king  of  the  French. 
A  few  desultory  attacks  made  by  sea,  and  by  the 
men  of  tlie  Danelagh,  almost  immediately  after  Has- 
ting's  departure,  only  tended  to  show  the  naval  su- 
periority Alfred  was  attaining,  and  to  improve  the 
Anglo-Saxons  in  maritime  tactics.  A  squadron  of 
Northumbrian  pirates  cruised  off"  the  southern  coasts 
with  their  old  objects  in  view.  It  was  met  and  de- 
feated on  several  occasions  by  the  improved  ships  of 
the  king.  Alfred,  who  had  some  mechanical  skill 
himself,  had  caused  vessels  to  be  built  far  exceeding 
those  of  his  enemies  in  length  of  keel,  height  of  board, 
swiftness  and  steadiness  :  some  of  these  can'ied  sixty 
oars,  or  sweepers,  to  be  used,  as  in  the  Roman  gal- 
leys, when  the  wind  failed  ;  and  others  carried  even 
more  than  sixty.  They  diff'ered  in  the  form  of  the 
hulk,  and  probably  in  their  rigging,  from  the  other 
vessels  used  in  the  North  Sea.  Hitherto  the  Danish 
and  Friesland  builds  seem  to  have  been  considered  as 
the  best  models ;  but  these  ships,  which  were  found 
peculiarly  well  adapted  to  the  service  for  which  he 
intended  them,  were  consti-ucted  after  a  plan  of  Al- 
fred's own  invention.  At  the  end  of  his  reign  they 
considerably  exceeded  the  number  of  one  hundred 
sail :  they  were  divided  into  squadrons,  and  stationed 
at  difl"erent  ports  round  the  island,  while  some  of 
them  were  kept  constantly  cruising  between  England 
and  the  main.  Although  he  abandoned  their  system 
of  ship-building,  Alfred  retained  many  Frieslanders 
in  his  service ;  for  they  were  more  expert  seamen 
than  his  subjects,  who  still  required  instruction.  After 
an  obstinate  engagement  near  the  Isle  of  Wight,  two 
Danish  ships,  which  had  been  much  injured  in  the 
fight,  were  cast  ashore  and  taken.  When  the  crews 
were  can-ied  to  the  king,  at  Winchester,  he  ordered 
them  all  to  be  hanged.  This  severity,  so  much  at 
variance  with  Alfred's  usual  humanity,  has  caused 
some  regret  and  confusion  to  historians.  One  writer 
says  that  the  Danes  do  not  seem  to  have  violated  the 
law  of  nations,  as  such  law  was  then  understood,  and 
that,  therefore,  Alfred's  execution  of  them  was  inex- 


cusable. Another  wi-iter  is  of  opinion  that  Alfred  al- 
ways, and  properly,  drew  a  distinction  between  pii-ates 
and  waiTiors.  This  hne  would  be  most  difl[icult  to 
draw  when  all  were  robbers  and  pirates  alike ;  but 
the  real  rule  of  Alfred's  conduct  seems  to  have  been 
this — to  distinguish  between  such  Danes  as  attacked 
him  from  abroad,  and  such  Danes  as  attacked  liim 
from  the  Danelagh  at  home.  On  the  services  and 
gratitude  of  the  former  he  had  no  claim ;  but  the 
men  of  Northumbria,  Norfolk,  and  Sussex  had, 
through  their  chiefs  and  princes,  sworn  allegiance  to 
him,  had  received  benefits  from  him,  and  stood  bound 
to  the  protection  of  his  states,  which  they  were  rav- 
aging. From  the  situation  they  occuj)ied  they  could 
constantly  trouble  his  tranquillitj' ;  and  in  regard  to 
them  he  may  have  been  led  to  consider,  after  the  ex- 
perience he  had  had  of  their  bad  faith,  that  measures 
of  extreme  severity  were  allowable  and  indispensable. 
The  two  ships  captured  at  the  Isle  of  Wight  came 
from  Northumbria  ;  and  the  twenty  ships  taken  during 
the  three  remaining  years  of  his  life,  and  of  which  the 
crews  were  slain  or  hanged  on  the  gallows,  came 
from  the  same  countiy,  and  the  other  English  lands 
included  in  the  Danelagh. 

The  excursions  of  Hasting  were  accompanied  with 
other  calamities  ;  "  so  that,"  to  use  the  words  of  the 
chronicler  Fabian,  "  this  land,  for  three  years,  was 
vexed  with  three  manner  of  sorrows, — with  war  of 
the  Danes,  pestilence  of  men,  and  muiTain  of  beasts." 
The  horrors  of  famine,  to  escape  which  the  Danes 
had  come  to  England,  are  not  alluded  to;  but  the 
pestilence,  which  is  mentioned  by  all  the  chroniclers, 
carried  off  vast  numbers,  and  among  them  many  of 
the  chief  thanes  or  nobles  of  the  Saxons.  It  seems 
to  have  continued  some  time  after  Hasting's  depar- 
ture, and  then,  on  its  cessation,  Alfred  enjoyed  as 
much  comfort  as  his  rapidly  declining  health  would 
permit. 

The  intellectual  character  of  this  tmly  great  sove- 
reign, his  literarj'  productions,  his  efforts  for  promoting 
the  education  of  his  people,  his  improvements  in  laws 
and  administration,  will  be  noticed  in  their  proper 
places.  But  before  we  descend  to  the  far  inferior 
reigns  of  his  successors,  we  must  select  from  his  biog- 
raphers a  few  personal  details,  and  cull  a  few  of  those 
flowers  which  adorned  his  reign,  and  which  still  give 
it  a  beauty  and  an  interest  we  look  for  in  vain  else- 
where during  those  barbarous  ages. 

Historians  have  generally  attached  gi'eat  conse- 
quences to  his  travels  on  the  continent  through 
France  and  Italy ;  and,  mere  child  as  he  was,  it  was 
not  improbable  that  Alfred's  mind  received  impres- 
sions in  those  countries  that  were  aften;^'ards  of  ben- 
efit to  himself  and  his  kingdom.  On  the  first  of  these 
journeys  to  Rome,  Alfred  was  only  in  his  fifth  year, 
but  on  the  second,  when  he  was  accompanied  by  his 
father,  and  anointed  by  the  pope,  he  was  eight  years 
old.  On  this  last  occasion  he  staid  nearlj'  a  year  at 
Rome,  and  returning  thence,  through  France,  he  re- 
sided some  time  at  Paris.  The  eternal  city,  though 
despoiled  by  the  barbarians,  and  not  yet  enriched 
with  the  works  of  modern  art,  must  have  retained 
much   of  its  ancient  splendor;    the   Coliseum,  and 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


157 


many  other  edifices  that  remain,  are  known  to 
have  been  much  more  perfect  in  the  days  of  Alfred 
than  they  are  now :  the  proud  capitol  was  compara- 
tively entire  ;  and  in  various  parts  of  the  city,  where 
we  now  trace  little  but  foundations  of  walls,  and  scat- 
tered fragments,  there  then  stood  lofty  and  elegant 
buildings.  Alfred,  who  at  home  had  lived  in  wooden 
houses,  and  been  accustomed  to  see  mud-huts  with 
thatched  roofs,  could  hardly  fail  of  being  sti'uck  with 
the  superior  splendor  of  Rome.  The  papal  court, 
though  as  yet  modest  and  unassuming,  was  regulated 
with  some  taste  and  great  order;  while  the  otlier 
court  at  which  he  resided  (the  French)  was  more 
splendid  than  any  in  Europe,  with  the  exception  of 
Constantinople. 

But  whatever  effect  these  scenes  may  have  had  in 
enlarging  the  mind  of  Alfred,  it  should  appear  he  had 
not  yet  learned  to  read — an  accomplishment,  by  the 
way,  not  then  very  common  even  among  princes  and 
nobles  of  a  more  advanced  age.  He,  however,  de- 
lighted in  hstening  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  ballads  and 
songs  which  were  constantly  recited  by  the  minstrels 
and  glee-men  attached  to  his  father's  court.  From 
frequent  vocal  repetition,  to  which  he  listened  day 
and  night,'  he  learned  them  by  heai*t;  and  the  taste 
he  thus  acquired  for  poetry  lasted  him,  through  many 
cares  and  sorrows,  to  the  last  day  of  his  life.  The 
stoiy  told  by  Asser  is  well  known.  One  day  his 
mother,  Osburgha,  was  sitting,  surrounded  by  her 
children,  with  a  book  of  Saxon  poetry  in  her  hands. 
The  precious  manuscript  was  gilded  or  illuminated, 
and  the  contents  were  probably  new,  and  much  to 
the  taste  of  the  boys.  "  I  will  give  it,"  said  she,  "  to 
him  among  you  who  shall  first  learn  to  read  it."  Al- 
fred, the  youngest  of  them  all,  ran  to  a  teacher,  and 
studying  earnestly,  soon  learned  to  read  Anglo-Sax- 
on, and  won  the  book.  But,  with  the  exception  of 
popular  poetry,  Anglo-Saxon  was  the  key  to  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  literature  or  knowledge  of  the 
times ;  and  as  his  curiosity  and  intellect  increased,  it 
became  necessary  for  him  to  learn  Latin.  At  a  sub- 
sequent period  of  his  life,  Alfred  possessed  a  knowl- 
edge of  that  learned  language,  which  was  altogether 
extraordinary  for  a  prince  of  the  ninth  century.  It 
is  not  very  clear  when  he  obtained  this  degree  of 
knowledge  ;  but  after  teaching  himself  by  translating, 
he  was  probably  greatly  improved  in  his  mature  man- 
hood, when  the  monk  Asser,  Johannes  Erigena, 
Grimbald,  and  other  learned  men,  settled  at  his  court. 
Alfred  was  accustomed  to  say  that  he  regretted  the 
neglected  education  of  his  youth,  the  entire  want  of 
proper  teachers,  and  also  the  difficulties  that  then 
baned  his  progress  to  intellectual  acquirements,  much 
more  than  all  the  hardships  and  sorrows  and  crosses 
that  befel  him  afterwards.  As  one  of  his  great  im- 
pediments had  been  the  Latin  language,  which,  even 
with  our  improved  system  of  tuition,  and  with  all  our 
facilities  and  advantages,  is  not  mastered  without  long 
and  difficult  study,  he  earnestly  recommended  from 
the  throne,  in  a  circular  letter,  addressed  to  the 
bishops,  that  thenceforward  "all  good  and  useful 
books  be  translated  into  the  language  which  we  all 

1  Asser,  16. 


understand;  so  that  all  the  youths  of  England,  but 
more  especially  those  who  are  of  gentle  kind,  and  in 
easy  circumstances,  may  be  gioanded  in  letters — for 
they  cannot  profit  in  any  pursuit  until  they  are  well 
able  to  read  English."  Alfred's  own  literary  works 
were  chiefly  translations  from  the  Latin  into  Anglo- 
Saxon,  the  spoken  language  of  his  people.  It  excites 
surprise  how  he  could  find  time  for  these  laudable 
occupations;  but  he  was  steady  and  persevering, 
regular  in  his  habits,  when  not  kept  in  the  field  by 
the  Danes,  and  a  great  economist  of  his  time.  Eight 
hours  of  each  day  he  gave  to  sleep,  to  his  meals,  and 
exercise  ;  eight  were  absorbed  by  the  affaii-s  of  gov- 
ernment ;  and  eight  were  devoted  to  study  and  devo- 
tion. Clocks,  clepsydras,  and  the  other  ingenious 
instruments  for  measuring  time  were  then  unknown 
in  England.  Alfred  was,  no  doubt,  acquainted  with 
the  sun-dial,  which  was  in  common  use  in  Italy  and 
parts  of  France ;  but  this  index  is  of  no  use  in  the 
hours  of  the  night,  and  would  frequently  be  equally 
unserviceable  during  our  foggy  sunless  days.  He, 
therefore,  marked  his  time  by  the  constant  burning 
of  wax  torches  or  candles,  which  were  made  precisely 
of  the  same  weight  and  size,  and  notched  in  the  stem 
at  regular  distances.  These  candles  were  twelve 
inches  long ;  six  of  them,  or  seventy-two  inches  of 
wax,  were  consumed  in  twenty-fours,  or  1440  min- 
utes ;  and  thus,  supposing  the  notches  at  intervals  of 
an  inch,  one  inch  would  mark  the  lapse  of  twenty 
minutes.  It  appears  that  these  time-candles  were 
placed  under  the  special  charge  of  his  mass-priests,  or 
chaplains.  But  it  was  soon  discovered,  that  sometimes 
the  wind,  rushing  in  through  the  ^-indows  and  doors, 
and  the  numerous  chinks  in  the  walls  of  the  palace, 
consumed  the  wax  in  a  rapid  and  irregular  manner. 
Hence  Asser  makes  the  great  Alfred  the  inventor  of 
horn-lanterns  !  He  says  the  king  went  skilfullj'  and 
wisely  to  work ;  and  having  found  out  that  white 
horn  could  be  rendered  transparent,  like  glass,  he, 
with  that  material,  and  with  pieces  of  wood,  admira- 
bly {mirabiliter)  made  a  case  for  his  candle,  which 
kept  it  from  wasting  and  flaring. 

In  his  youth  Alfred  was  passionately  fond  of  field 
sports,  and  was  famed  as  being  "  excellent  cunning 
in  all  hunting ;"  but  after  his  retreat  at  Athelney  he 
indulged  this  taste  with  becoming  moderation ;  and 
during  the  latter  years  of  his  reign  he  seems  to  have 
ridden  merely  upon  business,  or  for  the  sake  of  his 
health.  He  then  considered  every  moment  of  value,  - 
as  he  could  devote  it  to  lofty  and  improving  purposes. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  care  and  ingenuity 
he  employed  in  creating  a  navy.  Sea  affairs,  geogra- 
phy, and  the  discovery  of  unknown  countries,  or  rather 
the  descriptions  of  countries  then  little  known,  ob- 
tained by  means  of  bold  navigators,  occupied  much  of 
his  time,  and  formed  one  of  bis  favorite  subjects  for 
writing.  He  endeavored,  by  liberality  and  kindness, 
to  attract  to  England  all  such  foreigners  as  could  give 
good  information  on  these  subjects,  or  were  other- 
wise quahfied  to  illuminate  the  national  ignorance. 
From  Audher,  or  Ohthere,  who  had  coasted  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  from  the  Baltic  to  the  North  Cape, 
he  obtained  much  informatitm ;  from  Wulfstan,  who 


158 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


appears  to  have  been  one  of  liis  subjects,  and  who 
undertook  a  voyage  round  the  Baltic,  he  gathered 
many  particulars  concerning  the  divers  countries  sit- 
uated on  that  sea  ;  and  from  other  voyagers  and  trav- 
elers whom  he  sent  out  expressly  himself  he  obtained 
a  description  of  Bulgaria,  Sclavonia,  Bohemia,  and 
Germany.  All  this  information  he  committed  to 
writing  in  the  plain  mother  tongue,  and  with  the 
noble  design  of  imparting  it  to  his  people.  Having 
learned  that  there  were  colonies  of  Christian  Syrians 
settled  on  the  coasts  of  Malabar  and  Coromandel,  he 
sent  out  Swithelm,  Bishop  of  Sherburn,  to  India — a 
tremendous  journey  in  those  days.  The  stout- 
hearted ecclesiastic,  however,  making  what  is  now 
called  the  overland  journey,  went  and  returned  in 
safety,  bringing  back  with  him  presents  of  gems  and 
Indian  spices.  Hereby  was  Alfred's  fame  increased, 
and  the  name  and  existence  of  England  probably 
heard  of  for  the  first  time  in  that  remote  country,  of 
which,  nine  centuries  after,  she  was  to  become  the 
almost  absolute  mistress. 

While  his  active  mind,  which  anticipated  the  na- 
tional spirit  of  much  later  times,  was  thus  engaged  in 
drawing  knowledge  from  the  distant  corners  of  the 
earth,  he  did  not  neglect  home  affairs.  He  taught 
the  people  how  to  build  better  houses ;  he  labored 
to  increase  their  comforts  ;  he  established  schools  ;  he 
founded  or  rebuilt  many  towns ;  and,  having  learnt 
the  importance  of  fortifications  during  his  wars  with 
the  Danes,  he  fortified  them  all  as  well  as  he  could. 
He  caused  a  survey  to  be  made  of  the  coast  and  nav- 
igable rivers,  and  ordered  castles  to  be  erected  at 
those  places  which  were  most  accessible  to  the  land- 
ing of  the  enemy.  Fifty  strong  towers  and  castles 
rose  in  different  parts  of  the  countrj',  but  the  number 
would  have  been  threefold  had  Alfred  not  been 
thwarted  by  the  indolence,  ignorance,  and  careless- 
ness of  his  nobles  and  people.  He  revised  the  laws 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  being  aided  and  sanctioned 
therein  by  his  witenagemot,  or  parliament;  and  he 
established  so  excellent  a  system  of  police,  that  to- 
wards the  end  of  his  reign  it  was  generally  asserted 
that  one  might  have  hung  golden  bracelets  and  jewels 
on  the  public  highways  and  cross-roads,  and  no  man 
would  have  dared  to  touch  them  for  fear  of  the  law. 
Towards  arbitrary-,  unjust,  or  corrupt  administrators 
of  the  law,  he  was  inexorable ;  and,  if  we  can  give 
credit  to  an  old  ^Titer,'  he  ordered  the  execution  of 
no  fewer  than  forty-four  judges  and  magisti-ates  of 
this  stamp  in  the  course  of  one  year.  Those  who 
were  ignorant  or  careless  he  reprimanded  and  sus- 
pended, commanding  them  to  qualify  themselves  for 
the  proper  discharge  of  their  office  before  they  ven- 
tured to  griisp  its  honors  and  emoluments.  He  heard 
all  appeals  with  the  utmost  patience,  and,  in  cases  of 
importance,  revised  all  the  law  proceedings  with  the 
utmost  industry.  His  manifold  labors  in  the  couit, 
the  camp,  the  field,  the  hall  of  justice,  the  study, 
must  have  been  prodigious ;  and  our  admiration  of 
this  wonderful  man  is  increased  by  the  well-estab- 
lished fact,  that  all  these  exertions  were  made  in  spite 

'  Andrew  Home,  author  of  "Miroir  des  Justices,"  who  wrote,  in 
Norman  French,  under  EJward  I.  or  Edward  II. 


of  the  depressing  influences  of  physical  pain  and  con- 
stant bad  health.  In  his  early  years  he  was  severely 
afflicted  by  the  disease  called  the  /("cms.  This  left  him  ; 
but,  at  the  age  of  twentj-  or  twenty-one,  it  was  replaced 
by  another  and  still  more  tormenting  malady,  the  in- 
ward seat  and  unknown  mysterious  nature  of  whidi 
baffled  all  the  medical  skill  of  his  "leeches."  The 
accesses  of  excruciating  pain  were  frequent — at  times 
almost  unintermittenf,  and  then,  if  by  day  or  by 
night,  a  single  hour  of  ease  was  mercifully  granted 
him,  that  short  interval  was  embittered  by  the  dread 
of  the  sure  returning  anguish.'  This  malady  never 
left  him  till  the  day  of  his  death,  which  it  must  have 
hastened.  He  expired  in  the  month  of  October,  six 
nights  before  All-Hallows-mass-day,  in  the  year  901, 
when  he  was  only  in  the  fiftj-'third  year  of  his  age, 
and  was  buried  at  Winchester,  in  a  nionasteiy  he 
had  founded. 


i*':f.T-i 


SiLviR  Coins  or  Alfred. — From  Specimens  in  the  British  Ma^eum. 

In  describing  his  brilliant  and  mcontestible  deeds, 
and  in  tracing  the  character  of  the  great  Alfred,  we, 
in  common  with  nearly  all  the  A\niter3  who  have  pre- 
ceded us  in  the  task,  have  draAvn  »  general  eulog}% 
and  a  character  nearly  approaching  to  ideal  perfec- 
tion. But  were  there  no  spots  in  all  this  brilliancy 
and  purity  ?  As  Alfi-fnl  was  a  mortal  man,  there 
were,  no  doubt,  many  ;  but  to  discover  them,  we  must 
ransack  his  private  life,  and  his  vaguely  reported  con- 
duct when  a  mere  stripling  king;  and  the  discovery, 
after  all,  confers  no  honor  of  sagacity,  and  does  not 
justify  the  exulting  yell  with  which  a  recent  waiter 
announces  to  the  world,  that  Alfred  had  not  only 
faults,  but  crimes  to  bemoan.  It  is  passed  into  « 
truism  that  he  will  seldom  be  in  the  wrong,  who  de?- 
ducts  alike  from  the  amount  of  virtue  and  vice,  in  the 
characters  recorded  in  history ;  but.  this  deduction 
will  be  made  according  to  men's  tempers ;  and  whilt» 
some  largely  reduce  the  amount  of  virtue,  they  seem 
to  leave  the  vice  untouched — their  incredulity  ex- 
tending rather  to  what  elevates  and  ennobles  human 
nature,  than  to  the  things  which  degrade  and  debase 
it.  The  directly  contraiy  course,  or  that  of  reducing 
the  crime,  and  leaving  the  virtue,  if  not  the  more  cor- 
rect (which  we  will  not  decide)  is  certainly  the  more 
generous  and  improving.  Eveiy  people  above  the 
condition  of  barbarity  have  their  heroes  and  their  na- 
tional objects  of  veneration,  and  are  probably  improved 
by  the  high  standard  of  excellence  they  present,  and 
by  the  very  reverence  they  pay  to  them.  We  may 
venerate  the  memory  of  our  Alfred  with  as  little  dan- 
ger of  paying  an  unmerited  homage  as  any  of  them. 
On  this  subject  the  late  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  whose 
historical  sagacity  was  equal  to  his  good  feeling,  says, 
"  The  Norman  historians,  who  seem  to  have  had  his 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


159 


diaries  and  note-books  in  their  hands,  chose  Alfred  as 
the  glory  of  the  land  which  had  become  their  own. 
There  is  no  subject  on  which  unanimous  ti'adition  is 
so  nearly  sufficient  evidence  as  on  the  eminence  of 
one  man  over  others  of  the  same  condition.  His 
bright  image  may  long  be  held  up  before  the  national 
mind.  This  tiadition,  however  paradoxical  the  asser- 
tion may  appear,  is,  in  the  case  of  Alfred,  rather  sup- 
ported than  weakened  by  the  fictions  which  have 
sprung  from  it.  Although  it  be  an  infirmity  of  every 
nation  to  ascribe  their  institutions  to  the  conti"ivance 
of  a  man  rather  than  to  the  slow  action  of  time  and 
circumstances,  yet  the  selection  of  Alfred  by  the 
English  people,  as  the  founder  of  all  that  was  dear  to 
them,  is  surely  the  sti-ongest  proof  of  the  deep  im- 
pression left  on  the  minds  of  all  of  his  transcendent 
wisdom  and  virtue.'" 

Edward,  a.d.  901.  Alfred,  with  all  his  wisdom 
and  power,  had  not  been  enabled  to  settle  the  succes- 
sion to  the  throne  on  a  sure  and  lasting  basis.  On 
his  death,  it  was  disputed  between  his  son  Edward, 
and  his  nephew  Ethelwald,  the  son  of  Ethelbald,  one 
of  Alfred's  elder  brothers.  Each  party  armed ;  but 
as  Ethelwald  found  himself  the  weaker,  he  declined 
a  combat  at  Wimburn,  and  fled  into  the  Danelagh, 
where  the  Danes  hailed  him  as  their  king.  Many  of 
the  Saxons  who  lived  in  that  country  mixed  with  the 
Danes,  preferred  war  to  the  restraints  of  such  a  gov- 
ernment as  Alfred  had  established ;  and  an  internal 
wai'  was  renewed,  which  did  infinite  miscliief,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  other  hon-ors.  Ethelwald  was 
slain  in  a  terrible  battle  fought  in  the  year  905,  upon 
which  the  Danes  concluded  a  peace  upon  equal  terms ; 
for  Edward  was  not  yet  powerful  enough  to  treat  them 
9^  a  master.  The  sons  of  the  princes  and  yarls,  and 
in  many  instances  the  individuals  themselves,  who 
had  been  tranquil  and  submissive  under  Alfred,  soon 
aimed,  not  merely  at  making  the  Danelagh  an  inde- 
pendent kingdom,  but  at  conquering  the  rest  of  the 
island.  Edward  was  not  deficient  in  valor  or  mili- 
tary skill.  In  the  year  911  he  gained  a  most  signal 
victory  over  the  Danes,  who  had  advanced  to  the 
Severn  ;  but  the  whole  spirit  of  Alfred  seemed  more 
particularly  to  sui-vive  in  his  daughter  Ethelfleda,  sis- 
ter of  Edward,  and  wife  of  Ethelred,  the  eolderman 
of  Mercia,  who  has  been  so  often  mentioned,  and 
whose  death,  in  912,  left  the  whole  care  of  that  king- 
dom to  his  widow.  Her  brother  Edward  took  pos- 
session of  London  and  Oxford,  but  she  claimed,  and 
then  defended  the  rest  of  Mercia,  with  the  bravery 
and  ability  of  an  experienced  warrior.  Following  her 
father's  example,  she  fortified  all  her  towns,  and  con- 
structed ramparts,  and  enti-enched  camps  in  the  pro- 
per places :  allowing  them  no  Test,  she  drove  the 
Danes  out  of  Derby  and  Leicester,  and  compelled 
many  tribes  of  them  to  acknowledge  her  authority. 
In  the  assault  of  Derby,  four  of  her  bravest  command- 
ers fell,  but  she  boldly  urged  the  combat  until  the 
place  was  taken.  As  some  of  the  Welsh  had  become 
troublesome,  she  conducted  an  expedition  with  re- 
markable spirit  and  rapidity  against  Breccanmere,  or 
%Brecknock,  and  took  the  wife  of  the  Welsh  king  a 

'  Hist.  Eug.  ch.  li. 


prisoner.  In  seeing  these  her  wavlike  operations, 
says  Ingulf,  one  would  have  believed  she  had  changed 
her  sex.  The  Lady  Ethelfleda,  as  she  is  called  by 
the  clironiclers,  died  in  920,  when  Edward  succeeded 
to  her  authority  in  Mercia,  and  prosecuted  her  plan 
of  securing  the  country  by  fortified  works.  He  wa.«» 
active  and  successful :  he  took  most  of  the  Danish 
towns  between  the  Thames  and  the  Humber,  and 
forced  the  rest  of  the  Danelagh  that  lay  north  of  the 
Humber  to  acknowledge  his  supremacy.  The  Welsh, 
the  Scots,  the  inhabitants  of  Strathclyde  and  Cumbria 
(who  still  figure  as  a  separate  people),  and  the  men 
of  Galloway,  are  said  to  have  done  him  homage,  and 
to  have  accepted  him  as  their  "father,  lord,  and  pro- 
tector." 

Athelstane.  a.d.  925.  Edward's  dominion  ftir 
exceeded  in  extent  that  of  his  father  Alfred  ;  but  his 
son  Athelstane,  who  succeeded  him  in  925,  estab- 
lished a  more  brilliant  throne,  and  made  a  still  nearer 
approach  to  the  sovereignty  of  all  England.  By  war 
and  policy  he  reduced  nearly  all  Wales  to  an  inoflien- 
sive  tranquillity,  if  not  to  vassalage.  A  tribute  was 
certainly  paid  during  a  part  of  the  reign,  and  together 
with  gold  and  silver,  and  beeves,  the  Welsh  were 
bound  to  send  their  best  hounds  and  hawks  to  the 
court  of  Athelstane.  He  next  turned  his  arms  against 
the  old  tribes  of  Cornwall,  who  were  still  turbulent, 
and  impatient  of  the  Saxon  yoke.  He  drove  them 
from  Devonshire,  where  they  had  again  made  en- 
croachments, and  reduced  them  to  obedience  and  good 
order  beyond  the  Tamar. 

In  937  he  was  assailed  by  a  more  powerful  con- 
federacy than  had  ever  been  formed  against  a  Saxon 
king.  Olave,  or  Anlaf,  a  Danish  prince,  who  had  al- 
ready been  settled  in  Northumbria,  but  who  had 
lately  taken  Dublin,  and  made  considerable  conquests 
in  Ireland,  sailed  up  the  Humber  with  620  ships;  his 
friend  and  ally,  Constantino,  King  of  the  Scots,  the 
people  of  Strathclyde  and  Cumbria,  and  the  northern 
Welsh,  were  all  up  in  arms  and  ready  to  join  him. 
Yet  this  coalition,  formidable  as  it  was,  was  utterly 
destroyed  on  the  bloody  field  of  Brunnaburgh,i  where 
Athelstane  gained  one  of  the  most  splendid  of  victo- 
ries, and  where  five  Danish  kings  and  seven  earls 
fell.  Anlaf  escaped  with  a  wretched  fragment  of  his 
forces  to  Ireland  ;  Constantine,  bemoaning  the  loss  of 
his  fair-haired  son,  who  had  also  perished  at  Brunna- 
burgh,  fled  to  the  hilly  countiy  noith  of  the  Friths. 
After  this  great  victory,  none  seem  to  have  dared 
again  to  raise  arms  against  Athelstane  in  any  part  of 
the  island. 

It  appears  to  have  been  from  this  time  that  Athel- 
stane laid  aside  the  modest  and  limited  title  of  his 
predecessors,  and  assumed  that  of  "  King  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons,"  or  "King  of  the  English" —  titles 
which  had  been  given  to  several  of  them  in  the  let- 
ters of  the  Roman  popes  and  bishops,  but  had  never 
till  now  been  used  by  the  sovereigns  themselves. 
His  father,  and  his  grandfather  Alfred,  had  simply 
stj'led  themselves  Kings  of  Wessex,  or  of  the  West 
Saxons. 

1  Supposed  by  some  to  be  Bum  in  the  south  of  Lincolnshire,  bj^ 
others,  Bmgh  in  the  north  of  the  same  county. 


160 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Under  Athelstane,  the  English  court  was  polished 
to  a  considerable  degree,  and  became  the  chosen 
residence  or  asylum  of  several  foreign  princes.  Har- 
old, the  King  of  Nonvay,  entrusted  his  son  Haco  to 
the  care  and  tuition  of  the  enlightened  Athelstane ; 
and  this  son,  by  the  aid  of  England,  aftei-wards  suc- 
ceeded to  the  Norwegian  throne,  on  which  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a  legislator.  Louis  D'Outre- 
mer,  the  French  king,  took  refuge  in  London  before 
he  secured  the  throne ;  and  even  the  Celtic  princes 
of  Arniorica,  or  Brittany,  when  expelled  their  states 
by  the  Northmen  or  Normans,  fled  to  the  court  of 
Athelstane,  in  preference  to  all  others.  He  bestow- 
ed his  sisters  in  marriage  on  the  first  sovereigns  of 
those  times,  and,  altogetlier,  he  enioved  a  degree  of 


respect,  and  exercised  an  influence  on  the  general 
politics  of  Europe,  that  were  not  surpassed  by  any 
living  sovereign.'  A  horrid  suspicion  of  guilt — tlie 
crime  of  nuirdering  his  own  brother  Edwin — has 
been  cast  upon  him ;  but  this  is  scarcely  jnoved  by 
any  contemporary  evidence,  and  his  conduct  as  a 
sovereign  seems  almost  ineproachable.  He  revised 
the  laws,  promulgiited  some  new  and  good  ones, 
made  a  provision  for  the  poor  and  helpless,  and  en- 
couraged the  study  of  letters  by  earnest  recommen- 
dations and  by  his  own  example.     Like  his  grand- 

1  Amonj  the  costly  presents  sent  to  Athelstane  )iy  foreiipTi  soTereipns, 
was  one  from  the  King  of  Norway,  "of  a  goodly  ship  of  fine  workman- 
ship, with  gilt  stem  and  purple  sails,  furnished  round  about  the  deck 
within  with  a  row  of  gilt  pavises  (or  shields)." 


NPR^N 

CIPIO 


eRATVC€RBttCohoc  GRAT 

INTPRIVCTPlOyVPUrd  6o7  • 
OcoNlApeRTPSU  RACJASUN/; 

ersiNeipsoFAcruesTNibiL 
QvobFAcruco  esT- 
I'vrpsoui  TAesT'  GrmvA 
6RATLuxT>omrNUoo' 

GtL  ux  iNTTGN  eBRlSLucer. 

GTTeKeBRAe  GACDTsTON 

COOOpRebG  N  DeRXlMT' 
rUITbocoOCOTSSUSAOO 

CUI  NTOODGIVeRATTOMNTMES* 
bjCUeVlTTMTeSTlcnOKIir' 

UTTeST7COONtUpeRT)TB6tlH 


PoRTiow  or  THE  FiRST  CHAPTER  OF  THE  GosPEL  oT  Sx.  JoHK.— FroiH  the  Cnttontan  MS.  Tiberius,  A.  2.  a  Copy  of  the  Latin  Gos- 
pels, which,  from  an  inscription  on  the  volume,  appears  to  have  been  presented  by  King  Athelstane  to  the  Cathedral  Church  of  Canter- 
bury (Dorobemenste  Cathedra-).  This  is  believed  to  h:we  been  the  volume  on  which  the  .^nglo  Saxon  kins-s  after  Athelstane,  took  the 
Coronation  Oath.  From  the  names  found  on  a  page  at  the  beginning,  Odd.\  Rex.  «nd  Mihthild  Mater  Regis,  it  is  conjectured  by  Mr. 
Turner  to  have  been  a  present  from  the  Empress  Matilda  of  Germany,  and  her  son  the  Emperor  Oiho.  who  n.arrtd  the  sister  of  Athelstane 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


161 


father  Alfred,  he  was  exceedingly  fond  of  the  Bible, 
and  promoted  the  translation  of  it  into  the  spoken 
language  of  the  people.  The  life  of  this  king  was, 
in  the  words  of  William  of  Malmsbuiy,  "  in  time 
little — in  deeds  gi-eat."  Had  it  been  prolonged,  he 
might  possibly  have  consolidated  his  power,  and 
averted  those  tempests  from  the  north  which  soon 
again  desolated  England.  He  died  a.d.  940,  being 
only  in  his  forty-seventh  year,  and  was  buried  in  the 
abbey  of  Malmsbury. 

Edmund  the  Athehng,  his  brother,  who  was  not 
quite  eighteen  years  old,  succeeded  to  the  throne. 
In  him  the  family  virtue  of  courage  knew  no  blemish 
or  decrease,  and  he  showed  a  determined  taste  for 
elegance  and  improvement,  which  obtained  for  him 
the  name  of  "the  Magnificent;"  but  his  reign  was 
troubled  from  the  beginning,  and  he  was  cut  off  in  his 
prime  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  He  had  scarcely 
ascended  the  throne  when  the  Danes  of  Northumbria 
recalled  fi*om  Ireland  Anlaf,  the  old  opponent  of  Athel- 
stane  at  Brunnaburgh.  The  Danish  prince  came  in 
force,  and  the  result  of  a  war  was,  that  Edmund  was 
obliged  to  resign  to  liim,  in  separate  sovereignty-,  the 
whole  of  the  island  north  of  Watling-sti'eet.  But  Anlaf 
did  not  enjoy  these  advantages  many  months  ;  and 
when  he  died,  Edmund  repossessed  himself  of  all  the 
territory  he  had  ceded.  During  his  troubles  the  people 
of  Cumbria,  who  had  submitted  to  Athelstane,  broke 
out  in  rebellion.  He  marched  against  them  in  946,  ex' 
pelled  their  king,  Dunmail,  and  gave  the  countiy  as 
a  fief  to  Malcolm  of  Scotland,  whom  he  at  the  same 
time  bound  to  defend  the  north  of  the  island  against 
Danish  and  other  invaders.  The  two  sons  of  Dun- 
mail,  whom  he  took  prisoners,  he  barbarously  deprived 
of  their  eyes.  Such  abominable  operations,  togethei- 
with  the  amputating  of  limbs,  cutting  off  of  tongues 
and  noses  of  captive  princes,  had  become  common  on 
the  continent ;  but,  hitherto,  had  veiy  rarely  dis- 
graced the  Anglo-Saxons.  Edmund  did  not  long 
survive  the  perpetration  of  this  atrocity.  On  the 
festival  of  St.  Augustin,  in  the  same  year,  as  he 
was  carousing  with  his  nobles  and  oflficers,  his  eye 
fell  upon  a  banished  robber,  named  Leof,  who  had 
dared  to  mingle  with  the  company.  The  royal  cup- 
bearer or  dapifer  ordered  him  to  withdraw.  The 
robber  refused.  Incensed  at  his  insolence,  and 
heated  by  wine,  Edmund  started  from  his  seat,  and, 
seizing  him  by  his  long  hair,  tried  to  throw  him  to 
the  ground.  Leof  had  a  dagger  hid  under  his  cloak, 
and  in  the  scufifle  he  stabbed  the  king  in  a  vital  part. 
The  desperate  villain  was  cut  to  pieces  by  Edmund's 
servants,  but  not  before  he  had  slain  and  hurt  divers 
of  them.  The  body  of  the  king  was  interred  in 
Glastonbuiy  Abbey,  where  Dunstan,  who  was  soon 
to  occupy  a  wider  scene,  was  then  abbot. 

Edred  (946),  who  succeeded  his  brother  Edmund, 
was  another  son  of  Edward  the  Elder,  and  grandson 
of  Alfred.  He  was  not  twenty-three  years  old,  but 
a  loathsome  disease  had  brought  on  a  premature  old 
age.  He  was  afflicted  with  a  constant  cough  —  he 
lost  his  teeth  and  hair — and  he  was  so  weak  in  his 
lower  extremities  that  he  was  eick-named  "  Edredus 
debilis  pedibus"  (Edred  weak  in  the  feet).  Accord- 
VOL.  I. — 11 


ing  to  some  authorities,  his  mnid  was  as  feeble  as 
his  body,  and  the  vigor  that  marked  his  reign  sprung 
from  the  energy  of  Dunstan,  the  Abbot  of  Glaston- 
bury, who  now  began  to  figure  as  a  statesman,  and 
of  Torketul,  another  churchman,  who  was  chancel- 
lor of  the  kingdom.  Other  writers,  however,  affirm 
that  Edred's  weak  and  puny  body  did  not  affect  his 
mind,  which  was  resolute  and  vigorous,  and  such  as 
became  a  grandson  of  Alfred.  Though,  in  common 
with  the  other  states  of  the  north,  the  Danes  of 
Northumbria  had  sworn  fealty  to  Edrgd  at  Tadwine's 
Cliff,  they  rose  soon  after  his  accession,  and  being 
joined  by  Eric  and  other  princes  and  pirates  fiom 
Denmark,  Norway,  Ireland,  the  Orkneys,  and  the 
Hebrides  (where  the  sea-kings  had  established  them- 
selves), they  once  more  tried  the  fortune  of  war 
with  the  Saxons.  The  operations  of  Edred's  ar- 
mies, though  disgi-aced  bj'  cruelty  and  the  devasta- 
tion of  the  land,  were  marked  with  exceeding  vigor 
and  activity,  and,  after  two  or  three  most  obstinate 
and  sanguinary  battles,  they  were  crowned  with 
success.  The  Danes  in  England,  humbled,  and 
apparently  crushed,  were  condemned  to  pay  a  heavy 
pecuniary  fine  ;  Northumbria  was  incorporated  with 
the  rest  of  the  kingdom  much  more  completely  than 
it  had  hitherto  been,  the  royal  title  was  abolished, 
and  the  administration  put  into  the  hands  of  an  earl 
appointed  by  the  king.  Even  the  victorious  Athel 
stane  had  left  the  title  of  king  or  sub-king  to  the 
Danish  rulers  of  Northumbria ;  and  it  is  assumed 
that  the  constant  rebellions  of  those  rulers  were 
principally  excited  by  their  anxious  wish  to  throw 
off  the  allegiance  due  to  the  E-nglish  crown.  We 
believe,  however,  there  was  a  powerful  excitement 
from  without.  The  sea-kings  still  I'oamed  the  ocean, 
in  search  of  plunder  or  settlements ;  many  princes 
or  chiefs  in  Denmark  and  Norway  claimed  kindred 
with  those  who  had  made  conquests  and  obtained 
kingdoms  in  England,  and  whenever  an  opportunity 
offered  they  pretended  to  those  possessions  by  an 
indefeasible,  hereditary  right.  Such  a  right  might' 
not  be  recognized  by  the  Anglo-Saxons,  but  it  would, 
pass  unquestioned  among  the  Scandinavian  rovers,, 
who  would  profit  by  its  being  enforced.  The  names 
of  a  whole  series  of  these  Danish  pretenders  may 
probably  be  found  in  the  mythical  historians, — in 
the  more  than  half  fabulous  Edda  and  Sagas  of  the- 
north, — but  we  are  not  aware  that  the  discovery  of 
them  would  cast  any  veiy  important  light  on  our 
annals. 

Edred  died  soon  after  the  reduction  of  Northum- 
bria, and,  leaving  no  children,  was  succeeded  by  the 
son  of  his  brother  and  predecessor  on  the  throne. 

EwDY  was  a  boy  of  fifteen  when  he  began  his 
troublous  reign  (a.d.  955).  One  of  the  first  acts  of 
his  government  seems  to  have  been  the  appointment 
of  his  brother  Edgar  (whom  the  monks  soon  played 
off  against  him)  to  be  sub-regulus  or  vassal-king  of 
a  part  of  England, '  most  probably  of  the  old  kingdom 

'  "  This  fact,  which  is  of  some  importance,  is  proved,  like  many 
other  points  of  a  similar  description,  not  by  historians,  but  by  a  charti.r 
The  document,  however,  does  not  designate  the  locality  of  the  domin- 
ions assigned  to  Edgar.''  Palgrave,  Hist.  Eng.  chap.  xii.  We  follow 
this  learned  investigator  in  supposing  it  was  Mercia. 


162 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


of  Mercia,  where  he  was  to  acknowledge  Edwy's 
supremacy.  As  the  Northumbrians  remained  in 
subjection,  and  as  the  Danes  generally  seemed  to 
have  ceased  from  troubling  the  land,  he  might  have 
enjoyed  a  tranquil  reign  but  for  some  irregularities 
of  his  own,  and  his  quarrels  with  a  body  more  pow- 
erful then  than  warriors  and  sea-kings,  and  who 
fought  with  a  weapon  more  deadly  than  the  sword. 

AVe  now  reach  an  interesting  part  of  our  history, 
which,  after  passing  current  for  many  ages,  has  been 
fiercely  disputed  by  some  recent  writers,  whose 
main  course  of  argument  is  weakened  by  the  glaring 
fact,  that  in  shifting  all  the  blame  from  Dunstan  to 
Edwy,  they  had  party  or  sectarian  purposes  to  servo. 
For  ourselves,  who  are  perfectly  impartial  between 
a  king  and  a  monk,  we  think  the  old  narrative  has 
been  disturbed  without  rendering  any  service  to 
historical  truth ;  and  that  this  is  proved  to  be  the 
case,  almost  to  a  demonstration,  by  a  learned  and 
acute  writer  who  has  sifted  the  w'hole  question.' 
Like  nearly  every  other  part  of  the  Saxon  histoiy, 
the  story  of  Edwy  and  Elgiva  is  certainly  involved  in 
some  difficulties  or  obscurities.  Avoiding  discussion 
and  disputations,  we  will  briefly  state  the  facts  as 
they  seem  to  us  best  established. 

Edwy,  who  was  gay,  handsome,  thoughtless,  and 
very  young,  became  enamored  of  Elgiva,  a  j'oung 
lady  of  rank,  and  married  her,  although  she  was 
related  to  him  in  a  degree  within  which  the  canon- 
ical laws  forbade  such  unions.  She  was  probably 
his  first  or  second  cousin,  and  we  need  not  go 
nearer,  as  such  mairiages  are  still  illegal  in  Catholic 
countries  without  the  express  dispensation  of  the 
pope.  Her  mother  Ethelgiva  lived  with  her  at  the 
court  of  Edwy,  and  seems  to  have  been  a  person  of 
good  repute,  for,  under  the  honorable  designation  of 
the  "  king's  wife's  mother,"  she  attested  an  agree- 
ment betw^een  St.  Ethelwold  and  the  Bishop  of 
Wells,  to  which  three  other  bishops  were  subscribing 
witnesses.  We  are  entitled  to  assume  that  had 
there  been  anything  more  than  a  slight  infringement 
of  church-law  in  the  marriage  of  Elgiva,  or  had  she 
and  her  mother  been  the  depraved  characters  some 
writers  have  represented  them,  such  personages  as 
saints  and  bishops,  and  most  orthodox  churchmen, 
would  not  be  found  frequenting  the  court  where 
both  the  ladies  lived  in  preeminence  and  honor. 
Dunstan  and  his  partj',  however,  must  surely  have 
had  other  provocations  than  the  irregularity  of  the 
marriage,  or  the  thoughtlessness  of  Ed\\y  in  quitting 
their  company,  when  they  proceeded  to  the  insolent 
extremities  we  are  now  to  relate.  On  the  day  of 
the  king's  coronation  the  chief  nobles  and  clergy 
Avere  bidden  to  a  feast,  where  they  sat  long  carous- 
ing, deep  in  their  cups,  which  they  were  too  much 
accustomed  to  do.^  The  stomach  of  the  youthful 
king  may  have  been  incapable  of  such  potations, — 

1  See  article  on  Lingard's  "  Antiquities  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church," 
in  Edinburgh  Rfiview,  vol.  xxv.  pp.  346-354  ;  and  article  on  Lingard's 
"  History  of  England,"  in  the  same  work,  vol.  ilii.  pp.  1-31.  Both 
these  reviews  are  acknowledged  to  be  by  John  Allen,  Esq.,  in  his 
"  Letter  to  Francis  Jeffrey,  Esq.,  in  reply  to  Dr.  Lingard's  Vindication." 
8vo.  Lon.  1827. 

3  "Quibus  Angli  nimis  sunt  assucti."    Wallingford. 


his  taste  may  have  been  revolted  bj-  such  coarse 
excesses ;    he   was    still    passionately    enamored    of 

his  beautiful  bride,  and,  stealing  from  the  banquet- 
ing hall,  he  withdrew  with  her  and  her  mother  to 
an  inner  apartment  of  the  palace.  His  absence  was 
remarked  by  Odo,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  u 
Dane  by  birtli,'  a  harsh,  ambitious  man,  who  may 
be  more  than  suspected  of  having  played  false  with 
Edwj''s  father.  King  Edmund,  when  engaged  in  the 
Northumbrian  troubles,  and  obliged  to  renounce  half 

'  the  island  to  Anlaf.  Odo  was  probably  exasperated 
himself,  and  perceiving  that  the  company  were 
displeased  at  the  king's  leaving  them,  he  ordered 
some  persons  to  go  and  bring  him  Ijack  to  partake  of 
the  general  convivialitj^.  The  individuals  addressed 
seem  to  have  declined  the  office  fi'om  motives  of 
respect  and  decency,  but  Dunstan,  the  friend  of 
Odo,  feeling  no  such  scruples,  rushed  to  the  inner 
apartment,  diagged  the  young  king  from  the  side  of 

.  his  wife,  and  thrust  him  back  into  the  banqueting- 
hall  by  main  force.  Such  an  outrage, — such  a  hu- 
miliation in  the  face  of  his  assembled  subjects, — 
must  have  passed  Edwy's  endurance.  Nor  was 
this  all  the  wrong.  While  in  the  chamber  Dunstan 
addressed  the  queen  and  her  mother  in  the  most 
brutal  language,  and  threatened  the  latter  with 
infamy  and  the  gallows.  The  king  had  a  ready  rod 
wherewith  to  scourge  the  monk.  Dunstan,  among 
other  offices,  filled  that  of  treasurer  to  Eldred,  the 
preceding  sovereign,  and  Edwy  had  all  along  sus- 
pected him  of  having  been  guiltA'  of  peculation  in  his 
charge.  If  Edv\'y  had  ever  whispered  these  sus- 
picions,— and  from  his  youth,  impinidence,  and  hasti- 
ness of  temper,  he  had  probably  done  so  often, — this 
alone  would  account  for  Dunstan's  ire.  However 
this  may  be,  the  fiery  Abbot  of  Glastonbury,  who 
returned  from  the  festival  to  his  abbey,  was  now 
questioned  touching  the  moneys  :  his  property  was 
sequestered,  lus  court  places  were  taken  from  him, 
the  monks  who  professed  celibacy  were  driven  out, 
and  his  monastery  was  given  to  the  secular  clergy, 
who  still  insisted  on  having  wives  like  other  men  ; 
and  finally  a  sentence  of  banishment  was  hurled  at 
Dunstan.  He  fled  for  the  monastery  of  St.  Peter's 
in  Ghent,  but  was  scarcely  three  miles  from  the 
shore,  on  his  way  to  Flanders,  when  messengers 
reached  it, — dispatched  by  Edwy  or  his  mother-in- 
law, — and  who,  it  said,  had  orders  to  put  out  his 
eyes  if  they  caught  him  in  this  countiy. 

Before  this  exti-eme  rapture  Edwy  had  probably 
meddled  with  the  then  stormy  politics  of  the  church, 
or  betrayed  an  inclination  to  favor  the  secular  clergy 
in  opposition  to  the  monks ;  and  this  again  would, 
and  of  itself,  suffice  to  account  for  Dunstan's  out- 
rageous behavior  at  the  coronation  feast.  After 
Dunstan's  flight  the  king  certainly  made  himself  tne 
protector  of  the  "  married  clerks ;"  for,  expelling 
those  who  professed  celibacy,  he  put  the  others  in 
possession,  not  only  of  Glastonbury  and  3Ialmsbury, 
but  of  several  other  abbeys,  which  he  thus  made  (to 
speak  the  language  of  Dunstan's  adherents  and  suc- 
cessors)   "  sties  for  canons."     In   so    doing  Edwy, 

'  He  was  the  son  of  one  of  the  chieftains  who  had  invaded  England. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


163 


fatally  for  himself,  espoused  the  Aveaker  party,  and 
still  further  exasperated  Odo,  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  who  entertained  the  same  views  in 
state  matters  and  church  discipline  as  his  friend 
Dunstan. 

The  disputes  of  these  churchmen  of  the  tenth 
century,  together  with  the  extraordinary  character 
of  Dunstan,  will  be  noticed  more  at  length  in  the 
Chapter  of  Religious  History.  Here  we  havfe  only 
indicated  a  few  features  to  render  intelligible  the 
story,  to  the  tragical  conclusion  of  which  we  must 
now  hasten.  Shortly  after  the  departure  of  Dun- 
stan, a  general  rising  of  the  people,  instigated  by 
Odo,  took  place  in  Northumbria  (the  reader  will 
bear  in  mind  that  the  archbishop  was  a  Dane),  and 
a  corresponding  movement  following  under  the  same 
influence  or  holy  sanction  in  Mercia,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  set  one  brother  in  hostile  array  against 
the  other ;  and,  in  brief  time,  Edgar  was  declared 
independent  sovereign  of  the  whole  of  the  island 
north  of  the  Thames !  Dunstan  then  returned  in 
triumph  from  his  brief  exile,  which  had  scarcely 
lasted  a  year. 

But  while  these  events  were  in  progress,  and 
before  they  were  completed,  the  young  soul  of  Ed- 
wy  was  racked  by  an  anguish  more  acute  than  any 
that  could  be  caused  by  the  loss  of  territory  and 
empire.  Some  knights  and  armed  retainers  of  the 
implacable  archbishop  tore  his  beautiful  wife  Elgiva 
from  one  of  his  residences,  branded  her  in  the  face 
with  a  red-hot  iron  to  destroy  her  beauty,  and  then 
hurried  her  to  the  coast,  whence  she  was  trans- 
ported to  Ireland,  probably  as  a  slave.  Her  melan- 
choly fate,  her  high  birth,  gracefulness,  and  youth 
(for  she  seems  to  have  been  now  not  more  than  six- 
teen or  seventeen  years  old),  probably  gained  her 
friends  among  a  kind-hearted  people.  She  was 
cured  of  the  cruel  wounds  inflicted ;  her  scars  were 
obliterated,  and,  as  radiant  in  beauty  as  ever,  she 
was  allowed  (and  no  doubt  insisted)  to  return  to 
England.  It  is  not  clear  whether  Elgiva  had  actu- 
ally joined  her  husband  or  was  flying  to  his  em- 
braces when  she  was  seized  near  Gloucester ;  but 
all  the  early  accounts  agree  in  stating  that  she  was 
there  barbarously  mangled  and  hamstrung,  and  ex- 
pired a'few  days  after  in  great  torture.  The  gen- 
erally received  statement  is,  that  the  perpetrators 
of  this  atrocious  deed  were  armed  retainers  of  the 
Archbishop  Odo:  others,  however,  are  of  opinion 
that  the  young  queen  fell  into  tlie  hands  of  the 
Mercians,  who  were  in  insurrection  against  her 
husband,  and  that  in  neither  case  was  the  execution 
ordered  either  by  Odo  or  Dunstan.  However  this 
may  be,  the  deed  was  undeniably  done  by  the  ad- 
herents of  those  churchmen  (for  the  Mercians  were 
armed  in  their  quarrel),  and  praised  as  an  act  of  in- 
flexible virtue  by  their  encomiasts.  The  palliation 
set  up  by  a  recent  historian,  who  cannot  deny  the 
fact  of  the  hamstringing,  that  such  a  mode  of  pun- 
ishment, "  though  cruel,  was  not  unusual  in  that 
age,"  leaves  the  question  of  justice  and  law  un- 
touched, and  seems  to  us  to  be  conceived  in  the 
spirit  of  an  inquisitor  of  the  worst  ages.  Edwy  did 
not  long  survive  his  wife:  he  died  in  the  following 


year  (958),  when  he  could  not  have  been  more  than 
eighteen  or  nineteen  years  old.  His  death  is  gen- 
erally attributed  to  grief  and  a  broken  heart,  but  it 
is  just  as  probable  that  he  was  assassinated  by  his 
enemies.'  From  the  comeliness  of  his  person,  he 
was  generally  called  Edwy  the  Fair. 

Edgar  (958-9),  his  brother,  who  had  been  put 
forward  against  him  in  his  lifetime,  now  succeeded 
to  all  his  dignities.  As  a  boy  of  fifteen,  he  could 
exercise  little  authority:  he  was  long  a  passive  in- 
strument in  the  hands  of  Dunstan  and  his  party, 
who  used  their  power  in  establishing  their  cause, 
in  enforcing  the  celibacy  of  the  clergj-,  and  in  driving 
out,  by  main  force,  from  all  abbeys,  monasteries, 
cathedrals,  churches,  and  chantries,  all  such  mar- 
ried clergymen  as  would  not  separate  from  their 
wives.  At  the  same  time,  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
Dunstan  and  the  monks  ruled  the  kingdom  with 
vigor  and  success,  and  consolidated  the  detached 
states  into  compactor  integrity  and  union  than  had 
ever  been  known  before.  Several  causes  favored 
this  process.  Among  others,  Edgar,  who  had  been 
brought  up  among  the  Danes  of  East  Anglia  and 
Northumbria,  was  endeared  to  that  people,  who,  in 
consequence,  allowed  him  to  weaken  their  states  by 
dividing  them  into  several  separate  earldoms  or 
governments,  and  to  make  other  innovations,  which 
they  would  have  resented  under  any  of  his  prede- 
cessors with  arms  in  their  hands.  His  fleet  was 
also  wisely  increased  to  the  number  of  360  sail ; 
and  these  ships  were  so  well  disposed,  and  power- 
ful squadrons  kept  so  constantly  in  motion,  that  the 
sea-kings  were  kept  in  check  on  their  own  element, 
and  prevented  from  landing  and  troubling  the  coun- 
try. At  the  same  time,  tutored  by  the  indefatigable 
Dunstan,  who  soon  was  made,  or  rather  who  soon 
made  himself.  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  king 
accustomed  himself  to  visit  in  person  every  part  of 
his  dominions  annually.  In  the  land  progresses  he 
was  attended  by  the  primate  or  by  energetic  minis- 
ters of  Dunstan's  appointing ;  and  as  he  went  from 
Wessex  to  Mercia,  from  Mercia  to  Northumbria, 
courts  of  justice  were  held  in  the  diff'erent  counties, 
audiences  and  feasts  were  given,  appeals  were 
heard,  and  Edgar  cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  all 
the  nobles  and  principal  men  of  the  kingdom.  The 
neighboring  princes— his  vassals  or  allies^ — of  Wales, 
Cumbria,  and  Scotland,  were  awed  into  respect  or 
obedience,  and  on  several  occasions  seem  to  have 
bowed  before  his  throne.  When  he  held  his  court 
at  Chester,  and  had  one  day  a  wish  to  visit  the 
monastery  of  St.  John's,  on  the  river  Dee,  eight 
crowned  kings  (so  goes  the  story)  plied  the  oars  of 
his  barge  while  he  guided  the  helm.  These  sover- 
eign bargemen  are  said  to  have  been,  Kenneth, 
King  of  Scotland,  Malcolm,  his  son.  King  of  Cumbria, 
Maccus  the  Dane,  King  of  Anglesey,  the  Isle  of 
Man,  and  the  Hebrides,  the  Scottish  kings  of  Gallo- 
way and  "  Westmere,"  and  the  three  Welsh  kings 
of  Dynwall,  Siferth,  and  Edwall. 


1  An  old  MS.  in  the  Cottonian  Library  says  explicitly,  "in  pago 
Glocestrensi  interfectus  fuit."  Another  old  MS.  quoted  by  Mr.  Sharon 
Turner  says,  "misera  riorte  exspiravit ;"  but  this  would  apply  as  well 
(or  better)  to  death  by  grief  as  to  death  hy  the  dagger. 


164 


HISTORY  OF  ExXGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Edgar  certainly  bore  prouder  and  more  sounding 
titles  than  any  of  his  predecessors.  He  was  stjied 
Basileus,  or  Emperor,  of  Albion,  King  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  of  all  the  nations  and  islands  around.'  He 
obtained  the  more  honorable  epithet  of  the  Peace- 
able, or  Pacific  ;  for,  luckily,  during  his  whole  reign, 
his  kingdom  was  not  troubled  by  a  single  war.  He 
cominuted  a  tribute  he  received  from  a  part  or  the 
whole  of  Wales,  into  300  wolves'  heads  annually,  in 
order  to  extirpate  those  ravenous  animals  ;  and,  ac- 
cording to  William  of  Malmsbury,  this  tribute  ceased 
in  the  fourth  year,  for  want  of  wolves  to  kill.  The 
currency  had  been  so  diminished  in  weight  by  the 
fraudulent  practice  of  clipping,  that  the  actual  value 
was  far  inferior  to  the  nominal.  He  therefore  re- 
formed the  coinage,  and  had  new  coins  issued  all 
over  the  kingdom.  Though  Edgar  was  now  in  ma- 
ture manhood,  there  is  pretty  good  evidence  to 
show  that  these  measures,  with  others,  generally  of 
a  beneficial  nature,  were  suggested  and  earned  into 
effect  by  Dunstan,  who,  most  indubitably,  had  his 

I  "Nothing,"  says  Mr.  Turner,  "can  more  strongly  display  Edgar's 
vanity  than  the  pompous  and  boasting  titles  which  he  assumes  in  his 
charters.  They  sometimes  run  to  the  length  of  fifteen  or  eighteen 
lines.  How  different  from  Alfred's  "Ego  occidentalium  Saxonum 
Rei." — Hist.  .Vnglo  Sax. 


full  share  in  the  next  operations  whicli  are  men- 
tioned with  especial  laud  and  triumph  by  the  monk 
ish  writers.  He  made  maiTied  priests  so  scarce  or 
so  timid,  that  theu"  faces  were  nowhere  to  be  seen ; 
and  he  founded  or  restored  no  fewer  than  fifty  mon- 
asteries, which  were  all  subjected  to  the  rigid  rules 
of  the  Benedictine  order.  It  is  curious  that  the 
monks,  who  had  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  pay,  and  who, 
in  their  summaiy  of  his  whole  character,  indeed, 
uphold  Edgar  as  a  godly,  virtuous  prince,  should 
have  recorded  actions  which  prove  him  to  have 
been  one  of  the  most  viciously  profligate  of  the  Saxon 
kings.  The  court  of  this  promoter  of  celibacy  and 
chastity  smarmed  at  all  times  with  concubines,  some 
of  whom  were  obtained  in  the  most  violent  or  flagi- 
tious manner.  To  pass  over  less  authentic  cases,  in 
an  early  part  of  his  reign,  during  the  life  of  his  first 
wife,  he  can-ied  off  from  the  monaster}-  of  Wilton  a 
beautiful  young  ladj-  of  noble  birth,  named  AVulfreda, 
who  was  either  a  professed  nun,  or  receiving  her  edu- 
cation under  the  sacred  covering  of  the  veil.  It  has 
been  said  that  Dunstan  here  interfered  with  a  cour- 
age which  absolves  him  from  the  charge  of  reserving 
his  reproofs  for  those  who  stood  like  the  unfortunate 
Edwy  in  the  position  of  enemies.     But  what  was 


CosTlMt  OF  KiNO  Ldg.vR.  a  Savon    Lad 
Edgar,  from  the  Cottonian  M3.  Vespasian,  A.  viii.     Lady,  fioin  the  Harleiau  M: 


,  AND  X  Pagk. 
Qy08.    Page,  from  the  Cottonian  M?..  Tiberius,  C.  vl. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


165 


the  amount  of  his  interference  in  this  extreme  case, 
where  the  sanctity  of  the  cloister  itself  was  violated  ? 
He  condemned  the  king  to  lay  aside  an  empty,  in- 
convenient bauble — not  to  wear  his  crown  on  his 
head  for  seven  years, — and  to  a  penance  of  fasting, 
which  was  probably  in  good  part  performed  by  dep- 
uty. This  was  not  the  measure  of  punishment  that 
was  meted  out  to  Edwy ;  and,  for  all  that  we  can 
learn  to  the  contrary,  Edgar  was  allowed  to  retain 
Wulfreda  as  his  mistress !  On  anotlier  occasion, 
when  the  guest  of  one  of  his  nobles  at  Andover,  he 
ordered  that  the  fair  and  honorable  daughter  of  his 
host  should  be  sent  to  his  bed.  The  young  lady's 
mother  artfully  substituted  a  handsome  slave,  or  ser- 
vant; and  this  menial  was  added  to  his  harem,  or 
taken  to  court,  where,  according  to  AVilliam  of  Malms- 
bury,  she  enjoyed  his  exceeding  great  favor  until 
he  became  enamored  of  Elfrida,  his  second  lawful 
wife.  Romantic  as  are  its  incidents,  the  story  of 
his  marriage  with  the  execrable  Elfrida  rests  on 
about  as  good  authority  as  we  can  find  for  any  of  the 
events  of  the  time.  The  fame  of  this  young  lady's 
beauty  reached  the  ears  of  Edgar,  ever  hungry  of 
such  reports.  To  ascertain  whether  her  charms 
were  not  exaggerated,  the  royal  voluptuary  dis- 
patched Athelwold,  his  favorite  courtier,  to  the  dis- 
tant castle  of  her  father,  Orgar,  Earl  of  Devonshire, 
with  whom  she  resided.  Athelwold  became  him- 
self enamored  of  the  beauty,  wedded  her,  and  then 
represented  her  to  the  king  as  being  rich,  indeed, 
but  not  otherwise  commendable.  Edgar  suspected, 
or  was  told,  the  real  truth.  He  insisted  on  paying 
her  a  visit.  The  unlucky  husband  was  allowed  to 
precede  him,  that  he  might  put  his  house  in  order ; 
but  he  failed  in  his  real  object,  which  was  to  obtain 
his  wife's  forgiveness  for  having  stepped  between 
her  and  a  throne,  and  to  induce  her  to  disguise  or 
conceal  the  brilliancy  of  her  charms  by  homely  attire 
and  rustic  demeanor.  The  visit  was  made  ;  the 
king  was  captivated,  as  she  intended  he  should  be. 
Soon  after  Athelwold  was  found  murdered  in  a 
wood,  and  Edgar  married  his  widow.  This  union, 
begun  in  crime,  led  to  the  foul  murder  of  Edgar's 
eldest  son ;  and  under  the  imbecile  Etheh-ed,  the 
only  son  he  had  by  Elfrida,  the  glory  of  the  house 
of  Alfred  was  eclipsed  for  ever.  He  himself  did  not 
sui'vive  the  marriage  more  than  six  or  seven  years, 
when  he  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-two,  and 
was  buried  in  the  abbey  of  Glastonbury,  which  he 
had  made  magnificent  by  vast  outlays  of  money  and 
donations  of  land. 

Edward,  commonly  called  the  Martyr,  who  suc- 
ceeded A.D.  975,  was  Edgar's  son  by  his  first  mar- 
riage. Like  all  the  kings  since  Athelstane,  he  was  a 
mere  boy  at  his  accession,  being  not  more  than  four- 
teen or  fifteen  years  old.  His  rights  were  disputed, 
in  favor  of  her  own  son,  Ethelred,  who  was  only  six 
years  old,  by  the  ambitious  and  remorseless  Elfrida, 
who  boldly  maintained  that  Edward,  though  the 
elder  brother,  and  named  king  in  his  father's,  will, 
was  excluded  by  the  illegitimacy  of  his  birth.  The 
legitimacy  of  several  of  the  Saxon  princes  who  had 
worn  the  crown  was  more  than  doubtful ;  but  in  the 
case  of  Edward  the  challenge  seems  to  have  been 


unfounded.  The  cause  of  Edward  and  his  half- 
brother  was  decided  on  far  different  grounds.  As 
soon  as  Edgar  was  dead  the  church  war  was  re- 
newed, and  Dunstan,  after  a  long  and  unopposed 
triumph,  was  compelled  once  more  to  descend  to 
the  arena  with  his  old  opponents  the  "  married 
clerks,"  or  secular  clergy,  who  again  showed  them- 
selves in  force  in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and 
claimed  the  abbeys  and  churches  of  which  they  had 
been  dispossessed.  The  nobles  and  the  governors 
of  provinces  chose  different  sides.  Alfere,  the  pow- 
erful eolderman  of  Mercia,  declared  for  the  secular 
clergy,  and  drove  the  monks  from  every  part  of  his 
extensive  dominions:  Alwyn  of  East  Angha,  on  the 
contrary,  stood  by  Dunstan  and  the  monks,  and 
chased  the  seculars.  Elfrida,  no  doubt  because 
Dunstan  and  his  friends  had  got  possession  of  Ed- 
Avard,  gave  the  weight  of  her  son  Ethelred's  name 
and  herself  to  the  party  of  Alfere  and  the  seculars, 
which  soon  proved  again  to  be  the  weaker  of  the  two 
factions.  Had  it  been  the  stronger,  Ethelred  would 
have  been  crowned ;  as  it  turned  out,  Dvinstan  was 
enabled  to  place  Edward  upon  the  throne.  But  the 
animosities  of  two  religious  parties  were  not  to  be 
reconciled  by  the  decisions  of  national  or  church 
councils,  by  disputations,  or  even  by  miracles  ;  nor 
was  the  ambition  of  the  perfidious  Elfrida  to  be  cured 
by  a  single  reverse.  She  continued  her  intrigues 
with  the  secular  party ;  she  united  herself  more 
closely  than  ever  with  Alfere,  the  eolderman  of 
Mercia  ;  and  soon  saw  herself  at  the  head  of  a  pow- 
erful confederacy  of  nobles,  who  were  resolved  her 
son  should  reign,  and  Dunstan  be  deprived  of  that 
immense  power  he  had  so  long  held.  But  not  even 
this  resolution  would  prepare  us  for  the  horrible 
catastrophe  that  followed.  About  three  years  after 
his  accession,  as  Edward  was  hunting  one  day  in 
Dorsetshire,  he  quitted  his  company  and  attendants 
to  visit  his  half-brother  Ethelred,  who  was  living 
with  his  mother,  hard  by,  in  Corfe  Castle.  Elfrida 
came  forth  with  her  son  to  meet  him  at  the  outer 
gate  :  she  bade  him  welcome  with  a  smiling  face, 
and  invited  him  to  dismount ;  but  the  young  king, 
with  thanks,  declined,  fearing  he  should  be  missed 
by  his  company,  and  craved  only  a  cup  of  wine, 
which  he  might  drink  in  his  saddle  to  her  and  his 
brother,  and  so  be  gone.  The  wine  was  brought, 
and  as  Edward  was  carrying  the  cup  to  his  lips  one 
of  Elfrida's  attendants  stabbed  him  in  the  back.  The 
wounded  king  put  spurs  to  his  horse,  but  soon  faint- 
ing from  loss  of  blood,  he  fell  out  of  the  saddle,  and 
was  dragged  by  one  foot  in  the  stirrup  through  woods 
and  rugged  ways  until  he  was  dead.  His  but  too 
negligent  companions  in  the  chase  traced  him  by  his 
blood,  and  at  last  found  his  disfigured  corpse,  which 
they  burned,  and  then  buried  the  ashes  of  it  at 
Wareham  without  any  pomp  or  regal  ceremonies. 
"  No  worse  deed  than  this,"  says  the  Saxon  chroni- 
cle, "  had  been  committed  among  the  people  of  the 
Angles  since  they  first  came  to  the  land  of  Britain." 
It  is  believed  that  Alfere,  the  eolderman  of  Mercia, 
with  other  nobles  opposed  to  Dunstan  and  the  monks, 
was  engaged  with  the  queen-dowager  in  a  plot  to 
assassinate   Edward,  but  that  Elfrida,   impatiently 


166 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


seizing  an  unlooked-for  opportunity,  took  the  bloody 
execution  instantly  and  wliolly  upon  herself.  The 
boy  Ethelred,  who  was  not  ten  years  old,  had  no 
part  in  the  guilt  which  gave  him  a  crown,  though 
that  crown  certainly  sat  upon  him  like  a  curse.  It 
is  related  of  him  that  he  dearly  loved  his  half-brother 
Edward,  and  wept  his  death,  for  which  liis  virago 
mother,  seizing  a  large  torch  at  hand,  beat  him  with 
it  until  he  was  almost  dead  himself.  Such,  how- 
ever, was  the  popular  odium  that  fell  both  on  son 
and  mother,  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  exclude 
him  from  the  throne  by  substituting  Edgitha,  Ed- 
gar's natural  daughter  by  the  lady  he  had  stolen 
from  the  nunnery  of  Wilton.  This  Edgitha  was 
herself  at  the  time  a  professed  nun  in  the  same  mo- 
nastery from  which  her  mother  had  been  torn  ;  and 
it  is  said  tliat  nothing  but  her  timidity,  and  the  dread 
inspired  by  her  brother  Edward's  murder,  and  her 
firm  refusal  to  exchange  the  tranquillity  of  the  cell 
for  the  dangers  of  the  throne,  prevented  Dunstan 
from  causing  her  to  be  proclaimed  queen  of  all  Eng- 
land. There  was  no  other  prince  of  the  blood  royal, 
— no  other  pretender  to  set  up, — so  the  prelates  and 
thanes,  with  no  small  repugnance,  were  compelled 
to  bestow  the  crown  on  the  son  of  the  murderess ; 
and  Dunstan,  as  primate,  at  the  festival  of  Easter 
(a.d.  979),  put  it  on  his  weak  head  in  the  old  chapel 
of  Kingston,  at  this  time  the  usual  crowning  place  of 
the  Saxon  monarchs.  The  vehement  monk,  who 
was  now  soured  by  age,  and  exasperated  at  tlie  tem- 
porary ti-iumph  of  his  enemies,  is  said  to  have  pro- 
nounced a  malediction  on  Ethelred,  even  in  the  act 
of  crowning  him,  and  to  have  given  public  vent  to  a 
prophecy  of  woe  and  misery,  which  some  think  was 
well  calculated  to  insure  its  own  fulfilment, — for 
Dunstan  already  enjoyed  among  the  nation  the  repu- 
tation of  being  both  a  seer  and  a  saint,  and  the  words 


he  dropped  could  hardly  fail  of  being  treasured  in 
the  memoi-y  of  the  people,  and  of  depressing  their 
spirits  at  the  approach  of  danger.  Ethelred,  more- 
over, began  his  reign  with  an  unlucky  nickname, 
which  it  is  believed  was  given  him  by  Dunstan, — he 
was  called  "  the  Unready."  His  personal  and  moral 
qualities  were  not  calculated  to  overcome  a  bad 
prestige,  and  the  unpopular  circumstances  attending 
his  succession :  in  him  the  people  lost  their  warm 
affection  for  the  blood  of  Alfred,  and  by  degi'ees 
many  of  them  contemplated  with  indifference,  if  not 
with  pleasure,  the  transfer  of  the  crown  to  a  prince 
of  Danish  race.  This  latter  feeling  luore  than  half 
explains  the  events  of  his  reign.  During  the  first 
part  of  the  minority  the  infamous  Elfrida  enjoyed 
great  authority,  but,  as  the  king  advanced  in  years, 
her  influence  declined,  and  followed  by  the  execra- 
tions of  nobles  and  people  (even  by  those  pf  her  own 
party),  she  at  last  retired  to  expiate  her  sins,  accord- 
ing to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  in  building  and  en- 
dowing monasteries. 

Although  the  Northmen  settled  in  the  Danelagh 
had  so  frequently  troubled  the  peace  of  the  kingdom, 
and  had  probably  at  no  period  renounced  the  hope 
of  gaining  an  ascendency  over  the  Saxons  of  the 
island,  and  placing  a  king  of  their  own  race  on  the 
throne  of  England,  the  Danes  beyond  sea  had  cer- 
tainly made  no  formidable  attacks  since  the  time  of 
Athelstane,  and  of  late  years  had  scarcely  been  heard 
of.  This  suspension  of  hostility  on  their  part  is  not 
to  be  attributed  solelj"^  to  the  wisdom  and  valor  of 
the  intermediate  Saxon  kings.  There  were  great 
political  causes  connected  with  the  histories  of  Nor- 
way and  Denmark,  and  Fi-ance  and  Normandy,  and 
circumstances  which,  by  giving  the  Danes  employ- 
ment and  settlement  in  other  countries,  kept  them 
away  from  England.     But  now,  when  unfoi-tunately 


St.  Mary's  Chapel  at  Kingston,  in  which  Kings  Edred,  Edward  the  Miutyr,  and  Ethelred  are  stated  to  hnve  been  crowned,  as  it  apprired 
about  fifty  years  since,  before  its  destruction  by  the  fulling  of  the  church  wall,  against  which  it  was  built. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


167 


there  was  neither  wisdom  or  valor  in  the  king  and 
council,  nor  spirit  in  the  people,  these  extraneous 
circumstances  had  changed,  and  instead  of  checking, 
they  threw  the  men  of  the  north  on  our  shores. 

Sweyn,  a  son  of  the  king  of  Denmark,  had  quar- 
reled with  his  father,  and  been  banished  from  his 
home.  Young,  brave,  and  enterprising,  he  soon 
collected  a  host  of  mariners  and  adventurers  round 
his  standard,  with  whom  he  resolved  to  obtain 
wealth,  if  not  a  home,  in  our  island.  His  first  opera- 
tions were  on  a  small  scale,  intended  merely  to  tiy 
the  state  of  defence  of  the  island,  and  were  probably 
not  conducted  by  himself. 

In  the  third  year  of  Ethelred's  reign  (a.  d.  981) 
the  Danish  raven  was  seen  floating  in  Southampton 
water,  and  that  city  was  plundered,  and  its  inhabit- 
ants carried  into  slavery.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
months  Chester  and  London  partook  of  the  fate  of 
Southampton,  and  attacks  were  multiplied  in  differ- 
ent points, — in  the  north,  in  the  south,  and  in  the 
west,  as  far  as  the  extremity  of  Cornwall.  These 
operations  were  continued  for  some  years,  during 
which  Ethelred  seems  to  have  been  much  occupied 
by  quarrels  with  his  bishops  and  nobles.  Alfere, 
the  Mercian,  who  had  conspired  with  Elfrida  against 
Edward  the  Martyr,  was  dead,  and  his  extensive 
earldom  had  fallen  to  his  son  Alfric, — a  notorious 
name  in  these  annals.  In  consequence  of  a  con- 
spiracy, real  or  alleged,  this  Alfric  was  banished. 
The  weak  king  was  soon  obliged  to  recall  him,  but 
the  revengeful  nobleman  never  forgot  the  past.  In 
the  year  991  a  more  formidable  host  of  the  sea-kings 
ravaged  all  that  part  of  East  Anglia  that  lay  bet^veen 
Ipswich  and  Maldon,  and  won  a  great  battle,  in 
which  Earl  Brithnoth,  a  Dane  by  descent,  but  a 
Christian,  and  a  friend  to  the  established  govern- 
ment, was  slain.  Ethelred  then,  for  the  first  time, 
had  recourse  to  the  fatal  expedient  of  purchasing 
their  forbearance  with  money.  Ten  thousand 
pounds  of  silver  were  paid  down,  and  the  sea-kings 
departed  for  a  while,  carrying  with  them  the  head 
of  Earl  Brithnoth  as  a  ti-ophy.  In  the  course  of  the 
following  year  the  witenagemot  adopted  a  wiser  plan 
of  defence.  A  formidable  fleet  was  collected  at 
London,  and  well  manned  and  supplied  with  arms. 
But  this  wise  measure  was  defeated  by  Alfric  the 
Mercian,  who,  in  his  hatred  to  the  king,  had  opened 
a  correspondence  with  the  Danes,  and  being  en- 
trusted with  a  principal  command  in  the  fleet,  he 
went  over  to  them  on  the  eve  of  a  battle  with  many 
of  his  ships.  The  traitor  of  course  escaped,  and 
Ethelred  wreaked  his  savage  vengeance  on  Elfgar, 
the  son  of  Alfric,  whose  eyes  he  put  out.  In  993  a 
Danish  host  landed  in  the  north,  and  took  Bambo- 
rough  Castle  by  storm.  Three  chiefs  of  Danish 
origin,  who  had  been  appointed  to  command  the  na- 
tives, threw  down  the  standard  of  Ethelred,  and 
ranged  themselves  under  the  raven.  All  through 
Northumbria  and  the  rest  of  the  Danelagh  the  Dan- 
ish settlers  gradually  either  joined  their  still  Pagan 
brethren  from  the  Baltic,  or  offered  them  no  resist- 
ance. In  the  mean  time  the  fortunes  of  Sweyn  the 
exile  had  undergone  a  change.  By  the  murder  of 
his  father  he  had  ascended  the  throne  of  Denmark, 


and,  formidable  in  himself,  he  had  gained  a  power- 
ful ally  in  Olave,  King  of  Norway,  a  prince  of  the 
ti'ue  Scandinavian  race, — a  son  of  an  old  pirate  who, 
in  former  times,  had  often  pillaged  the  coast  of  Eng- 
land. In  994  the  two  north  kings  ravaged  all  the 
southern  provinces  of  our  island,  doing  "  unspeaka 
ble  harm,"  and  meeting  nowhere  with  a  valid  re- 
sistance. It  was  again  agreed  to  treat,  and  buj- 
them  off  with  money.  Their  pretensions  of  course 
rose,  and  this  time  sixteen  thousand  pounds  of  silver 
were  exacted  and  paid.  By  a  clause  in  the  treatj" 
Olave  and  some  chiefs  were  bound  to  embrace  the 
Christian  religion.  Sweyn  had  been  baptized  al- 
ready more  than  once,  and  had  relapsed  to  idolatry. 
One  of  the  chiefs  boasted  that  he  had  been  washed 
tioenty  times  in  the  water  of  baptism ;  by  which  we 
are  to  understand  that  the  marauder  had  submitted 
to  what  he  considered  an  idle  ceremony  whenever 
it  suited  his  convenience.  Olave,  the  Norwegian 
king,  however,  stood  at  the  fount  with  a  better  spirit ; 
his  conversion  was  sincere  ;  and  an  oath  he  there 
took,  never  again  to  molest  the  English,  was  honor- 
ably kept.  During  the  four  following  years  the 
Danes  continued  their  desultory  invasions ;  and 
when  (in  998)  Ethelred  had  got  ready  a  strong  fleet 
and  army  to  oppose  them,  some  of  his  own  ofificern 
gave  the  plunderers  timely  warning,  and  they  re- 
treated unhurt.  On  their  next  returning  in  force 
(a.  d.  1001),  Ethelred  seems  to  have  had  neither 
fleet  nor  army  in  a  condition  to  meet  them;  for 
after  two  conflicts  by  land,  they  were  allowed  to 
ravage  the  whole  kingdom  from  the  Isle  of  Wight 
to  the  Bristol  Channel,  and  then  they  were  stayed 
not  by  steel,  but  by  gold.  Their  price,  of  course, 
still  rose  :  this  time  twenty-four  thousand  pounds 
were  paid  to  purchase  their  departure.  These 
large  sums  were  raised  by  direct  taxation  upon 
land :  and  the  "  Dane-geld,"  as  it  was  called,  wa^ 
an  oppressive  and  most  humiliating  burden  that  be- 
came permanent.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  ti"eatiet^ 
of  peace  or  truce  generally  allowed  bands  of  the 
marauders  to  winter  in  the  island  at  Southampton 
or  some  other  town  ;  and  during  their  stay  the  Eng- 
hsh  people,  whom  they  had  plundered  and  beggared, 
were  obliged  to  feed  them.  Their  appetites  had 
not  decreased  since  the  days  of  Guthrun  and  Hasting. 

As  if  the  Danes  were  not  enemies  enough, 
Ethelred  had  engaged  in  hostilities  with  Richard 
II.,  Duke  of  Normandy,  and  had  even,  at  one  time, 
prepared  an  armament  to  invade  his  dominions. 
The  quarrel  was  made  up  by  the  mediation  of  the 
pope ;  and  then  the  English  king,  who  was  a 
widower,  thought  of  strengthening  his  hands  by 
marrying  Emma,  the  Duke  of  Normandy's  sister. 
The  alliance,  which  laid  the  first  grounds  for  the 
pretext  of  Norman  claims  on  England,  afterwards 
pressed  by  William  the  Conqueror,  was  readily 
accepted  by  the  Duke  Richard,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1002  Emma,  the  "  Flower  of  Normandy,"  as 
she  was  styled,  arrived  at  the  court  of  Ethelred, 
where  she  was  received  with  great  pomp. 

The  long  rejoicings  for  this  marriage  were 
scarcely  over  when  a  memorable  atrocity  suddenly 
covered  the  land  with  blood  and  horror.     This  was 


168 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


the  sudden  massacre  of  the  Danes,  perpetrated  by 
the  people  with  whom  they  were  living  intermixed 
as  fellow-subjects.  It  is  universally  asserted  that 
the  plot  was  laid  beforehand, — the  fatal  order  given 
by  the  king  himself;  and  there  is  little  in  Ethelred's 
general  conduct  and  character  to  awaken  a  doubt  in 
his  favor.  At  the  same  time,  be  it  observed,  the 
people  must  have  been  as  guilty,  as  secret,  as 
treacherous,  as  cruel,  as  the  king;  and  must  have 
entered  fully  into  the  spirit  which  dictated  the 
bloody  order  of  which  they  were  to  be  the  execu- 
tioners. Such  being  the  case,  we  think  they  were 
fully  equal  to  the  conception  of  the  plot  themselves, 
and  that,  from  the  loose,  unguarded  manner  in 
which  the  Danes  lived  scattered  among  them,  such 
a  mode  of  disposing  ^f  them  would  naturally  sug- 
gest itself  to  a  very  imperfectly  civilized  people, 
maddened  by  the  harsh  treatment  and  insults  of 
their  invaders.  In  the  simultaneous  massacre  of 
the  French  invaders  all  over  Sicily  in  1282  the 
same  mysterj-  was  observed ;  but  it  is  still  a  matter 
of  doubt  whether  the  "  Sicilian  vespers"  were 
ordered  by  John  of  Procida,  or  sprung  sponta- 
neously fiom  the  people.  These  two  cases,  which 
belong  alike  to  the  class  of  the  terrible  acts  of 
vengeance  which  signalize  a  nation's  despair,  are 
nearly  parallel  in  their  circumstances  ;  and  in 
England,  as  afterwards  in  Sicily,  it  was  the  insults 
offered  by  the  invaders  to  tlieir  women  that  ex- 
tinguished the  last  sentiments  of  humanity  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  The  outrages  of  the  Danish 
pagans  were  extreme.  According  to  the  old  chron- 
iclers, they  made  the  English  yeomanry,  among 
whom  they  were  settled,  perform  the  most  menial 
offices  for  them ;  they  held  their  houses  as  their 
own,  and,  eating  and  drinking  of  the  best,  scantly 
left  the  real  proprietor  his  fill  of  the  worst :  the 
peasantry  were  so  sorelj-  oppressed  that,  out  of  fear 
and  dread,  they  called  them,  in  every  house  where 
they  had  rule,  "  Lord  Danes."  Their  wives  and 
daughters  w^ere  everywhere  a  prey  to  their  lust, 
and  when  the  English  made  resistance  or  remon- 
strance, they  were  killed  or  beaten,  and  laughed 
at.  All  this  description  seems  to  point  at  soldiers 
and  adventurers,  and  men  recently  settled  in  the 
land,  and  not  to  the  converted  married  Danes,  who 
had  been  living  a  long  time  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  (as  well  as  in  the  Danelagh,  where  they 
were  too  numerous  to  be  touched),  who  had 
contracted  quiet,  orderly  habits,  and  successfully 
cultivated  the  friendship  of  the  EngHsh.  It  was 
resolved,  however,  to  desti'oy  them  all  at  one  blow, 
— the  good  with  the  bad, — the  innocent  infant  at 
the  breast  with  the  hardened  ruffian, — the  neighbor 
of  years  with  the  intruder  of  yesterday.  As  the 
story  is  told,  Ethelred  sent  secretly  to  all  his  good 
burghs,  cities,  and  towns,  charging  the  rulers 
thereof  to  rise,  all  on  a  fixed  day  and  hour,  and,  by 
falling  suddenly  on  the  Danes,  exterminate  them 
from  the  land  by  sword  and  fire.  By  whatever 
means  this  simultaneous  movement  was  arranged, 
it  certainly  took  place.  On  the  13th  of  November 
1002  (the  holy  festival  of  St.  Brice),  the  Danes, 
dispersed  through  a  great  part  of  England,  were 


attacked  by  surprise,  and  massacred  without  dis- 
tinction of  quality,  age,  or  sex,  by  their  hosts  and 
neighbors.  Gunhilda,  the  sister  of  Sweyn,  King 
of  Denmark,  who  had  embraced  Christianity  and 
married  an  English  earl  of  Danish  descent,  after 
being  made  to  witness  the  execution  of  her  husband 
and  child,  was  barbarousl}-  murdered  herself. 

This  tale  of  horror  was  soon  wafted  across  the 
ocean,  where  Sweyn  prepared  for  a  deadly  revenge. 
He  assembled  a  fleet  more  numerous  than  any  that 
had  hitheito  invaded  England.  The  Danish  war- 
riors considered  the  cause  a  national  and  a  sacred 
one ;  and  in  the  assembled  host  there  was  not  a 

I  slave,  or  an  emancipated  slave,  or  a  single  old  man, 

j  but  every  combatant  was  a  free  man,  the  son  of  a 

I  free  man,  and  in  the  prime  of  life.' 

I       These  choice  warriors  embarked  in  lofty  ships, 
every  one  of  which  bore  the  ensign  or  standard  of 

j  its  separate   commander.     Some  carried   at  their 

I  * 

I  prow  such  figures  as  lions,  bulls,  dolphins,  dragons, 
or  armed  men,  all  made  of  metal  and  gaily  gilded ; 
!  others  carried  on  their  topmast-head  the  figures  of 
I  large  birds,  as  eagles  and  ravens,  that  stretched  out 
j  their  wings  and  turned  with  the  wind  :  the  sides  of 
I  their  ships  were  painted  with  different  bright  colors, 
j  and,    larboard   and   starboard,  from   stem  to  stern, 
\  shields  of  burnished  steel  were  suspended  in  even 
I  lines,  and  glittered  in  the  sun.     Gold,  silver,  and 
I  embroidered  banners  were  profusely  displayed,  and 
I  the  whole  wealth  of  the  pirates  of  the  Baltic  was 
made  to  contribute   to   this  barbaric   pomp.     The 
I  ship  that  bore  the  royal  standard   of  Sweyn  was 
I  moulded  in  the  form  of  an  enormous  serpent,  the 
j  sharp  head  of  which  formed  the  prow,  while  the 
I  lengthening  tail  coiled  over  the  poop.     It  was  called 
i  "  The  Great  Dragon."     The  first  place  where  the 
I  avengers  landed  was  near  Exeter,   and  that  im- 
,  portant  citj'  was   presently   surrendered   to   them 
I  through  the   treachery  of  Etheh-ed's  governor,   a 
I  Norman  nobleman,  and  one  of  the  train  of  favorites 
j  and  dependants  that  had  followed  Queen  Emma. 
j  After  plundering  and  dismantling  Exeter,  the  Danes 
!  marched  through  the  country  into  Wiltshire,  com- 
mitting every  excess  that  a  thirst  for  vengeance 
j  and  rapine  could   suggest.     In  all   the   towns   and 
villages    through    which    they    passed,    after    gaily 
I  eating  the  repasts  the  Saxons  were  forced  to  prepare 
J  for  them,  they  slew  their  hosts,  and,  departing,  set 
j  fire  to  their  houses.^     At  last  an  Anglo-Saxon  army 
I  was  brought  up  to  oppose  their  destructive  pro- 
!  gress ;  but  this  force  was  commanded  by  another 
I  traitor, — by  Alfric  the  Mercian, — who  had  already 
betrayed  Ethelred,  and  whose  son,  in  consequence, 
had   been  barbarously  blinded  by  the   king.     We 
are   not   informed   by  what   means  he   had   been 
I  restored  to  favor  and  emploj'ment  after  such  ex- 
treme measures;  but  Alfric  now  took  the  oppor- 
tunity offered  him  for  further  revenge  on  the  king. 
pHe  pretended  to  be  seized  with  a  sudden  illness, 
'  called  off"  his  men  when  thej-  were  about  to  join 
I  battle,   and   permitted    Sweyn   to  retire   with  his 
!  army  and  his  immense  boot)-  through  Salisbury  to 
I  the  sea-coast.     In  the  following  year  Norwich  wa3 

I  1  Sax.  Chron.  "  Hen.  Ilunling.  Hist. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


169 


taken,  plundered  and  burnt,  and  the  same  fate 
befel  nearly  every  town  in  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Cam- 
bridgeshire, Huntingdonshire,  and  Lincolnshire. 
The  Danes  then  (a.d.  1004)  returned  to  the  Baltic, 
retreating  from  a  famine  which  their  devastations 
had  caused  in  England. 

By  marrying  the  Norman  princess  Emma,  Ethel- 
red  had  hoped  to  secure  the  assistance  of  her 
brother,  Duke  Richard,  against  the  Danes ;  but  it 
was  soon  found  that  the  only  Normans  who  crossed 
the  Channel  were  a  set  of  intriguing,  ambitious 
courtiers,  hungry  for  English  places  and  honors ; 
and  by  his  inconstancy  and  neglect  of  his  wife, 
Ethelred  so  irritated  that  princess  that  she  made 
bitter  complaints  to  her  brother,  and  caused  a  fresh 
quarrel  between  England  and  Normandy.  Duke 
Richard  seized  all  the  native  English  who  chanced 
to  be  in  his  dominions,  and,  after  shamefully  killing 
some,  threw  the  rest  into  prison.  According  to 
Walsingham,  and  some  of  the  old  Norman  writers, 
Ethelred  then  actually  sent  a  force  to  invade  Nor- 
mandy, and  this  force,  after  effecting  a  landing  near 
Coutances,  was  thoroughlj'  defeated.  We  are  in- 
cHned  to  believe  that  the  expedition  was  less  im- 
portant than  the  Norman  chronicles  represent  it, 
but  it  shows  the  impolicy  of  the  Saxon  king,  and 
had,  no  doubt,  some  effect  in  weakening  an  already 
weak  and  dispirited  nation. 

In  1006  Sweyn,  whose  vengeance  and  rapacity 
were  not  yet  satisfied,  returned,  and  carried  fire 
and  sword  over  a  great  part  of  the  kingdom ;  and 
when  it  was  resolved  in  the  gi*eat  council  to  buy 
him  off  with  gold,  36,000L  was  the  sum  demanded. 
The  frequent  raising  of  these  large  sums  utterly 
exhausted  the  people,  whose  doors  were  almost 
constantly  beset  either  by  the  king's  tax-gatherers 
or  the  Danish  marauders.  Those  few  who  had, 
as  yet,  the  good  fortune  of  escaping  the  pillage  of 
the  Danes,  could  not  now  escape  the  exactions  of 
Ethelred,  and,  under  one  form  or  another,  they 
were  sure  of  being  plundered  of  all  they  possessed. 
By  an  insolent  and  cruel  mockery  the  royal  tax- 
gatherers  were  accustomed  to  demand  an  additional 
sum  from  those  who  had  paid  money  to  the  Danes 
directly,  in  order  to  save  their  persons  and  their 
houses  from  destruction,  affecting  to  consider  such 
transactions  with  the  enemy  as  illegal. 

In  1008  the  people  were  oppressed  with  a  new 
burden;  but  had  this  been  properly  apportioned, 
had  the  countiy  been  less  exhausted,  and  had  the 
measure  for  which  the  money  was  to  be  applied 
been  carried  vigorously  and  honestly  into  effect,  it 
seems  as  if  it  ought  to  have  saved  England  from  the 
Danes.  Every  310  hides  of  land  were  charged 
with  the  building  and  equipping  of  one  ship  for  the 
defence  of  the  kingdom ;  and  in  addition  to  this, 
every  nine  hides  of  land  were  bound  to  provide  one 
man,  armed  with  a  helmet  and  iron  breastplate.  It 
is  calculated  that,  if  all  the  land  which  still  nomi- 
nally belonged  to  Ethelred  had  supplied  its  proper 
contingent,  more  than  800  ships,  and  about  35,000 
armed  men,  would  have  been  provided.  The  force 
actually  raised  is  not  stated,  but,  in  spite  of  the 
exhaustion  of  the  counn-y,  it  appears  to  have  been 


large ;  some  of  the  old  writers  stating,  particularly 
as  to  the  marine,  that  there  never  were  so  many 
ships  got  together  in  England  before.  This  fleet, 
however,  was  soon  rendered  valueless  by  dissensions 
and  treachery  at  home.  Ethelred,  who  had  always 
a  favorite  of  some  kind,  was  now  governed  by 
Edric,  a  man  of  low  birth,  but  eloquent,  clever,  and 
ambitious.  He  obtained  in  marriage  one  of  the 
king's  daughters,  and  about  the  same  time  one  of 
the  highest  ofiflces  in  the  state.  His  family  shared, 
as  usual,  in  his  promotion.  Brihtric,  the  brother  of 
this  powerful  favorite,  conspired  against  Earl  Wulf- 
noth.  Wulfnoth  fled,  and  can-ied  twenty  of  the 
new  ships  with  him,  with  which  he  plundered  all 
the  southern  coast  of  England,  even  as  if  he  had 
been  a  Danish  pirate.  Eighty  other  ships  were 
placed  under  the  command  of  Brihtric,  who  pur- 
sued the  man  he  had  sought  to  ruin.  A  storm 
arose ;  these  eighty  vessels  were  wrecked  on  the 
coast,  where  Wulfnoth  succeeded  in  burning  them 
all;  and  then  the  rest  of  the  king's  fleet  appear  to 
have  dispersed  in  anarchy  and  confusion.  This 
story,  like  so  many  others  of  the  period,  is  imper- 
fectly told  ;  but  the  annalists  agree  in  stating  that 
the  new  navy  was  dissipated  or  lost ;  and  that  thus 
perished  the  last  hope  of  England. 

As  soon  as  the  intelligence  of  this  disaster  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Baltic,  a  large  army  of  Danes, 
called,  from  their  leader,  "  Thurkill's  host,"  set 
sail  for  England,  where,  during  the  three  following 
years,  they  committed  incalculable  mischief,  and, 
by  the  end  of  that  period,  had  made  themselves 
masters  of  a  large  part  of  the  kingdom.  They  now 
and  then  sold  short  and  uncertain  truces  to  the  Sax- 
ons, but  they  never  evinced  an  intention  of  leaving 
the  island,  as  Sweyn  had  left  it  on  former  occasions, 
when  wellloaded  with  gold.  As  Ethehed's  difficul- 
ties increased,  he  was  surrounded  more  and  more 
by  the  basest  treacherj%  and  he  seems,  at  last,  not  to 
have  had  a  single  ofificer  on  whom  he  could  depend. 
During  this  lamentable  period  of  baseness  and  cow- 
ardice, a  noble  instance  of  courage  and  firmness 
occurred  in  the  person  of  a  churchman.  Alphege, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  defended  that  city  for 
twenty  days,  and  when  a  traitor  opened  its  gate  to 
the  Danes,  and  he  was  made  prisoner  and  loaded 
with  chains,  he  refused  to  purchase  liberty  and  life 
with  gold,  which  he  knew  must  be  \^Tung  from  the 
people.  Tired  out  by  his  resistance,  they  thought 
to  overcome  it  by  lowering  the  rate  of  his  ransom ; 
and  they  proposed  to  take  a  small  sum  from  him,  if 
he  w^ould  engage  to  advise  the  king  to  pay  them  a 
further  amount  as  a  largess.  "I  do  not  possess  so 
much  money  as  you  demand  from  me,"  replied  the 
Saxon  archbishop,  "and  I  will  not  ask  or  take  money 
from  anybody,  nor  will  I  advise  my  king  against  the 
honor  of  my  country."  He  continued  immovable 
in  this  resolution,  even  refusing  the  means  of  ran- 
som voluntarily  offered  by  his  brother,  saying,  it 
would  be  treason  in  him  to  enrich,  in  any  degree, 
the  enemies  of  England.  The  Danes,  more  covet- 
ous of  money  than  desirous  of  his  blood,  frequently 
renewed  their  demands.  "  You  press  me  in  vain," 
said  Alphege  ;  "  I  am  not  the  man  to  provide  Chris- 


170 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


tian  flesh  for  Pagan  teethi  by  robbing  my  poor 
countrymen  to  enrich  their  enemies."  The  Danes, 
at  length,  lost  patience,  and  one  day,  when  they 
were  assembled  at  a  drunken  banquet,  they  caused 
him  to  be  dragged  into  their  presence.  "Gold, 
bishop!  give  us  gold  I  gold!"  was  their  cry,  as  they 
gathered  about  him  in  menacing  attitudes.  Still 
unmoved,  he  looked  round  that  circle  of  fierce  men, 
who  presently  broke  up  in  rage  and  disorder,  and 
running  to  a  heap  of  bones,  horns,  and  jaw-bones, 
the  remains  of  their  gross  feast,  they  threw  these 
things  at  him,  until  he  fell  to  the  ground  half  dead. 
A  Danish  pirate  whom  he  had  previously  converted, 
or,  at  least,  baptized  with  his  own  hands,  then  took 
his  battle-axe  and  put  an  end  to  the  agony  and  life 
of  Archbishop  Alphege.' 

This  heroic  example  had  no  effect  upon  King 
Etheh"ed,  who  continued  to  pay  gold  as  before. 
After  receiving  48,000L  (for  still  their  demands 
rose),  and  the  formal  cession  of  several  counties, 
Thurkill  took  the  oaths  of  peace,  and  became,  with 
manj-  of  his  chiefs,  and  a  large  detachment  of  his 
host,  the  ally  and  soldier  of  the  weak  Saxon  mo- 
narch. It  is  probable  that  Earl  Thurkill  entered 
the  service  of  Ethelred  for  the  purpose  of  betraying 
him,  and  acted  all  along  in  concert  with  Sweyn  ;  but 
the  Danish  king  aflected  to  consider  the  compact  as 
treason  to  himself,  and,  with  a  show  of  jealousy 
towards  Thurkill,  prepared  a  fresh  expedition, 
which  he  gave  out  was  equally  directed  against 
Ethelred  and  his  vassal  Thurkill.  The  fact,  at  all 
events,  was,  that  Sweyn,  who  had  so  often  swept 
the  land  from  east  to  west,  from  north  to  south,  had 
now  resolved  to  attempt  the  permanent  conquest  of 
our  island.  He  sailed  up  the  Humber  with  a  nu- 
merous and  splendid  fleet,  and  landed  as  near  as  he 
could  to  the  city  of  York.  As  the  Danes  advanced 
into  the  country,  they  stuck  their  lances  into  the 
soil,  or  threw  them  into  the  current  of  the  rivers, 
in  sign  of  their  entire  domination  over  England. 
They  marched,  escorted  by  fire  and  sword,  their 
ordinary  satellites."  Nearly  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Danelagh  joined  them  at  once :  the  men  of 
Northumbria,  Liudesey,  and  the  "  Five  Burghs," 
welcomed  the  banner  of  Sweyn,  and  finally  all  the 
"  Host"  north  of  Watling-street  took  up  arms  in  his 
favor.'  Even  the  provinces  in  the  centre  of  Eng- 
land, where  the  Danish  settlers  or  troops  were  far 
less  numerous,  prepared  themselves  for  a  quiet  sur- 
render. Leaving  his  fleet  to  the  care  of  his  son 
Canute,  Sweyn  conducted  the  main  body  of  his 
army  to  the  south,  exacting  horses  and  provisions 
as  he  marched  rapidly  along.  Oxford,  Winchester, 
and  other  important  towns  threw  open  their  gates 
at  his  approach ;  but  he  was  obliged  to  retire  from 
before  the  walls  of  London  and  the  determined 
valor  of  its  citizens,  among  whom  the  king  had  taken 
refuge.  Swej-n  then  turned  to  the  west,  where  he 
was  received  with  open  arms.  The  eolderman  of 
Devonshire   and  nearly  every  other  thane  in  that 

1  Vita  Alphegi,  in  Angliii  Sacra.— Ingulf.— Chron.  Sax.  Eadmer.— 
Brompton. 

2  Scriptores  Rer.  Danic.  quoted  in  Thierry. — Brompton. 

3  Chron.  Sax. 


part  of  the  kingdom  repaired  to  his  head-quarters 
at  Bath,  and  did  homage  to  him  as  their  lawful  or 
chosen  sovereign.  Seeing  the  whole  kingdom  fall- 
ing from  him,  Ethelred  abandoned  London,  which 
soon  followed  the  general  example,  and  submitted 
to  the  Danes.  This  unready  king  then  fled  to  the 
Isle  of  Wight,  whence  he  secretly  sent  his  children 
with  Emma,  his  Norman  wife,  to  the  court  of  her 
brother  at  Rouen.  He  was  for  some  short  time 
doubtful  where  he  should  lay  his  own  head ;  for, 
after  the  hostilities  and  insults  which  had  passed 
between  them,  he  reasonably  doubted  the  good-will 
of  his  brother-in-law.  The  Duke  of  Normandy, 
however,  not  only  received  Emma  and  her  children 
with  great  kindness,  but  offered  a  safe  and  honora- 
ble asylum  to  Ethelred,  which  that  luckless  prince 
was  fain  to  accept  as  his  only  resource. 

Sweyn  was  now  (about  the  middle  of  January, 
1013)  acknowledged  as  "Full  King  of  England;" 
but  the  power  which  had  been  obtained  with  so 
much  labor,  and  at  the  expense  of  so  much  blood- 
shed and  wretchedness,  remained  to  the  conqueror 
a  very  short  time.  He  died  suddenly  at  Gainsbor- 
ough; and,  only  six  weeks  after  the  time  when  he 
had  been  allowed  to  depart  for  Normandy,  "  aban- 
doned, deserted,  and  betrayed"  by  all,  Etheh-ed  was 
invited  by  the  Saxon  nobles  and  prelates  to  return 
and  take  possession  of  his  kingdom,  which  was 
pledged  to  his  defence  and  support — -provided  only 
that  he  would  govern  them  letter  than  he  had  done 
before.  Ethelred,  before  venturing  himself,  sent 
over  his  son  Edward,  with  solemn  promises  and  as- 
surances. Pledges  were  exchanged  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  the  new  compact  between  king  and 
people.  A  sentence  of  perpetual  outlawry  was  pro- 
nounced against  every  king  of  Danish  name  and 
race ;  and,  before  the  end  of  Lent,  Ethelred  was 
restored  to  those  dominions  which  he  had  already 
misgoverned  thirty-five  years.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  Danish  army  in  England  had  proclaimed  Canute, 
the  son  of  Sweyn,  as  king  of  the  whole  land  ;  and 
in  the  northern  provinces  they  and  their  adherents 
were  in  a  condition  to  maintain  the  election  they  had 
made.  Indeed,  north  of  Watling-street,  the  Danes 
were  all  powerful ;  and  Canute,  though  beset  by 
some  difficulties,  Avas  not  of  a  character  to  relinquish 
his  hold  of  the  kingdom  without  a  hard  struggle. 
A  sanguinary  warfare  was  renewed,  and  murdering 
and  bribing,  betraying  and  beti'ayed,  Ethelred  was 
fast  losing  ground,  when  he  died  of  disease,  about 
three  years  after  his  return  from  Normandj . 

The  law  of  succession  continued  as  loose  as  ever ; 
and,  in  seasons  of  extreme  difficulty  like  the  present, 
when  so  much  depended  on  the  personal  character 
and  valor  of  the  sovereign,  it  was  altogether  neg- 
lected or  despised.  Setting  aside  Ethelred's  le- 
gitimate children,  the  Saxons  chose  for  their  king  a 
natural  son,  Edmund,  surnamed  Ironside,  who  had 
already  given  many  proofs  of  courage  in  the  field 
and  wisdom  in  the  council.  By  general  consent, 
indeed,  Edmund  was  a  hero;  but  the  country  was 
too  much  worn  out  and  divided,  and  the  treasons 
that  had  torn  his  father's  court  and  camp  were  too 
prevalent  in  his  own  to  permit  of  his  restoring  Saxon 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


171 


independence  throughout  the  kingdom.  After  twice 
relieving  London,  when  besieged  by  Canute  and  all 
his  host,  and  fighting  five  pitched  battles  with  unva- 
rying valor,  but  with  various  success.  Ironside  pro- 
posed that  he  and  his  rival  should  decide  their 
claims  in  a  single  combat,  saying  "  it  was  pity  so 
many  lives  should  be  lost  and  periled  for  their  ambi- 
tion."^ Canute  declined  the  duel,  saying  that  he,  as 
a  man  of  slender  make,  would  stand  no  chance  with 
the  stalwart  Edmund ;  and  he  added,  that  it  would 
be  wiser  and  better  for  them  both  to  divide  England 
between  them,  even  as  their  forefathers  had  done 
in  other  times.  This  proposal  is  said  to  have  been 
received  with  enthusiastic  joy  by  both  armies,  and, 
however  the  negotiation  may  have  been  conducted, 
and  whatever  was  the  precise  line  of  demarkation 
settled  between  them,  it  was  certainly  agreed  that 
Canute  should  reign  over  the  north,  and  Edmund 
Ironside  over  the  south,  with  a  nominal  superiority 
over  the  Dane's  portion.  The  brave  Edmund  did 
not  survive  the  treaty  more  than  two  months.  His 
death,  which  took  place  on  the  feast  of  St.  Andrew, 
was  sudden  and  mysterious.  As  Canute  profited  so 
much  by  it,  as  to  become  sole  monarch  of  England 
immediately  after,  it  is  generally  believed  he  plan- 
ned his  assassination ;  but,  judging  from  the  old 
chroniclers  who  lived  at  or  near  the  time,  it  is  not 
clear  who  were  the  contrivers  and  actual  perpetra- 
tors of  the  deed,  or  whether  he  was  killed  at  all. 
There  is  even  a  doubt  as  to  the  place  of  his  death, 
whether  it  was  London  or  Oxford. 


Silver  Coin  of  Canute. — From  a  Specimen  ia  the  British  Museum. 

Canute,  a.d.  1017.  Although  the  death  of  Ed- 
mund removed  all  obstacles,  and  the  south  lay  pros- 
trate before  the  Danes,  Canute  began  with  a  show 
of  law  and  moderation.  A  great  council  of  the 
bishops,  "  duces,"  and  "  optimates,"  was  convened 
at  London ;  and  before  them  Canute  appealed  to 
those  Saxons  who  had  been  witnesses  to  the  con- 
vention and  ti-eaty  of  partition  between  himself  and 
Edmund,  and  called  upon  them  to  state  the  terms 
upon  which  the  compact  was  concluded.  Intimi- 
dated by  force,  or  won  by  promises,  and  the  hopes 
of  conciliating  the  favor  of  the  powerful  survivor, 
who  seemed  certain  to  be  king,  with  or  without 
their  consent,  they  all  loudly  testified  that  Edmund 
had  never  intended  to  reserve  any  right  of  succes- 
sion to  his  bi-others,  the  sons  of  Ethelred,  who  were 
absent  in  Normandy,  and  that  it  was  his  (Edmund's) 
express  wish  that  Canute  should  be  the  guardian  of 
his  own  children  during  their  infency.  The  most 
imperfect  and  faint  semblance  of  a  right  being  thus 
established,  the  Saxon  chiefs  took  an  oath  of  fidelity 
to  Canute,  as  king  of  all  England ;  and  Canute,  in 
return,  swore  to  be  just  and  benevolent,  and  clasped 

1  Malinsb. 


their  hands  with  his  naked  hand,  in  sign  of  sincerity. 
A  full  amnesty  was  promised ;  but  the  promise  had 
scarcely  passed  the  royal  lips  ere  Canute  began  to 
proscribe  those  whom  he  had  promised  to  love. 
The  principal  of  the  Saxon  chiefs  who  had  formerly 
opposed  him,  and  the  relations  of  Edmund  and 
Ethelred,  were  banished  or  put  to  death.  "  He 
who  brings  me  the  head  of  one  of  my  enemies," 
said  the  ferocious  Dane,  "shall  be  dearer  to  me 
than  a  brother."  The  witenagemot,  or  parliament, 
which  had  so  recently  passed  the  same  sentence 
against  the  Danish  princes,  now  excluded  all  the 
descendents  of  Ethelred  from  the  throne.  They 
declared  Edwy,  a  grown-up  brother  of  Ironside,  an 
outlaw,  and  when  he  was  pursued  and  murdered 
by  Canute,  they  tacitly  acknowledged  the  justice  of 
that  execution.  This  Edwy  bore  the  curious  title  of 
"  King  of  the  Churls,  or  Peasants,"  concerning  the 
proper  meaning  of  which  there  have  been  some  dis- 
putes. We  incline  to  the  opinion  of  a  recent  WTiter 
— that  this  designation  did  not  imply  a  real  dignity, 
and  that  it  may  be  conjectured  to  have  been  merely 
a  name  given  to  Edwy  on  account  of  his  popularity' 
among  the  peasants.^  Such  a  popularity  in  the 
Saxon  prince  would  naturally  excite  the  jealousy  of 
the  Danes,  who,  however,  sought  the  destriiction  of 
all  the  race.  Edmund  and  Edward,  the  two  infant 
sons  of  the  deceased  king,  Edmund  Ironside,  were 
seized,  and  a  feeling  of  shame,  mingled  perhaps 
with  some  fear  of  the  popular  odium,  preventing 
him  from  murdering  them  in  England,  Canute  sent 
them  over  sea  to  his  ally  and  vassal,  the  king  of 
Sweden,  w'hom  he  requested  to  dispose  of  them  in 
such  a  manner  as  should  remove  his  uneasiness  on 
their  account.  He  meant  that  they  should  be  mur- 
dered ;  but  the  Swedish  king,  moved  by  the  inno- 
cence of  the  little  children,  instead  of  executing  the 
horrid  commission,  sent  them  to  the  distant  court 
of  the  King  of  Hungary,  where  they  were  affection- 
ately and  honorably  entertained,  beyond  the  reach 
of  Canute.  Of  these  two  orphans  Edmund  died 
without  issue,  but  Edward  married  a  daughter  of 
the  German  emperor,  by  whom  he  became  father 
to  Edgar  Atheling,  Christina,  and  Margaret.  Edgar 
Avill  be  frequently  mentioned  in  our  subsequent 
pages.  Margaret  became  the  wife  of  Malcolm, 
King  of  Scotland,  and  through  her  the  rights  of  the 
line  of  Alfred  and  Cerdic  were  transmitted  to  Mal- 
colm's progeny,  after  the  Norman  conquest  of  Eng- 
land. There  were  still  two  princes  Avliose  claims 
to  the  q^rown  might  some  day  disquiet  Canute,  but 
they  were  out  of  his  reach  in  Normandy.  These 
were  Edward  and  Alfred,  the  sons  of  King  Ethelred, 
by  Eunna.  Their  uncle  Richard,  the  Norman  duke, 
at  first  sent  an  embassy  to  the  Dane,  demanding,  on 
their  behalf,  the  restitution  of  the  kingdom ;  but 
though  his  power  was  great,  he  adopted  no  meas- 
ures likely  to  induce  Canute  to  a  surrender  or  par- 
tition of  the  territories  he  was  actually  possessed 
of;  and,  very  soon  after,  he  entered  into  close  and 
friendly  negotiations  with  that  enemy  of  his  nephews, 
and  even  offered  him  tlieir  own  mother  and  his  sister 

'  Palg-rave,  Hist.  ch.  xiii.     We  hear  of  no  "King- of  the   Churls" 
either  before  or  after  Edwy.     It  cenainly  looks  lilve  a  nickname. 


172 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


in  marriage.  According  to  some  historians,  the  first 
overtures  to  this  unnatural  marriage,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  most  unnatural  consequences,  proceeded 
from  Canute.  However  this  may  be,  the  Dane 
wooed  the  widowed  "Flower  of  Normandy;"  and 
the  heartless  Emma,  forgetful  of  the  children  she 
had  borne,  and  only  anxious  to  become  again  the 
wife  of  a  king,  readily  gave  her  hand  to  the  man 
who  had  caused  the  ruin  and  hastened  the  death  of 
her  husband  Etheh-ed.  In  this  extraordinary  trans- 
action an  old  chronicler  is  at  a  loss  to  decide  whether 
the  greater  share  of  dishonor  falls  to  Queen  Emma 
or  to  her  brother  Duke  Richard.*  Having  soon  be- 
come the  mother  of  another  son,  by  Canute,  this 
Norman  woman  neglected  and  despised  her  first- 
born ;  and  those  two  princes  being  detained  at  a 
distance  from  England,  became  by  degrees  sti-an- 
gers  to  their  own  country-,  forgot  its  language  and 
its  manners,  and  gi'ew  up  Normans  instead  of 
Saxons.  The  Danish  dynasty  of  Canute  was  not 
destined  to  take  root ;  but  the  circumstance  just  al- 
luded to  most  essentially  contributed  to  place  a  long 
line  of  Norman  princes  upon  the  throne  of  England. 
Canute  was  not  one  that  loved  blood  for  the  sake 
of  bloodshedding.  When  he  had  disposed  of  all 
those  who  gave  him  fear  or  umbrage,  he  stayed  his 
hand,  and  was  praised,  like  so  many  other  conquer- 
ors and  tyrants,  for  his  merciful  forbeai'ance.  The 
Danish  warriors  insulted,  robbed,  and  sorely  op- 
pressed the  Saxons,  and  he  himself  wrung  from 
them  more  "  geld"  than  they  had  ever  paid  before  ; 
but  by  degrees,  Canute  assumed  a  mild  tone  to- 
wards his  new  subjects,  and  partially  succeeded  in 
gaining  their  good-will.  They  followed  him  wil- 
lingly to  his  foreign  wars,  of  which  there  was  no 
lack,  for,  besides  that  of  England,  Canute  now  held, 
or  pretended  to,  the  crowns  of  Denmark,  Sweden, 
and  Norway.  In  these  distant  wars,  the  Saxons, 
who  had  not  been  able  to  defend  themselves,  fought 
most  bravely  under  their  own  conqueror,  for  the 
enslaving  of  other  nations.  But  this  is  a  case  of 
verj^  common  occurrence,  both  in  ancient  and  mod- 
ern history.  Canute's  last  military  expedition  (a.d. 
1017-19)  was  against  the  Cumbrians  and  Scots. 
Duncan,  the  regulus,  or  under-king  of  Cumbria, 
refused  homage  and  allegiance  to  the  Dane,  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  a  usurper ;  and  IMalcolm,  King 
of  Scotland,  equally  maintained  that  the  English 
throne  belonged  of  right  to  the  legitimate  heir  of 
King  Ethelred.  Had  the  powerful  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy seconded  these  demonstrations  in  favor  of  his 
nephews,  Canute's  crown  might  have  been  put  in 
jeopardy ;  but  the  Cumbrians  and  Scots  were  left 
to  themselves,  and  compelled  to  submit,  in  the  face 
of  a  most  formidable  army  which  the  Dane  had  col- 
lected. 

These  constant  successes,  and  the  enjoyment  of 
peace  which  followed  them,  together  Avith  the  so- 
bering influence  of  increasing  years,  though  he  was 
yet  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  softened  the  conquer- 
or's heart;  and,  though  he  continued  to  rule  de- 
spotically, the  latter  part  of  his  reign  was  marked 
with  no  acts  of  cruelty,  and  was  probably,  on  the 

1  Maliiisb. 


whole,  a  happier  time  than  the  English  had  known 
since  the  days  of  Alfred  and  Athelstane.  He  was 
cheerful  and  accessible  to  all  his  subjects,  without 
distinction  of  race  or  nation.  He  took  pleasure  in 
old  songs  and  ballads,  of  which  both  Danes  and 
Saxons  were  passionately  fond ;  he  most  liberally 
patronized  the  scalds,  minstrels,  and  glee-men,  the 
poets  and  musicians  of  the  time,  and  occasionally 
wrote  verses  himself,  which  were  orally  circulated 
among  the  common  people,  and  taken  up  and  sung 
by  them.  He  could  scarcely  have  hit  upon  a  surer 
road  to  popularity.  A  ballad  of  his  composition 
continued  long  after  to  be  a  special  favorite  with 
the  English  peasantry.  All  of  it  is  lost  except  the 
first  verse,  which  has  been  preserved  in  the  Histo- 
ria  Eiiensis,  or  History  of  Ely.  The  interesting 
royal  fragment  is  simply  this  : — 

Morie  suiiEj'en  the  niunerhos  binnen  Ely, 
Tha  Cnut  Chiiig  rcu  them  l)y. — 
R<iweth,  cnilitPS,  iiiPr  the  Innd, 
And  here  \vn  l\ws  luuneclius  s^icng 

that  is : — 

Merrily  sung  ihe  monks  within  Ely, 
When  Cnute  kins;  rowed  thereby. — 
Row,  my  knights,  row  ncitr  the  land, 
And  hear  we  these  monks'  song. 

The  verses  are  said  to  have  been  suggested  to  hiui 
one  day  as  he  was  rowing  on  the  river  Nenne,  near 
Ely  Minster,  by  hearing  the  sweet  and  solemn 
music  of  the  monastic  choir  floating  over  the  waters.^ 
In  his  days  of  quiet,  the  devotion  of  the  times  had 
also  its  full  influence  on  the  character  of  Canute. 
This  son  of  an  apostate  Christian  showed  himself  a 
zealous  believer,  a  friend  to  the  monks,  a  visitor  and 
collector  of  relics,  a  founder  of  churches  and  mon- 
asteries. His  soul  was  assailed  Avith  remorse  for 
the  blood  he  had  shed  and  the  other  crimes  he  had 
committed;  and,  in  the  year  1030,  he  determined 
to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome.  He  started  on  his 
journey  to  the  Holy  City  with  a  wallet  on  his  bark 
and  a  pilgrim's  staft'  in  his  hand.  He  visited  all  the 
most  celebrated  churches  on  the  road  between  the 
Low  Countries  and  Rome,  leaving  at  every  one  of 
them  some  proof  of  his  liberality.  According  to  a 
foreign  chi-onicler,  all  the  people  on  his  Avay  had 
reason  to  exclaim — "  The  blessing  of  God  be  upon 
the  king  of  the  English  !"  But  no  one  tells  us  how 
dearly  this  munificence  cost  the  English  people. 
Returning  from  Rome,  where  he  resided  a  consid- 
erable time,  in  company  with  other  kings  (there 
seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  royal  and  ecclesiastical 
congress  held),  he  purchased  in  the  city  of  Pavia, 
the  arm  of  St.  Augustine,  the  "  Great  Doctor." 
This  precious  relic,  for  which  he  paid  a  hundred 
talents  of  gold  and  a  hundred  talents  of  silver,  he 
afterwards  presented  to  the  church  of  Coventry; — 
an  act  of  Hberality  by  which,  no  doubt,  he  gained 
many  friends  and  many  prayers. 

On  recrossing  the  Alps,  Canute  did  not  make 
his  way  direct  to  England,  but  went  to  his  other 
kingdom  of  Denmark,  where,  it  appears,  he  liad 

1  The  mennin?  of  the  old  Eiicrlish  •'merry."  and  ''merrily,"  it  is  to 
be  remembered,  was  different  Ironi  that  which  we  now  attach  to  the 
words.  A  '■  merry"  S"n_'  was  merely  a  sweet  or  touching  melody,  and 
nii^'ht  be  plaintive  as  well  as  gay. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


17J 


still  difficulties  to  settle,  and  where  he  remained 
some  months.  He,  however,  dispatched  the  Ab- 
bot of  Tavistock  to  England,  with  a  long  letter  of 
explanation,  command,  and  advice,  addressed  to 
"  Egelnoth  the  Metropolitan,  to  Archbishop  Alfric, 
to  all  Bishops  and  Chiefs,  and  to  all  the  nation  of 
the  English,  both  nobles  and  commoners,  greeting." 
This  curious  letter,  which  appears  to  have  been 
carefully  preserved,  and  which  is  given  entire  by 
writers  who  lived  near  the  time,  begins  with  ex- 
plaining the  motives  of  his  pilgi-image,  and  the  na- 
ture of  the  sacred  omnipotence  of  the  Church  of 
Rome.     It  then  continues  : — 

"  And  be  it  known  to  you  that,  at  the  solemn 
festival  of  Easter,  there  was  held  a  great  assem- 
blage of  illustrious  persons ;  to  wit : — the  Pope 
John,  the  Emperor  Conrad,  and  the  chiefs  of  all 
the  nations  from  Mount  Garganus  to  the  neighbor- 
ing sea.  They  all  i-eceived  me  with  distinction, 
and  honored  me  with  rich  presents,  giving  me  vases 
of  gold  and  vessels  of  silver,  and  stuffs  and  garments 
of  gi-eat  price.  I  discoursed  with  the  Lord  Pope, 
the  Lord  Emperor,  and  the  other  princes,  on  the 
grievances  of  my  people,  English  as  well  as 
Danes.  I  endeavored  to  obtain  for  my  people,  just- 
ice and  secui-ity  in  their  journeys  to  Rome ;  and, 
above  all,  that  they  might  not  henceforth  be  delayed 
on  the  road  by  the  shutting  up  of  the  mountain 
passes,  the  erecting  of  barriers,  and  the  exaction  of 
heavy  tolls.  My  demands  were  gi-anted,  both  by 
the  emperor  and  King  Rudolf,  who  are  masters  of 
most  of  the  passes ;  and  it  was  enacted  that  all  my 
men,  as  well  merchants  as  pilgrims,  should  go  to 
Rome  and  return  in  full  security,  without  being  de- 
tained at  the  barriers,  or  forced  to  pay  unlawful 
tolls.  I  also  complained  to  the  Lord  Pope  that 
such  enormous  sums  had  been  extorted  up  to  this 
day  from  my  archbishops,  when,  according  to  cus- 
tom, they  went  to  the  apostolic  see  to  obtain  the 
pallium  ;  and  a  decree  was  forthwith  made  that  this 
gi'ievance  likewise  should  cease.  Wherefor,  I  re- 
turn sincere  thanks  to  God  that  I  have  successfully 
done  all  that  I  intended  to  do,  and  have  fully  satis- 
fied all  ray  wishes.  And  now,  therefore,  be  it  known 
to  you  all  that  I  have  dedicated  my  life  to  God,  to 
govern  my  kingdoms  with  justice,  and  to  observe 
the  right  in  ail  things.  If,  in  the  time  that  is  pass- 
ed, and  in  the  violence  and  carelessness  of  youth,  I 
have  violated  justice,  it  is  my  intention,  by  the  help 
of  God,  to  make  full  compensation.  Therefore  I 
beg  and  command  those  unto  whom  I  have  entrust- 
ed the  government,  as  they  wish  to  preserve  my 
good-will,  and  save  their  own  souls,  to  do  no  injus- 
tice either  to  rich  or  poor.  Let  those  who  are 
noble,  and  those  who  are  not,  equally  obtain  their 
rights,  according  to  the  laws  from  which  no  devia- 
tion shall  be  allowed,  either  from  fear  of  me,  or 
through  favor  to  the  powerful,  or  for  the  purpose  of 
supplying  my  ti-easmy.  /  want  no  money  raised  by 
injustice."  The  last  clause  of  this  remarkable  and 
characteristic  epistle  had  reference  to  the  clergj-. 
"  I  entreat  and  order  you  all,  the  bishops,  sheriffs, 
and  officers  of  my  kingdom  of  England,  by  the  faith 
which  you  owe  to  God  and  to  me,  so  to  take  mea- 


sures that  before  my  return  among  you.  all  our 
debts  to  the  church  be  paid  up  ;  to  wit : — the  plough 
alms,  the  tithes  on  cattle  of  the  present  year,  the 
Peter-pence  due  by  each  house  in  all  towns  and 
villages,  the  tithes  of  fruit  in  the  middle  of  August, 
and  the  kirk-shot  at  the  feast  of  St.  Martin  to  the 
parish  chiu-ch.  And  if,  at  my  return,  these  dues 
are  not  wholly  discharged,  I  will  punish  the  delin- 
quents according  to  the  rigor  of  the  laws,  and  with- 
out any  gi'ace.     So  fare  j'e  weU."^ 

It  does  not  clearly  appear  whether  the  old  writers 
refer  the  following  often-repeated  incident  to  a  pe- 
riod preceding  or  one  subsequent  to  this  Roman 
pilgrimage.  When  at  the  height  of  his  power,  and 
when  all  things  seemed  to  bend  to  his  lordly  will 
(so  goes  the  story),  Canute,  disgusted  one  day  with 
the  extravagant  flatteries  of  his  courtiers,  deter- 
mined to  read  them  a  practical  lesson.  He  caused 
his  throne  to  be  placed  on  the  verge  of  the  sands 
on  the  sea-shore  as  the  tide  was  rolling  in  ^\'ith  its 
resistless  might,  and,  seating  himself,  he  addressed 
the  ocean,  and  said, — "Ocean!  the  land  on  which 
I  sit  is  mine,  and  thou  art  a  part  of  my  dominion — 
therefore  rise  not — obey  my  commands,  nor  pre- 
sume to  wet  the  edge  of  my  robe."  He  sate  for 
some  time  as  if  expecting  obedience,  but  the  sea 
rolled  on  in  its  immutable  course  ;  succeeding  waves 
broke  nearer  and  nearer  to  his  feet,  till  at  length 
the  skirts  of  his  garment  and  his  legs  were  bathed 
bj'  the  waters.  Then,  turning  to  his  courtiers  and 
captains,  Canute  said, — "  Confess  ye  now  how  friv- 
olous and  vain  is  the  might  of  an  earthly  king  com- 
pared to  that  Great  power  who  rules  the  elements, 
and  can  say  unto  the  ocean,  '  Thus  far  shalt  thou 
go,  and  no  farther.' "  The  chroniclers  conclude 
the  apologue  by  adding  that  he  immediately  took  off 
his  crown,  and  depositing  it  in  the  cathedral  of 
Winchester,  never  wore  it  again. 

This  great  Danish  sovereign  died  a.d.  1035,  at 
Shaftesbury,  about  three  years  after  his  return  from 
Rome,  and  was  buried  at  Winchester.  The  churches 
and  abbeys  he  erected  have  long  since  disappeared, 
ox  their  fragments  have  been  imbedded  in  later  ed- 
ifices erected  on  their  sites ;  but  the  great  public 
work  called  the  King^s  Del/,  a  causeway  connecting 
Peterborough  and  Ramsey,  and  carried  through  the 
marshes  by  Canute's  command,  is  still  serviceable. 

On  his  demise  there  was  the  usual  difficulty  and 
contention  respecting  the  succession.  Canute  left 
but  one  legitimate  son,  Hardicanute,  whom  he  had 
by  Etheh-ed's  widow,  the  lady  Emma  of  Normandy. 
He  had  two  illegitimate  sons,  Sweyn  and  Harold. 
In  royal  families  bastardy  was  none,  or  a  very  shght 
objection  in  those  days ;  but,  according  to  the  con- 
temporary writers,  it  was  the  prevalent  belief,  or 
popular  scandal,  that  these  two  young  men  were 
not  the  children  of  Canute,  even  illegitimately,  but 
were  imposed  upon  him  as  such  by  his  acknowledged 
concubine  Alfgiva,  daughter  of  the  eolderman  of 
Southampton,  who,  according  to  this  gossip,  knew 
full  well  that  Sweyn  was  the  son  of  a  priest  by  an- 

'  Ingulf.     Malmsb.     Florent.     Wigorn.    The  substance  of  the  lettei 
■  is  also  found  in  Torfai  Hist.  Norveg.  and  in  Ditmari   Script.  Rer. 
Danicar 


174 


HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


omer  wftman,  and  Harold  the  offspring  of  a  cobbler 
and  his  wife.  Wlioever  were  their  fathers  and 
mothers,  it  is  certain  that  Canute  intended  that  his 
dominions  should  be  divided  among  the  three  young 
men,  and  this  without  any  apparent  prejudice  in 
favor  of  legitimacy  ;  for  Harold,  and  not  Hardicanute 
(the  lawful  son),  was  to  have  England,  which  was 
esteemed  by  far  the  best  portion.  Denmark  was  to 
fall  to  Hardicanute,  and  Norway  to  Sweyn.  Both 
these  princes  were  in  the  north  of  Europe,  and  ap- 
parently in  possession  of  power  there  when  Canute 
died.  The  powerful  Earl  Godwin,  and  the  Saxons 
of  the  south  generally,  wished  rather  to  choose  for 
king  of  England  either  one  of  the  sons  of  Ethelred, 
who  were  still  in  Normandy,  or  Hardicanut?,  the 
son  of  Emma,  who  was  at  least  connected  with  the 
old  Saxon  line.  But  Earl  Leofric  of  Mercia,  Avith 
the  thanes  north  of  the  Thames,  and  all  the  Danes, 
supported  the  claims  of  the  illegitimate  Harold  ;  and 
when  the  influential  city  of  London  took  this  side, 
the  cause  of  Hardicanute  seemed  almost  hopeless. 
But  still  all  the  men  of  the  south  and  the  great  Earl 
Godwin  adhered  to  the  latter,  and  a  civil  war  was 
imminent  (to  escape  the  horrors  of  which  many 
fomilies  had  already  fled  to  the  morasses  and  forests), 
when  it  was  wisely  determined  to  eff'ect  a  com- 
promise by  means  of  the  witenagemot.     This  as- 


Canute  Reproving  hi3  Flatterers. — Smirke. 


sembly  met  at  Oxford,  and  there  decided  that  Harold 
should  have  all  the  provinces  north  of  the  Thames, 
with  London  for  his  capital,  while  all  the  country 
south  of  that  river  should  remain  to  his  real  or  fic- 
titious half-brother  Hardicanute. 

Hardicanute,  showing  no  anxiety  for  his  domin 
ions  in  England,  lingered  in  Denmark,  where  the 
habits  of  the  Scandinavian  chiefs,  and  their  hard 
drinking,  were  to  his  taste  ;  but  his  mother  Emma 
and  Earl  Godwin  governed  in  the  south  on  his  be- 
half, and  held  a  court  at  Winchester.  Harold, 
however,  who  saw  his  superiority  over  his  absent 
half-brother,  took  his  measures  for  att.iching  the 
provinces  of  the  south  to  his  dominions ;  and  two 
fruitless  invasions  from  Normandy  only  tended  to 
increase  his  power  and  facilitate  that  aggrandize- 
ment. 

Soon  after  the  news  of  Canute's  death  reached 
Normandy,  Edward,  the  eldest  of  the  surviving  sons 
of  Ethelred  by  Emma,  and  who  eventually  became 
king  of  England  under  the  title  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor, made  sail  for  England  with  a  few  ships,  and 
landed  at  Southampton  in  the  intention  of  claiming 
the  crown.  He  threw  himself  in  the  midst  of  his 
mother's  retainers,  and  was  within  a  few  miles  of 
her  residence  at  Winchester.  But  Emma  had  no 
affection  for  her  children  by  Ethelred:  she  was  at 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AhB  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


175 


the  moment  making  every  exertion  to  secure  the 
Enghsh  throne  for  her  son  by  Canute,  and,  instead 
of  aiding  Edward,  she  set  the  whole  country  in  hos- 
tile array  against  him.  He  escaped  with  some  dif- 
ficulty from  a  formidable  force,  and  fled  back  to 
Normandy,  determined,  it  is  said,  never  again  to 
touch  the  soil  of  his  fathers. 

The  second  invasion  from  Norma-ndy  was  attend- 
ed with  more  tragical  results,  and  part  of  the  history 
of  it  is  enveloped  in  an  impenetrable  mystery. 

An  affectionate  letter,^  purporting  to  be  written 
by  the  queen-mother,  Emma,  was  conveyed  to  her 
sons  Edward  and  Alfred,  reproaching  them  with 
their  apathy,  and  urging  that  one  of  them,  at  least, 
should  return  to  England  and  assert  his  right  against 
the  tyrant  Harold.  This  letter  is  pronounced  a 
forgery  by  the  old  writer  who  preserves  it;  bnt 
those  who  are  disposed  to  take  the  darkest  view  of 
Emma's  character  may  object,  that  this  writer  was 
a  paid  encomiast  of  that  queen's  (and  paid  by  her 
living  self),  and  therefore  not  likely  to  confess  her 
guilty  of  being  a  participator  in  her  own  son's  mur- 
der, even  if  such  were  the  fact.  The  same  authority, 
indeed,  even  praises  her  for  her  ill-assorted,  shame- 
ful marriage  with  Canute,  which  undeniably  alien- 
ated her.  from  her  children  by  the  former  union. 
For  ourselves,  although  she  did  not  escape  the 
strong  suspicion  of  her  contemporaries  any  more 
than  Earl  Godwin,  who  was  then  in  close  alliance 
with  her,  we  rather  incline  to  the  belief  that  the 
letter  was  forged  by  the  order  of  Harold ;  though, 
again,  there  is  a  possibility  that  it  may  have  been 
actually  the  product  of  the  queen,  who  may  have 
meant  no  harm  to  her  son,  and  that  the  harm  he 
suffered  may  have  fallen  upon  him  through  Godwin, 
on  that  chief's  seeing  how  he  came  attended.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  Alfred,  the  younger  of  the  two 
brothers,  accepted  the  invitation.  The  instructions 
of  Emma's  letter  were  to  come  without  any  arma- 
ment f  but  he  raised  a  considerable  force  {militcs 
non  parvi  numeric  in  Normandy  and  Boulogne. 
When  he  appeared  off  Sandwich,  there  was  a  far 
superior  force  there,  which  rendered  his  landing 
hopeless.  He  therefore  bore  round  the  North 
Foreland,  and  disembarked  '*  opposite  to  Canter- 
bury," probably  about  Heme  Bay,  between  the 
Triculvers  and  the  Isle  of  Sheppey.  Having  ad- 
vanced some  distance  up  the  country  without  any 
opposition,  he  was  met  by  Earl  Godwin,  who  is  said 
to  have  sworn  faith  to  him,  and  to  have  undertaken 
to  conduct  him  to  his  mother  Emma.  Avoiding 
London,  where  the  party  of  Harold  was  predomi- 
nant, they  marched  to  Guildford,  where  Godwin 
billeted  the  strangers,  in  small  parties  of  tens  and 
scores,  in  different  houses  of  the  town.  There  was 
plenty  of  meat  and  drink  prepared  in  every  lodging ; 
and  Earl  Godwin,  taking  his  leave  for  the  night, 
promised  his  dutiful  attendance  on  Alfred  for  the 
following  morning.  Tired  with  the  day's  journey, 
and  filled  with  meat  and  wine,  the  separated  com- 
pany went  to  bed,  suspecting  no  wrong;  but  in  the 

1  Eucom.  Emm. 

"  Rogo  unus  vestrum  ail  me  veluritcr  ct  private  venial.   Enc  Emm. 

2  GuiU.  Gemeticeusis. 


dead  of  night,  when  disarmed  and  buried  in  sleep, 
they  were  suddenly  set  upon  by  King  Harold's 
forces,  who  seized  and  bound  them  all  with  chains 
and  gyves.  On  the  following  morning  they  were 
ranged  in  a  line  before  the  executioners.  There 
are  said  to  have  been  600  victims,  and,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  every  tenth  man,  they  were  all  barba- 
rously tortured  and  massacred.  Prince  Alfred  was 
reserved  for  a  still  more  cruel  fate.  He  was  hurried 
away  to  London,  where,  it  should  seem,  Harold 
personally  insulted  his  misfortunes  ;  and  from  Lon- 
don he  was  sent  to  the  Isle  of  Ely,  in  the  heart  of 
the  country  of  the  Danes.  He  made  the  sad  journey 
mounted  on  a  wretched  horse,  naked,  and  with  his 
feet  tied  beneath  the  animal's  belly.  At  Ely  he  was 
arraigned  before  a  mock  court  of  Danish  miscreants, 
as  a  disturber  of  the  country's  peace,  and  was  con- 
demned to  lose  his  eyes.  His  eyes  were  instantly 
torn  out  by  main  force,  and  he  died  a  few  days  after 
in  exquisite  anguish.  Some  believe  that  Earl  God- 
win was  guilty  of  betraying,  or  at  least  deserting  the 
prince  after  he  had  landed  in  England,  without 
having  premeditated  treachery  in  inviting  him  over  ; 
and  they  say  his  change  of  sentiment  took  place  the 
instant  he  saw  that  Alfred,  instead  of  coming  alone 
to  throw  himself  on  the  affections  of  the  Saxon 
people,  had  surrounded  himself  with  a  host  of  am- 
bitious foreigners,  all  eager  to  share  in  the  wealth 
and  honors  of  the  land.  Henry  of  Huntingdon,  a 
writer  of  the  twelfth  century,  supports  this  not  ir- 
rational view  of  the  case,  and  says  that  Godwin  told 
his  Saxon  followers  that  Alfred  came  escorted  by 
too  many  Normans, — that  he  had  promised  these 
Normans  rich  possessions  in  England, — and  that  it 
would  be  an  act  of  imprudence  in  them,  the  Saxons, 
to  permit  this  race  of  foreigners,  known  through  the 
world  for  their  audacity  and  cunning,  to  gain  a- 
footing  in  England.  The  whole  life  of  the  great 
earl  abounds  in  sudden  resolutions  and  changes ; 
nor  did  he  ever  hesitate  at  bloodshed ;  but  without 
going  into  a  discussion  which  would  fill  many  pages, 
and  leave  us  in  uncertainty  at  last,  we  will  quit  this 
horrid  tragedy,  of  the  truth  of  which  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt,  by  confessing  that  the  motives  of 
the  parties  concerned,  and  the  share  of  guilt  which 
each  had  in  it,  cannot  be  estabhshed  from  the  ac- 
counts of  the  old  chroniclers,  who  hold  very  different 
language,  and  contradict  each  other.  Shortly  after 
the  murder  of  Alfred,  Emma  was  either  sent  out  of 
England  by  Harold,  or  retired  a  voluntary  exile.  It 
is  to  be  remarked  that  she  did  not  fix  her  residence 
in  Normandy,  where  her  son  Edward,  brother  of 
Alfred,  was  living,  but  went  to  the  court  of  Baldwin, 
Earl  of  Flanders. 

Harold  had  now  little  difficulty  in  getting  himself 
proclaimed  "  full  king"  over  all  the  island.  The 
election,  indeed,  was  not  sanctioned  by  legislative 
authority;  but  this  authority,  always  fluctuating 
and  uncertain,  was  at  present  almost  worthless. 
A  more  important  opposition  was  that  oftered  by 
the  church,  in  whose  ranks  the  Saxons  were  far 
more  numerous  than  the  Danes,  or  priests  of  Dan- 
ish descent;  and  in  all  these  contentions  the  two 
hostile  races  must  be  considered,  and  not  merely 


176 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


the  quarrels  or  ambition  of  the  rival  princes.  The 
question  at  issue  was,  whether  the  Danes  or  the 
Saxons  should  liave  the  upper  liand.  Ethelnoth, 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  was  a  Saxon, 
refused  to  perforin  the  ceremonies  of  the  corona- 
tion. Talking  the  ci"own  and  sceptre,  which  it  ap- 
pears liad  been  entrusted  to  his  charge  by  Canute, 
he  laid  them  on  the  altar,  and  said,  "  Harold !  I 
will  neither  give  them  to  thee,  nor  prevent  thee 
from  taking  the  ensigns  of  royalty ;  but  I  will  not 
bless  thee,  nor  shall  any  bishop  consecrate  thee  on 
the  throne."  It  is  said  that,  on  this,  hke  a  modern 
conqueror,  the  Dane  put  the  crown  on  his  head 
with  his  own  hands.  According  to  some  accounts 
he  subsequently  won  over  the  archbishop,  and  was 
solemnly  crowned.  Other  authorities,  however, 
assert  that  he  was  never  crowned  at  all,  that  out  of 
spite  to  the  archbishop,  he  showed  an  open  con- 
tempt for  the  Christian  religion,  absenting  himself 
fi'om  all  places  of  worship,  and  uncoupling  his 
hounds,  or  calling  for  meat  and  wine  at  the  hours 
when  the  fajthful  were  summoned  to  mass  and 
prayer.  His  chief  amusement  was  hunting;  and, 
from  the  fleetness  with  which  he  could  follow  the 
game  on  foot,  he  acquired  the  name  of  "  Harold 
Harefoot."  Little  more  is  known  about  him,  ex- 
cept that  he  died  after  a  short  reign  of  four  years, 
in  A.D.  1040,  and  was  buried  at  Westminster. 

Hardica.\ute,  his  half-brother,  was  at  Bruges, 
and  on  the  point  of  invading  England,  when  Hai-old 
died.  After  long  delays  in  Denmark,  he  listened 
to  the  urgent  calls  of  his  exiled  mother,  the  still 
stirring  and  ambitious  Emma ;  and,  leaving  a  greater 
force  ready  at  the  mouth  of  the  Baltic,  he  sailed  to 
Flanders  with  nine  ships  to  consult  his  parent.  He 
had  been  but  a  short  time  at  Bruges  when  a  depu- 
tation of  English  and  Danish  thanes  arrived  there 
to  invite  him  to  ascend  the  most  brilliant  of  his 
father's  thrones  in  peace.  The  two  great  factions 
in  England  had  come  to  this  agreement,  but,  ac- 
cording to  the  chroniclers,  they  were  soon  made  to 
repent  of  it  by  the  exactions  and  rapacity  of  Hardi- 
canute.  Belying  more  on  the  Danes,  among  whom 
he  had  lived  so  long,  than  on  the  English,  and  being 
averse  to  part  with  the  companions  of  his  revels 
and  drinking  bouts,  he  brought  with  him  a  great 
number  of  Danish  chiefs  and  courtiers,  and  retained 
an  expensive  Danish  army  and  navy.  This  obliged 
him  to  have  frequent  recourse  to  "  Danegelds,"  the 
arbitrary  levying  of  which  by  his  "  Huscarles,"  or 
household  ti-oops,  who  were  all  Danes,  caused  fre- 
quent insurrections  or  commotions.  The  people  of 
Worcester  resisted  the  Huscarles  with  arms  in  their 
hands,  and  slew  Feader  and  Turstane,  two  of  the 
king's  collectors.  In  revenge  for  this  contempt,  that 
city  was  burnt  to  the  ground,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
surrounding  country  laid  desolate,  and  the  goods  of 
the  citizens  put  to  the  spoil  "by  such  power  of 
lords  and  men  of  war  as  the  king  sent  against 
them."  It  should  appear  that  not  even  the  church 
was  exempted  from  these  oppressive  levies  of  Dane- 
geld,  for  a  monkish  writer  complains  that  the  clergy 
were  forced  to  sell  the  very  chalices  from  the  altar 
in  order  to  pay  their  assessments. 


On  his  first  arriving  in  England,  Hardicanute 
showed  his  horror  of  Prince  Alfred's  murder,  and 
his  revenge  for  the  injury  done  by  Harold  to  him- 
self and  his  relatives,  in  a  truly  barbarous  manner. 
By  his  order,  the  body  of  Harold  was  dug  up  from 
the  grave ;  its  head  was  struck  olf,  and  then  both 
body  and  head  were  thrown  into  the  Thames.  To 
increase  the  dramatic  interest  of  the  story,  some  of 
the  old  writers,  who  maintain  that  the  great  earl 
had  murdered  Alfred  to  serve  Harold,  say  that 
Godwin  was  obhged  to  assist  at  the  disinterment 
and  decapitation  of  the  corpse,  the  mutilated  re- 
mains of  which  were  soon  after  drawn  out  of  the 
river  by  some  Danish  fishermen,  who  secretly  in- 
terred them  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Clement 
Danes,  "without  Temple-bar  at  London."  Earl 
Godwin,  indeed,  a  very  short  time  after,  was  for- 
mally accused  of  Alfred's  murder ;  but  he  cleared 
himself,  in  law,  by  his  own  oath,  and  the  oaths  of 
many  of  his  peers  ;  and  a  rich  and  splendid  present 
ie  generally  supposed  to  have  set  the  question  at 
rest  between  him  and  Hardicanute,  though  it  failed 
to  acquit  him  in  popular  opinion.  This  present 
was  a  shij)  of  the  first  class,  covered  with  gilded 
metal,  and  bearing  a  figure-head  in  solid  gold  :  the 
crew,  ^vhich  formed  an  intrinsic  part  of  the  gift, 
were  fourscore  picked  warriors,  and  each  Avarrior 
was  furnished  with  dress  and  appointments  of  the 
most  costly  description — a  gilded  helmet  was  on  his 
head,  a  triple  hauberk  on  his  body,  a  sword  with  a 
hilt  of  gold  hung  by  his  side,  a  Danish  battle-axe, 
damasked  with  silver,  was  on  his  shoulder,  a  gold- 
studded  shield  on  his  left  arm,  and  in  his  right  hand 
a  gilded  atcgar.^ 

During  the  remainder  of  Hardicanute's  short 
reign.  Earl  Godwin,  and  Emma  the  queen-mother, 
who  were  again  in  friendly  alliance,  divided  nearly 
all  the  authority  of  government  between  them, 
leaving  the  king  to  the  tranquil  enjoyment  of  the 
things  he  most  prized  in  life — his  banquets,  which 
were  spread  four  times  a  day,  and  his  carousals  at 
night.  From  many  incidental  passages  in  the  old 
writers,  we  should  conclude  that  the  Saxons  them- 
selves were  sufficiently  addicted  to  drinking  and 
the  pleasures  of  the  taljle,  and  required  no  instruc- 
tors in  those  particulars;  j'et  it  is  pretty  generally 
stated  that  hard  drinking  became  fashionable  under 
the  Danes ;  and  more  than  one  chronicler  laments 
that  Englishmen  learned  from  the  example  of  Har- 
dicanute "  their  excessive  gormandizing  and  un- 
measurable  filling  of  their  bellies  with  meats  and 
drinks." 

This  king's  death  was  in  keeping  with  the  tenor 
of  his  life.  When  he  had  reigned  two  years  all  but 
ten  days,  he  took  part,  with  his  usual  zest,  in  the 
marriage  feast  of  one  of  his  Danish  thanes,  which 
was  held  at  Lambeth,  or,  more  probably,  at  Clap- 
ham.-     At  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  as  he  stood  up 

1  The  same  scythc-shapcd  weapon  as  the  Moorish  "  assa^ay,"  the 
Turkish  "yataghan,"  &c.  It  was  a  common  weapon  with  the  Danes, 
and  is  still  so  in  the  East. 

•  The  name  of  the  bride's  father,  in  whose  house  the  feast  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  held,  was  Osjod  Clapa  ;  and  Clapa-ham,  the  hamr 
or  home  of  Clapa,  is  taken  as  the  etymology  of  our  suburban  village. — 
Palgrave,  Hist.  c-h.  xiii 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


177 


to  pledge  that  jovial  company,  he  suddenly  fell 
down  speechless  with  the  wine-cup  in  his  hand  : 
he  was  removed  to  an  inner  chamber,  but  he  spoke 
no  more  ;  and  thus  the  last  Danish  king  in  England 
died  drunk.  He  was  buried  in  the  church  of  Win- 
chester, near  his  father  Canute. 


Silver  Coins  of  Edward  the  Confessor.— From  Specimens  in  the 
Bi'itiiili  Museum. 

Edward  the  Confessor.  Hardicanute  was 
scarcely  in  his  grave  when  his  half-brother  Ed- 
ward, who  was  many  years  his  senior,  ascended 
the  throne  (a.  d.  1042)  with  no  opposition,  except 
such  as  he  found  from  his  own  fears  and  scruples, 
which,  had  he  been  left  to  himself,  would  probably 
have  induced  him  to  prefer  a  monastery  or  some 
other  quiet  retirement  in  Normandy.  During  his 
very  brief  reign,  Hardicanute  had  recalled  the  exile 
to  England,  had  received  him  with  honor  and  affec- 
tion, granted  him  a  handsome  allowance,  and  even 
proposed,  it  is  said,  to  associate  him  in  his  govern- 
ment. Edward  was,  therefore,  at  hand,  and  in  a 
favorable  position  at  the  moment  of  crisis  ;  nor,  ac- 
cording to  the  modern  laws  of  hereditary  succes- 
sion, could  any  one  have  established  so  good  a 
right ;  for  his  half-nephew,  Edward,  who  was  still 
far  away  in  Hungary,  was  only  illegitimately  de- 
scended from  the  royal  line  of  Cerdic  and  Alfred, 
his  father,  Edmund  Ironside,  though  older  than 
Edward,  being  a  natural  son  of  their  common  father 
Etheh-ed.  But,  in  truth,  rules  of  succession  had 
little  to  do  with  the  settlement  of  the  crown,  which 
was  effected  by  a  variety  of  other  and  more  potent 
agencies.  The  connexion  between  the  Danish  and 
English  crowns  was  evidently  breaking  off;  there 
was  a  pi'ospect  that  the  two  parties  in  England 
would  soon  be  left  to  decide  their  contest  without 
any  intervention  from  Denmark ;  for  some  time 
the  Saxon  party  had  been  gaining  ground,  and,  be- 
fore Hardicanute's  death,  formidable  associations 
had  been  made,  and  more  than  one  successful  bat- 
tle fought  against  the  Danes.  On  their  side,  the 
Danes,  having  no  descendant  of  the  great  Canute 
around  whom  to  rally,  became  less  vehement  for 
the  expulsion  of  the  Saxon  line,  while  many  of 
them  settled  in  the  south  of  the  island  were  won 
over  by  the  reputed  virtue  and  sanctity  of  Edward. 
If  we  may  judge  by  the  uncertain  light  of  some  of 
the  chronicles,  many  leading  Danes  quitted  Eng- 
land on  Hardicanute's  decease  ;  and  it  seems  quite 
certain  that  when  the  nobles  and  prelates  of  the 
Saxons  (were  there  not  Danes  among  these?) 
assembled  in  London,  with  the  resolution  of  elect- 
ing Edward,  they  encountered  no  opposition  from 
any  Danish  faction.  But  the  great  Earl  Godwin, 
the  still  suspected  murderer  of  the  new  king's 
VOL.  I 12 


brother,  Alfred,  had  by  far  the  greatest  share  in 
Edward's  elevation.  This  veteran  politician,  of  an 
age  considered  barbarous,  and  of  a  race  (the  Saxon) 
generally  noted  rather  for  stupidity  and  dulness, 
than  for  acuteness  and  adroitness,  trimmed  his 
sails  according  to  the  winds  that  predominated, 
with  a  degree  of  skill  and  remorselessness  which 
would  stand  a  comparison  with  the  manoeuvres  of 
the  most  celebrated  political  intriguers  of  the  most 
modern  and  civilized  times.  In  all  the  sti'uggles  that 
had  taken  place  since  the  death  of  Canute  he  had 
changed  sides  with  astonishing  facility  and  rapiditj', 
going  back  more  than  once  to  the  party  he  had  de- 
serted, then  changing  again,  and  always  causing  the 
faction  he  embraced  to  triumph  just  so  long  as  he 
adhered  to  it,  and  no  longer.  Changes,  ruinous  to 
others,  only  brought  him  an  accession  of  strength. 
At  the  death  of  Hardicanute,  he  was  earl  of  all 
Wessex  and  Kent ;  and  by  his  alliances  and  in- 
ti'igues,  he  controlled  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
southern  and  more  Saxon  part  of  England.  His 
abilities  were  proved  by  the  station  he  had  attained ; 
for  he  had  begun  life  as  a  cow-herd.  He  was  a 
fluent  speaker ;  but  his  eloquence,  no  doubt,  owed 
much  of  its  faculty  of  conveying  conviction  to  the 
power  or  material  means  he  had  always  at  hand  to 
enforce  his  arguments.  When  he  rose  in  the 
assembly  of  thanes  and  bishops,  and  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  Edward  the  Atheling,  the  only  sur- 
viving son  of  Ethelred,  should  be  their  king,  there 
were  but  very  few  dissentient  voices  ;  and  the  earl 
carefully  marked  the  weak  minority,  who  seem  all 
to  have  been  Saxons,  and  drove  them  into  exile 
shortly  after.  It  is  pretty  generally  stated,  that 
his  relation,  William,  Duke  of  Normandy  (after- 
wards the  Conqueror),  materially  aided  Edward  by 
his  influence,  having  firmly  announced  to  the 
Saxons,  that  if  they  failed  in  their  duty  to  the  sons 
of  Emma,  they  should  feel  the  weight  of  his  ven- 
geance ;  but  we  more  than  doubt  the  authenticity 
of  this  fact,  from  the  simple  circumstances  of  Duke 
William's  being  only  fifteen  years  old  at  the  time, 
and  his  states  being  in  most  lamentable  confusion 
and  anarchy,  pressed  from  without  by  the  French 
king,  and  troubled  within  by  factious  nobles,  who 
all  wished  to  take  advantage  of  his  youth  and  in- 
experience. 

The  case,  perhaps,  is  not  veiy  rare,  but  it  must 
always  be  a  painful  and  perplexing  one.  Edward 
hated  the  man  who  was  serving  him ;  and  while 
Godwin  was  placing  him  on  the  throne,  he  could 
not  detach  his  eyes  from  the  bloody  grave  to  which, 
in  his  conviction,  the  earl  had  sent  his  brother 
Alfred.  Godwin  was  perfectly  well  aware  of  these 
feelings,  and,  like  a  practised  pohtician,  before  he 
stin-ed  in  Edward's  cause,  and  w^hen  the  fiite  of 
that  pi-ince,  even  to  his  hfe  or  death,  Avas  in  his 
hands,  he  made  such  stipulations  as  were  best  cal- 
culated to  secure  him  against  their  eflects.  He 
obtained  an  extension  of  territories,  honors,  and 
commands  for  himself  and  his  sons — a  solemn 
assurance  that  the  past  was  forgiven,  and,  as  a 
pledge  for  future  affection  and  family  union,  he 
made  Edward  consent  to  marry  his  daughter.     The 


178 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


fair  Editha,  the  daughter  of  the  fortunate  earl, 
became  queen  of  England  ;  but  the  heart  was  not 
to  be  controlled,  and  Edward  was  never  a  husband 
to  her.  Yet,  from  contemporarj'  accounts,  Editha 
was  deserving  of  love,  and  possessed  of  such  a 
union  of  good  qualities  as  ought  to  have  removed 
the  deep-rooted  antipathies  of  the  king  to  herself 
and  her  race.  Her  person  was  beautiful;  her 
manners  graceful ;  her  disposition  cheerful,  meek, 
pious,  and  generous,  without  a  taint  of  her  father's 
or  brother's  pride  and  arrogance.  Her  mental 
accomplishments  far  surpassed  the  standard  of  that 
age  ;  she  was  fond  of  reading,  and  had  read  many 
books.  Ingulphus,  the  monk  of  Croyland,  wlio 
was  her  contemporary  and  personal  acquaintance, 
speaks  of  her  with  a  homely  and  subdued  enthu- 
siasm that  is  singularly  touching.  He  says  she 
sprung  from  Godwin  as  the  rose  springs  from  the 
thorn.  "  I  have  very  often  seen  her,"  he  continues, 
"  in  my  boyhood,  when  I  used  to  go  to  visit  my 
father,  who  was  employed  about  the  court.  Often 
did  I  meet  her  as  I  came  from  school,  and  then 
she  questioned  me  about  my  studies  and  my  verses  ; 
and,  willingly  passing  from  grammar  to  logic,  she 
would  catch  me  in  the  subtleties  of  argument. 
She  always  gave  me  two  or  three  pieces  of  money, 
which  were  counted  to  me  by  her  hand-maiden, 
and  then  sent  me  to  the  royal  larder  to  refresh 
mysclfy 

If  Edward  neglected,  and  afterwards  persecuted 
his  wife,  he  behaved  in  a  still  harsher  and  more 
summary  manner  to  his  mother  Emma,  who,  though 
she  has  few  claims  on  our  sympathj-,  was,  in  spite 
of  all  her  faults,  entitled  to  some  consideration  from 
him.  But  he  could  not  forgive  past  injuries — he 
could  not  forget,  that,  while  she  lavished  her  affec- 
tions and  ill-gotten  treasures  on  her  children  by 
Canute,  she  had  left  him  and  his  brother  to  languish 
in  poverty  in  Normandy,  where  they  were  forced 
to  eat  the  bitter  bread  of  other  people  ;  and  he 
seems  never  to  have  relieved  her  from  the  horrid 
suspicion  of  having  had  part  in  Alfred's  murder. 
These  feelings  were  probably  exasperated  by  her 
refusing  to  advance  him  money  at  a  moment  of  need, 
just  before,  or  at  the  date  of  his  coronation.  Shortly 
after  his  coronation  he  held  a  council  at  Gloucester, 
whence,  accompanied  by  Earls  Godwin,  Leofric, 
and  Siward,  he  hurried  to  Winchester,  where 
Emma  had  again  established  a  sort  of  court,  seized 
her  treasures,  and  all  the  cattle,  the  corn,  and  the 
forage  on  the  lands  which  she  possessed  as  a  dower, 
and  behaved  otherwise  to  her  with  great  harshness. 
Some  say  she  was  committed  to  close  custody  in 
the  abbey  of  Wearwell ;  but,  according  to  the  more 
generally  received  accoimt,  she  was  permitted  to 
retain  her  lands,  and  to  reside  at  large  at  Winches- 
ter, where,  it  appears,  she  died  in  1052,  the  tenth 
year  of  Edward's  reign.  We  omit  the  stoiy  of  her 
alleged  amours  with  Alwin,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
and  her  exculpating  herself  by  walking  unscathed 
with  naked  feet  over  nine  red-hot  plough-shares, 
as  rather  a  fiibulous  legend,  than  belonging  to  real 
history. 

In  the  second  year  of  Edward's  reign  (a.d.  1043) 


a  faint  demon sti'ation  to  reestablish  the  Scandina- 
vian supremacy  in  England  was  made  by  Magnus, 
King  of  Norway  and  Denmark ;  but  the  Saxons  as- 
sembled a  great  fleet  at  Sandwich ;  the  Danes  in 
the  land  remained  quiet,  and,  his  last  hopes  expir- 
ing, Magnus  was  soon  induced  to  declare  that  he 
thought  it  "  right  and  most  convenient"  that  he 
should  let  Edward  enjoy  his  crown,  and  content 
himself  with  fhe  kingdoms  which  God  had  given 
him.  But  though  undisturbed  by  foreign  invasions 
or  the  internal  wars  of  a  competitor  for  the  crown, 
Edward  was  little  more  than  a  king  in  name.  This 
abject  condition  arose  in  part,  but  certainly  not 
wholly,  from  his  easy,  pacific  disposition  ;  for  he  not 
unfrequently  showed  himself  capable  of  energy,  and 
firm  and  sudden  decisions ;  and  although  supersti- 
tious and  monk-ridden,  he  was,  when  roused,  neither 
deficient  in  talent  nor  in  moral  courage.  A  wider 
and  deeper  spring,  that  sapped  the  royal  authority, 
was  the  enormous  power  Godwin  and  other  earls 
had  possessed  themselves  of  before  his  accession ; 
and  this  power,  be  it  remembered,  he  himself  was 
obliged  to  augment  before  he  could  put  his  foot  on 
the  lowest  step  of  the  throne.  When  he  had  kept 
his  promises  with  the  "  Great  Earl" — and  he  could 
not  possibly  evade  them — what  with  the  territories 
and  commands  of  Godwin,  and  of  his  six  sons,  Ha- 
rold, Sweyn,  Wulnoth,  Tostig,  Gurth,  and  Leof- 
win,  the  whole  of  the  south  of  England,  from  Lin- 
colnshire to  the  end  of  Cornwall,  was  in  the  hands 
of  one  family.  Nor  had  Edward's  authority  a  better 
basis  elsewhere,  for  the  whole  of  the  north  was 
unequally  divided  betu^een  Leofric  and  the  gi-eater 
Earl  Siward,  whose  dominions  extended  from  the 
Humber  to  the  Scottish  border.  These  earls  pos- 
sessed all  that  was  valuable  in  sovereignty  within 
the  territories  they  held.  They  appointed  their 
own  judges,  received  fines,  and  levied  what  troops 
they  chose.  The  chief  security  of  the  king  lay  in 
the  clashing  interests  and  jealousies  of  these  mighty 
vassals :  and,  notwithstanding  the  remark  of  a  great 
writer,^  that  this  policy  of  balancing  opposite  parties 
required  a  more  steady  hand  to  manage  it  than  that 
of  Edward,  it  appears  to  us  that  he  for  some  time 
acquitted  himself  skilfully  in  this  particular.  As  the 
king  endeared  himself  to  his  people  by  reducing 
taxation,  and  removing  the  odious  Dane-geld  alto- 
gether,— by  reviving  the  old  Saxon  laws,  and  ad- 
ministering them  with  justice  and  promptitude ; — 
as  he  gained  their  reverence  by  his  mild  virtues, 
and  still  more  by  his  ascetic  devotion,  which  event- 
ually caused  his  canonization,  he  might  have  been 
enabled  to  curb  the  family  of  Godwin  and  the  rest, 
and  raise  his  depressed  thi'one  bj'  means  of  the 
popular  will  and  affection  ;  but,  unfortunately,  there 
were  circumstances  interwoven  which  neutralized 
Edward's  advantages,  and  gave  the  favorable  color 
of  nationality  and  pati'iotism  to  the  cause  of  Godwin, 
whenever  he  chose  to  quarrel  with  the  king.  It 
was  perfectly  natural,  and  it  would  have  been  as 
excusable  as  natural,  if  the  irapnidence  of  a  king 
ever  admitted  of  an  excuse,  that  Edward  should 
have  an  affection  for  the  Normans,  among  whom 

1  Hume,  Hist. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


179 


the  best  years  of  his  Hfe  had  been  passed,  and 
who  gave  him  food  and  shelter  when  abandoned  by 
all  the  rest  of  the  world.  He  was  only  thhteen 
years  old  when  he  was  first  sent  into  Normandy ; 
he  was  somewhat  past  forty  when  he  ascended  the 
English  throne ;  so  that  for  twenty-seven  years, 
commencing  with  a  period  when  the  young  mind 
is  not  formed,  but  ductile  and  most  susceptible  of 
impressions,  he  had  been  accustomed  to  foreign 
manners  and  habits  and  to  convey  all  his  thoughts 
and  feelings  through  the  medium  of  a  foreign  lan- 
guage. He  was  accused  of  a  predilection  for  the 
French,  or  "  Romance,"  which  by  this  time  had 
superseded  their  Scandinavian  dialect,  and  become 
the  vernacular  language  of  the  Normans ;  but  it  is 
more  than  probable  he  had  forgotten  his  Saxon.  It 
is  not  at  the  mature  age  of  forty  that  a  man  can 
shake  off  all  his  previous  tastes,  habits,  and  connex- 
ions, and  form  new  ones.  Thus  the  king,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  preferred  the  society  of  the  Normans 
to  that  of  his  own  subjects  ;  and,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  relative  civilization  of  the  two  kindred  peo- 
ple half  a  century  before,  it  is  quite,  certain  that  the 
Danish  wars,  fi'om  the  time  of  Ethelred  downwards, 
had  caused  the  Saxons  to  retrograde,  while  it  is 
probable  the  Normans  had  made  considerable  ad- 
vances in  refinement  in  the  same  interval.  Relying 
on  Edward's  gi'atitude  and  friendship,  several  Nor- 
mans came  over  with  him  when  he  was  invited  to 
England  by  Hardicanute  :  this  number  Avas  aug- 
mented after  his  accession  to  the  throne  ;  and  as  the 
king  provided  for  them  all,  or  gave  them  constant 
entertainment  at  his  court,  fresh  adventurers  con- 
tinued to  cross  the  Channel  from  time  to  time.  It 
should  appear  it  was  chiefly  in  the  church  that  Ed- 
ward pi'ovided  for  his  foreign  favorites.  Robert,  a 
Norman,  and,  like  most  of  his  race,  a  personal  ene- 
my to  Earl  Godwin,  was  promoted  to  be  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  and  primate  of  all  England  ;  Ulf  and 
William,  two  other  Normans,  were  made  bishops 
of  Dorchester  and  London  ;  and  crosiers  and  abbots' 
staffs  were  liberally  distributed  to  the  king's  exotic 
chaplains  and  house-clerks,  Avho  are  said  to  have 
closed  all  the  avenues  of  access  to  his  person  and 
favor  against  the  English-born.  Those  Saxon  no- 
bles who  yet  hoped  to  prosper  at  court  learned  to 
speak  French,  and  imitated  the  dress,  fashions,  and 
_  manner  of  living  of  the  Normans.  Edward  adopted, 
in  all  documents  and  charters,  the  hand-writing  of 
the  Normans,  which  he  thought  handsomer  than 
that  of  the  English :  he  introduced  the  use  of  the 
"  great  seal,"  which  he  appended  to  his  parchments, 
in  addition  to  the  simple  mark  of  the  cross,  which 
had  been  used  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings ;  and  as 
his  chancellor,  secretaries  of  state,  and  legal  ad- 
visers were  all  foreigners,  and,  no  doubt,  like  the 
natives  of  France  of  all  ages,  singularly  neglectful 
of  the  tongue  of  the  people  among  whom  they  were 
settled,  the  English  lawyers  were  obliged  to  study 
French,  and  to  employ  a  foreign  language  in  their 
deeds  and  papers.^  Even  in  those  rude  ages  fashion 
had  her  influence  and  her  votaries.  The  study  of 
the  French  language,  to  the  neglect  of  the  Saxon, 

1  In^u'.f. 


became  very  general,^  and  the  rich,  the  young,  and 
the  gay  of  both  sexes  were  not  satisfied  unless  their 
tunics,  their  chausses,  their  streamers,  and  mufflers 
were  cut  after  the  latest  Norman  pattern.  Not  one 
of  these  things  was  trifling  in  its  influence — united, 
their  effect  must  have  been  most  important;  and  it 
seems  to  us  that  historians  in  general  have  not  suf- 
ficiently borne  them  in  mind  as  a  prelude  to  the 
great  drama  of  the  Norman  conquest. 

All  this,  however,  was  distasteful  to  the  gi-eat 
body  of  the  Saxon  people,  and  highly  in-itating  to 
Earl  Godwin,  who  is  said  to  have  exacted  an  ex- 
press and  solemn  promise  from  the  king  not  to  in- 
undate the  land  with  Normans,  ere  he  consented 
to  raise  him  to  the  throne.  The  earl  could  scarcely 
take  up  a  more  popular  gi'ound ;  and  he  made  his 
more  private  wrongs — the  king's  ti-eatment  of  his 
daughter,  and  disinclination  to  the  society  of  him- 
self and  his  sons — all  close  and  revolve  round  this 
centre.  Even  personally  the  sympathy  of  the  peo- 
ple went  with  him.  "  Is  it  astonishing,"  they  said, 
"  that  the  author  and  supporter  of  Edward's  reign 
should  be  wroth  to  see  neivmen,  of  a  foreign  nation, 
prefeiTed  to  himself?"^ 

In  1044  a  crime  committed  by  a  member  of 
his  family  somewhat  clouded  Godwin's  popularity. 
Sweyn,  the  earl's  second  son,  and  a  married  man, 
violated  an  abbess,  and  was  exiled  by  the  king ;  for 
this,  of  all  others,  was  the  crime  Edward  was  least 
likely  to  overlook.  After  keeping  the  seas  for  some 
time  as  a  pirate,  Sweyn  returned  to  England  on  the 
promise  of  a  royal  pardon.  Some  delay  occuiTed 
in  passing  this  act  of  grace ;  and  it  is  said  that 
Beorn,  his  cousin,  and  even  Harold,  the  brother  of 
Sweyn,  pleaded  strongly  against  him  at  court.  The 
fury  of  the  outlaw  knew  no  bounds,  but  pretending 
to  be  reconciled  with  his  cousin  Beorn,  he  won  his 
confidence,  got  possession  of  his  person,  and  then 
caused  him  to  be  murdered.  In  spite  of  this  accu- 
mulated guilt  Edward  was  fain  to  grant  a  pardon  to 
the  son  of  the  powerful  earl,  and  Sweyn,  though 
he  had  rendered  himself  odious,  and  injured  the 
popularity  of  his  family,  Avas  restored  to  his  govern- 
ment. 

But  in  1051  an  event  occurred  which  exasperated 
the  whole  nation  against  the  Normans,  and  gave 
Godwin  the  opportunity  of  recovering  all  his  reputa- 
tion and  influence  with  the  Saxon  people.  Among 
the  many  foreigners  that  came  over  to  visit  the  king, 
was  Eustace,  Count  of  Boulogne,  who  had  married 
the  Lady  Goda,  a  daughter  of  Ethelred,  and  sister 
to  EdAvard.  This  Eustace  was  a  prince  of  consid- 
erable power,  and  more  pretension.  He  governed 
hereditarily,  under  the  supremacy  of  the  French 
crown,  the  city  of  Boulogne  and  the  contiguous 
territory  on  the  shores  of  the  channel ;  and  as  a  sign 
of  his  dignity  as  chief  of  a  maritime  countiy,  when 
he  armed  for  Avar  he  attached  two  long  aigrettes, 
made  of  whalebone,  to  his  helmet.  This  loA'ing 
brother-in-law,  with  rather  a  numerous  retinue  of 
AvaiTiors  and  men-at-arms,  Avas  hospitably  enter- 
tained at  the  court  of  EdAvard,  where  he  saAV  French- 

1  According  to  Ingulf,  French  came  to  be  considered  as  the  only  laa 
guage  worthy  of  a  gentleman.  ^   Malmsb. 


180 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


men  and  Normans,  and  everything  that  was  French 
und  foreign,  so  completely  in  the  ascendant,  that 
he  was  led  to  despise  the  Saxons  as  a  people  already 
conquered.  On  his  return  homewards  Eustace 
slept  one  night  at  Canterbury.  The  next  morning 
he  continued  his  route  for  Dover,  and  when  he  was 
within  a  mile  of  that  town  he  ordered  a  halt,  left 
his  traveling  palfrey,  and  mounted  his  war-liorse, 
which  a  page  led  in  his  right  hand.  He  also  put 
on  his  coat  of  mail :  all  his  people  did  the  same  ; 
and  in  this  warlike  harness  they  entered  Dover. 
The  foreigners  marched  insolently  through  the 
town,  choosing  the  best  houses  in  which  to  pass  the 
night,  and  taking  free  quarters  on  the  citizens  with- 
out asking  permission,  which  was  contrary  to  the 
laws  and  customs  of  the  Saxons.  One  of  the  towns- 
men boldly  repelled  from  his  threshold  a  retainer 
who  pretended  to  take  up  his  quarters  in  his  house. 
The  stranger  drew  his  sword  and  wounded  the 
Englishman. — the  Englishman  armed  in  haste,  and 
he,  or  one  of  his  house,  slew  the  Frenchman.  At 
this  intelligence  Count  Eustace  and  all  his  troop 
mounted  on  horseback,  and,  suiTounding  the  house 
of  the  Englisliman,  some  of  them  forced  their  way 
in,  and  murdered  him  on  his  own  hearth-stone.  This 
done,  they  galloped  through  the  streets  with  their 
naked  swords  in  their  hands,  striking  men  and 
women,  and  crushing  several  children  under  their 
horses'  hoofs.  This  outrage  roused  the  spirit  of 
the  burghers,  who  armed  themselves  with  such 
weapons  as  they  had,  and  met  the  mailed  warriors 
in  a  mass.  After  a  fierce  conflict,  in  which  nine- 
teen of  the  foreigners  were  slain  and  many  more 
wounded,  Eustace,  with  the  rest,  being  unable  to 
reach  the  port  and  embark,  retreated  out  of  Dover, 
and  then  galloped  with  loose  rein  towards  Glouces- 
ter to  lay  his  complaints  before  the  king.  Edward, 
who  was,  as  usual,  surrounded  by  his  Norman  favor- 
ites, gave  his  peace  to  Eustace  and  his  companions, 
and  believing,  on  the  simple  assertion  of  his  brother- 
in-law,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Dover  were  in  the 
wrong,  and  had  begun  the  aftray,  he  sent  immedi- 
ately to  Earl  Godwin,  in  whose  government  the 
city  lay.  "  Set  out  forthwith,"  said  the  king's  or- 
der,^ "  go  and  chastise  with  a  military  execution 
those  who  attack  my  relations  with  the  sword,  and 
trouble  the  peace  of  the  country."  "  It  ill  becomes 
you,"  replied  Godwin,  "  to  condemn,  without  a  hear- 
ing, the  men  whom  it  is  your  duty  to  protect." " 
The  circumstances  of  the  fight  at  Dover  were  now 
known  all  over  the  country :  the  assault  evidently 
liad  begun  by  a  Frenchman's  daring  to  violate  the 
sanctity  of  an  Englishman's  house,  and,  right  or 
\VTong,  the  Saxon  people  would  naturally  espouse 
the  cause  of  their  countrymen.  Instead,  therefore, 
of  chastising  the  burghers,  the  earl  sided  with  them. 
Before  proceeding  to  extremities,  Godwin  proposed 
that,  instead  of  exercising  that  indiscriminate  ven- 
geance on  all  the  inhabitants,  which  was  implied 
by  a  military  execution,  the  magistrates  of  Dover 
should  be  cited  in  a  legal  manner  to  appear  before 
the  king  and  the  royal  judges,  to  give  an  account  of 
their  conduct.     It  should  seem  that,  transported  by 

1  Chron.  Sar.  2  Malmsb 


the  indignation  of  his  brother-in-law  the  Earl  Eus- 
tace, and  confounded  by  the  clamors  of  his  Norman 
favorites,  Edward  would  not  listen  to  this  just  and 
reasonable  proposition,  but  summoned  Godwin  to 
appear  before  his  foreign  court  at  Gloucester;  and 
on  his  hesitating  to  put  himself  in  so  much  jeopardy, 
threatened  him  and  his  family  with  banishment  and 
confiscation.  Then  the  great  earl  armed,  and  in  so 
doing,  though  some  of  the  chroniclers  assert  it  was 
only  to  redress  the  popular  giievances,  and  to  make 
an  appeal  to  the  English  against  the  courtiers  from 
beyond  sea,  and  that  nothing  was  farther  from  his 
thoughts  than  to  offer  insult  or  violence  to  the  king 
of  his  own  creation,  we  are  far  from  being  convinced 
of  the  entire  purity  of  his  motives  or  the  modera- 
tion of  his  objects. 

Godwin,  who  ruled  the  country  south  of  the 
Thames,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  gathered  his 
forces  together,  and  was  joined  by  a  large  body  ot 
the  people,  who  voluntarily  took  up  arms.  Harold, 
the  eldest  of  his  sons,  collected  many  men  all  along 
the  eastern  coast  between  the  Thames  and  the 
city  of  Boston ;  and  Sweyn,  his  second  son,  whose 
guilt  was  forgotten  in  tlie  popular  excitement, 
aiTayed  his  soldiers,  and  formed  a  patriotic  associa- 
tion among  the  Saxons  wlio  dwelt  on  the  banks  of 
the  Severn  and  along  the  frontiers  of  Wales.  These 
three  columns  soon  concenti'ated  near  Gloucester, 
then  the  royal  residence  ;  and,  with  means  adequate 
to  enforce  his  wish,  Godwin  demanded  that  the 
Count  Eustace,  his  companions,  and  many  other 
Normans  and  Frenchmen,  should  be  given  up  to 
the  justice  of  the  nation.  Edward,  knowing  he 
was  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  his  irritated  father-in- 
law,  was  still  firm.  To  gain  time,  he  opened  a  ne- 
gotiation ;  and  so  much  was  he  still  esteemed  by 
the  people,  that  Godwin  was  obliged  to  save  appear- 
ances, and  to  grant  him  that  delay  which,  for  a 
while,  wholly  overcast  the  earl's  fortunes.  Edward 
had  secured  the  good-will  of  Godwin's  great  rivals. 
Siward,  Earl  of  Northumbria,  and  Leofric,  Earl  of 
Mercia  :  to  these  chiefs  he  now  applied  for  protec- 
tion, summoning  to  his  aid  at  the  same  time,  Ranulf 
or  Ralph,  a  Norman  knight,  whom  he  had  made  Earl 
of  Worcestershire.  When  these  forces  united  and 
marched  to  the  king's  rescue,  they  were  equal  or  su- 
perior in  number  to  those  of  Godwin,  who  had  thus 
lost  his  moment.  The  people,  however,  had  improved 
in  wisdom :  and  on  the  two  armies  coming  in  front 
of  each  other,  it  was  presently  seen  by  their  re- 
spective leaders,  that  old  animosities  had  in  a  great 
measure  died  away — that  the  Anglo-Danes  from 
the  north  were  by  no  means  anxious  to  engage  their 
brethren  of  the  south  for  the  cause  of  Normans, 
and  men  equally  alien  to  them  both — and  that  the 
Saxons  of  the  south  were  averse  to  shedding  the 
blood  of  the  Anglo-Danes  of  the  north.  The  whis- 
pers of  individual  ambition — the  mutterings  of  mu- 
tual revenge — the  aspirations  of  the  great,  were 
mute,  for  once,  at  the  loud  and  universal  voice  ol' 
the  people.  An  armistice  was  concluded  between 
the  king  and  Godwin,  and  it  was  agreed  to  refer  all 
differences  to  an  assembly  of  the  legislature,  to  be 
I  held  at  London  in  the  following  autumn.     Hostages 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


181 


and  oaths  were  exchanged — both  king  and  earl 
swearing  "  God's  peace  and  full  friendship"  for  one 
another.  Edward  employed  the  interval  between 
the  armistice  and  the  meeting  of  the  witenagemot 
in  publishing  a  ban  for  the  levying  of  a  royal  army 
all  over  the  kingdom,  in  engaging  troops  both  foreign 
and  domestic,  and  in  strengthening  himself  by  all 
the  means  he  could  command.  In  the  same  time 
the  forces  of  Harold,  which  consisted  in  chief  part 
of  burghers  and  yeomen,  who  had  armed  under 
the  first  excitement  of  a  popular  quarrel,  and  who 
had  neither  pay  nor  quarters  in  the  field,  dwindled 
rapidly  away.  According  to  the  Saxon  Chronicle, 
the  king's  army,  which  was  cantoned  within  and 
about  London,  soon  became  the  most  numerous 
that  had  been  seen  in  this  reign.  The  chief,  and 
many  of  the  subordinate  commands  in  it,  were  given 
to  Norman  favorites,  who  thirsted  for  the  blood  of 
Earl  Godwin.  At  the  appointed  time  the  earl  and 
his  sons  were  summoned  to  appear  before  the  wi- 
tenagemot without  any  military  escort  whatsoever ; 
and  that,  too,  in  the  midst  of  a  most  formidable 
army  and  of  deadly  enemies,  who  would  not  have 
spared  their  persons,  even  if  the  king  and  the  legis- 
lative assembly  had  been  that  way  inclined.  God- 
win, who  before  now  had  frequently  both  suffered 
and  practised  treachery,  refused  to  attend  the  as- 
sembly unless  proper  securities  were  given  that  he 
and  his  sons  should  go  thither  and  depart  thence 
in  safety.  This  reasonable  demand  was  repeated, 
and  twice  refused ;  and  then  Edward  and  the  great 
council  pronounced  a  sentence  of  banishment,  de- 
creeing that  the  earl  and  all  his  family  should  quit 
the  land  forever  within  five  days.  There  was  no 
appeal ;  and  Godwin  and  his  sons,  who  it  appears 
had  marched  to  Southwark,  on  finding  that  even 
the  small  force  they  had  brought  with  them  was 
thinned  by  hourly  desertion,  fled  by  night  for  their 
lives.  The  sudden  fall  of  this  great  family  con- 
founded and  stupified  the  popular  mind.  "  Won- 
derful would  it  have  been  thought,"  says  the  Saxon 
Chronicle,  "  if  any  one  had  said  before  that  matters 
would  come  to  such  a  pass."  Before  the  expiration 
of  the  five  days'  grace,  a  troop  of  horsemen  were 
sent  to  pursue  and  seize  the  earl  and  his  family ; 
but  these  soldiers  were  wholly  or  chiefly  Saxons, 
and  either  could  not,  or  would  not  overtake  them. 
Godwin,  with  his  wife  and  his  three  sons,  Sweyn, 
Tostig,  and  Gurth,  and  a  ship  well  stored  with  mo- 
ney and  treasures,  embarked  on  the  east  coast,  and 
sailed  to  Flanders,  where  he  was  well  received  by 
Earl  Baldwin :  Harold  and  his  brother  Leofwin 
fled  westward,  and  embarking  at  Bristol,  crossed 
the  sea  to  Ireland. 

Their  property,  their  broad  lands,  and  houses, 
with  everything  upon  them  and  within  them  were 
confiscated,— their  governments  and  honors  distri- 
buted, in  part,  among  foreigners,  and  scarcely  a  trace 
was  left  in  the  country  of  the  warlike  earl  or  his 
bold  sons.  But  a  fair  daughter  of  that  house  re- 
mained,— Editha  was  still  queen  of  England, — and 
on  her  Edward  determined  to  pour  out  the  last  vial 
of  his  wrath,  and  complete  his  vengeance  on  the 
obnoxious  race  that  had  given  him  the  throne.     He 


seized  her  dower, — he  took  from  her  her  jewels 
and  her  money,  "  even  to  the  uttermost  farthing," — 
and  allowing  her  only  the  attendance  of  one  maiden, 
he  closely  confined  his  virgin  wife  in  the  monastery 
of  Wherwell,  of  which  one  of  his  sisters  was  Lady 
Abbess, — and  in  this  cheerless  captivity  she,  in  the 
language  of  one  of  the  old  chroniclers,  "  in  tears 
and  prayers  expected  the  day  of  her  release  and 
comfort." 

Although  the  whole  of  his  thoroughly  unnatural 
conduct  to  his  beautiful  and  amiable  wife  is  made 
matter  of  monkish  laudation  and  jubilee,  this  vindic- 
tiveness  does  not  savor  of  sanctity ;  and  if  he  made 
use  of  the  excuse  for  "  his  unprincely  and  unspouse- 
like  usage,"  which  some  have  attributed  to  him, — 
namely,  "  that  it  suited  not  that  Editha  should  Uve 
in  comfort  when  her  parents  and  her  brethren  were 
banished  the  realm,"  we  must  have  a  poor  opinion 
of  his  notion  of  the  moral  fitness  of  things — at  least 
as  far  as  his  queen  was  concerned. 

Released  from  the  awe  and  timidity  he  had  always 
felt  in  Earl  Godwin's  presence,  the  king  now  put  no 
restraint  on  his  affection  for  the  Normans,  w'ho 
flocked  over  in  greater  shoals  than  ever  to  make 
their  fortunes  in  England.  A  few  months  after 
Godwin's  exile  he  expressed  his  anxious  desire  to 
have  William  Duke  of  Normandy  for  his  guest ;  and 
that  ambitious  and  most  crafty  prince,  who  already 
began  to  entertain  projects  on  England,  readily  ac- 
cepted the  invitation,  and  came  over  with  a  nume- 
rous retinue  in  the  fixed  purpose  of  turning  the 
visit  to  the  best  account,  by  personally  informing 
himself  of  the  strength  and  condition  of  the  coimtry, 
and  by  influencing  the  councils  of  the  king,  who  had 
no  children  to  succeed  him,  and  was  said  to  be  la- 
boring under  a  vow  of  perpetual  chastity,  even  as  if 
he  had  been  a  cloistered  monk. 

William  was  the  natural  son  of  Robert,  Duke  of 
Normandy,  the  younger  brother  of  Duke  Richard 
III.,  and  the  son  of  Duke  Richard  II.,  who  was 
brother  to  Queen  Emma,  the  mother  of  King 
Edward  and  of  the  murdered  Alfred,  by  Ethelred, 
as  also  of  the  preceding  king  Hardicanute,  by 
her  second  husband,  Canute  the  Great.  On  the 
mother's  side  William's  descent  was  sufficiently  ob- 
scure. One  day  as  the  Duke  Robert  was  returning 
from  the  chase  he  met  a  fair  girl,  who,  with  com- 
panions of  her  own  age,  was  washing  clothes  in  a 
brook.  Sti-uck  by  her  surpassing  beauty,  he  sent 
one  of  his  discreetest  knights  to  make  proposals  to 
her  family.  Such  a  mode  of  proceeding  is  startling 
enough  in  our  days;  but  in  that  age  of  barbarism 
and  the  Ucense  of  power,  the  wonder  is  he  did  not 
seize  the  lowly  maiden  by  force,  without  treaty  or 
negotiation.  The  father  of  the  maiden,  who  was  a 
currier  or  tanner  of  the  town  of  Falaise,  at  first  re- 
ceived the  proposals  of  Robert's  love-ambassador 
with  indignation  ;  but,  on  second  thoughts,  he  went 
to  consult  one  of  his  brothers,  a  hermit  in  a  neigh- 
boring forest,  and  a  man  enjoying  a  great  religious 
reputation ;  and  this  religious  man  gave  it  as  his 
opinion  that  one  ought,  in  all  things,  to  conform  to 
the  will  of  the  powerful  man.  The  name  of  the 
maid  of  Falaise  was  Arlete,  Harlotta,  or  Herleva, 


182 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


for  she  is  indiscriminately  called  by  these  different 
appellations,  whicli  all  seem  to  come  from  the  old 
Norman  or  Danish  compound  Herlere,  "  The  much 
loved."  And  the  duke  continued  to  love  her  dearly, 
and  he  brought  up  the  boy  William  he  had  by  her 
with  as  much  care  and  honor  as  if  he  had  been  the 
son  of  a  lawful  spouse.  Although — or  perhaps  it 
will  be  more  correct  to  saj- — because  their  conver- 
sion was  of  a  comparatively  recent  date,  no  people 
in  Europe  surpassed  the  Normans  in  their  devotion, 
or  their  passion  for  distant  pilgrimages.  When 
William  was  only  seven  years  old  his  father,  Duke 
Kobert,  resolved  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  as  a  pilgrim,  to 
obtain  the  remission  of  his  sins.  As  he  had  governed 
his  states  wisely,  his  people  heard  of  his  intention 
with  alarm  and  regret ;  but  his  worldly  advantage 
could  not  be  put  in  the  balance  against  his  spiritual 
welfare.  The  Norman  chiefs,  still  anxious  to  retain 
him  among  them,  represented  that  it  would  be  a  bad 
thing  for  them  to  be  left  without  a  head.  The  native 
chroniclers  put  the  following  naif  reply  into  the 
mouth  of  Duke  Robert :  "  By  my  faith,  sirs,  I  will 
not  leave  you  without  a  seigneur.  I  have  a  little 
bastard,  who  will  grow  big,  if  it  pleases  God  !  Choose 
him  fi"om  this  moment,  and,  before  you  all,  I  will  put 
him  in  possession  of  this  duchy  as  my  successor." 
The  Normans  did  what  the  Duke  Robert  proposed, 
"because,''  says  the  chronicle,  "  it  suited  them  so  to 
do."  According  to  the  feudal  practice,  they,  one  by 
one,  placed  their  hands  within  his  hands,  and  swore 
fidelitj^  to  the  child.  Robert  had  a  presentiment 
that  he  should  not  return ;  and  he  never  did  :  he 
died  about  a  year  after  (a.d.  1034)  on  his  road 
home.  He  had  scarcely  donned  his  pilgi-im's  weeds 
and  departed  from  Normandy,  when  several  of  the 
chiefs,  and  above  all  the  relations  of  the  old  duke, 
protested  against  the  election  of  William,  alleging 
that  a  bastard  was  not  worthy  of  commanding  the 
children  of  the  Scandinavians.  A  civil  war  ensued, 
in  which  the  party  of  William  was  decidedly  victo- 
rious. As  the  boy  advanced  in  years,  he  showed  an 
indomitable  spirit  and  a  wonderful  aptitude  in  learn- 
ing those  knightly  and  warlike  exercises  which  then 
constituted  the  principal  part  of  education.  This 
endeared  him  to  his  partisans ;  and  the  important 
day  on  which  he  first  put  on  armor,  and  mounted 
his  battle-steed  without  the  aid  of  stirrup,  was  held 
as  a  festal  day  in  Normandy.  Occasions  were  not 
wanting  for  the  practice  of  war  and  battles,  but 
were,  on  the  contrary,  frequently  presented  both 
by  his  own  turbulent  subjects  and  his  ambitious 
neighbors.  From  his  tender  youth  upwards,  Wil- 
liam was  habituated  to  warfare  and  bloodshed,  and 
to  the  exercise  of  policy  and  craft,  by  which  he  often 
succeeded  when  force  and  arms  failed.  His  con- 
temporaries tell  us  that  he  was  passionately  fond  of 
fine  horses,  and  caused  them  to  be  brought  to  him 
from  Gascony,  Auvergne,  and  Spain,  preferring 
above  all  those  steeds  which  bore  proper  names  by 
which  their  genealogy  was  distinguished.  His  dis- 
position was  revengeful  and  pitiless  in  the  extreme. 
At  an  after  period  of  life,  when  he  had  imposed  re- 
spect or  dread  upon  the  world,  he  scorned  the  dis- 
tinctions between  legitimate  and  illegitimate  birth, 


and  more  than  once  bravingly  put  "  We,  William 
the  Bastard  "  to  his  charters  and  declarations  :^  but 
at  the  commencement  of  his  career  he  was  exceed- 
ingly susceptible  and  sore  on  this  point,  and  often 
took  sanguinary  vengeance  on  those  who  scoH'ed  at 
the  stain  of  his  birth.  One  day  while  he  was  be- 
leaguering the  town  of  Alenyon,  the  besieged  took 
it  into  their  heads  to  cry  out  from  the  top  of  their 
walls,  "  The  hide  !  the  hide  ! — have  at  the  hide  !" 
and  to  shake  and  beat  pieces  of  tanned  leather,  in 
allusion  to  the  humble  calling  of  William's  maternal 
grandfather.  As  soon  as  the  bastard  heard  this,  he 
caused  the  feet  and  hands  of  all  the  Alen^on  pris- 
oners in  his  power  to  be  cut  off,  and  then  thrown  by 
his  slingers  within  the  walls  of  the  town. 

The  fame  of  William's  doings  had  long  preceded 
him  to  this  island,  where  they  created  very  different 
emotions,  according  to  men's  dispositions  and  inte- 
rests. But  when  he  arrived  himself  in  England, 
with  a  numerous  and  splendid  train,  it  is  said  that 
the  Duke  of  Normandy  might  have  doubted,  from 
the  evidence  of  his  senses,  whether  he  had  quitted 
his  own  country.  Normans  commanded  the  Saxon 
fleet  he  met  at  Dover,  Normans  garrisoned  the  cas- 
tle and  a  forti-ess  on  a  hill  at  Canterbuiy ;  and  as  he 
advanced  on  the  journey,  Norman  knights,  bishops, 
abbots,  and  burgesses  met  him  at  every  relay  to  bid 
him  welcome.  At  the  court  of  Edward,  in  the 
midst  of  Norman  clerks,  priests,  and  nobles,  who 
looked  up  to  him  as  their  "  natural  lord,"  he  was 
more  a  king  than  the  king  himself;  and  every  day 
he  spent  in  England  must  have  conveyed  additional 
conviction  of  the  extent  of  Norman  influence,  and  of 
the  weakness  and  disorganization  of  the  country- 
It  is  recorded  by  the  old  writers,  that  King  Edward 
gave  a  most  affectionate  welcome  to  his  good  cousin 
Duke  William, — that  he  lived  lovingly  with  him  while 
he  was  here, — and  that,  at  his  departure,  he  gave 
him  a  most  royal  gift  of  arms,  horses,  hounds,  and 
hawks."  But  what  passed  in  the  private  and  confi- 
dential intercourse  of  the  two  princes,  these  writers 
knew  not,  and  attempted  not  to  divine  f  and  the 
only  evident  fact  is,  that,  after  William's  visit,  the 
Normans  in  England  carried  their  assumption  of  su- 
periority still  higher  than  before. 

But  preparations  were  in  progress  for  the  inter- 
rupting of  this  domination.  Ever  since  his  flight  into 
Flanders,  Godwin  had  been  actively  engaged  in  de- 
vising means  for  his  triumphant  return,  and  in  cor- 
responding with  and  keeping  up  the  spirits  of  the 
Saxon  party  at  home.  In  the  following  summer 
(a.d.  1052)  the  gi-eat  earl  having  well  employed  the 
money  and  treasure  he  took  with  him,  got  together 
a  number  of  ships,  and,  eluding  the  vigilance  of  the 
royal  fleet,  which  was  commanded  by  two  Normans, 
his  personal  and  deadly  enemies,  he  fell  upon  our 
southern  coast,  where  many  Saxons  gave  him  a 
hearty  welcome.     He  had  previously  won  over  the 

1  In  one  of  his  English  charters,  preserved  in  Hickes,  he  styles  him- 
self, with  less  truth,  "  Rex  Hereditarius." 

2  Maistre  Wace,  Roman  du  Rou. 

3  Ingulf  intimates,  that  at  this  visit  William  did  not  introduce  the 
subject  of  his  succession  to  the  English  throne,  being  well  content  to 
let  things  take  their  natural  course,  which  could  hardly  run  counter  to 
his  ambitious  hopes. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


183 


Saxon  garrison  and  the  mariners  of  Hastings,  and  he 
now  sent  secret  emissaries  all  over  the  country,  at 
whose  representations  hosts  of  people  took  up  arms, 
binding  themselves  by  oath  to  the  cause  of  the  exiled 
chief,  and  "  promising,  all  with  one  voice"  says  Roger 
of  Hoveden,  "  to  live  or  die  with  Godwin."  Sailing 
along  the  Sussex  coast  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  he  was 
met  there  by  his  sons  Harold  and  Leofwin,  who 
had  brought  over  a  considerable  force  in  men  and 
ships  from  Ireland.  From  the  Isle  of  Wight  the 
Saxon  chiefs  sailed  to  Sandwich,  where  they  landed 
part  of  their  forces  without  opposition,  and  then, 
with  the  rest,  boldly  doubled  the  North  Foreland, 
and  sailed  up  the  Thames  towards  London.  As 
they  advanced,  the  popularity  of  their  cause  was 
manifestly  displayed  ;  the  Saxon  and  Anglo- Danish 
troops  of  the  king  and  all  the  royal  ships  they  met 
went  over  to  them ;  the  burghers  and  peasants  has- 
tened to  supply  them  with  provisions,  and  to  join  the 
cry  against  the  Normans.  In  this  easy  and  triumph- 
ant manner  did  the  exiles  reach  the  suburb  of  South- 
wark,  where  they  anchored,  and  landed  without 
being  obliged  to  draw  a  sword  or  pull  a  single  bow. 
Their  presence  threw  everything  into  confusion, 
and  the  court  party  soon  saw  that  the  citizens  of 
London  were  as  well  affected  to  Godwin  as  the  rest 
of  the  people  had  shown  themselves.  The  earl 
sent  a  respectful  message  to  the  king,  requesting 
for  himself  and  family  the  revision  of  the  irregular 
sentence  of  exile,  the  restoration  of  their  former 
territories,  honors,  and  employments, — promising, 
on  these  conditions,  a  dutiful  and  entire  submission. 
Though  he  must  have  known  the  critical  state  of  his 
affairs,  Edward  was  firm  or  obstinate,  and  sternly 
refused  the  conditions.  Godwin  dispatched  other 
messengers,  but  they  returned  with  an  equally  posi- 
tive refusal ;  and  then  the  old  earl  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  restraining  his  irritated  partisans.  But 
the  game  was  in  his  hand,  and  his  moderation  and 
aversion  to  the  spilling  of  kindred  blood  greatly 
strengthened  his  party.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river  a  royal  fleet  of  fifty  sail  was  moored,  and  a 
considerable  army  was  drawn  up  on  the  bank ;  but 
it  was  soon  found  there  was  no  relj'ing  either  on 
the  mariners  or  the  soldiers,  who,  for  the  most  part, 
if  not  won  over  to  the  cause  of  Godwin,  were  averse 
to  civil  war.  Still,  while  most  of  his  party  were 
trembhng  around  him,  and  not  a  few  seeking  safety 
in  flight  or  concealment,  the  king  remained  inflexi- 
ble, and,  to  all  appearance,  devoid  of  fear.  The 
boldest  of  his  Norman  favorites,  who  foresaw  that 
peace  between  the  Saxons  would  be  their  ruin, 
ventured  to  press  him  to  give  the  signal  for  attack ; 
but  the  now  openly  expressed  sentiments  of  the 
royal  troops,  and  the  arguments  of  the  priest  Stigand 
and  of  many  of  the  Saxon  nobles,  finally  induced 
Edward  to  yield,  and  give  his  reluctant  consent  to 
the  opening  of  negotiations  with  his  detested  father- 
in-law.  At  the  first  report  of  this  prospect  of  a 
speedy  reconciliation,  there  was  a  hurried  gathering 
together  of  property  or  spoils,  and  a  shoeing  and 
saddling  of  horses  for  flight.  No  Norman  or  French- 
man of  any  consequence  thought  his  life  safe.  Ro- 
bert, the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  William, 


Bishop  of  London,  having  armed  their  retainers, 
took  horse  and  fought  their  way  sword  in  hand 
through  the  citj',  where  many  English  were  killed 
or  wounded.  They  escaped  through  the  eastern 
gate  of  London,  and  galloped  with  headlong  speed 
to  Ness,  in  Essex.  So  great  was  the  danger  or  the 
panic  of  these  two  prelates,  that  they  threw  them- 
selves into  an  ill-conditioned  small  open  fishing-boat : 
and  thus,  with  great  suffering,  and  at  an  imminent 
hazard,  crossed  the  channel  to  France.  The  rest 
of  the  foreign  favorites  fled  in  all  dhections,  some 
taking  refuge  in  the  castles  or  fortresses  commanded 
by  their  countrymen,  and  others  making  for  the 
shores  of  the  British  Channel,  where  they  lay  con- 
cealed until  favorable  opportunities  offered  for  pass- 
ing over  to  the  Continent. 

In  the  mean  time  the  witenagemot  was  summon- 
ed ;  and  when  Godwin,  in  plenitude  of  might,  ap- 
peared before  it,  after  having  visited  the  humbled 
king,  the  "  earls"  and  "  all  the  best  men  of  the  land" 
agreed  in  the  proposition,  that  the  Normans  were 
guilty  of  the  late  dissensions,  and  Godwin  and  his 
sons  innocent  of  the  crimes  of  which  they  had  been 
accused.  With  the  exception  of  four  or  five  ob- 
scure men,  a  sentence  of  outlawry  was  hurled 
against  all  the  Normans  and  French ;  and,  after  he 
had  given  hostages  to  Edward,  Godwin  and  his  sons, 
with  the  exception  only  of  Sweyn,  received  full 
restitution  ;  and,  as  a  completion  of  his  triumph,  his 
daughter  Editha  was  removed  from  her  monastic 
prison  to  court,  and  restored  to  all  her  honors  as 
queen.  The  hostages  granted  were  Wilmot,  the 
youngest  son,  and  Haco,  a  grandson  of  Godwin. 
Edward  had  no  sooner  got  them  into  his  hands, 
than,  for  safer  custody,  he  sent  them  over  to  his 
cousin  WiUiam  of  Normandy ;  and  from  this  cir- 
cumstance there  arose  a  curious  episode  or  under- 
act in  the  treacherous  and  sanguinary  drama.  The 
exclusion  of  Sweyn  from  pardon  and  a  nominal 
restoration  to  the  king's  friendship,  did  not  arise 
from  the  active  part  he  had  taken  in  the  Norman 
quarrel,  but  was  based  in  his  old  crimes,  and  more 
particularly  the  treacherous  murder  of  his  cousin 
Beorn.  It  seems  that  his  family  acquiesced  in  the 
justice  of  his  sentence  of  banishment,  and  that 
Sweyn  himself,  now  humble  and  penitent,  submit- 
ted without  a  struggle.  He  threw  aside  his  costly 
mantle  and  his  chains  of  gold,  his  armor,  his  sword, 
and  all  that  marked  the  noble  and  the  warrior ;  he 
assumed  the  lowly  garb  of  a  pilgrim,  and,  setting 
out  from  Flanders,  walked  barefoot  to  Jerusalem — 
that  great  pool  of  moral  purification,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  notion  of  the  times,  could  wash  out  the 
stains  of  all  guilt.  He  reached  the  holy  citj'  in 
safetj' — he  wept  and  prayed  at  all  the  holiest  places 
there — but,  returning  through  Asia  Minor,  he  died 
in  the  province  of  Lycia. 

Godwin  did  not  long  survive  the  reestablishment 
of  Saxon  supremacy,  and  his  complete  victory  over 
the  king.  According  to  Henry  of  Huntingdon  and 
other  chroniclers,  a  very  short  time  after  their 
feigned  reconciliation,  as  Godwin  sat  at  table  with 
the  king  at  Windsor,  EdAvard  again  reproached  the 
ear]  with  his  brother  Alfred's  murder.     "  Oh,  king !" 


184 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  H. 


(Godwin  is  made  to  say)  "whence  comes  it  that,  at 
the  least  remembrance  of  your  brother,  you  show 
me  a  bad  countenance  ?  If  I  have  contributed  even 
indirectly  to  his  cruel  fate,  may  the  God  of  heaven 
cause  this  morsel  of  bread  to  choke  me  !"  He  put 
the  bread  to  his  mouth,  and  of  course,  according  to 
this  story,  was  choked,  and  died  instantly.  But  it 
appears,  from  better  authority,  that  Godwin's  death 
was  by  no  means  so  sudden  and  dramatic ;  that 
though  he  fell  speechless  from  the  king's  table  on 
Easter  Monday  (most  probably  from  apoplexy),  he 
was  taken  up  and  carried  into  an  inner  chamber  by 
his  two  sons  Tostig  and  Gurth,  and  did  not  die  till 
the  following  Thursday.  Harold,  the  eldest,  the 
handsomest,  the  most  accomplished,  and  in  every 
respect  the  best  of  all  the  sons  of  Godwin,  succeed- 
ed to  his  father's  territories  and  commands,  and  to 
even  more  than  Godwin's  authority  in  the  nation  ; 
for,  while  the  people  equally  considered  him  as  the 
great  champion  of  the  Saxon  cause,  he  was  far  less 
obnoxious  than  his  father  to  the  king;  and,  where- 
as his  father's  iron  frame  was  sinking  under  the 
weight  of  years,  he  was  in  the  prime  and  vigor  of 
hfe.  The  spirit  of  Edward,  moreover,  was  subdued 
by  misfortune,  the  fast-coming  infirmities  of  age, 
and  a  still  increasing  devotion,  that  taught  him  all 
worldly  dominion  was  a  bauble  not  worth  contending 
for.  He  was  also  conciliated  by  the  permission  to 
retain  some  of  his  foreign  bishops,  abbots  and  clerks, 
and  to  recall  a  few  other  favorites  from  Normandy. 
The  extent  of  Harold's  power  was  soon  made 
manifest.  On  succeeding  to  Godwin's  earldom,  he 
had  vacated  his  own  command  of  East  Anglia,  which 
was  bestowed  by  the  court  on  Algar,  the  son  of 
Earl  Leofric,  the  hereditary  enemy  of  the  house  of 
Godwin,  who  had  held  it  during  Harold's  disgrace 
and  exile.  As  soon  as  he  felt  confident  of  his 
strength,  Harold  caused  Algar  to  be  expelled  his 
government  and  banished  the  land,  upon  an  accu- 
sation of  treason  ;  and,  however  unjust  the  sentence 
may  have  been,  it  appears  to  have  been  passed  with 
the  sanction  and  concurrence  of  the  witenagemot. 
Algar,  who  had  married  a  Welsh  princess,  the 
daughter  of  King  Griffith,  fled  into  Wales,  whence, 
relying  on  the  power  and  influence  possessed  by 
his  father,  the  Earl  Leofric,  and  by  his  other  family 
connexions  and  allies,  he  shortly  after  issued  with  a 
considerable  force,  and  fell  upon  the  county  and 
city  of  Hereford,  in  which  latter  place  he  did  much 
harm,  burning  the  minster  and  slaying  seven  canons, 
beside  a  multitude  of  laymen.  Rulf,  or  Radulf,  the 
Earl  of  Hereford,  who  was  a  Norman,  and  a  nephew 
of  the  king's,  made  but  a  feeble  resistance;  and,  it 
ia  said,  he  destroyed  the  efficiency  of  the  Saxon 
troops,  by  making  them  fight  the  Welsh  on  horse- 
back, "against  the  custom  of  their  country."  Ha- 
rold soon  hastened  to  the  scene  of  action,  and  ad- 
vancing from  Gloucester  with  a  well-appointed  armj% 
defeated  Algar,  and  followed  him  in  his  retreat 
through  the  mountain  defiles  and  across  the  moors 
and  morasses  of  Wales.  Algar,  however,  still 
showed  himself  so  powerful,  that  Harold  was 
obliged  to  treat  with  him.  By  these  negotiations, 
he  was  restored  to  his  former  possessions  and  hon- 


ors ;  and  when,  very  shortly  after,  his  father  Leo- 
fric died,  Algar  was  allowed  to  take  possession  of 
his  vast  earldoms.  The  king  seems  to  have  wished 
that  Algar  should  have  been  a  counterpoise  to  Ha- 
rold, as  Leofric  had  once  been  to  Godwin  ;  but  both 
in  council  and  camp  Harold  carried  everything  be- 
fore him,  and  his  jealousy  being  again  excited,  he 
again  drove  Algar  into  banishment.  Algar,  indeed, 
was  no  mean  rival.  Both  in  boldness  of  character 
and  in  the  nature  of  his  adventures,  he  bore  some 
resemblance  to  Harold.  This  time  he  fled  into 
Ireland,  whence  he  soon  returned  with  a  small  fleet 
and  an  army,  chiefly  raised  among  the  Northmen 
who  had  settled  on  the  Irish  coasts,  and  who  thence 
made  repeated  attacks  upon  England.  With  this 
force,  and  the  assistance  of  the  Welsh  under  his 
father-in-law  King  Griffith,  he  recovered  his  earl- 
doms by  force  of  arms,  and  held  them  in  defiance 
of  the  decrees  of  the  king,  who,  whatever  were  his 
secret  wishes,  was  obliged  openly  to  denounce  these 
proceedings  as  illegal  and  treasonable.  After  en- 
joying this  triumph  little  more  than  a  year,  Algar 
died  (a.d.  1059),  and  left  two  sons,  Morcar  and 
Edwin,  who  divided  between  them  part  of  his  ter- 
ritories and  commands. 

While  these  events  were  in  progress,  other  cir- 
cumstances had  occurred  in  the  north  of  England 
which  materially  augmented  the  power  of  Harold. 
Siward,  the  great  Earl  of  Northumbria,  another  of 
Godwin's  most  formidable  rivals,  had  died,  after  an 
expedition  into  Scotland ;  and  as  his  elder  son  Os- 
berne  had  been  s'lain,  and  his  younger  son  Waltheof 
was  too  young  to  succeed  to  his  father's  government, 
the  extensive  northern  earldom  was  given  to  Tostig, 
the  brother  of  Harold.  Siward,  as  will  be  presently 
related  more  at  length,  had  proceeded  to  Scotland 
to  assist  in  seating  his  relation  Prince  Malcolm,  the 
son  of  the  late  King  Duncan,  upon  the  throne  of 
that  country,  which  had  been  usurped  by  Duncan's 
murderer,  Macbeth.  It  was  in  this  enterprise,  and 
before  it  was  crowned  with  final  success,  that,  as 
has  just  been  mentioned,  Osberne,  the  pride  of  his 
father's  heart,  was  slain.  He  appears  to  have  fallen 
in  the  first  battle  fought  with  Macbeth  (a.d.  1054) 
near  the  hill  of  Dunsinan.  Checking  his  natural 
emotions,  the  old  earl  asked  how  the  young  man 
had  fallen;  and  being  told  that  he  had  received  all 
his  wounds  in  front,  like  a  brave  man,  he  said  he 
was  satisfied,  and  wished  no  better  death  for  him- 
self. He  did  not,  however,  die  in  battle,  nor  would 
he  die  in  his  bed — a  death  he  held  to  be  dishonor- 
able. Soon  after  his  return  from  Scotland  he  was 
attacked  by  a  fatal  disorder.  As  he  felt  his  end  ap- 
proaching he  said  to  his  attendants,  "  Lift  me  up, 
that  I  may  die  on  my  legs,  like  a  soldier,  and  not 
crouching,  like  a  cow!  Dress  me  with  my  coat  of 
mail — cover  my  head  with  my  helmet — put  my 
shield  on  my  left  arm,  and  my  battle-axe  in  my 
right  hand,  that  I  may  die  under  arms!"' 

Siward,  who  was  a  Dane,  either  by  birth  or  near 
descent,  was  much  beloved  by  the  Northumbrians, 
who  were  themselves  chiefly  of  Danish  extraction. 
They  called   him  Sigward-Digr,  or   Siward  the 

1  Hen.  Ilunt. — lligden. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


185 


Sti-ong ;  and  mauy  years  after  his  death  they 
showed,  with  pride,  a  rock  of  soHd  granite  which 
they  pretended  he  had  split  in  two  with  a  single 
blow  of  his  battle-axe.  To  his  irregular  successor, 
Tostig,  the  brother  of  Harold,  they  showed  a  strong 
dislike  from  the  first,  and  this  aversion  was  subse- 
quently increased  by  acts  of  tyranny  on  the  part  of 
the  new  earl.  In  another  direction  the  popularity 
of  Harold  was  increased  by  a  most  successful  cam- 
paign against  the  Welsh,  who  had  inflamed  the 
hatred  of  the  Saxon  people  by  their  recent  forays 
and  cruel  murders.  Their  great  leader,  King  Grif- 
fith, had  been  weakened  and  CTiposed  by  the  death 
of  his  son-in-law,  and  Harold's  rival,  the  Earl  Algar, 
in  1059 ;  and  after  some  minor  operations,  in  one 
of  which  Rees,  the  brother  of  Griflith,  was  taken 
prisoner  and  put  to  death,  by  the  order  of  King 
Edward,  as  a  robber  and  murderer,  Harold  was 
commissioned,  1063,  to  carry  extreme  measures 
into  effect  against  the  ever-turbulent  Welsh.  The 
great  earl  displayed  his  usual  ability,  bravery,  and 
activitjs  and  by  skilfully  combined  movements,  in 
which  his  brother  Tostig  and  the  Northumbrians 
acted  in  concert  with  him  by  employing  the  fleet 
along  the  coast,  by  accoutring  his  troops  with 
light  helmets,  targets,  and  breast-pieces  made  of 
leather  (instead  of  their  usual  heavy  armor),  in 
order  that  they  might  be  the  better  able  to  follow 
the  fleet-footed  Welsh,  he  gained  a  succession  of 
victories,  and  finally  reduced  the  mountaineers  to 
such  despair  that  they  decapitated  their  king,  Grif- 
fith, and  sent  his  bleeding  head  to  Harold,  as  a 
peace-offering  and  token  of  submission.  The  two 
half-brothers  of  Griflith  swore  fealty  and  gave  hos- 
tages to  King  Edward  and  Harold.  They  also  en- 
gaged to  pay  the  ancient  tribute ;  and  a  law  was 
passed  that  every  Welshman  found  in  arms  to  the 
east  of  Offa's  dyke  should  lose  his  right  hand. 
From  this  memorable  expedition,  the  good  effects 
of  which  were  felt  in  England  through  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  Welsh  for  many  years  after,  Harold 
returned  in  a  sort  of  Roman  triumph  to  the  mild 
and  peaceable  Edward,  to  whom  he  presented  the 
ghastly  head  of  Griffith,  together  with  the  rostrum 
or  beak  of  that  king's  chief  war-ship. 

The  king's  devotion  still  kept  increasing  with  his 
years,  and  now,  forgetful  of  his  bodily  infirmities, 
which  in  all  probability  would  have  caused  his 
death  on  the  road,  and  indiff'erent  to  the  temporal 
good  of  his  people,  he  expressed  his  intention  of 
going  in  prilgrimage  to  Rome,  asserting  that  he 
was  bound  thereto  by  a  solemn  vow.  The  witan 
objected  that,  as  he  had  no  children,  his  absence 
and  death  would  expose  the  nation  to  the  dangers 
of  a  disputed  succession  ;  and  then  the  king  for  the 
first  time  turned  his  thoughts  to  his  nephew  and 
namesake  Edward,  the  son  of  his  half-brother, 
Edmund  Ironside.  The  long  neglect  of  this  prince 
of  the  old  race  of  Cerdic  and  Alfred,  which,  count- 
ing fi-om  the  time  of  King  Edward's  accession,  had 
extended  over  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years, 
shows  but  slight  affection  for  that  Saxon  family ; 
and,  as  the  king  had  never  expected  any  children 
of  his  own  to  succeed  him,  it  seems  to  confirm  the 


statement  of  those  old  writers  who  say  he  had  all 
along  intended  to  bequeath  his  crown  to  his  cousin 
William  of  Normandy.  But  at  this  moment  Nor- 
man interest  and  influence,  though  not  dried  up, 
were  at  a  low  ebb  :  be  his  wishes  what  they  might, 
Edward  durst  not  propose  the  succession  of  Wil- 
liam, and  being  pressed  by  the  witan,  and  his  own 
eager  desire  of  traveling  to  Rome,  he  sent  an  em- 
bassy to  the  German  emperor  Henry  HI.,  whose 
relative  the  young  prince  had  married,  requesting 
he  might  be  restored  to  the  wishes  of  the  English 
nation.  Edward  the  Atheling,  or  Edward  the  Out- 
law, as  he  is  more  commonly  called,  obeyed  the 
summons  with  alacrity,  and  soon  arrived  in  London 
with  his  wife  Agatha  and  his  three  young  children 
— Edgar.  Margaret,  and  Christina.  The  race  of 
their  old  kings  was  still  dear  to  them;  Edmund 
Ironside  was  a  national  hero  inferior  only  to  the 
great  Alfred ;  his  gallantry,  his  bravery,  his  victo- 
ries over  the  Danes,  were  sung  in  popular  songs, 
and  still  foi'med  the  subject  of  daily  conversation 
among  the  Saxon  people,  who  therefore  deceived 
his  son  and  grandchildren  with  the  most  hearty 
welcome  and  enthusiastic  joy.  But  though  King 
Edward  had  invited  over  his  nephew  with  the  pro- 
fessed intention  of  proclaiming  him  his  heir  to  the 
crown,  that  prince  was  never  admitted  into  his 
presence.  This  circumstance  could  not  fail  of 
creating  great  disgust ;  but  this  and  all  other  sen- 
timents in  the  popular  mind  were  speedily  absorbed 
by  the  deep  and  universal  grief  and  despondence 
caused  by  Prince  Edward's  death,  who  expired  in 
London  shortly  after  his  arrival  in  that  city,  and 
was  buried  in  the  cathedral  of  St.  Paul's.  This 
sudden  catastrophe,  and  the  voluntary  or  constrained 
coyness  of  the  king  towards  his  nephew,  have 
awakened  horrid  suspicions  of  foul  play.  The  more 
generally  received  opinion  seems  to  be  that  the 
prince  was  kept  at  a  distance  by  the  machinations 
and  contrivances  of  the  jealous  Harold,  and  that 
that  earl  caused  him  to  be  poisoned  in  order  to  re- 
move what  he  considered  the  greatest  obstacle  to 
his  own  future  plans.  In  justice,  however,  the 
memory  of  Harold  ought  not  to  be  loaded  with  a 
crime  which,  possibly,  after  all,  was  never  commit- 
ted ;  for  the  prince  might  very  well  have  died  a 
natural  death,  although  his  demise  tallied  with  the 
views  and  interests  of  Harold.  His  long  neglect  of 
him  proved  that  the  king  had  no  aff'ection  for  his 
nephew,  whom  he  had  recalled  at  last  by  compul- 
sion of  the  nation.  The  animosities  borne  by  sov- 
ereigns against  those  who  are  to  succeed  them,  even 
when  their  successors  are  their  own  children,  have 
prevailed  in  all  ages.  These  causes  would  suffi- 
ciently account  for  Prince  Edward's  not  being  read- 
ily received  by  his  uncle,  who  moreover,  in  many 
circumstances  of  his  life,  showed  himself  a  moody, 
wayward  man,  wanting  "the  natural  touch."  There 
is  no  proof,  nor  shadow  of  proof,  that  Harold  cir- 
cumvented and  then  destroyed  the  prince.  It  is 
merely  presumed  that,  because  the  earl  gained  most 
by  his  death,  he  caused  him  to  be  killed.  But 
William  of  Normandy  gained  as  much  as  Harold  by 
the   removal  of  the  prince,  and  was,  at  the  very 


186 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II 


least,  as  capable  of  extreme  and  treacherous  meas- 
ures. During  his  visit  in  England  the  king  may 
have  promised  the  duke  that  he  would  never  re- 
ceive his  nephew  Edward ;  and,  while  this  circum- 
stance would  of  itself  account  for  the  king's  shyness, 
the  coming  of  the  prince  would  excite  the  jealousy 
and  alarm  of  William,  who  had  emissaries  in  the 
land,  and  friends  and  partisans  about  the  court. 
Supposing,  therefore,  Prince  Edward  to  have  been 
murdered  (and  there  is  no  proof  that  he  was),  the 
crime  was  as  likely  to  have  been  committed  by  the 
orders  of  the  duke  as  by  those  of  the  earl. 

The  demise  of  Edward  the  Outlaw  certainly  cut 
off  the  national  hope  of  a  continuance  of  the  old 
Saxon  dynasty ;  for,  though  he  left  a  son,  called 
Edgar  the  Atheling,  that  prince  was  very  young, 
feeble  in  body,  and  in  intellect  not  far  removed 
from  idiocy.  The  latter  circumstance  forbade  all 
exertion  in  his  favor ;  but.  had  he  been  the  most 
promising  of  youths,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  a 
minor  would  not  have  been  crushed  by  one  or  other 
of  two  such  bold  and  skilful  competitors  as  William 
and  Harold.  As  matters  stood,  the  king,  whose 
journey  to  Rome  could  be  no  more  talked  of, 
turned  his  ej^es  to  Normandy,  while  many  of  the 
Saxons  began  to  look  up  to  Harold,  the  brother  of 
the  queen,  as  the  best  and  most  national  successor 
to  the  throne. 

Here  we  again  reach  a  point  in  our  annals  that, 


like  so  many  others,  is  involved  in  mysteiy  and  the 
most  perplexing  contradictions.  According  to  some 
writers,  Edward  now  for  the  first  time  made  a  will, 
bequeathing  the  crown  to  his  cousin ;  according  to 
others,  he  had  made  this  will  long  before,  when  the 
recall  of  Prince  Edward  was  not  thought  of,  and 
had  privateh'  communicated  the  nature  of  his  tes- 
tament to  Duke  William,  through  the  medium  of 
Robert,  the  Norman  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  On 
one  side  it  is  stated  that  Harold  was,  to  the  last, 
kept  in  the  dark  as  to  these  proceedings;  on  another, 
it  is  as  confidently'  asserted  that,  in  1065,  about  a 
year  before  the  king's  death,  Harold  himself  w^as 
the  messenger  appointed  to  convey  to  William  the 
intelligence  of  the  will,  which  (according  to  this 
version  of  the  story)  was  now  first  executed. 

That  Harold  went  to  Normandy  at  this  time  is 
certain,  but  it  is  said  that  his  sole  object  in  goini: 
was  to  obtain  the  release  of  his  brother  Wulnot  amf 
his  nephew  Haco,  the  two  hostages  for  the  Godwin 
family,  Avhom  Edward  had  committed  to  the  cus- 
tody of  Duke  William,  but  who  the  king  was  now 
willing  should  be  restored.  Another  opinion  is,  that 
Harold's  going  at  all  was  wholly  agcidental.  Ac- 
cording to  the  latter  version,  being  one  day  at  his 
manor  of  Bosenham,  or  Boshan*,  on  the  Sussex 
coast,  he  went  into  a  fishing-boat  for  recreation  with 
but  few  attendants,  and  those  not  vei-j^expert  mar- 
iners, and  scarcely  was  he  launched''  into  the  deep 


HA.ROLD  TAKING  Leave  OF  Edward  OS  HIS  DEPARTURE  FOR  NoRMANDV.    Ffoni  the  Bayeux  Tapestry.' 


■  The  Bayeui  Tapestiy  is  a  roll  of  linen  20  inches  broad,  and  214  feet  in  length,  on  which  is  worked  with  woolen  thread,  of  different  colors, 
a  representation,  in  seventy-two  distinct  compartments,  of  the  whole  history  of  the  Norman  conquest  of  England,  from  the  departure  of  Harold 
for  Normandy  to  the  rout  of  the  Saxons  at  the  battle  of  llastings.  It  embraces  all  the  incidents  of  Harold's  stay  in  Normandy,  and  has  preserved 
some  that  have  not  been  noticed  by  any  of  the  chroniclers.  Every  compartment  has  a  superscription  in  Latin,  indicating  its  subject ;  a  specimen 
of  these  titles  is  given  in  one  of  the  cuts  below.  The  Bayeai  tapestry  is  said  by  tradition  to  have  been  the  work  of  the  Conqueror's  queen, 
Matilda,  and  to  have  been  presented  by  her  to  the  cathedral  of  Bayeui,  of  which  her  husband's  half-brother,  Odo,  one  of  those  vfho  rendered 
the  most  effective  service  in  the  invasion  of  England,  was  bishop;  and  the  delineations,  which  correspond  in  the  minutest  points  with  what  we 
know  of  the  manners  of  that  age,  afford  the  strongest  evidence  that  it  is  of  this  antiquity.  It  was  preserved  in  the  cathedral  of  Bayeui  till 
1803,  having  been  wont  to  be  exhibited  for  some  days  in  every  year  to  the  people,  in  the  nave  of  the  church,  round  which  it  exactly  went.  It 
is  now  in  the  hotel  of  the  prefecture  of  that  city,  where  it  is  kept  coiled  round  a  roller,  from  which  it  is  unwound  upon  a  table  for  inspection. 
An  engraving  of  the  whole,  in  sixteen  plates,  colored  like  the  original,  and  one-fourth  of  the  original  size,  was  published  by  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries,  in  the  sixth  vol.  of  the  "  Vetusta  Monumenta.''     The  cuts  we  have  given  are  reduced  from  these  plates. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


187 


Harold  on  his  Journey  to  Bosiiam.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


Harold  enteriso  Bosham  Church.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


when  a  violent  storm  suddenly  arose,  and  drove 
the  ill-managed  boat  upon  the  opposite  coast  of 
France;  but  whether  he  went  by  accident  or  de- 
sign, or  whatever  were  the  motives  of  the  voyage, 
the  following  facts  seem  to  be  pretty  generally  ad- 
mitted. 

Harold  w^as  \\Tecked  or  stranded  near  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Somme,  in  the  territory  of  Guy,  Count 
of  Ponthieu,  who,  according  to  a  barbarous  practice 
not  uncommon,  and  held  as  good  law  in  the  middle 
ages,  seized  the  Avi'eck  as  his  right,  and  made  the 
hassengers  his  prisoners  until  they  should  pay  a 
heavy  ransom  for  their  release.  From  the  castle 
of  Belram,  now  Beaurain,  near  Montreuil,  where 
the  earl  and  his  retinue  were  shut  up,  after  they 
had  been  despoiled  of  the  best  part  of  their  baggage, 
Harold  made  his  condition  known  to  Duke  Wil- 
liam, and  entreated  his  good  offices.  The  duke 
could  not  be  blind  to  the  advantages  that  might  be 
derived  from  this  accident,   and  he   instantly  and 


earnestly  demanded  that  Harold  should  be  released 
and  sent  to  his  court.  Carefid  of  his  money,  Wil- 
liam at  first  employed  threats,  without  talking  of 
ransom.  The  Count  of  Ponthieu,  who  knew  the 
rank  of  his  captive,  was  deaf  to  these  menaces,  and 
only  yielded  on  the  offer  of  a  large  sum  of  money 
from  the  duke,  and  a  fine  estate  on  the  river  D'Eaune. 
Harold  then  went  to  Rouen ;  and  the  bastard  of 
Normandy  had  the  gratification  of  having  in  his 
court,  and  in  his  power,  and  bound  to  him  by  this 
recent  obligation,  the  son  of  the  great  enemy  of  the 
Normans — one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  league  that  had 
banished  from  England  the  foreign  courtiers,  the 
friends  and  relations  of  William,  those  on  whom  hi.'* 
hopes  rested,  the  intriguers  in  his  favor  for  the 
royalty  of  that  kingdom.  Although  received  with 
much  magnificence,  and  treated  with  great  respect, 
and  even  a  semblance  of  affection,  Harold  soon  per- 
ceived he  was  in  a  more  dangerous  prison  at  Rouen 
than  he  had  been  in  the  castle  of  Belram.     His  as- 


188 


HISTORV  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Harold  coming  to  Anchor  on  the  Coast  or  Normandy.    Bnyeux  Tapestry. 


pirations  to  the  English  crown  could  be  no  secret 
to  himself,  and  his  inward  conscience  would  make 
him  believe  they  were  well  known  to  William, 
who  could  not  be  ignorant  of  his  past  hfe  and  pre- 
sent power  in  the  island.  If  he  was  indeed  unim- 
formed  as  yet  as  to  William's  intentions,  that  happy 
ignorance  was  soon  removed,  and  the  whole  peril 
of  his  present  situation  placed  full  before  him  by 
the  duke,  who  said  to  him  one  day,  as  they  were 
riding  side  by  side, — "  Wlien  Edward  and  I  lived 
together,  like  brothers,  under  the  same  roof,  he 
promised  me  that,  if  ever  he  became  king  of  Eng- 
land, he  would  make  me  his  successor.  Harold  !  I 
would,  right  well,  that  you  helped  me  in  the  fulfil- 
ment of  this  promise;  and  be  assured  that  if  I  ob- 
tain the  kingdom  by  your  aid,  whatever  you  choose 
to  ask  shall  be  granted  on  the  instant."  The  liberty 
•md  life  of  the  earl  were  in  the  hands  of  the  pro- 
jmser,  and  so  Harold  promised  to  do  what  he  could. 
William  was  not  to  be  satisfied  with  vague  promises. 
•'  Since  you  consent  to  sen'e  me,"  he  continued, 
"  you  must  engage  to  fortify  Dover  Castle,  to  dig  a 


well  of  good  water  there,  and  to  give  it  up  to  my 
men-at-arms :  you  must  also  give  me  your  sister, 
that  I  may  marry  her  to  one  of  my  chiefs ;  and 
you  yourself  must  marry  my  daughter  Adele. 
Moreover,  I  wish  yon,  at  your  departure,  to  leave 
me,  in  pledge  of  your  promises,  one  of  the  hostages 
whose  liberty  you  now  reclaim  :  he  will  stay  under 
my  guard,  and  I  will  restore  him  to  you  in  England 
when  I  arrive  there  as  king."  Harold  felt  that  to 
refuse  or  object  would  be  not  only  to  expose  him- 
self, but  his  brother  and  nephew  also,  to  ruin ;  and 
the  champion  of  the  Saxon  case,  hiding  his  heart's 
abhorrence,  pledged  himself  verbally  to  deliver  the 
principal  fortress  of  his  country  to  the  Normans, 
and  to  fulfil  all  the  other  engagements,  which  were 
as  much  forced  upon  him  as  though  William  had 
held  the  knife  to  his  defenceless  throat.  But  the 
ambitious,  crafty,  and  suspicious  Norman  was  not 
yet  satisfied. 

In  the  town  of  Avranches,  or,  according  to  other 
authorities,  in  the  town  of  Bayeux,  William  sum- 
moned a  grand  council  of  the  barons  and  headmen 


Harold's  Afpkarance  at  the  Court  or  Dike  William.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


189 


of  Normandy  to  be  witnesses  to  the  oaths  he  should 
exact  from  the  EngHsh  earl.  The  sanctity  of  an 
oath  was  so  frequently  disregarded  in  these  devout 
ages,  that  men  had  begun  to  consider  it  not  enough 
to  swear  by  the  majesty  of  heaven,  and  the  hopes 
of  eternal  salvation,  and  had  invented  sundry  plans, 
such  as  swearing  upon  the  host  or  consecrated  wafer, 
and  upon  the  relics  of  saints  and  martyrs,  which, 
in  their  dull  conception,  were  things  far  more  awful 
and  binding.  But  William  determined  to  gain  this 
additional  guarantee  by  a  trick.  On  the  eve  of  the 
day  fixed  for  the  assemblj-,  he  caused  all  the  bones 
and  relics  of  saints  preserved  in  all  the  churches 


and  monasteries  in  the  country,  to  be  collected  and 
deposited  in  a  large  tub,  which  was  placed  in  the 
council-chamber,  and  covered  and  concealed  under 
a  cloth  of  gold.  At  the  appointed  meeting,  when 
William  was  seated  on  his  chair  of  state,  with  a 
rich  sword  in  his  hand,  a  golden  diadem  on  his  head, 
and  all  his  Norman  chieftains  round  about  him,  the 
missal  was  brought  in,  and  being  opened  at  the 
evangelists,  was  laid  upon  the  cloth  of  gold  which 
covered  the  tub,  and  gave  it  the  appearance  of  a 
rich  table  or  altar.  Then  Duke  William  rose  and 
said,  "  Earl  Harold,  I  requh'e  you,  before  this  noble 
assembly,  to  confirm,  by  oath,  the  promises  you 


Harold's  Oath  to  William.     Bayeux  Tapestry. 


have  made  me — to  wit :  to  assist  me  in  obtaining 
the  kingdom  of  England,  after  King  Edward's  death, 
to  marry  my  daughter  Adele,  and  to  send  me  your 
sister,  that  I  may  give  her  in  marriage  to  one  of 
mine." 

Harold,  who,  it  is  said,  was  thus  publicly  taken 
by  surprise,  durst  not  reti-act :  he  stepped  forward 
with  a  troubled  and  confused  air,  laid  his  hand  upon 
the  book,  and  swore.  As  soon  as  the  oath  was 
taken,  at  a  signal  from  the  duke,  the  missal  was 
removed,  the  cloth  of  gold  was  taken  oft',  and  the 
large  tub  was  discovered  filled  to  the  very  brim  with 
dead  men's  bones  and  dried  up  bodies  of  saints,  over 
which  the  son  of  Godwin  had  sworn  without  know- 
ing it.  According  to  the  Norman  chroniclers,  Ha- 
rold shuddered  at  the  sight.' 

Having,  in  his  apprehension,  thus  made  surety 
doubly  sure,  William  loaded  Harold  with  presents, 
and  permitted  him  to  depart.  Liberty  was  restored 
to  young  Haco,  who  returned  to  England  with  his 
uncle,  but  the  politic  duke  retained  the  other  host- 
age, Wulnot,  as  a  further  security  for  the  faith  of 
his  brother  the  earl. 

Harold  had  scarcely  set  foot  in  England  when  he 
was  called  to  the  field  by  circumstances  which,  for 
the  present,  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  showing 

'  Mem.  de  I'Acad.  des  Inscriptions.— Roman  du  Rou.— Eadmer.— 
Ruilielmus  Pictavien.sis,  or  William  of  Poitou.  William  of  Poitou 
received  the  particulars  from  persons  who  were  present  at  this  extra- 
ordinary scene. 


his  justice  and  impartiality  or  his  wise  policy,  but 
which  soon  afterwards  tended  to  complicate  the 
difficulties  of  his  situation.  His  brother  Tostig, 
who  had  been  enti'usted  with  the  government  of 
Northumbria  on  good  Siward's  death,  behaved  with 
so  much  rapacity',  tyranny,  and  cruelty,  as  to  pro- 
voke a  general  rising  against  his  authority  and  per- 
son. The  insurgents — the  hardiest  and  most  war- 
like men  of  the  land — marched  upon  York,  where 
their  obnoxious  governor  resided.  Tostig  fled  like 
a  coward ;  his  treasury  and  armory  were  pillaged, 
and  two  hundred  of  his  body-guard,  the  tools  of  his 
tyranny,  were  massacred  in  cold  blood  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ouse.  The  Northumbrians,  then,  despising 
the  weak  authority  of  the  king,  determined  to  choose 
an  earl  for  themselves ;  and  their  choice  fell  on 
Morcar,  one  of  the  sons  of  Earl  Algar,  the  old  enemy 
of  Harold  and  his  family.  Morcar,  whose  power 
and  influence  were  extensive  in  Lincoln,  Notting- 
ham, and  Derbyshire,  readily  accepted  the  author- 
ity offered  him,  and  gathering  together  an  armed 
host,  and  securing  the  services  of  a  body  of  Welsh 
auxiliaries,  he  not  only  took  possession  of  the  great 
northern  earldom,  but  advanced  to  Northampton, 
with  an  evident  intention  of  extending  his  power 
towards  the  south  of  England.  But  here  he  was 
met  by  the  active  and  intrepid  Harold,  who  had 
never  yet  returned  vanquished  from  a  field  of  bat- 
tie.  Before  drawing  the  sword  against  his  own 
countrymen,  the  son  of  Godwin  proposed  a  confer- 


190 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


ence.  This  was  accepted  by  the  Northumbrians, 
who,  at  the  meeting,  exposed  the  Avrongs  they  had 
suffered  from  Tostig,  and  the  motives  of  their  in- 
surrection. Harold  endeavored  to  palliate  the  faults 
of  his  brother,  and  promised,  in  his  name,  better  con- 
duct for  the  future,  if  they  would  receive  him  back 
as  their  earl  lawfully  appointed  by  the  king.  But 
the  Northumbrians  unanimously  protested  against 
riny  reconciliation  with  the  chief  who  had  tyran- 
nized over  them.  "  We  were  born  free  men,"  said 
rhey,  "  and  were  brought  up  in  freedom ;  a  proud 
chief  is  to  us  unbearable — for  we  have  learned  from 
<mr  ancestors  to  live  free,  or  die." 

The  crimes  of  Tostig  were  proved,  and  Harold, 
:^iving  up  his  brother's  cause  as  lost,  agreed  to  the 
demands  of  the  Northumbrians,  that  the  appoint- 
ment of  3Iorcar  as  earl  should  be  confirmed.  A 
rruce  being  concluded,  he  hastened  to  obtain  the 
consent  of  the  king,  which  was  little  more  than  a 
matter  of  form,  and  granted  immediately.  The 
Northumbrians  then  withdrew  with  their  new  earl, 
Morcar,  from  Northampton ;  but  during  Harold's 
short  absence  at  court,  to  complete  the  treaty  of 
pacification,  and  at  their  departure,  they  plundered 
and  burned  the  neighboring  towns  and  villages,  and 
carried  off  some  hundreds  of  the  inhabitants,  whom 
they  kept  for  the  sake  of  ransom.  The  Enghsh 
pulse  beats  high  at  the  tone  of  the  Northumbrians' 
protest;  but  in  these  barbarous  times  the  heart 
cannot  fully  enlist  itself  in  favor  of  any  one  cause, 
or  party,  or  set  of  men.  As  for  the  expelled  Tos- 
tig, he  fled  to  Bruges,  the  court  of  Baldwin,  Earl 
of  Flanders,  whose  daughter  he  had  married,  and, 
!)urning  with  rage  and  revenge,  and  considering 
himself  betrayed  or  unjustly  abandoned  by  his  bro- 
ther Harold,  he  opened  a  correspondence,  and 
sought  friendship  and  support,  with  William  of 
Normandy. 

,The  childless  and  now  childish  Edward  was 
dying.  A  recent  historian'  suggests  that  Harold's 
moderation  in  the  affair  of  the  Northumbrian  insur- 

>  Dr.  Lingard. 


rection  may  be  partly  attributed  to  a  piudent  regard 
for  his  oAvn  interests,  which,  at  this  moment  of 
crisis,  required  his  immediate  presence  in  London, 
that  he  might  look  after  the  succession  to  the  crown. 
There  may  be  some  grounds  for  this  supposition, 
which,  however,  must  add  to  his  reputation  for  wis- 
dom, policy,  and  command  of  temper,  however  they 
may  detract  from  his  impartiality  and  abstract  love 
of  justice.  An  inferior  statesman  would  have  in- 
volved the  country  in  a  civil  war,  at  a  moment 
when,  of  all  others,  it  was  most  essential  to  him 
and  the  nation  that  it  should  be  tranquil  and  united. 

Harold  an'ived  in  London  on  the  last  day  of 
November  ;  the  king  grew  worse  and  worse ;  and 
in  the  first  days  of  January  it  was  evident  that  the 
hand  of  death  was  upon  him.  The  veil  of  mystery 
and  doubt  again  thickens  round  the  royal  death- 
bed. The  Avriters  who  go  upon  the  authority  of 
those  who  were  in  the  interest  of  the  Norman, 
positively  affirm  that  Edward  repeated  the  clauses 
of  his  will,  and  named  William  his  successor ;  and 
that  when  Harold  and  his  kinsmen  forced  their 
way  into  his  chamber  to  obtain  a  different  decision, 
he  said  to  them  with  his  dying  voice,  "  Ye  know 
right  well,  my  lords,  that  I  have  bequeathed  my 
kingdom  to  the  Duke  of  Normandy ;  and  are  there 
not  those  here,  who  have  plighted  oaths  to  secure 
William's  succession  ?"  On  the  other  side,  it  is 
maintained,  with  equal  confidence,  that  he  named 
Harold  his  successor,  and  told  the  chiefs  and 
churchmen  that  no  one  was  so  worthy  of  the  crown 
as  the  great  son  of  Godwin. 

The  Norman  duke,  whose  hest  right  (if  iiood  or 
right  can  be  in  it)  was  the  sword  of  conquest, 
alwaj's  insisted  on  the  intentions  and  last  will  of 
Edward.  But,  although  the  will  of  a  popular  king 
was  occasionally  allowed  much  weight  in  the  de- 
cision, it  was  not  imperative  or  binding  to  the 
Saxon  people  without  the  consent  and  concurrence 
of  the  witenagemot, — the  parliament  or  great 
council  of  the  nation, — to  which  source  of  right  the 
Norman,  very  naturally,  never  thought  of  aj)plyiiig. 


Harold's  Tntkrvikw  with  Kiso  F.dwarp  on  his  Return  from  Normandy.     Bayeiu  Tapestry 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


191 


The  English  crown  was  in  great  measure  an 
elective  crown.  This  fact  is  sufficiently  proved  by 
the  irregularity  in  the  succession,  which  is  not 
reconcilable  with  any  laws  of  heirship  and  primo- 
geniture, for  we  frequently  see  the  brother  of  a 
deceased  king  preferred  to  all  the  sons  of  that  king, 
or  a  younger  son  put  over  the  head  of  the  eldest. 
As  the  royal  race  ended  in  Edward,  or  only  survived 
in  an  imbecile  boy,  it  became  imperative  to  look 
elsewhere  for  a  successor,  and  upon  whom  could 
the  eyes  of  the  nation  so  naturally  fall  as  upon  the 
experienced,  skilful,  and  brave  Harold,  the  defender 
of  the  Saxon  cause,  and  the  near  relation  by  mar- 
riage of  their  last  king?  Harold,  therefore,  de- 
rived his  authority  from  what  ought  always  to  be 
considered  its  most  legitimate  source,  and  which 
was  actually  acknowledged  to  be  so  in  the  age  and 
country  in  which  he  lived.  William,  a  foreigner  of 
an  obnoxious  race,  rested  his  claim  on  Edward's 
dying  declaration,  and  on  a  will  that  the  king  had 
no  faculty  to  make  or  enforce  without  the  consent 
and  ratification  of  the  states  of  the  kingdom ;  and, 
strange  to  say,  this  will,  which  was  held  by  some 
to  give  a  plausible,  or  even  a  just  title  (which  it 
did  not),  loas  never  inoduced,  whence  people  con- 
cluded it  had  never  existed.  If  a  signed  and 
sealed  will  would  have  been  little,  the  dying  de- 
claration, subject  to  all  sorts  of  misinterpretation, 
ought  to  be  considered  as  nothing.  The  proba- 
bilities however  are,  that  Edward,  bound  by  old 
promises  and  affections,  and  moved  by  old  ani- 
mosities,  really  wished   to  appoint   the    duke   and 


exclude  the  earl, — that  in  the  presence  of  his  wife 
and  her  family  he  had  not  courage  to  insist  on  this 
wish,  and  that,  when  worn  out  by  importunities, 
he  faintly  declared,  as  is  reported,  that  the  English 
nation  might  name  Harold  or  whomsoever  they 
liked  best  for  their  king.  He  probably  knew  better 
than  any  man  the  resolute  character  of  both  com- 
petitors, and  may  therefore  have  trembled  at  the 
prospect  of  the  war  and  misery  about  to  befall  his 
people,  to  whom,  in  spite  of  his  weaknesses  and 
foreign  prejudices,  he  was  sincerely  attached.  The 
chroniclers  agi-ee  in  stating  that  he  was  visited  by 
frightful  visions, — that  he  repeated  the  most  men- 
acing passages  of  the  Bible,  which  came  to  hia 
memory  involuntarily,  and  in  a  confused  manner, — 
and  that  the  day  before  his  death  he  pronounced  a 
fearful  prophecy  of  woe  and  judgment  to  the  Saxon 
people.  At  these  words  there  was  "  dole  and 
sorrow  enough ;"  but  Stigand,  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  could  not  refrain  from  laughing  at  the 
general  alarm.,  and  said  the  old  man  was  only 
dreaming  and  raving,  as  sick  old  men  are  wont  to  do. 
During  these  his  last  days,  however,  the  anxious 
mind  of  the  king  was  in  good  part  absorbed  by  the 
care  for  his  own  sepulture,  and_  his  earnest  wish 
that  Westminster  Abbey,  which  he  had  rebuilt 
from  the  foundation,  should  be  completed  and  con- 
secrated before  he  departed  this  life.  The  works, 
to  which  he  had  devoted  a  tenth  part  of  his  rev- 
enue, were  pressed, — they  were  finished ;  but  on 
the  Festival  of  the  Innocents,  the  day  fixed  for  the 
consecration,  he  could  not  leave  his  chamber ;  and 


The  Sickness  and  Death  of  Edward  the  Confessor.    Bayeiix  Tapestry. 


the  gi'and  ceremony  was  performed  in  presence  of 
Queen  Editha,  who  represented  her  dying  hus- 
band, and  of  a  great  concourse  of  nobles  and  priests 
who  had  been  bidden  in  unusual  numbers  to  the 
Christmas  festival,  that  they  might  partake  in  this 
solemn  celebration.  He  expired  on  the  5th  of 
.lanuary,  1066;  and,  on  the  very  next  day,  the 
Festival  of  the  Epiphany,  all  that  remained  of  the 
last  Saxun  king  of  the  race  of  Cerdic  and  Alfred 
was  interred  with  great  pomp  and  solemnity,  within 


the  walls  of  the  sacred  edifice  he  had  just  lived  time 
enough  to  complete.  He  was  in  his  sixty-fifth  oi* 
sixty-sixth  year,  and  had  reigned  over  England 
nearly  twenty-four  years. 

In  the  character  of  Edward  the  Confessor  there 
were  many  amiable  and  excellent  traits.  In  an  age 
when  war  was  considered  the  fittest  and  noblest 
occupation  for  a  king,  he  was  a  sincere  and  con- 
sistent lover  of  peace.  He  was  an  enemy  to  all 
violence,   force,   and   oppression,   and  studied,   nut 


U<2 


HISTORV  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


4  T' 


& E tX 


FtNERjLL  OF  Edward  the  Cokfessor  at  Wt-TMiN^TEH  Abbkv.     Biycux  T.ipestry. 


Remaivs  of  the  SnRiNE  OF  Kdward  the  Confessor,  Westminster  Abbiy. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


19S.' 


unsuccessfully,  to  relieve  the  body  of  the  people 
from  the  heavy  hand  of  power,  and  to  establish  the 
mild  empire  of  the  law.  The  body  of  laws  he 
compiled,  and  which  were  so  fondly  remembered 
in  after  times,  when  the  Saxons  were  ground  to  the 
dust  by  Norman  tyranny,  were  selected  from  the 
codes  or  collections  of  his  predecessors  Ethelbert, 
Ina,  and  Alfred,  few  or  none  of  them  originating  in 
himself,  although  the  gratitude  of  the  nation  long 
continued  to  attribute  them  all  to  him.  He  felt 
keenly  for  the  privations  and  misfortunes  of  the 
people ;  he  was  averse  to  burdening  them  with 
taxes ;  and  his  own  economy,  together  with  the 
comparatively  peaceful  state  in  which  the  kingdom 
was  kept  under  him,  enabled  him  to  hghten  the 
load  which  had  oppressed  them  during  several  pre- 
ceding reigns.  It  is  said  he  could  never  look  on  a 
heap  of  gold  and  silver  in  his  treasury  without 
making  melancholy  reflections  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  it  must  have  been  Avrung  from  the  people. 


On  one  occasion,  when  he  was  led  by  his  courtiers 
to  contemplate,  as  a  pleasurable  sight,  the  money 
that  had  just  been  collected  by  a  tax,  his  imagina- 
tion was  so  affected  by  the  prodigious  mass,  that 
(says  Ingulf)  he  fancied  he  saw  the  Devil  leaping 
exultingly  about  it,  and  ordered  it  to  be  imme- 
diately restored  to  his  poor  subjects  who  had  been 
forced  to  contribute  it.  Later  historians  laugh  at 
this  hallucination ;  but  it  would  have  been  well  for 
the  people  if  many  of  the  later  kings  had  partaken 
of  Edward's  squeamishness  of  conscience,  or  even 
of  his  superstition,  in  this  respect. 

Superstition,  a  boundless  credulity,  and  an  ascetic 
and  unmanly  devotion  were,  however,  the  foibles 
and  vices  of  Edward's  character,  and  though  they 
obtained  him  canonization  ft-om  a  thankful  church, 
they  certainly  narrowed  the  hmits  of  his  usefulness 
in  this  world,  unfitted  him.  in  some  essential  res- 
pects, for  the  task  of  government,  and  entailed  a 
legacy  of  misery  on  the  Anglo-Saxon  nation. 


Impressions  from  the  Great  Skal  of  Edward  the  Comfessor. — Engraved  from  Original  Casts. 


Harold  was  proclaimed  king  in  a  vast  assembly 
of  the  chiefs  and  nobles,  and  of  the  citizens  of 
London,  almost  as  soon  as  the  body  of  Edward 
was  deposited  in  the  tomb ;  and  the  same  evening 
witnessed  his  solemn  coronation,  only  a  few  hours 
inten'ening  between  the  two  ceremonies.  The 
common  account  is,  that  Stigand,  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  who,  in  right  of  his  office,  should 
have  crowned  the  king,  having  quarreled  with  the 
court  of  Rome,  and  then  lying  under  a  sentence  of 
suspension,  the  ecclesiastic  next  in  dignity,  Aldred, 
Archbishop  of  York,  officiated  in  his  stead;  other 
authorities  affirm  that  Harold  crowned  himself,  or 
put  the  crown  on  his  head  with  his  own  hands; 
but  both  William  of  Poictiers,  a  contemporary 
writer,  and  Ordericus  Vitalis,  who  lived  in  the  next 
century,  assert  that  the  act  was  performed  by 
Stigand.  This  account  seems  to  be  confirmed  by 
the  representation  of  the  ceremony  on  the  Bayeux 
tapestiy,  where  Harold  appoars  seated  on  the 
VOL.  I — 13 


throne,  with  Stigand  standing  on  his  left.  In  this 
moment  of  excitement  the  strong  mind  of  the 
Saxon,  though  not  destitute  of  supei'stition,  may 
have  risen  superior  to  the  terrors  of  the  dead  men's 
bones,  and  the  oaths  that  had  been  extorted  froin 
him  most  foully  and  bj^  force  in  Normandy  ;  but  the 
circumstances,  no  doubt,  made  an  unfavorable  im- 
pression on  the  minds  of  most  of  such  of  his  coun- 
trymen as  were  acquainted  with  them.  Still  all  the 
southern  counties  of  England  hailed  his  accession 
with  joy,  nor  was  he  wanting  to  himself  in  exertions 
to  increase  his  well-established  popularitj%  "  He 
studied  by  all  means  which  way  to  win  the  people's 
favor,  and  omitted  no  occasion  whereby  he  might 
show  any  token  of  bounteous  liberality,  gentle- 
ness, and  courteous  behavior  towards  them.  The 
grievous  customs  also  and  taxes,  which  his  prede- 
cessors had  raised,  he  either  abolished  or  dimin- 
ished ;  the  ordinary  wages  of  his  servants  and  men 
of  war  he  increased,  and  further  showed  himself 


194 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


fBooK  n. 


The  Crown  offered  to  Harold  dy  the  People.     Bayeux  Tapestry. 


Coronation  of  Harold.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


very  well  bent  to  all  virtue  and  goodness."'  A 
writer  who  lived  near  the  time,  adds,  that  from  the 
moment  of  his  accession  he  showed  himself  pious, 
humble,  and  affable  ;  and  that  he  spared  himself  no 
fatigue,  either  by  land  or  by  sea,  for  the  defence  of 
his  country.^ 

The  court  was  effectually  cleared  of  the  unpopu- 
lar foreign  favorites ;  but  their  property  was  re- 
spected, they  were  left  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
civil  rights,  and  not  a  few  retained  their  employ- 
ments. Some  of  these  Normans  were  the  first  to 
announce  the  death  of  Edward,  and  the  coronation 
of  Harold,  to  Duke  William.  At  the  moment  when 
he  received  this  great  news  he  was  in  his  hunting 

1  Ilolingshed  -  Roger  of  Iloveden. 


grounds  near  Rouen,  holding  a  bow  in  his  hand  with 
some  new  arrows  that  he  was  trj'ing.  On  a  sudden 
he  was  observed  to  be  very  pensive ;  and  giving  his 
bow  to  one  of  his  people,  he  threw  himself  into  a 
skiff,  crossed  the  river  Seine,  and  then  hurried  on 
to  his  palace  of  Rouen  without  sajing  a  word  to  any 
one.  He  stopped  in  the  great  hall,  and  strode  up 
and  down  that  apartment ;  now  sitting  down,  now 
rising,  changing  his  seat  and  his  posture,  as  if  un- 
able to  find  rest  in  any.  None  of  his  attendants 
durst  approach,  he  looked  so  fierce  and  agitated : 
they  all  kept  themselves  at  a  distance,  staring  at 
each  other  in  silence.  An  officer  of  rank,  and  one 
who  enjoyed  the  intimate 'Confidence  of  the  duke, 
having  arrived  at  the  palace,  was  immediately  sur- 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


195 


rounded  by  the  attendants,  all  eager  to  know  from 
him  why  their  prince  was  so  sore  troubled.  "  I  know 
nothing  certain,"  said  the  officer,  "but  we  shall 
soon  be  well  informed ;"  and  then  advancing  alone 
to  William,  he  thus  addressed  him : — «'  My  lord, 
where  is  the  use  of  hiding  your  news  from  us  ? 
what  will  you  gain  by  so  doing  ?  It  is  a  common 
rumor  in  the  town  that  the  King  of  England  is 
dead,  and  that  Harold  has  seized  the  kingdom, 
belying  his  faith  towards  you."  "  They  speak 
the  truth,"  replied  the  duke ;  "  my  spite  comes 
from  the  death  of  Edward,  and  the  wrong  that 
Harold  has  done  me."  "  Well,  sire,"  continued  the 
courtier,  "  be  not  wroth  at  what  can  be  mended. 
For  the  death  of  Edward  there  is  no  help,  but 
there  is  one  for  the  wrongs  of  Harold :  justice  is 
on  your  side,  and  you  have  good  soldiers ;  under- 
take boldly,  a  thing  well  begun  is  half  done."'  Re- 
covering from  his  reverie,  William  agreed  that  am- 
bassadors should  be  immediately  sent  to  England. 
When  these  envoys  appeared  before  Harold,  they 
said,  "  William,  Duke  of  the  Normans,  reminds 
thee  of  the  oath  thou  hast  sworn  him  with  thy 
mouth  and  with  thy  hand  on  good  and  holy  relics." 
"  It  is  true,"  replied  the  Saxon  king,  "  that  I  made 
an  oath  to  William,  but  I  made  it  under  the  influ- 
ence of  force  :  I  promised  what  did  not  belong  to 
me,  and  engaged  to  do  what  I  never  could  do ;  for 
my  royalty  does  not  belong  to  me,  nor  can  I  dispose 
of  it  without  the  consent  of  my  country.  In  the 
like  manner  I  cannot,  without  the  consent  of  my 
country,  espouse  a  foreign  wife.  As  for  my  sister, 
whom  the  duke  claims  in  order  that  he  may  marry 
her  to  one  of  his  chiefs,  she  has  been  dead  some 
time, — will  he  that  I  send  him  her  corpse  ?"  A 
second  embassy  terminated  in  mutual  reproaches ; 
and  then  William,  swearing  that,  in  the  course  of 
the  year,  he  would  come  to  exact  all  that  was  due 
to  him,  and  pursue  the  perjured  Harold  even  unto 
the  places  where  he  believed  his  footing  the  most 
sure  and  firm,  pressed  those  preparations  for  war 
which  he  had  begun  almost  as  soon  as  he  learned 
the  course  events  had  taken  in  Entjland. 

On  the  continent  the  opinion  of  most  men  was 
in  favor  of  William,  and  Harold  was  regarded  in 
the  light  of  a  sacrilegious  oath-breaker,  with  whom 
no  terms  were  to  be  kept.  The  habitual  love  of 
war,  and  the  hopes  of  obtaining  copious  plunder, 
and  rich  settlements  in  England,  were  not  without 
their  effect.  In  the  cabinet  council  which  the  duke 
assembled  there  was  not  one  dissentient  voice — all 
the  great  Norman  lords  were  of  opinion  that  the 
island  ought  to  be  invaded ;  and  knowing  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  enterprise,  they  engaged  to  serve  him 
with  their  body  and  goods,  even  to  the  selling  or 
mortgaging  then-  inheritance.  "But  this  is  not 
all,"  said  they :  "  you  must  ask  the  aid,  and  also 
the  advice,  of  the  Norman  people  ;  for  it  is  but 
right  that  those  who  pay  the  expense  should  be 
summoned  to  consent  to  it."  William  then  con- 
voked the  great  parliament  or  assembly  of  men 
of  all   conditions  —  warriors,    priests,    merchants, 

1  Thierry,  Hist,  de  la  Conqufite  de  TAngleterre.— Chronique  de 
Nonnandie. 


farmers,  and  others,  at  Lillebonne,  where  he  ex- 
plained his  project,  and  solicited  their  assistance. 
After  hearing  the  duke's  discourse  the  members 
retired,  in  order  that  they  might  deliberate  more 
freely  out, of  the  reach  of  any  influence.  The 
Normans  were  as  yet  a  comparatively  free  people, 
and  the  debate  which  ensued  was  loud  and  stormy. 
Rising  from  their  seats,  the  disputants  formed 
themselves  into  separate  groups,  and  spoke  and 
gesticulated  with  much  violence.  The  great  plea 
of  those  opposed  to  the  enterprise  was,  that  their 
sovereign  had  no  right  to  command  any  of  his  vas- 
sals to  cross  the  seas  on  mihtary  service.  In  the 
midst  of  this  disorder  William  Fitz-Osborn,  the 
grand  seneschal  of  Normandy,  raised  his  voice,  and 
said,  "  Why  do  you  dispute  in  this  sort  ?  William 
is  your  lord  ;  he  has  need  of  you ;  your  duty  would 
be  to  make  him  the  ofier  of  your  services,  without 
waiting  for  his  asking  them.  If  you  fail  him  at 
this  crisis,  and  he  obtains  his  ends  without  you,  by 
the  living  God  he  will  remember  it  against  you. 
Show,  then,  that  you  love  him,  and  act  now  with 
a  good  will."  "  No  doubt,"  cried  the  opposition, 
"  he  is  our  lord ;  but  is  it  not  enough  for  us  to  pay 
him  his  rents  ?  We  owe  him  no  aid  in  his  going 
beyond  sea  :  he  has  already  overburdened  us  by  his 
wars,  and  now,  if  he  fails  in  this  new  enterprise, 
our  country  will  be  entirely  ruined."  After  a  long 
dispute  it  was  agreed  that  the  seneschal  Fitz- 
Osborn,  who  was  acquainted  with  the  property  and 
means  of  all  of  them,  should  be  the  person  deputed 
to  excuse  the  assembly  for  the  smallness  of  its 
offers.  The  members  all  returned  to  the  presence 
of  the  duke,  when  the  seneschal,  hurried  on  by  his 
own  ardent  zeal,  delivered  a  message  very  different 
from  that  which  had  been  agreed  upon,  declaring 
nothing  less  than  that  each  feudatory  was  ready  to 
serve  him  beyond  sea,  that  he  who  hitherto  had 
furnished  only  two  horse-soldiers  would  now  pro- 
vide four,  and  that  in  all  things  his  Norman  vassals 
would  render  double  the  service  to  which  they 
were  bound  by  their  tenures.  At  this  unexpected 
discourse  a  long  shout  of  rage  and  disapprobation 
shook  the  hall.  "  No !  no !"  cried  the  members, 
"  we  never  charged  you  with  such  an  answer,  we 
did  not  say  that,  that  will  never  be.  If  the  duke 
is  pressed  in  his  own  country  we  will  sei"ve  him, 
as  it  is  due  to  him  we  should,  but  we  are  not  bound 
to  assist  him  in  conqviering  the  country  of  other 
men.  Besides,  if  we  do  him  double  service  once, 
and  if  we  follow  him  once  beyond  sea,  he  will  hold 
it  as  his  right  and  a  precedent  for  the  future, — he 
would  thus  exact  it  from  our  children !  This  must 
not  be  !  this  shall  never  be  !"  The  assembly  then 
broke  up  in  a  general  tumult. 

WiUiam  was  exasperated,  for  he  never  brooked 
an  opposition  to  his  decided  will ;  but  he  was  not 
disheartened,  and  was  sufficiently  master  of  his 
passion  to  have  recourse  to  cajolery  and  artifice. 
He  summoned  the  members  of  the  assembly  into 
his  presence  one  by  one,  beginning  with  the  richest 
and  most  influential ;  and,  charming  them  with  his 
condescension,  and  dazzling  them  with  the  certain 
prospect  of  gain  and  glory,  he  proceeded  to  assure 


196 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


them  that  whatever  they  did  now  should  be  con- 
sidered as  voluntary  and  gratuitous,  and  should  in 
no  sense  be  held  as  a  right  or  established  as  a  pre- 
cedent for  future  times;  and  he  oflered  to  give 
them  security  for  this  by  letters  sealed  with  his 
great  zeal.  The  opposition  of  the  mass  was  thus 
overcome  in  detail ;  and  every  person,  when  he 
himself  was  once  engaged,  endeavored  to  bring 
over  others.  Some  subscribed  for  ships,  others  to 
furnish  men-at-arms,  others  engaged  to  march  in 
person  :  the  priests  gave  their  gold  and  silver,  the 
merchants  their  stuffs,  and  the  farmers  their  corn 
and  provender.  A  clerk  stood  near  the  duke  with 
a  large  book  open  before  him,  and  as  the  vassals 
made  their  promises  he  wrote  them  all  down  in 
his  register.  The  ambitious  William  looked  far 
beyond  the  confines  of  Normandy  for  soldiers  of 
fortune  to  assist  him  in  his  enterprise.  He  had  his 
ban  of  war  published  in  all  the  neighboring  coun- 
tries :  he  offered  good  pay  to  every  tall,  robust  man 
who  would  serve  him  with  the  lance,  the  sword,  or 
the  cross-bow.  A  multitude  flocked  to  him  from 
all  parts,  from  far  and  near,  from  the  north  and 
the  south.  They  came  from  Maine  and  Anjou ; 
from  Poitou  and  Bretagne  ;  from  the  country  of  the 
French  king  and  from  Flanders;  from  Aquitaine 
and  from  Burgundy ;  from  Piedmont  beyond  the 
Alps  and  from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.  Adven- 
turers by  profession,  the  idle,  the  dissipated,  the 
profligate,  the  enfans  i^c'dns  of  Europe,  hurried  at 
the  summons.'  Of  these,  some  were  knights  and 
chiefs  in  war,  others  simple  foot-soldiers ;  some 
demanded  regular  pay  in  money ;  others  merely 
their  passage  across  the  channel,  and  all  the  booty 
they  might  make.  Some  demanded  territory  in 
England — a  domain,  a  castle,  a  town ;  while  others, 
again,  simply  wished  to  secure  some  rich  Saxon 
lad}'  in  marriage.  All  the  wild  wishes,  all  the  pre- 
tensions of  human  avarice,  were  wakened  into 
activity.  "  WiUiam,"  says  the  Norman  chronicle, 
"repulsed  no  one,  but  promised  and  pleased  aU  as 
much  as  he  could."  He  even  sold,  beforehand,  a 
bishopric  in  England  to  a  certain  Remi  of  Fescamp 
(afterwards  canonized  as  St.  Remigius),  for  a  ship 
and  twent)"^  men-at-arms. 

When  the  pope's  bull  arrived,  justifying  the 
expedition,  and  with  it  the  consecrated  banner  that 
was  to  float  over  it,  the  matrons  of  Normandy  sent 
their  sons  to  enrol  themselves  for  the  health  of 
their  souls  ;  and  the  national  eagerness  for  war  was 
increased  twofold.  Three  churchmen,  the  cele- 
brated Lanfranc,  Robert  of  Jumieges,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  who  had  been  expelled  by  Earl  God- 
win and  his  sons,  and  a  deacon  of  Lisieux,  had  been 
sent  on  an  embassy  to  Rome,  where  they  urged  the 
cause  of  William  Avith  entire  success,  and  obtained 
from  Alexander  III.  a  holy  license  to  invade  Eng- 
land ;  on  the  condition,  however,  that  the  Norman 
duke,  when  he  had  conquered  our  island,  should 
hold  it  as  a  fief  of  the  church.  This  measure  was 
not  carried  through  the  consistory  without  oppo- 
sition. The  man  who  combated  most  warmly  in 
its  fiwor  was  the  fiery  Hildebrand,  then  archdeacon 

1  Thierry. — Chron.  de  Normaudie. 


of  the  clmrch  of  Rome,  and  afterwards  the  cele- 
brated Pope  Gregory  VII.  In  after  years,  when 
William  could  mock  the  power  he  now  courted, 
and  quarreled  with  the  pope,  this  Gregory  re- 
minded him  of  these  services  in  a  vehement  epistle. 
"  Thou  art  not  ignorant,"  wrote  the  pontiff',  "  of  the 
pains  I  took  in  bygone  times  for  the  success  of  thy 
enterprise,  and  that,  above  all,  I  suffered  on  thy 
account  infamy  and  reproaches  from  some  of  my 
colleagues.  They  murmured  to  see  me  display  so 
nmch  warmth  and  zeal  for  the  cause  of  such  an 
homicide  ;  but  God  knows  my  intention  was  good  : 
I  believed  thee  the  friend  of  holy  church,  and  I 
hoped  that,  by  the  grace  of  Heaven,  thy  bountj'  to 
the  church  would  increase  with  thy  power."  The 
most  valid  reasons  William  or  his  ambassadors 
could  present  to  the  pope  were  the  will  of  King 
Edward  the  Confessor,  which  was  never  produced, 
the  perjury  and  sacrilege  of  Harold,  the  forcible 
expulsion  from  England  of  the  Norman  prelates, 
and  the  old  massacre  of  the  Danes  on  St.  Brice's 
day  by  King  Ethelred.  But  if  there  was  any  want 
of  plausibility  in  the  argumentative  statement  of  his 
case,  William,  as  already  intimated,  was  most  libe- 
ral and  convincing  in  his  promises  to  the  pope,  to 
whom,  among  other  things,  he  offered  an  annual 
tribute,  to  be  levied  in  England  after  the  fashion 
set  by  Canute. 

A  pontifical  diploma  signed  with  the  cross,  and 
sealed,  according  to  the  Roman  visage,  with  a  seal 
in  lead  of  a  roimd  form^  Avas  sent  ti  the  Norman 
duke,  and,  in  order  to  give  him  still  more  confi- 
dence and  securit}^  in  his  invasion,  a  consecrated 
banner,  and  a  ring  of  great  price,  containing  one  of 
the  liairs  of  St.  Peter,  were  added  to  the  bull. 
William  repaired  in  person  to  St.  Germain,  in  order 
to  solicit  the  aid  of  Philip  I.,  King  of  the  French. 
This  sovereign,  though  tempted  by  flattering  pro- 
mises, thought  fit  to  refuse  any  direct  assistance ; 
but  he  permitted  (what  he  probably  could  not  pre- 
vent) that  many  hundreds  of  his  subjects  should  join 
the  expedition.  William's  father-in-laAV,  Baldwin 
of  Flanders,  gave  some  assistance  in  men,  ships,  and 
stores ;  and  the  other  continental  princes,  pretty 
generally,  encouraged  William,  in  the  politic  hope, 
that  a  formidable  neighbor  might  be  kept  at  a  dis- 
tance for  the  rest  of  his  life,  if  the  expedition  suc- 
ceeded, or  so  weakened  as  to  be  no  longer  formida- 
ble, if  it  foiled.  -  But  there  was  one  state,  whose  his- 
tory in  old  times  had  been  singularly  mixed  and  in- 
terwoven with  that  of  Britain,  which  might  have 
proved  an  impediment.  Armorica,  now  called  Bre- 
tagne, or  Brittany,  had  become  a  sort  of  fief  to  Nor- 
mandy ;  but  Conan,  the  reigning  chief  or  duke  of 
the  Bretons,  sent  a  message  to  WilHam,  requiring 
that,  since  he  was  going  to  be  king  of  England,  he 
should  deliver  up  his  Norman  duchy  to  the  legiti- 
mate descendants  of  Rollo  the  Ganger,"  from  whom 
the  Breton  said  he  issued  by  the  female  line.  Co- 
nan  did  not  long  survive  this  indiscreet  demand  ;  and 
his  sudden  death,   by  poison,   was   generally,   and 

1  Called  in  Latin  "  bulla ;"  hence  the  common  name  "  bull"  fur 
the  pope's  letters,  <Src 

2  The  founder  of  the  Duchy  of  Normandy. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


197 


William  giving  Orders  for  the  Invasion.    Bayeiix  Tapestry. 


above  all  in  Bi'ittany,  imputed  to  William  the  Bas- 
tard. Eudes,  or  Eudo,  the  successor  of  Conan, 
raised  no  pretensions,  but  voluntarily  yielding  to  the 
influence  of  William,  sent  him  two  of  his  sons  (which 
he  was  not  bound  to  do)  to  serve  him  in  his  wars 
against  the  English.  These  two  young  Bretons, 
named  Brian  and  Allan,^  came  to  the  rendezvous  ac- 
companied by  a  troop  of  men  of  their  own  country, 
who  gave  them  the  title  of  Mac  Tierns  (the  sons  of 
the  chief),  while  the  Normans  styled  them  Counts. 
Other  rich  Bretons,  as  Robert  de  Vitry,  Bertrand 
de  Dinan,  and  Raoul  de  Gael,  flocked  to  William's 
standard,  to  otter  their  services  as  volunteers  or  as 
soldiers  of  foi'tune. 

From  early  spring  all  through  the  summer  months 
the  most  active  preparations  had  been  carried  on  in 
all  the  sea-ports  of  Normandy.  Workmen  of  all 
classes  were  employed  in  building  and  equipping 
ships ;  smiths  and  armorers  forged  lances  and  made 
coats  of  mail ;  and  porters  passed  incessantly  to-and- 
fro  carrying  the  arms  from  the  workshops  to  the 
ships.     These  notes  of  preparation   soon   sounded 

1  This  Allan  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been  the  original  stock  of 
the  royal  house  of  Stuart. 


across  the  channel,  where  Harold  became  anxious 
to  ascertain  the  amount  and  nature  of  the  forces 
which  William  had  raised.  Concealment  would 
have  been  difficult,  and  was  not  considered  needful, 
the  duke  probably  hoping  to  astound  his  rival  with 
the  magnitude  and  completeness  of  his  prepsirations. 
At  least,  there  is  an  old  story,  that  a  detected  spy 
from  England  was  permitted  to  see  what  he  chose, 
and  dismissed  without  hurt,  with  this  message  from 
William  : — "  That  Harold  need  not  trouble  himself 
to  ascertain  the  Norman  strength,  which  he  should 
see,  and  feel  too,  before  the  year  was  at  an  end." 

The  first  storm  of  war  that  burst  upon  England 
did  not,  however,  proceed  from  Normandy,  and,  but 
for  his  own  unnatural  brother,  Harold  might  possi- 
bly have  derided  the  proud  threat  of  William.  It 
will  be  remembered  how  this  brother,  Tostig,  ex- 
pelled from  Northumbria,  fled  with  treacherous  in- 
tentions to  the  court  of  the  Earl  of  Flanders,  and 
opened  communications  with  the  Duke  of  Norman- 
dy. Soon  after  Harold's  coronation,  Tostig  repaired 
in  person  to  Rouen,  where  he  boasted  to  William 
that  he  had  more  credit  and  real  power  in  England 
than  his  brother,  and  promised  him  the  sure  posses- 


/\    iliJlHtlJiillltl- 


Normans  preparing  Arms  and  Military  Implements  for  the  Invasion.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


198 


HISTORY  OF  ExXGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


sion  of  that  country,  if  he  would  onlj'  unite  with  him 
for  its  conquest.  William  was,  no  doubt,  too  well 
informed  to  credit  this  assertion  ;  but  he  saw  the  ad- 
vantage which  might  be  derived  from  this  fraternal 
hate,  and  gave  Tostig  a  few  ships,  with  which  that 
miscreant  ravaged  the  Isle  of  Wight  and  the  country 
about  Sandwich.  Reti-eating  before  the  naval  force 
of  his  brother,  Tostig  then  w^ent  to  the  coast  of  Lin- 
colnshire, where  he  did  great  harm.  He  next  sailed 
up  the  Humber,  but  was  presently  driven  thence  by 
the  advance  of  Morcar,  Earl  of  Northumbria,  and 
his  brother  Edwin,  which  two  powerful  chiefs  were 
now  living  in  friendship)  with  Harold,  who  had  es- 
poused their  sister  Algitha,  and  made  her  Queen  of 
England.  From  the  Humber,  Tostig  fled  with  only 
twelve  small  vessels  to  the  north  of  Scotland,  whence, 
forgetful  of  his  alliance  with  the  Norman  duke,  he 
sailed  to  the  Baltic  to  invite  Sweyn,  the  King  of  Den- 
mark, to  the  conquest  of  our  island.  Sweyn  wisely 
dechned  the  dangerous  invitation,  and  then,  caring 
little  what  rival  he  raised  to  his  brother,  he  went  to 
Norway  and  pressed  Harold  Hardrada,  the  king  of 
that  country,  to  invade  England.  Hardrada,  who 
was  powerful,  warlike,  and  ambitious,  could  not  re- 
sist the  temptation,  and  early  in  autumn  he  set  sail 
with  a  formidable  fleet,  consisting  of  two  hundred 
war-ships,  and  three  hundred  store-ships  and  vessels 
of  smaller  size.  Having  touched  at  the  Orkneys, 
where  he  left  his  queen,  and  procured  a  large  re- 
inforcement of  pirates  and  adventurers,  Hardrada 
made  for  England,  and  sailed  up  the  Tyne,  taking 
and  plundering  several  towns.  He  then  continued 
his  course  southwards,  and,  being  joined  by  Tostig, 
sailed  up  the  Humber  and  the  Ouse.  The  Norwe- 
gian king  and  the  Saxon  traitor  landed  their  united 
forces  at  Riccall,  or  Richale,  not  far  from  the  city 
of  York.  Notwithstanding  his  former  infamous  con- 
duct, Tostig  had  still  some  friends  and  retainers  in 
that  country :  these  now  rallied  round  his  standard, 
and  many  others  were  won  over  or  reduced  to  an 
unpatriotic  neutrality  by  the  imposing  display  of 
force  on  the  part  of  the  invaders.  The  earls  Mor- 
car and  Edwin,  true  to  Harold  and  their  trust, 
marched  boldly  out  from  York ;  but  they  were  de- 
feated after  a  desperate  conflict,  and  compelled  to  fly. 
The  citizens  of  York  then  opened  their  gates  to  the 
Norwegian  conqueror,  who  made  himself  the  more 
formidable  to  Harold  by  the  wisdom  and  moderation 
of  his  conduct. 

Through  all  the  summer  months,  the  last  of  the 
Saxon  monarchs  had  been  busily  engaged  watching 
the  southern  coasts,  where  he  expected  William  to 
land:  but  now,  giving  up,  for  the  moment,  every 
thought  of  the  Normans,  he  united  nearly  all  his 
forces,  and  marched  most  rapidly  to  the  north,  to 
face  his  brother  and  the  King  of  Norway.  This 
march  was  so  skilfully  managed,  that  the  invaders 
had  no  notion  of  the  advance,  and  they  were  taken 
by  surprise  when  Harold  burst  upon  them  like  a 
thunderbolt,  in  the  neighborhood  of  York,  a  very 
few  days  after  their  landing.  Hardrada  drew  up 
his  forces  as  best  he  could  at  Stamford  Bridge :  as 
he  rode  round  them  his  horse  stumbled,  and  he  fell 
to  the  ground  :  but  he  presently  sprang  up  unhurt, 


and,  in  order  to  stop  a  contrary  augury,  exclaimed, 
that  this  was  a  good  omen.  Harold  saw  what  had 
happened,  and  inquired  Avho  that  Norwegian  chief 
was,  in  the  sky-blue  mantle  and  with  the  splendid 
helmet.  He  was  told  thiit  it  was  the  King  of  Nor- 
way ;  upon  which  he  added,  "  He  is  a  large  and 
strong  person,  but  I  augur  that  fortune  has  forsaken 
him."  Before  joining  battle,  Harold  detached  twen- 
ty mail-clad  horsemen  to  parley  with  that  wing  of  the 
enemy  where  the  standard  of  Tostig  was  seen  ;  and 
one  of  these  warriors  asked  if  Earl  Tostig  was  there. 
Tostig  answered  for  himself,  and  said,  "  You  know 
he  is  here  !"  The  horseman  then,  in  the  name  of 
his  brother,  King  Harold,  offered  him  peace  and  the 
whole  of  Northumbria ;  or,  if  that  were  too  little, 
the  third  part  of  the  realm  of  England.  "  And  what 
territory  would  Harold  give  in  compensation  to  my 
ally  Hardrada,  King  of  Norway  ?"  The  horseman 
replied,  "  Seven  feet  of  English  ground  for  a  grave  ; 
or  a  little  more,  seeing  that  Hardrada  is  taller  than 
most  men."  "  Ride  back,  ride  back,"  cried  Tostig, 
"and  bid  King  Harold  make  ready  for  the  fight! 
When  the  Northmen  tell  the  story  of  this  day,  they 
shall  never  say  that  Earl  Tostig  forsook  King  Har- 
drada, the  son  of  Sigurd.  He  and  I  have  one  mind 
and  one  resolve,  and  that  is,  either  to  die  in  battle 
or  to  possess  all  England."  Soon  after  the  action 
commenced :  it  was  long,  fierce,  and  bloody ;  but 
the  victory  was  decisive,  and  in  favor  of  Harold. 
Hardrada  fell  with  nearly  every  one  of  his  chiefs, 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  Norwegians  perished. 
Tostig,  the  cause  of  the  war,  was  slain  soon  after 
Hardrada.  Even  the  Norwegian  fleet  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  conqueror,  who  had  the  generosity  to 
permit  Olave,  the  son  of  Hardrada,  to  depart  with 
all  the  survivors  in  tw^enty-four  ships,  after  that 
prince  had  sworn  that  he  would  for  ever  maintain 
faith  and  friendship  with  England. 

Only  three  days  after  this  signal  victory,  the  Nor- 
mans landed  in  the  south.  Harold  received  this 
news  as  he  was  sitting  joyfully  at  table  in  the  good 
city  of  York ;  but,  taking  his  measures  with  his 
usual  rapidity,  he  instantly  began  his  march  towards 
London.  Upon  his  way,  his  forces,  which  had  suf- 
fered tremendously  in  the  battle  against  the  Norwe- 
gians, were  weakened  by  discontents  and  desertion ; 
and  not  a  few  men  were  left  behind  by  the  velocity 
of  his  march,  from  the  effects  of  their  wounds,  and 
from  sheer  fatigue.  In  number,  spirit,  discipline, 
appointment,  and  in  all  other  essentials,  the  enemies 
he  had  now  to  encounter  were  most  formidable. 
They  have  well  been  called  "the  most  remarkable 
and  formidable  armament  which  the  western  na- 
tions had  seen,  since  some  degree  of  regularity  and 
order  had  been  introduced  into  their  civil  and  mili- 
tary arrangements."' 

By  the  middle  of  August  the  whole  of  William's 
fleet,  with  the  land-troops  on  board,  had  assembled 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Dive,  a  small  river  which  falls 
into  the  sea  between  the  Seine  and  the  Orne.  The 
total  number  of  vessels  amounted  to  about  3000,  of 
which  600  or  700  were  of  a  superior  order.  During 
a  whole  month  the  winds  were  contrary,  and  kept 

1  Sir  J.  Mackintosh,  Hist.  Eng. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


199 


A  Ship  or  the  Fleet  of  Duke  William  transporting  Troops  for  the  Invasion  of  England.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


the  Normfin  fleet  in  that  port.  Then  a  breeze  sprang 
up  from  the  south,  and  carried  the  ships  as  far  as 
St.  Valery,  near  Dieppe ;  but  there  the  weather 
changed;  a  storm  set  in,  and  they  were  obhged  to 
cast  anchor  and  wait  for  several  days.  During  this 
delay  some  of  the  ships  were  wrecked  and  their 
crews  drowned  on  the  coast.  In  the  forced  idleness 
to  which  the  soldiers  were  condemned,  they  passed 
their  time  in  talking,  and  in  making  melancholy  re- 
flections on  the  danger  of  the  voyage  and  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  whole  enterprise, — so  much  had  their 
uncomfortable  situation  abated  their  spirit.  They 
began  to  murmur,  that  though  there  had  been  as 
yet  no  battle,  many  men  had  perished ;  and  they 
calculated  and  exaggerated  the  number  of  dead 
bodies  which  the  sea  had  thrown  upon  the  sands. 
In  consequence  of  all  this  not  a  few  of  the  discour- 
aged adventurers  broke  their  engagements,  and 
withdrew  from  the  army ;  and  the  rest  were  in- 
clined to  believe  that  Providence  had  declared 
against  the  war.  To  check  these  feelings,  which 
might  have  proved  fatal  to  his  projects,  William 
caused  the  bodies  of  the  shipwrecked  to  be  privately 
buried  as  soon  as  they  were  found,  and  increased 
their  rations  both  of  food  and  strong  drink.  But 
their  inactivity  still  brought  back  the  same  sad  and 
discouraging  ideas.  "He  is  mad!"  murmured  the 
soldiers  ;  "  that  man  is  very  mad  who  seeks  to  take 
possession  of  another's  countiy !  God  is  oflTended 
at  such  designs,  and  this  he  shows  now  by  refusing 
us  a  fair  wind."  The  duke  then  had  recourse  to 
something  more  potent  than  bread  and  wine.  He 
caused  the  body  of  St.  Valery,  the  patron  of  that 
place,  where  a  town  had  grown  up  around  his  cell, 
to  be  taken  from  his  shrine,  and  carried  in  proces- 
sion through  the  camp,  the  knights,  soldiers,  camp- 
followers,  and  sailors  all  devoutly  kneeling  as  it 
passed,  and  praying  for  the  saint's  intercession.  In 
the  course  of  the  ensuing  night  the  weather  changed, 
and  the  wind  blew  fair  from  the  Norman  to  the 


English  coast.  The  troops  repaired  to  their  seve- 
ral ships,  and,  at  an  early  hour  the  next  morning, 
the  whole  fleet  set  sail.  William  led  the  van  in  a 
vessel  which  had  been  presented  to  him  for  the 
occasion  by  his  wife  Matilda,  and  which  was  distin- 
guished by  its  splendid  decorations  in  the  day,  and 
in  the  darkness  of  night  by  a  brilliant  hght  at  its 
mast's  head.  The  vanes  of  the  ship  were  gilded, — 
its  sails  were  of  diff'erent  bright  colors, — the  three 
lions,  the  arms  of  Normandy,  were  painted  in  seve- 
ral places, — and  its  sculptured  figure-head  was  a 
child  with  a  drawn  bow,  the  arrow  ready  to  fly 
against  the  hostile  land.  The  consecrated  banner 
sent  from  Rome  by  the  pope  floated  at  the  main- 
top-mast, and  the  invader  had  put  a  cross  upon  his 
flag,  in  testimony  of  the  hohness  of  his  undertaking. 
This  ship  sailed  faster  than  all  the  rest,  and,  in  his 
impatience,  William  neglected  to  order  the  taking 
in  of  sail  to  lessen  its  speed.  In  the  course  of  the 
night  he  left  the  whole  fleet  far  astern.  Early  in 
the  morning  he  ordered  a  sailor  to  the  mast-head  to 
see  if  the  other  ships  were  coming  up.  "  I  can  see 
nothing  but  the  sea  and  sky,"  said  the  mariner;  and 
then  they  lay-to.  To  keep  the  crew  in  good  heart, 
William  ordered  them  a  sumptuous  breakfast,  with 
wines  strongly  spiced.  The  sailor  was  again  sent 
aloft,  and  this  time  he  said  he  could  make  out  foui 
vessels  in  the  distance :  but  mounting  a  third  time 
shortly  after,  he  shouted,  "  Now  I  see  a  forest  of 
masts  and  sails  !"  A  few  hours  after  this  the  united 
Norman  fleet  came  to  anchor  on  the  Sussex  coast 
without  meeting  with  any  resistance  ;  for  Harold's 
ships,  which  so  long  had  cruised  on  that  coast,  had 
been  called  elsewhere,  or  had  returned  into  port 
through  want  of  pay  and  provisions.^  It  was  on  the 
28th  of  September,  1066,  that  the  Normans  landed 
unopposed  at  a  place  called  Bulverhithe,  between 
Pevensey  and  Hastings.     The  archers  landed  first : 

1  Thierry.— Soutbey's  Naval  Hist,  of  Eng.— Chron.  fie  Normand.— 
Guil.  Pictav. 


200 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II, 


they  wore  short  dresses,  and  their  hair  was  shaved 
off:  then  the  horsemen  landed,  wearing  iron  casques 
and  tunics  and  chaussts  (or  defences  for  the  thighs) 
of  mail,  being  armed  with  long  and  strong  lances  and 
straight  double-edged  swords.  After  them  de- 
scended the  workmen  of  the  army,  pioneers,  car- 
penters, and  smiths,  who  carried  on  shore,  piece  by 
piece,  three  wooden  castles,  which  had  been  cut 
and  prepared  beforehand  in  Normandy.  The  duke 
was  the  last  man  to  land ;  and  as  his  foot  touched 
the  sand,  he  made  a  false  step,  and  fell  upon  his 
face.  A  murmur  instantly  succeeded  this  trifling 
mishap,  and  the  soldiery  cried  out,  "  God  keep  us ! 
but  here  is  a  bad  sign !"  In  those  days  the  con- 
queror's presence  of  mind  never  forsook  him,  and, 
leaping  gaily  to  his  feet,  and  showing  them  his  hand 
full  of  English  earth  or  sand,  he  exclaimed,  "  What 
now  ?  What  astonishes  you  ?  I  have  taken  seisin 
of  this  land  with  my  hands,  and  by  the  splendor  of 
God  as  far  as  it  extends  it  is  mine, — it  is  yours !" 

From  the  landing-place  the  army  marched  to 
Hastings,  near  to  which  town  he  traced  a  fortified 
camp,  and  set  up  two  of  the  wooden  castles  or  tow- 
ers that  he  had  brought  with  him  from  Normandy, 


Orders  oiven  for  the  Erection  or  a  Fortified  Ga.mp  at 
Hastings.     Bayeux  Tapestry. 

and  there  placed  his  provisions.     Detached  corps  of 
Normans  then  overran  all  the  neighboring  country, 


pillaging  and  burning  the  houses.  The  English  fled 
from  their  abodes,  concealed  their  goods  and  their 
cattle,  and  repaired  in  crowds  to  their  churches, 
which  they  believed  the  surest  asylum  against  their 
enemies,  who,  after  all,  were  Christians  like  them- 
selves. But  the  Normans  cared  little  for  the  sanc- 
tity of  English  churches,  and  respected  no  asylum. 
William  personally  surveyed  all  the  neighboring 
country,  and  occupied  the  old  Roman  castle  of  Pe- 
vensey  with  a  sti'ong  detachment.  It  should  appear 
that  he  was  presently  welcomed  into  England  by 
several  foreigners,  the  remnant  of  the  old  Norman 
court  party  which  had  been  so  predominant  in  the 
days  of  the  late  king.  One  Robert,  a  Norman  thane 
who  was  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hastings,  is 
particularly  mentioned  as  giving  him  advice  imme- 
diately after  his  landing.  It  is  probable  that  the 
disembarking  the  army,  horse  and  foot,  and  the  land- 
ing of  the  provisions  and  military  stores,  would  oc- 
cupy two  or  three  days ;  but  sixteen  days  elapsed 
between  their  arrival  and  the  battle,  and  in  all  that 
time  William  made  no  advance  into  the  country,  but 
lingered  within  a  few  miles  of  the  coast  where  he 
had  landed. 

On  reaching  London,  where  he  appears  to  have 
been  well  received  by  the  people,  Harold  manned 
700  vessels,  and  sent  them  round  to  hinder  Wil- 
liam's escape — for  he  made  no  doubt  of  vanquishing 
the  Normans,  even  as  he  had  so  recently  vanquished 
the  Norwegians.  Reinforcements  of  troops  came 
in  from  all  quarters  except  from  the  north;  and 
another  of  his  Norman  spies  and  advisers,  who  was 
residing  in  the  capital,  informed  the  duke  there 
were  grounds  for  apprehending  that  in  a  few  days 
the  Saxon  army  would  be  swelled  to  100,000  men. 
But  Harold  was  irritated  bj^  the  ravages  committed 
in  the  country  by  the  invaders ;  he  was  impatient 
to  meet  them,  and  hoping  to  profit  a  second  time  by 
a  sudden  and  unexpected  attack,  he  marched  off  for 
the  Sussex  coast  by  night,  only  six  days  after  his 
arrival  in  London,  and  with  forces  inferior  in  num- 
bers to  those  of  William.  The  camp  of  William 
was  well  guarded,  and,  to  prevent  all  surprise,  he 
had  thrown  out  advanced  posts  to  a  considerable 
distance.  These  posts,  composed  of  good  cavalry, 
fell  back  as  the  Saxons  approached,  and  told  William 
that  Harold  was  rushing  on  with  the  speed  and  fury 
of  a  madman.  On  his  side  Harold  dispatched  some 
spies,  who  spoke  the  French  language,  to  ascertain 
the  position  and  state  of  preparation  of  the  Nor- 
mans.    Both  these  the  returning  spies  reported  to 


CooKiNo  AND  Feasting  of  the  Normans  at  Hastings.    Bayeu.x  Tapestry 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


201 


be  formidable,  and  they  added,  with  astonishment, 
that  there  were  more  priests  in  WiUiam's  camp 
than  there  were  soldiers  in  the  English  army. 
These  men  had  mistaken  for  priests  all  the  Norman 
soldiers  that  had  short  hair  and  shaven  upper  lips ; 
for  i-t  was  then  the  fashion  of  the  English  to  let  both 
their  hair  and  their  mustaches  grow  long.  Harold 
smiled  at  their  mistake,  and  said,  "  Those  whom 
you  have  found  in  such  great  numbers  are  not 
priests,  but  brave  men  of  war,  who  will  soon  show 
us  what  they  are  worth."  He  then  halted  his 
army  at  Senlac,  since  called  Battle,  and  changing 
his  plan,  surrounded  his  camp  with  ditches  and  pal- 
isades, and  waited  the  attack  of  his  rival  in  that 
well-chosen  position.  One  whole  day  was  passed 
m  fruitless  negotiations,  the  nature  of  which  is  dif- 
ferently reported  by  the  old  chroniclers.  Accord- 
ing to  William  of  Poictiers,  who  was  chaplain  to 
the  Conqueror,  and  had  the  best  means  of  informa- 
tion, and  the  writer  or  wi-iters  of  the  Chronicle  of 
Normandy,  a  monk  named  Hugh  Maigrot  was  dis- 
patched to  demand  fi'om  Harold,  in  the  name  of 
William,  that  he  would  do  one  of  three  things — 


resign  his  crown  in  favor  of  the  Norman  ;  submit  to 
the  ai-bitration  of  the  pope ;  or  decide  the  quarrel 
by  single  combat.  Harold  sent  a  refusal  to  each  of 
these  proposals,  upon  which  William  charged  the 
monk  with  this  last  message  :  "  Go,  and  tell  Harold, 
that  if  he  will  keep  his  old  bargain  with  me,  I  will 
leave  him  all  the  country  beyond  the  river  Humber, 
and  will  give  his  brother  Gurth  all  the  lands  of  his 
father.  Earl  Godwin  :  but  if  he  obstinately  refuse 
what  I  offer  him,  thou  wilt  tell  him,  before  all  his 
people,  that  he  is  perjured,  and  a  bar ;  that  he  and 
all  those  who  shall  support  him  are  excommunicated 
by  the  pope,  and  that  I  carry  a  bull  to  that  effect." 
The  Norman  Chronicle  says  that  the  monk  Hugh 
pronounced  this  message  in  a  solemn  tone,  and  at 
the  word  "  excommunication,"  the  English  chiefs 
gazed  upon  one  another  in  great  dismay ;  but  that, 
nevertheless,  they  all  resolved  to  fight  to  the  last, 
well  knowing  that  the  Norman  had  promised  their 
lands  to  his  nobles,  his  captains,  and  his  knights, 
who  had  already  done  homage  for  them. 

The  Normans  quitted  Hastings,  and  occupied  an 
eminence  opposite  to  the  English,  plainly  showing 


Hastings  from  the  Fairlight  Downs. 


that  they  intended  to  give  battle  on  the  morrow. 
Several  reasons  had  been  pressed  upon  Harold  by 
his  followers,  and  were  now  repeated,  why  he 
should  decline  the  combat,  or  absent  himself  from 
its  perilous  chances.  It  was  urged,  that  the  despe- 
rate situation  of  the  Duke  of  Normandy  forced  him 
to  bring  matters  to  a  speedy  decision,  and  put  his 
whole  fortune  on  the  issue  of  a  battle,  for  his  pro- 
visions were   ah-eady  exhausted,   and  his  suppUes 


from  beyond  sea  would  be  rendered  precarious  both 
by  the  storms  of  the  coming  winter  and  the  opera- 
tions of  the  English  fleet,  which  had  already  block- 
aded all  the  ships  William  kept  with  him  in  the 
ports  of  Pevensey  and  Hastings  ;  but  that  he,  the 
King  of  England,  in  his  own  country,  and  well  pro- 
vided with  provisions,  might  bide  his  own  time,  and 
harass  with  skirmishes  a  decreasing  enemy,  who 
would  be  exposed  to  all  the  discomforts  of  an  in- 


202 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


clement  season  and  deep  miry  roads ;  that  if  a  gen- 
eral action  were  now  avoided,  the  whole  mass  of 
the  English  people,  made  sensible  of  the  danger 
that  threatened  their  property,  their  honor,  and 
their  liberties,  would  reinforce  his  army  from  all 
quarters,  and  by  degrees  render  it  invincible.  As 
he  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  these  arguments,  his 
brother  Gurth,  who  was  gi'eatly  attached  to  him, 
and  a  man  of  bravery  and  good  counsel,  endeavored 
to  persuade  him  not  to  be  present  at  the  action,  but 
to  set  out  for  London,  and  bring  up  the  levies,  while 
his  best  friends  should  sustain  the  attack  of  the 
Normans.  "  Oh !  Harold,"  said  the  young  man, 
"  thou  canst  not  deny,  that  either  by  force  or  free- 
will, thou  hast  made  Duke  William  an  oath  upon 
the  body  of  saints  ;  why,  then,  adventure  thyself  in 
the  dangers  of  the  combat  with  a  perjury  against 
thee  ?  To  us,  who  have  sworn  nothing,  this  war  is 
proper  and  just,  for  we  defend  our  country.  Leave 
us,  then,  alone  to  fight  this  battle — thou  wilt  succor 
us  if  we  are  forced  to  retreat,  and  if  we  die  thou 
wilt  avenge  us."  To  this  touching  appeal  Harold 
answered,  that  his  duty  forbade  him  to  keep  at  a 
distance  whilst  others  risked  their  lives ;  and,  de- 
termined to  fight,  and  full  of  confidence  in  the  jus- 
tice of  his  cause,  he  waited  the  morrow  with  his 
usual  courage.  The  night  was  cold  and  clear;  it 
was  spent  very  differently  by  the  hostile  armies; 
the  English  feasted  and  rejoiced,  singing,  with  a 
great  noise,  their  old  national  songs,  and  emptying 
their  horn-cups,  which  were  well  filled  Avith  beer 
and  wine  :  the  Normans  having  looked  to  their  arms 
and  to  their  horses,  listened  to  their  priests  and 
monks,  who  prayed  and  sung  litanies ;  and,  that 
over,  the  soldiers  confessed  themselves,  and  took 
the  sacrament  by  thousands  at  a  time. 

The  day  of  trial — Saturday,  the  14th  of  October 
— was  come.  As  day  dawned,  Odo,  the  Bishop  of 
Bayeux,  a  half-brother  of  Duke  William,  celebrated 
mass,  and  gave  his  benediction  to  the  troops,  being 
armed  the  while  in  a  coat  of  mail,  which  he  wore 
under  his  episcopal  rochet :  and  when  the  mass  and 
the  blessing  were  over,  he  mounted  a  war-horse, 
which  the   old  chroniclers,  with   their  interesting 


minuteness  of  detail,  tell  us  was  large  and  white, 
took  a  lance  in  his  hand,  and  marshaled  his  brigade 
of  cavalry.  The  whole  army  was  divided  into  three 
columns  of  attack ;  the  third  column,  composed  of 
native  Normans,  and  including  many  great  lords  and 
the  choicest  of  the  knights,  being  headed  by  the 
duke  in  person.  William  rode  a  fine  Spanish  horse, 
which  a  rich  Norman  had  brought  him  on  his  return 
from  a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  St.  lago  of  Gali- 
cia :  he  wore  suspended  round  his  neck  some  of 
those  revered  relics  upon  which  Harold  had  sworn, 
and  the  standard  blessed  by  the  pope  was  carried 
at  his  side  by  one  Tonstain,  surnamed  "  the  White," 
or  "  the  Fair,"'  who  accepted  the  honorable  but 
dangerous  office,  after  two  Norman  barons  had  de- 
clined it.  Just  before  giving  the  word  to  advance, 
he  briefly  addressed  his  collected  host — "  Make  up 
your  minds  to  fight  valiantly  and  slay  your  enemies. 
A  great  booty  is  before  us  ; — for  if  we  conquer  we 
shall  all  be  rich ;  what  I  gain,  you  will  gain ;  if  I 
take  this  land,  you  will  have  it  in  lots  among  yon. 
Know  ye,  however,  that  I  am  not  come  hither  solely 
to  take  what  is  my  due,  but  also  to  avenge  our  whole 
nation,  for  the  felonies,  perjuries,  and  treachery  of 
these  English.  They  massacred  our  kinsmen  the 
Danes — men,  women,  and  children, — on  the  night 
of  St.  Brice ;  they  murdered  the  knights  and  good 
men  who  accompanied  Prince  Alfred  from  Nor- 
mandy, and  made  my  cousin  Alfi"ed  expire  in  tor- 
ture. Before  you  is  the  son  of  that  Earl  Godwin 
who  was  charged  ^vith  these  murders.  Let  us  for- 
ward, and  punish  him,  Avith  God  to  our  aid !" 

A  gigantic  Norman,  called  Taillefer,  who  united 
the  different  qualities  of  champion,  minstrel,  and 
juggler,  spurred  his  horse  to  the  front  of  the  van, 
and  sung,  with  a  loud  voice,  the  popular  ballads 
which  immortalized  the  valor  of  Charlemagne,  and 
Roland,  and  all  that  flower  of  chivalry  that  fought 
in  the  great  fight  of  Roncesvalles.  As  he  sang  he 
performed  feats  with  his  sword,  throwing  it  into 
the  air  with  great  force  with  one  hand,  and  catching 
it  again  with  the  other.     The  Normans  repeated 

'  The  readers  of  Marmion  will  remember  the  brave  bearing  of 
"  Stainless  Tunstall's  banner  white,"  long  after  in  the  fight  of  Fludden. 


Duke  William  audressino  his  Soldiers  on  the  Field  of  Hastings.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


203 


the  burden  of  his  song,  or  cried  Dieu  aide  !  Dieu 
aide  !  This  accomplished  bravo  craved  permission 
to  strike  the  first  blow :  he  ran  one  Englishman 
through  the  body,  and  felled  a  second  to  the 
ground ;  but  in  attacking  a  third  cavalier  he  was 
himself  mortally  wounded.  The  English,  who,  in 
reply  to  the  Dieu  aide  !  or  "  God  is  our  help !"  of 
the  Normans,  shouted  "  Christ's  rood ! — the  holy 
rood !"  remained  in  their  position  on  the  ridge  of  a 
hill  fortified  by  trenches  and  palisades ;  and  within 
these  defences  they  were  marshaled  after  the 
fashion  of  the  Danes,  shield  against  shield,  present- 
ing an  impenetrable  front  to  the  enemy.  Accord- 
ing to  old  privilege,  the  men  of  Kent  were  in  the 
first  line,  and  the  burgesses  of  London  had  the 
honor  of  being  the  body-guard,  and  were  drawn  up 
close,  round  the  royal  standard.  At  the  foot  of  this 
banner  stood  Harold,  with  his  two  brothers,  Gurth 
and  Leofwin,  and  a  body  of  the  bravest  thanes  of 
England.     The  Normans  attacked  along  the   line 


with  their  bowmen  and  crossbowmen,  who  pro- 
duced no  impression ;  and  Avhen  their  cavalrj- 
charged,  the  English,  in  a  compact  body,  received 
the  assailants  with  battle-axes,  with  which  they 
broke  the  lances  and  cut  the  coats  of  mail,  on 
which  the  Normans  relied.  The  Normans,  de- 
spairing of  forcing  the  English  palisades  and  ranks, 
retired  in  some  disorder  to  the  division  where 
William  commanded  in  person.  The  duke  then 
threw  forward  all  his  archers,  and  supported  them 
by  a  charge  of  cavalry,  who  shouted,  as  they 
couched  their  lances,  "  Notre  Dame !  Notre  Dame! 
Dieu  aide!  Dieu  aide!'"  Some  of  this  cavalry 
broke  through  the  English  line,  but  presently  they 
were  all  driven  back  to  a  deep  trench  artfully 
covered  over  with  brushes  and  grass,  where  horses 
and  riders  fell  in  pele  mele,  and  perished  in  great 
numbers.  According  to  some  accounts  more  Nor- 
mans fell  here  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  field. 
For  a  moment  there  was  a  general  panic :  a  cry 


Battle  of  Hastings.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


spread  that  the  duke  was  killed,  and  at  this  report 
a  flight  commenced.  William  threw  himself  before 
the  fiigitives,  and  stopped  their  passage,  threat- 
ening them  and  striking  them  with  his  lance  ;  then, 
uncovering  his  face  and  head,  he  cried,  "  Here  I 
am!  look  at  me!  I  am  still  alive,  and  I  will  con- 
quer by  God's  help."  In  another  part  of  the  field 
the  rout  was  stopped  by  the  fierce  Bishop  of 
Bayeux,  and  the  attacks  on  the  English  line  were 
renewed  and  multiplied.  From  nine  in  the  morning 
till  three  in  the  afternoon  the  successes  were 
nearly  balanced,  or,  if  anything,  seemed  rather  to 
preponderate  on  the  English  side.  William  had 
expected  the  gi-eatest  advantage  from  the  charges 
of  his  numerous  and  brilliant  cavalry ;  but  the  Eng- 
lish foot  stood  firm  (a  thing  which  infantiy  seldom 
did  in  those  days  under  such  circumstances),  and 
they  were  so  well  defended  by  their  closed  shields, 
that  the  arrows  of  the  Normans  had  little  effect 
upon  them.  The  duke  then  ordered  his  bowmen 
to  alter  the  direction  of  their  shafts,  and,  instead  of 
shooting  point-blank,  to  direct  their  arrows  upward, 
so  that  the  points  should  come  down  like  hail  from 
above  upon  the  heads  of  the  enemy.  The  ma- 
noeuvre took  effect,  and  many  of  the  English  were 
wounded,  most  of  them  in  the  face  ;  but  still  they 
stood  firm,  and  th«  Normans,  almost  disheartened, 
I  had  recourse  to  a  stratagem.  William  ordered  a 
thousand  horse  to  advance,  and  then  turn  and  fly ; 
at  the  view  of  this  pretended  rout  the  English  lost 


their  coolness,  and  leaving  their  positions,  a  part  of 
the  line  gave  pursuit  with  their  battle-axes  slung 
round  their  necks.  At  a  certain  distance  a  fresh 
corps  of  Normans  joined  the  thousand  horse,  who 
drew  rein  and  faced  about;  and  then  the  English, 
surprised  in  their  disorder,  were  assailed  on  every 
side  by  lances  and  swoi'ds.  Here  many  hundreds 
of  the  English  fell ;  for,  encompassed  by  horse  and 
foot,  they  could  not  retreat,  and  they  would  not 
surrender.  The  latter  word,  indeed,  is  never 
once  used  in  any  of  the  many  old  accounts  of  the 
battle  of  Hastings.  The  Norman  writers  speak 
with  admiration  of  the  valor  of  several  of  Harold's 
thanes,  who  fought  single-handed  against  a  host  of 
foes,  as  though  each  of  them  thought  to  save  his 
country  by  his  individual  exeitions.  They  have  not 
preserved  his  name,  but  they  make  particular  men- 
tion of  one  English  thane,  armed  with  a  battle-axe, 
who  spread  dismay  among  the  invaders.  The 
battle-axe  appears  to  have  been  the  arm  chiefly 
used  by  the  English.  This  ponderous  weapon 
had  its  advantages  and  its  disadvantages ;  wielded 
by  nervous  men,  it  brake  in  pieces  the  coats  of 
mail,  and  cleft  the  steel  casques  of  the  Normans,  a« 
no  swords  could  have  done ;  but  from  its  weight 
and  size  it  required  both  hands  to  wield  it,  and  it 
was  awkward  and  diflScult  to  manage  in  close 
combat. 

The  feint  flight,  which  had  succeeded  so  well, 
was  repeated  by  the  Normans  in  another  part  of 


304 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Battle  of  Hastings.    Bayeuz  Tapestry. 


the  field,  and,  owing  to  the  impetuosity  of  the  Eng- 
lish, with  equal  success.  But  still  the  main  body 
maintained  its  position  behind  its  stakes  and  pali- 
sades on  the  ridge  of  the  hill ;  and  such  was  their 
unshaken  courage,  that  the  Normans  were  obliged  to 
try  the  same  stratagem  a  third  time ;  and  a  third  time 
the  brave  but  imprudent  victims  fell  into  the  snare. 
Then  the  Norman  horse  and  foot  burst  into  the 
long-defended  inclosure,  and  broke  the  English 
hne  in  several  points.  But  even  now  the  Englisk 
closed  again  round  Harold,  who,  throughout  the 
day,  had  shown  the  greatest  activity  and  bravery. 
At  this  juncture  he  was  struck  by  an  arrow,  shot  at 
random,  which  entered  his  left  eye,  and  peneti'ated 
into  his  brain.  The  English  then  gave  way,  but 
they  retreated  no  further  than  their  standard, 
which  they  still  sought  to  defend.  The  Normans 
hemmed  them  in,  making  the  most  desperate  efforts 
to  seize  the  banner.  Robert  Fitz-Ernest  had 
almost  grasped  it,  when  a  battle-axe  laid  him  low 


forever.  Twenty  Norman  knights  then  undertook 
the  task,  and  this  attempt  succeeded,  after  ten  of 
their  number  had  perished.  The  standard  of 
England  was  then  lowered,  and  the  consecrated 
banner,  sent  from  Rome,  raised  in  its  stead,  in 
sign  of  victory.  Gurth  and  Leofwin,  the  brave 
brothers  of  Harold,  died  at  that  last  rallying  point. 
The  combat  had  lasted  nine  hours,  for  it  was  now 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  the  sun  was  setting. 
After  a  desperate  attempt  at  rallying  made  by  the 
men  of  Kent  and  the  East  Angles,  which  cost  the 
lives  of  many  of  the  victors,  the  English  troops, 
broken  and  dispirited  by  the  loss  of  their  leader, 
dispersed  through  the  woods  which  lay  in  the  rear 
of  their  position :  the  enemy  followed  them  by  the 
light  of  the  moon ;  but,  as  they  were  ignorant  of 
the  country,  which  was  in  some  places  intersected 
by  ditches,  and  as  the  English  turned  and  made  a 
stand  wherever  they  could,  they  suffered  severely 
in   this    pursuit,  and   soon   gave   it  up.     In   every 


Death  gf  Harolp.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


205 


clause  of  their  narrative  the  Norman  writers  ex-  j 
press  their  admiration  of  the  valor  of  the  foe ;  and  | 
most  of  them  confess  that  the  great  superiority  of 
his  forces  alone  enabled  William  to  obtain  the  vic- 
tory. During  the  sanguinary  conflict  the  fortunate 
duke  had  three  horses  killed  under  him,  and  at  one 
moment  he  was  nearly  laid  prostrate  by  a  blow 
struck  upon  his  helmet  by  an  English  cavalier. 
The  proud  band  of  lords  and  knights  that  followed 
him  from  the  continent  was  fearfully  thinned,  as 
was  well  proved  on  the  morrow,  when  the  muster- 
roll  he  had  prepared  before  leaving  the  port  of  St. 
Valery  was  called  over.  He  lost  one-fourth  of  his 
army,  and  he  did  not  gain  by  the  battle  of  Hastings 
a  fourth  pai't  of  the  kingdom  of  England ;  for  many 
an  after-field  was  fought,  and  his  wars  for  the  con- 
quest of  the  west,  the  north,  and  the  east,  were 
protracted  for  seven  long  years.  The  conqueAt 
effected  by  the  Normans  was  a  slow,  and  not  a  sud- 
den one.^  "  Thus,"  to  use  the  energetic  language 
of  an  old  writer,^  "  was  tried  by  the  great  assize  of 
God's  judgment  in  battle,  the  right  of  power  be- 
tween the  English  and  Norman  nations ;  a  battle 
the  most  memorable  of  all  others ;  and  howsoever 
miserably  lost,  yet  most  nobly  fought  on  the  part  of 
England." 

In  the  preceding  narrative  we  have  seen  the 
Saxons  frequently  engaged  in  wars,  and  occasion- 
ally also  connected  by  alliances,  with  various  other 
nations  dwelling  around  them  in  the  same  island. 
The  largest  as  well  as  the  fairest  portion  of  Britain 
was  conquered  and  occupied  during  the  period  we 
have  been  reviewing  by  these  Germanic  invaders ; 
but  much  of  it  still  remained  in  the  possession  of 
the  races  of  other  lineage,  by  whom  it  had  been 
earlier  colonized,  or  was  seized  upon  by  invaders 
like  themselves,  but  from  a  different  quarter.  All 
the  east  and  south,  from  the  channel  to  the  Tweed, 
was  Saxon ;  in  the  west,  along  the  whole  extent  of 
the  Saxon  dominion,  were  the  alien  and  generally 
hostile  tribes  of  Cornwall  arid  Wales  ;  on  the  north- 
west were  the  independent  sovereignties  of  Cum- 
bria and  Strathclyde  (if  these  were  really  two  dis- 
tinct kingdoms) ;  and  to  the  east  and  north  of  these 
was  the  powerful  and  extensive  kingdom  of  the 
Picts,  originally,  it  should  seem,  embracing  the 
whole  of  the  rest  of  modern  Scotland.  Behind  the 
Picts,  however,  in  the  north-west,  a  colony  of  Scots 
from  Ireland,  not  long  aftef  the  arrival  of  the  Sax- 
ons in  the  south,  founded  another  new  power  of 
foreign  origin,  destined  in  like  manner  in  course  of 
time  to  bear  down  before  it  the  elder  thrones  of  its 
own  part  of  the  island. 

The  doubtful  and  confused  annals  of  the  several 
Cornish  and  Welsh  principalities  of  those  times 
offer  nothing  to  detain  the  historian.  Cornwall 
appears  to  have  usually  formed  one  kingdom.  South 
Wales  another,  and  Nol-th  Wales  a  third.  But 
the  subjects  of  these  several  states,  and  also  those 
of  Cumbria  and  Strathclyde,  farther  to  the  north, 
may  be  regarded  as  having  been  in  the  main  one 
people.     It  seems  not  improbable  that  they  may 

1  Sir  J.  Mackintosh,  Hist.  2  Daniel. 


have  been  a  mixture  of  the  old  Celtic  Britons  who 
fled  before  the  Saxons,  or  were  the  original  inhabi- 
tants of  this  strip  of  country,  and  of  Cimbrians 
originally  from  the  north  of  Germany  and  Den- 
mark, the  proper  progenitors  of  the  present  Welsh. 
At  what  date  these  Cimbrians  first  found  their  way 
from  the  east  coast  of  Scotland,  where  they  seem 
to  have  earliest  settled,  to  the  west  coast  of  Eng- 
land, and  there  mixed  with  and  established  a 
dominion  over  the  native  British  occupants,  no 
chronicles  have  told  us.  But  some  ancient  relation 
between  the  Welsh  and  the  Picts  seems  to  be  indi- 
cated by  the  strong  evidence  of  language ;  and  the 
close  connexion  that  subsisted  between  Wales  and 
the  Scottish  kingdom  of  Strathclyde,  down  to  the 
extinction  of  the  latter,  is  established  by  abundance 
of  historic  testimony.  If,  in  the  mixture  of  the 
two  races,  the  ascendency  remained  with  the  Celtic 
Britons  anywhere,  it  was  most  probably  in  Corn- 
wall. Everywhere  else  both  the  government  and 
the  language  appear  to  have  become  chiefly  Cim- 
brian,  the  national  denomination  of  the  Welsh  in 
their  vernacular  tongue  to  this  day.  One  of  the 
northern  Welsh  kingdoms  was  actually  called  the 
kingdom  of  Cumbria,  whence  our  modern  countj- 
of  Cumberland;  and  if  the  kingdom  of  Strathclyde 
was  a  different  state  from  this  (which  is  doubtful),, 
we  know  at  least  that  in  that  district  of  Scotland 
also,  the  native  land  and  residence  of  Merlin  and 
Aneurin,  and  many  other  personages  famous  in 
Cumbrian  song  and  story,  the  language,  and  govern- 
ment, and  all  things  else,  were  Welsh. 

At  what  time  the  various  tribes  of  the  north, 
often  spoken  of  under  the  general  appellation  of 
the  Caledonians,  although  that  name  was  properly 
applicable  only  to  the  occupants  of  the  woody  and 
mountainous  regions  of  the  west  and  northwest, 
came  to  be  united  in  the  single  monarchy  of  the 
Picts,  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain.  The  Picts  are  first 
mentioned  about  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, at  which  time  the  name  appears  to  have  been 
understood  to  comprehend  all  the  northern  ti'ibes. 
Antiquaries  are  generally  agreed  that  a  kingdom 
under  the  name  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Picts,  which, 
in  pretension  at  least,  extended  over  the  whole  of 
what  is  now  called  Scotland,  with  the  exception  of 
the  district  of  Sti-athclyde  in  the  southwest,  had 
been  established  some  considerable  time  before  the 
evacuation  of  South  Britain  by  the  Romans  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century.  Records,  the  authen- 
ticity of  which  does  not  admit  of  any  reasonable 
doubt,  make  the  Pictish  sovereign,  when  this  event 
took  place,  to  have  been  Durst,  the  son  of  Erp,  for 
whom  his  warlike  achievements  against  the  pro- 
vincialized Britons  of  the  south,  and  the  length  of 
his  reign,  have  obtained  from  the  Irish  annalists  the 
poetic  title  of  King  of  a  Hundred  Years  and  a  Hun- 
dred Battles.  The  Picts,  as  our  preceding  pages 
have  already  informed  the  reader,  came  into  col- 
lision with  the  Saxons  of  Northumberland  not  long 
after  the  establishment  of  the  two  kingdoms  of 
Deira  and  Bernicia,  the  princes  of  the  latter  of 
which  appear  to  have  claimed  as  within  their  bound- 
aries the  whole  of  the  territory  along  the  east  coast 


206 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


as  far  as  to  the  Frith  of  Forth.  For  some  time, 
accordingly,  all  this  district  formed  a  sort  of  de- 
batable land,  alternately  subject  to  the  Northum- 
brian Saxons  and  to  the  Picts.  The  Saxons  are 
believed  to  have  begun  to  settle  in  the  territory  as 
early  as  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  and  proba- 
bly from  this  date  the  population  continued  to  be 
mainly  Saxon ;  but  after  the  great  battle  of  Dun- 
nechtan  (supposed  to  be  Dunnichen  in  Angus), 
fought  in  685  between  the  Pictish  king  Bridei,  the 
son  of  Beli,  and  the  Northumbrian  Egfrid,  it  became 
permanently  a  part  of  the  Pictish  dominions.  This 
is  the  tract  of  country  which  in  a  later  age  came  to 
be  called  by  the  name  of  Lodonia,  or  Laodonia, 
still  surviving  in  the  Lothians,  the  modern  designa- 
tion of  the  greater  part  of  it.  Lodonia  appears  to 
be  a  Teutonic  word,  signifying  the  Marches  or 
Borders. 

In  the  earliest  times  of  the  Pictish  monarchy  its 
capital  appears  to  have  stood  near  the  present  town 
of  Inverness.  It  was  here  that  King  Bridei,  or 
Brude,  son  of  Merlothon,  was  visited  soon  after 
the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  by  St.  Columba. 
Afterwards,  on  the  extension  of  their  power  to- 
wards the  south,  the  Kings  of  the  Picts  transferred 
their  residence  to  Forteviot  in  Perthshire,  and  here 
they  seem  to  have  fixed  themselves  so  long  as  the 
monarchy  subsisted.  The  history  of  the  state,  so 
far  as  it  had  been  preserved,  is  made  up  of  little 
else  than  a  long  succession  of  hostilities,  sometimes 
with  the  Saxons,  sometimes  with  the  neighboring 
kingdom  of  Strathclyde,  sometimes  with  the  Scots 
from  Ireland,  ^vho  from  the  commencement  of  the 
sixth  century  continued  to  encroach  upon  the  ter- 
ritories of  the  Picts,  and  the  pressure  from  whom 
perhaps  had  some  share  in  inducing  the  latter 
eventually  to  remove  the  chief  seat  of  their  sove- 
reignty from  its  ancient  position  in  the  heart  of  the 
true  Caledonia.  The  meagre  narrative  is  also 
varied  by  some  domestic  wars,  principally  arising 
out  of  the  competition  of  various  claimants  for  the 
crown,  to  which  there  seems  to  have  been  no  defi- 
nitely settled  rule  of  succession.  Bede  tells  us  that 
a  preference  was  usually  given  to  the  female  line — 
that  is  to  say,  the  brother  of  the  deceased  sovereign 
by  the  same  mother,  or  his  uncle,  who  was  the  son 
of  his  graadmother,  was  preferred  to  his  own  son. 
This  practice,  which  still  prevails  among  many  bar- 
barous tribes,  was  probably  conceived  to  be  recom- 
mended by  the  double  advantage  of  better  securing 
the  purity  of  the  blood  royal,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
of  generally  providing  a  man  of  mature  age,  instead 
of  a  boy  or  a  child,  to  fill  the  vacant  throne.  In  the 
end  of  the  eighth  and  the  beginning  of  the  ninth 
century  the  Picts  found  a  new  enemy  in  the  north- 
ern pirates  or  sea-kings,  the  same  marauders  who 
in  the  same  age  ravaged  the  neighboring  coasts  of 
England  and  France,  and  indeed  it  may  be  said 
generally  of  all  the  northwest  of  Europe.  The 
dissolution  of  the  ancient  Pictish  royalty  however, 
and  the  extinction  of  the  name  of  the  Picts  as  that 
of  an  independent  people,  were  now  at  hand. 

The  earliest  colony  of  Irish,  or  Scots,  as  they  were 
called,  is  said  to  have  settled  on  the  west  coast  of  | 


North  Britain,  about  the  middle  of  the  third  century. 
They  w^ere  led  by  Carbry  Riada,  prince  or  sub-re- 
gulus  of  a  district  called  Dalriada  in  Ulster ;  and 
they  were  long  known  by  the  name  of  the  Dalria- 
dmns,  from  this  their  native  seat.  The  Dalriadians, 
however,  do  not  appear  to  have  set  up  any  pretences 
to  an  independent  sovereignty  in  the  country  of 
their  adoption,  until  after  the  beginning  of  the  sixth 
century,  when  their  numbers  were  greatly  augment- 
ed by  an  immigration  of  their  Irish  kindued,  under 
the  conduct  of  Lorn,  Fergus,  and  Angus,  the  three 
sons  of  Erck,  the  then  prince  of  Dalriada.  This 
new  colonization  seems  to  have  amounted  to  an  ac- 
tual invasion  of  North  Britain,  and  the  design  of  its 
leaders  probably  was,  from  the  first,  to  wrest  the 
country,  or  a  part  of  it,  from  its  actual  possessors. 
Very  soon  after  this  we  find  the  Picts  and  Scots 
meeting  each  other  in  arms.  A  still  more  decided 
proof  of  the  growing  strength  of  the  latter  nation  is, 
in  course  of  time,  afforded  by  a  matrimonial  alliance 
between  the  king  of  the  Dalriadians  and  the  Pictish 
royal  house.  This  connexion  took  place  in  the  reign 
of  Achaius,  who  is  reckoned  the  twenty-seventh  of 
the  Scottish  kings  from  Fergus,  in  whose  hne  and 
in  that  of  the  descendants  of  his  elder  brother.  Lorn, 
the  sovereign  power  had  been  all  along  preserved. 
Achaius  married  Urgusia,  the  sister  of  the  Pictish 
kings  Constantino  and  Ungus,  who  reigned  in  suc- 
cession from  A.D.  791  to  830.  The  issue  of  this 
marriage,  and  the  successor  of  Achaius,  was  Alpin, 
and  his  son  and  successor  was  Kenneth  II.,  who 
mounted  the  throne  of  his  ancestors  in  the  year  836- 
Three  years  after,  the  Pictish  king  Uven,  the  son 
and  successor  of  Ungus,  fell  in  battle  with  the  Danes. 
Kenneth,  as  the  near  relation  of  its  deceased  occu- 
pier, immediately  claimed  the  vacant  throne  :  a  con- 
test of  arms  bet^veen  the  two  nations  appears  to  have 
ensued ;  but  at  last,  in  a.d.  843,  Kenneth,  having 
subdued  all  opposition,  was  acknowledged  king  both 
of  the  Scots  and  the  Picts.  There  is  no  reason  to 
suppose,  as  is  asserted  by  some  of  the  Scottish  chron- 
iclers who  wrote  in  a  comparatively  recent  age,  that 
the  Pictish  people  were,  upon  this  event,  either  de- 
stroyed or  driven  from  their  country  ;  it  is  probable 
enough  that  the  chiefs  of  the  faction  that  had  resist- 
ed the  claim  of  Kenneth,  and  also  perhaps  many  of 
their  followers,  may  have  fled  from  the  vengeance 
of  the  conqueror,  and  taken  refuge  in  the  Orkney 
islands  and  elsewhere  ;  but  the  great  body  of  the  in- 
habitants no  doubt  remained  the  subjects  of  the  new 
king.  It  appears  that  Kenneth  and  his  immediate 
successors  styled  themselves,  not  kings  of  Scotland 
and  of  Pictavia  or  Pictland,  but  kings  of  the  Scots 
and  the  Picts  ;  and  the  Picts  are  spoken  of  as  a  dis- 
tinct people  for  a  century  after  they  thus  ceased  to 
form  an  independent  state. ^ 

'  The  account  here  given  is  that  which  is  now  generally  received  ; 
but  it  is  proper  to  notice  that  the  whole  story  of  the  conquest  of  the 
Picts  by  Kenneth,  and  also  Kenneth's  extraction  from  the  old  royal 
line  of  the  Irish  Scots,  have  been  called  in  question  and  denied  by 
Pinkerton  in  his  "  Enquiry  into  the  History  of  Scotland  preceding  the 
reign  of  Malcolm  III,"  a  work  of  much  learning  and  acuteness,  and 
also  of  great  value  for  the  quantity  of  materials  collected  in  it  from 
previously  unexplored  sources,  but  disfigured  by  many  precipitate  as- 
sertions and  a  pervading  spirit  of  prejudice  and  paradox.  The  anthor 
founds  his  skepticism  as  to  the  events  mentioned  in  the  text  principally 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


207 


Meanwhile  the  kingdom  of  Strathclyde,  the  capi- 
tal of  which  was  Alcluyd,  the  modern  Dunbarton, 
still  subsisted,  and  withheld  a  large  portion  of  the 
present  Scotland  from  the  sway  of  the  Dalriadian 
prince.  There  is  some  appearance  of  Kenneth 
Mac  Alpin  having  attempted  to  possess  himself  of 
that  additional  throne  by  the  same  combination  of 
policy  and  force  by  which  he  had  acquired  the  do- 
minion of  the  Picts.  After  long  fighting,  he  concluded 
a  peace  with  Cu  or  Caw,  the  king  of  Strathclyde,  and 
gave  him  his  daughter  in  marriage.  No  opportunity, 
however,  was  found  of  turning  this  arrangement  to 

upon  the  silence  of  certain  contemporary  authorities.  He  admits  it  to 
be  "clear,  however,  that  the  opinion  that  Kenneth  vanquished  the 
Picts  is  as  old  as  the  eleventh  century."  (Enquiry,  ii.  152,  Edit,  of 
J814.)  He  conceives  it  to  be  more  probable  that  the  Picts  subdued  the 
Scots,  than  the  Scots  the  Picts ;  but  on  the  whole  is  persuaded  that 
all  that  really  took  place  was  a  union  on  equal  terms  between  the  two 
nations.  Then,  to  account  upon  this  hypothesis  for  the  unquestionable 
fact  that  the  whole  territory  fell  under  the  dominion  of  Kenneth  Mac 
Alpin,  he  conceives  that  Kenneth  and  his  father  Alpin  were  not  de- 
scendants of  the  old  Dalriadic  kings  at  all,  but  of  a  new  line  of  Pictish 
princes  that  had  been  imposed  upon  the  Dalriadians  by  the  Picts  about 
a  century  before  this  first  amalgamation  of  the  one  people  with  the 
other.  An  assumption  so  gratuitous  as  this  last,  and  so  directly  op- 
posed to  the  uniform  testimony  of  chronicles  and  records,  it  is  quite  im- 
possible to  admit.  In  our  abstract  we  have  principally  adhered  to  the 
dates  and  order  of  events  as  settled  by  the  latest  investigator  of  this 
part  of  our  aatiooal  history,  Chalmers,  in  his  Caledonia,  i.  pp.  374-43S. 


account  in  the  manner  which  its  projector  probably 
contemplated ;  and  the  kingdom  of  Strathclyde, 
though  distressed  and  weakened  both  by  the  pres- 
sure of  its  powerful  neighbor  and  the  frequent 
predatory  and  devastating  attacks  of  the  Danes  from 
beyond  seas,  continued  to  maintain  a  nominal  inde- 
pendence till  the  native  government  was  finally 
subverted,  and  the  country  incorporated  with  the 
rest  of  the  Scottish  dominions,  by  the  defeat  of  its 
last  king,  Dunwallon,  by  Kenneth  III.,  the  king  of 
the  Scots  (the  great-great-grandson  of  Kenneth 
Mac  Alpin),  at  the  battle  of  Vacornar,  in  a.d.  973. 
Even  before  this  event,  however.  North  Britain  had 
begun  to  be  known,  after  its  Irish  conquerors,  by 
the  name  of  Scotland.  It  is  so  called  for  the  first 
time  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle  under  the  year  934. 

Meanwhile  the  united  Scottish  kingdom  founded 
by  Kenneth  Mac  Alpin  continued  to  consolidate  and 
strengthen  itself  under  the  sway  of  his  descendants. 
Kenneth  himself,  in  the  remaining  part  of  his  reign, 
had  to  make  good  his  position  by  his  sword,  some- 
times in  defensive,  sometimes  in  aggressive  contests, 
both  with  the  Danes,  the  Saxons,  and  his  neighbors 
of  Strathclyde  ;  but  he  died  at  last  in  bed  at  his  cap. 
ital  of  Forteviot,  a.d.  859.     He  was  succeeded  by 


Sculptured  Stone  lately  dug  up  m  the  ancient  chapel  of  St.  Regulus,  at  St.  Andrews.  This  is  givenasaspecimenof  many  stones  of  a  similar 
Kind  which  are  found  in  various  places  along  the  east  coast  of  Scotland,  where  the  Pictish  dominions  lay.  The  present  stone  has  not  been 
before  engraved,  and  is,  besides,  remarkable  as  being,  we  believe,  the  only  specimen  of  these  stones  which  has  been  f<mnd  to  the  south  of  the 
Tay.  In  the  county  of  Angus,  on  the  other  side  of  that  river,  they  are  very  numerous ;  and  they  have  been  found  as  far  north  as  the  county  ot 
Sutherland.  As  this  range  of  country  constituted  the  principal  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  Picts,  they  have  generally  been  supposed  to  be 
monuments  of  that  people.  But  all  sorts  of  conjectures  have  been  formed  respecting  them  ;  and  both  the  people  by  whom,  and  the  age  in  which 
they  were  erected,  must  be  considered  as  still  remaining  undiscovered.  While  some  antiquaries  have  been  disposed  to  refer  them  chiefly  to  the 
ninth  and  the  two  or  three  following  centuries,  and  to  connect  them  with  the  events  of  the  Danish  invasions  of  those  times  ;  others  have  carried 
them  back  to  the  age  in  which  the  famous  King  Arthur  is  supposed  to  have  flourished,  with  whose  history  and  exploits,  real  or  mythological, 
some  of  them  ate  certainly  connected  in  the  popular  traditions.  Notwithstanding  the  figure  of  the  cross,  which  is  not  unfrcquently  found  on 
these  shores,  it  must  be  considered  doubtful  if  they  are  Christian  memorials  ;  for  that  symbol  is  undoubtedly  more  ancient  than  Christianity 
A  very  remarkable  circumstance  is,  that  various  oriental  figures,  the  elephant  especially,  appear  in  several  instances  among  their  decorations. 
The  serpent  is  also  not  an  unusual  figure.  In  one  instance  only,  as  far  as  we  are  aware,  has  any  inscription  in  literal,  or  apparently  literal 
characters,  been  found — namely,  on  one  of  two  stones  discovered  a  few  years  ago  at  Pitmachie,  in  Aberdeenshire,  and  engraved  in  the  last  (1814) 
edition  of  Pinkerton's  "  Enquiry  into  the  Early  History  of  Scotland."  "  The  characters,"  Mr.  Pinkerlon  observes,  "seem  to  resemble  the  Anglo- 
Saxon,  as  published  by  Hickes,  especially  those  on  the  coins  of  the  Kings  of  Northambria  of  the  ninth  century." 


208 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


his  brother  Donald  III.,  who  reigned  tdl  a.d.  863. 
Constantine  II.,  the  son  of  Kenneth,  followed,  and, 
'during  a  reign  of  eighteen  years,  was  engaged  in 
almost  uninterrupted  warfare  with  the  Danes,  who 
harassed  him  both  from  Ireland  and  from  the  Con- 
tinent, and  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  the  kingdom 
by  all  its  maritime  inlets, — by  the  Clyde  from  the 
west,  and  by  the  Friths  of  Moray,  Tay,  and  Forth 
from  the  east.  It  is  asserted  by  the  old  historians 
that  these  invaders  were  first  called  in  by  the  fugitive 
or  subjugated  Picts,  a  fact  which  may  be  taken  as 
some  confirmation  of  the  common  northern  origin  of 
both.  The  enemy,  therefore,  with  whom  Constan- 
tine had  to  contend  had  friends  and  supporters  in 
the  heart  of  his  dominions  ;  and  while  he  endeavored 
to  repel  the  foreigners  with  one  hand,  he  must  have 
liad  to  keep  down  his  own  subjects  with  the  other. 
Nor  were  the  Picts  altogether  defrauded  of  their 
revenge  on  the  son  of  their  conqueror.  They  and 
their  allies  the  Danes  appear  to  have  WTested  from 
the  Scottish  king  not  only  the  Orkney  and  Western 
islands,  but  also  the  extensive  districts  of  Caithness, 
Sutherland,  and  part  of  Ross-shire,  on  the  continent 
of  Scotland ;  and  these  acquisitions  continued  to  be 
governed  for  many  ages  by  Norwegian  princes 
entirely  independent  of  the  Scottish  crown.  The 
traditionary  account,  repeated  by  the  later  histo- 
rians, of  the  termination  of  Constantine's  disastrous 
reign  is,  that  he  was  killed  in  a  battle  with  the 
Danes,  or  put  to  death  by  them  immediately  after 
the  battle  near  Crail,  in  Fife.  A  cave  in  which  he 
was  massacred  is  still  shown,  and  called  the  Devil's 
Cave.  The  older  writers,  however,  place  his  death 
in  A.D.  882,  a  year  after  the  great  battle  in  Fife. 

Constantine's  immediate  successor  was  his  brother 
Hugh ;  but  he  was  dethi-oned  the  same  year  by 
Grig,  the  chieftain  of  the  district  now  forming  the 
shires  of  Aberdeen  and  Banff,  who,  associating 
with  himself  on  the  throne  Eocha,  or  Eth,  son  of 
the  King  of  Strathclyde  by  a  daughter  of  Kenneth 
Mac  Alpin,  is  said  to  have  reigned  for  about  twelve 
years  with  a  more  extensive  authority  than  had 
been  enjoyed  by  any  of  his  predecessors.  The 
monkish  chroniclers,  indeed,  who  designate  him  by 
the  pompous  title  of  Gregory  the  Great,  absurdlj- 
make  him  not  only  to  have  held  his  own  with  a 
strong  hand,  but  to  have  actually  reduced  to  subjec- 
tion all  the  neighboring  states,  including  both  the 
English  and  the  Irish.  He  appears  to  have  been  a 
favorer  of  the  church,  upon  w-hich  he  probably  leant 
for  support  in  the  deficiency  of  his  hereditary  title. 
However,  he  and  his  partner  in  the  sovereignty 
were  at  length  dethroned  by  a  popular  insun-ection, 
A.D.  89.3;  on  which  their  place  was  supplied  by 
Donald  IV.,  the  son  of  Constantine  II.  A  succes- 
sion of  combats  with  the  Danes,  again,  one  of  the 
most  memorable  of  which  was  fought  at  Collin, 
near  Scone,  for  the  possession  of  the  famous  Stone 
of  Destiny,  which  Kenneth  Mac  Alpin  had  trans- 
fei'red  thither  from  the  original  British  nestling- 
place  of  his  antique  race  in  Argyleshire,  form  almost 
the  only  recorded  events  of  his  reign.  The  north- 
ern invaders  were  beaten  at  Collin  ;  but  a  few  years 
after,  in  904,  Donald  fell  in  fight,  near  Forteviot, 


Coronation  Chair  of  the  Kings  of  England,  kept  in  West 

MINSTER  Abbey.   Beneath  the  seat  is  tlie  '•  Stone  ot"  Destiny," 

carried  off  from  Scone  by  Edward  I.,  in  1296. 

against  another  band  of  them  from  Ireland.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Constantine  III.,  the  son  of  his 
uncle  Hugh.  This  was  the  Scottish  king  who,  as 
related  in  a  preceding  page,  made  an  inroad,  in  937, 
into  the  dominions  of  the  Saxon  Athelstane  in  con- 
junction with  Olave  or  Anlaf,  the  Danish  chief  of 
Northumberland,  Avhen  their  united  forces  Were 
routed  in  the  bloody  day  of  Brunanburgh,  and  Con- 
stantine with  difficulty  escaped  from  the  slaughter 
in  which  his  eldest  son  fell.  A  few  j'ears  after 
this  humiliating  defeat,  in  a.  d.  944,  he  exchanged 
his  crown  for  a  cowl,  and  he  passed  the  last  eight 
or  nine  years  of  his  life  as  Abbot  of  the  Culdees  of 
St.  Andrews.  Meanwhile  the  throne  was  ascended 
by  Malcolm  I.,  son  of  Donald  IV.  The  most  im- 
portant event  of  this  reign  was  the  cession  by  the 
Saxon  King  Edmund,  of  the  district  of  Cumbria, 
which  he  had  recently  conquered  from  its  last  king 
Dunmail,  to  Malcolm,  to  be  held  by  him  on  condi- 
tion of  his  arming  when  called  upon  in  the  defence 
either  of  that  or  of  any  other  part  of  the  English 
territory.  Cumberland  remained  an  appanage  of 
the  Scottish  crown  from  this  time  till  1072,  when 
it  was  recovered  by  William  the  Conqueror. 

Malcolm  I.  came  to  a  violent  death  at  the  hands 
of  some  of  his  own  subjects  in  953,  and  left  his 
sceptre  to  Indulf,  the  son  of  his  predecessor  Con- 
stantine III.     The  reign  of  Indulf  was  grievously 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


209 


troubled  by  repeated  attacks  of  the  Northmen ;  and 
he  at  last  lost  his  life  in  what  the  old  writers  call 
the  Battle  of  the  Bauds,  fought  in  961,  near  the 
Bay  of  Cullen,  in  Banffshire,  where  several  barrows 
on  a  moor  still  preserve  the  memory  of  the  defeat 
of  the  foreigners.  Duff,  the  son  of  Malcolm  I.,  no\v 
became  king,  according  to  what  appears  to  have 
been  the  legal  order  of  succession  at  this  time,  when 
each  king,  for  many  generations,  was  almost  uni- 
formly succeeded  not  by  his  own  son,  but  by  the 
eon  of  his  predecessor.  But  the  effects  of  the  na- 
tural disposition  of  the  sovereign  in  possession  to 
retain  the  succession  exclusively  in  his  own  line 
now  began  to  show  themselves ;  and  the  right  of 
Duff  was  disputed  from  the  first  by  Indulf's  son 
Culen,  whose  partisans,  although  defeated  in  the 
fair  fight  of  Duncrub,  in  Perthshire,  are  asserted  to 
have  afterwards  opened  the  way  to  the  throne  for 
their  leader  by  the  assassination  of  his  rival.  This 
event  took  place  at  Forres  in  965.  But  Culen  did  not 
long  retain  his  guiltily  acquired  power.  Disregard- 
ing all  the  duties  of  his  place,  he  abandoned  himself 
to  riot  and  licentiousness,  and  soon  followed  up  the 
murder  of  Duff  by  an  act  of  atrocious  violence,  com- 
mitted on  another  near  relation,  the  daughter  of 
the  King  of  Strathclyde.  The  nation  of  the  injured 
lady  took  arms  against  her  violator  ;  and  Culen  fell 
in  a  battle  fought  with  them  at  a  place  situated  to 
the  south  of  the  Forth  in  a.d.  970. 

The  crown  now  fell  to  Kenneth  III.,  another 
son  of  Malcolm  I.,  and  the  brother  of  Duff.  The 
reign  of  Kenneth  III.  is  one  of  the  most  important 
in  the  early  history  of  Scotland.  He  was  a  prince 
of  remarkable  ability,  and  of  a  daring  and  unscrupu- 
lous character  ;  he  occupied  the  throne  for  a  suffi- 
cient length  of  time  to  enable  him  to  lay  a  deep 
foundation  for  his  schemes  of  policy,  if  not  to  carry 
them  into  complete  effect ;  and  he  came  at  a  crisis 
when  the  old  order  of  things  was  naturally  breaking 
up,  and  the  most  favorable  opportunity  was  offered 
to  a  bold  and  enterprising  genius  like  his  of  es- 
tablishing, or  at  least  originating,  a  new  system.  It 
was  one  of  those  conjunctions  of  circumstances  and 
of  an  individual  mind  fitted  to  take  advantage  of 
them,  by  which  most  of  the  great  movements  in 
national  affairs  have  been  produced.  His  first  effort 
was  to  follow  out  the  war  with  the  dechning  state 
of  Strathclyde  until  he  wound  it  up,  as  has  been 
intimated  above,  with  the  complete  subjugation  of 
that  rival  kingdom  and  its  incorporation  with  his 
hereditary  dominions.  With  the  exception,  there- 
fore, of  the  nominal  independence,  but  real  vassal- 
age in  everything  except  in  name,  of  the  Welsh, 
the  whole  of  Britain  was  now  divided  into  the  two 
sovereignties  of  England  and  Scotland.  The  Saxon 
power  of  Wessex  had  swallowed  up  and  absorbed 
everything  else  in  the  south,  and  in  the  north  every 
other  royalty  had  in  like  manner  fallen  before  that 
of  the  Celtic  princes  of  Dalriada.  Peace  and  inti- 
mate alliance,  also,  had  now  taken  place  of  the  old 
enmity  between  the  two  monarchies  ;  and  an  open- 
ing must  have  been  made  for  the  passage  to  Scot- 
land of  some  rays  from  the  superior  civilization  of 
her  neighbor,  which  would  naturally  be  favorable 
VOL.  I. — 14 


to  imitation  in  the  arrangements  of  the  government 
as  well  as  in  other  matters.  It  was  in  this  position 
of  affairs  that  Kenneth  proceeded  to  take  measures 
for  getting  rid  of  what  we  have  seen  was  the  most 
remarkable  peculiarity  of  the  Scottish  regal  consti- 
tution, the  participation  of  two  distinct  lines  in  the 
right  of  succession  to  the  throne,  a  rule  or  custom 
to  which,  notwithstanding  some  advantages,  there 
would  seem  to  exist  an  all-sufficient  objection  in  its 
very  tendency  to  excite  to  such  attempts  as  that 
which  Kenneth  now  made.  Kenneth's  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding was  characteristically  energetic  and  direct. 
To  put  an  end  in  the  most  efltectual  manner  to  the 
pretensions  of  Malcolm,  the  son  of  his  brother  Duff, 
he  had  that  prince  put  to  death,  although  he  had 
been  already  recognized  as  Tanist,  or  next  heir  to 
the  throne,  and  had  as  such  been  invested,  accord- 
ing to  custom,  with  the  lordship  of  Cumberland. 
We  shall  see,  however,  that  this  deed  of  blood  was 
after  all  perpetrated  to  no  purpose.  Another  of 
Kenneth's  acts  of  severity,  and  perhaps  also  of  cru- 
elty and  vengeance,  recoiled  upon  him  to  his  own 
destruction.  After  the  suppression  of  a  commotion 
in  the  Mearns,  he  had  thought  it  necessary  to  sig- 
nalize the  triumph  of  the  royal  authority  by  taking 
the  life  of  the  only  son  of  the  chief  of  the  district, 
either  because  the  young  man  had  been  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  vanquished  faction,  or  pei'haps  because 
his  father  had  not  shown  sufficient  energy  in  meet- 
ing and  putting  down  their  designs.  By  some 
means  or  other,  however,  Kenneth  was  some  time 
after  induced  to  trust  himself  in  the  hands  of  Fe- 
nella,  the  mother  of  his  victim,  by  visiting  her  in 
her  castle  near  Fettercairn.  Here  he  was  mur- 
dered either  by  her  orders,  or  not  improbably  by 
her  own  hands,  for  it  is  related  that  she  fled  the 
instant  the  deed  was  done,  although  she  was  soon 
taken,  and  suffered  the  same  bloody  death  she  had 
avenged  and  inflicted.  The  reign  of  Kenneth  was 
thus  terminated  a.d.  994. 

We  ought  not  to  omit  to  notice  that  it  was  in  the 
early  part  of  this  reign  that  the  Danes  were  defeat- 
ed in  the  great  battle  of  Luncarty,  near  Perth,  still 
famous  in  Scottish  story  and  tradition  for  what  we 
fear  must  be  designated  the  fable  of  the  origin  of  the 
nobility  of  the  Hays,  Earls  of  Errol,  from  the  inci- 
dent of  their  ancestor,  a  husbandman,  who  chanced 
to  be  busy  at  work  in  a  neighboring  field,  having, 
accompanied  by  his  two  sons,  armed  only  with  their 
ploughbeams,  opposed  a  chief  division  of  their  coun- 
trymen when  flying  from  the  fight  in  a  moment  of 
panic,  and  driven  them  back  to  victory.  The  ar- 
morial bearing  of  this  ancient  family,  which  exhibits 
three  escutcheons,  supported  by  two  peasants,  car- 
rying each  the  beam  of  a  plough  on  his  shoulder, 
is  appealed  to  in  proof  of  the  story  ;  but  it  is  just 
as  hkely  that  the  story  may  have  been  invented  to 
explain  the  arms.  At  all  events  the  arms  are  of 
much  less  antiquity  than  the  battle  of  Luncarty,  at 
the  date  of  which  event  armorial  ensigns  were  un- 
known. It  is  well  estabhshed  that  the  Hays  are  a 
branch  of  the  Norman  De  Hayas,  whose  ancestor 
came  over  to  England  with  the  Conqueror — that 
they  did  not  come  to  Scotland  till  more  than  a  hun- 


210 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


'hed  years  after  the  battle  of  Luncarty — and  that 
they  only  obtained  the  lands  of  Errol  from  King 
William,  the  Lion  of  Scotland,  about  the  middle  of 
the  twelfth  century.  It  was  not  till  the  middle  of 
the  fourteenth  century  that  they  were  ennobled. 

The  throne  left  vacant  by  the  death  of  Kenneth 
appears  to  have  been  contested  from  the  first  by 
three  competitors.  Of  these,  a  son  of  Culen,  under 
the  name  of  Constantino  IV.,  is  regarded  as  having 
been  first  crowned  ;  but,  within  a  year,  he  fell  fight- 
ing against  one  of  his  rivals,  a  son  of  King  Duff, 
and  younger  brother  of  the  murdered  Prince  Mal- 
colm, who  immediately  assumed  the  sovereignty  as 
Kenneth  IV.  The  Scottish  chroniclers  call  him 
Kenneth  the  Grim.  There  was  still,  however, 
another  claimant  to  the  succession  of  Kenneth  III., 
Malcolm  the  son  of  that  king,  whom  his  father  had 
designed  to  be  his  heir,  and  invested  as  such  with 
the  principality  of  Cumberland  after  the  violent 
removal  of  his  cousin,  the  other  Malcolm.  The 
two  competitors  met  at  last,  in  a.d.  1003,  at  Moni- 
vaird,  when  a  battle  took  place,  in  which  Kenneth 
the  Grim  lost  both  the  day  and  his  life  along  with  it. 

The  vigorous  line  of  Kenneth  III.  was  now  again 
seated  on  the  throne  in  the  person  of  Malcolm  II. 
The  earlier  part  of  Malcolm's  reign  appears  to  have 


The  scolptuied  stone,  commonly  called  SuENo's  Pillar,  at  Forres. 
This  stone,  which  is  twenty-five  feet  in  length  by  about  four  feet  in 
breadth  at  the  base,  is  the  most  remarkable  of  the  ancient  sculptured 
stones  found  along  the  cast  coast  of  Scotland.  The  side  hore  repre- 
sented is  the  east  side,  on  which  the  sculptures  nrc  the  must  numerous. 
No  satisfactory  erplanation  has  hrrn  given  of  the  figures  ;  but  in  this 
instance  the  popular  name  by  which  the  stone  is  known,  would  seem 
lo  pnn;t  out  its  connexion  wiih  the  D;mish  invasions.  Yet  what  can 
>\  e  nuke  ol'  the  clejOiant  Iij  which  the  whole  delineation  is  surmounted  ? 


been  consumed  in  a  long  succession  of  fierce  con- 
tests with  the  Danes,  in  the  course  of  which  these 
persevering  invaderg  are  said  to  have  been  defeat- 
ed in  the  several  battles  of  Mortlach  in  Moray,  in 
the  parish  church  of  which  place  the  skulls  of  the 
slaughtered  foreigners  were,  not  many  years  ago, 
to  be  seen  built  into  the  wall — of  Aberlemno,  where 
barrows  and  sculptured  stones  are  held  still  to  pre- 
serve the  memory  and  to  point  out  the  scene  of  the 
conflict — of  Panbride,  Avhere  the  Danish  comman- 
der Camus  was  slain — and  of  Cruden,  near  Forres, 
where  a  remarkable  obelisk,  covered  with  engraven 
figures,  is  supposed,  but  probably  erroneously,  to 
have  been  erected  in  commemoration  of  the  Scottish 
victory'.  It  was  in  1020,  also,  in  the  reign  of  this 
king,  thcat  a  formal  cession  was  obtained  from  Ea- 
dulf,  the  Danish  Earl  of  Northumberland,  of  the 
portion  of  modern  Scotland  south  of  the  Forth, 
then  called  Lodonia,  the  possession  of  which  had 
for  a  long  period  been  disputed  between  the  Scots 
and  the  Saxons,  although  in  the  mean  time  such 
numbers  of  the  latter  had  settled  in  it  that  its  pop- 
ulation appears  already  to  have  become  in  the 
greater  part  Saxon,  and  the  country  itself  was  often 
called  Saxonia  or  Saxony.  Malcolm  II.,  the  ability 
of  whose  administration  was  long  held  in  respectful 
remembrance,  died  in  1033. 

This  king,  unfortunately  for  the  peaceful  success 
of  his  father's  scheme  of  changing  the  old  rule  of 
succession,  left  no  son ;  but,  imitating  his  father's 
remorseless  policy,  he  had  done  his  utmost  to  make 
matters  even  in  that  respect  between  himself  and 
the  rival  branch  of  the  royal  stock,  by  having,  a 
short  time  before  his  decease,  had  the  only  existing 
male  descendant  of  Kenneth  the  Grim,  a  son  of 
his  son  Boidhe,  put  in  the  most  effectual  manner 
out  of  the  way.  In  these  circumstances  no  oppo- 
sition appears  to  have  been  made  in  the  first  in- 
stance to  the  accession  of  Duncan,  the  grandson  of 
Malcolm  II.,  by  his  daughter  Bethoc  or  Beatrice, 
who  was  married  to  Crinan,  Abbot  of  Dunkeld — in 
those  days  a  personage  of  great  eminence  in  the 
state.  Boidhe,  however,  besides  the  son  who  was 
murdered,  had  left  a  daughter,  Gruoch ;  and  this 
lady  had  other  wrongs  to  avenge  besides  those  of 
the  line  from  which  she  was  sprung.  Her  first 
husband,  Gilcomcain,  marmor  or  chief  of  Moray, 
having  been  defeated  in  an  attempt  to  support  the 
cause  of  his  wife's  family  by  arms  against  King 
Malcolm,  had  been  burnt  in  his  castle  along  with 
fifty  of  his  friends,  when  she  herself  had  to  fly  for 
her  life,  with  her  infant  son  Lulach.  She  sought 
shelter  in  the  remoter  district  of  Ross,  of  which  the 
famous  Macbeth  appears  to  have  then  been  the  he- 
reditary lord,  maintaining  probably  within  his  bounds 
an  all  but  nominal  independence  of  the  royal  au- 
thority, if  he  and  his  people  indeed  even  professed 
to  acknowledge  the  sovereignty  of  the  Scottisli 
king.  Thif!  part  of  Scotland,  it  may  be  remember- 
ed, had  been  torn  scarcely  a  century  before  from 
Constantino  II.  by  the  Danes,  and  Macbeth  him- 
self may  possibly  have  been  of  Danish  lineage.  Bi* 
this  as  it  may,  to  him  the  Lady  Gruoch  now  gave 
her  hand.     She  is  the  Lady  Macbeth,  made  fnniillar 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


211 


to  us  all  by  the  wonderful  drama  of  Shakspeare. 
It  would  appear  that  for  some  time  after  the  acces- 
sion of  Duncan,  Macbeth  and  his  wife  had  feigned 
an  acquiescence  in  his  title,  and  had  probably  even 
won  the  confidence  of  the  good  and  unsuspecting 
king  (the  pure-breathed  Duncan,  as  he  is  designated 
in  Celtic  song)  by  their  services  or  professions. 
The  end  of  their  plot,  however,  was,  that  Duncan 
was  barbarously  assassinated  in  1039,  not,  as  Shak- 
speare has  it,  in  Macbeth's  castle  at  Inverness,  but 
at  a  place  called  Bothgouanan,  near  Elgin.'  Mac- 
beth immediately  mounted  the  throne,  and  the  ac- 
counts of  the  oldest  chroniclers  give  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  he  filled  it  both  ably  and  to  the  general 
satisfaction  of  the  people.  A  usurper  may  be  con- 
sidered to  give  proof  of  ability  by  his  successful 
attempt;  and  the  original  defect  of  his  title  will 
often  force  him  to  seek  support  by  the  wisdom  and 
beneficence  of  his  government.  The  partisans  of 
the  race  of  Kenneth  III.,  however,  resisted  the 
new  king  from  the  first;  for  Duncan  had  left  two 
sons,  the  elder  of  whom,  Malcolm,  fled  on  his  fath- 
er's assassination  to  Cumberland,  and  the  younger, 
Donald,  to  the  Western  Isles.  One  revolt  in  favor 
of  Malcolm's  restoration  was  headed  by  his  grand- 
father, the  Abbot  of  Dunkeld ;  but  this  and  several 
other  similar  attempts  failed.  At  length,  in  1054, 
Macduff,  marmor  or  chief  (improperly  called  by 
later  wi'iters  Thane)  of  Fife,  his  patriotism  inflamed, 
it  is  said,  by  some  personal  injuries,  called  to  arms 
his  numerous  retainers ;  and  Siward,  the  Danish 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  whose  sister  Duncan  had 
married,  having  joined  him  at  the  head  of  a  formi- 
dable force,  the  two  advanced  together  upon  Mac- 
beth. Their  first  encounter  appears  to  have  taken 
pLace,  as  tradition  and  Shakspeare  agree  in  repre- 
senting, in  the  neighborhood  of  Dunsinan  Hill  in  An- 
gus, on  the  summit  of  which  Macbeth  probably  had  a 
stronghold.^  Defeated  here,  the  usurper  retreated 
to  the  fastnesses  of  the  north,  where  he  appears  to 
have  proti-acted  the  war  for  about  two  years  longer. 
His  last  place  of  refuge  is  supposed  to  have  been  a 
forti'ess  in  a  solitary  valley  in  the  parish  of  Lunfa- 
nan,  in  Aberdeenshire.  In  this  neighborhood  he 
was  attacked  by  the  forces  under  the  command  of 
Macduff"  and  Malcolm,  on  the  5th  of  December, 
1056,  and  fell  in  the  fight,  struck  down,  it  is  said, 
by  the  hand  of  Macduff.  His  followers,  however, 
did  not  even  yet  everywhere  throw  down  their 
firms.  They  immediately  set  up  as  Jiing  Lulach, 
the  son  of  Lady  Macbeth,  who  indeed,  as  descended 
from  Duff  the  elder  son  of  Malcolm  I.  in  the  same 
degree  in  which  his  rival  was  descended  from  Mal- 
colm's younger  son,  Kenneth  HI.,  might  be  aflfirmed 
to  have  had  the  better  right  to  the  throne  of  the 
two.     Lulach,  however,  a  fugitive  all  the  while  that 

•  "  The  word  Bothgouanan  means  in  Gaehc,  the  Smith's  Dwelhng. 
It  is  probable  that  the  assassins  lay  in  ambush,  and  murdered  him  at 
a  smith's  house  in  the  neighborhood  of  Elgin." — Haile's  Annals,  i.  1. 
(Edit.  ofl819.) 

'  The  foundations  of  an  ancient  store  building  are  still  to  be  found 
buried  in  the  soil  on  the  top  of  the  hill.  Dunsinan  is  about  eight 
miles  north-east  from  Perth ;  the  hill  is  of  very  regular  shape,  and 
although  more  than  a  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  it  has 
been  supposed  to  be  in  great  part  artificial. — See  Chalmers'  Caledonia, 
vol.  i. 


he  was  a  king,  did  not  long  bear  the  empty  title  that 
thus  mocked  his  fortunes.  His  forces  and  those  of 
Malcolm  met  on  the  3d  of  April,  1057,  at  Eassie,  in 
Angus ;  and  that  day  ended  his  life,  and  also  broke 
for  ever  the  power  of  his  faction.  In  a  few  days 
after  this  (on  the  25th  of  April,  the  Festival  of  St. 
Mark)  Malcolm  HI.  was  crowned  at  Scone.  But 
the  history  of  his  reign  belongs  to  the  next  period. 

It  will  be  convenient  also,  before  we  close  the 
present  chapter,  to  turn  for  a  few  moments  to  the 
course  of  events  in  Ireland,  which,  although  not 
politically  connected  with  England  in  the  period 
under  review,  had  already  acquired  a  remarkable 
celebrity,  and  begun  to  maintain  a  considerable  in- 
tercourse both  with  Britain  and  with  continental 
Europe.  Taking  up  the  history  of  Ireland  at  the 
point  where  we  left  it  in  the  Introduction,  we  find 
the  country  at  the  commencement  of  our  era  sub- 
jected to  the  rule  of  the  Scots,  a  foreign  people, 
who  had  wrested  the  supreme  dominion  of  it  from 
the  Tuatli  de  Danans,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
latter  had  displaced  their  predecessors  the  Firbolgs, 
with  which  last  mentioned  occupants  the  first  glim- 
merings of  historic  light  break  through  the  confu- 
sion and  darkness  of  the  national  traditions.  The 
fables  of  the  bards,  indeed,  make  mention  of  three 
still  earlier  races  by  whom  the  island  was  succes- 
sively colonized — the  Partholans,  so  called  from 
their  leader  Partholan,  a  descendant  of  Japhet,  who 
arrived  four  hundred  years  after  the  flood ; — the 
Nemedians,  who  came  from  the  Euxine  three  cen- 
turies afterwards  ; — and  the  Fomorians,  from  Africa, 
who  were  the  immediate  predecessors  of  the  Fir- 
bolgs. But  all  that  can  be  gathered  from  the  chaos 
of  wild  inventions  which  forms  this  first  part  of  the 
Irish  story  is,  that  probably  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Firbolgs  the  country  had  been  peopled  by  that 
Celtic  race  to  which  the  great  body  of  its  popula- 
tion still  continues  to  belong.  These  primitive 
Celtic  colonists,  whose  blood,  whose  speech,  whose 
manners  and  customs  remain,  in  spite  of  all  subse- 
quent foreign  infusions,  dominant  throughout  the 
island  to  this  day,  would  seem  to  be  the  Partholans 
of  the  legendary  account.  The  Fomorians,  again, 
who  came  from  Africa,  were  perhaps  the  Pheni- 
cians  or  Carthaginians.  The  Nemedians,  the  Tuath 
de  Danans,  the  Firbolgs,  and  the  Scots  or  Milesians, 
are  afifirmed  to  have  all  been  of  the  same  race, 
which  was  different  from  that  of  the  Partholans ;  a 
statement  which  is  most  easily  explained  by  suppo- 
sing that  all  these  subsequent  bodies  of  colonists  or 
invaders  were  of  the  Gothic  or  Teutonic  stock,  and 
came,  as  indeed  the  bardic  narrativfe  makes  them  to 
have  done,  from  the  north  of  continental  Europe. 
It  seems,  at  all  events,  to  be  ijiost  probable  that  the 
Scots  were  a  Gothic  people ;  Scythae,  Scoti,  Gothi, 
Getae,  indeed  appear  to  be  only  different  forms  of 
the  same  word.'  The  Scots  are  supposed,  by  the 
ablest  inquirers,  not  to  have  made  their  appearance 
in  Ireland  very  long  before  the  commencement  of 
our  era,  if  their  colonization  be  not,  indeed,  a  still 
more  recent  event;  for  we  believe  no  trace  of  their 

1  See  this  matter  very  ably  treated  in  Pinkerton's  Dissertation  on 
the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Scythians  or  Goths,  Part  i.  chap.  I. 


212 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


occupation  is  to  be  discovered  before  the  second  or 
third  century.  From  the  fourth  century  down  to 
the  eleventh — tlmt  is,  during  the  whole  of  the  pe- 
riod with  which  we  are  at  present  engaged — Ire- 
land was  known  by  the  name  of  Scotia  or  Scotland, 
and  the  Irish  generally  by  that  of  the  Scoti  or  Scots; 
nor  till  the  close  of  the  tenth  century  were  these 
names  ever  otherwise  applied.'  If  the  Scots  of 
North  Britain  were  spoken  of,  they  were  so  desig- 
nated as  being  considered  to  be  a  colony  of  Irish. 

The  bardic  account,  however,  carries  back  the 
arrival  of  the  Scotic  colony,  under  the  conduct  of 
Heber  and  Heremon  the  sons  of  Milesius,  to  a  much 
more  ancient  date ;  and  the  modern  inquirers  who 
have  endeavored  to  settle  the  chronology  of  that 
version  of  the  story  have  assigned  the  event,  in  the 
most  moderate  of  their  calculations,  to  the  fifth  or 
sixth  century  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  Others 
place  it  nearly  a  thousand  years  earlier.  It  is  re- 
lated that  the  two  brothers  at  first  divided  the  island 
between  them,  Heber,  the  elder,  taking  to  himself 
Leinster  and  Munster,  and  Heremon  getting  Ulster 
and  Connaught ;  but,  in  imitation  of  Romulus  and 
Remus  (if  we  ought  not  rather  to  suppose  the  Irish 
to  have  been  the  prototype  of  the  classic  incident), 
they  afterwards  quarreled,  and,  Heber  having  been 
slain,  Heremon  became  sole  sovereign.  From  him 
is  deduced  a  regular  succession  of  monarchs  of  all 
Ireland  down  to  Kimbaoth,  who  is  reckoned  the  fifty- 
seventh  in  the  list,  and  is  said  to  have  reigned  about 
two  hundred  years  before  our  era.  Besides  the 
supreme  monarch,  it  is  admitted  that  there  were 
always  four  subordinate  kings,  reigning  each  over  his 
province  ;  and  the  history  is  made  up  in  great  part 
of  the  wars  of  these  reguli,  not  only  with  one  another, 
but  frequently  also  with  their  common  sovereign 
lord.  Tacitus  relates  that  one  of  the  reguli  of  Ire- 
land, who  had  been  driven  from  his  country  by  some 
domestic  revolution,  came  over  to  Britain  to  Agri- 
cola,  who  kept  him  with  him  under  the  semblance 
of  friendship,  in  the  hope  of  some  time  or  other 
havjng  an  opportunity  of  making  use  of  him.  It  was 
the  opinion  of  Agricola  that  Ireland  might  have  been 
conquered  and  kept  in  subjection  by  a  single  legion 
and  a  few  auxiliaries.  Tacitus  observes,  however, 
that  its  ports  and  harbors  were  better  known  than 
those  of  Britain,  through  the  merchants  that  resorted 
to  them  and  the  extent  of  their  foreign  commerce.^ 

We  need  not  further  pursue  the  obscure  and 
undoubtedly  in  great  part  fabulous  annals  of  the 
country  before  the  introduction  of  Christianity.  It 
is  probable  that  some  knowledge  of  the  Christian 
rehgion  had  penetrated  to  Ireland  before  the  mission 
of  St.  Patrick ;  but  it  was  by  the  labors  of  that 
celebrated  personage  that  the  general  conversion  of 
the  people  was  effected  in  the  early  part  of  the  fifth 
century.  The  first  Christian  king  of  Ireland  was 
Leogaire,  or  Laogaire  Mac  Neil,  whose  reign  is 
etated  to  have  extended  from  a.d.  428  to  a.d.  463. 
The  twenty-ninth  king,  counting  from  him,   was 

i  See  this  completely  established,  and  all  the  authorities  collected, 
in  Pinkerton's  Enquiry,  Part  t.  chap.  4. 
2  Agric.  84. 


Donald  III.,  who  reigned  from  a.d.  743  to  a.d.  763. 
It  was  in  his  time  (in  a.d.  748)  that  the  Danes  or 
Northmen  made  their  first  descent  upon  Ireland. 
In  815,  in  the  reign  of  Aodhus  V.,  these  invaders 
obtained  a  fixed  settlement  in  Armagh ;  and  thirty 
years  afterwards,  their  leader,  Turgesius,  or  Tur- 
ges,  a  Norwegian,  was  proclaimed  king  of  all  Ireland. 
At  length  a  general  massacre  of  the  foreigners  led 
to  the  restoration  of  the  line  of  the  native  princes. 
But  new  bands  speedily  arrived  from  the  north  to 
avenge  their  countrymen ;  and  in  a  few  j-ears  all 
the  chief  ports  and  towns  throughout  the  south  and 
along  the  east  coast  were  again  in  their  hands.  The 
struggle  between  the  two  races  for  the  dominion 
of  the  country  continued  with  little  intermission 
and  with  various  fortune  for  more  than  a  century 
and  a  half,  although  the  Danes,  too,  had  embraced 
Christianity  about  the  year  948.  The  closing  period 
of  the  long  contest  is  illustrated  by  the  heroic  deeds 
of  the  renowned  Brien  Boroimhe,  or  Boru,  the 
"  Brien  the  Brave"  of  song,  who  was  first  king  of 
Munster,  and  afterwards  king  of  all  Ireland.  He 
occupied  the  national  throne  from  1003  to  1014,  in 
which  latter  year  he  fell,  sword  in  hand,  at  the  age 
of  eighty-eight,  in  the  great  battle  of  Clontarf,  in 
which,  however,  the  Danish  power  received  a  dis- 
comfiture from  which  it  never  recovered.  Brien, 
however,  though  his  merits  and  talents  had  raised 
him  to  the  supreme  power,  not  being  of  the  ancient 
royal  house,  is  looked  upon  as  little  better  than  a 
usurper  by  the  Irish  historians  ;  and  the  true  king  of 
this  date  is  reckoned  to  have  been  Maelsechlan  Mac 
Domhnaill,  more  manageably  written  Melachlan,  or 
Malachi,  whom  Brien  deposed.  Malachi,  too,  was 
a  great  warrior ; — the  same  patriotic  poet  who  in 
our  own  day,  and  in  our  Saxon  tongue,  has  cele- 
brated "  the  glories  of  Brien  the  Brave,"  has  also 
sung,— 

"  Let  Erin  remember  the  days  of  old, 
Ere  her  faithless  sons  betray'd  her, 
When  Malachi  wore  the  collar  of  gold 
Which  he  won  from  her  proud  invader  ;" — 

and  on  the  death  of  Brien,  Malachi  was  restored  to  the 
throne,  which  he  occupied  till  1022.  He  is  reckoned 
the  forty-second  Christian  king  of  Ireland.'  The 
interruption  of  the  regular  succession,  however,  by 
the  elevation  of  Brien,  now  brought  upon  the  coun- 
try the  new  calamity  of  a  contest  among  several 
competitors  for  the  throne  ;  and  the  death  of  Mala- 
chi was  followed  by  a  season  of  great  confusion  and 
national  misery.  The  game  was  eventually  reduced 
to  a  trial  of  strength  between  Donchad,  the  son  of 
Brien,  and  Donchad's  nephew,  Turlogh ;  and  in 
1064  Turlogh  succeeded  in  overpowering  his  uncle  ; 
who,  bidding  farewell  to  arms  and  to  ambition,  re- 
tired across  the  sea,  and  ended  his  days  as  a  monk 
at  Rome.  Turlogh,  reckoned  a  usurper  by  the  na- 
tive annalists,  but  acknowledged  to  have  ruled  the 
country  ably  and  well,  occupied  the  Irish  throne  at 
the  epoch  of  the  Norman  conquest  of  England. 

t  In  these  dates  we  have  followed  the  authority  of  the  "  Catalogs 
Chronologicus  Regum  Christianorum  Hibemiae,"  in  O'Connor's  "  Be- 
rum  Hibernicarum  Scriptores  Vetcres,"  vol.  i.pp.  lixv.,  &c 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


213 


CHAPTER  11. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


Section  I.     Saxon  Paganism. 


iHiii(i'!i|!i)iiiii|(!!!!'!ririiii 


F  the  heathenism  of 
the  Angles,  Jutes, 
and  Saxons,  the 
three  tribes  of 
northern  Germany 
that  suppHed  the 
invaders  and  con- 
querors of  Britain 
in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries,  if 
these  races  had  any 
system  of  super- 
stition pecuhar  to 
themselves,  we  can  hardly  be  said  to  know  anything. 
But  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  their  mj  thology 
was  the  same  which  is  known  to  have  flourished  at 
the  same  period,  or  not  long  after,  among  their  kin- 
dred who  remained  in  their  original  seats  around  the 
Baltic.  The  historic  traditions  of  the  Saxons  as 
well  as  of  the  ancient  Danes  and  Swedes,  all  ascend 
to  and  terminate  with  Woden,  or  Odin,  the  cele- 
brated head  of  that  mythology.  This  system  is 
preserved  to  us  in  the  two  books  of  the  Edda,  the 
first  compiled  about  a.d.  1057  by  Soemund  Sig- 
fusson  ;  the  second  about  a.d.  1180  by  Snon-o  Stur- 
leson,  from  such  sacred  poems  of  the  ancient  scalds, 
or  bards  of  northern  paganism,  as  still  survived  either 
in  the  memory  of  the  people,  or  in  a  written  form. 
A  more  compendious  view  of  the  religion  of  Odin  is 
also  given  in  the  singular  poem  entitled  the  Voluspa, 
that  is,  the  Prophecy  of  Vola,  which  is  certainly 
more  ancient  than  the  second  Edda,  in  which  it  is 
often  quoted  as  an  authority,  and  is  believed,  as  well 
as  the  first  Edda,  to  be  the  composition  of  Soemund. 
In  describing  the  religion  of  the  north,  therefore, 
we  are  not,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Druids,  left  to  the 
vague  inferences  that  may  be  drawn  from  a  few 
notices,  probably  in  many  respects  mistaken,  left  to 
us  by  wi'iters  of  another  creed,  of  doctrines  which 
their  votaries  anxiously  endeavored  to  conceal  from 
the  uninitiated ;  but  we  have  the  fullest  information 
on  all  the  particulars  of  the  system  from  the  most 
competent  authorities,  its  believers  and  professors 
themselves. 

When  we  attempt,  however,  to  investigate  its 
earliest  history,  we  are  encountered  by  the  same 
difficulties  that  are  found  to  exist  in  the  case  of 
every  similar  creed.  I^he  source  from  whence  it 
issued,  the  period  of  its  first  promulgation,  and  the 
agents  by  whom  it  was  planted  in  the  several  coun- 
tries where  it  flourished,  are  historical  difficulties 
that  still  remain  to  be  settled.  Instead  of  facts,  we 
are  here  presented  with  fables  which  it  is  impossible 
to  restore  to  their  original  truth  ;  and  for  the  earthly 
founder  of  a  religion,  we  have  a  shadowy  form  armed 


with  the  atti'ibutes  of  divinity,  and  receiving  divine 
honors  after  a  life  of  miracles  on  earth.  The  most 
probable  account  that  can  be  given  of  the  matter  ap- 
pears to  be  the  following : — Sigge,  the  son  of  Fri- 
dulph,  chief  of  the  Asi,  a  Scythian  tribe,  originally 
perhaps  from  the  north  of  Persia,  being  oppressed, 
in  common  with  the  other  chieftains  of  the  country 
to  the  north  of  the  Euxine,  by  Pompey,  at  the  close 
of  the  Mithridatic  war,  in  the  century  immediately 
preceding  our  era,  resolved  to  maintain  his  liberty 
by  abandoning  the  land  of  his  fathers.  Gathering, 
therefore,  his  people  together,  he  led  them  in  safety 
from  the  Euxine  to  the  shores  of  the  Baltic.  There 
he  found  a  country  far  wilder  than  that  he  had 
abandoned,  and  a  scanty  population,  inferior  in  arts 
and  arms  to  his  warlike  Scythians.  The  result  of  su- 
perior knowledge  was  soon  exhibited.  The  houseless 
fugitive  became  a  conqueror — the  martyr  to  liberty 
an  enslaver  of  nations.  In  a  short  period  the  sub- 
jugation of  the  surrounding  regions  attested  the 
power  of  his  arms,  while,  by  his  superior  intelli- 
gence, he  endeavored  to  civilize  those  tribes  which 
his  valor  had  subdued.^ 

It  was  natural,  under  these  circumstances,  that 
the  son  of  Fridulph  should  become  a  god.  A  rude 
and  credulous  people  would  easily  be  persuaded  to 
deify  a  mortal  who  had  come  thus  strangely  among 
them,  and  wi'ought  so  wonderful  a  revolution  in  their 
social  condition.  The  resistless  conqueror  was  also  a 
poet,  a  sage,  a  legislator,  and  a  priest ;  and  while  his 
powers  of  persuasion  are  described  as  miraculous, 
he  is  supposed  also  to  have  distinctly  claimed  a 
divine  commission.  Political  expediency  might 
suggest  to  him  such  a  step,  to  bind  more  firmly  the 
tribes  he  had  conquered  by  a  common  religion.  In 
this  manner  Sigge,  the  conqueror  and  lawgiver  of 
the  north,  is  supposed  to  have  become  Odin,  its  pre- 
siding deity.  Whether  this  was  the  name  of  the 
supreme  being  whom  the  northern  tribes  had  wor- 
shiped before  his  arrival,  and  which  he  was  after- 
wards pleased  to  assume,  is  uncertain.*  His  chil- 
dren, who  were  numerous,  were  invested  by  him 
with  the  govei'nment  of  the  conquered  provinces ; 
and  it  was  natural  that  they  should  subsequently 
find  a  place  in  the  same  mythology  which  had  origi- 
nated in  the  deification  of  their  sire.  This  was  but 
a  new  form  of  the  Cretan  Jupiter  and  his  offspring. 
The  end  of  the  ambitious  Scythian  was  well  fitted 
to  complete  and  consolidate  his  fabric  of  delusion. 
Finding  his  death  approaching,  he  inflicted  nine 
wounds  in  a  circle  upon  his  body,  and  telhng  his 
people  that  he  was  departing  to  his  native  land  to 
become  a  god,  he  expired.' 

1  Mallet's  Northern  Antiquities,  chap.  iv. 

2  Ibid.  ch.  \-i.  3  Ibid.  cb.  iv. 


214 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  11.- 


In  considering  the  career  of  this  remarkable  per- 
sonage, the  imagination  naturally  turns  to  the  mys- 
terious history  of  the  first  Peruvian  Inca.  But 
a  still  closer  parallel  is  to  be  found  between  the 
Scythian  Odin  and  the  Arabian  Mohammed.  Both 
were  impostors  upon  a  gigantic  scale,  and  influenced 
the  destinies  of  a  large  portion  of  the  human  race. 
Under  their  auspices,  the  tribes  of  the  east  and  the 
north  were  brought  together,  and  inspired  for  the 
momentous  part  they  were  in  due  season  called 
upon  to  act  in  the  drama  of  the  world,  when  they 
came  in  their  irresistible  might  to  destroy,  that 
they  might  regenerate.  The  philosophy  of  history 
scarcely  presents  a  more  interesting  subject  of  con- 
jecture than  the  probable  fate  of  the  civilized  world, 
had  the  two  great  superstitions  sent  forth  their 
myriads  simultaneously.  What  would  have  been 
the  issue  to  the  human  race,  had  they  met  upon 
the  great  battle-field  of  the  Roman  empire,  to  con- 
tend with  equal  valor  and  fanaticism,  while  the  pos- 
session of  the  earth  itself  was  the  prize  in  question  ? 

It  is  proper  to  mention,  however,  that  the  chro- 
nology of  Odin's  emigration  has  been  a  subject  of 
much  controversy.  While  Mallet  has  placed  the 
event  as  early  as  the  time  of  Pompey,'  others  have 
postponed  it  till  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  centuiy. 
It  is  probable  that  more  than  one  victorious  conqueror 
or  subtle  priest  assumed  the  name  of  Odin,  and  that 
in  process  of  time  their  several  qualities  and  exploits 
came  all  to  be  attributed  to  the  first,  just  as  the 
achievements  of  several  Greek  champions,  all  assum- 
ing the  name  of  Hercules,  were  bestowed  upon  a 
single  hero.  This  supposition  will  also  explain  the 
circumstance  of  several  northern  warriors  having 
asserted  their  descent  from  Odin  at  the  distance  of 
only  four  or  five  generations,  at  a  date  so  recent  as 
the  Saxon  invasion  of  England.'^ 

The  religious  system  which  the  Scythian  legis- 
lator established  was,  no  doubt,  amplified  in  a  more 
advanced  age  by  the  united  efforts  of  priest^  and 
poets,  although  in  every  stage  it  continued  to  cor- 
respond with  the  character  of  its  ferocious  votaries. 
Its  breath  is  that  of*  a  furnace,  and  its  "  voice  is  still 
for  war."  A  wild  grandeur  as  well  as  a  solemn 
gloom  pervades  it,  harmonizing  with  the  scenery  of 
its  native  home ;  and  its  iimtastic  arraj-  of  tales  and 
miracles  was  well  adapted  to  the  understandings  of 
a  people  too  ignorant  to  philosophize,  and  too  indo- 
lent to  cavil.  Occasionally,  too,  there  irradiate  from 
its  darkness  those  emanations  of  tnith  which  are 
found  in  mythologies  even  the  most  depraved,  and 
which  appear  to  evince  by  their  purity  that  they 
are  light  from  heaven.  These  are  most  probably  the 
relics  of  the  simple  theism  of  the  patriarchal  era. 
Even  the  Edda,  here  probably  following  the  original 
belief  of  the  rude  children  of  the  north,  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Scythian,  describes  the  supreme 
Divinity  as  "  The  author  of  everything  that  exists  ; 
the  eternal,  the  ancient,  the  living  and  awful  Being ; 

1  This  opinion  is  favored  by  Snorro  Sturieson,  the  Icelaodic  his- 
torian who  flourished  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  by  the  modem 
Torfieus. 

3  Another  theory,  however,  is,  that  Odin  never  existed,  and  is  merely 
a  mythological  personage,— the  god  of  war.  See  this  view  supported 
by  Pinkerton  in  his  "  Dissertation  on  the  Scythians,"  Part  ii.  chap.  5. 


the  searcher  into  concealed  things  ;  the  Being  who 
never  changes — who  lives  and  governs  during  the 
ages ;  who  directs  everything  that  is  high  and  eve- 
rj'thing  that  is  low."  But  far  difterent  are  the  at- 
tributes of  Odin.  He  is  called  "  The  terrible  and 
severe  god ;  the  father  of  slaughter ;  the  god  that 
carries  desolation  and  fire ;  the  active  and  roaring 
deity ;  he  who  gives  victory  and  revives  courage  in 
the  conflict ;  who  names  those  that  are  to  be  slain." 
Such  a  divinity  was  more  suited  to  the  imaginations 
of  a  people  who  continually  rushed  hke  eagles  to  the 
slaughter.  Tlie  former  could  rule  alone ;  and, 
therefore,  by  his  simple  votaries  he  was  contem- 
plated without  the  intervention  of  a  delegate,  and 
worshiped  without  an  image.  But  the  Odin  of  the 
subsequent  mythology'  required  the  aid  of  associates, 
and  therefore  his  followers  liberally  furnished  him 
with  deputies,  for  the  various  operations  of  heaven 
and  earth.  Frigga,  or  Frea,  his  wfe,  was  the  god- 
dess of  love,  pleasure,  and  sensuaHty.  Thor  con- 
trolled the  tempests,  Balder  was  the  god  of  light, 
Kiord  of  the  waters,  Tyr  of  champions,  Brage  of 
orators  and  poets,  and  Heimdal  was  the  janitor  of 
heaven,  and  the  guardian  of  the  rainbow.  Eleven 
gods  in  all,  and  as  many  goddesses,  all  the  children 
of  Odin  and  Frea,  assisted  their  parents,  and  were, 
like  them,  objects  of  worship. 

These,  however,  would  still  have  formed  but  a 
scanty  polytheism ;  and  when  fancy  assumes  the 
right  of  creating  gods,  the  limits  are  only  determined 
by  its  own  activity.  An  immense  array  of  inferior 
divinities  followed.  There  were  three  Fates  by 
whom  the  career  of  men  were  predestined ;  and 
every  individual  was  supposed,  besides,  to  have  a 
Fate  attending  him,  by  whom  his  life  was  controlled 
and  its  end  determined.  There  were  also  the  Val- 
keries,  a  species  of  inferior  goddesses,  who  acted  as 
celestial  attendants,  and  who  were  also  employed  by 
Odin  to  determine  victory  and  select  the  warriors 
who  were  to  perish.  And  in  addition  to  all  these 
there  was  the  usual  corruption  of  the  idea  of  an 
all-pervading  Providence  in  the  Genii  and  Spirits, 
who  mingled  in  every  event,  and  were  possessed 
of  supernatural  power  whether  to  bless  or  injure. 
The  necessary  concomitant  of  infernal  agents  was 
also  appended  to  the  creed.  Their  personification 
of  the  evil  principle  was  Lok,  sometimes  deprecated 
as  a  god,  and  always  dreaded  as  an  enemy,  whom 
the  deities,  in  consequence  of  his  malignity,  had 
been  constrained  to  shut  up  in  a  cavern.  He  is  de- 
scribed in  the  Edda  as  beautiful  in  form,  but  depraved 
in  character ;  "  the  calumniator  of  the  gods,  the 
grand  contriver  of  deceit  and  frauds,  the  reproach 
of  gods  and  men."  The  goddess  Hela,  the  wolf 
Fenris,  the  great  Dragon,  the  Giants,  and  the  ma- 
lignant Genii,  completed  the  dark  array  of  their 
mythology. 

On  the  subject  of  a  future  state,  the  religion  of 
the  north  was  particularly  explicit ;  and  a  heaven 
was  formed  congenial  to  a  people  whose  chief  em- 
ployment and  greatest  pleasure  was  battle.  Those 
who  had  led  a  life  of  heroism  or  perished  bravely  in 
fight,  ascended  to  Valhalla,  and  the  felicity  -which 
awaited  them  there  was  rapture  to  the  imagination 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


215 


of  a  Dane  or  a  Saxon.  The  day  was  spent  in  furious 
conflict,  amidst  the  struggle  of  armies  and  the  cleav- 
ing of  B-iields ;  but  at  evening  the  conflict  ceased ; 
every  wound  was  suddenly  healed ;  and  the  con- 
tending warriors  sat  down  to  the  banquet,  where 
they  feasted  on  the  exhaustless  flesh  of  the  boar 
Scrimner,  and  drank  huge  draughts  of  mead  from 
the  skulls  of  their  enemies.  But  the  wicked,  by 
which  term  the  cowardly  and  the  slothful  were 
chiefly  intimated,  were  doomed  to  the  miseries  of 
Niflheim.^  There  Hela  dwelt,  and  exercised  her 
terrible  supremacy.  Her  palace  was  Anguish,  her 
table  Famine,  her  waiters  Expectation  and  Delay, 
the  threshold  of  her  door  was  Precipice,  her  bed 
was  Leanness,  and  her  look  struck  terror  into  every 
beholder. 

It  is  here  that  a  creed  generally  terminates  ;  but 
at  this  point  the  northern  mythology  only  finds  a 
resting-place  for  a  moment.  A  fresh  flight  is  com- 
menced, and  a  new  revelation  more  mysterious  and 
more  august  than  the  former  is  unfolded.  That 
bliss  and  those  punishments  are  not  eternal,  but 
only  for  a  season.  After  ages  have  revolved,  and 
when  time  has  arrived  at  its  close,  terrible  signs  in 
heaven  and  earth  are  to  announce  the  coming 
dissolution ;  while  the  human  race,  unsuspicious  of 
the  danger,  shall  be  involved  in  universal  depravity. 
And  then  comes  the  end.  The  malignant  powers, 
so  long  constrained,  are  to  burst  from  their  en- 
thralment ;  the  gods  are  to  perish  beneath  their 
fierce  assault,  or  in  despair,  and  by  mutual  wounds ; 
even  Odin  himself  expires,  while  a  conflagration 
bursts  forth,  in  which  Valhalla,  and  the  world,  and 
the  place  of  penal  anguish,  with  all  their  divine 
and  human  inhabitants,  are  to  be  consumed  and 
pass  away.  But  from  this  second  chaos  a  new 
world  is  to  emerge  in  its  youthful  grandeur,  with  a 
heaven  more  glorious  than  Valhalla,  and  a  hell  more 
fearful  than  Niflheim ;  while  over  all  a  God  appears 
preeminent  and  alone,  possessed  of  greater  might 
and  nobler  atti-ibutes  than  Odin.  Then,  too,  the 
human  race  are  finally  to  be  tried,  when  higher 
virtues  than  bravery,  and  heavier  guilt  than  cow- 
ardice, are  to  form  the  standard  of  good  and  evil. 
The  righteous  shall  then  be  received  into  Gimle, 
while  the  bad  shall  be  doomed  to  the  unutterable 
punishments  of  Nastrande ;  and  either  state  shall 
continue  through  eternity,  under  the  reign  of  Him 
who  is  eternal. 

In  this  strange  system  it  is  interesting  to  mark 
the  existence  of  two  distinct  creeds,  united,  yet  not 
incorporated ;  the  one  simple  and  spiritual,  the 
other  extravagant  and  sensual.  In  other  creeds  a 
complete  amalgamation  has  been  accomplished 
between  the  first  principles  of  pure  rehgion  and 
the  adventitious  corruptions  of  succeeding  periods, 
because,  in  these,  the  progi-ess  from  primeval  truth 
to  error  has  been  the  gi-adual  work  of  ages.  In 
that  case,  though  a  few  of  those  original  principles 
are  suff'ered  to  remain,  which  form  the  common 
basis  of  every  system  of  religious  belief,  yet  the 
fables  that  gather  upon  them  become  gradually  so 

1  Even  the  god  Balder,  because  he  died  a  natural  death,  was  con- 
iigned  to  the  dominion  of  Hela,    Edda,  Fab.  29. 


identified  with  the  whole,  that  they  can  scarcely  be 
recognized  or  separated  from  the  general  mass. 
But  in  the  system  of  Odin  there  is  nothing  of  thiri 
complete  intermixture  and  amalgamation.  Here 
there  is  only  one  system  superinduced  upon 
another,  while  each  remains  separate  and  distinct. 
The  coming  of  the  ferocious  and  popular  creed 
from  Scythia  resembled  the  sudden  rush  of  a  lava 
torrent  rather  than  the  gradual  concretion  of  a 
fresh  soil ;  and  under  its  hard  and  gloomy  surface 
we  can  discover  the  layer  of  earth  still  unmixed 
that,  before  the  inundation,  was  the  source  of  beauty 
and  sustenance.  The  son  of  Fridulph,  though  he 
found  in  his  new  home  a  people  far  inferior  to  his 
own,  yet  found  them  possessed  of  a  higher  system 
of  religion  than  was  known  to  his  more  accom- 
plished countrymen ;  and  some  of  its  principles  he 
adopted,  while  the  rest  he  tacitly  sanctioned,  or 
left  undisturbed,  in  the  propagation  of  his  new 
creed.  It  is  thus,  perhaps,  that  we  are  to  account 
for  the  discourse  ascribed  to  him  called  the  "  Hava- 
maal,"  ^  containing  a  morality  not  only  superior  to 
his  general  precepts,  but  even  at  variance  witli 
their  tenor;  and  thus  also  in  the  Edda  have  the 
singularly  clear  traditions  of  chaos,  the  creation  of 
man,  the  deluge,  and  the  restoration  of  the  world, 
come  to  be  mingled  with  the  wildest  fables.  Thus, 
above  all,  may  we  solve  the  otherwise  incompre- 
hensible anomaly  of  the  northern  creed,  where  we 
recognize  so  distinctly  the  existence  of  two  chief 
deities,  the  one  a  warrior-god  surrounded  by  his 
assistant  powers,  and  doomed  to  perish, — the  other 
a  more  spiritual  and  exalted  Being,  who  reigns 
alone,  and  shall  live  for  ever;  together  with  the 
two-fold  standard  of  good  and  evil,  the  double 
heaven,  and  the  double  hell.  When  truth  and 
error  thus  come  into  competition  the  result  may 
easily  be  anticipated.  The  former,  severe  and  un- 
compromising in  its  authority,  is  supplanted  by  the 
indulgences  of  the  latter ;  and  the  primitive  sim- 
phcity  of  its  ritual  is  soon  eclipsed  by  gay  festivals 
and  splendid  processions.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that,  among  the  fierce  worshipers  of  Odin,  we  can 
discover  no  practical  results  of  that  patriarchal  faith 
that  lay  immediately  beneath  the  surface  of  their 
own  system.  Their  tempest-breathing  god,  and 
his  paradise  of  battles,  though  these  were  finally  to 
be  consumed,  were  more  attractive  than  the  excel- 
lencies of  a  more  spiritual  deity,  and  the  eternity 
of  a  purer  heaven. 

The  rites  of  the  popular  worship  accorded  with 
the  spirit  of  such  a  grim  theologj-.  In  Germany, 
in  Denmark,  in  Sweden,  and  Norway,  there  were 
temples  of  colossal  size  but  rugged  workmanship, 
in  which  Odin  was  represented  by  a  gigantic  image 
armed,  and  crowned,  and  brandishing  a  naked 
sword;  his  wife  Frea  as  an  hermaphrodite;  Thor 
wearing  a  crown  of  stars,  and  wielding  his  terrible 
mace ;  and  the  other  gods  and  goddesses  delineated 
according  to  their  respective  attributes.  Songs 
composed  under  that  wild  inspiration  which  charac- 
terized the  muse  of  the  north  were  chanted  in  their 
praise;   and,   as  in  other  rituals,  animals  deemed 

1  Mallet's  Northern  Antiquities,  vol.  ii. 


216 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


most  acceptable  to  each  god  were  sacrificed,  while 
the  blood  was  sprinkled  upon  the  worshipers. 
But  sterner  offerings  than  these  were  sometimes 
deemed  necessary,  when  the  emergency  was  ur- 
gent, or  when  an  extraordinary  boon  was  asked  of 
heaven.  Human  victims  drenched  the  altar;'  and 
while  crowds  of  captives  and  slaves  were  fre- 
quently immolated,  for  the  welfare  of  the  people  at 
large,  princes  often  sacrificed  their  own  children, 
either  to  avert  a  mortal  sickness  or  secure  an  im- 
portant victory.*  As  they  beheved  that  the  exclu- 
sion from  Valhalla,  which  a  natural  death  entailed, 
could  be  avoided  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  substitute, 
every  warrior  who  could  procure  a  slave  to  put  to 
death  with  this  object,  had  a  motive  peculiarly 
powerful  for  so  horrid  a  practice.  This  fearful 
practice  of  human  sacrifice,  which  seems  to  have 
been  common  to  every  ancient  creed  of  superstition, 
was  merely  the  chmax  of  the  principle  that  as- 
cended from  a  handful  of  fruits  and  flowers,  to 
offerings  the  most  costly  and  valued.  When  a 
sacrifice  was  regarded  as  a  price,  it  was  supposed 
that  the  magnitude  of  the  gift^should  correspond 
with  the  importance  of  the  petition,  and  in  this 
view  human  hfe  was  tendered  as  the  highest 
offering  of  all. 

As  females  among  the  northern  nations  were 
regarded  with  a  veneration  elsewhere  unknown, 
and  were  supposed  to  be  chosen  receptacles  of 
divine  inspiration,  they  were  therefore  considered 
as  well  fitted  to  preside  over  the  worship  of  the 
gods.  The  daughters  of  princes  officiated  as 
priestesses  of  the  national  faith,  were  consulted  as 
the  oracles  of  heaven,  and  were  frequently  dreaded 
as  the  ministers  of  its  vengeance  ;  while  those  who 
cultivated  the  favor  of  the  malignant  divinities 
were  held  to  be  witches  of  mightier  power  and 
wilder  terrors  than  the  classical  enchantresses  of 
Thessal}^  On  the  subject  of  the  authority  of  the 
priests  among  the  German  nations  we  are  less  dis- 
tinctly informed.  Those  of  the  Saxons  were  not 
permitted  to  mount  a  horse,  or  handle  a  warlike 
weapon  f  and  this  prohibition  has  been  supposed 
to  have  been  a  mark  of  disrespect  among  a  people  so 
devoted  to  arms  ;  but  probably  it  originated  rather 
in  their  ideas  of  the  superior  sanctity  of  the  sacer- 
dotal office  than  in  any  intention  to  degrade  it. 
This  view  seems  to  be  confirmed  by  the  account  of 
Tacitus,  who  represents  the  German  priests  as  also 
invested  with  magisterial  authority.  He  informs 
us  that  they  settled  controversies,  attended  the 
armies  in  their  expeditions,  and  not  only  awarded 
punishments,  but  inflicted  them  with  their  own 
hands,  while  the  fierce  warriors  who  received  their 
stripes  endured  them  as  inflictions  from  the  hand 
of  heaven. 

The  gloomy  regions  of  the  north,  and  the  lives 
of  its  inhabitants,  alternating  between  the  extremes 
of  activity  and  repose,  had  a  strong  tendency  to 
nurse  a  superstitious  temperament.     Among  vast 

1  Mallet's  Northern  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  Dithmar's  Chronicles  of 
Merselung,  Book  i. 

*  Wormius  in  Monument.  Dan.  pp.  25,  26.  Saxo  Grammatic,  lib. 
X.  The  traditions  of  the  North  abound  in  instances  of  children  sacri- 
liced  by  their  parents.  3  Bed.  ii.  ch.  13. 


forests  of  perpetual  twihght,  among  mountains 
rugged  with  rocks  of  ice  and  crested  with  storms, 
and  the  dismal  vicissitudes  of  northern  winter.^,  the 
flitting  shadows  that  traverse  the  wild  scenery 
become  spiritual  visitants,  while  the  mysterious 
sounds  of  hill  and  valley  are  regarded  as  their 
supernatural  voices.  The  northern  nations  were 
superstitious,  not  only  from  the  scenery  in  the 
midst  of  which  they  lived,  but  from  their  religion, 
which  gave  to  every  object  and  event  a  presiding 
spirit ;  and  it  was  believed  that  from  these  super- 
natural intelligences  might  be  extorted,  not  only 
counsel  for  the  present,  but  premonition  of  the 
future.  The  direction  of  the  wind,  the  aspect  of 
the  sky,  the  flight  or  voice  of  birds,  the  entrails  of 
a  victim,  were  all  heavenly  indications,  in  which 
the  inquirers  took  counsel  of  the  gods  as  to  the 
course  of  an  enterprise,  and  endeavored  to  read  its 
issue.  The  graves  were  invoked  with  vehemence, 
and  the  dead  entreated  to  answer.  The  warrior, 
frequently  scorning  gentler  methods,  and  resolving 
to  force  a  reply,  rushed,  with  his  sword  brandished, 
into  the  storm,  that  he  might  subdue  its  guardian 
spirit,  and  compel  its  reluctant  utterance.  When 
the  knowledge  desired  was  of  high  importance,  the 
mode  of  consultation  was  proportionally  solemn. 
Men  were  stabbed  or  thrown  into  the  water  ;  and 
from  the  manner  in  which  the  blood  floAvcd,  or  the 
body  sank,  a  satisfactory  reply  was  elicited.'  They 
also  placed  great  reliance  upon  incantations ;  and 
they  had  songs  by  which  the  elements  were  con- 
trolled, and  every  evil  averted,  as  well  as  every 
benefit  obtained.  The  smith,  an  important  per- 
sonage everywhere  in  the  earliest  age  of  civilization, 
had  a  song  by  which  the  glowing  iron  beneath  his 
hammer  became  a  breastplate  impenetrable  to  every 
earthly  weapon,  and  another  by  which  the  sword 
received  a  charmed  edge  that  nothing  could  resist. 
And  when  the  bark,  filled  with  its  armed  adven- 
turers, was  ready  to  rush  forth  wherever  fortune 
might  direct  its  course,  a  sure  promise  of  favorable 
winds  and  a  rich  harvest  of  plunder  was  supposed 
to  be  secured,  from  the  chant  of  some  withered 
beldame  sent  after  it  as  it  left  the  port.  The  same 
superstition  that  inspired  the  most  trancendent 
daring  could  also  depress  its  votaries  into  childish 
timidity.  Those  cheeks  would  turn  pale  at  the 
untoward  chattering  of  a  bird,  which  no  earthly 
danger  could  blanch ;  and  an  adverse  fold  in  the 
entrails  of  a  sacrifice  stayed  that  projected  expedi- 
tion, of  which  the  danger  and  the  difficulty  com- 
posed the  highest  charm. 

Such  were  the  general  principles  and  observances 
of  that  religion  which  appears  to  have  generally 
prevailed  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  north.  AVe 
find,  however,  that  they  were  subject  to  great 
modifications,  according  to  the  situation  and  circum- 
stances of  the  several  tribes.  They  were  of  a  more 
sanguinary  complexion,  and  clothed  with  wilder 
terrors,  among  the  reckless  followers  of  the  sea- 
kings,  than  among  those  who  dwelt  on  shore  ;  and 
amidst  the  dark  recesses  of  Noi'way,  where  the 
mind   brooded   over  their   horrors,    unvisited   and 

1  Mallet's  Antiquities,  chap.  vii. 


Chap.  II.J 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


217 


unrelieved,  they  were  more  extravagant  than  among 
the  less  isolated  tribes  of  Germany.  Perhaps  the 
Saxon  invaders  of  Britain  might  be  classed  with 
those  among  whom  the  religion  assumed  its  least 
revolting  shape,  while  the  Danes,  who  afterwards 
followed  in  their  track,  exhibited  the  worship  of 
Odin  in  its  fiercest  and  most  pernicious  aspect. 
With  them  the  primitive  superstition  was  fearfully 
amplified  by  the  principles  and  tales  of  the  Scalds, 


who  clothed  it  in  their  songs  with  horrors  of  which 
its  first  founders  had  probably  no  conception.  Thus, 
though  both  Saxons  and  Danes  worshiped  the  same 
gods,  and  beheved  in  the  same  future  state,  yet  the 
former,  even  while  they  continued  heathens,  be- 
came peaceful  cultivators  of  the  soil  which  their 
swords  had  won,  while  th^  latter  did  not  subside 
into  the  same  sucial  condition  until  after  they  had 
abandoned  their  original  creed. 


Ruins  op  the  Monastery  of  Iona,  or  1-columb-kill.i 


Section  II. 

Christianity. 

When  Hengist  and  Horsa,  and  their  followers, 
arrived  in  Britain,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century, 
still  pagans  themselves,  they  found  Christianity 
professed  both  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern 
part  of  the  island,  the  late  Roman  province,  and 
also  by  a  portion  of  the  natives  of  the  north,  the 
modern  Scotland,  then  known  by  the  name  of  the 
Picts.  The  Christianity  of  the  South  Britons,  how- 
ever, there  is  reason  to  believe,  had,  in  the  distrac- 
tions and  miseries  of  the  time,  both  ceased  to  exert 
much  influence  over  the  lives  of  its  professors,  and 
likewise  become  mixed  with  many  corruptions  of 
doctrine.  Gildas  has  painted  the  manners  of  both 
people  and  clergy  in  the  darkest  colors ;  and  what- 
ever allowance  we  may  make  for  an  apparently 
atrabilious  temper,  and  a  very  vehement  and  de- 
clamatory style,  his  representations,  which  are  in 


part  adopted  by.  Bede,  have  all  the  air  of  having  a 
foundation  of  truth.  In  addition  to  general  profli- 
gacy of  conduct,  he  charges  the  British  clergy  with 
what  he  calls  infidelity,  by  which  he  Avould  seem  to 
imply  something  beyond  mere  heresy  or  unsound- 
ness of  faith.  From  the  oldest  remains  of  the  early 
Welsh  poetry,  which  belong  probably  to  an  ago 
not  much  later  than  that  of  Gildas,  it  would  appear 
as  if  the  ancient  religion  of  Britain,  which  had  no 
doubt  lingered  in  the  remoter  corners  of  the  coun- 
try, had  now  shot  up  again  into  new  life  in  the 
upsetting  of  the  whole  social  system  which  took 
place  at  this  crisis ;  for  these  poems  are  pervaded 
by  a  tone  of  sentiment  an'^  expression  which  betray 
a  strange  intermixture  ol  Chri:?tianity  and  Druidisui 
— the  latter,  however,  of  the  two  combined  elements, 
as  was  to  be  expected  in  such  a  case,  being  by  far 
the  more  prevalent.  On  the  part  of  the  bards, 
indeed,  whose  order  enjoyed  so  important  a  station 
in  the  old  pagan  hierarchy,  the  design  of  restoring 


'  This  building,  it  need  scarcely  be  ohserved,  belongs  to  an  age  much  more  recent  than  that  of  Columba. 


218 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Druidism  to  its  former  ascendency  seems  for  a 
long  period  to  have  been  systematically  and  perse- 
veringly  pursued.  Throughout  the  protracted 
struggle  with  the  Saxons  it  would  appear  to  have 
been  in  the  spirit  and  through  the  ritual  of  this 
Neo-Druidism,  and  not  of  Christianity,  that  the 
national  feeling  was  chiefly  appealed  to,  and  the 
resistance  to  the  foreigners  sustained  and  directed. 
In  the  northern  division  of  the  island,  Ninian,  ac- 
cording to  Bede,  had  converted  the  Picts  to  the  south 
of  the  Grampian  range,  about  the  year  412.  Ninian 
is  called  Bishop  of  Whithern,  in  Wigtonshire,  where 
he  founded  a  monastery,  and  died  a.d.  432.  About 
the  same  time  the  heathenism  of  Ireland  had  been 
swept  away,  and  Christianity  established  there  as 
the  national  religion,  by  the  exertions  of  the  cele- 
brated St.  Patrick.  The  year  422  is  assigned  as 
the  date  of  the  arrival  of  that  illustrious  missionarj- 
in  the  country  with  which  his  name  was  destined  to 
be  so  honorably  connected  for  all  succeeding  ages. 
About  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  Kentigern, 
or  St.  Mungo,  appeared  among  the  Britons  of  Strath- 
clyde,  and  is  supposed  to  have  founded  the  see  of 
Glasgow.  But  the  most  distinguished  of  the  mis- 
sionaries to  Caledonia,  during  this  period,  was  Co- 
lumba,  venerated  as  the  national  saint  of  Scotland 
until  that  honor  was  conferred  upon  St.  Andrew. 
He  was  born  at  Garten,  a  village  now  included  in 
tlie  county  of  Donegal  in  Ireland,  and  landed  in 
Scotland,  with  twelve  companions,  in  the  year  563. 
Illustrious  by  his  birth,  being  connected  with  the 
royal  families  of  Ireland  and  of  the  Scots  of  North 
Britain,  and  possessed  of  those  personal  endowments 
that  gain  an  ascendency  over  a  rude  people,  he  ad- 
dressed himself  with  great  advantage  to  his  self-im- 
posed task  of  converting  the  heathen  Picts  to  the 
north  of  the  Grampians.  Their  king,  Brude  II.,  to 
whose  court  Columba  proceeded,  was  the  first  who 
was  baptized,  and  his  subjects  immediately  followed 
the  royal  example.  Columba  then  settled  in  lona, 
where  he  founded  his  celebrated  monastery,  and 
estabUshed  a  system  of  rehgious  discipline  which 
became  the  model  of  many  other  monastic  institu- 
tions. Much  controversy  has  been  waged  upon  the 
nature  of  the  system  of  ecclesiastical  polity  founded 
by  Columba;  one  class  of  writers,  at  the  head  of 
whom  is  the  acute  and  learned  Selden,  maintaining 
it  to  have  been  strictly  Presbyterian,  while  others 
contend  that  the  Culdees,  as  the  clergy  generally 
were  called,  were  subject  to  episcopal  authority. 
The  former  is  the  opinion  that  has  been  most  gene- 
rally held,  and  that  seems  most  conformable  to  the 
expressions  of  Bede,  the  earliest  authority  on  the 
Bubject.'  The  small  and  barren  island  of  lona,  after 
this,  soon  became  illustrious  in  the  labors  and  tri- 
umphs of  the  Christian  church ;  and  the  Culdees. 
animated  with  the  zeal  of  their  founder,  not  only 
devoted  their  efforts  to  enlighten  their  own  country, 
but  became  adventurous  missionaries  to  fields  t^  e 
most  dangerous  and  remote.  It  is  gratifying  a'.^o  to 
observe  that,  with  all  the  disputation  there  has  been 
as  to  their  form  of  church  government,  there  is  a 
general  agreement  as  to  the  purity  and  simplicity 
1  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  iii.  c.  4. 


both  of  their  doctrines  and  of  their  lives.  Even 
Bede,  though  indignant  at  their  rejection  of  the  au- 
thority of  the  Roman  bishop,  testifies  that  "  they 
preached  only  such  works  of  charity  and  piety  as 
they  could  learn  from  the  prophetical,  evangelical, 
and  apostolic  writings."  Of  the  care  with  which 
they  were  trained  to  be  the  guardians  of  learning 
and  instructors  of  the  people,  we  may  form  some 
idea  from  the  fact  that  eighteen  years  of  study  were 
frequently  required  of  them  before  they  were  or- 
dained.' 

In  the  south  of  Britain,  in  the  first  fury  of  the 
Saxon  invasion,  the  storm  had  burst  with  equal  vio- 
lence upon  tower  and  temple.  Amidst  the  havoc  of 
an  exterminating  warfare  the  churches  were  de- 
stroyed and  the  ecclesiastics  massacred,  so  that  at 
length  the  former  Christianity  of  the  country  was 
chiefly  to  be  traced  by  heaps  of  ashes  and  tokens  of 
devastation.  Yet  there  is  no  probabihty,  as  we  have 
observed  in  another  place,  in  the  common  notion  that 
all  the  native  Britons  were  swept  from  the  soil 
which  was  thus  overrun ;  and  as  the  great  body  of 
the  laboring  population  were  in  all  likelihood  allowed 
to  remain  as  the  bondmen  of  the  conquerors,  we 
may  suppose  that  such  of  them  as  were  Christians, 
and  most,  if  not  all  of  them  must  have  been  so,  would 
be  permitted  to  retain  their  faith  in  peace.  Without 
a  clergy,  however,  or  any  apparatus  of  which  a 
trace  can  be  discovered  for  the  administration  among 
them  of  the  ordinances  of  religion,  for  we  find  no 
notice  of  even  a  single  Christian  church  being  any- 
where kept  up  as  a  place  of  worship,  it  is  not  easy 
to  conceive  that  they  would  very  generally  or  very 
long  retain  their  knowledge  and  profession  of  the 
truth.  But  meanwhile,  as  their  position  in  the 
country  became  easier  and  more  secure,  the  Saxons, 
naturally  turning  their  swords  to  ploughshares,  were 
themselves  gradually  losing  something  of  their  old 
ferocitjs  and  acquiring  a  disposition  and  habits  more 
favorable  for  their  o^\•n  conversion  to  the  religion 
of  love  and  peace.  When  things  were  in  this  state 
an  incident  occurred  which,  simple  in  itself,  led  to 
great  results.  Gregory,  afterwards  pope,  and  sur- 
named  the  Great,  passing  one  day  through  the  streets 
of  Rome,  was  arrested  at  the  market-place  by  the 
sight  of  some  young  slaves  from  Britain,  who  were 
publicly  exposed  for  sale.  Struck  with  the  bright- 
ness of  their  complexions,  their  fair  long  hair,  and 
the  remarkable  beauty  of  their  forms,  he  eagerly 
inquired  to  what  country  they  belonged  ;  and  being 
told  that  they  were  Angles,  he  said,  with  a  sigh, 
"  They  would  not  be  Angles,  but  Angels,  if  they 
were  but  Christians."  Continuing  his  inquiries, 
he  played  in  the  same  whimsical  manner  upon  the 
name  of  the  district  from  whence  they  had  been 
brought,  and  that  of  the  king  who  reigned  over  it. 
But  never,  perhaps,  were  puns  expressed  in  a 
spirit  of  purer  benevolence  or  attended  with  more 
important  consequences.  Anxious  that  a  people  so 
endowed  by  nature  should  no  longer  be  left  without 
a  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  he  resolved,  at  every 
hazard,  to  carry  the  gospel  to  their  shores,  and 
actually  set  off  upon  the  dangerous  pilgrimage.' 
1  Adomnani.  Vit.  Sti.  C.lumbae. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


219 


Gregory  and  the  Angles. — Singleton. 


His  friends  and  countrymen,  by  whom  he  was  en- 
thusiastically beloved,  were  dismayed  at  his  depart- 
ure, and  prevailed  upon  the  pope  to  command  his 
return.  When,  some  years  after,  however,  he 
succeeded  to  the  popedom,  and  found  a  fitting 
opportunity,  he  appointed  Augustin,  prior  of  the 
convent  of  St.  Andrew's  at  Rome,  with  forty  monks, 
to  proceed  on  a  mission  to  England.  The  holy  men 
departed  accordingly  upon  their  journey,  but  when 
they  had  reached  Aix,  in  Provence,  they  were  so 
dismayed  by  accounts  of  the  ferocity  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  that  they  refused  to  proceed,  and  sent  to 
Gregory  to  ask  permission  to  return.  The  benevo- 
lent pontiff,  in  his  reply,  adjured  them  by  every 
Christian  motive  to  persevere  in  their  enterprise ; 
and,  to  facilitate  its  success,  he^vrote  letters  in  their 
behalf  to  the  kings  and  prelates  of  France.  By 
these  they  were  received  with  kindness,  and  supplied 
with  interpreters,  the  language  of  the  Franks  and 
Saxons  being  nearly  the  same  ;'  and  in  the  year  597 
they  landed  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet.  Augustin  im- 
mediately dispatched  one  of  his  companions  to  the 
court  of  Ethelbert,  the  King  of  Kent,  announcing  the 
purpose  of  his  coming,  and  entreating  the  counte- 
nance and  protection  of  the  king. 

No  selection  of  place  could  have  been  more  happy 
for  the  conmiencement  of  the  good  work.     Ethel- 
*  Gregor.  Epist.  iv.  57, 


bert  held  the  important  rank  of  Bretwalda,  and  his 
authority  extended  to  the  shores  of  the  Humber.' 
His  queen.  Bertha,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,' 
was  a  Christian  princess ;  and  having  stipulated  at 
her  marriage  for  the  liberty  of  professing  her  own 
religion,  she  had  several  French  priests  in  her  train, 
and  a  bishop  of  the  name  of  Liudhard,  by  whom 
the  rites  of  the  Christian  faith  were  performed  in 
a  ruined  church  that  had  been  repaired  for  her  use, 
without  the  walls  of  Canterbuiy.^  The  king  was 
thus  not  only  in  some  measure  acquainted  with  the 
religion  of  the  strangers,  and  perhaps  inclined  in 
its  favor,  but  possessed  of  power  to  protect  them  in 
teaching  it;  while  in  the  queen  they  could  avail 
themselves  of  an  assured  and  influential  friend.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  opposition  of  the  Pagan  priest- 
hood was  feeble  and  momentary.  They  advised  the 
king  to  meet  the  strangers,  not  under  a  roof,  but  in 
the  open  air,  as  he  would  there  be  safe  from  their 
magical  contrivances — an  idea  perhaps  suggested  by 
those  miraculous  powers  which  Christian  missiona- 
ries, at  this  period,  were  but  too  ready  to  claim. 
This  precaution  Ethelbert  adopted.  Augustin  and 
his  companions  advanced  to  the  important  interview 
in  solemn  procession  ;  a  silver  crucifix,  and  a  banner 
on  which  was  painted  a  picture  of  the  Redeemer, 


1  Bed.  I.  25. 


3  Bed.  i.  25,  26 


2  See  ante,  p.  137. 


220 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


were  borne  before  him,  while  the  attendant  monks 
made  the  air  resound  with  their  melodious  anthems, 
which  they  sang  in  alternate  choirs.  After  this 
impressive  commencement,  Augustin,  through  the 
medium  of  an  interpreter,  gave  the  king  a  sum- 
mary delineation  of  the  nature  of  the  Christian 
faith ;  and  after  describing  the  triumphs  it  had 
achieved,  and  the  blessings  it  had  confeiTed  upon 
the  nations  among  whom  it  was  established,  he  im- 
plored him  to  receive  this  beneficent  religion,  and 
allow  it  to  be  taught  to  his  subjects.  The  reply  of  i 
Ethelbert  was  cautious,  but  encouraging.  He  said 
that  he  had  no  intention  to  forsake  the  gods  of  his 
fathers  for  a  new  and  uncertain  worship ;  but  since 
the  purposes  of  the  strangers  were  good,  and  their 
promises  inviting,  they  should  be  sullered  to  instruct 


his  people,  while  he  would  secure  them  from  inter- 
ruption, and  maintain  them  at  his  own  expense. 
On  receiving  this  favorable  answer,  the  monks  joy- 
fully directed  their  procession  towards  the  neigh- 
boring city  of  Canterbury ;  and  as  they  entered 
within  its  walls,  they  chanted  these  words  of  solemn 
intercession  :  "  We  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,  of  thy 
mercy,  let  thy  wrath  and  anger  be  turned  away 
from  this  citj',  and  from  thy  holy  place ;  for  we 
have  sinned.     Hallelujah  !"* 

They  now  began  to  preach  among  the  Saxons  of 
Kent, — the  purity  of  their  lives  and  the  simplicity 
of  their  manners  forming  powerful  arguments  in 
favor  of  their  docti-ines.  The  idolaters  were  com- 
pelled to  venerate  a  faith  so  illustrated,  and  converts 

I  Bed.  i.  25. 


ArorsTiy  Preaching  before  Ethelbert. — Trefhara. 


Chap.  II.J 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


221 


began  to  crown  the  labors  of  the  missionaries.  At 
last  Ethelbert  himself,  persuaded  by  their  reasoning, 
and  probably  induced  by  the  entreaties  of  his  queen, 
consented  to  be  baptized.  This  important  event 
happened  on  the  day  of  Pentecost ;  and  on  the  en- 
suing Christmas  ten  thousand  of  the  people  followed 
the  royal  example.  The  joy  of  Gregory,  when  he 
heard  these  tidings,  was  so  great,  that  he  conferred 
the  primacy  of  the  whole  island  upon  the  capital  of 
Kent,  and  sent  the  pall  to  Augustin,  who  had  already 
been  consecrated  archbishop  of  Canterbury  by  tiie 
prelate  of  Aries,  to  whom  he  had  repaired  for  that 
purpose.^  As  emergencies  arose  in  this  sudden 
success  which  Augustin  had  not  foreseen,  he  sent 
to  the  pope  a  series  of  questions  for  solution,  some 
of  which  appear  sufficiently  strange  in  the  present 
day.^  He  asks,  among  other  things,  if  a  pregnant 
woman  may  be  baptized  ? — what  interval  of  time 
should  elapse  after  her  confinement,  before  she 
could  be  admitted  into  the  church  ? — and  also,  lest 
an  infant  should  die,  after  how  many  days  it  might 
be  baptized  ?  These  queries,  which  were  gravely 
propounded,  were  as  gravely  answered.  But  a 
more  important  difficulty  presented  itself  respect- 
ing the  abolition  of  heathen  festivals  and  ceremo- 
nies, to  whose  allurements  the  simple  converts 
were  still  fondly  attached.  It  was  feared  that  their 
entire  abrogation  would  be  too  violent  a  change  in 
the  rude  habits  of  the  people,  and  might  provoke  a 
relapse  into  idolatry.  By  the  advice  of  Gregory, 
Augustin,  instead  of  destroying  the  heathen  tem- 
ples, consecrated  them  as  Christian  churches ;  and 
while  the  festivals  were  suffered  to  remain,  they 
were  held  in  honor  of  the  saints — the  same  number 
of  animals  as  before  being  still  eaten,  and  sober,  re- 
ligious joy  assuming  the  place  of  outrageous  convi- 
viality. 

From  the  facility  with  which  the  Christian  faith 
had  thus  been  established  in  Kent,  Augustin  hoped 
for  a  similar  conversion  of  the  whole  island.  But 
though  Gregory  had  sent  him  additional  aids,  his 
resources  for  this  great  work  were  still  inadequate. 
In  this  emergency  he  resolved  to  endeavor  to  secure 
the  assistance  of  the  Welsh  ecclesiastics.  Unfor- 
tunately, however,  these  heads  of  the  more  ancient 
British  church  were  indignant  at  the  metropolitan 
authority  which  the  Roman  missionary  assumed  in 
virtue  of  his  papal  appointment,  and  the  subservi- 
ency he  demanded  to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  whose 
claim  to  universal  supremacy  in  the  church  they 
could  not  comprehend.  With  this  might  be  con- 
nected a  lurking  feehng  of  envy  at  the  success  of 
Augustin  among  the  Saxons,  and  of  shame  at  the  re- 
buke it  administered  to  their  own  supineness.  There 
were  other  grounds  of  difference  also  between  the 
native  British  and  the  Italian  priests,  the  chief  of 
which  was  regarding  the  proper  period  for  the  cel- 
ebration of  Easter.^     This  state  of  matters  made 

>  Bed.  i.  27-29.  2  Ibid.  i.  27. 

3  As  this  matter  has  been  generally  misunderstood  and  misstated,  it 
may  be  well  to  quote  the  following  correct  explanation:  "The  ditter- 
ence  between  the  Roman  and  Eastern  church  concerning  Easter,  which 
began  about  the  year  200,  lay  in  this.  The  churches  of  Asia  observed 
this  feast  on  the  fourteenth  moon,  upon  whatsoever  day  of  the  week  it 
fell  out,  being  the  day  on  which  the  Jews  ofTored  their  Paschal  lamb. 


cooperation  between  the  parties  hopeless.  At  the 
first  meeting,  which  was  attended  by  only  a  small 
number  of  the  Welsh  clergy,  nothing  was  con- 
cluded. It  was  agreed,  however,  that  another 
meeting  should  take  place,  at  which  the  native 
priests  promised  to  assemble  in  greater  force. 
During  the  interval,  they  consulted  a  hermit,  one 
of  their  countrymen,  famed  for  his  sanctity  and 
wisdom,  respecting  the  claims  of  Augustin,  and  re- 
ceived this  sententious  advice  :  "If  the  stranger  be 
a  mnn  of  God,  follow  him."  "  But  how,"  said  they, 
"  shall  we  know  that  he  is  a  man  of  God  ?"  "  By 
his  liut>.iiity,"  replied  the  anchorite.  As  this  reply 
was  still  vague,  he  furnished  them  with  the  follow- 
ing criterion,  by  which  the  humility  of  Augustin 
might  be  tested.  "  When  you  repair,"  he  said, 
"to  the  appointed  conference,  observe  the  manner 
in  which  he  receives  you.  If  he  rise  at  your  ap- 
proach, be  sure  that  he  is  the  leader  whom  God 
has  appointed  you  to  follow ;  but  if  he  receive  you 
seated,  reject  him  for  his  pride."  Furnished  with 
this  index,  the  synod,  consisting  of  seven  bishops, 
and  the  Abbot  of  Bangor,  repaired  to  the  confer- 
ence ;  but  Augustin  did  not  rise  at  their  approach. 
This  instance,  whether  of  arrogance  or  oversight, 
set  the  seal  upon  his  rejection.  He  limited  his  de- 
mands to  thi-ee  particulars,  which  were,  that  they 
should  agree  with  the  Roman  church  in  the  time 
of  keeping  Easter;  that  they  should  use  the  same 
ceremonies  in  the  sacrament  of  baptism  ;  and  unite 
their  efforts  with  his  in  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons. 
But  to  these  proposals  they  returned  an  abrupt  and 
unqualified  negative.  The  indignation  of  Augustin 
now  burst  forth.  Assuming  the  tone  of  a  prophet, 
he  declared  to  them,  that  since  they  refused  their 
aid  in  converting  the  Saxons,  by  the  swords  of  the 
Saxons  they  should  perish.  It  has  been  insinuated 
by  Jeffrey  of  Monmouth,  and  the  imputation  has 
been  reechoed  by  successive  historians,  that  the 
archbishop,  by  his  intrigues,  procured  the  fatal  ac- 
complishment cf  his  prophecy,  in  the  slaughter 
some  time  after  of  the  monks  of  Bangor  by  the 
Northumbrian  king  Edilfrid.  But  that  appears  to 
have  been  a  sudden  and  accidental,  not  a  premedi- 
tated act  of  devastation,  and  it  did  not  occur  till 
some  years  after  the  death  of  Augustin. 

The  church  of  Rome  celebrated  it  on  the  Sunday  following  that  day,  if 
it  chanced  not  to  fall  on  Sunday  ;  but  did  not,  as  the  Eastern  churches 
had,  from  perpetual  practice  and  tradition,  ever  done,  celebrate  Easter 
on  a  week  day.  Thus  the  difference  between  the  Roman  and  Eastern 
church  only  consisted  in  six  dai/s  at  most  ;  and  the  only  question  was, 
whether  Easter  was  to  be  celebrated  on  the  week  day  on  which  it  fell, 
or  on  the  Sunday  following.  At  the  Council  of  Nice,  A.  d.  325,  Asia 
was  forced  to  follow  the  European  mode  ;  and  from  that  time  till  532, 
all  the  world  kept  Easter  alike.  Very  different  was  the  dispute  be- 
tween the  Roman  church  and  those  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  concerning 
Easter.  It  began  in  the  sixth  century  upon  this  ground.  In  532,  Dio- 
nysius  Exiguus,  a  Roman  priest,  introduced  a  great  variation  into  the 
mode  of  computing  Easter,  of  which  thi!  technical  terms  would  neither 
instruct  nor  entert.ain  the  reader.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  his  rule,  adopt- 
ed by  the  Roman  church,  threw  the  celebration  of  Easter  a  whole  vwnth 
further  back  than  before.  But  Britain  and  Ireland  were  as  obstinate 
for  their  old  Easter  as  they  were  lately  for  the  old  style  ;  and  thus  kept 
Easter  a  whole  month  before  the  Roman  church.  C'uminius,  who  lived 
at  the  time,  specially  mentions  this  difference  of  a  month  (Usser.  Syl- 
loge,  p.  34) ;  and  the  dispute  between  the  Roman  and  the  British  and 
Irish  churches  was  not  known  till  Augustin,  the  monk,  was  sent  tn 
convert  the  Saxons,  in  597." — Pinkerton's  Enquiry  into  the  Early  His- 
tory of  Scotland,  ii.  265.     (Edit,  of  1814  ) 


*i22 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Notwithstanding  the  failure  of  this  negotiation 
with  the  Welsh  church,  the  commencement  of 
Christianity  among  the  Saxons  had  been  too  pros- 
perous for  the  progress  of  the  faith  to  be  now  per- 
manently checked.  In  the  converted  Bretwalda 
himself  it  found  a  zealous  and  efficient  advocate. 
Sebert,  King  of  Essex,  his  nephew,  moved  by  the 
example  and  arguments  of  Ethelbert,  abjured  his 
idols,  and  received  the  rite  of  baptism :  this  event 
happened  in  the  year  604.  Numbers  of  the  people 
having  as  usual  immediately  followed  the  example 
of  their  king,  a  Christian  church  was  erected  in 
London,  Sebert's  capital,  upon  the  rising  ground 
formerly  the  site  of  the  Roman  temple  of  Diana. 
This  church  was  dedicated  to  St.  Paul ;  and  each 
successive  building,  upon  the  same  site,  has  re- 
tained the  name  to  the  present  day.  A  second 
royal  convert  rewarded  the  zeal  of  the  Bretwalda, 
in  the  person  of  Redwald,  the  King  of  East  Anglia. 
We  have  already  related  the  compromise  he  made 
between  his  own  convictions  and  the  opposition  of 
his  queen  and  nobility,  by  setting  up  a  Christian 
altar  and  an  idol  in  the  same  temple,  and  leaving 
his  people  to  judge  for  themselves  between  the 
rival  religions.'  This  strange  and  perilous  experi- 
ment is  said  to  have  been  attended  with  full  suc- 
cess. The  contrast  was  so  striking,  that  the  ancient 
faith  was  gradually  forsaken,  and  East  Anglia  was 
numbered  among  the  Christian  kingdoms  of  Eng- 
land. 

In  the  same  year  (604)  Augustin  died,  after 
having  thus  seen  the  gospel  firmly  established  in 
the  kingdoms  of  Kent  and  Essex.  The  early 
historians  of  the  English  church  have  adorned  him 
with  every  apostolic  virtue,  and  the  honor  of  can- 
onization has  been  awarded  to  him  by  the  gratitude 
of  the  Roman  pontiffs.  At  this  distant  period  it  is 
difficult  to  form  a  proper  estimate  of  his  character ; 
but  we  may  venture  to  affirm,  that  while  he  felt 
the  paramount  importance  of  Christianity,  and  la- 
bored devotedly  for  its  extension,  he  showed  him- 
self, in  many  instances,  but  little  scrupulous  as  to 
the  means  by  which  he  sought  to  accomplish  so 
desirable  an  end.  Such,  indeed,  was  too  generally 
the  conduct  of  the  saints  and  missionaries  of  that 
period.  While  they  compassed  sea  and  land  with 
all  the  zeal  of  the  apostolic  ages,  they  never  lost 
sight  of  Rome  and  its  spiritual  supremacy.  Augus- 
tin consecrated  Justus  bishop  of  Rochester,  and 
Mellitus  bishop  of  the  East  Saxons,  and  appointed 
his  faithful  follower  Laurentius  to  be  his  successor 
in  the  see  of  Canterbury. 

Laurentius  had  to  contend  with  still  more  serious 
ilifficulties  than  those  which  had  impeded  the  efforts 
of  Augustin  ;  and  the  faith,  so  lately  planted  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  was  soon  doomed  to  sustain  a 
violent  shock.  Sebert,  the  protector  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  in  the  kingdom  of  Essex,  died  ;  and  his 
three  sons  endeavored  to  reestablish  the  ancient 
superstition.  In  consequence  of  the  violent  meas- 
ures which  followed,  Mellitus  was  banished,  and 
obliged  to  flee  for  shelter  to  his  friend  Justus, 
llere,  however,  he  fjund  the  cbi^rch  in  n  condition 

'  Src  ante,  p.  137. 


equally  perilous.  It  has  been  alreadj-  related'  how 
Eadbald,  the  son  and  successor  of  Ethelbert,  had 
married  the  youthful  widow  of  his  father,  and  in 
consequence  of  the  remonstrances  of  the  ecclesias- 
tics, had  become  hostile  both  to  their  persons  and 
their  religion.  In  this  gloomy  posture  of  affairs 
Laurentius,  Mellitus,  and  Justus  hastily  concluded 
that  their  cause  was  hopeless:  the  two  latter  re- 
treated with  precipitancy  to  Gaul,  and  Laurentius 
himself  prepared  to  follow  them.  In  such  an 
emergency,  which  threatened  the  extinction  of 
Christianity  in  England,  it  seemed  as  if  nothing 
short  of  a  miracle  could  have  saved  it ;  and,  if  we 
may  believe  the  early  writers,  a  miracle  was  vouch- 
safed. On  the  night  previous  to  his  intended  de- 
parture, Laurentius  passed  the  night  in  the  church 
dedicated  to  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  At  midnight 
the  Prince  of  the  Apostles  appeared  to  him ;  and 
after  reproaching  him  for  his  lack  of  zeal  in  thus 
abandoning  his  spiritual  charge,  he  bestowed  a 
severe  flagellation  upon  the  trembling  archbishop. 
On  the  next  morning,  when  Laurentius  repaired  to 
the  palace,  he  threw  off  his  cloak,  and  displayed 
before  the  king  his  back  and  shoulders,  bloody  and 
waled.  Eadbald,  dismayed  at  the  spectacle,  and 
apprehending  a  worse  visitation  for  himself,  made 
haste  to  repair  the  consequences  of  his  apostacy. 
He  cursed  the  idolatry  into  which  he  had  relapsed, 
and  dissolved  the  unnatural  union  in  which  it  had 
originated.  In  consequence  of  his  repentance, 
Mellitus  and  Justus  were  recalled,  and  the  cause 
of  Christianity  was  restored  with  fresh  lustre. 
Such  is  the  tale  which  Bede  has  delivered,  and 
which  he  would  have  thought  it  impietj'  to  question. 
We  may  venture,  without  anj  breach  either  of 
faith  or  charity,  to  regard  the  flagellation  of  Laur- 
entius as  one  of  those  well-intended  stratagems,  or 
pious  frauds,  which  abound  in  the  proceedings  of 
persons  of  that  age,  pursuing  evidently  the  worthiest 
ends  and  actuated  by  the  highest  and  purest  mo- 
tives. 

The  most  important  event  in  the  history  of  the 
Saxon  church,  after  the  conversion  of  Ethelbert,  is 
that  of  Edwin,  by  which  Christianity  was  introduced 
into  the  powerful  kingdom  of  Northumberland. 
Here,  too,  we  are  encountered  by  miracles,  which 
indeed  make  up  so  much  of  the  story  as  given  by 
the  original  authorities,  that  it  is  impossible  now  to 
separate  what  is  fact  from  what  is  fiction.  We 
must  repeat  the  legend,  therefore,  as  Bede  has 
recorded  it.  Edwin  has  passed  the  gi-eater  part  of 
his  youth  as  a  fugitive  and  an  exile,  continually 
exposed  to  the  machinations  of  his  relentless  enemy 
Edilfrid,  who  then  occupied  the  Northumbrian 
throne.  Driven  from  the  protection  of  Cadwallon, 
the  King  of  North  Wales,  he  wandered  from  court 
to  court,  until  at  last  he  seemed  to  have  found  a 
pei-manent  shelter  with  King  Redwald  in  East 
Angha.  But  his  haunt  was  discovered  by  Edilfrid, 
who  thereupon  immediately  sent  to  Redwald  de- 
manding that  Edwin  should  be  given  up.  As  the 
power  of  Edilfrid  was  terrible  throughout  the 
Heptarchy,  the  heart  of  Redwald  failed,  and  he 

'  See  aulf,  p.  137 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


223 


resolved  to  secure  his  safety  at  the  expense  of 
hospitality,  justice,  and  religion.  A  faithful  friend 
advertised  Edwin  of  the  deliberation  within  the 
palace,  and  exhorted  immediate  flight,  offering, 
withal,  to  conduct  him  to  a  place  of  safety  ;  but  the 
spirit  of  the  noble  exile,  that  had  contended  so  long 
against  misfortune,  was  weary  of  the  struggle.  He 
declared  that  he  would  fly  no  further ;  and  that  it 
was  better  to  perish  by  the  treachery  of  his  host, 
and  the  cruelty  of  his  enemy,  than  to  continue  the 
life  of  disquietude  which  he  had  hitherto  led.  In 
this  gloomy  spirit  of  resignation  he  sat  down  near 
the  gate  of  the  palace,  prepared  for  whatever  might 
await  him. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  his  friend  left  him  to 
gain  further  intelligence  of  the  deliberation,  and 
Edwin  remained  thoughtful  and  alone,  revolving  the 
bitterness  of  his  fate,  amidst  the  gloom  of  the  ap- 
proaching midnight,  a  stranger  (continues  the  story) 
advanced,  and  demanded  wherefore  he  sat  there, 
and  awake,  at  an  hour  when  other  men  were 
asleep  ?  Edwin,  raising  his  head,  abruptly  asked,  in 
turn,  how  it  could  concern  his  questioner  whether 
he  passed  the  night  under  shelter  or  in  the 
open  air  ?  The  stranger  then  told  him  that  he 
knew  well  the  nature  of  his  present  condition,  and 
the  cause  of  his  disquietude.  "  Now  tell  me,"  he 
said,  "  what  thou  wouldst  give  to  him,  whoever  he 
might  be,  who  should  deliver  thee  from  these 
calamities,  and  so  persuade  Redwald  that  neither 
he  nor  his  enemies  should  do  thee  hurt?"  Edwin, 
encouraged  by  the  prospect,  replied  that  he  would 
show  all  the  gratitude  in  his  power  to  him  who 
should  render  him  such  a  benefit.  "  And  what 
wouldst  thou  give,"  again  demanded  the  mysterious 
stranger,  "  if  he  should  truly  promise  thee  the  des- 
truction of  thy  enemies,  and  the  possession  of  a 
kingdom,  so  that  thou  shouldst  surpass  not  only  all 
thy  predecessors,  but  all  the  kings  of  England  who 
have  gone  before  thee  ?"  To  which  Edwin  repHed, 
that  to  him  who  should  render  him  such  favors, 
he  would  answer  by  corresponding  actions.  A 
third  time  the  strange  visitant  propounded  a  pro- 
phetic question:  "If  he  who  procured  such  bless- 
ings should  truly  foreteU  to  thee  what  is  to  come, 
and  give  thee,  for  the  security  of  thy  life  and 
fortunes,  such  counsels  as  none  of  thy  fathers  and 
kindred  ever  heard,  wouldst  thou  follow  them  ? 
and  dost  thou  promise  to  receive  his  salutary  direc- 
tions ?"  Edwin  joyfully  declared  that  he  who  con- 
ferred upon  him  such  distinguished  benefits  should 
from  thenceforth  be  his  guide.  The  stranger  then 
placed  his  right  hand  upon  the  head  of  Edwin  : 
"  When  this  sign,"  he  said,  "  shall-  come  upon 
thee,  remember  this  time,  and  our  conversation, 
and  the  promises  thou  hast  made."  When  he  had 
uttered  these  words  he  suddenly  disappeared ;  so 
that  Edwin  perceived  he  had  been  talking,  not  with 
a  man,  but  a  spirit. 

His  friend  who  had  lately  left  him  now  returned 
from  the  palace  with  joyful  intelligence.  The 
timid  Redwald  had  been  awakened  to  shame,  and 
i-oused  to  courage,  by  the  remonstrances  of  his 
high-spirited  consort,  so  that  he  determined  rather 


to  brave  the  vengeance  of  Edilfrid  than  incur  the 
reproach  of  treachery,  and  had  dismissed  the  am- 
bassadors with  a  bold  refusal  of  their  demands. 
Aware  of  the  position  in  which  he  had  placed  him- 
self, he  lost  no  time  in  mustering  his  army,  and 
marching  against  Edilfrid.  The  victory  which  fol- 
lowed, and  the  death  of  Edilfrid,  placed  Edwin  on 
the  throne  of  Northumbria.  The  persecuted  wan- 
derer thus  suddenly  raised  to  an  eminent  station 
among  the  kings  of  the  Heptarchy,  evinced  the 
excellence  of  the  lessons  of  adversity  by  the  pru- 
dence  and  prosperity  of  his  government.  After  a 
reign  of  nine  years  he  sought  in  man-iage  Ethel- 
berga,  the  daughter  of  the  late  Ethelbert  of  Kent. 
But  the  princess  was  a  Christian,  and  Eadbald,  her 
brother,  was  averse  to  her  union  with  an  idolater. 
This  difficulty  was  removed  by  the  agreement  of 
Edwin  that  she  should  be  allowed  the  free  profes- 
sion of  her  rehgion ;  and  he  even  promised  to 
embrace  the  same  faith  himself,  if,  on  examination, 
he  should  find  it  worthy  of  adoption.  The  queen 
was  accompanied  to  Northumbria  by  Paulinus,  one 
of  the  last  of  the  missionaries  whom  Gregory  had 
sent  to  Augustin ;  and  as,  by  rather  a  rare  chance, 
the  prudence  of  this  ecclesiastic  was  equal  to  his 
zeal,  he  forebore  to  press  the  subject  of  Christianity 
prematurely  upon  the  mind  of  Edwin,  but  left  the 
matter  to  time  and  opportunity.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  king  still  adhered  to  his  idolatry,  and 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  both  the  vision  and  his 
marriage  agreement.  At  length  a  narrow  escape 
which  he  made  from  the  dagger  of  an  assassin 
happening  at  the  same  time  with  the  birth  of  a 
daughter,  appeared  to  Paulinus  to  afford  a  fit  oc- 
casion for  remonstrance,  and  in  such  a  susceptible 
moment  the  heart  of  the  king  was  touched.  He 
allowed  the  infant  to  be  baptized ;  and  he  pi'omised 
that,  should  he  return  victorious  from  an  expedition 
on  which  he  was  about  to  set  out  against  the  King 
of  Wessex,  he  would  himself  submit  to  the  same 
ceremony.  He  was  successful ;  but  still  he  hesi- 
tated. A  thoughtfulness  and  caution,  unusual 
among  the  royal  converts  of  the  heptarchy,  retain- 
ed him  in  painful  suspense,'  to  the  great  regret  of 
the  pope,  his  consort,  and  Paulinus.  At  length 
Paulinus  one  day  entered  the  apartment  while 
Edwin  was  absorbed  in  thought,  and,  laying  his 
right  hand  upon  the  head  of  the  king,  he  solemnly 
said,  "  Dost  thou  remember  this  sign,  and  the  en- 
gagement it  betokened  ?"  In  an  instant  the  king 
fell  down  at  the  feet  of  Paulinus,  who,  immediately 
raising  him  up,  reminded  him  that  all  which  had 
been  promised  by  the  heavenly  stranger  was  now 
fulfilled.  The  result  was  Edwin's  instant  determi- 
nation to  fulfil  also  his  own  part  of  the  engagement. 
Such  is  the  story.  How  far  it  is  a  mere  fiction,  or 
how  far  the  facts  related  were  the  result  of  con- 
trivance or  of  chance,  it  is  now  impossible  to  deter- 
mine. It  comes  down  to  us,  as  has  been  observed, 
on  the  authority  of  Bede,  who  was  incapable   of 

1  "  Sed  et  ipse  cum  essct  v.r  nntMra  sR^acissimas,  sjepe  diu  solus 
rcsideiis,  ore  qiiiilcm  tacito,  sed  in  intimis  cordis  miilta  serum  ciji- 
loquens,  quid  s:b;  esset  fat  ie:  dun>,  qua;  rc'igio  scrv.indn.  I:-.  c:a!)at."" — 
Bed.  ii.  9. 


224 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boos  II. 


inventing  it,  but  whose  credulity  was  equal  to  any 
demands  of  that  superstitious  age.  Bede  was  born 
within  half  a  century  of  the  date  (a.d.  627)  assigned 
to  the  conversion  of  Edwin. 

Before  he  was  actually  baptized,  however,  Edwin 
called  an  assembly  of  his  nobles,  that  they  might 
discuss  the  claims  of  the  new  faith  and  the  old; 
and,  having  announced  his  sentiments,  he  desired 
each  member  to  deliver  his  opinion  upon  the  sub- 
ject. Coifi,  the  high-priest,  was  the  first  to  speak, 
and,  to  the  surprise  of  the  whole  assembly,  he 
declared  that  the  gods  Avhom  they  had  hitherto 
worshiped  were  utterly  useless.  None,  he  pro- 
ceeded, had  served  them  with  greater  zeal  than 
himself,  and  yet  others  had  prospered  in  the  world 
far  more  than  he  had  done ;  he  was,  therefore, 
quite  ready  at  least  to  give  a  trial  to  the  new 
religion.  One  of  the  nobles  followed  in  a  wiser 
and  purer  spirit.  Comparing  the  present  hfe  of 
man,  whose  beginning  and  end  is  in  darkness,  to 
a  swallow  entering  a  banqueting-hall  to  find  refuge 
from  the  storm  without,  flitting  for  a  moment 
through  the  warm  and  cheerful  apartment,  and 
then  passing  out  again  into  the  gloom,  he  proposed 
that  if  Christianity  should  be  found  to  lighten  this 
obscurity,  and  explain  whence  we  came  and 
whither  we  departed,  it  should  immediately  be 
adopted.  Coifi,  upon  this,  moved  that  Paulinus 
should  be  called  in  to  explain  to  them  the  nature  of 
Christianity,  which  was  immediately  done ;  and  so 
cogent  were  the  arguments  of  the  missionary,  that 
the  imp'<tient  Coifi  declared  there  was  no  longer 
room  for  hesitation.  He  proposed  that  the  national 
idols  should  be  immediately  overturned  ;  and,  as 
he  had  hitherto  been  the  chief  of  their  worshipers, 
he  offered  to  be  now  the  first  to  desecrate  them. 
He  therefore  threw  aside  his  priestly  garments, 
called  for  arms,  which  the  Saxon  priests  were  for- 
bidden to  wield,  and  for  a  horse,  which  they  were 
not  permitted  to  mount,  and  thus  accoutred  he 
galloped  forth  before  the  amazed  multitude,  who 
thought  he  had  become  frantic.  Advancing  to  a 
temple  in  the  neighborhood,  where  the  chief  idol 
stood,  he  hurled  his  lance  within  the  sacred  inclo- 
sure,  by  which  act  the  building  was  profaned. 
No  hghtning  descended,  no  earthquake  shook  the 
ground;  and  the  crowd,  encouraged  by  the  impunity 
of  the  daring  apostate,  proceeded  to  second  his 
efforts.  The  temple  and  its  surrounding  inclosures 
were  leveled  with  the  ground.  This  event  hap- 
pened at  a  village  still  called  Godmundham,  which 
means  the  home  or  hamlet  of  the  inclosure  of  the 
god.i 

The  conversion  of  the  king  was  followed  by  that 
of  multitudes  of  his  subjects ;  so  that  Paulinus, 
who  was  afterwards  consecrated  Archbishoj)  of 
York,  is  said  to  have  baptized  twelve  thousand 
converts  in  one  day  in  the  river  Swale.  During 
the  short  remainder  of  his  reign  Edwin  continued 
to  second  the  efforts  of  the  archbishop  in  ad- 
vancing the  cause  of  religion  among  his  subjects. 
Being  offered  the  crown  of  East  Anglia,  on  the 
death  of  his  benefactor  Redwald,  he  refused  it  in 

1  Bed.  ii.  12,  13. 


behalf  of  Eorpwald,  the  son  of  Redwald,  whom  he 
persuaded  to  embrace  Christianity.  He  now,  how- 
ever, succeeded  to  the  supreme  dignity  of  Bret- 
walda,  which  he  retained  till  he  fell,  while  yet  in 
the  vigor  of  his  days,  in  battle  against  the  terrible 
Penda,  in  the  year  634.  In  consequence  of  this 
calamitous  event  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  North- 
umberland was  arrested  in  the  midst  of  its  triumphs ; 
and  such  was  the  general  apostacy  of  the  people, 
that  Paulinus  was  obliged  to  abandon  his  see,  and 
retire  into  Kent.  This  general  apostacy,  however, 
was  counteracted  on  the  accession  of  Oswald. 
Having  spent  his  youth  in  lona,  to  which  northern 
sanctuary  he  had  repaired  for  shelter,  and  having 
been  taught  Christianity  among  that  primitive  com- 
munity of  Culdees,  he  naturally  sent  thitlier  for 
spiritual  instructors  to  his  people  when  he  was 
established  upon  the  throne.  Corman,  a  monk, 
was  accordingly  sent  from  the  monastery  of  lona 
to  Northumberland,  i)ut,  disheartened  by  the  diffi- 
culties of  his  office,  he  quickly  returned.  While 
he  was  descanting  to  the  assembled  chapter  of  his 
order  on  the  barbarous  dispositions  and  gross  in- 
tellect of  the  Northumbrians,  and  vindicating,  on 
that  score,  his  abandonment  of  his  task,  a  voice 
of  rebuke  was  heard  from  amidst  the  throng, — 
"  Brother,  you  seem  to  have  forgotten  the  apostolic 
injunction,  that  little  children  should  be  fed  with 
milk,  that  they  might  afterwards  be  fitted  for 
stronger  food !" '  Every  eye  was  fnrned  upon 
the  speaker,  who  was  Aidan,  a  monk  of  the  order ; 
and  he  was  immediately  appointed  to  the  mission, 
and  sent  to  the  court  of  Oswald.  The  learning  and 
piety  of  the  ardent  Culdee  vindicated  the  choice  of 
his  brethren.  He  addressed  himself  with  zeal  and 
patience  to  reclaim  the  apostate  Northumbrians  ; 
and  in  these  labors  he  was  well  seconded  by  the 
king,  who  interpreted  his  sermons  to  the  people. 
Aidan,  in  the  year  635,  fixed  his  seat,  and  founded 
a  monastery  upon  the  bleak  island  of  Lindisfarne, 
directed  perhaps  in  his  choice*  by  its  resemblance 
to  his  beloved  lona ;  and  there  his  religious  com- 
munity flourished  for  more  than  two  centuries, 
until  it  fell  beneath  the  fuiy  of  the  Danes.  Oswald, 
who,  as  well  as  Aidan,  has  been  honored  with  the 
title  of  saint,  was  solicitous  for  the  conversion  not 
only  of  his  own  people,  but  of  those  of  the  other 
states  of  the  Heptarchy ;  and,  having  repaired  to 
the  court  of  Wessex,  to  demand  the  daughter  of 
King  Cynegils  in  marriage,  he  prevailed  upon  both 
the  king  and  the  royal  bride  to  embrace  the 
Christian  faith.  Berinus,  a  missionary,  sent  from 
Rome  to  the  court  of  Wessex,  was  thus  enabled  to 
preach  successfully  to  the  West  Saxons,  and  an 
episcopal  see  was  founded  at  Dorchester,  of  which 
he  was  consecrated  bishop.^ 

The  introduction  of  the  gospel  into  the  powerfu-1 
kingdom  of  Mercia  was  the  next  event  by  which 
its  progress  was  distinguished ;  and,  as  in  several 
preceding  cases,  it  was  the  consequence  of  a  royal 
marriage.  Peada,  the  son  of  the  terrible  Penda, 
in  whom  the  Christianity  of  England  had  hitherto 
found  its  deadhest  enemy,  solicited,  while  his 
1  Bed.  iii.  5  ^  Bed.  iii.  «.  6. 


Chap.  IL] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


225 


-^ll-^^, 


Consecration  of  a  Saxon  Church.    From  the  Cottonian  MS.  of  Caedmon's  Metrical  Paraphrase  of  parts  of  Scripture. 


father  was  yet  alive,  the  hand  of  Alchfleda,  the 
daughter  of  Oswy,  King  of  Northumberland ;  but 
the  princess  refused  to  be  united  to  an  unbelieving 
husband.  The  prince,  in  consequence,  abjured  his 
idols,  and  became  a  Christian ;  and  on  his  return 
to  Mercia,  he  brought  with  him  four  missionaries, 
who  were  successful  in  converting  many  of  his 
father's  subjects.  The  aged  monarch,  though  he 
refused  to  be  himself  baptized,  tolerated  the  labors 
of  the  Christian  priests ;  and  he  even  required 
consistency  of  conduct  in  those  of  his  court  who 
professed  the  Christian  faith.^  The  small  kingdom 
of  Sussex  was  now  the  only  state  of  the  Heptarchy 
the  subjects  of  which  still  remained  idolaters ;  but 
they,  too,  were  converted  about  the  close  of  this 
century,  by  the  exertions  of  Wilfrid,  Bishop  of 
York,  who  found  shelter  among  the  South  Saxons 
when  driven  from  his  see,  and  is  said  to  have 
obtained  a  great  influence  over  them  by  instructing 
them,  among  other  things,  in  the  art  of  fishing. 
Thus,  in  less  than  ninety  years  from  the  arrival  of 
Augustin,  Christianity  was  established  over  the 
whole  of  England. 

The  conversion  of  a  great  country,  inhabited  by 
J  Bed.  iii.  21. 
VOL.   I. — 15 


different  tribes,  and  divided  into  several  kingdoms, 
often  at  war  with  each  other,  was  thus  accom- 
plished with  a  rapidity  and  facility  resembling  more 
the  miraculous  ti'iumphs  of  the  apostolic  age,  than 
the  progress  of  Christianity  in  after  times.  It  is 
evident,  from  the  view  already  given  of  the  north- 
ern mythology,  that  it  was  only  fitted  for  predatory 
savages.  Its  element  was  carnage,  its  morality  a 
code  of  strife,  and  its  rewards  plunder  and  revenge  ; 
and  however,  therefore,  such  a  ferocious  system 
might  have  suited  the  Saxons  when  they  were 
wont  to  rush  from  the  gloom  of  the  forests  into  the 
storms  of  the  ocean,  it  lost  much  of  its  influence 
when  they  sat  down  quietly  in  a  conquered  king- 
dom, to  enjoy  their  spoils.  Nay,  the  Saxons,  thus 
situated,  may  have  begun  to  regard  even  with  a 
jealous  eye  a  religion  that  might  animate,  in  turn, 
a  more  adventurous  people  than  themselves  to  land 
upon  their  shores,  and  bereave  them  of  the  fruits 
of  their  victories.  All  the  local  attachments  also 
which  endear  a  national  faith  to  a  people  were 
completely  broken,  when  the  roving  Saxons  be- 
came stationary  cultivators  of  the  soil.  The  san- 
guinary sacrifices,  the  wild  rites,  and  turbulent 
festivals  of  the  system  of  Odin,  could  only  flourish 


226 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


in  their  native  north,  and  amidst  its  hurricanes  and 
storms,  and  must  have  drooped,  when  transplanted 
into  the  "gay  greenwood"  and  tranquil  atmosphere 
of  England.  While  the  conquerors  of  Britain 
were  thus  loosely  held  by  a  religion  unsuitable  to 
their  new  condition,  and  whose  chief  attractions 
were  left  behind,  the  Christian  faith  was  brought 
to  their  shores.  Their  peculiar  wants,  and  the 
general  circumstances  of  the  time,  were  equally 
favorable  to  its  acceptance.  It  was  fitted  for  the 
settled  occupants  of  a  land,  because  it  was  a  re- 
ligion of  love,  and  peace,  and  order ;  and  it  was 
the  establislied  faith  of  that  civilized  world  around 
them  in  which  it  was  now  necessary  for  them  to 
become  naturalized.  Fully  admitting,  therefore, 
the  piety  and  sincerity  of  the  first  royal  converts 
of  the  Heptarchy,  we  may  still  be  inclined  to  con- 
jecture that  they  were  in  some  degree  also  favor- 
ably disposed  towards  the  new  faith  by  their  con- 
viction of  the  advantages  they  would  derive  from 
its  adoption,  in  forwarding  the  civilization  of  their 
kingdoms,  and  their  adoption  into  the  family  of 
Europe. 

Further,  the  importers  of  Christianity  into  Eng- 
land were  not  a  handful  of  obscure  adventurers. 
They  came  from  Rome,  still  a  mighty  name,  and 
regarded  as  the  metropolis  of  all  that  was  intellec- 
tual and  venerable ;  and  they  came  recommended 
by  kings  and  prelates.  Their  arrival  was,  there- 
fore, a  gi'eat  national  embassy.  Thus  highly  ac- 
credited,   the    Roman    ecclesiastics    were    certain. 


not  only  of  a  safe  reception,  but  also  of  a  patient 
hearing.  Their  princij)al  task  which  remained, 
therefore,  and  for  which  they  were  well  qualified, 
was  to  show  the  superiority  of  knowledge  over 
ignorance,  and  of  a  true  religion  over  one  that  was 
false.  It  was  then  that  their  intrepidity,  their 
lofty  ambition,  and  persuasive  powers,  combined 
with  purity  of  character  and  religious  zeal,  gave 
them  their  due  superiority,  and  produced  the 
natural  results. 

The  missionaries  wisely  addressed  themselves, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  the  kings  of  the  Heptarchy  ; 
and  these  having  readily  embraced  a  religion  so  at- 
tractive as  Christianity,  and  so  advantageous  for 
their  political  circumstances,  tlieir  subjects  were 
naturally  eager  to  follow  tlie  example.  Each  royal 
convert  was  earnest  to  secure  the  convcsion  of  his 
aUies,  and  frequently  accomplished,  by  a  friendly 
visit,  or  apolitical  convention,  the  religious  change  of 
a  whole  kingdom.  It  has  often  been  observed,  that 
wherever  the  Christian  faith  has  entered,  it  has 
found  its  most  zealous  advocates  among  the  female 
sex,  to  whom  in  particular  it  recommends  itself, 
not  only  by  its  intrinsic  excellence,  but  by  the 
equality  to  which  it  raises  them  with  the  other  sex. 
This  was  remarkably  exemplified  among  the  An- 
glo-Saxons. The  women  here,  possessing  an  influ- 
ence in  society  unknown  to  the  most  refined  nations 
of  antiquity,  were  enjibled  powerfully  to  promote 
the  extension  of  the  faith;  and  while  the  princesses 
refused  to  eipouse  idolatrous  kings,  unless  they  con 


A  ChBISTIAN  MlSblONARY  PREACH1^G  TO  THE  BRITISH  PaOANS  — MurtllllOr 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


227 


sented  to  be  baptized,  we  can  well  imagine  that,  in 
numberless  instances,  among  persons  of  inferior 
rank,  the  "  unbelieving  husband  was  converted  by 
the  believing  wife."  Nor  was  the  influence  of  the 
Saxun  females  impaired  by  the  adoption  of  Christi- 
anity. A  prioress  might  preside  over  a  meeting  of 
ecclesiastics,  and  legislate  for  the  government  of 
the  church;  and  might  take  precedence  in  rank  of 
all  the  assembled  presbyters,  as  was  the  case  in  the 
council  of  Becanceld,  convoked  in  the  year  694. 

A  variety  of  powerful  causes  were  thus  com- 
bined in  behalf  of  Chi-istianity,  and  their  effect  was 
exhibited  in  its  rapid  and  cordial  adoption.  It  is 
also  worthy  of  remark,  that  all  was  accomplished 
without  violence  on  either  side.  No  convert  seems 
to  have  been  compelled  ;  no  preacher  was  required 
to  seal  his  testimony  by  martyrdom.  The  fervent 
proselytizing  zeal  of  missionaries  and  kings  was 
met  by  the  spontaneous  assent  of  the  people,  and 
the  conversion  of  the  land  was  accomplished  with 
a  peacefulness  to  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
a  parallel. 

When  Christianity  thus  became  the  religion  of 
Saxon  Britain,  its  rude  inhabitants  were  prepared 
for  the  further  blessings  of  learning  and  civiliza- 
tion, and  these  were  now  introduced  in  the  ti'ain 
of  Theodore,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  was 
consecrated  to  the  primacy  by  Pope  Vitalian  in 
'668.  Like  St.  Paul,  he  was  a  native  of  Tarsus  in 
Cilicia  and  eminent  for  his  extensive  learning. 
Though  already  sixty-six  years  old,  yet  such  was 
the  energy  of  his  character,  that  a  life  of  useful- 
ness was  still  expected  from  him ;  and  these  hopes 
were  not  disappointed,  for  he  governed  the  Eng- 
Hsh  church  for  twenty-two  years.  He  brought 
with  him  a  valuable  library  of  Latin  and  Greek 
authors,  among  which  were  the  works  of  Homer, 
and  established  schools  of  learning  to  which  the 
clergy  and  laity  repaired.  The  consequence  was, 
according  to  Bede,  that  soon  after  this  many  Eng- 
Ush  priests  were  as  conversant  with  the  Latin  and 
Greek  languages  as  with  their  native  tongue.^ 

Scarcely,  however,  was  the  national  faith  thus 
settled,  when  controversies  arose  in  the  bosom  of 
the  infant  church  on  certain  points  of  ceremonial 
practice,  the  triviality  of  which,  of  course,  did  not 
prevent  them  from  being  agitated  with  as  much 
heat  and  obstinacy  as  if  they  had  involved  the  most 
essential  principles  of  morality  or  religion.  One 
of  the  subjects  of  dispute  was  the  same  difference 
as  to  the  mode  of  computing  Easter  that  had  al- 
ready prevented  the  union  of  the  English  and 
Welsh  churches ;  it  now  in  like  manner  threatened 
to  divide  the  two  kingdoms  of  Mercia  and  North- 
umberland, which,  as  already  related,  had  been 
converted  by  Scottish  missionaries,  from  the  other 
states  of  the  Heptarchy,  which  had  received  their 
instructors  from  Rome  and  France.  To  this  was 
added  the  difference  between  the  Romish  and  Scot- 
tish churches,  upon  the  form  of  the  ecclesiastical 
tonsure.  While  the  priests  of  the  former  wore 
the  hair  round  the  temples  in  imitation  of  a  crown 
of  thorns,  they  were  hoiTor-struck  at  the  latter, 
I  Bed.  iv'.  2 


who,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  Eastern 
church,  shaved  it  from  their  foreheads  into  the 
form  of  a  crescent,  for  which  they  were  reproached 
with  bearing  the  emblem  of  Simon  Magus.'  A 
council  had  been  summoned  with  the  view  of  ac- 
commodating these  dissensions  by  Oswy,  King  of 
Northumberland,  in  the  year  664 ;  but  the  only 
result  of  this  attempt  was  to  increase  the  animosity 
of  the  two  factions,  the  clergy  of  the  Scottish  per- 
suasion, in  fact,  retiring  from  the  assembly  in  dis- 
gust.^ The  zeal  and  prudence  of  Theodore,  how- 
ever, triumphed  over  these  difficulties.  He  visited 
the  several  churches  throughout  England,  and  so 
effectually  employed  authority  and  conciliation,  that 
at  a  council  called  at  Hertford,  in  the  year  673, 
the  bishops  generally  consented  to  the  canons 
which  he  had  brought  with  him  from  Rome,  by 
which  a  complete  agreement  in  faith  and  worship 
was  established.^ 

Theodore  now  addressed  himself  with  vigor  to 
the  vindication  of  his  authority  as  primate  of  all 
England,  a  preeminence  with  which  he  contended 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  had  been  invested  by 
Pope  Gregory,  and  in  right  of  which  he  claimed  for 
himself  scarcely  less  than  a  papal  supremacy  over 
the  British  church.  In  the  prosecution  of  this  object 
he  was  involved  in  a  long  contest  with  Wilfrid,  the 
Bishop  of  York,  whose  extensive  diocese  he  wished 
to  divide,  on  the  pretext  that  it  was  too  large  for  the 
superintendence  of  one  man.  But  Wilfi'id  was  not 
a  character  to  submit  tamely  to  such  a  stretch  of 
power.  Appealing  from  the  archbishop  to  the  pope, 
he  set  off  for  Rome,  where  he  was  graciously  re- 
ceived ;  and  he  soon  obtained  a  decree  rescinding 
the  partition  of  his  bishopric.  Though  the  papal 
mandate  was  so  little  regarded  that  King  Egfrid,  on 
Wilfrid's  return,  committed  him  to  prison,  yet  this 
precedent  was  afterwards  followed  by  ecclesiastical 
appeals  to  Rome,  which  terminated,  as  in  other 
countries,  in  the  universal  supremacy  of  the  pope. 
Our  limits  do  not  permit  us  to  trace  the  singular  ca- 
reer of  Wilfrid,  so  full  of  vicissitudes,  or  to  delineate 
his  character,  that  apparently  combined  so  many  in- 
consistencies. With  his  haughtiness  in  power,  and 
his  restless  ambition,  he  united,  in  the  hour  of  ad- 
versity, the  meekness  and  self-denial  of  an  apostle. 
Being  shipwrecked  on  his  voyage  to  Rome  upon  the 
shores  of  Friesland,  he  embraced  the  opportunity  of 
preaching  the  faith  to  the  barbarous  natives ;  and 
when  driven  into  Sussex  bj'  the  resentment  of  Eg- 
frid, he  there  also,  as  already  noticed,  turned  his  ill- 
■fortune  to  an  occasion  of  usefulness,  and,  engaging 
with  ready  zeal  in  a  new  work  of  conversion,  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  over  to  Christianity  the  last  dis- 
trict in  England  in  which  the  ancient  superstition 
survived. 

In  the  meantime  Theodore,  being  delivered  from 
the  presence  of  so  formidable  an  adversary,  was 
enabled  to  proceed  with  his  division  of  the  larger 
dioceses.     That  of  3Iercia,  in  particular,  which  had 

1  Theodore,  who,  when  he  was  railed  to  the  primacy,  wore  the 
Eastern  tonsure,  was  obliged  to  wait  four  months,  that  his  hair  might 
grow  so  as  to  be  $haven  according  to  the  orthodox  fashion.     Bed.  iv.  I. 

-  For  the  lengthened  discussion  at  this  council,  see  Bede,  iii.  25. 

3  Bed.  iv.  5 


228 


HISTORY  OP  f:ngland. 


[Book  II. 


till  now  embraced  the  whole  of  the  state  so  called, 
was  divided  by  King  Ethelred,  at  his  instigation,  into 
the  four  dioceses  of  Lichfield,  Worcester,  Hereford, 
and  Chester.  Many  other  reforms  were  also  pros- 
ecuted by  the  energetic  primate.  He  encouraged 
the  wealtliy  to  build  parisli  churches,  by  conferring 
upon  them  and  their  heirs  the  right  of  patronage. 
The  sacred  edifices,  till  now  for  the  most  part  of 
timber,  began  to  give  place  to  larger  and  more 
durable  structures  of  stone  ;  the  beautiful  chanting, 
hitherto  confined  to  the  cathedrals,  was  introduced 
into  the  churches  generally;  and  the  priests  who 
had  been  accustomed,  in  the  discharge  of  their  oflRce, 
to  wander  from  place  to  place,  had  fixed  stations  as- 
signed to  them.  They  and  the  churches  had  as  yet 
been  maintained  solely  by  the  voluntary  contributions 
of  the  peojjle ;  but,  because  this  was  a  precarious 
resource  when  the  excitement  of  novelty  had  ceased, 
Theodore  provided  for  the  regular  support  of  reli- 
gion, by  prevaihng  upon  the  kings  of  the  different 
states  to  impose  a  special  tax  iipon  their  subjects  for 
that  purpose,  under  the  name  of  kirk-scot.'  By 
these  and  similar  measures,  all  England,  long  before 
the  several  kingdoms  were  united  under  one  sove- 
reign, was  reduced  to  a  state  of  religious  uniformity, 
and  composed  a  single  spiritual  empire.  After  living 
to  witness  many  of  the  benefits  of  his  important 
labors,  this  illustrious  primate  died  in  690,  after  a 
well-spent  and  active  life  of  nearly  ninety  years. 

The  age  of  the  Christian  church  in  England  that 
immediately  succeeded  its  establishment  was  dis- 
tinguished by  the  decline  of  true  religion,  and  the 
rapid  increase  both  of  worldly-mindedness  among 
the  clergy,  and  of  fanaticism  and  superstition  among 
the  people.  From  the  humble  condition  of  a  de- 
pendence upon  the  alms  of  the  faithful,  the  church 
now  fomid  itself  in  the  possession  of  revenues 
which  enabled  its  bishops  to  vie  in  pomp  and  luxury 
with  the  chief  nobility,  and  even  conferred  no  small 
consideration  upon  many  of  its  inferior  ministers. 
It  is  generally  held  that  tithes  were  first  imposed 
upon  the  Mercians  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighth 
century  by  their  king  Otia,  and  that  the  tax  was 
extended  over  all  England  by  King  Ethelwulf,  in 
855.  But  the  subject  of  this  assumed  donation  of 
Ethelwulf  to  the  church  is  involved  in  great  obscurity.^ 
All  that  is  certain  is,  that  in  after  ages  the  clergy  were 
uniformly  wont  to  refer  to  his  charter  as  the  found- 
ation of  their  claim.  The  tithes  of  all  England, 
however,  at  this  early  period,  if  such  a  general  tax 
then  existed,  would  not  have  been  sufficient  of 
themselves  to  weigh  down  the  church  by  too  great 
a  burden  of  wealth.  A  great  portion  of  the  soil  was 
still  composed  of  waste  or  forest  land  ;  and  the  tithes 
appear  to  have  been  charged  with  the  repair  of 
churches,  the  expenses  of  worship,  and  the  relief  of 
the  poor,  as  well  as  with  the  maintenance  of  the 
clergy.  It  was  from  the  lavish  benevolence  of  indi- 
viduals that  the  church  principally  derived  its  large 
revenues.  Kings,  under  the  influence  of  piety  or 
remorse,  were  eager  to  pour  their  wealth  into  the 
ecclesiastical  treasury,  to  bribe  the  favor  of  heaven, 

1  Bedae  Epistol.  ad  Egbert. 

2  See  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  i.  479-481. 


or  avert  its  indignation ;  and  wealthy  thanes  were 
in  like  manner  wont  to  expiate  their  sins,  as  they 
were  taught  they  might  do,  by  founding  a  church 
or  endbwing  a  monastery.  Among  other  conse- 
quences of  these  more  ample  resources,  we  find 
that  the  walls  of  the  churches  became  covered  with 
foreign  paintings  and  tapestry ;  that  the  altars  and 
sacred  vessels  were  formed  of  the  precious  metals, 
and  sparkled  with  gems ;  while  the  vestments  of 
the  priests  were  of  the  most  splendid  description. 
Other  much  more  lamentable  effects  followed.  In- 
dolence and  sensuality  took  the  place  of  religion  and 
learning  among  all  orders  of  the  clergy.  The  mo- 
nasteries in  particular,  founded  at  first  as  abodes  of 
piety  and  letters,  and  refuges  for  the  desolate  and 
the  penitent,  soon  became  the  haunts  of  idleness 
and  superstition.  Many  of  the  nunneries  were 
mere  receptacles  of  profligacy,  in  which  the  roving 
debauchee  was  sure  of  a  welcome.'  In  the  year 
747  the  Council  of  Cloveshoe  found  it  necessary  to 
order  that  the  monasteries  should  not  be  turned  into 
places  of  amusement  for  harpers  and  buftoons  ;  and 
that  laymen  should  not  be  admitted  within  their 
walls  too  freely,  lest  thej'  might  be  scandalized  at 
the  offences  they  should  discover  there.^  Most  of 
the  monasteries  in  England,  too,  were  double  houses,* 
in  wliich  resided  communities  of  men  and  women ; 
and  the  natural  consequences  often  followed  this 
perilous  juxtaposition  of  the  sexes,  living  in  the 
midst  of  plenty  and  idleness.  These  establishments 
also  continued  to  multiply  with  a  rapidity  that  was 
portentous,  not  only  from  the  tendency  of  the  idle 
and  depraved  to  embrace  such  a  hfe  of  indulgence, 
but  from  the  doctrine  current  at  the  end  of  the 
seventh  century,  that  the  assumption  of  the  monas- 
tic habit  absolved  from  all  previous  sin.  Bede,  who 
saw  and  lamented  this  growing  evil,  raised  a  warning 
voice,  but  in  vain,  against  it ;  and  expressed  his  fears 
that,  from  the  increase  of  the  monks,  soldiers  would 
at  last  be  wanting  to  repel  the  invasion  of  an  enemy.* 
Many  nobles,  desirous  of  an  uninterrupted  life  of 
sensuality,  pretended  to  devote  their  wealth  to  the 
service  of  heaven,  and  obtained  the  royal  sanction 
for  founding  a  religious  house ;  but  in  their  new 
character  of  abbots,  they  gjithered  round  them  a 
brotherhood  of  dissolute  monks,  with  whom  they 
lived  in  the  commission  of  every  vice ;  while  their 
wives,  following  the  example,  established  nunneries 
upon  a  similar  principle,  and  filled  them  with  the 
most  depraved  of  their  sex.®  To  these  evils  was 
added  the  bitterness  of  religious  contention.  Men, 
thus  pampered,  could  scarcely  be  expected  to  live 
in  a  state  of  mutual  harmonj^;  and  fierce  dissensions 
were  constantly  raging  between  the  monks,  or  regu- 
lars, as  they  called  themselves,  and  the  seculars,  or 
unmonastic  clergy,  about  their  respective  duties, 
privileges,  and  honors. 

It  was  natural  enough  that  the  gi'ossest  supersti- 
tion should  accompany  and  intermingle  with  all  this 
gross  profligacy.     So  many  Saxon  kings  accordinglj' 

1  Bed.  de  reme  lio  pcccaforum.     Wilkin's  Concilia,  i.  88,  89. 

!  Wilkin's  Concilia,  i,  97. 

^  Lingard's  Antiquities  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  p.  120. 

*  Bed.  Epist.  ad  Egbert. 

'  Alcuin,  EpistolE.     Lingard's  Saxon  Antiquities,  p.  133. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


229 


abandoned  their  crowns,  and  retired  into  monasteries, 
that  the  practice  became  a  proverbial  distinction  of 
their  race  ;'  while  other  persons  of  rank,  nauseated 
with  indulgence,  or  horror-struck  with  religious 
dread,  often  also  forsook  the  world  of  which  they 
were  weary,  and  took  refuge  in  cells  or  hermitages. 
The  penances  by  which  they  endeavored  either  to 
expiate  their  crimes  or  attain  to  the  honors  of  saint- 
ship,  emblazoned  though  they  are  in  chronicles, 
and  canonized  in  calendars,  can  only  excite  contempt 
or  disgust,  whether  they  ascend  to  the  extravagance 
of  St.  Gurthlake,  who  endeavored  to  fast  forty  days 
after  the  fashion  of  Elias,^  or  sink  to  the  low  standard 
of  those  noble  ladies  who  thought  that  heaven  was 
to  be  won  by  the  spiritual  purity  of  unwashed  linen. 
In  addition  to  the  feeling  of  remorse  by  which  such 
expiations  were  inspired,  a  profligate  state  of  society 
will  multiply  religious  observances  as  a  cheap  substi- 
tute for  the  practice  of  holiness  and  virtue ;  and  men 
will  readily  fast,  and  make  journeys,  and  give  alms, 
in  preference  to  the  greater  sacrifice  of  amendment 
of  life.  We  need  not,  therefore,  wonder  to  find 
Saxon  pilgi-ims  thronging  to  the  continent  and  to 
Rome,  who  do  not  seem  to  have  considered  a  little 
contraband  ti'affic,  when  opportunity  offered,  as  de- 
tracting from  the  merits  of  theu*  religious  tour ; 
while  ladies  of  rank,  who  undertook  the  same  jour- 
ney, frequently  parted  with  whatever  virtue  they 
possessed  by  the  way.^ 

While  such  was  the  state  of  the  English  church, 
the  invasions  of  the  Danes  commenced  at  the  end 
of  the  eighth  century,  and  were  continued  in  a  suc- 
cession of  inundations,  each  more  terrible  than  the 
preceding.  These  spoilers  of  the  north,  devoted  to 
their  ancient  idolatry,  naturally  abhorred  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  Saxons,  corrupted  though  it  was,  as  a 
religion  of  humanity  and. order  ;  and  as  the  treasures 
of  the  land,  at  the  first  alarm,  were  deposited  in  the 
sacred  edifices,  which  were  fondly  believed  to  be 
safe  from  the  inti-usion  even  of  the  most  daring,  the 
tempest  of  the  Danish  warfare  was  chiefly  directed 
against  the  churches  and  monasteries.  Those  mira- 
cles lately  so  plentiful,  and  so  powerful  to  deceive, 
were  impotent  now  to  break  or  turn  back  the  sword 
of  the  invader.  The  priest  was  massacred  at  the 
altar ;  the  monk  perished  in  his  cell ;  the  nuns  were 
violated  ;  and  the  course  of  the  Northmen  might  be 
traced  by  the  ashes  of  sacred  edifices,  that  had  been 
pillaged  and  consumed.  The  eflfects  of  these  de- 
vastations upon  both  religion  and  learning  may  be 
read  in  the  mournful  complaint  of  Alfred.  At  his 
accession,  he  tells  us,  in  the  interesting  preface  to 
his  translation  of  Pope  Gregory's  tract  on  the  Duties 
of  Pastors,  he  could  find  very  few  priests  north  of 
the  Humber,  who  were  able  to  translate  the  latin 
service  into  the  vulgar  tongue ;  and  south  of  the 
Thames,  not  one. 

After  the  land  had  begun  to  recover  from  the  im- 
mediate eft'ects  of  this  visitation,  and  the  church  had 
resumed  its  wonted  position,  the  celebrated  Dunstan 
appeared.     He  was  born  in  Wessex,  about  the  year 

J  Huntingd.  p.  33T. 

2  Flores  Sanctoram  in  Vit.  Gurth.  p.  347. 

3  Spelman's  Concilia,  i.  p.  237. 


925.  Although  he  was  of  noble  birth,  and  remotely 
related  to  the  royal  family,  as  well  as  connected  with 
the  church  through  two  uncles,  one  of  whom  was 
primate,  and  the  other  bishop  of  Winchester,  these 
signal  advantages  were  not  deemed  enough  for  the 
future  aspirant  to  clerical  supremacy,  without  the 
con'oboration  of  a  miracle.  His  career  was,  there 
fore,  indicated  before  he  was  born.  AVhile  his 
mother  Cjnedrith  attended  divine  service,  in  the 
church,  at  the  festival  of  Candlemass,  the  lights 
which  the  worshipers  carried  were  suddenly  ex- 
tinguished, and  a  supernatural  darkness  involved  the 
whole  building.  But  in  the  midst  of  the  consterna- 
tion which  such  a  portent  excited,  her  candle  was 
rekindled  by  fire  which  seemed  to  descend  from 
heaven.  Of  course,  the  interpretation  was  easy, 
and  all  were  thus  taught  what  a  light  would  proceed 
from  her,  to  illuminate  the  church  and  kingdom.^ 
While  a  boy,  he  was  also  honored  by  divine  mani- 
festations. The  church  of  Glastonbury,  still  humble 
in  its  dimensions,  needed  enlargement,  and  sought 
it  at  the  hands  of  the  embryo  saint ;  for  this  purpose, 
a  venerable  man  appeared  to  him  in  a  vision,  led  him 
over  the  building,  explained  the  scale  on  which  it 
was  to  be  enlarged,  and  stamped  the  whole  plan  so 
indelibly  upon  his  mind,  that  he  could  not  forget  it. 
His  early  studies  having  been  pursued  with  an  in- 
tensify that  soon  exhausted  his  feeble  constitution, 
a  fever  ensued,  and,  under  the  delirium  it  produced, 
he  escaped  from  his  bed  during  the  night,  and  hur- 
ried to  the  church.  Having  found  the  doors  locked, 
he  scaled  the  walls  by  the  help  of  a  ladder,  reached 
a  scaflTolding — the  building  being  under  repair — and 
safely  descended  into  the  body  of  the  church,  where 
he  was  found  asleep  next  morning.  His  fortunate 
escape  from  the  danger  of  an  attempt  upon  which 
no  sane  person  would  have  ventured,  appeared  to 
others,  and  perhaps  to  himself,  as  nothing  less  than 
miraculous ;  and  his  restored  health,  which  the  ex- 
citement might  have  produced,  gave  countenance  to 
the  supposition.  The  story  was,  therefore,  ampli- 
fied and  embellished  in  the  spirit  of  the  age.  It 
was  an  angel  that  had  visited  his  couch  by  night, 
and  suddenly  restored  him  to  health.  An  impulse 
of  holy  gratitude  had  hurried  him  to  church,  that 
he  might  return  thanks  to  heaven  for  the  miracle  ; 
but  here,  it  was  added,  his  adversaiy,  the  devil,  ac- 
companied by  his  dogs,  had  opposed  his  path,  and 
endeavored  to  drive  him  back;  however,  the  intrepid 
youth,  with  pious  ejaculations  and  a  staff",  routed  the 
fiend  and  his  formidable  hell-hounds,  when  angels 
came  to  his  aid,  and  wafted  him  into  the  church  in 
safety. 

Thus  heralded  in  his  career,  Dunstan  was  careful 
to  omit  no  efforts  on  his  ovm  part  that  might  aid  his 
claims  to  the  character  he  proposed  to  assume  ;  and 
therefore  he  accomplished  himself  in  all  the  learn- 
ing that  might  give  him  an  influence  in  society.  He 
was  an  excellent  composer  in  music ;  he  played 
skilfully  upon  various  instruments ;  was  a  painter, 
a  worker  in  design,  and  a  calligrapher ;  a  jeweler 
and  a  blacksmith.     After  he  had  taken  the  clerical 

1  Osbernus  de  Vit.  S.  Dunst.  in  Anglia  Sacra,  ii.  p.  90;  et  Eadmer 
in  Vit.  Dunst  ,  ibid.,  ii.  213. 


230 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


habit  he  was  introduced  by  his  uncle  Adehn,  the 
primate,  to  King  Athelstane,  who  seems  to  have 
been  delighted  with  his  music'  But  Dunstan's 
character  for  saintship,  attested  though  it  had  been, 
was  still  imperfect.  To  his  other  endowments,  he 
had  added  a  familiaritj-  with  the  heathen  songs  of 
the  ancient  Saxons ;  and  this  acquisition  was  con- 
sidered by  many  as  not  a  little  unprofessional  and 
profane.  A  miracle  that  would  have  canonized  him 
in  the  cloister,  almost  brought  about  his  ruin  in  the 
court.  Upon  one  occasion,  when  he  had  hung  his 
harp  upon  the  wall,  it  was  heard  to  utter,  of  itc?elf, 
the  words  and  tune  of  an  anthem.  Whether  this 
effect  was  produced  by  ventriloquism  on  the  part  of 
Dunstan,  or  an  excited  imagination  in  the  hearer,  or 
whether  the  harp  was  one  of  those  called  ^olian, 
of  which  the  circumstance  has  obtained  for  him, 
with  some,  the  credit  of  being  the  inventor,  it  is 
impossible  to  conjecture;  but  if  he  here  actually  at- 
tempted a  mu-acle,  the  occasion  was  ill  chosen,  and 
the  effect  unfortunate.  The  courtiers,  who  envied 
him  the  favor  of  the  king,  loudly  denounced  him  as 
a  dealer  in  sorcery,  and  procured  his  expulsion  from 
the  court;  and,  not  contented  with  this  victory, 
they  pursued  him,  bound  him  hand  and  foot,  tram- 
pled upon  him,  and  threw  him  into  a  marsh,  where 
they  left  him  to  perish.  He  escaped,  however,  from 
this  imminent  peril,  and  sought  refuge  with  his  uncle, 
the  Bishop  of  Winchester. 

1  "  Iterun  cum  (Dunstanas)  videret  doniinum  regem  sscularibas 
curis  fatigatum  psallebat  in  tympano  sive  in  cythara,"  &c.    Osbeme. 


A  new  scene  now  opens  in  the  hfe  of  this  extra- 
ordinary person.  Contiguous  to  the  church  of  Glas- 
tonbury he  erected  a  cell,  live  feet  in  length  by  two 
in  breadth,  the  floor  of  which  was  sunk  beneath  the 
surface,  while  the  roof,  qn  the  outside,  was  only 
breast  high,  so  that  he  could  stand  upright  in  it, 
though  unable  to  lie  at  full  length.  This  strange 
sepulchre^  was  at  once  his  bed-chamber,  his  oratory, 
and  his  workshop ;  and  it  was  here  that  one  of  his 
most  celebrated  combats  with  the  prince  of  dark- 
ness took  place.  One  evening,  while  the  saint  was 
employed  at  his  forge,  the  devil  thrust  his  head  in 
at  the  window,  and  began  to  tempt  him  with  some 
immoral  propositions.  Dunstan  patiently  endured 
the  annoyance  until  his  tongs  were  red-hot  in  the 
fire,  when,  snatching  them  suddenly  up,  he  seized 
with  them  the  nose  of  the  foul  fiend,  who  bellowed 
in  agony  until  the  neighborhood  resounded  with  his 
clamor.  Such  were  the  gross  ideas  at  this  time 
entertained  of  the  nature  and  agency  of  spirits.  In 
this  and  many  similar  legends  Satan  appears  merely 
as  the  clown  in  the  pantomime,  and  generally  to  be 
outwitted  and  baffled.^  By  all  this  mortification 
Dunstan  gradually  repaired  the  error  or  misfortune 
into  which  he  had  fallen.  His  character  for  sanc- 
tity became  more  illustrious  than  ever ;  and  EtheJ- 

1  So  Osbeme,  who  had  seen  the  cell,  is  pleased  to  term  it,  after  de- 
scribing its  dimensions. 

2  In  the  narrative  of  Dnnstan's  feat,  the  cry  of  Satan,  at  his  depar- 
ture, was,  "  O  quid  fecit  calvus  iste  I  O  quid  ferit  calvus  iste  !"  Anglia 
Sacra,  ii.  97.  In  another  conflict  the  saint  struck  the  devil  so  fiercely 
with  his  pastoral  staff,  that  it  broke  in  three  pieces.     Ibid.  p.  105. 


RciNS  OF  Glaston-bcry  Abbey,  as  Ihey  appeared  in  1785 ;— St.  John's  Church,  and  St.  Mich-tel's  Tower,  on  the  Torr  Hill,  in  the  Dismnce. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


231 


fleda,  a  noble  lady  who  occupied  a  cell  near  his  own, 
made  him,  at  her  death,  her  sole  executor.  He 
distributed  the  personal  property  among  the  poor, 
and  bestowed  the  lands  upon  the  church  of  Glas- 
tonbury, endowing  that  establishment  at  the  same 
time  with  the  whole  of  his  own  patrimony,  which 
had  lately  fallen  to  him.  His  ambition,  indeed, 
however  inordinate  and  reckless,  was  certainly  of 
too  lofty  a  character  to  stoop  to  lucrative  considera- 
tions. 

Edmund  having  now  succeeded  to  the  throne, 
Dunstan  was  recalled  to  court ;  but,  in  spite  of  his 
recent  exploits  and  penances,  he  was  still  opposed 
by  the  courtiers,  who  probably  saw  his  ambition, 
and  dreaded  his  talents.  Their  intrigues  again  pro- 
cured his  dismission,  but  once  more  he  was  recalled 
through  the  opportune  interference  of  a  miracle ;  and 
the  king  not  only  made  him  Abbot  of  Glastonbury,  but 
greatly  increased  the  privileges  of  that  monastery. 
Edred,  the  successor  of  Edmund,  showed  him  equal 
favor,  and  would  have  made  him  bishop  of  Crediton ; 
but  Dunstan,  who  seems  to  have  contemplated  a 
still  higher  elevation,  refused  the  offer.  The  fol- 
lowing day  he  declared  that  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul, 
and  St.  Andrew  had  visited  him  in  the  night  in  a 
vision ;  and  that  the  last,  having  severely  chastised 
him  with  a  rod  for  rejecting  their  apostolic  society, 
commanded  him  never  to  refuse  such  an  offer  again, 
or  even  the  primacy,  should  it  be  offered  him ;  as- 
suring him,  withal,  that  he  should  one  day  travel  to 
Rome. 

It  is  probable  that  Dunstan's  ultimate  aim  all  this 
•while  was  to  effect  what  he  deemed  a  reformation 
of  the  church,  and  that,  according  to  the  morality 
of  the  times,  he  justified  to  himself  the  means  to 
which  he  resorted  by  the  importance  of  the  object 
he  had  in  view.  The  ecclesiastical  reformation  to 
which  his  efforts  were  directed  was  such  as  might 
have  been  expected  from  his  character.  A  fierce 
champion  for  the  fancied  holiness  of  celibacy,  he 
determined  to  reduce  the  clergy  under  the  monas- 
tic yoke ;  and,  as  during  the  late  political  troubles 
many  both  of  the  secular  and  the  regular  priests 
had  married  when  they  were  driven  from  their 
homes,  he  insisted  that  those  who  had  so  acted 
should  put  away  both  their  wives  and  families. 
Those  clergj'  also  who  dwelt  with  their  respective 
bishops  were  required  to  become  the  inmates  of  a 
monastery.  In  these  views  he  was  happy  in  having 
for  his  coadjutor  Archbishop  Odo.  This  personage, 
born  of  Danish  parents,  and  distinguished  in  the 
early  part  of  his  life  as  a  soldier,  retained  ever  after 
the  firmness  and  ferocity  of  his  first  calling.  We 
have  already  related  the  part  he  acted  along  with 
Dunstan  in  the  tragedy  of  the  unhappy  Elgiva. 
When  Dunstan,  soon  after  this,  was  obliged  to  fly 
froiu  England  on  being  accused  of  embezzlement  in 
the  administration  of  the  royal  revenues,  it  is  re- 
lated that  while  the  officers  were  employed  at  the 
Abbey  of  Glastonbury  in  taking  an  inventory  of  his 
effects,  his  old  adversary  the  devil  made  the  sacred 
building  resound  with  obstreperous  mirth  at  the  dis- 
comfiture of  its  abbot.  But  Dunstan  checked  his 
triumph  by  the  prophetic  intimation  of  a  speedy  re- 


turn.' He  then  hastened  to  leave  the  kingdom,  and 
was  so  fortunate  as  to  escape  the  pursuit  of  the 
queen's  messengers,  who,  it  is  said,  were  commis- 
sioned to  put  out  his  eyes. 

The  death  of  Edw)^  immediately  brought  about 
the  recall  of  Dunstan,  and  the  restoration  of  his 
influence,  and  he  was  appointed  by  Edgar  Bishop  of 
Worcester,  in  957.  Three  years  afterwards,  on  the 
death  of  Odo,  he  was  promoted  to  the  archbishopric 
of  Canterbury,  when,  according  to  custom,  he  re- 
paired to  Rome  to  receive  the  pall  at  the  hands  of 
the  pope,  thus  fulfilling  the  prediction  of  his  vision. 

He  was  now  possessed  of  unlimited  ecclesiastical 
authority ;  and  though  he  no  longer  enjoyed  the 
powerful  cooperation  of  Odo,  he  was  seconded  by 
the  no  less  zealous  efforts  of  Oswald  and  Ethelwald, 
the  former  of  whom  he  had  promoted  to  the  see  of 
Worcester,  and  the  latter  to  that  of  Winchester, 
and  both  of  whom  were  afterwards  canonized  with 
their  principal.  He  had  also  the  superstitious  Ed- 
gar under  his  control,  and  afterwards  the  youthful 
Edward.  Being  thus  surrounded  with  political  and 
spiritual  coadjutors,  he  proceeded  with  merciless 
zeal  in  his  projects  of  reformation,  and  alternately 
adopted  force  and  stratagem  for  the  accomplishment 
of  his  purposes.  The  clergy  were  now  imperiously 
required  to  dismiss  their  wives  and  conform  to  the 
law  of  celibacy,  or  resign  their  charges ;  and  when 
they  adopted  the  latter  alternative,  they  were  rep- 
resented as  monsters  of  wickedness  by  whose  pres- 
ence the  church  was  polluted.  The  secular  canons 
were  driven  out  of  the  cathedrals  and  monasteries, 
and  their  places  were  filled  with  monks.  On  one 
occasion  Ethelwald  entered  his  cathedral  during 
the  celebration  of  mass,  and  causing  his  servants  to 
throw  a  heap  of  cowls  which  they  had  brought 
with  them  upon  the  floor,  he  commanded  the  as- 
tonished canons  to  assume  these  habits  or  resign. 
In  vain  they  pleaded  for  time  to  deliberate  ;  the  com- 
mand was  imperative,  and  must  be  instantly  obeyed. 
Eventually  a  few  only  complied  with  the  haughty 
mandate.'^  Miracles  were  necessary  for  such  obsti- 
nate recusants,  and  therefore,  besides  the  wonderful 
legends  that  were  devised  and  propagated  in  praise 
of  St.  Benedict  and  his  institution,  the  archbishop 
vouchsafed  to  them  a  sign  for  their  conviction.  A 
synod  having  been  held  at  Winchester  in  977,  at 
which  the  canons  hoped  that  the  sentence  against 
them  would  be  reversed,  all  at  once  a  voice  issued 
from  a  crucifix  in  the  wall,  exclaiming,  "  Do  it  not ! 
do  it  not !  you  have  judged  well,  and  you  would  do 
ill  to  change  it."^  This  miracle,  however,  so  far 
from  convincing  the  canons,  only  produced  confu- 
sion, and  broke  up  the  meeting.  A  second  meeting 
was  held,  but  with  no  better  result.  A  third  was 
appointed  at  Calne,  and  there  a  prodigy  was  to  be 
exhibited  of  a  more  tremendous  and  decisive  char- 
acter. The  opponents  of  Dunstan  had  chosen  for 
their  advocate  Beornelm,  a  Scotch  bishop,  who  is 
described  as  a  person  of  subtle  understanding  and 
infinite  loquacity.     Dunstan,  perplexed  by  the  ar- 

'  Anglia  Sac.  ii.  p.  105. 

2  Eadnier  in  Anglia  Sac.  ii.  p.  319. 

3  Anglia  Sac.  ii.  pp.  112  and  219. 


232 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IL 


IfWW../ 


Portrait  op  Dcnstan  in  full  Archiepiscopal  Costume. — From  an  Illuminatioa  in  Ihe  Cottonian  MS.  Claud.  A.  iii. 


guments  of  such  an  antagonist,  produced  his  final 
demonstration.  "  I  am  now  growing  old,"  he  ex- 
claimed, "  and  you  endeavor  to  overcome  me.  I 
am  more  disposed  to  silence  than  contention.  I 
confess  I  am  unwilling  that  you  should  vanquish 
me ;  and  to  Christ  himself,  as  judge,  I  commit  the 
cause  of  his  church."  At  these  words,  the  floor 
suddenly  gave  way,  and  fell  to  the  ground  with  his 
adversaries,  of  whom  some  were  crushed  to  death, 
and  many  grievously  injured,  while  the  part  which 
Dunstan  occupied,  with  his  adherents,  remained 
unmoved.  It  is  no  violation  of  charity  to  suspect, 
from  this  incident,  that  the  archbishop  was  skilled 
in  the  profession  of  the  carpenter  as  well  as  in  that 
of  the  blacksmith. 

Dunstan  lived  for  ten  years  after  this  sanguinary 
deception,  and  spent  them  in  still  prosecuting  his 
favorite  schemes  of  ecclesiastical  reform.  His  last 
moments  are  irradiated  in  the  legend  of  his  life  by 
a  whole  galaxy  of  miracles  ;  but  enough  of  this  sort 
of  matter  has  been  already  quoted.  He  died  in 
the  reign  of  Ethelred  in  a.d.  988. 

The  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  church,  from 
the  death  of  Dunstan  to  the  Norman  conquest, 
presents  little  to  interest  the  general  reader.  The 
cause  for  which  Dunstan  and  his  coadjutors  had 
labored  remained  completely  in  the  ascendant; 
monasteries  continued  to  be  founded  or  endowed 
in  every  part  of  the  kingdom ;  and  such  were  the 


multitudes  who  devoted  themselves  to  the  cloister, 
that  the  foreboding  of  Bede  was  at  length  accom- 
plished— above  a  third  of  the  property  of  the  land 
was  in  possession  of  the  church,  and  exempted 
from  taxes  and  military  service.  It  is  probable  that 
an  increase  of  superstition  of  a  certain  kind  was 
one  of  the  consequences  of  the  invasions  of  the 
Danes.  In  a  canon  of  the  reign  of  King  Edgar  we 
find  the  clergy  enjoined  to  be  diligent  in  withdraw- 
ing the  people  from  the  worship  of  trees,  stones, 
and  fountains,  and  other  heathen  practices  which 
are  therein  specified ;  and  the  laws  of  Canute 
prohibited  the  worship  of  heathen  gods,  the  sun, 
moon,  fire,  rivers,  fountains,  rocks,  or  trees  ;  the 
practice  of  witchcraft,  or  the  commission  of  murder 
by  magic,  firebrands,  or  any  infernal  devices.  The 
penitential  by  some  ascribed  to  Dunstan  requires 
that  penitents  shall  confess  whatever  sins  have 
been  committed  by  their  bodies,  their  skin,  their 
flesh,  their  bones,  their  sinews,  their  veins,  their 
gristles,  their  tongues,  their  lips,  their  palates,  their 
hair,  their  marrow — by  everything  soft  or  hard, 
moist  or  dry.  The  penances  imposed  upon  the 
laity  for  their  sins  had  a  reference  to  the  spirit  of 
the  age  and  people.  They  chiefly  consisted  in  a 
prohibition  from  carrying  arms;  in  abstinence  from 
flesh,  strong  liquors,  soft  beds,  and  warm  baths ;  in 
not  polling  the  head  and  beard,  or  paring  the  nails ; 
and  if  they  were  rich,  they  were  required  to  build 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


233 


and  endow  nfonasteries.  Some  of  the  prescribed 
fastings  would  appear  intolerable,  but  for  the  meth- 
ods which  they  had  discovered  of  vicarious  penance 
in  this  particular.  The  abstinence  of  another, 
which  might  be  obtained  by  purchase,  was  carried 
to  the  account  of  the  offender;  so  that  he  upon 
whom  was  imposed  a  cessation  from  food  for  seven 
years,  might  finish  the  whole  in  three  days,  if  he 
could  procure  eight  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  fast 
along  with  him  on  bread,  water,  and  vegetables. 
Exemption,  too,  was  to  be  directly  bought  at  a 
stipulated  price ;  so  that  a  year's  fasting  would  be 
remitted  on  payment  of  a  fine  of  thirty  shillings  to 
the  church. 

In  the  canons  of  Elfric,  who  was  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  from  995  to  1005,  we  learn  that  there 
were  seven  orders  of  clergy  in  the  church,  whose 
names  and  offices  were  the  following:  —  1st.  The 
Ostiary,  who  took  charge  of  the  church  doors  and 
rang  the  bell.  2nd.  The  Lector,  or  reader  of  Scrip- 
ture to  the  congregation.  3rd.  The  Exorcist,  who 
drove  out  devils  by  sacred  adjurations  or  invocations. 
4th.  The  Acolyth,  who  held  the  tapers  at  the 
reading  of  the  gospels  and  the  celebration  of  mass. 
5th.  The  Sub-deacon,  who  produced  the  holy  ves- 
sels, and  attended  the  deacon  at  the  altar.  6th. 
The  Deacon,  who  ministered  to  the  mass-priest, 
laid  the  oblation  on  the  altar,  read  the  gospel,  bap- 
tized children,  and  gave  the  eucharist  to  the  people. 
7th.  The  Mass-priest,  or  Presbyter,  who  preached, 
baptized,  and  consecrated  the  Eucharist.  Of  the 
same  order  with  the  last  of  these,  but  higher  in 
honor,  was — the  bishop. 

During  this  long  period  the  history  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland  is"  involved  in  much  obscurity.  While 
the  remoteness  and  barbarism  of  the  country,  how- 
ever, protected  it  from  the  extending  influence  of 
Rome,  it  appears  that  the  Culdees  diffused  them- 
selves over  the  territory  to  the  south  as  well  as 
over  that  to  the  north  of  the  Grampians,  and  in 
course  of  time  came  to  form  exclusively,  or  almost 
exclusively,  the  national  clergy.  Of  either  the  doc- 
trines or  ecclesiastical  government  of  the  Culdees 
we  know  little  positively,  although  the  subject  has 
given  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  angry  disputation.  But 
it  would  appear  that  whatever  may  have  been  the 
principles  of  their  founder,  Columba,  they  eventu- 
ally came  to  be  considered  as  opposed  to  many  of 


the  claims  of  the  Roman  see.  On  this  account, 
although  a  great  part  of  the  north  of  England  was 
converted  by  missionaries  sent  from  lona,  it  was 
decreed  at  the  Council  of  Cealhythe,  in  the  year 
816,  that  no  Scottish  priest  should  for  the  future 
exercise  his  functions  in  England.  The  English 
writers  of  that  age,  nevertheless,  bear  testimony  to 
the  purity  of  their  lives  and  the  zeal  of  their  apos- 
tolic labors,  while  they  denounce  their  exclusive 
devotedness  to  the  authority  of  Scripture,  their 
rejection  of  the  Romish  ceremonies,  doctrines,  and 
ti'aditions,  the  nakedness  of  their  forms  of  worship, 
and  the  republican  character  of  their  ecclesiastical 
government.  It  has  been  maintained  also  by  some 
protestant  writers  that  the  Culdees  rejected  the 
practice  of  auricular  confession,  and  various  other 
points  of  ceremony  and  doctrine  pecuhar  to  the 
Romish  Church.  It  is  certain  that,  as  had  happen- 
ed in  every  part  of  the  Christian  world,  even  those 
of  them  who  belonged  to  monasteries  came  at  length 
to  marry,  although  there  is  much  reason  to  suspect 
that  this  was  a  corruption  of  the  rule  originally 
established  by  St.  Columba.  The  office  of  Culdee 
in  Scotland  would  even  in  some  cases  appear  to 
have  become  hereditary.  The  attitude  of  opposi- 
tion into  which  the  Scottish  priests  were  thrown, 
by  circumstances,  to  the  English  church  founded 
by  Augustin  and  his  companions  upon  the  Roman 
model,  naturally  fixed  them  to  the  maintenance  of 
their  own  creed,  worship,  and  discipline,  and  con- 
solidated their  church  into  an  establishment  nearly 
if  not  altogether  independent  of  that  of  Rome. 
Their  separation  from  the  Roman  church,  and  op- 
position to  its  doctrines,  was  so  strong  that  Marga- 
ret, the  Anglo-Saxon  queen  of  Malcolm  Canmore, 
was  shocked,  on  her  arrival  in  Scotland,  to  find  the 
faith  and  worship  of  the  people  so  different  from 
the  rules  of  that  church  in  which  she  had  been 
educated.  She  therefore  endeavored  to  rouse, 
against  what  she  considered  a  profane  schism,  the 
influence  of  her  husband,  and  for  a  time  succeeded; 
but  the  Scottish  church  appears  to  have  reverted, 
after  her  death,  to  its  former  condition.  It  is  from 
the  debates  which  she  held  with  the  king  upon  the 
subject  that  we  learn  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
little  we  know  respecting  the  religious  opinions  of 
the  Culdees.' 

1  Turgot,  in  Vita  Sanctise  Margarita. 


234 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[BouK  II. 


P  jRTRAiT  OF  King  Alfred. — From  a  Plate  in  Spelman's  Vita  Magni  /Elfredi :  drawn  from  Coins  and  two  ancient  Busts. 


CHAPTER  III. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


HE  Roman  civilization, 
such  as  it  was,  passed 
away,  and  a  long,  dreary 
tract  of  disorder  and  dark- 
ness succeeded.  Yet  that 
chaotic  mass  which  then 
constituted  society  con- 
tained the  elements  of 
modern  European  civili- 
zation ;  and  in  proportion 
to  that  very  confusion, 
to  the  number  and  heterogeneous  character  of  the 
component  elements  of  that  chaos,  are  the  richness 
and  completeness  of  the  civilization  which  has  been 
the  result  of  them.  Our  business  in  the  present 
chapter  is  with  the  particular  element  that  belonged 
to  those  wild,  free,  warlike  barbarians  who,  in  the 
fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  overran  and  conquered 
the  larger  portion  of  the  Roman  world. 


"  Tacitus,"  says  M."  Guizot,  "  painted  the  Ger- 
mans, as  Montaigne  and  Rousseau  did  the  savages, 
in  a  fit  of  spleen  against  his  country ;  his  book  is  a 
satire  upon  Roman  manners;  the  eloquent  outbreak 
of  a  patriot  philosopher  who  desires  to  see  virtue 
there  where  he  does  not  find  the  disgraceful  effem- 
inacy and  elaborate  depravity  of  an  old  society." ' 
Not  that  M.  Guizot  infers  that  Tacitus  stated  facts 
that  were  inaccurate.  On  the  contrary,  he  admits 
that  all  subsequent  inquiries  have  gone  to  prove 
the  general  accuracy  of  his  statements.  But  from 
the  circumstance  above  alluded  to,  what  Guizot 
calls  the  moral  coloring  of  the  picture  has  in  it 
somewhat  of  a  false  and  misleading  tinge.  Seve- 
ral German  writers  in  modern  times  have  followed 
the  course  of  Tacitus,  though  from  a  motive  dif- 
ferent from  his,  giving  a  highly-colored  picture 
of  the  virtues  of  their  rude  ancestors,  who  differed, 

1  Guizot,  Cours  d'Histoire  Modeme,  torn.  ii.  p.  258. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


235 


however,  as  is  satisfoctorily  shown  by  M.  Guizot, 
verj-  httle  from  other  communities  similarly  situ- 
ated. 

We  perceive  among  the  Saxons,  as  among  other 
Germanic  tribes,  the  germs  of  three  great  systems 
of  institutions  which,  from  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
empire,  have  divided  Europe  amongst  them. — 1. 
Assemblies  of  freemen,  in  which  the  common  af- 
fairs of  the  nation  are  debated.  2.  Kings  ;  some 
hereditary,  others  elective.  3.  The  principle  of 
aristocratic  patronage ;  either  of  a  militarj^  chief 
over  his  companions  in  arms,  or  of  a  landed  pro- 
prietor over  his  family  and  his  husbandmen.^ 

AVhen  the  bands  of  Saxons  arrived  and  took 
possession  of  any  tract  of  countiy,  the  chiefs  appro- 
priated to  themselves  extensive  domains,  while  the 
larger  portion  of  the  warriors  who  accompanied 
them  continued  to  live  around  them.  Gradually, 
however,  the  distance  between  the  chief  and  his 
companions  —  at  first  not  very  gieat — increased, 
partly  from  the  circumstances  natural  to  their  res- 
pective positions,  and  partly  from  a  chcumstance 
upon  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  bestow  a  few 
words  of  explanation. 

The  only  kings  of  the  continental  Saxons  appear 
to  have  been  temporary  leaders,  appointed  to  hold 
the  general  command  in  time  of  war.  This  is  the 
statement  made  by  Caesar  respecting  all  the  German 
nations  in  his  time,  and  it  is  repeated  nearly  eight 
centuries  afterwards  by  Bede  as  still  applicable  to 
the  Saxons  who  remained  in  their  original  seats. 
The  king,  according  to  Bede,  when  a  war  broke 
out,  was  elected  by  lot  fi'om  among  the  chiefs :  as 
soon  as  the  war  was  ended,  all  the  chiefs  became 
again  of  equal  power.  In  like  manner,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe,  the  first  kings  of  the  Saxons 
in  England  were  merely  the  captains  of  the  several 
invading  bands,  or  those  appointed  to  succeed  them 
in  the  conduct  of  the  war  with  the  Britons.  The 
long  continuance  of  that  contest  first  made  the  office 
permanent,  and  converted  the  military  commander 
into  the  supreme  magistrate  of  his  nation.  The 
Saxon  word  cijning,  of  which  our  modern  king  is 
an  abbreviation,  appears  to  have  meant  the  off- 
spring or  creature  of  the  community.^  That  in 
early  times,  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  the  person  of 
the  king  was  not  sacred,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that 
the  law  afforded  him  the  same  security  (in  kind, 
though  different  in  degree)  for  his  life  that  it  did 
to  the  meanest  of  his  subjects.  It  gave  him  the 
protection  of  his  weregild,  —  that  is,  a  certain 
pecuniary  value  put  upon  his  life,  —  and  nothing 
more. 

We  have  said  that  the  Roman  civilization  passed 
away  ;  but  it  was  not  probable  that  that  vast  power 
which  had  overshadowed  the  earth  for  so  many 
centuries  with  its  mighty  .wings  should  disappear, 
like  the  unreal  fabric  of  a  dream,  without  leaving  a 
wreck  behind.  On  the  conti-ary,  the  Roman  em- 
pire left  marks  that  are  indelible,  not  merely  such 
as,  like  the  vast  material  relics  of  its  greatness,  only 

1  Guizot,  Cours  d'Histoire,  torn.  ii.  p.  268. 

2  Allen's  Inquiry  into  the  Rise  and  Growth  of  the  Royal  Premgative 
in  England,  8vo.  1830. 


affect  the  senses,  but  such  as  sink  deep  into  the 
mind  and  influence  the  actions.  Those  things  bor- 
rowed by  the  noithern  nations  from  the  Roman 
civilization,  which  are  most  important  to  be  here 
noted  for  their  effect  on  modern  European  civiliza- 
tion, were,  1st.  the  idea  of  imperial  power;  and, 
2nd.  the  municipal  institutions. 

This  idea  of  imperial  power  found  much  favor  in 
the  sight  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  kings,  as  it  did  in  that 
of  their  Teutonic  brethren  in  whatever  part  of  the 
earth  they  had  succeeded  the  Roman  occupants  of 
the  soil. 

But  though  the  Anglo-Saxon  princes  might  as- 
sume some  of  the  external  insignia,  they  had  but 
little  of  the  substance  of  the  imperial  sovereignty. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  government  would  seem  to  have 
been  an  aristocracy  in  a  somewhat  wide  meaning 
of  the  term.  Thus,  instead  of  the  purely  mo- 
narchical form  of  the  Roman  imperial  legislation, 
their  style  runs  thus  :  "  Ego  Dei  gratia,  &:c.  cum 
consilio  et  cum  doctrina — Episcopi  mei,  et — Epis- 
copi  mei,  et  cum  omnibus  meis  Senatoribus,  et 
Senioribus  sapientibus  populi  mei,  et  multa  cum 
societate  ministi'orum  Dei,"  &c.  &cc. — that  is,  "  I 
by  the  grace  of  God,  &c.,  with  the  advice  and  con- 
sent of  certain  of  my  bishops  (naming  them),  and 
along  with  all  mj-  senators  and  the  wise  elders  of 
my  people,  and  a  large  associated  number  of  the 
ministers  of  God,"  &:c.  Whence  it  appears  that 
the  laws  were  made  by  the  king  and  a  national 
assembly  or  parliament,  composed  of  the  nobility 
and  others.  This  was  called  the  Witenagemot, — 
literally,  the  meeting  of  the  wise  men ;  but  before 
proceeding  to  examine  its  constitution,  it  will  be 
necessaiy  to  saj'  a  few  words  respecting  the  several 
classes  of  the  Saxon  population. 

As  the  Saxons  conquered  Britain,  every  warrior 
obtained  a  number  of  captives,  and  a  portion  of 
land,  proportioned  to  the  services  which  he  had 
performed.  It  is  at  least  probable,  however,  that 
something  similar  took  place  in  Britain  to  what  is 
known  to  have  happened  in  other  parts  of  the 
Roman  empire,  Avhere,  on  the  settlement  of  the 
northern  conquerors,  though  of  the  former  inhabi- 
tants many  were  reduced  to  slavery,  many  retained 
their  liberty ;  and  though  the  estates  of  some  were 
totally  confiscated,  in  general  the  vanquished  were 
left  in  possession  of  part  of  their  land.  This  was 
the  mode  adopted  by  the  Burgundians  in  Gaul,  the 
Visigoths  in  Spain,  and  the  Ostrogoths  in  Italy.' 
Owing  to  the  vigorous  opposition  made  by  the 
Britons,  which  was  much  beyond  what  the  con- 
querors had  to  encounter  in  other  parts  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  such  as  Gaul  and  Italy,  a  much  larger 
number  of  invaders,  in  proportion  to  the  native 
inhabitants,  was  required  to  effect  the  conquest  than 
in  the  case  of  Gaul.  This  would  be  one  good 
reason,  even  if  no  other  could  be  found,  for  the 
ordinary  divisions  of  land  among  the  Saxon  con- 
querors not  being  very  large  ones ;  and  we  find 
accordingly  that  the  land  was  divided  into  "  hides," 
each  comprehending  as  much  as  could  be  cultivated 
by  a  single  plough.  It  is  likely  that  this  circum- 
1  Allen's  Imjuiry,  pp.  138-9. 


236 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  It. 


stance  may  have  something  to  do  with  the  more 
popular  character  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  institutions  as 
compared  with  those  of  their  continental  brethren, 
whether  remaining  in  Germany  or  transplanted  to 
France  and  Italy. 

AVhen  the  estate  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  was  large, 
one  part  of  it  was  occupied  by  the  kindred  and  free 
retainers  of  the  proprietor,  who  gave  in  return 
military  service ;  another  part  was  parceled  out 
into  different  farms,  and  committed  to  the  manage- 
ment of  particular  bondmen,  from  whom,  at  the 
end  of  the  year,  he  required  an  account  of  the  pro- 
duce. The  former  came  eventually  to  receive  the 
name  of  "vassals,"  the  latter  of  "  villains." 

The  distinction  between  the  original  proprietor 
and  his  vassals  gave  rise  to  the  division  of  landed 
estates  into  "allodial"  and  "feudal,"  the  former 
being  those  held  without,  the  latter  those  held 
with,  a  lord  superior.  The  feudal  estates,  heneficia, 
or  fiefs,  or  feuds,  appear  to  have  been  held  oi-igin- 
ally  during  the  pleasure  of  the  superior,  then  for  a 
determinate  time,  afterwards  for  life,  and  at  length 
to  have  become  hereditary.  M.  Guizot,  who  has 
treated  this  subject  with  his  usual  ability  and 
research,  has  come  to  the  following  conclusions  : — 
1.  Originally  the  grants  were  generally  made  ia 
usufruct  and  for  life,  provided  that  the  grantee 
remained  faithful  to  the  gi-antor.  2.  The  course  of 
events  constantly  tended  to  render  them  hereditary.^ 
We  may  here  add  that  the  constant  tendency  also 
was,  during  the  turbulency  of  the  middle  ages,  to 
convert  allodial  into  feudal  property,  in  consequence 
of  the  more  effectual  protection  afforded  by  that 
description  of  tenure.- 

Connected  with  this  subject  is  the  celebrated 
Saxon  distinction  of  land  into  "folcland"  and  "  boc- 
land,"  upon  which  Mr.  Allen  has  the  merit  of 
having  thrown  a  considerable  quantity  of  new  light. 
When  the  Saxons  had  secured  a  territory,  after 
appropriating  certain  portions  to  individuals  accord- 
ing to  their  claims  (as  stated  above),  they  considered 
what  remained  as  belonging  to  the  state  or  com- 
munity at  large,  and  called  it  "  folcland,"  which  is 
interpreted  by  Spelman  "terra  popularis,"  that  is, 
the  land  of  the  pubhc.^  It  corres|)onded  to  the  /tsc 
of  the  continental  nations.  When  a  particular 
portion  of  land  was  severed  from  the  folcland,  and 
appropriated,  provided  the  conveyance  was  made 
by  a  written  instrument,  it  received  the  name  of 
"  bocland."  The  proprietor  of  bocland,  unless 
specially  fettered,  appears  to  have  had  an  unlimited 
power  to  dispose  of  it  as  he  chose.  Moreover, 
when  once  severed  from  the  folcland  or  property  of 
the  community,  whatever  were  the  burdens  and 
services  imposed  upon  it,  provided  it  was  ahenated 
by  writing,  an  estate  received  the  name  of  bocland.'* 
However,  it  is,  as  Mr.  Allen  remarks,  not  quite 
correct  to  say  that  all  the  lands  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
were  either  folcland  or  bocland,  because  land  was 
not  properly  bocland  unless  conveyed  by  a  WTitten 
instrument,   and   at  an   early  period   conveyances 

•  Guizot,  Essais  sur  I'Histoire  de  France,  pp.  128  and  143. 

2  Allen's  Inquiry,  p.  142. 

3  Spelm.  Gloss,  v.  Folcland.  *  Allen,  p.  153. 


were  made  by  the  dehvery  of  a  staff,  a  spear,  an 
arrow.  Arc. 

That  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  had  private  proj)erty 
in  land,  that  is,  bocland,  is  decisively  proved  by 
the  will  of  King  Alfred,  still  extant.  When  the 
kings  in  process  of  time  began  to  be  considered  aa 
the  representatives  of  the  state,  the  term  terra 
regis,  or  crown  land,  took  the  place  of  the  word 
folcland.  This  is  the  terra  regis  of  Domesday.' 
In  time  the  bocland,  or  private  estate  of  the  king, 
came  to  be  mixed  up  with  it. 

The  Anglo-Saxons,  like  the  other  Teutonic  na- 
tions, were  divided  into  various  castes.  The  highest 
of  these  was  that  out  of  which  their  kings  were 
taken ;  for  though  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  were 
elective,  not  hereditary,  they  were  usually  chosen 
out  of  a  certain  particular  familj-  or  race.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  chieftains  of  this  family  were  all  de- 
scended from  the  deified  monarch  of  the  Asi,  Odin 
or  Woden.  "  It  may  be  admitted,"  observes  Sir 
Francis  Palgrave,  "  that  their  proud  genealogies 
had  no  foundation  in  truth." '  Nevertheless  these 
pretensions  of  theirs  may  probably  Tiave  had  some 
share  in  originating  the  Divine  right  doctrine  of 
later  times. 

The  second  great  caste  among  the  Anglo-Saxons 
were  the  nobility,  who  bore  the  title  of  eorls,  or 
eorlcundmen,  or  thane-born.^  The  pervading  prin- 
ciple, as  we  have  already  remarked,  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  government  was  aristocratic.  But  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  nobility,  to  have  its  full  preemi- 
nence, required  the  addition  of  property.  Noble 
birth,  though  it  raised  a  man  above  the  condition  of 
villainage,  did  not  place  him  on  a  level  with  those 
who  possessed  land  in  absolute  dominion,  as  well 
as  nobility  of  birth.  We  have  already  spoken  of 
the  systems  of  hlafords  and  men,  or  in  the  feudal 
phrase,  lords  and  vassals.  If  a  noble  did  not  pos- 
sess the  property  sufficient  to  constitute  a  lordship, 
he  was  then  "  ranked,"  says  Sir  Francis  Palgrave, 
"  in  the  very  numerous  class,  whose  members  in 
Wessex  and  its  dependent  states  were  originally 
known  by  the  name  of  Sithcundmen ;  an  appella- 
tion which  we  may  paraphrase  by  the  heraldic 
expression  of  '  gentle  by  birth  and  blood.' "  The 
Sithcuudman  appears  to  have  originally  had  the 
privilege  of  choosing  his  own  lord  or  superior. 
After  the  reign  of  Alfred,  the  Sithcundmen  came 
to  be  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Sixhaend- 
men, — a  denomination,  as  Sir  Francis  Palgrave 
remarks,  "  indicating  their  position  between  the 
highest  and  lowest  law-worthy  classes  of  society ;" 
— the  former,  the  landed  nobility,  being  called 
Twelfhaendmen ;  the  latter,  forming  the  third 
caste,  Twihaendmen. 

This  third  caste  was  composed  of  the  remainder 
of  the  people,  and  consisted  of  the  ceorls,  or  villains, 
already  mentioned.  The  distinctions  between  the 
eorl  and  the  ceorl  were  numerous  and  strongly 
marked.  The  declaration  of  one  eorl  was  equal  to 
that  of  six  ceorls  ;  the  life  of  one  eorl  was  equal  in 

1  Allen,  p.  160-1. 

2  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  vol.  i.  part.  i. 
p.  10.  3  Ibid.  p.  11. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


237 


value  to  the  lives  of  six  ceorls ;  and  so  for  other 
mattei's  in  proportion.'  The  ceorls  were  known 
by  various  other  names,  of  which  Sir  Francis  Pal- 
grave  quotes  several.  "  But,"  he  continues,  "  the 
ceorl  or  villain,  however  named,  may  be  defined  as  a 
tenant  ascribed  to  the  glebe ;  one  who,  pei'forming 
praedial  or  agricultural  services,  was  unable  to  de- 
part from  the  land  which  he  held ;  and  who,  either 
by  law  or  by  long  established  custom  equivalent  to 
law,  had  acquired  a  definite  and  recognized  estate 
in  the  soil.  So  long  as  the  villain  performed  his 
services  he  was  not  to  be  removed  from  his  land, 
nor  was  a  higher  rent  or  a  gi'eater  proportion  of 
labor  to  be  exacted  from  him  than  what  was  due 
and  of  right  accustomed."^  And  yet  the  ceorl  was 
in  some  sense  free.  Nevertheless,  "  a  ceorl  thus 
circumstanced — a  freeman — could,  according  to  the 
legal  language  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  be  given  and 
bequeathed,  bought  and  sold.  These  expressions, 
which  sound  so  harsh,  and  seem  so  inconsistent 
with  any  degree  of  personal  liberty,  bore,  however, 
a  meaning  dift'ering  essentially  from  that  which  we 
should  now  assign  to  them.  In  no  instance  can 
we  find  the  ceorl  separated  from  his  land, — he  was 
always  a  villain  appurtenant ;  and,  notwithstanding 
the  language  which  was  employed,  it  must  be  un- 
derstood that  the  gift,  the  bequest,  or  the  sale,  was 
in  effect  the  disposition  of  the  land  and  of  the  ceorl, 
and  of  the  services  which  the  ceorl  performed  for 
the  land ;  all  of  which  passed  by  virtue  of  the  will 
or  the  charter, — a  transaction  widely  differing  from 
the  transfer  of  a  slave,  whose  person  is  the  subject 
of  the  purchase.  The  assertion,  therefore,  not 
unfrequeutly  made,  that  a  great  proportion  of  the 
population  of  England  was  in  a  state  of  absolute 
servitude,  cannot  be  warranted ;  and  the  most  con- 
vincing proof  that  the  rights  of  the  lord  over  the 
ceoi-1  and  his  goods  and  chattels,  however  burden- 
some, were  limited  and  certain,  is  founded  in  the 
"iact  that  the  ceorl,  even  when  in  actual  vassalage, 
could  purchase  his  own  freedom  and  the  freedom 
of  his  wife  and  offspring  :  he,  therefore,  had  the 
means  of  acquiring  wealth,  and  the  power  of  retain- 
ing it."''  This  last  fact  does  not  prove  so  much, 
we  think,  as  Sir  Francis  supposes.  The  slaves  of 
the  Spaniards  in  some  of  their  West  India  settle- 
ments had  the  same  privilege  ;  yet  it  will  scarcely 
be  thence  inferred  that  the  rights  of  their  masters 
over  them,  while  in  actual  slavery,  were  limited. 
The  ceorls  were  entirely  destitute  of  political  pow- 
er,* and  consequently  their  rights  could  not,  how- 
ever well  ascertained,  be  very  well  protected. 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  the  ceorls  were 
generally  of  British  or  Saxon  origin.  Sir  Francis 
Palgi-ave,  who  has  examined  the  subject  with  care, 
seems  to  incline  to  the  supposition  "  that  the  ceorls 
were  originally  the  British  cultivators  of  the  soil, 
but  into  whose  class  individuals  of  families  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  birth  and  blood  may  have  been  from  time  to 
time  aggregated  and  introduced."* 

The    Theowes,   the    Servi  of  Domesday,  were 

1  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,  vol.  i.  part.  i.  p.  13. 

2  Ihid.  p.  17.  3  Ibid   p.  18.  *  Ibid.  p.  19. 

5  Palgra-vt,  Hist.  p.  29 


entirely  destitute  of  political  rights — they  did  not 
rank  among  the  people.  Their  condition  was  sim- 
ilar to  that  of  the  negro  or  the  Roman  slave.  Some 
of  the  theowes  may  have  been  the  offspring  of 
British  serfs,  but  by  far  the  gi-eatest  portion  con- 
sisted of  freemen  who  had  forfeited  their  liberty  by 
their  crimes.  "  A  culprit  who  could  not  discharge 
the  penalty  or  wite,  became  a  wite  theow.  He 
might  be  redeemed  by  his  kinsmen ;  but  if  he  was 
abandoned  by  them — if,  in  the  words  of  the  law, 
he  clasped  his  hands,  and  knew  not  who  should 
make  amends  for  him,  then  slavery  was  his  doom."' 
During  one  year  he  might  be  redeemed,  but  not 
afterwards. 

There  is  much  discrepancy  and  confusion  among 
writers  on  the  subject  of  the  territorial  divisions  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  What  is  tolerably  certain  is, 
that  the  division  of  the  country  into  counties,  hun- 
dreds, and  tithings,  goes  back  to  the  first  age  of  the 
settlement  of  the  Saxons  in  England.  Over  each 
of  these  territorial  divisions  there  presided  a  magis- 
trate :  over  the  county  a  count,  earl,  or  alderman  : 
over  the  hundred  a  centenary,  or  hundreden  :  over 
the  tithing  a  decanus,  or  tithing-man. 

There  prevailed  at  one  time  pretty  generally  an 
opinion^  that  the  tithing  consisted  of  ten  families, 
and  consequently  the  hundred  of  a  hundred  fami- 
lies. This  opinion  Professor  Millar  has,  we  think, 
succeeded  in  showing  to  be  erroneous.* 

Each  of  these  officers  held  a  court,  in  which  jus- 
tice was  administered,  and  all  the  affairs  of  the  dis- 
tinct discussed.  In  these  courts  the  military  as- 
sembhes  to  provide  for  defence  against  a  foreign 
enemy  were  held.  There  also  took  place  sales  and 
many  other  transactions  in  which  publicitj^  Avas  of 
importance.* 

These  courts  were  subordinate  one  to  another ; 
so  that  from  the  decision  of  that  of  the  tithing  there 
lay  an  appeal  to  that  of  the  hundred,  and  from  that 
of  the  hundred  to  that  of  the  shire. 

These  courts  were  at  first  held  frequently,  and 
by  all  the  allodial  proprietors  of  each  district.®  On 
the  continent  the  vassals  of  the  king  or  of  the  count 
were  called  upon  to  be  present  as  well  as  the  allo- 
dial proprietors  f  and  probably  this  was  also  the 
case  in  England  as  soon  as  feuds  were  introduced 
there.  The  power  of  the  court  belonged  to  the 
assembly,  not  to  the  magistrate.  The  function  of 
the  magistrate  was  limited  to  convoking  the  assem- 
bly and  presiding  in  it.  "  It  is  now,"  observes  M. 
Guizot,  "  a  fact  agi-eed  upon  among  the  writers 
the  most  versed  in  the  antiquities  of  the  modern 
nations,  that  the  free  men,  ahrimanni,  rachimburgi, 
boni  homines  (Anglice, '  good  men  and  true''),  present 
in  the  assembly  of  the  hundred  or  the  county,  alone 
judged  the  causes,  in  p)oint  of  law  as  tcell  as  in  point 
of  fact ;  that  the  count  or  centenary  had  no  other 
function  but  to  convoke  the  meeting,  to  preside  in 
it,  and  cause  its  judgments  to  be  put  in  execution  "^ 

>  Palgrave,  Hist.  p.  29.  s  See  Blackstone,  Henry,  &c. 

3  Historical  View  of  'he  English  Government,  vol.  i.  p.  180,  et  seq. 
*  Guizot,  Essais  sur  I'llistoire  de  France,  p.  258.    Lex  Rip.  tit.  lii. 
cap.  1.  *  Millar,  ib. 

6  Guizot,  ib.    Lex.  Alam.  tit,  xxxvi.  cap.  4,  5. 
'  Guizot,  ib.  p.  2,59,  n  te. 


238 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Wc  spp,  then,  that  the  institution  of  tithings,  of 
liundreds,  iind  of  counties  or  shires,  was  not  con- 
fined to  England,  but  had  place  in  most,  if  not  all 
of  the  feudal  countries.  To  this  we  would  add  a 
remark  of  M.  Gui/.ot:  that  the  graduated  organiza- 
tion of  the  local  courts  above  described  is  no  more 
than  the  application  to  their  new  situation  of  the 
old  principles,  according  to  which  the  Germans 
governed  themselves  in  Germany.  We  shall  see 
by  and  by  the  great  importance  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  above  fact  towards  the  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion, how  it  happened  that  principles  of  liberty  and 
popular  institutions  were  found  in  England  at  a  time 
when  they  were  utterly  unknown  in  almost  every 
other  European  country. 

There  is  one  regulation  connected  with  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  that 
has  excited  a  good  deal  of  attention.  "  The  mem- 
bers of  every  tithing,"  says  Professor  Millar,  "  are 
said  to  have  been  responsible  for  the  conduct  of 
one  another ;  and  the  society,  or  its  leader,  might 
be  compelled  to  make  reparation  for  an  injury  com- 
mitted by  any  individual.  If  we  look  upon  a  tithing 
as  regularly  composed  of  ten  families,  this  branch 
of  its  police  will  appear  in  the  highest  degree  arti- 
ficial and  singular ;  but  if  we  consider  that  society 
as  of  the  same  extent  with  a  town  or  village,  we 
shall  find  that  such  a  regulation  is  conformable  to  the 
general  usage  of  barbarous  nations,  and  is  founded 
upon  their  common  notions  of  justice.'"  Professor 
Millar  then  shows  that  a  similar  custom  prevailed 
among  the  Jews,  among  the  Scottish  Highlanders, 
among  the  ancient  Irish,  among  the  ancient  inhab- 
itants of  Hindostan,  and  among  various  other  tribes 
of  human  beings  in  a  similar  stage  of  civilization ; 
and  he  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  this  noted 
regulation  concerning  the  Saxon  tithings  is  to  be 
regarded  as  the  remains  of  extreme  simplicity  and 
barbarism,  rather  than  the  effect  of  uncommon  re- 
finement or  policy.  The  professor  supports  this 
view  by  observing,  that  as  civilization  advanced 
somewhat,  the  original  obligation  imposed  upon 
every  tithing  to  repair  the  injuries  committed  by 
any  one  of  its  members,  was  subsequently  sub- 
jected to  certain  limitations,  and  this  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons  themselves ;  for,  by  a  law  ascribed 
to  William  the  Conqueror,  but  which  is  probably 
of  an  earlier  date,  it  is  enacted,  that  if  a  crime  is 
committed  by  any  member  of  a  decennary,  who 
escapes  from  justice,  his  tithingman,  with  two  oth- 
ers of  the  same  tithing,  together  with  the  respec- 
tive tithingmeu,  and  two  others,  out  of  the  three 
neighboring  tithings,  shall  assemble  to  examine  the 
state  of  the  fact ;  and  if  the  tithing  to  Avhich  the 
criminal  belongs  is  cleared  by  the  oath  of  tliese 
twelve  persons,  it  shall  be  freed  from  the  obligation 
to  pay  the  damage.^ 

Mr.  Hallam,  however,  does  not  agree  with  the 
view  taken  of  this  subject  by  Professor  Millar. 
He  thinks  there  is  not  a  complete  analogy  between 
any  of  the  cases  cited  by  the  professor  and  that  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  He  enumerates,  by  reference 
to  the  Anglo-Saxon  laws,  the  gradual  stages  through 

1  Historical  View,  vol.  i.  p.  189.  2  Ibid.  p.  198. 


which  the  system  of  frank-pledges  seems  to  have 
passed;  and  he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  "the 
obligation  of  the  tithing  was  merely  that  of  perma- 
nent bail,  responsible  only  indirectly  for  the  good 
behavior  of  their  members.'"  There  is  no  very 
great  difference  between  this  conclusion  and  the 
view  of  Mr.  Millar,  as  stated  above,  made  apparent 
to  our  perception.  Professor  Millar,  however,  it 
must  be  admitted,  in  the  portion  of  his  work  de- 
voted to  the  Anglo-Saxons,  deals  far  too  much  in 
conjecture  ;  not  above  one-fourth  of  his  volume  de- 
voted to  that  subject  rests  upon  unexceptionable 
evidence. 

The  system  of  "  frank-pledge"  is  considered  by 
Sir  Francis  Palgrave  as  divided  into  two  branches  : 
the  first  being  the  seignorial  or  personal  liability  of 
the  superior,  which  rendered  him  the  permanent 
surety  for  the  appearance  of  his  vassal,  retainer, 
or  inmate  ;  and  the  second  the  collective  or  mu- 
tual responsibility  of  the  villainage,  as  included  in 
their  tithings  ; — "  associations,"  adds  Sir  Francis, 
"  which,  in  the  Saxon  era,  were  of  unequal  ex- 
tent, according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  ten 
being  the  smallest  number  of  which  a  tithing  could 
be  composed,  and  from  whence  it  derived  its 
name."* 

The  earl  or  alderman  of  the  shire  had  a  deputy, 
called  in  Latin  vice  comes,  and  in  English  the  sheriff, 
shrieve,  or  shire-reeve.  In  some  counties  there 
was  an  intermediate  division  between  the  shire 
and  the  hundred — as  lathes  in  Kent,  and  rapes  in 
Sussex.  These  had  their  lathe-reeves  and  rape- 
reeves.  When  a  county  was  divided  into  three  of 
these  intermediate  jurisdictions,  they  were  called 
trithings.  These  still  subsist  in  the  county  of  York, 
corrupted  into  ridings  ;  the  north,  the  east,  and  the 
west  riding. 

The  subject  of  the  constitution  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  legislature  is  involved  in  gi-eat  obscurity.  It 
is  probable  that  whatever  assemblies  exercising  the 
function  of  legislation  existed  among  the  Saxons 
and  the  other  northern  nations,  they  were,  m  their 
first  conception,  merely  courts  of  justice,  or  at  least 
had  been  established  and  had  originally  met  chiefly 
for  the  administration  of  the  laws.  The  institution 
of  a  legislative  or  law-making  body  is  an  idea  so  far 
from  being  obvious  or  natural  to  an  early  state  of 
society,  that  it  is  opposed  to  the  whole  political  sys- 
tem and  notions  of  national  government  which  then 
prevail.  Every  people  has  received  its  first  laws 
either  from  what  it  has  believed  to  be  the  authority 
of  heaven  itself,  or  from  some  other  authority  which 
it  has  felt  nearly  as  little  disposition  to  disobey  or 
question.  For  a  long  period  the  laws  thus  received 
arc  held  to  be  something  sacred,  and  nobody  thinks 
of  abolishing  or  altering  them,  any  more  than  he 
would  think  of  attempting  the  amendment  of  the 
laws  of  nature.  Even  when  circumstances  fit  length 
force  on  innovatinns,  the  change  of  the  law  is  the 
last  change  that  takes  place.  It  does  not  precede 
and  prescribe  the  new  practice,  but  only,  reluctantly 
as  it  were,  follows  and  sanctions  it.     In  this  way  is 

1  Middle  Apes,  vol.  ii.  p.  407. 

-  English  t'ommonwealth,  vol.  i.  part  i.  page  192. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


239 


slowty  produced  in  the  general  mind  the  first  notion 
of  the  possibiUty  of  mending  the  old  laws  or  making 
new  ones — the  first  conception  of  legislation.  And 
even  after  the  first  exercise  of  the  power  has  been 
thus  brought  about,  the  act  of  legislation  is  for  a 
long  time  only  timidly  and  sparingly  indulged  in  ; 
there  is  still  something  of  a  superstitious  aversion 
to  it,  as  if  it  were  a  proceeding  interdicted  by  reli- 
gion or  by  nature  ;  only  the  most  pressing  necessity 
is  held,  and  scarcely  held,  to  justify  it ;  the  form  of 
the  old  law  is  often  retained  after  its  spirit  has  been 
departed  from :  even  a  new  law  is  made  to  wear 
as  much  as  possible  the  appearance  of  an  old  law 
revived.  In  short,  in  every  way  the  bearing  of  the 
legislation  is  towards  the  conservation  rather  than 
the  improvement  of  the  law ;  it  affects  to  be  not 
law-making  but  only  law-declaring. 

This  character  is  traceable  nearly  throughout 
the  whole  course  of  English  legislation,  and  in  the 
earlier  periods  especially  is  very  strongly  marked. 
"  The  legislative  power  of  the  Court  of  Parlia- 
ment," says  a  writer  who  has  investigated  this  sub- 
ject with  great  learning  and  ability,  "was  exercised 
unconsciously,  because  it  resulted  from  the  reme- 
dial power.  Complaints  arose  of  violations  of  the 
law,  of  neglect  of  the  law.  The  monarch  pro- 
mised to  forbid  the  abuse ;  and  further  remedies 
were  provided  in  defence  of  the  existing  law.  It 
w^as  strengthened  and  declared.  Its  principles  of 
justice  and  equity  received  a  new  and  more  solemn 
sanction.  Remedial  and  declaratory  statutes  thus 
succeeded  to  older  remedial  and  declaratory  stat- 
utes. Yet  parliament,  echoing  the  sentiments,  if 
not  the  words,  of  the  Barons  of  Merton,  scarcely 
ever  intended  to  introduce  a  new  law,  to  enact  a 
new  statute."' 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Saxon  Witen- 
agemot  was  the  root  from  which  has  sprung  our 
modern  English  parliament,  and  nearly  as  little 
that  the  Witenagemot  was  in  its  original  concep- 
tion and  institution  rather  a  court  of  law  than  a  leg- 
islative body.  The  parliament  indeed  still  retains 
this  its  oi-iginal  character  in  part,  and  is  accord- 
ingly styled  the  High  Court  of  Parliament,  although 
it  is  no  longer  a  tribunal  for  the  trial  of  ordinary 
causes,  now  that  other  courts  have  been  established 
exclusively  for  that  purpose.  The  Witenagemot 
seems  to  have  been  for  the  whole  kingdom  what 
the  Shire-moot,  afterwards  called  the  Sheriffs 
Leet  or  Tourn,  was  for  each  shire,  and  what  the 
leets  of  the  hundred  and  the  town  (or  manor)  were 
for  these  subordinate  divisions.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  these  were  all  to  a  certain  extent  representa- 
tive assemblies.  "  Originally,"  says  the  writer  wo 
have  just  quoted,  "  the  leet  of  the  hundred  (which 
he  considers  to  have  been  the  organic  germ,  or  the 
unit  as  we  might  call  it,  of  the  Saxon  common- 
wealth) was  held  twelve  times  in  each  year.  Magna 
Charta  enacted  that  it  should  only  be  summoned 
twice  within  that  period.  The  indwellers  of  the 
hundred,  who  owed  suit  real  to  the  leet,  appeared 
in    the    moot    by    their    judicial    representatives. 

1  Article  nn  Courts  of  the  Ancient  English  Common  Law,  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  vol.  xxxvi.  p.  306. 


These  were  the  tithingmen,  the  headboroughs, 
the  chief  pledges,  who  were  respectively  accom- 
panied by  four  good  law-worthy  men,  belonging  to 
the  Friborgs  who  deputed  them.  The  Saxon 
Custumal  of  Henry  I.  also  notices  the  presence  of 
the  parish  priest ;  and  it  seems  to  intimate  that 
the  lord  or  his  steward  might  supply  the  place  of 
the  reeve.  As  all  crimes  were  committed  against 
the  peace  of  the  people,  the  offender  who  was  un- 
true to  his  Friborg  was  impeached  or  accused  by 
his  pledges  or  the  delegates  of  the  little  commu- 
nity which  answered  for  his  default.  To  use  the 
technical  term  of  the  law,  the  oflTence  was  pre- 
sented to  the  leet  jury,  or  legislative  and  judicial 
branch  of  the  assembly."'  From  this  account  a 
general  notion  may  be  formed  of  the  original 
constitution  and  probable  mode  of  procedure  of 
the  other  moots  or  assemblies ;  the  Witenagemot, 
or  supreme  national  assembly,  amongst  the  num- 
ber. 

The  most  learned  investigation  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Witenagemot  is  that  which  it  has 
received  from  Sir  Francis  Palgrave.  "  In  the 
smaller  kingdoms,"  he  observes,  "  such  as  Kent, 
the  Witenagemot  did  not  probably  differ  materially 
in  composition  from  the  Shiremoot,  which  assem- 
bled on  Penenden  Heath  in  subsequent  times. 
The  prelates  appear  as  the  first  order  in  the  com- 
munity. The  seniors,  earls  or  aldermen,  are  con- 
vened, not  only  in  the  character  of  chieftains,  but 
also  by  virtue  of  the  bond  of  'trust'  which  con- 
nected them  with  their  sovereign.  The  thanes 
gave  suit  and  service,  as  principal  landlords.  And 
the  ceorls,  attending  for  the  townships,  listen  to  the 
promulgation  of  the  decree,  declare  their  griev- 
ances, and  present  the  trespasses  committed  in  the 
communities  to  Avhich  they  belong.  The  actual 
appearance  of  the  foregoing  classes  is  not  a  matter 
of  hypothesis,  but  of  evidence  ;  the  document  lies 
before  us  in  which  they  address  their  sovereign ; 
and,  with  respect  to  the  functions  exercised  by  the 
ceorls,  the  testimony  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  laws  re- 
ceives the  fullest  corroboration  from  the  universal 
usage  of  subsequent  times. "'^  "  In  the  earlier 
periods,"  he  proceeds,  "a  dependent  or  vassal 
kingdom  retained  its  own  legislature,  sitting  and 
acting  distinct  from  the  legislature  of  the  paramount 
kingdom.  But  the  Witenagemot  convened  by  the 
Basileus  was  the  general  diet  or  placitum  of  the 
empire.  Here  the  King  of  Albion  appeared,  wear- 
ing his  crown,  and  surrounded  by  his  great  officers 
of  state.  The  prelates  concurred  in  the  enact- 
ments. The  vassal  kings,  the  rulers  of  the  Cymric 
and  Celtic  tribes,  testified  their  obedience.  The 
earls,  and  eoldermen,  and  thanes,  whether  of 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  or  the  Northmen  settled  in  the 
Danelagh,  completed  the  assembly,  which  compre- 
hended all  the  councillors  and  sages,  redesmen  and 
witan,  both  clerks  and  laymen,  whose  advice  and 
assistance  the  sovereign  was  entitled  to  demand."^ 
The  great  point  of  doubt  and  dispute  has  been  the 

1  Article  on  Courts  of  the  Ancient  English  Common  Law,  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  vol.  xxxvi.  p.  335. 

2  English  Commonwealth,  p.  6M.  ^  Ibid.  p.  636. 


240 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


The  Witexaoemot — The  King  Presiding. — From  the  Cotton  MS.    Claudius,  B.  iv. 


character  in  which  the  folk  or  people  appeared, 
who  are  repeatedly  mentioned  both  by  the  old 
historians  and  in  the  laws  themselves,  as  present 
at  the  Witenagemot.  There  has  been  much  con- 
troversy both  as  to  who  the  persons  were  that  are 
thus  designated,  and  as  to  whether  they  formed  a 
constituent  part  'of  the  assembly,  or  were  only 
spectators  of  the  proceedings.  Taking  all  the  cir- 
cumstances into  consideration.  Sir  Francis  Palgrave 
thinks  that  "  we  may  be  led  to  the  supposition  that 
the  elected  or  virtual  representatives  of  townships 
or  hundreds  constituted  the  multitude,  noticed  as 
the  people,  in  the  narratives  describing  the  great 
councils  and  other  similar  assemblies;  for  the  share 
taken  by  the  fulk  in  the  proceedings  forbids  the 
conjecture  that  the  bystanders  were  a  mere  dis- 
orderly crowd,  brought  together  only  as  specta- 
tors, and  destitute  of  any  constitutional  character."' 
"  Admitting,"  he  adds,  however,  "  the  great  prob- 
abihty  that  the  burghs  did  constitute  a  branch  of 
the  Witenagemot,  or  Mycel-getheacht,  it  must  be 
recollected  that  the  members,  by  whom  they  ap- 
peared, would  scarcely  attend  in  the  character  of 
mere  deputies.  Popular  election,  in  our  modern 
sense  of  the  term,  rarely  (if  ever)  existed.  The 
functionaries  who  ruled  the  burgh  became  the 
proper  and  natural  representatives  of  the  commu- 
nity' in  the  legislative  assembly  or  in  the  congress; 
and  if  the  imperial  Witenagemot  was  intended  in 
any  wise  to  protect  the  privileges  of  the  nation, 
the  heads  of  the  burgh  would  be  the  most  efficient 
advocates  and  defenders  of  their  community."^ 
As  it  was  hardly  possible,  however,  that  all  the 
magistrates  could,  generally,  or  on  any  occasion, 
give  their  attendance,  thus  leaving  the  burgh  with- 
out any  government,  he  thinks  it  probable  that 
1  English  Commonwealth,  p.  635.  =  ihjd.  p.  645 


some  one  of  them  would  usually  be  deputed  by  the 
rest  to  undertake  the  duty.  It  might  even  in  par- 
ticular contingencies  be  inconvenient  for  any  of  the 
magistrates  to  leave  their  station.  "  In  such  a 
case,"  proceeds  Sir  Francis,  "the  expedient  of  au- 
thorizing a  person,  not  bearing  office,  to  appear  as 
a  deputj',  in  the  name  and  on  the  behalf  of  the 
magistracy,  would  be  easily  suggested,  and  a  rep- 
resentation approximating  to  the  modern  system 
would  be  formed."'  Still,  it  must  be  remembered, 
there  was  here  an  election  by  the  magistracy  only, 
and  not  by  the  people.  The  people,  therefore, 
were  not  directly  represented  in  the  Saxon  Witen- 
agemot. The  only  representation  of  the  burghs  or 
of  the  Commons  was  a  representation  merely  of 
the  thanes  or  governors  of  the  burghs  and  town- 
ships, who  in  some  cities,  indeed,  were  themselves 
elected  by  the  people ;  but  in  other  cases  appear 
to  have  been  hereditary,  or  to  have  held  their 
offices  by  a  sort  of  proprietorship.  To  this  indi- 
rect representation  of  the  Commons,  nevertheless, 
through  persons  having  at  least  a  natural  connexion 
with  them  and  an  interest  in  their  welfare,  may 
most  probably  be  traced  back  all  that  yet  exists 
among  us  of  popular  parliamentary  representa- 
tion. Indeed,  up  to  the  passing  of  the  Reform 
Bill,  many  burghs  were  only  represented  as  they 
had  been  in  the  Saxon  times ;  and  even  now  the 
Commons  enjoj'ing  the  right  of  election  are  every- 
where only  a  class,  however  important  a  class,  of 
the  people. 

The  supreme  government  of  the  state  resided  in 
the  witenagemot  and  the  king,  who  presided  over 
the  assembly  while  it  sat,  and  who  appears  to  have 
had  the  right  of  calling  it  together,  and  also  probably 
of  dissolving  it  at  his  pleasure.  It  seems  to  have 
1  English  Commonwealth,  p.  646. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


241 


been  wont  to  meet  several  times  in  the  course  of 
the  year,  usually  at  the  great  festivals  of  Christmas, 
Easter,  and  Whitsuntide ;  and  its  sessions  were,  no 
doubt,  very  short.  It  is  impossible,  from  the  imper- 
fect accounts  that  remain,  to  discover  what  were  un- 
derstood to  be  the  limits  of  the  royal  authority,  and 
of  that  of  the  parliament ;  but  in  all  the  more  impor- 
tant acts  of  the  executive,  the  concurrence  of  the 
legislative  body  seems  to  have  been  required.  Al- 
fred and  his  successors  promulgate  their  laws  as 
enacted  by  themselves  with  the  advice  of  their  wi- 
tan.  The  king,  as  the  first  magisti-ate  and  head  of 
the  state,  was  held  in  high  honor,  and  invested  with 
many  prerogatives,  such  as  the  right  of  commanding 
the  forces,  of  appointing  and  displacing  all  the  chief 
administrative  functionaries  throughout  the  king- 
dom, of  dispensing  justice  in  the  last  resort,  and  of 
pardoning  offenders  or  mitigating  and  remitting 
penalties.  His  independent  power  of  action,  as  one 
of  the  estates  of  the  realm,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  confined  by  the  theory  of  the  constitution  with- 
in rather  narrow  limits.  But  in  such  a  state  of  so- 
ciety, the  real  power  of  the  sovereign  would  depend 
much  more  upon  his  personal  character  and  the  ac- 
cidents of  his  reign,  than  upon  any  understood  prin- 
ciples of  the  constitution.  On  the  whole,  the  royal 
authority  had,  from  the  first  foundation  of  the  An- 
glo-Saxon kingdoms,  been  gaining  ground  upon  that 
of  the  witenagemot,  in  which  had  originally  resided 
the  supreme  and  sole  government  of  the  nation,  the 
king  being  merely  its  elected  president  or  deputj'. 
The  large  and  constantly  increasing  territorial  pos- 
sessions of  the  crown,  no  doubt,  greatly  conti'ibuted 
to  secure  for  it  a  position  of  elevation  and  power  far 
beyond  that  which  it  had  originally  occupied.  After 
the  union,  especially  of  the  several  states  of  the  old 
Heptarchy  into  one  kingdom,  the  lands,  in  all  parts 
of  England  which  were  held  by  the  king,  must  have 
formed  a  property  of  immense  extent.  These  lands, 
as  we  have  already  intimated,  appear  to  have  been 
originally,  in  part,  the  private  domains  of  the  kings, 
in  part,  the  public  lands  reserved  on  the  first  settle- 
ment of  the  nation  for  the  support  of  the  govern- 
ment ;  but  the  two  descriptions  of  property  had,  in 
course  of  time,  naturally  become  mixed  up  together, 
and  the  crown  retained  the  uncontrolled  manage- 
ment of  the  whole.  In  return,  the  crown,  from  the 
revenues  of  these  estates,  from  the  annual  payments 
by  the  burghs  in  lieu  of  services,  and  from  certain 
other  profits  to  which  it  was  by  law  entitled,  defrayed 
all  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  supreme  civil  gov- 
ernment. The  additional  revenue  chiefly  arose  from 
customs  at  the  sea-ports,  tolls  in  the  markets,  and 
other  taxes  paid  on  sales,  and  from  the  wites  or  pub- 
lic penalties  exacted  from  persons  convicted  of  delin- 
quencies, over  and  above  the  were-geld  or  damages 
paid  by  them  in  satisfaction  of  the  private  injury. 
There  is  reason  to  believe,  also,  that  in  later  times, 
at  least,  much  of  the  land  throughout  the  kingdom 
became  subject  to  certain  occasional  payments  to  the 
crown,  similar  to  those  which  were  afterwards  made 
universal  under  the  more  systematized  feudalism  of 
the  Norman  government;  but  their  exact  nature 
cannot  now  be  ascertained.  The  only  burdens  to 
VOL.  I 16 


which  it  is  quite  certain  that  all  landed  estates  were 
subject,  are  those  called  by  later  writers  the  Tri- 
noda  Necessitas, — among  the  Saxons  themselves, 
the  three  common  labors,  or  universal  necessities, — 
of  the  Brycg-bote,  the  tax  for  the  maintenance  of 
bridges  and  highways ;  the  Burh-bote,  that  for  the 
repairs  of  walls  and  fortresses ;  and  the  Fyrd,  or 
military  service.  It  is  conjectured,  from  the  notices 
in  Domesday  Book,  that  in  most  parts  of  the  king- 
dom one  soldier  was  required  to  be  provided,  in  time 
of  war,  for  every  five  hides  of  land, — a  hide  being, 
according  to  Bede,  as  much  land  as  could  maintain 
a  single  family  throughout  the  year.  It  appears  that 
all  England  was  divided  into  about  274,950  hides  of 
land.^  •  The  Dane-geld,  also,  or  tribute  to  the  Danes, 
first  collected  in  991,  in  the  reign  of  Ethelred,  Wris 
a  tax  upon  each  hide  of  land ;  and,  although  for 
some  time  it  was  only  imposed  on  particular  occa- 
sions, it  eventually  became  permanent,  and  formed 
an  important  portion  of  the  ordinary  revenue  of 
the  crown.  At  the  original  rate  of  a  shilUng  for 
each  hide  of  land,  it  produced  12,1  SOL,  equal  in 
weight  of  silver  to  nearly  three  times  the  same 
amount  in  modern  money,  and  in  efficiency  to  a 
much  greater  sum.  It  is  said,  however,  to  have 
been  raised  by  Canute,  in  1018,  to  six  shilHngs  on 
the  hide ;  and  four  shillings  was  in  later  times  the 
common  rate. 

Much  controversy  has  taken  place  on  the  question 
of  whether  the  feudal  system  of  the  tenure  of  lands 
is  to  be  considered  as  having  been  introduced  into 
England  in  the  Saxon  times.  That  the  system,  in 
all  its  regularity  and  extent,  was  not  fully  established 
till  after  the  Conquest,  is  generally  admitted ;  but  it 
appears  to  be  equally  clear,  not  only  that,  in  the  reign 
of  the  Confessor,  a  very  considerable  advance  was 
made  towards  its  perfect  consolidation  after  the  con- 
tinental model,  but  also,  that,  in  a  ruder  shape  and 
looser  coherency,  it  had  subsisted  among  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  from  their  first  settlement  in  the  country. 
We  have  given  an  account  of  the  division  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  soil  into  hlafords  and  men,  which 
terms  are  merely  the  lords,  or  superiors,  and  vas- 
sals of  the  feudal  phraseology.  And  in  the  earliest 
Saxon  times,  the  vassal  seems  to  have  held  his  land 
(which  might  have  been,  though  it  was  not,  called 
his  fief)  from  his  lord,  on  condition  of  rendering  ser- 
vices precisely  similar  to  those  which,  in  after  times, 
were  rendered  by  a  vassal  to  his  feudal  superior. 
Upon  this  subject,  it  has  been  well  observed,  by  a 
^vriter  whose  prejudices  are  by  no  means  always  a 
match  for  his  learning  and  acuteness,  that  there  are 
two  divisions  of  the  history  of  the  feudal  system,  the 
former  of  which  "  extends,  from  the  earhest  account 
of  time,  through  the  early  History  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  till  the  progress  of  society  changed  the  man- 
ners of  these  nations  ;  and  through  the  early  history 
of  the  Goths  and  Germans,  who  overturned  that 
Roman  empire,  down  to  the  eleventh  centurj^  At 
this  period  commences  the  corrupted  feudal  system, 
and  lasts  till  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the  feudal 
system  began,  after  its  corruption,  to  dissolve  quite 
away.     The  feudal  system  was  that  of  the  Persians, 

>  Brady's  History  of  England,  i.  370. 


242 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  11 


who  were,  and  are,  Scyths  or  Goths,  as  ancient  au- 
thors and  their  own  speech  testify.  Xenophon  tells 
us  that  when  the  younger  Cyrus  came  to  Cilicia,  he 
was  met  by  Epyaxa,  the  beautiful  wife  of  the  satrap, 
who,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  East,  presented 
her  acknowledged  liege  lord  and  superior  with  gold, 
silver,  and  other  precious  gifts.  Indeed,  the  feudal 
system,  about  which  so  much  noiee  is  made,  is  the 
natural  fruit  of  conquest,  and  is  as  old  in  the  world 
as  conquest.  A  territory  is  acquired,  and  the  state 
or  the  general  bestows  it  on  the  leaders  and  soldiers, 
on  condition  of  military  service,  and  of  tokens  ac- 
knowledging gratitude  to  the  donors.  It  was  known 
in  the  Greek  heroic  ages.  It  was  known  to  Lycur- 
gus  ;  for  all  the  lands  of  Sparta  were  held  on  militaiy 
tenure.  It  was  known  to  Romulus,  when  he  regu- 
lated Rome.  It  was  known  to  Augustus,  when  he 
gave  lands  to  his  veterans,  on  condition  that  their 
sons  should,  at  fifteen  years  of  age,  do  military  ser- 
vice. The  reason  it  did  not  preponderate  and 
corrupt  in  Greece  and  Rome  was,  that  it  was 
stifled  by  the  necessary  effects  of  cities.  In  Per- 
sia, where  there  were  no  cities  of  any  power  or 
privilege,  it  preponderated  and  corrupted  at  an 
early  period."^ 

We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  general  charac- 
ter of  the  laws  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  to  describe 
their  modes  of  judicial  procedure. 

It  is  remarked  by  M.  Guizot,  that  there  is  one 
material  point  of  difference  between  the  Salic  laws 
and  the  capitularies  of  the  Carlovingian  Frank  kings. 
The  former  do  not  contain  moi'al  and  religious  texts 
in  the  way  of  advice  ;  they  only  contain  texts  for- 
mally prohibitive  or  imperative.  "  But  in  the  pas- 
sage," we  quote  the  words  of  M.  Guizot,  "  from 
primitive  barbarism  to  civilization,  legislation  as- 
sumes another  character ;  morals  introduce  them- 
selves into  it,  and  become,  for  a  certain  time,  matter 
of  law.^  The  able  legislators,  the  founders  or  re- 
formers of  communities,  became  aware  of  the  em- 
pire exercised  over  men  by  the  idea  of  duty ;  the 
instinct  of  genius  informs  them  that,  without  its  sup- 
port, without  the  fi-ee  concurrence  of  the  human 
will,  the  society  cannot  maintain  and  develop  itself 
in  peace ;  and  they  apply  themselves  to  introduce 
this  idea  into  the  minds  of  men  by  all  sorts  of  ways, 
and  they  make  of  legislation  a  sort  of  preaching,  a 
means  of  instnaction.  Consult  the  history  of  all  na- 
tions, of  the  Hebrews,  the  Greeks,  &c. ;  you  will 
everywhere  encounter  this  fact :  you  will  every- 
where find,  between  the  epoch  of  primitive  laws, 
which  are  purely  penal,  prohibitive,  intended  to  re- 
press the  abuses  of  violence,  and  the  epoch  of  civ- 
ilized laws,  which  have  confidence  in  the  morality, 
in  the  reason  of  individuals,  and  leave  all  that  is 
purely  moral  in  the  domain  of  liberty ;  between 
these  two  epochs,  I  say,  you  will  always  find  one 
in  which  morals  are  the  object  of  legislation,  in 
which  legislation  formally  wTites  and  teaches  them. 
Franco  -  Gaulish   society  was   at   this   point  when 

1  Pinkerton's  Dissertation  on  the  Scythians,  p.  140.  (Edition  of 
1814.) 

2  The  meaning  must  be,  aflfirmations  of  moral  trutlis,  or  supposed 
truths,  come  to  be  promulgated  and  received  as  laws. 


Charlemagne  governed  it,  and  that  was  one  of  the 
causes  of  his  sti'ict  alliance  with  the  church,  the 
only  power  then  capable  of  teaching  and  preach- 
ing morality."' 

Something  similar  to  what  M.  Guizot  has  here 
described  is  observable  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  laws; 
the  laws  of  the  earher  kings  partaking  more  of  the 
character  of  the  Salic  law  above  specified,  those  of 
the  latter  partaking  more  of  that  of  the  capitularies 
of  Charlemagne. 

Of  the  eighty-nine  laws,  of  which  the  collection 
bearing  the  name  of  King  Ethelbert,  of  Kent,  the 
earUest  Saxon  laws  that  are  extant,  consists,  a  ma- 
jority (upwards  of  fifty)  have  reference  to  the  pun- 
ishment of  acts  of  violence  against  the  person.  The 
next  most  numerous  class  is  occupied  with  penalties 
for  illicit  intercourse  with,  and  acts  of  aggression  to- 
wards, women.  The  next  has  reference  to  theft. 
There  are  not  more  than  three  or  four — at  the  most, 
five — laws  in  the  collection  that  are  not  of  a  penal 
character,  but  descriptive  merely  of  certain  rights. 
There  is  not  a  single  paragi'aph  of  the  nature  merely 
of  a  moral  or  rehgious  test.  We  may  thus  tabula- 
rize  the  result : — 

Attacks  on  Person .58 

Attacks  on  Property 11 

Fornication  and  Aggressions  on  Women 13 

Adultery 2 

Total  of  Penal  84 

Declaratory  of  Rights 5 


Total  Number  of  Laws  • 


Ethelbert's  reign  was  about  the  end  of  the  sixth 
and  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century.  In  his 
legislation,  adultery  was  thus  disposed  of: — "  If  a 
free  man  lie  with  a  free  man's  wife,  let  him  expi- 
ate his  offence  and  buy  another  wife,  and  take  her 
to  the  other  man."  About  a  century  after,  in  the 
laws  of  Wihtraed,  a  change  of  tone  is  observable; 
the  legislator  uses  the  style  of  exhortation  rather 
than  of  prohibition  or  command : — "  Let  adulterers 
be  brought  to  repent  and  lead  a  virtuous  life,  or  be 
excommunicated  from  the  assembly  of  the  church." 
It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  the  civil  penalty 
was  continued  along  with  the  test  and  the  religious 
penalty ;  for  afterwards,  in  the  laws  of  Canute,  we 
find,  together  with  the  moral  and  religious  test, 
the  penalty  much  increased  in  severity.  It  is  re- 
markable that,  in  the  last-mentioned  collection,  in 
one  of  the  articles  there  is  more  attempt  than  usual 
at  precise  definition  : — "  Adultery  is  bad  which  a 
married  man  commits  with  an  unmarried  wOman, 
and  much  worse  with  another  man's  wife,  or  with 
a  woman  who  has  taken  upon  her  the  monastic 
vows." 

In  this  collection  of  the  laws  of  Ethelbert  there 
are  thirty-nine  laws  specifying  different  wounds,  and 
inflicting  various  penalties  accordingly.  In  all  this 
we  see  legislation  in  a  very  rude  state.  But  there 
are  other  points  of  view  in  which  these  early  laws 
are  objects  of  extreme  interest.  One  of  these  is  the 
nature  of  the  penalties  they  decree.  Here  there 
appears  a  singular  regard  for  the  person  and  the 

1  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  tome  ii.  p.  329. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


243 


liberty  of  the  subject.  There  is  little  or  no  corporal 
punishment,  no  imprisonment,  no  death  punishment, 
at  least  which  may  not  be  compounded  for ;  for  as 
we  have  seen  in  the  last  section,  even  the  life  of  the 
king  had  its  price.  The  chief,  or  rather  only,  pun- 
ishment in  the  Anglo-Saxon  as  in  the  Salic  law,  is 
the  composition,  the  "  wehrgeld,"  that  is,  a  certain 
sum  which  the  delinquent  was  bound  to  pay  to  the 
injured  party  or  to  his  family.  To  this  was  added, 
in  many  cases, — those  which  may  be  called,  in  the 
language  of  the  English  law,  "  pleas  of  the  crown," 
— a  sum  paid  to  the  king  or  the  magistrate  as  a  com- 
pensation for  the  violation  of  the  public  peace.  The 
not  unusual  alternative,  as  we  have  already  had 
occasion  to  remark,  where  the  offending  party  was 
unable  to  make  good  the  "  wehrgeld,"  was  to  reduce 
him  to  the  state  of  slavery. 

"  The  composition,"  observes  M.  Guizot,  "  is  the 
first  step  of  criminal  legislation  out  of  the  custom  of 
personal  vengeance.  The  right  concealed  under 
that  punishment,  the  right  which  exists  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Salic  law,  and  of  all  barbarous  laws,  is  the 
right  of  every  man  to  do  himself  justice,  and  to 
avenge  himself  by  force  :  it  is  the  war  between  the 
offender  and  the  offended.  The  composition  is  an 
attempt  to  substitute  a  legal  system  for  war ;  it  is  the 
means  given  to  the  offender  of  securing  himself,  by 
the  payment  of  a  certain  sum,  from  the  vengeance 
of  the  party  offended ;  it  imposes  upon  the  injured 
party  the  obligation  to  renounce  the  use  of  violence. 

"We  must  not  imagine,  however,  that  from  the 
first  it  had  that  effect ;  the  offended  party  for  a  long 
time  preserved  the  right  of  choosing  between  the 
composition  and  war, — of  rejecting  the  '  wehrgeld' 
and  having  recourse  to  vengeance.  The  chronicles 
and  documents  of  every  kind  leave  scarcely  a  doubt 
of  it.  I  incline  to  think  that  in  the  eighth  century 
the  composition  was  decidedly  obhgatory,  and  that 
the  refusal  to  be  satisfied  with  it  was  regarded  as  a 
violence,  not  as  a  right;  but  assuredly  it  was  not 
always  thus,  and  the  composition  was  an  attempt, 
sufficiently  inefficacious,  to  put  an  end  to  the  disor- 
derly struggle  of  individual  forces,  a  sort  of  legal  offer 
from  the  offender  to  the  offended."^ 

From  the  apparently  deep  feeling  of  morality  and 
liberty,  in  the  solemn  renunciation  of  vengeance  on 
the  part  of  the  injured  party,  and  as  regards  the 
offender  in  the  respect  displayed  for  his  person  and 
liberty,  exhibited  to  so  much  greater  a  degree  in 
these  early  laws,  particularly  in  the  composition, 
than  in  more  civilized  systems  of  legislation,  some 
late  German  writers  have  conceived  an  erroneously 
high  notion  of  the  state  of  the  civilization  of  the 
nations  among  which  it  is  found.  M.  Guizot  has 
veiy  ably  exposed  the  fallacy  of  these  writers.  Ad- 
mitting that  at  that  epoch  individual  liberty  is  really 
great,  we  must  be  on  our  guard  against  confound- 
ing such  liberty  with  what  in  the  present  day  is 
understood  by  that  term.  It  is  a  liberty  possessed 
by  a  man  of  doing  what  seemeth  good  in  his  own 
eyes,  it  being  at  the  same  time  always  carefully 
borne  in  mind  that  every  other  man  has  exactly  the 
same  liberty-  of  doing  what  seemeth  good  in  his 

1  Histoire  dc  la  Civilisation  en  France,  tome  i.  p.  343. 


eyes ;  so  that  whenever  that  which  seemeth  good 
to  one  man  doth  not  comport  with  that  which 
seemeth  good  to  another,  a  clash  takes  place,  and 
in  such  a  state  such  clashes  are  almost  as  frequent 
as  those  in  the  elemental  war  of  primaeval  chaos. 
Such  a  state  of  society  has  been  most  justly  and 
forcibly  described  by  Hobbes  in  the  following  pas- 
sage : — "  Whatsoever  is  consequent  to  a  time  of  war, 
where  every  man  is  enemy  to  every  man,  the  same 
is  consequent  to  the  time  wherein  men  live  without 
other  security  than  what  their  own  strength  and 
their  own  invention  shall  furnish  them  withal.  In 
such  condition  there  is  no  place  for  industry,  be- 
cause the  fruit  thereof  is  uncertain;  and  conse- 
quently no  culture  of  the  earth  ;  no  navigation  ;  no 
use  of  the  commodities  that  may  be  imported  by 
sea;  no  commodious  building;  no  instruments  of 
moving  and  removing  such  things  as  require  much 
force ;  no  knowledge  of  the  face  of  the  earth ;  no 
account  of  time  ;  no  arts  ;  no  letters  ;  no  society  ; 
and,  which  is  worst  of  all,  continual  fear,  and  danger 
of  violent  death ;  and  the  life  of  man,  sohtary,  poor, 
nasty,  brutish,  and  short."^ 

For  this  state  of  chaos,  which  cannot  be  called 
society,  two  remedies  arise  : — 1.  Inequality  of  con- 
dition shows  itself  among  men  ;  some  become  rich, 
others  poor ;  some  become  noble,  others  obscure ; 
some  masters,  others  slaves :  2.  A  central  public 
power  develops  itself,  a  force  which  in  the  name  of 
the  community  proclaims  and  enforces  certain  laws. 
Thus  arise  on  one  side  aristocracy,  on  the  other, 
government, — two  different  modes  of  repressing  the 
excess  of  individual  liberty. 

But,  in  their  turn,  the  remedies  become  evils :: 
the  aristocracy  and  the  government  both  oppress, 
producing  a  disorder,  different  from  the  former,  but 
deep  and  intolerable.  In  the  mean  time,  however, 
by  their  influence,  and  by  the  natural  action  of  social 
life,  individuals  are  improved  and  enlightened  ;  their 
understanding  becomes  stronger,  and  their  will  bet- 
ter regulated.  They  begin  to  see  that  they  can  live 
very  well  in  peace  without  so  much  inequality  of 
conditions,  and  so  much  central  power, — in  other 
words,  that  society  can  exist  without  costing  liberty 
so  much.  Thus  "  if  liberty,"  to  borrow  the  language  ' 
of  M.  Guizot,  "  perished  at  the  commencement  of 
the  social  career,  it  was  because  man  was  incapable 
of  advancing  while  he  retained  it ;  to  regain  it  and 
enjoy  it  more  and  more  is  the  end,  the  perfection 
of  society ;  but  this  is  by  no  means  the  primitive 
state,  the  condition  of  barbarians.  .  .  .  Instead,  then, 
of  ascribing  to  the  plan  of  composition  so  much  moral 
value,  we  must  only  regard  it  as  a  first  step  out  of 
the  state  of  war."^ 

Let  us  now  turn  from  these  early  Anglo-Saxon 
laws  to  those  of  a  later  period ;  and,  as  the  best 
means  of  affording  to  the  reader  a  general  idea  of 
the  character  of  these,  we  shall  give  an  analytical 
table  of  those  of  the  kings  of  the  Heptarchy  after 
the  accession  of  Alfred,  which  have  been  collected 
by  Wilkins.3 

1  Leviathan,  c.  xiii. 

2  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  tome  i.  p.  349. 

3  The  oldest  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  laws  now  extant  are  those  of  King 


244 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


2 

ll 

5^ 

-| 

Totals. 

Alfred 

6 

32 

3 

12 

^ 

13 

06 

Edward  the  Elder  . 

2 

8 

1 

-    - 

-    - 

11 

Athelslane  .... 

4 

18 

1 

2 

25 

Edmund    .... 

8 

9 

-    - 

-    - 

-   - 

-    - 

17 

Edgar 

6 

5 

-    - 

97 

55 

-    - 

163 

Ethelred    .... 

1 

2 

2 

-    - 

5 

Canute 

15 

34 

10 

32 

7 

6 

104 

42 

108 

17 

143 

62 

19 

391 

We  will  now  add  a  few  remarks  as  to  the  relative 
proportions  of  the  classes  in  the  preceding  table  to 
one  another  in  different  reigns,  as  well  as  in  expla- 
nation of  the  classes  themselves  into  which  we  have 
arranged  these  Anglo-Saxon  kws. 

I.  Declaratory  Legislation.  In  this  column  of 
the  table  we  have  placed,  as  well  as  we  have  been 
iible  to  interpret  their  meaning,  those  capitida  or 
laws  which  have  appeared  to  us  merely  expository 
uf  rights  and  duties.  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
(igures  do  not  present  much  apparent  increase  in 
the  number  of  this  class,  at  least  till  the  time  of 
Canute. 

II.  Penal  Legislation.  Under  this  head  we  have 
classed  those  commands-or  prohibitions  having  a  def- 
inite sanction  or  penalty  annexed  to  them.  We 
have  also,  however,  included  certain  laws  of  Alfred's, 
respecting  which  it  may  be  doubted  whether  they 
do  not  rather  belong  to  the  religious  or  the  moral 
(;olumn ;  for  at  the  beginning  of  the  collection  of 
Alfred's  laws  stand  about  fifty  capitula  or  articles, 
all  taken  from  the  laws  of  Moses,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  or  two  from  the  canons  of  the  first 
apostolic  council.  Now,  though  many  of  these  Mo- 
saic laws  appear  merely  in  the  shape  of  religious 
or  moral  precepts,  others  have  distinct  penalties 
attached  to  them ;  and,  therefore,  as  we  see  no 
Hvidence  that  Alfred  did  not  mean  these  penalties 
to  be  enforced,  we  have  placed  -them  in  the  class 
i>f  penal  legislation,  while  those  without  such  pen- 
alties we  have  pla&ed  in  the  religious  and  moral 
classes. 

III.  Legislation  of  Procedure.  Under  this  head 
we  have  classed  those  capitula  that  appear  to  refer 
t'xclusively  to  the  machinery  for  executing  the  rest. 
Although  of  great  importance  in  a  rude   state  of 

i'lhelbert,  of  Kent,  who  reigned  from  561  to  616.  The  next  are  those 
•  if  Hlothaire  and  Eadric,  and  of  Wihtraed,  kings  of  Kent.  Next  are 
those  of  Ina,  King  of  the  West  Saxons.  After  the  Heptarchy,  we  have 
the  laws  of  Alfred,  Edward  the  Elder,  Athelstane,  Edmund,  Edgar, 
Ethelred,  and  Canute.  There  are,  besides,  canons  and  constitutions, 
ilecrees  of  councils,  and  other  acts  of  a  public  nature.  All  these  are 
III  the  Saxon  language  ;  of  some  of  them  a  collection  was  made  in  one 
volume  folio,  by  Mr.  Lambarde,  and  published,  in  1568,  under  the  title 
of  '^  Apxotovoiita  ;  sive,  de  priscis  Anglorum  legibua."  An  enlarged 
edition  of  Lambarde's  book  was  published  under  the  superintendence 
uf  Abraham  Wheloc,  iu  1644.  To  this  many  additions  have  since  been 
made  by  Dr.  Wilkins,  in  his  Leges  Anglo-Saionicas,  fol.  Lon.  1722. 
The  laws  in  Latin,  which  have  gone  under  the  name  of  Edward  the 
Confessor,  have  been  rejected  by  antiquarians  as  spurious.  They  are 
supposed  to  have  been  written  or  collected  about  the  end  of  the  reign 
.if  William  Rufus. — Reeves'  Hist,  of  the  English  Law,  i.  27  ;  Wilkin's 
Leges  Angl.-Sai.  passim. 


society,  this  branch  does  not  appear  from  the  table 
to  have  borne,  at  least  till  the  time  of  Canute,  any 
considerable  proportion  to  the  others ;  the  reason 
probably  being,  that  originally  the  execution  of  the 
laws  being  vested  in  the  same  hands  that  had  the 
making  of  them,  it  would  be  some  time  before  those 
who  were  thus  at  once  magistrates  and  legislators 
would  become  aAvare  of  the  necessity  of  guiding 
their  proceedings  in  their  former  capacity  by  certain 
fixed  rules.  We  are  told  of  Alfred's  zeal  for  the 
proper  administration  of  the  laws ;  but  we  do  not 
find  many  enactments,  among  those  laws  of  his  that 
have  come  down  to  us,  relating  to  that  subject.  We 
may  assume,  therefore,  that  the  praise  to  which  he 
was  entitled  was  not  so  much  that  of  having  improved 
the  old  modes  of  procedure,  as  that  of  having  exerted 
himself  successfully  in  seeing  the  laws  strictly  and 
impartially  executed. 

IV.  Religious  Legislation.  Under  this  head  we 
place  the  enactments  regarding  the  people  at  large 
in  their  relation  with  the  church  or  the  clergy.  In 
reigns  where  th-e  clergy  possessed  great  power 
arising  from  influence  over  the  king,  it  will  be  seen 
that  this  branch  of  legislation  was  a  very  large  one, 
sometimes  the  largest  of  any. 

V.  Canonical  Legislation.  The  same  remark 
applies  to  this  head,  under  which  we  class  the 
enactments  regarding  the  duties  and  functions  of 
the  clergy  alone,  as  distinguished  from  the  rest  of 
the  community.  From  the  influence  which  church- 
men, from  their  superior  education,  possessed  for 
many  centuries  in  the  European  governments  of 
the  middle  ages,  we  might  expect  this  and  the  pre- 
ceding columns  of  the  table  to  be  large  ones.  Ac- 
cordingly such  they  are,  forming  together  more  than 
half  the  total  number  of  laws. 

VI.  Moral  Legislation.  Under  this  head  are 
classed  those  articles  which,  having  no  sanction 
annexed  to  them,  are  to  be  viewed  merely  as  moral 
precepts,  and  not  as  laws  at  all.  The  column  ap- 
propriated to  these  in  the  table  will  be  seen  not  to 
be  a  large  one,  and  more  than  two-thirds  of  its  arti- 
cles belong  to  Alfred.  We  may  add,  that  several  of 
these  articles  being  of  the  number  of  those  taken  by 
Alfred  from  the  old  Testament,  may  be,  under  an- 
other point  of  view,  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
religious  column. 

It  appears  to  have  been  not  till  a  late  period  that 
judges  were  appointed  among  the  Anglo-Saxons 
expressly  for  presiding  over  the  trial  of  causes.  Ac- 
cording to  Ingulphus,  it  was  Alfred  who  introduced 
this  innovation.  He  is  stated  to  have  divided  the 
office  of  the  governor  of  the  province  or  shire  into 
the  two  offices  of  viscount  (or  sheriff)  and  justiciary. 
But  the  system  of  the  Saxon  jurisprudence  was  such 
as  usually,  whether  the  case  would  be  called,  in 
modern  phraseology^,  a  civil  or  a  criminal  case,  to 
leave  veiy  little  to  be  done  by  the  presiding  func- 
tionary, except  perhaps  to  pronounce  the  sentence. 
Everj-thing  was  regulated  by  certain  rigid  forms, 
which  of  themselves  determined  the  issue,  without 
the  discretion  or  judgment  of  the  persons  before 
whom  the  trial  was  held  being  at  all  called  into  ex- 
ercise.    The  ti'ial  took  place  in  one  or  other  of  the 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


215 


public  assemblies,  the  folc-mot,  the  leet  of  the  hun- 
dred, the  shire-mot,  or  the  witenagemot,  according 
probably  to  the  residence  and  rank  of  the  parties, 
and  the  importance  of  the  question,  or,  perhaps,  ac- 
cording as  it  was  a  first  trial  or  an  appeal.  The  chief 
ordinary  business  of  all  these  courts  seems  to  have 
consisted  in  the  hearing  of  causes,  which  it  was 
obviously  necessary  should  at  least  be  carried  on  and 
concluded  before  some  public  or  recognized  tribunal. 
But  the  trial  itself  was  rather  of  the  nature  of  an 
arithmetical  calculation,  or  a  chemical  experiment, 
than  what  we  now  understand  by  the  trial  of  a 
cause.  A  certain  form  was  gone  through,  and  ac- 
cording to  its  result,  which  was  always  palpable 
and  decisive  in  the  one  way  or  in  the  other,  the 
accused  person  was  found  guilty  or  acquitted, — the 
verdict,  to  use  the  modern  language,  was  for  the 
plaintiff  or  the  defendant.  This  view  of  the  sub- 
ject, as  far  as  we  are  aware,  has  not  before  been 
stated  ;  but  its  correctness  will  be  apparent  from  a 
short  account  of  the  mode  of  procedure  in  Saxon 
trials  at  law. 

In  the  first  place,  in  all  cases,  whether  in  disputes 
about  property  or  in  the  pursuit  of  alleged  offenders, 
the  claimant  or  the  person  who  conceived  himself 
to  be  injured  appears  to  have  retained,  under  the 
Saxon  law,  so  much  of  the  rights  of  a  state  of  nature 
as  to  be  entitled  to  begin  the  process  at  his  own 
hands,  and  by  an  act  of  force ;  —  he  made  forcible 
entry  upon  the  land,  or  he  seized  without  any  writ 
the  person  of  the  accused.  It  was  only  after  this 
that  the  law  interfered,  or  rather  that  application 
was  made  to  its  authority.  The  cause  might  be 
brought  into  court  in  various  ways.  A  person  ac- 
cused of  an  offence,  for  example,  might  be  arraigned 
either  by  the  presentment  of  the  thanes  (or  heads) 
of  the  hundred,  or  by  that  of  the  ceorls  inhabiting 
the  township,  or  upon  the  appeal  of  the  injured  party, 
swearing  that  he  was  not  actuated  by  hatred  or  ani- 
mosity, and  having  his  oath  confirmed  by  that  of  seven 
compurgators.'  The  following  is  the  account  of  the 
sequel  of  the  proceeding  given  by  Sir  Francis  Pal- 
grave  : — "  The  culprit  being  thus  charged  with  the 
crime,  either  by  the  voice  of  the  country  or  by  the 
testimony  of  the  appellant,  he  was  put  upon  his  de- 
liverance ;  but,  at  this  stage  of  the  trial,  if  he  belonged 
to  the  Sithcund  class,  or  to  the  Villainage,  he  was 
required  to  obtain  the  testimony  of  his  superior. 
The  hlaford,  or  his  gerefa  on  his  behalf,  came  forth 
and  swore  that  the  man  had  not  been  convicted  of 
theft  within  the  period  of  limitation,  which  appears 
to  have  been  usually  fixed  from  the  last  great  council, 
and  had  never  paid  the  theft-fine.  This  declaration 
was  confirmed  by  the  oaths  of  two  other  true  men, 
or  thanes ;  and  the  culprit  had  then  the  privilege  of 
clearing  himself,  either  by  simple  compurgation  or 
by  the  simple  ordeal.  If  he  asserted  the  liberty  of 
appealing  to  that  testimony  of  character  which  was 
termed  compurgation,  he  himself  swore  to  his  inno- 
cence, and  a  certain  number  of  his  neighbors,  whose 
'  worth,'  according  to  the  legal  arithmetic  of  the  An- 
glo-Saxons, was  considered  as  equivalent  to  one 
pound,  were  assigned  as  his  compurgators.     If  they 

1  Palgrave's  English  Commonwealth,  p.  213. 


confirmed  his  oath  by  their  own,  he  was  acquitted 
of  the  charge  ;  but  if  he  was  unable  to  procure  this 
testimony,  and  dared  to  abide  the  'judgment  of  God,' 
he  plunged  his  arm  into  the  boiling  caldron  up  to  the 
wrist,  or  he  bore  the  red-hot  iron  in  his  naked  hand 
for  the  distance  of  nine  paces  :  and  if,  after  the  lapse 
of  three  days,  no  marks  of  injury  appeared,  he  was 
declared  innocent  of  the  crime.  Such  was  the  pro- 
ceeding when  the  testimony  of  the  lord  or  superior 
was  in  favor  of  the  accused.  But  if  he  refused  to 
afford  the  testimony  which  diminished  the  suspicions 
of  the  law,  then  the  culprit  was  bound  to  undergo 
the  threefold  ordeal ;  he  plunged  his  arm  into  the 
boiling  water  up  to  his  elbow,  the  iron  was  of  treble 
weight,  and  his  compurgation,  if  he  preferred  that 
mode  of  trial,  consisted  of  five  compurgators,  he 
being  the  sixth  hand."'  A  civil  suit  was  decided  by 
a  mode  of  procedure  precisely  similar  in  principle, 
though  differing  in  some  of  the  forms.  In  either 
case,  everything  depended  upon  the  number  and  the 
legal  "  worth  "  or  estimated  value  of  the  witnesses 
which  each  party  was  enabled  to  bring  forward,  or 
upon  the  issue  of  some  experimental  process  resem- 
bling the  ordeals  that  have  just  been  mentioned. 
Sometimes  the  question  was  decided  by  what  has 
been  called  the  ordeal  of  the  cross,  that  is,  by  the 
accused  party  being  allowed  to  draw  from  under  a 
cover  either  of  two  pieces  of  wood,  on  one  of  which 
the  figure  of  the  cross  had  been  cut :  if  he  drew  that, 
he  was  acquitted  ;  if  the  other,  he  was  condemned. 
Another  ordeal  was  that  called  the  corsned ;  this 
was  a  small  pi«ce  of  bread  (supposed  to  have  been, 
originally,  though  it  was  not  latterly,  the  sacramental 
wafer),  which  was  given  to  the  culprit  to  eat,  and, 
if  it  appeared  to  stick  in  his  throat,  or  if  he  shook  oi- 
turned  pale  in  the  attempt  to  swallow  it,  his  guilt 
was  held  to  be  proved.  It  appears  most  probable 
also  that  the  wager  of  battle,  although  commonly 
supposed  to  have  been  of  Norman  introduction,  was 
in  use  among  the  Saxons  before  the  conquest.^  This 
was  merely  another  species  of  ordeal,  or  appeal  to 
heaven.  By  this  mode  of  trial,  after  the  requisite 
averments  had  been  made  on  oath  by  the  two  parties 
and  their  witnesses,  each  party  denying  word  for 
word  what  the  other  had  asserted,  the  two  would 
be  brought  together  and  set  to  fight  out  their  quarrel 
with  arms  in  the  presence  of  the  court,  which  here 
again,  as  in  all  other  cases,  had  nothing  more  to  do 
except  to  see  that  the  prescribed  regulations  were 
observed,  and  to  watch  the  result.  The  result  of 
itself  declared  the  verdict. 

In  everything,  therefore,  we  see  the  trial  was  re- 
duced to  the  performance  of  an  operation  every  stej) 
of  which  was  regulated  by  certain  established  rules, 
and  about  the  result  of  which,  that  result  deciding 
the  case,  there  could  be  no  mistake  or  dispute. 
This  view  of  the  subject  at  once  explains  another 
peculiarity  which  has  been  noticed  as  marking  the 
legal  procedure  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  In  their  trials 
circumstantial  evidence  was  wholly  disregarded. 
Witnesses  were  only  allowed  to  swear  that  the  feet 

1  Palfrave's  English  Commonwealth,  p.  215. 

a  This  is  the  opinion  of  Sir  F.  Palgrave.     See  English  Common- 
wealth, pp.  223-225. 


246 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


in  dispute  was  or  was  not  as  represented  by  either 
of  the  contending  parties.'  It  is  plain  that  it  was 
only  such  direct  evidence  as  this  that  admitted  of 
being  counted  and  summed  up  according  to  the  sim- 
ple rule  of  tale  which  we  have  supposed  to  govern 
the  whole  proceeding.  The  weighing  of  circum- 
stantial evidence  would  have  demanded  the  exercise 
of  discretion  and  judgment,  and  consequently  the 
apparatus  of  a  court  in  the  modern  sense,  that  is, 
either  a  single  judge,  or  (what  would  have  been  more 
conformable  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gothic  politj',  and 
what  it  eventually  produced)  a  bench  or  box  of 
judges,  consisting,  it  might  be,  of  one  to  preside  and 
direct,  and  a  number  of  others  to  deliberate, — our 
present  judge  and  jmy.  There  has  been  much 
controversy  as  to  whether  the  institution  of  the  jury 
existed  among  the  Saxons,  and  it  is  a  question  upon 
which  legal  antiquaries  are  still  divided.  But  if  the 
view  that  has  been  taken  of  the  principle  of  the  Avhole 
Saxon  legal  system  be  correct,  it  is  evident  that  what 
we  now  understand  by  a  jury  could  have  found  no 
part  in  that  system,  so  long  at  least  as  it  retained  its 
original  and  proper  character  unimpaired.  A  jury 
could  have  been  of  no  use,  and  would  have  had  no 
duties  to  discharge.  The  finding  of  the  verdict  was 
not  an  affair  of  deliberation ;  it  was  an  affair  of  ob- 
servation merely,  and  was  sufificiently  performed  by 
the  general  body  of  the  persons  present  at  the  trial, 
among  whom  there  never  could  have  been  any  doubt 
or  dispute  on  the  subject.  We  shall  afterwards 
have  occasion  to  show  how  the  modern  jury  in  all 
probability  arose  out  of  the  ancient  mode  of  con- 
ducting trials ;  but  the  thing  itself,  like  the  name,  is 
imdoubtedly  not  Saxon  but  Norman,  that  is  to  say, 
it  did  not  come  into  use  until  the  Norman  times. 
We  will  here  only  observe  that  it  was  not,  properly 
speaking,  the  increased  complication  of  the  relations 
of  society,  and  of  the  matters  giving  rise  to  legal 
trials,  that  led  to  the  abrogation  of  that  ancient  sj's- 
tem,  and  the  substitution  of  the  system  of  the  jury. 
The  fact  is,  that  the  jury  and  the  ordeal  could  not 
practically  exist  together.  The  principle  of  the 
one  mode  of  trial  was  altogether  opposed  to  that  of 
the  other.  If  the  ordeal  could  have  maintained  it- 
self against  the  adverse  forces  of  another  kind  with 
which  it  necessarily  had  to  contend  as  society  ad- 
vanced, and  which  eventually  brought  about  its 
downfall,  the  increased  complication  of  the  affairs 
of  the  community  would  not  have  overthrown  it,  or 
introduced  the  substitute  of  the  jury.  If  it  could 
have  retained  the  support  of  public  opinion,  it  would 
have  been  sufficient  for  any  state  of  society,  how- 
ever complex,  and  the  jury  never  would  have 
supplanted  it. 

The  ordeal  was  the  soul  of  the  original  Anglo- 
Saxon  system  of  law ;  and  this  has  probably  been 
among  all  nations  the  first  resort  in  the  attempt  to 
substitute  any  other  law  for  the  law  of  mere  force. 
And  although  it  is  really  not  at  all  more  equitable 
than  the  law  of  force,  it  still  has  certain  decided 
advantages  in  other  respects  over  the  rule  of  mere 
physical  strength.     It  is  the  substitution  of  policy 

for  violence,  and  that  is  necessarily  in  itself  a  hu- 

1 

1  Palgrave's  English  Commonwealth,  p.  232.  I 


manizing  and  productive  change.  The  ordeal,  also, 
it  is  to  be  remembered,  though  in  reality,  if  fairly 
conducted,  only  a  throwing  of  the  dice,  and  leaving 
of  the  decision  to  chance, — if  collusively  managed, 
capable  of  being  made  an  instrument  of  gi-eat  injus- 
tice and  cruelty, — was  believed,  so  long  as  it  was  in 
use,  to  be  nothing  less  than  an  appeal  to  heaven, 
and  to  be  always  effective  in  securing  the  fairest  and 
wisest  of  all  possible  decisions.  It  was  the  decay 
of  this  belief,  and  nothing  else,  that  occasioned  the 
abolition  of  the  ordeal.  But  even  while  it  was  still 
legally  recognized,  and  in  constant  application  as  the 
final  mode  of  determining  a  cause,  an  apprehension 
was  naturaily  entertained  that  heaven  might  be  of- 
fended by  such  an  appeal  being  lightly  or  too  fre- 
quently made  to  it ;  and  there  was  accordingly  a 
shrinking  from  the  ordeal  on  the  part  of  the  law, 
and  an  eftbrt  to  avoid  it  as  far  as  possible  by  taking 
refuge  in  another  method  of  decision.  The  next 
advance  to  a  correct  system  was  the  admission  of 
the  sort  of  evidence  which  we  have  found  to  have 
been  received  in  the  first  stage  of  the  trial  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  the  treatment  of  it  in  the 
manner  that  has  been  described.  The  resort  to  the 
ordeal  was  in  this  way  avoided  altogether  in  many 
cases ;  for  if  the  culprit  or  defendant  failed  in  his 
compurgation,  or  could  not  bring  up  a  sufficient 
"  worth "  of  witnesses  to  balance  the  testimony 
against  him,  he  was  not  allowed  his  appeal  to  the 
"judgment  of  God."  This  was  a  great  step  gained 
in  the  progress  towards  the  decision  of  the  case 
solely  upon  the  evidence,  and  the  weighing  of  the 
evidence  in  the  scales,  not  of  the  calculating  faculty, 
but  of  the  judgment. 

So  that  there  may  be  said  to  be  four,  or,  more 
accurately,  five  distinct  stages  in  the  ascent  up  to 
our  present  method  of  judicial  practice,  which  is 
the  last  of  the  five.  Of  those  preceding,  the  first 
is  that  in  which  all  disputes  are  decided  by  mere 
brute  force,  emancipated  from  all  check  or  regula- 
tion. The  second  is  that  in  which  disputes  are 
decided  by  such  a  proceeding  as  the  wager  of  battle, 
in  which  physical  force  is  still  left  the  umpire,  but 
is  constrained  to  act  under  certain  forms  ;  and  some 
contrivances  in  reference  to  the  weapons  and  mode 
of  the  encounter  are  also  usually  introduced,  which 
go  in  some  degree  to  reduce  any  natural  inequality 
that  may  chance  to  exist  between  the  combatants. 
The  third  stage  is  that  of  the  ordeal,  or  imaginary 
appeal  to  Heaven ;  by  which  the  law  of  force  is 
first  wholly  put  down,  being  supplanted  by  the  law 
of  chance,  taking,  however,  the  appearance  of  a 
criterion  of  a  very  different  kind,  and  being  be- 
lieved to  be  the  actual  adjudication  of  Heaven. 
And  the  fourth  is  that  in  which  evidence  first 
makes  its  appearance,  though  as  yet  only  in  subor- 
dination to  the  ordeal,  which  is  still  maintained  in 
its  position  of  the  supreme  and  finally  determining 
test.  It  would  be  very  easy  to  show  how  each  of 
these  modes  of  procedure  is  naturally  evolved  out 
of  the  one  immediately  preceding  it,  as  well  as  how 
the  last  iiientioned  leads  in  like  manner  to  the  in- 
troduction of  its  proper  successor,  the  mode  that 
now  prevails. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


247 


We  are  apt  to  assume  that  the  hearing  of  evi- 
dence is  the  natural  mode  of  trying  a  cause,  and 
the  earhest  that  would  be  adopted.  But  the  science 
of  evidence,  both  in  law  and  in  all  other  depart- 
ments of  inquiry  where  we  have  to  do  with  mere 
probabilities,  is  late  in  springing  up,  and  long  in 
being  brought  to  perfection.  The  science  of  math- 
ematical demonstration,  where  there  is  little  com- 
plexity and  no  uncertainty,  may  be  early  cultivated 
and  perfected ;  but  not  so  that  of  the  evidence 
either  of  human  testimony  or  of  any  description  of 
what  we  may  call  merely  indicative  facts.  The 
ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  with  all  their  cultiva- 
tion, seem  to  have  had  no  distinct  notions  on  the 
subject  of  evidence  in  any  department  either  of 
physical  or  of  moral  inquiry.  They  philosophized, 
indeed,  eloquently  and  ingeniously  both  in  morals 
and  in  physics,  but  just  as  frequently  without  as 
with  any  regard  to  the  facts  bearing  upon  the 
question.  In  historical  inquiries  it  is  only  in  mod- 
ern, and  it  may  be  said  in  very  recent  times,  that 
the  science  of  evidence  has  been  at  all  applied ; 
the  ancients  do  not  seem  to  have  dreamed  of  such 
a  thing ;  and  among  ourselves,  down  to  the  seven- 
teenth centuiy,  it  was  equally  unheard  of  and 
unthought  of.  Camden  was  perhaps  the  first  Eng- 
lish writer  in  this  department  who  doubted  any- 
thing that  had  been  asserted  by  his  predecessors ; 
all  our  older  chroniclers  took  in  each  the  whole  of 
what  had  been  told  by  those  who  had  gone  before 
him  as  unresistingly  as  one  sheet  of  paper  after 
another,  in  the  process  of  printing,  takes  the  im- 
pression of  the  types  on  which  it  is  spread.  Look 
at  the  boundless  credulity  of  the  numerous  copiers 
of  the  fables  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  and  Bishop 
Bale,  or  of  those  of  Fordun  and  Boyce  among  the 
Scottish  vsTiters  down  even  to  Buchanan  and  Sir 
George  Mackenzie,  the  latter  of  whom  flourished 
at  the  time  of  the  revolution.  And  what  was  the 
inductive  philosophy  of  Lord  Bacon  but  a  develop- 
ment of  the  science  of  evidence  as  applicable  to 
physics  ?  Yet  it  was  wholly  new  to  the  world 
little  more  than  two  centuries  ago.  The  science 
of  evidence  is  a  study  as  foreign  to  the  whole  men- 
tal dispositions  and  habits  of  men  in  an  early  state 
of  society  as  it  is  to  those  of  children.  Both  equally 
demand  certainty  in  all  their  conclusions,  and  can- 
not endure  either  to  act  or  to  believe  merely  upon 
a  favorable  balance  upon  probabilities.  All  their 
methods  of  investigation,  therefore,  aim  at  attaining 
this  certainty.  A  method  which  promises  less  is 
despised  and  rejected.  Hence  anything  else  is 
preferred  to  the  patient  and  impartial  examination 
of  facts ;  anything  that  will  produce  an  instant  and 
complete  conviction,  a  supposed  sign  from  Heaven 
of  any  kind,  some  circumstance  impressive  enough 
to  occupy  the  imagination  and  exclude  every  other 
view  of  the  subject,  or  even,  when  nothing  better 
is  to  be  had,  mere  authority  and  confident  assertion. 
This  is  the  time  of  inexperience  and  of  ready  and 
abundant  faith.  The  science  of  evidence  is  the 
offspring  of  doubt,  as  well  as  the  parent  of  rational 
belief  and  of  truth. 

To  prevent  objection  or  misapprehension,  it  may 


be  proper  just  to  remark  farther,  that  very  possibly, 
in  point  of  fact,  one  mode  of  procedure  may  have 
sometimes  been  partially  introduced  before  another 
was  quite  abandoned ;  and  it  is  probable,  indeed, 
that  the  changes  were  mostly  brought  about  in  this 
way.  But  what  is  intended  to  be  affirmed  is,  that 
no  two  of  the  forms  which  we  have  distinguished 
could  ever  be  mixed  up  together  in  the  trial  of  the 
same  cause ;  for  instance,  the  jury,  as  we  have 
said,  could  never  be  thus  employed  in  association 
with  the  ordeal.  It  was,  as  is  weU  known,  not  tiU 
within  the  last  twenty  years  that  the  old  mode  of 
trial  by  judicial  combat,  or  wager  of  battle,  was 
abolished ;'  and  Sir  Francis  Palgrave  seems  to 
think  that  the  right  to  the  trial  by  wager  of  law 
derived  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  compurgation,  still 
subsists.  "At  later  periods,"  he  observes,  speak- 
ing of  the  times  after  the  conquest,  "  there  were 
many  irregularities  arising  from  the  breaking  down 
of  the  Saxon  jurisprudence ;  parts  and  portions  of 
the  ancient  forms  continued  in  use,  though  no 
longer  guided  by  their  ancient  and  consistent  prin- 
ciples. ...  In  all  personal  actions,  wager  of  law 
was  the  regular  mode  of  trial,  until  new  proceed- 
ings were  instituted,  which  enabled  the  judges  to 
introduce  the  jury  trial  in  its  stead.  But  this  silent 
legislation  has  not  destroyed  the  Anglo-Saxon  trial ; 
it  is  out  of  use,  but  not  out  of  force ;  and  it  may 
perhaps  contmue  as  a  part  of  the  theory  of  the  law 
until  some  adventurous  individual  shall  again  as- 
tonish the  court  by  obtaining  his  privilege  ;  and, 
by  thus  informing  the  legislature  of  its  existence, 
ensure  its  abolition."^ 

Absurd  as  the  ordeal  was,  it  had,  in  its  suitable- 
ness to  the  particular  social  condition  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  certain  recommendations  not  only  over  the 
still  ruder  system  which  it  supplanted,  but  even  as 
compared  with  the  more  refined  and  intelligent 
method  to  which,  in  due  time,  it  was  in  its  turn 
to  give  way.  That  improved  method  would  have 
made  demands  which  the  age  and  the  country  were 
altogether  inadequate  to  meet.  Neither  juries  nor 
judges  could  then  have  been  found  to  administer 
justice  throughout  England  according  to  that  plan. 
Even  in  our  own  day  the  experience  of  some  of 
the  most  enlightened  countries  in  the  world  has 
proved  how  difficult  a  thing  it  is  to  get  the  system 
of  trial  by  jury  to  work  well  among  a  people  to 
whom  it  is  new.  Among  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  the 
ninth  or  tenth  century  there  certainly  was  not  a 
sufficiently  general  diffusion  of  intelligence  either 
to  supply  competent  judges  and  juries,  or  to  make 
their  decisions  be  respected  if  they  could  have 
been  found.  In  the  state  of  society  that  then  ex- 
isted, it  would  not  have  answered  for  the  law  to 
profess  to  give  its  decisions  on  anything  like  doubt- 
ful presumptions.     The  simple  understandings  of 

I  "  The  general  law  of  the  land,"  said  Lord  EUenborough,  in  the 
case  of  Ashford  against  Thornton,  argued  before  the  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  in  April,  1818,  which  led  to  the  abolition,  "is  in  favor  of  the 
wager  of  battle,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  pronounce  the  law  as  it  is,  and 
not  as  we  may  wish  it  to  be.  Whatever  prejudices,  therefore,  may 
justly  exist  against  this  mode  of  trial,  still,  as  it  is  the  law  of  the  land, 
the  court  must  pronounce  judgment  for  it." — Barnewall  and  Alderson'g 
Reports,  i.  460. 

3  English  Commonwealth,  p.  263 


248 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


the  men  of  that  time  were  to  be  satisfied  with 
nothing  less  than  absolute  certainty  in  such  mat- 
ters. It  would  have  been  strange  if  they  had  been 
satisfied  with  less,  so  long  as  they  believed  that 
there  was  such  a  ready  and  effective  mode  as  the 
ordeal  of  securing  that  certainty.  While  they 
retained  their  faith  in  the  ordeal,  the  establishment 
of  any  fair  plan  of  deciding  causes  by  evidence 
submitted  to  the  unshackled  judgment  of  a  jury 
was  impossible.  But  the  ordeal,  so  long  as  the 
popular  faith  in  it  subsisted,  answered  the  purpose 
of  putting  an  end  to  differences,  and  keeping  men 
under  subjection  to  the  law,  at  least  as  well  as  a 
more  equitable  and  more  rational  mode  of  judicial 
decision  could  have  done.  There  is  reason  to 
believe,  also,  that  on  the  whole  its  inherent  injus- 
tice was  rather  mitigated  than  otherwise  by  the  art 
and  management  with  which  the  process  was  no 
doubt  usually  conducted. 

The  principle  that  has  been  pointed  out  as  that 
of  the  legal  procedure  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  it  may 
be  observed  in  conclusion,  ran  through  the  whole 
course  of  the  law  and  its  administration.  From 
the  first  step  that  could  be  taken  for  the  trial  of  a 
case  down  to  its  final  disposal,  everything  was  reg- 
ulated upon  this  principle,  and  arranged  with  a 
view  to  its  application ;  no  room  was  left  for  any 
exercise  of  discretion  on  the  part  of  the  court ;  the 
human  judgment  was  never  appealed  to  or  its  exer- 
cise permitted  ;  nothing  was  trusted  to  the  fallibility 
of  that  arbiter ;  the  element  of  mere  probability 
was  excluded  as  rigorously  as  it  is  fi"om  the  dem- 
onstrations of  the  mathematics.  That  this  system 
might  be  carried  fully  out,  not  only  was  a  certain 
value  put  by  the  law  upon  every  individual,  which 
determined  the  amount  at  which  his  testimony  was 
to  be  rated  when  he  appeared  as  a  witness,  and  the 
damages  he  could  claim  as  a  plaintiff,  and  those  he 
could  be  called  upon  to  pay  as  a  defendant ;  every 
distinct  limb  and  part  of  the  body  had  also  its  were, 
or  legal  worth.  Thus,  in  the  oldest  laws,  a  leg 
was  valued  at  fifty  shillings,  the  little  finger  at 
eleven,  the  great  toe  at  ten,  a  front  tooth  at  six,  an 
eye  tooth  at  four,  a  back  tooth  at  one,  and  a  nail 
of  the  finger  at  the  same  price.  In  this  way  every 
personal  injury  that  could  be  received  hnd  its  fixed 
compensation.  After  the  trial  had  been  gone 
through,  therefore,  the  sentence  or  the  assessment 
of  damages  was  as  much  a  matter  of  course  as  all 


the  rest  of  the  procedure  had  been  :  here,  also,  the 
law  might  be  said  to  go  upon  its  own  feet,  and  to  do 
all  but  execute  itself. 

Besides  the  fines,  however,  either  to  the  injured 
individual  or  to  the  state,  with  which  most  delin- 
quencies were  punished,  capital  punishments  were 
also  in  use  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  in  certain 
cases.  Among  the  "  boteles"  crimes,  as  they  were 
called,  or  those  for  which  the  life  of  the  convict 
was  always  taken,  were  treason,  military  desertion, 
open  theft,  housebreaking,  and  premeditated  mur- 
der.' Summary  punishment  might  aho  be  inflicted 
by  any  private  hand  upon  criminals  taken  in  open 
delict.  "  When  a  capital  offence,"  sjiys  Sir  Fran- 
cis Palgrave,  "  was  flagrant,  committed  in  open 
day,  and  under  such  circumstances  as  to  render 
the  act  capable  of  instant  and  indisputable  proof,  no 
further  trial  was  required ;  no  evidence  was  dis- 
cussed, and  no  defence  was  allowed.  Mercy  was 
never  extended  to  the  outlaw ;  he  was  said  to  bear 
a  wolfs  head,  and,  like  the  wild  beast  to  whom  he 
was  compared,  he  was  slain  whenever  he  ap- 
proached the  haunts  of  human-kind ;  every  hand 
might  be  raised  to  strike  him,  none  to  revenge  his 
fiill.  If  a  thief  was  apprehended  »hond-habend'  and 
'  back-barend,'  or  in  actual  possession  of  the  spoil, 
he  was  hanged  or  decapitated  by  his  pursuers  with- 
out respite  or  delay.  Similar  proceedings  took 
place  with  respect  to  the  murderer.  If  he  was 
found  standing  near  the  corpse  with  the  bloody 
weapon  in  his  grasp,  no  witnesses  could  be  heard  for 
the  purpose  of  explaining  away  a  token,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  average  of  human  probability,  was 
necessarily  the  accompaniment  of  the  transgres- 
sion       A  sti-anger  lurking  in  the  woods,  who 

did  not  blow  his  horn  or  otherwise  proclaim  that 
he  was  in  disti-ess  and  anxiety,  was  to  be  judged  as 
a  thief,  though  no  other  indication  of  crime  could 
be  alleged  against  him."*  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  observe  that,  notwithstanding  some  of  the  ex- 
pressions made  use  of  in  this  statement,  there 
was  really  no  procedure  here  Uj>on  mere  sus- 
picion or  probability.  For  a  man  to  endeavor  to 
conceal  himself  in  the  woods,  for  instance,  was, 
probably  for  veiy  good  reasons,  denounced  by  the 
law  as  in  itself  a  crime ;  and  in  the  case  of  the  man 
found  beside   the   newly-murdered  body  with  the 

1  Prilgrave's  English  Commonwealth,  pp.  204,  205. 
'  2  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  ii.  510. 


Saxon  Flagellation.— From  the  Harleian  MS.  603. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


249 


deadly  weapon  in  his  hand,  the  presumption  of  his 
guilt,  though  really  only  a  probability,  was  consid- 
ered to  amount  to  absolute  certainty.  Rigidly 
speaking,  indeed,  the  utmost  attainable  certainty  in 
such  matters  is  only  a  strong  probability.  Even 
the  most  direct  evidence  does  not  afford  anything 
more. 

Among  the   legal  punishments  inflicted  by  the 


Anglo-Saxon  laws,  besides  fines  and  death,  are 
found  imprisonment,  outlawry,  banishment,  slave- 
ry, transportation,  whipping,  branding,  the  pillory, 
amputation  of  limb,  mutilation  of  the  nose,  ears, 
and  lips,  plucking  out  of  the  eyes,  and  tearing 
off  the  hair.  Their  common  capital  punishment 
seems  to  have  been  hanging,  and  in  some  instances 
stoning. 


Saxon  Whipping  akd  Branding. — From  the  Cotton  MS.  Claud.  B.  iv. 


250 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  TI. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


RITAIN,  as  an  island, 
and  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  world,  as  well  as 
from  its  nearness  to  the 
continent  of  Europe, 
would  seem  to  have 
been  intended  by  nature 
for  the  residence  of  a 
navigating  and  commer- 
cial people,  and  it  might 
be  supposed  that  any 
people  who  had  obtained 
the  occupation  of  it  would  be  speedily  turned  to 
navigation  and  commerce  by  the  natural  temptatiorts 
and  advantages  of  their  position.  The  political 
state  of  a  country,  however,  and  its  social  circum- 
stances generally,  as  well  as  the  condition  of  the 
rest  of  the  world  and  the  spirit  of  the  time,  may 
all  be  so  unfavorable  as  long  effectually  to  coun- 
teract these  advantages  of  geographical  position, 
and  even  the  genius  and  the  old  habits  of  the 
people  themselves. 

Of  the  successive  nations  that  obtained  posses- 
sion of  the  south  of  Britain  within  the  period  of  au- 
thentic history,  the  Gallic  colonists  of  the  time  of 
Caesar  were  in  too  early  a  stage  of  civilization  to 
hold  any  considerable  intercourse  with  the  rest  of 
the  world ;  and  the  Romans  who  succeeded  them, 
although  they  necessarily  maintained  a  certain  con- 
nexion both  with  the  central  and  other  parts  of  the 
extended  empire  to  which  they  belonged,  were  of  a 
stock  that  had  always  shown  itself  anti-commercial 
in  genius  and  policy.  But  the  Saxons,  although 
they  had  not  been  in  circumstances  to  turn  their 
skill  in  navigation  to  commercial  purposes,  had  long 
before  their  conquest  of  our  island  been  accustomed 
to  roam  the  seas,  and  were  famous  for  their  naval 
enterprises.  We  read  of  predatory  warfare  carried 
on  by  the  different  Germanic  nations  in  small  and 
light  vessels  on  rivers,  and  even  along  the  adjacent 
parts  of  the  sea-coast,  so  early  as  before  the  middle 
of  the  first  century.  In  the  year  47,  as  we  learn 
from  Tacitus,  the  Chauci,  dwelling  along  the  Ba- 
tavian  coast,  ravaged  in  this  manner  the  neighbor- 
ing coast  of  Gaul,  under  the  conduct  of  their  coun- 
tryman Gannascus,  who  had  long  served  in  the 
Roman  armies.'  It  is  probable  that  it  was  in  the 
imperial  service  Gannascus  acquired  his  knowledge 
of  naval  warfare,  or  at  least  the  general  military 
education  which  fitted  him  to  train  and  command 
the  Chauci  in  this  expedition.  In  little  more  than 
twentj'  years  after  this  we  find  the  Roman  fleet  on 
the  Rhine  partly  manned  by  Batavians,*^  and  even  a 
Batavian  fleet  under  the  command  of  Paulus  Civilis, 
another  individual  of  that  nation  who  had  been  edu- 


>  Tac.  Annal.  xi.  18. 


a  Ibid.  iii.  16. 


cated  in  the  Roman  armies,  giving  battle  to  the 
naval  forces  of  the  empire.'  In  the  course  of  the 
next  two  hundred  years  the  German  nations  gene- 
rally appear  to  have  improved  upon  the  insti'uction 
and  experience  thus  gained ;  and  both  the  Saxons 
and  others  became  distinguished  for  their  familiarity 
with  the  sea  and  for  their  naval  exploits.  About 
the  year  240  the  union  under  the  name  of  Franks, 
or  freemen,  of  the  various  tribes  of  the  Lower 
Rhine  and  the  Weser,  laid  the  foundation  for  those 
more  extensive  predatory  incursions  upon  the  neigh- 
boring countries,  both  by  sea  and  land,  by  which  the 
barbarians  of  the  northwest  first  assisted  those  of 
the  northeast  in  harassing  and  enfeebhng  the  Roman 
empire,  and  afterwards  secured  then*  share  in  its 
division.  One  remarkable  incident  has  generally 
been  noted  as  having  given  a  great  impulse  to  these 
expeditions,  what  Gibbon  has  called  "  the  successful 
rashness"  of  a  party  of  Franks  that  had  been  re- 
moved by  the  Emperor  Probus  from  their  native 
settlements  to  the  banks  of  the  Euxine.  "  A  fleet," 
to  give  the  story  as  he  tells  it,  "stationed  in  one  of 
the  harbors  of  the  Euxine,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Franks;  and  they  resolved,  through  unknown  seas, 
to  explore  their  way  from  the  mouth  of  the  Phasia 
to  that  of  the  Rhine.  They  easily  escaped  through 
the  Bosphorus  and  the  Hellespont,  and,  cruising 
along  the  Mediterranean,  indulged  their  appetite 
for  revenge  and  plunder,  by  frequent  descents  on 
the  unsuspecting  shores  of  Asia,  Greece,  and  Africa. 
The  opulent  city  of  Syracuse,  in  whose  port  the 
navies  of  Athens  and  Carthage  had  formerly  been 
sunk,  were  sacked  by  a  handful  of  barbarians,  who 
massacred  the  gi'eatest  part  of  the  ti-embling  inhab- 
itants. From  the  island  of  Sicily  the  Franks  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Columns  of  Hercules,  trusted  them- 
selves to  the  ocean,  coasted  round  Spain  and  Gaul, 
and  steering  their  triumphant  course  through  the 
British  Chemnel,  at  length  finished  their  surprising 
voyage  by  lauding  in  safety  on  the  Batavian  or  Fri- 
sian shores.  The  example  of  their  success,  instruct- 
ing their  countrj^men  to  conceive  the  advantages  and 
to  despise  the  dangers  of  the  sea,  pointed  out  to  their 
enterprising  spirit  a  new  road  to  wealth  and  glory." 
This  event  happened  about  the  year  280.  Im- 
mediately after  this  time  we  read  of  the  commence- 
ment of  ravages  on  the  coasts  of  Gaul,  of  Belgium, 
and  of  Britain,  by  assailants  who  are  called  Germans 
by  Aurelius  Victor,  and  Saxons  by  Eutropius.  They 
appear  to  have  been  a  mixture  of  Franks  and  Saxons, 
which  latter  name  ere  long  began  to  be  also  distin- 
guished as  that  of  another  military  confederacy 
of  the  Germanic  nations  not  less  powerful  than 
the  Franks.  In  maritime  affairs,  indeed,  the  Sax- 
ons soon  took  the  lead ;  and  while  the  Franks 
1  Tac.  Annal.  v.  23. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


251 


pushed  their  conquests  by  land,  the  Saxon  name 
became  a  terror  to  all  the  neighboring  sea-coasts. 
Yet  their  marine  was  still  of  the  rudest  description. 
"  If  the  fact,"  says  Gibbon,  "  were  not  established 
by  the  most  unquestionable  evidence,  we  should 
appear  to  abuse  the  credulity  of  our  readers  by  the 
description  of  the  vessels  in  which  the  Saxon  pi- 
rates ventured  to  sport  in  the  waves  of  the  German 
Ocean,  the  British  Channel,  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay. 
The  keel  of  their  large  flat-bottomed  boats  was 
framed  of  light  timber,  but  the  sides  and  upper 
works  consisted  only  of  wicker,  with  a  covering  of 
sti'ong  hides. . . .  But  the  daring  spirit  of  the  pirates 
braved  the  perils  both  of  the  sea  and  of  the  shore  : 
their  skill  was  confirmed  by  the  habits  of  enter- 
prise ;  the  meanest  of  their  mariners  was  alike  ca- 
pable of  handhng  an  oar,  of  rearing  a  sail,  or  of  con- 
ducting a  vessel ;  and  the  Saxons  rejoiced  in  the 
appearance  of  a  tempest,  which  concealed  their 
design  and  dispersed  the  fleets  of  the  enemy." 
The  Romans  now  found  it  necessary  to  fit  out  and 
maintain  a  fleet  expressly  for  the  protection  of  the 
coasts  of  Britain  and  Gaul.  The  command  of  this 
armament,  which  was  stationed  in  the  harbor  of 
Boulogne,  was  given,  as  has  been  related  in  the 
preceding  Book,  to  Carausius.^  His  revolt  soon 
after,  and  his  estabhshment  of  an  empire  for  him- 
self in  Britain,  where  he  endeavored  to  maintain 
his  power  by  alliances  with  those  very  nations  of 
the  north  whom  he  had  been  appointed  to  repress, 
and  by  enlisting  the  barbarians  both  among  his  land 
and  sea  forces,  was  another  event  in  the  highest 
degree  favorable  to  the  progress  of  the  Saxons  in 
navigation  and  naval  warfare.  It  was  a  new  lesson 
to  them  both  in  ship-building  and  in  tactics,  which 
must  have  made  their  boldness  and  hardihood  much 
more  formidable  than  ever.  The  empire  of  Carau- 
sius  had  lasted  for  seven  years,  when  it  was  over- 
thrown by  his  death  in  294. 

In  the  next  century  we  find  the  Saxons  almost 
the  acknowledged  masters  of  the  northern  seas,  and 
so  constantly  infesting  Britain  that  the  east  coast  of 
the  island  had  come  to  be  known  by  the  name  of 
the  Saxon  coast,  and  was  strongly  fortified,  and  put 
under  the  charge  of  a  warden,  whose  especial  duty 
it  was  to  repel  their  assaults.  Their  defeat  by 
Theodosius,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Orkney 
Islands,  in  368,  for  which  he  obtained  the  surname 
of  Saxonicus,  was  not  accomphshed  till  the  barbari- 
ans had  sustained  several  encounters  with  the  Ro- 
man fleet;  and  although  it  seems  to  have  deterred 
them  for  a  long  time  after  from  repeating  their  des- 
cents upon  Britain,  and  although,  after  the  exam- 
ple of  the  Franks,  they  were  now  also  beginning  to 
employ  their  strength  more  than  formerly  in  mili- 
tary operations  by  land,  they  certainly  did  not  aban- 
don the  field  of  their  elder  renown.  The  keels  of 
Hengist  and  Horsa  were  cruising  in  the  British 
Channel  when  they  received  the  invitation  of  Vor- 
tigern  in  449;  and  it  was  their  command  of  the 
seas  that,  by  enabling  them  to  maintain  all  along  a 
free  communication  with  the  continent,  and  also  to 
make  their  descents  upon  the  island  at  the  most 

1  See  ante,  p.  48. 


advantageous  points,  chiefly  contributed  to  gain  for 
the  Saxons,  Angles,  and  Jutes,  the  possession  of 
Britain. 

These  new  settlers,  therefore,  the  fathers  of  the 
future  population  of  the  country,  and  the  founders 
of  its  political  institutions  and  its  social  state,  were 
by  long  use  a  thoroughly  navigating  race,  and  having 
obtained  their  island  stronghold,  they  would  natu- 
rally, it  might  be  thought,  proceed  both  to  fortify  it 
by  securing  the  dominion  of  the  surrounding  seas, 
and  to  make  it  the  centre  of  a  great  commercial 
empire.  But  although  all  this  was  to  come  to  pass 
in  process  of  time,  nothing  of  the  kind  happened  in 
the  first  instance ;  and  the  Saxons,  after  their  set- 
tlement in  Britain,  completely  neglected  the  sea, 
now  more  truly  their  proper  element  than  ever,  for 
so  long  a  period,  that  when  they  did  at  last  apply 
themselves  again  to  maritime  affairs,  their  ancient 
skill  and  renown  in  that  field  of  enterprise  must  have 
been  a  mere  tradition,  if  it  was  so  much  as  remem- 
bered among  ttem  at  all,  and  could  have  lent  no  aid 
in  directing  or  even  in  exciting  their  new  eft'orts. 
It  was  not  till  the  reign  of  Alfred,  towards  the  end 
of  the  ninth  century,  that  the  Saxons  of  England 
appear  even  to  have  thought  of  building  a  ship,  at 
least  for  war ;  and  it  may  be  doubted  if  before  that 
time  they  had  even  any  trading  vessels  of  their  own. 
Ever  since  their  settlement  in  Britain  they  seem 
to  have  wholly  abandoned  the  sea  to  their  kindred 
who  remained  in  their  native  seats  in  the  north  of 
Germany  and  around  the  Baltic, — the  Northmen  or 
Danes,  by  whom  they  were  destined  to  be  succeed- 
ed in  their  career  of  rapine  and  conquest. 

This  latter  race  of  sea-rovers  had  adopted  a  policy 
different  from  that  which  had  been  followed  both  by 
the  Franks  and  the  Saxons.  These  two  nations,  or 
rather  great  confederacies  of  various  nations,  al- 
though they  had  both  first  made  themselves  formi- 
dable at  sea,  had,  as  we  have  seen,  successively 
abandoned  that  field  of  adventure  as  soon  as  they 
had  entered  upon  the  course  of  land  conquest,  or  at 
least  as  soon  as  they  had  secured  the  possession  the 
first  of  Gaul,  the  second  of  Britain,  and  had  estab- 
lished their  Gothic  sovereignties  in  these  fair  pro- 
vinces of  the  former  western  empire.  But  the 
Danes,  who  were  also  a  great  confederacy, — the 
several  Scandinavian  nations  of  the  Danes,  the 
Swedes,  and  the  Norwegians,  being  all  compre- 
hended under  that  name, — continued  to  seek  plun- 
der and  glory  on  the  waters  long  after  they  had 
founded  a  multitude  of  kingdoms  on  shore.  These, 
however,  were  not  kingdoms  carved,  like  the  pos- 
sessions of  the  Franks  and  Saxons,  out  of  the  rich 
and  cultivated  Roman  territory,  but  were  all  con- 
fined to  the  bleak  and  barbarous  coasts  of  the  Baltic 
and  the  neighboring  seas,  where  the  Romans  had 
never  been.  Down  to  the  close  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury, Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Norway  were  each 
parceled  out  into  numerous  independent  principal- 
ities, the  chiefs  of  all  of  which  were  at  the  same 
time  also  either  sea-kings  themselves,  or  more  usu- 
ally were  the  fathers  or  elder  brothers  of  the  bold 
piratical  captains  who  rejoiced  in  that  designation ; 
the  custom  being  for  the  younger  sons  of  the  royal 


252 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


house  tx)  be  sent  to  seek  their  fortune  on  the  ocean, 
while  the  eldest  was  kept  at  home  to  inherit  his 
ancestral  throne.  But  the  class  of  sae-konungen, 
or  sea-kings,  otherwise  called  vikingr,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  mean  kings  of  the  bays,  where  they  had 
their  head  stations,  was  very  numerous,  and  com- 
prehended many  individuals  who  were  not  of  royal 
extraction.  Piracy  was  the  common  resource  of 
the  younger  sons  of  all  the  best  families  among  these 
Scandinavian  nations ;  and  the  sea  was  regarded  as 
a  field  whereon  a  bold  adventurer  might  rear  for 
himself  a  fabric  both  of  wealth  and  dominion  almost 
as  stable  as  could  be  founded  on  the  land.  In  the 
course  of  the  ninth  century  in  all  the  three  coun- 
tries central  sovereignties  had  arisen,  and  absorbed 
or  reduced  to  dependence  the  rest  of  the  chieftain- 
ships ;  but  this  change  did  not  for  some  time  affect 
the  free  movements  of  the  vikingr.  They  continued 
as  heretofore  to  maintain  their  independence  on  their 
own  element.  The  new  state  of  things  in  the  north 
only  had  the  effect  of  giving  a  new  direction  to  their 
enterprises.  Formerly  the  natural  prey  of  the  sea- 
kings  of  the  Baltic  had  been  the  territories  of  the 
petty  land-sovereigns  along  the  coasts  of  that  sea ; 
for  their  common  origin  formed  no  general  or  per- 
manent bond  between  the  two  classes,  in  circum- 
stances so  nearly  resembling  those  under  which  the 
various  descriptions  of  wild  beasts  are  thrown  to- 
gether in  a  forest.  But  now  that  something  of  the 
strength  of  union  and  consohdation  had  been  ac- 
quired by  the  northern  kingdoms,  they  had  become 
less  easily  assailable  ;  and  the  captains  of  the  pirat- 
ical armaments  began  to  look  out  for  adventures  and 
plunder  farther  from  home.  The  coasts  of  England, 
of  ScotLand,  of  Ireland,  and  of  France,  became 
henceforth  the  chief  scenes  of  their  ravages.  Nor 
had  civilization  yet  advanced  so  far  in  any  of  the 
Scandinavian  countries  as  to  discountenance  these 
expeditions.  On  the  contrary,  the  Danish,  Nor- 
wegian, and  Swedish  kings  were  no  doubt  well 
pleased  to  see  their  natural  enemies  and  the  most 
turbulent  spirits  among  their  subjects  thus  finding 
occupation  elsewhere ;  and  as  for  the  popular  feel- 
ing on  the  subject,  the  old  national  custom  of  roam- 
ing the  seas  was  still  universally  held  to  be  among 
the  most  honorable  of  employments.  Navigation 
can  be  cherished  and  promoted  only  by  commerce 
or  by  war ;  it  never  has  flourished  in  the  absence  of 
the  former  except  under  the  nourishment  and  sup- 
port afforded  by  the  latter.  It  was  the  want  of  both 
war  and  commerce  that  brought  about  its  decay  and 
extinction  among  the  Franks  and  Saxons,  after  their 
conquests  of  Gaul  and  Britain ;  it  was  preserved 
among  the  Danes  through  the  habits  and  necessities 
of  that  predatory  life  upon  which  they  were  thrown 
for  some  centuries  by  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
which  they  were  placed.  The  power  of  this  third 
northern  confederacy  grew  up  during  a  period  when 
the  spirit  of  foreign  conquest  and  settlement,  gen- 
erated among  the  barbarous  nations  by  the  dismem- 
berment of  the  Roman  empire,  was  still  in  full  vigor, 
but  when  the  means  of  satisfying  it  had  been  taken 
away  in  consequence  of  the  previous  occupation  of 
Gaul,  of  Britain,  of  Spain,  and  of  all  the  other  Roman 


provinces,  by  those  whose  fortune  it  had  been  to  be 
earlier  in  the  movement.  The  Danes  were  in  this 
way  left  to  the  piratical  maritime  warfare  in  which 
they  soon  became  so  distinguished ;  it  was  the  nat- 
ural result  of  the  ambition  of  foreign  conquest 
checked  by  the  want  of  any  territory  lying  open 
for  them  to  invade  and  overi-un.  Still  this  was  in 
its  nature  only  an  intermediate  and  temporary  re- 
source. The  instinct  of  aggression,  which  it  could 
only  imperfectly  gratify,  it  yet  fostered,  and  was 
constantly  strengthening  and  arming  with  new 
power  for  the  full  attainment  of  what  it  sought. 
The  Danes,  under  this  disciphne,  were  becoming 
every  day  more  warlike  and  formidable,  and  more 
capable  of  achieving  foreign  conquests,  whenever 
they  should  make  the  attempt.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Franks  and  Saxons,  whom  they  would  have  to 
drive  before  them,  were,  in  the  unassailed  security 
of  their  rich  and  ample  settlements,  gradually  losing 
the  use  of  war  and  the  power  of  defending  the  pos- 
sessions they  had  gained.  This  was  the  state  of 
circumstances  when  the  Danes  commenced,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighth  century,  their  descents 
upon  the  coasts  of  France,  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland.  These  Northmen  were  now  merely  re- 
peating what  had  been  done  by  their  kindred,  the 
Franks  and  Saxons,  three  or  four  centuries  before. 
They,  also,  from  mere  plundering  incursions,  with 
which  they  had  hitherto  satisfied  themselves,  were 
about  to  rise  in  their  turn  to  the  grander  operations 
of  invasion,  conquest,  and  colonization,  now  that 
occasion  presented  itself,  and  called  them  to  that 
career.  This  was  the  proper  consummation  of  their 
system  of  sea-kingship ;  the  ti"ue  end  and  develop- 
ment of  their  long  course  of  piracy  and  desultory 
warfare.  That  was  but  the  impatient  restlessness 
of  the  animating  passion  repelled,  baffled,  and  in 
some  sort  imprisoned ;  this  was  its  free  and  natural 
action.  The  new  path  of  enterprise,  accordingly, 
immediately  attracted  to  itself  all  the  disposable 
courage,  activity,  and  resources  of  the  North.  It 
was  not  left  to  the  sea-kings  alone  ;  the  most  po- 
tent of  those  of  the  land  joined  the  great  national 
movement,  Avhich  promised  to  add  new  realms  to 
those  they  already  possessed,  or  to  enable  them  to 
exchange  their  niggardly  ancestral  islets  and  strips 
of  sea-coast  for  broader  domains  in  a  sunnier  clime. 
By  means  of  these  expeditions  the  pressure  and 
uneasiness  occasioned  by  the  opposition  between 
the  old  piratical  system  and  the  new  order  of  things 
that  was  now  growing  up  in  the  Scandinavian  king- 
doms, were  at  once  relieved  ;  and  while  occupation 
and  settlements  were  found  for  the  more  active  and 
adventurous  who  chose  to  abandon  their  native 
country,  more  room  was  also  made,  and  more  quiet 
secured,  for  those  that  remained  behind. 

By  these  bold  sea-captains  and  their  crews  was 
a  great  part  of  England  taken  possession  of  and 
occupied ;  and  thus,  a  second  time,  did  the  country 
receive  an  accession  of  the  kind  of  population  most 
appropriate  to  it  as  an  island — a  race  of  a  navigating 
spirit  and  habits.  The  Normans  also,  we  may  an- 
ticipate so  far  as  just  to  remark,  were,  before  they 
won  their  settlements  here  and  in  France,  pirates 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


253 


as  well  as  the  Danes  and  the  Saxons  ;  in  fact  they 
were  merely  a  division  of  the  Danish  vikingr  and 
their  companies.  So  that  of  the  several  races  that 
were  eventually  mingled  together  to  form  the  Eng- 
lish people,  no  one  had  to  be  gradually  turned  to- 
wards maritime  affairs  by  the  force  of  the  new  cir- 
cumstances in  the  midst  of  which  it  was  placed ; 
all  brought  along  with  them  an  old  familiarity  with 
the  sea,  on  which  they  had  in  fact  lived,  and  con- 
quered, and  maintained  dominion,  before  they  had 
ever  made  good  any  footing  for  themselves  upon 
land. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  however,  we  find  each 
race,  as  soon  as  it  has  established  itself  in  the  coun- 
tiy,  almost  wholly  abandoning  the  former  theatre 
of  its  exploits,  and  attaching  itself  to  the  land  as 
exclusively  as  if  the  sea  had  been  left  a  thousand 
miles  behind.  We  cannot  discover  that  either  the 
previous  navigating  habits  of  the  Saxons  and  Danes 
who  successively  settled  in  Britain,  or  the  natural 
advantages  of  their  new  position,  prompted  them 
to  any  considerable  efforts  of  commercial  enter- 
prise, after  they  had  lost  the  motive  which  had 
originally  impelled  them  to  the  sea.  Nay,  as  we 
have  already  observed,  the  ships  in  which,  and 
through  which,  they  had  made  their  conquests, 
were  abandoned  by  them  even  as  instruments  of 
protection;  they  had  served  their  turn  in  aggressive 
warfare,  but  in  the  defensive  warfare  that  followed 
their  employment  was  not  thought  of,  till  after  long 
and  disastrous  experience  of  the  insufificiency  of 
other  military  means.  Such  being  the  case,  we 
need  not  wonder  that  commercial  navigation  was 
neglected.  The  navigating  spirit,  in  fact,  will  not 
of  itself  create  commerce  ;  it  appears  to  have  been 
usually  rather  the  commercial  spirit  that  has  taught 
a  people  navigation,  where  it  has  not  been  taught 
by  war ;  and  even  war  does  not  teach  it  in  the 
effective  manner  that  commerce  does,  as  we  may 
see  at  once  by  comparing  the  Saxons  or  the  Danes 
with  the  Phenicians.  The  latter  had  no  doubt  been 
a  commercial  long  before  they  became  a  navigating, 
a  discovering,  a  colonizing,  and  a  civilizing  people. 
In  the  same  manner  it  is  their  commercial  habits, 
growing  out  of  their  permanent  geographical  posi- 
tion, and  not  their  use  and  wont  of  maritime  war- 
fare, that  has  made  the  English,  the  descendants 
of  these  old  Saxons  and  Danes,  the  great  lords  of 
the  sea,  planters  of  nations,  and  diffusers  of  civiliza- 
tion in  the  modern  world. 

But  a  power  like  this  can  only  grow  up  under  a 
favorable  state  of  circumstances  in  the  world  gener- 
ally, or  throughout  a  large  portion  of  it.  The  com- 
mercial empire  of  the  ancient  Phenicians  was  reared 
during  the  most  flourishing  period  of  the  early  civ- 
ilization of  the  East;  the  commercial  empire  of 
modern  Britain  has  in  like  manner  arisen  in  the 
midst  of  the  later  civilization  of  the  West.  In  the 
rude  and  turbulent  ages  that  followed  the  overthrow 
of  the  Roman  power  in  Europe,  the  existence  of 
an  extensive  commerce  in  any  hands  was  impossi- 
ble. Almost  continual  wars  everywhere,  either 
between  one  people  and  anothei-,  or  between  two 
factions  of  the  same  people,  or  where  there  was 


any  temporary  relaxation  of  war,  the  still  more 
brutifying  effects  of  misgovernment  and  oppression, 
left  no  time,  no  inclination,  and  no  means  for  carry- 
ing on  any  considerable  commerce.  The  great 
mass  of  the  people  were  in  all  countries  sunk  in 
ignorance  and  in  poverty  ;  their  miserable  condition 
hardly  permitted  them  to  aspire  after  the  enjoy- 
ment of  anything  beyond  the  absolute  necessaries 
of  existence  ;  they  were  untaught  in  those  arts  and 
processes  of  industry  by  which  commerce  is  fed ; 
there  had  been  little  or  no  accumulation  of  capital, 
without  which  there  can  be  no  extensive  commerce, 
nor  any  other  species  of  undertaking  that  looks 
much  beyond  the  passing  day.  It  was  only  by  slow 
degrees  that  Europe  emerged  out  of  this  condition, 
and  that  the  beginnings  of  modern  commerce  were 
nurtured  into  strength  and  stability. 

We  shall  now  notice  the  most  interesting  of  the 
few  facts  that  have  been  preserved  relating  to  the 
foreign  trade  carried  on  by  the  Anglo-Saxons,  in 
their  chronological  order.  The  first  distinct  notice 
which  we  have  upon  the  subject  is  not  of  earlier 
date  than  the  close  of  the  eighth  century.  At  this 
time,  it  appears  that  some  English  commodities 
were  carried  abroad,  and  probably  some  of  those  of 
the  continent  brought  to  this  country,  by  the  de- 
votees who  went  on  pilgi'image  to  Rome,  or  by  per- 
sons who  found  it  convenient  to  make  profession  of 
being  so  engaged.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
these  pilgrimages  opened  the  first  commercial  in- 
tercourse between  England  and  the  continent ;  but 
they  undoubtedly  made  the  communication  much 
more  frequent  than  it  had  been  before.  The  prac- 
tice established  by  the  Romans,  of  exacting  certain 
payments  at  each  seaport,  on  the  embarkation  and 
landing  of  goods,  appears  to  have  been  retained  in 
all  the  new  kingdoms  formed  out  of  the  western 
empire ;  and  their  amount  probably  long  remained 
nearly  the  same  that  had  been  paid  under  the  im- 
perial regime.  Hence  the  name  of  customs,  or 
some  equivalent  term,  by  which  they  were  called, 
as  if  they  had  been  dues  universally  and  immemo- 
rially  demanded.  There  is  a  letter  still  extant,  from 
the  French  Emperor  Charlemagne  to  OfFa,  King 
of  Mercia,  and  Bretwalda,  which  seems  to  have 
been  the  result  of  a  negotiation  between  the  two 
sovereigns,  respecting  the  exaction  of  these  duties 
in  the  case  of  the  English  pilgrims  traveling  to 
Rome.  The  document  must  be  assigned  to  the 
year  795,  in  which  Ofl['a  died,  at  the  latest ;  and  it 
may  be  regarded  as  the  earhest  commercial  treaty 
on  record,  or  perhaps  that  ever  was  entered  into, 
between  England  and  any  other  country.  It  runs 
as  follows : — "  Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King 
of  the  Franks  and  Lombards,  and  patrician  of  the 
Romans,  to  our  venerable  and  most  dear  brother, 
Offa,  King  of  the  Mercians,  gi-eeting.  First,  we 
give  thanks  to  Almighty  God,  for  the  sincere  Cath- 
olic faith  which  we  see  so  laudably  expressed  in 
your  letters.  Concerning  the  strangers,  who,  for 
the  love  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  wish 
to  repair  to  the  thresholds  of  the  blessed  apostles, 
let  them  travel  in  peace  without  any  trouble  ;  nev- 
ertheless, if  any  are  found  among  them  not  in  the 


254 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  II. 


Saxon  Ships. — From  an  Engraving  in  Strntt's  Chronicle  of  England,  made  up  from  various  Saxon  illuminations. 


service  of  religion,  but  in  the  pursuit  of  gain,  let 
them  pay  the  established  duties  at  the  proper  places. 
We  also  will  that  merchants  shall  liave  lawful  pro- 
tection in  our  kingdom  according  to  our  command ; 
and  if  thej'  are  in  any  place  unjustly  aggrieved,  let 
them  apply  to  us  or  our  judges,  and  we  shall  take 
rare  that  ample  justice  be  done  to  them."  There 
U.more  of  the  letter,  which  it  is  unnecessaiy  to 
quote.  We  gather  from  it  that  the  profession  of 
pilgrimage  had  already  been  taken  advantage  of  as 
a  cloak  for  smuggling ;  and,  no  doubt,  in  this  way 
the  practice  gave  an  impulse  to  ti-ade.  Even  the 
smuggler  is  sometimes  of  use  ;  he  may  be  the  means 
of  planting  a  traffic  which  would  not  have  grown 
up  without  his  assistance,  and  which,  of  however 
objectionable  a  character  originally,  may  eventually 
assume  a  legitimate  form,  and  attain  to  a  great  value 
and  importance.  It  is  conjectured  that  articles  in 
gold  and  silver  were  probably  the  principal  com- 
modities in  which  these  traders  from  England  dealt, 
who  thus  put  on  the  guise  of  pilgrims,  with  the  view 
of  cheating  the  custom-house  of  its  dues.  Such 
articles,  being  of  small  bulk,  would  be  easily  con- 
cealed in  a  traveler's  baggage ;  and  it  appears  that 
even  at  this  early  age  the  English  works  in  gold 
and  silver  were  famous  over  the  continent.'  Al- 
ready, it  may  be  noted,  there  seem  to  have  been 
Jews  resident  in  England  and  even  in  the  northern 
kingdom  of  Northumberland;  for  among  the  Ex- 
cerpts of  Archbishop  Egbert  of  York— which  must 
have  been  compiled  between  the  years  735  and 
766 — we  find  a  transcript  of  a  foreign  canon,  pro- 
hibiting Christians  fi-om  imitating  the  manners  of 
that  people,  flr  partaking  of  their  feasts.  The  Jews 
have  been  the  introducers  or  chief  encouragers  of 
foreign  commerce,  especially  in  jewelry,  articles 
made  of  the  precious  metals,  and  other  such  luxu- 
ries, in  most  of  the  countries  of  modern  Europe. 

'  Macphersoii's  Annals  of  Commerce,  i.  248. 


From  this  date  the  history  of  Anglo-Saxon  com- 
merce is  again  nearly  a  blank  till  we  come  down  to 
the  reign  of  Alfred.  Of  this  illustrious  prince,  it 
is  recorded  in  relation  to  the  present  subject,  that 
he  cultivated  an  intercourse  with  distant  countries, 
in  which  he  seems  to  have  had  in  view  the  exten- 
sion of  commerce  as  well  as  other  objects.  He 
appears  to  have  kept  up  a  frequent  communication 
with  Rome ;  and  his  biographer  Asser  states,  that 
he  also  corresponded  with  Abel,  the  patriarch  of 
Jerusalem,  who  sent  him  several  valuable  presents 
of  oriental  commodities.  His  embassy  to  the  Chris- 
tians in  India  is  mentioned,  not  only  by  Malmesbury 
and  other  authorities  of  the  next  age,  but  by  the 
contemporaiy  compiler  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  who 
says  that  Bishop  Swithelm  made  his  way  to  St. 
Thomas,  and  returned  in  safety.  Malmesbury  gives 
Sighelm  as  the  name  of  the  adventurous  bishop  of 
Shireburn,  and  relates  that  he  brought  back  fi-om 
India  aromatic  liquors  and  splendid  jewels;  some 
of  the  latter,  Malmesbury  says,  were  still  remain- 
ing in  the  ti-easury  of  his  church  when  he  wrote, 
in  the  twelfth  century.  Sighelm  is  stated  to  have 
left  England  in  the  year  883,  and  to  have  gone  in 
the  first  instance  to  Rome,  from  which  he  probably 
sailed  up  the  Mediterranean  to  Alexandria,  and  then 
made  his  way  by  Bassora  to  the  Malabar  coast, 
where  it  is  certain  that  a  colony  of  Syrian  Chris- 
tians, who  regarded  St.  Thomas  as  their  apostle, 
were  settled  from  a  very  early  period.  Asser  re- 
lates that  he  received,  on  one  occasion,  as  a  pre- 
sent from  Alfred,  a  robe  of  silk,  and  as  much  in- 
cense as  a  strong  man  could  carry :  these  precious 
commodities  must  have  been  obtained  from  the 
East. 

But  the  interest  which  Alfi*ed  took  in  hearing  of 
remote  parts  of  the  earth  is  most  distinctly  shown 
in  the  accounts  he  has  himself  given  us  of  the  two 
voyages  of  Ohthere  and  Wulfstan ;  the  first  to  the 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


255 


North  seas,  the  second  towards  the  east  of  the  Bal- 
tic. These  voyages  were  related  to  Alfred  by  the 
navigators  themselves  ;  and  he  has  inserted  what 
they  told  him  in  his  Saxon  translation  of  the  Latin 
geography  of  Orosius.  It  has  been  observed  that 
Alfred  "  obtained  from  Ohthere  and  Wulfstan  such 
information  of  the  Baltic  Sea  with  the  adjacent 
countries,  as  far  exceeded  that  of  professed  geog- 
raphers, either  before  or  after  his  time,  till  the 
route  of  Ohthere  was  retraced  in  the  year  1553  by 
the  English  navigator  Chancellor,  who  was  supposed 
the  original  discoverer  of  the  northern  passage  to 
Russia."*  Ohthere  rounded  the  North  Cape,  and 
peneti-ated  into  the  White  Sea,  from  which  he 
ascended  a  great  river,  which  must  have  been  the 
Dwina,  on  which  Archangel  now  stands.  Wulfstan 
navigated  the  Baltic  as  far  as  to  the  land  of  the 
Estum,  the  present  Prussia.  "  This  Eastland,"  says 
his  narrative,  "  is  very  large,  and  there  be  a  great 
many  towns,  and  in  every  town  there  is  a  king; 
and  there  is  a  gi'eat  quantity  of  honey  and  fish.  The 
king  and  the  richest  men  drink  mare's  milk,  and 
the  poor  and  the  slaves  drink  mead.  There  be 
very  many  battles  between  them.  There  is  no  ale 
brewed  amid  the  Estum,  but  there  is  mead  enough." 
Pytheas  had  remarked  the  same  abundance  of  honey 
and  use  of  mead,  among  the  people  of  this  coast, 
twelve  centuries  before. 

It  is  one  of  Alfred's  many  great  merits  and  titles 
to  perpetual  and  gi-ateful  remembrance,  that  he 
first  called  into  action,  and  gave  proof  of  what  could 
be  achieved  by  the  natural  right  arm  of  England — 
her  maritime  sti-ength.  The  year  887,  the  sixth 
of  his  reign,  while  he  was  engaged  in  that  first 
struggle  with  the  northern  invaders  which  ended 
80  disastrously,  is  marked  as  the  year  in  which  he 
fitted  out  his  first  few  ships.  Twenty  years  later, 
in  his  days  of  prosperity  and  power,  he  built  a  much 
larger  fleet,  and  introduced  certain  important  im- 
provements in  the  form  of  the  vessels,  which,  whe- 
ther suggested  by  his  own  inventive  sagacity,  or 
borrowed,  as  it  has  been  conjectured  they  might 
have  been,  fi'oni  the  galleys  then  used  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, of  which  he  had  obtained  models,  he 
showed  at  least  his  usual  active  and  inquisitive  spirit 
in  searching  after,  and  his  good  sense  in  adopting. 
The  Saxon  chronicler  says  that  Alfred's  ships  were 
neither  like  those  of  the  Danes  nor  those  of  the 
Frisians,  but  were  made  in  a  fashion  which  he  him- 
self thought  would  be  more  serviceable  than  that  of 
either.  They  were  twice  as  long  as  the  aescas,  as 
they  were  called,  of  the  Northmen,  and  also  higher 
than  theirs ;  in  sailing,  they  were  swifter  and  less 
unsteady.  Some  of  them  had  sixty  oars,  some 
more.  Yet,  notwithstandiag  the  statements  of  some 
later  writers,  we  have  no  authentic  account  of  any 
attempt  by  Alfred  to  create  an  Enghsh  mercantile 
marine.  One  of  his  laws  only  shows  that  merchant 
ships  sometimes  arrived  in  England  in  those  days; 
and  even  this  regulation  regards  not  the  cargoes  of 
these  foreign  vessels,  but  the  passengers.  The 
only  notice  that  has  been  found  of  the  export  of 
any  English  commodity  in  the  time  of  Alfred,  is 

1  Macpherson's  Commerce,  i.  263. 


the  mention  of  some  of  the  famous  native  breed  of 
dogs  having  been  sent  as  a  present  to  Folk,  Arch- 
bishop of  Rheims,  in  France.* 

By  far  the  most  remarkable  and  significant  event 
in  the  whole  history  of  Anglo-Saxon  commerce,  is 
the  law  passed  in  the  reign  of  King  Athelstan,  in 
the  second  quarter  of  the  tenth  century,  by  which 
it  was  enacted  that  every  merchant  who  should 
have  made  three  voyages  over  the  sea  with  a  ship 
and  cargo  of  his  own,  should  have  the  rank  of  a 
thane  or  nobleman.  The  liberality  of  this  law  has 
usually  been  ascribed  exclusively  to  the  enlightened 
judgment  of  Athelstan ;  but  we  are  entitled  to  pre- 
sume that  it  must  have  been  also  in  some  degree  in 
accordance  with  the  general  feeling  of  the  country ; 
for,  not  to  mention  that  it  must  have  been  passed 
with  the  consent  of  the  witenagemot,  it  is  unhkely 
that  so  able  and  prudent,  as  well  as  popular  a  mon- 
arch as  Athelstan,  would  have  attempted  in  regard 
to  such  a  matter  to  do  violence  to  public  opinion, 
without  the  acquiescence  and  support  of  which  the 
measure  could  have  had  little  efficacy  or  success. 
We  may  take  this  decree  confemng  the  honors  of 
nobihty  upon  commerce,  therefore,  as  testifying 
not  only  to  the  liberality  and  wisdom  of  Athelstan, 
but  also  to  the  estimation  in  which  commerce  had 
already  come  to  be  held  among  the  English  people. 
It  may  be  regarded  as  a  proof  that  the  Anglo-Sax- 
ons had  never  entertained  much  of  that  prejudice 
against  the  pursuits  of  ti-ade,  which  we  find  so 
strongly  manifested  during  the  middle*  ages,  wher- 
ever the  political  and  social  institutions  were  mould- 
ed upon,  and  fully  animated  by  the  spirit  of  the 
feudal  system.  But  it  is  especially  interesting  in 
reference  to  our  present  subject,  as  an  indication 
of  the  growing  importance  of  English  commerce 
and  of  the  public  sense  of  that  importance.  From 
this  time  English  fleets  and  ships  of  war  come  to 
be  frequently  mentioned.  Athelstan  assisted  his 
nephew,  Louis  IV.  of  France,  in  his  contest  with 
the  Emperor  Otho,  by  sending  a  fleet  to  the  coast 
of  Flanders,  to  ravage  the  emperor's  territories  in 
that  quarter.  This  was  done  in  conformity  with  a 
treaty  of  mutual  defence,  which  is  memorable  as 
the  first  of  the  kind  ever  entered  into  between  the 
two  kingdoms.  Edgar's  navy,  and  also  that  which 
Ethelred  fitted  out  by  a  tax  upon  all  the  lands  in 
the  kingdom  to  repel  the  Danes,  make  a  gi-eat  figure 
in  the  history  of  the  next  half  century.  Some  ac- 
counts make  Edgar's  fleet  to  have  amounted  to  be- 
tween three  and  four  thousand  ships — a  statement 
resembhng  in  its  style  of  evident  hyperbole  the 
whole  history  the  old  monkish  chroniclers  have 
given  us  of  this  king,  whose  lavish  benefactions  to 
the  church  have  secured  him  an  extraordinary  re- 
turn of  their  gratitude  and  laudation.  Ethelred's 
is  recorded  to  have  been  the  most  numerous  naval 
armament  that  had  yet  been  seen  in  England ;  so 
that  it  must  have  surpassed  that  of  Edgar. 

Even  in  the  disastrous  reign  of  Ethelred,  we  find 
indications  of  the  continued  progress  of  trade,  both 
coasting  and  foreign.  In  certain  laws  enacted  by 
Ethehed  and  his  Witan,  at  Wantage,  in  Berkshire, 

1  Macpherson,  i.  265. 


256 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


it  is  declaimed,  that  every  smaller  boat  arriving  at 
Billingsgate  (so  old  are  that  landing-place  and  that 
name)  should  paj'  for  toll  or  custom  one  halfpenny; 
a  larger  boat  with  sails,  one  penny ;  a  keel,  or  what 
we  should  now  call  a  hulk,  four  pennies ;  a  vessel 
with  wood,  one  piece  of  wood ;  a  boat  with  fish 
coming  to  the  bridge,  one  halfpenny,  or  one  penny, 
according  to  her  size.  And  from  other  passages  of 
these  laws,  it  appears  that  vessels  were  then  wont 
to  come  to  England  from  Rouen,  with  wine  and 
large  fish;  from  Flanders,  Ponthieu,  Normandy, 
France,  Hegge  (an  unknown  place),  Liege,  and 
Nivell.  Certain  German  merchants,  called  the  em- 
peror's men,  when  they  came  with  their  ships,  are 
declared  to  be  worthy  of  good  laws — that  is,  of 
being  treated  with  favor ;  but  they  were  to  pay 
their  dues,  and  were  not  to  forestall  the  market  to 
the  prejudice  of  the  citizens.  The  dues  to  be  paid 
by  the  emperor's  men,  who  were  probably  the  rep- 
resentatives of  some  trading  company,  were  two 
gruj  cloths  and  one  brown  one,  ten  pounds  of  pep- 
per, five  pairs  of  men's  gloves,  and  two  vessels  or 
measures  (called  cabillini  colenni,  the  meaning  of 
which  is  unknown)  of  vinegar,  at  Christmas,  and 
the  same  again  at  Easter.  These  were  probably 
the  articles  of  which  their  cargoes  usually  consisted. 
It  is  also  worth  notice,  that  a  meeting  was  held  in 
this  reign  of  the  wise  men  of  England  and  Wales 
for  regulating  the  intercourse,  commercial  and 
general,  between  the  two  kingdoms  ;  at  which  rates 
of  compensation  were  fixed  for  slaves,  cattle,  &c., 
that  might  be  stolen  or  injured,  and  it  was  agreed 
to  appoint  a  standing  tribunal,  consisting  of  six  En- 
glish and  six  Welsh  lawmen,  or  persons  skilled  in 
the  law,  to  settle  all  disputes  between  individuals  of 
the  two  nations. 

Among  many  other  interesting  details  derived 
from  a  volume  of  Saxon  Dialogues,  apparently  in- 
tended for  a  school-book,  which  is  preserved  in  the 
British  Museum,'  Mr.  Turner  has  quoted  the  fol- 
lowing passage,  in  which  the  merchant,  as  one  of 
the  characters  introduced,  gives  an  account  of  his 
occupation  and  way  of  life  :  »■'  I  say  that  I  am  useful 
to  the  king,  and  to  ealdermen,  and  to  the  rich,  and 
to  all  people.  I  ascend  my  ship  with  my  merchan- 
dise, and  sail  over  the  sealike  places,  and  sell  my 
things,  and  buy  dear  things  which  are  not  produced 
in  this  land,  and  I  bring  them  to  you  here  with 
great  danger  over  the  sea ;  and  sometimes  I  suffer 
shipwreck,  with  the  loss  of  all  my  things,  scarcely 
escaping  myself."  He  is  then  asked,  "What  do 
you  bring  to  us  ?"  to  which  he  answers,  "  Skins, 
silks,  costly  gems,  and  gold ;  various  garments,  pig- 
ment, wine,  oil,  ivory,  and  orichalcus  (perhaps 
brass) ;  copper  and  tin,  silver,  glass,  and  such  like." 
The  principle  of  all  commercial  dealings  is  distinctly 
enough  stated  in  the  answer  to  the  next  question, 
"  Will  you  sell  your  things  here  as  you  bought  them 
there?"  "I  will  not;  because  what  would  my  labor 
benefit  me  ?  I  will  sell  them  here  dearer  than  I 
bought  them  there,  that  I  may  get  some  profit  to 
feed  me,  my  wife,  and  children."  The  silks  and 
other  Oriental  commodities  here  mentioned  were 

1  Cotton.  MS.  Tib.  A.  lii. 


usually,  in  all  probability,  obtained  from  Italy,  or 
sometimes  perhaps  from  Marseilles. 

Foreign  commodities  can  only  be  obtained  by  the 
exchange  of  other  commodities  produced  at  home 
But  the  Anglo-Saxons  had  not  much  to  export. 
Notwithstanding  the  flourishing  state  to  which 
British  agriculture  had  been  raised  by  the  Romans, 
there  is  no  evidence  or  reason  for  believing  that  a 
single  cargo  of  corn  was  ever  exported  from  Eng- 
land during  the  whole  of  the  period  now  under 
review.  Although,  however,  there  is  no  positive 
authority  to  establish  the  fact,  Mr;  Macpherson 
thinks  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Flemings, 
the  great  manufiicturers  of  fine  woolen  goods  for 
the  whole  of  Europe,  carried  away  great  quantities 
of  English  wool  in  this  period,  as  we  know  for  cer- 
tain they  did  in  the  following  ages.  That  there 
was  an  export  trade  in  wool  would  seem  to  be  indi- 
cated by  the  disproportionate  price  the  fleece  ap- 
pears to  have  borne  compared  with  the  whole 
sheep,  and  also  by  the  high  price  of  wool.'  Prob- 
ably also  the  mines  of  the  different  metals  yielded 
something  for  exportation.  The  Abbe  Raynal  has 
mentioned,  but  without  quoting  his  authority,  that 
among  the  traders  of  different  nations  who  resorted 
to  the  fairs  established  in  France  by  King  Dagobert 
in  the  seventh  century,  were  the  Saxons  with  th^ 
tin  and  lead  of  England  f  and  Mr.  Macpherson  is 
of  opinion  that,  as  we  know  from  Domesday  Book, 
that  in  the  neighborhood  of  Gloucester  there  were 
iron-works  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor, 
which  had  probably  been  kept  up  since  before  the 
mvasion  of  the  Romans,  iron  too,  as  well  as  lead 
and  tin,  may  perhaps  have  been  one  of  the  few 
British  exports  during  the  Anglo-Saxon  period. 
This  writer  thinks  it  also  not  impossible  that  mines 
of  the  precious  metals  may  have  been  wrought  at 
this  time  in  England,  and  part  of  their  produce  ex- 
ported, although  the  existence  of  such  mines  in  the 
island  is  unnoticed  by  any  historian  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Roman  dominion,  with  the  exception  of 
Bede.^  It  is  certain  that  large  sums  in  gold  and 
silver  were  raised  in  the  country  on  different  occa- 
sions, and  much  coin  or  bullion  repeatedly  carried 
out  of  it;  and  it  appears  difiicult  to  comprehend 
whence  all  this  wealth  could  be  obtained  with  so 
few  manufactures  and  so  little  exportable  produce 
of  any  kind.  The  early  eminence  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  in  the  art  of  working  gold  and  silver  may 
be  taken  as  affording  another  presumption  that, 
whencesoeve'r  procured,  there  was  no  want  of 
these  metals  in  the  island.  "  We  have  undoubted 
proof,"  says  Mr.  Macpherson,  "that  the  English 
jewelers  and  workers  of  gold  and  silver  were  emi- 
nent  in  their  professions,  and  that  probably  as  early 

as  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century So 

great  was  the  demand  for  highly-finished  trinkets 
of  gold  and  silver,  that  the  most  capital  artists  of 
Germany  resorted  to  England;  and,  moreover,  the 
most  precious  specimens  of  foreign  workmanship 
were  imported  by  the  merchants."''  On  the  other 
hand,  articles  in  gold  and  silver  seem  to  have  been 


1  Marpherson,  i.  288. 
3  Macjihereon,  i.  291. 


-  Hist,  dp.s  Indes,  ii 
*  Ibid.  i.290. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


257 


Entrance  of  thk  Mine  of  Odin,  an  ancient  Lea<i-Mine  in  Derbyshire:  the  Hill  called  Mam  Tor,  in  the  distance. 


the  chief  description  of  manufactured  goods   ex- 
ported from  England  in  this  period. 

Among  the  exports  from  Britain  during  part  of 
this  period  are  supposed  to  have  been  horses,  be- 
cause one  of  King  Athelstan's  laws  prohibits  their 
being  carried  out  of  the  kingdom  unless  they  were 
to  be  given  as  presents.  Another  part  of  the  export 
trade,  which  was  probably  carried  on  to  a  much 
gi-eater  extent,  was  the  trade  in  slaves.  The  mis- 
sion of  Augustine,  which  effected  the  conversion  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons  to  Christianity,  was,  it  will  be 
recollected,  the  memorable  result  of  the  attention 
of  Augustine's  patron,  Gregory,  having  been  at- 
ti-acted  by  the  appearance  of  a  gi'oup  of  young  An- 
gles exposed  for  sale  as  slaves  in  the  market  place 
of  Rome.  Afterwards  several  laws  find  ecclesias- 
tical canons  were  passed  prohibiting  the  sale  of 
Christian  slaves  to  Jews  or  Pagans.  Finally  it  was 
enacted  that  no  Christians,  and  no  persons  who  had 
not  committed  some  crime,  should  be  sold  out  of 
the  country.  But  William  of  Malmesbury,  who 
'wrote  nearly  a  century  after  the  conquest,  affirms 
that  the  practice  of  selling  even  their  nearest  rela- 
tions had  not  been  altogether  abandoned  by  the 
people  of  Northumberland  in  his  own  memory. 
And  in  the  contemporary  biography  of  Wulfstan, 
who  was  Bishop  of  Worcester  at  the  time  of  the 
Conquest,  the  following  curious  account  is  given  : — 
There  is  a  sea-port  town,  called  Bristol,  opposite  to 
Ireland,  into  which  its  inhabitants  make  frequent 
VOL.  I — 17 


voyages  on  account  of  trade.  Wulfstan  cured  the 
people  of  this  town  of  a  most  odious  and  inveterate 
custom  which  they  derived  from  their  ancestors,  of 
buying  men  and  women  in  all  pai'ts  of  England, 
and  exporting  them  to  Ireland  for  the  sake  of  gain. 
The  young  women  they  commonly  got  with  child, 
and  carried  them  to  market  in  their  pregnancy, 
that  they  might  bring  a  better  price.  You  might 
have  seen  with  sorrow  long  ranks  of  young  persons 
of  both  sexes,  and  of  the  gi-eatest  beauty,  tied  to- 
gether with  ropes,  and  daily  exposed  to  sale ;  nor 
were  these  men  ashamed,  O  horrid  wickedness !  to 
give  up  their  nearest  relations,  nay,  their  own  chil- 
dren, to  slavery.  Wulfstan,  knowing  the  obstinacy 
of  these  people,  sometimes  stayed  two  months 
among  them,  preaching  every  Lord's  day,  by  which, 
in  process  of  time,  he  made  so  great  an  impression 
upon  their  minds  that  they  abandoned  that  wicked 
trade,  and  set  an  example  to  all  the  rest  of  England 
to  do  the  same.'"  But  for  this  remarkable  passage 
it  would  scarcely  have  been  suspected  that  there 
ever  was  a  time  when  the  natives  of  England  were 
regularly  exported  to  be  sold  as  "slaves  to  the  Irish. 
Their  principal  purchasers  were  probably  the 
Danes,  or  Ostmen  (that  is.  Eastern  men),  as  they 
were  called,  who  were  at  this  time  the  dominant 
people  in  Ireland,  and  especially  were  masters  of 
nearly  the  whole  line  of  the  coast  opposite  to  Bri- 
tain. They  appeared  to  have  carried  on  a  consid- 
'  Anglia  Sacra,  ii.  258 


258 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  11. 


erable  commerce  both  with  England  and  other 
countries.  Chester,  as  well  as  Bristol,  is  particularly 
mentioned  as  one  of  the  ports  to  which  Irish  ships 
were  accustomed  to  resort  about  the  time  of  the 
Norman  Conquest.  William  of  Malraesbury  de- 
scribes the  inhabitants  of  Chester  as  depending  in 
his  day  upon  Ireland  for  a  supply  of  the  necessaries 
of  hfe ;  and,  in  another  place,  he  speaks  of  the 
great  distress  the  Irish  would  suffer  if  they  were 
deprived  of  their  trade  with  England.  Marten 
skins  are  mentioned  in  Domesday  Book  among  the 
commodities  brought  by  sea  to  Chester ;  and  this 
appears,  from  other  authorities,  to  have  been  one 
of  the  exports  in  ancient  times  from  Ireland.  No- 
tices are  also  found  of  merchants  from  Ireland  land- 
ing at  Cambridge  with  cloths,  and  exposing  their 
merchandise  to  sale.^  Other  English  ports  which 
are  noticed  as  possessed  of  ships  cat  the  time  of  the 
Conquest,  or  immediately  before  that  event,  are  Pe- 
vensey,  Rumney,  Hythe,  Folkstone,  Dover,  Sand- 
wich, Southwark,  and  London.  Bede  speaks  of 
merchants'  ships  sailing  to  Rome  ;  and  it  appears 
that  trading-vessels  sometimes  joined  together,  and 
went  out  armed  for  their  mutual  protection.* 

At  all  the  above  places,  and  at  every  other  sea- 
port in  the  kingdom,  customs  seem  to  have  been 
exacted  upon  the  arrival  and  departure  of  ships  and 
goods,  both  by  the  king  and  by  the  lord,  generally 
called  the  earl  or  comes,  whose  property  or  under 
\7h0se  protection  the  town  Avas ;  and  trade  was 
besides  fettered  by  many  restrictive  regulations. 
At  Chester,  for  instance,  if  a  ship  arrived  or  sailed 
without  the  king's  leave,  she  was  subject  to  a  fine 
of  forty  shillings  to  the  king  and  the  earl  for  every 
one  of  her  crew.  If  they  came  against  the  king's 
express  prohibition,  the  ship,  the  men,  and  the 
cargo  were  forfeited  to  the  king.  Ships  that  came 
in  with  the  king's  permission  might  sell  quietly 
what  they  brought,  paying  at  their  departure  to  the 
king  and  the  earl  four  pennies  for  every  last,  or 
load.  Those  that  brought  marten  skins,  however, 
were  bound  to  allow  the  king  the  preemption  of 
them,  and,  for  that  purpose,  to  show  them  to  an 
officer  before  any  were  disposed  of,  under  a  penalty 
of  forty  shillings.  It  is  possible,  however,  that 
some  of  these  oppressive  regulations  may  have 
been  first  imposed  by  the  Conqueror.  At  the  time 
when  the  account  in  Domesday  Book  was  drawn 
up,  the  port  of  Chester  yielded  to  the  crown  a 
revenue  of  forty-five  pounds,  and  three  timbres 
(whatever  quantity  that  may  have  been)  of  marten 
skins. 

Of  the  internal  trade  of  England  during  this 
period  we  know  very  little.  That  it  was  on  a  very 
diminutive  scale  might  be  inferred  from  the  single 
fact,  that  no  person  was  allowed  to  buy  anything 
above  the  value  of  tjventy  pennies,  except  within  a 
town,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  chief  magistrate, 
or  of  two  or  more  witnesses.  Such  at  least  is  the 
regulation  found  in  the  laws  of  King  Hlothaere  of 
Kent,  who  reigned  in  the  seventh  century.  Another 
enactment  in  the  same  collection  is,  that  "  if  any 
of  the  people  of  Kent  buy  anything  in  the  city  of 
1  See  Turner,  iii.  113  2  Ibid. 


London,  he  must  have  two  or  three  honest  men,  or 
the  king's  port-reve  (who  was  the  chief  magistrate 
of  the  city),  present  at  the  bargain."  And  a  third 
of  Hlothaere's  laws  is, — "  Let  none  exchange  one 
thing  for  another  except  in  the  presence  of  the 
sheriff",  the  mass-priest,  the  lord  of  the  manor,  or 
some  other  person  of  undoubted  veracity.  If  they 
do  otherwise  they  shall  pay  a  fine  of  thirty  shillings, 
besides  forfeiting  the  goods  so  exchanged  to  the 
lord  of  the  manor." 

These  regulations  were  probably  intended  in 
part  to  prevent  fraud  and  disputes,  and  they  might 
perhaps  be  in  some  measure  serviceable  for  that 
purpose  in  an  age  when  writing  was  not  in  common 
use ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  had  prin- 
cipally in  view  the  protection  of  the  revenue  of  the 
king  and  the  lord  of  the  manor;  to  each  of  whom, 
it  appears  from  Domesday  Book,  a  certain  propor- 
tion of  the  price  of  everything  sold  for  more  than 
twenty  pennies,  was  paid,  the  one  half  by  the  buyer, 
and  the  other  by  the  seller.  The  amount  here 
specified  would  prevent  the  rule  from  affecting  the 
ordinary  purchases  of  the  people  in  shops,  to  which 
it  must  be  supposed  they  were  permitted  to  resort 
for  the  necessaries  of  life  without  any  of  these  an- 
noying formalities.  The  transactions  to  which  it 
applied  would  chiefly  take  place  at  the  public  mar- 
kets or  fiiirs,  which  appear  to  have  been  established 
in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  which  in  all 
the  greater  towns  were  probably  held  eveiy  week. 
Originally  the  Sunday  seems  to  have  been  the 
usual  market-day ;  but  the  repeated  efforts  of  the 
church  at  length  eff'ected  the  general  substitution 
of  Saturday.  Besides  the  weekly  markets,  how- 
ever, there  were' probably  others  of  a  more  impoi'- 
tant  kind  held  at  greater  intervals.  At  many  of 
the  markets,  besides  the  duties  exacted  upon  all 
sales,  a  toll  appears  to  have  been  demanded  either 
from  every  individual  frequenting  the  market,  or  at 
least  from  all  who  brought  goods  to  dispose  of. 
Most  of  these  commercial  usages  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  were  inherited  from  their  predecessors  the 
Romans. 

They  had  also,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  advantage 
of  the  facilities  of  communication  between  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country,  which  had  been  created 
while  it  was  in  the  occupation  of  that  gi'eat  people. 
The  four  great  highways  appear  to  have  received 
Saxon  names,  and  they  were  undoubtedly  maintain- 
ed in  use  during  the  whole  of  the  Saxon  period,  as 
were  also,  it  may  be  presumed,  most  of  the  other 
roads,  or  streets,  as  they  were  called,  with  which 
the  country  was  intersected  in  all  directions.  And 
besides  the  navigable  rivers,  it  has  been  supposed 
that  artificial  canals  were  cut  in  some  places.  A 
canal  in  Huntingdonshire,  in  particular,  called  Kings- 
delf,  is  mentioned  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle  under  the 
year  963  ;  and  several  of  the  boundary  ramparts, 
erected  primarily  for  the  purposes  of  defence,  ap- 
pear to  have  had  wide  ditches,  along  which  boats 
might  be  dragged. 

The  subject  of  the  Money  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
is,  in  some  parts,  extremely  perplexed  and  obscure. 
The   diff"erent  denominations  of  money  of  which 


Chap.  IV.j 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


259 


mention  is  found,  are  the  pound,  the  mai'k,  the  man- 
cus,  the  ora,  the  shilling,  the  thrimsa,  the  sceatta, 
the  penny,  the  tiiens,  the  halfling,  or  half-penny, 
the  feorthling,  or  farthing,  and  the  styca,  or  half- 
farthing.  Of  some  of  these,  however,  we  know 
with  certainty  little  more  than  the  names. 

The  first  difficulty  that  occurs  is  in  regard  to  which 
of  these  kinds  of  money  were  actual  coins,  and  which 
were  merely  nominal,  or  money  of  account.  Upon 
this  part  of  the  subject,  Mr.  Ruding,  from  whom  it 
has  received  the  latest  as  well  as  the  most  elaborate 
investigation,  comes,  though  not  without  hesitation, 
to  the  following  conclusion  :  "  That  the  penny,  half- 
penny, farthing,  and  half-farthing  were  actual  coins  ; 
as  was  probably  the  triens,  which  divided  the  penny 
into  three  equal  parts;  and  that  the  mancus,  the 
mark,  the  ora,  the  shilling,  and  the  thrimsa,  were 
onlj^  money  of  account :  or,  that  if  the  mancus  was 
ever  current  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  it  was  a  for- 
eign coin,  and  was  never  imitated  in  their  mints.'" 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  pound  was  merely  money 
of  account.  The  sceatta  seems  to  have  been  rather 
a  general  expression  for  a  piece  of  money,  than  the 
denomination  either  of  a  coin  or  of  a  particular  sum. 
Others,  however,  have  held  that  the  sceatta,  the 
mancus,  the  shilling,  the  thrimsa,  and  perhaps  also 
the  ora,  were  all  coins. 

The  next  question  that  arises  relates  to  the  metal 
of  which  each  coin  was  made.  Mr.  Ruding  is  of 
opinion,  "  that  no  evidence  has  yet  been  adduced  to 
prove  that  the  Anglo-Saxons  struck  any  gold  money ; 
but  that  the  balance  of  probability  apparently  inclines 
to  the  determination  that  no  such  money  was  issued 
from  their  mints."^.  By  others  the  mancus  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  of  gold ;,  and  Mr.  Turner  thinks 
that  both  gold  and  silver  were  used  in  exchanges  in 
an  uncoined  state.''  It  is  certain  that  mention  is  re- 
peatedly made  of  payments  in  gold.  It  is  agreed 
that  the  penny,  the  halfpenny,  the  farthing,  and  the 
ti'iens  (if  that  was  a  coin)  were  all  of  silver ;  and  that 
the  styca  was  of  copper,  or  of  that  metal  with  an  al- 
loy. In  fact,  no  Saxon  coins  have  yet  been  discov- 
ered except  some  of  those  last  mentioned.  Of  pen- 
nies and  stycas,  some  large  hoards  have  been  found 
within  these  few  years.  In  April,  1817,  a  wooden 
box  was  turned  up  by  a  ploughman  in  a  field  near 
Dorking,  in  Surrey,  which  contained  nearly  seven 
hundred  Saxon  pennies,  principally  of  the  coinages 
of  Ethelwulf,  the  son  and  successor  of  Egbert,  and 
of  Ethelbert,  the  father  of  Alfred,  but  partly  also  of 
those  of  preceding  kings  of  Wessex,  of  Mercia,  and 
of  East-Anglia.*  Eighty-three  silver  coins  of  King 
Ethelred,  and  two  of  his  father,  King  Edgar,  were 
found,  in  1820,  by  a  peasant  while  digging  a  woody 
field  in  Bolstads  Socked,  in  Sweden,  and  are  now 
deposited  in  the  Royal  Cabinet  of  Antiquities  at 
Stockholm.^  And  in  1832,  a  brass  vessel  containing 
about  eight  thousand  stycas,  principally  of  the  kings 
of  Northumberland,  was  found  at  Hexham  in  that 
county.     About  five  thousand  of  them  were  recov- 

1  Annals  of  the  Coinage,  i.  316.    (Edit,  of  1819.)  3  Ibid. 

^  Hist,  of  Anglo-Saxons,  ii.  470,  471. 

*  See  account  of  these  Coins  by  Tajlor  Combe,  Es(i.,  in  the  Archaeo- 
logia,  vol.  xix.  (for  1821),  p.  110. 
^  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  ii.  480. 


ered  from  the  persons  into  whose  hands  they  had 
fallen ;  and  a  selection  of  about  three  hundred  of 
them  is  now  in  the  British  Museum.' 

But  the  most  important,  and,  unfortunately,  also 
the  darkest  question  of  all,  is  that  of  the  determina- 
tion of  the  value  of  these  several  coins  or  denomina- 
tions of  money.  There  has  been  the  greatest  doubt 
and  difference  of  opinion,  both  as  to  the  absolute  value 
or  weight,  and  as  to  the  relative  value,  of  nearly  ev- 
ery one  of  them.  Almost  the  only  thing  which  is 
perfectly  certain,  is,  that  the  poimd  was  always  un- 
derstood to  be  a  full  pound  of  silver.  It  appears, 
however,  to  have  been  not  the  common  ti'oy  pound, 
but  another  measure,  long  known  in  Germany  by  the 
name  of  the  Cologne  pound,  and  used  in  this  coun- 
try as  the  Tower  or  Mint  weight  down  to  the  reign 
of  Henry  VII.  It  was  three  quarters  of  an  ounce 
less  than  the  pound  troy,  and  was  equal,  therefore, 
to  only  eleven  ounces  and  a  quarter  ti"oy  weight, 
that  is,  to  5400  grains. 

Out  of  this  amount  of  silver,  throughout  the  whole 
Saxon  period,  the  rule  seems  to  have  been  to  coin 
240  silver  pennies,  each  of  which  would  therefore 
weigh  221  of  our  grains.  Accordingly,  this  is  about 
the  average  weight  of  the  Saxon  pennies  that  have 
been  found.  Our  present  pound  no  longer  means  a 
pound  of  silver  of  any  denomination  ;  but  the  old  re- 
lation between  the  pound  and  the  penny,  it  will  be 
remarked,  is  still  preserved — the  value  of  the  pound 
is  still  240  pence.  A  few  passages  in  old  wi'iters 
and  documents  have  inclined  some  antiquaries  to 
suspect  that  the  Saxons  had  two  kinds  of  pennies,  a 
greater  and  a  less ;  but,  on  the  whole,  this  notion 
does  not  seem  to  be  tenable.  The  name  of  the  pen- 
ny in  Saxon  is  variously  written, — peneg,  penig,  pe- 
ninc,  pening,  penincg,  penning,  and  pending. 

Supposing  the  value  of  the  penny  to  have  been 
thus  ascertained,  we  have  obtained  that  also  of  each 
of  the  inferior  coins.  The  halfpenny,  which,  as 
existing  specimens  show,  was  also  of  silver,  would 
weigh  about  111  of  our  grains,  and  the  feorthling, 
or  farthing,  about  5|.  But  no  Saxon  farthings  have 
been  discovered,  and  we  do  not  know  whether  the 
coin  was  of  silver  or  copper.  The  stj'ca  was  of 
copper  much  alloyed,  in  other  words,  of  bronze ; 
but,  as  it  was  the  half  of  the  farthing,  its  precise 
value  would  be  estimated  at  2i|  grains  of  silver. 
All  the  stycas  that  have  yet  been  found  are  from 
the  mints  of  the  Northumbrian  kings  and  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York ;  but  the  circulation  of  the  coin  ap- 
pears to  have  been  general  throughout  England.  If 
there  were  such  coins  as  the  thrimsa  and  the  triens, 
the  former,  at  least,  was  probably  of  silver.  The 
value  of  the  thrimsa  seems  to  have  been  three  pen- 
nies, or  G7i  grains  of  silver  ;  that  of  the  triens,  the 
third  of  a  penny,  or  71  grains  of  silver. 

These  conclusions,  as  we  have  intimated,  are  not 
unattended  with  some  difficulties ;  but  thej-  seem, 
on  the  whole,  to  be  tolerably  well  made  out,  and  at 
any  rate  it  would  only  embarrass  the  statement, 
without  adding  any  information  of  the  least  interest 

1  See  account  of  these  stycas,  by  John  Adamson,  Esq.,  with  en- 
gravings of  some  hundreds  of  them,  in  the  Archa;olog)«,  vol.  xxv.  (fur 
18341,  pp.  229-310;  and  vol.  ixvi.  (fcr  1836)  pp.  346-8. 


260 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


or  value  for  our  present  purpose,  to  enter  upon  a 
discussion  of  tlie  doubts  or  objections  that  have  been 
raised  upon  certain  points. 

One  of  the  main  hinges  on  which  the  investi- 
gation of  the  subject  of  the  Saxon  money  turns  is 
the  question  of  tlie  nature  and  vahie  of  the  shiUing. 
The  Norman  shiUing,  hke  that  of  the  present  day, 
was  the  twentieth  part  of  the  pound,  and  consisted 
of  twelve  pence ;  and  this  is  the  scale  according  to 
which  the  payments  in  Domesday  Book  are  com- 
monly stated.  The  scill  or  scilling  of  tlie  Saxons 
is  the  denomination  of  money  most  frequently  men- 
tioned in  their  laws  and  ^vl•itings,  and  it  appears  to 
have  been  that  in  Avhich  sums  were  usually  reck- 
oned; yet  no  Saxon  shilling  has  ever  been  found, 
and  the  different  ancient  accounts  and  computations 
in  which  it  is  mentioned  seem  to  be  only  recon- 
cilable upon  the  supposition  that  it  was  of  fluc- 
tuating value.  Both  these  facts  go  to  support  the 
conclusion  that  the  shilling  was  not  a  coin,  but  only 
a  denomination  of  money  of  account.  At  one 
time  it  appears  to  have  contained  five,  and  at 
another  only  four  pennies;  if  there  were  not  indeed 
two  sorts  of  shillings  circulating  together  of  these 
different  values.'  When  the  shilling  contained 
five  pennies  its  value  was  the  forty-eighth  part  of 
the  pound,  or  1121  grains  troy  of  silver;  when  it 
contained  four  pennies  only,  it  was  the  sixtieth  part 
of  the  pound,  and  its  value  was  only  80  gi'ains  troy 
of  silver.  The  principal  evidence  for  there  ever 
having  been  a  shilling  containing  only  four  pennies 
is  a  law  of  Athelstan,  in  which  7200  shillings  are 
distinctly  stated  to  be  equal  to  120  pounds ;  in 
which  case  there  must  have  been  sixty  shillings  in 
each  pound.  But  there  is  equally  good  evidence 
that  five  pennies  was  the  value  of  the  shilling 
both  before  and  after  the  time  of  Athelstan ;  and  it 
has  therefore  been  supposed  that  the  shilling  was 
depreciated  by  that  king,  and  afterwards  restored 
to  its  ancient  value.  In  the  laws  of  Canute  the 
shilling  appears  clearly  to  be  reckoned  the  forty- 
eighth  part  of  the  pound  ;  and  Elfric,  the  gram- 
marian, who  wrote  in  this  age,  expressly  states  that 
there  were  five  pennies  in  the  shilling. 

If  the  mancus  ever  was  a  coin,  Mr.  Ruding  is 
of  opinion  that  it  became  latterly  merely  a  denom- 
ination of  money  of  account.  The  commonly 
received  etjnnology  of  the  word,  from  the  Latin 
manu  cusum,  struck  with  the  hand  (though  this 
etymology  may  be  doubted),  would  seem  to  favor 
the  notion  that  it  had  been  a  coin-  at  one  time ;  but 


'  Mr.  Ruding  is  inclined  to  think  that  this  was  the  case. 
Aunals  of  the  Coinage,  i.  310. 


as  we  find  the  mancus  of  silver  mentioned  as  well 
as  the  mancus  of  gold,  it  must  be  concluded  that 
the  name  came  to  be  afterwards  used  as  that  simply 
of  a  certain  sum,  for  it  is  improbable  that  any  coin 
was  in  use  of  so  large  a  size  as  the  silver  mancus 
would  have  been.  The  value  of  the  mancus  is 
stated  by  Elfric  to  have  been  thirty  pennies,  in  the 
same  passage  in  which  he  states  five  pennies  to 
have  made  a  shilling.  The  mancus,  therefore,  con- 
tained six  Saxon  shillings,  or  was  of  the  value  of 
675  grains  troy  of  silver,  being  rather  more  than  is 
contained  in  seven  of  our  present  shillings.  It  is 
oliservable  that  a  gold  coin,  sometimes  called  a 
mancus,  in  other  cases  known  by  other  names,  cir- 
culated during  the  middle  ages  in  many  countries 
both  of  Europe  and  the  East,  the  weight  of  which 
was  66  grains  troy,  which  would  be  just  about  the 
weight  of  gold  equivalent  to  thirty  Saxon  pennies,  on 
the  supposition,  which  other  considerations  render 
probable,  that  the  relative  value  of  gold  and  silver 
was  then  as  twelve  to  one.  Of  this  weight  were 
the  mancuses  or  ducats  of  Italy,  Germany,  France, 
Spain,  and  Holland,  the  sultani  of  Constantinople, 
the  sequins  of  Barbary,  and  the  sheriff's  of  Egypt. 

The  mark  used  to  be  supposed  the  same  with 
the  mancus,  but  this  opinion  is  now  quite  exploded. 
The  mark  appears  to  have  been  a  Danish  denom- 
ination of  money,  and  to  have  been  introduced  into 
this  country  by  the  Danish  settlers,  the  first  men- 
tion of  it  being  found  in  the  articles  of  agreement 
between  Alfred  and  Guthrun.  Some  of  the  notices 
would  seem  to  imply  that,  at  first,  the  mark  was 
accounted  equivalent  in  value  to  only  a  hundred 
Saxon  pennies ;  but  it  certainly  came  eventually  to 
be  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  sixty  pennies,  that 
is,  at  two-thirds  of  the  pound.  Two-thirds  of  a 
pound  is  still  the  legal  value  of  a  mark.  The  mark, 
therefore,  may  be  set  down  as  of  the  value  of  3600 
grains  troy  of  silver.  The  mark  has  never  been 
supposed  to  be  a  real  coin,  except  by  those  who 
have  taken  it  for  the  same  with  the  mancus. 

The  ora  was  also  a  Danish  denomination,  and 
appears  to  have  been  the  eighth  part  of  the  mark. 
Its  value,  therefore,  would  be  twenty  Saxon  pennies, 
or  450  grains  troy  of  silver.  There  appears  also, 
however,  to  have  been  an  ora  which  was  valued  at 
only  sixteen  pennies. 

The  amount  of  silver,  5400  troy  grains,  which 
made  an  Anglo-Saxon  pound,  is  now  coined  into 
21.  165.  3d.  sterling.  The  value,  therefore,  of  each 
of  the  Saxon  coins,  according  to  the  view  that  has 
now  been  taken,  would  Jbe  as  stated  in  the  following 
Table  :— 


The  Pound — Money  of  Account      . 

The  Mark       .         .  ditto 

The  Mancus  .         .  ditto  (probably) 

The  Ora  .         .  ditto 

The  greater  Shilling  ditto  (probably) 

The  smaller  Shilling  ditto  (probably) 

The  Thrimsa  .  ditto  (probably) 

The  Pt'iiuy     .       Silver  Coin 

The  Tiions     .         .  ditto  (pi-obably) 

The  Halfpenny      .  ditto 

The  Farthing  .  ditto  (perhaps) 


equivalent  to  5400  gi-ains  troy  of  Silver,         or 

"  3600 or 

"              67.5     .         .         .         .         .or  about 
450 or 


weishins 


about 


The  Stj'ca      .     Copper  Coin  equivalent  to  about 


lV2i 
90 
67i 

15 

la 


value  in  sterling  money  about 


about  J  of  a  Farthing 


6 

3 

7 

9 

7 

Oi 

4 

H 

1 

o 

in 

8^ 

li 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


261 


The  Saxon  coins  are  generally  sufficiently  rude 
in  workmanship ;  and  this  circumstance  has  been 
used  as  an  argument  to  prove  that  the  Saxons 
brought  the  art  of  coining  with  them  to  Britain 
from  Germany,  and  did  not  acquire  it  by  imitation 
of  the  Roman  models.  The  earliest  Saxon  coin 
that  has  been  appropiuated  is  one  in  silver  (a  penny 
apparently,  though  commonly  called  a  sceatta)  of 
Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  who  reigned  from  561  to 
616,  the  patron  of  St.  Augustine.  As  the  coin 
does  not  exhibit  the  usual  Christian  symbol  of  the 
cross,  it  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  struck 
before  the  year  597,  in  which  Ethelbert  Avas  bap- 
tized. According  to  Mr.  Ruding's  description,  "  it 
bears  on  the  obverse  the  name  of  the  monarch, 
and  on  the  reverse  a  rude  figure,  which  occurs  on 
many  of  the  sceattas,  and  which  is  supposed  to  be 
intended  to  represent  a  bird."  But  other  coin* 
that  exist  without  names,  or  with  names  that  can- 
not be  deciphered,  may  be  older  than  this.  Besides 
the  kings  of  the  different  states  of  the  Heptarchy, 
and  afterwards  of  all  England,  the  Archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York  had  mints  and  issued  monej' 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon  times.  In  addition  to  the 
name  of  the  king  or  the  archbishop,  the  coins 
usually  contain  that  of  the  moneyer  by  whom  they 
were  struck,  and  from  the  time  of  Athelstan  also 
that  of  the  town  where  the  mint  was  situated. 
The  later  kings  appear  to  have  usually  had  numer- 
ous moneyers,  and  mints  in  all  the  principal  towns 
throughout  the  kingdom.^ 

Besides  the  coins  of  their  own  minting,  several 
foreign  coins  appear  to  have  circulated  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  especially  the  byzantine  gold  solidi, 
commonly  called  byzantines,  or  byzants,  each 
weighing  seventy-three  grains  troy,  and  being  of 
the  value  of  forty  Saxon  pennies,  or  (at  their  esti- 
mation of  the  relative  values  of  gold  and  silver) 
nine  shillings  and  fourpence-halfpenny  of  our  pres- 
ent money.  Thus  St.  Dunstan  is  recorded  to  have 
purchased  the  estate  of  Hindon  (now  Hendon),  in 
Middlesex,  from  King  Edgar,  for  200  gold  byzan- 
tines, and  then  to  have  presented  it  to  the  monks 
of  St.  Peter  in  Westminster.^  There  were  also 
silver  byzantines,  which,  according  to  Camden, 
were  valued  at  two  shillings  each.  At  an  early 
period  even  some  of  the  Roman  imperial  money 
might  remain  in  use.  "  That  gold  and  silver,"  Mr. 
Turner  remarks,  "  had  abounded  in  the  island  while 
it  was  possessed  by  the  Romans  and  Britons,  the 
coins  that  have  been  found  at  every  period  since, 

1  Complete  lists  of  the  moneyers  and  mints  in  each  reign,  as  far  as 
they  can  be  recovered,  are  g^iven  in  Ruding's  elahurate  and  exact 
Annals  of  the  Coinage,  2nd  Edit.  5  vols.  8vo.  and  1  4to.  of  Plates,  Lon. 
1819.  On  the  subject  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Coinage,  the  reader  may  also 
consult  Bishop  Fleetwood's  Chronicon  Preciosuni,  2ud  Edit.  8vo.  Lun. 
1745  ;  the  Introduction  to  Leake's  Historical  Account  of  English  money 
from  the  Conquest,  2nd  Edit.  8vo.  Lond.  1745  (but  the  views  of  these 
earlier  writers  have  been  corrected  in  some  important  respects  by  the 
results  of  subsequent  investigation)  ;  Pegge's  Dissertations  Ih  some 
Anglo-Saxon  remains,  4to.  Lon.  1756;  Clarke's  Connection  of  the  Ro- 
man, Saxon,  and  English  Coins,  4to.  Lon.  1767  (both  Pegge  and  Clarke 
■endeavor  to  show  that  the  Saxons  coined  gold)  ;  andP  olkes'  Tallies  of 
English  Coins,  published  at  the  expense  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
4to.  Lon.  1763  (in  this  work  was  announced  the  important  discovery 
that  the  Saxnn  pound  was  the  Old  Tower  or  Cologne  pound) 

*  Camden's  Britannia,  399 


almost  every  year,  sufficiently  testify ;  and  it  was 
the  frequency  of  these  emerging  to  view  which 
made  treasure-trove  an  important  part  of  our  ancient 
laws,  and  which  is  mentioned  by  Alfred  as  one  of 
the  means  of  becoming  wealthy."  '■ 

Slaves  and  cattle  passed  also  as  a  sort  of  circu- 
lating medium  during  this  period  so  generally  that 
they  are  spoken  of  as  living  money.  Cattle,  the 
first  wealth  of  mankind,  were  probably  in  most 
countries  the  first  money ;  that  is  to  say,  commodi- 
ties were  valued  at  so  many  cattle,  and  cattle  were 
commonly  given  in  exchange  for  all  other  things. 
When  metal  money,  therefore,  was  first  introduced, 
it  was  looked  upon  not  as  a  convenient  represen- 
tative of  commodities  or  property  of  all  kinds,  but 
only  as  a  substitute  for  cattle  ;  some  of  the  oldest 
coins  have  the  figures  of  cattle  stamped  on  them  ; 
and  in  some  languages  money  was  actually  called 
cattle.  Thus  pecus,  cattle,  is  the  origin  of  the 
Latin  pecunia,  money,  and  of  our  English  pecuni- 
ary. The  same  thing  is  very  curiously  shown  by 
the  history  of  another  still  existing  term,  the  word 
mulct,  meaning  a  fine  or  pecuniary  penalty.  Mulct 
is  a  translation  of  the  Latin  mulcta,  or,  as  it  is  more 
properly  written,  multa,  which  was  an  ancient 
Roman  law-term  for  a  fine,  but  which  the  Roman 
lawyers  and  antiquaries  themselves,  as  we  learn 
from  Aulus  Gellius,  admitted  to  have  originally 
meant  a  sheep,  or  rather  a  ram.  Varro  asserted 
that  it  was  a  Samnite  word,  and  that  the  Samnites, 
the  descendants  of  the  old  Sabines,  had  used  it  in 
that  sense  within  his  own  recollection.  It  is  re- 
markable that  the  original  word  still  survives,  in  its 
original  signification,  in  the  Celtic  dialects  of  Ire- 
land and  Scotland,  in  the  former  of  which  a  wether 
is  to  this  day  niolt^  and  in  the  latter  mult."  Hence, 
in  fact,  come  the  French  mouton,  and  our  Enghsh 
mutton.  The  Anglo-Saxon?,  it  would  appear,  al- 
though they  had  metallic  money,  had  not  com- 
pletely passed  out  of  the  state  of  only  commencing 
civilization  in  which  cattle  serve  the  purposes  of 
money.  A  certain  value  seems  to  have  been  affixed 
by  the  law  to  horses,  cows,  sheep,  and  slaves,  at 
which  they  might  be  seized  by  a  creditor  in  pay- 
ment of  a  debt  due  to  him ;  and  it  is  supposed  that 
all  kinds  of  fines,  or  pecuniary  penances,  imposed 
either  by  the  state  or  the  church,  might  be  dis- 
charged either  in  dead  or  living  money.  The 
church,  however,  which  to  its  honor  from  the  first 
opposed  itself  to  slavery,  and  greatly  contributed  by 
its  systematic  discouragement  and  resistance  to  put 
down  that  evil,  early  refused  to  accept  of  slaves 
instead  of  money  in  the  payment  of  penances.  In 
the  parts  of  Britain  not  occupied  by  the  Saxons,  it 
may  be  doubted  if  during  the  present  period  any 
metallic  money  was  coined.  No  coins  either  of 
Scotland  or  of  Wales  of  this  antiquity  have  ever 
been  found.  Considering  the  intercourse,  however, 
that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  period  subsisted  be- 
tween both  of  these  counti-ies  and  England,  it  is 
impossible  to  suppose  that,  although  they  may  not 
have  minted  any  money  themselves,  they  could  be 

1  Hist.  Ang.  Sax.  iii.  237. 

2  Grant's  Origin  and  Descent  of  the  Gael,  145. 


262 


EIISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


unacquainted  with  its  use.  A  few  of  the  Saxon 
coins  probably  found  their  way  both  to  the  Welsh 
and  Scotch,  and  supplied  them  with  a  scanty  cir- 
culation. The  Welsh  laws  indeed  show  that  the 
denominations,  at  least,  of  money  were  familiarly 
known  to  that  people  ;  but  they  seem  to  show, 
also,  by  the  anxious  minuteness  with  which  they 
fix  the  price  of  almost  every  article  that  could  be- 
come the  subject  of  commerce,  that  a  common 
representative  of  value  and  medium  of  exchange 
was  not  yet  in  common  use.  These  Welsh  laws, 
for  instance,  in  one  section,  lay  down  the  prices  of 
cats,  of  all  different  ages,  and  with  a  most  elaborate 
discrimination  of  species  and  properties.  This  may 
be  regarded  as  a  rude  attempt  to  provide  a  substi- 
tute for  barter  without  a  coinage ;  but  the  system 
which  it  would  aim  at  establishing  is  in  reality  any- 
thing rather  than  an  improvement  of  simple,  un- 
regulated barter.  The  real  price,  or  exchangeable 
value,  of  a  commodity,  depending,  as  it  does,  upon 
a  variety  of  circumstances  which  are  constantly  in 
a  state  of  fluctuation,  is  essentially  a  variable  quan- 
tity, and  we  can  no  more  fix  it  by  a  law  than  we  can 
fix  the  wind.  A  law,  therefore,  attempting  to  fix 
it  would  only  do  injustice  and  mischief;  it  would, 
in  so  far  as  it  was  operative,  merely  substitute  a 
false  and  unfair  price  of  commodities  for  their  nat- 
ural and  proper  price. 

When  the  prices  of  commodities,  however,  are 
thus  settled  by  the  law,  it  may  be  presumed  that 
the  prices  assigned  are  those  generally  borne  by 
the  commodities  at  the  time ;  and  in  this  point  of 
view  the  law  becomes  of  historic  value  as  a  record 
of  ancient  prices.  Thus,  from  one  of  the  Saxon 
laws  of  King  Ethelred  we  learn  that  in  England 
the  common  prices  of  certain  articles,  about  the 
end  of  the  tenth  century,  were  as  follows  : — 


Of  a  Man,  or  slave 

A  pound  .     .     . 

equivalent  to 

2  16 

3  sterl 

Horse      .     . 

Thirty  shillings 

1   15 

2 

Mare  or  colt 

Twenty  shillings 

1     3 

5 

Ass  or  mule 

Twelve  shillings 

0  14 

1 

Ox      .     .     . 

Six  shillings     . 

0    7 

0* 

Cow   .     .     . 

Five  shillings   . 

0    5 

6 

Swine      .     . 

One  shil.  and  3  pennies     " 

0     1 

lOJ 

Sheep      .     . 

One  shilling 

" 

0     1 

2 

Goat  .     .     . 

Two  pennies     . 

" 

0    0 

5i 

We  are  not  to  suppose,  however,  that  these 
legal  rates  were  always  adhered  to  in  actual  sales 
and  purchases.  The  prices  of  all  commodities 
among  the  Saxons,  no  doubt  rose  and  fell  as  they 
do  at  present,  and  with  much  more  suddenness  and 
violence  than  now ;  for,  in  that  rude  period,  from 
tlie  scarcity  of  capital,  and  the  compai-atively  little 
communication  between  one  place  and  another, 
supplies  of  all  kinds  were  necessarily  much  more 
imperfectly  distributed  than  they  now  are  over  both 
time  and  space ;  and  any  deficiency  that  might, 
from  any  cause,  occur,  was  left  to  press  with  its 
whole  severity  upon  the  particular  moment  and 
the  local  market,  without  the  greater  abundance  of 
other  places  or  other  seasons  being  admitted  to 
relieve  it.  Compai-ative,  though  not  absolute  stead- 
iness of  prices,  or  at  any  rate  a  steady  and  calcula- 
ble, in  lieu  of  an  irregular  and  jolting  movement  of 
prices,  especially  of  those  of  the  great  necessaries 
of  subsistence,  is,  on  the  whole,  the  accompaniment 


of  an  advanced  civilization,  the  general  character 
and  result  of  which,  indeed,  may  be  said  to  be  to 
repress  irregularities  of  all  kinds,  and  to  bring  all 
social  processes  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  equability 
of  those  of  mechanics.  Several  of  the  articles 
enumerated  in  the  above  list,  we  find  mentioned 
elsewhere,  as  bearing  a  variety  of  other  prices.  In 
one  case,  for  instance,  we  find  a  slave  purchased 
for  half  a  pound  ;  in  another,  for  an  yre  of  gold  (the 
amount  of  which  is  not  known) ;  in  another,  for 
three  mancuses,  or  about  a  guinea;  in  another,  for 
five  shillings  and  some  pence.'  In  these  purchases 
it  is  generally  mentioned,  that  besides  the  price, 
the  toll  was  paid.  "  The  tolls  mentioned  in  some 
of  the  contracts  for  slaves,"  observes  Mr.  Turner, 
"  may  be  illustrated  out  of  Domesday  Book.  In 
the  burgh  of  Lewis,  it  says,  that  at  eveiy  purchase 
and  sale,  money  was  paid  to  the  gerefa :  for  an  ox, 
a  farthing  was  collected ;  for  a  man,  four  pennies." 
Slaves,  of  course,  differed  very  considerably  from 
one  another  in  real  value.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
same  sum  at  which  a  sheep  is  here  rated  at  the 
end  of  the  tenth  century,  appears  to  have  been 
also  its  legal  price  three  hundred  years  before.  At 
least,  in  the  laws  of  Ina,  King  of  the  West  Saxons, 
who  reigned  at  the  close  of  the  seventh  century,  a 
sheep  with  its  lamb  is  valued  at  a  shilling.  In 
another  of  Ina's  laws,  the  fleece  alone  is  valued 
at  two  pennies,  that  is,  at  two-fifths  of  the  price  of 
the  entire  sheep  and  lamb.  This  high  price  of 
wool,  as  has  been  mentioned  above,  is  accounted 
for  on  the  supposition  that  there  was  some  foreign 
trade  in  that  commodity  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  times. 
By  a  law  of  Edgar,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  tenth 
centurj-,  the  highest  price  which  could  be  taken  for 
a  weigh  of  wool  was  fixed  at  half  a  pound  of  silver; 
"being,"  observes  Mr.  Macpherson,  "if  the  weigh 
contained  then,  as  now,  182  pounds  of  wool,  near 
three-fourths  of  a  (Saxon)  penny  (equivalent  to 
nearly  twopence  in  modern  money)  for  a  pound ;  a 
price,  which,  as  far  as  we  are  enabled  to  compare 
it  with  the  prices  of  other  articles,  may  be  thought 
high.""- 

Of  the  prices  of  other  articles,  however,  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  times,  with  the  exception  of  articles 
of  agricultural  produce,  we  scarcely  know  anything. 
Money  being  then  comparatively  scarce,  the  prices 
of  most  commodities  were  of  course  much  lower 
than  they  now  are — that  is  to  say,  they  might  be 
purchased  for  a  much  smaller  amount  of  money. 
But  there  is  no  uniform  proportion  between  the 
prices  of  that  period  and  those  of  the  present  day, 
some  things  being  nominally  dearer  than  they  now 
are,  as  well  as  many  others  nominally  cheaper. 
Books,  for  instance,  were  still  scarcer  than  money; 
and  accordingly  their  prices  were  then  vastly  higher 
than  at  present.  We  shall  have  occasion  in  the 
next  chapter  to  mention  some  of  the  prices  that 
wer* given  by  the  Anglo-Saxons  for  books.  It  fol- 
lows, that  no  correct  estimate  can  be  formed  of  the 
proportion  generally  between  the  value  of  money 

'  See  these  instances  collected  by  Mr.  Turner,  from  Hickes  ami 
other  authorities,  in  Hist.  Ang.  Sax.  iii.  90. 
2  Annals  of  Commerce,  i.  288. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


263 


in  those  times  and  its  value  at  present ;  for  the 
calculation  that  might  be  true  of  some  articles, 
would  not  hold  in  regard  to  others.  Some  con- 
clusions, denied,  may  be  deduced  from  the  com- 
parison of  the  prices  both  of  the  same  article  at 
different  periods,  and  of  different  articles  during 
the  same  period ;  but  these  will  be  most  conveni- 
ently adverted  to  in  speaking,  as  we  shall  now  pro- 
ceed to  do,  of  the  several  arts  or  processes  of  indus- 
tiy  of  which  the  commodities  in  question  are  the 
products. 

In  giving  some  account  of  the  useful  arts  during 
the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
exhibit  a  sketch  of  their  progressive  state  from  its 
commencement  to  its  close ;  and  yet,  during  the 
lapse  of  six  centuries,  external  circumstances,  vary- 
ing in  their  character  and  in  the  influence  which 
they  exercised,  must,  no  doubt,  at  certain  times, 
have  given  an  impulse  to  industry,  while  at  others 
the  arts  were  repressed  or  continued  in  an  unim- 
proving  and  languid  state.  But  it  may  safely  be 
concluded  that,  on  the  whole,  the  various  arts  which 
contribute  to  the  comfort  or  embellishment  of  life 
were  in  a  state  of  greater  advancement  during  the 
reigns  of  the  last  Anglo-Saxon  monarchs  than  they 
could  possibly  be  under  the  fierce  domination  of 
their  restless  and  warlike  ancestors  who  overran 
the  island  in  the  fifth  century.  Still  the  extent  of 
that  improvement  which  undoubtedly  took  place, 
was  small  considered  with  reference  to  so  long  a 
period,  though  it  was  as  considerable  as  could  be 
expected  under  the  circumstances  of  the  times. 
The  last  fifty  years  have  produced  in  our  own  day 
greater  changes,  as  compared  with  the  period  of 
similar  length  by  which  it  was  immediately  pre- 
ceded, than  all  the  social  changes  which  occurred 
during  the  Anglo-Saxon  age,  even  when  the  ex- 
treme points,  which  offer  the  most  striking  con- 
trasts, are  compared  with  each  other.  The  influ- 
ence of  order  and  the  laws  may  be  supposed  in 
ordinary  circumstances  to  have  gradually  increased 
in  efficacy ;  and  under  this  protection  men  would 
purs.ue  their  avocations  with  augmented  security 
both  of  life  and  property;  but  there  was  nothing 
which  could  act  with  sudden  and  electric  power  on 
the  nation,  or  quicken  into  fuller  life  and  activity 
the  germs  of  civilization  which  were  advancing  with 
such  slow  development. 

In  all  the  means  by  which  a  people  can  be  sus- 
tained in  a  state  above  want,  and  supplied  with 
food,  shelter,  and  clothing,  the  Saxon  invaders  were 
inferior  to  their  immediate  predecessors  in  the  oc- 
cupation of  the  island,  the  Britons,  who  had  derived 
their  knowledge  of  the  arts  by  which  this  is  accom- 
plished from  the  practices  of  their  Roman  con- 
querors. The  produce  they  raised  from  the  soil 
was  sufficient  not  only  for  the  consumption  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Britain,  including  a  considerable  non- 
agricultural  population,  but  a  surplus  remained 
which  was  exported  to  Rome.  Agriculture  had 
been  benefited  by  the  improved  methods  of  culti- 
vation employed  by  the  Romans ;  and  when  they 
left  the  island,  it  was  capable  of  diffusing  consid- 
erable wealth.     But  the  incursions  of  the  northern 


barbarians  and  the  ravages  which  they  committed 
in  the  better  cultivated  districts  of  the  south,  were 
calculated  to  act  with  most  fatal  effect  on  agi'icultu- 
ral  industry,  and  to  weaken  the  stimulus  to  exertion 
by  frequent  and  often  successful  attempts  to  rob 
the  cultivator  of  the  fruits  of  his  labor.  The  ad- 
vancement of  agriculture  as  an  art  it  would  be 
hopeless  to  anticipate  under  such  discouragements; 
and,  judging  only  by  the  known  operation  of  human 
motives,  its  decline  would  be  inevitable,  as  all  the 
best  allurements  to  industry  would  be  taken  away, 
and  it  was  verging  to  that  point  when  the  land  would 
be  tilled  only  to  such  an  extent  as  would  afford  little 
beyond  a  narrow  subsistence.  Such  was  the  state 
of  agriculture  when  the  Britons  invited  over  the 
Saxons  ;  and  from  them  they  could  derive  no  im- 
provements in  this  useful  art,  even  if  their  protec- 
tion had  enabled  it  to  recover  from  the  depressed 
condition  in  which  it  was  placed  by  the  ravages  of 
the  Picts  previous  to  their  arrival.  But  the  subse- 
quent proceedings  of  the  Saxons,  by  engendering 
acts  of  rapine  and  warfare,  still  further  oppressed 
industry.  When,  however,  the  Saxon  invaders 
had  become  dominant,  they  applied  themselves  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and  the  Britons  in  all 
probability  were  to  a  great  extent  their  servants 
as  well  as  their  agricultural  teachers.  From  this 
point  agiviculture  began  to  emerge  into  that  state 
in  which  we  find  it  during  the  Anglo-Saxon  pe- 
riod. Leaving  these  general  views  we  proceed 
to  notice  the  few  facts  relative  to  the  state  and 
practice  of  agi-iculture,  and  the  other  useful  arts 
which  have  been  handed  down  to  us  on  good  au- 
thority: 

The  great  bulk  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  population 
were  engaged  in  producing  food.  A  considerable 
portion  of  each  estate  was  woodland,  which  fur- 
nished a  supply  of  fuel  and  timber  for  building; 
and  farms  generally,  though  varying  in  size,  were 
divided  as  at  present,  though  in  different  propor- 
tions to  those  which  now  prevail,  into  meadow,  pas- 
ture, arable,  and  woodland.  Though  the  last  men- 
tioned description  of  land  was  everywhere  in  the 
greatest  abundance,  the  laws  carefully  protected 
both  timber  and  growing  trees,  a  wite,  or  penalty 
to  the  state,  of  thirtj'  shillings  being  incurred  by 
each  offence,  besides  a  payment  of  five  shillings  for 
each  large  tree  that  was  cut  down,  and  five  pennies 
for  every  other ;  these  two  latter  sums  being  prob- 
ably an  approximative  estimate  of  the  damage  com- 
mitted. The  value  of  a  tree  appears  to  have  been 
determined  by  the  number  of  swine  which  could 
be  gathered  under  its  branches.  The  boundaries 
of  propertj"^  were  accui'ately  defined,  and  were  in- 
dicated by  a  ditch,  a  brook,  a  hedge,  a  wooden 
mark,  or  some  other  prominent  object.  Gates  are 
mentioned,  so  that  the  inclosures  were  protected 
from  the  devastations  of  cattle.  This  was  only 
necessary  in  the  case  of  their  arable  land  and  that 
from  which  they  obtained  their  crops  of  hay. 
There  are  many  regulations  concerning  the  pastur- 
ing of  cattle  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  laws.  In  Wales, 
as  appears  from  the  Welsh  laws — and  the  case  was 
probably  the  same  in  England — the  common  lands 


264 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


were  pastured  by  the  cattle  belonging  to  several 
owners  under  the  direction  of  a  neatherd  and  his 
assistants.  Pasturage,  indeed,  is  the  most  impor- 
tant department  of  rural  economy  when  agriculture 
is  in  a  rude  state.  "  The  English  people,"  says 
Stow,  referring  to  this  period,  "  might  have  been 
said  to  be  graziers  rather  than  ploughmen,  for  almost 
three  parts  of  the  kingdom  were  set  apart  for  cattle. 
This  must  necessarily  be  the  case  when  cattle  run 
on  the  uncultivated  lands,  and  require  merely  the 
superintendence  of  a  neatherd  or  shepherd.  A 
very  trifling  amount  of  labor  is  demanded  compared 
with  that  which  arable  land  requires.  It  is  not 
profitable  under  these  circumstances  to  fiitten  cattle 
at  a  great  cost  with  the  produce  of  cultivated  land, 
and  hence  cattle  generally  form  the  chief  wealth  of 
a  people  who  have  not  made  much  progress  in  agri- 
culture. This  was  the  case  with  the  inhabitants  of 
Britain  under  the  Roman  domination,  and  it  had 
not  become  altered  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  times.  But 
though  cattle  formed  a  large  proportion  of  the  prop- 
erty of  an  Anglo-Saxon  landed  proprietor,  an  erro- 
neous idea  is  apt  to  be  formed  of  the  degree  of 
wealth  which  the  possession  of  this  description  of 
agi-icultural  stock  implies.  They  were  abundant 
because  land  was  exceedingly  cheap.  An  acre  of 
land  appears  to  have  been  frequently  sold  for  the 
price  of  four  sheep.  Those  animals  which  could 
feed  on  waste  and  common  lands  were  cheap,  while 
such  as  it  was  necessaiy  partlj-  to  support  by  the 
produce  of  land  cultivated  for  the  purpose  were  dis- 
proportionately dear.  A  cow,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  of  six  times  less  value  than  a  horse,  and  an  ass 
or  mule  was  double  the  price  of  an  ox.  The  value 
derived  from  neat  stock  must  have  been  small,  and 
the  system  of  managing  them  very  imperfect,  when 
ewes  were  milked  for  the  sake  of  the  cheese  which 
was  made  from  their  milk.  The  month  of  May 
was,  however,  denominated  Trimilchi,  because  they 
commenced  milking  their  cattle  three  times  a  day. 
To  keep  live  stock  during  a  long  winter  is  sometimes 
a  difficult  task  in  the  present  day,  with  all  the  natural 
and  artificial  aids  obtained  from  grasses  of  a  more 
valuable  kind,  better  and  larger  crops  of  hay,  gi-een 
food  in  winter,  and  various  modes  of  prepiiring  arti- 
ficial food  ;  but  when  none  of  these  improvements 
existed,  it  may  easily  be  conceived  that  cattle, 
although  in  large  herds,  would  not  be  so  productive 
of  wealth  as  their  numbers  might  lead  us  at  first  to 
suppose.  The  practice  in  the  Hebrides  within  the 
last  half  century  probably  resembled  in  many  points 
this  department  of  Anglo-Saxon  husbandry.  It  was 
as  follows,  and  the  results  would  doubtless  be  some- 
what similar  in  the  case  of  the  Anglo-Saxons: — 
"With  the  exception  of  the  milch-cows,  but  not 
even  of  the  calves,  they  were  all  wintered  in  the 
field.  If  they  were  scantily  fed  with  hay,  it  was 
coarse  and  withered,  and  half  rotten  ;  or  if  they  got 
a  little  straw,  they  were  thought  to  be  well  taken 
care  of.  One  fifth  of  the  cattle,  on  an  average,  used 
to  perish  every  winter  from  starvation.  When  the 
cold  had  been  unusually  severe,  and  the  snow  had 
been  long  on  the  ground,  one-half  of  the  stock  has 
been  lost,  and  the  remainder  have  afterwards  been 


thinned  by  the  diseases  which  poverty  had  engen- 
dered."' Dr.  Walker-  adduces  a  fact  which  shows 
that  there  may  be  a  large  amount  of  live  stock  ex- 
isting  at  the  same  time  with  an  unproductive  and 
poor  system  of  husbandry : — "  A  farm  in  Kintail 
was  found  to  have  on  it  40  milch  cows,  which,  with 
their  young  stock,  from  a  calf  to  a  four-year  old, 
made  about  120  head  of  cattle  ;  besides  80  ewes 
and  40  goats,  which,  with  their  young,  were  about 
250;  and  10  horses.  Yet  this  farm,  with  arable 
land  sufficient  to  supply  all  the  lamily,  was  rented 
at  20Z.  a-year."  This  was  about  the  year  1810.  The 
Saxon  Chronicle  mentions  several  years  in  which 
there  was  an  extraordinary  mortality  among  cattle. 
The  year  897  and  the  two  previous  years  were 
thus  remarkable.  The  year  986  is  noted  for  the 
great  murrain  of  cattle  ;  and  in  1041  it  is  stated  that 
more  cattle  died,  either  owing  to  various  diseases 
or  the  severity  of  the  weather,  than  any  man  ever 
remembered.  In  1054,  the  writer  of  the  Chronicle 
states,  "  was  so  great  loss  of  cattle  as  was  not  re- 
membered for  many  winters  before.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  system  of  cattle 
husbandly  was  exceedingly  imperfect,  that  every 
year  probably  some  loss  was  sustained  in  conse- 
quence, and  that  on  the  whole  it  bore  considerable 
resemblance  to  that  which  up  to  a  recent  period 
existed  in  the  Hebrides.  Cattle  were,  however, 
fattened  for  slaughter.  Two  fatted  cows  are  men- 
tioned, in  an  existing  Anglo-Saxon  manuscript,  as 
forming  a  portion  of  the  annual  rent  paid  for  the 
occupation  of  land.^ 

The  possessions  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  in  swine 
were,  there  is  reason  to  beheve,  as  available,  or  at 
least  nearly  so,  as  their  herds  of  neat  cattle,  in  fur- 
nishing them  with  supphes  of  flesh-meat.  The 
sheep,  it  has  already  appeared,  was  prized  chiefly 
on  account  of  its  fleece,  which  was  valued  at  two- 
fifths  of  the  price  of  the  whole  sheep.  There  are 
several  additional  facts  which  denote  that  it  was  less 
on  account  of  their  flesh  than  for  the  materials  for 
clothing  which  the  fleece  afllbrded,  that  sheep  were 
bred  and  reared.  The  average  price  of  a  sheep  was 
about  four  shillings  ;  but  the  value  which  it  would 
bring  varied  of  course  according  to  the  season,  and 
until  a  fortnight  after  Easter  it  was  not  considered 
worth  more  than  a  shilling.  The  fleece  was  not 
to  be  shorn  until  midsummer,  and  from  Easter  until 
this  period  it  was  gradually  increasing  in  value,  owing 
to  the  increase  of  the  wool,  until  it  reached  its  high- 
est price,  just  before  the  time  of  shearing.  On  the 
other  hand,  swine  were  of  no  value  except  as  food, 
and  yet  they  were  kept  in  great  numbers  during  the 
whole  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  times,  and  none  of  the 
common  occupations  of  husbandry  are  more  fre- 
quently mentioned  than  that  of  the  swineherd. 
They  could  be  driven  into  the  woods  and  on  the 
waste  lands  equally  well  with  neat  cattle  ;  and  the 
food  which  they  picked  up  there  —  the  oak  and 
beech-mast  —  was  much  superior  for  its  fattening 
eflfects  to  that  which  was  the  spontaneous  growth  of 

1  Cattle  ;  Lib.  of  Useful  Knowledge,  p.  67. 

2  Agricultural  Suirey  of  the  Hebrides. 

3  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  ii.  547  (5th  edit.). 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


265 


Beating  Acorns  for  Swine.    Cotton  MS.    Nero,  C.  4. 

the  pastures  in  which  cattle  were  fed.'  Swine  could 
therefore  be  fattened  on  what  may  be  regarded  as 
the  surplus  bounty  of  nature,  while  cattle  could  only 

1  The  word  bacon  is  said  to  have  been  applied  to  the  flesh  of  the 
swine,  from  this  custom  of  feeding  the  animal  on  beech-mast,  the  an- 
cient name  of  which  was  bucon. — Verstegan's  Restitution  of  Decayed 
Intelligence,  p.  331. 


be  rendered  fit  for  slaughter  by  a  more  expensive 
process — the  consumption  of  cultivated  produce,  the 
fruits  of  much  previous  labor.  Great  numbers  of 
swine  therefore  were  naturally  kept,  as  they  were 
a  stock  easily  provided  for,  and  supplying  nutritious 
food  at  a  small  expense.  In  Domesday  Book  pan- 
nage (swine's  food)  is  returned  for  16,535  hogs  in 
Middlesex;  in  Hertfordshire  for  30,705;  and  in 
Essex,  which  was  one  continued  forest,  for  92,991. 
In  the  will  of  a  nobleman  two  thousand  swine  are 
left  to  his  two  daughters ;  another  nobleman  gives 
to  his  relations  a  hide  of  land  with  one  hundred 
swine,  and  he  directs  two  hundred  swine  to  be  given 
to  two  priests  in  equal  proportions  for  the  good  of 
his  soul.  An  individual  gives  land  to  a  church  on 
condition  that  two  hundred  swine  are  fed  for  the 
use  of  his  wife.  Besides  the  live  stock  already 
mentioned,  they  had  goats,  geese,  and  fowls. 

The  arable  portion  of  an  estate  was  generally 
situated  nearest  to  the  dwelling-house  as  a  matter 
of  convenience.  It  produced  but  a  small  portion 
of  what  it  was  capable  of  doing  under  a  better 
system  of  cultivation,  but  still  sufficient  to  supply 
corn  for  bread ;  and  after  this  article  of  primaiy 
necessity  had  been  provided  for,  there  remained 
grain  for  the  purpose  of  making  their  favorite  drink. 
Their  bread  was  made  of  barley  as  well  as  wheat. 

The  use  of  marl  as  a  manure  had  been  known  in 
Britain  under  the  Romans,  and  a  marl-pit  is  alluded 
to  in  an  old  Anglo-Saxon  conveyance  ;  but  the  suc- 
cessful application  of  manures  is  only  of  modern 
introduction  in  British  agriculture.  The  state  of 
cultivation   in  some   parts   of  Scotland  before  the 


Ploughing,  Sowing,  and  Carrying  Corn.    Harleian  BIS.,  603. 


266 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IL 


Union  may,  perhaps,  be  taken  as  an  illustration 
of  its  condition  in  England  before  the  Conquest. 
The  lands  which  were  kept  manured  did  not 
amount  to  a  third  or  a  fourth  part  of  the  whole 
farm,  and  sometimes  did  not  equal  a  fifth  or  a  sixth. 
The  remainder  was  cultivated  when  that  part  of 
the  farm  which  had  been  for  some  time  arable  was 
exhausted  of  its  natural  fertility.'  A  great  breadth 
of  land  was  required  to  supply  the  wants  of  a  small 
number  of  consumers,  as  the  relative  quantity  of 
produce  was  small,  though  at  the  same  time  the 
labor  and  cost  of  cultivation  were  proportionably  low. 
Famines  were  frequent ;  but  these  were  a  conse- 
quence of  imperfect  social  relations,  the  want  of 
intercourse  which  prevented  men  from  being  mutu- 
ally acquainted  with  each  other's  wants,  the  uon- 
existence  of  a  class  of  individuals  who  busied 
themselves  in  attending  to  the  means  for  obviating 
these  events,  as  well  as  to  an  imperfect  state  of 
agriculture.  The  Saxon  Chronicle  mentions  several 
of  these  periodical  visitations.    In  793  a  great  famine 

'  Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations,  book  i.  chap.  ii. 


took  place.  In  975,  to  use  the  expressive  words  of 
the  chronicler,  "famine  scoured  the  hills."  In  976  it 
is  briefly  stated  "  that  this  year  was  the  great  famine 
in  England ;  so  severe  that  no  man  ere  remember- 
ed such."  In  1040  "rose  the  sester  of  wheat  to 
fifty-five  pence,  and  even  farther."  In  1044  the  fol- 
lowing notice  occurs  : — "  This  year  there  was  very 
gi-eat  hunger  all  over  England,  and  corn  so  dear  a? 
no  man  ever  remembered  before  ;  so  that  the  sester 
of  wheat  rose  to  sixty  pence,  and  even  further." 

In  the  Anglo-Saxon  times,  as  in  every  country 
in  which  agriculture  is  not  in  an  advanced  condition, 
seed-time  and  harvest  were  almost  the  only  seasons 
of  exertion.  There  was  not  room  for  that  continu- 
ous labor  which  is  required  when  a  great  number 
of  intermediate  operations  are  practised  ;  but  the 
division  of  employments  existed  to  some  extent, 
and  on  a  considerable  estate  the  services  of  the 
hinds  were  carried  on  under  the  eye  of  a  steward 
or  bailiff.  The  duties  of  the  cowherd  were  distinct 
from  those  of  the  ploughman.  The  latter  went  out 
to  his  labors  at  daybreak,  attended  by  a  boy  to  drive 


Whkel-Plough.— From  the  Bayeiix  Tapestry. 


the  oxen.  Four  oxen  usually,  but  sometimes  few*er, 
were  yoked  to  the  plough.  When  the  cattle  were 
not  turned  out,  as  was  the  case  in  the  winter,  the 
ploughman  attended  to  the  feeding  and  watering  of 
the  oxen  in  the  stable  ;  but  in  the  summer  season 


they  were  committed  to  the  care  of  the  cowherd  at 
the  close  of  the  day's  labor,  and  were  driven  by 
him  to  the  meadows,  and,  for  fear  of  thieves,  he 
attended  them  during  the  night,  and  in  the  morning 
drove  them  to  the  plough.     Horses  were  not  em- 


CosxrME  OF  Shepherds.    Cotton  MS     Nero,  C  4. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


267 


ployed  in  field  labor,  but  only  oxen,  the  use  of  horses 
being  prohibited.  We  have  some  account,  also,  of 
the  occupation  of  the  shepherd.  Lest  his  flock 
should  be  attacked  by  wolves,  he  watched  over  its 
safety,  attended  by  his  dogs.  The  sheep  were 
folded,  and  the  folds  were  at  times  changed.  Twice 
a-day  the  ewes  were  milked,  and  the  cheese  and 
butter  were  prepared  by  the  sViepherd.    The  swine- 


herd was  an  occupation  as  necessary  as  any  of  the 
above.  An  Anglo-Saxon  manuscript'  contains  a  se- 
ries of  sketches  representing  the  operations  of  hus- 
bandry during  each  month  in  the  year.  In  January 
the  ploughman  is  pursuing  his  labors.  The  plough, 
drawn  by  four  oxen,  which  are  attended  by  a  driver, 
is  provided  with  an  iron  coulter  and  share,  an-^  has 
1  Cottou  MS.    Tiberius,  B.  5. 


Two  Handed  Wheel  Plough,  Drawn  BY  Four  Oxen.    Siixon  Calendar.    Cotton  MS      Tib.  B.  5. 


a  wheel  attached  to  the  end  of  the  beam.  The 
ropes  by  which  the  oxen  are  attached  were  made 
of  twisted  willows,  and  sometimes,  it  appears,  of 
the  skins  of  whales ;'  and  this  is  certainly  better 
than  the  practice   prevailing   in  the  Hebrides  not 

1  In  Norway  ships'  ropes  were  made  of  the  skins  of  both  whales  and 
s  als.— See  Voyage  of  Ohthere,  already  mentioned. 


longer  ago  than  1811,  which  dispensed  with  harness 
altogether,  the  horse's  tail  being  fastened  to  the 
harrow  by  a  rope  made  of  hair.'  In  the  manuscript 
alluded  to  the  seed  is  scattered  by  a  man  who  follows 
close  to  the  ploughman,  and  it  is  at  once  deposited 
in  the  newly-made  furrow.     The  Bayeux  tapestry, 

'  Macdonald's  Agric.  Survey  of  the  Hebrides. 


Harrowing  and 


Cotto    JiS.     Neru,  C.  4. 


So.vixG.     Bayeux  Tapestry. 

however,  shows  that  in  Normandy  harrows  were 
used  ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  at  the  same 
period,  they  were  employed  in  England,  though  in 
the  ninth  century  agriculture  may  have  been  prac- 
tised in  so  loose  and  slovenly  a  manner  as  to  omit 
their  use  altogether.  The  plough-beetle,  in  the 
hand  of  the  ploughman  above  represented,  used  for 
breaking  clods  of  earth,  is  mentioned  in  the  list  of 
"  husbandry  furniture  "  by  Tusser.  It  had  not 
wholly  gone  out  of  use  in  some  parts  of  the  country 
so  early  as  twenty-five  years  ago.  In  February  the 
husbandmen  are  engaged  in  trimming  plants,  some 
of  which  resemble  vines,  and  in  loosening  the  earth 
around  their  roots.  In  March,  one  man  is  digging, 
another  is  sowing,  and  a  third  is  using  a  pickaxe. 
Their  labors  seem  to  relate  to  the  garden  rather 
than  the  field.  In  April,  the  labors  of  seed-time 
being  over,  the  landowner  or  occupier  is  regaling 
his  friends,  two  of  whom,  who  are  seated  beside 
him,  are  engaged  in  drinking  out  of  horns.  In  May 
he  goes  into  the  fields  to  examine  his  flock  previous 
to  the  time  of  shearing.     In  June  the  reapers  are 


268 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Cook  II. 


DioGiNO,  Breaking  Uarth  with  a.  Pick,  and  Sowing. 


Wheel  PLnuGH  and  Spades.      From  the  Cotton  Mf.     Claiul.  R.  4. 


The  form  of  the  Spade  is  remarkable.    Cotton  MS.    Tib.  B.  .5. 

cutting  down  the  corn.'  It  is  bound  into  sheaves, 
and  put  into  a  cart  for  conveyance  to  the  barn  or 
stack.  One  inan  is  represented  as  blowing  a  horn, 
perhaps  for  the  purpose  of  enhvening  the  labors  of 
the  reapers.  In  July  the  husbandinen  are  in  the 
woods  felling  and  trimming  the  trees.  In  August 
the  barley  is  cut :  it  is  mown  as  in  the  present  day. 
In  September,  the  harvest  being  finished,  the  lord 
and  his  attendants  are  hunting  the  wild  boar ;  and 
in  October  they  are  pursuing  the  diversion  of  hawk- 
ing. In  November  the  husbandmen  are  engaged 
around  a  large  fire  repairing  their  implements.  In 
December  they  are  employed  in  threshing  out  the 
grain,  which  is  winnowed  or  sifted,  and  carried  out 
in  large  baskets  to  the  granary ;  an  overseer  or 
steward  taking  an  account  of  the  quantity  by  notches 
cut  on  a  tally. 

From  these  notices  some  idea  may  be  obtained 
of  the  general  nature  of  their  field  labors.  The 
lands  belonging  to  the  church  were  generally  in 
the  best  state  of  cultivation,  and  exhibited  the  ap- 
plication of  a  more  intelligent  system  than  those 
belonging  to  other  landowners.  On  the  church 
property  the  woods  were  better  cleared,  and  the 
quantity  of  waste  land  was  smaller.  The  monks 
themselves  engaged  in  the  labors  of  the  field. 
Bede,  in  his  Life  of  the  Abbots  of  Wearmouth, 
tells  us  that  one  of  tliese  ecclesiastics,   "  being  a 

'  Mr.  Slrutt  supposes  the  illuminator  to  have  here,  by  mistake,  trans- 
posed the  illustrations  for  June  and  .luly. 


Reai'ing  anu  Carrying  Corn.    L„il  ..  .\1=.     1..,.  L.  „. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


269 


Fklling  and  Carting  Wood.    Cotton  MS     Tib.  B.  .5. 


MowiNa.    Cotton  MS     Tib.  B.  5. 


Threshing  and  Winnowino  Corn.    Cotton  MS.    Tib.  B.  5. 


Strong  man,  and  of  a  humble  disposition,  used  to 
assist  his  monks  in  their  several  labors,  sometimes 
guiding  the  plough  by  its  stilt  or  handle,  and  some- 
times forging  instruments  of  husbandry  with  a 
hammer  upon  an  anvil."  One  of  the  customs  of 
modern  tenancy — the  principle  of  which  is  now 
carried  out  still  further— existed  at  this  period,  viz., 
that  the  land  should  be  left  in  a  proper  condition 
on  its  being  given  up.     Thus,  the  holder  of  twenty 


hides  of  land  was  required  to  leave  twelve  hides 
of  it  sown  for  the  advantage  of  the  succeeding 
occupant.  The  implements  of  husbandry  were 
ploughs,  scythes,  sickles,  spades,  axes,  pruning- 
hooks,  forks,  and  flails ;  and  they  had  also  carts  and 
waggons. 

The  gardens  and  orchards  attached  to  the  mon- 
asteries are  mentioned  at  an  early  period  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  history.     They  produced  figs,  grapes,  nuts. 


270 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Plocghino.  Sowing,  Mowing,  Gleaning,  Measuring  Corn,  and  Harvest  Siti-er.,  Harlcinn  MS.    603. 

almonds,   pears,  and  apples.     The  monks  did  not  ter,    according    to    William    of   Malmesbury,    was 

neglect  ornamental  planting,  and  planted  herbs  and  famous   for   the    excellence    of   its    grapes.      The 

shrubs   around    the    monasteries  as   well  as   fruit-  management  of  bees  must  also  have  been  an  object 

trees.     The  cultivation  of  the  vine  had  been  intro-  of  considerable  importance, 
duced  by  the  Romans  ;  and  the  county  of  Glouces-         An  account  of  the  productions  raised  from  the 


,-vo/a.^  ,— i\'^ 

^^.  .^^ 


Prlnino  Trees.     C'oltoii  MS.     Julius,  .\.  C. 


soil  by  the  agriculturist  necessarilj'  affords  conside- 
rable insight  into  the  diet  in  general  use.  Cattle, 
sheep,  and  swine  were  numerous;  and,  therefore, 
meat  was  a  common  article  of  food.  They  also 
reared  poulti'y ;  and  ten  geese  and  twenty  hen 
fowls  are  mentioned  among  the  articles  to  be  sup- 
plied to  the  lord  of  the  manor  by  the  occupier  of  a 
certain  quantity  of  land.  Milk,  cheese,  and  eggs 
were  allowed  on  fast-days.  Bi'oth  and  soups  Avere 
made,  flavored  and  seasoned  with  herbs.  Barley- 
bread,  being  cheaper,  was  consumed  by  a  greater 
number  of  persons  than  that  made  from  wheaten 
flour.  The  peasant  baked  his  own  bread,  some- 
times probably  in  an  oven,  sometimes  by  toasting, 
sometimes  on  a  heated  plate  of  iron,  placed  over 
the  fire.  The  baker  carried  on  his  art  in  the  towns, 
and  in  the  monasteries  it  was  the  business  of  a 
particular  individual.  At  the  commencement  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  period  hand-mills  were  common.  | 


but  the  establishment  of  water-mills  and  windmills 
had  become  general  towards  its  close.  Cases 
occur  in  which  several  Imndred  loaves  are  paid  as 
a  portion  of  the  rent  of  land.  We  find  an  instance 
of  a  poor  monastery  in  which  the  monks  could  not 
aflbrd  to  eat  wheaten  bread,  but  were  obliged  to 
confine  themselves  to  that  made  from  barley.  The 
monastic  establishments  were  sometimes  so  poor, 
at  an  early  period,  that  even  a  cheaper  food  was 
resorted  to  than  barley-bread.  Land  is  mentioned 
as  being  given  to  one  monastery,  in  order  to  furnish 
salt,  beans,  and  honey.  The  latter  article  was 
held  in  much  esteem,  and  continued  to  be  so  until 
the  discovery  of  the  tropical  regions  of  the  west 
afforded  sugar  from  vegetable  productions.  Herbs, 
eggs,  fish,  cheese,  butter,  and  beans,  with  meat, 
constituted  the  diet  of  children.  The  spices  of 
eastern  countries  found  their  way  overland,  and 
small  quantities  were  offered  as  acceptable  presents 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY, 


271. 


m 


Raisino  AVater  from  a  Well  with  a  Loaded  Lever. 
Cotton  MS.     Nero,  C.  4. 

from  one  person  of  distinction  to  another.  The 
want  of  green  food  in  winter  rendered  it  necessary 
to  provide  a  supply  of  salt  meat  sufficient  to  last 
until  the  pastures  again  furnished  the  cattle  Avith 
nutritive  grasses.  '  The  manufacture  of  salt  was 
conducted  by  a  separate  class  of  men ;  and  in 
grants  and  conveyances,  vessels  for  the  boiling  of 
salt,  wood  sufficient  to  boil  salt,  and  the  utensils 
used,  are  mentioned.  Horse-flesh,  which  had  been 
eaten  by  the  ancient  Saxons,  was  not  rejected  by 
those  of  Britain  until  some  time  after  their  con- 
version to  Christianity ;  but  in  the  eighth  century 
this  practice  was  discouraged,  and  as  it  had  been 
declining  since  the  time  of  Egbert,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that  it  soon  entirely  ceased.  Of  fish, 
eels,  being  caught  with  the  greatest  ease,  were 
more  common  as  food  than  other  descriptions. 
They  were  received  in  payment  of  rent,  and  also 
offered  as  presents  to  the  monasteries.  Two  por- 
tions of  land,  purchased  for  twenty-one  pounds, 
bring  a  rent  of  16,000  fish  annually.  Salt-water  fish 
could  only  have  been  conveyed  fiir  from  the  coast 
at  a  disproportionate  cost;  and  the  country  being 
undrained,  the  meres,  brooks,  and  ditches  offered 
a  receptacle  for  those  which  reside  in  fresh  water ; 
and  thus  the  proportion  of  the  latter  which  would 
be  eaten  as  food,  would  probably  exceed  the  con- 
sumption of  salt-water  fish.  The  fitting  out  a 
boat,  and  providing  materials  for  sea-fishing,  in- 
volved an  expense  which  the  limited  extent  of  the 
market  might  not  justify,  except  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  most  populous  places.  Fish  were  taken  both 
by  the  rod  and  in  nets ;  and  amongst  those  which 
were  an  object  of  pursuit  were  eels,  eel-pouts,  lam- 
preys, skates,  flounders,  plaice,  haddocks,  herrings, 
salmon,  sturgeon,  minnows,  porpoises,  oysters, 
cockles,  crabs,  lobsters,  mussels,  and  winkles.    The 


serfs  who  were  employed  as  fishermen  were  con- 
veyed to  a  purchaser  along  with  the  fishery,  when 
the  latter  was  sold.  They  formed  a  separate  class. 
The  people  on  the  coast  of  Sussex,  Avho  are  now 
the  most  expert  fishermen  in  the  British  Channel, 
were,  as  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice, 
unable  to  avail  themselves  of  the  riches  by  which 
they  were  surrounded  until  after  the  middle  of  the 
seventh  century. 

Henry  of  Huntingdon  relates  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  kings  were  "  so  generous  and  bountiful,  that 
they  commanded  four  royal  banquets  to  be  served 
up  every  day  to  all  their  courtiers ;  choosing  rather 
to  have  much  superfluity  at  their  tables  than  the 
least  deficiency."  They  were,  in  common  with 
other  northern  nations,  as  much  devoted  to  drink- 
ing as  to  the  substantial  bounties  of  the  table. 
Their  most  common   drink  was  ale,  prepared  as 


Drinking  from  Cows'  Horns.    Cotton  MS.    Claud.  B.  4. 

now,  from  malted  barley ;  and  allusions  are  made 
in  old  manuscripts  to  three  descriptions  or  quali- 
ties, viz.,  mild  ale,  clear  ale,  and  Welsh  ale.  Ale- 
houses seem  to  have  been  established,  as  priests 
were  forbidden  to  frequent  the  "wine-tuns;"  and 
other  liquors  as  well  as  ale  were  perhaps  sold  at 
these  places.  Mead  was,  if  not  more  highly-prized, 
at  least  more  costly  than  ale  ;  and  it  was  the  fa- 
vorite beverage  of  the  Welsh.  Honey,  which  is  the 
chief  ingredient,  generally  formed  a  portion  of  the 
rent  paid  in  kind ;  and  in  some  cases  the  liquor 
itself  already  prepared  was  required.  In  case  this 
part  of  the  agreement  could  not  be  fulfilled  to  the 
letter,  the  payment  was  commuted,  and  two  casks 
of  spiced  ale,  or  four  casks  of  common  ale,  were 
received  in  heu  of  one  cask  of  mead.  A  hquor 
called  morat  was  mivde  of  honey,  flavored  with 
the  juice  of  mvilberries.  Pigment  was  a  sweet 
liquor,  or  perhaps  cordial  composed  of  honey, 
wine,  and  spices.  Wine  was  expressed  from  the 
grape  bj'  means  of  a  wine-press,  but  it  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  a  common  drink,  and  it  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  laws  of  Wales.  None  but  the 
wealthy,  we  may  suppose,  could  indulge  in  these 
luxuries. 

The  comfort  even  of  the  best  furnished  dweUing- 
houses  would  have  been  very  incomplete  without 
an  abundant  supply  of  fuel,  which  was  obtained 
from  a  portion  of  each  estate  set  apart  for  the 
growth  of  wood  fbr  burning  and  building.  Turf 
also   appears   to  have    been   in   use,   and   probably 


272 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  II. 


Wine  Press.    Cotton  MS.    Claud.  B.  4. 


coal.  In  a  lease  examined  by  Mr.  Turner,  the 
conditions  on  which  it  was  granted  are,  the  yearly 
payment  of  sixtj-  fotlier  of  wood,  six  fotlier  of  turf, 
and  twelve  fother  of  graefan,  which  he  is  of  opinion 
may  mean  coal.  In  another  lease,  amongst  the 
articles  mentioned  are,  five  waggons  full  of  good 
twigs,  and  every  year  an  oak  for  building,  and 
others  for  necessary  fires,  and  sufficient  wood  for 
burning ;  and  in  one  grant  is  included  also  wood 
sufficient  to  boil  salt.  Candles  made  of  wax  were 
used  in  the  palace  of  Alfred,  as  appears  from  the 
story  we  have  related  in  a  preceding  chapter,  of  the 
contrivance  by  which  he  made  them  serve  the  pur- 
pose of  marking  the  lapse  of  time,  as  well  as  giving 
hght.  If  this  story  be  correct,  we  must  attribute 
to  Alfred  the  invention  of  lanterns ;  and  they  seem 


highly   ornamented.     Candlesticks    of  bone   were 
used :  but  we  also  find  that  silver  candelabra  were 


SiXON  Lastern.    Engraved  in  Strutt's  Chronicle  of  England. 

afterwards  to  have  come  into  common  use,  and 
from  the  representations  of  them  found  in  the 
illuminated   manuscripts,  to  have  been  sometimes 


Candelabra.    Harleian  MS.  603. 

The  materials  used  for  clothing  were,  to  a  great 
extent,  the  produce  of  household  industry.  The 
female  domestics  were  employed  in  spinning  and 
sewing,  and  there  were  under  each  landowner 
serfs  who  were  ti-ained  to  the  practice  of  the 
most  necessary  mechanical  arts.  The  most  skilful 
artificers  were  attached  to  the  monasteries,  and 
there  also  were  to  be  found  those  who  were  pro- 
ficients in  the  superior  departments  of  art;  such  as 
architects,  illuminators,  and  workers  in  gold  and 
silver,  as  well  as  carpenters,  smiths,  shoemakers, 
millers,  bakers,  and  farming-servants.  Females  of 
the  highest  rank  did  not  disdain  the  labors  of  the 
distaff,  the  loom,  and  the  needle.  The  daughters 
of  Edward  the  Elder  were  taught  to  occupy  them- 
selves in  this  manner;  and  Alfred,  in  his  will,  terms 
the  female  part  of  his  family  the  spindle  side.  The 
word  spinster,  appUed  in  the  present  day  to  un- 
married females,  had  its  origin  in  an  age  when  the 
distaff  really  occupied  a  large  portion  of  their  time. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


2Tc 


At  the  same  time  the  art  of  weaving  was  suffi- 
ciently advanced  to  give  variety  to  the  fabric, 
whether  of  linen  or  woolen,  by  the  introduction 
of  different  colors.  A  robe  belonging  to  Aldhelm 
was  purple,  and  within  black  circles,  were  worked 
figures  of  the  peacock.  A  love  of  gaudy  colors  is  a 
natural  characteristic  of  a  comparatively  rude  age, 
and  several  recorded  facts  show  that  the  Anslo- 


Saxon  mind  was  deeply  imbued  with  this  taste. 
Bede  states  that,  in  St.  Cuthbert's  monastery,  the 
clothing  of  the  monks  was  made  of  the  natural 
wool,  and  not  dyed  ;  but  this  monastic  rule  may  be 
regarded  only  as  an  instance  of  what  was  conceived 
an  act  of  mortification ;  and  Aldhelm,  in  a  simile 
m  one  of  his  homilies,  gives  us  more  information 
on  this  point,  and  also  on  the  art  of  weaving,  than 


riGGiNG  AND  SPINNING.     Froiti  Cotton  MS.    Nero,  C.  4. 

In  the  first  compartment  of  this  Picture,  an  Angel  is  represented  in  the  act  of  giving  a  Spade  to  Adam,  and  a  Distaff  to  Eve ;  and  the 

second  exhibits  the  Instruments  in  use. 


we  derive  from  any  treatise  professedly  on  these 
subjects.  The  virtue  which  he  is  panegyrizing 
does  not,  he  observes,  alone  constitute  a  perfect 
character;  and  he  sustains  his  argument  by  stating 
that  "  it  is  not  a  web  of  one  uniform  color  and 
texture,  without  any  variety  of  figures,  that  pleaseth 
the  eye  and  appears  beautiful,  but  one  that  is 
woven  by  shuttles,  filled  with  threads  of  purple, 
and  many  other  colors,  flying  from  side  to  side, 
and  forming  a  variety  of  figures  and  images,  in 
different  compartments,  with  admirable  art."  This 
was  written  towards  the  close  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury. In  an  illuminated  manuscript  the  robes  of 
the  four  Evangehsts  exhibit  the  following  colors  : — 
yellow,  green,  pea-green,  purple,  blue,  red,  lilac. 
The  art  of  dyeing  was  doubtless  in  great  request, 
but  we  possess  no  accounts  concerning  the  sub- 
stances which  were  used.  The  art  of  obtaining  a 
scarlet  dye  from  an  insect  of  the  cochineal  species 
was  discovered  about  the  close  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury.* Silk  was  worn  only  by  the  most  wealthy. 
The  common  materials  of  wearing  apparel  were 
linen  and  woolen.     Several  articles  of  dress  were 


VOL.  I. — 18 


1  Muriatori,  Antiq.  ii.  4]£ 


derived  from  the  art  of  the  tanner,  who  seems  to 
have  afterwards  worked  up  the  leather  he  had  tanned 
into  shoes,  ankle  leathers,  and  leathern  hose,  and 
to  have  also  made  a  variety  of  things  which  are  now 
obtained  from  the  hands  of  the  saddler  and  harness- 
maker,  such  as  bridle  thongs,  trappings,  halters,  and 
leather  neck-pieces ;  as  well  as  bottles,  wallets, 
pouches,  flasks,  and  boiling-vessels.  The  variety 
of  articles  which  one  class  of  men  were  requirec'- 
to  make  illustrates  the  imperfect  division  of  em- 
ployments which  existed.  The  art  of  tanning  skins 
with  the  wool  or  hair  on  was  also  practised.  The 
skins  of  martens,  as  we  have  seen,  were  imported, 
but  a  bishop  is  mentioned  who  never  made  use  of 
other  fur  in  lining  his  garments  than  lambs'  skins. 
Cats'  skins  were  also  used. 

The  handicrafts  of  the  blacksmith  and  the  car- 
penter are  of  great  importance  in  any  state  of 
society,  but  especially  in  such  as  existed  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  times.  They  demand  considei-able 
skill,  and  are  therefore  among  the  first  to  become 
separated  from  other  occupations.  The  implements 
of  the  blacksmith  were  the  bellows,  anvil,  hammer, 
and  tongs.     The  number  of  smiths'  forges  in  the 


27.4 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Smithy.    From  the  Cotton  J!S.  B.  4 


city  of  Gloucester,  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor, was  six.  Iron  ore  was  obtained  in  several 
counties,  and  there  were  furnaces  for  smelting. 
The  mines  of  Gloucestershire  in  particular  ar«i 
alluded  to  by  Giraldus  Cambrensis  as  producing  an 
abundance  of  this  valuable  metal;'  and  there  is  every 
reason  for  supposing  that  these  mines  were  w  rought 
by  the  Saxons,  as  indeed  they  had  most  probably 
been  by  their  predecessors  the  Romans.  The  lead- 
mines  of  Derbyshire,  which  had  been  worked  by 
the  Romans,  furnished  the  Anglo-Saxons  with  a 
supply  of  ore  ;  but  the  most  important  use  of  this 
metal  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  period — that  of  covering 
the  roofs  of  churches — w^as  not  introduced  before 
the  close  of  the  seventh  century. '^  The  ecclesias- 
tics were  the'  most  skilful  workers  in  metal,  but 
none  were  more  famous  than  Dunstan.  Edgar  had 
commanded  that  every  priest,  "  to  increase  know- 
ledge, should  dihgently  learn  some  handicraft;" 
and  the  wants  of  the  age  rendered  a  compliance 
with  his  directions  a  matter  of  convenience  to  the 
priests  themselves,  for  there  did  not  exist  a  class  of 
native  artificers  capable  of  executing  in  a  superior 
manner  the  ornaments  for  the   churches.     Bells, 

1  Itin.  CambriiE,  lib.  i.  c.  5.  2  Cede. 


A  Harper  in  the  other  Compartment.    From  the  Cotton  MS. 


images,  and  crucifixes  are  among  the  articles  on  ' 
which  their  skill  was  exercised.  No  vessel  made 
of  horn  or  wood  was  used  in  the  various  offices  of 
the  church.  Precious  stones  were  inserted  in  their 
works  of  silver  and  gold,  to  add  to  their  value  and 
beauty.  Gold  and  silver  cups,  gold  dishes,  silver 
basons  gilt,  gold  rings,  silver  mirrors,  and  bracelets, 
are  among  the  articles  of  this  description,  the  man- 
ufacture of  which  is  mentioned.  The  art  of  gilding 
was  known,  and  gold  and  silver  thread  was  made. 
The  art  of  the  coppersmith  was  also  called  into 
requisition.  The  carpenter  was  called  the  treow- 
wjrhta,  that  is,  the  tree  or  wood  worker.  Carts, 
waggons,  ploughs,  and  other  implements  of  agricul- 
ture, were  constructed  by  his  art,  as  well  as  articles 
of  household  furniture.     The  machinery  for  their 


corn-mills,  though  rude,  would  call  into  exercise  the 
abiUties  of  the  most  skilful  of  this  class  of  artificers. 
Their  services  appear  also  to  have  been  required  in 
making  other  four-wheeled  carriages  besides  those 
required  for  agricultural  purposes.  These  were 
doubtless  constructed  with  as  much  elegance  as  the 
workman  was  capable  of  giving  to  his  work.  The 
body  was  formed  of  some  flexible  material,  proba- 
bly leather,  and  was  slung  like  a  hammock.  It 
could  not  apparently  contain  more  than  one  person, 
who  must  have  reclined  as  in  a  palanquin.  Ship- 
building, after  the  incursions  of  the  Danes  directed 
attention  to  its  revival,  was  also  a  most  important 
department  of  the  useful  arts.  The  head  of  a 
royal  vessel  was  wrought  with  gold :  the  deck  was 
gilded,  and  the  sails  were  purple.     That  the  useful 


Chap.  IY.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


275 


arts  were  held  in  much  esteem  at  a  time  when 
they  were  practised  by  a  comparatively  small  num- 
ber of  individuals  may  be  readily  imagined,  as  the 
advantages  which  they  conferred  would  be  the 
more  obvious  ^and  striking  on  this  account.  The 
office  of  king's  chief  smith  was  one  of  considerable 
dignity.  In  the  court  of  the  kings  of  Wales  his 
place  at  table  was  next  to  that  of  the  king's  chap- 
lain. There  were,  however,  two  classes  of  smiths, 
those  who  forged  arms  and  weapons  for  military 
purposes,  and  others  who  were  employed  in  fabri- 
cating the  more  humble  implements  of  agriculture 
and  articles  required  for  the  daily  purposes  of  life ; 
and  unhappily  the  former  would  enjoy  the  honors 
which  Avere  due  to  their  more  useful  brethren. 


The  above  arts  may  all  be  considered  as  of  native 
origin,  since  they  were  practised,  in  however  rude 
a  state,  from  the  earliest  period.  But  the  art  of 
making  glass  was  not  indigenous.  In  the  seventh 
century  the  Anglo-Saxons  are  described  by  Bede 
as  being  "  ignorant  and  helpless"  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  glass.  At  that  period,  however,  persons 
acquainted  with  the  art  were  brought  over  from 
France  by  Benedict  Biscop,  the  founder  of  the 
Abbey  of  Wearmouth,  for  the  purpose  of  glazing 
the  windows  of  his  monastery.  Our  ancestors 
were  initiated  into  the  process  by  these  artificers, 
and  windows  and  drinking  vessels  of  glass,  though 
they  did  not  become  common,  were  still  withiu 
reach  of  the  affluent. 


Saxon  Ship.    Taken  from  an  Illumination  of  Noah  building  the  Ark,  m  Cotton  MS.  B. 


276 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  LITERATURE,  SCIEN'CE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


^  HE  space  of  about  a 

thousand  years,    ex- 

^     tending  fi-omtheover- 

tlirowofthe  Western 

y  f   J    Roman  empire,  in  the 

middle    of   the    fifth 


century,  to  that  of  the 
Eastern, in  the  middle 
of  the  fifteenth,  may 
be  divided  into  two 
neiirly  equal  parts ; 
the  first  of  which  may 
be  considered  as  that 
of  the  gradual  decline,  the  second  as  that  of  the 
gradual  revival  of  letters.  The  first  of  these 
periods,  coming  down  to  the  close  of  the  tenth 
century,  nearly  corresponds  with  that  of  the  Saxon 
domination  in  England.  In  Europe  genei'ally 
throughout  this  long  space  of  time  we  perceive  the 
intellectual  darkness,  notwithstanding  some  brief 
and  partial  revivals,  deepening  more  and  more  on 
the  whole,  as  in  the  natural  day  the  gray  of  even- 
ing passes  into  the  gloom  of  midnight.  The  Latin 
learning,  properly  so  called,  may  be  regarded  as 
terminating  with  Boethius,  who  wrote  in  the  early 
part  of  the  sixth  century.  The  Latin  language, 
however,  continued  for  some  time  longer  to  be  used 
in  hterary  compositions,  both  in  our  own  country 
and  in  the  other  parts  of  Europe  that  had  composed 
the  old  empire  of  Rome. 

Of  the  early  British  and  Irish  authors,  some  of 
whose  works  still  remain,  we  have  ah-eady  made 
mention  of  the  two  famous  heretics,  Pelagius  and 
his  disciple  Celestius,  who  flourished  in  the  fourth 
century.  To  the  next  century  belong  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Irish,  St.  Patrick,  from  whose  pen 
we  have  the  composition  styled  his  Confession ; 
his  friend  and  fellow -laborer  the  Irish  Bishop 
Secundinus,  by  whom  there  is  extant  a  Latin  poem 
in  praise  of  St.  Patrick;  and  the  poet  Sedulius,  or 
Shiel,  who,  although  an  Irishman  by  birth,  appears 
to  have  resided  on  the  continent,  and  whose  various 
works  have  been  repeatedly  printed.^  All  these 
wrote  only  in  Latin,  although  St.  Patrick,  in  his 
Confession,  apologizes  for  the  rudeness  of  phrase 
with  which  he  expressed  himself  in  that  language, 
owing  to  his  long  habit  of  speaking  Irish. 

Gildas,  our  earliest  historian,  also  wrote  in  Latin. 
St.  Gildas  the  Wise,  as  he  is  styled,  was  a  son  of 
Caw,  Prince  of  Strathclyde,  in  the  capital  of  which 
kingdom,  the  town  of  Alcluyd,  now  Dunbarton,  he 
was  born,  about  the  end  of  the  fifth  or  beginning  of 
the  sixth  century.  Caw  was  also  the  father  of 
the  famous  bard  Aneurin.     In  his  youth    Gildas  is 

1  See  an  article  on  Sedulius  in  Bayle 


recorded  to  have  gone  over  to  Ireland,  and  to  have 
studied  in  the  schools  of  the  old  national  learning 
that  still  flourished  there ;  and  like  his  brother 
Aneurin,  he  also  commenced  his  career  as  a  bard, 
or  composer  of  poetry  in  his  native  tongue.  He 
afterwards,  however,  was  converted  to  Christianity, 
and  became  a  zealous  preacher  of  his  new  religion. 
The  greater  part  of  his  life  he  appears  to  have 
spent  in  his  native  island ;  but  he  at  last  retired  to 
Armorica,  or  Little  Britain,  on  the  continent,  and 
died  there.  He  is  said  to  lie  buried  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  Vannes.'  He  is  the  author  of  two  declam- 
atory eff'usions — the  one  entitled  a  "  History  of  the 
Britons,"  the  other  an  "  Epistle  to  the  Tyrants  of 
Britain,"  which  have  been  often  printed.  They 
consist  principally  of  violent  invectives  directed 
both  against  the  Saxons  and  the  author's  own  coun- 
trymen ;  but  they  also  contain  a  few  historical 
notices  respecting  the  obscure  period  to  which 
they  relate  that  are  of  some  value. 

The  immediate  successor  of  Gildas  among  our 
historians  is  Nennius,  said  to  have  been  one  of  the 
monks  of  Bangor,  from  the  massacre  of  whom  in 
613  he  escaped,  and  to  have  written  his  History  of 
the  Britons  a  few  years  afterwards.  His  native 
name  is  supposed  to  have  been  Ninian,  and  he 
was,  like  Gildas,  of  Welsh  or  Cumbrian  origin. 
But  there  is  much  obscurity  and  confusion  in  the 
accounts  we  have  of  Nennius ;  and  it  appears  to 
be  most  probable  that  there  were  at  least  two  early 
historical  writers  of  that  name.  The  author  of 
"  Britannia  after  the  Romans,"  who  has  bestowed 
considerable  pains  in  investigating  the  subject,  sup- 
poses that  the  true  work  of  the  ancient  Nennius 
only  came  down  to  the  invasion  of  Julius  Caesar, 
and  is  now  lost,  although  we  probably  have  an 
abridgment  of  it  in  the  work  published  under  the 
name  of  Nennius,  by  Gale,  in  the  first  volume  of 
the  "  Historise  Britannica?,  Saxonicae,  Anglo-Da- 
nicae  Scriptores  Quindecim"  (fol.  Oxon.  1691),  and 
commonly  refeiTed  to  as  his  British  History.  That 
performance  is  stated  in  the  preface  by  the  author 
himself  to  have  been  written  in  the  year  858.^ 

Contemporary  with  the  original  Nennius  was 
the  Irish  saint  Columbanus,  distinguished  for  his 
missionary  labors  among  the  Gauls  and  Germans. 
Columbanus  died  in  615,  at  the  monastery  of 
Bobbio,  in  northern  Italy,  of  which  he  was  the 
founder.  "  The  writings  of  this  eminent  man  that 
have  come  down  to  us,"  obsei'ves  Mr.  Moore, 
"  display  an  extensive  and  various  acquaintance, 
not  merely  with  ecclesiastical,  but  with  classical 
literature.     From  a  passage  in  his  letter  to  Boni- 

i  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  pp.  xiv.-.\x.,  and  175-180. 
2  Ibid.  pp.  21.22. 


Cha-p.  V"..] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,^  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


277 


face,  it  appears  that  he  was  acquainted  bftth  withi' 
the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages ;  and  when  it  is 
recollected  that  he  did  not  leave'  Ireland  till  he  was 
nearly  fifty  years  of  age,  and  that  his  life  after- 
wards was  one  of  constant  activity  and  adventure, 
the  conclusion  i-s  obvious,  that  all  this  knowledge  of 
elegant  literature  must  have  been  acquired  in  the 
schools  of  his  own  country.  Such  a  result  from  a 
purely  Irish  education,  in  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century,  is,  it  must  be  owned,  not  a  little  remark- 
able. Among  his  extant  works  are  some  Latin 
poems,  which,  though  not  admissible  of  course  to 
the  honors  of  comparison  with  any  of  the  Wiutings 
of  a  classic  age,  shine  out  in  this  twilight  period 
of  Latin  literature  with  no  ordinary  distinction."  ^ 
Another  learned  Irishman  of  this  age  was  St.  Cum- 
mian,  the  author  of  an  epistle,  still  extant,  addressed 
to  Segienus,  Abbot  of  lona,  in  defence  of  the  Ro- 
man mode  of  computing  Easter,  in  which  he  shows 
a  very  extensive  acquaintance  both  with  the  subject 
of  chronology  and  with  the  works  of  the  fathers, 
Greek  as  well  as  Latin.  "  The  various  learning, 
indeed,"  says  the  writer  we  have  just  quoted, 
"which  this  curious  tract  displays,  implies  such  a 
facility  and  range  of  access  to  books,  as  proves  the 
libraries  of  the  Irish  students,  at  that  period,  to 
have  been,  for  the  times  in  which  they  lived, 
extraordinarily  well  furnished."^  To  the  Irish 
scholarship  of  this  age  may  also  be  regarded  as 
belonging  the  two  Latin  lives  of  Columba ;  the  first 
by  Cuminius,  who  succeeded  him  as  Abbot  of  lona 
in  657 ;  the  second,  which  is  of  much  greater 
length,  by  Adomnan,  who  succeeded  Cuminius  in 
the  same  ofifice  in  679.  Both  these  productions, 
the  second  of  which  in  particular  is  highly  curious, 
have  been  printed.  Their  authors,  although  they 
resided  in  one  of  the  North  British  islands,  were 
probably  Irishmen  by  birth.  The  school  of  lona 
was  at  least  an  Irish  foundation. 

Of  the  Latin  writers  among  the  Anglo-Saxons 
the  most  ancient  is  Aldhelm,  Abbot  of  Malmes- 
bury,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of  Sherborn,  who  died 
in  709,  and  has  left  various  writings  both  in  prose 
and  verse.  Aldhelm  received  his  education  in  part 
from  an  Italian  monk  named  Adrian,  who  had  come 
over  to  England  with  Archbishop  Theodore,  but 
chiefly  fi-om  Mailduft",  an  Irishman,  the  founder  of 
the  monastery  of  Malmesbury,  by  whom  he  tells 
U3  he  was  thoroughly  instructed  both  in  Latin  and 
Greek.  Among  the  studies  of  his  after-life,  he 
mentions  the  Roman  law,  the  rules  of  Latin 
prosody,  arithmetic,  astronomy,  and  astrology.  He 
also  wrote  a  tract  on  the  gi-eat  scientific  question  of 
the  age — the  proper  method  of  computing  Easter 
But  Aldhelm's  favorite  subject  seems  to  have  been 
the  virtue  of  virginity,  in  praise  of  which  he  wrote 
first  a  copious  treatise  in  prose,  and  then  a  long 
poem.  Both  these  performances  have  been  printed. 
Aldhelm  long  enjoyed  the  highest  reputation  for 
learning;  but  his  ^Titings  are  chiefly  remarkable 
for  their  elaborately  unnatural  and  fantastic  rhet- 
oric. His  Latin  style  bears  a  strong  resemblance 
to  the  pedantic  Enghsh,  full  of  alliteration  and  all 

'  Ilistoiy  (.f  Irrlaiid,  i.  WT.  =  Ibid.  273 


sorts  of  barbarous  quaintness,  that  was  fashTOjable 
among  our  English  theological  writers  in  the  reigns 
of  Elizabeth  and  James  I. 

But  the  Anglo-Saxon  name  most  distinguished 
in  literature  is  that  of  Beda,  or  Bede,  upon  whom 
the  epithet  of  the  "  Venerable"  has  been  justly 
bestowed  by  the  respect  and  gratitude  of  posterity. 
All  that  Bede  has  written,  like  the  other  works 
already  mentioned,  is  in  Latin.  He  was  born 
some  time  between  the  years  672  and  677,  at 
Jarrow,  a  village  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne,  in 
the'  county  of  Durham,  and  was  educated  in  the 
n-eighboring  monastery  of  Wearmouth,  under  its 
successive  abbots  Benedict  and  Ceolfrid.  He  re- 
sided here,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  from  the  age  of 
seven  to  that  of  twelve,  during  which  time  he  ap- 
plied himself  with  all  diligence,  he  says,  to  the 
meditation  of  the  Scriptures,  the  observance  of 
regular  discipline,  and  the  daily  practice  of  singing 
in  the  church.  "  It  was  always  sweet  to  me,"  he 
adds,  "to  learn,  to  teach,  and  to  write."  In  his 
nineteenth  year  he  took  deacon's  orders,  and  in  his 
thirtieth  he  was  ordained  priest.  From  this  date 
till  his  death,  in  735,  he  remained  in  his  monastery, 
giving  up  his  whole  time  to  study  and  writing.  His 
chief  task  was  the  composition  of  his  celebrated 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  England,  which  he  brought 
to  a  close  in  his  fifty-ninth  year.  It  is  our  chief 
original  authority  for  the  earlier  portion  even  of 
the  civil  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  But  Bede 
also  wrote  many  other  works,  among  which  he  has 
himself  enumerated,  in  the  brief  account  he  gives 
of  his  life,  at  the  end  of  his  Ecclesiastical  History, 
which  has  just  been  quoted.  Commentaries  on  most 
of  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  and 
the  Apocrypha,  two  books  of  Homilies,  a  Mar- 
tyrology,  a  chronological  treatise  entitled  "  On  the 
Six  Ages,"  a  book  on  orthography,  a  book  on  the 
metrical  art,  and  various  other  theological  and  bio- 
graphical treatises.  He  also  composed  a  book  of 
hymns  and  another  of  epigrams.  Most  of  these 
writings  have  been  preserved,  and  have  been  re- 
peatedly printed.  The  first  edition  of  the  Eccle- 
siastical History  appeared  at  Eshng,  in  Germany, 
in  1474 ;  and  there  are  three  continental  editions 
of  the  entire  works  of  Bede,  each  in  eight  volumes 
folio,  the  latest  of  which  was  published  at  Cologne, 
in  1688.  Some  additional  pieces  were  pubhshed 
at  London  in  a  quarto  volume,  by  Mr.  Wharton, 
in  1693.  It  appears  also,  from  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  Bede's  last  hours,  by  his  pupil,  St.  Cuth- 
bert,  that  he  was  engaged  at  the  time  of  his  death 
in  translating  St.  John's  Gospel  into  his  native 
tongue.  Among  his  last  utterances  to  his  afi"ec- 
tionate  disciples  watching  around  his  bed,  were 
some  recitations  in  the  English  language  :  "  For," 
says  the  account,  "  he  was  very  learned  in  our 
songs;  and  putting  his  thoughts  into  Enghsh  verse, 
he  spoke  it  with  compunction." 

Another  celebrated  Anglo-Saxon  churchman  of 
this  age  was  St.  Boniface,  originally  named  Winfrith. 
who  was  born  in  Devonshire  about  the  year  680. 
Boniface  is  acknowledged  as  the  Apostle  of  Germany, 
in  which  country  he  founded  various  monasteries, 


278 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Jarrow,  at  the  Moulli  of  the  River  Tyne      The  Birthplace  ami  Residence  of  Beile. 


find  was  greatly  ii\strumental  in  the  diffusion  both  of 
Christianity  and  of  civilization.  He  eventually  be- 
<"ime  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  and  was  killed  in  East 
Friesland  by  a  band  of  heathens  in  755.  Many  of 
his  letters  to  the  popes,  to  the  English  bishops,  to 
rne  kings  of  France,  and  to  the  various  Anglo-Saxon 
kings,  still  remain,  and  are  printed  in  the  Magna 
Ribliotheca  Patrum.  We  may  here  also  mention 
another  contemporary  of  Bede's — Eddius,  surnamed 
Stephanus,  the  author  of  the  Latin  life  of  Bishop 
Wilfrid.  Bede  mentions  him  as  the  first  person 
who  taught  singing  in  the  churches  of  Northumber- 
land. 

But  at  this  time,  and  down  to  a  considerably  later 
date,  as  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  observe, 
the  chief  seat  of  learning  in  Europe  was  Ireland; 
and  the  most  distinguished  scholars  who  appeared 
in  other  countries  were  either  Irishmen,  or  had 
received  their  education  in  Irish  schools.  We  are 
informed  by  Bede,  that  it  was  customary  for  the 
English  of  all  ranks,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
to  retire  for  study  and  devotion  to  Ireland,  where, 
he  adds,  they  were  all  hospitably  received,  and  sup- 
plied gratuitously  with  food,  with  books,  and  with 
instruction. 1  His  contemporary,  Aldhelm,  in  a  pas- 
sage in  which  he  labors  to  exalt  the  credit  of  the 
English  scholars,  and  especially  of  his  patrons, 
TJiopdore  and  Adrian,  yet  admits  that  those  of  Ire- 
land enjoyed  the  higher  reputation,  and  bears  dis- 
tinct, though  reluctant  testimony  to  the  crowded 
attendance  of  her  schools.     "  Why  should  Ireland," 

'  Hist.  Eccles.  iii.  28. 


he  exclaims,  "  whither  troops  of  students  are  daily 
transported,  boast  of  such  unspeakable  excellence, 
as  if  in  the  rich  soil  of  England  Greek  and  Roman 
masters  were  not  to  be  had  to  unlock  the  treasures 
of  divine  knowledge  ?  Though  Ireland,  rich  and 
blooming  in  scholars,  is  adorned  like  the  poles  of  the 
world  with  innumerable  bright  stars,  it  is  Britain 
has  her  radiant  sun,  her  sovereign  pontiflf  Theo- 
dore.'" It  was  during  the  eighth  and  the  early  part 
of  the  ninth  century  that  the  Irish  scholars  made 
the  most  distinguished  figure  in  foreign  countries. 
Virgilius,  the  Bishop  of  Saltzburgh,  famous  for  his 
assertion  of  the  existence  of  antipodes,  for  which  he 
was  denounced  as  a  heretic  by  his  British  contem- 
porary Boniface,  but  was  not,  as  is  commonly  said, 
deposed  by  Pope  Zachary,  his  elevation  tothe  bish- 
opric having,  on  the  contrary,  taken  place  some  years 
afterwards,  was  an  Irishman,  his  native  name  having 
been  probably  Feargil,  or  Feargal.  He  died  in  784. 
Of  the  learned  persons  who  were  attached  to  the 
court  of  France  in  this  age  by  the  munificent  pat- 
ronage of  Charlemagne,  the  most  eminent  were 
Irish.  Such,  by  birth,  at  least,  Alcuin  himself,  the 
chief  ornament  of  the  imperial  court,  appears  to 
have  been,  the  oldest  accounts  designating  him  a 
Scot,  although  he  has  himself  told  us  that  he  received 
his  education  at  York.  Alcuin  was  appointed  by 
Charlemagne  to  preside  over  the  seminary  estab- 
lished by  that  emperor  out  of  which  the  University 
of  Paris  is  regarded  as  having  grown.  At  the  same 
time,  his  friend  and  fellow-countiyman,  Clement, 

•  Traiislatcfi  in  Moore's  Il^st.  of  Ireland,  i.  299. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


279 


was  set  ovei*  a  similar  institution  in  Italy.  Somewhat 
later,  we  find  another  eminent  Irishman,  named 
Dungal,  selected  by  the  emperor  Lothaire  I.,  the 
j;randson  of  Charlemagne,  to  superintend  the  whole 
system  of  the  Italian  universities  or  public  schools. 
He  governed  that  of  Pavia  in  person  ;  but  he  is  stated 
to  have  founded  and  exercised  a  general  control  also 
over  those  of  Ivrea,  of  Torino,  of  Ferno,  of  Verona, 
of  Vicenza,  and  of  Cividad  del  Friuh.  Dungal  has 
left  various  works,  which  bear  honorable  testimony 
both  to  his  scientific  and  his  literary  acquirements. 
A  second  Irish  Sedulius,  the  author  of  a  prose 
Commentary  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  also  ap- 
pears to  have  flourished  in  the  early  part  of  the  ninth 
century.  He  became  Bishop  of  Oreto  in  Spain  ;  and 
besides  hrs  Commentary,  is  the  author  of  a  treatise 
entitled  "  The  Concordance  of  Spain  and  Hibernia ;" 
in  which  he  not  only  maintains  the  Irish  to  be 
Spaniards  by  origin,  but  asserts  their  right  to  be 
still  considered  as  merely  a  division  of  the  Spanish 
nation.  Donatus,  who  was  about  the  same  time 
Bishop  of  Fiesole,  in  Italy,  was  also  an  Irishman. 
The  only  piece  of  his  that  remains  is  a  short  Latin 
poem  in  praise  of  his  native  country.^ 

But  the  glory  of  this  age  of  Irish  scholarship  and 
genius  is  the  celebrated  Joannes  Scotus,  or  Erigena, 
as  he  is  as  frequently  designated, — either  appellative 
equally  proclaiming  his  true  birthplace.  He  is 
supposed  to  have  first  made  his  appearance  in  France 
about  the  year  845,  and  to  have  remained  in  that 
country  till  his  death,  which  appeai-s  to  have  taken 
jilace  before  875.  Erigena  is  the  author  of  a  trans- 
lation from  the  Greek  of  certain  mystical  works 
ascribed  to  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  which  he 
executed  at  the  command  of  his  patron,  the  French 
king,  Charles  the  Bald,  and  also  of  several  original 
treatises  on  metaphysics  and  theology.  His  pro- 
ductions may  be  taken  as  furnishing  clear  and  con- 
clusive evidence  that  the  Greek  language  was  taught 
at  this  time  in  the  Irish  schools.  Mr.  Turner  has 
given  a  short  account  of  his  principal  work,  his  Dia- 
logue de  Divisione  Naturae  (On  the  Division  of  Na- 
ture), which  he  characterizes  as  "distinguished  for 
its  Aristotelian  acuteness  and  extensive  information." 
In  one  place  "  he  takes  occasion,"  it  is  observed,  "  to 
give  concise  and  able  definitions  of  the  seven  liberal 
arts,  and  to  express  his  opinion  on  the  composition 
of  things.  In  another  part  he  inserts  a  very  elabor- 
ate discussion  on  arithmetic,  which  he  says  he  had 
learnt  from  his  infancy.  He  also  details  a  curious 
conversation  on  the  elements  of  things,  on  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  other  topics  of 
astronomy  and  physiology.  Among  these  he  even 
gives  the  means  of  calculating  the  diameters  of  the 
lunar  and  solar  circles.  Besides  the  fathers  Austin, 
the  two  Gregories,  Chrysostom,  Basil,  Epiphanius, 
Origen,  Jerome,  and  Ambrosius,  of  whose  works, 
with  the  Platonizing  Dionysius  and  Maximus,  he 
gives  large  extracts;  he  also  quotes  Virgil,  Cicero, 
Aristotle,  Pliny,  Plato,  and  Boethius  ;  he  details  the 
opinions  of  Eratosthenes  and  of  Pythagoras  on  some 
asti'onomical  topics  ;  he  also  cites  Martianus  Capella. 
His  knowledge  of  Greek  appears  almost  in  every 

1  Translated  in  Moore's  Hist,  of  Irela-nd,  p.  300. 


page."'  The  subtle  speculations  of  Erigena  have 
strongly  attracted  the  notice  of  the  most  eminent 
among  the  modern  inquirers  into  the  history  of 
opinion  and  of  civilization ;  and  the  German  Tenne- 
man  agrees  with  the  French  Cousin  and  Guizot  in 
attributing  to  them  a  very  extraordinary  influence 
on  the  philosophy  of  his  own  and  of  succeeding 
times.  To  his  writings  atid  translations  it  is  thought 
may  be  ti-aced  the  introduction  into  the  theology 
and  metaphysics  of  Europe  of  the  later  Platonism  of 
the  Alexandrian  school.  It  is  remarkable,  as  3Ir. 
Moore  has  observed,  that  the  learned  Mosheim  had 
previously  shown  the  study  of  the  scholastic  or  Aris- 
totelian philosophy  to  have  been  also  of  Irish  origin. 
"That  the  Hibernians,"  says  that  writer,  "who 
were  called  Scots  in  this  (the  eighth)  century,  were 
lovers  of  learning,  and  distinguished  themselves  iu 
these  times  of  ignorance  by  the  culture  of  the 
sciences  beyond  all  the  other  European  nations, 
traveling  through  the  most  distant  lands,  both  with 
a  view  to  improve  and  to  communicate  their  knowl- 
edge, is  a  fact  with  which  I  have  been  long  acquaint- 
ed ;  as  we  see  them  in  the  most  authentic  records 
of  antiquity  discharging,  with  the  highest  reputation 
and  applause,  the  function  of  doctor  in  France,  Ger- 
many, and  Itaty,  both  during  this  and  the  following 
century.  But  that  these  Hibernians  were  the  first 
teachers  of  the  scholastic  theology  in  Europe,  and 
so  early  as  the  eighth  centviry  illustrated  the  doc- 
trines of  religion  by  the  principles  of  philosophy,  I 
learned  but  lately."*  And  then  he  adduces  the 
proofs  that  establish  his  position. 

We  now  proceed  to  give  "some  account  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  language  and  literature. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  language  is  one  of  the  dialects 
of  the  ancient  Gothic,  which  prevailed  over  all  the 
countries  of  Europe  designated  as  barbarous  by  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  except  those  in  which  the 
Celtic  and  Sclavonian  were  spoken.  The  three 
immediate  descendant  languages  from  the  Gothic 
were  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  Franco-Theotisc,  and 
the  old  Icelandic.  From  the  Anglo-Saxon  the  Eng- 
lish, and  probably  also  the  Lowland  Scotch,  are 
descended ;  from  the  Francic,  the  German  and  the 
Dutch;  from  the  old  Icelandic,  the -Swedish,  the 
Danish,  the  Norwegian,  and  the  modern  Icelandic. 
Of  the  Gothic  itself  but  a  single  monument  remains, 
an  imperfect  copy  of  the  Gospels,  preserved  in  the 
library  at  Upsala  in  Sweden.  From  the  silver  with 
which  the  characters  in  it  are  adorned,  it  has  long 
been  called  the  Codex  Argentcus,  or  silver  book ; 
and  it  is  believed  to  be  a  portion  of  the  Gothic'Bible, 
all,  or  the  greater  part  of  which  was  translated  by 
Ulphilas,  Bishop  of  the  Moesian  Goths,  who  lived 
under  the  Emperor  Valens,  about  the  year  360,  and 
who  is  supposed  to  have  invented  or  apphed  an 
alphabet,  formed  from  the  Greek  and  Latin,  to  his 
translation. 

What  was  the  form  of  the  Saxon  language  when 
Hengist  and  Horsa  entered  Britain,  in  443.  it  is 
impossible  to  discover.  The  Saxons  were  evidently 
at  that  time  a  people  without  learning,  and  there  is 
every  probability  that  they  were  without  an  alpha- 

1  Turner,  Anglo  Sax.  iii.  393.  =  Moore's  Ireland,  i.  302 


2S0 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


bet.  Till  after  the  arrival  of  St.  Austin  we  have  no 
monument  of  their  literature.  A  passage  in  Bede, 
which  is  copied  in  the  Saxon  chronicle,  under  the 
year  just  named,  points  out  the  tribes  who  in  the 
two  centuries  which  followed  Hengist's  and  Horsa's 
invasion  were  called  in  to  complete  the  Saxon 
domhiation.  "  Then  came  the  men  from  three 
powers  of  Germany;  the  old  Saxons,  the  Angles, 
and  the  Jutes.  From  the  Jutes  are  descended  the 
inhabitants  of  Kent  and  the  Wightware,  that  is, 
the  race  that  now  dwells  in  Wight,  and  that  tribe 
among  the  West  Saxons  which  is  still  called  the 
Jute  tribe.  From  the  Old  Saxons  came  the  East 
Saxons,  the  South  Faxons,  and  the  West  Saxons. 
From  the  Angles'  land,  which  has  ever  since  stood 
waste  between  the  Jutes  and  the  Saxons,  came  the 
East  Angles,  the  Mercians,  the  Northumbrians,  and 
also  the  other  nations  of  England."  Raske,  in  the 
preface  to  h'ts  Grammar,  in  conformity  to  this  pas- 
sage, considers  the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  in  its  ori- 
gin, to  have  been  a  rude  mixture  of  the  dialects  of 
these  three  people  ;  which,  in  the  progress  of  time, 
melted  into  one  language,  just  as  the  kindred  tribes 


themselves  united  to  form  one  nation  after  they  had 
taken  possession  of  England. 

Dr.  Hickes  and  other  philologists  have  divided 
the  Saxon  language  as  spoken  in  England  into  three 
dialects  :  the  first,  that  in  use  from  the  arrival  of  the 
Saxons  till  the  irruption  of  the  Danes — a  period  of 
330  years — this  they  term  the  Anglo-Saxon ;  the 
second,  which  prevailed  from  the  Danish  to  the 
Norman  invasion,  they  call  the  Dano-Saxon ;  and 
the  third,  which  was  in  fact  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
tongue  (which  was  then  in  a  state  of  transition  to 
the  English),  they  call  Normanno-Saxon,  and  extend 
it  as  low  as  the  time  of  Henry  II.  But  these  were, 
in  fact,  merely  successive  stages  of  the  language, 
not  dialects.  That  a  mixture  of  Danish  might  be 
found  in  the  Northumbrian  part  of  England  is  prob- 
able, as  the  Danes  landed  so  frequently  and  in  such 
numbers  in  that  country,  that  they  had  mixed  with 
the  inhabitants  ;  but  we  agree  generally  with  Raske, 
that,  at  least  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  works  hitherto 
printed,  no  clear  traces  are  to  be  met  with  of  any- 
thing that  can  properly  be  called  a  variation  of  dia- 
lect. 


The  Song  of  the  elder  Caedmon,  "  On  the  Origin  of  Things,"  preserved  in  Alfred's  Trauslartion  of 
Bede'g  Ecclesiastical  History,  is  one  of  very  few  specimens  now  remaining  of  the  Saxon  of  the  earliest 
period.*     It  follows,  with  a  literal  translation  in  the  opposite  column  : — 


Nu  we  sceolan  herian. 
Heofon-rices  weard. 
Metodes  milite. 
&  his  mod-gethone. 
Wera  wuldor-fasder. 
Swa  he  wuiidra  gehvvass. 
Ece  drihten. 
Oord  onstealde. 
He  terest  gesceop. 
Eorthan  bearnum. 
Heofon  to  hrofe. 
Halig  scyppend. 
Tha  middangeard. 
Moncynnes  weard. 
Ece  dryhten. 
JEiter  teode. 
Firum  foldan. 
Frea  Belmihtig. 


Now  must  we  praise 

The  guardian  of  heaven's  kingdom, 

The  Creator's  might, 

And  his  mind's  thought ; 

Glorious  Father  of  men .' 

As  of  eveiy  wonder  he, 

Lord  eternal, 

Formed  the  beginning. 

He  first  framed 

For  the  children  of  earth 

The  heaven  as  a  roof; 

Holy  Creator ! 

Then  mid-earth, 

The  Guardian  of  mankind, 

The  eternal  Lord, 

Aftei-wards  produced ; 

The  earth  for  men, 

Lord  Almighty ! 


The  next  specimen  of  Saxon  which  we  shall  give  is  a  copy  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  written  by  Eadfrith, 
Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  about  the  year  700 :  there  is  little  in  it  that  is  unintelligible  to  an  English  reader. 
It  is  presented  in  the  ancient  copy  of  the  Gospels  called  the  Durham  Book  :- — 

Fader  uren  thu  arth  in  heofuum  sie  gehalgud  noma 
thin ;  to  cymeth  ric  thin ;  sie  willo  thin  Buacls  iuheofne 
&  in  eortho ;  hlaf  usenne  ofer  wistlic  sel  us  todirg ;  & 
forgef  us  scylda  usna  suae  ua;  forgefon  scyldgum  usum ;  , 

&  ne  inlted  usih  in  costunge  uh  gefrig  usich  from  yfle. 

Next  in  order  of  time,  as  a  composition,  we  are  perhaps  to  place  the  "  Metrical  Paraphrase  of  Part? 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  by  a  nameless  author,  but  ascribed  to  a  second  Caedmon,  which  has  recently 
been  so  ably  edited  by  Mr.  Benjamin  Thorpe.  The  first  portion  of  this  poem,  after  an  exordium  of 
thanksgiving  to  the  great  Creator,  relates  the  fall  of  a  portion  of  the  angelic  host,  and  the  design  of  the 
Deity  to  replenish  the  void  thus  occasioned  in  his  creation  by  a  better  and  a  holier  race.  The  fall  of  Man 
is  next  considered,  ushered  in  by  a  repetition  of  the  circumstances  already  introduced  in  the  exordium, 
of  the  pride,  rebellion,  and  punishment  of  Satan  and  his  powers,  and  with  a  resemblance  to  Milton  so 


1  ("unyb.arr.  Illust.  p.  SO.  fivfs  the  year  6T0  as  lis  ilatr 


-  MS.  Cotton,  Brit.  Mus.  Noro  I),  iv. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


281 


remaiioible,  that,  as  Mi'.  Conybeare  has  observed,  much  of  this  portion  might  be  ahnost  literally  trans- 
lated by  a  cento  of  lines  from  that  great  poet.  We  shall  produce  a  specimen  or  two,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  Thorpe's  version : — 


Tha  wearth  se  mihtiga  gebolgen. 

Hehsta  heofones  waldend. 

Wearji  hiue  of  than  hean  stole. 

Hete  haefde  he  aet  his  hearran  gewuniien. 

Hyld  lijefde  his  ferlorene. 

Gram  v^rearth  him  se  goda  on  his  mode. 

Forthou  he  sceolde  gnuid  gesecau. 

Heardes  helle-wites 

Tha?s  the  he  wann  with  heofnes  waldend. 

Acwaeth  hiue  tlia  fram  his  hyldo. 

And  hine  on  helle  weai^p. 

On  tha  deowan  dalas. 

Tlia;r  lie  to  deofle  wearth. 

Se  feond  mid  his  geferam  eallum. 

Feollon  tha  ufon  of  heofiium. 

Thm-h  longe  swa  threo  niht  &  dagas. 

Tha  englas  of  heofumn  on  helle. 

&  heo  alle  forsceop  drihten  to  deofliim. 

Forthon  heo  his  da?d  &  word. 

Noldon  weorthian. 

Forthon  the  heo  on  wyrse  leoht. 

Under  eorthan  neothan. 

iEUmihtig  god. 

Sette  sigelese. 

On  tha  svveartan  heUe. 

Thaer  hoebbath  heo  on  eefyn. 

Ungemet  lange. 

Ealra  feonda  gehwilc. 

Fyr-edneowe. 

Thonne  cymth  on  uhtan. 

Easteme  ^vind. 

Forst  fymiim  cald. 

Symble  fyr  oththe  gar. 

Sum  heard  ges\vinc. 

Habban  sceoldon. 

Worhte  man  liit  him  to  wite. 

Hyra  woruld  waes  gehwyrfed. 

For  man-si  the. 

Fylde  helle. 

Mid  tham  andsacum. 

*  *  *  « 

Haefdon  wite  micel. 
Waeron  tha  befeallene. 
Fyre  to  botme. 
On  tha  hatan  hell. 
Thurh  hygeleaste. 
&  thurh  ofermetto. 
Sohton  other  land. 
That  w;bs  leohtes  leas. 
&  wses  liges  full. 
Fyres  fter  micel. 

Satan  mathelode. 
Forgiende  spraec. 
Sethe  heUe  forth. 
Healdan  sqeolde. 
Gymau  tliaes  grundes. 
VVcES  aer  Godes  engel. 
Hvvrit  on  heofue. 
0th  hine  his  hyge  forspeon. 
&  his  ofermetto. 
Ealra  swithost. 
Thaet  he  ne  wolde. 
Wereda  drihtnes. 

'  Thorpe's  Caeclinou's  I'nniplirasc.  p.  ISI. 


Then  was  the  Mighty  angiy, 

The  highest  Ruler  of  heaven 

Hurled  him  from  the  lofty  seat; 

Hate  had  he  gain'd  at  his  Lord, 

His  favor  he  had  lost, 

Incensed  with  him  was  the  Good  in  his  mind. 

Therefore  he  must  seek  tlie  gulf 

Of  hard  hell-tonnent, 

For  that  he  had  wan'd  with  heaven's  Ruler 

He  rejected  him  then  from  his  favor, 

And  cast  him  mto  hell.  * 

Into  the  deep  parts, 

When  he  became  a  devil : 

The  fiend  with  all  his  comrades 

Fell  then  fi-om  heaven  above, 

Through  as  long  as  three  nights  and  days, 

The  angels  from  heaven  into  hell ; 

And  them  all  the  Lord  transformed  to  devils, 

Because  they  his  deed  and  word 

Would  not  revere ; 

Therefore  them  in  a  worse  light, 

Under  the  earth  beneath, 

Almighty  God 

Had  placed  triumphless 

In  the  swart  hell ; 

There  they  have  at  even, 

Immeasurably  long, 

Each  of  all  the  fiends, 

A  renewal  of  fire  ; 

Then  conieth  ere  dawn 

The  eastern  wind, 

Frost  bitter-cold, 

Ever  fire  or  dart ; 

Some  hard  tomient 

They  must  have. 

It  was  wrought  for  them  in  punishment. 

Their  world-life  was  changed ; 

For  their  sinful  course 

He  filled  heU 

With  the  apostates."^ 

!f  *  *  !f  *• 

They  had  great  torment ; 
Then  were  they  fallen 
To  the  fiery  abyss, 
Into  the  hot  hell. 
Through  phrensy 
And  through  pride ; 
They  sought  another  land. 
That  was  void  of  light. 
And  was  fidl  of  flame, 
A  gi-eat  receptacle  of  fire.^ 
»  #  #  *  » 

Satan  harangued, 

Sorrowing  spake, 

He  who  hell  thenceforth 

Should  rule, 

Govern  the  abyss. 

He  was  erst  God's  angel, 

Fair  in  heaven, 

Until  him  his  mind  m-ged. 

And  his  pride 

Most  of  all, 

That  he  would  not 

The  Lord  of  Hosts" 

■-•  Ibid.  p.  -M 


i;82 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Word  \\nirthiau. 

Weoll  him  on  iimaii. 

Hyge  ymb  his  heortan 

Hat  w.-ps  him  utan. 

WrathHc  wite. 

He  tlia  worcie  c\v;eth. 

Is  thes  irnga  stetle  ungelic  swithe. 

Tham  othnim  the  we  aer  cuthon. 

Hean  on  lieofon-rice. 

The  me  min  hean-a  onlag. 

Theah  we  hine  for  tham  alwealdau. 

Agaii  ne  mostoii. 

Romigan  ures  rices. 

Ntefth  he  theah  riht  gedon. 

Tha't  he  us  hiefth  befylled. 

Fyre  to  botrae. 

Ilelle  thicre  hatan. 

Heofon-rice  benumen. 

Hafath  hit  geniearcod. 

Mid  mon-cynne. 

To  gesettaune. 

That  me  is  sorga  moest. 

That  Adam  sceal. 

The  wii's  of  eorthan  geworht. 

Minne  sti'onglican. 

Stol  behealdan. 

Wesau  him  on  wynne. 

(fc  the  tills  wite  thohen. 

Heann  on  this.se  helle. 


Word  revere ; 

Boird  within  him 

His  thought  about  his  heart, 

Hot  was  without  him 

His  dire  pmiishment. 

Tiien  spake  he  the  words, 

This  narrow  place  is  most  unlike 

That  other  that  we  ere  knew. 

High  in  heaven's  kingdom. 

Which  my  Master  bestow'd  on  me, 

Though  we  it,  for  the  AU-poweriiil, 

May  not  possess, 

Must  cede  our  realm; 

Yet  hath  he  not  done  rightly 

That  he  hath  stiniek  us  down 

To  the  fieiy  abyss 

Of  the  hot  hell, 

Bereft  us  of  heaven's  kingdom. 

Hath  it  decreed 

With  mankind 

To  people. 

That  of  sorrows  is  to  me  the  greatest. 

That  Adam  shall, 

AV'ho  of  earth  was  wrought, 

My  sti-ong 

Seat  possess, 

Be  to  him  in  delight, 

And  we  endiu-e  this  tonneut, 

Misery  in  this  hell.' 


The  following  is  another  passage  from  the  same  paraphrase — a  part  of  the  Song  of  Aznriah  : — 


Tha  of  roderum  wies. 

Eugel  a-lbeorht. 

Ufan  onsended. 

Wlite  scyne  wer. 

On  his  ^^■uldor-haman. 

Se  him  cwom  to  frofre. 

ifc  to  feorh-nere. 

Mid  lufan  &  mid  lisse. 

Se  thone  lig  tosceaf. 

Halig  &  heofon-beorht. 

Hatan  fyres. 

Tosweop  hine  &  loswende. 

Thurli  tha  swithfin  miht. 

Ligges  leoma. 

That  hyra  lice  ne  wa?s. 

Ovviht  geegled. 

Ac  he  on  audan  sloh. 

Fyr  on  feondjis. 

For  fyren-da^dura. 

Tha  waes  on  tham  ofne. 

Thier  se  engel  becwom. 

Windig  &  \\'jnisum. 

Wedere  gelicost. 

Thonne  hit  on  sumeres  tid. 

Sended  vi'eortheth. 

Dropena  dreanmg. 

On  diuges  hwUe. 

AVearmlic  wolcna  scur. 

Swylc  bith  wedera  cj-st. 

Swlcy  wans  on  tham  fjTe. 

Frean  mihtum. 

Halgum  to  helpe. 

Wearth  se  hata  lig. 

Todrifen  &  todwa?sced. 

Threr  tha  da>d-hwatan. 

Geond  thone  ofen  eodon. 


Then  from  the  firmament  was 

An  all-bright  angel 

Sent  from  above, 

A  man  of  beauteous  form. 

In  his  garb  of  glory ; 

Who  to  them  came  for  comfort, 

And  fur  their  lives'  salvation, 

With  love  and  with  grace ; 

Who  the  flame  scattered 

(Holy  and  heaven-bright) 

Of  the  hot  fire. 

Swept  it  and  dashed  away. 

Through  his  great  might, 

The  beams  of  flame ; 

So  that  their  bodies  were  not 

Injured  aught ; 

But  in  haste  he  cast 

Fire  on  the  foes. 

For  their  wicked  deeds. 

Then  wjis  it  in  the  oven. 
Where  the  angel  came, 
AViiuly  and  winsome, 
To  the  weather  likest 
W'hen  there,  in  summer's  tide. 
Is  sent 

A  falling  of  drops. 
In  the  day's  space, 
A  warm  shower  of  the  clouds. 

As  is  the  bounty  of  the  skies, 
So  was  it  in  the  fire. 
Through  the  Lord's  might. 
In  help  to  the  holy  ones. 
The  hot  flame  was 
Scattered  and  quenched. 
There  those  bold  of  deed 
AVent  through  the  oven. 


Tliurpe's  Cacdiuoii's  Paraphrase,  p.  22. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


283 


&  se  engel  mid. 
Feorh-nerigende. 
Se  thaer  feortha  wtBs. 
Anuanias. 
&  Azarias. 
&  Misael. 

Thaer  tha  mod-hwatan 
Thry  on  gethancum. 
Theodeu  beredon. 
Baedon  bletsian. 
Beam  Israela. 
Eall  land-gesceaft. 
Ecne  drihteu. 
Theoda  waldend. 
Svva  hie  thry  cwiedon. 
Modum  horsce. 
Thurh  semaene  word. 


And  the  angel  with  them, 

Life  preserving. 

Who  was  there  the  fourth  : 

Hananiah, 

And  Azariah, 

And  Mishael. 

There  those,  bold  of  mind, 

The  three,  in  their  thoughts, 

Praised  the  Lord, 

Prayed  him  to  bless 

The  children  of  Israel, 

All  the  land-creation, 

The  Lord-eternal, 

Rider  of  nations 

Thus  they  three  spake 

With  minds  sagacious 

Throudi  common  voice. ^ 


We  shall  now  give  one  or  two  specimens  of  the  language  as  it  existed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  iiintli 
century,  from  the  works  of  Alfred.  The  following  is  the  prefiice  to  his  paraphrase,  or  imitation  of 
Bcethius'  De  Consolatione  Philosophies  ;  a  work  which  we  are  assured  he  carried  constantly  about  him  : — 


Alfred  kuning  wses  wealhstod  thisse  bee.  &  hie  of  bee 
Ledeue  on  Euglisc  wende.  swa  hio  nu  is  gedon.  hwilum 
he  sette  worde  be  worde.  hwilum  andgit  of  andgite.  swa 
swa  he  hit  tha  sweotolost  and  andgit-fidlicost  gereccan 
mihte  for  thaem  mistlicmn  &manigfealdum  weondd  bisgum 
the  hiue  oft  aegther  ge  on  mode  ge  on  lichomau  bisgodan. 
Tha  bisgu  us  sint  swithe  earfoth  rime  the  on  his  dagum  on 
tha  ricu  becomon  the  he  underfangen  hicfde.  &.  theah 
I  ha  lie  thas  boc  hsfde  geleoniode  &  of  Laedene  to 
Engliscum  spelle  gewende.  tha  geworhte  he  hi  efter  to 
leothe.  swa  svva  heo  nu  gedon  is.  &  nu  bit  &.  for  Godes 
uaman  healsath  selcne  thara  the  thas  boc  raedan  lyste.  that 
he  for  hine  gebidde.  &  him  ne  wite  gif  he  hit  rihtlicor 
ongite  thonne  he  mihte.  forthgemthe  eelc  mon  sceal  be  his 
andgites  majthe  and  be  his  aemettan  sprecan  thset  he 
sprecth.  &  don  that  that  he  deth. 


Alfred,  king,  was  translator  of  this  book,  and  turned  it 
from  book  Latin  into  English,  as  it  now  is  done.  .Some- 
times he  set  word  by  word,  sometimes  meaning  of  mean- 
ing, as  lie  the  most  plainly  and  most  clearly  could  render 
it,  for  the  various  and  manifold  worldly  occupations  which 
often  busied  him  both  in  mind  and  body.  The  occupa- 
tions are  to  us  very  difficult  to  be  numbered,  which  in  his 
days  came  upon  the  kingdoms  which  he  had  undertaken ; 
and  nevertheless,  when  he  had  learned  this  book,  and 
turned  it  from  Latin  into  the  Euglish  language,  he  after- 
wards composed  it  in  verse,  as  it  now  is  done.  And  ho 
now  prays,  and  for  God's  name  implores  every  one  of  those 
whom  it  lists  to  read  this  book,  that  he  would  pray  fur 
him,  and  not  blame  him  if  he  more  rightly  understand  it 
than  he  could;  for  every  man  must,  according  to  the 
measure  of  his  understanding,  and  according  to  his  leisui'e, 
speak  that  which  he  speaks,  and  do  that  which  he  does. 


We  add  the  Story  of  Orpheus,  from  the  31st  chapter  of  the  work 


Hit  gelamp  gio.  that  te  an  hearpere.  waes  on  thaore 
theode.  the  Thracia  hatte.  sio  waes  on  Creca  rice,  se  hear- 
pere was  swithe.  ungefraeglice  god.  thaes  nama  waes  Or- 
l>heus.  he  hafde  an  swithe  aenlic  wif.  sio  waes  haten  Eu- 
rydice.  tha  ongann  monn  secgan.  be  tham  hearpere.  that 
lie  mihte  heaipiau  that  se  wuda  wagode.  and  tha  stanas  hi 
styredon.  for  thy  swege.  &  wild  deor.  thter  woldon  to 
irnan.  &  standon.  svvilce  hi  tame  waeron.  swa  stille.  theah 
hi  men.  oththe  huudas.  with  eodon.  that  hi  hi  na  ne  ons- 
cunedon.  tha  saedon  hi.  that  thaes  hearperes  wif.  sceolde 
acwelan.  &  hire  sawle.  mon  sceolde.  liedon  to  belle,  tha 
sceolde  se  hearpere.  weorthaii  swa  sarig.  that  he  ne  mihte. 
on  gemong  otlirum  mannum  bion.  ac  teali  to  wnida.  &  sajt 
on  thaem  muutum.  aegther  ge  daeges.  ge  nihtes.  weop  & 
hearpode.  that  tha  wudas  bilbdon.  &  tlia  ea  stodon.  &  nan 
heort  ne  onscunode.  naemie  leon.  ne  nan  liara.  naeune 
hund.  ne  nan  neat,  nyste  naenne  andan.  ne  naenne  ege.  to 
othrum.  for  thaere  mirhte  thaes  sones.  Tha  thaem  heai-pere 
tlia  thuhte.  that  hine  tha.  nanes  thinges  ne  lyste  on  thisse 
vvonilde.  that  thohte  he.  that  he  wolde  gesecan.  helle 
Godu.  &  onginnau  him.  oleccan  mid  his  heai-epan.  &  bid- 
tlen  that,  hi  him  ageafau  eft  his  wif.  Tha  he  tha  thider 
com.  tha  sceolde  cuman.  thaere  helle  hund.  ongeaii  hine. 
1  hffis  nama  waes  Geruerus.  se  sceolde  habban.  thrio  haefdu. 
.Si  ongan  faegeniau.  mid  his  steorte.  &  plegian  with  hine. 
for  his  heai-punga.     Tha  was  thaer  eac.  swithe  egeslic 


It  happened  formerly  that  there  was  an  harper  iu  the 
coimtry  called  Thrace,  which  was  in  Greece.  The  harper 
was  inconceivably  good.  His  name  was  Oi-pheus.  He 
had  a  very  excellent  wife,  who  was  called  Euiydice. 
Then  began  men  to  say,  concerning  the  harper,  that  he 
could  harp  so  that  the  wood  moved,  and  the  stones  stiired 
tliemselves  at  the  sound,  and  wild  beasts  would  nin  there- 
to and  stand  as  if  they  were  tame ;  so  still,  that  though 
men  or  homids  pursued  them,  they  shumied  them  not. 
Then  said  they,  that  the  harper's  wife  should  die,  and  her 
soul  should  be  led  to  hell.  Then  should  the  harper  be- 
come so  sorrowful  that  he  could  not  remain  among  other 
men,  but  frequented  the  wood,  and  sat  on  the  mountains, 
both  day  and  night,  weeping  and  hai-ping,  so  tliat  the 
woods  shook  and  the  rivers  stood  still,  and  no  hart  shunned 
any  lion,  nor  hare  any  hound,  nor  did  cattle  know  any  lia- 
tred  or  any  fear  of  others,  for  the  sweetness  of  the  sound. 
Tiien  it  seemed  to  the  haiijer,  tliat  he  desired  nothuig  in 
this  world.  Then  thought  he,  that  he  would  seek  the 
gods  of  liell,  and  endeavor  to  soften  them  with  his  harp, 
and  pray  that  they  woidd  give  him  back  his  wife.  When 
he  came  thither,  then  should  there  come  towards  him  the 
dog  of  hell,  whose  name  was  Cerbenis  (he  should  have 
three  heads),  and  began  to  wag  his  tail  and  play  with  him 
for  his  harping.  Then  was  there  also  a  very  dreadful 
gate-keeper,  whose  name  slioidd  be  Charon.     He  had  also 


Thorpe's  CaoOmoiiS  Paraphrase,  p  237 


284 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


geatweard.  tlines  nama  sccolde  beon  Caron.  se  htefde  eac 
thrio  heatilu.  &  se  \v;es  svvithe  oreald.  Tha  ongan  the 
hearpere.  hine  biddan.  that  he  hine  gemundbyrde.  tha 
liwile  the  he  tha-r  w.ere.  &  hme  gesiindue.  eft  thanon 
brohte.  tha  gehet  he  him  that.  fortha;m  he  wjl's  oflyst. 
thss  seldcuthaa  soues.  Tha  eode  he  furthor  oth  he  ge- 
niette.  tha  gnimau  Gydeua  the  folcisce  men.  hatath  Parcas. 
tha  hi  secgath.  that  on  naniim  men.  uytou  uane  are.  ac 
«lcum  meun.  wrecan  be  his  gewjThtiim.  tha  hi  secgath. 
that  wealdan.  aelces  monues  wyrde.  tha  ongann  he  biddan. 
hiora  miltse.  tha  ougiinnon  hi  wepan  mid  him.  Tha 
eode  [he]  furthor.  &.  him  union  ealle  hellwaran  ongean. 
&  la;don  hine.  to  hiora  cyninge.  &  ongunnon  ealle 
sprecan  mid  him.  &  biddan  tlites  the  he  hasd.  And  that 
unstillc  hweol.  the  I.xiou  wass  to  gebunden.  Laiuta  cy- 
iiiug  for  his  scylde.  that  othstod.  for  liis  heaqiunga.  And 
Tantalus  se  cyuing.  the  on  thisse  worulde.  ungemetlice 
gifre  wffis.  &  him  th;er  that  ilce.  yfcl  fyligde.  thajs  gifer- 
nesse.  he  gestilde.  And  se  Uultor.  sceolde  forlsctan.  that 
he  ne  slat,  tha  lifre  Tyties.  thtes  cyninge.o.  the  hine  ser.mid 
thy  wituode.  And  eall  helhvara.  witii  gestildon.  tha  hwile 
the  he  beforan  tham  cyuinge  hearpode.  Tha  he  tha  lange. 
&  lange  heai-pode.  tha  clipode.  se  hellwarana  cyiiign  & 
cwajetlk  Uton  agifan.  thaem  esne  his  wif.  fortham  he  hi. 
iiiefth  geeamod.  mid  his  heai-puuga.  Bebead  him  tha. 
thaet  he  geara  waste,  that  he  hine  ntefre.  imderbtec  ne  be- 
sawe.  siththan  he  thonouvveard  wsere.  &  saede.  gif  he  hine 
underb;ec  besawe.  that  he  sceolde.  forla^tan  tha^t  ■wif.  Ac 
tha  Infe  mou  maeg  svvithe  uneathe.  oththe  na  forbeodan. 
■»\nla  wei.  hwa;t  Orfeus  tha.  Ifcdde  his  wif  mid  him.  oththe 
he  com.  on  that  gemirre.  leohtes  &  tlieostro.  tha  eode  that 
■v^-if  a;fter  him.  tha  he  forth  on  that  leoht  com.  tha  beseah 
he  hine  underbade,  with  thres  wifes.  tha  losede  heo  him 
t-»na.  Thas  leasan  spell.  Iterath  gehwilcne  man.  thara  the 
■wilnath.  helle  tliiostra.  to  flionue.  &.  to  tha^s  sothes.  godes 
liohte.  to  cumemie.  that  he  hine  ne  besio.  to  his  ealdum 
yfelum.  swa  that  he  hi  eft.  swa  fidlice  fidlfremme.  swa  he 
hi  jer  dyde.  fortham  swa  hwa  swa.  mid  fiillon  willan.  his 
Mod  went,  to  tha  yflum.  the  he  ser  forlet.  &  hi  thonne 
fulfi-emeth.  and  he  liim  thonne.  fullice  liciath.  and  he  hi 
na;fre.  forlajtan  ne  thencth.  thonne  forlyst  he.  eall  his  ten-an 
god.  buton  he  hit  eft  gebete.-.  Her  endath  nu.  seo  thridde 
Itoc  Boeties,  and  ongith  ses  feorthe. 


three  heads,  and  he  was  very  old.  Then  began  the  harper 
to  beseech  him,  that  he  would  protect  him  whilst  he  was 
there,  and  bring  him  thence  again  safe.  Then  did  he 
promise  that  to  him,  because  he  was  captivated  with  the 
unaccustomed  somid.  Then  went  he  farther,  till  he  met 
the  grim  goddesses,  whom  tlie  common  people  called 
I'arcae,  of  whom  they  say  that  they  know  no  respect  for 
any  man,  but  punish  eveiy  man  according  to  his  deserts, 
and  of  whom  they  say  that  they  control  every  man's  for- 
tune. Then  began  he  to  implore  their  mercy.  Then 
began  they  to  weep  with  him.  Then  went  he  farther, 
and  all  the  inhabitants  of  hell  ran  towards  him,  and  led 
him  to  their  king,  and  began  all  to  speak  with  him,  and 
to  pray  that  which  he  prayed.  And  the  unstill  wheel, 
w-hich  Ixiou  the  king  of  the  Lapitha;  was  bound  to  for  his 
guilt ;  that  stood  still  for  his  harping.  And  Tantalus  the 
king,  who  in  this  world  was  immoderately  greedy,  and 
whom  that  same  vice  of  greedmess  followed  there ;  he 
became  quiet.  And  the  Vulture  should  cease,  so  that  he 
tore  not  the  Uver  of  Tityus  the  king,  which  before  there- 
wnth  tonnented  him.  And  all  the  punishments  of  the 
inhabitants  of  hell  were  suspended  while  he  hai-ped  before 
the  king.  When  he  long  and  long  had  harped,  then  spoke 
the  king  of  the  inhabitants  of  hell,  and  said :  Let  us  give 
the  man  his  wife,  for  he  has  earned  her  by  his  harping. 
He  then  commanded  him  that  he  should  well  observe  that 
he  never  looked  backwards  after  he  departed  thence,  and 
said  that  if  he  looked  backwards  he  should  lose  the  w-ife. 
But  men  can  with  great  difficulty,  if  at  all,  restrain  love. 
Wellaway  !  What !  Orpheus  then  led  his  wife  with  him, 
till  he  came  to  the  boimdary  of  light  and  darkness.  Then 
went  the  wife  after  him.  When  he  came  forth  into  the 
light,  then  looked  he  backwards  towards  the  wife.  Then 
was  she  immediately  lost  to  him.  This  fable  teaches  every 
man  who  desires  to  fly  the  darkness  of  heU,  and  to  come 
to  the  light  of  the  true  good,  that  he  regard  not  his  old 
\'ices,  so  that  he  practise  them  again  as  fully  as  he  before 
did.  For  whosoever  with  full  will  turns  his  mind  to  the 
vices  which  he  had  before  forsaken,  and  pi-actises  them, 
and  they  then  fully  please  him,  and  he  never  thinks  of 
forsaking  them ;  then  loses  he  all  his  former  good,  unless 
he  again  amend  it.  Here  ends  the  third  book  of  Boethius, 
and  begins  the  fourth.' 


A  different  character  of  language  is  found  in  Athelstan's  Song  of  Victory,  which  is  given  in  tlie  Saxon 
Chronicle  under  the  year  938  : — 


jEthestan  cyniug 
eorla  drihten 
beoma  beah-gyfa. 
&  his  brother  eac 
Eadmmid  ^Etheling. 
ealdor  langyne  tyr. 
geslogon  at  secce 
sweorda  ecgum 
ymbe  Brunan-burh 
Bord-weall  clufon. 
heo  won  heathoUndc, 
hamera  lafum. 
afarau  Eadwerdes. 
Swa  him  ge-sethele  wajs 
Irom  cneo-maegum. 
that  hie  fet  campe  oft 
with  lathra  ge-hw;t'nc 
land  ge-ealgodon. 
hord  &  hamas. 
Hettend  cningiui 
Sceotta  Icoda. 


iEthelstan  king, 

of  eai-ls  the  lord, 

rewarder  of  heroes, 

and  his  brother  eke, 

Edmund  Athelmg, 

elder  of  ancient  race, 

slew  in  the  fight, 

with  the  edge  of  their  swords, 

the  foe  at  Brumby ! 

The  sons  of  Edward 

their  board-walls  clove, 

and  hewed  their  banners, 

with  the  wTecks  of  their  hammers 

So  were  they  taught 

by  kindred  zeal, 

that  they  at  camp  oft 

'gainst  any  robber 

their  land  should  defend, 

their  hoards  and  homes. 

Pursuing  fell 

the  Scottish  clans ; 


'   ('arilale's  BMcthius,  J..  9fil 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE.  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


285. 


and  scip-flotan 

fsege-feollon. 

feld  dynede. 

secga  swate. 

Syththan  sunne  up 

on  morgen-tid. 

moere  tuncgol. 

glad  ofer  grundas. 

Godes  condel  beorht 

eces  Dryhtnes. 

othth  sio  aethele  gesceaft 

sah  to  settle.-. 

thaer  Iseg  secg  maenig. 

garum  ageted. 

guma  Northema. 

ofer  scyld  scoten. 

swilce  Scyttisc  eac 

werig  wiges-saed.-, 

Weat-Seaxe  forth 

ondlongne  daeg 

eorod-cystum 

on-last  legduu 

lathum  theodum. 

heowon  here-flyman 

hindan  thearle 

mecum  mylen  sceai-pum.- 

Myrce  ne  wynidon 

heordes  hond-plegaii 

haeletha  naiium 

thara  the  mid  Anlafe 

ofer  aera-geblond 

on  lides  bosme 

land  gesohtun 

fsege  to  gefeohte.-. 

Fife  legim 

on  tham  camp-stede 

cyningas  geonge 

sweordum  aswefede. 

Sweolca  seofeue  eac 

eorlas  Anlafes. 

and  unrim 

heriges-flotan.-. 

And  Sceotta  thaer 

geflemed  wealth. 

Northmanna  bregu. 

nyde-gebaeded 

to  hdes  stefiie 

litle  werede.-. 

Cread-cnearon 

flot-cjTiing  ut  gewat 

on  fealone  flode 

feorh  generede.-. 

Swilce  thaer  eac  se  fi'oda 

mid  fleame  com 

on  his  cythtbe  north 

Constantinus.'. 

Har  Hylde-riuc 

hreman  ne  thorfte 

maecan  gemanan. 

Her  w«8  his  msega  sceard 

&  freonda  gefylled. 

on  folc-stede 

beslagen  set  secce. 

And  his  sunu  forlet 

on  w^ael-stole. 

■wundum  forgrunden. 

geonge  aetjuthe. 

Gylpan  ne  thorfte 

beom  blanden-feax 


the  men  of  the  fleet 
in  numbers  fell ; 
'midst  the  din  of  the  field 
the  warrior  sweat. 
Since  the  sun  was  up 
in  morning-tide, 
gigantic  hghti 
glad  over  the  grounds, 
God's  candle-bright, 
eternal  Lord.' 
'till  the  noble  creature 
sat  in  the  Western  main : 
there  lay  many 
of  the  northern  heroes 
nuder  a  shower  of  arrows, 
shot  over  shields; 
and  Scotland's  boast, 
A  Scythian  race, 
the  mighty  seed  of  Mars! 
With  chosen  troops, 
throughout  the  day, 
the  West-Saxons  fierce 
press'd  on  the  loathed  bands; 
hew'd  dowTi  the  fugitives, 
and  scatter'd  the  rear, 
with  strong  mill-sharpen'd  blades. 
The  Mercians  too 
the  hard  hand-play 
spared  not  to  any 
of  those  that  with  Anlaf 
■over  the  briny  deep 
in  the  ship's  bosom 
sought  this  land 
for  the  hardy  fighL 
Five  kings  lay 
on  the  field  of  battle, 
in  bloom  of  youth, 
pierced  with  swords. 
So  even  eke 
of  the  earls  of  Anlaf; 
and  of  the  ship's-crew 
unuumber'd  crowds. 
There  was  dispersed 
the  little  band 
of  hardy  Scots, 
the  dread  of  noithem  hordes, 
urged  to  the  noisy  deep 
by  unrelenting  fate  J 
The  king  of  the  fleet 
with  his  slender  craft 
escaped  with  his  life 
on  the  felon  flood; 
and  so  too  Coustantiue, 
the  vahant  chief^ 
returned  to  the  north 
in  hasty  flight 
The  hoary  Hildriuc 
cared  not  to  boast 
among  his  kindred- 
Here  was  his  renmant 
of  relations  and  friends 
«lain  with  the  sword 
in  the  crowded  fight 
His  son  too  he  left 
on  the  field  of  battle, 
mangled  with  wounds, 
young  at  the  fight. 
The  fair-hair'd  youth 
had  no  reason  to  boast 


2S6 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


bil-geslehtes.- 

Eald  luwidda 

ue  Anlaf  thy  ma 

mid  heora  here-lafimi 

hlelian  ue  thorftan. 

that  hie  beadu-weorca 

beteran  wurdou. 

on  camp-stede. 

cumbel-gehnades. 

gar-mittinges. 

gumena  gemotes. 

wsejjen-gewrixles. 

thiBS  the  liie  on  wa-'l-felda 

with  Eadweardes 

aforan  plegodon.-. 

Gewitan  him  tha  Northmen 

Ufcgledou  cnearrum. 

dreorig  daretlia  laf. 

on  duuies  mere. 

ofer  deop  wa'ter. 

Difelrn  secan 

&  heora  land. 

a?  wise-mode. 

Swilce  tha  gebrother 

begen  ret  samne. 

cyning  and  aetheling. 

cyththe  sohton, 

West-Seaxna  land, 

wiges  hreamie. 

Lsetou  bim  behyndan 

hra  brj-ttian. 

salowig  pad  an. 

and  thoue  swear  tan  hre&i, 

hyrned  uebban. 

&  thaue  hasean  padau. 
earn  teftan  hwit 

eeses  bnican. 

gnedigne  guth-hafoe. 

&  that  grffige  deor 

wnilf  on  %vealde.'. 

Ne  weartb  wiel  mare 

on  thise  iglande 

sefer  gyta 

folces  gefyUed 

beforau  thissum 

Bweoi'des  ecgum 

thres  the  us  secgath  bee 

ealde  uthwititu. 

siththan  eastan  hider 

Engle  &  Seaxe 

up  becomon 

ofer  brymum  brad 

Brytene  sohton. 

wlarce  wig-smithas- 

Wealas  ofer-comon. 

eorlas  arhwate. 

card  befjeaton.'. 


of  the  slaughtering  strife. 

Nor  old  Linwood 

and  Anlaf  the  more 

with  the  wrecks  of  then-  army 

could  laugh  and  say, 

that  they  on  the  field 

of  stem  command 

better  workmen  were, 

in  the  conflict  of  banners, 

the  clash  of  spears, 

the  meeting  of  heroes, 

and  the  rustling  of  weapons, 

which  they  on  the  field 

of  slaughter  played 

with  the  sons  of  Edward. 

The  Northmen  sail'd 

in  their  nail'd  ships, 

a  dreary  remnant, 

on  the  roaring  sea ; 

over  deep  water 

Dublin  they  sought, 

and  Ireland's  shores, 

in  great  disgrace. 

Such  then  the  brothers, 

both  together, 
king  and  aetheling, 

sought  their  countrj-. 

West  Saxon  land, 

in  fight  triumphant. 

Tliey  left  behind  them 

raw  to  devour, 

the  sallow  kite, 

the  swarthy  raven 

with  homy  rib, 

and  the  hoarse  vulture, 

with  the  eagle  swift 

to  consume  his  prey ; 

the  greedy  gos-hawk, 

and  that  gray  beast 

the  wolf  of  the  w^eald. 

No  slaughter  yet 

was  greater  made 

e'er  in  this  island, 

of  people  slain, 

before  this  same, 

with  the  edge  of  the  sword  ; 

as  the  books  inform  us 

of  the  old  historians ; 

since  hither  came 

from  the  eastern  shores 

the  Angles  and  Saxons, 

over  the  broad  sea, 

and  Britain  sought, — 

fierce  battle-smiths, 

o'ercame  the  Welsh, 

most  valiant  earls, 

and  gained  the  land.' 


We  shall  give  but  one  more  specimen  of  the  Saxon  language,  from  the  Preface  to  ^Ifiic's  Homilies, 
probably  written  some  time  in  the  reign  of  Canute  : — 


Ic  JElfric  munuc  &  meesse  preost  swa  theah  waccre 
thonne  swilcum  hadum  gebyrige.  wearth  asend  on  iEthel- 
redes  daege  cyninges  fram  jElfeage  biscope  jEthelwoldes 
refter-gengan  to  sumum  mynstre  the  is  Cemel  gehaten 
thurh  jEthelmaeres  bene  thses  thegenes.  his  gebyrd  & 
soodnys  sind  gehwaer  cuthe-.-  Tha  be  am  me  on  mode 
ic  truwige  thurh  godes  gife.  thoet  ic  thas  boc  of  ledenum 


I  iElfric,  monk  and  mass-priest,  although  a  man  of  less 
abilities  than  are  requisite  for  one  in  such  orders,  was  sent 
in  the  days  of  King  ^tbelred  from  Alphege  the  bishop, 
the  successor  of  ^Ethelwold,  to  a  monastery  which  is  caHed 
Cemel,  at  the  desire  of  iEthelmar  the  thain,  whose  noble 
birth  and  goodness  are  everywhere  known.  Then  ran  it 
in  my  mind,  I  trust  through  the  grace  of  God,  that  I  ought 


1  Ingr.  Sai.  Chron.  p.  141-145. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


287 


gereorde  to  Engliscre  sprscce  awende.  na  thiirh  gebylde  to  translate  this  book  out  of  the   Latin  tongue  into  tlu- 

micelre  lare.  ac  forthan  the  .ic  geseah  &  gehyrde  micel  English  speech,  not  upon  presumption  of  great  learning, 

gedwyldonmanegumengliscumbocuin.     The  ungelaerede  but  because  I  saw  and  heard  much  error  in  many  Englisli 

men  thui'h  heora  bilewitnysse  to  micclum  wisdome  tealdon.  books,  which  ignorant  men,  through  their  simplicity,  es- 

and  me  of  hreow  thaet  hi  ne  cuthon  ne  naefdon  tha  godspel-  teemed  great  wisdom,  and  because  it  grieved  me,  that 

lican  lare  on  heora  gewritum.  buton  tham  mannum  the  that  they  neither  knew,  nor  had  the  gospel  learning  in  their 

leden  cuthon.  &  buton  tham  bocum  the  iElfred  cyning  writings,  except  from  those  men  that  understood  Latin, 

snoterlice  awendo  of  ledene  on  Englisc.  tha  sind  to  haeb-  and  those  books  which  are  to  be  had  of  King  Alfred's, 

benne-.-     For  tliisum  antimbre  ic  gedyrstlifihte  on  gode  which  he    skilfully  ti-anslated   from  Latin  into    English, 

truwiende.  that  ic  thas  gesetnysse  under  gann.  &.  eac  for-  For  this  reason  I  took  courage,  tiiisting  ui  God,  to  enter 

tham  the  menu  behofath  godre  lare  swithost  on  thisiim  upon  this  task,  and  because  men  have  now  most  need  of 

timan  the  is  ge  endung  thyssere  worulde.  &  beoth  fela  sound  doctrine,  especially  at  this  time,  which  is  so  near 

frecednyssa  on  man  cynne  aerthau  the  se  ende  becume.  swa  the  end  of  the  world,  and  vexations  will  torment  mankmd, 

swa  ure  drihteu  on  his  godspelle  cwceth  to  his  leoniing  before  the  end  is  come,  as  our  Lord  hi  his  gospel  said  to 

cnihtum-.-  his  disciples. 

The  reader  will  remark  that  the  term  English  is  more  than  once  used  in  this  extract  to  designate  the 
Saxon  language ;  but  the  same  name  had  been  applied  to  it  by  Bede,  himself  an  Angle,  three  centuries 
before.  It  is  impossible  also  not  to  be  struck  with  the  close  resemblance  in  phrase  and  style  which  the 
earliest  and  latest  specimens  of  Saxon  bear  to  each  other,  throughout  our  selections.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
in  all  these  specimens  has  been  given  in  Roman,  not  in  Saxon  characters.  With  the  exception  of  the 
p  {th,  as  in  thin),  the  s  {dh,  or  th,  as  in  that),  and  the  p  (u'),  the  Saxon  characters  have  the  same  forms 
with  those  of  the  Roman  alphabet. 


Having  given  specimens  of  the  language  from 
its  earliest  to  its  latest  use,  we  shall  now  take  a 
rapid  survey  of  what  is  still  remaining  of  the  native 
literature  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  beginning  with  their 
poetry  as  its  oldest  branch. 

With  the  exact  laws  of  their  metres  we  are  un- 
acquainted. Their  poetical  compositions,  however, 
strongly  resemble  the  Runic  Odes  so  admirably 
imitated  by  Gray ;  they  are  generally  more  or  less 
marked  by  alliteration,  by  a  mixture  of  regular  and 
irregular  cadence,  by  abrupt  transitions,  by  a  fre- 
quent omission  of  the  particles,  and  by  an  artificial 
inversion  of  words  and  phrases.  At  a  late  period,  and 
in  a  few  instances,  we  have  an  approach  to  rhyme. 
The  most  remarkable  poem  in  the  language  is 
the  narrative  of  the  attempt  of  Beowulf  to  wreak  the 
fsehthe  or  deadly  feud  on  Hrothgar  ;  supposed  to  be 
founded  upon  certain  mythic  legends  of  the  Angles, 
and  to  be  far  older  than  the  writing  of  the  manuscript 
which  contains  the  story.  The  copy  of  this  poem, 
which  forms  one  of  the  Cottonian  volumes  (Vitel- 
lius,  A.  XV.),  is  unique.  Wanley  first  noticed  it  in 
1705;  Mr.  Sharon  Turner  made  some  copious  ex- 
tracts from  it  in  his  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  ;  and 
an  elaborate  memoir  upon  its  composition,  accom- 
panied by  some  criticisms  and  some  beautiful  trans- 
lations, was  presented  to  the  literary  world  by  the 
late  Rev.  John  Josias  Conybeare,  in  his  Illustrations 
of  Anglo-Saxon  Poetry,  8vo.  London,  1826.  The 
earliest  publication,  however,  of  the  entire  work 
appeared  in  4to.  at  Copenhagen  in  1815,  with  a 
Latin  translation  nearly  literal,  a  preface  and  in- 
dices, from  the  pen  of  the  late  Grimm  Johnson 
Thorkelin.  It  was  the  second  time  he  had  trans- 
lated it,  his  first  version  having  been  burnt  in  1807, 
in  the  bombardment  of  Copenhagen.  Another 
edition  of  Beowulf  has  since  appeared,  more  ac- 
ceptable to  the  English  reader,  in  two  small  vol- 
umes, one  containing  the  text,  12mo.  Loud.  1833  ; 
the  other,  a  translation  by  John  Mitchell  Kemble, 
Esq.,  12mo.  Lond.  1837,  with  a  copious  glossary, 
preface,  and  philological  notes. 


Of  similar  character  to  Beowulf  is  the  Fragment 
on  the  Battle  of  Finsborough,  first  printed  by 
Hickes,  subsequently  in  Conybeare's  Illustrations, 
and  lastly  with  the  Traveler's  Song,  as  appendages 
to  Beowulf,  by  Mr.  Mitchell  Kemble. 

Of  the  meti'ical  paraphrase  of  different  parts  of 
Scripture,  ascribed  to  a  second  Caedmon,  we  have 
already  spoken.  It  was  first  published  by  Junius, 
in  1655;  and  lately,  with  an  English  translation, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
by  Mr.  Thorpe,  8vo.  Lond.  1832. 

A  manuscript  volume  of  Saxon  poetry  given  by 
Bishop  Leofric  to  the  cathedral  of  Exeter,  about 
the  time  of  the  Norman  conquest,  preserves  some 
invaluable  relics,  among  which  the  Song  of  the 
Traveler,  already  mentioned,  stands  conspicuous. 
This  volume,  which  contains  a  number  of  Hymns 
and  minor  sacred  Poems,  most  of  them  enumerated 
in  the  Introduction  to  Conybeare's  Illustrations,  is 
preparing  for  publication  under  the  same  auspices, 
and  by  the  same  editor,  as  the  Paraphrase  of  Caed- 
mon. 

The  fragment  of  the  Apocrjphal  History  of 
Judith,  printed  by  Thwaites,  at  the  end  of  the 
Heptateuch  ;  the  fragment  on  the  Death  of  Byrth- 
noth,  published  by  Hearne,  from  the  Cottonian 
MS.,  Otho  A.  xii.,  at  the  end  of  John  of  Glaston's 
Chronicle ;  a  short  Menology,  or  poetical  Calendar, 
first  printed  by  Hickes,  in  the  Thesaurus,  and  since 
separately,  with  an  English  translation  and  notes, 
by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Fox,  8vo.  Lond.  1830 ; 
Alfred's  Boethian  Metres ;  and  some  Odes  and 
Elegies  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  in  part  already 
referred  to,  and  all  translated  by  Dr.  Ingram ;  form 
the  other  chief  remains  of  Saxon  poetry. 

In  scriptural  learning,  we  have  the  Heptateuch, 
with  the  story  of  Job,  and  the  Pseudo-Gospel  of 
Nicodemus,  to  which  the  fragment  of  Judith, 
already  mentioned,  is  added,  published  at  Oxford, 
in  8vo.  1698  ;  the  Gospels  of  the  four  Evangelists, 
with  the  English  in  parallel  columns,  edited  by 
John  Foxe,  in  1571,  under  the  auspices  of  Arch- 


288 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND, 


[Book  II. 


bishop  Parker ;  the  Gothic  and  Saxon  Gospels,  by 
F.  Junius  and  Marshall,  published  at  Dordt,  in 
1C65,  and  again  at  Amsterdam  in  1684  ;  a  Latin 
and  Saxon  interlineary  version  of  the  Psalms,  pub- 
lished from  a  manuscript  in  his  father's  library,  by 
Sir  John  Spelman,  4to.  Lond.  1640;  and  a  Saxon 
and  English  Psalter,  published  from  another  manu- 
script, by  Mr.  Thorpe,  two  years  ago.  No  other 
portions  of  the  Saxon  Scriptures  now  remain  ex- 
cept a  scattered  Gloss  upon  the  Proverbs  and 
some  excerpts  from  Ecclesiasticus,  preserved  among 
the  Cottonian  manuscripts.  Humphry  Wanley, 
Lord  Oxford's  librarian,  selected  numerous  pas- 
sages of  various  parts  of  Scripture,  as  quoted  in 
the  Saxon  Homilies,  which  still  remain  in  manu- 
script. 

Either  to  enumerate,  or  enter  into  the  history  of 
the  various  Saxon  Homilies  which  remain,  would 
occupy  a  larger  space  than  we  can  allow.  Many 
of  them  are  not  now  assignable  to  any  particular 
author ;  but  the  greater  part  are  known  to  have 
issued  from  the  pens  of  vElfric  and  Lupus,  the 
latter  of  whom  was  the  same  person  with  Wulfstan, 
Archbishop  of  York  and  Bishop  of  Worcester. 
Orm,  or  Ormin,  is  the  name  of  another  ^vriter 
whose  homilies  are  preserved  among  the  manu- 
scripts of  Junius,  at  Oxford ;  and  iEthelwold,  who 
became  Bishop  of  Winchester  in  961,  occurs  as  a 
fourth  homilist,  previous,  in  point  of  time,  to  the 
former.  From  these  homilies  alone  can  the  faith 
and  docti'ines  of  the  Saxon  church  be  recovered 
and  explained.  Celibacy,  it  appears,  though  en- 
couraged among  the  clergy,  was  not  enjoined:  the 
people,  as  well  as  the  priests,  were  allowed  the  use 
of  the  Scriptures  in  the  native  tongue ;  nor  had  the 
Saxon  church  embraced  the  doctrine  of  Transub- 
stantiation.  jElfric's  Homilies  were  principally 
written  at  the  Abbey  of  Cerne,  in  Dorsetshire. 
They  were  compiled  from  the  writings  of  St.  Au- 
gustine of  Hippo,  St.  Jerome,  Bede,  Gregory, 
Smaragdus,  and  Haimo ;  and  were  directed  to  be 
read  constantly  to  the  foithful  in  the  church.  Mrs. 
Elstob,  the  celebrated  female  Saxonist,  published 
an  English-Saxon  Homily  on  the  birthdaj'  of  St. 
Gregory,  8vo.  Lond.  1709  ;  and  she  and  her  brother 
contemplated  a  folio  edition  of  the  Homilies  at  large, 
with  an  English  translation,  of  which  a  few  sheets 
only  were  printed,  when  the  work  dropped  :  their 
prepared  manuscript,  in  part  translated,  is  preserved 
in  five  volumes  among  the  Lansdowne  manuscripts 
in  the  British  Museum.' 

Connected  with  the  Homilies  are  the  Injunctions 
to  the  clergy,  which  go  by  the  name  of  uElfric's 
Canons,  drawn  up  for  the  use  of  Wulfsin,  Bishop  of 
Sherburn.  As  the  Homilies  contained  the  form  for 
the  clergy  to  instruct  the  laity,  these  supplied  the 
form  for  the  bishops  to  instruct  their  clergy,  and 
they  afford  the  most  complete  view  of  the  disci- 
pline and  ceremonies  of  the  Saxon  church  which 
can  be  anywhere  obtained. 

Some  Lives  and  Passions  of  the  Saints,  exclusive 
of  those  in  the  Homilies,  translated  from  the  Latin, 
may  be  here  mentioned,  which  are  still  preserved 

1  MS  Lansd.  No.  370-374. 


in  our  manuscript  libraries,  particularly  that  of  St. 
Guthlac,  in  the  Cottonian  collection,  originally  writ- 
ten about  the  year  730,  by  Felix,  a  monk  of  Croy- 
land. 

Bishop  Ethelwold,  about  the  middle  of  the  tenth 
century,  whilst  Abbot  of  Abingdon,  received  the 
manor  of  Sudburn,  in  Suffolk,  from  King  Edgar,  on 
condition  of  translating  from  the  Latin  the  monastic 
rule  of  St.  Benedict.  His  Anglo-Saxon  version 
formed  afterwards  the  basis  of  the  Concord  of  Rules 
promulgated  by  Dunstan,  of  which  a  fine  and  con- 
temporaiy  manuscript  is  preserved  in  the  Cottonian 
collection.'  Previous  to  that  time  the  Saxon  monks 
lived  principally  under  the  rule  which  had  been 
brought  from  Ireland. 

Among  works  connected  with  theology  which 
remain  in  manuscript  only,  are  versions  of  Gregory 
"  De  Cura  Pastorali,"  of  the  "  Flores  ex  D.  Augus- 
tini  Soliloquiorum  Libro,"  and  of  the  "  Libri  Dial- 
ogorum  Gregorii  Magni  et  Petri  Dificoni  ejus." 
The  two  first  are  by  King  Alfred,  who  also  made 
the  selection  of  the  "  Flores  :"  but  the  Dialogues  of 
Gregory  and  Peter  Diaconus  were  translated  by 
Werefrid,  Bishop  of  Woi'cester,  one  of  the  learned 
men  Avho  aided  Alfred's  studies,  by  whom  a  short 
inti'oduction  was  prefixed.  Of  these  last  a  beautiful 
manuscript  was  all  but  destroyed  in  the  Cottonian 
fii"e  of  1731 ;  though  other  ancient  manuscripts  of 
the  Dialogues  remain  in  the  Bodleian  and  among 
Sir  William  Dugdale's  manuscripts  at  Oxford,  and 
in  the  library  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge. 
The  Bodleian  MS.  is  of  the  age  of  Canute,  that  in 
Corpus  Christi  College  a  little  later  than  the  time 
of  the  Conquest. 

In  moral  philosophy  we  have  Alfred's  version  of 
Boethius  "  De  Consolatione,"  of  which  specimens 
have  been  already  given,  but  which  displays  the 
spirit  rather  than  the  letter  of  Boethius.  It  is  in 
some  cases  abridged,  and  in  others  paraphrastic. 
This  translation  has  by  some  been  atti'ibuted  to 
Werefrith,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  and  by  others  to 
Asser,  Bishop  of  St.  David's;  but  the  Cottonian 
manuscript,  Otho,  A.  vi.,  evidently  of  the  ninth 
century,  ascribes  it  in  the  proem  to  Alfred.  It 
was  made,  we  are  told,  at  Woodstock,  in  Oxford- 
shire, and  so  addressed  to  the  passions,  as  frequently, 
in  the  Saxon  times,  to  draw  tears  from  those  who 
read  it.  Alfred  named  it  Hand-boc,  or  the  manual. 
The  Saxon  was  first  published  in  1698  at  Oxford, 
by  Christopher  Rawlinson,  of  Carke  HaU  in  Lan- 
cashire, from  Junius'  transcript  of  a  manuscript  in 
the  Bodleian,  collated  with  a  Cottonian  manuscript. 
It  was  again  published  with  an  English  translation 
and  notes,  Bvo.  1829,  by  J.  S.  Cardale,  who  has 
also  given  a  revised  copy  of  the  text. 

In  civil  history  we  have  only  one  work  of  primai-y 
importance,  the  Saxon  Chronicle ;  which  is,  in 
fact,  a  collection  of  chronicles,  rather  than  one 
uniform  work,  continued  from  time  to  time,  to  the 
year  1154.  A  portion  of  it  was  first  edited  under 
the  name  of  Chronologia  Saxonica,  at  the  end  of 
Wheloc's  Bede,  fol.  Camb.  1644;  and  an  enlarged 
and  improved,  though  still  not  a  complete  edition  of 

I  MS.  Cotton.  Tiberius,  A.  iii 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


289 


the  work,  was  published  by  Edmund  Gibson,  then 
a  scholar  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  London,  4to.  Oxford,  1692,  accompanied 
by  an  elegant  Latin  version.  An  English  ti'ansla- 
tion  from  Gibson's  edition,  by  Miss  Gurney,  of 
Keswick,  in  Norfolk,  was  printed  for  private  dis- 
tribution in  1819.  Lastly  appeared  the  Saxon 
Chronicle,  with  an  English  translation,  and  notes, 
critical  and  explanatory,  by  the  Rev.  J.  Ingram, 
B.D.  4to.  Lond.  1833 — a  work  of  superior  value.  A 
synoptical  view  of  the  different  manuscripts  of  the 
Chronicle  which  remain  is  prefixed,  with  a  short 
grammar  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language.'  Fox,  in 
his  Acts  and  Monuments  of  the  Church,  speaks  of 
having  seen  a  manuscript  in  Saxon  entitled  the 
Story  of  Alfred,  written  by  Alfred  himself;  but  no 
such  work  is  at  present  known  to  be  extant. 

The  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  English,  by 
Bede,  formed  another  of  King  Alfred's  translations. 
It  was  first  edited  by  Abraham  Wheloc,  fol.  Cambr. 
1644,  and  again  by  Dr.  John  Smith  at  Cambridge 
in  1722.  A  third  edition  is  intended  to  appear, 
with  an  English  translation,  in  the  great  collection 
of  our  historians  preparing  by  Mr.  Petrie. 

We  have  but  one  specimen  of  what  may  be 
termed  the  Saxon  knowledge  of  other  countries ; 
and  for  that,  too,  we  are  indebted  to  King  Alfred, 
who  epitomized  Orosius,  the  best  abridgment  of 
ancient  history  then  extant.  He  sometimes  deserted 
his  author  to  make  additions,  of  which  the  most 
important  of  all  are  an  original  account  of  the 
geography  of  Germany  in  the  ninth  century,  and 
the  two  voyages  of  Ohthere  and  Wulfstan,  already 
noticed.  These  voyages  were  edited  at  the  end  of 
the  Latin  copy  of  Spelman's  Life  of  Alfred,  by  the 
Hon.  Daines  Barrington,  with  an  English  transla- 
tion, in  the  body  of  Orosius,  8vo.  Lond.  1773  ;  and 
again  more  perfectly  in  1807  by  Dr.  Ingram,  at  the 
end  of  his  inaugural  lecture  as  Saxon  Professor  in 
the  University  of  Oxford. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  several  printed 
editions  of  the  Saxon  laws  by  Lambarde,  Wheloc, 
and  Wilkins. 

A  republication  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  laws  is  in- 
tended to  form  a  part  of  the  Corpus  Historicum, 
the  new  History  of  Britain,  undertaken  by  Mr.  H. 
Petrie. 

A  separate  edition  of  Canute's  Saxon  Laws  was 
published  at  Copenhagen  in  4to.  in  1826,  with 
numerous  notes,  by  Professor  Rosenvinge. 

There  is  a  copy  of  Wheloc's  Archaionoraia  in 
the  Bodleian  Library,  in  which  the  celebrated  F. 
Junius  has  made  almost  a  fresh  translation  of  the 
Saxon  laws  neatly  written  above  Lambarde's  ver- 
sion. 

King  Alfred's  will  is  preserved  in  a  register  of 
the  Abbey  of  Newminstor  at  Winchester,  founded 
by  that  king  a  short  time  before  his  death ;  and, 
as  a  legal  document,  is  interesting  to  us  on  many 
accounts.     "  First,"  as  is  observed  in  the  preface 

'  Some  light  has  been  attempted  to  be  thrown  upon  the  authorship 
of  the  difl'erent  portions  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle  in  a  late  publication 
entitled  "  Ancient  History,  English  and  French,  exemplified  in  a  regu- 
lar Dissection  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle."    8vo.  Lond.  1830. 
VOL.    I. — 19 


to  the  Oxford  edition,  "  we  learn  from  it  the  ideas 
entertained  by  the  king  and  the  great  men  of  the 
realm  concerning  the  succession  of  the  crown  in 
the  times  of  the  Saxons.  Secondly,  we  are  in- 
formed of  several  particulars  relative  to  the  rights, 
liberties,  and  privileges  of  the  difl'erent  orders  and 
degrees  of  men  at  that  early  period.  Thirdly,  we 
are  furnished  with  many  curious  facts  which  eluci- 
date the  nature  of  the  tenures  by  which  estates 
were  held  in  the  time  of  our  Saxon  ancestors." 
Alfred's  will  was  published  at  Oxford,  by  the  dele- 
gates of  the  University  Press,  in  4to.  in  1788, 
accompanied  by  a  literal  translation  from  the  pen 
of  the  Rev.  Owen  Manning,  the  editor  of  Lye's 
Dictionarium  Saxonico  et  Gothico  Latinum.  It 
was  republished,  with  a  preface  and  additional 
notes,  in  8vo.,  Lond.  1828. 

Here,  too,  may  be  mentioned  the  numerous 
charters  which  remain,  so  extensively  illustrative 
of  the  civil  polity  of  the  Saxons.  They  are  often 
accompanied  by  what  are  termed  land-books,  or 
exemplifications  of  the  boundaries  of  land,  in  the 
less  cultivated  parts  of  our  country,  still  useful  to 
topographers.'  A  collection  of  these  is  intended 
to  form  one  of  the  divisions  of  Mr.  Petrie's  Corpus 
Historicum. 

Our  Saxon  ancestors  were  not  entirely  without 
treatises  on  natural  knowledge  and  medicine,  or 
rather  medical  botany ;  for  their  remedies  were 
usually  vegetable  medicines,  sometimes  accompa- 
nied by  incantations.  The  principal,  however, 
were  translations  from  a  Latin  herbal  falsely 
ascribed  to  Apuleius.  The  most  beautiful  and 
curious  manuscript  which  is  known  of  this  work  is 
preserved  in  the  Cottonian  Library,"  accompanied 
bj-  the  Medicina  ex  Quadrupedibus ;  with  drawings 
not  only  of  the  herbs  and  animals,  but  of  ^scu- 
lapius,  Apuleius  Platonicus,  and  Chiron,  whom  the 
Greeks  reputed  the  inventor  of  medicine.  Another 
ancient  manuscript  of  it  occurs,  though  without  the 
drawings,  in  the  Hatton  Collection  at  Oxford,'  and 
a  third  herbal  is  particularly  described  by  W^anley 
in  the  catalogue  which  accompanies  Dr.  Hickes" 
Thesaurus.*  It  forms  a  small  thick  volume  in  oc- 
tavo, largely  written,  and  contains  a  few  specimens 
of  incantations.  The  most  valuable  manuscript  in 
medicine,  however,  is  the  Liber  Medicinalis  in  the 
Royal  Library  now  at  the  British  Museum.^  It 
appears  to  have  been  the  work  of  one  Bald,  and 
was  compiled  from  the  old  Latin  physicians,  such 
as  Marcellus,  Scribonius  Largus,  Pliny,  Ccelius 
Aurelianus,  and  Theodorus  Priscianus ;  and  is  evi- 
dently of  the  tenth  century,  if  not  earher. 

In  Romance  literature  we  have  a  fragment  oi 
the  story  of  Apollonius  of  Tyre,  which  has  been 
carefully  edited  from  a  manuscript  in  the  Library 
of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge,  with  a 
translation  by  Mr.  Benjamin  Thorpe,  8vo.  Lond. 
1834.  The  Latin  of  this  Romance  forms  the 
153d  chapter  of  the  Gesta  Romanorum.  The 
story,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  same  upon  which 

J  See  Sir  Richard  Iloare's  Registrum  Wiltunense. 
2  Vitell.  C.  ii.        '  MS.  Hatton  100,  transcribed  in  MS.  .lunuis  58. 
♦  Tom.  iii.  p.  304.  ^  12  D,  xxii. 


290 


HISTORY  OF  ExXLiLAND. 


[Book  TI. 


the    play  of  Periclos   was    founded,   attributed   to 
Shakspe.ire. 

In  j;raiiiinati(al  learning  we  have  a  valuable 
though  late  treatise,  of  which  the  best  manuscripts 
have  been  neglected.  It  is  a  translation  of  the 
younger  Prisciau  by  Archbishop  iElfric,  accom- 
panied by  a  glossary  of  words.  Somner,  in  the 
preface  to  his  Dictionary,  complains  of  tho  errors 
and  barbarity  of  the  ancient  copy  of  this  glossary  j 
which  he  used  from  tho  library  of  his  and  Junius'  ' 
iViend  Rubenius  at  Brussels ;  and  Skynner,  in  his 
Ktymologicon,  has  also  noticed  its  errors.  It  is  j 
remarkable  that,  at  the  close  of  his  preface,  JElfric 
should  express  a  fear  that  his  labors  would  in  after 
rimes  be  mutilated  by  transcribers.  The  variations 
in  the  dillerent  copies  of  the  Glossaiy  now  remain- 
ing prove  the  reality  of  his  suspicions.  There  are 
•several  copies  both  of  the  Graimnar  and  the  Glos- 
sary among  the  Cottonian  and  llarleian  manuscripts 
in  the  British  Museum ;  Imt  the  finest  of  all,  and 
l)V  far  the  most  copious  manuscript,  is  in  the 
i/ii)rarj-  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  improved 
by  iElfric  Bata,  the  grammarian's  scholar.  This 
manuscript  is  very  different  from  the  other  copies, 
iuid  is  accompanied  with  Dialogues  bj-  both  jElfrics. 

Such  forms  the  general  survey  of  the  native  lite- 
rature of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  We  have  not  men- 
tioned every  fragment  which  remains,  but  the  reader 
who  would  be  more  inquisitive  has  only  to  refer  to 
Humphry  Wanley's  Catalogue  of  Saxon  Manu- 
scripts, inserted  in  Dr.  Hickes'  Thesaurus,  which 
Wanley  traveled  through  England  to  compile. 

Limited  as  the  circle  of  Saxon  literature  and 
science  may  appear,  it  is  impossible  not  to  reflect 
>vith  wonder  on  the  exertions  of  tho  man  to  whom 
»ve  are  indebted  for  the  gi'eater  part;  who,  amidst 
the  most  violent  commotions  of  the  state,  found 
leisure  not  only  to  rival  the  i'.iustrious  Charlemagne 
in  the  protection  and  promotion  of  literary  merit, 
but  to  surpass  him  in  the  personal  exertions  of  a 
.strong  and  active  genius.' 

'  Ilcarne,  in  a  Note  to  the  English  edition  of  Spplman's  Life  of 
Alfred,  from  a  memorandum  among  Dr.  James'  manuscripts  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  mentions  a  translation  by  King  Alfred  of  jEsop's 
Fables  from  the  Greek  into  Lutin  and  Saxon  ;  and  it  is  not  a  little  re- 
markable that  the  same  fact  is  recorded  in  one  of  the  old  Lays  in  the 
Romance  language,  the  Lay  of  jEsop,  the  author  of  which  writes  that 
-IJsop's  Fables  were  translated  out  of  Greek  into  Latin  and  into  English, 
by  King  Alfred,  from  whose  version,  now  lost,  he  made  his  own  in 
French : — 

Esope  apelum  cest  liure, 

Qu'il  translata  e  fist  esorire 

Del  Griu  en  Latin  le  turna 

Li  reis  Alurez  qui  mult  lama 

Le  translata  puis  en  Engleis 

E  jeo  lai  riuite  en  Franceis. 

Ilarl.  MS.  978,  fol.  fiO. 

In  prosecuting  the  study  of  Anglo-Saxon  literature,  the  reader  will 
find  Dr.  Ilickes'  •' Linguanim  Vett.  Septentrional) um  Thesaurus," 
3  torn.  fol.  Oxon.  1705,  an  indispensable  work  for  consultation.  The 
dictionaries  are,  Somner's,  fol.  Oxford,  1659,  and  Lye's  "  Dictionarium 
Saionico  et  Gothico  Latiiuim,"  edited  by  O.  Manning,  2  vols.  fol.  Lond. 
1 772,  with  Benson's  V<:cabulary,  chiefly  abridged  from  Somner,  8vo. 
Dtf.  1701.  Tho  earliest  Grammar  was  Dr.  Hickes',  4to.  Oxf.  1689, 
reprinted  with  additions  in  the  Thesaurus,  and  published  in  an  abridged 
firm  by  Ed.  Thwaitcs,  8vo.  Oxf.  1711  ;  Elstob's  Grammar,  4to.  Lond. 
1715  ;  Orator  Henley's,  8vo.  Lond.  1720;  Manning's,  prefixed  to  Lye's 
1)  ctionary,  fol.  1772  ;  Ingram's  short  Grammar,  prefixed  to  the  Saxon 
rbronicle,  4to.  Lond.  1823  ;  Bosworth's  Elements,  accompanied  by  a 
Grammatical  Praxis,  8vo.  Lond.    1823,  followed  by  his  Compendious 


But  even  at  this  early  period  the  Saxon  is  not 
our  only  native  literature  that  claims  some  notice. 
The   Irish  were  probably  possessed  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  letters  from  a  very  remote  antiquity ;  for, 
although    the  forms  of  their  present  alphai>etical 
characters  are    Roman,  and  were    probably  intro- 
duced by  St.  Patrick,  it  is  very  remarkable,  as  we 
have    before  observed,   that   the    alphabet,   in    the 
uuraljer  and  powers  of  its  elements,  exactly  corre- 
sponds with  that  which  Cadmus  is  recorded  to  have 
brought  to  (ireece  from  Pheuicia.     If  we  may  be- 
lieve  the  national  traditions,  and   the  most  ancient 
existing  chronicles,  the  Irish  also  possessed  a  suc- 
cession of  Bards  from  their  first  settlement  in  the 
country;  and  the  names  at  least  of  some  of  those 
that  are  said  to  have  flourished  so  early  as  in  the 
first  century  of  our  era  are  still  i-emembered.     But 
the  oldest  bardic  compositions  that  have  been  pre- 
served are  of  the  fifth  century.     Some  fragments  of 
metrical  productions  to  which  this  date  is  attributed 
are  found  in  the  old  annalists,  and  more  abundant 
specimens  occur  in  the  same  records  under  each 
of  the  succeeding  centuries.     The  oldest  existing 
Irish    manuscript,  however,  is  believed    to   be  the 
Psalter  of  Cashel,  a  collection  of  bardic  legends, 
compiled  about  the   end   of  the  ninth  century,  by 
Cormac  3Iac  Culinan,  Bishop  of  Cashel  and  King  of 
Munster.     But  the  most  valuable  remains    of  this 
period  of  Irish  literature  that  have  come  down  to  us 
are  the  various  historical  records  in  prose,  called 
the  Annals  of  Tigernach,  of  the  Four  Masters  of 
Ulster,  and  many  others.     The  most  important  of 
these  have  been  pul)lished  in  the  original,  and  ac- 
companied with  Latin  translations,  in  Dr.  O'Conor's 
"  Rerum  Hibernicarum  Scriptores  Veteres,"  4  vols. 
4to.  Buckingham,  1814-182G  ;  a  splendid  monument 
of  the  munificence  of  his  grace  the  present  Duke 
of  Buckingham,  at  whose  expense  the  woi'k  was 
prepared  and  printed,  and  from  the    treasures  of 
whose  library  its  contents  were  principally  derived. 
Tigernach,  the  oldest  of  these  Irish  annalists  whose 
works  we  have  in  the  original  form,  lived  in   the 
latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century  ;  but  both  his  and 
the  other  Annals  profess,  and  are  believed,  to  have 
been   compiled   from   authentic   records   of  much 
greater  antiquity.     They  form  undoubtedly  a  col- 
lection of  materials  in  the  highest  degree  precious 
for  the  information  they  supply  with  regard  to  the 
history  both  of  Ireland  and  of  the  other  early  Brit- 
ish   kingdoms.      These    Annals   difl'er   wholly    in 
character  from  the  metrical  legends  of  Irish  history 
found  in  the  book  of  Cashel  and  in  the  other  later 
compositions  of  the  Bards.     They    consist    of  ac- 
counts of  events  related  for  the  most  part  both  with 
sobriety  and  precision,  and  with  the  careful  notation 
of  dates  that    might  be   expected  from  a  contem- 
porary and  official  recorder.     They  aie  in  all  prob- 

Grammar,  8vo.  Lond.  1626;  Gwilt's  Rudiments,  8vo.  Loud.  1829;  and 
Raske's  Grammar  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Tongue,  translated  from  the 
Danish  by  B.  Thorpe,  2nd  edit.  8vo.  Copenh.  1H30.  Raske's  Grammar 
was  first  published  at  Copenhagen,  8vo.  1817.  To  these  may  be  added, 
"  Analecta  Anglo-Saxonica.  A  Selection,  in  prose  and  verse,  from 
Anglo-Saxon  authors  of  various  ages ;  with  a  Glossary.  Designeil 
chiefly  as  a  First  Book  for  Students."  By  Benjamin  Thorpe.  6v,i. 
Lond.  1834. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


29^1 


ability,  indeed,  copies  of,  or  compilations  from,  public 
records. 

Not  of  such  historic  importance,  but  still  more 
curious  and  interesting  in  another  point  of  view, 
are  the  remains  we  still  possess  of  the  early  Welsh 
literature.  The  Welsh  have  no  annals  to  be  com- 
pared in  value  with  those  of  the  Irish  ;  but  some  of 
their  Bruts,  or  chronicles,  fabulous  as  they  evidently 
in  gi-eat  part  are,  are  undoubtedly  of  considerable 
antiquity.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Geoffrey 
of  Monmouth's  Latin  history  is  really  a  translation 
from  a  much  older  Welsh  original.  The  Chronicle 
of  Tyssilio,  who  flourished  in  the  seventh  century, 
still  survives,  and  has  been  published  in  the  original 
(in  the  Welsh  Archasology),  as  well  as  in  an  English 
translation,  by  the  Rev.  Peter  Roberts,  8vo.  Lond. 
1810.  The  Laws  of  Howel  Dha,  who  reigned  in 
South  Wales  in  the  early  part  of  the  tenth  century, 
have  been  printed  with  a  Latin  translation,  by  Wot- 
ton,  in  his  Leges  Wallicffi,  fol.  1730.  They  develop 
a  state  of  society  in  which  many  primitive  features 
are  strangely  mixed  up  with  a  general  aspect  of 
considerable  civilization,  and  all  the  order  of  a  well- 
established  political  system.  Then  there  are  the 
singular  compositions  called  the  Triads,  which  are 
enumerations  of  events  or  other  particulars,  bound 
together  in  knots  of  three,  by  means  of  some  title 
or  general  observation — sometimes  it  must  be  con- 
fessed forced  and  far-fetched  enough — under  which 
it  is  conceived  they  may  all  be  included.  Of  the 
'^l^riads,  some  are  moral,  and  others  historical.  The 
historical  are  certainly  not  all  ancient ;  for  they 
contain  allusions  to  events  that  took  place  in  the 
reign  of  our  Edward  I.  ;  but  it  appears  most  proba- 
ble that  the  form  of  composition  which  they  exem- 
plify was  long  in  use  ;  and,  if  so,  the  comparatively 
modern  character  of  some  of  them  does  not  disprove 
the  antiquity  of  others.  A  late  writer,  who  consid- 
ers them  to  be  a  compilation  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, admits  that  they  '♦  reflect,  in  a  small  and 
moderately  faithful  mirror,  various  passages  of  bardic 
composition  which  are  lost."^  The  most  volumi- 
nous of  the  ancient  Welsh  remains,  however,  are 
the  poems  of  the  Bards.  The  authenticity  of  these 
compositions  may  be  considered  to  be  now  estab- 
lished beyond  dispute,  by  the  labors  of  various 
writers  by  whom  the  subject  has  been  recently 
investigated,  and  especially  by  Mr.  Turner's  able 
and  elaborate  "  Vindication."^  The  most  ancient 
of  them  are  the  poems  ascribed  to  the  four  bards, 
Aneurin,  Tahesin,  Llywarch  Hen,  and  Merdhin,  or 
Merlin,  the  Caledonian,  who  all  appear  to  have  be- 
longed to  the  sixth  century.  A  few  additional  pieces 
have  also  been  preserved  of  the  seventh,  eighth, 
ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  centuries,  which  are 
printed  along  with  those  in  the  first  volume  of  the 
"  Myrvyrian  Archaeology  of  Wales,"  3  vols.  8vo. 
Lond.  1801.  Much  of  this  early  Welsh  poetry  is 
in  a  strangely  mystical  stjde,  and  its  general  spirit 
is  evidently  much  more  Druidical  than  Christian. 

'  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  xiv. 

2  Published  at  the  end  of  his  History  of  the  Angio- Saxons.  See 
also  the  Rev.  E.  Davies'  Celtic  Researches,  Mr.  Probert's  Preface  to 
his  edition  of  Aneurin,  and  Britannia  after  the  Romans,  i.-vi. 


The  author  of  "  Britannia  after  the  Romans  "  has 
endeavored  to  show  that  a  revival  of  Druidism  was 
effected  in  Wales  in  the  sixth  century,  principally 
thi-ough  the  eftbrts  of  the  Bards,  whose  order  had 
formerly  composed  so  distinguished  a  part  of  that 
system ;  and  certainly  the  whole  character  of  this 
ancient  poetry  seems  strongly  to  confirm  that  sup- 
position, which  does  not,  however,  rest  upon  this  evi- 
dence alone.  No  existing  manuscript  of  these  poems, 
we  may  observe,  nor  any  other  Welsh  manuscript, 
appears  to  be  much  older  than  the  twelfth  century. 

As  the  forms  of  the  Saxon  alphabetical  characters 
are  the  same  with  those  of  the  Irish,  it  is  probable 
that  it  was  from  Ireland  the  Saxons  derived  their 
first  knowledge  of  letters.  There  was  certainly, 
however,  very  little  literature  in  the  country  before 
the  arrival  of  Augustin,  in  the  end  of  the  sixth 
century.  Augustin  is  supposed  to  have  established 
schools  at  Canterbury ;  and  about  a  quarter  of  a 
century  afterwards,  Sigebert,  King  of  the  East  An- 
gles, who  had  spent  part  of  his  early  life  in  France, 
is  stated  by  Bede  to  have,  upon  his  coming  to  the 
throne,  founded  an  institution  for  the  instruction  of 
the  youth  of  his  dominions  similar  to  those  he  had 
seen  abroad.  The  schools  planted  by  Augustin  at 
Canterbury  were  afterwards  gi-eatly  extended  and 
improved  by  his  successor.  Archbishop  Theodore, 
who  obtained  the  see  in  668.  Theodore  and  his 
learned  friend  Adrian,  Bede  informs  us,  delivered 
instructions  to  crowds  of  pupils,  not  only  in  divinity, 
but  also  in  astronomy,  medicine,  arithmetic,  and  the 
Greek  and  Latin  languages.  Bede  states,  that  some 
of  the  scholars  of  these  accomplished  foreigners  were 
alive  in  his  time,  to  whom  the  Greek  and  Latin  were 
as  familiar  as  their  mother  tongue.  Schools  now 
began  to  multiply  in  other  parts,  and  were  generally 
to  be  found  in  all  the  monasteries  and  at  the  bishops' 
seats.  Of  these  episcopal  and  monastic  schools,  that 
founded  by  Bishop  Benedict,  in  his  abbey  at  Wear- 
mouth,  where  Bede  was  educated,  and  that  which 
Archbishop  Egbert  established  at  York,  where  Al- 
cuin  studied,  were  among  the  most  famous.  Otliers 
of  gr3at  reputation  were  superintended  by  learned 
teachers  fi-om  Ireland.  We  have  already  men- 
tioned that  of  Maildulf  at  Malmesbury,  to  which 
Aldhelm  repaired  after  having  studied  for  some  time 
under  Adrian.  At  Glastonbury  also,  it  is  related  in 
the  life  of  St.  Dunstan,  some  Irish  ecclesiastics  had 
settled,  the  books  belonging  to  whom  Dunstan  is 
recorded  to  have  diligently  studied.  The  northern 
parts  of  the  kingdom  were  indebted  for  the  first  light 
of  learning  as  well  as  of  religion  to  the  missionaries 
from  lona. 

It  should  not  seem  to  be  altogether  correct  to 
attribute  the  decline  and  extinction  of  this  earliest 
literary  civilization  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  wholly  to 
the  Danish  invasions.  The  Northmen  did  not 
make  their  appearance  till  towards  the  close  of  the 
eighth  century,  nor  did  their  ravages  occasion  any 
considerable  public  alarm  till  long  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  ninth ;  but  for  a  whole  century 
preceding  this  date,  learning  in  England  appears  to 
have  been  falhng  into  decay.  Bede,  who  died  in 
■735,  exactly  ninetj'-seven  years  before  that  landing 


292 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


of  the  Danes  in  the  Isle  of  Sheppey,  in  the  reign  of 
Egbert,'  which  was  followed  by  incessant  attacks  of 
a  similar  kind,  until  the  fierce  marauders  at  last  won 
for  themselves  a  settlement  in  the  country,  is  the 
last  name  eminent  for  scholarship  that  occurs  in 
this  portion  of  the  English  annals.  The  historian 
Malmesbury,  indeed,  affirms  that  the  death  of  Bede 
was  fatal  to  learning  in  England,  and  especially  to 
history  ;  "  insomuch  tliat  it  may  be  said,"  he  adds, 
writing  in  the  early  part  of  the  twelftli  century, 
"  that  almost  all  knowledge  of  past  events  was  buried 
in  the  same  grave  with  him,  and  hath  continued  in 
that  condition  even  to  our  times."  "  There  was 
not  so  much  as  one  Englishman,"  Malmesbury  de- 
clares, "  left  behind  Bede,  who  emulated  the  glory 
which  he  had  acquired  by  his  studies,  imitated  his 
example,  or  piu-sued  the  path  to  knowledge  which 
he  had  pointed  out.  A  few,  indeed,  of  his  succes- 
sors were  good  men,  and  not  unlearned,  but  they 
generally  spent  their  lives  in  an  inglorious  silence ; 
while  tlie  far  greater  number  sunk  into  sloth  and 
ignorance,  until  by  degrees  the  love  of  learning  was 
quite  extinguished  in  this  island  for  a  long  time." 

The  devastations  of  the  Danes  completed  what 
had  probably  been  begun  by  the  confusion  of  the  in- 
ternal dissensions  that  attended  the  breaking  up  of 
the  original  system  of  the  Heptarchy,  and  perhaps 
also  by  the  natural  decay  of  the  national  spirit  among 
a  race  long  habituated  to  a  stirring  and  adventurous 
life,  and  now  left  in  undisturbed  ease  and  quiet  be- 
fore tjie  spirit  of  a  new  and  superior  activity  had 
been  sufficiently  diffused  among  them.  Nearly  all 
the  monasteries  and  the  schools  connected  with 
r.hem  throughout  the  kingdom  were  either  actually 
laid  in  ashes  by  the  nortiiern  invaders,  or  were  de- 
serted in  the  general  terror  and  distraction  occa- 
sioned by  their  attacks.  When  Alfred  was  a  young 
man,  about  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century,  he 
could  find  no  masters  to  instruct  him  in  any  of  tlie 
higher  branches  of  learning  ;  there  were  at  that 
time,  according  to  his  biographer  Asser,  few  or 
none  among  the  West  Saxons  who  had  any  scholar- 
ship, or  could  so  much  as  read  with  propriety  and 
ease.  The  reading  of  the  Latin  language  is  proba- 
bly what  is  here  alluded  to.  Alfred  has  himself 
stated,  in  the  preface  to  his  translation  of  Gregory's 
Pastoralia,  that  though  many  of  the  English  at  his 
accession  could  read  their  native  language  well 
enough,  the  knowledge  of  the  Latin  tongue  was  so 
much  decayed,  that  there  were  very  few  to  the 
south  of  the  Humber  who  understood  the  common 
prayers  of  the  church,  or  were  capable  of  translating 
a  single  sentence  of  Latin  into  English;  and  to  the 
south  of  the  Thames  he  could  not  recollect  that 
there  was  one  possessed  of  this  very  moderate 
amount  of  learning.  Contrasting  this  lamentable 
state  of  things  with  the  better  days  that  had  gone 
before,  he  exclaims,  "  I  wish  thee  to  know  that  it 
comes  very  often  into  my  mind,  what  wise  men  there 
were  in  England,  both  laymen  and  ecclesiastics,  and 
l;ow  happy  those  times  were  to  England!  The 
sacred  profession  was  diligent  both  to  teach  and  to 
learn.     Men  from  abroad  sought  wisdom  and  learn- 

^  See  ante,  p.  14i2. 


ing  in  this  country,  though  we  must  now  go  out  of 
it  to  obtain  knowledge  if  we  should  wish  to  have  it." 

It  was  not  till  he  was  nearly  forty  years  of  age, 
that  Alfred  himself  commenced  his  study  of  the 
Latin  language.  Before  this,  however,  and  as  soon 
as  he  had  rescued  his  dominions  from  the  hands  of 
the  Danes,  and  reduced  these  foreign  disturbers  to 
subjection,  he  had  exerted  himself  with  his  charac- 
teristic activity  in  bringing  about  the  restoration  of 
letters  as  well  as  of  peace  and  order.  He  had  in- 
vited to  his  court  all  the  most  learned  men  he  could 
discover  anywliere  in  his  native  land,  and  had  even 
brought  over  instructors  for  himself  and  his  people 
from  other  countries.  Werefrith,  the  Bishop  of 
Worcester ;  Ethelstan  and  Worwulf,  two  Mercian 
priests  ;  and  Plegmund,  also  a  Mercian,  who  after- 
wards became  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  were  some 
of  the  English  of  whose  superior  acquirements  he 
thus  took  advantage.  Asser  he  brought  from  the 
western  extremity  of  Wales.  Grimbald  ho  obtained 
from  France,  having  sent  an  embassy  of  bishops, 
presbyters,  deacons,  and  religious  laymen,  bearing 
valuable  presents  to  his  ecclesiastical  superior  Fulco, 
the  Archbishop  of  Rheitiis,  to  ask  permission  for  the 
great  scholar  to  be  allowed  to  come  to  reside  in 
England.  And  so  in  other  instances,  like  the  bee, 
looking  everywhere  for  honey,  to  quote  the  simili- 
tude of  his  biographer,  this  admirable  prince  sought 
abroad  in  all  directions  for  the  treasure  which  his 
own  kingdom  did  not  afford. 

The  works  which  he  is  known  to  have  translated 
from  the  Latin,  after  he  had  acquired  that  language, 
have  been  enumerated  in  a  preceding  page.  These 
labors,  so  interesting  and  valuable  to  postei-ity,  he 
seems  himself  to  liave  been  half  inclined  to  regard 
as  to  be  justified  only  by  the  low  state  into  which 
all  learning  had  fallen  among  his  countrymen  in  his 
time,  and  as  likely  perhaps  to  be  rather  of  disservice 
than  otherwise  to  the  cause  of  real  scholarship. 
Reflecting  on  the  erudition  which  had  existed  in 
the  country  at  a  former  period,  and  which  had  made 
those  volumes  in  the  learned  languages  useful  that 
now  lay  unopened,  "  I  wondered  greatly,"  he  says, 
"  that  of  those  good  wise  men  who  were  formerly 
in  our  nation,  and  who  had  all  learned  fully  these 
books,  none  would  translate  any  part  into  their  own 
language  ;  but  I  soon  answered  myself,  and  said, 
They  never  thought  that  men  would  be  so  reckless, 
and  that  learning  would  be  so  ftillen.  They  inten- 
tionally omitted  it,  and  wished  that  there  should  be 
more  wisdom  in  the  land,  by  many  languages  being 
known."  He  then  called  to  recollection,  however, 
what  benefit  had  been  derived  by  all  nations  from 
the  translation  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
first  into  Latin,  and  then  into  the  various  modern 
tongues ;  and,  "  therefore,"  he  concludes,  "  I  think 
it  better,  if  you  think  so  (he  is  addressing  Wulfsig, 
the  Bishop  of  London),  that  we  also  translate  some 
books,  the  most  necessary  for  all  men  to  know,  that 
we  all  may  know  them  ;  and  we  may  do  this,  with 
God's  help,  verj-  easily,  if  we  have  peace  ;  so  that  all 
the  youth  that  are  now  in  England,  who  are  free- 
men, and  possess  sufficient  wealth,  may  for  a  time 
apply  to  no  other  task  till  they  first  well  know  to  read 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


293 


English.  Let  those  learn  Latin  afterwards,  who  will 
know  more,  and  advance  to  a  higher  condition."  In 
this  wise  and  benevolent  spirit  he  acted.  The  old 
writers  seem  to  state  that,  besides  the  translations 
that  have  come  down  to  us,  he  executed  many  others 
that  are  now  lost. 

It  is  probable,  though  there  is  no  sufficient  au- 
thoritj'  for  the  statement,  that  Alfred  reestablished 
many  of  the  old  monastic  and  episcopal  schools  in 
the  various  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Asser  expressly 
mentions  that  he  founded  a  seminary  for  the  sons  of 
the  nobility,  to  the  support  of  which  he  devoted  no 
less  than  an  eighth  part  of  his  whole  revenue. 
Hither  even  some  noblemen  repaired  who  had  far 
outgrown  their  youth,  but  nevertheless  had  scarcely 
or  not  at  all  begun  their  acquaintance  with  books. 
In  another  place  Asser  speaks  of  this  school,  to 
which  Alfred  is  stated  to  have  sent  his  own  son 
Aethelweard,  as  being  attended  not  only  by  the 
sons  of  almost  all  the  nobility  of  the  realm,  but 
also  by  many  of  the  inferior  classes.  It  was  pro- 
vided with  several  masters.  The  common  opinion 
is,  that  this  seminary,  instituted  by  Alfred,  is  to  be 
considered  as  the  foundation  of  the  illustrious  L'ni- 
versity  of  Oxford.  ' 

Up  to  this  time  absolute  illiteracy  seems  to  have  ' 
been  common  even  among  the  highest  classes  of  the  | 
Anglo-Saxons.      We   have  just   seen    that,    when 
Alfred  established  his  schools,  they  were  as  much  ] 
needed  for  the  nobilitj-  who  had  reached  an  advanced  j 
or  a  mature  age  as  for  their  children ;  and  indeed  j 
the  scheme  of  instruction  seems  to  have  been  in-  j 
tended  from  the  first  to  embrace  the  former  as  well  j 
as   the   latter,  for,   according   to   Asser's   account, 
every  person  of  rank  or  substance  who,  either  from  i 
age  or  want  of  capacity,  was  unable  to  learn  to  read  i 
himself,  was  compelled  to  send  to  school  either  his 
son  or  a  kinsman,  or,  if  he  had  neither,  a  servant, 
that   he   might  at  least  be  read  to  by  some  one. 
Anglo-Saxon  charters  exist,  which,  instead  of  the 
names  of  the  kings,  exhibit  their  marks,  used,  as  it 
is  frankly  explained,  in  consequence  of  their  igno- 
rance of  letters. 

The  measures  begun  by  Alfred  for  effecting  the 
literary  civilization  of  his  subjects  were  probably 
pursued  under  his  successors ;  but  the  period  of 
the  next  three  quarters  of  a  century,  notwithstand- 
ing some  short  intervals  of  repose,  was  on  the 
whole  too  troubled  to  admit  of  much  attention  being 
given  to  the  carrjing  out  of  his  plans,  or  even,  it 
may  be  apprehended,  the  maintenance  of  what  he 
had  set  up.  Dunstan,  indeed,  during  his  adminis- 
tration, appears  to  have  exerted  himself  with  zeal 
in  enforcing  a  higher  standard  of  learning  as  well 
as  of  morals,  or  of  asceticism,  among  the  clergy. 
But  the  renewal  of  the  Danish  wars,  after  the  ac- 
cession of  Ethelred,  and  the  state  of  misery  and 
confusion  in  which  the  country  was  kept  from  this 
cause  till  its  conquest  by  Canute,  nearly  forty  years 
after,  must  have  again  laid  in  ruins  the  greater  part 
of  its  literary  as  well  as  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ments. The  concluding  portion  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury was  thus,  probably,  a  time  of  as  deep  intellectual 
darkness  in  England  as  it  was  throughout  most  of 


the  rest  of  Europe.  Lender  Canute,  however,  who 
was  a  wise  as  well  as  a  powerful  sovereign,  the 
schools  no  doubt  rose  again  and  flourished.  We 
have  the  testimony  of  the  historian  Ingulphus,  who 
wrote  immediately  after  the  Norman  conquest,  but 
whose  boyhood  coincided  with  the  early  part  of  the 
reign  of  the  Confessor,  that  at  that  time  seminaries 
of  the  higher  as  well  as  elementary  learning  existed 
in  England.  He  tells  us  that,  having  been  born  in 
the  city  of  London,  he  was  first  sent  to  school  at 
Westminster ;  and  that  from  Westminster  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Oxford,  where  he  studied  the  Aristotelian 
philosophy  and  the  rhetorical  ^^Titings  of  Cicero. 
This  is,  we  believe,  the  earliest  express  mention  of 
the  University  of  Oxford. 

The  studies  that  were  cultivated  in  those  ages 
were  few  in  number  and  of  veiy  hmited  scope. 
Alcuin,  in  a  letter  to  his  patron  Charlemagne,  has 
enumerated,  in  the  fantastic  rhetoric  of  the  period, 
the  subjects  in  which  he  instructed  his  pupils  in 
the  school  of  St.  Martin.  "  To  some,"  says  he, 
"  I  administer  the  honey  of  the  sacred  writings ; 
others  I  try  to  inebriate  with  the  wine  of  the  ancient 
classics.  I  begin  the  nourishment  of  some  with  the 
apples  of  grammatical  subtlety.  I  strive  to  illumi- 
nate many  by  the  arrangement  of  the  stars,  as  from 
the  painted  roof  of  a  lofty  palace."  In  plain  lan- 
guage, his  instructions  embraced  gi-ammar,  the 
Greek  and  Latin  languages,  astronomy,  and  theo- 
logy. In  the  poem  in  which  he  gives  an  account  of 
his  own  education  at  York,  the  same  wi'iter  informs 
us  that  the  studies  there  pursued  comprehended, 
besides  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  poetry,  "the  har- 
mony of  the  sky,  the  labor  of  the  sun  and  moon,  the 
five  zones,  the  seven  wandering  planets ;  the  laws, 
risings  and  settings  of  the  stars,  and  the  aerial  mo- 
tions of  the  sea  ;  earthquakes  ;  the  nature  of  man, 
cattle,  birds,  and  wild  beasts,  with  their  various 
kind  and  forms ;  and  the  sacred   Scriptures." 

This  poem  of  Alcuin's  is  especially  interesting 
for  the  account  it  gives  us  of  the  contents  of  the 
library  collected  by  Archbishop  Egbert  at  York, 
the  benefit  of  which  Alcuin  had  enjoyed  in  his 
early  years,  and  which  he  seems  to  speak  of  in  his 
letter  to  Charlemagne,  already  quoted,  as  far  supe- 
rior to  any  collection  then  existing  in  France.  He 
proposes  that  some  of  his  pupils  should  be  sent  to 
York  to  make  copies  of  the  manuscripts  there  for 
the  imperial  library  at  Tours.  Among  them,  he 
says,  were  the  works  of  Jerome,  Hilary,  Ambrose, 
Austin,  Athanasius,  Orosius,  the  Popes  Gregorj- 
and  Leo,  Basil,  Fulgentius,  Cassiodorus,  John  Chry- 
sostom,  Athelmus,  Bede,  Victorinus,  Boethius ;  the 
ancient  historical  WTiters.  as  he  calls  them,  Pom- 
peius  (most  probably  Justin,  the  epitomizer  of  the 
lost  Trogus  Pompeius),  and  Pliny ;  Aristotle,  Cicero ; 
the  later  poets  Sedulius  and  Juvencus  ;  Alcuin  him- 
self, Clement,  Prosper,  Paulinus,  Arator,  Fortu- 
natus,  and  Lactantius  (writers  of  various  kinds  evi- 
dently thus  jumbled  together  to  suit  the  exigencies 
of  the  verse);  Virgil,  Statius,  Lucan;  the  author 
of  the  Ars  Grammaticae ;  the  gi-ammarians  and 
scholiasts,  Probus,  Phocas,  Donatus,  Priscian,  and 
Servius;  Entychius;    Pompeius  (probably  Festus) 


294 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


and  Commeniaiius;  besides,  he  adds,  many  more 
whom  it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate.  This  was 
certainly  a  very  extraordinary  amount  of  litenny 
treasure  to  be  amassed  in  one  place,  and  by  one 
man,  at  a  period  when  books  were  everywhere  so 
scarce  and  necessarily  bore  so  high  a  price.  *  "  To- 
wards the  close  of  the  seventh  century,"  says  War- 
ton,  in  his  Dissertation  on  the  Introduction  of  Learn- 
W'^  into  England,  "  even  in  the  Pai)al  library  at 
Home,  the  number  of  books  was  so  inconsiderable 
that  Pope  St.  Martin  requested  Sanctamand,  Bishop 
of  Maestricht,  if  possible,  to  su|)ply  this  defect  from 
the  remotest  parts  of  Germany.  In  the  year  85.5, 
Lupus,  Abbot  of  Ferrieres  in  France,  sent  two  of 
his  monks  to  Pope  Benedict  the  Third,  to  beg  a 
copy  of  Cicero  de  Oratore,  and  Qnintiliau's  Insti- 
tutes, and  some  other  books :  '  for,'  says  the  abl)ot, 
'although  we  have  part  of  these  books,  yet  there  is 
no  whole  or  complete  copy  of  them  in  all  France.' 
Albert,  Abbot  of  Gemblours,  who  with  incredible 
labor  and  immense  expense  had  collected  an  hun- 
dred volumes  on  theological  and  fifty  on  profane 
subjects,  imagined  he  had  formed  a  splendid  library. 
About  the  year  790  Charlemagne  ^"anted  an  un- 
hmited  right  of  hunting  to  the  Abbot  and  monks  of 
Sithiu,  for  making  their  gloves  and  girdles  of  the 
skins  of  the  deer  they  killed,  and  covers  for  their 
books.  We  may  imagine  that  these  religionists 
were  more  fond  of  hunting  than  of  reading.  It  is 
certain  that  they  were  obliged  to  hunt  before  they 
could  read ;  and,  at  least,  it  is  probable  that  under 
these  circumstances,  and  of  such  materials,  they  did 
not  manufacture  many  volumes.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  tenth  century  books  were  so  scarce  in  Spain, 
that  one  and  the  same  copy  of  the  Bible,  St.  Je- 
rome's Epistles,  and  some  volumes  of  ecclesiastical 
offices  and  nmrtyrologies,  often  served  several  dif- 
ferent monasteries."  To  these  instances  we  may 
add  what  Bede  relates  in  his  History  of  the  Abbots 
of  Wearmouth,  in  wliich  monastery,  as  already 
mentioned,  Benedict  Biscopt,  the  founder,  had  about 
the  end  of  the  seventh  century  collected  a  consid- 
erable library,  at  the  cost  not  only  of  much  money, 
but  also  of  no  little  personal  exertion,  having  made 
five  journeys  to  Rome  for  the  purchase  of  books, 
relics,  and  other  furniture  and  decorations  for  the 
establishment.  Bede  records  that  Benedict  sold 
one  of  his  volumes,  a  work  on  cosmography,  to  his 
sovereign,  Alfred  of  Northumberland,  for  eight 
hides  of  land. 

The  account  which  has  been  given  of  the  existing 
remains  of  the  Saxon  literature,  and  of  the  other 
works  of  the  period  under  review,  has  sufficiently 
indicated  the  branches  of  learning  and  science  that 
were  chiefly  cultivated.  We  shall,  therefore,  merely 
add  a  short  account  of  the  state  of  the  fine  arts  of 
architecture,  sculpture,  painting,  and  music  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons. 


It  will  be  proper  to  introduce  our  notice  of  the 
Ansrlo-Saxon  architecture  by  a  short  inquiry  into  its 
origin,  especially  as  we  shall  find  that  the  Norman 
8lyle,  and  perhaps  in  some  particulars  that  of  the 


middle  ages  in  general,  may  be  traced  to  tlie  same 
source. 

The  pure  style  of  classical  architecture  perfected 
by  the  Greeks,  underwent  several  modifications  in 
the  liands  of  the  Romans,  which  materially  changed 
its  character,  and  finally  led  to  its  debasement.  Even 
the  Roman  temples,  which  are  direct  imitations  of 
those  of  the  Greeks,  have  not  the  same  purity  of 
style,  though  superior  to  them  in  magnificence  ;  and 
in  their  more  extensive  works,  the  use  of  the  arcl« 
draws  a  strong  Hue  between  the  architecture  of  the 
Romans  and  that  of  the  Greeks,  the  distinctive 
characteristic  of  the  latter  being  the  horizontal 
architrave  supported  on  colunms.  But  though  the 
Romans  adopted  tlie  arch  in  their  constructions, 
they  did  not  therefore  abandon  the  architectural 
details  of  the  Greeks ;  when,  from  the  introduction 
of  vaulted  coverings  and  arched  forms  generally, 
columns  ceased  to  be  used  as  supports,  they  were 
retained  as  ornaments;  and  it  is  this  combination 
of  incongruous  members,  of  vaults  with  columns  and 
horizontal  architraves,  to  which,  by  the  gradual 
addition  of  other  conniptions,  we  owe  the  stjle  of 
architecture  which  at  length  became  universal 
throughout  the  extent  of  the  Roman  empire,  and 
to  which  has  been  given  the  name  of  Romanesque. 

To  this  point,  the  decline  of  the  Roman  archi- 
tecture was  rapidly  advancing  as  early  as  the  reign 
of  Diocletian.  In  the  baths  of  Diocletian  at  Rome, 
vast  gi'oined  vaultings  are  supported  on  columns, 
and  their  outward  thrust  counterpoised  by  external 
piers,  performing  the  same  office  as  the  buttresses 
so  extensively  introduced  into  the  constructions  of 
later  ages.  In  the  palace  of  Spalatro,  built  by  the 
same  emperor,  the  porticos  of  the  internal  courts 
are  formed  by  arches  springing  directly  from  single 
columns  ;  and  over  the  principal  entrance,  or  golden 
gate  of  the  palace,  small  arches  springing  fi-oni 
columns — the  cohimns  resting  on  consoles  project- 
ing from  the  wall — are  introduced  merely  as  a  dec- 
oration ;  and  it  is  a  curious  coincidence  with  refer- 
ence to  the  purpose  for  which  this  example  is  cited, 
that  we  find  in  the  consoles  two  forms  Avhich  make 
a  most  important  figure  in  the  decorations  of  the 
eleventh  century,  viz.,  the  zigzag  ornament  and  the 
corbel  head. 

To  what  state  of  decay  the  arts  had  fallen  wlien 
Constantino  removed  the  seat  of  empire  to  Byzan- 
tium, may  be  seen  by  such  parts  of  his  triumphal 
arch  at  Rome,  as  were  the  work  of  that  period. 
The  empire  and  the  arts  decayed  together,  and  the 
general  decline  of  prosperity  finally  led  to  the  ruin- 
ous custom  of  demolishing  ancient  buildings,  in 
order  to  furnish  materials  for  erecting  new  ones, 
and  especially  such  as  were  required  by  the  spread 
and  supremacy  of  the  Christian  religion.  The 
ancient  temples  were  incapable  of  being  converted 
to  the  purposes  of  Christian  worship ;  but  the 
Basilicas  were  so  well  calculated  to  receive  large 
assemblies  of  people,  that  their  form  was  adopted 
and  retained  in  the  construction  of  churches,  their 
name  became  diverted  from  its  original  meaning; 
and  the  Christian  Basilicas,  erected  with  the  spoils 
of  ancient  Rome,  remain  the  most  striking  raonu- 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


295 


Golden  Gate  of  the  Palace  of  Dioi  letias  at  Spalatro. 


ments  of 

ages. 
There 


the  barbarous  magnificence  of  the  lower 
seems  to  be  no  foundation  for  attributing 


C'OJiSOLE    FROM    TIIK    PaLACE    AT   SPALATRO 


to  the  Goths  and  other  northern  nations  who  over- 
ran the  Roman  provinces,  any  influence  upon  the 
state  of  art,  further  than  that  of  precipitating  its  foil. 
On  the  contrary,  these  conquerors,  with  the  wealth 
of  the  Roman  empire,  carried  back  with  them  a 
taste  for  the  arts  of  civilization  ;  and  the  conversion 
of  the  northern  nations  to  Christianity,  which  estab- 
lished an  intimate  connexion  with  Rome  and  with 
the  Latin  clergy,  introduced  among  them  as  much 
of  the  arts  and  sciences  as  survived  in  the  western 
world.  With  some  modifications,  the  Roman  archi- 
tecture of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries  will  be  found 
to  have  prevailed  wherever  the  Christian  religion 
was  established;  and  as  regards  the  Goths,  so  far 
from  having  any  distinct  architecture  of  their  own, 
there  is  positive  proof  that  the  buildings  erected  by 
Theodoric,  who  reigned  in  Italy  from  493  to  526, 
and  was  a  great  builder,  were  in  the  Roman  stjie, 


296 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


and  built  by  Roman  architects.  The  celebrated 
Boethius  is  named  by  Cassiodorus  as  one  of  the 
architects  of  that  conqueror.  Nor  is  there  any 
proof  that  the  Lombards  carried  with  them  into 
Italy  any  innovations  in  archit(!cture,  or  that  during 
the  existence  of  their  kingdom,  which  lasted  for 
above  two  centuries,  they  introduced  any  deviations 
from  the  style  they  found  established  there.  What- 
ever modifications  architecture  may  have  received 
iti  Italy,  are  probably  to  be  attributed  to  the  Byzan- 
tines, who  long  tookthe  lead  in  all  matters  connected 
with  the  arts. 

Admitting  this  view  of  the  state  of  the  arts  sub- 
sequently to  the  time  of  Constantino  the  Great,  we 
shall  not  expect  to  find  any  original  traces  of  art 
among  a  people  in  so  rude  a  state  as  the  Saxons  at 
the  time  of  their  settlement  in  England.  They 
came  as  invaders  and  destroyers ;  they  entered  an 
abandoned  and  despoiled  province,  and  neither 
brought  nor  inherited  the  arts.  Most  of  the  edi- 
fices, either  public  or  private,  which  the  Romans, 
in  accordance  with  their  universal  practice  in  their 
provinces,  had  erected  in  Britain,  appear  to  have 
perished  during  the  devastating  wars  in  which  the 
ootintry  was  involved  with  Scots,  Picts.  and  Saxons  ; 
and  the  final  supremacy  of  the  latter  obliterated  the 
arts,  till  they  were  restored  from  without. 

That  the  Saxons  erected  temples  of  some  kind 
for  their  pagan  worship  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but 
of  their  form  or  materials  nothing  is  known  with 
certaintJ^  It  has,  indeed,  been  inferred,  that  they 
were  not  altogether  deficient  in  show  or  solidity, 
from  the  fact  that  some  of  them  were  converted 
into  churches  at  the  first  establishment  of  Christi- 
anity; and  it  is  certain  that  Pope  Gregory  writes 
lo  St.  Augustin,  advising  him  not  to  demolish  the 
temples,  but  to  cast  out  and  destroy  the  idols  and 
consecrate  them  to  the  service  of  God.  This,  how- 
(^ver,  throws  no  hght  upon  the  nature  or  extent  of 
the  Saxon  temples,  (h-egory's  impression  of  tem- 
ples was  a  Roman  one,  and  in  any  case  we  can 
hardly  suppose  that  the  buildings  of  a  people  so 
uncultivated  as  the  Saxons  before  their  conversion, 
ever  possessed  any  distinct  architectural  character. 

The  conversion  of  the  Saxons  led  immediately  to 
the  erection  of  churches.  Some  few  churches  left 
by  the  Romans  appear  to  have  escaped  the  general 
devastation.  Bede  records  two  in  the  city  of  Can- 
terbury, one  of  which  was  repaired  and  given  to  St. 
Augustin,  by  King  Ethelbert,  on  his  conversion, 
dedicated  to  our  Savior,  and  established  as  the 
episcopal  see.  Two  other  churches  were  also 
founded  by  Ethelbert — that  of  the  monastery  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul  at  Canterbury,  and  that  of  St. 
Andrew,  at  Rochester,  which  also  became  an  epis- 
copal see.  About  the  same  time  the  see  of  London 
was  founded,  and  a  church  built,  by  Sebert,  King  of 
the  East  Saxons.  So  little  is  upon  record  concerning 
these  churches,  that  it  has  been  a  subject  of  contro- 
versy among  antiquarians,  whether  they  were  of 
stone  or  timber,  and  even  whether  the  Anglo-Saxons 
were  sufficiently  advanced  in  the  arts  to  erect  stone 
buildings  for  a  considerable  time  afterwards.  That 
many  timber  buildings  were  erected  about  this  pe- 


riod, there  is  no  doubt.  The  first  chapel  or  oratory 
erected  by  Edwin,  King  of  Northumberland,  at 
York,  in  627,  was  of  timber.  A  wooden  church  is 
mentioned  by  William  of  Malmesbury,  at  Dutlinge, 
in  Somersetshire  ;  and  the  cathedral  of  Lindisfarne 
was  built  in  G52  entirely  of  sawn  oak,  and  even  cov- 
ered with  thatch,  till  Eadbert,  the  seventh  bishop  of 
Lindisfarne,  replaced  the  thatch  with  lead.  But 
the  cathedral  of  York,  founded  bj'  Edwin  soon  after 
his  baptism,  was  undoubtedly  a  stone  building,  and 
it  puirks  the  progress  of  the  arts  in  this  century, 
tliac  in  GG9  Bishop  Wilfrid  glazed  the  windows. 
The  glass  for  this  purpose  seems  to  have  been  im- 
ported from  abroad,  since,  as  we  have  ah'eady  men- 
tioned, the  famous  Benedict  Biscop,  Abbot  of  Wear- 
mouth,  is  recorded  as  the  first  who  brought  artificers 
skilled  in  the  art  of  making  glass  into  this  country 
from  France  (about  C76).  These  artificers  not  only 
glazed  the  windows  of  Biscop's  church  at  Wear- 
mouth,  but  taught  their  art  to  the  native  workmen  ; 
before  this  period,  windows  even  of  churches  were 
inclosed  by  lattice-work,  or  sometimes  by  linen 
blinds. 

These  two  prelates,  Wilfrid  and  Benedict  Biscop, 
were  the  most  munificent  patrons  of  architecture  in 
the  seventh  century.  The  monastery  of  Wear- 
mouth  Avas  begun  by  the  latter  in  the  year  675, 
when  he  went  over  to  France,  in  order  to  engage 
artificers  to  execute  his  church  "  in  the  Roman 
manner,"  as  it  is  expressly  termed  by  Bede.  In  the 
same  style  must  have  been  the  buildings  of  Wilfrid, 
enumerated  in  his  life  by  Eddius,  of  which  the  most 
important,  and  indeed  one  of  the  most  important 
buildings  of  the  age,  if  we  may  believe  the  biogra- 
pher, was  the  church  of  St.  Andrew,  at  Hexham, 
of  which  Wilfrid  laid  the  foundation  in  674.  Eddius 
expatiates  at  some  length  upon  the  glories  of  this 
edifice,  of  which,  he  says,  the  like  is  not  to  be  seen 
on  this  side  the  Alps.  But  it  will  be  more  to  the 
purpose,  to  quote  the  description  of  Richard,  Prior 
of  Hexham,  who  wrote  toward  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
century,  when  it  was  still  in  existence ;  and  as  he 
might  compare  this  church  with  those  by  which  the 
Normans  had  then  attested  their  magnificence  and 
skill  in  architecture,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it 
really  merited  his  praises,  from  which  we  cannot 
but  conceive  a  somewhat  high  idea  of  the  state  of 
architecture  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  at  this  period. 
Prior  Richard's  description  is  as  follows. 

"  The  foundations  of  this  church  St.  Wilfiid  laid 
deep  in  the  earth  for  the  crypts  and  oratories,  and 
the  passages  leading  to  them,  which  Avere  then  wit]i 
great  exactness  contrived  and  built  under  ground. 
The  walls,  which  were  of  great  length,  and  raised 
to  an  immense  height,  and  divided  into  three  several 
stories  or  tiers,  he  supported  by  square  and  various 
other  kinds  of  well-polished  columns.  Also,  the 
walls,  the  capitals  of  the  columns  which  supported 
them,  and  the  arch  of  the  sanctuary,  he  decorated 
with  historical  representations,  imagery,  and  various 
figures  in  relief,  carved  in  stone,  and  painted  with  a 
most  agreeable  variety  of  colors.  The  body  of  the 
church  he  compassed  about  with  pentices  and  por- 
ticos, which,  both  above  and  below,  he  divided  with 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


297 


great  and  inexpressible  art,  by  partition  walls  and 
winding  stairs.  Within  the  staircases,  and  above 
them,  he  caused  flights  of  steps  and  galleiies  of 
stone,  and  several  passages  leading  from  them  both 
ascending  and  descending,  to  be  artfully  disposed, 
that  multitudes  of  people  might  be  there,  and  go  quite 
round  the  church,  without  being  seen  by  any  one  be- 
low in  the  nave.  Moreover,  in  the  several  divisions 
of  the  porticos  or  aisles,  both  above  and  below,  he 
erected  many  most  beautiful  and  private  oratories 
of  exquisite  workmanship,  and  in  them  he  causer^  Jo 
oe  placed  altars  in  honor  of  the  Blessed  Virgih 
Mary,  St.  Michael,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  the 
holy  apostles,  martyrs,  confessors,  and  virgins,  with 
all  decent  and  proper  furniture  to  each  of  them ; 
some  of  which,  remaining  at  this  day,  appear  like 
so  many  turrets  and  fortified  places." 

The  same  historian  mentions  three  other  churches 
remaining  at  Hexham,  call  of  which  he  attributes  to 
the  munificence  of  Wilfrid.  One  of  these,  dedicated 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  is  particularly  worthy  of  notice. 
It  is  described  as  being  in  the  form  of  a  tower, 
almost  circular,  having  four  porticos  at  the  four 
principal  points.  We  may  here  see  the  rudiments 
of  a  cruciform  church  with  a  tower  at  the  intersec- 
tion, a  form  which  subsequently  became  universal 


in  large  churches,  and  of  which  the  adoption  was 
accompanied  by  important  changes  of  style  in  the 
architecture  of  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries. 

Wilfrid  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  most 
enterprising  and  enlightened  prelates  of  his  age. 
He  was  in  high  favor  with  Oswy,  King  of  North- 
umberland, and  for  some  part  of  his  reign  with  Eg- 
frid ;  and,  by  his  influence  with  them  and  the  nobil- 
ity', enriched  the  church,  and  obtained  the  funds 
tiecessary  to  carry  his  designs  into  effect.  Accord- 
ing to  his  biographer  Eddius,  he  was  himself  emi- 
nent for  his  skill  in  architecture,  and  principal  di- 
rector of  his  own  works,  with  the  assistance  of  many 
eminent  artists,  whom  he  invited  from  Rome,  and 
retained  in  his  service  by  his  liberality.  Eddius 
was  engaged  by  him,  in  conjunction  with  Eona,  to 
instruct  his  choir  in  the  Roman  manner  of  singing. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  the  arts 
had  begun  to  peneti'ate  into  the  northern  parts  of 
our  island.  In  the  year  710,  Naiton,  King  of  the 
Picts,  wrote  to  Ceolfrid,  Abbot  of  Jarrow,  of  his  in- 
tention to  build  a  church  of  stone,  and  desired  him 
to  send  some  artificers  to  build  it  after  the  Roman 
manner. 

In  716,  Ethelbald,  King  of  Mercia,  erected  the 
Abbey  of  Croyland,  in  Lincolnshire,  the  foundations 


Basilica  of  Si.  Pail,  Kome,  ArrtR  the  Fire.  Itf3.t. 


208 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLA^'D. 


[Book  II. 


of  which  are  described  as  being  laid  upon  large 
wooden  piles  driven  into  the  ground,  solid  earth, 
brought  in  boats  from  a  distance  of  nine  miles,  being 
laid  upon  them. 

In  the  year  767,  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  at  York, 
having  been  damaged  by  fire,  was  taken  down  and 
rebuilt  by  Albert,  then  archbishop  of  that  see.  Al- 
bert was  a  learned,  accomplished,  and  munificent 
prelate.  He  had  visited  Rome  and  other  seats  of 
learning  abroad,  and  brought  home  with  him  a  fine 
collection  of  books  and  relics,  and  various  objects  of 
art.  In  the  reedification  of  his  church  he  was  as- 
sisted by  his  pupils,  Eanbald,  who  succeeded  him  in 
the  see,  and  the  famous  Alcuin.  The  latter,  in  tlie 
account  he  has  left  of  tlie  church  he  contributed  to 
build,  describes  it  as  a  lofty  pile,  supported  by  arches 
on  solid  coluuuis,  with  admirable  vaultings  and  win- 
dows, surrounded  by  porticos  and  galleries,  and 
containing  thirty  altars  variously  ornamented. 

We  luive  few  notices  or  indications  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  arts  during  the  wars  which  desolated 
the  countrj',  with  little  intermission,  during  the 
ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  shortly  after  which  the 
Anglo-Saxon  architecture  merged  into  that  modifi- 
cation of  the  Romanesque,  which,  regarding  the 
source  from  whence  we  immediately  derived  it,  we 
properly  term  the  Norman  style.  As  the  intro- 
duction of  this  style  forms  a  second  period  of 
Anglo-Saxon  architecture,  it  will  be  well  here  to 
take  a  short  view  of  the  few  facts  which  have  been 
collected  concerning  the  first. 

Of  the  buildings  of  the  period  we  have  gone 
through,  not  one  stone  remains  upon  another  to 
inform  us  either  of  their  character  or  extent,  and 
it  is  only  from  the  scanty  notices  of  them  in  the 
chronicles  and  records  of  the  time  that  we  are 
enaided  to  judge  of  either.  From  what  has  been 
cited  of  this  sort,  we  may  safely  infer  that  the 
architecture  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  was  identical 
with  that  of  the  continent,  as  far  as  the  Christian 
religion  had  spread  a  taste  for  Roman  art — an  infer- 
ence confirmed  by  the  analogj'  of  later  styles,  even 
down  to  the  fourteenth  century.  That  the  larger 
Anglo-Saxon  churches  were  in  form  as  well  as  in 
name  the  same  as  the  Roman  Basilicas,  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  they  are  frequently- 
spoken  of  by  historians  as  being  in  the  Roman 
manner,  as  w^ell  as  from  their  quadrangular  form 
and  internal  porticos,  which  are  clearly  described 
by  Bede  in  more  than  one  passage.  Add  to  these 
considerations  the  absence  of  any  allusion  to  tran- 
septs or  large  towers,  and  they  are  identified  with 
the  churches  of  the  same  age,  of  which  so  many 
remain  in  Italy,  and  some  in  Germany.  The 
Basilica  of  St.  Paul  without  the  walls  of  Rome, 
founded  by  Constantine,  is  in  its  general  features 
as  close  a  copy  of  the  ancient  Basilica  as  the  use 
for  which  it  was  designed  would  allow,  and  the 
degenerate  age  in  which  it  was  erected  could  pro- 
duce. The  interior  of  this  magnificent  church, 
until  the  year  1823,  when  it  was  nearly  destroyed 
by  fire,  remained  much  as  it  was  left  by  Theodosius 
the  Great,  who  was  a  great  benefiictor  to  it,  with 
the  exception  of  the  extraneous  decorations  of  all 


ages,  laid  upon  it  by  the  piety  of  succeeding  empe- 
rors aTid  ])ontirt's  ;  and  its  style  of  architecture  con- 
trasted strangely  with  the  precious  materials  and 
beautiful  workmanship  of  the  hundred  columns 
which  supported  it,  the  {)lunder  of  many  a  classical 
edifice,  and  especially  of  the  sumptuous  mausoleum 
of  Hadrian.  The  view  even  of  the  ruins  of  this 
church  (see  p.  297)  will  give  a  perfect  idea  of  the  form 
and  arrangement  of  the  Basilica  in  general,  which 
consisted  of  a  nave  and  two  lateral  internal  porticos, 
sometimes  double,  sometimes  single  (oi*,  as  we 
should  now  saj-,  of  five  or  three  aisles),  leading  to 
the  upper  end  of  the  building,  which  in  the  ancient 
Basilica  was  occupied  by  the  public  tribunal,  and 
in  the  Christian  church  by  the  high  altar.  But  as 
it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Anglo-Saxons  ever 
produced,  or  were  capable  of  producing,  anjthing 
upon  this  scale,  the  plan  of  the  church  of  St. 
Grisogono,   at  Rome,   believed   also    to  have   been 


• 


L 


■  •  • 


GRorsD  Plajs  of  the  Cuvrch  of  Grisogono,  Rome 

founded  by  Constantine,  will  probably  give  a  per- 
fectly correct  idea  of  their  more  important  eccle- 
siastical structures  during  the  pei'iod  we  have  been 
considering ;  and  that  the  Roman  architecture  had 
not  undergone  any  material  change  upon  the  con- 
tinent by  the  latter  part  of  the  eighth  century,  will 
be  evident  from  a  view  of  the  portico  to  the  atrium 
of  the  church  at  Lorsch,  near  Manheim,  founded  in 
764,  and  consecrated  in  the  presence  of  Charle- 
magne in  774.  This  portico  is  undoubtedly  part-of 
the  original  building. 


CiiAi>.  v.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


299 


..Ji 


l'Wifi!jt!s,.,,,:: ■ ..,-/ ;iiili!!Kliiiiltiia,i;,,:,, 


Portico  at  Lorsch. 


By  referring  to  the  Roman  Basilica,  the  descrip- 
tion which  has  been  quoted  of  the  church  at 
Hexham  becomes  perfectly  intelligible.  It  was 
evidently  a  Basilica,  with  an  upper  internal  portico 
over  the  side  aisles, — an  arrangement  described  by 
Vitruvius  in  his  Chapter  on  the  Ancient  Basilica, 
and  actually  existing  in  the  Christian  Basilica  of 
St.  Agnese  at  Rome. 

In  the  tenth  century  we  find  a  very  evident 
change  of  style  prevailing  on  the  continent.  The 
doorway  of  the  cathedral  at  Mentz,  founded  about 
978,  though  it  exhibits  the  old  Roman  detail,  some 
of  the  capitals  of  the  columns  being  strictly  of  the 
Corinthian  order,  presents  the  same  general  form 
that  prevailed  in  all  gateways  of  the  middle  ages, 
through  successive  changes  of  style, — namely,  a 
series  of  recessed  arches  reducing  the  real  aperture 
to  a  much  smaller  size  than  the  external  archway ; 
and  in  the  Cathedral  of  Worms,  a  little  later  in 
date,  there  is  not  only  a  change  of  plan  by  the 
distinct  marking  of  the  cross,  but  the  style  alto- 
gether approaches  that  of  the  Normans,  in  which, 
as  we  have  already  observed,  the  ai'chitecture  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  finally  merged. 

The  origin  of  this  style,  which  speedily  became 
universal,  may  perhaps  be  traced  to  the  Byzantine 
school.  This  at  least  is  certain,  that  the  Byzantine 
style  of  sculpture  accompanies  it  to  a  great  extent 
both  in  Germany  and  France,  though  rare  in 
England.  A  comparison  of  two  capitals,  from 
works  already  noticed,  the  portico  at  Lorsch,  and 
the  doorway  at  Mentz,  may  serve  to  illustrate  this 


Capital  from  the  Doorway  of  BIentz  Cathedral. 

hypothesis.  The  Roman  and  Greek  styles  of  orna 
mental  sculpture  cannot  be  more  strikingly  marked 
or  more  vividly  contrasted  ;  and  it  may  be  further 
remarked  that  the  cruciform  plan  had  been  shad- 
owed out  in  the  religious  edifices  of  Constantinople 
as  early  as  the  sixth  century.  The  subject  is  very 
obscure,  and  this  is  not  the  place  to  examine  it ; 
but  it  may  be  observed  that  the  settlement  of  the 
Western  Empire  by  the  Franks,  and  the  muuifi- 
cence  of  Charlemagne,  had  brought  the  arts  from 


300 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II 


Capital  from  the  Portico  at  Lorsch. 

Constantinople,  and  even  from  Arabia,  and  that 
they  continued  to  flourish  under  his  successors,  at 
a  period  when  the  Anglo-Saxons  were  struggling 
for  their  existence  as  a  nation  with  their  Danish 
invaders,  and  had  neither  means  nor  leisure  to 
bestow  upon  the  arts.  During  this  period,  when 
all  the  resources  of  the  church  and  government 
must  have  been  cut  off  or  diverted  to  more  exigent 
purposes,  there  could  have  been  no  temptation  to 
foreign  artists  to  settle  in  the  countiy.  Alfred  the 
Great,  in  the  interval  of  quiet  he  had  won  by  his 
arms  and  policy,  applied  himself  to  architecture ; 
but  though  he  did  not  neglect  the  restoration  of  tlie 
ruined  monasteries  and  churches,  yet  his  chief  cai-e, 
and  that  of  his  two  immediate  successors,  was 
du-ected  chiefly  to  military  works,  and  to  walling 
und  fortifying  the  towns.  His  monastery  at  Athel- 
ney  seems  to  have  been  an  insignificant  building, 
and  probably  only  of  timber. 

From  this  period  scarcely  a  fact  that  throws  any 


light  upon  architecture  as  an  art  is  to  be  met  with 
until  the  reign  of  Edgar,  surnamed  the  Peaceable ; 
in  whose  time,  under  the  influence  of  St.  Dunstan 
and  his  coadjutors,  monastic  establishments  were 
multiplied,  and  their  riches  increased  in  an  enor- 
mous degree,  and  numerous  ecclesiastical  edifices 
appear  to  have  been  the  result. 

Among  these  we  have  a  description  of  the  Abbey 
of  Ramsey,  in  Huntingdonshire,  founded  by  Aihvin, 
styled  in  history  the  Alderman  of  all  England,  with 
the  assistance  of  St.  Oswald,  Bishop  of  Worcester. 
This  church  was  completed  in  974,  and  is  described 
in  the  histoiy  of  the  abbey  as  having  two  towers 
raised  above  the  roof, — one  at  the  west  end,  and 
the  other,  which  was  larger,  supported  by  four 
pillars  in  the  middle  of  the  building,  where  it 
divided  into  four  parts,  being  connected  together 
by  arches  with  other  adjoining  arches,  which  pre- 
vented their  giving  way.  This  is  a  clear  descrip- 
tion of  a  church  with  transepts  and  a  tower  at  the 
intersection.  How  far  this  change  of  plan  was 
accompanied  by  the  introduction  of  the  charac- 
teristic details  of  the  new  style,  we  have  no  means 
of  judging.  The  date  is  too  early  to  suppose  the 
alteration  complete  in  all  particulars,  and  a  state  of 
transition  has  been  found  invariably  to  precede 
every  radical  change  at  subsequent  periods ;  but 
that  architecture  at  this  time  was  at  a  very  low  ebb, 
and  had  grievously  fallen  oft'  from  ift  former  flour- 
ishing condition,  may  be  inferred  by  a  remark 
made  by  Wulstan,  Bishop  of  "Worcester,  in  1084, 
upon  a  work  of  this  very  St.  Oswald.  Wulstan, 
Avho  founded  a  new  church  in  Worcester  in  that 
year,  is  said  to  have  wept  at  the  abandonment  and 
demolition  of  the  former  edifice,  erected  about  960  ; 
and  being  reminded  that  he  ought  rather  to  rejoice 
at  the  superior  extent  and  magnificence  of  the  new 
foundation,  answered, — "  We  destroy  the  works  of 
our  holj'  forefathers  that  we  may   obtain   praise. 


Windows  from  the  Palace  ofWe?t- 


Chap.  V,] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


301 


These  pious  men  hnew  7iot  how  to  construct  pom- 
pous edifices,  but  undei*  any  roof  devoted  them- 
selves to  God,  and  excited  others  by  their  example. 
We,  on  the  contrary,  heap  up  stones,  and  neglect 
the  care  of  souls." 

The  introduction  of  the  Norman  style  is  un- 
doubtedly what  the  historians  mean  by  the  "  new 
manner"  in  which  Edward  the  Confessor  rebuilt 
the  Abbey  of  Westminster.  .Of  this  style  the  par- 
ticular description  must  be  reserved  for  the  next 
period,  to  which  it  properly  belongs.  The  Palace 
of  Edward  the    Confessor,  at   Westminster,   was 


Doorway  from  the  Palace  of  Westminster. 

built  in  the  same  style,  and  its  remains  show  it  to 
have  been  a  spacious  and  solid  structure.  The 
Painted  Chamber,  or,  as  it  was  called  as  late  as 
the  fifteenth  century,  St.  Edward's  Chamber, 
though  its  architectural  character  was  changed  by 
Henry  III.,  possesses  strong  claims  to  be  con- 
sidered a  part  of  the  original  structure,  together 
with  other  apartments  which  have  disappeared  only 
within  a  few  years ;  and  this  claim  is  corroborated 
by  the  character  of  the  arches  and  triangular  door- 
way in  the  vaults  underneath.  The  apartment  to 
which  belong  the  ancient  windows,  still  extant 
toward  Palace-yard,  is  supposed,  with  good  reason, 
to  have  been  the  great  hall  of  the  palace  previously 
to  the  erection  of  that  by  William  Rufus. 

In  this  view  of  the  architecture  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  period,  our  remarks  have  been  chiefly  con- 
fined to  ecclesiastical  edifices,  since  little  remains 
that  can  be  described,  and  the  only  information  to 
be  gathered  on  the  subject  is  principally  from  his- 
torians who  have  written  upon  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
and  whose  attention  has  consequently  been  con- 
fined to  ecclesiastical  structures.     Parish  churches 


had  become  frequent  early  in  the  ninth  century, 
since  a  particular  canon,  relating  to  their  consecra- 
tion, was  enacted  in  the  Council  of  Ceal-Hythe  in 
816.  Their  most  general  form  was  probably  that 
of  the  smaller  parish  churches  of  later  date,  con- 
sisting of  a  simple  nave  and  chancel,  without  side 
aisles ;  but  that  some  of  the  smaller  Anglo-Saxon 
churches  were  built  with  side  aisles  is  proved  by 
that  still  existing  at  Brixham,  near  Northampton. 
This  church  has  been  considered  a  Roman  work, 
from  the  nature  of  the  bricks  with  which  the  arches 
are  turned.  But  that  the  Anglo- Sixxons  were  ac- 
quainted with  the  use  of  bricks, — whether  the  art 
of  making  them  had  remained  in  the  island  from 
the  time  of  its  occupation  by  the  Romans,  or  was 
restored  with  the  other  arts  for  which  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  were  afterwards  indebted  to  the  Latins, — 
is  clear  from  a  passage  in  Bede,  who  says  of  St. 
Cuthbert's  hermitage,  that  he  did  not  build  it  with 
squared  stones,  nor  with  tiles  and  cement,  but  with 
such  materials  as  he  could  collect  on  the  spot.  The 
church  of  Brixham,  however,  is  undoubtedly  con- 
siderably older  than  the  time  of  the  Norman  con- 
quest. It  has  a  square  tower  at  the  west  end,  with 
a  circular  staircase  attached  in  a  most  inartificial 
manner. 

The  diligence  of  antiquarians  has  distinguished 
a  class  of  bell-towers,  which,  from  their  peculiar 
character,  are  reasonably  presumed  to  be  of  a  date 
earlier  than  that  at  which  the  Norman  style  was 
established  in  England.  Of  these  towers  that  of 
Earl's  Barton,  in  Northamptonshire,  is  the  most 
remarkable,  and  displays  most  conspicuously  their 
peculiarities  of  style.  Of  the  triangular  arch  we 
have  seen  a  specimen  in  the  degraded  Roman  style, 
and  it  is  common  on  the  sarcophagi  of  the  lower 
ages ;  both  this  form,  and  the  sort  of  balustrade 
which  appears  in  the  belfry  windows,  are  also  to  be 
seen  in  the  architecture  represented  in  Anglo-Saxon 
manuscripts.  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  this  tower 
was  finished  by  a  modillion  cornice  and  low  roof;  at 
present  it  terminates  with  a  modern  battlement, 
which  is  omitted  in  the  view.  The  construction  of 
these  towers  is  extremely  massive,  with  rubble- 
work,  and  stone  quoins  and  dressings,  the  walls 
being  equal  in  some  instances  to  the  whole  space 
inside ;  but  they  betray  a  low  state  of  the  art  and 
ignorance  of  its  principles. 

The  first  introduction  of  bells  among  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  is  involved  in  obscurity.  Large  ones  were 
certainly  rare  as  late  as  the  middle  of  the  tenth 
century,  since  William  of  Malmesbury  reckons  them 
among  the  wonderful  and  sti'ahge  things  which  St. 
Dunstan  gave  to  the  abbey.  Bell  towers  are  there- 
fore probably  not  more  than  a  centuiy  older  than 
the  Norman  conquest.  It  might  be  possible  to 
enumerate  a  few  insignificant  buildings,  which,  from 
something  analogous  in  their  construction,  may  be 
presumed  to  approach  an  equal  antiquity,  but  they 
possess  no  architectural  interest.  The  little  church 
of  Darent,  in  Kent,  from  some  peculiarities  of  detail, 
may  be  selected  as  a  specimen.  It  consists  of  a 
nave  without  aisles,  and  a  chancel  with  a  plain 
groined   vault,   destitute  of  any  ornament,   twelve 


302 


HISTORY  OF  EX(jLAND. 


[BuOK  II. 


\\  // 


Tower  of  Earl's  Barton  Cuurch. 


feet  two  inches  long,  and  thirteen  feet  four  inches  I  work  older  than  the  Conquest,  is  to  be  attributed 

wide  :  the  height  to  the  springing  of  the  arch  is    to  the  demolition  of  the  churches  of  any  importance 

only  seven  feet.  t  by  the  Normans,  for  the  sake  of  replacing  them  by 

The   extreme  rarity  of  any  well   authenticated  !  more    magnificent  structures;    and  though    it    can 


Windows,  Barest  fm  rth   Kt 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


303 


scarcely  be  doubted  that  they  may  have  incorpo- 
rated some  of  the  old  work  with  their  own,  yet 
such  work  can  have  belonged  only  to  the  latest 
Anglo-Saxon  period,  since  the  most  critical  ex- 
amination has  failed  satisfactorily  to  detect  the 
difference  between  the  two  constructions.     A  por- 


tion of  Edward  the  Confessor's  work  at  West- 
minster Abbey,  forming  vaults  to  the  College 
buildings,  and  now  used  as  the  Pix  Ofifice,  is  the 
only  part  of  the  building  that  can  be  satisfactorily 
identified  as  a  specimen  of  the  latter  Anglo-Saxon 
architecture. 


Edward  tue  Confessor's  Chapel,  Westminster  Abdey, — now  used  as  the  Pix  Office. 


<^n  the  DOMESTIC  architecture  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  there  is  but  little  information  to  be  obtained. 
That  edifices  of  this  class  were  generally  of  timber 
may  be  inferred  from  the  circumstance  that  all  the 
monastic  buildings  (which  properly  come  under  this 
head)  of  which  we  have  any  description  were  so 
constructed.  Such  was  the  Abbey  of  Croyland, 
with  its  infirmaiy  and  chapel,  baths,  halls,  strangers' 
apartments,  brewhouse,  bakehouse,  granaries,  and 
stables ;  all  of  which,  we  learn  from  Ingulphus, 
were  constructed  of  beams  of  wood,  and  boards 
most  exactly  joined,  and  most  beautifully  worked, 
by  the  admirable  art  of  the  carpenter,  and  covered 
with  lead.  The  prevalent  use  of  timber  in  mo- 
nastic buildings  may  also  be  inferred  from  the  often- 
quoted  passage  in  King  Edward's  charter  to  Malmcs- 
bury  Abbey,  in  which  lie  says,  "  All  the  monas- 
teries of  my  realm  are  to  the  sight  nothing  but 
worm-eaten  and  rotten  timbers  and  boards."  But 
this  use  of  timber  by  no  means  necessarily  implies 
a  low  state  of  art.     We  shall  have  occasion  to  see, 


in  treating  of  later  periods,  that  the  use  of  timber 
in  domestic  architecture  prevailed  in  England 
throughout  the  middle  ages ;  that  timber  buildings 
were  susceptible  of  a  very  high  degree  of  architec- 
tural character ;  that  they  were  thought  worthy  of 
being  carried  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  of  being 
executed  with  all  the  luxury  of  art  as  late  at  least 
as  the  fifteenth  century ;  and  that  the  general  dis- 
continuance of  timber  constructions  is  comparatively 
of  a  modern  date.  It  is  therefore  not  unreasonable 
to  supjiose,  that  during  the  period  when  ecclesias- 
tical architecture  Avas  in  a  flourishing  condition,  the 
domestic  style  would  not  be  neglected,  though  ex- 
emplified in  more  humble  materials.  King  Alfred, 
we  are  told,  displayed  a  superior  taste  in  the  con- 
struction and  decoration  of  his  palaces.  It  must, 
however,  be  admitted,  that  at  the  period  of  the 
C'onquest,  the  dwellings  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  must 
have  presented  an  unfavorable  contrast  with  those 
introduced  by  the  Normans ;  since  William  of 
Mahnesbury  observes,  that  the  houses  of  the  former 


304 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


were  low  and  moan,  though  their  way  of  living  was  [  were  fond  of  stately  and  sumptuous  houses,  and 
luxarious  and  extravagant;  where  is  the  Normans,  afiected  magnificence  in  their  buildings  both  puDlic 
though  moderate,  and  even  abstemious  in  their  diet,  |  and  private. 


Residente  of  a  Saxon  Nubleman. 

The  Proprietor,  seairrl  at  the  entrance  of  the  Great  Hall,  is  engaged  in  aliiiseivine  ;  on  his  right  appear  a  number  of  armed  Servants,  and  on 
his  left  a  (Chapel,  at  the  door  of  which,  as  is  common  in  most  illuminations,  a  lamp  is  su?pended.    Harleian  MS.  No.  603. 


On  the  MILITARY  ARCHiTF.cTURF,  of  tliis  peHod, 
there  is  as  little  to  be  collected.  That  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  walled  and  fortified  their  towns,  has. already 
appeared ;  and  that  they  had  the  skill  to  do  so  with 
effect,  is  evident  from  the  sieges  some  of  them 
were  able  to  sustain  against  the  Normans.  Exeter 
could  resist  the  Conqueror  for  eighteen  days,  and 
then,  says  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  "the  citizens  sur- 
rendered because  their  chiefs  deceived  them." 
Oxford,  Warwick,  Leicester,  Derby,  Nottingham, 
and  York  were  all  fortified  places,  and  made  suffi- 
cient resistance  to  provoke  the  utmost  vengeance 
of  the  conquering  army.  At  Leicester  there  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  citadel.  In  the  absence  of 
any  authority  afifording  a  description  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  fortresses,  we  may  venture  to  suppose  that 
such  of  them  as  might  possess  any  architectural 
character  or  solidity  of  structure,  bore  a  reseiu- 
blance  to  those  of  the  Continent,  though  probably 
on  an  inferior  scale.  But  it  is  useless  to  waste 
conjectures  on  a  subject  which  will  form  an  im- 
portant  branch  of  the  architecture  of  the  Norman 
period. 

The  little  that  is  known  of  the  st«te  of  architec- 
ture in  Wales  during  this  period,  is  not  much  cal- 
culated to  excite  either  our  interest  or  our  curiosity 
to  know  more,  since  the  art  appears  not  to  have 
advanced  beyond  the  most  primitive  modes  of  con- 
struction. The  chief  palace  of  the  kings,  and  place 
of  assembly  for  the  great  council  of  the  nation,  ap- 


pears to  have  been  no  better  than  an  edifice  of  wat- 
tles, and  was  called  the  White  Palace,  from  the 
osiers  with  which  it  was  woven  being  peeled. 
This  we  learn  incidentally  from  the  Leges  Wallicae, 
in  which  it  is  enacted,  that  a  fine  of  one  pound  and 
eighty  pence  shall  be  paid  by  whoever  shall  burn 
the  king's  hall  or  palace.  Eight  buildings  or  de- 
pendencies upon  the  palace  are  also  enumerated, 
the  destruction  of  each  of  which  is  valued  at  one 
hundred  and  twenty  pence.  These  buildings  are, 
the  dormitory,  the  kitchen,  the  chapel,  the  granary, 
the  bakehouse,  the  storehouse,  the  stable,  and  the 
dog-house. 

It  will  be  sufficient  to  notice  very  briefly  the 
state  of  SCULPTURE  and  painti>'g  during  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  period.  The  former  was  necessarily  prac- 
ticed by  the  idolatrous  Saxons;  descriptions  of  the 
forms  and  attributes  of  their  deities  have  been 
handed  down  to  us,  but  their  eflforts  to  represent 
them  were  undoubtedly  of  the  lowest  grade  of  bar- 
barism. 

The  art  of  sculpture,  such  as  it  was  in  the 
seventh  century,  accompanied  the  introduction  of 
Roman  architecture  into  England,  and  probably 
underwent  similar  vicissitudes,  flourishing  and  de- 
caying from  the  same  causes.  Nothing  remains 
which  may  mark  its  progress  or  exemplify  its  mer- 
its, except  a  few  of  the  smaller  works  of  art,  among 
which  the  Horn  of  Ulphus,  preserved  at  York,  may 
be  cited  for  its  undoubted  authenticity.     But  there 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


305 


Horn  of  Ulphus. 

must  have  been  a  demand  for  the  images  of  saints 
for  the  churches,  and  monumental  sculpture  was 
not  uncommon.  In  an  episcopal  tomb  of  the  eighth 
century  (that  of  Acca,  Bishop  of  Hexham),  two 
crosses  elegantly  decorated  with  ornaments  of 
sculpture  are  described  as  being  set  up,  one  at  the 
head,  the  other  at  the  foot  of  the  tomb ;  on  one  of 
which — namely,  that  at  the  head — were  letters 
declaring  who  was  buried  there. 

Stone  coffins  became  common  among  the  richer 
classes  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, and  were  frequently  charged  with  decorative 
carvings  and  sometimes  even  with  an  effigy  of  the 
deceased.  If  we  may  trust  L eland,  the  figure  of 
Eschwine,  an  Anglo-Saxon  bishop  of  Dorchester, 
was  in  his  time  still  extant  on  his  tomb  in  the 
church  there.     Such  effigies,  however,  were  prob- 


ably rather  relievos  than  statues,  and  perhaps  in  no 
worse  taste  than  those  of  other  nations,  if  we  may 
judge  by  analogy  from  the  state  of  the  sister  art, 
upon  which  we  are  fortunately  possessed  of  better 
information. 

One  of  the  earliest  notices  on  the  art  of  painting 
is  the  record  of  the  munificence  of  Benedict  Biscop, 
who  imported  a  vast  number  of  pictures  in  the  sev- 
eral voyages  he  made  to  Rome,  principally  for  the 
purpose  of  collecting  books,  relics,  and  ornaments 
for  the  churches  he  had  founded  at  Wearmouth 
and  Jarrow.  These  pictures,  which  were  not 
merely  effigies  of  the  saints  and  apostles,  but,  as 
Bede  informs  us,  comprehended  the  whole  Gospel 
history,  with  the  concord  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments, must  have  been  of  the  Byzantine  school, 
to  which,  at  this  period,  and  long  after,  artists  of  all 
countries  looked  for  instruction. 

But  whatever  improvement  the  Anglo-Saxons 
may  have  derived  from  an  acquaintance  with  Greek 
art  or  the  instructions  of  foreign  artists,  an  inde- 
pendent school  for  the  illumination  of  manuscripts 
appears  to  have  existed  in  Ireland  as  early  as  the 
sixth  century ;  and  the  perfection  to  which  the 
Anglo-Saxons  had  arrived  in  this  branch  of  painting 
at  the  beginninf  of  the  eighth  is  sufficiently  proved 
by  many  existing  manuscripts,  particularly  that  cel- 


voL.  I.— 20 


106 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  If. 


■ebrated  by  the  name  of  the  "  Durham  Book,"  or 
••St.  Cuthburt's  Gospels,"  the  work  of  Eadfrid, 
Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  who  came  to  that  see  in 
69S,  and  died  in  721.  In  this  splendid  example  of 
Anglo-Saxon  art  the  figures  certainly  bear  strong 
marks  of  the  Byzantine  style  of  drawing,  but  the 
design  and  execution  of  the  illuminated  capitals  are 
original,  and  such  as  are  not  to  be  found  in  the 
works  of  any  continental  school.  The  chief  fea- 
tures of  tliis  species  of  illumination  nro  described 
by  Sir  F.  Maiden  to  be,  extreme  intricacy  of  pat- 


Anolo-Saxos  Ornament.    From  MS.  of  the  Tenth  Century. 

tern,  interlacings  of  knots  in  a  diagonal  or  square 
form,  sometimes  interwoven  with  animals,  and  ter- 
minating in  heads  of  serpents  or  birds.  Though  we 
cannot  distinctly  trace  the  progress  of  this  art,  we 


may  conclude  that  it  continued  in  a  flourishing  and 
improving  state  in  the  interval  from  the  eighth  to 
the  tent^i  and  eleventh  centuries,  which  wei'e  so 
prolific  in  Anglo-Saxon  Avorks  of  calligraphy  and 
illumination,  that  perhaps,  says  a  competent  au- 
thority speaking  of  this  period,  our  public  libraries 
and  the  collections  abroad  contain  more  specimens 
executed  in  this  country  than  any  other  can  pro- 
duce during  the  same  space  of  time. 

This  art,  like  all  others,  flourished  in  the  cloister. 
The  greatest  dignitaries  of  the  church  not  only  en- 
couraged but  practiced  it,  and  a  specimen  is  extant 
in  the  Bodleian  Library  by  the  liand  of  no  less  a 
personage  than  St.  Dunstan.  St.  Ethelwold,  Bishop 
of  Winchester,  was  a  great  patron,  and  perhaps  also 
a  professor  of  the  art ;  and  the  names  of  Ethric  and 
Wulfric,  monks  of  Hyde  Abbey,  are  recorded  with 
the  additional  designation  of  "  painters,"  in  a  man- 
ner which  sliows  such  artists  to  have  been  persons 
held  in  the  highest  respect  and  estimation.  New 
Minster,  or  Hyde  Abbey,  at  Winchester,  appear.s 
to  have  been  one  of  the  principal  schools  of  illumi- 
nation, and  many  of  the  finest  manuscripts  of  the 
period  are  known  to  have  been  produced  there. 
The  magnificent  Benedictional  of  St.  Ethelwold, 
the  execution  of  which  is  attributed  to  the  monk 
Godewin,  may  be  especially  referred  to,  and  is  the 
more  remarkable  and  honorable  to  our  native  talent, 
as  being  the  work  of  an  age  when  the  arts  were 
generally,  and  particularly  in  Italy,  in  the  most  dcs- 
based  condition.  The  paintings  exhibit  much  of  the 
Greek  character,  which  maj-  arise  from  the  use  of 
a  standard  set  of  designs  originally  emanating  from 
that  school,  particularly  as  the  scriptural  subjects 
represented  are  treated  in  nearly  the  same  manner 
in  diff"erent  manuscripts.  But  with  the  exception 
of  the  naked  parts,  in  which  the  ignorance  of  the 
period  is  most  conspicuous,  the  drawing  display's  no 
little  proficiency :  the  draperies  especially  are  full 
of  grace  and  intelligence;  and  the  decorations,  which 
are  in  a  style  altogether  pecuUar  to  the  Anglo-Saxon 


Anglo-Saxon  Illuminated  Letter.    From  MS.  of  the  Tenth  Centurj-. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


307 


school,  exhibit  bold  and  rich  masses  of  foliage  not  to 
be  surpassed  either  in  composition  or  execution  by 
any  contemporary  productions  of  the  same  class. 
The  well-known  manuscript  of  the  sacred  poem  of 
Caedmon  is  also  supposed  to  have  issued  from  the 
New  Minster  school  about  the  year  1000.  The 
drawings  are  curious,  rather  than  of  any  value  as 
works  of  art ;  but  it  contains  some  very  remarkable 
initials,  composed  by  the  interlacing  of  foliage  with 
birds,  serpents,  &:c. 

There  is  little  on  record  concerning  the  more  ex- 
tensive branches  of  the  art.  Stubbs,  in  the  Actus 
Pontificum  Eboraceusium,  speaks  of  a  magnificent 
'•  heaven  "  executed  in  gold  and  colors  under  Arch- 
bishop Aldred  shortly  before  the  Conquest.  This 
may  have  been  mere  decoration  painting, — stars  on 
a  blue  ground,  &c. ;  though  the  term  generally  im- 
plies something  more. 

In  the  arts  of  design  it  will  be  proper  to  include 
embroidery,  in  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  ladies  were 
reputed  eminently  skilful.  The  four  daughters  of 
Edward  the  Elder  excelled  in  spinning,  weaving, 
and  needle-work;  and  St.  Dunstan  himself  conde- 
scended to  draw  a  pattern  for  a  sacerdotal  vestment 
which  a  religious  lady  of  the  tenth  century  executed 
in  threads  of  gold.  In  the  same  century  a  drapery 
on  which  were  represented  the  actions  of  Brithnod, 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  was  presented  by  his 
widow  Edelfleda  to  the  church  of  Ely ;  and  at  an 
earlier  period  Witlaf,  King  of  Mercia,  in  a  charter 
to  the  Abbey  of  Croyland,  gives,  among  other  things, 
a  golden  veil  embroidered  with  the  siege  of  Troy, 
to  be  hung  up  in  the  church  on  his  birthday. 

Music,  before  the  invention  of  the  present  mode 
of  notation  by  Guide  of  Arezzo  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, and  the  other  improvements  Introduced  about 
the  same  epoch  or  soon  after,  may  seem  to  be 
scarcely  entitled  to  the  name  of  a  science,  if  com- 
pared with  what  it  is  in  its  present  state.  Yet, 
although  confined  to  melody  merely,  music  was  cer- 
tainly cultivated  with  much  ardor  in  this  country 
from  a  somewhat  early  date  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  pe- 
riod. The  Anglo-Saxon  music  of  which  the  fullest 
and  most  distinct  notices  have  come  down  to  us  is 
the  church  music.  St.  Ambrose,  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, has  the  credit  of  having  first  introduced  singing 
into  the  Christian  services  of  the  West ;  and  his 
method  (of  the  peculiarities  of  which,  however, 
nothing  appears  to  be  known)  continued  in  general 
use  till  the  latter  part  of  the  sixth  century,  when  it 
was  reformed  by  Pope  Gregory  the  Great.  The 
Gregorian  chant  may  be  presumed  to  have  been 
brought  over  to  this  country  along  with  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  by  St.  Augustin  and  his  companions, 
and  it  was  this  mode  of  singing  most  probably  of 
which  they  gave  a  specimen  at  the  first  audience 
granted  them  by  King  Ethelbert,  and  on  their  solemn 
procession  immediately  afterwards  into  the  city  of 
Canterbury.^  The  musical  service,  however,  seems 
to  have  been  confined  to  the  metropolitan  church, 
or  at  least  to  the  district  of  Kent,  till  the  time  of 
Archbishop  Theodore,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sev- 
enth century.  Some  are  disposed  to  attribute  to 
»  See  ante,  p.  220 


Theodore  and  his  friend  Adrian  the  first  introduction 
into  England  of  the  Gregorian  chant:  it  is  admitted 
on  all  hands  that  it  was  to  their  exei'tions  that  the 
general  dift'usiou  of  a  knowledge  of  the  improved 
chant  was  owing.  Bede  relates  that,  in  678,  one 
John  was  sent  from  Rome  by  the  pope  to  teach 
music  to  the  English  clergy,  and  that  he  both  gave 
instructions  in  the  art  during  his  stay  and  left  behind 
him  written  directions  for  its  study.  Accordingly, 
to  quote  the  account  as  it  stands  in  Holiushed, 
"  whereas,  before  time,  there  was  in  manner  no 
singing  in  the  English  churches,  except  it  were  in 
Kent,  now  they  began  in  every  church  to  use  sing- 
ing of  divine  service  after  the  rite  of  the  church  of 
Rome." 

''  The  Archbishop  Theodore,"  the  chronicler 
proceeds,  "  finding  the  church  of  Rochester  void 
by  the  death  of  the  last  bishop,  named  Damian,  or- 
dained one  Putta,  a  simple  man  in  wordly  matters, 
but  well  instructed  in  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and 
namely  (especially)  well  seen  in  song  and  music  to 
be  used  in  the  church  after  the  manner  as  he  had 
learned  of  Pope  Gregorj's  disciples."  Putta  indeed 
would  appear,  from  the  sequel  of  his  story,  to  have 
been  intended  by  nature  rather  for  a  singing-master 
than  a  bishop.  His  church  of  Rochester  having 
been  spoiled  and  defticed  a  few  years  after  in  a 
hostile  incursion  made  into  Kent  by  the  Mercian 
king  Ethilfred,  he  went,  we  are  told,  "  to  Servulf, 
Bishop  of  Mercia,  and  there  obtaining  of  him  a  small 
cure  and  a  portion  of  gi-ound,  remained  in  that 
countiy,  not  once  laboring  to  restore  his  church  of 
Rochester  to  the  former  state,  but  went  about  in 
Mercia  to  teach  song,  and  instruct  such  as  would 
learn  music,  wheresoever  he  was  required  or  could 
get  entertainment."'  Some  time  after  this  a  chief 
seminary  of  music  was  established  at  Canterbury, 
and  other  permanent  schools  also  in  the  other  mo- 
nasteries. 

Nor  were  the  Saxons  by  any  means  without  in- 
strumental music.  Among  their  musical  instru- 
ments, besides  bells,  we  find  mention  made  of  the 
horn,  the  trumpet,  the  flute,  the  drum,  the  cymbal, 

I  Ilolinshed's  England,  b.  v.  ch.  35. 


Trombones,  or  Flctes.    From  the  Cotton  MS.    Cleopntra,  C.  7. 


308 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book.  TI. 


the  rotii,  or  viol,  the  lyre,  and  tlie  harp.  Repre- 
sentations of  most  of  these  are  found  among  the 
illuminations  of  their  manuscripts.  They  also 
seem  to  have  been  acquainted  with  the  organ.  Mr. 
Turner  has  produced  a  passage  from  Aldhelm's 
Latin  poem  in  praise  of  virginity,  and  another  from 
a  work  of  Bede's,  in  both  of  which  the  organ  is 
mentioned ;  and  William  of  Mahnesbury  describes 
an  organ  as  existing  in  his  own  church,  which  bore 
an  inscription  stating  that  it  had  been  presented  by 
St.  Dunstan,  who,  the  historian  elsewhere  tells  us, 
gave  many  great  bells  and  organs  to  the  churches 
of  the  West.  These  Saxon  organs,  according  to 
Malmesbury,  had  brass  pipes  and  bellows.  The 
drum  is  described  by  Bede  as  formed  of  tense 
leather.  The  Saxon  lyre  is  represented  in  the 
illuminations  with  four  strings,  struck  by  a  plec- 
trum. The  harp  is  depicted  in  some  instances  of 
the  modern  ti'iangular  form,  in  others  square  or  ob- 
long-shaped. In  one  manuscript  the  psalmist  David 
is  represented  playing  on  one  of  the  latter  fashion, 
which  has  ten  strings ;  he  plays  with  the  fingers  of 
his  right  hand,  and  holds  the  instrument  with  his 


^ 

( 

f\ 

;  '    :'  ' 

U: 

I 

■^               I ' 

* 

?               1 

r 

; 

— 

0 

.-  

— 

° 

^ 

— 1 

n 

'-  -  ■  ^  o 

-' 

David  Playing  os  the  Harp.    From  the  Cotton  MS.  Tib.  C.  6. 

left.  In  another  instance,  the  royal  psalmist  has  a 
triangular  harp  of  eleven  strings  ;  and  he  is  accom- 
panied by  three  other  musicians,  one  with  a  straight 
trumpet,  supported  in  the  middle  by  a  pole  ;  another 
with  a  curved  horn ;  and  the  third  with  a  sort  of 
violin,  on  which  he  plays  with  a  bow.  Bede  tells 
us,  in  his  History,  that  the  harp  was  in  common 
use  among  his  countrymen  on  all  festive  occasions  ; 
when  the  custom  was  for  it  to  be  handed  round  the 
company,  that  all  might  sing  and  perform  in  turn. 
The  art  of  playing  on  this  instrument  appears  to 
have  been  practiced  professionally  by  wandering 
minstrels  or  gleemen,  and  to  have  been  also  a  fash- 
ionable accomplishment  of  the  highest  and  best  ed- 


The  Harp,  AcroMPAMED  by  other  Isstrument3. 
From  the  Cotton  MS.    Tib.  C.  6. 

ucated  classes.  The  reader  will  remember  the 
storj'  that  is  told  of  Alfred  on  one  occasion  disguising 
himself  as  a  minstrel,  and  in  that  character  finding 
ready  admission  to  the  camp  of  the  Danes,  with  his 
harp  in  his  hand.'  A  similar  story  is  related  of  a 
visit  paid  by  Anlaff,  the  Danish  king  or  earl  of 
Northumberland,  to  the  camp  of  the  Saxon  Athel- 
stane,  on  the  eve  of  their  famous  encounter  at  Bru- 
nanburgh.  Dunstan  also,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  celebrated,  among  his  other  accomplishments, 
for  his  skill  as  a  harper. 

The  harp,  and  the  popular  music  generally  of 
the  Saxons,  were  in  all  probability  borrowed  from 
the  Irish,  among  whom  the  art  appears  to  have 
flourished  from  the  remotest  antiquity,  and  to  have 
been  carried,  at  an  early  period,  to  a  perfection 
elsewhere  unknown.  Some  of  the  most  learned 
of  the  Welsh  antiquaries  have  admitted  that  their 
national  music  is  of  Irish  origin ;  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt,  from  the  character  of  the  Scottish 
melodies,  that  they  also  have  been  derived  from 
the  same  source.     Even  to  the  Italian  music   an 

t  See  ante.  p.  151. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


309 


Irish  extraction  has  been  assigned,  and  by  Italians 
themselves.  The  harp,  called  in  Celtic  the  cruit, 
is  noted  in  the  oldest  records,  as  Avell  as  in  the 
traditions  of  the  people  of  Ireland,  as  the  favorite 
instrument  of  their  bards  from  the  earliest  times. 
The  most  remarkable  foreign  testimony,  however, 
to  the  musical  skill  of  the  Irish  is  that  of  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  in  the  twelfth  centuiy.  Their  eminence 
in  insti'umental  music  he  describes  as  beyond  com- 
parison superior  to  that  of  any  nation  he  had  known. 
Their  modulation,  he  adds,  "  is  not  slow  and  solemn, 
as  in  the  instruments  of  Britain,  to  which  we  are 
accustomed,  but  the  sounds  are  rapid  and  precipi- 
tate, yet  at  the  same  time  sweet  and  pleasing.  It 
is  wonderful  how,  in  such  precipitate  rapidity  of 


the  fingers,  the  musical  proportions  are  preserved ; 
and  how,  by  their  art,  faultless  throughout,  in  the 
midst  of  their  complicated  modulations,  and  most 
intricate  arrangement  of  notes,  by  a  rapidity  so 
sweet,  a  regularity  so  irregular,  a  concord  so  dis- 
cordant, the  melody  is  rendered  harmonious  and 
perfect."  So  famous,  also,  was  the  church  music  of 
the  Irish  at  an  early  period,  that  the  daughter  of 
Pepin  of  France,  in  the  seventh  century,  is  re- 
corded to  have  sent  to  Ireland  for  persons  qualified 
to  instruct  the  nuns  of  the  Abbey  of  Nivelle  in 
psalmody.' 

1  See  these  and  other  similar  testimonies  collected  by  Mr.  Moore, 
Hist,  of  Ireland,  i.  312-316.  See  also  O'Brien's  Round  Towers,  pp. 
404-407. 


310 


HISTORY  OF  EXCLAXD. 


[Book  II. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


TIIK  HISTORY  OF  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


UR  knowledge  of  the 
miscellaneous  partic- 
ulars coining  under 
this  head  in  the  pres- 
ent period  is  much 
more  extensive,  as 
well  as  more  distinct 
and  certain,  than  that 
which  we  possess  of 
the  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  ancient 
Britons,  but  it  is  still 
far  from  being  perfectly  satisfoctory.  We  have  in- 
deed many  Anglo-Saxon  writings,  from  which  a 
good  deal  of  authentic  information  may  be  gleaned 
respecting  various  parts  of  the  subject;  but  the  in- 
formation thus  preserved  consists,  after  all,  only  of 
incidental  notices,  which  are  often  so  brief  or  so 
allusive  as  to  admit  only  of  a  conjectural  interpreta- 
tion, and  which  leave  many  things  which  it  would 
be  important  for  us  to  know  altogether  untold  and 
untouched  upon.  No  work  professing  to  present  a 
view  of  their  domestic  and  social  usages,  their  pop- 
ular pastimes  and  su{)erstitions,  the  accommodations 
of  their  dwelling-houses,  their  dress,  and  their  mode 
'if  living  in  general,  has  been  bequeathed  to  us  by  our 
Saxon  ancestors.  We  are  left  to  gather  what  hints 
we  can  respecting  all  these  matters  from  records 
drawn  up  with  no  view  of  affording  us  any  such  in- 
struction— from  their  chronicles  of  transactions  in 
church  and  state,  from  their  laws,  from  their  works 
of  science  and  learning,  from  their  homilies,  from 
their  almanacs,  from  their  wills,  their  grants  of  land, 
their  leases,  and  other  charters  and  legal  documents. 
But  perhaps  the  richest  of  all  our  now  remaining 
sources  of  information  respecting  all  the  minor  de- 
tails of  the  social  condition  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  has 
been  furnished  us  by  what  we  may  call  their  na- 
tional illumination.  The  drawings  on  their  manu- 
scripts, originally  intended  merely  for  embellish- 
ment, and  still  in  a  high  degree  interesting  and 
estimable  as  works  of  art,  have  now  acquired  a  new 
value,  as  preserving  distinct  representations  of 
many  things  of  which  no  intelligible  verbal  descrip- 
tion has  come  down  to  us,  and  of  some  of  which 
perhaps  the  very  memory  would  otherwise  have 
been  lost.  Of  the  industrious  arts,  as  well  as  of  the 
popular  customs  of  this  period,  the  fullest  and 
clearest  record  that  has  been  transmitted  to  us  is 
literally  a  pictorial  history.  In  the  present  chap- 
ter, as  in  that  upon  the  National  Industry,  we  shall 
draw  liberally  from  this  source,  both  in  the  illustra- 
tions and  in  the  text.' 

1  It  is  proper  to  state,  that  although  some  of  the  ancient  drawings 
presented  in  the  present  work  have  been  before  c'>graved  in  Strutt's 


Having  already  given  an  account  of  the  houses  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  in  so  far  as  regards  their  archi- 
tecture, we  shall  now  proceed  to  describe  their 
furniture  as  far  as  our  materials  enable  us.  The 
dwellings  of  the  higher  classes  appear  to  have  been 
completely  and  sometimes  splendidly  furnished: 
their  walls  were  hung  with  silk  richly  embroidered 
with  gold  or  colors.  The  needle-work,  for  which 
the  English  ladies  were  so  famous,  was  herein  dis- 
played to  great  advantage.  Ingulj)hus  mentions 
some  hangings  ornamented  with  golden  birds  in 
needlework,  and  a  veil  or  curtain  on  which  was 
represented  in  embroidery  the  destruction  of  Troy. 
In  the  Anglo-Saxon  poem  of  Beowulf  we  read  that 
in  "  the  great  wine-chamber" — 

"  There,  shone  variolated  with  gold 
The  web  on  the  walls. 
Many  wonders  to  the  sight 
Of  each  of  the  warriors 
That  would  gaze  on  it  became  visible." 

The  Saxon  term  for  a  curtain  or  hanging  was  wah- 
rift ;  and,  in  the  will  of  Wynflccda,  we  find  tho 
bequest  of  a  long  heall  icaJtrift  and  a  short  one. 
The  same  lady  also  bequeaths  three  coverings  for 
benches  or  settles  (seU-Jirtpffl)-  Pedalia,  or  foot- 
stools, are  mentioned  by  Ingulphus,  the  larger  ones 
covered  with  woven  lions,  and  the  smaller  sprinkled 
with  flowers.  A  common  form  of  the  Saxon  chair 
or  bench,  as  may  be  seen  from  several  cuts  already 
given,  appears  to  have  somewhat  resembled  that  of 
our  modern  camp-stool,  consisting  of  a  seat  held  in 
tension  by  two  or  more  crossing  bars.     Chairs,  how- 


I 


Chairs.     From  Cotton  MS.  Claud.  B.  4. 

II  irda  Angel-Cyniian,  Regal  and  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities,  ChronicU 
of  England,  &c.,  and  in  other  expensive  publications,  the  rej  rnsonta- 
tions  here  given  have,  with  few  exceptions,  been  traced  or  otherwise 
copied  from  the  originals,  and  with  scrupuloos  fidelity. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


311 


9-.-.^ 


.m- 


Chairs.     From  Uarleinn  MS.  No.  GO:t. 


An  Elevated  and  Richly  Ornamented  Se.vt.    From  Cotton  MS.  Tiberius,  B.  5. 


ever,  or  seats  with  backs  to  them,  are  occasionally 
met  with  in  Saxon  illuminations,  and,  as  well  as  the 
benches  and  stools  of  various  descriptions,  are  gen- 
erally ornamented  at  their   extremities  with    the 


heads  and  feet  of  lions,  eagles,  griffins,  (fee.  These 
were  commonly  formed  of  wood,  and  carved,  but 
occasionally  of  gold  and  silver,  or  were  at  least 
highly   ornamented    with    those    precious    metals. 


Saxon  Taiiles,     From  Unrleian  MS.  No.  60.1. 


312 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Their  tables  were  sometimes  made  of  the  same 
costly  materials.  In  the  reign  of  Edgar  a  table  is 
said  to  have  been  made  of  silver,  by  an  artist  named 
yEthelwold,  which  was  of  the  value  of  300/.'  In  the 
illuminated  MSS.  we  perceive  tables,  both  oblong 
and  oval,  covered  with  table-cloths,  and  furnished 
with  knives,  spoons,  drinking-horns  and  cups,  bowls 
and  dishes,  but  no  forks.  That  they  had  gold  and 
silver  plate  in  abundance,  and  of  the  most  costly 
description,  we  have  ample  evidence  in  the  wills  of 
AVynfloeda,  Wulfur,  and  Brithric,  and  similar  docu- 
ments. Wulfur  bequeaths  four  cups,  two  of  which 
are  described  as  of  4L  value.*  A  lady  on  one  occa- 
sion makes  a  gift  of  a  golden  cup  weighing  four 
marks  and  a  half  ;^  and  the  King  of  Kent  sent  to 
Boniface,  the  Anglo-Saxon  missionary  in  Germany, 
a  silver  basin,  gilt  within,  weighing  three  pounds 
and  a  half.''  Two  silver  cups,  weighing  twelve 
marks,  are  mentioned  as  used  by  the  monks  in  a 
refectory  to  serve  their  drink.®  A  king  in  the  ninth 
century  is  recorded  to  have  made  a  present  of  his 
gilt  cnp,  engraved  on  the  outside  with  vine-dressers 
fighting  dragons,  which  he  called  his  cross-bowl, 
because  it  had  a  cross  marked  within  it  and  four 
angles  projecting  like  a  similar  figure  f  and  in  other 
places  we  read  of  golden  and  silver  dishes,  and  a 
dish  adorned  with  Grecian  workmanship.^  Those 
of  the  commonalty  were  of  brass,  of  wood,  of  horn, 
and  of  bone.  Cups  and  dishes  of  horn  were  for- 
bidden to  be  used  in  the  sacred  offices.®  But  drink- 
ing-horns were  much  used  at  table,  and  some  of 
them  were  richly  carved  and  ornamented.  Witlaf, 
King  of  Mercia,  gave  the  horn  of  his  table  to  Croy- 
iand  monastery,  "  that  the  elder  monks  might  drink 
thereout  on  festivals,  and  in  their  benedictions  re- 
member sometimes  the  soul  of  the  donor."^ 

The  delivery  of  a  drinking-horn,  at  least  under 
the  Danish  kings,  was  a  mode  of  conveying  landed 
property.  The  estate  of  Pusey,  in  Berkshire,  is 
atill  held  by  the  possession  of  a  horn,  by  the  de- 
livery of  which  it  was  granted  by  Canute  to  an 
officer  of  his  army,  who,  according  to  tradition,  had 
made  his  way  in  disguise  into  the  camp  of  the 
Saxon  enemy,  and  there  obtained  information  of  a 
plot  laid  to  surprise  the  Danes.  The  Pusey  horn 
was  most  probably  the  drinking-horn  of  Canute. 
It  is  an  ox  horn,  of  a  dark  brown  color,  about  two 
feet  in  length,  and  a  foot  in  circumference  at  the 
rim.  At  the  small  end  is  a  hound's  head  of  silver 
gilt,  made  to  screw  in  as  a  stopper ;  and,  by  taking 
<mt  this,  it  might  be  made  to  serve  as  a  hunting- 
horn,  a  use  of  it  which  appears  to  be  indicated  by 
two  rings,  one  at  the  mouth  and  another  at  the 
middle,  with  which  it  is  furnished,  as  if  for  a  strap 
or  belt  to  go  through.  Upon  a  broad  silver  ring, 
encompassing  the  middle  of  the  horn,  and  by  which 


2  Hickes,  Diss.  Ep.  54. 

*  Mag.  Bib.  Pat.  xvi.  p.  64. 

6  Ingulph.  p.  9. 


1  Dugdale's  Monasticon,  104. 

'  Dugdale's  Mon.  p.  240. 

*  Gale,  Scriptores,  iii.,  406. 

7  Dugdale's  Mon.  21,  40,  123. 

9  Spelman's  Concil.  295,  and  in  the  Exhortations  of  Elfric  it  is  said 
that  "  the  sacramental  cup  should  be  of  gold  or  silver,  glass  or  tin, 
and  not  of  earth,  at  least  not  of  wood."— Wilkins,  Leg.  169.  So  also 
in  the  Canons  of  Edgar.  "The  cup  was  to  be  of  something  molten, 
not  of  wood." — Ibid.  85. 

9  Ingulph.  p.  9. 


it  is  supported  on  a  stand,  is  the  following  inscrip- 
tion, which,  however,  is  comparatively  modern  : — 

"  Kyng  Knowde  geve  Wyllyam  Pewse 
This  home  to  holde  by  thy  lond."' 


The  Pusey-IIorn.    From  the  Archa-ologia,  vol.  i 


Fac-simile  of  the  Inscription  on  the  PuseyIIorn. 

Glass  vessels  were  rarities  in  the  early  periods, 
but  became  more  common  towards  the  Norman 
Conquest.  A  disciple  of  Bede  inquired  of  Lullus, 
in  France,  if  there  were  any  man  in  his  parish  who 
could  make  glass  vessels  well ;  and  desired  in  such 
case  that  he  might  be  persuaded  to  go  to  England, 
as  its  people  were  "  ignorant  and  helpless  in  the 
art."*  Bede,  however,  mentions  glass  lamps  and 
vessels  for  many  uses.* 

They  had  silver  candelabra  and  candlesticks  of 
various  descriptions.''  Lanterns  of  horn,  as  already 
mentioned,  were  also  used.  A  silver  mirror  is 
mentioned  in  Dugdale,  and  hand-bells  were  used 
to  summon  the  attendants.* 

In  an  illuminated  MS.  we  have  a  representation 
of  an  Anglo-Saxon  bedstead.  It  has  a  roof  hke 
that  of  a  house  to  it,  and  is  furnished  with  curtains, 
pillow,  &c.  In  the  Anglo-Saxon  poem  of  Judith 
the  bed  of  Holofernes  is  described  as  hung  with  a 
"  golden  fly-net."  In  various  wills  we  read  of  beds, 
pillows  of  straw,  bed-clothes,  curtains,  sheets,  &c.* 
Skins  of  animals  were  sometimes  used  as  coverhds. 
A  goat-skin  bed-covering  is  mentioned  as  presented 
to  an  Anglo-Saxon  abbot.^  The  terms  specking 
(sacking)  and  lang  bolster  also  occur  in  Saxon  works. 
In  the  poem  of  Beowulf  we  are  told  that  when  the 
evening  came  on,  the  tables  were  taken  away,  and 
the  place  was  spread  with  beds  and  bolsters,  by 
which  it  would  appear  that  the  warriors  slept  in 
the  same  halls  in  which  they  had  feasted.  "  The 
beer-servants,"  continues  the  bard 

"  Speedy  and  joyful, 
Prepared  the  chamber  of  rest. 


t  See  Archaeologia,  iii.  1,  and  xii.  397.        -  Mag.  Bib.  Pat.  xvi.  88. 
3  Bede,  p.  295.  *  Dugdale's  Mon.  40,  221.  '  Mon.  24,  221 

«  Hiokcs,  Diss.  Ep.  54.  '  16  Mag.  Bib.  Pat.  ivi.  45. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


313 


Saxon  Bed.    From  Ihe  Cotton  MS.  Claud.  B.  4 


They  fixed  over  their  heads 

The  shields  of  Hilda, 

The  boards  of  bright  wood. 

There,  high  over  the  Etheling  on  his  bench, 

The  helmet  of  the  noble  one  was  seen, 

His  ringed  coat  of  mail, 

His  glorious  wood  of  strength"  (t.  e.  his  spear). 

Thus,   whether   seated    at   the    banquet-board   or 
stretched   on  his  couch,  the  arms  of  the  warrior 


ornamented  the  wall  above  his  head,  ready  to  be 
grasped  at  the  first  alarm.' 

Not  to  enter  a  warm  bath  or  a  soft  bed  was  en- 
joined by  what  they  called  their  deep-like  or  severe 

1  His  coverlid  was  frequently  nothing  but  his  cloalt,  for  Charle- 
magne deriding  the  short  cloaks  then  in  fashion,  remarks,  amongst 
other  things,  We  cannot  be  covered  by  them  in  bed.''-Monk  of  Si 
Gall. 


Saxon  Beds.    From  the  Harleian  MS.  No.  603. 


Whki:!,  Bed.    From  the  Cotton  MS.  Claud  B.  4. 


penance.'  For  culinary  purposes  they  possessed 
boiling  vessels,^  and  ovens  for  baking  meat  and  bread. 
In  one  of  the  manuscripts  is  an  illumination,  repre- 
senting men  killing  and  dressing  meat.  One  of 
them  lias  put  a  stick,  with  a  hook  at  the  end,  into  a 
cauldron  which  stands  upon  a  four-legged  trivet, 
within  which  the  fire  is  made.  In  the  same  MS..' 
also,  we  perceive  that  the  roast  meats  are  brought 
up  to  table  by  the  servants  upon  the  spits,  the  guest.* 
cutting  off  such  portions  as  pleased  them.  This 
continued  to  be  a  custom  amongst  the  Normans,  as 
we  find  by  the  Bayeux  Tapestry, 

■  Leges  Edgari.  Wilkins,  p.  94. 

2  These  were  of  leather,  and  made  by  the  seeo-wyrtha  or  shoe 
maker.     Saxon  Dialogues  in  Cotton  MS.  Tib.  A.  3. 


314 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Not  one  of  the  least  important  parts  of  the  his- 
tory of  manners  and  of  civilization  is  the  history  of 
costume.  The  dress  of  a  people  Js  always  in  some 
degree  an  indication  of  the  progress  they  have  made 
in  wealth  as  well  as  in  taste,  and  in  the  useful  as 
well  as  in  the  merely  elegant  arts.  Nor  can  we 
call  up  in  imagination  any  lively  picture  of  a  past 
age  without  a  knowledge  of  its  prevailing  forms  of 
attire,  and  of  the  distinctions  in  this  respect  that 
"larked  the  different  classes  of  the  community.    An 


ing  perfectly  into  a  feeling  of  the  spirit  of  the  period 
and  of  the  condition  of  society  in  regard  to  matters 
in  themselves  of  much  more  consequence ;  and  false 
notions  here  may  falsify  our  conceptions  as  to  many 
other  things. 

The  history  of  British  costume  properly  com- 
mences with  the  Anglo-Saxon  period.  Wo  have 
no  pictorial  authority  for  the  costume  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  earlier  than  the  eighth  century  ;  but  Paulus 
Diaconus,  who  wrote  during  the  latter  half  of  that 


ignorance  of  this  subject  will  prevent  us  from  enter-    century   a  history  of  the    Lombards,   describes 


>^^ — .y 

Royal  Costume.   From  a  Picture  of  Harold  and  the  Magi  in  tJHiXoHon  MS.  Nero,  C.  4. 


KoYM  Costume,  and  tiik  FIarnbss  and  Eqcipmint  of  Horses.    From  n  Picture  of  the  Magi,  leaving  the  Court  of  Harold,  i.-  ihc 

Cjtlon  MS.  Ner.),  C.  4. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


J15 


painting  of  the  sixth  century  which  he  had  seen  in 
the  palace  of  Theodelinda,  Queen  of  the  Lombards, 
in  Italy,  said  to  be  painted  by  her  command,  and 
representing  some  of  the  exploits  of  her  country- 
men, whose  dress  the  historian  expressly  states  to 
have  been  the  same  as  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxons. 
"  Their  garments,"  he  tells  us,  "  were  loose  and 
flowing,  and  chiefly  made  of  linen,  adorned  with 
broad  borders,  woven  or  embroidered  with  various 
colors."  His  description  perfectly  agrees  with 
Eginhart's  elaborate  account  of  the  costume  of 
Charlemagne,  and  also  with  the  dresses  depicted  in 
the  illuminated  MSS.  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  cen- 
turies ;  and  that  they  continued  to  wear  some  an- 
cient habits  at  that  period  is  tolerably  evident  from 
the  reproach  addressed  to  them  by  the  council  of 
Cealchyth  in  a.d.  787  :  "  You  put  on  your  garments 
in  the  manner  of  pagans,  whom  your  fathers  ex- 
pelled from  the  world ;  an  astonishing  thing  that 
you  imitate  those  whose  life  you  always  hated." 
From  the  eighth  to  the  tenth  century  we  have, 
however,  abundant  authority  for  the  civil,  military, 
and  ecclesiastical  costume  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
both  in  the  notices  of  the  writers  of  the  time,  and 
especially  in  the  numerous  miniatures  with  which 
the  MSS.  are  ornamented.  From  their  concurring 
evidence  we  find  that  the  undermost  part  of  the 
male  attire  consisted  of  a  linen  shirt,  above  which 
they  wore  a  tunic  of  linen  or  woolen,  according  to 
the  season,  descending  to  the  knee,  and  plain  or 
ornamented  round  the  collar  and  borders,  according 
to  the  rank  of  the  wearer.  It  was  open  at  the 
neck,  and  sometimes  at  the  sides,  and  had  long 
sleeves  reaching  to  the  wrists,  sometimes  tight,  at 
others,  set  in  close  rolls  or  wrinkles  from  the  wrist 
to  the  elbow.  It  was  generally  confined  by  a  girdle 
or  belt  round  the  waist.  Its  Saxon  name  was  roc 
or  rooc.  Over  this  was  worn  a  short  cloak  (mentil), 
fastened  sometimes  on  the  breast  and  sometimes 
on  the  shoulder,  with  brooches  or  fibulae.  Linen 
drawers,  and  stockings  (called  brech-hose)  of  linen 


Ornamented  Tunic.    From  Cotton  MS.   Claud.  B.  4. 

or  woolen,  the  latter  frequently  bandaged  from  the 
ankle  to  the  knee  with  sti'ips  of  cloth,  linen,  or 
leather,  were  worn  bj^  the  better  orders,  and  shoes 
of  some  description  by  all,  as  even  the  common  la- 
borers, who  are  generally  depicted  bare-legged,  are 
rarely  seen  bare-footed.^  The  Saxon  shoe  {sceo  or 
scoh)  is  generally  painted  black,  and  drawn  with  an 
opening  down  the  instep,  secured  by  two  thongs.' 
They  also  wore  a  sort  of  short  boot  or  buskin ;  and 
a  half-stocking  or  sock  (probably  what  they  called 
socca)  is  sometimes  seen  worn  over  the  hose  instead 
of  the  bandages.' 

The  practice  of  bandaging  or  cross-gartering  IJi.'. 
hose  was  followed  by  the  Franks,  whose  costum*?, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  Lombards,  was  very  similar 
to  that  of  the  Saxons.     The  Monk  of  St.  Gall  says, 

1  To  go  barfifooted  was  a  penitentiary  injunction.  Upon  the  land- 
ing of  one  of  the  great  Danish  armies,  a  general  penance  for  three 
days  was  ordered,  and  every  man  commanded  to  go  "barefoot  ti> 
church,  without  gold  and  ornaments."  MS.  C  C  Cantab,  apud 
Wanley,  p.  138. 

2  In  the  Life  of  St.  Neot  he  is  said  to  have  lost  his  scoh  (shoe), 
and  to  have  seen  a  fox  having  the  "  thwanges"  of  it  in  his  mouth. 
Gotten  MS.  Vespasian,  D.  xiv.  p.  144. 

3  Soccas  and  hosan  are  mentioned  in  St.  Benedict's  rules,  Cotton  MS. 
Tib.  A.  3  ;  also  two  other  coverings  for  the  legs  and  feet  called  meon 
and  fiand  reaf  fota,  and  the  earra  slife  for  the  upper  part  of  the  body. 


Saton  Cio^K'-,  Piain  and  EvBRoiEEitrD  Tfvics.  \NP  ?rnEs.     From  Cotton  JIS.  ClnuJ.  B.  4. 


316 


HISTORY  OF  ExNGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


that  "  over  their  stockings  or  drawers  they  wore 
Allets  bound  crosswise  in  such  a  manner  as  to  keep 
them  properly  upon  the  legs."  Such  bandaged  hose 
were  worn  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century  by  the 
butchers  in  France,  and  called  les  lingettes.^  The 
Saxon  name  appears  to  have  been  scancheorg, 
literally  shank  or  leg  guard.  A  similar  fashion 
etill  exists  among  the  people  of  the  Abruzzi  and 
the  Apennines,  and  in  some  parts  of  Russia  and 
Spain.  The  bandages  are  sometimes  depicted  as 
gilt  on  the  legs  of  regal  personages,  as  are  also  the 
shoes  and  buskins  of  princes  or  high  ecclesiastical 
dignitaries.  Theganus,  in  his  Life  of  Louis  le 
Debonnaire,  son  of  Charlemagne,  describes  his 
buskins  as  being  of  gold  stuft'  or  gilt  (ocreas  aureas). 
The  hose  are  commonly  represented  either  red 
or  blue.  Coverings  for  the  head  are  rarely  seen 
except  upon  the  figures  of  wairiors.  The  cap, 
therefore,  seems  to  have  been  the  helmet,  and  its 
shape  is  either  conical  or  of  the  ancient  Phrygian 
description.  Indeed,  the  whole  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  costume,  whether  civil  or  military,  curiously 
resembles  the  Phrygian.  Silk,  which  was  known 
as  early  as  the  eighth  century,  and  purple  cloth, 
formed  the  mantles  of  sovereigns  and  princes ;  and 
golden  tissues,  and  embroideries  in  gold,  silver,  and 
silks  of  various  colors,  were  also  worn  from  the 
eighth  to  the  tenth  century  by  pei'sons  of  high 
rank."  Furs  were  also  used  for  the  lining  and 
ornamenting  of  garments.  Those  of  sable,  beaver, 
and  fox,  by  the  richer  classes,  and  the  skins  of  cats 
and  lambs  by  the  poorer  or  more  economical.  The 
ornaments  of  the  male  sex  consisted  of  bracelets, 
brooches,  and  fibulae  of  gold,  silver,  and  ivory ; 
chains,  crosses,  and  rings  of  gold  and  silver,  some- 
times beautifully  enameled  ;  belts  of  gold  and  silver 
studded  with  jewels,  and  headbands  or  diadems  of 
the  same  magnificence.  The  hair,  when  worn 
long,  was  parted  on  the  forehead,  and  suffered 
to  fall  naturally  down  the  shoulders.     The  beard 

1  Archaeolog;ia,  xxiv.  37. 

2  Bede,  p.  297.     Ingulph,  p.  61.    Dugdale's  Mon.  5M. 


RiNGBD  Mail.    Cotton  M?.  Claud.  B.  4. 


was  ample,  and  generally  forked.  The  fulmina- 
tions  of  the  clergj-  against  long  hair  may  be  sup- 
posed occasionally  to  have  produced  some  effect  for 
a  short  period,  as  we  find  in  some  illuminations 
the  hair  cropped  and  the  face  shaven.'  The  old 
Teutonic  passion  for  long,  flowing  ringlets,  how- 
ever, was  never  totally  eradicated.  The  barbaric 
custom  of  tatooing,  or  puncturing  the  skin,  was 
practiced  by  the  Anglo-Saxons  as  well  as  by  the 
Britons,  and  a  law  was  passed  against  it  a.d.  785 ; 
but  it  was  nevertheless  continued  during  the  whole 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  and  is  amongst  the 
English  vices  reprobated  by  William  of  Malmesbury 
after  the  Norman  Conquest. 


Costume  of  Female,  exhibiting  the  Under  and  Upper  Sleeved 
Tunic,  the  Mantle,  and  Hood.    From  Harleian  MS.  No.  2908. 

The  female  costume  of  thife  period  appears  to 
have  consisted  generally  of  a  long  and  ample  gar- 
ment with  loose  sleeves  (probably  that  called  the 
gunna  or  gown),*  worn  over  a  closer-fitting  one 
(either  the  tunic  or  the  Jcirtle),^  which  had  tight 
sleeves  reaching  to  the  wrist,  shoes  similar  to  those 
worn  by  the  male  sex,  and  a  head-dress  formed  of 
a  veil  or  long  piece  of  linen  or  silk  wrapped  round 
the  head  and  neck,  called  in  Saxon  heafodes  roegel 
(head-rail),  or  wcefles,  derived  from  wcefan,  "to 
cover.^^  The  mantle  also  formed  part  of  the  dress 
of  the  superior  classes,  and  in  some  of  the  illumi- 
nations it  resembles  the  ecclesiastical  vestment 
called  a  chasuble.  We  may  presume  that  the 
socca  or  some  other  sort  of  hose  was  worn  by  the 
women  as  well  as  by  the  men ;  but  the  length  of 
the  tunic  prevents  our  observing  them  in  the  illu- 
minations. Notwithstanding  the  universal  appear- 
ance of  the  head-rail,  we  find  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
ladies  paid  great  attention  to  the  dressing  and  or- 
namenting of  their   hair.     Adhelm   describes  the 

1  In  the  fourth  century,  we  are  told  they  cut  their  hair  so  close  that 
the  head  appeared  diminished  and  the  face  enlarged.    Sid.  Apollinarius. 

2  A  Bishop  of  Winchester  sends  as  a  present,  "  a  short  gunna, 
sewed  in  our  manner."  Mag.  Bib.  Pat.  xvi.  &2.  But  that  it  was  the 
exterior  garment  that  was  so  called  is  evident  from  another  passage 
in  the  same  work,  where  a  gunna  is  stated  to  hare  been  composed  of 
otter's  skin,  p.  88.  In  Scotland  an  upper  garment  worn  by  women, 
which  comes  down  only  to  the  middle,  is  still  called  a  short-gown 
(with  a  strong  emphasis  on  the  first  syllable). 

3  Will  of  Wynfleed.  Vide  Preface  to  Hickes"  Anglo-Saxon  Gram- 
mar, p.  22. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


317 


twisted  locks  of  a  lady  as  being  delicately  curled 
by  the  iron  of  those  adorning  her ;  and  Judith,  in 
the  Anglo-Saxon  poem  so  called,  is  apostrophized 
as  the  "  maid  of  the  Creator,  with  twisted  locks." 
Adhelm  also  describes  the  wife  as  loving  to  paint 
her  cheeks  with  the  red  color  of  stibium. 


Canute  and  his  Queev.    From  llie  Re?ister  of  Hyde  Abbey. 
Engraved  in  Striitt's  Horda  Angel  Cynan. 

Cuffs  and  ribands  (ctiffian  and  hindan)  are  men- 
tioned in  the  will  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  lady,  and  an 
engraved  teah  or  bracelet.  In  other  Anglo-Saxon 
documents  mention  is  made  of  a  golden  fly  beau- 
tifully adorned  with  gems,  of  golden  vermiculated 
necklaces,  of  a  bulla  that  had  belonged  to  the  grand- 
mother of  the  lady  spoken  of,  golden  head-bands, 
ear-rings,  a  neck  cross,  and  of  golden  ornaments 
called  sylas. 

Gloves  appear  to  have  been  very  rare  amongst 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  In  one  illumination  only  have 
we  seen  the  hand  covered  except  by  the  sleeve  of 
the  gown  or  tunic,  and  in  that  instance  it  is  by  a 
species  of  muffler,  having  a  thumb,  but  no  separate 
fingers.  Amongst  the  representations  of  male 
figures  they  are  never  met  with ;  but  from  a  law  of 
Ethelred  the  Unready,  quoted  in  a  preceding  chap- 
ter, it  may  be  inferred  that,  at  the  close  of  the 
tenth  or  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  they 
were  gi'eat  rarities — five  pair  forming  a  considera- 
ble part  of  the  duty  paid  by  a  society  of  German 
merchants  for  the  protection  of  their  trade. 

Of  the  royal  costume  among  the  Anglo-Saxons 
perhaps  the  most  distinct  representation  to  be  found 
is  that  furnished  by  the  drawing  in  one  of  the 
manuscripts,  of  King  Edgar  seated  on  his  throne. 
To  this  we  may  add  some  representations  of  the 
costume  and  ornaments  of  the  ecclesiastical  order. 

The  military  costume  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  on 
their  first  appearance  in  Britain  is  exceedingly  un- 
certain. The  Welsh  bard  Aneurin,  who  flourished 
in  the  sixth  century,  and  fought  in  person  against 


Kino  Edgar.    From  the  Cotton  MS.  Tib.  A.  3. 


St.  Auoustin.    From  Royal  MS.  10.  A.  13. 


IIS 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


rurRiD,  King  i>r  Nortih  mberiand,  and  an  Ecclesiastical  Synod 

OFfEHING  THE  BISHOPRIC  OF  HeXHAM  TO  St.  ClTUBERT. 

MS.  Life  of  Bede,  a.  a  1200. 


Bif  nor  AND  Priest.    From  Cotton  MS.  Claud.  B  4. 


Ptatce  or  St.  Cutiibert.    From  one  ot'  the  external  Canopies  of  the  Middle  Tower  of  Durham  Cathedral. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


319 


Golden  Cross.    Wnrn  by  St.  Cuthbert,  and  found  on  his  body  at  the 
opening  of  his  Tomb  in  18-.J7. 

the  invaders,  describes  them  as  being  armed  with 
••daggers,  white- sheathed  piercers,  spears,  and 
shields,  the  latter  being  made  of  spht  wood,  and 
four-pointed  or  square  hehnets."  He  says  "  their 
leader  was  armed  in  scaly  mail,  carrying  a  project- 
ing shield,  a  slaughtering  pike,  and  wore  (as  a 
mantle  perhaps)  the  skin  of  a  beast."  His  men- 
tion of  the  square  or  four-pointed  helmet  is  a  cir- 
cumstance which  goes  to  confirm  the  credit  of  his 
iian"ation,  as  that  singular  head-piece  is  to  be  seen 
both  in  Frankish  and  Anglo-Saxon  illuminations.^ 
The  Saxons  who  invaded  Thuringia  in  the  same 
century  are  described  by  Wittichind  as  leaning  on 
small   shields,    bearing   long    lances,    and    wearing 


Costume  of  a  Soldier.    From  Cotton  MS.  Tib.  C.6. 

great  knives  or  crooked  swords  by  their  sides. 
But  Wittichind  wrote  at  the  close  of  the  tenth 
century,  and  Mr.  Sharon  Turner,  who  quotes  this 

J  1  The  regal  diadem  of  the  Franks  and  Anglo-Saxons  is  also  ocra- 
I  sionally  depicted  quadrangular.  Vide  Plates  in  Strutt  and  Mont- 
!    faucon,  Mon.  Franc. 


passage,  remarks,  in  another  part  of  his  work,  that 
Wittichind,   though  a   Saxon    himself,   appears    to 
have  been  completely  ignorant  of  Saxon  antiquities.' 
Alcuin  and  Adhelm,  both  writers  of  the  eighth 
century,  are  the  first  who  afford  us  any  authority 
on  which  we  may  rely  for  the  military  dress  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons.     The  former  tells  us  that  the  short 
linen  tunic  was  preferred  to  all  other  vestments  as 
the  one  in  which  they  could  most  freely  wield  their 
weapons ;  and  from  the  composition  by  the  latter, 
entitled  his  Enigma,  we  find  that  some  description 
of   metal  armor,   if  not  the    gehringed    hyrne,    or 
tunic  of  iron   rings,   derived  from   the    East,  and 
Latinized  (indiscriminately  with  other  armor)  loricu, 
was  known  at  the  sam«  period.    '•  I  was  produced," 
runs  the  Enigma,  "in  the  cold  bowels  of  the  dewy 
earth,    and   not  made    from  the   rough    fleeces    ol" 
wool :  no  woofs  drew  me,  nor  at  my  birth  did  tin- 
tremulous  threads  resound  :  the  yellow  down  of  the 
silkworms  formed  me  not;   I  passed   not  through 
the  shuttle,  neither  was  I  stricken  with  the  wool- 
comb  ;  yet,  strange  to  say,  in  common  discourse,  I 
am  called  a  garment,   I  fear  not  the   darts  taken 
from  the  long  quivers."     This  testimony  is  in  favor 
of  the    descriptions   of   Aneurin,    who   speaks    ot 
"  loricated  bands"  and  "  scaly  mail."     The  latter, 
the   lorica  squamata,  which   the  Romans   derived 
from  the  Sarraatians,  and  which  was  known  to  and 
worn  by  so  many  nations  of  the  East,  may  very 
probably  be   supposed  to  have  been  worn  by  the 
leaders  of  the   Saxon   host.     The  scales  or  rings 
were  sewn  in  rows  upon  an  under  garment  of  linen 
or  leather.     Phiygian  warriors  are  often  depicted 
so  arranged ;  and  Pausanias  describes  a  Sarmatian 
lorica,  with  the  scales  made  of  thin  shces  of  horses" 
hoofs,  which  he  saw  and  inspected  in  the  Temple 
of  Esculapius  at  Athens."     The  improvement   of 
connecting  the  rings  one  with  the  other,  so  as  to 
make  a  tunic  of  them,  independent  of  their  leather 
or  linen  foundation,  is  ascribed  by  most  antiquarie^- 
to  a  period  as  late  as  the  reign  of  Edward  I.     There 
are  some   expressions,  however,  that  occur  in   an 
Anglo-Saxon  poem   of  the  tenth   century,   which 
seem  to  prove   that  such  defences  were   then   in 
use;  and  the  ''■lorica"  of  Adhelm  being  called  u 
garment  at  the  same  time  that  he  expressly  denies 
the  assistance  of  wool,  linen,  or  silk  in  its  compo- 
sition, would  lead  to  the   inference  that  it  was  a 
vestment  complete  in  itself,  which  could  only  arise 
from  its  being  formed  of  linked  rings,  or  scales  or 
plates   of  metal  riveted  one   to    the    other.      The 
expressions  alluded  to  are  such  as 

"  Their  battle-niail  shone 

By  hard  hands  well  locked. 

The  shining  iron  rings 

Sung  against  their  weapons, 

When  they  to  the  palace 

In  their  formidable  apparel  were  delighted  to  go." 

***** 
"  Beownlf  addressed  him  ; 

The  mail  shone  upon  him  ; 

The  heavy  net  mas  linked 

By  the  smith's  care."  ^ 


1  Hist.  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  i.  p.  236. 

2  Lib.  i.  p.  50,  Edit.  Kuhn.     The  Sarmatians  are  also  represented 
with  such  coats  of  mail  on  the  Trajan  Column. 

3  Poem  of  Beowulf.    Turner's  Trans.  Hist.  Anglo-Saxons,  iii.  335-d. 


320 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


The  "  locking  and  linking  of  iron  rings"  by  "  hard 
hands,"  or  "  the  smith's  care,"  and  the  mail  form- 
ing "  a  heavy  net,"  are  phrases  which  may  autho- 
rize us  to  beUeve  that  the  gehringed  hyrne  of  the 
Saxon  was  occasionally,  and  at  least  as  early  as  the 
tenth  century,  nearly  the  same  as  the  hauberk  of 
single-chain  mail  of  the  thirteenth. 

Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  the  chiefs  only  could 
aflbrd  so  expensive  an  equipment.  The  linen  tunic 
was  the  general  garb  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  soldiery, 
to  which  was  occasionally  added  a  border  or  collar 


of  metal,  as  a  thorax  or  pectoral,  as  we  find  it 
alluded  to  by  the  term  of  breost-beden,  or  breosl- 
beorg,  literally,  breast-defence,  or  breast-guard. 
The  helmet,  originally  of  the  Phrygian  shape,  wna 
made  of  leather,  sometimes  bound  or  bordered  with 
metal.  It  had  sometimes  a  serrated  comb  or  crest, 
called  by  their  writers  carnb  on  hette,  or  camb  oh 
helme.  In  the  tenth  century  we  find  the  helmet 
becoming  conical,  and  approaching  to  the  form  of 
the  nasal  helmet  of  the  eleventh. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  shield  appears  to  have  been 


Battle  Scene.    From  the  Cotton  MS.  Claud.  B.  J. 


oval  and  convex,  with  an  iron  umbo  or  boss.  The 
shields  appear  in  the  illuminations  painted  with 
red  and  blue  borders,  but  the  ground  and  centre 
generally  white.  Aneurin  describes  them  as  being 
made  of  split  wood ;  and  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  poem 
of  Beowulf  they  are  called 

"The  shields  of  Hilda, 
The  boards  of  bright  wood." 

They  were  sometimes  covered  with  leather,  but, 
according  to  one  of  the  Saxon  laws,  no  shield- 
maker  was  allowed  to  put  a  sheep-skin  over  a 
shield.'  The  rim  and  the  boss  were  of  iron, 
either  painted  or  gilt.  They  were  held  at  arm's 
length  in  action,  hke  those  of  the  Britons,  and  were 
sometimes  large  enough  to  cover  nearly  the  whole 
body ;  but  their  sizes  are  various  in  the  illumina- 
tions ;  and  we  also  read  of  "  little  shields,"  '» lesser 
shields,"  and  of  "  the  targan,"  or  "  target."* 

The  offensive  weapons  were  all  formed  of  iron. 
Their  swords  were  long,  broad,  and  double-edged, 
their  javelins  and  spears  sometimes  barbed,  some- 
times leaf-shaped.  They  fought  also  with  axes 
fixed  to  long  handles,  called  bills,  and  the  double 
axe  or  bipennis,  called  twy-byl.  To  these  some 
authorities  add  the  alle-barde  or  cleave-all.  The 
specimens  of  Anglo-Saxon  weapons  here  engraved 
are  in  the  collection  of  Sir  S.  Meyrick,  at  Good- 
rich Court,  and  were  found  in  one  of  the  tumuli 
called  Chapel  Tumps,  near  Pengethley,  county  of 
Hereford.  No.  1  is  the  head  of  a  javeHn.  Nos. 
2  and  3  are  spear-heads.  No.  4,  the  blade  of  a 
bill  or  alle-barde.  No.  5,  Sir  S.  Meyrick  con- 
siders to  be  a  specimen  of  the  often-talked  of  seax, 

»  Wilkins,  Leg-.  Saxon,  p.  59. 

a  Will  of  Ethelstan,  son  of  Ethelred  II.,  dated  1015. 


the  curved  sword  or  dagger,  from  which  tradition 
says  the  Saxons  derived  their  name,  and  with 
which  the  famous  massacre  of  the  Britons  is  said 
to  have  been  perpetrated.  That  the  seax  was  not 
a  curved  sword  or  dagger,  however,  is  pretty 
evident  from  the  testimony  of  Bede,  who,  in  his 
relation  of  the  attempted  assassination  of  Edwin  by 
an  emissary  of  Cwichelm,  King  of  Wessex,  a.d. 
625,  tells  us  that  the  twi-eced  (double-edged)  seax 
of  the  ruffian  passed  through  the  body  of  Lilla,  the 
king's  thegn,  who  had  flung  himself  before  Edwin, 
and   slightly  wounded  the  king  himself.'     Such  a 

»  Bede,  lib.  ii.  c.  9. 


\ 


Anglo-Saxon  Weapons. 


Chap.  V^I.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


321: 


Anglo-Saxon  Weapons. 

blow  could  never  surely  be  struck  by  a  curved 
weapon.  It  Avas  evidently  a  thrust ;  and  if  the 
weapon  here  engraved  be  indeed  the  hand-seax  of 
the  Saxons,  it  will  be  observed  that  it  can  scarcely 
be  called  curved,  the  hilt  only  taking  an  inclination 
like  the  but-end  of  a  pistol.  Wittichind  is  the  only 
authority  who  speaks  of  a  crooked  sword ;  and  if 
he  is  to  be  I'ehed  upon,  the  Saxons  must  certainly 
have  abandoned  it  very  shortly  after  their  arrival  in 
Britain,  if  not  before,^  as  the  swords  discovered  in 
Saxon  tumuli  are  long,  broad,  and  straight,  corres- 
ponding exactly  with  those  depicted  in  all  the 
illuminations  from  the  eighth  to  the  eleventh  century. 
And  as  to  the  term  seax  meaning  a  weapon  of  any 
particular  shape,  the  proofs  are  all  to  the  contrary. 
The  word  is  used  to  express  any  sharp  instrument, 
whether  a  sword,  a  dagger,  a  knife,  or  a  lancet,  the 
latter  being  called  ceder-seax,  or  vein-knife. 

The  spur  worn  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  horsemen 
appears  to  have  been  the  goad,  or  pryck-spur,  and 
to  have  been  fastened  with  leathers  nearly  as  at 
present. 

The  costume  of  the  Danes  during  the  ninth  and 
tenth  centuries  appears  from  the  few  authorities 
we  possess,  to  have  generally  resembled  that  of  the 
Saxons  of  the  same  period.  A  few  national  pecu- 
liarities alone  distinguished  them  from  their  Anglian 
brethren. 

Arnold  of  Lubeck  describes  the  whole  Danish 
nation  as  originally  wearing  the  garments  of  sailors, 
as  befitted'  men  who  lived  by  piracy  and  inhabited 
the  sea ;  but  in  process  of  time,  he  says,  they  became 
wearers  of  scarlet,  purple,  and  fine  linen.     On  their 

'  The  curved  or  crooked  sword  is,  in  our  opinion,  the  weapon  of 
the  third  great  stream  of  population  which  flowed  westward — 
namely,  the  Sclaronic,  and  not  of  the  second  or  Teutonic  race,  from 
whence  the  Saxons  were  derived.  Thus  we  find  the  sabre  in  the 
hands  of  the  Pole,  the  Hungarian,  the  Bohemian,  and  all  the  Scla- 
vonic nations ;  and  the  still  more  recent  Turk  present*  us  with  the 
cimitar. 

VOL.  I. — 21 


establishment  in  England,  we  find  them  described 
as  effeminately  gay  in  their  dress,  combing  their 
hair  once  a  day,  bathing  once  a  week,  and  often 
changing  their  attire  ;  by  which  means  they  pleased 
the  eyes  of  the  women,  and  frequently  seduced  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  the  nobility.' 

Long  hair  with  them,  as  with  the  Saxons,  was 
considered  amongst  their  greatest  ornaments. 
Harold  Harfagi-e,  i.  e.,  Fair  Locks,  received  that 
appellation  from  the  length  and  beauty  of  his  hair, 
which  is  said  to  have  flowed  in  thick  ringlets  to  his 
girdle,  and  to  have  been  like  golden  or  silken  threads. 
The  Knyghtlinga  Saga  describes  Canute's  hau-  as 
profuse.  The  portrait  of  this  monarch,  which  has 
been  given  in  a  preceding  page,  from  the  MS. 
register  of  Hyde  Abbey,  written  during  his  reign, 
exhibits  him  in  the  customary  regal  Saxon  costume. 
The  only  novelty  observable  is,  the  fastening  the 
mantle  by  cords  and  tassels  in  lieu  of  a  fibula  or  a 
ring.  The  Danes  wore  the  same  description  of 
ornaments,  but  were  particularly  paitial  to  their 
massive  golden  bracelets,  which  were  always  buried 
with  them.^ 

The  military  dress  of  the  Danes  of  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  centuries  was  apparently  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Normans.  Both  were  more  heavily 
armed  than  the  Anglo-Saxons.  But  the  latter 
speedily  adopted  the  superior  defences  of  their  in- 
vaders and  conquerors  ;  and  at  the  commencement 
of  the  eleventh  century,  the  conical  helmet  of  iron 
with  its  nasal,  or  nose-guard,  called  nef  biorg,  and 
the  long  tunic  covered  with  iron  rings  or  mascles, 
and  furnished  with  a  hood,  as  an  additional  protec- 
tion to  the  head  and  neck,  are  found  worn  in  com- 
mon by  the  three  nations. 

The  Danish  shields  were  generally  painted  red; 
and  one  of  a  lunated  form,  like  the  Amazonian 
pelta,  was  used  by  those  who  fought  with  the 
Danish  axe — a  weapon  for  the  use  of  which  they 
had  acquired  a  terrible  celebrity.  The  Danes 
were  taught  "  to  shoot  well  with  the  bow ;"  a 
weapon  which  the  Anglo-Saxons  are  said  to  have 
neglected. 

The  task  of  investigating  the  social  usages  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  cannot  be  completed  in  a  very  satis- 
factory manner.  But  though  it  may  be  impossible 
to  give  a  distinct  picture  of  every  department  of 
Anglo-Saxon  life,  a  tolerably  correct  delineation 
may  be  made  of  some  of  its  principal  features. 
The  labors  of  the  husbandman  varied  only  with  the 
seasons,  and  the  state  of  the  useful  arts  admitted 
but  of  few  subdivisions,  so  that  there  would  be  a 
great  degree  of  uniformity  in  all  the  active  and 
industrial  operations  of  the  communitj'.  Each  large 
landowner  divided  the  employment  of  his  serfs  in 
such  a  manner  that  they  should  be  enabled  to 
supply  all  his  necessities.  A  large  retinue,  as  in 
every  rude  age,  was  considered  a  mark  of  wealth 
and  consequence.  Labor  was  employed  in  a  much 
less  economical  manner  than  in  a  period  of  greater 
civilization,  and  there  being  a  small  amount  of  free 
men  practicing  the  various  handicrafts   and  most 


'  .].  Wallingford.  apud  Gale. 

-  Bartholiaus.— Johannes  Tinmuth 


322 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


necessary  employments,  the  number  of  servants 
and  artificers  required  by  each  occupier  of  a  large 
landed  property  could  not  have  been  otherwise 
than  crreat.'  From  whence  could  the  various  arti- 
cles of  daily  necessity  have  been  obtained  but  from 
the  serfs  whom  their  lord  had  trained  up  for  the 
purpose?  It  is  stated  in  Bede  that  there  were  250 
slaves  on  some  land  which  was  given  to  Wilfrid  by 
the  king.  The  isolating  tendency  of  this  state  of 
society  was,  however,  gradually  counteracted  by 
the  practice  of  manumitting  sl.aves,  chiefly  from 
religious  motives.  Men  of  landed  property  often 
rewarded  their  serfs  with  grants  of  land  when  they 
had  been  particularly  faithful,  or  had  excelled  in 
the  arts  to  which  they  had  been  brought  up.  From 
these  elements  arose  a  free  population,  whose  ex- 
istence rendered  the  services  of  a  population  in  a 
state  of  slavery  gradually  less  advantageous. 

The  higher  classes  were  called  upon  to  perform 
a  number  of  duties  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  institu- 
tions attached  to  their  station.  The  great  festivals 
of  the  church,  the  royal  courts,  which  were  held 
at  Christmas,  Easter,  and  Whitsuntide,  the  county 
courts,  the  hundred  courts,  were  all  occasions  on 
which  they  were  called  upon  to  take  an  active  part 
in  public  life.  The  clergy  had  a  variety  of  duties 
to  perform.  They  were  the  best  practical  agri- 
culturists, the  most  skilful  architects,  and  were, 
besides,  acquainted  with  many  of  the  common 
handicrafts. 

The  accounts  which  we  possess  of  domestic 
usages  at  this  period  are  few  and  brief.  The  hours 
of  rising  amongst  a  country  population  are  in- 
variably early.  The  ploughman,  the  shepherd,  the 
swineherd,  would  be  at  their  labors  by  the  earliest 
dawn.  It  is  not  improbable  that  a  short  time  was 
devoted  during  the  middle  of  the  day  to  a  siesta. 
In  the  monasteries  this  was  the  case,  and  indeed 
was  rendered  almost  necessary  by  the  services  per- 
formed "  before-day,"  and  again  at  the  dawn  of 
day.  At  mid-day  the  monks  took  a  meal  and  slept, 
and  again  rose  and  went  through  the  remaining 
services.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  as  we  learn 
from  Tusser.  the  laborers  in  husbandry  enjoyed  a 
similar  i-elaxation.- 

Persons  of  substance  had  four  meals  a-day  ;  and 
as  flesh-meat  was  cheap  in  proportion  to  the  price 
of  bread,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  it  consti- 
tuted a  large  portion  of  the  food  of  all  classes. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  eighth  century,  an 
Anglo-Saxon  missionary  complains  tliat  the  priests 
rejected  animal  food,  which  he  considers  as  some- 
thing like  ingratitude  towards  God.  We  have  a 
strong  proof  of  the  extensive  use  of  animal  food  in 
a  law  of  Wihtrffid,  which  declares  that  a  man  who 
gave  meat  to  his  servants  on  fast-days  was  liable  to 

'  Charlemagne  commanded  his  judges  to  provide  for  each  of  his 
castles  or  royal  abodes  "  good  citizens,"  viz.,  "  workmen  in  iron,  gold 
and  silver,  stone-cutters,  turners,  carpenters,  armorers,  engravers, 
washers  ;  brewers  skilled  in  making  good  mead,  cider,  and  perry,  and 
all  other  liquors  tit  to  be  drunk  ;  bakers,  who  likewise  have  the  art  of 
preparing  millet  for  our  use  ;  and  all  other  tradesmen  whom  it  would 
l>e  too  long  to  enumerate.'' — Sismondi"s  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
p.  239. 

"  Tusser's  Five  Hundred  Points  of  Good  II  isbandrv,  p.  157,  Mavor's 
Edit. 


be  punished  in  the  pillory.  If  the  servant  ate  it  of 
his  own  accord,  he  was  either  fined  or  bound  "to 
sufl'er  in  liis  hide."'  It  appears,  therefore,  that  so 
much  cheaper  was  animal  food  than  any  other,  that 
a  master  was  resti-ained  from  giving  it  to  his  ser- 
vants, just  as  in  many  places  near  the  sea  it  is  still 
not  unusual  for  servants  to  bargain  with  their  em- 
ployers not  to  have  fish  oftener  than  a  certain  num- 
l)er  of  days  in  each  week.  The  food  allowed  on 
fast-days  consisted  of  milk,  cheese,  and  eggs.  As 
to  the  inferior  quality  of  butchers'  meat  in  the  An- 
glo-Saxon times,  there  can  be  no  question,  as  it  is 
only  within  the  last  century  that  it  lias  been  much 
improved,  and  the  Anglo-Saxons  consumed  their 
animal  food  in  a  salted  state  during  one  half  of  the 
year.  In  one  of  the  manuscripts*  there  is  a  draw- 
ing representing  the  killing  of  animals,  and  the 
method  of  preparing  their  flesh  for  the  table.  A 
sheep  is  killed  by  a  stroke  on  the  neck  with  an  axe, 
while  it  is  held  by  the  horns.  Another  man  severs 
entirely  the  head  of  an  animal  with  the  axe.  These 
are  both  rude  modes  of  butchering.  The  meat  is 
cooked  in  a  cauldron  which  rests  upon  a  trivet,  and 
underneath  is  the  fire.  One  of  the  attendants  has 
a  crook  for  the  purpose  of  taking  out  the  meat. 
The  use  of  iron  rendered  the  process  much  supe- 
rior to  that  which  was  once  the  practice  of  the 
Scottish  Highlanders,  who  sometimes  boiled  their 
meat  in  wooden  vessels,  and  efl'ected  their  objeft 
by  repeatedly  plunging  heated  stones  into  the 
water. 

Boiling,  baking,  and  broiling  were  the  usual 
modes  of  preparing  animal  food.  The  former  was 
perhaps  the  most  common.  The  Anglo-Saxons 
used  herbs  of  various  kinds  to  season  their  food, 
but  their  principal  vegetable  ingredient  was  cole- 
wort,  which  there  is  reason  for  presuming  was 
eaten  with  animal  food.  The  month  of  February 
was  called  "  sprout-kele,"  from  the  plant  beginning 
to  grow  at  this  season.'  There  was  a  cook  in  all 
the  monasteries,  but  in  other  households  the  duties 
were  perfoFraed  by  females  in  a  servile  state.  An 
opulent  lady  is  mentioned  who  bequeathed  her 
cook  to  one  of  her  friends. 

The  ancient  Saxons  had  been  addicted  to  eating 
raw  flesh ;  but  amongst  their  descendants  in  this 
island,  one  of  the  canons  of  the  church  directed 
that  "  if  a  person  ate  anything  half  dressed,  igno- 
rantly,  he  should  fast  three  days ;  if  knowingly 
four  days."  The  following  ecclesiastical  regula- 
tions have  also  the  same  tendency  as  the  one  just 
given  : — "  For  eating  or  drinking  what  a  cat  or  dog 
has  spoiled,  he  (the  offending  person)  shall  sing  a 
hundred  psalms,  or  fast  a  day.  For  giving  an- 
other any  liquor  in  which  a  mouse  or  a  weasel 
shall  be  found  dead,  a  layman  shall  do  ponance 
for  four  days;  a  monk  shall  sing  three  hundred 
psalms."* 

Some  of  the  drawings  in  the  MSS.  exhibit  the 
customs  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  at  table.  The  most 
important   fact  to   be   noticed  is,   that  both  sexes 

1  Wilk.  Leg.  Sax.  9T.  =  Claud.  B.  iv. 

3  Verstegan's  Restitution  of  Dcciycd  Intelligence,  p  64. 
*  Spelman's  Concilia,  p.  287 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


323 


were  assembled  on  these  social  occasions,  and  this 
alone  indicates  many  important  points  relative  to 
the  state  of  manners  and  civilization.  Knives, 
horns,  bowls,  and  dishes  are  placed  on  the  tables ; 
and  loaves  of  bread,  fish,  and  soup  or  houilli,  are 
prepared  for  the  entertainment.  The  tables  are 
each  of  them  covered  Avith  a  cloth;  and  in  some 
instances  the  cloth  appears  to  extend  over  the 
knees  of  the  guests,  as  if  it  was  intended  also  to 
serve  as  a  substitute  for  napkins.  At  one  table 
two  attendants,  in  a  kneeling  attitude,  offer  the 
meat  on  spits.  But  with  however  keen  a  relish 
the  Anglo-Saxons  indulged  in  the  pleasures  of  eat- 
ing, they  were  still  more  addicted  to  the  love  of 


Feast  at  a  Uound  Table.    Bayeux  Tapestry 


Dinner  :— the  Company  Pledging  each  other.    Cotton  MS.  Cleopatra,  C.  8. 


Dinner  Party  .—the  Servants  on  their  Knees  offering  the  Food  on  Spits.    Cotton  MS.  Tib.  C.  7. 


drinking.  William  of  Malmsbury,  who  wrote  his 
history  httle  more  than  a  century  after  the  Con- 
quest, and  was  well  acquainted  with  Anglo-Saxon 
manners,  states  that  "  excessive  drinking  was  the 
common  vice  of  all  ranks  of  people,  in  which  they 
spent  whole  nights  and  days  without  intermission." 
Hven  the  festival  days  of  the  chui'ch  were  disgraced 
l)y  intemperance ;  and  it  may  be  recollected  that  it 


was  on  the  festival  of  St.  Augustin,  in  946,  that 
Edmund  I.  was  murdered,  a  catastrophe  which 
might  have  been  prevented  but  for  the  inebriated 
state  of  the  king's  attendants  and  of  the  nobles 
who  were  present.^  A  few  years  after  this,  Edgar 
the  Peaceable  endeavored  to  check  the  national 
vice,  and  put  an  end  to  the  disputes  and  quarrels 

1  See  p.  161. 


324 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


which  arose  from  a  practice  which  prevailed  of 
handing  round  the  company  a  common  drinking 
vessel,  which  the  guests  were  expected  to  vie  with 
each  other  in  trying  who  should  drain  to  the 
greatest  depth.  He  ordered  that  these  vessels 
should  be  made  with  knobs  of  brass  at  a  certain 
distance  from  each  other,  so  that  no  one  was  com- 
pelled to  drink  more  at  a  draught  than  from  one  of 
the  knobs  to  another.'  In  the  poem  of  Beowulf, 
Hrothgar,  one  of  the  heroes,  is  invited  to  "  a  feast 
in  the  hall  of  mead."  Benches  are  spread  in  "  the 
beer-hall ;"  the  cup-bearer,  "  laden  with  ale,"  dis- 
tributes it  to  those  assembled,  and  the  scop  or 
poet  is  introduced.  At  another  banquet  described 
in  the  same  poem,  "  there  was  then  a  number  of 
men  and  women  who  the  wine-chamber  of  the 
great  mansion  prepared."  The  description  then 
oroceeds  as  follows  : — "  Then  were  song  and  music 
united ;  the  lay  was  oft  narrated  ;  the  hall-games 
followed."  The  harp,  as  has  been  already  noticed, 
as  well  as  the  drinking-cup,  was  handed  round  at 
festive  meetings,  and  each  individual  was  expected 
to  sing  and  play  on  the  instrument  in  turn.     Bede 

>  William  of  Malnisbury,  lib.  ii.  c.  8. 


relates  that  the  religious  poet  Caedmon  used  always 
to  raise  from  table  before  it  came  to  his  turn  to  per- 
form, that  he  might  avoid  taking  part  in  what  he 
considered  too  worldly  a  kind  of  hilarity.  Even  at 
their  ordinary  social  entertainments  the  evenings 
uniformly  concluded  with  drinking.  That  there 
might  be  no  mistake  as  to  the  exact  point  against 
which  the  prohibitions  of  the  church  on  drunken- 
ness were  directed,  one  of  the  canons  declared — 
"  This  is  drunkenness,  when  the  state  of  the  mind 
is  changed,  the  tongue  stammers,  the  eyes  are  dis- 
turbed, the  head  is  giddy,  the  belly  is  swelled,  and 
pain  follows."  The  general  love  of  unrefined 
pleasure  characterized  the  clergy  as  well  as  the 
laity.  In  Edgar's  time  the  monasteries  are  de- 
scribed as  presenting  scenes  of  gambling,  dancing, 
and  singing,  "  even  to  the  very  middle  of  the 
night."'  The  monks  were  pi-ohibited  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Cloveshoe  from  admitting  poets,  musicians,  or 
buffoons  into  the  monasteries ;  and  a  previous  council 
had  endeavored  to  repress  the  love  of  convivial  plea- 
sures which  characterized  the  inmates  of  the  cloister.* 

I  Ethel.  Ah.  Riev.  p.  360.    Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  iii.  p.  59., 
3  Spelman's  Concilia,  159. 


Convivial  Party  : — the  Forms  of  the  Harp,  Lute,  Pipe,  and  Trumpet,  deserve  attention.    Ilarleian  MS.  No.  G03. 


The  mode  of  salutation  among  the  Anglo-Saxons 
appears  to  have  been  that  which  several  of  the 
continental  nations  still  observe  ;  for  during  penance 
a  man  was  forbidden  to  kiss  another.'  When  a 
titranger  entered  a  house  it  was  customary  to  bring 
him  water  to  wash  his  hands,  and  warm  water  for 
his  feet.  Their  habits  of  personal  cleanliness  de- 
serve to  be  noted.  The  use  of  warm  baths  ap- 
pears to  have  been  general.  They  were  held  in 
such  estimation,  that  the  deprivation  of  the  use  of 
them  was  inflicted  by  the  church  as  a  penance. 
Sometimes  the  deprivation  of  the  warm  bath  was 
joined  with  the  prohibition  of  a  soft  bed.  Cold 
bathing,  on  the  other  hand,  was  imposed  as  a  mor- 
tification ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  penitent  was 
to  pay  so  little  attention  to  his  personal  ornament  or 
comfort,  that  "  the  iron  should  not  come  to  his  hair 
or  nails."  These  penances,  inflicted  by  the  church, 
would  alone  prove  that  the  warlike  spirit  of  the 
ancient  Saxons  had  greatly  degenerated  among 
their  descendants,  and  that  a  long  course  of  tran- 
(|uillity  and  prosperity  had  effected  important 
ihanges  in  their  character. 

The  treatment  of  children  offers   an  important 

1  Leges  Edga",  Wilk.  p  94. 


illustration  of  national  manners.  The  desertion  of 
children  sometimes  occurred  among  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.  The  practice  was  common  among  their 
pagan  ancestors ;  but  the  influence  of  Christianity 
on  one  of  the  most  natural  feehngs  of  the  heart 
soon  occasioned  it  to  be  regarded  as  a  crime,  and 
a  law  was  passed  Avhich,  though  not  well  calcu- 
lated for  its  repression,  shows  the  kindly  affections 
which  were  aroused  in  behalf  of  deserted  children. 
For  the  fostering  of  a  foundling  six  shillings  were 
to  be  allowed  for  the  first  year ;  twelve  shillings  for 
the  second  year  ;  thirty  shillings  for  the  third  year ; 
and  afterwards  the  foster-parent  was  to  receive  a 
sum  varying  according  to  the  appearance  which  the 
child  exhibited  of  having  been  properly  ti'eated.' 
On  children  being  bereft  of  their  father,  they  re- 
mained imder  the  mother's  care ;  but,  until  the 
eldest  child  became  of  age,  were  subject  to  the 
guardianship  of  the  husband's  relations.  From 
their  birth,  imtil  after  the  period  of  childhood, 
children  were  under  the  care  of  females.  Edgar 
rewarded  with  lands  the  wife  of  an  eolderman  who 
had  nursed  and  brought  him  up  in  his  childhood ; 
and  such  instances  of  grateful  feeling  were  not  un- 

^  Laws  of  Ina  in  Wilkin's  Concilia. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


32:, 


common.^  Cradles  were  used,  and  women  gen- 
erally nursed  their  own  children. 

Children  were  baptized  by  immersion,  within 
thirty  days  after  their  birth.'  The  holy  oil,  how- 
ever, was  also  used,  as  in  tlie  present  ceremonial  of 
the  Catholic  church ;  and  the  canons  of  Edgar 
direct  that  priests  should  always  keep  oil  ready  for 
baptism.  The  connexion  established  between  the 
child  and  those  who  undertook  the  responsibility 
of  sponsorship  was  much  respected.  The  name 
by  which  each  sponsor  was  known  to  the  other 
and  to  the  child  was  "  godsib,"  implying  that  they 
were  religiously  allied ;  the  word  "  sib"  meaning 
kindred.'  Names  were  given  to  children  while 
yet  infants,  and  they  therefore  indicate  supposed 
qualities,  and  not  those  which  the  bearer  actually 
possessed.  Verstegan,  in  his  admiration  of  our 
Anglo-Saxon  forefathers,  adverts  with  much  satis- 
faction to  the  fact,  that  "  nobleness,  honor,  honesty, 
valor,  peace,  amity,  quietness,  charity,  truth,  loy- 
alty, and  all  other  virtues  were  in  their  name- 
giving  recommended."  *  Some  of  their  names,  in- 
deed a  large  porportion,  were,  however,  expressive 
rather  of  admiration  of  those  rough  qualities  which 
are  esteemed  by  a  rude  people.  Thus  we  have 
Athelwulf,  the  noble  wolf;  Behrtwulf,  the  illus- 
trious wolf ;  Hundbert,  the  illustrious  hound  ;  Ead- 
wulf,  the  wolf  of  the  province  ;  Sigwulf,  the  wolf 
of  victory.  There  are,  however,  others  which  im- 
ply more  regard  for  the  peaceful  and  civic  virtues: 
Edgar,  a  keeper  of  his  oath ;  Egbert,  advised  unto 
equity  ;  Earnulph,  the  help  or  defence  of  honor ; 
Oswine,  beloved  of  his  house  and  family.  Some  of 
their  female  names  are  gentle  and  expressive  : — 
Adeleve,  the  noble  wife  ;  Wynfreda,  the  peace  of 
man ;  Deorwyn,  dear  to  man ;  Deorswythe,  very 
dear  ;  Winnefride,  a  winner  or  gainer  of  peace.^ 
Mr.  Turner  gives  instances,  showing  that  surnames 
derived  fi'om  the  appearance  of  an  individual,  fi-om 
his  dwelling-place,  office,  calling,  or  other  circum- 
stances, were  in  use  among  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
though  they  were  apparently  by  no  means  com- 
mon." 

A  father,  if  very  poor,  was  allowed  to  give  up 
his  son  to  slavery  for  seven  years,  if  the  child's 
consent  were  given.'  Even  this  restricting  pro- 
vision had  not  always  existed,  but  was  introduced 
through  the  intervention  of  the  clergy  in  668, 
though  it  probably  would  not  go  far  towards  miti- 
gating the  evil.  We  have  seen,  in  a  preceding 
chapter,  that  in  some  parts  of  the  country  the 
custom  of  peasants  selling  their  children  for  slaves 
was  common  down  nearly  to  the  Norman  Con- 
quest. A  child  of  ten  years  old  could  give  evi- 
dence. Until  a  daughter  was  fifteen  years  old, 
her  father  could  marry  her  to  whomsoever  he 
pleased ;  but  after  this  age  he  no  longer  possessed 
such  power.     A  boy  of  fifteen  might  enter  upon 

1  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  iii.  p.  6. 

2  Wilk.  Leg.  Anglo-Sai.,  p.  14. 

3  Verstegan,  p.  246.  The  word  is  still  in  common  use  in  Scotland 
m  the  same  sense.  *  lb.  304. 

5  Turner's  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  iii.  p.  2.  Verstegan,  p.  304. 
*  Anglo-Saions,  vol.  iii.  p.  11  Hickes's  Dis.  Epist.  22-25 
'  Wilk.  Couc.  130. 


the  monastic  life,  if  he  were  so  disposed ;  and  :i 
girl  at  a  somewhat  later  period.  Many  of  the  youtli 
were  received  in  the  monasteries,  where  they  ob 
tained  the  means  of  instruction.  The  canons  ot 
Edgar  directed  the  clergy  to  "  teach  youth  witli 
care,  and  to  draw  them  to  some  craft."  School- 
boys appear  to  have  been  kept  in  order,  and  urged 
to  their  tasks  by  the  dread  of  personal  chastise- 
ment, as  in  modern  days.  The  youth  of  superioi' 
rank,  after  they  had  passed  through  their  limited 
course  of  instruction,  were  initiated  and  rendered 
proficients  in  the  manly  sports  of  the  times.  It 
was  only  at  a  later  period,  however,  that  it  becam<i 
customary  for  the  children  of  the  higher  classes  to 
receive  any  school  education.  The  brothers  of 
Alfred  the  Great  did  not  learn  to  read. 

The  respect  paid  to  women,  and  the  influence 
which  they  enjoyed,  appear  to  have  been  greater 
among  our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors  than  some  of 
the  general  characteristics  of  their  state  of  society" 
might  have  led  us  to  expect.  Before  their  arrival 
in  this  country  the  Saxons,  in  common  with  other 
German  nations,  punished  unchastity  in  female."- 
with  extreme  rigor.  None  regard  a  crime  of  this 
nature  with  greater  detestation  than  women  them- 
selves ;  and  the  severity  of  its  punishment  amonj; 
the  Saxons  may  be  conceived  when  we  find  that  to 
their  hands  was  frequently  committed  the  female 
who  had  disgraced  her  sex.  A  number  of  them 
pursued  her  from  one  place  to  another,  and  no 
where  did  she  obtain  refuge  or  pity,  but  found 
fresh  persecutors  wherever  she  went.  Her  body 
was  pierced  with  their  knives,  till,  under  this  cruel 
and  vindictive  treatment,  she  expired.  In  some 
cases  the  woman  was  compelled  to  hang  herself: 
after  which  her  body  was  burnt,  and  her  partner 
in  crime  was  put  to  death  over  her  ashes.'  This 
savage  mode  of  protecting  the  honor,  and  pro- 
moting the  virtue  of  women,  was  quite  consistent 
with  the  spirit  of  a  rude  and  barbarous  people,  who 
were  as  yet  untouched  by  the  more  kindly  influ- 
ences of  Christianity.  It  had,  however,  the  eff'ect 
of  giving  additional  support  to  a  virtue  which  is 
the  chief  basis  of  female  excellence.  Other  de- 
sirable qualities  had  thus  the  opportunity  of  takini: 
root;  and  the  acquisition,  by  women,  of  a  consid- 
erable degree  of  social  influence,  was  the  natural 
result.  Another  of  the  causes  which  contributed 
to  the  elevation  of  women  amongst  the  ancient 
tribes  of  the  Germanic  stock  is  probably  to  be  foimd 
in  the  fortunate  circumstance  of  their  mental  and 
bodily  faculties  making  their  progress  towards  ma- 
turity at  something  like  an  equal  rate.  When  a 
female  was  fitted  to  become  a  wife,  her  skilfulness 
in  household  matters,  and  her  general  experience 
and  knowledge,  gave  her  an  authority  which  she 
could  not  have  possessed  if  her  bodily  develop- 
ment had  been  more  precocious  than  that  of  her 
intellect  and  understanding.  Instead  of  being  the 
slaves  of  their  pleasures,  women,  even  in  a  bar- 
barous age,  exercised  a  permanent  influence  over 
men,  and  occupied  the  position  of  their  associates 
and  equals. 

1  Letter  of  Boniface,  in  Mag.  Bibl.  Patrum,  xvi.  55. 


326 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


Very  seldom,  if  ever,  in  the  illuminated  manu- 
scripts which  relate  to  this  period  do  we  find  women 
represented  as  taking  a  part  in  the  labors  of  the 
field,  but  even  in  those  which  are  of  the  lightest 
kind  men  only  are  employed.  In  our  account  of 
rural  occupations,  it  has  already  been  stated  that 
the  shepherd  who  tended  his  flock  also  milked  the 
ewes  and  made  cheese  ;  and  if  this  were  the  general 
practice,  women  were  more  exclusively  occupied 
within  doors  than  at  the  present  day,  when,  owing 
to  improved  practices  in  agriculture,  there  are  many 
means  of  employing  both  them  and  children  in  field 
work.  Women  were  therefore  placed  within  the 
sphere  which  is  most  favorable  to  their  influence. 
In  the  East,  the  most  hberal  Mussulmans,  who 
allow  a  future  state  and  future  felicity  to  women, 
maintain  that  they  will  not  be  admitted  into  the 
same  Paradise  as  men ;'  but  instead  of  having  to 
describe  a  state  of  society  in  which  notions  so  de- 
grading were  prevalent,  we  find  women  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons  invested,  both  in  their  families,  in  the 
vye  of  the  law,  and  by  political  circumstances,  with 
their  fair  share  of  influence.^  They  do  not  appear 
to  have  attained  this  condition  because  they  embel- 
lished life  by  their  graces,  for  the  remains  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  Uterature  do  not  contain  any  notices  which 
ran  lead  us  to  infer  that  the  charms  of  female  society 
were  highly  prized  ;  but  their  substantial  value  con- 
sisted rather  in  the  due  performance  of  their  duties 
as  mothers  and  as  housewives.  Women  were  the 
possessors  of  land,  of  slaves',  and  other  property. 
They  made  wills  bequeathing  their  possessions. 
They  appeared  before  the  shire-gemot  in  disputes 
respecting  their  property;  and  in  a  case  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Turner,  there  were  present  an  abbot,  a 
priest,  an  ethehng,  eight  men,  two  abbesses,  six 
other  ladies,  and  many  other  good  thegns  and  women. 
The  woman  obtained  her  suit.^  Another  case  is 
mentioned  in  which  a  man  and  his  wife  were  asso- 
ciated in  a  law-suit.  In  their  marriages,  their  dig- 
nity as  well  as  inclination  was  consulted;  and  in 
the  History  of  Ely  a  case  is  mentioned  of  a  lady  re- 
fusing to  maiTy  a  man  because  his  possessions  were 
not  large  enough  to  entitle  him  to  sit  in  the  witena- 
gemot.*  In  the  earliest  of  the  Saxon  laws  that  re- 
main, those  of  Ethelbert,  female  chastity  is  protected 
by  penalties,  vaiying  according  to  the  rank  or  condi- 
tion of  the  injured  party.  The  mund,  or  protecting 
fine,  for  a  widow  of  the  highest  rank  was  fifty  shil- 
lings ;  for  one  of  the  second  class,  twenty  shillings ; 
of  the  third,  twelve  shillings  ;  and  of  the  fourth,  six 
shilhngs.  Even  the  violation  of  the  domestic  hap- 
piness of  the  serf  was  visited  by  a  proportionate 
fine.  The  fine  paid  by  the  man  who  forcibly  vio- 
lated a  female  was  increased  if  she  were  betroth- 
ed, and  was  still  higher  if  she  w^ere  pregnant  at 
the  time.  These  regulations  underwent  some 
alteration  in  Alfred's  time,  but  the  laws  on  the  sub- 

>  Chardin,  iv.  p.  26. 

«  By  the  Cauons  of  Edgar,  women  were  not  allowed  to  come  near 
(he  altar  at  mass.  It  does  not  seem  easy  to  account  for  such  a  regula- 
tion, unless  Its  object  was  to  prevent  those  engaged  in  the  offices 
from  being  disturbed  by  their  presence. 

*  Turner's  History,  vol.  ii.  p.  575.  5th  Ed. 

*  Gale.  Scrip,  iii.  513 


ject  were  still  framed  on  the  same  principle.  Con- 
cubinage was  expressly  forbidden,  and  also  the 
marrying  within  certain  degrees  of  kindred.  On 
the  father's  death,  the  children  remained  under  the 
mother's  care,  subject  to  some  provisions  aheady 
alluded  to. 

It  appears  clear,  from  all  this,  that  women  were 
surrounded  with  a  number  of  those  privileges  and 
advantages  which  generally  accompany  a  better  state 
of  society  than  existed  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  times. 
The  same  thing  will  be  further  apparent  from  a 
notice  of  some  of  a  few  particulars  relative  to  their 
marriage  contracts  and  ceremonies.  The  laws  of 
Ethelbert  and  Edmund,  the  former  made  in  the 
sixth  or  seventh,  the  latter  in  the  tenth  century, 
supply  the  best  information  on  this  subject.  Ethel- 
bert's  law  provided,  that  if  a  wife  who  had  borne 
children  was  left  a  widow,  she  was  to  have  one  half 
of  her  husband's  property ;  but  if  he  died  without 
having  had  children  by  her,  the  property  reverted 
to  his  own  kindred.  The  morgen-gift,  which  the 
man  paid,  on  his  marriage,  to  the  wife's  relations, 
was  also  to  be  returned.  The  laws  of  Edmund 
indicate  more  fully  what  was  the  course  pursued. 
Nothing  appears  to  have  been  taken  on  trust,  and 
every  step  was  accompanied  by  certain  stipulations, 
which,  however  unromantic  they  may  appear,  con- 
ferred real  and  substantial  influence  on  women  at  a 
period  when  their  claims  to  regard  would  not  have 
been  so  certainly  acknowledged  if  they  had  rested 
more  exclusively  on  moral  considerations.  Alfred's 
Boethius  contains  a  passage  in  which  he  has  em- 
bodied some  affectionate  feehngs  on  the  love  of  a 
wife  for  her  husband.  We  give  it,  though  it  is  of  a 
higher  tone  than  we  may  suppose  to  have  generally 
prevailed.  He  sajs  : — "  Liveth  not  thy  wife  also? 
She  is  exceedingly  prudent  and  very  modest.  She 
has  excelled  all  other  women  in  purity.  .  .  .  She 
lives  now  for  thee ;  thee  alone.  Hence  she  loves 
nought  else  but  thee.  She  has  enough  of  every 
good  in  this  present  life  ;  but  she  has  despised  it  all 
for  thee  alone.  She  has  shunned  it  all  because  she 
has  not  thee  also.  This  one  thing  is  now  wanting 
to  her.  Thine  absence  makes  her  think  that  all 
which  she  possesses  is  nothing.  Hence  for  thy  love 
she  is  wasting,  and  full  nigh  dead  with  tears  and 
sorrow  !"  The  preliminaries  of  a  marriage  consisted 
in  obtaining,  first,  the  consent  of  the  lady ;  next,  of 
her  friends,  one  of  whom  was  appointed  to  act  on 
her  behalf,  and  who  required  not  only  the  pledges 
of  the  bridegroom  expectant,  that  he  would  keep 
his  wife  in  circumstances  suitable  to  her  condition, 
but  also  the  sureties  of  his  friends,  who  thus  bound 
themselves  to  see  that  he  duly  fulfilled  his  engage- 
ments. But  the  precautions  taken  did  not  terminate 
here ;  the  next  subject  for  consideration  was  the 
means  of  supporting  the  children  who  might  be  the 
issue  of  the  marriage  ;  and  the  friends  of  the  bride- 
groom were  here  again  called  upon  to  become  re- 
sponsible for  the  proposals  which  he  made.  The 
amount  of  the  morgen-gift,  a  bridal  offering  or  joint- 
ure (generally  a  piece  of  land),  which  was  given  the 
day  after  the  marriage ;  and  of  the  pi-operty  to  be 
settled  upon  the  wife  in  case  of  the  husband's  death. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


327 


were  next  to  be  determined  upon ;  and  pledges 
having  been  mutually  given  that  in  case  of  removal 
from  one  jurisdiction  to  another  no  injury  should 
arise  to  the  wife,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  if  she 
committed  any  offence,  the  proper  compensation 
would  be  made,  the  seal  was  put  to  all  these  nego- 
tiations by  the  performance  of  the  marriage.  This 
ceremony  was  of  a  religious  nature,  and  was  attended 
by  a  priest,  who  implored  a  blessing  on  the  union. 
It  was  followed  by  festivities,  which  often  continued 
many  days.  Alfred  was  attacked  with  the  disorder 
which  never  left  him,  during  the  protracted  banquets 
in  honor  of  his  nuptials.  Hai-dicanute  died  with 
the  cup  in  his  hand  at  the  marriage  festivities  of  a 
noble  Dane.  The  marriage  of  Gunihlda,  Hardica- 
nute's  half-sister,  who  was  married  to  the  Emperor 
Henry  III.,  was  performed  with  unusual  splendor. 
The  chroniclers  state  that  never  had  there  been  so 
great  a  display  in  England  of  gold  and  silver,  gems, 
garments  of  rich  workmanship,  and  horses.  Songs 
were  composed  in  honor  of  the  lady,  to  perpetuate 
the  recollection  of  her  beauty,  and  were  sung  by  the 
people  for  a  long  period  afterwards.  A  widow  might 
not  many  until  twelve  months  of  her  widowhood 
had  expired.  If  she  neglected  this  observance,  she 
lost  all  claim  to  the  property  which  she  had  obtained 
by  her  previous  marriage. 

In  addition  to  the  influence  derived  by  women 
from  the  possession  of  property  which  they  could 
freely  dispose  of  by  will,  those  of  the  highest  rank 
not  unfrequently  had  some  share  in  the  management 
of  political  affairs,  and  sometimes  displayed  an  activ- 
ity and  energy  which  led  to  important  events.  They 
were,  in  early  times,  frequently  instrumental  in 
the  conversion  of  their  husbands  to  Christianity, 
and  the  mission  of  Augustin  was  rendered  much 
more  successful  through  their  influence  than  it 
might  otherwise  have  been.  The  influence  of  ladies 
of  rank  who  took  the  veil  and  became  abbesses  could 
not  have  been  unimportant  throughout  the  whole  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  period.  There  are  also  instances 
in  which  they  took  a  part  in  concerns  which 
demanded  sterner  qualities.  Ethelberga,  the  queen 
of  Ina,  put  herself  at  the  head  of  an  army  to  repress 
an  insurrection  which  had  taken  place  in  her  hus- 
band's absence,  and  a  fortress  which  she  attacked 
was  taken  and  leveled  with  the  ground.  About  fifty 
years  before,  an  able  and  spirited  woman,  Seax- 
burgha,  the  widow  of  King  Cenwealth,  had  reigned 
for  a  short  time,  in  conformity  with  her  deceased 
husband's  nomination,  over  the  powerful  kingdom 
of  Wessex,in  spite  of  the  hostility  of  the  neighbor- 
ing princes,  which  she  counteracted  by  her  prudence 
and  activity.  Notwithstanding  this  instance,  how- 
ever, a  female  sovereignty  was  altogether  abhoiTont 
to  the  notions  and  customs  of  the  Saxons  and  the 
other  Germanic  nations.  Even  the  right  of  being 
crowned  was  for  some  time  taken  from  the  wives 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  in  consequence  of  the 
crimes  of  Eadburgha,  the  queen  of  Brithric  of  Wes- 
sex,  who  poisoned  her  husband  ;  but  they  afterwards 
recovered  this  honor.  The  queen  is  frequently 
mentioned  as  sitting  in  the  witenagemot;  and  her 
position  was  no  doubt  altogether  one  of  great  in- 


fluence as  well  as  dignity.  Suit  seems  to  have  been 
not  unusually  made  to  her,  and  her  interest  sought, 
when  a  favor  was  solicited  from  the  crown.  Thus, 
Alfwin,  Abbot  of  Ramsay,  in  order  to  procure  the 
favor  of  Edward  the  Confessor  to  his  monastery, 
gave  the  king  twenty  marks  of  gold ;  but  he  did  not 
neglect  at  the  same  time  to  propitiate  his  queen, 
Editha,  to  whom  he  presented  five  marks. 

Ties  of  political  amity  were  often  cemented  by 
marriages ;  and  this  would  also  be  the  means  of 
conferring  importance  and  distinction  upon  the 
highest  rank  of  females,  and  of  elevating  the 
general  standard  and  tone  of  manners  with  regard 
to  women.  Four  of  Athelstane's  sisters  were 
married  to  powerful  princes ;  one  of  whom  was 
Hugo,  Count  of  Paris,  the  founder  of  the  dynasty 
of  Capet.  Hugh  urged  his  suit  by  an  embassy 
loaded  with  splendid  presents,  which  appear  to  have 
been  intended  partly  for  the  lady,  and  partly  for 
her  brother,  who  had  the  disposal  of  her  hand. 
Among  them  were  the  sword  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  the  spear  of  Charlemagne,  besides  horses, 
perfumes,  jewels,  and  relics.  Another  of  Athel- 
stane's sisters  was  married  to  Otho  the  Great,  Em- 
peror of  Germany.  Various  instances  might  be 
quoted  of  marriages  entered  into  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  kings  for  pohtical  objects,  and  of  the  effect  of 
such  connexions  in  promoting  peace  and  intercourse 
between  different  states. 

But  it  was  not  only  in  politics  that  the  influence 
of  women  of  the  higher  classes  Avas  often  beneficially 
exerted.  Their  mental  endowments  and  acquisi- 
tions were  also  occasionally  employed  with  the 
happiest  effect  in  domestic  life.  It  was  Osburgha, 
the  mother  of  Alfred,  it  will  be  remembered,  who 
first  awakened  the  literaiy  taste  of  her  illustrious  son.^ 
Ethelfleda,  Alfred's  eldest  daughter,  was  the  inher- 
itor of  her  father's  intellect  and  accomplishments,  as 
well  as  of  his  patriotic  spirit,  and  even  of  his  martial 
ardor  and  talent.^  She  is  spoken  of  by  the  old 
chroniclers  as  the  wisest  lady  in  England.  Tne 
character  of  Athelstane  was  formed  by  Ethelfleda ; 
and  her  judicious  superintendence  of  his  education 
rendered  this  monarch  only  inferior  to  Alfred  the 
Great.  Editha,  the  queen  of  Edward  the  Confessor, 
we  have  also  seen,  graced  her  high  rank  by  high 
mental  cultivation.^ 

The  conclusions  to  which  we  may  fairly  come 
from  a  consideration  of  the  facts  which  have  been 
brought  forward  in  relation  to  the  condition  and 
influence  of  women,  are,  upon  the  whole,  highly 
favorable  both  to  them  and  to  the  general  state  of 
society  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  period.  "Women  then 
occupied  a  position  which  has  enabled  them  ever 
since  to  move  forward  with  every  social  improve- 
ment ;  and  their  present  condition  is  not  the  result 
of  any  sudden  revolution  in  public  feeling,  but  tho 
consequence  of  a  gradual  advancement  which  has 
operated  with  nearly  equal  effect  upon  the  various 
parts  of  society. 

There  has  never  yet  existed  a  people  without 
their  peculiar  sports  and  pastimes.  The  popular 
diversions  of  a  nation  are  a  pait  of  its  civilization, 
I  See  p.  157.  2  See  p.  159.  ^  See  p.  178. 


328 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  TI. 


and  they  change  with  the  various  phases  of  its 
social  condition.  For  example,  hunting  and  fishing, 
which,  in  one  stage  of  a  people's  progress,  are 
pursued  as  a  means  of  subsistence,  become,  in  a 
subsequent  period,  a  principal  source  of  recreation 
and  amusement.  It  is  related  by  Asser,  in  his  life 
of  Alfred,  that  the  young  nobles,  after  having  received 
some  instruction  at  school  in  the  Latin  tongue,  ap- 


plied themselves  to  the  "  arts  adapted  to  manly 
strength,  such  as  hunting."  Many  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  kings  were  great  lovers  of  the  chase.  One 
of  them,  the  first  Harold,  received  the  surname  of 
"  Harefoot,"  from  the  fleetness  with  which  he  pur- 
sued the  game  on  foot.  The  huntsman,  however, 
was  usually  mounted.  Boars  and  wild  deer  were 
the  principal  objects  of  pursuit,  and  hounds  were 


Boar  Hunting.    From  CoUon  MS.  Julius,  A.  7. 


trained  for  the  purpose  of  hunting  them  down. 
Hares,  and  sometimes  goats,  were  also  hunted. 
Nets  were  frequently  used,  into  which  the  hunter 
endeavored  to  drive  these  animals.  The  chase  was 
enlivened  with  the  sounds  of  the  horn.  The  laws 
respecting  game  were  mild  and  hberal  compared 
with  those  which  were  afterwards  enacted  by  the 


Norman  princes.  When  the  king  went  to  hunt  in 
any  place  no  one  was  allowed  to  interfere  with  his 
pastime ;  but  at  other  times  every  man  might  pur- 
sue the  animals  which  were  found  upon  his  own 
land.'  Until  the  reign  of  Canute  it  was  customary 
to  hunt  on  Sundays. 

1  Wilkins,  Leg.  Sax   146. 


Hawking  Party.    Harleian  MS.  No.  603 


Hawking  always  ranked  next  in  consideration  to 
hunting,  and  in  latter  times  became  a  sport  of  still 
hieher  distinction.     Alfred  wrote   a   book  on   the 


management  of  hawks ;  and,  according  to  Asser, 
his  biographer,  he  insti-ucted  his  falconers,  hawkers, 
and  hound-trainers.     We  read  of  an  archbishop  of 


Hawking.    From  Cotton  MS.  Julius,  A.  6. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


329 


Mons,  a  native  of  England,  sending  a  hawk  and  two 
falcons  to  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  seventh  century.  The  birds  bred  in 
England  were  not  held  in  much  esteem  ;  and  a  king 
of  the  Mercians  requests  the  same  archbishop  to 
send  him  two  falcons  that  had  been  trained  to  attack 
cranes,  not  being  able  to  procure  such  as  were  suf- 
ficiently skilful  and  courageous  at  home.  Such 
presents,  between  persons  of  consequence,  were 
frequently  made.  Hawking,  at  a  later  period,  be- 
came so  common  that  regulations  were  made  for 
the  purpose  of  restraining  some  of  the  abuses  to 
which  it  gave  rise.  The  monks  were  forbidden  to 
keep  hawks  and  falcons;  and,  in  821,  persons  car- 


rying hawks  were  prohibited  by  a  king  of  the  Mer- 
cians from  trespassing  upon  the  lands  belonging  to 
the  monks  of  Abingdon.  Both  hawks  and  hounds 
were  frequently  bequeathed  by  will.  The  falconer 
seems  to  have  taken  his  birds  in  harvest,  and  after 
training  them  for  use,  kept  them  until  the  spring, 
when  he  let  them  fly  to  the  woods ;  and  again,  in 
harvest,  provided  himself  with  others.  By  some, 
however,  they  were  kept  through  the  whole  year. 
Birds  of  various  kinds  were  also  taken  in  snares, 
traps,  and  with  bird-lime,  and  wild  ducks  by  decoys. 
The  bow  and  arrow,  and  also  the  sling,  were  used 
for  the  destruction  both  of  birds  and  beasts.  In  the 
Cotton  MS.  of  the  paraphrase  of  Caedmon  there  is 


Killing  Birds  with  a  Slino.    Cotton  MS.  Claud.  B.  4. 


a  representation  of  Esau  going  to  seek  venison,  and 
of  Ishmael  in  the  desert.  Both  are  provided  with 
a  bow  and  arrows,  and  Esau  is  accompanied  by  a 
dog.  The  bow  is  ornamented  so  as  to  resemble  a 
serpent,  the  head  being  carved  at  one  end,  and  the 
tail  at  the  other.  The  string  is  not  fixed  at  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  bow,  but  within  a  short  distance  of 
it.  The  birds  which  Ishmael  has  killed  are  slung 
by  the  neck  on  his  belt. 

We  have  no  account  of  any  horse-racing  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons  ;  but  Bede,  in  one  passage,  speaks 
of  a  party  of  young  men  ti-ying  the  speed  of  their 
horses  on  an  open  piece  of  ground  to  which  they 
happened  to  come. 

The  in-door  sports  were  various,  and  suitable  to 
diflFerent  ranks.  The  games  of  chess  and  backgam- 
mon were  both  known,  or  at  least  games  very  sim- 
ilar to  them.  Canute  is  mentioned  on  one  occasion 
as  being  found  engaged  in  a  game  of  tesserae  or 
scacci.  Backgammon  is  said  to  have  been  invented 
in  the  tenth  century,  and  some  etymologists  have 
assigned  the  name  a  Saxon  or  a  Welsh  derivation. 
In  the  canons  of  Edgar  games  of  chance  are  forbid- 
den to  the  clergy. 

The  gleemen  were  the  most  important  characters 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon  festivals.  Some  of  them  seem 
to  have  performed  tricks,  gambols,  and  feats,  of  all 
kinds,  while  others  were  harpers  or  bards,  and  bal- 
lad-singers. In  the  edicts  of  the  Council  of  Clove- 
shoe,  among  those  who  practiced  the  sportive  arts, 


are  classed  poets,  harpers,  musicians,  and  buffoons. 
The  first-mentioned  class  of  gleemen  were  in  fact 
mimics,  dancers,  tumblers,  and  performers  of  sleight 
of  hand  tricks;  and  the  rudiments  of  the  drama  are 
to  be  traced  in  some  of  the  performances  with  which 
they  amused  the  people.  Some  of  their  dances 
appear  to  have  demanded  great  exeition  and  skill. 
One  of  these  was  a  sort  of  war-dance  by  two  men 
in  martial  dresses.  They  were  armed  with  a  sword 
and  shield,  and  went  through  a  mock  combat  to  the 
sound  of  music — the  musicians,  a  man  playing  on  a 
horn,  and  a  female,  dancing  round  the  two  comba- 
tants. 

An  illuminated  MS.  which  is  intended  to  exhibit 
Herodias  dancing  before  Hei-od,  represents  her  as 
tumbling ;  and  it  may  therefore  be  concluded  that 
their  dancing  consisted  to  some  extent  of  this  kind 
of  posture-making.  But  exercises  of  strength  and 
agility  were  practiced  by  others  as  well  as  by  these 
professional  performers.  St.  Cuthbert  is  recorded 
by  Bede  to  have  excelled  in  running,  wrestling,  and 
other  athletic  exercises.  Another  of  the  feats  of 
the  gleemen  consisted  in  throwing  up  three  balls 
and  three  knives  alternately  into  the  air,  and  catch- 
ing them  in  their  fall.  This  performance  is  repre- 
sented in  one  of  the  drawings  given  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter.  Animals  also  were  taught  to  dance 
and  put  themselves  into  various  attitudes  for  the 
popular  amusement.  Bear-baiting,  and  doubtless 
many  other  unrefined  amusements,  aflforded  pleas- 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  II. 


Dance.    Tlie  Lyre  and  Double  Flute  are  of  the  Classic  form  and  proportions.     Cotton  MS.  Cleopatra,  C.  8. 


ure  during  an  age  in  which  education  included  very 
little  to  exercise  the  intellect. 

We  may  here  notice  some  of  the  popular  super- 
stitions of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  the  remains  of  their 
old  paganism  which  Christianity  had  not  succeeded 
in  uprooting.     The  change  from  one  systeni  to  the 
other  would  for  a  great  length  of  time  be  imperfect, 
and,  until  the  work  was  completed,  we  may  con- 
ceive that  the  old  superstitions  would  still  continue 
to  exercise  an  almost  undiminished  influence  over 
the  popular  mind  :  some  of  them  have  scarcely  yet 
been  put  to  flight.     The  Christianized  Saxons  ac- 
cordingly retained  unimpaired  that  belief  in  witches, 
charms,   and  prognostics,  which    had  formed    the 
greater  part  of  their  former  religion.     The  male  or 
female  dealer  with  the  powers  of  darkness  was  all 
but   universally  supposed   to   have    the    power   of 
inflicting   sickness,   of  inciting    to   love    or   hatred, 
controlling   the    elements,  or   rendering  the  fields 
fertile.     Every  day  in  the  year  was  distinguished 
by  its  aptitude  or  unfitness  for  one  or  other  of  the 
concerns   of  hfe.     From  the   occurrence   of  some 
trivial  circumstance  at  a  certain  time  unfovorable 
omens  were  drawn  ;  while  some  other  equally  nat- 
ural and  unimportant  incident  was  regarded  as  the 
harbinger    of  every  blessing.     The    diminution  in 
the  amount  of  individual  happiness  among  a  people 
hable  every  hour  of  the  day  to  be  filled  with  the 
apprehensions  of  approaching  calamity  must  have 
been  incalculable.     Dreams,  in  like   manner,  ope- 
rated upon  the  Anglo-Saxon  mind  with  more  than 
the  force  of  actual  events.     The  law,  however,  en- 
deavored to  repress  certain  of  the  forms  of  the  na- 
tion.al  superstition,  which  evinced  in  a  more  palpable 
nianuer  the  imperfect  conversion  of  the  people  to 
Christianity.     The  following  is  one  of  the  earlier 
laws  which  were  passed  with  this  object: — "We 
teach  that  every  priest  shall  extinguish  all  heathen- 
dom, and  forbid  wilweorthunga  (fountain  worship), 
and   licwiglunga   (incantations    of  the    dead),    and 
hwata  (omens),  and  galdra  (magic),  and  man-wor- 
ship,  and  the   abominations  that  men  exercise  in 
various  sorts  of  witchcraft,  and  in  frithsplottum,  and 
with  elms  and  other  trees,  and  with  stones,  and 


with  many  other  phantoms.""  Even  so  late  as  in 
the  time  of  Canute  the  practices  here  prohibited 
were  still  rife,  for  in  one  of  his  laws  the  people  are 
ordered  not  to  worship  the  sun  or  the  moon,  fire  or 
floods,  wells  or  stones,  or  any  sort  of  tree ;  not  to 
love  witchcraft,  or  frame  death-spells,  either  by  lot 
or  by  touch  ;  nor  to  eflect  anything  by  phantoms.* 

We  shall  close  our  sketch  of  the  domestic  and 
social  usages  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors  with  a 
notice  of  their  mode  of  disposing  of  the  dead  and 
their  funeral  ceremonies.  The  burning  of  the  dead, 
as  practiced  by  the  Britons,  after  the  Roman  exam- 
ple, had  at  one  time  also  been  prevalent  amongst 
the  ancient  Germans.  The  Germans  were  accus- 
tomed to  divide  their  history  into  two  periods ;  the 
first,  in  which  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  burnt, 
termed  the  age  of  burning;  the  second,  termed  the 
age  of  hillocks,  in  which  the  dead  were  buried,  and 
a  cairn  or  mound  of  earth  raised  over  their  remains.* 
But  the  Germans,  in  the  time  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
burned  the  bodies  of  criminals ;  and  it  may  there- 
fore be  presumed  that  this  was  not  their  usual  mode 
of  disposing  of  their  dead.  There  is  abundance  of 
proof  that  in  England  the  custom  of  interment  had 
then  become  general.  The  body  of  Edward  the 
Martyr,  indeed,  who  was  murdered  in  978,  was 
burnt  by  his  friends,  and  the  ashes  were  deposited 
at  Wareham  ;  but  this  is  the  only  instance  we  meet 
with  of  a  body  being  burnt  among  the  Anglo-Saxons. 
The  interment  of  a  corpse  in  a  pit  or  gi-ave  suc- 
ceeded to  the  custom  of  covering  it  only  with  a 
mound  or  a  heap  of  stones.  The  use  of  coffins 
would  not  perhaps  at  first  be  general,  but  it  subse- 
quentl}'  became  so.  For  persons  of  distinction  or 
wealth  they  were  of  stone,  and  for  others  of  wood. 
The  corpse  was  sometimes  covered  with  a  sheet  of 
lead,  and  was  then  placed  in  a  wooden  coffin.  Linen 
shrouds  were  used,  and  the  clergj'  were  buried  in 
the  habits  of  their  office.  The  burial-places  at  first 
were  not  in  the  midst  of  the  population ;  but  Arch- 

1  Wilk.  Leg.  Anglo-Sax.  p.  53,  quoted  by  Mr  Turner  in  Hist,  ol 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  vol.  iii.  p.  136.     5th  edit. 

2  Wilkins,  p.  134,  in  Turner,  iii,  137 

3  Bartholin,  lib.  i,  c,  8. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 


331 


bishop  Cuthbert,  about  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
century,  obtained  permission  to  bury  the  dead  with- 
in cities.  The  churches  in  consequence  at  length 
became  crowded  with  graves,  so  that  in  the  course 
of  time  it  was  found  necessary  to  restrain  the  prac- 
tice ;  and  none  were  allowed  to  be  buried  in  the 
churches  but  ecclesiastics  and  persons  whose  lives 
had  been  distinguished  by  piety  and  good  works. 
The  body  was  often  conveyed  a  considerable  dis- 
tance for  burial.  Wilfrid,  Archbishop  of  York,  died 
at  Oundle,  in  Noithamptonshire,  in  708,  and  was 
buried  at  Ripon.  The  manner  in  which  the  funeral 
was  conducted  is  thus  described  by  the  bishop's  biog- 
rapher, Eddius  : — "  Upon  a  certain  day  many  abbots 


and  clergy  met  those  who  conducted  the  corpse  of 
the  holy  bishop  in  a  hearse,  and  earnestly  begged 
that  they  might  be  allowed  to  wash  the  sacred  body, 
and  dress  it  honorably,  according  to  its  dignity ;  and 
they  obtained  permission.  Then  one  of  the  abbots, 
named  Bacula,  spreading  his  surplice  on  the  ground, 
the  brethren  deposited  the  holy  body  upon  it,  washed 
it  with  their  own  hands,  dressed  it  in  the  pontifical 
habits,  and  then  taking  it  up,  carried  it  towards  the 
appointed  place,  singing  psalms  and  hymns  in  the 
fear  of  God.  Having  advanced  a  little,  they  again 
deposited  the  corpse,  pitched  a  tent  over  it,  bathed 
the  sacred  body  in  pure  water,  dressed  it  in  robes 
of  fine  hnen,  placed  it  in  the  hearse,  and  proceeded. 


The  Coffin  and  Grave-clothes.    From  a  Picture  of  the  Raising  of  Lazarus  ia  Cotton  MS.  Nero,  C.  4. 


.singing  psalms,  towards  the  monastery  of  Ripon. 
When  they  approached  that  monastery  the  whole 
family  of  it  came  out  to  meet  them,  bearing  the 
holy  relics.  Of  aU  this  numerous  company  there 
was  hardly  one  who  abstained  from  tears ;  and  all 
raising  their  voices,  and  joining  in  hymns  and  songs, 
they  conducted  the  body  into  the  church  which  the 
holy  bishop  had  built  and  dedicated  to  St.  Peter, 
and  there  deposited  it  in  the  most  solemn  and  hon- 
orable manner."  These  honors,  it  will  be  recollect- 
ed, were  paid  to  a  personage  of  importance  and  of 
great  sanctity.  It  is  mentioned'  that  a  nobleman 
having  died  dm'ing  his  attendance  at  the  King's 
Easter  Court,  the  king  directed  that  the  body  should 
be  attended  to  the  place  where  it  was  to  be  depos- 
ited by  several  bishops,  earls,  and  other  noblemen. 

The  custom  of  ringing  the  passing-beU  when  a 
person's  death  occurred  originated  in  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  period.  The  intention  was,  that  those  within 
reach  of  the  sound  might  put  up  a  prayer  for  the 
dead.  Bede  relates  that  at  the  death  of  the  Abbess 
1  Gale,  Script,  iii.  395 


of  St.  Hilda,  one  of  the  sisters  of  a  distant  monas- 
tery thought  she  heard  the  well-known  sound  of 
that  bell  which  called  them  to  prayers  when  any  &f 
them  had  departed  this  hfe  ;  and  the  superior  of 
the  monastery  was  no  sooner  informed  of  this  than 
she  raised  all  the  sisters,  and  called  them  into  the 
church  to  pray  fervently  and  sing  a  requiem  for  the 
deceased  abbess.'  A  payment  called  the  "  soul- 
sceat"  was  made  to  the  clergy  on  a  person's  death. 
The  anxiety  of  persons  to  procure  the  prayers  of 
the  clergy  for  the  good  of  their  souls  was  one  of  the 
most  productive  sources  of  ecclesiastical  wealth. 
One  of  the  objects  of  the  associations  among  arti- 
sans, called  gilds,  was  to  provide  for  the  honorable 
interment  of  a  member  according  to  his  last  wishes. 
A  fine,  paid  in  honey,  was  inflicted  upon  any  brother 
for  non-attendance  at  the  funeral ;  and  the  gild  was 
to  provide  half  of  the  provisions  for  the  funeral  en- 
tertainment, at  which  all  who  were  present  gave 
twopence  for  alms.  If  a  member  died,  or  fell  sick, 
out  of  his  own  district,  the  rest  were  to  fetch  him 

1  Brande's  Popular  Antiquities. 


332 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


back,  according  to  his  wish,  under  the  same  penalty. 
The  period  which  elapsed  between  the  death  of  a 
person  and  the  interment  of  his  remains  was  usually 
short,  except  Avhere  it  was  necessary  to  convey 
thein  to  some  distant  burial-place.  The  body  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  was  interred  the  day  after 
his  deatli.  The  head  and  shoulders  of  the  corpse 
remained  uncovered  until  the  time  of  burial.     It 


would  appear  from  the  delineations  in  some  of  their 
MSS.,  that  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  sometimes 
conveyed  to  the  grave  on  a  bier,  and  that  no  coffin 
was  used.  One  person  taking  hold  at  the  head, 
and  another  at  the  feet,  deposited  the  deceased  in 
the  grave,  the  priest  throwing  incense  over  it.  Be- 
sides the  shroud,  the  body  was  enveloped  in  a  col- 
ored garment. 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


333 


CHAPTER  VII. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


URING  the  period  of 
which  we  are  now 
about  to  close  the  sur- 
vey, the  population  of 
the  British  Islands 
was  more  diversified 
in  respect  of  lineage, 
language,  and  laws — 
the  three  great  con- 
stituents of  nationali- 
ty, than  at  any  other 
time  either  before  or 
since.  In  Ireland,  even  if  we  suppose  the  Scots  and 
other  earlier  Gothic  colonists,  or  conquerors,  to  have 
been  already  completely  melted  down  into  the  mass 
of  the  native  Celtic  population,  we  have  still  two  per- 
fectly distinct  races  dividing  the  land  between  them, 
and  contending  for  its  sovereignty — namely,  the  old 
Irish,  and  their  recent  invaders,  the  Northmen  or 
Danes.  The  latter  had  estabhshed  themselves,  by 
the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  along  the  whole 
line  of  the  east  coast,  from  Belfast  to  Cork,  and  oc- 
cupied Dublin  and  nearly  all  the  other  cities  of  any 
importance  throughout  the  island  ;  the  proper  Irish 
were  driven  beyond  what  might  be  called  the  pale 
as  completely  as  they  were  some  centuries  after- 
wards by  their  Anglo-Norman  invaders.  In  Scot- 
land also  a  large  Danish  or  Norwegian  population 
was  settled  not  only  in  the  Shetland,  Orkney,  and 
Western  Islands,  but  also  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  mainland :  these  foreigners  had  maintained  a 
long  and  fierce  struggle  with  the  Scottish  ruler  for 
his  crown ;  and  even  after  their  failure  in  that  ob- 
ject (for  the  Danes  never  succeeded  in  Scotland  in 
acquiring  the  supreme  dominion  of  the  country,  as 
they  did  for  a  season  both  in  England  and  in  Ire- 
land), it  may  be  doubted  if  the  allegiance  of  the 
Danish  chieftains  of  Sutherland  and  Ross  to  the 
Celtic  monarch  was  for  a  considerable  period  so 
much  as  nominal.  The  Scottish  Celts  themselves, 
though  they  had  obtained  the  sovereignty  of  the 
country,  and  it  came  eventually  to  be  called  by  their 
name,  were  intruders  upon  an  older  population  of  a 
diflferent  race.  The  Picts,  the  representatives  of 
the  ancient  Caledonians,  who  had  held  the  whole  of 
North  Britain  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, subsisted  as  an  independent  state  till  the  middle 
of  the  ninth ;  and,  although  from  that  date  united 
under  one  sceptre  with  the  Scots,  continued  to  be 
recognized  as  a  distinct  people  for  a  long  time  after. 
A  Welsh  kingdom  maintained  its  existence  in  the 
southwest  of  Scotland  till  the  latter  part  of  the 
tenth  century.  In  South  Britain,  finally,  the  Welsh 
occupied,  and   retained   at  least  the  nominal  sove- 


reignty of,  the  whole  western  side  of  the  island ;  and, 
even  if  we  include  Cumbria  in  the  northern  Sti-ath- 
clyde,  not  fewer  than  three  separate  kingdoms  that 
were  not  Saxon  survived  there  throughout  the 
Saxon  period.  Nor  Avas  the  rest  of  South  Britain 
— that  part  of  the  island  which  was  properly  called 
England — all  in  the  occupation  of  one  race  of  people. 
The  Saxons  themselves  were  divided  into  at  least 
three  several  great  tribes  ;  some  of  them  were  Sax- 
ons proper,  some  were  Angles,  some  were  Jutes ; 
and  they  appear  to  have  come  from  different  parts 
of  the  continent — some  from  a  point  so  far  north  as 
the  present  duchy  of  Sleswig  in  Denmark,  others 
from  a  quarter  so  much  farther  to  the  south  as  the 
modern  Friesland  in  Holland,  and  the  country  of 
the  ancient  Belgae,  which  extended  to  the  Seine. 
This  mixed  population  continued  down  to  the  ninth 
century  to  be  distributed  into  seven  or  eight  distinct 
states  or  kingdoms,  all,  except  when  any  of  them 
happened  to  be  reduced  for  a  time  to  subjection  by 
force,  substantially  independent  of  each  other.  But 
the  different  tribes  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  only  pos- 
sessed a  part  even  of  England  proper.  Here  also, 
as  in  Ireland  and  in  Scotland,  there  was  settled,  in 
full  occupation  and  possession  of  a  large  portion  of 
the  country,  a  population  of  Danes  or  Northmen, 
who  had  made  good  their  footing  by  their  swords, 
and  had  wrested  the  soil  from  the  Saxons  exactly 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  Saxons  had  before 
wrested  it  from  the  Britons.  These  Danes  at 
length  actually  acquired  the  sovereignty  of  England, 
and  retained  it  for  a  considerable  time ;  nor  after 
the  Saxon  line  of  kings  was  restored  did  the  king- 
dom itself  cease  to  be  still  to  a  full  half  of  its  extent 
in  the  hands  of  the  Danes. 

In  the  latter  years  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  period 
England  appears  to  have  been  divided  into  thirty- 
two  shires,  of  which  nine  constituted  what  was 
called  Wcst-Seaxnalage  or  Sexenalaga  (the  pro- 
vince, or,  as  the  word  perhaps  properly  signifies, 
the  law  of  the  West  Saxons) ;  eight,  Myrcenlage  or 
Merchendaga  (the  district  over  which  the  Mercian 
law  prevailed) ;  and  the  remaining  fifteen,  Danelage 
or  Denelaga  (the  Danish  territorj').  The  nine 
West  Saxon  shires  were — Kent,  Surrey,  Sussex, 
Berks,  Hants,  Wilts,  Somerset,  Dorset,  and  Devon  ; 
the  eight  Mercian — Chester,  Shropshire,  Hereford, 
Stafford,  Worcester,  Gloucestei',  Warwick,  and  Ox- 
ford ;  and  the  fifteen  Danish — Norfolk,  Suflblk, 
Essex,  Cambridge,  Hertford,  Middlesex,  Hunting- 
don, Bedford,  Leicester,  Northampton  (including 
Rutland),  Buckingham,  Lincoln,  Nottingham,  Der- 
by, and  York  (which  in  those  times  appears  to  have 
coiTiprehended  Durham  and  Lancashire,  nnd  also 


334 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


perhaps  the  whole  or  part  of  Westmoreland). 
Northumberland  and  Cumberland  seem  as  yet  to 
have  been  usually  considered  as  rather  belonging  to 
Scotland  than  to  England;  nor  was  either  Cornwall 
or  Wales  (in  which  Monmouth  was  included)  reck- 
oned as  part  of  England  proper.^  Although,  there- 
fore, the  whole  country  was  subject  to  one  sover- 
eign, it  may  be  considered  as  having  been  composed 
of  three  territories,  which  were  probably  nearly  as 
listinct  from  each  other  as  if  they  had  been  three 
separate  states,  both  in  regard  to  the  races  by  wliich 
they  were  chiefly  inhabited,  and  the  laws  and  cus- 
toms by  which  they  were  governed.  The  southern 
counties  only  composed  the  original  dominion  of  the 
state  which  had  acquired  the  general  sovereignty ; 
the  district  extending  from  the  heart  of  the  country 
to  the  borders  of  Wales  was  still  regarded,  in  every- 
thing except  its  subjection  to  the  authority  of  the 
common  sovereign,  as  the  distinct  state  of  Mercia, 
of  which  kingdom  it  had  anciently  formed  a  part ; 
and  what  might  pi'operly  be  called  a  foreign  people 
held  possession  of  all  the  east  and  north,  a  space 
certainly  not  less  than  that  occupied  by  the  English 
in  the  south  and  west.  The  distinction  of  the 
West  Saxon,  the  Mercian,  and  the  Danish  laws,  as 
severally  prevalent  in  these  three  territories,  ap- 
pears to  have  subsisted  for  a  considerable  period 
after  the  Norman  conquest ;  but  in  what  it  con- 
sisted is  very  imperfectly  known.  The  account 
usually  given  is,  that  what  is  called  the  common 
law  of  England  was  originally  composed  of  a  selec- 
tion from  all  these  different  codes,  and  received  its 
name  of  the  common  law  from  that  circumstance. 
But  it  may  be  reasonably  doubted  if  this  was  really 
the  origin  of  the  name  ;  the  common  law  would 
rather  seem  never  to  have  existed  in  the  shape  of 
any  regularly  compiled  or  promulgated  collection  of 
enactments,  but  to  have  been  always  a  body  of  un- 
written rules  and  usages,  which  were  designated 
common,  as  being  behoved  to  have  been  observed 
throughout  the  whole  course  of  the  national  history. 
It  is  probable  enough,  however,  that  the  efforts  of 
the  later  Anglo-Saxon  kings  may  have  been  directed 
to  th«  removal,  as  far  as  possible,  of  such  diversities 
of  legal  usage  as  distinguished  one  part  of  the  king- 
dom from  another — an  object  which  the  natural 
tendency  of  events  would  itself  assist  in  promoting. 
The  chief  part  of  this  task  of  assimilating  the  laws 
of  the  West  Saxons,  Mercians,  and  Danes,  is  gene- 
rally ascribed  to  Edward  the  Confessor ;  but  it  was 
begun,  according  to  some  authorities,  nearly  a  cen- 
tury before  his  time,  by  Edgar.  Still  the  work  does 
not  seem  to  have  ever  been  completed  during  the 
Saxon  period.  The  West  Saxons,  the  Mercians, 
ar>d  the  Danes,  all  along  appear  to  have  had  their 
distinct  laws,  though  they  had  all,  as  Spelman  has 
observed,  "a  uniformity  in  substance,  differing 
rather  in  their  mulcts  than  in  their  canon ;  that  is 
to  say,  in  the  quantity  of  fines  and  amerciaments, 
than  in  the  course  and  frame  of  justice."  ....  "In 
those  disti-icts,"  says  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  "  which 
were  conquered  and  colonized  by  the  Danes,  the 

1  See  Camden's  Brit,  ocxirii.,  Blackstone's  Com.  lutrod.  $  3,  and 
Palgrave's  English  Com.  i.  48. 


settlement  of  the  invaders  was  probably  accompa- 
nied by  a  partial  introduction  of  their  peculiar 
usages.  It  must  be  recollected  that  these  strangers 
made  the  country  entirely  their  own.  Halfdane 
divided  Northumbria  amongst  his  followers,  who 
tilled  and  sowed  the  land  which  they  had  won. 
The  portion  of  ancient  Mercia  constituting  the 
commonwealth  of  the  five  burghs,  Lancaster,  Lin- 
coln, Nottingham,  Stamford,  and  Derby,  became  a 
Danish  state  in  the  following  year ;  and  the  division 
of  East  Anglia  amongst  the  army  of  Guthiiin  com- 
pleted the  colonization  of  Danelage.  Within  the 
limits  of  these  acquisitions,  and  which,  so  far  as 
East  Anglia  and  its  dependencies  extended,  were 
settled  and  confirmed  by  the  treaty  between  Alfred 
and  Guthrun,  the  conquest  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  by 
the  Danes  appears  to  have  been  as  complete  as 
that  which  was  effected  at  a  subsequent  period  by 
William  of  Normandy."  "  Yet,"  he  concludes, 
"the  influence  of  the  more  civilized  community 
was  not  unfelt,  and  the  laws  which  Edgar  recom- 
mended to  the  Danes,  perhaps  without  immediate 
effect,  were  adopted  after  his  decease,  when  both 
Danes  and  Angles,  in  the  midland  and  eastern 
parts  of  the  island,  were  gradually  uniting  into  one 
people.  Beyond  the  Trent  the  process  was  more 
tardy ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  close  of  the  reign 
of  the  Confessor  that  the  laws  of  Canute  were 
promulgated  by  the  Confessor  in  the  earldom  of 
Northumbria.  The  chief  peculiarities  of  the  Dane- 
lage are  to  be  sought  rather  in  forms  of  policy  and 
administration  than  in  the  doctrines  of  the  law 
itself."' 

Of  the  old  states  of  the  Heptarchy,  the  West 
Saxon  province  comprehended  the  kingdoms  of 
Wessex,  Sussex,  and  Kent ;  the  province  of  Mer- 
cia consisted  of  part  of  the  former  kingdom  of  the 
same  name;  and  the  remainder  of  the  kingdom  of 
Mercia,  with  the  Avhole  of  those  of  Essex,  East 
Anglia,  and  Northumberland,  constituted  the  Dan- 
ish province.  According  to  the  account  in  Bede 
and  the  Saxon  Chronicle  of  the  races  by  Avhich 
these  several  kingdoms  were  founded,  and  the  ter- 
ritories composing  them  originally  occupied,*  the 
subjects  of  the  West  Saxon  law  would  be  partly 
Saxons,  and  partly  Jutes  ;  those  of  the  3Iercian 
law.  Angles ;  and  those  of  the  Danish  law,  in  so  far 
as  they  were  not  Danes,  partly  Angles,  and  partly 
Saxons. 

The  Britons,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding 
book,  although  they  had  strongholds  in  the  woods, 
had  no  towns  properly  so  called.  These  were  first 
founded  by  the  Romans.  Gildas,  writing  in  the 
sixth  century,  says,  that  there  were  then  twenty- 
eight  cities  in  Britain.  Lists  of  these  twenty-eight 
cities  under  their  British  names  are  given  in  the 
History  bearing  the  name  of  the  Nennius  of  the 
ninth  century,  and  in  their  British  and  in  some  in- 
stances also  in  their  modern  names,  by  Henry  of 
Huntingdon,  who,  although  he  lived  in  the  twelftli 
centurj%  evidently  compiled  many  parts  of  his  work 
from  records  or  documents  of  a  much  earher  period. 
In  regard  to  about  twenty  of  the  names,  the  two  lists 

1  English  Com.  p.  51.  =  See  ante,  p.  280. 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


335 


may  be  considered  to  correspond,  although  both  are 
obviously  much  corrupted ;  the  remaining  places 
seem  not  to  be  the  same  in  the  one  as  in  the  other. 
The  lists,  however,  defective  and  in  part  unintelli- 
gible as  theyare,  are  still  highly  curious,  as  furnish- 
ing the  oldest  notice  we  have  of  the  topogi-aphy  of 
Britain  after  the  time  of  the  Romans,  and  the  ear- 
liest that  can  be  regarded  as  appertaining  to  the 
Saxon  period.  The  towns  which  are  found  in  both 
lists  appear  to  be  the  following : — Verulam,  or  the 
ancient  St.  Albans  (called  Cair-Municip  by  Nennius, 
Kair-Mercipit  by  Huntingdon) ;  Carlisle,  Meivod  in 
Montgomeryshire,  Colchester,  York,  Cambridge,  or 
rather  Grantchester  in  the  neighborhood  of  that 
place;  London,  Canterbury,  Worcester,  Porches- 
ter,  Warwick,  Caer-Seiont  near  Carnarvon,  Caer- 
leon,  Leicester,  Draiton  in  Shropshire,  Wroxeter, 
Lincoln ;  and  three  unknown  towns,  of  which  the 
British  names  are,  in  Nennius,  Cair-Caratauc,  Cair- 
Mauchguid,  and  Cair-Guorthigirn  ;  in  Huntingdon, 
Kail"- C  user  at,  Kair-Meguaid,  and  Kair-Guortigern. 
The  last  would  seem  to  mean  the  City  of  Vortigern. 
The  following  are  enumerated  by  Nennius,  and  not 
by  Huntingdon  :  Cair-Guntuig,  supposed  to  be  Win- 
wik,  in  Lancashire ;  Cair-Custeint,  literally  Con- 
stantino's town,  probably  Constanton,  near  Fal- 
mouth; Cair-Daun,  Doncaster ;  Cair-Legion,  Ches- 
ter; Cair-Guent,  either  Winchester,  or  Caer-went 
in  Monmouthshire  ;  Cair-Brithon,  supposed  to  be 
Dunbarton;  Cair-Pensavelcoit,  Pevensey;  and 
Cair-Celemion,  Camalet  in  Somerset.  Those  in 
Huntingdon  and  not  in  Nennius  are,  Kair-Glou, 
Gloucester  ;  Kair-Cei,  Chichester ;  Kair-Bristou, 
Bristol;  Kair-Ceri,  Cirencester;  Kair-Dauri,  Dor- 
chester ;  Kaii'-Dorm,  near  Walmsford,  on  the  Nen  ; 
Kair-Merdin,  Caermarthen ;  and  Kair-Licelid,  the 
modern  name  or  site  of  which  is  not  known.  These, 
however,  were  certainly  not  all  the  towns  left  in 
Britain  by  the  Romans.  One  remarkable  omission 
is  Bath;  but  we  are  inclined  to  suspect  that  Cair- 
Badon,  the  ancient  name  of  this  city,  should  be  sub- 
stituted in  the  list  of  Nennius  for  Cair-Brithon, 
taken  to  mean  Dunbarton,  which  never  was  a 
Roman  town.  In  another  list  given  by  Alfred  of 
Beverley,  a  writer  contemporary  with  Huntingdon, 
although  it  contains  only  twenty  names  in  all,  we  find 
both  Caer-Badon.  and  Caer-Paladour,  supposed  to 
be  Shaftesbury. 

Although,  however,  some  of  the  names,  in  all  the 
lists  as  we  now  have  them,  may  be  wrong,  or  may 
be  misunderstood,  we  may  probably  rely  upon  the 
correctness  of  the  general  statement  of  Gildas — that, 
in  his  time,  the  number  of  cities,  by  which  he  may 
be  supposed  to  mean  walled  towns,  in  the  island,  or 
rather  in  that  portion  of  it  which  had  formed  the 
Roman  province,  was  twenty-eight.  There  were, 
also,  he  says,  some  strongly  fortified  castles.  This 
was,  then,  the  amount,  or  at  least  the  measure  of 
what  may  be  called,  with  somewhat  more  than  mere 
etymological  propriety,  the  civilization  of  the  coun- 
try at  the  time  when  the  Saxons  entered  upon  the 
possession  of  it ;  for  not  only  is  it  true,  that  without 
-towns  there  can  be  little  or  no  civilization  in  any 
country,  but  the  quantity  of  civilization  in  a  country 


may  be  generally  taken  as  being  nearly  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  towns  in  it.  These  are,  at 
least,  the  fountains  where  the  light  of  knowledge  is 
collected  and  preserved,  and  from  which  it  is  dif- 
fused over  the  population.  Many  of  the  Roman 
towns  appear  to  have  been  deserted  or  laid  in  ruins 
in  the  course  of  the  long,  fierce,  and  desolating  war- 
fare that  preceded  the  establishment  of  the  several 
states  of  the  Heptarchy ;  no  contest  so  obstinate  and 
protracted  had  to  be  fought  by  the  barbarian  inva- 
ders in  taking  possession  of  any  other  part  of  the 
Roman  empire.  The  Saxons,  Avhen  they  first  is- 
sued from  the  seas  and  woods  of  the  north  of  Europe 
for  the  conquest  of  Britain,  probably  held  the  peace 
and  protection  of  walled  towns  and  congregated  build- 
ings in  contempt :  and  in  this  feeling  they  may  have 
recklessly  destroyed,  or  taken  no  pains  to  preserve, 
those  of  the  British  cities  that  fell  into  their  hands,  so 
long  as  they  Avere  actually  engaged  in  contending, 
sword  in  hand,  for  the  possession  of  the  country.  But 
as  they  gradually  effected  a  settlement  in  it,  and  be- 
came transformed  from  invaders  into  colonists,  and 
from  mere  soldiers  into  occupants  and  cultivators  of 
the  soil,  the  instinct  of  their  new  position  and  cir- 
cumstances turned  them  to  new  views  and  another 
mode  of  procedure.  Their  attention  was  now 
awakened  to  what  had  been  done  by  their  prede- 
cessors in  the  sovereignty  of  the  island ;  they  set 
themselves  to  take  advantage  of,  and  to  improve 
upon,  the  foundations  which  that  illustrious  people 
had  laid ;  the  Roman  cities  and  other  fortified  sta- 
tions were  onde  more  occupied,  and  became  the 
sites  and  beginnings  of  new  cities  and  towns,  most 
of  which  subsist  to  the  present  day.  But  this  was 
not  nearly  all  that  was  accomplished  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  in  the  embellishment  of  the  country,  and  in 
planting  throughout  its  soil  at  least  the  roots  of 
future  industry,  wealth,  and  civilization,  during  the 
period  it  was  in  their  hands.  They  certainly  did 
not  work  with  anything  like  the  high  finish  of  the 
Romans  ;  they  were  from  the  first,  and  continued  all 
along,  a  people  in  a  much  less  advanced  state  in  re- 
gard to  the  arts,  and  almost  every  kind  of  intellect- 
ual cultivation,  than  those  inheritors  of  all  the  knowl- 
edge and  philosophy  of  the  ancient  world  :  and  what 
they  produced,  therefore,  was  infinitely  less  perfect, 
less  imposing,  and  in  every  way  less  remarkable  in 
the  result  actually  attained,  than  were  the  creations 
and  achievements  of  the  older  and  more  lettered 
people.  But  they  evinced,  nevertheless,  in  all  that 
they  did,  a  sufficiently  robust  and  productive  genius  ; 
and  if  they  did  not  themselves  carry  out  many  things 
to  a  very  elevated  degree  of  excellence,  they  at  least 
scattered  the  seeds  of  improvement  for  others  to 
rear  over  a  wide  field,  and  in  no  stinted  measure. 
Very  striking  evidence  of  this  healthy  fertility  is 
aflbrded  by  the  multiplication  of  towns  and  villages, 
which  seems  to  have  taken  place  in  South  Britain 
during  their  domination,  and  by  a  comparison  of  the 
state  to  which  the  country  was  eventually  brought 
by  them  in  this  respect  with  the  state  in  which  they 
appear  to  have  found  it.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact, 
and  one  which  has  scarcely  been  sufficiently  ad- 
verted to,  that,  with  very  few  exceptions  indeed,  all 


336 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II 


the  towns,  and  even  villages  and  hamlets,  which  I 
England  yet  possesses,  appear  to  have  existed  from  j 
the  Saxon  times.  This  is  in  general  sufficiently  at-  I 
tested  by  their  mere  names,  and  there  is  historical 
evidence  of  the  fact  in  a  large  proportion  of  instances. 
Our  towns  and  villages  have  become  individually 
larger  in  most  cases  in  the  course  of  the  last  eight 
or  ten  centuries ;  but  in  all  that  space  of  time  no 
very  great  addition  has  been  made  to  their  number. 
The  augmentation  which  the  population  and  wealth 
of  the  country  have  undergone,  vast  as  it  has  been, 
in  the  course  of  so  many  ages,  has  nearly  all  found 
room  to  collect  and  arrange  itself  around  the  old 
centres.  This  fact  does  not  disprove  the  magnitude 
of  the  increase  that  has  been  made  to  the  numbers 
of  the  people,  for  the  extension  of  the  circumfer- 
ences without  any  multiplication  of  the  centres 
would  suffice  to  absorb  any  such  increase,  however 
great;  but  seeing  how  thickly  covered  the  country 
actually  is  with  towns  and  villages,  it  is  certainly 
curious  to  reflect  that  they  were  very  nearly  as  nu- 
merous over  the  greater  part  of  it  in  the  time  of  the 
Saxons.  And  if  only  about  twenty-eight  of  our 
cities  and  towns,  or  even  twice  that  number,  can 
be  traced  to  a  Roman  original,  the  number  indebted 
to  the  Saxons  for  their  first  foundation  must  be  very 
great,  for,  as  we  have  seen,  nearly  all  that  are  not 
Roman  are  Saxon.  As  for  our  villages,  the  un- 
doubted fact  that  the  present  division  of  the  coun- 
try into  parishes  is,  almost  without  alteration,  as 
old,  at  least,  as  the  tenth  century,  would  alone  prove 
that  the  English  villages  in  the  Saxon  times  were 
nearly  as  numerous  as  in  our  own  day.  One  ac- 
count, indeed,  which  has  been  often  quoted  as  trust- 
worthy, though  it  seems  impossible  to  believe  that 
it  does  not  involve  some  great  mistake,  makes  the 
number  of  parish  churches  in  England  about  the 
time  of  the  Norman  Conquest  to  have  been  45,011, 
and  that  of  the  villages  62,080.^     The  number  of 

1  This  statement  is  quoted  in  Spelman's  Glossary,  voc.  Feodum, 
from  Thomas  Sprot,  a  monk  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Augustin,  in 
Canterbury.  The  circumstance  of  the  numbers  both  of  parishes  and 
of  villages  being  set  down,  and  that  of  a  certain  correspondence  being 
preserved  between  them,  would  rather  go  to  negative  the  supposition 
that  there  was  any  corruption  in  the  text  of  the  manuscript.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  particularity  of  the  figures  would  seem  to  indicate 
that  they  were  the  result  of  something  like  an  actual  computation. 
It  appears  that  a  similar  exaggerated  notion  of  the  number  of 
parishes  in  England  was  long  entertained.  In  the  year  1371  the 
parliament  granted  Edward  III.  a  subsidy  of  50,000Z.,  which  it  was 
calculated  would  be  raised  by  an  assessment  at  tlie  average  rate  of 
II.  2s.  id.  upon  each  parish  ;  but  it  was  found  that  the  number  of 
parishes  had  been  so  much  overrated  that,  to  make  up  the  sum,  the 
assessment  had  eventually  to  be  raised  to  5/.  16s.  on  each.  The 
number  of  parishes,  therefore,  had  been  taken  to  be  about  five  times 
as  great  as  it  really  was — a  curious  specimen  of  statistical  ignorance 
on  the  pan  of  a  government — and  also  a  striking  example  of  the 
absurdity  and  inconvenience  of  legislating  in  the  absence  of  that 
knowledge  of  facts  wliich  ought  to  be  the  basis  of  every  legislative 
proceeding.  So,  in  a  treatise  published  in  1527  by  Simon  Fish  of 
Gray's  Inn,  entitled  "A  Supplication  of  the  Beggars  to  the  King," 
the  number  of  parishes  in  England  is  assumed  to  be  52,000.  Yet 
several  actual  enumerations  appear  to  have  been  made  before  this 
time.  It  is  affirmed,  in  a  work  entitled  "  The  Happy  Future  State 
of  England,"  pubhshed  in  1689,  that  a  MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at 
Oxford  makes  the  parishes  in  the  time  of  Edward  I.  to  have  been 
only  about  8900,  exclusive  of  many  chapelries  since  grown  up  into 
parsonages.  Stowe,  in  his  Annals,  states  that  the  parishes  were 
•actually  numbered  for  the  purposes  of  the  tax  laid  on  in  1371,  as  above 
mentioned,  and  were  found  to  amount  only  to  8600.  And  Camden 
tells  us  (Britannia,  cc.xxx  ),  that  in  an  enumeration  made  for  Cardinal 


parishes  at  present  is  not  much  above  10,000,  and 
that  of  the  villages  would  probably  be  overrated  if 
reckoned  at  half  as  many  more.  If,  in  like  manner, 
instead  of  the  numbers  just  given,  we  allow  only 
10,000  parishes  and  15,000  villages  to  England  in 
the  time  of  the  Saxons,  we  shall  be  led  to  form  a 
very  high  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  the  countiy 
must  already  have  been  reclaimed  and  settled.  Let 
it  bo  conceded  that  many  of  the  villages  were  very 
small,  consisting  perhaps  only  of  a  dozen  or  two  of 
cottages ;  still  we  apprehend  the  facts  imply  a  dif- 
fusion of  population  and  of  cultivation  vastly  beyond 
what  can  be  supposed  to  have  taken  place  in  the 
preceding  or  Roman  period,  during  which,  indeed, 
the  country  w'as  traversed  in  various  directions  by 
noble  roads,  and  ornamented  with  some  considera- 
ble towns,  but  does  not  appear,  from  any  notices 
that  have  come  down  to  us,  or  any  monuments  or 
signs  that  remain,  to  have  been  generally  covered 
with  villages  of  any  description. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  extract  an 
estimate  of  the  amount  of  the  population  of  Eng- 
land in  the  Anglo-Saxon  times  from  the  statements 
in  Domesday-Book ;  but  very  little  dependence 
can  be  placed  upon  any  of  the  inferential  calcula- 
tions upon  tliis  subject  (for  they  are  nothing  more) 
that  have  been  founded  upon  that  record.  Domes- 
day-Book does  not  profess  to  present  any  census  of 
the  population ;  the  object  with  which  the  survey 
was  imdertaken  appears  to  have  been  merely  to  ob- 
tain an  exact  account  of  the  demesnes  and  profits 
belonging  to  the  crown,  and  of  the  public  services 
due  by  the  several  estates  in  the  kingdom ;  and 
whatever  information  respecting  other  matters  may 
be  found  in  the  register  must  be  considered  as  hav- 
ing been  introduced  principally,  if  not  exclusively, 
with  a  view  to  this,  its  primary  design.  It  is  in  this 
way  only  that  we  can  explain  such  entries  as  those 
which  mention  no  more  than  forty-two  persons  as 
resident  in  the  town  of  Dover,  forty-six  in  St.  Al- 
bans, five  in  Sudbury,  nine  in  Bedford,  ten  in  Bris- 
tol, and  many  others  as  manifestly  not  intended  to 
include  the  whole  population  of  the  places  to  which 
they  refer.  By  counting  a  man  for  every  wood, 
mill,  pasture,  or  house  that  is  mentioned  (evidently 
a  very  arbitrciry  assumption),  Mr.  Turner  makes 
the  total  number  of  persons  of  all  description  enu- 
merated in  Domesday-Book  to  amount  to  300,785. 
He  then  considers  this  number  of  individuals  as 
representing  so  many  families,  each  of  which  may 
be  supposed  to  have  consisted  of  five  persons  on  an 
average.  This  would  produce  an  entire  population 
of  about  a  million  and  a  half,  of  which  about  a  third 
part  is  assigned  to  the  Danish  half  of  the  kingdom.' 

Wolsey  in  1520,  there  were  reckoned  in  all  the  counties  of  England 
9407  churches.  He  himself  gives  us  another  enumeration  made  in 
the  reign  of  James  I.,  whith  makes  the  number  of  parish  churches  to 
amount  to  9284.  Although  the  present  number  of  parishes,  properly 
or  popularly  so  called,  amounts  only  to  about  10,700  (see  Maccul- 
loch's  Statistical  Account  of  the  British  Empire,  i.  171),  it  has  been 
ascertained,  in  the  course  of  the  recent  inquiries  into  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Poor  Laws,  that  the  entire  number  of  places  throughout 
the  kingdom  separately  relieving  their  own  paupers  is  (or  rather  was, 
before  the  formation  of  the  new  unions)  13,635. 

'  But  upon  what  authority  does  Mr.  Turner  exclude  from  the 
Danish   part   of  the   kingdom   the   counties  of  Northampton   ( with 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


337 


But  as  several  towns,  especially  London  and  Win- 
chester, are  not  mentioned  at  all,  while  the  four 
northern  counties  of  Cumberland,  Durham,  West- 
moreland, and  Northumberland,  are  likewise  alto- 
gether omitted ;  and  as,  moreover,  no  account  ap- 
pears to  be  taken  either  of  the  monks  or  (except  in 
a  very  few  instances)  of  the  parochial  clergy,  it  is 
conjectured  that  at  least  half  a  million  more  may 
be  allowed  for  these  deficiencies,  and  that  therefore 
tlie  entire  Anglo-Saxon  population  in  the  reign  of 
the  Confessor,  must  have  rather  exceeded  two 
millions.*  Sir  James  Mackintosh  has  drawn  up  a 
table  which  appears  to  make  the  entire  number  of 
persons  mentioned  in  the  survey  only  258,293.  He 
has  omitted,  he  says,  such  of  Mr.  Turner's  esti- 
mates as  seem  to  depend  upon  a  supposed  propor- 
tion of  persons  to  tenements.  He  adds,  that  "no- 
thing more  than  a  very  general  approximation  can 
be  expected  till  Domesday-Book  be  much  more  crit- 
ically examined  than  it  has  hitherto  been."  Per- 
haps it  would  have  been  more  correct  to  say  that  no 
satisfactory  information  upon  the  subject  in  question 
is  likely  ever  to  be  obtained  from  that  source. 

Some  valuable  particulars,  nevertheless,  of  an- 
other kind  may  be  thence  gathered  in  illustration 
of  the  state  of  the  country  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  pe- 
riod. In  the  first  place,  we  obtain  evidence  at  least 
of  the  existence  in  those  times  of  a  long  list  of 
cities  and  burghs  (as  they  are  usually  designated 
in  the  record),  comprising  nearly  all  the  consider- 
able towns  the  kingdom  yet  contains ;  a  good  many 
of  the  number,  indeed,  having  apparently  been  of 
greater  consequence  then  than  they  are  now.  We 
also  gain  some  small  insight  into  the  government 
or  political  constitution  of  these  burghs  ;  and  some 
light  is  thrown  upon  the  constitution  of  society 
generally  by  the  notices  of  the  different  classes  or 
orders  of  the  people,  though,  for  the  reasons  that 
have  been  stated,  little  or  nothing  can  be  inferred 
from  the  particular  numbers  of  each  class  that  are 
registered  in  different  places. 

The  larger  towns,  as  we  have  just  observed, 
were  distinguished  among  the  Saxons  by  the  name 
of  burghs,  the  same  term  with  our  modern  English 
boroughs.^  The  word  burgh  has  been  derived 
from  the  Latin  hurgus,  which  was  in  common  use 
in  later  times  among  the  Romans  for  a  fort  or  mili- 
tary stronghold,  and  is  itself  nearly  the  same  with 
a  Greek  word  of  similar  signification  which  is  as 
old  as  the   time  of  Homer.'     The  burghs  of  the 

Rutland),  Leicester,  Nottingham,  Buckingham,  Cambridge,  Hertford, 
Bedford,  Derby,  Huntingdon,  and  Middlesex,  which  the  old  writers 
generally  enumerate  as  belonging  to  the  Danelage  ?  Restoring  these 
counties  to  their  proper  place  in  the  table,  the  account  will  stand 
thus  ; — Danish  counties  151,100  ;  other  counties,  149,085.  Cornwall 
(with  5606  persons  for  its  share)  is  included  among  the  latter. 

'  Turner's  Hist.  Ang.-Sax.  iii.  254. 

^  In  Scotland  the  term  used  is  still  burgh,  which,  however,  is  there 
•Iways  pronounced  as  a  word  of  two  syllables,  and  exactly  like  the 
English  borough.  Thus  the  name  of  the  capital  is  a  word  not  of 
three,  but  of  four  syllables, — as  Wordsworth  has  correctly  given  it, — 

"  And  stately  Edinburgh  throned  on  crags." 
But  the  true  old  Scottish  form  of  the  word,  also  still  in  familiar  use, 
IS  brogh,  with  the  guttural  strongly  pronounced. 

3  See  Jos.  Scaliger,  Lection.  Auson.  li.  9.  Palgrave's  English  Com- 
monwealth, p.  353. — The  Burgundiones,  or  people  of  Burgundy,  are 
uid  to  have  been  so  called  as  being  sprung  from   the   sildiers   by 

VOL.  I. — 52 


Anglo-Saxons  appear  to  have  in  most  instances 
arisen  out  of  the  military  stations  of  their  Roman 
predecessors ;  as  the  places  they  distinguished  by 
the  name  of  cities  had  in  general,  if  not  always, 
been  Roman  towns  or  civitatcs.  All  cities,  how- 
ever, came  in  course  of  time  to  be  considered  as 
burghs,  though  only  some  burghs  were  cities. 

"  It  must  be  clearly  understood,"  observes  Sir 
F.  Palgrave,  "that  a  Saxon  burgh  was  nothing 
more  than  a  hundred,  or  an  assemblage  of  hun-f 
dreds,  surrounded  by  a  moat,  a  stoccade,  or  a  wall ; 
and  the  name  of  the  hundred  was  actually  given  to 
some  of  the  most  considerable  cities,  burghs,  and 
towns  of  England.  No  right  was  conferred  or  de- 
stroyed by  the  feeble  fortification  which  protected 
the  burgesses ;  and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  burgh- 
moot  or  portmoot  differed  from  that  possessed  by 
the  analogous  districts  in  the  open  country  only 
in  consequence  of  the  police  required  by  a  more 
condensed  population,  and  the  institutions,  perhaps 
of  Roman  origin,  which  incorporated  the  trading 
portions  of  the  community." '  "  We  must  aban- 
don," the  learned  writer  afterwards  remarks,  "  any 
conjectures  as  to  the  government  of  the  burghs  in 
the  earlier  periods.  We  must  rest  satisfied  with 
the  fact  that,  in  the  reign  of  the  Confessor,  the 
larger  burghs  had  assumed  the  form  of  commu- 
nities, which,  without  much  impi'opriety,  may  be 
described  as  territorial  corporations.  The  legal 
character  of  the  burgess  arose  from  his  possessions ; 
it  was  a  real  right  arising  from  the  qualification 
which  he  held.  The  burgess  was  the  owner  of  a 
tenement  within  the  walls,  and  the  possession  might 
descend  to  his  heirs,  or  be  freely  ahenated  to  a 
stranger.  The  lawmen  of  the  burgh  were  so  de- 
nominated in  respect  of  the  mansi  which  each  held. 
.  .  .  .  Lawmen  occur  by  name  only  in  the  Danish 
burghs  ;  but  a  similar  territorial  magisti'acy  existed 
in  other  places.  The  soke  of  the  aldermen  of 
Canterbury  was  transferable,  like  any  other  inherit- 
ance ;  and  the  possession  of  the  land  imparted  to 
the  lord  the  right  of  judicature  in  the  burgh-mote 
or  municipal  assembly.  Such  functionaries  were 
lawmen  or  aldermen  by  tenure.  Other  burghs, 
however,  may  possibly  have  possessed  an  elective 
magistracy.  .  •  .  Nor  is  it  improbable  but  that  the 
guilds  of  traders  and  handicraftsmen  possessed  con- 
siderable influence  ;  and  the  aldermen  of  these  cor- 
porations may  have  been  allowed  to  enter  the  folk- 
moot  and  to  share  in  its  proceedings."^ 

Sir  Francis  proceeds  to  state  that,  in  the  larger 
and  more  important  cities,  the  only  rights  that  the 
king  had  were  to  the  various  payments  and  services 
which  were  imposed  upon  the  municipal  commu- 
nities, and  that,  provided  these  were  discharged, 
he  had  nothing  more  to  demand,  he  could  not  exact 
the  oath  of  fealty  from  the  citizens,  nor  even  enter 
within  their  walls  without  their  consent.  The  only 
fact,  however,  which  is  referred  to  in  proof  of  these 
positions  is  the  resistance  made  to  the  Conqueroi 
by  the   citizens  of  Exeter,  who,  as  will  appear  ii- 

whom  the  Roman  forts  in  that  country  were  occupied.  Isidor.  Orig 
ii.  2  and  4.     But  this  etymology  has  been  disputed. 

'  Eiig'ish  CymmonweoltVi,  p.  103.  »  IbiJ.  p  f30. 


538 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


the  next  Book,  although  they  offered  to  pay  to  that 
king  the  same  tribute  thoy  had  paid  to  his  prede- 
cessors, refused  to  become  his  men  or  vassals.  But 
an  act  of  resistance  like  this  to  the  Jittack  of  a  foreign 
invader  (for  such  William  might  very  naturally  be  | 
considered  in  a  part  of  the  country  which  he  had 
not  yet  overrun)  would  seem  to  afford  no  evidence 
from  which  we  could  safely  infer  what  were  the 
privileges  possessed  or  claimed  by  the  burghs  under 
H  government  which  they  completely  acknowledged. 
It  is  difficult  also  to  understand  how  the  Saxon 
burghs  should  have  acquired  this  independence  of 
the  royal  authority,  considering  the  gradual  inanner 
in  which  they  appear  to  have  grown  up  to  wliat- 
over  importance  they  actually  did  attain.  It  is 
ndmitted,  as  we  have  just  seen,  that  in  their  origin 
they  were  merely  certain  of  the  inhabited  localities, 
which  either  from  having  been  formerly  occuj)ied  by 
the  Bomans,  or  from  the  peculiar  natural  advan- 
tages which  they  presented,  came  to  be  surrounded 
Avith  walls,  ditches,  or  some  other  such  protection ; 
but  this  visible  line  of  demarkation  conferred  no  pe- 
culiar character  upon  the  comnmnity  which  it  in- 
closed. It  tended,  no  doubt,  to  produce  a  state  of 
things  favorable  to  the  acquisition,  by  the  burgesses, 
of  the  right  of  managing  both  the  police  and  the 
internal  government  generally  of  their  burgh ;  but 
in  the  absence  of  any  record  of  so  remarkable  a 
revolution,  we  cannot  venture  to  assume  that  these 
walled  towns  eventually  became  so  many  all  but 
independent  republics  established  all  over  the  king- 
dom, as  they  would  really  have  been  if  we  can  sup- 
pose them  to  have  held,  in  relation  to  the  general 
4^overnment,  the  position  which  the  men  of  Exeter 
took  up  against  William  the  Conqueror. 

The  word  town,  it  is  to  be  observed,  convoyed  a 
diftercnt  idea,  as  used  by  our  Saxon  ancestors,  from 
what  it  now  does.  A  town  or  township  (in  Saxon 
'tun,  from  tynan,  to  inclose)  was  very  nearly  the 
same  with  what  came  after  the  Conquest  to  be  de- 
nominated a  manor.  Sir  Francis  Palgrave  explains 
the  term  thus  : — "  Denoting,  in  its  primary  sense, 
the  inclosure  which  surrounded  the  mere  home- 
stead or  dwelling  of  the  lord,  it  seems  to  have  been 
gradually  extended  to  the  whole  of  the  land  which 
constituted  the  domain."'  "  Every  Anglo-Saxon 
township,"  he  afterwards  observes,  "  was  subjected, 
in  demesne,  to  a  superior ;  to  the  sovereign,  whe- 
ther king  or  eolderman,  who  succeeded  to  the  very 
extensive  possessions  of  the  British  princes  ;  or  to 
a  lord  (a  hlaford,  or  landrica).  In  some  few  in- 
stances the  township  belonged  to  small  corporations, 
if  such  a  term  may  be  used,  whose  members  held 

the  township  as  a  joint  property The  right  of 

the  lord  of  the  township  was  accompanied  by  the 
sovereignty  of  the  land.  I  apply  the  term  sove- 
reignty, rather  than  that  of  ownership,  because  the 
euperiority  of  the  township  was  unquestionably 
vested  in  him,  although  his  right  of  possession  does 
not  seem  to  have  extended  beyond  the  demesne  or 
inlands,  which  he  enjoyed  in  severaltj',  and  which 
he  cultivated  as  his  own.  Another  portion  of  the 
township  consisted  of  the  feuds  which  be  or  his 

'  Ecglish  Commonwealth,  p  65 


predecessors  had  granted  by  landboc  (or  charter) 
to  the  Bokemen.  Such  a  benefice,  pra;starium,  or 
feud,  Avhich  jn  Anglo-Saxon  was  denominated  a 
LTien,  was  usually  created  for  one,  two,  or  three 
lives,  to  be  nominated  by  the  grantee,  after  which 
it  reverted  to  the  lord ;  and  during  the  existence  of 
those  derivative  estates,  the  lord,  according  to  the 
language  of  the  later  law,  had  only  the  services  and 
the  reversion.  Some  benefices,  however,  were 
granted  in  perpetuity.  Analogous  in  many  respects 
to  the  benefices  were  the  lands  which  were  held 
by  the  tenants,  whether  Sokemen  or  Bondes,  by 
folkright,  or  customary  tenure  ;  but  these  do  not 
appear  to  have  been  generally  subject  to  devise  or 
alienation.  Lastly,  every  township  contained  those 
extensive  common  fields,  or  common  leasowes,  which 
the  law  assumed  to  belong  to  every  town,  and  of 
which  the  usufruct  was  shared  between  the  lord 
and  the  men  of  the  community.' 

The  whole  country,  therefore,  it  will  be  observed, 
was  divided  into  towns,  or  townships,  as  well  as 
into  hundreds  and  shires.  And  the  township,  as 
well  as  the  hundreds  and  shires,  constituted  in  every 
case,  for  certain  purposes,  a  community  by  itself, 
having  a  jurisdiction  and  legislative  powers  of  its 
own.  The  chief  government  belonged  to  the  lord  ; 
but  it  appears  that  the  court  in  which  it  was  exer- 
cised could  not  be  held  without  the  presence  of  a 
certain  number  of  the  Sokemen  or  tenants."  The 
deputy  of  the  lord,  and  the  functionary  through 
whom  he  usually  exercised  his  rights,  was  the  Tun- 
Gerefa,  or  Town-Reeve.  "  No  township,"  says 
Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  "was  without  a  gerefa,  who 
was  allowed,  in  the  folk-moots,  or  judicial  assem- 
blies, to  speak  and  act  on  behalf  of  the  Twelf  hind- 
man,  who  was  the  lord  of  the  township,  and  to  give 
such  testimony  as  would  have  been  given  by  the 
lord  himself:  and  the  right  of  being  so  represented 
was  one  of  the  peculiar  privileges  of  the  aristocracy. 
He  appears  to  have  been  the  fiscal  officer  of  the 
lord  :  he  received  the  seignorial  tolls  and  dues,  and 
superintended  the  performance  of  the  agricultural 
labors  of  the  villainage."^  Yet  the  gerefa,  though 
thus  the  officer  of  the  lord,  seems  to  have  been 
usually  elected  to  his  office  by  the  tenanti-y.  By 
him,  and  by  four  good  and  lawful  men  by  whom  he 
was  attended,  the  township  was  represented  in  the 
monthly  courts  of  the  hundred  and  the  half-yearly 
courts  of  the  shire.  Each  township  had  also  the 
keeping  of  its  own  police  :  when  a  crime  was  com- 
mitted, the  inhabitants  were  required  to  raise  the 
hue-and-cry,  and  were  bound  to  enforce  the  appear- 
ance of  the  offender  to  take  his  trial. 

These  statements,  taken  in  connexion  with  the 
notices  in  a  former  chapter,  of  the  tithings  and  the 
system  of  frank-pledge,*  will  enable  the  reader  to 
understand  the  general  ari'angement  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  population,  in  so  far  as  regards  its  territorial 
or  local  distribution.  An  account  has  also  been  al- 
ready given  of  the  leading  distinctions  of  rank  and 
political  condition  by  which  it  was  marked.  What 
was  properly  called  the  people,  was  divided  into 


'  English  Common  wealth,  p.  66 
3  Ibid.  p.  62 


2  Ibid.  p.  79. 
«  Sea  aaie,  p.  238. 


Chap.  V^II.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


339 


two  great  classes — the  noble,  and  the  ignoble  ;  the 
cori»  and  the  ceorls ;  or,  as  they  were  designated 
by  a  form  of  expression  that  denoted  the  relative 
estimation  in  which  they  were  severally  held  by 
the  law,  the  Twelfhaendmen  and  the  Twihaend- 
men — that  is,  people  with  a  dozen  hands  each,  and 
people  with  only  a  pair  each.  In  this  general  di- 
vision, however,  we  must  consider  as  included  in 
the  first  class,  not  only  the  Eorls,  or  Eorlcundnien, 
or  Thaneborn,  who  were,  strictly  speaking,  the 
men  of^  twelve  hands,  but  also  the  Ealdormen,  or 
persons  of  the  royal  blood,  upon  whom  a  still  higher 
value  was  set,  and  the  inferior  nobility  or  gentry, 
designated  Sithcundmen,  or  Sixhaendmen.'  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Twihaendmen  were  also  of 
various  descriptions,  or  at  least  were  known  by 
various  names,  although  among  them  no  distinction 
existed  in  respect  of  legal  estimation.  The  general 
name  by  which  they  were  known  was  that  of  Ceorls, 
the  origin  of  our  modern  churls.'-  In  Latin  they 
were  called  Villani,  translated  Villains,  w'hich  prop- 
erly signifies  nothing  more  than  the  inliabitants  of 
the  villa,  that  is,  of  the  township,  whether  it  was  a 
village  or  merely  a  farm.  The  word  villagers  would 
convey  the  nearest  idea  of  what  was  meant  by  vil- 
lani to  a  modern  ear.  Another  name  of  the  Ceorls 
was  Bonds,  or  Bondsmen,  that  is,  occupants  of  the 
soil.  Boors,  a  name  by  which  they  were  also  called, 
means  the  same  thing.  Other  descriptions  of  Ceorls 
were  the  Cotsetan,  in  Latin,  Cottarii,  that  is,  cot- 
tiers, or  holders  of  small  tenements ;  and  Bordarii, 
a  term  of  which  the  exact  meaning  is  not  known.'' 

Not  accounted  as  at  all  forming  pait  of  the  peo- 
ple, but  deprived  of  all  rights,  both  political  and 
personal,  and  classed  rather  with  the  cattle  than 
among  human  beings,  were  the  Theowes,  in  Latin, 
servi,  which  maj'  be  translated  serfs,  or  slaves,  in 
modern  language.  The  theowes,  as  has  been  al- 
ready observed,  were  probably,  for  the  most  part, 
persons  who  had  either  been  convicted  of  crimes, 
or  captured  in  war,  or  their  descendants.  Some 
of  them  may  also  have  been  the  descendants  of  the 
old  British  cultivators  of  the  soil ;  but  it  is  not  likely 
that  these  were  generally  reduced  to  a  state  of 
slavery  by  their  conquerors.  The  Saxon  theowes 
ipoke  the  same  language,  and,  according  to  every 
appearance,  were  in  general  of  the  same  race  with 
their  masters. 

Although  we  have  not  any  account  that  can  be 
depended  upon  as  giving  the  exact  numbers  of  the 
different  classes  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  population, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  by  far  the  most  numerous 
class  was  tliat  of  the  Ceorls.  They  formed  the 
great  body  of  the  nation,  corresponding  verj^  nearly 
in  their  social,  though  not  in  their  political  position, 
to  the  vast   mass   that  came   in   aftertimes  to   be 

'  See  ante,  p.  236. 

s  Scolt,  in  his  lulrnUuction  to  the  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  has 
presened  the  familiar  old  rhyming  distinction  of  our  Saxon  ances- 
tors:— 

"  It  was  not  framed  for  village  churls. 
But  for  high  dames  and  mighty  earls." 

•  P.ilgravc's  English  Com.  p.  17.  See  also  "  A  General  Introdur- 
Ij«a  li>  Domcsday-Bocik,  by  Sir  Henry  Ellis,  K.  H."  2  vols.  Svo.  1833, 
pp.  44-94  ;  and  Sergeant  Haywood  '•  On  the  Ranks  of  the  People 
uDiiev  the  Aoglo  Saxon  Govenuueiit."   Svo,  Lon.  1818. 


known  by  the  name  of  the  Commons  of  England. 
They  are  by  no  means  fully  represented  merely 
by  the  class  now  called  the  common  people.  ]f 
we  may  be  permitted  for  the  moment  to  regard  the 
theowes  as  answering  to  our  modern  convicts,  th(! 
Ceorls  may  be  considered  as  comprehending  all 
the  rest  of  the  population  except  the  nobility  and 
the  clergy.  To  this  class  belonged  not  only  those 
of  the  laborers,  the  peasantry,  and  the  artisans,  that 
were  not  theowes,  but  also  the  traders,  of  all  de- 
scriptions, the  farmers,  and  all  the  smaller  land- 
holders and  owners  of  tenements,  whether  in  burgh 
or  in  the  open  country.  Every  lay  person,  in  fact, 
who  was  not  an  eorl  was  a  ceorl. 

As  for  the  clergy,  of  all  orders,  they  were  sub- 
stantially ranked  with  the  nobility,  if  we  ought  not 
rather  to  say  they  were  considered  as  occupying  a 
still  higher  place  in  the  state.  While  the  compur- 
gatory  oath  of  one  eorl,  for  instance,  was  equal  to 
that  of  only  six  ceorls,  a  priest  in  this  matter  was 
considered  as  equivalent  to  one  hundred  and  twenty 
ceorls  ;  a  deacon  to  sixty  ;  and  a  monk  who  was 
neither  priest  nor  deacon,  to  thirty.  The  word  of 
a  bishop,  again,  like  that  of  the  king,  was  conclusive 
in  itself,  and  did  not  require  to  be  supported  by  the 
oaths  of  compurgators.  The  lowest  priest  was  con- 
sidered as  a  mass-thane,  that  is,  a  nobleman  or 
knight  of  rehgion,  and  had  the  same  degree  and 
honor  as  the  world-thane,  with  whom  he  was  ranked 
in  the  scale  of  the  community.' 

Tacitus  bears  testimony  to  the  lenity  with  which 
the  ancient  Germans  treated  their  slaves,  although 
he  states,  at  the  same  time,  that  when  a  master 
chanced  to  kill  his  slave,  as  sometimes  happened  in 
the  heat  of  passion,  he  committed  the  act  Avith  im- 
punity. We  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
Anglo-Saxons  differed  in  this  matter  from  the  cus- 
tom of  their  ancestors.  Their  slave  population  was 
not  so  numerous  as  to  keep  them  in  any  state  of 
apprehension  from  that  quarter,  or  to  make  great 
severity  or  strictness  of  discipline  necessary  in  the 
way  of  self-protection.  The  number  of  the  servi 
reckoned  up  in  Domesday  Book  is  only  between 
twenty  and  thirty  thousand  ;  and  it  may  be  fairly 
assumed  that  they  and  their  families  did  not  amount 
to  a  tenth  part  of  the  entire  population.  We  find 
no  trace  of  any  servile  insurrection  in  Anglo-Saxon 
history.  The  life  of  a  tlieowe,  indeed,  was  no 
further  protected  by  law  than  that  of  one  of  the 
inferior  animals  ;  but  he  Avas  in  general  worth  much 
more  to  his  master  than  a  cow  or  an  ox,  and  nearly 
as  much  as  a  horse ;  and  therefore  we  may  sup- 
pose the  slaves  would  be  on  the  whole  at  least  as 
well  taken  care  of  as  the  cattle.  It  appears,  more- 
over, that  this  unfortunate  class  was  not  deprived 
of  all  means  and  opportunities  of  acquiring  prop- 
erty-. Fines  were  imposed  upon  them,  as  upon 
others,  for  offences,  by  the  laws ;  and  frequent 
mention  is  m<ide  of  slaves  themselves  purchasing 
their  freedom.  The  practice,  also,  of  masters  eman- 
cipating their  slaves,  sometimes  by  their  wills,  some- 
times in  their  hfetime,  became  more  and  more 
common  as  the  influence  of  the  church  extended 

'  P:tl?ra -e's  English  Co»r>..  "".  1«4.  165 


340 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


itself,  and  religious  feelings  spread  throughout  the 
community. 

It  does  not  appear  that  any  particular  kinds  of 
labor  were  exclusively  assigned  to  the  thcowes. 
They  seem  to  have  been  employed  in  the  different 
handicraft  arts  as  well  as  in  the  operations  of  agri- 
culture, indifferently  with  the  bondes.  The  latter, 
however,  from  their  greatly  superior  numbers,  must 
have  constituted  the  chief  strength  of  the  national 
industry.  While  Domesday-Book  mentions  only 
about  26,500  servi,  it  enumerates  about  184,000 
villaai,  bondarii,  and  cotttirii.  These  must  have 
been  all,  or  nearly  all,  laborers,  partly  for  them- 
selves, perhaps,  in  the  cultivation  of  their  small 
holdings,  but  principally  for  the  proprietors  on 
whose  estates  they  resided.  Every  peasant  was 
obliged  by  the  law,  if  he  had  not  a  domicile  of  his 
own,  to  find  a  householder  who  would  take  him 
into  his  service,  and  allow  him  to  become  one  of 
his  household.  The  villains  who  were  house- 
holders were  called  heorth-fastmen ;  the  others, 
folghers,  that  is,  followers.  Any  householder  who 
allowed  a  person  to  pass  three  nights  luider  his 
roof  became  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  that 
person,  and  seems  to  have  been  obliged  to  retain 
him,  at  least  for  a  certain  term,  as  an  inmate.' 

Besides  all  these  viilani,  and  other  inferior  classes 
of  the  peasantry,  Domesday-Book  notices  about 
26,000  tenentes,  subtenentes,  and  sockmanni,  about 
the  half  of  whom  are  distinguished  as  iiberi  homines, 
or  freemen.  These  latter,  at  least,  though  counted 
as  still  belonging  to  the  class  of  ceorls,  must  be 
supposed  to  have  been  exempted  from  that  personal 
control  and  adscription  to  the  soil  under  which  the 
viilani  Labored.  Above  17,000  burgesses  and  citi- 
zens are  also  enumerated ;  but  this  number,  as 
has  been  already  observed,  cannot  be  taken  as  that 
of  the  entire  population  of  the  cities  and  boroughs 
throughout  the  kingdom,  nor  even  as  that  of  the 
householders.  It  may  be  that  of  the  tenants  of  the 
crown,  or  those  upon  whom  the  crown  had  some 
claim  of  services  on  account  of  their  tenements. 
The  cities  and  burghs,  as  well  as  the  country,  no 
doubt  contained  both  theowes  and  persons  of  each 
of  the  various  descriptions  of  ceorls  ;  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  most  of  those  who  practiced  the  handicraft 
arts,  as  well  as  those  engaged  in  trade,  resided  in 
these  natural  receptacles  and  sheltering  places  of 
collective  industry. 

The  associations  for  various  purposes,  which 
went  by  the  name  of  gilds  or  gildships,  have  been 
already  alluded  to  ;  they  seem  to  have  been  common 
among  all  classes,  and  to  have  been,  some  of  them, 
of  the  nature  of  our  modern  friendly  or  benefit 
rsocieties,  while  some  were  mere  convivial  clubs. 
<3thers,  however,  were  associations  of  the  traders 
or  artisans  of  particular  kinds  in  the  cities  and 
burghs ;  and  these  appear  to  have  been  permanent 
institutions,  which  perhaps  took  their  rise  fi'om  the 
colleges  of  operatives  in  the  Roman  towns,  and 
may  be  regarded  as  perpetuated  in  the  guilds,  or 
incorporated  trades,  of  modern  times.  As  the 
burghs  gradually  acquired  more  and  more  of  the 

1  PaJgiave's  Eng]i3h  ConnnonvFcalth,  p.  20. 


right  of  self-government,  these  fraternities  or  com- 
panies may  be  supposed  to  have  obtained  a  share  in 
the  appointment  of  the  municipal  officers  and  the 
general  direction  of  affairs. 

The  feature  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  system  of  so- 
ciety that  appears  the  most  singular  to  our  modern 
notions  is,  the  existence  of  a  large  body  of  the 
people  in  the  condition  which  has  been  described 
as  that  of  the  viilani,  or  «diief  cultivators  of  the 
soil — that  is  to  say,  not  subject  to  the  control  of 
any  master  who  had  a  right  to  regard  and  use  them 
as  his  absolute  property,  but  yet  so  completely 
destitute  of  what  we  understand  by  freedom,  that 
they  had  not  the  power  of  removing  from  the 
estate  on  which  tliey  were  born,  and  were  trans- 
ferred with  it  on  every  change  of  proprietors,  they 
and  their  services  together,  exactly  in  the  same 
manner  as  any  other  portion  of  the  stock,  alive  or 
dead,  human  or  bestial,  which  happened  to  be  ac- 
cumulated on  its  surface.  They  were  bound  to  the 
soil,  and  could  no  more  uproot  themselves  and 
withdraw  elsewhere,  than  could  the  trees  that  were 
planted  in  it.  This  system  seems  to  have  been  of 
great  antiquity  among  the  Teutonic  nations.  The 
kind  of  predial  slavery  which  Tacitus  describes  as 
existing  among  the  Germans  of  his  time,  is  plainly 
nothing  more  than  this  villainage  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons.  "  The  rest  of  their  slaves,"  he  says,  after 
having  noticed  those  that  were  freely  sold  like  any 
other  goods,  "have  not,  like  ours,  particular  em- 
ployments in  the  family  allotted  them.  Each  is 
the  master  of  a  habitation  and  household  of  his 
own.  The  lord  requires  from  him  a  certain  quan- 
tity of  grain,  cattle,  or  cloth,  as  from  a  tenant ;  and 
so  far  only  the  subjection  of  the  slave  extends." ' 
It  was  natural  enough  for  Tacitus  to  speak  of  this 
as  a  state  of  slavery  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  neither 
these  German  viilani  nor  their  lords  considered  the 
matter  in  that  light.  Tacitus,  whose  acquaintance 
with  the  subject  was  evidently  superficial  enough, 
does  not  carry  his  delineation  beyond  these  few 
general  strokes,  giving  the  mere  outside  view  of 
the  case ;  but  to  understand  it  fully  it  is  necessary 
to  look  to  it  from  other  points.  These  Anglo-Saxon 
viilani  could  not,  indeed,  withdraw  themselves  from 
the  soil  to  which  they  were  said  to  be  adscribed, 
nor  could  they  withhold  their  services  from  whoso- 
ever might  become  by  inheritance,  by  gift,  by  pur- 
chase, or  in  any  other  legal  way,  the  lord  of  the 
manor.  This  is,  in  plain  language,  the  whole 
amount  of  the  obligation  under  which  they  lay. 
They  were  under  the  same  obligation  under  which 
every  modern  tenant  or  lessee  lies  during  the  cur- 
rency of  his  lease,  with  this  difference  only,  that 
the  latter,  provided  he  continue  to  pay  his  rent, 
may  withdraw  his  person  to  where  he  pleases. 
But  his  rent  he  is  as  strictly  bound  to  continue  to 
pay  as  the  villain  of  old  was  to  pay  his  yearly 
dues,  and  to  render  the  accustomed  services.  That 
these  services  were  often  of  a  menial  or  otherwise 
degrading  description,  or,  more  correctly,  of  what 
would  now  be  considered  so,  does  not  affect  the 
principle  of  the  case  ;  they  were  suited  to  the  cir- 

'  Germania,  c.  25,  Aikjo's  Transl. 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


341 


cumstiinces  of  the  time,  and  no  doubt  the  persons 
bound  to  perform  them  would  not,  in  general,  have 
agreed  to  any  proposal  of  commuting  them  for 
money-rents.  This,  then,  we  repeat,  was  the  obli- 
gation lying  on  the  villain  ;  he  was  bound  to  pay 
certain  dues,  and  to  render  certain  sei'vices  to  his 
lord,  which  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  were 
usually  felt  to  be  any  heavier  burden  than  the  pay- 
ment of  rent  is  felt  to  be  by  a  tenant  of  the  present 
day.  But  had  he  no  rights  as  well  as  obligations  ? 
The  soil,  in  truth,  was  as  much  his  as  he  was  the 
soil's.  If  he  could  not  leave  it,  so  neither  could  he 
be  driven  from  it.  It  was  his  property  to  occupy, 
and  cultivate,  and  reap  the  produce  of,  as  much  as 
his  services  and  dues  were  the  property  of  his 
lord.  The  master  could  no  more  sell,  or  dispossess, 
or  in  any  other  way  (except  by  divesting  himself  of 
the  land)  get  rid  of  his  villain  than  the  villain  could 
get  rid  of  his  master.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
even  those  of  this  class  of  persons  who  possessed 
the  smallest  tenements  considered  themselves 
better  off,  with  all  the  services  they  had  to  render, 
than  if  they  had  been  without  both  the  services 
and  the  tenements.  With  our  modern  feelings, 
we  think  only  of  the  villain  as  being  born  to  a  life- 
time of  hopeless  bondage — he,  and  his  children, 
and  all  his  descendants  after  him;  he,  we  may  be 
sure,  looked  upon  himself  and  them  as  born  to  the 
inheritance  of  a  property  of  which  no  one  could 
deprive  them.  Of  what  real  advantage  would  it 
have  been  to  the  villain  in  that  state  of  society  to 
possess  the  liberty  of  tranferring  his  person  and 
his  residence  from  one  property  or  one  part  of  the 
kingdom  to  another  ?  If  the  law  had  allowed  him 
such  a  liberty,  the  circumstances  of  the  times 
would  have  made  it,  in  general,  almost  impossible 
for  him  to  exercise  it.  To  whom  could  he  have 
gone,  or  who  would  have  received  him,  if  he  had 
left  his  natural  lord  ?  We  have  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  services  of  the  villains  were,  in 
general,  accounted  more  than  an  equivalent  for 
their  holdings,  or  that,  consequently,  one  lord 
would  have  usually  been  inclined  to  outbid  another 
in  a  competition  to  obtain  them.  The  case  was 
most  probably  quite  otherwise.  These  men  were 
originally  the  military  followers  of  their  lord,  who 
settled  them  upon  his  lands  because  they  had  a 
claim  upon  him  for  their  services,  and  because, 
from  the  relation  in  which  thej'  stood  to  him,  he 
was  held  to  be  bound  to  provide  for  them.  The 
arrangement  was,  indeed,  to  a  certain  extent,  a 
beneficial  and  necessary  one  for  him  as  well  as  for 
them — since,  if  they  required  the  land  to  live  upon, 
the  land  required  them  to  cultivate  it ;  but  the 
circumstances  of  the  case  certainly  would  not  have 
admitted  of  their  interests  being  entirely  sacrificed 
to  those  of  their  lord ;  and  we  may  fiiirly  presume 
that  both  parties  shared,  however  unequally,  in 
the  advantages  of  the  transaction.  The  former 
inhabitants  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  glad  to 
remain  to  cultivate  the  ground ;  but  although  we 
may  not  suppose  them,  with  some,  to  have  been  in 
eveiy  case  altogether  swept  away  to  make  room  for 
their  conquerors,  it  cannot  be  questioned  that  they 


were  obliged  to  give  place  to  the  new-comers  to  a 
very  great  extent.  Had  they  not,  the  conquest  oi 
the  country  would  have  alforded  no  means  oi 
rewarding  those  by  whom  it  was  achieved. 

Nothing  has  vai-ied  more  than  the  notions  that 
have  been  entertained  in  different  ages  and  coun- 
tries respecting  what  it  is  that  constitutes  the 
freedom  of  a  nation,  or  of  a  class  of  men.  It  is 
evident  that  freedom  and  slavery  are  not  two  con- 
ditions essentially  and  at  all  points  opposed  to  eacli 
other,  as  they  are  commonly  represented  by  the 
rhetoricians,  but  that  the  one  rather  melts  by 
almost  imperceptible  gradations  into  the  other,  and 
that  there  is  a  considerable  border  space  which 
may  be  indifferently,  or,  according  to  the  point  of 
view  from  which  it  is  regarded,  considered  as 
either  slavery  or  freedom.  It  is  like  the  distinction 
between  high  and  low,  or  between  great  and  small, 
or  any  other  qualities  of  a  similar  kind,  which, 
although  opposed  in  a  sufificiently  marked  manner 
in  their  higher  degrees,  yet  lie,  in  fact,  as  it  were, 
in  the  same  continuous  Une,  of  which,  notwith- 
standing the  wide  separation  of  the  extremities, 
the  middle  portion  must  always  be  of  debatable 
character,  and  assignable  to  either.  Rigidly  speak- 
ing, a  nation  or  a  class  of  persons  is  not  entitled  to 
call  itself  free,  so  long  as  it  lies  under  any  restraint 
whatever  from  which  it  might  be  relieved,  or  is 
deprived  of  any  right  which  it  might  be  allowed  to 
exercise,  without  prejudice  to  the  common  safety 
and  welfere.  But  even  this  point  does  not  admit 
of  being  determined  by  any  infallible  and  universal 
formula,  in  so  many  respects  have  the  actual  cir- 
cumstances of  one  age  and  country  differed  from 
those  of  another,  and  such  disagreement  will  there 
always  be  in  the  judgments  and  opinions  of  men  a.s 
to  these  questions.  Nor  below  the  point  thus  fixed 
upon,  although  it  may  be  denied  that  there  is  any- 
thing that  can  properly  be  called  freedom,  will  it  be 
affirmed  that  there  is  nothing  but  slavery.  In  fact, 
whatever  freedom,  or  so-called  freedom,  has  been 
hitherto  enjoyed  by  men  in  political  society,  has 
probably  been  for  the  most  part  something  inferior 
to  what  the  above  definition  would  consider  to  bo 
freedom  at  all.  Still  it  may  be  quite  as  properly 
spoken  of  under  the  name  of  freedom  as  under  that 
of  slavery ;  for  in  truth  it  is  a  mixture  of  the  two. 
It  will  be  naturally  in  each  case  regarded  as  slavery 
or  freedom,  according  as  the  one  or  the  other  of 
these  conditions  is  conceived  to  preponderate  ;  and 
if  there  appear  to  be  any  considerable  quantity  of 
freedom  at  all  present,  it  will  be  described  as  a 
state  of  freedona  more  or  less  complete.  But  yet 
different  ages  and  countries,  not  to  speak  of  dif- 
ferent individuals,  will  not  always  demand  the 
presence  of  the  same  elements  to  constitute  free- 
dom of  any  kind.  Sometimes  this  prized  posses- 
sion will  be  conceived  to  consist  in  political  privilege 
— sometimes  in  exemption  from  personal  restraint 
— sometimes  in  mere  security  of  person  and  prop- 
erty. 

It  was  this  last-mentioned  and  lowest  kind  of 
freedom  which  was  enjoyed  by  the  villains  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon    period.      They    were    subjected    to 


342 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  II. 


many  restrictions  and  burdens  which  we  should 
now  account  of  the  most  oppressive  character ;  but 
still  they  were  not  held  to  be  in  a  state  of  slavery, 
because,  with  ail  their  privations,  the  law  yet  threw 
its  full  protection  around  both  their  persons  and 
their  property.  It  treated  tliem  as  persons  and  not 
as  things.  They  were  no  man's  property  to  do  as 
he  cliose  with.  They  were,  it  is  true,  inseparable 
from  the  soil  of  the  estate  on  which  they  lived,  and 
•dS  a  matter  of  necessitj,  therefoie,  when  the  estate 
received  a  new  owner  they  received  a  new  lord  ;  a 
modern  tenant  in  the  same  manner  n^ceives  a  new 
landlord  whenever  the  farm  whidi  he  rents  is  trans- 
ferred from  one  proprietor  to  another,  as  it  may  be 
at  any  time,  without  any  more  right  on  his  part  to 
object  or  interfere  than  had  the  Saxon  villain.  But 
the  villain  could  not  himself  be  sold,  as  the  theowe 
might  be ;  nor  could  any  of  the  rights  appertaining 
to  his  condition,  such  as  they  were,  be  disregarded 
with  impunity,  any  more  tlian  those  of  the  classes 
of  persons  that  were  higher  in  the  social  scale.  He 
may  have  had  no  poHtical  rights,  and  even  his 
social  rights  may  have  been  extremely  limited : 
but  the  slave,  properly  so  called,  had  no  rights  of 
any  kind.  He  was,  at  least  in  the  original  purity 
of  the  system,  a  mere  item  of  his  master's  stock — a 
portion  of  his  goods  and  chattels. 

Sir  Francis  Palgrave  has  advanced  the  opinion, 
that  "  perhaps  the  essential  distinction  between  the 
classes  of  the  nobility  and  the  plebeians,  was  the 
entire  absence  of  political  power  in  the  ceorls." ' 
Little  doubt,  we  imagine,  can  be  entertained  that 
those  of  the  ceorls  who  were  in  a  state  of  villainage 
Were  wholly  destitute  of  political  power ;  and  this 
«;lass  seems  to  have  constituted  by  far  the  largest 
portion  of  the  population ;  but  the  assertion  of  the 
learned  writer  may  perhaps  be  thought  not  to  be 
so  indisputably  applicable  to  those  of  the  teuentes, 
subtenentes,  and  sockmanni  of  Domesday-Book, 
who  are  there  marked  as  freemen  (liberi  homines). 
These  were  ceorls  who  certainly  at  least  were  not 
villains  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  not  unlikely  that  along 
with  their  freedom  from  adscription  to  the  soil  they 
had  acquired  some  other  franchises. 

The  period  over  which  we  have  now  passed, 
though  exhibiting  many  features  of  a  state  of  society 
only  yet  emerging  from  barbarism,  is  a  most  im- 
portant one,  as  having  been  that  in  which  were 
first  brought  together  the  germs  of  modern  Euro- 
pean civilization.  A  foreign  writer  of  our  own 
day,  to  whose  learned  and  jihilosophical  speculations 
we  have  already  had  more  than  once  occasion  to 
refer,  has  given  a  view  of  it  in  this  light,  which  is 
in  several  respects  novel  and  well  deserving  of 
attention.*  Though  a  chaos,  he  observes,  it  was  a 
chaos  out  of  which  was  to  spring  all  of  order,  and 
light,  and  life,  which  our  present  civilization  has  to 
boast  of.  The  three  elements  of  that  civilization 
may  be  regarded  as  being  the  Roman  world,  the 
Christian  world,  and  the  Germanic  world. 

I.  The  working  of  the  two  latter  of  these  ele- 
•jnents,  having  been  more  on  the  surface,  has  been 

1  English  Com.  p.  19. 

*  Guizot,  Kist.  de  la  Civilis.  en  France. 


less  overlooked  than  that  of  the  first.  Never- 
theless, the  first  has  been  no  less  active,  no  less 
influential,  than  the  other.  M.  de  Savigny,  in  his 
history  of  the  Roman  law  after  the  fall  of  the 
empire,  has  proved  that  the  Roman  law  never 
perished,  but  that,  though  with  groat  modification* 
undoul)tedly,  it  was  perpetuated  from  the  fifth  to 
the  fifteenth  century.  31.  Guizot  has  gone  further, 
lie  has,  to  use  his  own  words,  •'  generalized  this 
result."  lie  has  shown  that  not  only  in  nmnicipal 
institutions  and  civil  laws,  but  in  politics,  in  philoso- 
phy, in  literature — in  a  word,  in  all  departments  of 
social  and  intellectual  hfe,  the  Roman  civilization 
has  been  perpetuated  bejond  the  empire ;  that 
there  is  no  break  in  the  continuity;  in  a  word, 
that  tli-e  modern  is  throughout  still,  to  a  consider- 
able degree,  the  prolongation  of  the  ancient  civiliza- 
tion. 

We  have  already  touched  upon  the  subjects  of 
the  imperial  power  and  the  municipal  institutions, 
j  — in  other  words,  of  what  modern  civilization 
derived  from  ancient  in  a  social  point  of  view ;  it 
I  remains  to  say  a  few  words  of  what  it  received  in 
I  an  intellectual  point  of  view  from  Greco-Roman 
I  antiquity. 

INI.  Guizot  considers  it  as  a  fact,  though  far  too 
j  little  attended  to,  of  immense  importance,  that  the 
principle  of  liberty  of  thought,  the  principle  of  all 
philosophy,  reason  taking  itself  as  a  point  to  ^tait 
from   and   as    a   guide,  is   an    idea   essentially  the 
I  offspring  of  antiquity,  an  idea  which  modern  society 
I  derives  from  Greece  and  Rome.     It  came  neither 
from   Christianity  nor  from   Germany,  for  it  was 
contained  in  neither  of  these  elements  of  our  civili- 
I  zation.      Another    intellectual    legacy  left   by   the 
j  Roman  civilization   to  ours  is  that  of  the  classical 
I  works  of  antiquity.     Spite  of  the  general  ignorance 
I  that  pervaded  the  middle  ages,  spite  of  the  confu- 
sion and  barbarism  attendant  upon  the  corruption 
of  the  Latin  language,  the  ancient  literature  has 
always  been  held  up  to  the  mind  as  a  worthy  object 
of  admiration,  of  study,  of  imitation ;   in    a  word, 
as  the   type  of  the    beautiful.     The    philosophical 
spirit  and  the  classical  spirit,  the  principle  of  free- 
dom  of  thought  and  the   model  of  the    beautiful, 
these  were  what  the  Roman  world  handed  down  to 
the  modern  world,  what  survived   it   in  the  intel- 
lectual   order   of  things    at   the    end  of  the  tenth 
century. 

II.  The  effects  of  Christianity  under  the   intel- 
lectual point  of  view  are  so  important,  as  they  have 
been   developed   by  M.   Guizot,  that  they  desei-ve 
1  especial  consideration. 

I  Most  of  the  philosophers,  whether  of  the  most 
]  brilliant  era  of  Greek  antiquit}',  or  of  later  times, 
I  under  the  Roman  empire,  pursued  their  specu- 
lations nearly  in  perfect  freedom.  The  statfe 
scarcely  interfered  either  to  check  or  control  them. 
They,  on  their  part,  meddled  little  with  politics; 
sought  little  to  exercise  a  direct  and  immediate 
influence  on  the  society  in  the  midst  of  which  they 
lived  ;  satisfied  with  that  indirect,  remote  influence 
which  belongs  to  every  great  mind  placed  in  the 
midst  of  mankind.      With  the  triumph  of  Chria- 


Chap.  VII.] 


COxXDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


343 


tianity  in  the  Roman  world  the  intellectual  devel- 
opment changed  its  character :  what  was  philoso- 
phy became  religion — the  form  of  thought  became 
religion.  Fi-om  that  time  it  aimed  at  much  more 
power  over  human  affairs.  The  spiritual  order  con- 
tinued, indeed,  to  be  separate  from  the  temporal  order. 
The  government  of  nations  was  not  directly  and  fully 
handed  over  to  the  clergy.  But  the  spiritual  pene- 
trated much  further  into  the  temporal  order  of  things 
than  was  the  case  in  the  Greek  and  Roman  antiquity. 
From  this,  resulted  another  change,  not  less  im- 
portant. As  human  thought,  under  the  religious 
form,  aspired  to  more  power  over  the  conduct  of 
men  and  the  destiny  of  nations,  it  lost  its  liberty. 
But  when,  after  a  long  time,  the  religious  form 
ceased  to  have  an  exclusive  dominion  in  human 
thought,  the  philosophical  development  recom- 
menced. What  was  the  consequence  ?  Philoso- 
phy made  the  same  pretensions  to  practical  inter- 
ference that  religion  had  done  ;  or,  more  accurately 
speaking,  thought,  having  again  become  philosophi- 
cal, retained  the  pretensions  which  it  had  assumed 
under  the  religious  form.  Philosophy  aspired  to  do 
what  religion  did — with  this  difference,  however — 
that  while  it  wished  to  govern  mankind,  it  refused 
to  submit  to  a  legal  yoke.  "  The  union,"  says  M. 
Guizot,  "of  intellectual  liberty,  as  it  existed  in 
antiquity,  and  of  intellectual  power,  as  it  displayed 
itself  in  Christian  communities,  is  the  gi'and,  the 
original  character  of  modern  civilization ;  and  it  is 
undoubtedly  in  the  bosom  of  the  revolution  accom- 
plished by  Christianity  in  the  relations  of  the  spir- 
itual   and    temporal    orders,    of   thouglit    and    the 


exterior  world,   that   this   new  revolution   had  its 
origin  and  its  first  vantage  ground."  '■ 

III.  The  two  principles,  or  rather  the  two  germs 
of  principles  furnished  by  Germany,  were  the  tribe 
formed  of  all  the  heads  of  families  who  were  pro- 
prietors, and  governed  by  an  assembly  of  free  men ; 
and  the  band  of  warriors,  where  the  individual  was 
still  very  free,  but  where  the  social  principle  was 
no  longer  the  equality  of  free  men,  and  common 
deliberation,  but  the  patronage  of  a  chief  over  his 
companions ;  and  if  we  consider  the  system  of 
social  organization,  it  was  fitted  to  produce  aristo- 
cratic and  military  subordination. 

The  principle  of  the  common  deliberation  of  free- 
men may  be  said  to  have  disappeared  in  the  Roman 
world.  The  principle  of  aristocratic  patronage,  com- 
bined with  a  strong  infusion  of  liberty,  had  become 
equally  unknown.  Both  these  elements  of  our  social 
and  political  organization  are  of  Germanic,  or,  to 
speak  specifically  of  England,  of  Saxon  origin. 

The  two  grand  results  that  specially  demand 
consideration  are  these:  1.  The  unbroken  conti- 
nuity, though  undoubtedly  much  weakened  and 
modified,  of  ancient  civilization  down  into  modern. 
2.  The  total  want,  both  in  the  social  and  intellectual 
order  of  things,  from  the  fifth  to  the  tenth  century^ 
of  any  stability,  of  anything  systematic,  of  anything 
fixed,  general,  regular.  The  general  fact  we  meet 
with  is  a  continual,  universal  fluctuation.  It  is,  in 
truth,  the  work  going  on  of  the  fermentation  and 
amalgamation  of  the  three  great  elements  of  modern 
civilization. 

'  Hist,  de  la  Civilis.  en  France  torn.  iii.  p.  197. 


[The  Border  is  from  a  Saxon  MS.  in  the  British  Museum.] 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


845 


Great  Seal  of  William  the  Conqckror. 


CHAPTER  I. 

NARRATIVE  OF  CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


WILLIAM  I.,  SURNAMED  THE  CONqUEROR. 


HE  first  feelings  of  the 
Normans  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Hastings  seem 
to  have  been  sensations 
of  triumph  and  joy, 
amounting  almost  to  a 
delirium.  They  are  rep- 
represented  by  a  con- 
temporary^ as  making 
their  horses  to  prance 
and  bound  over  the 
thickly  strewed  bodies 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons ; 
after  which  they  pro- 
ceeded to  rifle  them 
and  despoil  them  of  their  clothes.  By  William's 
orders   the   space    was    cleared   round    the   pope's 

-  William  of  Poictiers.  This  writer  asserts,  that  although  Harold's 
mother  oflered  its  weight  in  gold  fur  the  dead  body  of  her  son,  the 
stem  victor  was  deaf  to  her  request,  professing  indignation  at  the 
proposal  that  he  should  enjoy  the  rites  of  sepulture  for  whose  ex- 
cessive cupidity  so  many  men  lay  unburied.  Harold,  it  is  added,  was 
buried  on  the  beach.  Most  of  the  English  historians,  however,  say 
that  the  body  was  given  to  his  mother  without  ransom,  and  interred 
by  her  in  Waltham  Abbey,  which  had  been  founded  by  Harold  before 
he  was  king.  The  Cottonian  MS..  Julius  D.  6,  which  appears  to  have 
been  written  in  Waltham  Abbey  about  a  century  after  the  event, 
relates  that  two  monks,  who  were  allowed  by  William  to  search  for 
the  body,  were  unable  to  distinguish  it  among  the  heaps  of  slain, 
until  they  sent  for  Harold's  mistress  Editlia,  "the  swan-necked," 
whose  eye  of  affection  was  not  to  be  eluded  or  deceived.  The  im- 
probable story  told  by  Giraldus  Cambrensis  (and  in  more  detail  in  the 
Harleian  MS.  3776)  about  Harold,  after  receiving  his  wound,  having 
escaped  from  the  battle,  and  living  for  some  years  as  an  anchorite  in  a 
cell  near  St.  John's  Church,  in  Chester,  though  a  pretty  enough 
romance,  is  palpably  undeserving  of  notice  in  an  historical  point  of 
view. 


Standard,  which  he  had  set  up ;  and  there  his  tent 
was  pitched,  and  he  feasted  with  his  followers 
amongst  the  dead.  The  critical  circumstances  in 
which  he  had  so  recently  been  placed,  and  the  difli- 
culties  which  still  lay  before  him,  disposed  the  mind 
of  the  Conqueror  to  serious  thoughts.  Not  less,  per- 
haps, in  gratitude  for  the  past  than  in  the  hope  that 
such  a  work  would  procure  him  heavenly  favor  for 
the  future,  he  solemnly  vowed  that  he  would  erect 
a  splendid  abbey  on  the  scene  of  this,  his  first  victory; 
and  when,  in  process  of  time,  this  vow  was  accom- 
plished, the  high  altar  of  the  abbey  church  stood  on 
the  very  spot  where  the  standard  of  Harold  had 
been  planted  and  thrown  down.  The  exterior  walls 
embraced  the  whole  of  the  hill, — the  centre  of  their 
position  which  the  bravest  of  the  English  had  cov- 
ered with  their  bodies,  —  and  all  the  surrounding 
country  where  the  scenes  of  the  combat  had  passed, 
became  the  property  of  the  holy  house,  which  was 
called  in  the  Norman  or  French  language,  VAhhaye 
(le  la  BataiUe,  and  was  dedicated  to  St.  Martin, 
the  patron  of  the  soldiers  of  Gaul.  Monks,  invited 
from  the  great  convent  of  Marmontier,  near  Tours, 
took  up  their  residence  in  the  new  edifice.  They 
were  well  endowed  with  the  property  of  the  English 
who  had  died  in  the  battle,  and  prayed  alike  for  the 
repose  of  the  souls  of  those  victims  and  for  the  pros- 
perity and  long  life  of  the  Normans  who  had  killed 
them.'  The  Abbot  of  Battle  was  declared  to  be  in- 
dependent of  the  authority  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  and  all  other  prelates,  and  was  invested 
with  archiepiscopal  jurisdiction,  and  honored  with 

I  Thierry. 


310 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III 


^r 


Battle  Abbey  as  it  appeared  about  150  years  since. — (In  the  case  of  an  old  building,  of  which  only  the  rums  now  remain,  the  cut  will 
generally  represent  the  building  in  the  most  perfect  state  in  which  an  authentic  engraving  or  drawing  of  it  can  be  obtained.) 


other  peculiar  privileges.  In  the  archives  of  the 
house  was  deposited  a  long  roll,  on  which  were  in- 
scribed the  names  of  the  nobles  and  gentlemen  of 
mark,  who  came  with  the  Conqueror  and  survived 
tlie  battle  of  Hastings.^ 

The  most  sanguine  of  the  Normans,  in  common 
with  the  most  despondent  among  the  English,  ex- 
pected that  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Hastings 
the  Conqueror  would  march  straight  to  London  and 
make  himself  master  of  that  capital.  But  the  first 
move  was  a  retrograde  one ;  nor  did  William  esta- 
bhsh  himself  in  the  capital  until  more  than  two 
months  had  passed.  While  the  army  of  Harold 
kept  the  field  at  Senlac,  or  Battle,  several  new 
ships,  with  reinforcements,  came  over  from  Nor- 
mandy to  join  William.  Mistaking  the  proper  place 
for  landing,  the  commanders  of  these  vessels  put  in 
to  Romney,  where  they  were  at  once  assaulted  and 
beaten  by  the  people  of  the  coast.  William  learned 
this  unpleasant  news  the  day  after  his  victory,  and 
to  save  the  other  recruits,  whom  he  still  expected, 
from  a  similar  disaster,  he  resolved  before  proceed- 
ing further  to  make  himself  master  of  all  the  south- 
eastern coast.  He  turned  back,  therefore,  from 
Battle  to  Hastings,  at  which  latter  place  he  stayed 
some  days  awaiting  his  transports  from  beyond  sea, 

1  The  original  roll  of  Battle  Abbey  is  lost ;  but  some  copies  have 
been  preserved,  from  whioh  the  document  has  been  repeatedly 
printed.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  these  pretended  transcripts 
are  far  from  faithful,  and  that,  beside  other  corruptions,  many  names 
have  been  inserted  in  later  times  by  the  monks  of  the  abbey,  to  gratify 
families  or  individuals  that  wished  to  make  it  appear  they  were  sprung 
from  followers  of  the  Conqueror. 


and  hoping,  it  is  said,  that  his  presence  would  induco 
the  population  of  those  parts  to  make  voluntary  sub- 
mission. At  length,  seeing  that  no  one  came  to  ask 
for  peace,  William  resumed  his  march  witli  the  rem- 
nant of  his  army  and  the  fresh  troops  which  had  ar- 
rived in  the  interval  from  Normandy.  The  amount 
of  this  seasonable  reinforcement  is  nowhere  men- 
tioned, but  there  are  good  reasons  for  believing  that 
it  must  have  been  considerable.  He  kept  close  to  the 
sea-coast,  marching  from  south  to  north,  and  spread- 
ing devastation  on  his  passage.  He  took  a  savage 
vengeance  at  Romney  for  the  reverse  his  troops  had 
sustained  there,  by  massacring  the  inhabitants  and 
burning  their  houses.  From  Romney  he  advanced 
to  Dover,  the  strongest  place  on  the  coast, — "  the 
lock  and  key  of  all  England,"  as  Holinshed  calls  it. 
With  little  or  no  opposition,  he  burst  into  the  town, 
which  his  troops  set  fire  to ;  and  the  strong  castle, 
which  the  son  of  Godwin  had  put  into  an  excellent 
state  of  defence,  was  so  speedily  surrendered  to  him 
that  a  suspicion  of  treachery-  rests  on  the  Saxon 
commander.  The  capture  of  this  fortress  was  most 
opportune  and  important,  for  a  dreadful  dysentery 
had  broken  out  in  the  Norman  army,  and  a  safe  re- 
ceptacle for  the  sick  had  become  indispensable. 
Dover  Castle  also  commanded  the  best  landing- 
place  for  troops  from  the  Continent,  and  William 
was  not  yet  so  sure  of  his  game  as  not  to  look  anx- 
iously for  a  place  of  retreat  on  the  coast  in  case  of 
meeting  with  reverses  in  the  interior.  He  spent 
eight  or  nine  days  in  strengthening  the  cistle  and 
repairing  some  of  the  damage  done  to  the  town  by 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


347 


his  lawless  so.diery.  Meanwhile,  in  order  to  con- 
ciliate the  inhabitants,  he  made  them  some  compen- 
sation for  the  losses  and  injm-ies  they  had  sustained; 
and  in  the  same  interval  he  received  more  recruits 
from  Normandy.  The  historian  who  would  pretend 
to  write  a  complete  and  consecutive  account  of  these 
obscure  times  must  have  recourse  to  his  imagination, 
or  to  some  hitherto  undiscovered  documents,  for  the 
chronicles  and  original  documents  we  possess  will 
not  enable  him  to  accomplish  such  a  task.  In  the 
particular  transactions  we  are  relating,  the  naval 
forces  ought  to  have  had  some  share,  more  or  less 
important,  but  we  have  no  means  of  telling  what 
steps  were  taken  either  by  the  English  or  the  Nor- 
man fleet.  Just  before  the  battle  of  Hastings,  the 
former  of  these  blockaded  the  latter.  Did  the  de- 
feat and  death  of  Harold  induce  the  English  seamen 
to  disperse  ?  or  did  they  from  that  moment  place 
themselves  under  the  command  of  Godwin  and  Ed- 
mund, Harold's  sons,  who  certainly  reappeared,  with 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  English  navy,  against 
William  in  the  course  of  the  following  year  1  Ac- 
cording to  some  accounts,  William  burnt  his  ships 
at  his  first  landing  in  England :  the  whole  story  is 
doubtful ;  but,  at  most,  he  could  only  have  destroyed 
the  rude  vessels  he  had  hastily  constructed  for  the 
passage.  What  became  of  the  better  class  of  ships 
which  were  mainly  supplied  by  his  great  lords  and 
the  foreign  princes  in  alliance  with  him  ?  Did 
these  latter  return  to  their  own  ports  as  soon  as  the 
English  raised  the  blockade  ?  or  did  they  sail  round 
the  coast  and  enter  the  Thames,  cooperating  with 
William  in  his  advance,  and  making  diversions  in 
his  favor  ?  No  jiositive  answer  can  be  given  to  these 
queries. 

When  the  Conqueror  moved  from  Dover,  he 
ceased  to  creep  cautiously  roimd  the  coast,  but  pen- 
etrating into  Kent,  marched  direct  to  London.  A 
confused  story  is  told  by  some  of  our  early  historians 
about  a  popular  resistance  organized  by  Archbishop 
Stigand  and  the  Abbot  Egelnoth,  in  which  the  men 
of  Kent,  advancing  like  the  army  of  Macduft'  and 
Siward  against  Macbeth,  under  the  cover  of  cut- 
down  trees  and  boughs,  disputed  the  passage  of  the 
Normans,  and,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  exacted 
from  them  terms  most  favorable  to  themselves 
and  the  part  of  England  they  occupied.  But  the 
plain  truth  seems  to  be,  that,  overawed  by  the  re- 
cent catastrophe  of  Hastings,  and  the  presence  of  a 
compact  and  numerous  army,  the  inhabitants  of 
Kent  made  no  resistance,  and  meeting  William  with 
offers  of  submission,  placed  hostages  in  his  hands, 
and  so  obtained  mild  treatment. 

During  these  calamities,  the  Saxon  Witan  had 
assembled  in  London  to  deliberate  and  provide  for 
the  future  ;  but  evidently,  as  far  as  the  lay  portion 
of  the  meeting  was  concerned,  with  no  intention  of 
submitting  to  the  Conqueror.  The  first  care  that 
occupied  their  thoughts  was  to  elect  a  successor  to 
the  throne.  Either  of  Harold's  brave  brothers,  at 
such  a  crisis,  when  valor  and  military  skill  were  the 
qualities  most  wanted,  might  probably  have  com- 
manded a  majority  of  suffiages  ;  but  they  had  both 
fought  their  last  fight;  and,  owing  to  their  youth, 


their  inexperience,  their  want  of  popularity,  or  to 
some  other  circumstance,  the  two  sons  of  Harold 
seem  never  to  have  been  thought  of.  Many  voices 
would  have  supported  Morcar  or  Edwin,  the  pow- 
erful brothers-in-law  of  Harold,  who  had  already  an 
almost  sovereign  authority  in  Northumbria  and  Mer- 
cia  ;  but  the  citizens  of  London,  and  the  men  of  the 
south  of  England  generall}%  preferred  young  Edgar 
Atheling,  the  imbecile  son  of  Edmund  Ironside, 
who  had  been  previously  set  aside  on  account  of  his 
little  worth ;  and  when  Stigand  the  primate,  and 
Aldred  the  Archbishop  of  York,  threw  their  weight 
into  this  scale,  it  outweighed  the  others,  and  Edgar 
was  proclaimed  king.  It  should  seem,  however, 
that  even  at  this  stage,  many  of  the  bishops  and  dig- 
nified clergymen,  who  were  even  then  Frenchmen 
or  Normans,  raised  their  voice  in  fovor  of  William, 
or  let  fall  hints  that  were  all  meant  to  favor  his  pre- 
tensions. The  pope's  bull  and  banner  could  n-ot  be 
without  their  effect,  and,  motives  of  interest  and 
policy  apart,  some  of  these  ecclesiastics  may  have 
conscientiously  beheved  they  were  performing  their 
duty  in  promoting  the  cause  of  the  elect  of  Rome. 
Others  there  Avere  who  were  notoriously  bought 
over,  either  by  money  paid  beforehand  or  by  pro- 
mises of  future  largess. 

The  party  that  ultimately  prevailed  in  the  Witan 
did  not  carry  their  point  until  much  precious  time 
had  been  consumed ;  nor  could  the  blood  of  Cerdic, 
Alfred,  and  Edmund,  make  the  king  of  their  choice 
that  rallying  point  which  conflicting  factions  re- 
quired, or  a  hero  capable  of  facing  a  victorious  in- 
vader, advancing  at  the  head  of  a  more  powerful 
army  than  England  could  hope  to  raise  for  some 
time.  In  fact,  Edgar  was  a  mere  cipher ;  a  strip- 
ling incapable  of  government  as  of  war, — with  no- 
thing populiir  about  him  except  his  descent.  The 
Primate  Stigand  took  his  place  at  the  council  board, 
and  the  military  command  was  given  to  earls  Edwin 
and  Morcar.  A  very  few  acts  of  legal  authority  had 
been  performed  in  the  name  of  Edgar,  when  Wil- 
liam of  Normandy  appeared  before  the  southern 
suburb  of  London.  If  the  Normans  had  expected 
to  take  the  capital  by  a  coup-de-mahi,  and  at  once, 
they  were  disappointed  ;  the  Londoners  were  very 
warlike ;  and  the  population  of  the  city,  great  even 
in  those  diiys,  was  much  increased  by  the  presence 
of  the  thanes  and  chiefs  of  all  the  neighboring  coun- 
ties, who  had  come  in  to  attend  the  Witan,  and  had 
brought  their  servants  and  followers  with  them. 
After  making  a  successful  charge  with  500  of  his 
best  horse  against  some  citizens  who  were  gathered 
on  that  side  of  the  river,  William  set  fire  to  South- 
wark,  and  marched  away  from  London  with  the 
determination  of  ravaging  the  country  around  it, 
destroying  the  property  of  the  thanes  who  had  as- 
sembled at  the  Witan,  and,  by  interrupting  all  com- 
munication, inducing  the  well-defended  capital  to 
surrender.  Detachments  of  his  army  were  soon 
spread  over  a  wide  tract ;  and  in  burning  towns  and 
villages,  and  the  massacre  of  men  armed  and  men 
unarmed,  and  in  the  violation  of  helpless  females, 
the  people  of  Surrey,  Sussex,  Hampshire,  and  Berk- 
shire, were  made  to  feel  the  full  signification  of  a 


348 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[3ooK  III. 


Norman  conquest.  William  crossed  the  Thames  at 
Wallingford,  near  to  which  place  he  established  an 
entrenched  camp,  where  a  division  of  his  army  was 
left  in  order  to  cut  otl"  any  succors  that  miglit  be 
sent  towards  London  from  the  west.  This  done, 
he  proceeded  across  Buckinghamshire  into  Ilert- 
Ibrdshire,  "  slaying  the  people,"  till  he  came  to 
Berkhampstead,  where  he  took  up  a  position  in 
order  to  interrupt  all  communication  with  London 
from  the  north.  The  capital,  indeed,  at  this  time 
seems  to  have  been  girded  round  by  the  enemy, 
and  afflicted  by  the  prospect  of  aijsolute  famine. 
Nor  were  there  wanting  other  causes  of  discour- 
agement. The  earls  Edwin  and  Morcar  showed 
little  zeal  in  the  command  of  the  weak,  and,  as  yet, 
unorganized  army,  and  soon  withdrew  towards  the 
Humber,  taking  with  them  all  the  soldiers  of  Nor- 
thumbria  and  Mercia,  who  constituted  the  best  part 
of  King  Edgar's  forces,  but  who  looked  to  the  earls 
much  more  than  to  the  king.  These  two  sons  of 
Alfgar  probably  hoped  to  be  able  to  maintain  them- 
selves in  independence  in  the  north,  where,  in  re- 
ality, they  at  a  later  period  renewed  and  greatly 
prolonged  the  contest  with  the  Normans.  Their 
departure  had  a  baneful  effect  in  London ;  and 
while  the  spirit  of  the  citizens  waxed  fainter  and 
fainter,  the  partisans  and  intriguers  for  William, 
encouraged  at  every  move  by  the  prevalent  faction 
among  the  clergj',  raised  their  hopes  and  extended 
their  exertions. 

After  some  time,  however,  earls  Morcar  and 
Edwin  appear  to  have  returned  to  the  capital. 
On  many  an  intermediate  step  the  chroniclers  are 
provokingly  silent :  but  at  last  it  was  determined 
that  a  submissive  deputation  shoidd  be  sent  from 
London  to  Berkhampstead;  and  King  Edgar  him- 
self, the  Primate  Stigand,  Aldred,  Archbishop  of 
York,  Wolfstan,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  with  other 
prelates  and  lay  chiefs,  among  whom  the  Saxon 
chronicler  expressly  names  the  two  earls  of  North- 
umbria  and  Mercia,  and  many  of  the  principal 
citizens,  repaired  to  William,  who  received  them 
with  an  outward  show  of  moderation  and  kind- 
ness. It  is  related  that  w'hen  the  man  whom  he 
most  hated,  as  the  friend  of  Harold  and  the  ener- 
getic enemy  of  the  Normans,  that  when  Stigand 
came  into  his  presence,  he  saluted  him  with  the 
endearing  epithets  of  father  and  bishop.  The 
puppet-king  Edgar  made  a  verbal  renunciation  of 
the  throne,  and  the  rest  swore  allegiance  to  the 
Conqueror ;  the  bishops  swearing  for  the  whole 
body  of  the  clergy,  the  chiefs  for  the  nobility,  and 
the  citizens  for  the  good  city  of  London.^  During 
a  part  of  this  singular  audience,  William  pretended 
to  have  doubts  and  misgivings  as  to  the  propriet}" 
of -his  ascending  the  vacant  throne  ;  but  these 
hypocritic  expressions  were  drowned  in  the  loud 
acclamations  of  his  Norman  barons,  who  felt  that 
the  crown  of  England  was  on  the  point  of  their 

1  "Bugon  tha  for  neode,"  says  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  "  tha  maest 
waes  to  hearm  gedon  ;  and  thaet  waes  mir-el  unread  thaet  man  aeror 
swa  ne  dyde  tha  hit  god  betan  nolde  for  urum  syniium."  (They 
submitted  them  fur  need,  when  the  most  harm  was  done.  It  was  very 
ill  advised  that  they  did  not  so  before,  seeing  that  God  would  not 
lietter  things  for  our  sins.— Ingram's  Translation.) 


swords.  Having  taken  oaths  of  fidelity  and  peace, 
the  Saxon  deputies  left  hostages  with  the  Norman, 
who,  on  his  side,  promised  to  be  mild  and  merciful 
to  all  men.  On  the  following  morning  the  foreign- 
ers began  their  march  towards  London,  plunder- 
ing, murdering,  and  burning,  just  as  before.'  They 
took  their  way  through  St.  Albans.  On  approach- 
ing that  place  William  found  his  passage  stopped 
by  a  multitude  of  great  trees  which  had  been 
felled  and  laid  across  the  road.  The  Conqueror 
sent  for  the  Abbot  of  St.  Albans,  and  demanded 
why  these  barriers  were  raised  in  his  jurisdiction  ? 
The  abbot,  Frithric  or  Frederic,  who  descended 
from  nol)le  Saxon  blood,  as  also  from  King  Caimte 
the  Dane,  answered  boldly,  "I  have  done  the  duty 
appertaining  to  my  birth  and  calling;  and  if  others 
of  my  rank  and  profession  had  performed  the  like, 
as  they  well  could  and  ought,  it  had  not  been  in 
thy  power  to  penetrate  into  the  land  thus  far."* 
Even  now  William  did  not  enter  London  in  per- 
son, but  sending  on  part  of  his  army  to  build  a 
forti"ess  for  his  reception,  he  encamped  with  the 
rest  at  some  distance  from  the  city.  This  fortress, 
which  was  built  on  the  site,  and  probably  included 
part  of  a  Roman  castle,  grew  giadually,  in  after 
times,  into  the  Tower  of  London.  Some  accounts 
state  that  William's  vanguard  was  hostilely  en- 
gaged by  the  citizens,  but  according  to  others  they 
met  with  no  resistance,  and  were  permitted  to 
raise  their  fortifications  without  any  serious  moles- 
tation. 

As  soon  as  the  Normans  had  finished  his  strong- 
hold, William  took  possession  of  it,  and  then  they 
fixed  his  coronation  for  a  few  days  after.  The 
Conqueror  is  said  to  have  objected  to  the  jierform- 
ance  of  this  ceremony  while  so  large  a  part  of  the 
island  was  independent  of  his  authority ;  and  he 
certainly  hoped,  by  delaying  it,  to  obtain  a  more 
formal  consent  from  the  Englisli  nation,  or  some- 
thing like  a  Saxon  election,  which  would  be  a 
better  title  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  than  the  right 
of  conquest.  Little,  however,  was  gained  by  delay; 
and  the  coronation,  which,  for  the  sake  of  greater 
solemnity,  took  place  on  Christmas-day,  was  ac- 
companied by  accidents  and  circumstances  highly 
irritating  to  the  people.  It  is  stated,  on  one  side, 
that  William  invited  the  Primate  Stigand  to  per- 
form the  rites,  and  that  Stigand  refused  to  erown 
a  man  "  covered  with  the  blood  of  men,  and  the 
invader  of  others' rights."'  Although  there  might 
have  been  some  policy  in  making  this  great  cham- 
pion of  the  Saxon  cause  hallow  the  conqueror, 
it  does  not  appear  i)robable  that  William  would 
ask  this  service  of  one  who  was  lying  under  the 
severe  displeasure  of  Rome  ;  and  it  is  said,  on  the 
other  side,  that  he  refused  to  be  consecrated  by 
Stigand,  and  conferred  that  honor  on  Aldred,  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  whom  some  of  the  chroniclers 
describe  as  a  wise  and  prudent  man,  who  under- 
stood the  expediency  of  accommodating  himself  to 
circumstances.  The  new  Abbey  of  Westminster, 
the  last  work  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  was  chosen 


'  Roger  Hoveden.— Chron.  Sax. 

3  Will,  of  Newbury 


2  Stow,  Chron. 


CllAP.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


349 


RS  the  place  for  the  coronation  of  our  first  Norman 
king.  The  suburbs,  the  streets  of  London,  and 
all  the  approaches  to  the  abbey,  were  lined  with 
double  rows  of  soldiers,  horse  and  foot.  The  Con- 
queror rode  through  the  ranks,  and  entered  the 
abbey  church,  attended  by  260  of  his  warlike 
chiefs,  by  many  priests  and  monks,  and  a  consid- 
erable number  of  English,  who  had  been  gained 
over  to  act  a  part  in  the  pageantry.  At  the  open- 
ing of  the  ceremony  one  of  William's  prelates, 
Geoffrey,  the  Bishop  of  Coutances,  asked  the  Nor- 
mans, in  the  French  Language,  if  they  were  of 
opinion  that  their  chief  should  take  the  title  of 
King  of  England  ?  and  then  the  Archbishop  of 
York  asked  the  English  if  they  would  have  Wil- 
liam the  Norman  for  their  king  ?  The  reply  on 
either  side  was  given  by  acclamation  in  the  affirm- 
ative, and  the  shouts  and  cheers  thus  raised  were 
60  loud  that  they  startled  the  foreign  cavalry  sta- 
tioned round  the  abbey.  The  troops  took  the  con- 
fused noise  for  a  cry  of  alarm  raised  by  their  friends, 
and,  as  they  had  received  orders  to  be  on  the  alert 
and  ready  to  act  in  case  of  any  seditious  move- 
ment, they  rushed  to  the  English  houses  nearest 
the  abbey,  and  set  fire  to  them  all.  A  few,  think- 
ing to  succor  their  betrayed  duke  and  the  nobles 
they  served,  ran  to  the  church,  where,  at  sight 
of  their  naked  swords,  and  the  smoke  and  flames 
that  were  rising,  the  tumult  soon  became  as  great 
as  that  without  its  walls.  The  Normans  fancied 
the  whole  population  of  London  and  its  neigh- 
borhood had  risen  against  them;  the  English  im- 
agined that  they  had  been  duped  by  a  vain  show, 
and  drawn  together  unarmed  and  defenceless,  that 
they  might  be  massacred.  Both  parties  ran  out 
of  the  abbey,  and  the  ceremony  was  interrupted, 
though  William,  trembling  from  head  to  foot,  and 
left  almost  alone  in  the  church,  or  with  none  but 
the  Archbishop  Aldred  and  some  terrified  priests  of 
both  nations  near  him  at  the  altar,  decidedly  refused 
to  postpone  the  celebration.  The  service  was  there- 
fore completed  amidst  these  bad  auguries,  but  in 
the  utmost  hurry  and  confusion,  and  the  Conqueror 
took  the  usual  coronation  oath  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
kings,  making,  as  an  addition  of  his  own,  the 
Bolemn  promise  that  he  would  treat  the  English 
people  as  well  as  the  best  of  their  kings  had  done.' 
Meanwhile  the  commotion  without  continued,  and 
it  is  not  mentioned  at  what  hour  of  the  day  or  night 
the  conflagration  ended.  The  English,  who  had  been 
at  the  abbey,  ran  to  extinguish  the  fire, — the  Nor- 
mans, it  is  said,  to  plunder,  and  otherwise  profit  by 
the  disorder;  but  it  appears  that  some  of  the  latter 
exerted  themselves  to  stop  the  pi'ogress  of  the  flames, 
and  to  put  an  end  to  a  riot  peculiarly  unpalatable  to 
their  master,  whose  anxious  wish  was  certainly,  at 
that  time,  to  conciliate  the  two  nations.  At  this,  as 
at  several  subsequent  stages  of  the  conquest,  William 
could  not  prevent  the  wrongs  done  by  his  disorderly 
and  rapacious  soldiery,  who  gave  but  slight  tokens 
of  that  superiority  in  civilization  which  has  so  gen- 
erally been  challenged  for  the  Normans. 

'  Guil.  Pictav.—Orderic.  Vital.— Chron.  Sax.    Orderic   says  "Tre 
pu'anies,  super  rrgem  vehcmcnter  t/emcntcm,  i>t1icium  vijt  peregerunt.'" 


Soon  after  his  inauspicious  coronation  William 
withdrew  from  London  to  Barking,  where  he  es- 
tablished a  court  which  gradually  attracted  many  of 
the  nobles  of  the  south  of  England.  Edric,  sur- 
named  the  Forester,  Coxo,  a  warrior  of  high  re- 
pute, and  others,  are  named  ;  and  as  WiUiam  ex- 
tended his  authority,  and  laid  aside  the  harshness 
of  a  conqueror,  even  the  thanes  and  the  gi-eat  earls 
from  the  north,  where  the  force  of  his  arms  was 
not  yet  felt,  repaired  to  do  him  homage.  Turchil, 
Siward,  and  Aldred,  all  northern  chiefs  of  the 
highest  rank,  are  mentioned  by  a  contemporary 
chronicler,  as  among  those  that  presented  them- 
selves to  perform  the  same  painfxil  ceremony  which 
had  previously  been  submitted  to  by  earls  Edwiu 
and  Morcar,  the  brothers-in-law  of  the  late  king. 
In  return  for  the  homage  thus  rendered,  William 
granted  them  the  confirmation  of  their  estates  and 
honors,  which  he  had  not  at  present  the  power  to 
seize  or  invade.  It  appears  that  the  Conqueror'^ 
first  seizures  and  confiscations,  after  the  crown 
lands,  were  the  domains  of  Harold  and  his  brothers 
Gurth  and  Leofwin,  and  the  lands  and  property  of 
such  of  the  English  chiefs  as  were  either  very 
weak,  or  unpopular,  or  indifferent  to  the  nation. 
But,  even  thus  limited,  the  spoils  of  the  south  are 
represented  as  prodigious. 

Edgar  Atheling,  whose  moral  nulhty  secured 
him  from  suspicion  and  danger,  was  an  inmate  of 
the  new  court,  and  William,  knowing  he  was  cher- 
ished by  many  of  the  English  on  account  of  his 
descent,  pretended  to  treat  him  with  great  respect, 
and  left  him  the  earldom  of  Oxford,  which  Harold 
had  conferred  on  him  when  he  ascended  the  throne 
in  his  stead.  From  Barking  the  new  king  made  a 
progress  through  the  territory,  that  was  rather 
militarily  occupied  than  securely  conquered,  dis- 
playing as  he  went  as  much  royal  pomp,  and  treat- 
ing the  English  with  as  much  courtesy  and  consid- 
eration, as  he  could.  The  extent  of  this  teiTitory 
cannot  be  exactly  determined,  but  it  appears  the 
Conqueror  had  not  yet  advanced,  in  the  northeast, 
beyond  the  confines  of  Norfolk,  nor  in  the  south- 
west beyond  Dorsetshire.  Both  on  the  eastern 
and  western  coast,  and  in  the  midland  counties,  the 
invasion  was  gradual  and  slow,  and  as  yet  the  city 
of  Oxford  had  certainly  not  fallen. 

All  AVilliam's  measures  at  this  time  were  mild 
and  conciUating,  and  some  of  them  marked  with 
wisdom  and  a  laudable  anxiety  for  the  good  of  th? 
country.  He  respected  the  old  Anglo-Saxon  laws, 
which,  indeed,  were  not  much  disturbed  or  changed, 
at  least  in  the  letter,  until  the  accession  of  Henry 
XL,  nearly  a  century  after  the  Conquest.  He  es- 
tablished good  courts  of  justice,  encouraged  agri- 
culture and  commerce,  and  (at  least  nominally) 
enlarged  the  privileges  of  London  and  some  other 
tow)is.  At  the  same  time,  liowever,  the  countrj 
he  held  was  bristled  with  castles  and  towers,  and 
additional  fortresses  erected  in  and  around  the  cap- 
ital showed  his  distrust  of  what  Avas  termed,  in  the 
language  of  the  Normans,  an  over  numerous  and 
too  proud  poptilation.  Next  to  London,  the  city  cf 
Winchester,  which  had  been  a  favorite  resider.cffe  of 


050 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


w^\}m^^ 


Winchester. — ;This  is  the  city  as  it  now  appears.  In  this  and  similar  cases  the  town  or  other  phice,  about  which  an  interest  may  Ic 
supposed  to  have  been  awakened  by  the  narrative,  will  be  represented  in  its  existing  stale,  except  where  an  authentic  engraving  or  drawing  of 
elder  date  may  be  considered  to  preserve  some  features  now  lost  that  belonged  to  it  at  or  near  the  time  to  which  the  history  relates.) 


the  Anglo-Saxon  kings,  excited  most  suspicion ; 
"for,"  says  AVilliani  of  Poictiers,  the  Conqueror's 
chaplain,  "  it  is  a  noble  and  powerful  city,  inhabited 
by  a  race  of  men  rich,  fearless,  and  perfidious  "  A 
castle  was  therefore  erected  at  Winchester,  and  a 
strong  Norman  giirrison  put  into  it.  These  foi-- 
tresses,  hastilj-  thrown  up  in  the  course  of  three  or 
four  months,  could  not  be  very  large  or  very  solid, 
but  they  answered  their  present  end,  and  they 
were  subsequently  increased  in  size  and  strength. 
Such  operations  could  not  be  otherwise  than  dis- 
tasteful to  the  English,  who  were  further  irritated 
by  seeing  proud  foreign  lords  fixed  among  them, 
and  married  to  the  widows  and  heiresses  of  their 
old  lords  wdio  had  fallen  at  Hastings.  The  rapa- 
cious followers  of  William  were  hard  to  satisfy; 
and,  to  secure  their  attachment,  he  was  frequently 
obliged  to  go  beyond  those  bounds  of  moderation 
he  was  inclined  to  set  for  himself.  A  most  numer- 
ous troop  of  priests  and  monks  had  come  over  from 
the  Continent,  and  their  avidity  was  scarcely  in- 
ferior to  that  of  the  barons  and  knights.  Nearly 
every  one  of  them  wanted  a  church,  a  rich  abbey, 
or  some  higher  promotion ;  and  at  a  very  early 
period  of  his  occupation  the  Conqueror  began  to 
gratify  their  wishes.  To  pass  over  other  wrongs 
and  provocations  inseparable  from  foreign  conquest, 
and,  in  good  part,  indeed,  inseparable  even  from  a  ' 
change  of  dynasty,  the  people  presently  saw  the  , 
•coming  on  of  that  sad  state  of  things  which  they  j 


soon  after  sulTercd,  "when  England  became  the 
habitation  of  new  strangers,  in  such  wise,  that 
there  was  neither  governor,  bishop,  nor  abbot  re- 
maining therein  of  the  English  nation."'  It  was, 
however,  to  those  foreign  churchmen  that  our  coun- 
try was  chiefly  indebted  for  whatever  intellectual 
improvement  or  civilization  Avas  imported  at  the 
Conquest. 

In  the  midst  of  this  universal  hungering  after 
the  domains  and  benefices  of  the  English  evinced 
by  lay  and  clergy  of  all  degrees,  one  single  instance 
is  recorded  of  a  most  marvelous  abstinence.  There 
was  one  of  the  Norman  warriors  who  neither  asked 
for  estates  nor  a  rich  English  wife,  and  who  would 
not  accept  any  part  of  the  spoils  taken  from  the 
conquered.  He  said  he  had  accompanied  his  liege 
lord  the  Duke  William  into  England,  because  such 
was  his  duty  as  a  true  and  faithful  vassal,  but  that 
property  seized  and  stolen  from  other  men  did  not 
tempt  him,  that  he  should  return  to  Normandy, 
there  to  enjoy  his  moderate  but  lawful  inheritance, 
and  rest  content  with  his  own  lot,  without  coveting 
the  portion  of  others.  The  name  of  this  wise  man, 
which  ought  not  to  be  permitted  to  perish,  was 
Guilbert,  the  son  of  Richard.^ 

In  the  month  of  March,  10G7,  the  English  in 
the  north  and  west  being  yet  untouched,  and  thsir 
countrymen  in  the  south  beginning  to  harbor  vio- 
lent feelings — while  the   Normans  were  anxious  to 

'  Ilolinshed.  a  Orderic.  Vital. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


351 


provoke  an  insurrection,  and  prosecute  the  war  in 
the  land  where  so  many  broad  acres  remained  to 
reward  the  victors,  WiUiam  resolved  to  pass  over 
into  Normandy.  Many  ingenious  surmises  have 
been  made  as  to  the  motives  which  induced  him  to 
take  this  journey  at  this  crisis ;  and  historians  may 
still  speculate  without  coming  to  any  positive  con- 
clusion borne  out  by  contemporary  evidence.  Al- 
though, as  he  admits,  no  ancient  Avriter  has  as- 
cribed such  a  purpose  and  plan  to  the  Conqueror, 
\ve  are  disposed  to  suspect,  with  Hume,  that  in 
this  extraordinary  step  he  was  guided  by  a  con- 
cealed policy,  and  that  though  he  had  thought 
proper  at  first  to  allure  the  people  to  submission, 
he  found  that  he  could  neither  satisfy  his  followers, 
nor  secure  his  unstable  government,  without  fur- 
ther (>xerting  the  right  of  conquest,  and  seizing  the 
remaining  possessions  of  the  English, — that  in  order 
to  have  a  pretext  for  this  violence,  he  was  anxious 
they  should  break  out  into  insurrections  which 
could  hardly  prove  dangerous  to  him,  while  he 
detained  all  the  principal  English  nobility  in  Nftr- 
mandy,  while  his  gi'cat  and  victorious  army  was 
placed  in  strongholds  in  England,  and  while  he 
himself  was  so  near  at  hand  to  crush  any  insurrec- 
tion. That  he  made  the  journey,  as  some  have 
thought,  out  of  a  vain  eagerness  to  show  himself  as 
the  conqueror  of  England  to  his  subjects  in  Nor- 
mandy, is  a  supposition  not  consistent  with  his 
character ;  and  that  he  crossed  the  sea  merely  to 
put  the  booty  he  had  made  in  a  place  of  safety,  does 
not  appear  very  probable. 

Had  he  determined  to  vex  and  rouse  the  Eng- 
lish, he  could  scarcely  have  left  a  more  fitting  in- 
strument than  his  half-brother,  Odo,  to  Avhom  he 
confided  the  royal  power  during  his  absence,  asso- 
ciating with  him  as  counsellors  of  state  William 
Fitz-Osborn,  Hugo  of  Grantmesnil,  Hugo  de  Mont- 
fort,  Walter  Gifiord,  and  William  de  Garenne. 
The  Conqueror  carried  in  his  train  Stigand,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  abbot  Egelnoth, 
Edgar  Atheling,  Edwin,  Earl  of  Mercia,  Morcar, 
Earl  of  Northumbria,  Waltheof,  Earl  of  Northamp- 
ton and  Huntingdon,  and  many  others  of  high  nobility. 

The  place  chosen  for  his  embarkation  was  Pe- 
vensey,  near  Hastings ;  and  when  he  had  made  a 
liberal  distribution  of  money  and  presents  to  a  part 
of  his  army  which  had  followed  him  to  the  beach, 
he  set  sail  with  a  fair  wind  for  Normandy,  just  six 
months  after  his  landing  in  England.  According 
to  every  account,  he  was  received  with  enthusiastic 
joy  by  his  continental  subjects,  who  were  filled 
with  wonderment  at  his  success  and  the  quantity 
of  gold  and  silver  and  other  precious  effects  he 
brought  back  with  him.  A  part  of  this  wealth,  the 
fruit  of  blood  and  plunder,  was  sent  to  the  pope 
with  the  banner  of  Harold,  which  had  been  taken 
at  the  battle  of  Hastings,  and  another  portion  Avas 
distributed  among  the  abbeys,  monasteries,  and 
churches  of  Normandy ;  "  neither  monks  nor 
priests  remaining  without  a  guerdon."  William 
gave  them  coined  gold,  and  gold  in  bars,  golden 
vases.'and,  above  all,  richly  embroidered  stuffs,  which 
on  high  feast-days  they  hung  up  in  their  churches, 


where  they  excited  the  admiration  of  all  travelers 
and  strangers.  The  whole  of  the  account  given  by 
William's  chaplain  tends  to  raise  our  idea  of  the 
wealth  of  England.  "  That  land,"  says  the  Poic- 
tevin,  "  abounds  more  than  Normandj'  in  the  pre- 
cious metals.  If  in  fertility  it  may  be  termed  the 
granary  of  Ceres,  in  riches  it  should  be  called  the 
treasury  of  Arabia.  The  English  women  excel 
in  the  use  of  the  needle  and  in  embroidering  in 
gold ;  the  men  in  every  species  of  elegant  work- 
manship. Moreover,  the  best  artists  of  Germany 
live  amongst  them ;  and  merchants,  who  repair  to 
distant  countries,  import  the  most  valuable  articles 
of  foreign  manufacture  unknown  in  Normandy." 
The  same  contemporary  informs  us,  that  at  the 
feast  of  Easter,  which  William  held  with  unusual 
splendor,  a  relation  of  the  King  of  France,  named 
Raoul,  came  with  a  numerous  retinue  to  the  Con- 
queror's court,  where  he  and  his  Frenchmen,  not 
less  than  the  Normans,  considered  with  a  curiosity, 
mingled  with  surprise,  the  chased  vases  of  gold 
and  silver,  brought  from  England ;  and,  above  all, 
the  drinking-cups  of  the  Saxons,  made  of  large 
buffiilo-horns,  and  ornamented  at  either  extremity 
with  precious  metal.  The  French  prince  and  his 
companions  were  also  much  struck  with  the  beauty 
of  countenance  and  the  long  flowing  hair  of  the 
young  Englishmen  William  had  brought  over  with 
him  as  guests  or  hostages.  The  chaplain  adds, 
with  amusing  naivete,  "they  remarked  all  those 
things,  as  also  many  others  equally  new  unto  them, 
in  order  that  they  might  relate  and  describe  them 
in  their  own  country." 

While  all  thus  went  on  merrily  in  Normandy, 
where  the  presence  of  the  Conqueror,  with  his 
foreign  court,  move  where  he  would,  caused  the 
suspension  of  all  labor,  and  made  a  general  holi- 
day, events  of  a  very  different  nature  were  taking 
place  on  the  other  side  of  the  channel.  The  rule 
of  Odo  and  the  barons  left  in  England  pressed 
harshly  on  the  people,  whose  complaints  and  cries 
for  justice  they  despised.  Without  punishment  or 
check,  their  men-at-arms  were  permitted  to  insult 
and  plunder,  not  merely  the  peasants  and  bur- 
gesses, but  people  of  the  best  condition,  and  the 
cup  of  misery  and  degradation  was  filled  up,  as 
usual  in  such  cases,  by  violence  offered  to  the 
women.  The  English  spirit  was  not  yet  so  de- 
pressed, and  in  fact  never  sank  so  low  as  to  tole- 
rate such  wrongs.  Several  popular  risings  took 
place  in  various  parts  of  the  subjugated  territory, 
and  many  a  Norman,  caught  beyond  the  walls  of 
his  castle  or  garrison-town,  was  cut  to  pieces. 
These  partial  insurrections  were  followed  by  con- 
certed and  extensively  combined  movements.  A 
grand  conspiracy  was  formed,  and  the  Conqueror's 
throne  was  made  to  totter  before  it  was  nine 
months  old.  The  men  of  Kent,  who  had  been  the 
first  to  submit,  were  the  first  to  attempt  to  throw 
off  the  yoke.  A  singular  circumstance  attended 
their  effort.  Eustace,  Count  of  Boulogne,  the 
same  who  had  caused  such  a  stir  at  Dover  in  the 
time  of  Edward  the  Confessor,'  was  then  in  open 

1   Sep  p.  160,  ante 


352 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


quarrel  With  William  the  Norman,  who  kept  one 
of  his  sons  in  prison.  This  Eustace  was  famed 
far  and  wide  for  his  military  skill ;  and  his  relation- 
ship to  the  saintod  Kinj;;  Edward,  whose  sister  he 
had  married,  made  the  English  consider  him  now 
in  tlie  lii;ht  of  a  natural  ally.  Forgetting,  there- 
fore, their  old  grievances,  the  people  of  Kent  sent 
a  message  to  Count  Eustace,  promising  to  put 
Dover  into  his  hands,  if  he  would  make  a  descent 
on  the  coast,  and  help  them  to  wage  war  on  thiMr 
Norman  oppressors.  Eustace  most  readily  ac- 
cepted the  invitation,  and,  crossing  the  channel 
with  a  small  but  chosen  band,  he  landed  under 
favor  of  a  dark  night,  at  €a  short  distiince  from 
Dovei%  where  he  was  presently  joined  by  a  host  of 
Kentish  men  in  arms.  A  contemporary  says,  that 
had  they  waited  but  two  days,  these  insurgents 
would  have  been  joined  by  the  whole  population 
of  those  parts,  but  they  imprudently  made  an  at- 
tack on  the  strong  castle  of  Dover,  were  repulsed 
with  loss,  and  then  thrown  into  a  panic  by  the  false 
report  that  Bishop  Odo  was  approaching  them  with 
all  his  forces.  Count  Eustace  fled,  and  got  safely 
on  board  ship,  but  most  of  his  men-at-arms  were 
slain  or  taken  prisoners  by  the  Norman  garrison,  or 
broke  their  necks  by  falling  over  the  cliffs  on  which 
Dover  Castle  stands.  The  men  of  Kent,  with  a 
few  exceptions,  found  their  way  home  in  safety,  by 
taking  by-paths  and  roads  with  which  the  Normans 
were  unacquainted. 

In  the  west  the  Normans  were  much  less  fortu- 
nate. Edric  the  Forester,  who  had  visited  the 
Conqueror  at  Barking,  and  done  homage  to  him, 
was  the  lord  of  extensive  possessions  that  lay  on 
the  Severn  and  the  confines  of  Wales.  This  pow- 
erful chief  was  at  first  desirous  of  living  in  peace, 
but  being  provoked  at  the  depredations  committed 
by  some  Norman  captains  who  had  garrisoned  the 
city  of  Hereford,  he  took  up  arms,  and  forming  an 
alliance  Avith  two  Welsh  princes,  he  was  enabled 
to  shut  the  foreigners  close  up  within  the  walls  of 
the  town,  and  to  range  undisputed  master  of  all  the 
western  part  of  Herefordshire. 

If  there  had  been  but  one  bright  national  idol — 
one  prince  or  chief  of  ability  or  popularity  to  unite 
and  lead  them — the  English  would  have  cleared 
the  country  of  its  invaders.  At  this  favorable  mo- 
ment the  two  sons  of  King  Harold  appeared  in  the 
west;  but  though  they  were  nearly  a  year  older 
than  at  the  time  they  were  passed  over  unnoticed  by 
the  Witan  assembled  at  London,  they  soon  showed 
that  neither  of  them  had  the  qualities  required,  or 
was  destined  to  be  the  savior  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
•nation.  Their  proceedings  would  be  altogether  in- 
explicable if  we  did  not  reflect  that  they  were  allied 
with,  and  probably  controlled  by,  a  host  of  pirates. 
These  two  young  men  sailed  over  from  Ireland 
with  a  considerable  force,  embarked  in  sixtj''  ships. 
They  ascended  the  Bristol  Channel  and  the  river 
Avon,  and  landing  near  Bristol,  plundered  that  fer- 
tile country.  Whatever  were  the  pretexts  and 
claims  set  forth  by  the  sons  of  Harold,  they  acted 
as  common  enemies,  and  were  met  as  such  by  the 
English   people,   who   repulsed   them    vvhea    they 


attempted  to  take  the  city  of  Bristol,  and  soon  after 
defeated  them  upon  the  coast  of  Somersetshire, 
whither  they  had  repaired  with  their  ships  and 
plunder.  There  was  no  Norman  force  in  those 
parts,  nor  was  it  considered  necessary  to  send  one. 
The  whole  defence  was  made  by  the  English,  com- 
manded by  their  own  countrynum,  Ednoth,  who 
fell,  with  many  of  his  followers,  in  the  battle.  The 
invaders,  who  also  sullered  severely,  took  to  their 
ships,  and  returned  to  Ireland  immediately  after  the 
defeat.  In  Shropshire,  Nottinghamshire,  and  other 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  both  where  they  had  felt  the 
Norman  oppression,  and  where,  as  yet,  they  only 
apprehended  it,  bodies  of  English  rose  in  arms,  and 
urged  their  neighbors  to  join  them.  It  is  related 
that  Earl  Coxo,  who  had  appeared  at  Barking,  and 
been  much  honored  by  William,  was  slain  by  his 
vassals  because  he  refused  to  head  them  in  an  in- 
surrection ;  but  it  seems  the  death  of  that  chief 
took  p'ace  before  the  Conqueror  left  England,  and 
there  is  some  doubt  whether  he  was  really  killed 
by'his  vassals,  or  by  another  English  nobleman,  his 
rival.  There  is,  however,  no  doubt  but  that  the 
indignation  of  the  people  was  general,  and  that, 
encouraged  by  the  Conqueror's  absence,  efforts 
were  made,  and  others  contemplated,  for  throwing 
ort"  the  yoke.  Rumors  spread  that  a  simultaneous 
msiBsacre,  like  that  perpetrated  on  the  Danes,  was 
intended ;  and  it  was  equally  natural  that  the 
English  should  make  use  of  such  threats  in  their 
moments  of  rage,  and  that  the  Normans,  conscious 
of  oppression,  ano  well  versed  in  the  histoiy  of  St. 
Brice's  day,  should  believe  them  and  tremble  at 
them.  Letter  after  letter,  and  message  after  mes- 
sage, were  sent  into  Normandy;  but  the  Conqueror, 
either  because  he  was  insensible  to  the  alarm,  or 
thought  sufficient  provocation  had  not  been  given, 
lingered  there  for  more  than  eight  months.  When 
at  last  he  departed,  it  was  in  hurry  and  agitation. 
He  embarked  at  Dieppe  on  the  6th  of  December, 
and  sailed  for  England  by  night.  On  arriving,  he 
placed  new  governors  whom  he  had  brouglit  from 
Normandy,  in  his  castles  and  sti-ongholds  in  Sussex 
and  Kent.  On  reaching  London  he  was  made  fully 
sensible  of  the  prevailing  discontent;  but  with  his 
usual  crafty  prudence  he  applied  himself  to  soothe 
the  storm  for  awhile,  deeming  that  the  time  had 
not  yet  arrived  for  his  openly  declaring  that  the 
fickle,  faithless  English  were  to  be  exterminated  or 
treated  as  slaves,  and  all  their  possessions  and 
honors  given  to  the  Normans.  He  celebrated  the 
festival  of  Christmas  with  unusual  pomp,  and  invited 
many  Saxon  chiefs  to  London  to  partake  in  the  cel- 
ebration. He  received  these  guests  with  smiles 
and  caresses,  giving  the  kiss  of  welcome  to  every 
comer.'  If  they  asked  for  anything,  he  granted  it: 
if  they  announced  or  advised  any  thing,  he  listened 
with  respectful  attention :  and  it  should  seem  that 
they  were  nearly  all  the  dupes  of  these  royal  arti- 
fices. He  then  propitiated  the  citizens  of  London 
by  a  proclamation,  which  was  written  in  the  Saxon 
language,  and  read  in  all  the  churches  of  the  capital. 
"Be    it    known    unto    you,"    said    this    document, 

'  DulcitiT  ad  oscula  invitabat.     Orderic. 


Ghap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS 


353 


"what  is  my  will.  I  will  that  all  of  ymi  enjoy  your 
national  laws  as  in  the  days  of  King  Eiiward ;  that 
every  son  shall  inherit  from  his  father,  after  the 
days  of  his  father ;  and  that  none  of  my  people  do 
you  wrong."  William's  first  public  act  after  all 
these  promises  was  to  impose  a  tax,  which  was 
made  more  and  more  burdensome  as  his  power 
increased. 

The  war  of  10G8,  or  what  may  be  called  the 
Conqueror's  second  campaign  in  England,  opened 
in  the  fertile  province  of  Devonshire,  where  the 
people,  supported  by  their  hardy  neighbors  of 
Cornwall,  and  animated  by  the  presence  of  the 
mother  and  some  other  relations  of  King  Harold, 
refused  to  acknowledge  his  government,  and  had 
prepared  to  resist  the  advance  of  his  lieutenants. 
Some  of  the  thanes,  to  whom  the  command  of  the 
insurrection  had  been  intrusted,  proved  cowards  or 
traitors  ;  the  Normans  advanced,  burning,  and  de- 
stroying, and  breathing  vengeance ;  but  the  men  of 
Exeter,  who  had  had  a  principal  share  in  organizing 
the  patriotic  resistance,  Avere  resolute  in  the  defence 
of  their  city.  Ever  since  the  days  of  Athelstan, 
Exeter  had  been  increasing  in  trade  and  considera- 
tion, and  now  it  was  a  well-peopled  citj',  surrounded 
by  a  strong  wall.  Githa,  or  Editha,  Harold's  moth- 
er, had  fled  there  after  the  battle  of  Hastings,  and 
carried  with  her  considerable  riches.  In  no  part 
of  England  was  the  Norman  name  more  odious,  for, 
young  and  old,  the  citizens  hated  to  death  the  whole 
'race  of  Frenchmen.  This  feeling  had  been  re- 
cently displayed  by  the  populace  in  a  cruel  attack 
made  upon  some  Norman  ships  that  were  driven 
upon  their  coast  by  a  storm.  When  the  Conqueror 
came  within  four  miles  of  Exeter  he  summoned 
the  citizens  to  submit,  and  take  the  oath  of  fealty. 
They  replied,  "  We  will  not  swear  fealty  to  this 
•man,  who  pretends  to  be  our  king,  nor  will  we  re- 
ceive his  garrison  within  our  walls;  but  if  he  will 
receive  as  tribute  the  dues  we  were  accustomed  to 
pay  to  our  kings,  we  will  consent  to  pay  them  to 
him."  To  this  somewhat  novel  proposal  William 
said,  "I  would  have  subjects,  and  it  is  not  my  cus- 
tom to  take  them  on  such  conditions.'"  Sgme  of 
the  magistrates  and  wealthiest  of  the  citizens  then 
went  to  William,  and,  imploring  his  mercy,  prof- 
fered the  submission  of  the  city,  and  gave  hostages  ; 
but  the  mass  of  the  population  either  did  not  sanc- 
tion this  proceeding  or  repented  of  it,  and  when 
William  rode  up  at  the  head  of  his  cavalry  he  found 
the  gates  barred  and  the  walls  manned  with  com- 
batants, who  bade  him  defiance.  The  Normans, 
in  sight  of  the  men  on  the  ramparts,  then  tore  out 
the  eyes  of  one  of  the  hostages  they  had  just  re- 
ceived ;  but  this  savage  act  did  not  daunt  the  people, 
who  were  well  prepared  for  defence,  having  raised 
new  turrets  and  battlements  on  the  walls,  and 
brought  in  a  number  of  armed  seamen,  both  native 
and  foreigners,  that  happened  to  be  in  their  port. 
The  siege  which  followed  lasted  eighteen  days,  and 
cost  William  a  great  number  of  men ;  and  when 
the  city  surrendered  at  last,  if  we  are  to  believe  the 
Saxon  Chronicle,  it  was   because  their  chiefs  had 


Orderio.  Vital. 


again  betrayed  them.  The  brave  men  of  Exeter, 
however,  obtained  much  more  favorable  terms  than 
were  then  usual ;  for  though  they  were  forced  to 
take  the  oath,  and  admit  a  Norman  garrison,  thoir 
lives,  property,  and  privileges  Avere  secured  to  them, 
and  successful  precautions  were  taken  by  the  Con- 
queror to  prevent  any  outrage  or  phmdcr.  During 
the  siege  wo  hear  of  a  strong  body  of  English,  in 
the  pay  of  the  Conqueror,  fighting  against  their  own 
countrymen— a  fatal  example  which  was  soon  fol- 
lowed in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Having 
ordered  a  strong  castle  to  be  built  in  the  captured 
town,  William  returned  eastward  to  Winchester, 
where  he  was  joined  by  his  wife  Matilda,  who  had 
not  hitherto  been  in  England.  At  the  ensuing  fes- 
tival of  Whitsuntide  she  was  publicly  crowned  by 
Aldred,  the  Archbishop  of  York ;  and  as  this  cere- 
mony, in  regard  to  a  king's  wife,  was  contraiy  to  an 
old  law  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  (which,  however,  had 
been  disregarded  on  some  former  occasion),  it  dis- 
pleased the  people,  who  were  further  irritated 
against  Matilda  by  seeing  a  large  share  of  the  con- 
fiscated territory  in  the  west  assigned  to  her.  On 
the  surrender  of  Exeter,  the  aged  Githa,  Avith  sev- 
eral ladies  of  rank,  escaped  to  Bath,  and  finding  no 
safety  there,  they  fled  to  the  small  islands  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Severn,  AA'here  they  lay  concealed 
until  they  found  an  opportunity  of  passing  over  to 
Flanders. 

Harold's  sons,  GodAvin  and  Edmund,  AA-ith  a 
younger  brother  named  Magnus,  again  came  over 
from  Ireland  about  3Iidsummer,  and  Avith  a  fleet 
about  equal  to  the  one  they  had  brought  the  pre- 
ceding year  they  hovered  off  the  coasts  of  Devon- 
sliire  and  CornAvall,  landing  occasionally  and  invit- 
ing the  people  to  join  them  against  the  Normans. 
Nothing  could  be  more  absurdly  concerted  than 
these  movements.  Had  they  appeared  a  little 
earlier,  Avhile  Exeter  held  out,  their  presence  might 
have  been  most  important ;  but  now  the  sons  ol 
Harold  Avere  left  to  shift  for  themselves,  and  having 
imprudently  ventured  too  far  from  the  shore  with- 
out any  information  as  to  the  state  of  the  country, 
they  Avere  suddenly  attacked  by  a  Norman  force 
from  Exeter,  under  Earl  Beorn,  and  defeated  Avith 
great  slaughter.  It  appears  they  were  even  igno- 
rant of  the  facts  that  the  city  of  Exeter  had  fallen, 
and  that  their  mother  had  fled  to  a  foreign  country. 
Their  means  were  noAv  exhausted,  and,  AA'earied  by 
their  ill-success,  their  Iritjh  allies  declined  giving 
any  further  assistance  to  these  exiles.  The  sons  of 
Harold  next  appeared  as  suppliants  at  the  court  of 
SAA'eyn,  King  of  Denmark. 

During  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  this  same 
year  (10G8),  William  established  his  authority  in 
Devonshire,  Somersetshire,  and  Gloucestershire, 
and  besides  taking  Exeter,  made  himself  master  of 
Oxford  and  other  fortified  cities  AA'hich  he  had  left 
in  his  rear  Avhen  he  advanced  into  the  Avest. 
Wherever  his  dominion  AAas  imposed,  the  mass  of 
land  Avas  given  to  his  lords  and  knights,  and  for- 
tresses and  castles  were  erected  and  garrisoned  by 
Normans  and  other  foreigners,  Avho  continued  to 
cross  the  Channel  in  search  of  employment.  Avealth, 


VOL.  I. — 23 


354 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IIL 


RoiT.EMONT  Castle,  Exeter.    Founded  by  William  the  Conqueror. — From  a  Print  dated  1T25. 


and  honors.  The  meanest  of  these  exotic  adven- 
tui-ers — the  least  cultivated  of  these  vagabonds — 
thought  himself  entitled  to  treat  the  best  English- 
man with  contempt,  as  a  slave  and  barbarian. 

The  accounts  of  the  sufferings  of  the  conquered 
people,  as  given  by  the  native  chroniclers,  are  con- 
densed in  a  sti'iking  passage  of  Holinshed  : — "  He 
took  away  from  divers  of  the  nobility,  and  others  of 
the  better  sort,  all  their  livings,  and  gave  the  same 
to  his  Normans.  Moreover,  he  raised  great  taxes 
and  subsidies  through  the  realm  ;  nor  anything  re- 
garded the  English  nobility,  so  that  they  who  before 
thought  themselves  to  be  made  for  ever  by  bringing 
a  stranger  into  the  realm,  did  now  see  themselves 
trodden  under  foot,  to  be  despised,  and  to  be  mocked 
on  all  sides,  in  so  much  that  many  of  them  were 
constrained  (as  it  were,  for  a  further  testimony  of 
servitude  and  bondage)  to  shave  their  beards,  to 
round  their  hair,  and  to  frame  themselves  as  well 
in  apparel  as  in  service  and  diet  at  their  tables,  after 
the  Norman  manner,  very  strange  and  far  differing 
from  the  ancient  customs  and  old  usages  of  their 
country.  Others  utterly  refusing  to  sustain  such 
an  intolerable  yoke  of  thraldom  as  was  daily  laid 
upon  them  by  the  Normans,  chose  rather  to  leave 
all,  both  goods  and  lands,  and,  after  the  manner  of 
outlaws,  got  them  to  the  woods  with  their  wives, 
children,  and  servants,  meaning  from  thenceforth  to 
live  upon  the  spoil  of  the  country  adjoining,  and  to 
take  whatsoever  came  next  to  hand.  Whereupon 
it  came  to  pass  within  a  while  that  no  man  might 
travel  in  safety  from  his  own  house  or  town  to  his 
next  ueighbors,  and  ever}-  quiet  and  honest  man's 


house  became,  as  it  were,  a  hold  and  fortress  fur- 
nished for  defence  with  bows  and  arrows,  bills,  pole- 
axes,  swords,  clubs,  and  staves,  and  other  weapons, 
the  doors  being  kept  locked  and  strongly  bolted  in 
the  night  season,  as  it  had  been  in  time  of  open  war, 
and  amongst  public  enemies.  Prrtyers  were  said 
also  by  the  master  of  the  house  as  though  they  had 
been  in  the  midst  of  the  seas  in  some  stormy  tem- 
pest ;  and  when  the  windows  or  doors  should  be 
shut  in  and  closed,  they  used  to  say  loiedicitc,  and 
others  to  answer  dominus,  in  like  sort  as  the  priest 
and  his  penitent  were  wont  to  do  at  confession  in 
the  church." 

The  bands  of  outlaws  thus  formed  of  impover- 
ished, desperate  men,  were  not  suppressed  for  sev- 
eral successive  reigns ;  and  while  the  Normans 
considered  and  treated  them  as  banditti,  the  English 
people  long  regarded  them  in  the  light  of  unfortu- 
nate patriots.  As  late  as  the  reign  of  King  John, 
popular  tradition  gives  some  of  its  brightest  colors 
to  Robin  Hood  and  his  outlaws  who  haunted  Sher- 
wood Forest ;  nor  was  this  dangerous  sympathy 
suppressed  till  the  memoiy  of  the  Saxon  supremacy 
had  waxed  faint,  and  the  conquering  and  conquered 
races,  being  fused  into  one  nation,  enjoyed  an 
equality  of  laws  and  rights. 

Men  of  higher  rank  and  more  extended  views 
were  soon  among  the  fugitives  from  the  pale  of  the 
Conqueror.  When  in  his  conciliating  mood,  Wil- 
liam had  promised  Edwin,  Earl  of  Mercia,  one  of 
his  daughters  in  marriage,  and  flattered  by  the 
prospect  of  such  a  prize,  this  powerful  brother-in- 
law  of  Harold  had  rendered  important  service'?  tt> 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


355 


the  Norman  cause ;  but  now  when  he  asked  his 
reward,  the  Conqueror  not  only  refused  the  fair 
bride,  but  insulted  the  suitor.  Upon  this  Edwin, 
with  his  brother  Morcar,  absconded  from  the  Nor- 
man court  and  went  to  the  north  of  England,  there 
to  join  their  incensed  countrymen  and  make  one 
general  effort  for  the  recovery  of  their  ancient 
liberties.  They  were  followed  by  the  good  wishes 
of  the  poor  people  of  the  south ;  and  such  of  the 
priests  and  monks  of  English  race  who  were  not 
yet  dispossessed,  secretly  offered  up  prayers  for 
their  success  in  their  cells  and  churches.     No  for- 


eign soldier  had  as  yet  passed  the  Humber ;  and 
it  was  behind  that  river  that  Edwin  and  Morcar 
fixed  the  great  camp  of  independence,  the  most 
southern  bulwark  of  which  was  the  fortified  citj-  of 
York.  Among  the  men  of  Yorkshire  and  North- 
umbria  they  found  some  thousands  of  hardy  war- 
riors who  swore  they  would  not  sleep  under  the 
roof  of  a  house  till  the  day  of  victory,  and  they  were 
joined  by  some  allies  from  the  mountains  of  Wales 
and  other  parts.  The  ever-active  Conqueror,  how- 
ever, came  upon  them  before  they  were  prepared. 
I  His  march,  considering  the  many  obstacles  he  had 


York.    From  the  Ancient  Ramparts. 


to  overcome,  was  wonderfully  rapid.  Advancing 
from  Oxford,  he  took  Warwick  and  Leicester,  the 
latter  of  which  places  he  almost  entirely  destroyed. 
Then  crossing  the  Trent,  which  he  had  not  seen 
till  now,  he  fell  upon  Derby  and  Nottingham. 
From  Nottingham  he  marched  upon  Lincoln,  which 
he  forced  to  capitulate  and  deliver  hostages,  and 
thence  pressing  forward  might  and  main,  he  came 
to  the  river  Ouse,  near  the  point  where  it  falls 
into  the  Humber.  Here  he  found  Edwin  and  Mor- 
car drawn  out  to  oppose  him.  The  battle  which 
immediately  ensued  was  fierce  in  the  extreme ;  but, 
as  at  Hastings,  their  superiority  in  number,  arms, 
armor,  and  discipline,  gave  the  Normans  the  vic- 
tory. A  great  number  of  the  English  perished  ;  the 
rest  retreated  to  York,  within  the  walls  of  which 
they  hoped  to  find  refuge  :  but  the  conquerors  fol- 
lowing them  closely,  broke  through  the  walls  and 
entered   the  city,  destrojMng  everything  with  fire 


and  sword,  massacring  all  they  found,  from  the  boy, 
as  a  contemporary  authority  assures  us,  to  the  old 
man.'  The  wreck  of  the  pati'iotic  army  fled  to  the 
Humber,  and  descended  that  estuary  in  boats ;  they 
then  turned  to  the  north,  and  landed  in  the  country 
of  the  Scotch,  or  in  the  territory  near  the  border.^ 
which  became  the  places  of  refuge  of  all  the  brave 
men  of  the  north,  who  did  not  yet  despair  of  lib- 
erty, or  who,  at  all  hazards,  were  resolved  not  to 
submit  to  slavery. 

The  victors,  wlio  were  not  prepared  to  advance 
farther,  built  a  strong  citadel  at  York,  which  became 
their  advanced  post  and  bidwark  towards  the  north. 
A  chosen  garrison  of  500  knights  and  tnen-at-arras, 
with  a  host  of  squires  and  servants-at-arms,  was  left 
at  this  dangerous  post.  So  perilous  indeed  was  it 
considered,  from  the  well-known  martial  and  obsti- 
nate character  of  the  men  that  dwelt  beyond  its 

1  Guil.  Oenirt. 


356 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


walls,  that  the  Normans  labored  day  and  night  to 
strengthen  their  position,  forcing  the  poor  inhabit- 
ants of  York  who  had  escaped  the  massacre  to  dig 
deep  ditches  and  build  strong  walls  for  them.  Fear- 
ing to  be  besieged  in  their  turn,  they  also  collected 
all  the  stores  and  provisions  they  could.  At  this 
crisis  Aldred,  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  prelate 
who  had  crowned  and  favored  William,  came  to  his 
cathedral  to  celebrate  a  religious  festival.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  in  the  city,  he  sent  to  his  lands  sit- 
uated near  York,  for  some  corn  and  other  provisions, 
for  the  use  of  his  own  house.  As  his  domestics  re- 
turned with  pack-horses  and  carts  loaded  with  these 
provisions,  they  met  at  the  gate  of  the  town  the 
Norman  Viscount  or  Governor  of  York,  surrounded 
by  a  great  retinue ;  and  though  the  servants  told 
him  they  were  the  archbishop's  people,  and  that 
the  provisions  were  for  the  archbishop's  own  use, 
the  governor  caused  the  corn  to  be  seized  and  car- 
ried to  his  magazines  in  the  castle.  The  calmness 
and  accommodating  temper  of  Aldred  were  not 
proof  against  such  an  outrage  as  this.  He  quitted 
York  almost  immediately,  and  journeyed  southward 
to  the  camp  of  the  Conqueror,  before  whom  he  pre- 
sented himself  in  his  pontifical  robes,  holding  his 
pastoral  staff  in  his  hand.  William  rose  to  offer  him 
the  kiss  of  peace ;  but  the  prelate  stood  at  a  dis- 
tance and  said,  "  Listen  to  me.  King  William ! 
Thou  wast  a  foreigner,  and,  notwithstanding  that, 
God  wishing  to  punish  our  nation,  thou  obtainedst, 
at  the  price  of  much  blood,  this  kingdom  of  England: 
then  I  consecrated  thee,  I  blessed  thee,  and  crowned 
thee  with  mine  own  hand ;  but  now  I  curse  thee 
— thee  and  thy  race,  because  thou  hast  made  thy- 
self the  persecutor  of  God's  chui'ch  and  the  oppres- 
sor of  its  ministers  !'"  The  Norman  nobles  of  Wil- 
liam who  were  present  at  this  strange  scene  half 
drew  their  swords,  and  would  have  slain  the  bishop 
where  he  stood,  but  their  master,  caring  little  for 
the  old  Saxon's  curse,  checked  their  fuiy  and  per- 
mitted him  to  return  in  peace  to  York,  where  he 
was  soon  seized  with  a  slow  but  consuming  malady, 
the  offspring,  it  was  imagined,  of  disappointment 
and  grief. 

In  spite  of  his  successes  in  the  north,  and  his  firm 
establishment  in  the  midland  counties,  where  he 
built  castles  and  gave  away  earldoms,  the  Conquer- 
or's throne  was  still  threatened,  and  the  country 
still  agitated  from  one  end  to  the  other.  The  Eug- 
hsh  chiefs,  who  had  hitherto  adhered  to  his  cause, 
fell  off,  at  first  one  by  one,  and  then  in  troops  togeth- 
er, following  up  their  defection  with  concerted  plans 
of  operation  against  him.  To  these  was  added  a 
fugitive  of  still  higher  rank,  of  whose  custody  the 
Conqueror  was  very  negligent.  At  the  instance  of 
Marleswine,  Cospatric,  and  some  other  noblemen 
"  who  were  anxious  to  avoid  King  William's  rough 
and  boisterous  dealing,  and  feared  to  be  put  in 
ward,"  Edgar  Atheling  fled  by  sea  into  Scotland, 
taking  his  mother,  Agatha,  the  widow  of  Edmund 
Ironside,  and  his  two  sisters,  jNIargaret  and  Chris- 
tina, with  him.  These  royal  fugitives  were  re- 
ceived with  great  honor  and  kindness,  and  conduct- 

i  J    Stubbs.  Chr'jn. 


ed  to  his  castle  of  Dunfermline  by  the  Scottish 
monarch,  Malcolm  Caenmore,  who,  in  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  his  early  life,  had  been  himself  an  exile, 
and  had  experienced  in  England  the  hospitality  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  and  of  many  of  his  nobility. 
Edgar's  sister  3Iargaret  was  young  and  handsome  ; 
"  and  in  process  of  time  the  said  King  Malcolm 
cast  such  love  unto  the  said  Margaret,  that  he  took 
her  to  wife.'''  Some  of  the  English  nobles  had  pre- 
ceded Edgar  to  Scotland;  inany  followed  him,  en- 
couraged by  the  reception  they  met  with  from  the 
king,  who  was  naturally  anxious  to  strengthen  him- 
self against  the  growing  power  of  William ;  and 
these  emigrants,  and  others  that  arrived  from  the 
same  quarter  on  various  subsequent  occasions,  be- 
came the  stocks  of  a  j)rincipal  part  of  the  Scottish 
nobility. 

It  is  probable  that  William  did  not  mourn  much 
for  the  departure  of  the  English  thanes;  but  pre- 
sently he  was  vexed  and  embarrassed  by  the  de- 
parture of  some  of  his  Norman  chiefs  and  many  of 
the  soldiers  of  fortune  that  had  followed  him  from 
the  continent.  These  warriors,  wearied  by  the 
constant  surprises  and  attacks  of  the  English,  and 
seeing  no  term  to  that  desultory  and  destructive 
warfare,  longed  for  the  quiet  of  their  own  homes. 
Some  considered  themselves  enriched  enough  by 
the  plunder  they  had  made  :  others  thought  that 
estates  in  England  were  not  worth  the  trouble  and 
danger  with  which  they  were  to  be  obtained  and 
secured  :  others,  again,  wanted  to  join  their  wives, 
who  were  constantly  pressing  them  to  return  to 
them  and  their  children  :  for  it  appears  that  few  or 
none  of  them  had  as  yet  thought  it  safe  to  bring 
their  families  to  England.  The  latter  class  of  com- 
plainants were  made  the  subjects  of  raillery  and 
bitter  sarcasm ;  for  William,  who  had  his  own 
spouse  with  him,  found  it  unseemly  that  man  and 
wife  should  wish  to  be  together.^  It  was  also  whis- 
pered that  those  who  asked  le.ive  to  retire  must  all 
be  cowards,  to  think  of  abandoning  their  liege  lord 
when  in  peril  and  in  the  midst  of  foreigners.  Not 
counting  wholly  on  the  effect  of  such  light  artillery, 
William  tried  to  reanimate  their  zeal  by  ofters  more 
bountiful  than  ever,  and  by  promising  lands,  money, 
and  honors  in  abundance  the  moment  the  conquest 
of  England  should  be  completed.  In  spite,  however, 
of  all  these  manoeuvres,  Hugh  de  Grantmesnil,  Earl 
of  Norfolk,  his  brother-in-law,  Humphrey  Tilleuil, 
the  warden  of  Hastings  Castle,  and  a  great  number 
of  others,  retired  from  the  service,  and  recrossed 
the  Channel.  The  king  punished  this  desertion  by 
immediately  confiscating  all  the  possessions  they 
had  obtained  in  our  island.  Foreseeing,  however, 
that  he  was  about  to  be  sui-rounded  by  great  diffi- 
culties and  dangers,  he  sent  his  own  wife  Matilda 
back  to  Normandy,  that  she  might  be  in  a  place  of 
safety.  At  the  same  time,  he  invited  fresh  adven- 
turers and  soldiers  of  fortune  from  nearly  every 
country  in  Europe ;  and,  allured  by  his  brilliant 
offers,  bands  flocked  to  him  from  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine,  the  Seine,  the  Loire,  the  Garonne,  and  the 

1  Grafton. 
^  The  abase  fell  chiefly  on  the  poor  wives  in  Normandy. — Orderic. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  lAIILITAR.Y  TRANSACTIONS. 


357 


Tagus — from  the  Alps,  and  the  Italian  peninsula 
beyond  the  Alps.  The  reinforcements  he  thus  re- 
ceived must  have  been  very  considerable  ;  for  in 
spite  of  the  losses  he  had  suffered  in  his  canijjaign 
against  Edwin  and  Morcar,  and  the  constant  thin- 
ning of  his  troops  by  a  partisan  warfare,  he  was 
enabled  to  meet  a  more  formidable  confederacy  than 
any  previously  set  on  foot. 

A.D.  1069.  The  strong  garrison  which  the  Con- 
queror had  left  at  York  could  scarcely  adventure  a 
mile  in  advance  of  that  post  without  being  attacked 
by  the  natives,  who  laj-  constantly  in  ambush  in  all 
the  woods  and  glens.  The  governor,  William  Malet, 
was  soon  fain  to  declare  that  he  would  not  answer 
for  the  security  of  York  itself,  unless  prompt  suc- 
cor was  sent  him.  On  receiving  this  alarming  news, 
William  marched  in  person,  and  arrived  before  York 
just  as  the  citizens,  in  league  with  all  the  country 
people  of  the  neighborhood,  were  laying  siege  to 
the  Norman  fortress.  Having  raised  this  siege  by 
a  sudden  att'ack,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  second 
castle  in  York,  and,  leaving  a  double  garrison,  re- 
turned southward.  Soon  after  his  departure,  the 
English  made  a  second  attempt  to  drive  the'enemy 
from  their  fortress,  but  they  W'ere  repulsed  w^ith 
loss ;  and  the  second  castle  and  other  works  were 
finished  without  further  interruption.  Thinking 
themselves  now  secure  in  this  advanced  post,  the 
Normans  resumed  the  offensive,  and  made  a  despe- 
rate attempt  to  extend  their  frontier  as  far  north 
as  Durham.  The  advance  was  made  by  a  certain 
Robert  de  Comine,  to  whom  William  had  promised 
a  vast  terriXory  yet  to  be  conquered. 

This  Robert  set  out  from  York  with  nmcli  pomp 
and  circumstance,  having  assumed,  by  anticipation, 
the  title  of  Earl  of  Northumberland.  His  army 
was  not  large,  consisting  only  of  1200  lances;  but 
his  confidence  was  boundless.  He  crossed  the 
Tees,  and  was  within  sight  of  the  walls  of  Durham, 
which  the  Normans  called  "the  stronghold  of  the 
rebels  of  the  North," — when  Egelwin,  the  English 
bishop  of  that  place,  came  forth  to  meet  him,  and 
informed  him  that  the  natives  had  vowed  to  destroy 
him,  or  be  desti'oyed,  and  warned  him  not  to  expose 
himself  with  so  small  a  force.  Comine  treated  the 
warning  with  contempt,  and  marched  on.  The 
Normans  entered  Durham,  massacring  a  few  de- 
fenceless men.  The  soldiers  quartered  themselves 
in  the  houses  of  the  citizens,  plundering  or  wasting 
their  substance  ;  and  the  chief  himself  took  posses- 
sion of  the  bishop's  palace.  The  march  of  the  Nor- 
mans and  all  these  proceedings  had  been  well  noted  ; 
and  when  night  fell,  the  people  lighted  signal-fires 
on  the  hills,  that  were  seen  as  far  as  the  Tees  to 
the  south,  and  as  far  northward  as  the  river  Tyne. 
The  inhabitants  gathered  in  great  numbers,  and 
hurried  to  Durham.  At  the  point  of  day  they  rushed 
into  the  city,  and  attacked  the  Normans  on  all  sides. 
Many  were  killed  before  they  could  well  rouse 
themselves  from  the  deep  sleep  induced  by  the  fa- 
tigue of  the  preceding  day's  march,  and  the  revelry 
and  debauch  of  the  night.  The  rest  attempted  to 
rally  in  the  bishop's  house,  where  their  leader  had 
estabhshed  his  quarters.     They  defended  this  post 


for  a  short  time,  discharging  their  arrows  and  other 
missiles  on  the  heads  of  their  assailants,  but  the 
English  ended  the  combat  by  setting  fire  to  the  house, 
which  was  burnt  to  the  gi'ound  with  Robert  de  Co- 
mine  and  all  the  Normans  in  it.  The  chroniclers 
relate,  that  of  all  the  men  engaged  in  the  expedition 
only  two  escaped. 

This  dreadful  reverse  called  forth  a  large  body  of 
troops  from  York,  who  hastened  to  take  vengeance. 
These  Normans  advanced  with  sufficient  confidence 
as  far  as  Northallerton,  about  midway  between  York 
and  Durham,  but  here  they  halted,  as  if  seized  with 
a  panic,  and  refused  to  go  farther.  A  report  was 
spread,  and  believed,  at  least  by  the  English,  that 
they  were  struck  motionless  by  supernatural  agency 
— by  the  power  of  St.  Cuthbert,  whose  body,  after 
many  removals,  now  reposed  in  Durham,  and  who, 
it  was  thought,  protected  his  last  resting-place. 

When  the  Northumbi-ians  struck  the  blow  at 
Durham,  they  were  expecting  powerful  allies,  who 
soon  arrived.  As  w^e  have  so  often  had  occasion  to 
repeat,  these  men,  with  the  inhabitants  of  most  of  the 
Danelagh,  were  exceedingly  fierce  and  Avarlike,  and 
chiefly  of  Danish  blood.  Many  of  the  old  men  had  fol- 
lowed the  victorious  banner  of  the  gi-eat  Canute  into 
England,  or  had  served  under  his  sous,  Kings  Harold 
Harefoot  and  Ilardicanute  ;  and  the  sons  of  these 
old  warriors  were  now  in  the  vigor  of  mature  man 
hood.  They  had  always  maintained  an  intercourse 
with  Denmark,  and  as  soon  as  they  saw  themselves 
threatened  by  the  Normans,  they  applied  to  that 
country  for  assistance.  The  court  of  the  Danish 
king  was  soon  crowded  by  supplicants  from  the 
Danelagh,  from  Norwich  and  Lincoln,  to  York, 
Durham,  and  Newcastle.  There  were  also  envoys 
from  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  where  the  Saxon 
blood  predominated,  and  the  sons  of  King  Harold 
added  their  efforts  to  urge  the  Danish  monarch  to 
the  invasion  of  England.  At  the  same  time,  the 
men  of  Northumberland  had  opened  a  correspond- 
ence with  Malcolm  Caenmore  and  his  guest  Edgar 
Atheling,  and  allied  themselves  with  the  English 
refugees  in  Scotland  and  on  the  border.  Even  sup- 
posing that  the  sons  of  Harold  made  no  pretensions 
to  the  crown,  there  must  have  been  some  jealousy 
and  confusion  in  this  confederacy,  for  while  one 
party  to  it  held  the  weak  Edgar  as  legitimate  sove- 
reign, another  maintained  that  by  right  of  succes- 
sion the  King  of  Denmark  was  King  of  England.  It 
seems  well  established  that  the  Danish  monarch, 
Sweyn  Estridsen,  held  the  latter  opinion ;  and  the 
ill  success  of  the  confederacy  may  probably  be  at- 
tributed to  the  disunion  inevitably  arising  from  such 
clashing  interests  and  pretensions.  As  soon  as  the 
battle  of  Hastings  was  known,  and  before  any  invi- 
tations were  sent  over,  Swe\'n  had  contemplated  a 
descent  on  England.  To  avert  this  danger,  William 
had  recourse  to  Adelbert,  the  Archbishop  of  Bremen, 
who,  won  by  jjersuasion  and  presents  of  large  sums 
of  money,  undertook  the  negotiation,  and  endeavored 
to  make  the  Danish  king  renounce  his  project. 

Two  years  passed  without  anything  more  being 
heard  of  the  Danish  invasion ;  but  this  lapse  was 
probably  rather  owing  to  a  desire  on  Sweyn  Estrid- 


358 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


sen's  side,  to  gain  time  in  order  to  make  his  prepa- 
rations, than  to  the  effects  of  the  archbishop's  diplo- 
macy ;  and  when  in  this,  the  third  year  after  the 
battle  of  Hastings,  the  solicitations  of  the  English 
emigrants  were  more  urgent  than  ever,  and  the  men 
of  the  north,  his  natural  allies,  were  up  in  arms,  the 
powerful  Dane  dispatched  a  fleet  of  240  sail,  with 
orders  to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  King  of  Scot- 
land and  the  Northumbrians.  The  army  embarked 
in  tliis  fleet  was  composed  of  almost  as  many  hete- 
rogeneous materials  as  the  mercenary  force  of  Wil- 
liam :  besides  Danes  and  Holsteiners,  there  were 
Frisians,  Saxons,  Poles,  and  adventurers  from  other 
countries,  tempted  by  the  hojje  of  plunder.'  The 
Danish  king  sent  his  two  sons,  Harold  and  Canute, 
with  the  expedition,  and  placed  it  under  the  supreme 
command  of  their  uncle  Osbeorn,  who  was  accom- 
panied by  five  Danish  chiefs  of  high  renown,  and 
by  Christian,  the  king's  bishop.  After  alarming  the 
Normans  in  the  southeast,  at  Dover,  Sandwich,  and 
Ipswich,  the  Danes  went  northward  to  the  Humber, 
so  often  ascended  by  their  ancestors,  and  sailed  up 
that  estuary  to  the  Ouse,  where  they  landed  about 
the  middle  of  August.  It  appears  that  Osbeorn 
was  not  able  to  prevent  his  motley  army  from  plun- 
dering and  wasting  the  country.  As  soon,  however, 
as  the  Anglo-Danes,  the  men  of  Yorkshire  and 
Northumberland,  were  advised  of  the  arrival  of  the 
armament,  they  flocked  to  join  it  from  all  parts  of 
the  country;  and  Edgar  Atheling,  with  MarlesAvine, 
Cospatric,  Waltheof,  the  son  of  Siward,  the  great 
enemy  of  Macbeth,  Archil,  the  five  sons  of  Carl, 
and  many  other  English  nobles,  arrived  from  the 
frontiers  of  Scotland,  bearing  the  consoling  assurance 
that,  in  addition  to  the  force  they  brought  with  them, 
Malcolm  Caenmore  was  advancing  with  a  Scottish 
army  to  support  the  insurgents.  York  was  close 
at  hand,  and  they  determined  to  commence  opera- 
tions by  the  attack  of  the  Norman  fortifications  in 
that  city.  Archbishop  Aldred,  who  had  never  re- 
covered from  the  wi'ong  done  him  the  preceding 
year,  was  in  York  at  the  time  :  as  he  saw  the  fierce 
array  advance  on  that  devoted  city,  he  prayed  to 
God  to  remove  him  from  this  world,  that  he  might 
not  witness  the  total  ruin  of  his  country  and  the  de- 
struction of  his  church ;  "  and  he  is  said  to  have  died 
©f  "very  grief  and  anguish  of  mind,"  before  the 
confederates  entered  the  city.  The  Normans  had 
rendered  the  walls  of  the  town  so  strong  that  they 
defended  them  seven  days :  on  the  eighth  daj'  of 
the  siege  they  set  fire  to  the  houses  that  stood  nefir 
their  citadels,  in  order  that  their  assailants  might 
not  use  the  materials  to  fill  up  the  ditches  of  the 
castles,  and  then  they  shut  themselves  up  within 
those  lines.  A  strong  wind  arose, — the  flames 
spread  in  all  directions ;  the  minster,  or  cathedral 
church,  with  its  famous  library,  and  great  part  of 
the  city,  was  consumed  ;  and  even  within  their  cas- 
tles the  Normans  saw  themselves  threatened  with 
a  horrid  death  by  the  fire  they  had  kindled.  Pre- 
ferring death  by  the  sword  and  battle-axe  to  being 
burnt  alive,  they  made  a  sally,  and  were  slain  almost 
to  a  man  by  an  enemy  far  superior  in  number,  and 
I  Southey,  Naval  Hist. 


inflamed  with  the  fiercest  hiitred.  They  had  sulTered 
no  such  loss  since  the  ever-memorable  fight  of  Hast- 
ings ;  3000  Normans  and  mercenaries  of  diflerent 
races  fell;  and  only  William  Malet,  the  governor  of 
York,  with  his  wife  and  children,  Guilbert  of  Ghent, 
and  a  few  other  men  of  rank,  were  saved  and  carried 
on  board  the  Danish  fleet,  where  they  were  kept 
for  ransom.  Such  parts  of  the  city  of  York  as  es- 
caped the  conflagration  were  occupied  by  Edgar 
Athehng,  who,  according  to  some  authorities,  as- 
sumed the  royal  title,  and  exercised  the  rights  of 
sovereigntj", — circumstances,  we  should  think,  that 
could  scarcely  coincide  with  the  views  of  the  Danes 
and  the  pretensions  of  their  king.  A  rapid  advance 
to  the  south,  after  the  capture  of  York,  with  no 
enemy  in  their  rear,  might  liave  insured  the  con- 
federates a  signal  and  perhaps  a  decisive  success ; 
but  the  King  of  Scotland  did  not  appear  with  his 
promised  armj',  and  at  the  approach  of  winter, 
which  proved  unusually  severe,  the  Danes  retired 
to  their  ships  in  the  Humber,  or  took  up  quarters 
between  the  Ouse  and  the  Trent,  and  spent  that 
long  season  in  sloth  and  gluttony.  William  was 
thus  allow^ed  time  to  collect  his  forces  and  bring  over 
fresh  troops  from  the  continent. 

The  Conqueror  was  himting  in  the  forest  of  Dean 
when  he  received  the  first  news  of  the  catastrophe 
of  York :  and  then  and  there  he  swore,  by  the 
splendor  of  the  Almighty,  that  he  would  utterly  ex- 
terminate the  Northumbrian  people,  nor  ever  lay 
his  lance  in  rest,  when  he  had  once  taken  it  up, 
until  he  had  done  the  deed.  In  the  meantime  lie 
attempted,  with  infinite  art,  to  conciliate  the  people 
in  the  south  of  England,  redressing  many  of  their 
grievances,  and  promising  them  a  just  and  mild  rule 
for  the  future.  Not  relying,  however,  wholly  on 
these  mancEuvres,  he  exacted  fresh  oaths  and  hos- 
tages. At  the  same  time  he  opened  secret  negotia- 
tions with  Osbeorn,  the  brother  of  King  Sweyn, 
and  finally  succeeded,  by  means  of  gold  and  other 
presents,  in  inducing  him  to  agree  to  withdraw  his 
Danish  fleet  and  army,  and  to  give  no  more  assist- 
ance to  the  Northumbrians.  With  the  earliest 
spring  William  took  the  field,  riding  at  the  head  of 
the  finest  and  most  numerous  cavalry  that  had  ever 
been  seen  in  England,  and  causing  his  infantry  to 
folloAv  by  forced  marches.  As  he  thus  advanced, 
the  English  rose  nearly  everywhere  in  his  rear, 
recommencing  a  war  on  many  diflerent  points  at 
once.  An  inferior  commander  would  have  been 
confused  by  this  multiplicity  of  attacks,  and  inevita- 
bly ruined ;  but  William,  who,  considering  times 
and  circumstances,  was  one  of  the  greatest  generals 
that  ever  lived,  did  not  suffer  his  attention  to  be  dis- 
tracted, and  steadily  pursued  his  course  to  the  north, 
where  he  knew  the  great  blow  must  be  struck. 

The  defenders  of  York  learned  nearl}'  at  the  same 
moment  that  the  ruthless  conqueror  was  approaching 
their  walls,  and  that  their  allies,  the  Danes,  had 
abandoned  them,  and  were  sailing  away  for  the 
south,  where,  according  to  the  treacherous  compact 
they  had  made,  they  were  to  be  permitted  to  victual 
and  plunder  the  English.  Abandoned  as  they  were, 
and  ill  provided  with  defences, — for  in  their  rage 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


359 


they  had  utterly  destroyed  the  two  castles, — they 
made  an  obstinate  resistance ;  nor  was  York  taken 
until  many  hundreds  of  English  and  Normans  lay 
dead  together.  Edgar  Atheling,  escaping  with  his 
life,  and  little  else,  fled  for  a  second  time  to  the 
court  of  the  Scottish  king.  Elated  by  his  victory, 
William  spent  but  a  short  time  in  ordering  and 
planning  fresh  fortifications  in  York,  and  then  con- 
tinued his  march  northward.  His  rage  had  not 
moderated  in  the  time  that  had  elapsed,  and  he 
thought  it  wise  and  good  policy  to  carry  into  effect 
the  fearful  vow  he  had  made  in  the  forest  of  Dean. 
His  troops  required  no  excitement  from  him :  the 
destruction  of  their  comrades  at  Durham  and  York 
in  the  preceding  year,  and  the  loss  they  had  just 
sustained  themselves  at  the  latter  city,  rankled  in 
their  savage  minds,  and  they  threw  themselves  oti 
the  territory  of  Northumbria  in  a  frenzy  of  ven- 
geance, wasting  the  cultivated  fields,  burning  towns 
and  villages,  and  massacring  indiscriminately  flocks, 
herds,  and  men.  To  accomplish  this  havoc  over  a 
great  width  of  country,  they  marched  in  separate 
columns ;  and  when  the  natives,  rushing  from  their 
concealment  in  the  woods  and  morasses,  extermi- 
nated some  of  their  scouring  parties,  such  occasional 
disasters  only  made  the  survivors  the  more  pitiless. 
An  English  army,  commanded  by  Cospatric,  dis- 
heartened, disorganized,  and  very  inferior  in  num- 
bers, retreated  before  the  Normans,  and  either  re- 
tired into  Scotland  or  threw  itself  into  the  moun- 
tains, being  followed  by  all  the  population  that  had 
strength  and  activity  enough  to  escape.     Egelwin, 


the  Bishop  of  Durham,  the  same  wno  had  had  the 
interview  with  Robert  de  Comine, — assembled  the 
inhabitants  of  that  city,  and,  like  a  good  shepherd, 
proposed  to  conduct  his  flock  to  a  place  of  safety, 
out  of  the  reach  of  what  an  old  rhyming  chronicler 
calls  "  Normans,  Buvgolouns,'  thieves,  and  felons." 
Leaving  their  homes  to  become  the  prey  of  the 
enemy,  but  carrying  with  them  the  body  or  bones 
of  St.  Cuthbert,  these  wretched  people  followed 
their  bishop  across  the  Tyne  to  Lindisfarne,  or 
Holy  Island,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tweed ;  and 
the  Normans  a  second  time  entered  Durham,  but 
in  such  force  as  to  leave  them  no  grounds  for  appre- 
hending a  repetition  of  the  tragedy  that  had  termi- 
nated their  first  visit.  Having  fortified  Durham, 
which  is  by  nature  a  strong  position,  the  invaders 
pushed  forward  to  the  Tyne,  continuing  their  work 
of  devastation,  and  feeling  their  thirst  for  blood  un- 
slaked. A  havoc  more  complete  and  diabolical  was 
never  perpetrated,  nor  is  the  relation  of  any  event 
of  those  ages  sustained  by  more  numerous  and  per- 
fect proofs.  The  Norman  and  French  chroniclers 
and  historians  join  the  English  in  narrating  and  de- 
ploring the  catastrophe  which,  even  in  those  times 
of  violence  and  blood,  seems  to  have  overpowered 
men's  minds  with  a  wild  horror  and  wonderment. 
William  of  Malmsbury,  who  wrote  in  the  reign  of 
Stephen,  about  eighty  years  after,  says,  '■'■  From 
York  to  Durham  not  an  inhabited  village  remained. 
Fire,  slaughter,  and  desolation  made  a  vast  wilder- 
ness there,  which  continues  to  this  day."     From 

1  Burgundians, 


DrHHAM. 


360 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Durham  north  to  Hexham,  from  the  Wear  to  the 
Tyne,  the  remorseless  Conqueror  continued  the 
same  infernal  process.  Orderic  Vitalis  denounces 
tl>e  '■"feralis  occisio,''  the  dismal  slaughter;  and  says 
that  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  victims  perished. 
"  It  was  a  horrid  spectacle,"  says  Roger  Hoveden, 
"  to  see  on  the  high  roads  and  public  places,  and  at 
the  doors  of  houses,  human  bodies  eaten  by  the 
worms,  for  there  remained  no  one  to  cover  tliem 
with  a  little  earth."  The  fields  in  culture  were 
burned,  and  the  cattle  and  the  corn  in  the  barns  car- 
ried off  by  the  conquerors,  who  made  a  famine  where 
they  could  not  maintain  themselves  by  the  sword. 
This  frightful  scourge  was  felt  in  those  jjarts  in  the 
months  that  followed,  with  a  severity  never  before 
experienced  in  England.  After  eating  the  flesh  of 
dead  horses  which  the  Normans  left  behind  them, 
the  peo])le  of  Yorkshire  and  Northumberland,  driven 
to  the  last  extremity,  are  said  to  have  made  many  a 
loathsome  repast  on  human  flesh.'  Pestilence  fol- 
lowed in  the  wake  of  famine ;  and  as  a  completion 
to  this  picture  of  hoiror,  we  are  informed  that  some 
of  the  English,  to  escape  death  by  hunger,  sold 
themselves,  with  their  wives  and  children,  as  slaves 
to  the  Norman  soldiery,  who  were  well  provided  in 
their  citadels  and  castles  with  corn  and  provisions, 
purchased  on  the  continent  with  gold  and  goods 
robbed  from  the  English. 

On  his  return  from  Hexham  to  York,  by  an  im- 
perfectly known  and  indirect  route  across  the  fells, 
William  was  well  nigh  perishing.  The  snow  was 
still  deep  in  those  parts,  and  the  rivers,  torrents, 
ravines,  and  mountains  continually  presented  ob- 
stacles which  the  Normans  had  been  little  accus- 
tomed to  in  the  level  counties  of  England.  The 
army  fell  into  confusion,  the  king  lost  the  track, 
and  passed  a  whole  night  without  knowing  where 
he  was  or  what  direction  his  troops  had  taken. 
Historians  are  silent  as  to  his  motives  for  choosing 
this  dangerous  road,  when  a  better  one  lay  open  for 
him ;  but  his  intention  no  doubt  was  to  clear  the 
mountains  of  the  English  fugitives,  who,  had  they 
possessed  proper  information  as  to  his  movements, 
might  have  attacked  his  confused  and  scattered 
bands  and  inflicted  a  severe  punishment.  Even  as 
it  was,  and  though  no  such  attack  is  mentioned  (by 
no  means  a  proof  that  none  happened),  William 
did  not  reach  York  without  a  serious  loss,  for  he 
eft  behind  him  most  of  his  horses,  which  were  said 
to  have  perished  in  the  snow :  his  men  also  suft'ered 
the  severest  privations. 

Confiscation  now  became  almost  general,  and 
William  openly  avowed  his  determination  to  despoil 
and  degrade  the  natives.  All  property  in  land, 
whether  belonging  to  patriotic  chiefs  or  to  men  who 
had  taken  no  active  part  in  the  conflict,  began  to 
pass  into  the  possession  of  the  Normans  and  other 
foreigners.  Nor  was  movable  property  safer  or 
more  respected.  From  the  beginning  of  the  in- 
vasion the  English  had  been  accustomed  to  deposit 
their  most  valuable  eflects  in  the  monasteries,  in 
the  hope  that  these  sanctuaries  would  be  respected 
by  men  who  professed  to  be  Christians,  and  to  have 
1  Florent.  Wigorn. 


a  special  reverence  for  such  holy  places ;  but  now 
William,  emboldened  by  success,  seized  the  whole, 
under  the  pretext  that  it  belonged  to  disloyal  and 
rebellious  subjects.  His  commissioners,  who  in 
many  places  performed  their  work  sword  in  hand, 
did  not  always  draw  a  distinction  between  the  plate 
and  jewels  left  in  deposit  and  the  treasures  that 
belonged  to  the  monasteries  themselves,  but  carried 
off  the  church  ornaments  and  the  vessels  of  silver 
or  gold  that  were  attached  to  the  service  of  the 
altar.  They  also  removed  or  destroyed  all  deeds 
and  documents,  charters  of  imnmnities,  and  evi- 
dences of  propertj'.  The  newly-conquered  terri- 
tory in  the  north,  which  must  long  have  remained 
suflicicntly  unproductive,  seeing  how  it  had  been 
wasted  and  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  destroyed, 
was  distributed  in  immense  lots.  William  de  Ga- 
ronne had  twenty-eight  villages;  William  de  Percy 
more  than  eighty  manors.  In  Domesday-Book, 
which  was  drawn  up  fifteen  years  after  the  Norman 
occupation  of  them,  most  of  these  domains  are 
described  as  laying  fallow  or  waste.  Vast  tracts  of 
country  to  the  north  of  the  city  of  York  fell  to  the 
lot  of  Allan  the  Breton,  who  erected  a  castle  and 
other  works  of  defence  on  a  steep  hill,  nearly  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  the  river  Swale.  In  tho 
language  of  the  times,  this  fortress  was  intended 
to  protect  him  and  his  against  the  redoubtable 
attacks  of  the  disinherited  English.  Like  most  of 
the  chiefs  of  the  conquering  army,  he  gave  a 
French  name  to  the  place — he  called  it  Richetnont 
or  Richmount,  now  Richmond.  Dreux  Bruere, 
the  chief  of  a  band  of  Flemish  auxiliaries,  had  tho 
eastern  part  of  Yorkshire,  between  the  rivers  and 
the  sea.  A  story  is  told  of  this  man  that  gives  a 
curious  idea  of  some  of  William's  followers.  Ho 
had  married  a  relation  of  the  king's,  and  this  wife 
he  killed  in  a  fit  of  passion.  Before  the  murder 
was  known,  he  went  to  the  king  and  begged  him 
to  give  him  money  in  lieu  of  his  English  estates,  as 
he  had  an  earnest  desire  to  return  to  his  own 
country.  William  granted  the  sum  he  asked,  and 
did  not  learn  the  cause  of  his  hasty  departure  imtil 
it  was  too  late  to  think  of  stopping  him.  The 
territory  of  the  Fleming  was  then  conferred  on 
Eudes  of  Champaign,  who  subsequently  married  a 
lialf-sister  of  the  Conqueror.  When  Eudes'  wife 
was  delivered  of  a  son,  he  represented  to  the  king 
that  his  lands  were  not  at  all  fertile,  producing  only 
oats,  and  prayed  he  would  make  him  a  grant  of  an 
estate  pioper  to  bear  wheat,  that  he  might  have 
wherewith  to  inake  wheaten-bread  for  his  infant, 
the  king's  nephew.  King  William  presented  him 
with  some  lands  to  his  heart's  wish  in  Lincolnshire. 
Gamel,  the  son  of  Quetel,  who  came  from  Meaux, 
in  France,  with  a  troop  of  his  own  townsmen, 
established  himself  and  his  companions  in  lands 
adjoining  the  Yorkshire  possessions  of  Eudes  of 
Champaign.  And  Basin,  Sivard,  Francon,  and 
Richard  d'Estouteville  are  mentioned  as  landholders 
and  neighbors  of  Gamel  of  Meaux.  The  vast  do- 
main of  Pontefract  was  the  share  of  Gilbert  do 
Lacy,  who  soon  afterwards  extended  the  Norman 
conquest  in  Lancashire'^nd  Cheshire,  and  obtained 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


36* 


Richmond,  Yorkshire. 


there  estates  still  more  extensive.'  This  De  Lacy 
built  Pontefract  Castle,  which  became  at  a  later 
age  the  scene  of  a  fearful  tragedy,  and  echoed 
with  the  dying  groans  of  a  successor  and  lineal 
descendant  of  the  Conqueror.  The  desperate  re- 
sistance they  had  made,  the  bands  of  houseless 
English  that  still  roamed  from  place  to  place, 
made  the  Normans  more  than  ever  sensible  of 
the  value  of  deep  ditches  and  strong  stone  walls. 
Every  baron  erected  his  castle ;  and  in  every  pop- 
ulous town  there  was  a  sti'ong  fortress,  where  the 
Normans  confined  the  principal  natives  as  hostages, 
and  into  which  they  could  retire  in  case  of  an  insur- 
rection. William  did  not  advance  farther  than 
Hexham;  but  some  of  his  captains  continued  the 
progress  both  to  the  north  and  to  the  west,  though 
their  tenure  of  the  land  was  scarcely  secured  until 
some  years  later,  when  the  mountainous  country 
of  Westmoreland  and  Cumberland,  and  the  ad- 
jacent part  of  Northumberland,  were  reduced  by 
various  chiefs.  The  first  Earl  of  Cumberland 
was  a  certain  Renouf  Meschines,  who  divided  the 
domains  and  handsome  women  of  the  countiy 
among  his  followers,  thus  following  out  the  feudal 
system  fully  established  by  William.  Simon,  the 
son  of  Thorn,  the  English  proprietor  of  two  rich 
manors,  had  three  daughters  :  one  of  these  Mes- 
chines gave  to  Humphrey,  his  man-at-arms,  the 
second  he  gave  to  Raoul,  nicknamed  Tortcs-mains, 
and  the  third  he  reserved  for  his  squire,  William  of 
»  Thierry. 


St.  Paul.  In  the  north  of  Northumberland,  Ives 
de  Vescy  took  possession  of  the  town  of  Alnwick, 
along  with  the  granddaughter  and  all  the  inheri- 
tance of  a  Saxon  who  had  died  in  battle.  Robert 
de  Bruce  obtained,  by  conquest,  several  manors 
and  the  dues  of  Hartlepool,  the  seaport  of  Dur- 
ham. Robert  D'Onifreville  had  the  forest  of  Rid- 
desdale,  which  belonged  to  Mildred  the  Saxon, 
the  son  of  Akman.  On  his  receiving  investitux'e  of 
this  domain,  William  gave  to  D'Onifreville  the 
sword  he  had  himself  worn  at  his  entrance  into 
Northumberland,  and  D'Onifreville  swore  upon 
that  sword  that  he  would  make  good  use  of  it  to 
clear  the  land  of  wolves  and  the  enemies  of  the 
Conqueror.  The  nominal  government  of  Northum- 
berland was,  however,  intrusted  to  a  native  who 
had  recently  borne  arms  against  William.  This 
was  Cospatric,  who  came  in  with  Waltheof,  the 
brave  son  of  Siward,  with  Morcar  and  Edwin,  the 
brothers-in-law  of  King  Harold,  and  submitted  to 
William  for  the  second  time,  being  probably  in- 
duced thereto  by  liberal  promises  from  the  Con- 
queror, who  then  considered  them  as  the  main 
prop  of  the  English  cause,  wanting  whom  Edgar 
Atheling  would  at  once  fall  into  insignificance.  The 
reward  of  Cospatric  we  have  mentioned  :  Waltheof 
was  made  Earl  of  Huntingdon  and  Northampton, 
and  received  the  hand  of  Judith,  one  of  King  Wil- 
liam's nieces,  and  Morcar  and  Edwin  were  restored 
to  their  paternal  estates.  In  reality,  however, 
these  four  men  were  little  better  than  prisoners, 


362 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


and  three  of  them  perished  miserably  in  a  very 
short  time. 

The  insurrections  which  broke  out  in  William's 
rear  during  his  march  to  York  were  partially 
suppressed  by  his  lieutenants,  who  suffered  some 
reverses,  and  perpetrated  great  cruelties  in  return. 
The  garrison  of  Exeter,  besieged  by  the  people  of 
Cornwall,  was  relieved  by  Fitz-Osborn ;  Monta- 
cute  repulsed  the  insurgents  of  Devonshire  and 
Somersetshire  ;  and  Edric  the  Forester,  who  took 
the  town  of  Shrewsbury  with  the  help  of  the  men 
of  Chester  and  some  Welsh,  was  foiled  in  his  at- 
tempt to  reduce  the  castle.  The  whole  of  the 
northwest  was,  however,  in  a  very  insecure  state ; 
and  the  haste  with  which  William  marched  thither 
on  his  return  to  York  from  Hexham,  seems  to  de- 
note some  greater  peril  on  the  side  of  the  Normans 
than  is  expressed  by  any  of  the  annalists.  The 
weather  was  still  inclement,  and  his  troops  were 
fatigued  by  their  recent  exertions,  their  rapid 
marches  and  counter-marches  in  Northumberland, 
yet  he  led  them  amidst  storms  of  sleet  and  hail 
across  the  mountains  which  divide  our  island  length- 
wise, and  which  have  been  called,  not  inappropri- 
ately, the  Apennines  of  England.  The  roads  he 
took  as  being  those  which  led  direct  to  Chester, 
were  scarcely  passable  for  cavalry,  and  his  troops 
were  annoyed  and  disheartened  by  actual  difficulties 
and  prospective  hardships  and  dangers.  The  coun- 
try lying  on  the  western  sea,  on  the  Mersey  and 
the  Dee,  was  painted  in  appalling  colors  ;  but  the 
soldiers  scarcely  exaggerated  the  difficult  and  moun- 
tainous nature  of  Wales  or  the  fierce  valor  of  its 
inhabitants.  The  auxiliaries,  particularly  the  men 
of  Anjou  and  Brittany,  began  to  murmur  aloud, 
and  not  a  few  of  the  Normans,  complaining  of  the 
hard  service  to  which  their  chief  was  exposing 
them,  talked  of  returning  beyond  sea.  This  dis- 
content was  overcome  partly  by  promises  of  reward 
when  the  campaign  should  end,  and  partly  by  an 
affected  indifference.  "  I  can  do  very  well  without 
them,'-  said  William,  referring  to  the  foreign  mer- 
cenaries ;  "  they  may  go  if  they  please.  I  have 
plenty  to  follow  me.  I  do  not  want  their  services."  ' 
And  then,  on  the  I'ough  way  over  the  wealds,  he 
partook  in  the  fatigues  of  the  common  soldiers, 
marching  on  foot  with  them,  and  faring  as  they 
fared.  Chestei*,  which  still  retained  the  outer 
features  of  a  Roman  city,  and  where  the  Conqueror 
gazed  on  Roman  walls  and  gates,  then  compara- 
tively entire,  had  not  yet  been  invaded  by  the 
Normans.  No  defence,  however,  was  attempted 
there  ;  and,  after  entering  in  triumph,  William 
proceeded  to  lay  the  foundations  of  a  new  and 
strong  castle,  while  detachments  of  his  army  reduced 
the  surrounding  country.  During  the  Conqueror's 
stay,  Edric  the  Forester  submitted,  and  was  re- 
ceived into  favor.  From  Chester  William  marched 
to  Salisbury,  where  he  distributed  rewards  among 
the  mercenaries,  a  part  of  whom  he  disbanded  ;  and 
from  Sahsbury  he  repaired  to  his  strong  citadel  or 
palace  at  Winchester,  which  city  became  a  favor- 
ite abode  with  him,  as  it  had  been  with  his  Saxon 

•  Orderic. 


predecessors.  To  retain  the  newly-conquered 
province  in  the  northwest,  he  had  left  a  strong 
body  of  troops  behind  him,  under  the  command  of 
a  Fleming  named  Gherbaud,  who  became  tlie  first 
Count  or  Earl  of  Chester.  This  Gherbaud  was 
soon  wearied  by  the  constant  fatigues  and  dangers 
of  his  post,  for  the  English  rose  whenever  they 
found  an  opportunity ;  and  the  mountaineers  from 
North  Wales  harassed  him  incessantly,  so  that  he 
was  glad  to  resign  his  command,  fiefs,  and  honors, 
and  return  to  his  own  country.  The  Conqueror 
then  granted  the  earldom  of  Chester  to  Hugh  d'Av- 
ranches,  a  more  warlike  and  much  fiercer  com- 
mander, who  earned,  even  in  that  age,  the  surname 
of  "  The  Wolf."  Not  satisfied  with  defensive  ope- 
rations, the  new  earl  immediately  crossed  the  Dee, 
invaded  North  Wales,  made  himself  master  of  a 
part  of  Flintshire,  and  built  a  castle  at  Rhuddlan, 
thus  taking  an  important  step  towards  the  subjuga- 
tion of  the  Welsh,  a  project  the  Normans  never 
abandoned  until  it  was  completed,  two  centuries 
later,  by  Edward  I.  Hugh  the  Wolf  and  his  fero- 
cious followers,  roused  to  even  more  than  their 
usual  ferocity  by  the  obstinate  and  fierce  resistance 
they  encountered,  shed  the  blood  of  the  Welsh  like 
water,  and  burnt  and  wasted  their  houses  and  lands. 
The  fearful  tragedy  of  Northumberland  and  York- 
shire was  repeated  on  a  smaller  scale  in  this  corner 
of  the  island,  and  famine  and  pestilence  stalked 
along  the  banks  of  the  Clwyd,  the  Dee,  and  the 
Mersey,  as  they  had  done  by  the  rivers  of  the 
northeastern  coast. 

The  conquered  territory  was  apportioned  as  in 
the  north.  A  few  incidental  accounts  of  these 
measures,  that  are  found  in  the  chroniclers,  taken 
as  they  occur,  may  convey  a  better  notion  of  the 
Norman  system  of  settlement  than  any  formal  dis- 
cussion of  it.  Almost  as  soon  as  Hugh  the  AVolf 
was  installed  Earl  of  Chester,  he  invited  over  from 
Normandy  one  Lenoir  or  Nigel,  a  friend  of  his 
early  days,  whom  he  was  anxious  to  make  the 
partaker  of  his  good  fortune  in  England.  Nigel 
not  only  came  over  himself,  but  brought  his  five 
brothers,  Houdard,  Edward,  Volmar,  Horsuin,  and 
Volfan  with  him,  having  concluded,  no  doubt,  from 
good  reports,  that  there  was  plenty  of  room  and 
promotion  for  them  all.  The  Earl  of  Chester  gave 
Nigel  the  burgh  and  domains  of  Hulton  on  the 
Mersey,  and  made  him  his  constable  and  hereditary 
marshal,  with  great  privileges,  and  almost  unlimited 
means  of  raising  money  by  fines,  for  he  had  the 
right  of  administering  justice  himself,  with  power 
of  life  and  death,  within  his  district  of  Hulton.  Of 
the  boot}'  taken,  or  to  be  taken,  from  the  Welsh,  all 
the  four-footed  beasts  were  declared  to  be  the 
share  of  Nigel,  who  had  moreover  the  right  of  pre- 
emption in  the  city  of  Chester,  by  which  he  or  his 
servants  could  insist  on  being  served  first  of  what- 
ever they  wanted  to  buy,  provided  only  the  servants 
of  the  earl  had  not  presented  themselves  as  pur- 
chasers sooner  than  tliey.  All  stray  cattle  and 
animals  found  within  the  limits  of  Hulton  were  his, 
and  Nigel  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  freely  selling  at 
fairs    or    otherwise,  without    tax    or   duty,   every 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


363 


species  of  mercnandise  except  salt  and  horses. 
These  possessions,  rights,  and  immunities  were 
declared  hereditary  in  Nigel's  family  on  the  usual 
condition  of  feudal  service  and  fealty  to  the  imme- 
diate superior,  the  Earl  of  Chester.  In  the  due 
gradation  of  this  feudal  system,  Houdard,  the  eldest 
of  his  five  brothers,  was  placed  nearly  in  the  same 
political  relation  to  Nigel  that  Nigel  occupied  with 
regard  to  the  Earl  of  Chester;  he  was  hereditary 
Seneschal  of  Hulton.  Nigel,  his  loi'd,  gave  him, 
2^0  hommagio  et  servitio  suo  (for  his  homage  and 
service),  the  lands  of  Weston  and  Ashton.  His 
profits  of  war  were  to  be  all  the  bulls  taken  in 
Wales,  and  the  best  ox,  as  a  recompense  for  his 
standard-bearer.  Edward,  the  second  brother,  re- 
ceived from  Nigel  the  constable  a  tract  of  land 
near  Weston ;  Horsuin  and  Volmar  got  between 
them  the  dontain  and  village  of  Runcone ;  and  the 
fifth  brother,  being  a  priest,  obtained  the  church  of 
Runcone.  In  this  manner  were  lands  and  powers 
lavished  on  hungry  adventurers,  who  continued  a 
slow  and  lasting  tyranny  under  the  names  of  earls, 
constables,  and  seneschals.^ 

The  disturbances  on  the  eastern  coast,  which 
had  been  overlooked,  now  grew  to  such  importance 
as  to  demand  attention.  Hereward,  "  England's 
darling,"  as  he  was  called  by  his  admiring  country- 
men, was  Lord  of  Born,  in  Lincolnshire,  and  one 
of  the  most  resolute  chiefs  the  Normans  ever  had  to 
encounter.  Having  expelled  the  foreigners  who 
had  taken  possession  of  his  patrimonj',  he  assisted 
his  neighbors  in  doing  the  like,  and  then  estab- 
lished a  fortified  camp  in  the  Isle  of  Ely,  where 
he  raised  the  banner  of  independence,  and  bade 
defiance  to  the  Conqueror.  His  power  or  influ- 
ence soon  extended  along  the  eastern  sea-hne,  over 
the  fen  country  of  Lincolnshire,  Huntingdon,  and 
Cambridge ;  and  English  refugees  of  all  classes, 
thanes  dispossessed  of  their  lands,  bishops  deprived 
of  their  mitres,  abbots  driven  from  their  monas- 
teries, to  make  room  for  foreigners,  repaired  from 
time  to  time  to  his  "camp  of  refuge."  The  jealous 
fears  of  the  king  increased  the  danger  they  were 
intended  to  lessen.  Though  Edwin  and  Morcar 
remained  perfectly  quiet,  and  showed  every  dispo- 
sition to  keep  their  oaths  of  allegiance,  he  dreaded 
them  on  account  of  their  great  popidarity  with  their 
countrymen,  and  he  finally  resolved  to  seize  their 
persons.  The  two  earls  received  timely  notice  of 
this  intention,  and  secreted  themselves.  When  he 
thought  the  vigilance  of  the  Normans  was  lulled, 
Edwin  endeavored  to  escape  to  the  Scottish  border, 
but  he  was  betrayed  by  three  of  his  attendants,  and 
fell  on  the  road  gallantly  fighting  against  his 
Norman  pursuers,  who  cut  oflf  his  head,  and  sent 
it  as  an  acceptable  present  to  the  Conqueror.^ 
Morcar  effected  his  escape  to  the  morasses  of  Cam- 
bridgeshire, and  joined  Hereward,  whose  camp 
was  further  crowded  about  this  time  by  many  of 
the  English  chiefs  of  the  north,  who  had  been 
driven  homeless  into  Scotland.  Among  the  eccle- 
siastics of  Northumbria  who  took  this  course  was 
Egelwin,  the  Bishop  of  Durham.     Even  Stigand, 

1  Thierry.  »  Orderic.  Vital.— Ingulf.— 11.  Hunt. 


the  Primate  of  all  England,  but  now  degraded  by 
king  and  pope,  and  replaced  by  Lanfranc,  an 
Itahan,  is  mentioned  among  the  refugees  of  Ely: 
but  his  presence  there  seems  to  rest  on  doubtful 
authority. 

William  at  length  moved  with  a  formidable  army. 
The  difficulties  of  this  war  on  the  eastern  coast 
were  different  from,  but  not  inferior  to,  what  the 
Normans  had  encoimtered  in  the  west  and  the 
north.  There  were  no  mountains  and  defiles,  but 
the  countiy  was  in  good  part  a  swamp  on  which  no 
cavalry  could  tread ;  it  was  cut  in  all  directions  by 
rivers,  and  streams,  and  broad  meres ;  and  the  few 
roads  that  led  through  this  dangerous  labyrinth 
were  little  known  to  the  foreigners,  and  likely  to 
be  well  defended  by  the  natives,  who  would  fight 
with  many  local  advantages  in  their  favor.  The 
country,  too,  where  the  banner  of  independence 
floated  was  a  sort  of  holy  land  to  the  English :  the 
abbeys  of  Ely,  Peterborough,  Thorney,  and  Croy- 
land,  the  most  ancient,  the  most  revered  of  their 
establishments,  stood  within  it;  and  the  monks, 
however  professionally  timid  or  peaceful,  were  dis- 
posed to  resistance,  for  they  well  knew  that  the 
coming  of  the  Normans  would  be  the  signal  for 
driving  them  from  their  monasteries.  The  monks 
of  Croyland,  indeed,  had  already  to  deplore  and 
resent  many  wrongs  sustained  from  the  invaders. 
They  possessed  a  house  at  Spalding,  where  a  part 
of  the  brotherhood  had  resided,  and  their  next 
neighbor  was  a  fierce  baron,  named  Tailie-bois, 
from  Anjou,  who  had  done  them  all  kinds  of  mis- 
chief— laming  their  horses  and  their  oxen,  killing 
their  sheep  and  poultry,  robbing  their  farmers,  and 
assaulting  their  servants  on  the  highway  with  swords 
and  staves.  After  vain  attempts  to  mollify  this  ty- 
rant with  entreaties  and  presents,  the  unlucky 
monks  had  taken  up  their  beds,  and  their  books, 
and  the  sacred  utensils,  and  leaving  their  habitation 
at  Spalding  to  the  protection  of  Heaven,  and  shaking 
the  dust  oflf  their  feet  against  that  "  son  of  the  fire 
eternal,"  had  returned  in  no  complacent  humor  to 
Croyland.'  Taille-bois  sent  immediately  over  to 
Angers  for  some  monks  of  his  own  countiy,  whom 
he  put  in  possession  of  the  house  and  church  at 
Spalding. 

The  Normans,  surprised  among  the  bogs  and  the 
tall  rushes  that  covered  them,  suflVred  some  severe 
checks.  The  sagacious  eye  of  William  soon  saw 
that  the  proper  way  of  proceeding  would  be  by  a 
blockade  that  should  prevent  provisions  and  succor 
from  reaching  the  Isle  of  Ely.  He  accordingly 
stationed  all  the  ships  he  could  collect  in  the  Wash, 
with  orders  to  watch  every  inlet  from  the  sea  to 
the  fens ;  and  he  so  stationed  his  army  as  to  block 
up  every  road  that  led  into  the  fens  by  land.  When 
he  resumed  more  active  operations  he  undertook  a 
work  of  great  note  and  difticulty.  In  order  to  ap- 
proach the  fortified  camp  in  the  midst  of  marshes, 
and  an  expanse  of  water  in  some  places  shallow,  in 
others  deep,  he  began  to  build  a  wooden  causeway, 
two  miles  long,  with  bridges  over  the  beds  of  the 
rivers.      Hereward   frequently   interrupted   these 

1  Ingulf. 


:i6i 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Croyland  Bridge,  with  the  Saxon  sculpture  of  St.  Etuelred. 


operations,  and  in  a  manner  so  mui'derous,  sudden, 
and  mysterious,  that  the  aflVighted  workmen  and 
soldiers  became  firmly  convinced  that  he  was  leagued 
with  the  devil,  and  aided  by  some  necromancer. 
William,  whose  philosophy  in  these  matters  was 
not  in  advance  of  his  age,  and  who  liad  brought  over 
with  him  from  Normandy  a  conjuror  and  soothsayer 
as  an  essential  part  of  liis  army  of  invasion,  was 
readily  induced  by  Ives  Taille-bois,  the  persecutor 
of  the  monks  at  Spalding,  to  employ  a  sorceress  on 
the  side  of  the  Normans,  in  order  to  neuti'alize  or 
defeat  the  spells  of  the  English.  This  sorceress 
was  placed  with  much  ceremony  on  the  top  of  a 
wooden  tower  at  the  head  of  the  works  ;  but  Here- 
ward,  the  "  cunning  captain,"  watching  his  oppor- 
tunity, set  fire  to  the  dry  reeds  and  rushes, — the 
flames  were  rapidly  spread  by  the  wind,  and  tower 
and  sorceress,  workmen  and  soldiers,  were  con- 
sumed. 

When  the  Isle  of  Ely  had  been  blockaded  three 
months,  provisions  became  scarce  there.  Those 
whose  profession  and  vowed  duties  included  fre- 
quent fasting  were  the  first  to  become  impatient 
under  privation.  The  monks  of  Ely  sent  to  the 
enemy's  camp,  offering  to  show  a  safe  passage  across 
the  fens  if  the  king  would  only  promise  to  leave 
them  in  undisturbed  possession  of  their  houses  and 
lands.  The  king  agreed  to  the  condition,  and  two 
of  his  barons  pledged  their  faith  for  the  execution 


of  the  treaty.  Under  proper  guides  the  Normans 
then  found  their  way  into  the  Isle  of  Ely,  and  took 
possession  of  the  strong  monastery  which  formed 
part  of  Hereward's  line  of  defence.  They  killed  a 
thousand  Englishmen  that  either  occupied  €an  ad- 
vanced position  or  had  made  a  sortie ;  and  then 
closing  round  the  "camp  of  refuge,"  they  finally 
obliged  the  rest  to  lay  down  their  arms.  Some  of 
these  brave  men  were  liberated  on  paying  heavy 
fines  0¥  ransoms;  some  were  put  to  death;  some 
deprived  of  their  sight ;  some  maimed  and  rendered 
unfit  for  war  by  having  a  right  hand  or  a  foot  cut 
off;  some  were  condemned  to  perpetual  imprison- 
ment; and  in  this  last  category  were  Earl  Morcar 
and  the  Bishop  of  Durham*.  Hereward,  the  soul 
of  the  confederacy,  would  not  submit,  but  making  an 
effort  which  appeared  desperate  to  all,  he  rushed 
from  the  beleaguered  camp,  and  escaped  by  throw- 
ing himself  into  the  marshes  where  the  Normans 
would  not  venture  to  follow  him.  Passing  from 
fen  to  fen,  he  gained  the  low,  swampy  lands  in  Lin- 
colnshire, near  his  own  estate,  Avhere  he  was  joined 
by  some  friends  and  renewed  a  partisan  or  guerilla 
warfare,  which  cost  the  Normans  many  lives,  but 
which  could  not,  under  existing  circumstances, 
produce  any  great  political  result.  At  last,  seeing 
the  hopelessness  of  the  struggle,  he  listened  to 
terms  from  William,  who  was  anxious  to  pacify  an 
enemy  his  armies  could  never  reach,  and  who  prob- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


365 


ably  admired,  as  a  soldier,  his  wonderful  courage 
and  address.  Hereward  made  his  peace,  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  and  was  permitted  by  the  Con- 
queror to  preserve  and  enjoy  the  estates  of  his  an- 
cestors. The  exploits  of  the  last  hero  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  independence  formed  a  favorite  theme  of 
tradition  and  poetry;  and  long  after  his  death  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Isle  of  Ely  showed  with  pride  the 
ruins  of  a  wooden  tower  which  they  called  the  Cas- 
tle of  Hereward. 

After  the  destruction  of  the  camp  of  refuge  in 
Ely,  the  Norman  forces,  naval  as  well  as  military, 
proceeded  to  the  north  to  disperse  some  bands 
which  had  again  raised  the  standard  of  independ- 
ence, and  invoked  the  presence  of  Edgar  Atheling, 
who  was  enjoying  the  tranquillity  and  obscurity  for 
which  he  was  fitted,  in  Scotland.  After  some 
bloody  skirmishes  the  confederates  were  driven 
beyond  the  Tweed  ;  and  then.  William  crossed  that 
river  to  seize  the  English  emigrants,  and  punish 
Malcolm  Caenmore.  A  Scottish  army,  wliich  had 
been  so  anxiously  expected  by  the  English  insur- 
gents at  York  two  years  before,  when  its  weight  in 
the  scale  might  have  proved  fatal  to  the  Normans, 
had  tardily  marched  at  a  moment  when  the  North- 
umbrians and  people  of  Yorkshire  were  almost  ex- 
terminated, and  when  it  could  do  little  more  than 
excite  "the  few  remaining  inhabitants  to  a  hopeless 
rising,  and  burn  the  houses  of  such  as  refused  to 
join  in  it.  The  want  of  provisions  in  a  land  laid 
waste  soon  made  the  Scots  recross  the  border.  To 
avenge  this  mere  predatory  ini-oad,  however,  Wil- 
liam now  advanced  from  the  Tweed  to  the  Frith 
of  Forth,  as  if  he  intended  to  subdue  the  whole 
of  the  "  land  of  the  mountain  and  flood,"  taking 
with  him  the  entire  mass  of  his  splendid  cavalry, 
and  nearly  every  Norman  foot-soldier  he  could  pru- 
dently detach  from  garrison  duty  in  England.  Some 
native  English,  on  whose  fidelity  to  himself  or  dis- 
like of  the  Scots  he  could  rely,  also  followed  him 
by  land,  while  others  acted  as  sailors  on  board  his 
ships,  which  sailed  close  in-shore,  and  cooperated 
with  him  as  he  marclied  through  the  Lothians. 
The  emigi'ants  escaped  his  pursuit ;  nor  would  Mal- 
colm deliver  them  up  ;  but,  intimidated  by  the  ad- 
vance of  an  army  infinitely  more  numerous  and  bet- 
ter armed  than  his  own,  the  Scottish  king,  says  the 
Saxon  Chronicle,  "  came  and  agreed  with  King  Wil- 
liam, and  delivered  hostages,  and  was  his  man,  and 
the  king  went  home  with  all  liis  force." 

On  his  return  from  Scotland,  William  Avas  re- 
ceived at  Durham  by  the  new  bishop,  Vaulcher  or 
Walcher,  a  Lorrainer  by  nation,  who  felt  so  inse- 
cure in  his  diocese  that  he  entreated  the  king  to 
stay  and  build  a  castle  for  him.  William,  who  liad 
other  business  to  transact,  remained  some  time,  and 
erected  a  sort  of  citadel  on  the  top  of  tlie  highest 
liill,  in  which  the  prelate  might  live  without  fear 
of  attack.  During  his  stay  at  Durham  the  king 
summoned  Cospatric  to  appear  before  him,  and,  on 
the  idle  ground  of  old  grievances,  which  had  been 
pardoned  when  that  nobleman  surrendered  with 
Edwin  and  Morcar,  he  deprived  him  of  the  earldom 
of  Northumberland,  for  which  it  appears  he  had 


paid  a  large  sum  of  money.  Cospatric*  fearing 
worse  consequences,  abandoning  whatever  else  he 
had  in  England,  fled  to  Malcolm  Caenmore,  who 
gave  him  a  castle  and  lands.  The  earldom  of  North- 
umberland was  conferred  on  Waltheof,  an  English- 
man like  himself,  but  now  the  nephew  of  the  Con- 
queror by  mai-riage  with  his  niece  Judith. 

The  Normans  had  now  been  seven  years  in  the 
land,  engaged  in  almost  constant  hostilities;  and  at 
length  England,  with  the  exception  of  Wales,  might 
fairly  be  said  to  be  conquered.  In  most  abridgments 
and  epitomes  of  history  the  events  we  have  related 
in  not  unnecessary  detail,  are  so  faintly  indicated, 
and  huddled  together  in  so  narrow  a  space,  as  to 
leave  an  impression  that  the  resistance  of  our  an- 
cestors after  the  battle  of  Hastings  was  trifling  and 
brief, — that  the  sanguinary  drama  of  the  Conquest 
was  almost  wholly  included  in  one  act.  Nothing 
can  be  more  incorrect  than  this  impression,  or  more 
unfair  to  that  hardy  race  of  men  who  were  the 
fountain-source  of  at  least  nine-tentlis  of  the  blood 
that  flows  in  the  large  and  generous  vein  of  the 
English  nation.  "  The  successive  contests  in  which 
the  Conqueror  was  engaged,"  says  a  i"ecent  histo- 
rian, with  becoming  warmth,  "  ought  not  to  be  re- 
garded as,  on  his  part,  measures  to  quell  rebellion. 
They  were  a  series  of  wars,  levied  by  a"  foreign 
prince  against  unconquered  and  unbending  portions 
of  the  Saxon  people.  Their  resistance  was  not  a 
flame  casually  lighted  up  by  the  oppression  of 
rulers, — it  was  the  defensive  warfare  of  a  nation 
who  took  up  arms  to  pi-eserve,  not  to  recover,  their 
independence.  There  are  few  examples  of  a  peo- 
ple who  have  suff'ered  more  for  national  dignity  and 
legitimate  freedom.  Tlie  Britons  are,  perhaps,  too 
far  from  us  to  admit  our  fellow-feeling  with  them. 
When  we  stretch  out  our  hands  towards  their 
heroes,  we  scarcely  embrace  more  than  a  shadow. 
But  let  us  not  distort  history  by  throwing  the  un- 
merited reproach  of  want  of  national  spirit  on  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  and  thus  placing  an  impassable  barrier 
between  our  sympathy  and  the  founders  of  our  laws 
and  liberties,  whose  language  we  speak,  in  whoso- 
homes  we  dwell,  and  in  whose  establishments  and 
institutions  we  justly  glory. "^ 

Not  long  after  his  return  from  Scotland,  circum- 
stances imperatively  called  for  the  presence  of  Wil- 
liam in  his  continental  dominions.  His  talents  as  a 
statesman  and  warrior  are  indisputable,  j^etfewmeu 
have  owed  more  to  good  fortune.  Their  wrongs 
and  provocations  were  the  same  then  as  now,  and 
policy  would  have  suggested  to  the  people  of  Maine 
to  exert  tliemsclves  a  year  or  two  before,  when 
William,  engaged  in  difficult  wars  in  England,  would 
have  been  embarrassed  by  their  insurrection  on  the 
continent.  But  they  made  their  great  effort  just  as 
England  was  reduced  to  the  quietude  of  despair, 
and  when  William  could  proceed  against  them  un- 
incumbered by  any  other  war.  Herbert,  the  last 
count  or  national  chief,  bequeathed  the  county  of 
Maine,  bordering  on  Normandy,  to  Duke  William, 
who,  to  the  displeasure  of  the  people,  but  without 
any  important  opposition,  took  possession  of  it  sev- 

'  Sir  J.  Mackintosh. 


366 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


eral  years  before  he  invaded  England.  Instigated 
by  Fulk,  Count  of  Anjou,  and  vexed  by  a  tyrannical 
administration,  the  people  of  Maine  now  rose  against 
William,  and  expelled  the  magistrates  he  had  placed 
over  them,  and  drove  out  from  their  towns  the  offi- 
cers and  garrisons  of  the  Norman  nice.  Deeming 
it  imprudent  to  remove  his  Norman  forces  from  this 
island,  he  collected  a  considerable  army  among  the 
English  population,  and  carrying  them  over  to  Nor- 
mandy, he  joined  tluMU  to  some  troops  levied  there, 
and  putting  himself  at  their  head,  marched  into  the 
unfortunate  province  of  Maine.  The  national  valor 
which  so  often  opposed  him  was  now  exerted  with 
a  blind  fury  in  his  favor.  The  English  beat  the  men 
of  Maine,  burnt  their  towns  and  villages,  and  did  as 
much  mischief  as  the  Normans  (among  whom  was 
a  strong  contingent  from  Maine)  had  perpetrated  in 
England. 

While  these  things  were  passing  on  the  continent, 
Edgar  Atheling  received  an  advantageous  olfer  of 
services  and  cooperation  from  Philip,  King  of 
France,  who  at  last,  and  too  late,  roused  himself 
from  the  strange  sloth  and  indifference  with  which 
he  had  seen  the  progress  made  by  his  overgrown 
vassal,  the  Duke  of  Normandy.  The  events  in 
Maine,  the  dread  inspired  in  all  the  neighboring 
country,  even  to  the  walls  of  Paris,  and  William's 
exhibition  of  force,  were  probably  the  immediate 
causes  that  dispelled  Philip's  long  sleep.  He  invited 
Edgar,  with  whose  unpromising  character  he  was 
probably  unacquainted,  to  come  to  France  and  be 
present  at  his  council,  promising  him  a  strong  fortress 
situated  on  the  Channel  at  a  point  equally  convenient 
for  making  descents  upon  England  or  incursions  or 
forays  into  Normandy.  Closing  with  the  proposals, 
Edgar  got  ready  a  few  ships  and  a  small  band  of 
soldiers,  being  aided  therein  by  his  sister  the  Queen 
of  Scotland,  and  some  of  the  Scottish  nobility,  and 
made  sail  for  France.  His  usual  bad  luck  attended 
him :  he  had  scarcely  gained  the  open  sea  when  a 
storm  arose,  and  drove  his  ships  ashore  on  the  coast 
of  Northumberland,  where  some  of  his  followers 
were  drowned,  and  others  taken  prisoners  by  the 
Normans.  He  and  a  few  of  his  friends  of  superior 
rank  escaped  and  got  into  Scotland,  where  they 
arrived  in  miserable  plight,  with  nothing  but  the 
clothes  on  their  backs,  some  walking  on  foot,  some 
mounted  on  sorry  beasts.  After  this  misfortune, 
his  brother-in-law.  King  Malcolm,  advised  him  to 
seek  a  reconciliation  with  William,  and  Edgar 
accordingly  sent  a  messenger  to  the  Conqueror, 
who  at  once  invited  him  to  Normandy,  where  he 
promised  proper  and  honorable  treatment.  In- 
stead of  sailing  direct  from  Scotland,  the  Atheling, 
whose  feelings  were  as  obtuse  as  his  intellect, 
took  his  way  through  England,  the  desolated  king- 
dom of  his  ancestors,  feasting  at  the  castles  of  the 
Norman  invaders  as  he  went  along.  Insignificant 
as  he  was,  the  English  people  still  loved  his  name  ; 
it  was  therefore  deemed  expedient  to  secure  his 
person,  and  this  was  done  under  a  decent  semblance 
l)y  the  sheriff  of  Yorkshire,  who  met  him  with  a 
numerous  escort  at  Durham,  and  accompanied  him 
until  he  embarked.     AVilliam  received  him  with  a 


show  of  kindness,  and  allotted  him  an  apartment  in 
the  palace  of  Rouen,  with  a  pound  of  silver  a-day 
for  his  maintenance ;  and  there  the  descendant  of 
the  great  Alfred  passed  eleven  years  of  his  life, 
occupying  himself  with  dogs  and  horses. 

The  king,  who  had  gone  to  the  continent  to  quell 
one  insurrection,  was  recalled  to  England  by  another 
of  a  much  more  threatening  nature,  planned,  not  by 
the  English,  but  by  the  Norman  barons,  their  con- 
querors and  despoilers,  who  were  either  dissatisfied 
with  the  rewards  they  had  received,  or  disgusted  by 
the  imperious  character,  the  overbearing,  and  inter- 
meddling of  the  king.  William  Fitz-Osborn,  the 
prime  favorite  and  counsellor  of  the  Conqueror,  had 
died  a  violent  death  in  Flanders,  and  had  been  suc- 
ceeded in  his  English  domains  and  the  earldom  of 
Hereford  by  his  son  Roger  Fitz-Osborn.  This  young 
nobleman  negotiated  a  marriage  with  Raoul  or  Ralph 
de  Ga6l,  a  Breton  by  birth,  and  Earl  of  Norfolk  in 
England  by  the  right  of  the  sword.  For  some  reason 
not  explained,  this  alliance  was  displeasing  to  the 
king,  who  sent  from  Normaiidj-  to  prohibit  it.  The 
parties  were  enraged  at  this  prohibition,  which, 
however,  they  deteriuined  not  to  obey,  and  on  the 
day  which  had  been  previously  fixed  for  the  cere- 
mony Emma,  the  affianced,  was  conducted  to  Nor- 
wich, where  a  wedding-feast  was  celebrated  that 
was  fatal  to  all  who  were  present  at  it.^  Among 
the  guests  who  had  been  invited,  rather  for  the  after- 
act  than  to  do  honor  to  the  bride  and  bridegroom, 
were  Waltheof,  the  husband  of  Judith,  sundry 
barons  and  bishops  of  the  Norman  race,  some  Sax- 
ons who  were  friends  to  the  Normans,  and  even 
some  chieftains  from  the  mountains  of  Wales,  wnth 
whom  their  neighbor,  the  Earl  of  Hereford,  the 
brother  of  the  bride,  had  thought  proper  to  cultivate 
amicable  relations.  A  sumptuous  feast  was  followed 
by  copious  libations ;  and  when  the  heads  of  the 
guests  were  heated  by  wine,  the  Earls  of  Hereford 
and  Norwich,  who  were  already  committed  by  car- 
rying the  forbidden  marriage  into  effect,  and  who 
knew  the  implacable  temper  of  William,  opened 
their  plans  with  a  wild  and  energetic  eloquence. 
They  inveighed  against  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  the 
king,  his  harsh  and  arrogant  behavior  to  his  noblest 
barons, — and  his  apparent  intention  of  reducing  the 
Normans  to  the  same  condition  of  misery  and  servi- 
tude as  the  English,  whose  wrongs  and  misfortunes 
they  affected  to  commiserate.  Hereford  complained 
of  his  conduct  with  regard  to  the  marriage,  saying 
it  was  an  insult  offered  to  the  memory  of  his  father, 
Fitz-Osborn,  the  man  to  whom  the  bastard  incon- 
testably  owed  his  crown.  By  degrees  the  excited 
assembly  broke  forth  in  one  general  curse  against 
the  Conqxioror.  The  old  reproach  of  his  birth  was 
revived  over  and  over  again.  "  He  is  a  bastard,  a 
man  of  biise  extraction,"  cried  the  Normans  ;  "  it  is 
in  vain  he  calls  himself  a  king ;  it  is  easy  to  see  he 
was  never  made  to  be  one,  and  that  God  hath  him 
not  in  his  grace." — "  He  poisoned  our  Conan,  that 
brave  Count  of  Brittany,"  said  the  Bretons.  "  He 
has  invaded  our  noble  kingdom,  and  massacred  the 
legitimate  heirs  to  it,  or  driven  them  into  exile," 
1   Chron.  Sax. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


367 


Norwich  Castle. 


cried  the  English.  "  He  is  ungrateful  to  the  brave 
nien  who  have  shed  their  blood  for  him,  and  raised 
him  to  a  higher  pitch  of  greatness  than  any  of  his 
predecessors  ever  knew,"  said  the  foreign  captains  ; 
•'  and  what  has  he  given  to  us  conquerors  covered 
with  wounds  ?  Nothing  but  lands  naturally  sterile 
or  devastated  by  the  war ;  and  then,  as  soon  as  he 
sees  we  have  improved  those  estates,  he  takes  them 
from  us,  or  diminishes  their  extent."  The  guests 
cried  out  tumultuously  that  all  this  was  true, — that 
William  the  Bastard  was  in  odium  with  all  men, — 
that  his  death  would  gladden  the  hearts  of  many. ^ 

The  great  object  of  the  Norman  conspirators  was 
to  gain  over  Earl  Waltheof,  whose  warlike  qualities 
and  great  popularity  with  the  English  were  well 
known  to  them ;  and,  when  they  proceeded  to  di- 
vulge the  particulars  of  their  plan,  the  Earls  of 
Hereford  and  Norwich  allured  him  with  the  prom- 
ise of  a  third  of  England,  which  was  to  be  partitioned 
into  the  old  Saxon  kingdoms  of  Wessex,  Mercia, 
and  Northumberland.  With  the  fumes  of  wine  in 
his  head,  and  a  general  ardor  and  enthusiasm  around 
him,  Waltheof,  it  is  said,  gave  his  approval  to  the 
conspiracy,  which  he  thought  held  out  a  prospect 
ofrehef  to  his  own  countrymen;  but,  according  to 
one  version  of  the  story,  the  next  morning,  "when 
he  had  consulted  with  his  pillow,  and  awaked  his 
wits  to  perceive  the  danger  whereunto  he  was 
drawn,  he  determined  not  to  move  in  it,"  and  took 
measures  to  prevent  its  breaking  out.  A  more  gen- 
erally received  account,  however,  is,  that  Waltheof, 
seeing  from  the  first  the  madness  of  the  scheme. 
1   Will.  Malm —Malt.  Paris.— Ord.Tic. 


and  the  little  probability  it  offered  of  benefiting  the 
English  people,  refused  to  engage  in  it,  and  only 
took  an  oath  of  secrecy.  The  whole  project,  in- 
deed, was  insane ;  the  discontented  barons  had 
scarcely  a  chance  of  succeeding  against  the  estab- 
lished authority  and  the  genius  of  William ;  and 
their  success,  had  it  been  possible,  would  have 
proved  a  curse  to  the  country, — a  step  fatally  ret- 
rogade, — a  going  back  towards  the  time  of  the  Saxon 
Heptarchy,  when  England  was  fractured  into  a 
number  of  pettj',  hostile  states.  It  is  quite  certain 
that  Waltheof  never  took  up  arms,  nor  did  any  overt 
act  that  could  be  construed  into  treason  ;  but  in  his 
uneasiness  of  mind,  and  his  confidence  in  so  dear  a 
connexion,  he  disclosed  to  his  wife  Judith  all  that 
had  been  done  in  Norwich  Castle  ;  and  this  confi- 
dence is  generally  believed  to  have  been  one  of  the 
main  causes  of  his  ruin.  Roger  Fitz-Osborn  and 
Ralph  de  Gael,  the  real  heads  of  the  confederacy, 
were  hurried  into  action  before  their  scheme  was 
ripe,  for  their  secret  was  betrayed  by  some  one. 
The  first  of  these  earls,  who  had  returned  to  hi« 
government,  and  collected  his  followers  and  a  con- 
siderable numl)er  of  Welsh,  was  checked  in  his  at- 
tempt to  cross  the  Severn  at  Worcester ;  nor  could 
he  find  a  passage  at  any  other  point,  as  Ours,  the 
Viscount  of  Worcester,  and  Wulfstan,  the  bishop, 
occupied  the  left  bank  of  tliat  river  with  a  gi-eat 
force  of  Norman  cavahy.  Egelwin,  the  Abbot  of 
Evesham,  who,  like  Wulfstan,  was  an  Englishman, 
induced  the  population  of  Gloucester  to  rise  and 
cooperate  with  the  king's  officers  ;  and  Walter  <l.i 
Lncv.  !i  great  bnron  in  those  parts,  soon  brou;^1it  up 


368 


HISTORY  OF  ExXGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


a  mixed  host  of  English  and  Normans,  tiiat  rendered 
the  Earl  of  Hereford's  project  of  crossing  the  Sev- 
ern, to  cooperate  with  liis  brother-in-law  in  the 
heart  of  England,  altogether  liopeless.  Lanfranc, 
the  Italian  Archbishop  of  Canterbnry,  wlio  acted  as 
viceroy  during  William's  absence,  proceeding  with 
the  greatest  decision,  also  sent  troops  from  London  , 
and  Winchester,  to  oppose  Fitz-Osborn,  at  whose  j 
head  ho  hurled,  at  the  same  time,  the  terrible  sen- 
tence of  excommunication.  In  writing  to  the  king 
in  Normandy,  the  primate  said,  "  It  would  be  with  ' 
pleasure,  and  as  envoy  of  God,  that  we  would  wel- 
come you  among  iis ;  but,"  fidded  the  energetic  old 
priest,  "  do  not  hurry  yourself  to  cross  the  sea,  for 
it  would  be  putting  us  to  shame  to  come  and  aid  us 
in  destroying  such  traitors  and  thieves."  The  Earl 
of  Hereford  fell  back  from  the  Severn ;  and  his 
brother-in-law,  the  Earl  of  Norfolk,  left  to  himself, 
and  unable  to  prc/fcure  in  time  assistance  for  which 
he  had  applied  to  the  Danes,  was  suddenly  attacked 
by  a  royal  army  of  very  superior  force,  led  on  by 
Odo,  the  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  Geoffrey,  Bishop  of 
Coutance,  and  Richard  de  Bienfait  and  W^illiam  de 
Warenne,  the  two  justiciaries  of  the  kingdom,  who 
obtained  a  complete  victory,  and  cut  off  the  right 
foot  of  eveiy  prisoner  they  made.  The  earl  re- 
treated to  Norwich,  garrisoned  his  castle  with  the 
most  trusty  of  his  followers,  and,  leaving  his  bride 
to  defend  it,  passed  over  to  Brittany,  in  hopes  of 
obtaining  succor  from  his  countrymen.  The  daugh- 
ter of  William  Fitz-Osborn  defended  Norwich  Cas- 
tle with  great  bravery;  and  when,  at  the  end  of 
three  months,  she  capitulated,  she  obtained  mild 
terms  for  her  garrison,  which  was  almost  entirely 
composed  of  Bretons.  They  did  not  suffer  in  hfe 
or  hmb,  but  were  shipped  oft'  to  the  continent  within 
the  term  of  forty  days.  The  Bretons  generally 
had  rendered  themselves  unpopular  at  William's 
court.  With  the  true  character  of  their  race,  they 
were  irascible,  turbulent,  factious,  and  much  more 
devoted  to  the  head  of  their  clan  than  to  the  king. 
When  they  were  embarked,  Lanfranc  wrote  to  his 
master,  "  Glory  be  to  God,  your  kingdom  is  at  last 
purged  of  the  filth  of  these  Bretons."  The  king 
invaded  Brittany  in  the  hope  of  exterminating  the 
fugitive  Earl  of  Norwich  in  his  native  castle,  and  re- 
ducing that  province  to  entire  subjection  ;  but,  after 
laying  an  unsuccessful  siege  to  the  town  of  Dol,  he 
was  obliged  to  retire  before  an  army  of  Bretons,  who 
were  supported  by  the  French  king.'  William  then 
crossed  the  Channel  to  suppress  the  insurrection  in 
England  ;  but  by  the  time  he  arrived  there  was  little 
left  for  him  to  do  except  to  punish  the  principal 
offenders.  The  Earl  of  Hereford  had  been  follow- 
ed, defeated,  and  taken  prisoner;  and  many  of  his 
adherents,  Welsh,  English,  and  Normans,  hanged 
on  high  gibbets,  or  blinded  or  mutilated.  At  a  royal 
court,  De  Gael  was  outlawed,  and  his  brother-in- 
law,  Fitz-Osborn,  condemned  to  perpetual  impris- 
onment and  the  forfeiture  of  his  property.  Scarcely 
one  of  the  guests  at  the  ill-augured  marriage  of 
Emma  Fitz-Osborn  escaped  with  life  ;  and  even  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Norwich  felt  the  weight 
'  Daru,  Hist,  de  la  Brotagne. 


of  royal  vengeance.  The  last  and  most  conspicuous 
victim  was  Waltheof,  who  had  been  guilty  at  most 
of  a  misprision  of  treason.  His  secret  had  been 
betrayed  by  his  wife  Judith,  who  is  said,  moreover, 
to  have  accused  him  of  inviting  over  the  Danisli  fleet, 
which  now  made  its  appearance  on  the  coast  of 
Norfolk.  The  motive  that  made  this  heartless  wo- 
man seek  the  death  of  her  brave  and  generous  hus- 
band was  a  passion  she  had  conceived  for  a  Norman 
nobleman,  whom  she  hoped  to  marry  if  she  could 
but  be  made  a  widow.  Others,  however,  althovigh 
acting  under  different  impulses,  were  quite  as  urgent 
as  the  Conqueror's  niece  for  the  execution  of  the 
English  earl.  These  were  Norman  barons  who  had 
cast  the  eyes  of  afl'ection  on  his  honors  and  estates, 
— "  his  great  possessions  being  his  greatest  ene- 
mies." The  judges  were  divided  in  opinion  as  to 
the  proper  sentence ;  some  of  them  maintaining 
that,  as  a  revolted  English  subject,  Waltheof  ought 
to  die ;  others,  that  as  an  officer  of  the  king,  and 
according  to  JSorman  law,  he  ought  only  to  suffer 
the  minor  punishment  of  perpetual  imprisonment. 
These  dilferences  of  opinion  lasted  lU'arly  a  whole 
year,  during  which  the  earl  was  confined  in  the 
royal  citadel  of  Winchester.  At  length  his  wife 
and  other  enemies  prevailed  ;  the  sentence  of  death 
was  pronounced,  and  confirmed  by  the  king,  who  is 
said  to  have  long  wished  for  the  opportunity  of  put- 
ting him  out  of  his  way.  The  unfortunate  son  of 
that  great  and  good  earl,  Siward,  whom  Shakspeare 
has  immortalized,  was  executed  on  a  hill,  a  short 
distance  from  the  town  of  Winchester,  at  a  very 
early  hour  in  the  morning,  and  in  great  haste,  lest 
the  citizens  should  become  aware  of  his  fate,  and 
attempt  a  rescue.'  His  body  was  thrown  into  a  hole 
dug  at  a  cross-road,  and  covered  with  earth  in  a 
hurry ;  but  the  king  was  induced  to  permit  its  re- 
moval thence,  and  the  English  monks  of  Croyland, 
to  whom  the  deceased  earl  had  been  a  benefactor, 
took  it  up  and  carried  it  to  their  abbey,  where  they 
gave  it  a  more  honorable  sepulture.  The  patriotic 
superstition  of  the  nation  soon  converted  the  dead 
warrior  into  a  saint,  and  the  universal  grief  of  the 
English  people  found  some  consolation  in  giving  a 
ready  credence  to  the  miracles  said  to  be  performed 
at  his  tomb.  The  Anglo-Saxon  hagiology  seems  to 
have  abounded  beyond  that  of  most  other  nations  in 
unfortunate  patriots  and  heroes  who  had  fallen  in 
battle  against  the  invaders  of  the  country.  We 
may  excuse  the  superstition  for  the  sake  of  the  pat- 
riotism ;  but  it  was  of  course  far  otherwise  with  the 
Conqueror,  who  took  harsh  measures  against  the 
English  Abbot  of  Croyland  for  publishing  the  mirac- 
ulous facts,  and  preaching  about  them  to  those  who 
visited  his' house  to  weep  and  pray  over  Waltheof 's 
grave.  A  council  of  Norman  bishops  and  barons 
assembled  at  London  accused  the  abbot  of  idolatry, 
degraded  him  from  his  dignity,  and  sent  him  as  a 
simple  monk  or  recluse,  to  be  shut  up  in  Glastonbury 
Abbey,  which  was  far  away  from  Croyland,  and  gov- 
erned by  Toustain,  a  Norman,  noted  as  being  "  cin- 
entissimus  abbas"  (a  most  cruel  abbot).  But,  in 
spite  of  the  decisions  of  the  Norman  council,  the 

'  Orderic  gives  some  rurious  particulars  respecting  the  evccution. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


569 


ecclesiastical  chief  of  Croyland  was  still  a  true  man 
in  the  eyes  of  the  English,  and  Earl  Waltheof  re- 
mained a  saint  in  their  estimation.  Even  Avhen 
forty  years  had  passed,  and  the  government  of  the 
abbey,  which  had  been  held  by  a  succession  of  for- 
eigners, fell  to  a  certain  Geoffrey,  a  native  of  Or- 
leans, the  miracles  began  again  at  the  tomb  of  the 
English  chief,  and  the  people  flocked  thither  in  great 
numbers,  heedless  of  the  mockery  and  insults  of  the 
Norman  monks  of  Croyland,  who  maintained  that 
Waltheof  was  a  felon  and  a  traitor,  who  had  justly 
merited  his  fate.'  And  what  became  of  the  widow 
of  the  brave  son  of  Siward, — of  the  "  infamous  Ju- 
dith," as  she  is  called  by  nearly  all  the  chroniclers  ? 
So  far  from  permitting  her  to  marry  the  man  of 
whom  she  was  enamored,  her  uncle  William,  who 
was  most  despotic  in  these  matters,  and  claimed  as 
part  of  his  prerogative  the  right  of  disposing  of  female 
wards,  insisted  on  her  giving  her  hand  to  one  Simon, 
a  Frenchman  of  Senlis,  a  veiy  brave  soldier,  but 
lame  and  deformed ;  and  when  the  perverse  widow 
rejected  the  match  with  insulting  language,  he  drove 
her  from  his  presence,  deprived  her  of  all  Waltheof 's 
estates,  and  gave  them  to  Simon  without  the  incum- 
brance of  such  a  wife.  Cast  from  the  king's  favor, 
and  reduced  to  poverty,  she  became  almost  as  un- 
popular with  the  Normans  as  she  was  with  the 
English;  and  the  wretched  woman,  hated  by  all,  or 
justly  contemned,  passed  the  rest  of  her  life  in  wan- 
dering in  different  corners  of  England,  seeking  to 
hide  her  shame  in  remote  and  secluded  places." 

The  Normans  had  been  gradually  encroaching  on 
the  Welsh  territory,  both  on  the  side  of  the  Dee 
and  on  the  side  of  the  Severn,  and  now  William  in 
person  led  a  formidable  army  into  Wales,  where  he  is 
said  to  have  struck  such  terror  that  the  native  princes 
performed  feudal  homage  to  him  at  St.  David's,  and 
delivered  many  hostages  and  Norman  and  English 
prisoners,  with  which  he  returned  as  "  a  victorious 
conquej"or."  In  the  north  of  England  he  made  no 
farther  progress,  and  had  considerable  difficulty  in 
retaining  the  land  he  had  occupied.  The  Scots 
again  crossed  the  Tweed  and  the  Tyne,  and  much 
harassed  the  Norman  barons.  At  the  approach  of 
a  superior  army  they  retired ;  but  William's  officers 
did  not  follow  them,  and  the  only  result  of  the 
expedition,  on  the  king's  side,  was  the  founding  of 
the  city  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  The  impression 
made  upon  Scotland  by  the  Conqueror,  when  he 
had  marched  in  person,  must  have  been  of  the  slight- 
est kind,  and  his  circumstances  never  permitted  him 
to  return. 

A.D.  1077-9.  He  was  now  wounded  by  the 
sharp  tooth  of  filial  disobedience,  and  obliged  to 
be  frequently,  and  for  long  intervals,  on  the  con- 
tinejit,  where  a  fierce  and  unnatural  war  was 
waged  between  father  and  son.  When  William 
first  received  the  submission  of  the  province  of 
Maine  (the  subsequent  and  unfortunate  insurrection 
of  which  we  have  mentioned),  he  had  promised 
the   inhabitants   to    make   his  eldest  son,   Robei't, 

'  Orderic.  Vital. — Florent.  Wigorn. — Ingulph. 
5  Odio  omnibus  habita,  et  digne  despicta,  per  diversa  loca  et  latibula 
eiTavit. — IngTilph. 

VOL.  I. — 24 


their  prince  ;  and  before  departing  for  the  conquest 
of  England  he  stipulated,  that  in  case  of  succeeding 
in  his  enterprise,  he  would  resign  the  Duchy  of 
Normandy  to  the  same  son.  So  confident  was  he 
of  success,  that  he  permitted  the  Norman  chiefs 
who  consented  to,  and  legalized  the  appointment, 
to  swear  fealty  and  render  homage  to  young  Robert 
as  their  future  sovereign.  But  all  this  was  done 
to  allay  the  jealousy  of  the  King  of  France  and  his 
other  neighbors,  uneasy  at  the  prospect  of  his 
vastly  extending  power;  and  when  he  was  firmly 
seated  in  his  conquest,  and  had  strengthened  his 
hands,  William  openly  showed  his  determination  of 
keeping  and  ruling  both  his  insular  kingdom  and 
his  continental  duchy.  Grown  up  to  man's  estate, 
Robert  claimed  what  he  considered  his  right. 
"  My  son,  I  wot  not  to  throw  off  my  clothes  till  I 
go  to  bed,"  was  the  homely  but  decisive  answer  of 
his  father.  Robert  was  brave  to  rashness,  am- 
bitious, impatient  of  command  ;  and  a  young  prince 
in  his  circumstances  was  never  yet  without  adhe- 
rents and  counsellors  to  urge  him  to  those  extreme 
measures  on  which  they  found  their  own  hopes  of 
fortune  and  advancement.  He  was  suspected  of 
fanning  the  flames  of  discontent  in  Brittany  as  well 
as  in  Maine,  and  to  have  had  an  understanding  with 
the  King  of  France,  when  that  monarch  frusti'ated 
William's  attempt  to  seize  the  fugitive  Breton 
Raoul  de  Gael,  and  forced  the  King  of  England  to 
raise  the  siege  of  Dol.  Some  circumstances  which 
added  to  the  number  of  the  unnatural  elements 
ah'eady  engaged  made  Robert  declare  himself  more 
openly.  In  person  he  was  less  favored  by  nature 
than  his  two  younger  brothers  William  and  Henry, 
who  seemed  to  engross  all  their  father's  favor,  and 
who  probably  made  an  improper  use  of  the  nick- 
name of  Courte-heuse,^  which  was  given  to  Robert, 
on  account  of  the  shortness  of  his  legs.  One  day, 
when  the  king  and  his  court  were  staying  in  the 
little  town  of  I'Aigle,  William  and  Henry  went  to 
the  house  of  a  certain  Roger  Chaussiegue,  Avhich 
had  been  allotted  to  their  brother  Robert  for  his 
lodging,  and  installed  themselves,  without  his  leave, 
in  the  upper  gallery  or  balcony.  After  playing  for 
a  time  at  dice,  "  as  was  the  fashion  with  military 
men,"  ^  they  began  to  make  a  great  noise  and  up- 

'  Literally  " short-hose,"  or  "short-boot" — Brevis  Ocrea. — Orderic. 
Vital. 

1  "  Ibique  super  solarium  (sicut  militibus  mos  est)  tesseris  lulls'** 
ccpperunt." — Ibid. 


Dice  Plavino.    From  an  Engraving  in  Strutl's  Sports. 


570 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  ITI. 


roar,  and  then  they  finished  their  boyish  pranks 
by  emptjing  a  pitcher  of  water  on  the  heads  of 
Robert  and  his  comrades,  who  were  passing  in  the 
court  below.  Robert,  naturally  passionate,  prob- 
ably required  no  additional  incentive  ;  but  it  is 
stated,  that  one  of  his  companions,  Alberic  de 
Grantmosnil,  a  son  of  Hugh  de  Grantmesnil,  whom 
King  William  had  formerly  deprived  of  his  estates 
in  England,  instigated  the  prince  to  resent  tlie 
action  of  his  brothers  as  a  public  alfront,  which 
could  not  be  borne  in  honor.  Robert  drew  his 
sword  and  ran  up  stairs,  vowing  he  would  wipe  out 
the  insult  with  blood.  A  great  tumult  followed, 
and  the  king,  who  rushed  to  the  spot,  liad  much 
difficulty  in  quelling  it.  That  very  night  Robert 
fled  with  his  companions  to  Rouen,  fully  deter- 
mined to  raise  the  standard  of  revolt.  He  failed 
in  his  first  attempt,  which  was  to  take  the  castle  of 
Rouen ;  and  soon  after,  some  of  his  warmest  par- 
tisans were  surprised  and  made  prisoners  by  the 
king's  officers.  The  prince  escaped  across  the 
frontiers  of  Normandy  into  the  district  of  Le 
Perche,  where  Hugh,  nephew  of  Aubert  le  Ribaud, 
welcomed  him,  and  sheltered  him  in  his  castles  of 
Sore!  and  Reymalard.  By  the  mediation  of  his 
mother,  who  seems  to  have  been  fondly  attached 
to  him,  Robert  was  reconciled  to  his  father ;  but 
the  reconciliation  did  not  last  long,  for  the  prince 
was  as  impatient  for  authority  as  ever ;  and  the 
young  counsellors  who  surrounded  liim  found  it 
unseemlj"  and  altogether  abominable  that  he  should 
be  left  so  poor,  through  the  avarice  of  his  father, 
as  not  to  have  a  shilling  to  give  his  faithful  friends 
who  followed  his  fortunes.'  Thus  excited,  Robert 
went  to  his  father,  and  again  demanded  possession 
of  Normandy ;  but  the  king  again  refused  him,  ex- 
horting him  at  the  same  time  to  change  his  asso- 
ciates for  serious  old  men  like  the  royal  counsellor 
and  pilme  minister.  Archbishop  Lanfranc.  "  Sire," 
said  Robert,  bluntly,  "  I  came  here  to  claim  my 
right,  and  not  to  listen  to  sermons — I  heard  plenty 
of  them,  and  tedious  ones  too,  wlien  I  was  learning 
my  grammar ;"  and  then  he  added,  that  he  insisted 
on  a  positive  answer  to  his  demand  of  the  duchy. 
The  king  wrathfully  replied  that  he  would  never 
give  up  Normandy,  his  native  land,  nor  share  with 
another  any  part  of  England,  which  he  had  won 
with  his  own  toil  and  peril.  "  Well,  then,"  said 
Robert,  "  I  will  go  and  bear  arms  among  strangers, 
and  perhaps  I  shall  obtain  from  them  what  was  re- 
fused to  me  by  my  father."  "  He  set  out  accord- 
ingly, and  wandered  through  Flanders,  Lorraine, 
(xascony,  and  other  lands,  visiting  dukes,  counts, 
and  rich  burgesses,  relating  his  grievances,  and 
asking  assistance ;  but  all  the  money  he  got  on 
these  eleemosynary  circuits  lie  dissipated  among 
minstrels  and  jugglers,  parasites  and  prostitutes, 
and  was  thus  obliged  to  go  again  a  begging,  or 
borrow  money  at  an  enormous  interest.  Queen 
Matilda,  whose  maternal  tenderness  was  not  es- 
tranged by  the  follies  and  vices  of  her  son,  con- 
trived to  remit  him  several  sums  when  he  was  in 
great  distress.    William  discovered  this,  and  sternly 

1  Orderic.  a  Ibi<l. 


forbade  it  for  the  future.  But  her  heart  still 
yearning  for  the  prodigal,  the  queen  made  further 
remittances,  and  her  secret  was  again  betrayed. 
The  king  then  reproached  her  in  bitter  terms  for 
distributing  among  his  enemies  the  treasures  he 
gave  her  to  guard  for  himself,  and  ordered  the 
arrest  of  Samson,  her  messenger,  who  had  carried 
the  money,  and  whose  eyes  he  vowed  to  tear  out 
as  a  proper  punishment.  Samson,  who  was  a 
Breton,  took  to  flight,  and  became  a  monk  "  for  the 
salvation  both  of  body  and  soul."  '    . 

After  leading  a  vagabond  life  for  some  time, 
Robert  repaired  to  the  French  court ;  and  King 
Philip,  still  finding  in  him  the  instrument  he 
wanted,  openly  espoused  his  cause,  and  established 
him  in  the  castle  of  Gerberoy,  on  the  very  con- 
fines of  Normandy,  where  he  supported  himself  by 
plundering  the  neighboring  country,  and  whence 
he  corresponded  with  the  disaffected  in  the  duchy. 
Knights  and  troops  of  adventurers  on  horseback 
flocked  to  share  the  plunder  and  the  q)ay  he  now 
had  to  oft'er  them  :  in  the  number  were  as  many 
Norman  as  French  subjects,  and  not  a  few  men  of 
King  William's  own  household.  Burning  with  rage, 
the  king  crossed  the  Channel  with  a  formidable 
English  army,  and  came  in  person  to  direct  the 
siege  of  the  strong  castle  of  Gerberoy,  where  he 
lost  many  men  in  fruitless  operations,  and  from 
sorties  made  by  the  garrison.  With  all  his  faults, 
Robert    had    many    good    and    generous    qualities, 

i  which  singularly  endeared  him  to  his  friends  when 
livine,  and  which,  along  with  his  cruel  misfortunes, 

]  caused  him  to  be  mourned  when  dead.  Ambition, 
passion,  and  evil  counsel  had  lulled  and  stupified, 
but  had  not  extirpated  his  natural  feelings.  One 
day,  in  a  sally  from  his  castle,  he  chanced  to  engage 
in  single  combat  with  a  stalwart  warrior  clad  in 
mail,  and  concetiled,  like  himself,  with  the  visor  of 
his  helm.  Both  were  valiant  and  well  skilled  in 
the  use  of  their  weapons,  but,  after  a  fierce  combat, 
Robert  wounded  and  unhorsed  his  antagonist.  In 
the  voice  of  the  fallen  warrior,  who  shouted  for 
assistance,  the  prince,  who  was  about  to  follow  up 
his  advantage  with  a  death-stroke,  recognized  his 
fother,  and,  instantly  dismounting,  fell  on  his  knees, 
craved  forgiveness  with  tears,  and  helping  him  to 
his  saddle,  saw  him  safely  out  of  the  mtUc  which 
now  thickened.  The  men  who  were  coming  up  to 
the  king's  assistance,  and  bringing  a  second  horse 
for  him  to  mount,  were  nearly  all  killed.  William 
rode  away  to  his  camp  on  Robert's  horse,  smarting 
with  his  wound,  and  still  cursing  his  son  who  had 
so  seasonably  mounted  him.'-  He  relinquished  the 
siege  of  (.Terberoy  in  despair,  and  went  to  Rouen, 
where,  as  soon  as  his  temper  permitted,  his  wife 
and  bishops,  with  many  of  the  Norman  nobles, 
labored  to  reconcile  him  again  to  Robert.  For  a 
long  time  the  iron-hearted  king  was  deaf  to  their 
entreaties,  or  only  irritated  by  them.  "  Why," 
cried  he,  " do  you  solicit  me  in  fovor  of  a  tiaitor 
who  has  seduced  my  men, — my  very  pupils  in  war,  , 

1  Pro  salvatione  corpuris  et  anims. — Orderic.  Vital. 
3  Chron.  Sax. — Florent.  Wigorn. — Th«  story  is  told  somewhat  dif- 
ferently in  the  Chrun.  Laniljardi. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


371 


whom  I  fed  with  ray  own  bread,  and  invested  with 
the  knightly  arms  they  wear  ?"  ^  At  last  he  yielded, 
and  Robert,  having  again  knelt  and  wept  before 
him,  received  his  father's  pardon,  and  accompanied 
him  to  England.  But  even  now  the  reconciliation 
on  the  part  of  the  unforgiving  king  was  a  mere 
matter  of  policy,  and  Robert,  finding  no  symptoms 
of  returning  affection,  and  fearing  for  his  life  or 
liberty,  soon  fled  for  the  third  time,  and  never  saw 
his  father's  face  again.  His  departure  was  followed 
by  another  paternal  malediction,  which  was  never 
revoked. 

A.D.  1080.  We  have  seen  in  the  course  of  this, 
as  we  shall  see  in  several  succeeding  reigns,  that 
bishops  were  soldiers  as  well  as  priests, — as  ready 
to  wield  the  lance  as  the  crosier, — and  especially 
ambitious  of  temporal  commands.  Walcher  de 
Lorraine,  installed  in  the  bishopric  of  Durham  and 
his  strong  castle  "  on  the  highest  hill,"  soon  united 
to  his  episcopal  functions  the  political  and  military 
government  of  Northumberland.  The  admirers  of 
the  earl-bishop  boasted  that  he  was  equally  skilful 
in  repressing  rebellion  with  the  edge  of  the  sword 
and  reforming  the  morals  of  the  English  by  elo- 
quent discourse.^  The  plain  truth,  however,  seems 
to  be,  that  the  Lorrainer  was  a  harsh  task-master 
to  the  English,  laying  heavy  labors  and  taxes  upon 
them,  and  permitting  the  ofificers  under  him  and 
his  men-at-arms  to  plunder,  insult,  and  kill  them 
with  impunity.'  Liulf,  an  Englishman  of  noble 
birth,  and  endeared  by  his  good  qualities  to  the 
whole  province,  ventured,  on  being  j-obbed  by  some 
of  Walcher's  satellites,  to  lay  his  complamt  before 
the  bishop.  Shortly  after  making  this  accusation, 
Liulf  was  murdered  by  night  in  his  manor-house, 
near  the  city  of  Durham,  and  it  was  well  proved 
that  one  Gilbert,  and  others  in  the  bishop's  service, 
were  the  perpetrators  of  the  foul  deed.  "  Here- 
upon," says  an  old  writer,  "  the  malice  of  the 
people  was  kindled  against  him,  and  when  it  was 
known  that  he  had  received  the  murderers  into  his 
house  and  favored  them  as  before,  they  stomached 
the  matter  highly."  Secret  meetings  were  held  at 
the  dead  of  night,  and  the  Northumbrians,  who  had 
lost  none  of  their  old  spirit,  and  were  absolutely 
driven  to  madness,  because,  among  other  causes  of 
endearment,  Liulf  had  married  the  widow  of  Earl 
Siward,  the  mother  of  the  unfortunate  Earl  Waltheof, 
resolved  to  take  a  sanguinary  vengeance.  Both 
parties  met  by  agi'eement  at  Gateshead ;  *  the 
bishop,  who  protested  his  innocence  of  the  homi- 
cide, in  the  pomp  of  power,  surrounded  by  his 
retainers;  the  Northumbrians,  in  humble  guise,  as 
if  to  petition  their  lord  for  justice,  though  every  man 
among  them  carried  a  sharp  weapon  hid  under  his 
garment.  The  bishop,  alarmed  at  the  number  of 
English  that  continued  to  flock  to  the  place  of  ren- 
dezvous, retired  with  all  his  retinue  into  the  church. 

'  Tiroiies  meos,  quos  alui  ct  armis  militaribus  decoravi,  abduxit. — 
Oderic.  Vital. 

'  Frienaret  rebellionem  gcnlis  gladio,  et  reformar&t  mores  eloriuio. — 
W.Il.  Malmj. 

3  Malt.  Paris. — Aiiglia  Sacra. 

*  The  name  iiieau^  "Goat's  Head;''  "ad  capul  capra;.''— Florent. 
Wigorn 


The  people  then  signified  in  plain  terms  that,  unless 
he  came  forth  and  showed  himself,  they  would  fire 
the  place  where  he  stood.  As  he  did  aot  move,  the 
threat  was  executed.  Then,  seeing  the  smoke  and 
flames  arising,  he  caused  Gilbert  and  his  accomplice.'^ 
to  be  thrust  out  of  the  church.  The  people  fell 
with  savage  joy  on  the  murderers  of  Liulf,  and  cur 
them  to  pieces.  Half  suftocated  by  the  heat  ami 
smoke,  the  bishop  himself  wrapped  the  skirts  of  his 
gown  over  his  face  and  came  to  the  threshold  of  the 
door.  There  seems  to  have  been  a  moment  of 
hesitation,  but  a  voice  was  heard  among  the  crowd. 
saying,  "  Good  rede,  short  rede !  Slay  ye  the 
bishop!"  and  the  bishop  was  slain  accordingly.' 
The  foreigners  had  nothing  left  but  the  alternative 
of  being  burnt  alive  or  perishing  by  the  sword. 
The  bishop's  chaplain  seemed  to  give  a  preference 
to  the  former  death,  for  he  lingered  long  in  th(^ 
burning  church ;  but,  in  the  end,  he  was  compelled 
by  the  raging  fire  to  come  out,  and  was  also  slain 
and  hacked  to  pieces — "  as  he  had  well  deserved," 
adds  an  old  historian,  "  being  the  main  promoter  of 
all  the  mischief  that  had  been  done  in  the  countiy."  - 
Of  all  who  had  accompanied  the  bishop  to  the  tragi- 
cal meeting  at  Gateshead,  only  two  were  left  alive, 
and  these  were  menials  of  English  birth.  Above 
a  hundred  men,  Normans  and  Flemings,  perished 
with  Walcher.'  The  conspirators  attacked  the 
castle  at  Durham ;  but  finding  it  well  defended  by 
a  numerous  garrison,  and  altogether  too  strong  for 
them,  they  gave  up  the  siege  the  fourth  day,  and 
dispersed. 

A.D.  1082.  William  inti-usted  to  one  bishop  the 
ofifice  of  avenging  another.  His  half-brother,  Odo. 
the  fierce  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  marched  to  Durham 
with  a  numerous  army.  He  found  no  force  on  foot 
to  resist  him,  but  he  treated  the  whole  country  a? 
an  insurgent  province,  and  making  no  distinction  of 
persons,  and  employing  no  judicial  forms,  he  be 
headed  or  mutilated  all  the  men  he  could  find  in 
their  houses.  Some  persons  of  property  bought 
their  lives  by  sun-endering  everything  they  pos 
sessed.  By  this  exterminating  expedition  Odo  ob 
tained  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  greates-r 
"dominators  of  the  English  ;"  but  it  seems  to  havo 
been  the  last  he  commanded,  and  disgraced  with 
cruelty,  during  the  reign  of  William.  This  church- 
man, besides  being  Bishop  of  Bayeux  in  Normandy, 
was  Earl  of  Kent  in  England,  and  held  many  high 
offices  in  this  island,  where  he  had  accumulated 
enormous  wealth,  chiefly  by  extortion,  or  a  base 
selling  of  justice.  For  some  years  a  splendid 
dream  of  ambition,  which  he  thought  he  could 
realize  by  means  of  money,  increased  his  rapacity. 
There  were  many  instances  in  those  ages  of  kinga 
becoming  monks,  but  not  one  of  a  Catholic  priest 
becoming  a  king.  Profane  crowns  being  out  of  his 
reach,  Odo  aspired  to  a  sacred  one,  to  the  tiara, 
that  triple  crown  of  Rome  which  gradually  obtained, 
in  another  shape,  a  homage  more  widely  extended 
than  that  paid  to  the  Caesars.  His  dream  w.w 
cherished  by  the  predictions  of  some  Italian  astro- 
logers, who,  living  in  his  service,  and  being  well 

1  Matt.  Par.  a  Holmshed.  '  Chn.>n.  Sax 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


naid,  assured  him  that  he  would  be  the  successor 
.if  Gregory  VII.,  the  reigning  pope.  Odo  opened  a 
correspondence  with  the  eternal  city  by  means  of 
Knglish  and  Norman  pilgrims,  who  were  constant^ 
flocking  thither,  l)ought  a  palace  at  Rome,  and  sent 
rich  presents  to  the  senators.  His  project  was  not 
liltogether  so  visionary  as  it  has  been  considered  by 
most  writers,  and  we  can  hardly  understand  why 
his  half-brother  William  should  have  checked  it, 
unless  indeed  his  interference  proceeded  from  his 
desire  of  getting  possession  of  the  bishop's  wealth. 
Ten  years  before  the  Conqueror  invaded  England, 
Robert  Guiscard,  one  of  twelve  heroic  Norman 
brothers,  had  acquired  the  sovereignty  of  the  greater 
part  of  those  beautiful  countries  that  are  now  in- 
cluded within  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  The  Nor- 
man lance  was  dreaded  in  all  the  rest  of  Italy,  and, 
with  a  Norman  pope  established  at  Rome,  the 
supremacy  of  that  people  might  have  been  extended 
from  one  end  of  the  Peninsula  to  the  other.  The 
IJishop  of  Rayeux  had  some  reason  for  counting  on 
the  sympathy  of  his  powerful  countrymen  in  the 
south,  the  close  neighbors  of  Rome ;  and  the  in- 
rtuence  of  gold  had  been  felt  before  now  in  the 
college  of  cardinals  and  the  elections  of  popes.  It 
is  quite  certain  that  a  considerable  number  of  the 
>forman  chiefs  entered  into  Odo's  views,  and  when 
lie  made  up  his  mind  to  set  out  for  Italy  in  person, 
a  brilliant  escort  was  formed  for  him.  "  Hugh  the 
Wolf,"  the  famous  Earl  of  Chester,  who  had  a  long 
account  of  sin  to  settle  if  he  considered  the  butcher- 
ing of  English  and  AVelsh  as  crimes,  was  anxious  to 
go  to  Rome,  and  joined  the  bishop,  with  some  con- 
siderable barons,  his  friends,  and  much  money. 

The  king  was  in  Normandy  when  he  heard  of 
this  expedition,  which  had  been  prepared  in  great 
secrecy,  and  being  resolute  in  his  determination  of 
stopping  it,  he  instantly  set  sail  for  England.  He 
surprised  the  aspirant  to  the  popedom  at  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  seized  his  treasures,  and  summoned  him 
l)efore  a  council  of  Norman  barons  hastilj'  assembled 
at  that  island.  Here  the  king  accused  his  half- 
brother  of  "untruth  and  sinister  dealings,"  —  of 
liaving  abused  his  power  both  as  viceroy  and  judge, 
and,  as  an  earl  of  the  realm,  of  having  maltreated 
the  English  bejond  measure,  to  the  great  danger  of 
the  common  cause,  of  having  robbed  the  churches 
of  the  land,  and,  finally,  of  having  seduced  and 
attempted  to  carry  out  of  England,  and  beyond  the 
Alps,  the  warriors  of  the  king,  who  needed  their 
services  for  the  safe  keeping  of  the  kingdom. 
Having  exposed  his  gi-ievances,  William  asked  the 
council  what  such  a  brother  deserved  at  his  hands  ? 
No  one  durst  answer  :  "  An-est  him,  then  !"  cried 
the  king,  "  and  see  that  he  be  well  looked  to !"  If 
they  had  been  backward  in  pronouncing  an  opinion, 
they  were  still  more  averse  to  lay  hands  on  a 
bishop  :  not  one  of  the  council  moved,  though  it 
was  the  king  that  ordered  them.  William  then 
advanced  himself,  and  seized  the  prelate  by  his 
robe.  "  I  am  a  clerk,  a  priest,"  cried  Odo.  "  I 
am  a  minister  of  the  Lord  :  the  pope  alone  has  the 
right  of  judging  me !"  But  his  brother,  without 
losing  his  hold,  repHed,  "I  do  not  arrest  you  as 


Bishop  of  Bayeux,  but  ns  Earl  of  Kent."'  Odo 
was  caiTied  forthwith  to  Normandy,  and,  instead  of 
crossing  the  Alps  and  the  Apennines,  was  shut  up 
in  the  dungeon  of  a  castle.  Some  of  the  worst 
crimes  imputed  to  Odo  had  been  committed  at  the 
order  and  for  the  service  of  his  brother,  but  Wil- 
liam probably  found  a  relief  in  laying  as  much  of  the 
guilt  as  he  could  on  another's  shoulders ;  and  the 
bishop  was  so  universally  detested  by  the  English 
people,  that  the  king  became  almost  popular  among 
them  by  the  punishment  he  awarded. 

Soon  after  imprisoning  his  brother,  William  lost 
his  wife,  INIatilda,  whom  he  tenderly  loved ;  and 
after  her  death,  it  was  observed,  or  fancied,  he 
became  more  suspicious,  more  jealous  of  the  au- 
thority of  his  old  companions  in  arms,  and  more 
avaricious  than  ever.  The  coming  on  of  old  age 
is,  however,  enough  in  itself  to  account  for  such  a 
change  in  such  a  man.  After  a  lapse  of  ten  years, 
the  Danes  were  again  heard  of.  The  fleet  and 
army  which  had  cooperated  so  badly  with  Edgar 
Atheling  and  the  Northumbrians,  and  so  shame- 
fully deserted  them  in  the  hour  of  need,  when  the 
Conqueror  marched  upon  York,  returned  to  Den- 
mark a  shattered  and  dishonored  wreck,  having 
been  assailed  by  tempests  on  their  way.  Sueno 
Estridsen  disgraced  and  banished  Osboern,  f''e 
commander-in-chief  of  the  expedition,  who  was  his 
own  brother,  charging  him  witli  corrupt  and  faith- 
less conduct.  He  then  assembled  a  second  fleet 
for  the  assistance  of  the  English  confederates,  who 
maintained  the  struggle  in  the  fen  country  with 
Hereward ;  but  -when  these  ships  reached  our 
eastern  coast,  those  on  board  found  that  William 
was  provided  with  a  maritime  force  quite  suflTicient 
to  prevent  their  landing  or  assisting  the  patriots. 
The  fleet  then  returned  to  Denmai'k  with  no  more 
success,  but  with  less  dishonor,  than  the  one  that 
had  preceded  it. 

In  a  short  space  of  time  both  Sueno  and  his  legiti- 
mate son  Harold  departed  this  life.  Canute  the 
Dane,  who  was  illegitimate,  like  W^illiam  the  Nor- 
man, then  ascended  the  throne,  and  though  he 
ended  it  as  a  saint  he  began  his  reign  like  a  warrior, 
and  laid  claim  to  England  as  successor  of  his  name- 
sake Canute  the  Great.  Not  relying  wholly  on  the 
strength  of  Denmark,  he  applied  to  the  Norwegians 
for  assistance,  after  the  fashion  of  old  times,  not 
forgetting  to  remind  them  of  the  glorj-  their  fore- 
fathers had  obtained  in  England.  Olaf,  or  Olave, 
surnamed  the  Peaceful,  was  then  King  of  Norway. 
A  meeting  between  the  two  kings  took  place  upon 
the  river  Gotha-Elf,  near  Konungahella  (or  Kong- 
hell),  at  that  time  the  capital  of  the  Norwegian 
kingdom.  Olave  approved  of  the  enterprise  as  a 
just  one,  and  promised  to  furnish  sixtj-  ships,  but 
declined  taking  any  further  part  in  it,  affirming 
that  Norway  could  no  longer  furnish  such  an  ar- 
mament as  had  followed  his  father  Hardrada  to 
the  Humber;  and  that  he,  Olave,  was  far  from 
being  such  a  general  as  Hardrada.  Olave  must 
have  remembered  the  fearful  catastrophe  of  Stam- 
ford-bridge,  the   generosity  he    experienced  from 

>  Chron.  Sax. — Florent.^Malmsb. — Orderic. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


37li 


Harold  when  a  captive  in  his  hands,  and  the  vow 
he  took  to  that  unfortunate  king  to  maintain  con- 
stant faith  and  friendship  with  the  English.'  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  he  would  not  consider  a 
war  made  on  the  Normans  in  England  as  a  breach 
of  that  vow ;  and  that  the  narrow  scale  of  his  co- 
operation was  really  owing  to  the  cause  he  assigned 
to  Canute,  namely,  that  the  strength  of  Noi-way 
had  been  exhausted  by  Hardrad.a's  fatal  expedition. 
In  another  quarter  to  which  he  applied  Canute 
received  more  liberal  promises ;  his  father-in-law, 
Robert,  Earl  of  Flanders,  engaging  to  join  him  with 
six  hundred  ships.  The  united  armament,  it  was 
calculated,  would  amount  to  a  thousand  sail.  Olave 
sent  his  sixty  ships  with  sufficient  promptitude  ; 
but  we  have  not  discovered  the  state  of  preparation 
of  the  Earl  of  Flanders,  who  possibly  had  promised 
more  than  he  could  perform.  Delays  of  various 
kinds  arose ;  and  when  Canute  had  fixed  the  day 
for  sailing,  he  discovered  that  his  own  brother,  the 
governor  of  Sleswic,  who  was  engaged  to  accom- 
pany him  to  England,  had  secretly  withdrawn  from 
the  fleet  to  his  government,  intending  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  his  absence,  and  seize  the  Danish  throne. 
He  was  apprehended,  and  sent  in  chains  to  Flan- 
ders, there  to  be  kept  in  safe  prison ;  but  all  this 
caused  still  further  delay,  and  the  traitor  left  many 
partisans  in  the  fleet.  These  men,  among  whom 
it  appears  were  some  officers  of  high  rank,  reported 
among  the  mariners  and  soldiers  that  the  provisions 
for  the  voyage  would  be  found  insufficient ;  and 
many  left  their  ships  from  the  dread  of  being 
starved  at  sea.  There  was  also  the  discouragement 
of  bad  weather,  contrary  winds,  and  inauspicious 
omens ;  and  the  gold  of  the  wealthy  king  of  Eng- 
land is  said  to  have  been  again  employed  in  Den- 
mark. Desertion  at  last  took  place  to  such  an 
extent  that  Canute,  abandoned  by  his  own,  was  left 
with  only  the  Norwegian  fleet ;  and  thus  the  last 
invasion  from  the  Baltic  with  which  England  was 
threatened  was  wholly  frustrated.^  The  intention 
of  Canute,  his  alliances  and  preparations,  of  all  of 
which  he  was  well  informed,  kept  William  in  a 
state  of  anxiety  for  nearly  two  whole  years,  and 
were  the  cause  of  his  laying  fresh  burdens  upon 
his  English  subjects.  He  revived  the  odious  Dane- 
gelt;  and  because  many  lands  and  manors  which 
had  been  charged  with  it  in  the  time  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  kings  had  been  specially  exempted  fi"om 
this  tax  when  he  granted  them  in  fief  to  his  nobles, 
he  made  up  the  deficiency  by  raising  it  upon  the 
other  lands  to  the  rate  of  six  shillings  a  hide.  The 
money  he  thus  obtained,  with  part  of  the  treasures 
he  had  amassed,  was  employed  in  hiring  and  bring- 
ing over  foreign  auxiliaries  ;  for  though  he  could 
rely  on  an  Enghsh  army  when  fighting  against 
Frenchmen,  or  the  people  of  Normandy,  Maine, 
and  Brittany,  he  could  not  trust  them  at  home  ;  and 
he  well  knew  that  many  of  them  on  the  eastern 
and  northeastern  shores  would  join  the  Danish 
invaders  heart  and  hand,  instead  of  opposing  them. 
He  therefore  collected,  as  he  had  done  before,  men 

1  See  ante,  p.  198. 

2  Southey,  Naval  Hist. — SnoTe,  Antiq.  Celto-Scand. 


of  all  nations ;  and  these  came  across  the  Channel 
in  such  numbers  that,  according  to  the  chroniclers, 
people  began  to  wonder  how  the  land  could  feed  so 
many  hungry  beUies.  These  hordes  of  foreigners 
sorely  oppressed  the  natives,  for  William  quartered 
them  throughout  the  country,  to  be  paid  as  well  as 
supported.  They  were  mostly  foot-soldiers,  which 
implies  that  they  were  men  of  a  very  low  and  rude 
condition ;  for  at  this  period  soldiers  of  fortune  of 
any  pretension  served  only  on  hoi'seback.  One  of 
the  bands  which  he  thus  engaged  belonged  to 
Hugh,  a  brother  of  the  French  king ;  but  this  wa.s 
probably  of  a  class  superior  to  the  rest. 

To  complete  the  miseries  inflicted  upon  England 
at  this  time,  William  ordered  all  the  land  lying  near 
the  sea-coast  to  be  laid  waste,  so  that,  if  the  Danes 
should  land,  they  would  find  no  ready  supply  of  food 
or  forage.' 

The  Conqueror  had  often  felt  the  want  of  a 
naval  force,  but  he  had  not  the  same  genius  for 
maritime  as  for  military  affairs ;  and  it  require- 
more  time  to  make  good  sailors  than  to  make  good 
soldiers.  Knowing,  however,  that  to  encourage 
commerce  was  the  best  means  of  fostering  a  navy, 
he  repeatedly  invited  foreigners  to  frequent  his 
ports,  promising  that  they  and  their  property  should 
be  perfectly  secure.  But  he  did  not  live  to  posses., 
a  navy  of  his  own.  The  spirit  of  Englishmen,  whu 
were  more  prone  to  the  sea  than  his  Normans,  was 
depressed  under  his  iron  rule  ;  nor  did  this  country 
make  any  approach  towards  her  naval  supremacy 
until  several  reigns  after. 

Another  domestic  calamity  afflicted  the  latter 
years  of  the  Conqueror,  for  he  saw  a  violent  jeal- 
ousy growing  up  between  his  favorite  sons,  William 
and  Henry.  Robert,  his  eldest  son,  continued  a.i 
exile  or  fugitive  ;  and  Richard,  his  second  son  in 
order  of  birth  (but  whom  some  make  illegitimate), 
had  been  gored  to  death  by  a  stag^  some  years  be- 
fore, as  he  was  hunting  in  the  New  Forest;  and 
he  was  noted  by  the  old  Enghsh  annalists  as  beinsx 
the  first  of  several  of  the  Conqueror's  progeny 
that  perished  in  that  place,  "  the  justice  of  God 
punishing  in  him  his  father's  dispeophng  of  that 
country." 

Perhaps  no  single  act  of  the  Conqueror  inflictel 
more  misery  within  the  limits  of  its  operation,  and, 
certainly,  none  has  been  more  bitterly  stigmatized 
than  his  seizure  and  wasting  of  the  lauds  in  Hamp- 
shire, to  make  himself  a  hunting-ground.  Liki; 
most  of  the  great  men  of  the  time,  who  had  few 
other  amusements,  William  was  passionately  fond 
of  the  chase.  The  Anglo-Saxon  kings  had  the 
same  taste,  and  left  many  royal  parks  and  forests 
in  all  parts  of  England,  wherein  he  might  have 
gratified  a  reasonable  passion ;  but  he  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  possession  of  these,  and  resolved 
to  have  a  vast  hunting-ground  "  for  his  insatiate 
and  superfluous  pleasure"  in  the  close  neighbor- 
hood of  the  royal  city,  Winchester,   his   favorito 

1  Saxon  Chron. 

3  Other  accounts  say  he  was  killed  by  a  "pestilent  blast"  which 
crossed  him  while  hunting  ;  but  we  believe  aU  fii  ihe  scene  of  his 
death  in  the  New  Forest . 


374 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


place  of  residence.  In  an  early  part  of  his  reign 
he  therefore  seized  all  the  southwestern  part  of 
Hampshire,  measuring  thirty  miles  from  Salisbury 
ro  the  sea,  and  in  circumference  not  much  less  than 
ninety  miles.  This  wide  district,  before  called 
Ytene  or  Ytchtene  (a  name  yet  partially  pre- 
served), was  to  some  extent  uninhabited,  and  fit 
for  the  purposes  of  the  chase,  abounding  in  sylvan 
repots  and  coverts;  but  it  included,  at  the  same 
time,  many  fertile  and  cultivated  manors,  which 
lie  caused  to  be  totally  absorbed  in  the  surrounding 
wilderness,  and  many  towns  or  villages,  with  no 
lewer  than  thirtj-six  mother  or  parish  churches, 
:dl  of  which  he  demolished,  and  drove  away  the 
l)eople,  making  them  no  compensation.  According 
lo  the  indisjjutable  authority  of  Domesday-Book,  in 
which  we  have  an  account  of  the  state  of  this  ter- 
ritory both  before  and  after  its  "aft'orestation,"  the 
ilamage  done  to  private  property  must  have  been 
immense.  In  an  extent  of  nearly  ninety  miles  in 
circumference,  one  hundred  and  eight  places,  ma- 
nors, villages,  or  handets  suflfered  in  a  greater  or 
less  degi'ee.'  Some  melancholy  traces  of  these 
nncient  abodes  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  are  still  to  be 
fjund  in  the  recesses  of  the  New  Forest,  and  have 
iieen  described  by  a  gentleman*  who  has  passed 
much  of  his  life  in  and  near  those  woods,  and  who 
is  the  successor  in  office  to  Sir  Walter  Tyrrell,  as 
l)OW-bearer  to  the  king.  In  many  spots,  though  no 
ruins  are  visible  above  ground,  either  the  line  of 
i-rections  can  be  traced  by  the  elevation  of  the  soil, 
iir  fragments  of  building  materials  have  been  dis- 
covered on  turning  up  the  surface.  The  traditional 
names  of  places  still  used  by  the  foresters,  such  as 
■•  Church-place,"  "  Church-moor,"  "  Thomson's 
(-'astle,"  seem  to  mark  the  now  solitary  spots  as  the 
sites  of  ancient  buildings  where  the  English  people 
worshiped  their  God,  and  dwelt  in  peace,  before 
they  were  swept  away  by  the  Conqueror  ;  and  the 
same  elegant  Avriter  we  have  last  referred  to  sug- 
gests that  the  terminations  of  ham  and  ton,  yet 
annexed  to  some  woodlands,  may  be  taken  as  evi- 
dence of  the  former  existence  of  hamlets  and  towns 
in  the  forest.^ 

We  have  entered  into  these  slight  details  because 
some  foreign  writers,  at  the  head  of  whom  is  Vol- 
taire, have  professed  a  disbelief  of  the  early  history 

•  if  the  New  Forest,  and  because  some  native  writ- 
ers, including  even  Dr.  Warton,  who  was  "  natu- 
rally disposed  to  cling  to  the  traditions  of  antiquity," 
lUncying  there  were  no  existing  ruins  or  traces  of 
such   desolation,   have    doubted   whether    William 

'  Warner,  Topographical  Remarks  on  the  Southwestern  parts  of 
Hampshire. 

2  William  Stewart  Rose,  Esq.  The  office  of  bow-bearer  for  the 
Js'ew  Forest  is  now,  of  course,  a  sinecure,  and  it  is  almost  purely 
I  .morarj',— the  salary  being  forty  shillings  in  the  year  and  one  buck  in 
l.ie  season.  In  his  oath  of  office  the  bow  bearer  swears  "  to  be  of  good 
Iwhavior  towards  his  majesty's  wild  beasts  " 

3  See  notes  to  "  The  Red  King,"  a  spirited  poem,  in  which  the 
manners  and  costume  of  the  periml  are  carefully  preserved.  Mr. 
Kose  justly  o'.iserves,  "  That  this  cannot  be  considered  as  one  of  those 

•  historical  doubts,'  the  solution  of  which  involves  nothing  beyond  the 
rueie  disentanglement  of  an  intricate  knot.  It  may  be  considered  as 
making  one  of  a  series  of  acts  of  tyranny,  unvarnished  with  any  plea 
which  might  palliate  or  disguise  its  enormity,  and,  as  such,  forming  a 
furious  feature  in  the  history  of  raannei-s." 


destroyed  villages,  castles,  and  churches,  though 
that  demolition  is  recorded  by  chroniclers  who 
wrote  a  very  short  time  after  the  event,  and  is 
proved  beyond  the  reach  of  a  doubt  by  Domesday- 
Book.  If  any  other  proof  were  necessary,  it  ought 
to  be  found  in  the  universal  tradition  of  the  peopJe 
in  all  ages,  that  on  account  of  the  unusual  crimes 
and  cruelties  committed  there  by  William,  God 
made  the  New  Forest  the  death-scene  of  three 
princes  of  his  own  blood.  The  seizure  of  a  waste 
or  wholly  uninhabited  district  would  have  been 
nothing  extraordinary  :  it  was  the  sufferings  of  the 
people,  who  were  driven  from  their  villages,  the 
wrongs  done  the  clergy,  whose  churches  were  de- 
stroyed, that  made  the  deep  and  ineffaceable  im- 
pression.' 

At  the  same  time  that  the  Conqueror  thus 
enlarged  the  field  of  his  own  pleasures  at  the 
expense  of  his  subjects,  he  enacted  new  laws,  by 
which  he  prohibited  hunting  in  any  of  his  forests, 
and  rendered  the  penalties  more  severe  than  ever 
had  been  inflicted  for  such  offences.  At  this 
period  the  killing  of  a  man  might  be  atoned  for 
by  payment  of  a  moderate  fine  or  composition  :  but 
not  so,  by  the  New  Forest  laws,  the  slaying  of  ono 
of  the  king's  beasts  of  chase.  "  He  ordained,"  says 
the  Saxon  Chronicle,  "  that  whosoever  should  kill 
a  stag  or  a  deer  should  have  his  eyes  torn  out :  wild 
boars  were  protected  in  the  same  manner  as  deer, 
and  he  even  made  statutes  equally  severe  to  pre- 
serve the  hares.  This  savage  king  loved  wild 
beasts  as  if  he  had  been  tJieir  fatlier!''''  These 
forest  laws,  which  were  executed  with  rigor  against 
the  English,  caused  great  miserj-,  for  many  of  them 
depended  on  the  chase  as  a  chief  means  of  subsist- 
ence. By  including  in  his  royal  domain  all  the 
gi'eat  forests  of  England,  and  insisting  on  his  right 
to  grant  or  refuse  permission  to  hunt  in  them,  Wil- 
liam gave  sore  offence  to  many  of  his  Norman 
nobles,  who  were  as  much  addicted  to  the  sport  as 
himself,  but  who  were  prohibited  from  keeping 
sporting  dogs,  even  on  their  own  estates,  unless 
they  subjected  the  poor  animals  to  a  mutilation  of 
the  fore-paws,  that  rendered  them  unfit  for  hunt- 
ing. From  their  first  establishment,  and  through 
their  different  gradations  of  "forest  laws"  and 
"game  laws,"  these  jealous  regulations  have  con- 
stantly been  one  of  the  most  copious  sources  of  dis- 
sension, litigation,  violence,  and  bloodshed. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1086,  William 
summoned  all  the  chiefs  of  the  army  of  the  Con- 
quest, the  sons  of  those  chiefs,  and  every  one  to 
whom  he  had  given  a  fief,  to  meet  him  at  Salis- 
bury. All  the  barons  and  all  the  abbots  came, 
attended  with  men-at-arms  and  part  of  their  vas- 
sals ;  the  whole  assemblage,  it  is  said,  amounting 
to  60,000  men.  The  chiefs,  both  lay  and  church- 
men, took  again  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  homage 
to  the  king ;  but  the  assertion,  that  they  rendered 
the  same  to  Prince  William,  as  his  successor, 
seems   to   be   without   good   foundation.      Shortly 

I  According  to  most  of  the  old  writers  some  monasteries  were  also 
destroyed.  As  the  Sa.xou  buildings  were  chiefly  of  wood,  it  is  natural 
that  the  traces  left  of  them  should  be  slight. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


375 


after  receiving  these  new  pledges,  William,  accom- 
panied by  his  tAvo  sons,  passed  over  to  the  conti- 
nent, taking  with  him  "  a  mighty  mass  of  money 
fitted  for  some  great  attempt,"  and  being  followed 
by  the  numberless  curses  of  the  English  people. 
The  enterprise  h-e  had  on  hand  was  a  war  with 
France,  for  the  possession  of  the  city  of  Mantes, 
with  the  territory  situated  between  the  Epte  and 
the  Oise,  which  was  then  called  the  country  of 
Vexin.  William,  at  first,  entered  into  negotiations 
for  this  territoiy,  which  he  claimed  as  his  right ; 
but  Philip,  the  French  king,  after  amusing  his  rival 
for  a  while  with  quibbles  and  sophisms,  marched 
troops  into  the  countrj',  and  secretly  authorized 
some  of  his  barons  to  make  incursions  on  the 
frontiers  of  Normandy.  During  the  negotiations 
William  fell  sick,  and  kept  his  bed.  As  he  ad- 
vanced in  years  he  grew  excessively  fat,  and,  spite 
of  his  violent  exercise,  his  indulgence  in  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  table  had  given  him  considerable  rotun- 
dity of  person.  On  the  score  of  many  grudges,  his 
hatred  of  the  French  king  was  intense ;  and  Philip 
now  drove  him  to  frenzy,  by  saying,  as  a  good  joke 
among  his  courtiers,  that  his  cousin  William  was  a 
long  while  lying  in,  but  that  no  doubt  there  would 
be  a  fine  churchiiig  when  he  was  delivered.  On 
hearing  this  coarse  and  insipid  jest,  the  conqueror 
of  England  swore  by  the  most  terrible  of  his  oaths 
—  by  the  splendor  and  birth  of  Christ  —  that  he 
would  be  churched  in  Notre  Dame,  the  cathedral 
of  Paris,  and  present  so  many  wax  torches,  that  all 
France  should  be  set  in  a  blaze.' 

It  was  not  until  the  end  of  July  (1087)  that  he 
was  in  a  state  to  mount  his  war  horse,  though  it  is 
asserted  by  a  contemporary  that  he  was  convales- 
cent before  then,  and  expressly  waited  that  season 
to  make  his  vengeaace  the  more  dreadful  to  the 
counti-y.  The  corn  was  almost  ready  for  the 
sickle,  the  grapes  hung  in  rich,  ripening  clusters 
on  the  vines,  when  William  marched  his  cavalry 
through  the  corn-fields,  and  made  his  soldiery  tear 
up  the  vines  by  the  I'oots,  and  cut  down  the  pleas- 
ant trees.  His  destructive  host  was  soon  before 
Mantes,  which  was  either  taken  by  surprise  and 
treachery,  or  ofli'ered  but  a  feeble  i-esistance.  At 
his  orders,  the  troops  fired  the  unfortunate  town, 
sparing  neither  church  nor  monastery,  but  doing 
their  best  to  reduce  the  whole  to  a  heap  of  ashes. 
As  the  Conqueror  rode  up  to  view  the  ruin  he  had 
made,  his  horse  put  liis  fore-feet  on  some  embers 
or  hot  cinders,  which  caused  him  to  swerve  or 
plunge  so  violently-,  that  the  heavy  rider  was  thrown 
on  the  high  pummel  of  the  saddle,  and  grievously 
bruised.  The  king  dismounted  in  great  pain,  and 
never  more  put  foot  in  stirrup.^  He  was  carried 
slowly  in  a  litter  to  Rouen,  and  again  laid  in  his 
bed.  The  bruise  had  produced  a  rupture,  and 
being  in  a  bad  habit  of  bodj%  and  somewhat  ad- 
vanced in  years,  it  was  soon  evident  to  all,  and 
even  to  himself,  that  the  consequence  would  be 
fatal.     Being  disturbed  by  the  noise  and  bustle  of 

'  Chrnn.  de  Normand. — Brompton. — It  was  the  custom  for  women, 
at  their  churching,  to  carry  lighted  tapers  in  their  hauds. 
'  Orderic— Aiifflia  Sacra. 


Rouen,  and  no  doubt  desirous  of  dying  in  a  holy 
place,  he  had  himself  carried  to  the  monastery  of 
St.  Gervas,  outside  of  the  city  walls.  There  he 
lingered  for  six  weeks,  surrounded  by  doctors  who 
could  do  him  no  good,  and  by  priests  and  monks, 
who,  at  least,  did  not  neglect  the  opportunity  of 
doing  much  good  for  others.  Becoming  sensible 
of  the  approach  of  death,  his  heart  softened  for  the 
first  time ;  and  though  he  preserved  his  kinglj'  de- 
corum, and  conversed  calmly  on  the  wonderful 
events  of  his  life,  he  is  said  to  have  felt  the  vanity 
of  all  human  grandeur,  and  a  keen  remorse  for  the 
crimes  and  cruelties  he  had  committed.  He  sent 
money  to  Mantes,  to  rebuild  the  churches  he  had 
burned,  and  he  ordered  large  sums  to  be  paid  to 
the  churches  and  monasteries  in  England ;  "  in 
order,"  says  an  old  chronicler,  "that  he  might 
obtain  remission  for  the  robberies  he  had  committed 
there."  It  was  represented  to  him,  that  one  of  the 
best  means  of  obtaining  mercy  from  God  was  to 
show  mercy  to  man  ;  and  at  length  he  consented  to 
the  instant  release  of  his  state-prisoners,  some  of 
whom  had  pined  in  dungeons  for  more  than 
twenty  years.  Of  those  that  were  Enghsh  among 
these  captives,  the  most  conspicuous  were,  Earl 
3Iorcar,  Beorn,  and  Ulnoth,  or  Wulnot,  the  brother 
of  Harold :  of  the  Normans,  Roger  Fitz-Osborn, 
formerly  Earl  of  Hereford,  and  Odo,  Bishop  of 
Bayeux,  his  own  half-brother.  The  pardon  which 
was  wrung  from  him  with  most  difficulty  was  that 
of  Odo,  whom,  at  first,  he  excepted  in  his  act  of 
grace,  saying  he  was  a  firebrand,  that  would  ruin 
both  England  and  Normandy  if  set  at  large. 

His  two  younger  sons,  William  and  Henry, 
were  assiduous  round  the  death-bed  of  the  king, 
w^aitiug  impatiently  for  the  declaration  of  his  last 
will.  A  day  or  two  before  his  death,  the  Con- 
queror assembled  some  of  his  chief  prelates  and 
barons  in  his  sick  chamber,  and  declared  in  their 
presence  that  he  bequeathed  the  duchy  of  Nor- 
mandy, with  Maine  and  its  other  dependencies,  to 
his  eldest  son,  Robert,  whom,  it  is  alleged,  he  could 
not  put  aside  in  the  order  of  succession,  as  the 
Normans  were  mindful  of  the  oaths  they  had  taken, 
with  his  father's  consent,  to  that  unfortunate 
pi'ince,  and  were  much  attached  to  him.  "  As  to 
the  crown  of  England,"  said  the  dying  monarch, 
"  I  bequeath  it  to  no  one,  as  I  did  not  receive  it, 
like  the  duchy  of  Normandy,  in  inheritance  from 
my  father,  but  acquired  it  bj^  conquest  and  the 
shedding  of  blood  with  mine  own  good  sword.  The 
succession  to  that  kingdom  I  therefore  leave  to  the 
decision  of  God,  only  desiring  most  fervently  that 
my  son  William,  who  has  ever  been  dutiful  to  me 
in  all  things,  may  obtain  it,  and  prosper  in  it." 
"  And  what  do  you  give  unto  me,  O  my  father  ?" 
impatiently  cried  Prince  Henry,  who  had  not 
been  mentioned  in  this  distribution.  "  Five  thou- 
sand pounds'  weight  of  silver  out  of  my  treasury," 
was  his  answer.  "  But  what  can  I  do  with  five 
thousand  pounds  of  silver,  if  I  have  neither  lands 
nor  a  home  ?"  "  Be  patient,"  replied  the  king, 
"  and  have  trust  in  the  Lord ;  suffer  thy  elder 
brothers  to  precede  thee — thy  time  will  come  after 


376 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


their's."  *  Henry  weut  straight,  and  drew  the 
silver,  which  ho  weighed  with  great  care,  and  then 
furnished  himself  with  a  strong  coffer,  well  pro- 
tected with  locks  and  iron  bindings,  to  keep  his 
treasure  in.  William  left  the  king's  bedside  at  the 
same  time,  and,  without  waiting  to  see  the  breath 
out  of  the  old  man's  body,  hastened  over  to  England 
to  look  after  his  crown. 

About  sunrise,  on  the  9th  of  September,  the 
Conqueror  was  for  a  moment  roused  from  a  stupor 
into  which  he  had  fallen  by  the  sound  of  bells :  he 
eagerly  inquired  what  the  noise  meant,  and  was 
answered  that  they  were  tolling  the  hour  of  prime 
in  the  church  of  St.  Mary.  lie  lifted  his  hands  to 
lieaven,  and  saying,  "  I  recommend  my  soul  to  my 
Lady  Mary,  the  holy  mother  of  God,"  instantly  ex- 
pired. The  events  which  followed  his  dissolution 
not  only  give  a  striking  picture  of  the  then  un- 
settled state  of  society,  but  also  of  the  character 
and  affections  of  the  men  that  waited  on  princes 
and  conquei'ors.  William's  last  faint  sigh  was  the 
signal  for  a  general  flight  and  scramble.  The 
knights,  priests,  and  doctors  who  had  passed  the 
night  near  him,  put  on  their  spurs  as  soon  as  they 

'  Orderic 


saw  him  dead,  mounted  their  horses,  and  galloped 
off  to  their  several  homes,  to  look  after  their  prop- 
erty and  their  own  interests.  The  king's  servants 
and  some  vassals  of  minor  rank,  left  behind,  then 
proceeded  to  rifle  the  apartment  of  the  arms,  silver 
vessels,  linen,  the  royal  dresses,  and  everything  it 
contained,  and  then  were  to  horse  and  away  like 
the  rest.  From  prime  to  tierce,'  or  for  about  three 
hours,  the  corpse  of  the  miglity  conqueror,  aban- 
doned by  all,  lay  in  a  state  of  almost  perfect  naked- 
ness on  the  bare  boards.  The  citizens  of  Rouen 
were  thrown  into  as  much  consternation  as  could 
have  been  excited  by  a  conquering  enemy  at  their 
gates  :  they  either  ran  about  the  streets  asking  news 
and  advice  from  every  one  they  chanced  to  meet,  or 
busied  themselves  in  concealing  their  movables 
and  valuables.  At  last  the  clergy  and  the  monks 
thought  of  the  decent  duties  owing  to  the  mortal 
remains  of  their  sovereign ;  and,  forming  a  pro- 
cession, they  went  with  a  crucifix,  burning  tapers, 
and  incense,  to  pray  over  the  dishonored  body  for 

'  The  chroniclers,  who  were  all  monks  or  priests,  always  count  by 
these  and  the  other  canonical  hours,  as  sexis,  nones,  vespers,  Ac. 
The  church  service,  called  prime,  or  prima,  and  whicli  immediately 
succeeded  matins,  began  about  six  A.  M.,  and  lasted  to  tierce,  or  lertia, 
which  commenced  about  nine  a.  M. 


Church  of  St.  Stephen  at  Caen.    Founded  by  William  the  Conqueror 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


377 


the  peace  of  its  soul.  The  Archbishop  of  Rouen 
ordained  that  the  king  should  be  interred  at  Caen, 
in  the  church  of  St.  Stephen,  which  he  had  built 
and  royally  endowed.  But  even  now  it  should 
seem  there  were  none  to  do  it  honor ;  for  the 
minute  relater  of  these  dismal  transactions,  who  was 
living  at  the  time,  says  that  his  sons,  his  brothers, 
his  relations,  were  all  absent,  and  that  of  all  his 
officers,  not  one  was  found  to  take  charge  of  the 
obsequies,  and  that  it  was  a  poor  knight  who  lived 
in  the  neighborhood  who  charged  himself  with 
the  trouble  and  expense  of  the  funeral,  "  out  of  his 
natural  good  nature  and  love  of  God."  The  body 
was  carried  by  water  on  the  Seine  and  the  sea  to 
Caen,  where  it  was  received  by  the  abbot  and 
monks  of  St.  Stephen's ;  other  churchmen  and  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city  joining  these,  a  considerable 
procession  was  formed ;  but  as  they  went  along 
after  the  coffin  a  fire  suddenly  broke  out  in  the 
town ;  laymen  and  clerks  ran  to  extinguish  it,  and 
the  brothers  of  St.  Stephen's  were  left  alone  to  con- 
duct the  king  to  the  church.  Even  the  last  burial 
service  did  not  pass  undisturbed.  The  neighbor- 
ing bishops  and  abbots  assembled  for  this  cere- 
mony. The  mass  had  been  performed  ;  the  Bishop 
of  Evreux  had  pronounced  the  panegyric,  and  the 
body  was  about  to  be  lowered  into  the  grave  pre- 
pared for  it  in  the  church  between  the  altar  and 
the  choir,  when  a  man,  suddenly  rising  in  the 
crowd,  exclaimed,  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Bishop, 
the  man  whom  you  have  praised  was  a  robber ; 
the  very  gi'ound  on  which  we  are  standing  is  mine. 


and  is  the  site  where  my  father's  house  stood.  He 
took  it  from  me  by  violence,  to  build  this  church 
on  it.  I  reclaim  it  as  my  right ;  and  in  the  name 
of  God,  I  forbid  you  to  bury  him  here,  or  cover  him 
with  my  glebe."  The  man  who  spoke  thus  boldly 
was  Asseline  Fitz-Arthur,  who  had  often  asked  ii 
just  compensation  from  the  king  in  his  lifetime. 
Many  of  the  persons  present  confirmed  the  ti-uth 
of  his  statement ;  and,  after  some  parley,  the  bishops 
paid  him  sixty  shillings  for  the  grave  alone,  engaging, 
at  the  same  time,  to  procure  him  the  full  value  of 
the  rest  of  his  land.  The  body,  dressed  in  royal 
robes,  but  without  a  coffin,  was  then  lowered  into 
the  tomb ;  the  rest  of  the  ceremony  was  hurried 
over,  and  the  assembly  dispersed.' 

William's  management  of  the  affairs  of  the 
church,  and  his  dispute  with  the  pope  about  in- 
vestitures— his  establishing  the  feudal  system  in 
England,  of  which,  however,  he  found  a  ground- 
work already  laid  by  the  Anglo-Saxons — his  survey 
and  register  of  Domesday,  the  greatest  civil  opera- 
tion of  his  reign — the  changes  his  invasion  produced 
in  the  language  and  manners  of  this  country — will 
all  be  discussed  under  their  proper  heads.  His 
character  may  be  deduced  from  his  deeds — from 
the  details  we  have  given,  to  which  we  have  little  to 
add.  No  prince  of  the  time  equaled  him,  either 
as  a  general  or  a  politician ;  and  he  surpassed 
them  all  in  the  difficult  art  of  bending  men's  wills, 

1  Orderic. — Wace,  Roman  de  Rou. — Chron.  de  Noroian.  Ordeiic 
gives  further  details  respecting  the  lowering  of  the  body  iuto  tha 
grave,  but  they  are  too  revolting  to  be  translated. 


Statue  of  William  t.ie  CoMiiE^iou.     I'luccJ  uijaujat  wt.e  wf  tlic  o\,er..al  I'lliais  uf  sii.  ilephcn'-s  Dien 


378 


HISTORV  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


and  achieving  great  things  with  a  turbulent  nobiUty 
intractable  to  every  one  else.  His  own  temper 
was  naturally  fiery;  and  when  he  had  nothiag  to 
gain  by  dissimulation,  or  to  fear  from  those  he 
insulted,  he  gave  the  reigns  to  his  j)assion,  and 
completely  forgot  that  dignity  and  majesty  of  de- 
meanor which  was  in  part  innate,  but  still  more 
assumed,  to  impose  upon  the  herd.  A  domestic 
anecdote  gives  a  good  notion  both  of  the  violence  of 
his  temper  and  his  love  of  good  eating.  He  was  so 
nice  and  curious  in  his  repasts,  that  one  day  when 
his  prime  favorite,  William  Fitz-Osborn,  who.  as 
dapifer,  or  steward  of  the  household,  had  the 
charge  of  the  table,  served  him  with  the  flesh  of 
a  crane  only  half  roasted,  he  was  so  highly  exas- 
jierated,  that  he  lifted  up  his  fist,  and  would  have 
struck  him  had  not  Odo  warded  off  the  blow.  One 
of  the  writers  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  who  says  he  [ 
"  looked  on  him,  and  somewhile  lived  in  his  herd," 
describes  him  as  being  a  verj-  stern   man,  and  so  | 


hot  and  passionate,  that  no  man  durst  gainsay  his 
will ;  as  one  who  took  money  by  right  and  unright, 
falling  into  great  avarice,  and  loving  greediness 
withal,  not  recking  how  sinfully  his  officers  got 
money  of  poor  men,  or  how  many  iinlawful  things 
they  did.  He  was,  however,  religiously  inclined, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  age;  and  whatever  might  be 
the  schemes  of  ambition,  or  the  butcheries  in  which 
he  was  engaged,  ho  never  failed  to  hear  the  mass 
of  his  private  chaplain  in  the  morning,  or  to  say  his 
prayers  at  niglit.  Dynasties  Imve  been  changed, 
and  provinces  won  by  war,  but  William's  attempt 
against  England  was  the  last  great  and  permanent 
conquest  of  a  whole  nation  achieved  in  Europe. 
The  companions  of  his  conquest  became  one  people 
with  those  they  subdued  ;  his  power  was  trans- 
mitted to  his  posterity ;  and  after  all  the  changes 
and  revolutions  that  have  happened  in  the  course 
of  seven  centuries  and  a  half,  the  blood  of  the 
reigning  family  is  still  kindred  to  his. 


William  H. — sur:*amed  Rufus. 


Great  Seal  of  William  Rufcs. 


A.  D.  10c7.  William  Rufus,  or  William  the 
Red,  who  left  his  father  at  the  point  of  death, 
was  informed  of  his  decease  as  he  was  on  the 
point  of  embarking  at  Wissant,  near  Calais.  The 
news  only  made  him  the  more  anxious  to  reach 
England,  that  he  might,  by  the  actual  seizure  of 
the  succession,  set  at  defiance  the  pretensions  of 
any  other  claimant  to  the  crown.  Arriving  in 
England,  he  secured  the  important  fortresses  of 
Dover,  Pevensey,  and  Hastings,  concealing  his 
father's  death,  and  pretending  to  be  the  bearer  of 
orders  from  him.  He  then  hastened  to  Winches- 
ter, Avhere,  with  a  proper  conviction  of  the  efficacy 
of  monej%  he  claimed  his  father's  treasures  which 
were  deposited  in  the  castle  there.  William  de 
Pont-de-l'Arche,  the  royal  treasurei",  readily  deliv- 
ered him  the  keys,  and  Rufus  took  possession   of 


sixty  thousand  pounds  in  pure  silver,  with  much 
gold  and  many  precious  stones.  His  next  step 
was  to  repair  to  Lanfranc,  the  prim'ate,  in  whose 
hands  the  destinies  of  the  kingdom  may  almost  be 
said  to  have  at  that  moment  been.  Blofct,  a  con- 
fidential messenger,  had  already  delivered  a  letter 
from  the  deceased  king,  commending  the  cause 
and  guidance  of  his  son  William  to  the  archbishop, 
already  disposed  by  motives  both  of  affection  and 
self-interest  in  favor  of  William,  who  had  been  his 
pupil,  and  for  whom  he  had  performed  the  sacred 
ceremonies  on  his  initiation  into  knighthood.  It  is 
stated,  however,  that  Lanfranc;  refused  to  declare 
himself  in  favor  of  Rufus  till  that  prince  promised, 
upon  oath,  to  govern  according  to  law  and  right, 
and  to  ask  and  follow  the  advice  of  the  primate  in 
nil  matters  of  importance.     It  appears  that  Lan- 


Chap.  I] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


179 


KuiNS  OF  Pevensey  Castle. 


franc  then  proceeded  with  as  much  activity  as 
Rufus  could  desire.  He  first  hastily  summoned 
ii  council  of  the  prelates  and  barons,  to  give  the  sem- 
blance of  a  free  election.  The  former  he  knew  he 
could  influence,  and  of  the  latter  many  were  absent 
in  Normandy.  Some  preferred  William's  claim 
and  character  upon  principle,  and  others  were 
silenced  by  his  presence  and  promises.  Though  a 
strong  feeling  of  opposition  existed,  none  was 
shown  at  this  meeting ;  and  Lanfranc  crowned  his 
pupil  at  Westminster  on  Sunday,  the  26th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1087,  the  seventeenth  day  after  the  Con- 
queror's death. 

William's  first  act  of  royal  authority  speaks  little 
in  his  favor  either  as  a  man  or  a  son ;  it  was  the 
imprisonment  of  the  unfortunate  Englishmen  whom 
his  father  had  liberated  on  his  death-bed.  Earls 
Morcar  and  Wulnot,  who  had  followed  him  to 
England  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  some  part  of  the 
estates  of  their  fathers,  were  arrested  at  Winches- 
ter, and  confined  in  the  castle.  The  Norman  state 
prisoners,  however,  who  had  been  released  at  the 
same  time  by  the  Conqueror,  reobtained  possession 
of  their  estates  and  honors.  He  then  gave  a  quan- 
tity of  gold  and  silver,  a  part  of  the  treasure  found 
at  Winchester,  to  "  Otho,  the  goldsmith,"  with 
orders  to  work  it  into  ornaments  for  the  tomb  of 
that  father  whom  he  had  abandoned  on  his  death- 
bed. 

When  Robert  Courthose  heard  of  his  father's 
death,  he  was   living,   an  impoverished    exile,   at 


Abbeville,  or,  according  to  other  accounts,  in  Ger 
many.  He,  however,  soon  appeared  in  Normandy, 
and  was  joyfully  received  at  Rouen,  the  capital, 
and  recognized  as  their  duke  by  the  prelates, 
barons,  and  chief  men.  Henry,  the  youngest 
brother  of  the  three,  put  himself  and  his  five 
thousand  pounds  of  silver  in  a  place  of  safety, 
waiting  events,  and  being  fully  resolved  to  avail 
himself  of  any  means,  no  matter  how  dishonorable 
in  themselves,  or  ruinous  to  his  brothers,  that 
should  ofi'er  him  the  chance  of  gaining  either  the 
royal  crown  or  the  ducal  coronet. 

It  was  not,  perhaps,  easy  for  the  Conqueror  to 
make  any  better  arrangement,  but  it  was  in  the 
highest  degree  unlikelj',  under  the  division  he  had 
made  of  England  and  Normandy,  that  peace  should 
be  preserved  between  the  two  brothers.  Even  if 
the  unscrupulous  Rufus  had  been  less  active,  and 
the  personal  qualities  of  Robert  altogether  different 
from  what  they  were,  causes  independent  of  the 
two  princes  threatened  to  lead  to  inevitable  hostili- 
ties. The  great  barons,  the  followers  of  the  Con- 
queror, were  almost  all  possessed  of  estates  and 
fiefs  in  both  countries:  they  were  naturally  uneasy 
at  the  separation  of  the  two  territories,  and  foresaw 
that  it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  preserve 
their  allegiance  to  two  masters,  and  that  tliey  must 
very  soon  resign  or  lose  either  their  ancient  patri- 
monies in  Normandy  or  their  new  acquisitions  in 
England.  A  war  between  the  two  brothers  would 
at  anv  time  embarrass  them  as  long  as  thev  held 


380 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


territory  under  both.  The  tmie,  also,  was  not  yet 
come  to  reconcile  them  to  consider  their  native 
Normandy  as  a  separate  and  foreign  land.  In 
short,  every  inducement  of  interest  and  of  local 
attachment  made  them  wish  to  see  the  two  countries 
united  under  one  sovereign ;  and  their  only  great 
difference  of  opinion  on  this  head  was,  as  to  which 
of  the  two  brothers  should  be  that  sovei-eign ;  some 
of  them  adhering  to  William,  while  others  insisted 
that,  both  by  right  of  birth  and  the  honorableness, 
generosity,  and  popularity  of  his  character,  Robert 
was  the  proper  man  to  have  both  realms.  A  de- 
cision of  the  question  was  inevitable  ;  and  the  first 
step  was  taken,  not  in  Normandy,  to  expel  Robert, 
but  in  England,  to  dethrone  William.  Had  he 
been  left  to  himself,  the  elder  brother,  from  his 
love  of  ease  and  pleasure,  would  in  all  probability 
have  remained  satisfied  with  his  duchy,  but  he  was 
beset  on  all  sides  by  men  who  were  coiHtantly 
repeating  how  unjust  and  disgraceful  to  him  it  was 
to  see  a  younger  brother  possess  a  kingdom  while 
he  had  only  a  duchy, — by  Norman  nobles  that 
went  daily  over  to  him,  complaining  of  the  present 
state  of  affairs  in  England, — and  by  his  uncle  Odo, 
the  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  who  moved  with  all  his 
ancient  energy  and  fierceness  in  the  matter,  not  so 
much  out  of  any  preference  of  one  brother  to  the 
other,  as  out  of  his  hatred  of  the  primate  Lanfranc, 
whom  he  considered  as  the  chief  cause  of  the  dis- 
grace, the  imprisonment,  and  all  the  misfortunes 
that  had  befallen  him  in  the  latter  years  of  the 
Conqueror,  and  whose  great  credit  at  court,  and 
power  in  the  new  government,  excited  his  jealousy. 
The  bishop  was  a  formidable  partisan,  a  man 
framed  to  be  the  leader  of  a  conspiracy  :  he  had 
many  friends  among  the  most  powerful  of  the 
barons ;  but  so  abhorred  was  he  by  all  classes  of 
English,  that  it  may  be  doubted  whether  he  did 
not  rather  weaken  than  strengthen  the  party  he 
embraced. 

Robert  promised  to  come  over  with  an  army  in 
all  haste,  and  Odo  engaged  to  do  the  rest.  At  the 
Easter  festival  the  Red  King  kept  his  court  at 
Winchester,  whither  he  had  invited  ail  the  great 
lords.  Odo  was  there  with  his  friends,  and  took 
that  opportunity  of  arranging  his  plans.  From  the 
festival  he  departed  to  raise  the  standard  of  Robert 
in  his  old  earldom  of  Kent,  while  Hugh  de  Grant- 
mesnil,  Roger  Bigod,  Robert  de  Mowbray,  Roger 
de  Montgomery,  William,  Bishop  of  Durham,  and 
Geoffrey  of  Coutance,  repaired  to  do  the  like  in 
their  several  fiefs  and  governments  which  lay  in 
the  east,  in  the  west,  and  the  north.  A  dangerous 
rising  thus  took  place  simultaneously  in  many  parts 
of  England ;  but  the  insurgents  lost  time,  and 
turned  the  hearts  of  the  Enghsh  inhabitants  from 
them  by  paltry  acts  of  depredation,  while  the  army 
from  Normandy,  with  which  Robert  had  promised 
to  come  over,  and  which  Odo,  who  was  in  Kent, 
was  instructed  to  look  out  and  provide  for  upon 
the  south  coast  of  England,  at  a  certain  time  ap- 
pointed, was  slow  in  making  its  appearance.  The 
Courtehose,  a  slave  to  hi«  habitual  indolence  and 
iudecisioa,  was,  as  usual,  in  great  straits  for  money; 


but  those  who  acted  for  him  had  raised  a  considera 
ble  force  in  Normandy,  and  but  for  the  adoption, 
by  the  new  king,  of  a  novel  measure,  and  a  confi- 
dence timely  placed  in  the  natives,  England  would 
have  been  again  desolated  by  a  foreign  army. 
Rufus,  on  leai'ning  the  preparations  that  were 
making  for  this  armament,  permitted  his  English 
subjects  to  fit  out  cruisers  ;  and  these  adventurers, 
who  seem  to  have  been  the  first  that  may  be  called 
privateers,  rendered  him  very  important  service  ; 
for  the  Normans,  calculating  that  there  was  no  royal 
navy  to  oppose  them,  and  that  when  they  landed 
they  would  be  received  by  their  friends  and  con- 
federates, the  followers  of  Odo  and  his  party,  began 
to  cross  the  Channel  in  small  companies,  each  at 
their  own  convenience,  without  concert  or  any  regard 
to  mutual  support  in  case  of  being  attacked  on  theu* 
passage ;  and  so  many  of  them  were  intercepted 
and  destroyed  by  their  English  cruisers,  that  the 
attempt  at  invasion  was  abandoned  in  consequence.' 
But  Rufus  was  also  greatly  indebted  to  another 
measure  which  he  adopted  at  this  important  crisis. 
Before  the  success  of  the  privateering  experiment 
could  be  fully  ascertained,  seeing  so  many  of  the 
Normans  arrayed  against  him,  he  had  recourse  to 
the  native  English:  he  armed  them  to  fight  in 
their  own  country  against  his  own  countrymen  and 
relatives ;  and  it  was  by  this  confidence  in  them 
that  he  preserved  his  crown,  and  probably  his  life. 
He  called  a  meeting  of  the  long-despised  chiefs  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  blood, — of  those  few  men  having 
influence  over  the  national  mind,  who  had  survived 
the  slow  and  wasting  conquest  of  his  father :  he 
promised  that  he  would  rule  them  with  the  best 
laws  they  had  ever  known  ;  that  he  would  give  thera 
the  right  of  hunting  in  the  forests,  as  their  fore- 
fathers had  enjoyed  it ;  and  that  he  would  relieve 
them  from  many  of  the  taillages  and  odious  tributes 
his  father  had  imposed.^  These  promises  were 
indifferently  kept  in  the  sequel,  but  the  Enghsh 
people  certainly  benefited  somewhat  by  the  king's 
difficulties,  and  commenced  from  this  moment  an 
improvement  in  condition  and  consideration,  which 
continued,  on  the  whole,  progi'essive  under  his 
successors.  "  Contested  titles  and  a  disputed  suc- 
cession," as  Sir  James  Mackintosh  has  remarked, 
"obliged  Rufus  and  his  immediate  successors  to 
make  concessions  to  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who  so 
much  surpassed  the  conquering  nation  in  numbers ; 
and  these  immediate  sources  of  terrible  evils  to 
England  became  the  causes  of  its  final  deliver- 
ance." ^  Flattered  by  his  confidence,  the  thanes 
and  franklins  who  had  been  summoned  to  attend 
him  zealously  promoted  the  levy ;  and  when  Rufus 
proclaimed  his  ban  of  war  in  the  old  Saxon  form, — 
"Let  every  man  who  is  not  a  man  of  nothing,* 
whether  he  live  in  burgh  or  out  of  burgh,  leave  his 
house  and  come,'" — there  came  thirtj'  thousand  stout 
Englishmen  to  the  place  appointed  for  the  muster. 

1  Southey,  Naval  Hist.— Dr.  Campbell. 

2  Chron.  Sax. — Waverley  Annals.  ^  Hist.  England.       I 
*  In    An^lo-Saion,    a   "nidering,"   or   "unnithing,"  —  one    of  the 

strongest  terms  of  contempt.  The  expressions  of  the  Saxim  chroni- 
cler are,  "  Baed  thaet  aelc  man  the  waere  unnithing  sceulde  cuman 
to  him — Frencisce  and  Englisce — of  porta  and  of  upplande."  '■. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


381 


Rochester  Castle  ;    the  Keep,  with  its  Entrance  Tower. 


Kent,  with  the  Sussex  coast,  was  the  most  vul- 
nerable part  of  the  island,  and  Odo,  the  king's 
uncle,  the  most  dangerous  of  his  enemies ;  Rufus 
therefore  marched  against  the  bishop,  who  had 
strongly  fortified  Rochester  Castle,  and  then  thrown 
himself  into  Pevensey,  there  to  await  the  arrival  of 
the  tardy  and  never-coming  Robert.  After  a  siege 
c»f  seven  weeks,  the  bishop  was  obliged  to  sur- 
render this  stronghold,  and  his  nephew  granted  him 
life  and  liberty,  on  his  taking  an  oath  that  he  would 
put  Rochester  Castle  into  his  hands,  and  then  leave 
the  kingdom  for  ever.  Relying  on  his  solemn  vow, 
Rufus  sent  the  prelate  with  an  inconsiderable  escort 
of  Norman  horse  from  Pevensey  to  Rochester.  The 
strong  castle  of  Rochester  Odo  had  intrusted  to  the 
rare  of  Eustace,  Earl  of  Boulogne,  who  was  devoted, 
like  himself,  to  the  eldest  son.  When  now  reciting 
the  set  form  of  words,  he  demanded  of  the  earl  the 
surrender  of  the  castle,  Eustace,  pretending  great 
wrath,  arrested  both  the  bishop  and  his  guards  as 
traitors  to  King  Robert.  The  scene  was  well  acted, 
nnd  Odo,  trusting  to  be  screened  from  the  accusa- 
tion of  perjury,  remained  in  the  fortress  to  continue 
the  struggle.  His  loving  nephew  soon  embraced 
him  with  a  close  environment,  drfiwing  round  him 
a  great  force  of  English  infantry  and  foreign  cav- 
alry. But  the  castle  was  strong  and  well  garri- 
soned, for  500  Norman  knights,  without  counting 
the  meaner  sort,  fought  on  the  battlements ;  and 
after   a   long   siege,   the   place  was   not   taken   by 


assault,  but  forced  to  surrender  either  by  pestilential 
disease  or  famine,  or  probably  by  both.  The 
English,  who  had  shown  great  ai-dor  during  the 
siege,  would  have  granted  no  terms  of  capitulation ; 
but  the  Norman  portion  of  William's  army,  who 
had  countrymen,  and  many  of  them  friends  and 
relations  in  the  castle,  entertained  very  difi'erent 
sentiments,  and  at  their  earnest  instance,  though 
not  without  diflSculty,  the  Red  King  allowed  the 
besieged,  without  any  exceptions,  to  march  out  with 
their  arms  and  horses,  and  freely  depart  the  land. 
The  unconscionable  Bishop  of  Bayeux  would  have 
included  in  the  capitulation  a  proviso  that  the  king's 
army  should  not  cause  their  band  to  play  in  sign  of 
victory  and  triumph  as  the  garrison  marched  out, 
but  this  condition  was  refused,  the  king  saying  in 
great  anger  he  would  not  make  such  a  concession 
for  1000  marks  of  gold.  The  partisans  of  Robert 
then  came  forth  with  banners  lowered,  and  the 
king's  music  playing  the  while.  As  Odo  appeared, 
there  was  a  louder  crash  ;  the  trumpets  screamed, 
and  the  English,  scarcely  able  to  keep  their  hands 
from  his  person,  shouted  as  he  passed,  "  Oli  I  for 
a  halter  to  hang  this  perjured,  murderous  bishop !" 
It  was  with  these  and  still  worse  imprecations  that 
the  priest  who  had  blessed  the  Norman  army  at 
the  battle  of  Hastings  departed  from  f'ngland,  never 
more  to  enter  it.' 

Having  disposed   of  Odo,   Rufus  found  no  very 
J  Thierry.— Chron.  Sax     Or^icric.  Vital. 


382 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


great  difficulty  in  dealiug  witli  the  other  con- 
spirators, who  began  to  curse  the  procrastination  of 
Robert,  and  to  see  pretty  clearly  that  lie  was  nol 
the  man  to  reunite  the  two  countries,  or  give  them 
security  for  their  estates  and  honors  in  both.  Roger 
Montgomery,  the  powerful  Earl  of  Shrewsburj-, 
was  detached  from  the  confederacy  by  a  peaceful 
negotiation ;  others  were  won  over  by  blandish- 
ments ;  the  Bishop  of  Durham  was  defeated  by  a 
division  of  William's  army,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Worcester's  English  tenants,  adhering  to  William, 
killed  a  host  of  the  insurgents.  The  remaining 
chiefs  of  the  confederacy  either  submitted  on  proc- 
lamation or  escaped  into  Normandy.  A  few  of 
them  received  a  pardon,  but  the  greater  part  were 
attainted,  and  Rufus  bestowed  their  English  estates 
on  such  of  the  barons  as  had  done  him  best  service. 
In  the  course  of  the  following  year  (lOBO),  Lan- 
franc,  who  was  in  many  respects  a  great  and  a 
good  man,  departed  this  life.  A  change  was  im- 
mediately observed  in  the  king,  who  showed  him- 
self more  debauched,  tyrannical,  and  rajiacious 
than  he  had  been  when  checked  by  the  primate's 
virtues  and  abilities.  He  appointed  no  successor 
to  the  head  office  in  the  church,  but  seized  the  rich 
revenues  of  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  and 
spent  them  in  his  unholy  revelries.  Lanfranc  had 
been,  in  fact,  chief  minister  as  well  as  primate  of 
tlie  kingdom.  As  minister,  he  was  succeeded  by  a 
Norman  clergyman  of  low  birth  and  dissolute  habits, 
but  gifted  with  an  aspiring  spirit,  great  readiness  of 
wit,  engaging  manners,  and  an  unhesitating  devotion 
to  the  king  in  ail  things.  He  had  first  attracted  at- 
tention in  the  English  court  of  the  Conqueror  as  a 
skilful  spy  and  public  informer.  His  name  was 
Ralph,  to  which,  in  his  capacity  of  minister,  and 
through  his  violent  measures,  he  soon  obtained  the 
significant  addition  of  le  Flambard,  or  the  destructive 
torch.  His  nominal  offices  in  the  court  of  the  Red 
King  were,  royal  chaplain,  treasurer,  and  justiciary  ; 
— his  real  duties,  to  raise  as  much  money  as  he 
could  for  his  master's  extravagant  pleasures,  and  to 
flatter  and  share  his  vices.  He  was  ingeniously  ra- 
pacious, and  seems  almost  to  have  exhausted  the  art 
of  extortion.  Under  this  priest  the  harsh  forest 
laws  were  made  a  source  of  pecuniary  profit ;  new 
offences  were  invented  for  the  multiplication  of 
fines ;  another  survey  of  the  kingdom  was  begun,  in 
order  to  raise  the  revenues  of  the  crown  from  those 
estates  which  had  been  underrated  in  the  record  of 
Domesday ;'  and  all  the  bishoprics  and  abbeys  that 
fell  vacant  by  death  were  left  so  by  the  king,  who 
drew  their  revenues  and  applied  them  to  his  own 
use,  racking  the  tenants  and  vassals  on  the  church- 

1  The  measurements  in  Domesday  appear  to  have  been  made  with 
a  reference  to  the  quality  as  well  as  the  quantity  of  the  land  in  each 
case,  whereas  Flambard  is  said  to  have  ranseil  the  hides  to  be  7npa- 
sured  exactly  by  the  line,  or  without  regard  to  anything  but  their 
superficial  extent.  Sir  Francis  Palgrave  believes  that  a  frug-ment  of 
Flambard's  Domesday  is  preserved  in  an  ancient  Lieger  or  Register 
Book  of  the  Monastery  of  Evesham,  now  in  the  Cottonian  Library,  in 
MS.  Vespasian  B.  ixiv.  It  relates  to  the  county  of  Glotccstcr,  and 
must  have  been  compiled  between  1096  and  1112.  See  an  account 
of  tills  curi«us  and  hitherto  unnoticed  relic,  with  extracts,  in  Sir 
Francis's  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Commouwcalth,  ii. 
C(XO.\lviii  &c. 


lands  so  as  they  had  never  been  racked  before. 
These  latter  proceedings  could  hardlj-  ftiil  to  indis- 
pose the  monastic  chroniclers,  and  the  character  of 
the  Red  King  has  in  consequence  come  down  to  uti 
darkened  with  perhaps  rather  more  than  its  real 
depravity.  There  is,  however,  no  reasonable  ground 
for  doubting  that  he  was  a  licentious,  violent,  and 
rapacious  king,  nor  (as  has  been  well  obsei-ved)  is 
there  either  wisdom  or  liberality  of  sentiment  in 
excusing  his  rapacity  because  it  comprehended  the 
clergj',  who,  after  all,  were  the  best  friends  of  the 
people  in  those  violent  times.' 

A.D.  1090.  The  barons  who  had  given  the  pref- 
erence to  Ptobert  having  failed  in  their  attempts  to 
deprive  William  of  England,  the  friends  of  William 
now  determined  to  drive  Robert  out  of  Normandy, 
which  country  had  fallen  into  a  state  of  complete 
anarchy  through  the  imprudent  conduct  of  the  new 
duke.  The  turbulent  barons  expelled  Robert's 
troops  from  nearly  ail  the  fortresses,  and  then 
armed  their  vassals  and  made  war  with  one  another 
on  their  own  private  account.  3Iany  would  have 
preferred  this  state  of  things,  which  left  them 
wholly  independent  of  the  sovereign  authority,  to 
any  other  condition ;  but  those  of  the  great  lords, 
who  chiefly  resided  in  England,  were  greatly  em- 
barrassed by  it,  and  resolved  it  should  cease.  By 
treachery  and  bribery,  possession  was  obtained  of 
Aumale,  or  Albemarle,  St.  Vallery,  and  other  Nor- 
man fortresses,  which  were  forthwith  strongly  gar- 
j  risoned  for  Rufus.  Robert  was  roused  from  his 
lethargy,  but  his  coffers  were  emptj',  and  the  im- 
provident grants  of  estates  he  had  already  made  loft 
him  scarcely  anything  to  promise  for  future  services ; 
he  therefore  applied  for  aid  to  his  friend  and  feudal 
superior,  the  French  king,  who  marched  an  array 
to  the  confines  of  Normandy  as  if  to  give  assistance, 
but  marched  it  back  again  on  receiving  a  large 
amount  of  gold  from  the  English  king.  At  the  same 
time  the  imlucky  Robert  nearly  lost  his  capital  by  a 
conspiracy  ;  Conan,  a  wealthj-  and  powerful  burgess, 
having  engaged  to  deliver  up  Rouen  to  Reginald  de 
Warenne  for  King  Rufus.  In  these  difficulties 
Robert  claimed  the  assistance  of  the  cautious  and 
crafty  Henry.  Some  very  singular  transactions 
had  already  taken  place  between  these  two  brothers. 
While  Robert  was  making  his  preparations  to  invade 
England,  Henry  advanced  him  3000L,  in  return  for 
which  slender  supply  he  had  been  put  in  possession 
of  the  Cotentin  country,  which  comprehended 
nearly  a  third  part  of  the  Norman  duchy.  Dissen- 
sions followed  this  unequal  bargain,  and  Robert,  on 
some  other  suspicions,  either  threw  Henry  into 
prison  for  a  short  time,  or  attempted  to  arrest  him. 
Now,  however,  the  youngest  brother  Hstened  to 
the  call  of  the  eldest,  and  joined  him  at  Rouen, 
where  he  chiefly  contributed  to  put  down  the  con- 
spii'acy,  to  repulse  King  William's  adherent,  Regi- 
nald de  Warenne,  who  came  up  with  300  choice 
knights,  and  to  take  Conan,  the  gi'oat  burgess,  pris- 
oner. The  mild  and  forgiving  nature  of  Robert  was 
most  averse  to  capital  punishment,  and  he  condemned 

1  Mackintosh,  Hist,  of  Eng.  i.  119.— Sugsri  Vit.  LuJo.ic.  Grossi.— 
Ingulpli.— Malmsb.— Ordericus. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


3S3 


Conan  to  a  perpetual  imprisonment ;  but  Henrj-, 
some  short  time  after,  took  the  captive  to  the  top  of 
a  high  tower,  on  pretence  of  showing  him  the  beauty 
of  the  surrounding  scenery,  and  while  the  eye  of 
the  unhappy  man  rested  on  the  pleasant  landscape, 
he  suddenly  seized  him  by  the  waist  and  flung 
him  over  the  battlements.  Conan  was  dashed 
to  pieces  by  the  fall,  and  the  prince  coolly  observed 
to  those  who  saw  the  catastrophe  that  it  was  not 
fitting  that  a  traitor  should  escape  condign  punish- 
ment.' 

A.D.  1091.  In  the  following  January  William 
Rufus  appeared  in  Normandy,  at  the  head  of  an 
array,  chiefly  English.  The  affairs  of  the  king  and 
duke  would  have  now  come  to  extremity,  but  Robert 
again  called  in  the  French  king,  by  whose  mediation 
a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  at  Caen.  Rufus, 
however,  gained  almost  as  much  by  this  treaty  as  a 
successful  war  could  have  given  him.  He  retained 
possession  of  all  the  fortresses  he  had  acquired  in 
Normandy,  together  with  the  territories  of  Eu, 
Aumale,  Fescamp,  and  other  places;  and  secured, 
in  addition,  the  formal  renunciation,  on  the  part  of 
Robert,  of  all  claims  and  pretensions  to  the  English 
throne.  On  his  side,  William  engaged  to  indemnify 
his  brother  for  what  he  resigned  in  Normandy  by 
an  equivalent  in  territorial  property  in  England,  and 
to  restore  their  estates  to  all  the  barons  who  had 
been  attainted  in  Robert's  cause.  It  was  also  stip- 
ulated betAveen  the  two  parties,  that  the  king,  if  he 
outUved  the  duke,  should  have  Normandy ;  and  the 

1  Orderic. — Malms. 


duke,  if  he  outlived  the  king,  should  have  England : 
the  kingdom  and  duchy  thus  in  either  case  to  be 
united  as  under  the  Conqueror :  and  twelve  of  the 
most  powerful  baron-s  on  each  side  swore  that  they 
would  do  their  best  to  see  the  whole  of  the  treaty 
faithfully  executed — "  a  strong  proof,"  observes 
Hume,  "  of  the  great  independence  and  authority- 
of  the  nobles  in  those  ages." 

The  fomily  of  the  Conqueror  were  not  a  family 
of  love.  No  sooner  were  the  bonds  of  fraternal 
concord  gathered  up  between  Robert  and  William, 
than  they  were  loosened  between  them  and  their 
younger  brother  Henry,  whose  known  abilities  and 
decision  of  character  began  to  inspire  jealous  appre- 
hensions in  the  breast  of  Rufus.  The  united  forces 
of  the  duke  and  king  proceeded  to  take  possession 
of  his  castles ;  and  Heni-y  was  obhged  to  retire  to  a 
fortress  on  Mount  St.  Michael,  a  lofty  rock  on  the 
coast  of  Normandy,  insulated  at  high  water  by  the 
sea.  In  this  almost  impregnable  position  he  was 
besieged  by  Robert  and  William.  Most  of  the  old 
historians  delight  in  telling  a  story  to  show  the  dif- 
ference between  the  characters  of  these  two  kins- 
men. Mount  St.  Michael  afforded  no  fresh  water  : 
the  besieged  had  neglected  to  supply  themselves 
elsewhere,  and  were  reduced  to  feel  the  insufferable 
anguish  of  thirst.  When  Robert  heard  of  Henry's 
distress,  he  permitted  some  of  his  people  to  go  and 
take  water,  and  also  sent  him  a  supply  of  wine  for 
his  own  table.  William  reproved  him  for  this  ill- 
timed  generosity ;  but  Robert  replied,  "  Hoav  can  I 
suffer  my  brother  to  die  of  thirst  ?     Where  shall 


MousT  St.  Micn.\.Ei.,  Normandt. 


584 


HISTORY  OF  EN:iLAND. 


Book  III. 


Carlisle. 


we  find  another  brother  when  he  is  gone  ?"'  An- 
other anecdote  of  the  same  time  is  told  of  Rufus. 
As  he  was  riding  one  day  alone  near  the  fortress  he 
was  attacked  by  two  soldiers  in  Henry's  pay,  and 
dismounted.  One  of  the  men  raised  his  dagger  to 
dispatch  him,  when  Rufus  exclaimed,  "Hold,  knave ! 
I  am  the  king  of  England."  The  soldier  suspended 
his  blow,  helped  the  king  to  rise  and  mount,  excusing 
his  own  conduct,  on  the  ground  of  being  ignorant  of 
his  quality.  "  Make  no  excuse,"  rephed  Rufus ; 
"  thou  art  a  brave  knight,  and  henceforward  wilt  fight 
under  my  banner."  The  story,  in  conclusion,  says 
the  man  entered  the  king's  service.  In  the  end. 
Prince  Henry  was  obliged  to  capitulate  and  evacuate 
the  strong  fortress  of  Mount  St.  Michael.  He  ob- 
tained with  difficulty  permission  to  retire  into  Brit- 
tanj' :  he  was  despoiled  of  all  he  possessed,  and 
wandered  about  for  two  years,  with  no  better  at- 
tendance than  grim  poverty,  one  knight,  three 
squires,  and  a  chaplain.  But  in  this,  the  lowest 
stage  of  his  fortunes,  he  impressed  men  with  a 
notion  of  his  political  abilities ;  and  he  was  invited 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Damfront  to  take  upon  him- 
self the  government  of  that  city. 

Duke  Robert  accompanied  the  king  to  England, 
to  take  possession  of  those  territories  which  were 
promised  by  the  treaty.  During  his  stay  Rufus  was 
engaged  in  a  war  with  Malcolm  Caenmore,  who, 
while  William  was  absent  in  Normandy,  had  invaded 

»  William  of  Malmshury  is  the  first  teller  of  this  story  among  the 
chroniclers. 


England,  and  "overrun  a  great  deal  of  it,"  says  the 
Saxon  Chronicle,  "  until  the  good  men  that  governed 
this  land  sent  an  army  against  him  and  repulsed 
him."  On  his  return  William  collected  a  great  force, 
both  naval  and  military,  to  avenge  this  insult ;  but 
his  ships  were  all  destroyed  before  they  reached 
the  Scottish  coast.  The  English  and  Scottish  armies 
met,  however,  in  Lothian,  in  England,  according  to 
the  Saxon  Chronicle — at  the  river  called  Scotte  Uatra 
(perhaps  Scotswater),  says  Ordericus  Vitalis — and 
were  ready  to  engage,  when  a  peace  was  brought 
about  by  the  mediation  of  Duke  Robert  on  one  side, 
and  his  old  friend  Edgar  Atheling  on  the  other. 
"  King  Malcolm,"  says  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  "  came 
to  our  king,  and  became  his  man,  promising  all  such 
obedience  as  he  formerly  rendered  to  his  father; 
and  that  he  confirmed  with  an  oath.  And  the  King 
William  promised  him  in  land  and  in  all  things  what- 
ever he  formerly  had  under  his  father."  By  the 
same  treaty,  Edgar  Atheling  Avas  permitted  to  re- 
turn to  England,  where  he  received  some  paltry  court 
appointment,  and  "exhibited  the  unseemly  sight  of 
the  representative  of  Alfred,  fed  on  the  crumbs  that 
fell  from  the  table  of  a  Norman  tyrant.'" 

Returning  from  Scotland,  Rufus  was  much  struck 
with  the  favorable  position  of  Carlisle  ;  and,  expelling 
the  lord  of  the  district,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
castle,  and  soon  after  sent  a  strong  English  colony 
from  the  southern  counties  to  settle  in  the  town  and 
its  neighborhood.     Carlisle,  with  the  whole  of  Cuni- 

1  Sir  J   Mackintosh,  Ilist.  Eng. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


386 


berland,  had  long  been  an  appanage  of  the  elder  son 
of  the  Scottish  kings ;  and  this  act  of  Rufus  was 
speedily  followed  by  a  renewal  of  the  quarrel  be- 
tween him  and  Malcolm  Caenmore.  To  accommo- 
date these  differences,  Malcolm  was  invited  to  Glou- 
cester, where  William  was  keeping  his  court ;  but 
before  undertaking  this  journey  the  Scottish  king 
demanded  and  obtained  hostages  for  his  security — a 
privilege  not  granted  to  the  ordinary  vassals  of  the 
English  crown.'  On  arriving  at  Gloucester,  how- 
ever, Malcolm  was  required  by  Rufus  to  do  him 
right,  that  is,  to  make  him  amends  for  the  injuries 
with  which  he  was  chai'ged,  in  his  court  there,  or, 
in  other  words,  to  submit  to  the  opinion  and  decision 
of  the  Anglo-Norman  barons.  Malcolm  rejected  the 
proposal,  and  said  that  the  kings  of  Scotland  had 
never  been  accustomed  to  do  right  to  the  kings  of 
England,  except  on  the  frontiers  of  the  two  king- 
doms, and  by  judgment  of  the  barons  of  both.'^  He 
then  hurried  northward,  and,  having  raised  an  army, 
burst  into  Northumberland,  where  he  soon  after- 
Avards  fell  into  an  ambush,  and  was  slain,  together 
with  Edward,  his  eldest  son.  This  double  calamity 
is  said  to  have  caused  the  death  of  the  Scottish 
queen,  Margaret,  Edgar  Atheling's  sister;  she  died 
four  days  after  (16th  November,  1093). 

Duke  Robert  had  returned  to  the  continent  in 
disgust  at  having  pressed  his  claims  for  the  prom- 
ised indemnity  in  England  without  any  success. 
He  afterwai'ds  dispatched  messenger  after  messen- 
ger from  the  continent,  but  still  William  would  give 
up  none  of  his  domains.  At  last,  in  1094,  Robert 
had  recourse  to  a  measure  deemed  very  efficacious 
in  the  court  of  chivalry.  He  sent  two  heralds,  who, 
having  found  their  way  into  the  presence  of  the 
Red  King,  denounced  him  before  his  chief  vassals, 
as  a  false  and  perjured  knight,  with  whom  his 
brother,  the  duke,  would  no  longer  hold  friendship. 
To  defend  his  honor,  the  king  followed  the  two 
heralds  to  Normandy,  where,  hoping  at  least  for 
the  majority  of  voices,  he  agreed  to  submit  the  mat- 
ters in  dispute  to  the  arbitration  of  the  twenty-four 
barons  who  had  sworn  to  do  their  best  to  enforce 
the  foithful  observance  of  the  treaty  of  Caen.  The 
barons  however,  decided  in  favor  of  Robert ;  and 
then  William,  who  would  not  be  bound  by  an  award 
unfavorable  to  himself,  appealed  to  the  sword.  The 
campaign  which  opened  went  so  much  in  favor  of 
the  Red  King,  that  Robert  was  again  obliged  to 
apply  for  assistance  to  the  King  of  France  ;  and 
Philip  once  more  marched  with  an  army  into  Nor- 
mandy. Rufus  then  sustained  some  serious  losses  ; 
and  trusting  no  longer  to  the  appeal  of  the  sword, 
he  resolved  to  buy  off"  the  French  king.  He  sent 
his  commission  into  England  for  the  immediate  levy- 
ing of  20,000  men.  By  the  time  appointed  these 
j  men  came  together  about  Hastings,  and  were  ready 
I  to  embark,  "  when  suddenly  there  came  his  lieu- 
tenant with  a  counter-order,  and  signified  to  them, 
that  the  king,  minding  to  favor  them,  and  spare 
them  for  that  journey,  would  that  every  of  them 

'  Allan's  Vindication  of  the  Ancient  Independence  of  Scotland. — 
Foedera. — Chron.  Sax. 
'■'  Flor.  Wigorn. — Sim   Dun 

VOL.  I. — 25 


should  give  him  ten  shillings  towards  the  charges 
of  the  war,  and  thereupon  depart  home  with  a  suffi- 
cient safe  conduct;  which  the  most  part  were  bet- 
ter content  to  do  than  to  commit  themselves  to  the 
fortune  of  the  sea  and  bloody  success  of  the  wars 
in  Normandy."'  The  king's  lieutenant  and  repre- 
sentative on  this  occasion  was  Ralph  Flambard  ;  and 
he  and  that  priest  probably  shared  the  ingenuity  of 
the  device  between  them.  It  seems  difficult  to  con- 
ceive that  20,000  soldiers,  or  half  of  them,  should  be 
able  to  pay  ten  shillings  a-piece  f  but  still  some  con- 
siderable sum  was  raised,  and  King  Philip  accepted 
it,  and  withdrew  from  the  field,  leaving  Robert,  as 
he  had  done  before,  to  shift  for  himself.  Rufus 
would  then  in  all  probability  have  made  himself 
master  of  Normandy,  had  he  not  been  recalled  to 
England  and  detained  there  by  important  events. 

A.D.  1094-5.  The  Welsh,  hearing  of  the  variance 
between  the  two  brothers,  "  after  their  accustomed 
manner,"  began  to  invade  the  English  marches, 
taking  booty  of  cattle,  and  destroying,  killing,  and 
spoiling  many  of  the  king's  subjects,  both  English 
and  Normans.  Laying  siege  to  the  castle  of  Mont- 
gomery, which  had  been  erected  on  a  recently  oc- 
cupied part  of  Wales,  they  took  this  castle  by  as- 
sault, and  slew  all  whom  they  found  within  it.  Be- 
fore William  could  reach  the  scene  of  action,  all  the 
Welsh  were  in  arms,  and  had  overrun  Cheshire, 
Shropshire,  and  Herefordshire,  besides  reducing 
the  Isle  of  Anglesea.  To  chastise  them,  he  deter- 
mined to  follow  them,  as  Harold  had  done  before,' 
quite  through  their  own  country ;  for  he  saw  that 
the  Welsh  "  would  not  join  battle  with  him  in  the 
plain,  but  kept  themselves  still  aloof  within  the  woods 
and  marshes,  and  aloft  upon  the  mountains  :  albeit, 
oftentimes  when  they  saw  advantage  they  would 
come  forth,  and  taking  the  Normans  and  the  Eng- 
lish unawares,  kill  many,  and  wound  no  small  num- 
bers."* Stimulated,  however,  by  the  example  of 
Harold,  who  had  penetrated  into  the  inmost  recesses 
of  Wales,  the  Red  King  still  pursued  them  by  hill 
and  dale  ;  but  by  the  time  he  reached  the  mountains 
of  Snowdon,  he  found  that  his  loss  was  tremendous, 
and,  "  not  without  some  note  of  dishonor,"  began  a 
retreat,  which  was  much  more  rapid  than  his  ad- 
vance. The  next  summer  he  entered  the  moun- 
tains with  a  still  more  numerous  army,  and  was 
again  forced  to  retire  with  loss  and  shame.  He  had 
not  imitated  the  wise  generalship  of  Harold ;  and 
his  heavy  Norman  cavalry  was  ill  suited  for  such  a 
warfare.  He  turned  from  Wales  in  despair,  but 
ordered  the  immediate  erection  of  a  chain  of  forts 
and  castles  along  the  frontier. 

Before  he  was  free  from  the  troubles  of  this 
Welsh  war  his  throne  was  threatened  by  a  formida- 
ble conspiracy  in  the  north  of  England,  the  full  ex- 
tent of  which  was  discovered  in  a  curious  manner. 

1  Ilolinslied.  The  old  authorities  are  Matthew  Paris  and  Simeon 
Dunelinensis. 

2  It  is  said,  however,  that  these  particular  soldiers  were  purposely 
chosen  among  men  "  well  to  pass,''  or  who  were  in  comparatively 
good  circumstances.  Dr.  Lingard,  on  the  other  hand,  is  of  opinion 
that  ten  shillings  was  the  sum  each  man  had  received  from  his  lord 
for  purchasing  victuals  during  the  campaign;  but  this  does  not  ap- 
pear probable. 

3  See  ante,  p.  185.  *  Holinshed. 


••386 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III 


The  exclusive  ri^lit  claimed  by  Rufus  over  all  the 
forests  continued  to  irritate  the  Norman  barons,  and 
other  causes  of  discontent  were  not  wanting.  At 
the  head  of  the  disaffected  was  Robert  Mowbrny, 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  a  most  powerful  chief, 
who  possessed  280  English  manors.  His  long-con- 
tinued absence  from  court  created  suspicion,  and  he 
is  said  to  have  committed  several  illegal  acts  in  his 
government,  militating  against  the  royal  authority. 
The  king  pul)lislied  a  decree  that  every  baron  who 
did  not  present  himself  at  court  on  the  approaching 
festival  of  Whitsuntide  should  be  outlawed.  The 
festival  came  and  passed  without  any  tidings  of  the 
Earl  of  Northuml)erland,  who  feared  he  should  be 
cast  into  prison  if  he  went  to  the  south,  his  demand 
for  hostages  for  his  safety  having  been  refused,  as  a 
privilege  to  which  the  earl,  as  an  ordinary  vassal 
of  the  crown,  could  not  pretend.  The  king  then 
marched  with  an  army  into  Northumberland,  and 
after  taking  several  of  his  less  important  fortresses, 
shut  up  the  earl  within  the  walls  of  Bamborough 
Castle.  Finding  he  could  neither  besiege  nor 
blockade  this  impregnable  place,  he  built  another 
castle  close  to  it,  in  which,  leaving  a  strong  garrison, 
he  returned  to  the  south.  The  new  castle,  which 
was  hastily  constructed  of  wood,  was  called  "  Mal- 
voisin"  (the  bad  neighbor),  and  such  it  proved  to 
Earl  Mowbray.  Being  decoyed  from  his  safe  re- 
treat by  a  feigned  offer  of  placing  the  town  of  New- 
castle-upon-Tjme  in  his  hands,  he  was  attacked  by 
a  large  party  of  Normans  from  Malvoisin,  who  lay 
in  wait  for  him.  The  earl,  with  thirty  horsemen, 
his  only  retinue,  fled  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Oswin, 
at  Tynembuth.  The  sanctuary  was  not  respected  ; 
but  Mowbray  and  his  few  followers  defended  it  with 
desperate  valor  for  six  days,  at  the  end  of  which  the 
earl,  sorely  wounded,  was  made  prisoner.  But 
Bamborough  Castle  was  even  more  valuable  than 
the  person  of  this  noble  captive,  and  the  Red  King, 
who  had  laid  the  snare  into  which  the  earl  had 
fallen,  had  also  arranged  the  plan  upon  which  the 
captors  now  acted.  They  carried  Mowbray  to  a 
spot  in  front  of  his  castle,  and  invited  his  countess, 
the  fair  Matilda,  to  whom  he  had  been  married  only 
a  few  months,  to  a  parlej'.  When  the  countess 
came  to  the  outer  walls,  she  saw  her  husband  in  the 
hands  of  his  bitter  enemies,  who  told  her  they  would 
put  out  his  eyes  before  her  face  unless  she  instantly 
delivered  up  the  castle.  It  was  scarcely  for  woman 
to  hesitate  in  such  an  alternative  :  JNIatilda  threw 
open  the  gates.  Within  the  walls  of  Bamborough 
the  king's  men  found  more  than  they  expected,  for 
Earl  3Iowbray's  lieutenant  betrayed  to  them  the 
whole  secret  of  the  conspiracy,  the  object  of  which 
was  to  place  upon  the  throne  of  England  Stephen, 
Count  of  Aumale,  nephew  of  the  Conqueror,  and 
brother  to  the  infamous  Judith.  The  extensive 
conspiracy  included,  among  others,  William,  Count 
of  Eu,  a  relation  of  the  king,  William  of  Alderic, 
the  king's  godfather,  Hugh,  Earl  of  Shrewsbury, 
Odo,  Earl  of  Holderness,  and  Walter  de  Lacey. 
The  fates  of  these  men  were  various  :  Earl  Mow- 
liray  was  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment, 
and  died  iu  a  dungeon  of  Windsor  Castle,  about 


thirty  years  after;  the  Count  of  Eu  rested  his  jus- 
tification on  the  issue  of  a  duel,  which  he  fought 
with  his  accuser  in  the  presence  of  the  king  and 
court,  but  being  vanquished  in  the  combat,  he  was 
convicted,  according  to  the  prevailing  law,  and  con- 
demned to  have  his  eyes  torn  out,  and  to  be  other- 
wise mutilated.'  William  of  Alderic,  who  was 
much  esteemed  and  lamented,  was  hanged ;  the 
Earl  of  Shrewsbury  bought  his  pardon  for  an  im- 
mense sum  of  money  ;  the  Earl  of  Holderness  was 
deprived  of  all  he  possessed,  and  imprisoned;  the  rest 
escaped  to  the  continent,  leaving  their  estates  in  Eng- 
land to  be  confiscated.  It  appears  that  part  at  least  of 
the  lands  thus  forfeited  remained  for  some  time 
without  masters,  and  without  culture  ;  but  the  rev- 
enue officers,  that  the  king  might  not  suffer,  contin- 
ued to  raise  on  the  town  or  the  district  to  which 
tlie  vacant  property  appertained  the  whole  of  the 
taxes  as  before.  The  people  of  Colchester  rendered 
most  grateful  thanks  to  Eudes  Fitz-Hubert,  the  gov- 
ernor of  their  town,  for  his  having  taken,  in  his  own 
name,  smne  of  the  estates  of  the  disinherited  Nor- 
mans, and  consented  to  pay  all  the  fiscal  demands 
made  on  those  lands. 

A.D.  1096.  At  a  moment  when  the  Red  King 
had  successfully  disposed  of  all  his  enemies  in  Eng- 
land, and  was  iu  a  condition  to  renew  the  war  in 
Normandy,  his  thoughtless  brother  resigned  that 
duchy  to  him  for  a  sum  of  money.  The  Christians 
of  the  west,  no  longer  content  to  appear  at  Je- 
rusalem as  despised  and  ill-treated  pilgrims,  witli 
beads  and  crosses  in  their  hands,  resolved  to  repair 
thither  with  swords  and  lances,  and  conquer  the 
whole  of  Palestine  and  Syria  from  the  infidels.  The 
subject  of  the  Crusades,  one  of  the  most  interesting 
that  engages  the  attention  of  the  historian  in  the 
middle  ages,  will  be  treated  of  more  appropriately 
in  our  account  of  the  religion  of  the  times,  which 
was  the  direct  source  of  those  enthusiastic  and  long- 
enduring  enterprises.  It  will  suffice  here  to  state, 
that  the  preaching  of  Peter  the  Hermit,  the  deci- 
sions of  the  council  of  Clermont,  and  the  bulls  of 
Pope  Urban  II.,  had  kindled  a  warlike  flame 
throughout  Europe,  and  that  all  classes  of  men  con- 
sidered taking  a  part  in  the  holy  war  as  the  surest 
means  of  obtaining  glorj^  in  this  world  and  eternal 
happiness  in  the  next.  Duke  Robert  had  early  en- 
listed in  the  crusade,  engaging  to  take  with  him  a 
numerous  and  well-armed  body  of  knights  and  vas- 
sals, but,  wanting  money,  "  no  news  to  his  coffers," 
he  applied  to  his  brother,  the  Red  King,  who  was 
always  as  expert  in  the  employment  of  gold  as  of 
arms,  and  who  now  readily  entered  into  a  bargain, 
which  was  concluded  on  terms  most  advantageous 
to  himself.  For  the  sum  of  10,000L  the  duke  re- 
signed the  government  of  Normandy  to  his  brother. 
This  act  is  generally  considered  by  historians  not  as 
a  sale,  but  as  a  mortgage,  which  was  to  expire  ir. 
five  years.  But  it  is  almost  idle  to  talk  of  conditions 
in  such  a  strange  transaction,  which  could  have  lefr 
Robert  but  a  slight  chance  of  ever  recovering  his 
dominion  from  his  unscrupulous  brother,  had  Rufus 
lived.  When  the  bargain  was  struck,  Wiilinni  was 
'  Ciecatus  et  extesticulatus  est. — Malms. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


387 


almost  as  penniless  as  Robert,  but  he  was  a  much 
greater  adept  in  the  art  of  wringing  money  from  his 
subjects.  According  to  an  old  historian,  to  make  up 
this  sum  with  dispatch,  "  he  did  not  only  oppress 
and  fleece  his  poor  subjects,  but  rather  with  impor- 
tunate exactions,  did,  as  it  were,  flea  off"  their  skins. 
All  this  was  grievous  and  intolerable,  as  well  to  the 
spirituality  as  to  the  temporality,  so  that  divers 
bishops  and  abbots,  who  had  already  made  away 
with  some  of  their  chalices  and  cHurch  jewels  to 
pay  the  king,  made  now  plain  answer  that  they  were 
not  able  to  help  him  with  any  more ;  unto  whom,  on 
the  other  side,  as  the  report  went,  the  king  said 
again  :  '  Have  you  not,  I  beseech  you,  coffins  of  gold 
and  silver  full  of  dead  men's  bones  ?'  "^  meaning  the 
shrines  wherein  the  relics  of  saints  were  inclosed. 
The  Red  King  maintained  that  swch  exactions  as 
these  were  not  sacrilegious,  inasmuch  as  the  money 
so  raised  was  to  go  to  maintain  wars  against  infidels 
and  enemies  of  Christ.  The  pretext  was  specious, 
but  rather  transparent,  for  it  was  his  brother  who 
was  to  spend  the  money  in  the  holy  war,  while  he 
was  to  receive  a  most  usurious  interest  for  it,  even 
taking  nothing  into  account  but  the  immediate  rev- 
enue of  Normandy. 

Soon  after  receiving  his  10,000^,  Robert  de- 
parted joyfully  for  Palestine,  flattering  himself  with 
a  splendid  futurity;  and  then  William,  indulging 
in  the  less  fantastic  prospect  of  near  and  solid  ad- 
vantages, sailed  to  the  continent  to  take  immediate 
possession  of  Normandy  and  its  dependencies.  He 
had  long  held  many  of  their  fortresses,  his  parti- 
sans among  the  nobility  were  numerous  and  power- 
ful, and  he  was  received  by  the  Normans  without 
opposition.  But  it  was  far  otherwise  with  the  peo- 
ple of  Maine,  who  burst  into  a  universal  insurrec- 
tion, and  by  rallying  round  Helie,  Lord  of  La 
Fleche,  a  young  and  gallant  adventurer,  who  had 
some  claim  to  the  country  himself,  gave  Rufus 
much  trouble,  and  obliged  him  to  carry  over  an 
army  from  England  more  than  once.  About  three 
years  after  Robert's  departure  the  brave  Helie  was 
surprised  in  a  wood  with  only  seven  knights  in 
company,  and  made  prisoner  by  one  of  the  English 
king's  officers.  Rufus  marched  into  Maine  soon 
after  at  the  head  of  a  large  force  of  horse  ;  but  the 
French  king  and  the  Count  of  Anjou  interfering, 
he  was  induced  to  negotiate,  and  Helie  obtained  his 
libertj'  by  delivering  up  the  town  of  Mans.  The 
people  continued  to  dishke  the  sway  of  their  new 
master,  and  the  Lord  of  La  Fleche,  after  offering 
his  services,  was  unnecessarily  irritated  by  Wil- 
liam. In  the  following  year  (1100),  as  the  Red 
King  was  hunting  in  the  New  Forest,  a  messenger 
from  beyond  sea  arrived  with  intelligence  that  Helie 
had  surprised  the  town  of  Mans,  and  was  besieging 
the  Norman  garrison  in  the  castle,  being  aided  there- 
in by  the  inhabitants,  who  had  again  recognized  him 
as  their  lawful  chief.  In  bravery,  prompt  decision, 
and  rapidity  of  movement,  William  was  little  infe- 
rior to  his  father,  the  Conqueror.  He  instantly 
turned  his  horse's  head,  and  set  off"  for  the  nearest 

>  Ilolinshed. — Speed. — The  old  authnrities  arp  Kadiner,  Orderic, 
Malt.  Paris,  and  W.  M.nlmsb. 


seaport.  The  nobles  who  were  hunting  with  him 
reminded  him  that  it  was  necessary  to  call  out 
troops,  and  wait  for  them.  "  Not  so,"  replied  Ru- 
fus, "  I  shall  see  who  will  follow  me ;  and,  if  I  un- 
derstand the  temper  of  the  youth  of  this  kingdom, 
I  shall  have  people  enough."  Without  stopping 
or  turning  he  reached  the  port,  and  embarked  in 
the  first  vessel  he  found.  It  was  blowing  a  gale  of 
wind,  and  the  sailors  entreated  him  to  have  patienco 
till  the  storm  should  abate.  "  Weigh  anchor,  hoist 
sail,  and  begone,"  cried  Rufus;  "did  you  ever 
hear  of  a  king  that  was  drowned  ?" '  An  old  writer 
intimates  that  the  mariners  might  have  replied, 
"Yes,  Pharaoh  with  all  his  host;"  but  they  wero 
probably  not  versed  in  Scripture,  and  made  no 
such  answer,  but,  obeying  their  orders,  put  to  sea, 
and  safely  landed  their  royal  passenger  at  Barfleur 
on  the  following  day.  The  news  of  his  landing  suf- 
ficed to  raise  the  siege  of  the  castle  of  Mans ;  and 
Helie,  thinking  he  must  have  come  in  force,  dis- 
missed his  troops  and  took  to  flight.  The  Red 
King  then  barbarously  ravaged  the  lands  of  hi» 
enemies  ;  but  being  wounded  while  laying  siege  to 
an  insignificant  castle,  he  returned  suddenly  to 
England,  whicli  he  was  destined  not  to  leave  again. 

William's  lavish  expenditure  continued  on  tho 
increase  ;  but  by  his  exactions  and  irregular  way  of 
dealing  with  church  property,  he  still  found  mean.s 
for  gratifying  his  extravagance,  and  enjoyed  abroad 
the  reputation  of  being  a  rich  as  well  as  a  powerful 
king.  Wilham,  Earl  of  Poictiers  and  Duke  of 
Guienne,  caught  the  prevailing  passion  for  tho 
Crusades,  and  in  order  to  be  enabled  to  carry  a 
respectable  force  to  Palestine,  he  also  off"ered  to 
mortgage  his  dominions  to  the  King  of  England. 
Rufus,  as  eager  as  ever  for  territorial  aggrandise- 
ment, accepted  the  ofi'er,  and  even  began  to  raise 
the  money.  But  the  great  creditor,  whose  de- 
mands are  often  as  sudden  as  they  are  irresistible, 
closed  this  new  account  before  it  was  well  opened. 

Popular  superstition  had  long  darkened  the 
shades  and  solitudes  of  the  New  Forest,  and  peo- 
pled its  glades  with  horrid  spectres.  The  fiend 
himself,  it  was  said  and  behoved,  had  appcareil 
there  to  the  Normans,  announcing  the  punishment 
he  had  in  reserve  for  the  Red  King  and  his  wicked 
counselors.  The  accidents  that  happened  in  that 
chase,  which  had  been  so  barbarously  obtained, 
gave  strength  to  the  vulgar  belief.  In  the  montli 
of  May,  Richard,  an  illegitimate  son  of  Duko 
Robert,  was  killed  while  hunting  in  the  forest  by 
an  arrow,  reported  to  have  been  shot  at  random. 
This  was  the  second  time  that  the  Conqueror's 
blood  had  been  poured  out  there,  and  men  said  it 
would  not  be  the  last  time.  On  the  1st  of  August 
following  William  lay  at  Malwood-keep,-  a  hunting- 

1  Will.  Malmsb. 
2  The  Red  Kin?  lies  in  Malwood-kcep, 
To  drive  the  doer  o'er  lawn  and  steep, 

lie's  bound  him  with  the  mom. 
His  steeds  arc  swift,  his  hounds  are  good  ; 
The  like,  in  covert  or  high-wood, 
Were  never  cheer'd  with  horn. 

W.  Stewart  Rose. 
"M:.lwnod  Castle,  or  Keep,  seated  upon  an  eminence,  einl><wom"1 
in  w.Kid,  at  a  small  distance   from  ihe  village  of  Minestead,  lu  ni* 


388 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


seat  in  the  forest,  wi:h  a  goodly  train  of  liuiglits. 
A  reconciliation  had  taken  place  between  the  two 
brothers,  and  the  astutious  Henry,  who  had  been 
some  time  in  England,  was  of  the  gay  party.  The 
circumstances  of  the  story,  as  told  by  the  monkish 
chroniclers,  are  sufficiently  renyirkable.  At  the 
dead  of  night  the  king  was  heard  invoking  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  a  thing  strange  in  him  ;  and  then 
he  called  aloud  for  lights  in  his  chamber.  His  at- 
tendants ran  at  his  call,  and  found  him  disturbed  by 
a  frightful  vision,  to  prevent  the  return  of  which 
he  ordered  them  to  pass  the  rest  of  the  night  by 
his  bedside,  and  divert  him  with  pleasant  talk.  As 
he  was  dressing  in  the  morning  an  artisan  brought 
him  six  new  arrows  :  he  examined  them,  praised 
the  workmanship,  and  keeping  four  for  liimself, 
gave  the  other  two  to  Sir  Walter  Tyrrel,  other- 
wise called,  from  his  estates  in  France,  Sir  Walter 
de  Poix,  saying  as  he  presented  them,  "  Gooa 
weapons  are  due  to  the  sportsman  that  knows  how 
to  make  a  good  use  of  them." '  The  tables  were 
spread  with  an  abundant  collation,  and  the  Red 
King  ate  more  meat  and  drank  even  more  wine  than 
he  was  wont  to  do.  His  spirits  rose  to  their 
highest  pitch ;  his  companions  still  passed  the  wine- 
New  Forest,  was  the  residence  of  this  prince  when  he  met  with  the 
accident  which  terminated  his  life.  No  remains  of  it  exist ;  but  the 
circumference  of  a  building  is  to  be  traced  ;  and  it  yet  gives  its  name 
to  the  walk  in  which  it  was  situated." — Notes  to  Ihe  "Red  King." 
This  spirited  and  beautiful  poem  is  published  in  the  same  volume 
with  "  Partenopex  de  Blois." 

'  Orderic.  Vital. 


cup,  whilst  the  grooms  and  huntsmen  prepared 
their  horses  and  hounds  for  the  chase;  and  all  was 
boisterously  gay  in  Malwood-keep,  when  a  mes- 
senger arrived  from  Serlon,  the  Norman  Abbot  of 
St.  Peter's,  at  Gloucester,  to  inform  the  king  that 
one  of  his  monks  had  dreamt  a  dream  foreboding  a 
sudden  and  awful  death  to  him.  "  The  man  is  a 
right  monk,"  cried  Rufus,  "and  to  have  a  piece  of 
money  he  dreameth  such  things.  Give  him,  there- 
fore, an  hundred  pence,  and  bid  him  dream  of 
better  fortune  to  our  person."  Then  turning  to 
Tyrrel,  he  said,  "  Do  they  think  I  am  one  of  those 
fools  that  give  up  their  pleasure  or  their  business 
because  an  old  woman  happens  to  dream  or  sneeze  ? 
To  horse,  Walter  de  Poix !" 

The  king,  with  his  brother  Henry,  William  de 
Breteuil,  and  many  other  lords  and  knights,  rode 
into  the  forest,  where  the  company  dispersed  here 
and  there,  after  the  manner  used  in  hunting;  but 
Sir  Walter,  his  especial  favorite  in  these  sports, 
remained  constantly  near  the  kuig,  and  their  dogs 
hunted  together.  As  the  sun  was  sinking  low  in 
the  west  a  hart  came  bounding  bj',  between  Rufus 
and  his  comrade,  who  stood  concealed  in  the 
thickets.  The  king  drew  his  bow,  but  the  string 
broke,  and  the  arrow  took  no  effect.  Startled  by 
the  sound,  the  hart  paused  in  his  speed  and  looked 
on  all  sides,  as  if  doubtful  which  way  to  turn. 
The  king,  keeping  his  attention  on  the  quarry, 
raised  his  bridle-hand  above  his  eyes,  that  he  might 
see  clear  by  shading  them  from  the  glare  of  the 


/y  •.i'.v.'.:.',M4  / 


"~      ^^^, 


De.\th  of  Rcfcs. — Blimey. 


Chap.  I.] 


CR'IL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


3S9 


sun,  which  now  shone  ahnost  horizontally  through 
the  glades  of  the  forest ;  and  at  the  same  time, 
being  unprovided  with  a  second  bow,  he  shouted, 
"Shoot,  Walter!  shoot,  in  the  devil's  name!"' 
Tyrrel  drew  his  bow,  the  arrow  departed,  was 
glanced  aside  in  its  flight  by  an  intervening  tree, 
and  struck  William  in  the  left  breast,  which  was 
left  exposed  by  his  raised  arm.  The  fork-head 
pierced  his  heart,  and  with  one  groan,  and  no  word 
or  prayer  uttered,  the  Red  King  fell  and  expired. 
Sir  Walter  Tyrrel  ran  to  his  master's  side,  but, 
finding  him  dead,  he  remounted  his  horse,  and, 
without  informing  any  one  of  the  catastrophe,  gal- 
loped to  the  sea-coast,  embarked  for  Normandy, 
whence  he  fled  for  sanctuary  into  the  dominions  of 
the  French  king,  and  soon  after  departed  for  the 
Holy  Land.  According  to  an  old  chronicler,  the 
spot  where  Rufus  fell  had  been  the  site  of  an  An- 
glo-Saxon church  which  his  father,  the  Conqueror, 
had  pulled  down  and  destroj^ed  for  the  enlarging  of 
his  chase.^     Late  in  the  evening  the  royal  corpse 

•  "  Trahe,  trahe  arcum  ex  parte  diaboli." — Hen.  Knyghton. 
2  Walter  Hennyngfiirde,  quoted  in  Grafton's  Chronicle. 


was  found  alone,  where  it  fell,  by  a  poor  cnarcoal 
burner,'  who  put  it,  still  bleeding,  into  his  cart,  and 
drove  towards  Winchester.  At  the  earliest  report 
of  his  death,  his  brother  Henry  flew  to  seize  the 
royal  treasury,  and  the  knights  and  favorites  who 
had  been  hunting  in  the  forest  dispersed  in  several 
directions  to  look  after  their  interest,  not  one  of 
them  caring  to  render  the  last  sad  honors  to  their 
master.  The  next  day  the  body,  still  in  the  char- 
coal-maker's cart,  and  defiled  with  blood  and  dirt, 
was  carried  to  St.  Swithin's,  the  cathedral  church 
of  Winchester.  There,  however,  it  was  treated 
with  proper  respect,  and  buried  in  the  centre  of 
the  cathedral  choir,  many  persons  looking  on,  but 
few  grieving.  A  proof  of  the  bad  opinion  which 
the  people  entertained  of  the  deceased  monarch  is, 
that  they  interpreted  the  fall  of  a  certain  tower  in 
the  cathedral,  which  happened  the  following  year, 
and  covered  his  tomb  with  its  ruins,  into  a  sign  of 

'  "  This  man's  name  was  Purkess.  He  is  the  ancestor  of  a  very 
numerous  tribe.  Of  his  lineal  descendants  it  is  reported  that,  living  on 
the  same  spot,  they  have  constantly  been  proprietors  of  a  horse  and 
cart,  but  never  attained  to  the  possession  of  a  team  " — Notes  to  the 
"  Red  King." 


Tomb  of  Rufus. 


the  displeasure  of   Heaven  that   he   had  received 
Christian  burial.' 

The   second   king  of  the  Norman   line   reigned 
thirteen  years  all  but  a  few  weeks,  and  was  full  of 
health  and  vigor,  and  only  forty  years  of  age  when 
he  died.     That  he  was  shot  by  an  arrow  in  the 
New  Forest, — that  his  body  was  abandoned   and 
then  hastily  interred, — are  facts  perfectly  well  au- 
thenticated ;  but  some  doubts  may  be  entertained 
as  to  the  pi'ecise  circumstances  attending  his  death, 
notwithstanding   their    being   minutely   related   by 
writers  who  were  living  at  the  time,  or  who  flour- 
ished in  the  course  of  the  following  century.     Sir 
'  Walter  Tyrrel  afterwards  swore,  in   France,  that 
1  he  did  not  siioot  the  arrow ;  but  he  was  probably 
I  anxious  to  relieve  himself  from  the  odium  of  killing 
i  a  king,  even  by  accident.     It  is  quite  possible,  in- 

1  1  Dr.  Milner,  Hist.  Winchest. 


deed,  that  the  event  did  not  arise  from  chance,  and 
that  Tyrrel  had  no  part  in  it.  The  remorseless 
ambition  of  Henry  might  have  had  recourse  to 
murder,  or  the  avenging  shaft  might  have  been 
sped  by  the  desperate  hand  of  some  Englishman, 
tempted  by  a  favorable  opportunity  and  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  place.  But  the  most  charitable  con- 
struction is,  that  the  party  were  intoxicated  with 
the  wine  they  had  drunk  at  Malwood-keep,  and 
that,  in  the  confusion  consequent  on  drunkenness, 
the  king  was  hit  by  a  random  arrow. 

The  Red  King  was  never  married ;  and  his 
example  is  said  to  have  induced  all  his  young 
courtiers  to  prefer  the  Hcentious  libertj-  of  a  single 
life.  In  describing  his  libertinism,  the  least  heinous 
charge  of  the  monkish  historians  is,  that  he  re- 
spected not  the  virtue  of  other  men's  wives,  and 
was  "  a  most  especial  follower  of  Icmmans."     For 


390 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


::^ 


. "?  '^'^V^v^  ^^!?T?  ^W^^ 


Stone,  in  the  New  Forest,  marking  the  site  of  the  Oak-tree  against  which  the  Arrow  of  Sir  Walter  Tyrrel  is  said  to  have  glanced. 


the  honor  of  human  nature  we  hope  the  picture  is 
overcharged  ;  but  there  are  proofs  enough  to  con- 
vince us  that  but  Httle  order  or  decorum  reigned 
in  the  court  of  Rufus.  On  the  contrary,  indeed, 
all  writers  agree  in  their  accounts  of  the  dissolute 
manners  of  his  household  and  adherents.  His 
rapacity  is  equally  unquestionable ;  but  this  charge 
is  partially  alleviated  by  his  taste  and  magnificence, 
which  were  beneficial  to  the  nation.  He  did  not 
spend  all  his  money  in  his  wars,  his  foreign 
schemes,  his  pleasures  and  debaucheries,  but  de- 
voted large  sums  to  the  building  of  royal  palaces, 
and  to  some  works  of  great  public  utility. 

Henry  I. — surnamed  Beauclerk. 

A.  D.  1100.  Henry  was  not  unopposed  in  the 
first  step  he  took  to  secure  the  crown.  While  he 
was  imperiously  demanding  the  keys  of  the  royal 
treasury,  and  the  officers  in  whose  charge  they 
were  placed  were  hesitating  whether  they  should 
deliver  them  or  not,  William  de  Breteuil,  the  royal 
treasurer,  who  had  also  been  of  the  fatal  hunting 


party,  arrived  with  breathless  speed  from  the 
forest,  and  opposed  his  demand.  "  You  and  I," 
said  he  to  Henry,  "  ought  to  remember  the  faith 
we  have  pledged  to  your  brother,  Duke  Robert ; 
he  has  received  our  oath  of  homage,  and,  absent  or 
present,  he  has  a  right  to  this  money."  Henry  at- 
tempted to  shake  the  fidelity  of  the  treasurer  with 
arguments,  but  William  de  Breteuil  resolutely 
maintained  that  Robert  was  the  lawful  sovereign  of 
England,  to  whom,  and  to  no  one  else,  the  money 
in  Winchester  Castle  belonged.^  The  altercation 
grew  violent,  and  Henry,  who  felt  he  had  no  time 
to  lose,  drew  his  sword,  and  thrccatened  immediate 
death  to  any  that  should  oppose  him.  He  was 
supported  by  some  powerful  barons  who  happened 
to  be  on  the  spot,  or  who  had  followed  him  from 
the  forest,  and  whose  favor  he  had  secured  before- 
hand. De  Breteuil  was  left  almost  single  in  his 
honorable  opposition,  the  domestics  of  the  late  king 
taking  part  against  him ;  and  Henry  seized  the 
money  and  crown-jewels  before  his  eyes.  Part  of 
the  money  seems  to  have  been  distributed  immedi- 
i  Malms. 


CaAP.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


3»1 


Great  Seal  of  Henry  I. 


ately  among  the  barons  and  churchmen  at  Win- 
chester ;  and  the  Saxon  Chronicle  says  that  "  the 
witan  who  were  then  nigh  at  hand  chose  him  to 
be  king."  He  immediately  gave  the  bishopric  of 
Winchester  to  Henry  Gifford,  a  most  influential 
adherent,  and  then  proceeded  witli  all  speed  t6 
London,  where  he  made  a  skilful  usi^  of  his  ti-eas- 
nres,  and  was  proclaimed  by  an  assembly  of  noble- 
men and  prelates,  no  one  phallenging  his  title,  but 
all  acknowledging  his  consummate  abilities  and  fit- 
ness for  government.  On  Sunday,  the  5th  of  Au- 
gust, only  ^hree  days  after  the  death  of  Rufus, 
standing  before  the  altar  in  Westminster  Abbey,  he 
promised  God  and  all  the  people  to  annul  all  the 
unrighteous  acts  that  took  place  in  his  brother's 
time ;  and  after  this  declaration,  Maurice,  the 
Bishop  of  London,  consecrated  him  king.^  Anselm, 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  according  to 
ancient  rule,  should  have  performed  the  ceremony 
of  the  coronation,  had  been  driven  out  of  the  king- 
dom some  three  years  before  ;  and  the  archbish- 
opric of  York  had  been  left  vacant  for  some  time. 
A  popular  recommendation,  which  had,  no  doubt, 
great  influence,  was,  that  Henry  was  an  English- 
man, born  in  the  country,"  and  after  the  Conquest; 
and  some  of  his  partisans  set  up  this  circumstance 
as  being  in  itself  a  sufficient  title  to  the  ci-own.  But 
he  himself,  in  a  charter  of  liberties  issued  on  the 
following  day,  and  diligently  promulgated  through- 
out the  land,  represented  himself  as  being  crowned 
"  by  the  mercy  of  God,  and  by  the  common  con- 
sent of  the  barons  of  the  kingdom." 

The  claims  of  Duke  Robert  were  not  forgotten  ; 
but  Henry,  who  "  had  aforehand  trained  the  people 
to  his  humor  and  vein,  in  bringing  them  to  think 
well  of  him,"  had  also  caused  to  be  reported,  as  a 
certain  fact,  that  Robert  was  already  created  king 

1  Sax.  Chron. 

2  Henry  was  born  at  Selby,  in  Yorkshire,  A.D.  1070,  in  the  fourth 
year  of  his  fathers  reign  as  King  of  England 


of  Jerusalem  by  the  Crusaders,  and  would  never 
leave  the  Holy  Land  for  an  ordinary  kingdom. 
Although  the  law  of  succession  remained  almost  as 
loose  as  under  the  Saxon  dynasty,  and  the  crowit 
of  England  was  still,  in  form  at  least,  an  elective 
one,  Henry,  who,  moreover,  was  bound  by  oaths  to 
his  elder  brother  Robert,  seems  himself  to  have 
been  conscious  of  a  want  of  validity  or  security  in 
his  title,  and  to  have  endeavored  to  strengthen  his 
throne  by  reforms  of  abuses  and  by  large  conces- 
sions to  the  nation.  Such  is  almost  invariably  tin- 
course  pursued  by  intrusive  kings ;  and  hence 
usurpations,  though  they  may  be  productive  o" 
war  and  suffering,  are  not  always  to  be  considered 
as  unmixed  evils.  The  charter  of  liberties  passed 
by  Henry  on  his  accession,  as  forming  an  impor- 
tant feature  in  our  progressive  law  and  govern- 
ment, will  be  ti-eated  of  elsewhere.  It  will  suffice 
for  the  course  of  this  narrative  to  state,  that  he 
restored  all  the  rights  of  the  church,  promised  to 
require  only  moderate  and  just  reliefs  from  his 
vassals,  to  exercise  his  powers  in  wardsliips  and 
marriages  with  equity  and  mildness,  to  redress  all 
the  grievances  of  the  former  reign,  and  to  restore 
the  laws  of  King  Edward  the  Confessor,  subject 
only  to  the  amendments  made  in  them  by  his 
father.  "  So  general  was  the  confidence  in  the 
restoration  of  the  native  institutions,"  says  Sir  J. 
Mackintosh,  "that  it  induced  a  private  compiler 
to  draw  up  a  summary  of  Saxon  law,  which  is  still 
extant  under  the  title  of  the  '  Laws  of  Henry  the 
First,'  probably  as,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  de- 
riviuc  their  validity  from  his  confirmation,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  propping  Henry's  infirm  title  by 
resting  it  on  tlie  same  basis  with  this  reformation."  ' 
Still  further  to  conciliate  his  Anglo-Saxon  sub- 
jects and  to  secure  them  to  his  interests  in  case  of 
a  revolt  on  the  part  of  his  Norman  barons,  Henry, 
who  on  all  necessary  occasions  boasted  of  his  Eng- 

1  Uist.  Eng 


392 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


lish  birth,  determined  to  espouse  an  English  wife,  j 
This  marriage  is  a  most  important  historical  event,  ' 
being  a  step  made  towards  that  intermixture  and 
fusion  of  the  two  races  which  destroyed,  at  a  much  ' 
earlier  period  than  is  generally  imagined,  the  odious 
distinction  between   English  and   Normans.     It   is 
also  exceedingly  interesting  in  some  of  its  details, 
and  particularly  those  which  have  been  transmitted  | 
by  the  pen  of  Eadnier,'  who  was  living  at  the  time,  t 
and  who,  as  an  Englishman  himself,  entertained  a 
lively   sympathy   for   the    fortunes    of  the   young  | 
princess.     The  lady  of  Henry's  choice  was,  to  use  i 
the  words  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  "  Maud,  daugh-  | 
ter  of  Malcolm,  King  of  Scots,  and  of  Margaret,  the 
good  queen,  the  relation  of  King  Edward,  and  of  i 
rhe  right  kingly  kin  of  England."     This  descendant  ; 
of  the  gi'eat  Alfred  liad  been  sent  from  Scotland  at  | 
a  very  early  age,  and  committed  to  the  care  of  her  | 
aunt  Christina,  Edgar  Atheling's  second  sister,  who 
was  abbess  of  Wilton,  or,  as  others  say,  of  Rumsey, 
in  Hampshire.     As  she   grew  up,   several  of  the 
Norman  captains  aspired  to  the  honor  of  her  hand. 
She  was  asked  in   marriage  by  Alan,  the  lord  of 
Richmond  ;    but  Alan  died  before  he  could  receive 
any  answer  from  the  king.     William  de  Garenne, 
Earl  of  Surrey,  was  the  next  suitor,  but  the  mar- 
riage was  not  allowed  by  Rufus,  to  whom,  and  not 
to  the  young  lady  or  her  relations,  these   several 
demands   were    made.      A   contemporary   writer^ 
nays,   he   knows  not  why  the    marriage   with   the 
Earl  of  Surrey  did  not  take  place  ;   but  the  policy 
of  forbidding  a  union  between  a  powerful  vassal  and 
a  princess  of  the  ancient  royal  line  is  evident ;  and 
the   Red   King,  like   this  fiither,  held  it  as  part  of 
ills  prerogative  to  give  or  refuse  the  hands  of  his 
fair  subjects.     When  proposals  were  made  on  the 
part   of  King   Henry,  the   fair    Saxon,    not   being 
dazzled  with  the  prospect  of  sharing  with  a  Nor- 
man the  throne  on  which  her  ancestors  had  sat  for 
cenlm'ies,  showed  a  decided  aversion  to  the  match. 
But  she   was  assailed   by  arguments  and  induce- 
ments difficult  to  resist.      "  Oh !    most  noble  and 
fair  among  women,"  said  her  Saxon  advisers,   "  if 
thou  wilt,  thou  canst  restore  the  ancient  honor  of 
England,    and    be    a    pledge    of   reconciliation    and 
friendship ;  but  if  thou  art  obstinate  in  thy  refusal, 
the  enmity  between  the  two  races  will  be  everlast- 
ing, and   the   shedding   of  human    blood  know  no 
end." '      When   her   slow   consent   was   obtained, 
another  impediment  was  raised  by  a  strong  Nor- 
man party,  who   neither  liked  to  see  an   English 
woman  raised  to  be  their  queen,  nor  the  power  of 
their  king  confirmed  by  means  which  would  endear 
him  to  the  native  race,  and  render  him  more  and 
more  independent  of  the  Normans.     They  asserted 
that   Maud,  who  had   been   brought   up  from  her 
infancy  in  a  convent,  was  a  nun,  and  that  she  had 
been  seen  wearing  the  veil,  which  made  her  for 
ever  the  spouse  of  Christ.     Such  an  obstacle  would 

1  This  historian  was  the  scholar  and  inmate  of  Archbishop  An- 
selm,  who  celebrated  the  marriage,  and  afterwards  crowned  the  young 
queen. 

2  (Irdericus.  This  chronicler  said  she  had  formerly  gone  by  the 
more  Saxon  name  of  Edith. 

3  Matt.  Par. 


have  been  insurmountable  ;  and  as  there  were  some 
seeming  grounds  for  the  report,  the  celebration  of 
the  marriage  was  postponed,  to  the  great  joy  of 
those  who  were  opposed  to  it.' 

Anseim,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  had 
returned  from  Italy  at  the  pressing  invitation  of  the 
new  king,  was  a  zealous  promoter  of  the  marriage 
— for  his  soul  was  kind  and  benevolent,  and  he  was 
interested  in  favor  of  the  English  people  ;  but,  when 
he  heard  the  reports  which  were  circulated,  he  de- 
clared that  nothing  could*  induce  him  to  unite  a  nun 
to  a  carnal  husband.  The  archbishop,  however, 
determined  to  question  the  maiden  herself;  and 
Matilda,  or  Msiud,  in  reply,  denied  she  had  ever 
taken  the  vows,  or  e'ven  worn  the  veil  of  her  free 
will ;  and  she  offered  to  give  full  j)roof  of  this  before 
all  the  prelates  of  England.  A  speech  which  Ead- 
mer  puts  into  her  mouth  is  a  curious  specimen  of 
naivete,  and  a  proof  of  the  brutality  of  the  Norman 
soldiers  towards  the  females  of  the  conquered  race. 
"  I  must  confess,"  she  said,  "  that  I  have  sometimes 
appeared  veiled  ;  but  listen  to  the  cause  :  in  my  first 
youth,  when  I  was  living  under  her  care,  my  aunt, 
to  save  me,  as  she  said,  from  the  lust  of  the  Nor- 
mans, who  attacked  all  females,  was  accustomed  to 
throw  a  piece  of  black  stuff  over  my  head ;  and  when 
I  refused  to  cover  myself  with  it  she  treated  me 
very  roughly.  In  her  presence  I  wore  that  cover- 
ing, but  as  soon  as  she  was  out  of  sight  I  threw  it 
Qn  the  ground,  and  trampled  it  under  my  feet  in 
childish  anger  "  To  solve  this  gi'eat  difficulty,  An- 
seim called  a  council  of  bishops,  abbots,  and  monks, 
who  met  in  the  city  of  Rochester.  Witnesses  sum- 
moned before  this  council  confirmed  the  truth  of 
Matilda's  words.  Two  archdeacons,  who  had  been 
sent  to  the  convent  where  the  young  lady  was 
brought  up,  deposed  that  public  report,  and  the  tes- 
timony of  the  nuns,  agreed  with  her  declaration. 
At  the  moment  when  the  council  was  to  deliberate 
on  its  verdict,  the  archbishop  retired,  to  avoid  any 
suspicion  of  biassing  their  decision.  This  decision, 
given  unanimously,  was  :  "  We,  the  bishops,  &c., 
are  of  opinion  that  the  young  lady  is  free,  and  can 
dispose  of  herself;  and  we  have  a  precedent  in  a 
judgment  rendered  m  a  similar  cause  by  the  vene- 
rable Lanfranc,  when  the  Saxon  women,  who  liad 
taken  refuge  in  the  convent  out  of  fear  of  the  sol- 
diers of  the  great  William,  reclaimed  and  obtained 
their  liberty."  On  Sunday,  the  11th  of  November, 
the  marriage  was  celebrated,  and  the  queen  was 
crowned  with  great  pomp  and  solemnity.  But  so 
wisely  cautious  was  the  prelate,  and  so  anxious  to 
dissipate  all  suspicions  and  false  reports,  that  before 
pronouncing  the  nuptial  benediction,  he  mounted  on 
a  bench  in  front  of  the  church-door,  and  showed  to 
the  assembled  people  the  debate  and  decision  of  the 
ecclesiastical  council.  The  Normans,  who  had  op- 
posed the  union,  now  vented  their  spite  in  bitter 
railleries,  and  in  applying  nicknames  taken  from 
Saxon  ballads  ; — the  king  they  called  Godric,  and  the 
queen,  Godiva.  Henry  dissembled  his  rage  till  a 
convenient  moment,  and  in  public  laughed  heartily 
at  the  insolent  jests.  Matilda,  who  had  given  her 
>  Eadmer. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


393 


consent  to  the  man-iage  with  reluctance,  and  who 
found  a  most  unfaithful  husband,  proved  a  "  right 
loving  and  obedient  wife."  She  was  beautiful  in 
person,  and  distinguished  by  a  love  of  learning  and 
great  charity  to  the  poor.  Her  elevation  to  the 
throne  filled  the  hearts  of  the  English  with  a  mo- 
mentary joy. 

Another  proceeding  which  greatly  increased  the 
new  king's  popularity  with  the  English,  and  with  all 
who  entertained  respect  for  virtue  and  decency, 
was  his  expulsion  of  his  brother's  minions.  If  half 
of  the  detestable  vices  attributed  by  the  churchmen, 
their  contempoi-aries,  to  these  favorites,  were  really 
prevalent  among  them,  they  must  have  been  a  curse 
and  an  abomination  to  the  land.  Henry,  however, 
had  intimately  associated  with  them  all — his  life 
had  been  as  lewd  and  licentious  as  the  Red  King's  ; 
and  the  outward  reformation  and  the  measures  he 
now  adopted  seem  to  have  been,  at  the  very  least, 
dictated  as  much  by  policy  as  by  any  virtuous  con- 
viction. He  felt  it  expedient  to  yield  a  homage  to 
the  better  feelings  of  the  nation. 

It  was  scarcely  possible  that  Ralph  Flambard,  the 
obnoxious  minister  of  the  late  king,  should  escape 
in  this  general  purgation.  Ralph's  great  crime, 
which  was  his  rapacity,  had  probably  put  him  in 
possession  of  wealth,  which  Henry  stood  in  need 
of;  and  the  outcries  of  the  people  against  the  fallen 
minister  urged  and  seemed  to  justify  his  being  de- 
spoiled and  otherwise  punished.  The  Bishop  of 
Durham — for  such  was  the  ecclesiastical  promotion 
Ralph  had  attained  under  Rufus — was  thrown  into 
the  Tower,  where  he  lived  most  luxuriously,  and 
captivated  the  affections  of  his  keepers  by  his  con- 
viviality, generosity,  and  wit.  In  the  February  fol- 
lowing Henry's  coronation  a  good  rope  was  conveyed 
to  the  bishop,  hid  in  the  bottom  of  a  huge  wine  flagon. 
His  guards  drank  of  the  wine  until  their  senses  for- 
sook them  ;  and  then  Ralph,  under  favor  of  the 
night,  and  by  means  of  the  rope,  descended  from 
his  prison  window  and  escaped.  Some  friends  in 
attendance  put  him  on  board  ship,  and  the  active 
bishop  made  sail  for  Normandy,  to  see  what  fortune 
would  offer  him  as  the  servant  of  Robert  Courthose. 

When  Henry  caused  the  report  to  be  circulated 
that  Robert  had  obtained  the  crown  of  Jerusalem 
and  thought  not  of  returning  to  England,  he  knew 
right  well  that  another  than  he  had  been  elected 
sovereign  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  that  his  brother 
was  actually  in  Europe,  and  on  his  way  back  to 
Normandy,  in  which  country  he  arrived  within  a 
month  or  six  weeks  after  the  death  of  Rufus.  The 
inprovident  duke  had  greatly  distinguished  himself 
in  the  conquest  of  Palestine  and  the  taking  of  Jeru- 
salem, performing  prodigies  of  valor,  which  were 
only  surpassed,  in  later  times,  by  Richard  Coeur  de 
Lion,  and  even  showing,  it  is  said,  great  eloquence 
when  called  upon  to  speak  in  the  councils  of  the 
crusaders,  and  admirable  military  talents  when  com- 
manding in  the  field.  He  was  also  preeminent 
among  the  crusading  princes  and  chiefs,  from  his  pow- 
erful family  connexions  and  from  the  host  of  men  he 
led  to  the  holy  war ;  for  besides  his  subjects  of  Nor- 
1  mandy,   Maine,  and  Brittany,   many  English   and 


some  Irish  followed  his  standard  thither,  and  would 
obey  the  direct  orders  of  none  but  him.  "  Yea, 
England,"  says  old  Fuller,  quaintly,  "  the  pope's 
pack-horse  in  that  age,  which  seldom  rested  in  the 
stable  when  there  was  any  work  to  be  done,  sent 
many  brave  men  under  Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy ; 
as  Beauchamp,  and  others  whose  names  are  lost. 
Neither  surely  did  the  Irishmen's  feet  stick  in  their 
bogs,  though  we  find  no  particular  mention  of  their 
achievements.'"  Though  respected  in  proportion 
to  his  power,  and  valued  for  the  good  qualities  he 
possessed,  the  crusaders  never  thought  seriously  of 
electing  so  imprudent  a  prince  to  the  difficult  post 
of  securing  and  governing  the  conquests  they  had 
made ;  nor  does  Robert  appear  ever  to  have  fixed 
his  eye  on  the  throne  of  Jerusalem,  which,  by  uni- 
versal consent,  fell  to  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  a  man 
"  born  for  command,"  and  as  wise  and  prudent  as  a 
statesman  as  he  was  gallant  and  fearless  as  a  knight.^ 
Soon  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem,  which  hap- 
pened on  the  15th  of  July,  1099,  somewhat  more 
than  a  year  before  the  death  of  the  English  king  in 
the  New  Forest,  Duke  Robert  left  the  Holy  Land 
covered  with  holy  laurels,  and  crossed  the  Mediter- 
ranean to  Brundusium,  the  nearest  port  of  Italy, 
intending  to  travel  homeward  by  land  through  that 
beautiful  and  luxurious  country.  The  Norman 
lance,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,  had  won  the 
fairest  portion  of  Southern  Italy  some  years  before 
the  conquest  of  England ;  and  as  Duke  Robert 
advanced  into  the  land,  he  was  everywhere  met  by 
Norman  barons  and  nobles  of  Norman  descent,  who 
ruled  even  more  absolutely  in  Apuha  than  did  their 
brethren  in  our  island.  At  every  feudal  castle  the 
duke  was  hailed  and  welcomed  as  a  countiyman,  a 
friend,  a  hero,  a  crusader  returning  with  victory, 
whom  it  was  honorable  to  honor ;  and  so  much  was 
their  hospitality  to  the  taste  of  that  thoughtless  prince 
that  he  lingered  long  and  well  pleased  on  his  way. 
Of  aU  these  noble  hosts  was  none  more  noble,  or 
more  powerful  than  WiUiam,  Count  of  Conversano  : 
he  was  the  son  of  Geoffrey,  who  was  nephew  of 
Robert  Guiscard,  the  founder  of  the  Norman  dynasty 
in  Naples  :  his  vast  possessions  lay  along  the  shores 
of  the  Adriatic,  from  Otranto  to  Bari,  and  extended 
far  inland  in  the  direction  of  Lucania  and  the  other 
sea.  He  was,  in  short,  the  most  powerful  lord  in 
Lower  Apuha.  His  castle,  which  stood  on  an  emi- 
nence surrounded  by  olive  groves,  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  Adriatic,  had  many  attractions  for  the 
pleasure-loving  and  susceptible  son  of  the  Conqueror. 
There  were  minstrels  and  jongleurs  ;  there  were 
fine  horses  and  hounds,  and  hawks,  in  almost  royal 

1  Hist.  Holy  War.  Among  the  independent  lords  who  accompanied 
Robert  were,  Eustace,  Earl  of  Boulogne,  Stephen,  Earl  of  Aubemalc 
or  Albemarle,  and  his  half  uncle,  the  notorious  Odo,  Bishop  of 
Bayeux  and  Earl  of  Kent. 

2  Veramente  e  cestui  nato  all'  impero, 
Si  del  regnar,  del  comniandar  sa  I'arti ; 
E  non  minor  che  duco  e  cavaliero  ; 
Ma  del  doppio  valor  tutte  ha  le  parti. — 

Tasso,  Gerusalemme. 
Well  seems  he  bom  to  be  with  honor  crown'd, 

So  well  the  lore  he  knows  of  regiment ; 
Peerless  in  fight,  in  counsel  grave  and  sound, — 
The  double  gift  of  glory  excellent.  Fairfax. 


394 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


abundance  ;  and  the  vast  plains  of  Apulia,  with  the 
forests  and  mountains  that  encompass  them,  offered 
u  variety  of  the  finest  sport.  But  there  was  an 
attraction  even  greater  than  all  these  in  the  person 
of  a  beautiful  maiden,  the  young  Sibylla,  the  daugh- 
ter of  his  host  the  Count  of  Conversano.  Robert 
became  enamored,  and  such  a  suitor,  who,  besides 
his  other  merits,  was  sovereign  duke  of  Normandy, 
with  a  prospect  of  possessing  the  royal  crown  of 
England,  was  not  likely  to  be  rejected.  Robert  re- 
ceived the  hand  of  Sibylla,  who  is  painted  as  being  as 
good  as  she  was  fair,  together  with  a  large  sum  of 
money  as  her  dowry.  nai)py  in  tlie  present,  care- 
less of  the  future,  and  little  thinking  tliat  a  man  so 
young  as  his  brother  the  Red  King  would  die,  he 
lingered  several  months  in  Apulia,  and  finally  trav- 
eled thence  without  any  eagerness  or  speed,  and  at 
the  critical  moment  when  the  English  throne  fell 
vacant  his  friends  hardly  knew  when  they  might 
expect  him.  On  his  arrival,  however,  in  Normandy, 
lie  appears  to  have  been  received  with  great  joj'  by 
the  people,  and  to  have  obtained  peaceful  possession 
of  the  whole  of  the  country  with  the  exception  of 
the  fortresses  surrendered  to  Rufus,  and  which 
were  now  held  for  Henry.  He  made  no  secret  of 
his  intention  of  prosecuting  his  claim  on  England ; 
but  here  again  he  lost  time  and  threw  away  his  last 
remaining  chance.  He  was  pi-oud  of  showing  his 
beautiful  bride  to  the  Normans,  and,  with  his  usual 
imprudence,  he  spent  her  fortune  in  feasting  and 
pageantry.  Ralph  Flambard  was  the  first  to  wake 
him  from  this  splendid  but  evanescent  dream;  and 
at  the  earnest  suggestion  of  the  fugitive  bishop- 
minister,  he  prepared  for  immediate  war,  knowing 
it  was. vain  to  plead  to  Henry  his  priority  of  birth, 
his  treaty  with  Rufus,  or  the  oaths  which  Henry 
himself  had  taken  to  him.  It  may  be  doubted, 
seeing  the  character  of  the  factious  nobles,  whether, 
had  Robert  succeeded  in  his  enterprise,  his  indo- 
lence, easy  nature,  and  incurable  imprudence  would 
not  have  proved  as  great  a  curse  to  England  as  the 
harshness  and  tyranny  of  any  of  the  Norman  line, 
and  whether  the  nation  would  not  have  made  a  ret- 
rogade  step  instead  of  advancing,  as  it  certainly  did 
somewhat,  under  his  crafty  and  cruel,  but  politic 
rival  Henry. 

When  his  ban  of  war  was  proclaimed,  Robert's 
Norman  vassals  showed  the  utmost  readiness  to 
fight  under  a  prince  who  had  won  laurels  in  the 
Holy  Land,  and  the  Norman  barons  expressed  the 
same  discontent  at  the  separation  of  the  duchy  and 
kingdom  which  had  appeared  on  the  accession  of 
William  Rufus.  If  the  nobles  had  been  unanimous 
in  their  preference  of  Robert  as  sovereign  of  the 
country,  on  either  side  the  Channel  where  they 
had  domains,  the  dispute  about  the  English  throne 
must  have  been  settled  in  his  favor ;  but  they  were 
divided,  and  many  preferred  Henry  (as  they  had 
formerly  done  Rufus)  to  Robert.  The  friends  of 
the  latter,  however,  were  neither  few  nor  power- 
less :  several  of  high  rank  crossed  the  Channel  from 
England  to  urge  liim  to  recover  the  title  which  be- 
longed to  him  in  virtue  of  the  agreement  formerly 
concluded  between  him  and  the  Red  King;  and 


Robert  de  Belesme,  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  and  Arun- 
del, William  de  la  Warenne,  Earl  of  Surrey,  Arnulf 
de  M6ntgomery,  Walter  Giff'ord,  Robert  de  Ponto- 
fract,  Robert  de  Mallet,  Yvo  de  Grantmesnil,  and 
many  others  of  the  principal  nobility,  promised  on 
his  landing  to  join  him  with  all  their  forces.  Henry, 
knowing  the  disaffection  of  the  barons,  whose  secrets 
were  betrayed  to  him,  began  to  tremble  on  the  throne 
he  had  so  recently  acquired.  These  fears  of  the  Nor- 
mans threw  him  more  than  ever  on  the  sujjport  of 
the  English  people,  whom  he  now  called  his  friends, 
his  faithful  vassals,  his  countrymen, — the  best  and 
bravest  of  men, — though  his  brother,  he  insidiously 
added,  treated  them  with  scorn,  and  called  them 
cowards  and  gluttons.'  At  the  same  time  he  paid 
diligent  court  to  Archbishop  Auselm,  who,  by  the 
sanctity  of  his  character  and  his  undeniable  virtues 
and  abilities,  exercised  a  great  influence  in  the 
nation.  As  Anselm  was  an  Italian  and  a  churchman, 
it  may  be  believed  tliat  he  gladly  obtained  the  large 
concessions  made  to  the  pope  by  the  trembling  king ; 
but  from  the  earnestness  with  which  he  embraced 
the  cause  of  Henry  we  are  also  entitled  to  assume 
that  he  saw  good  and  laudable  reasons  for  supporting 
the  existing  settlement  of  the  crown,  and  the  avert- 
ing of  ii  civil  war  is  no  questionable  merit.  If  anx- 
ious to  extend  the  privileges  of  the  church,  he  was 
scarcely  less  so  to  establish  the  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  to  him,  as  the  representative  of  the  nation, 
Henry  swore  to  maintain  the  charter  he  had  granted 
at  his  coronation,  and  faithfully  to  fulfil  all  his  en- 
gagements. 

The  effect  of  all  this  was,  that  the  bishops,  the 
common  soldiers,  and  the  native  English,  with  a 
curious  exception,  stood  firmly  on  the  side  oi' 
Henry,  who  could  also  count,  among  the  Norman 
nobility,  Robert  de  Mellent,  his  chief  minister,  the 
Earl  of  Warwick,  Roger  Bigod,  Richard  de  Red- 
vers,  and  Robert  Fitz-Hamon,  all  powerful  barons, 
as  his  unchangeable  adherents.  The  exception 
against  him,  on  the  part  of  the  native  English,  was 
among  the  sailors,  who,  affected  by  Robert's  fame, 
and  partly  won  over  by  the  fugitive  Bishop  of  Dur- 
ham, deserted  with  the  greater  part  of  a  fleet  which 
had  been  hastily  equipped  to  intercept  the  duke  on 
his  passage,  or  oppose  liis  landing.  Robert  sailed 
from  Normandy  in  these  very  ships,  and,  while 
Henry  was  expecting  him  at  Pevensey,  on  the 
Sussex  coast,  reached  Portsmouth,  and  there  land- 
ed. Before  the  two  armies  could  meet,  some  of  the 
less  violent  of  the  Normans  from  both  parties  had 
interviews,  and  agreed  pretty  well  on  the  necessity 
of  putting  an  end  to  a  quarrel  among  countrymen 
and  friends.  When  the  hostile  forces  fronted  each 
other,  there  was  a  wavering  among  his  Normans; 
but  the  English  continued  faitliful  to  Henry,  and 
Anselm  threatened  the  invaders  with  excommuni- 
cation. To  the  surprise  of  most  men,  the  duke's 
great  expedition  ended  in  a  hurried  peace  and  a 
seemingly  affectionate  reconciliation  between  the 
two  rivals,  after  which  the  credulous  Robert,  who 
indeed  seemed  destined  to  be  the  dupe  of  his  crafty 
brothers,  returned  peaceably  to  the  continent,  re- 

i  Matt.  Paris 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


395 


nouncing  all  claim  to  England,  and  having  obtained 
a  yearly  payment  of  3000  marks,  and  the  cession  to 
him  of  all  the  castles  which  Henry  possessed  in 
Normandy.  It  was  also  stipulated,  that  the  adhe- 
rents of  each  should  be  fully  pardoned,  and  re-stored 
to  all  their  possessions,  whether  in  Normandy  or  in 
England  ;  and  that  neither  Robert  nor  Henry  should 
thenceforward  encourage,  receive,  or  protect  the 
enemies  of  the  other.  There  was  another  clause 
added,  which,  even  without  counting  how  much 
older  he  was  than  Henry,  was  not  worth  to  Robert 
the  piece  of  parchment  it  was  written  upon  : — it 
imported  that  if  either  of  the  brothers  died  without 
legitimate  issue,  the  survivor  should  be  the  heir  to 
his  dominions.  To  this  clause,  as  to  its  counterpart 
in  the  former  treaty  signed  at  Caen,  between  Rob- 
ert and  Rufus,  twenty-four  barons,  twelve  on  each 
side,  gave  the  solemn  mockery  of  their  oaths. 

Robert  was  scarcely  retui-ned  to  Normandy  when 
Henry  began  to  take  measures  against  the  barons, 
his  partisans,  whom  he  had  promised  to  pardon  ; 
and  his  craft  and  cunning  enabled  him  to  proceed 
for  some  time  without  committing  any  manifest 
violation  of  the  treaty.  He  appointed  spies  to 
watch  them  in  their  castles,  and  artfully  sowing 
dissensions  among  them  and  provoking  them  to 
breaches  of  the  law,  he  easily  obtained  from  the 
habitual  violence  of  these  unpopular  chiefs  a  plaus- 
ible pretence  for  his  prosecutions.  He  summoned 
Robert  de  Belesme,  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  to  answer 
to  an  indictment  containing  forty-five  serious  charges. 
De  Belesme  appeared,  and,  according  to  custom, 
demanded  that  he  might  go  freely  to  consult  with 
his  friends  and  arrange  his  defence  ;  but  he  was  no 
sooner  out  of  the  court  than  he  mounted  his  horse 
and  galloped  oft'  to  one  of  his  strong  castles.  The 
king  summoned  him  to  appear  within  a  given  time 
under  pain  of  outlawry.  The  earl  responded  to 
the  summons  by  calling  his  vassals  around  him  and 
preparing  for  open  war.  This  was  meeting  the 
wishes  of  the  king,  who  took  the  field  with  an  army 
consisting  in  good  part  of  English  infantry,  well 
disposed  to  do  his  will,  and  delighted  at  the  pros- 
pect of  punishing  one  of  their  many  oppressors. 
He  was  detained  several  weeks  by  the  siege  of  the 
Castle  of  Arundel,  the  garrison  of  which  finally 
capitulated,  and  then,  in  part,  escaped  to  join  their 
earl,  De  Belesme,  who,  in  the  mean  time,  liad 
sti'ongly  fortified  Bridgeflorth,  near  the  Welsh 
frontiers,  and  strengthened  himself  in  the  citadel  of 
Shrewsbury.  During  the  siege  of  Bridgenorth  the 
Normans  in  the  king's  service  showed  they  were 
averse  to  proceeding  to  extremities  against  one  of 
the  noblest  of  their  countrymen,  and  some  of  the 
earls  and  barons  endeavored  to  put  an  end  to  the 
war  by  eft'ecting  a  reconcilement  between  Robert 
de  Belesme  and  the  sovereign.  "  For,"  says  a 
cotemporary  writer,  "  they  thought  that  the  victory 
of  the  king  over  Earl  Robert  would  enable  him  to 
make  them  all  bend  to  his  will."^  They  demanded 
a  conference,  and  an  assembly  was  held  in  a  plain 
near  the  royal  camp.  A  body  of  English  intantry 
posted  on  a  hill  close  by,  who  knew  what  was  in 
1  Orderic. 


agitation  among  the  Norman  chiefs,  cried  out  "  Do 
not  trust  in  them.  King  Henry  ;  they  want  to  lay  a 
snare  for  you.  We  are  here  ;  we  will  assist  you 
and  make  the  assault.  Grant  no  peace  to  the  traitor 
until  you  have  him  in  your  hands  alive  or  dead!'" 
The  attempt  at  reconciliation  failed, — the  siege  was 
pressed,  and  Bridgenorth  fell.  The  country  be- 
tween Bridgenorth  and  Shrewsbury,  where  the  earl 
made  his  last  stand,  was  covered  with  thick  wood,  and 
infested  by  his  scouts  and  archers.  The  English 
infantry  cleared  the  wood  of  the  enemy,  and  cut  a 
convenient  road  for  the  king  to  the  very  walls  of 
Shrewsbmy,  where  De  Belesme,  reduced  to  des- 
pair, soon  capitulated.  He  lost  all  his  vast  estates 
in  England,  but  was  permitted  to  retire  into  Nor- 
mandy, on  taking  an  oath  he  would  never  return  to 
the  kingdom  without  Henry's  permission.  His 
ruin  involved  that  of  his  two  brothers,  Arnulf  de 
Montgomery  and  Roger,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  and 
as  the  king's  hands  became  strengthened,  the  pros- 
ecution and  condemnation  of  all  the  barons  who 
had  been  favorable  to  Robert  followed.  One  by 
one  nearly  all  the  great  nobles,  the  sons  of  the  men 
who  had  achieved  the  conquest  of  England,  were 
driven  out  of  the  land  as  traitors  and  outlaws,  and 
their  estates  and  honors  were  given  to  "  new  men," 
to  the  obscure  followers  of  the  new  court. 

So  scrupulous  was  Duke  Robert  in  observing 
the  treaty,  that  on  the  first  notice  of  De  Belcsme's 
rebellion  he  ravaged  the  Norman  estates  of  that 
nobleman ;  considermg  himself,  in  spite  of  former 
ties  of  friendship,  as  bound  so  to  do  by  the  clause 
which  stipulated  that  neither  brother  should  en- 
courage the  enemies  of  the  othev.  He  was  soon, 
however,  made  sensible  that  the  real  crime  of  all 
the  outlaws,  in  Henry's  eyes,  was  the  preference 
they  had  given  to  him  ;  and  following  one  of  those 
generous  impulses  to  which  his  romantic  nature 
was  prone,  he  came  suddenly  over  to  England,  and 
put  himself  completely  in  the  power  of  Henry,  to 
intercede  in  favor  of  the  unfortunate  barons.  The 
crafty  king  received  him  with  smiles  and  brotherly 
embraces,  and  then  placed  spies  over  him  to  watch 
all  his  motions.  Robert,  who  had  demanded  no 
hostages,  soon  found  he  was  a  prisoner,  and  was 
glad  to  purchase  his  liberty  by  renouncing  his 
annuity  of  three  thousand  marks.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Normandy,  and,  in  self-defence,  renewed 
his  friendship  with  the  barons  exiled  from  England, 
accepting  among  others  the  services  of  De  Belesme, 
who  was  still  a  powerful  lord,  as  he  possessed  above 
thirty  castles  of  different  kinds  in  Normandy. 
Henry  now  most  impudently  pretended  that  Robert 
was  the  aggressor,  and  declared  the  peace  between 
them  was  for  ever  at  an  end.  The  simple  truth 
was,  that  Robert  was  completely  at  his  mercy,  and 
he  had  resolved  to  unite  the  duchy  to  his  kingdom. 
Normandy,  indeed,  was  in  a  deplorable  state,  and 
Robert,  it  must  be  said,  had  given,  and  continued 
to  give,  manifold  proofs  of  his  inability  to  manage 
a  factious  and  intriguing  nobility,  or  to  govern  any 
stJite  as  states  were  then  constituted.  He  was. 
indeed,  "  too  trusting  and  merciful "  for  his  age ; 
I  Orderic. 


39G 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III, 


aud  his  generous  virtues  were  more  fatal  to  him 
thuu  the  vices  or  defects  wliich  stained  hJs  moral  1 
character.'  He  had,  however,  relapsed  into  his  ! 
old  irregularities  after  losing  the  beautiful  Sibylla,  j 
who  died'in  llO'i,  leaving  an  infant  son,  the  only  ■ 
isiHie  of  their  brief  marriage.  His  court  was  again  , 
thronged  with  vagaljond  jongleurs,  loose  women, 
and  rapacious  favorites,  who  plundered  him  of 
his  very  attire, — at  least  this  sovereign  prince  is 
represented  as  lying  in  bed  at  tinu-s  from  want  of 
proper  clothes  to  put  on  when  he  should  rise.  A 
much  more  serious  evil  for  the  country  was,  that 
his  pettiest  barons  were  suffered  to  wage  war  on 
each  other  and  inflict  all  kinds  of  wrong  and  insult 
on  the  people.  When  Henry  first  raised  the  mask 
he  declared  himself  the  protector  of  Normandy 
agaii>st  the  bad  government  of  his  brother;  and 
there  were  many,  as  well  nobles  as  of  the  common- 
alty, who  were  glad  to  consider  him  in  that  light. 
He  called  on  Robert  to  cede  the  duchy  for  a  sum 
of  money  or  an  annual  pension.  "  You  have  the 
title  of  chief,"  said  he ;  "  but  in  reality  you  are 
no  longer  a  chief,  seeing  that  the  vassals  who 
ought  to  obey  you  set  you  at  nought."*  The  duke 
indignantly  rejected  the  proposal;  on  which  the 
king  crossed  the  seas  with  an  army,  and,  "  by  large 
distributions  of  money  carried  out  of  England," 
won  many  new  partisans,  and  got  possession  of 
many  of  the  fortresses  of  Normandy.  The  duke, 
on  the  other  hand,  had  now  nothing  to  give  to  any 
one,  for,  in  his  thoughtless  generosity  and  extrava- 
gance he  had  squandered  everything  on  his  return 
from  Italy  ;  yet  still  some  brave  men  rallied  around 
him  out  of  alfectiwn  to  his  person,  or  in  dread  and 
hatred  of  his  brother,  and  Henry  found  it  impos- 
sible to  complete  his  ruin  in  this  campaign. 

In  the  following  year  (1106)  the  king  reap- 
peared in  Normandy  with  a  more  formidable  army 
and  with  still  more  money,  to  raise  which  he  had 
cruelly  and  arbitrarily  distressed  his  English  sub- 
jects; for  by  this  time  his  charter  had  become 
worthless,  and  he  had  broken  nearly  every  promise 
he  made  at  his  coronation.  About  the  end  of  July 
lie  laid  siege  to  Tenchebray,  an  important  place, 
the  garrison  of  which,  incorruptible  by  his  gold, 
made  a  faithful  and  gallant  resistance.  Robert, 
when  informed  that  his  friends  were  hard  pressed, 
l)romised  to  march  to  their  relief,  ensue  what 
might,  and  on  the  appointed  day,  most  true  to  his 
word,  as  was  usual  with  him  in  such  matters,  he 
appeared  before  the  walls  of  Tenchebray,  where 
Henry  had  concentrated  his  whole  armj-.  As  a 
soldier  Robert  was  far  superior  to  his  brother,  but 
liis  forces  were  numerically  inferior,  and  there  was 
treachery  in  the  camp.  As  brave,  however,  as 
when  ho  fought  the  Paynim  and  mounted  the 
breach  in  the  Holy  City,  he  fell  upon  the  king's 
army,  threw  the  English  infantry  into  disorder, 
and  had  nearly  won  the  victory,  when  De  Belesme 
basely  fled  with  a  strong  division  of  his  forces,  and 
left  him  to  inevitable  defeat;  for  a  panic  spread 
among    the    troops  that   remained,   and    all   men 

>  William  of  Malmsbury  says,  "  He  furgot  and  forgave  too  mucli." 
'  Orderic. 


thought  they  were  betrayed.  After  a  last  and 
most  brilliant  display  of  his  valor  as  a  soldier,  and 
his  conduct  as  a  commander,  the  duke  was  taken 
prisoner,  with  four  hundred  of  his  knights.  "  This 
battle,"  observes  old  John  Speed,  "  was  fought,  and 
Normandy  won,  upon  Saturday,  being  the  vigil  of 
St.  Michael,  even  the  same  day  forty  years  that 
William  the  Bastard  set  foot  on  England's  shore 
for  his  conquest ;  God  so  disposing  it  (saith  Malms- 
bury)  that  Normandy  should  be  subjected  to  Eng- 
land that  very  day,  wherein  England  was  subdued 
to  Normandy." 

The  fate  of  the  captives  made  at  Tenchebray,  or 
taken  after  that  battle,  or  who  voluntarily  surren- 
dered, was  various  :  some  received  a  free  pardon, 
some  were  allowed  to  be  ransomed  ;  and  a  few, 
among  whom  were  the  Earl  of  Mortaigne  and 
Robert  de  Stuteville,  were  condemned  to  perpet- 
ual imprisonment.  The  ex-earl  of  Shrewsbury, 
the  false  De  Belesme,  was  gratified  with  a  new 
grant  of  most  of  his  estates  in  Normandy  ;  and  the 
ex-bishop-minister  Ralph  Flambard,  who  had  been 
moving  in  all  these  contentions,  obtained  the  res- 
toration of  his  English  see,  by  delivering  up  the 
town  and  castle  of  Lisieux  to  King  Henry.  A  re- 
markaljle  incident  in  the  victory  of  Tenchebray  is, 
that  the  royal  Saxon,  Edgar  Atheling,  was  among 
the  prisoners.  Duke  Robert  had  on  many  occa- 
sions treated  him  with  great  kindness  and  liberal- 
itj' ;  and,  as  in  some  of  their  qualities  the  two 
princes  resembled  each  other,  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  lasting  sympathy  and  affection  between 
them.  According  to  some  accounts  Edgar  had 
followed  Robert  to  the  Holy  Land  ;'  but  this  is 
at  the  least  doubtful,  and  the  Saxon  Chronicle 
represents  him  as  having  joined  the  duke  only  a 
short  time  before  the  battle  of  Tenchebray,  where 
he  charged  with  the  Norman  chivalry.  This  was 
his  last  pubhc  appearance.  He  was  sent  over  to 
England,  where,  to  show  the  Norman  king's  con- 
tempt of  him,  he  w-as  allowed  to  go  at  large.  At 
t4ie  intercession  of  his  niece,  the  Queen  Maud, 
Henry  granted  him  a  trifling  pension  ;  and  this  sur- 
vivor of  so  many  changes  and  sanguinary  revolu- 
tions passed  the  rest  of  his  life  in  an  obscure  but 
tranquil  solitude  in  the  country.  So  perfect  was 
the  oblivion  into  which  he  fell,  that  not  one  of  the 
chroniclers  mentions  the  place  of  his  residence  or 
records  when  or  how  lie  died.  The  fate  of  his 
friend  Duke  Robert,  w-ho  had  much  less  apathy, 
was  infinitely  more  galling  from  the  beginning, 
and  his  captivitj'  was  soon  accompanied  with  other 
atrocities.  He  was  committed  a  prisoner  for  Ufe 
to  one  of  his  brother's  castles.  At  first  his  keepers, 
appointing  a  proper  guard,  allowed  him  to  take  air 
and  exercise  in  the  neighboring  Avoods  and  fields. 
One  day  he  seized  a  horse,  and  breaking  from  his 
guard,  did  his  best  to  escape ;  but  he  was  pres- 
ently pursued,  and  taken  in  a  morass,  wherein  his 
horse  had  stuck  fast.     Upon  hearing  of  this  attempt 

'•In  10P6,  the  last  year  of  the  Conqueror's  reign.  Edgar  Atheling 
obtained  permission  to  conduct  two  hundred  knights  to  Apulia,  and 
thence  to  Palestine  ;  but  we  are  not  informed  what  progress  he  made 
in  this  journey,  and  Duke  Robert  did  not  set  out  fur  the  Holy  Laud 
until  1096,  or  ten  years  after. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


397 


the  king  not  only  commanded  "  a  greater  restraint 
and  iiarder  durance,"  but  ordered  that  his  sight 
should  be  destroyed,  in  order  to  render  him  inca- 
pable of  such  enterprises,  and  unapt  to  all  royal 
or  martial  duties  for  the  future.  This  detestable 
order  was  executed  by  a  method  which  had  become 
horribly  common  in  Italy'  during  these  ages,  and 
which  was  not  unknown  in  other  countries  on  the 
continent.  A  basin  of  copper  or  iron,  made  red- 
hot,  was  held  close  over  the  victim's  eyes  till  the 
organs  of  sight  were  seared  and  destroyed.  The 
^vretched  prince  lived  twenty-eight  years  after  this, 
and  died  in  Cardiff  Castle  in  1135,  a  few  months 
before  his  brother  Henry.  He  was  nearly  eighty 
years  old,  and  had  survived  all  the  chiefs  of  name 
who  rescued  Jerusalem  from  the  Saracens.  Mat- 
thew of  Paris  tells  a  touching  anecdote  of  his  cap- 
tivity. One  day,  when  some  new  dresses  were 
brought  to  him  from  the  king,  in  examining  them 
by  his  touch  he  found  that  one  of  the  garments  was 
torn  or  rent  in  the  seam :  the  people  told  him  that 
the  king  had  tried  it  on  and  found  it  too  tight  for 
him.  Then  the  prisoner  threw  them  all  far  from 
him,  and  exclaimed,  "  How,  then,  my  brother,  or 
rather  my  traitor,  that  craven  clerk  who  has  de- 

'  The  punishment  was  usually  applied  to  captive  princes,  fallen 
ministers,  and  personages  of  the  highest  rank  and  political  influence. 
The  Italians  had  even  a  verb  to  express  it — Abbacinare,  from  bacino, 
a  basin.  "  L'abbacinare  e  il  medesimo  che  I'accecare  ;  e  perche  si 
faceva  con  un  bacino  roventc,  che  avvicinato  agli  occhi  tenuti  aperti 
per  forza,  concentrandosi  il  calore  struggeva  que'  panicelli,  e  risec- 
cava  I'umiditA,  che,  come  un'  uva  e  intorno  alia  pupilla,  e  la  ricopriva 
di  una  cotal  nuvola,  che  gli  tuglieva  la  vista,  si  aveva  preso  questo 
Home  d'abbacinare."  Such  is  the  formal  explanation  of  the  horrid 
verb  in  the  Dictionary  Delia  Crus(  a 


prived  me  of  my  aU,  imprisoned  me,  blinded  me, 
now  holds  me  at  so  mean  a  rate — I,  who  had  so 
much  honor  and  renown, — that  he  makes  me  alms 
of  his  old  clothes,  as  if  I  were  his  valet."  It  seems 
to  have  been  an  established  custom  for  kings  to 
give  dresses  to  their  state  prisoners  at  certain  fes- 
tivals in  the  year;  and  it  is  related  of  Fitz-Osborn 
that  he  lost  his  only  chance  of  enlargement  by 
treating  a  suit  sent  him  by  the  Conqueror  with  dis- 
respect. 

As  another  trait  of  manners  we  may  mention 
here,  that  Duke  Robert  was  made  prisoner  at 
Tenchebray  by  Gaidric,  King  Henry's  chaplain, 
who  was  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Llandaff  for 
this  clerical  piece  of  service.  This  martial  prelate's 
end  was,  however,  in  keeping  with  the  circum- 
stances of  his  promotion ;  for,  having  exasperated 
the  people  of  Llandaflf  with  his  tyranny  and  vio- 
lence, they  set  upon  him  in  a  field  and  killed  him, 
with  five  of  his  canons. 

In  getting  possession  of  Robert's  person  Henry 
became  master  of  all  Normandy.  Rouen,  the  cap- 
ital, submitted  to  the  conqueror,  and  Falaise  sur- 
rendered after  a  short  resistance.  At  the  latter 
place  William,  the  only  son  of  Sibylla  and  Duke 
Robert,  fell  into  his  hands.  Wlien  the  child,  who 
was  then  only  five  years  old,  was  brought  into  the 
presence  of  his  uncle,  he  sobbed  and  cried  for 
mercy.  It  could  not  escape  the  king's  far-reaching 
calculations  that  this  boy's  legitimate  claims  might 
cause  him  future  trouble  ;  but  Henry,  as  if  making 
a  violent  eftort  to  rid  himself  of  evil  thoughts,  sud- 
denly commanded  that  he  should  be  removed  from 


Cardiff  Castle,  as  it  appeared  in  1' 


398 


HISTORY  OF  ExNGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


h'mi.  and  given  in  custody  to  Helie  de  St.  Saen,  a 
Norman  noMe,  on  whom,  though  he  had  married 
an  iHcgitimato  daugliter  of  Duke  Robert,  lie  thought 
he  could  rely.  lie  soon,  however,  repented  of  this 
arrangement,  and  sent  a  force  to  surprise  the  castle 
of  St.  Saen,  and  secure  the  person  of  young  Wil- 
liam, lleiie  lied  with  his  pupil,  and  they  were 
both  hon(ual)ly  received  at  all  the  neighboring 
CDurts,  where  the  beauty,  the  innocence,  the  early 
misfortunes,  and  claims  of  the  boy,  gained  him 
many  protectors.  The  most  powerful  of  these 
friends  were  Louis  the  Sixth,  conuiionly  called  Le 
Gros,  and  Fulk,  Earl  of  Anjou,  who  were  reason- 
ably apprehensive  of  the  increasing  power  of  his 
uncle  on  the  continent.  As  William  Fit/.-Robert, 
as  he  was  called,  grew  up,  and  gave  good  promise 
of  being  a  valiant  prince,  they  espoused  his  cause 
more  decidedly,  Louis  engaging  to  grant  him  the 
investiture  of  Nonnandj-,  and  Fulk  to  give  him  his 
daughter  Sii)ylla  in  marriage  as  soon  as  he  should 
be  of  proper  age.  Before  that  period  arrived  cir- 
cumstances occurred  (a.  d.  1113)  that  hurried  them 
into  hostilities,  and  the  Earl  of  Flanders  having 
been  induced  to  sanction,  if  not  to  join  their  league, 
Henry  was  attacked  at  every  point  along  the  fron- 
tiers of  Normandy.  He  lost  towns  and  castles,  and 
was  alarmed  at  the  same  time  by  a  report,  true  or 
false,  that  some  friends  of  Duke  Robert  had  formed 
a  plot  against  his  life.  So  great  was  his  alarm,  that 
for  a  long  time  he  never  slept  without  having  a 
sword  and  buckler  by  his  bedside.  When  the 
war  had  lasted  two  years  Henry  put  an  end  to  it 
by  a  skilful  treaty,  in  which  he  regained  whatever 
he  had  lost  in  Normandy,  and  in  which  the  in- 
terests of  William  Fitz-Robert  were  ovei-looked. 
These  advantages  were  obtained  bj^  gi^'ing  the 
estates  and  honors  of  the  faithful  Helie  de  St. 
Saen  to  Fulk,  Earl  of  Anjou,  and  by  stipulating  a 
marriage  between  his  only  son,  Prince  William  of 
England,  and  Matilda,  another  daughter  of  that 
earl.  The  previous  contract  between  Fitz-Robert 
and  Sibylla  was  broken  olT,  and  the  Earl  of  Anjou 
agreed  to  give  no  more  aid  or  countenance  to  that 
young  prince. 

These  arrangements,  so  advantageous  for  Henry, 
were  not  made  without  great  sacrifices  of  money 
on  the  part  of  the  English  people;  and  some  years 
before  they  were  concluded  the  nation  was  made 
to  bear  another  burden.  By  the  feudal  customs 
the  king  was  entitled  to  levy  a  tax  for  the  marrying 
of  his  eldest  daughter;  and  (a.  n.  1110)  Henry 
affianced  the  Princess  Matilda,  a  child  only  eight 
years  old,  to  Henry  V.,  Emperor  of  Germany. 
The  high  nominal  rank  of  the  party,  and  the  gene- 
ral poverty  of  the  German  emperors  in  those  days, 
would  alike  rail  for  a  large  dowry:  and  Henry  V. 
drove  a  hard  bargain  with  his  brother  (and  to-be 
father-in-law)  of  England.  The  marriage  portion 
seems  to  have  been  principally  raised  by  a  tax  laid 
upon  land  at  the  rate  of  three  shillings  per  hide  ; 
and  the  contemporary  histories  abound  in  complaints 
of  the  harsh  manner  in  which  instant  payment 
was  exacted.  '  The  stipulated  sum  was  at  length 
ulared    in    the    liatids  of  the    emperor's   ambassa- 


dors, who  conducted  the  young  lady  into  Germany, 
where  she  was  to  be  educated.  If  the  English 
people  suffered,  they  were  regaled  by  a  fine  spec- 
tacle ;  for  it  is  said  that  never  was  sight  seen 
more  splendid  than  Matilda's  embarkation.  The 
graver  of  the  impressions,  however,  remained,  and 
it  was  remembered  to  her  disadvantage,  many 
years  after,  how  dear  her  espousals  had  cost  the 
nation. 

About  this  time  Henry  checked  some  incursions 
of  the  Welsh,  the  only  wars  waged  in  the  interior 
of  England  during  his  reign,  and,  causing  a  strong 
army  to  follow  them  into  their  fastnesses,  he 
gained  several  advantages  over  the  mountaineers. 
He  despaired,  however,  of  reducing  them  to  his 
obedience,  and  was  fain  to  content  himself  with 
building  a  few  castles  a  little  in  advance  of  those 
erected  bj-  the  Conqueror  and  the  Red  King.  He 
also  collected  a  number  of  Flemings  who  had  been 
driven  into  England  by  the  misfortunes  of  their 
own  country,  and  gave  them  the  town  of  Haver- 
fordwest, with  the  district  of  Ross,  in  Pembroke- 
shire. They  were  a  brave  and  industrious  people, 
skilled  in  manufacturing  woolen  cloths ;  and,  in- 
creasing in  wealth  and  numbers,  they  maintained 
themselves  in  their  advanced  post,  in  spite  of  the 
long  efforts  of  the  Welsh  to  drive  them  from  it. 
But  a  subject  which  occupied  the  mind  of  the  Eng- 
glish  king  much  more  than  the  conquest  of  Wales 
was  the  securing  the  succession  of  all  his  dominions 
to  his  only  legitimate  son  William,  to  whom  he 
confidently  and  proudly  looked  as  to  one  who  was 
to  perpetuate  his  lineage  and  power.  Having  al- 
ready made  all  the  barons  and  prelates  of  Nor- 
niandj"  swear  fealty  and  do  homage  to  the  boy,  he 
exacted  the  same  oaths  in  England  at  a  great  coun- 
cil of  all  the  bishops,  earls,  and  barons  of  the  king- 
dom, held  at  Salisburj- ;  and  being  still  pursued  by 
the  dread  of  the  growing  popularitj'  on  the  con- 
tinent, and  the  just  claims,  of  his  nephew  Fitz- 
Robert,  he  artfully  labored  to  get  him  into  his 
power,  making  use,  among  other  means,  of  the 
most  enticing  promises, — such  as  the  immediate 
possession  of  three  great  earldoms  in  England. 
But  that  prince  would  never  trust  the  jailer  of  his 
father ;  and  his  cause  was  again  supported  by  pow- 
erful friends,  whose  apprehensions  were  anew  ex- 
cited by  the  ambition  of  the  Enghsh  king. 

A.  D.  1118.  \t  a  moment  when  the  most  for- 
midable confederacy  that  ever  threatened  him  was 
forming  on  the  continent,  Henry  lost  his  excellent 
consort,  Maud  the  Good,  who  must  indeed  have 
"  died  with  the  sad  reflection  that  she  had  sacri- 
ficed herself  for  her  race  in  vain;"'  and  in  about 
a  month  after  he  suffered  a  loss,  which  he  probably 
felt  luuch  more,  in  the  death  of  the  Earl  of 
Melient,  the  ablest  instrument  of  his  ambition, 
the  most  skilful  of  all  his  ministers,  who  had  so 
managed  his  foreign  politics  as  to  obtain  for  him- 
self the  reputation  of  being  the  greatest  states- 
'  man  in  Europe. 

Henry's  want  of  good  faith  had  hurried  on  the 
storm  which  now  burst  upon  him.     He  had  secretly 

'  Mackintosh,  Hist.  Em 


C.IAP.   1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


399 


assisted  his  nephew  Theobald,'  Eai'l  of  Blois,  in 
a  revolt  against  his  feudal  superior  and  liege  lord, 
the  French  king, — he  had  broken  off  the  match 
agreed  upon  between  his  son  William  and  the  Earl 
of  Anjou's  daughter  Matilda, — and  he  had  belied 
many  of  the  promises  made  to  the  Norman  barons 
in  his  hour  of  need.  The  league  that  was  formed 
against  him,  therefore,  included  many  of  his  own 
disaffected  Norman  subjects,  Louis  of  France, 
Fulk  of  Anjou,  and  Baldwin,  Earl  of  Flanders, — 
the  last-mentioned  having  fewer  interested  motives, 
and  a  purer  affection  for  the  gallant  son  of  Duke 
Robert,  than  any  of  the  others.  The  beginning  of 
the  war  was  altogether  unfavorable  to  the  allies, 
and  King  Louis,  at  one  time,  was  forced  to  beg  a 
suspension  of  hostilities.  Then  fortune  veered, 
and  King  Henry  lost  gi-ound ;  but,  after  a  suc- 
cession of  reverses,  his  better  star  prevailed,  and 
he  was  made  happy  by  the  death  of  Baldwin,  P^arl 
of  Flanders,  the  soul  of  the  confederacy,  who  died 
of  a  wound  received  at  the  siege  of  Eu.  Being 
thus  relieved  from  one  of  his  formidable  enemies, 
he  proceeded  to  detach  another  by  means  as  preva- 
lent as  sword,  or  lance,  or  arrow-shot.  He  sent 
a  large  sum  of  money  to  the  venal  Earl  of  Anjou, 
and  agreed  that  the  marriage  between  his  son  and 
the  earl's  daughter  should  be  solemnized  forthwith. 
Fulk  took  the  bribe,  and,  abandoning  his  allies, 
went  to  prepare  for  the  wedding.  At  the  same 
time  Henry  gained  over  most  of  the  disaffected 
Norman  barons  with  rich  presents  or  new  prom- 
ises ;  and  after  two  more  years  of  a  war  of  petty 
sieges  and  of  skirmishes  scarcely  deserving  the 
name  of  battles,  the  French  king  saw  himself  de- 
serted by  all  his  allies.  As  before,  the  real  sufferers 
in  these  campaigns  were  the  people  of  Normandy 
and  the  neighboring  countries,  whose  lands  were 
wasted  and  houses  burned,  and  the  people  of  Eng- 
land, who  were  taxed  and  harried  to  furnish  the 
money  for  Henry.  As  for  the  chief  warriors  them- 
selves, what  with  the  impeneti'able  armor  in  which 
they  now  encased  themselves,  and  a  system  of  ran- 
soming one  another,  and  holding  all  knights,  on 
whatever  side  they  fought,  as  forming  part  of  a 
brotherhood,  every  member  of  which,  except  in 
certain  predicaments,  was  to  be  treated  with  res- 
pect, they  sufifered  little  more  than  if  they  had 
been  engaged  in  jousts  and  tournaments.  The 
engagement  which  closed  this  war,  and  which  was 
more  decisive  than  any  fought  during  the  course 
of  it,  is  an  amusing  specimen  of  these  knightly  en- 
counters. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  a.  d.  1119,  King  Louis, 
with  four  hundred  knights,  and  King  Henry,  with 
five  hundred  knights,  met,  more  by  accident  than 
by  any  design  on  either  side,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
town  of  Noyon.  Vizors  were  lowered,  trumpets 
sounded,  lances  couched,  and  a  brilliant  charge 
made  by  the  French  chivalry  headed  by  Fitz- 
Robert,  or,  as  he  was  now  generally  called,  "  Wil- 
liam of  Normandy."  This  young  prince  broke 
flu'ough  Henry's  first  rank,  and  penetrated  to  his 

'  Elder  brother  of  Stephen,  who  seized  the  English  crown  on 
Henry's  death. 


uncle,  who  was  struck  twice  on  the  head  by  Wil- 
liam Crispin,  Count  of  Evreux,  a  valiant  knight, 
but,  as  the  king  wore  a  steel  helmet  of  the  best 
quality,  he  received  little  injury.  After  a  gallant 
contest  the  French  were  defeated,  leaving  the 
royal  standard  and  one  hundred  and  forty  knights 
in  the  hands  of  the  victors.  When  the  dead  were 
counted  they  were  found  to  amount  to  three 
knights!  The  King  of  France  and  young  Wil- 
liam of  Normandy  had  their  horses  killed  under 
them,  but  they  escaped  on  foot.  This  boasted 
battle,  which  deserves  to  be  remembered,  was 
called  the  battle  of  Brenville.  The  French  ex- 
cused their  overthrow  by  saying  that  King  Henry 
set  upon  King  Louis  "when  he  was  not  aioare,  and 
his  knights  were  all  out  of  order  and  array ;"  add- 
ing, also,  "that  King  Henry  had  a  far  gi-eater  num- 
ber than  the  French  king  had."  The  Anglo-Nor- 
mans or  English  (for  the  latter  designation  was  al- 
ready common)  maintained  that  the  victory  had 
been  won  "  in  the  open  field  royally  ;"  but  their 
superiority  in  numbers  seem  unquestionable.  The 
battle  was  followed  by  a  display  of  chivalrous  cour- 
tesies. Henry  sent  King  Louis  a  war-horse  splen- 
didly caparisoned,  and  his  son  made  presents  to 
William  of  Normandy :  the  prisoners  were  hospit- 
ably entertained,  and  dismissed  on  the  payment  of 
proper  knightly  ransoms.  All  this,  though  it  only 
included  the  higher  classes,  was  an  immense  im- 
provement on  the  savage  practices  of  earlier  times  ; 
but  the  civilization  of  chivalry  was  at  all  times 
somewhat  superficial  and  uncertain  in  its  operation, 
and  during  this  very  Avar  atrocities  were  commit- 
ted which  make  us  shudder.  Henry  had  married 
.luliana,  one  of  his  illegitimate  children,  to  Eustace 
of  Breteuil,  of  whose  fidelity  he  afterwards  doubted. 
He  exacted  as  hostages  two  cliildren,  the  daughters 
of  Juhana  and  Eustace,  and,  as  a  pledge  on  his  own 
part,  ordered  Harenc,  one  of  his  officers,  to  place 
his  son  in  the  hands  of  Eustace.  In  a  moment  of 
rage  the  brutal  lord  of  Evreux  tore  out  the  eyes 
of  the  son  of  Harenc,  and  sent  him  back  to 
his  father.  Harenc  demanded  justice,  and  Henry 
coolly  told  him  he  might  retaliate  on  the  daugh- 
ters of  Eustace  and  Juliana,  the  king's  own 
grandchildren;  and  this  the  barbarian  did  forth- 
with, by  putting  out  their  eyes  and  cutting 
off  their  noses.  In  this  horrid  wreck  of  the 
strongest  affections  and  feelings  of  human  nature, 
Juliana  attempted  the  life  of  her  own  father. 
by  discharging  an  an-ow  at  his  breast  with  her  own 
hands. ^ 

Soon  after  the  battle  of  Brenville  an  end  was 
put  to  the  war,  now  only  maintained  on  one  side 
by  Louis,  through  the  praiseworthy  mediation  of 
the  pope,^  who,  however,  labored  in  vain  to  pro- 
cure a  mitigation  of  the  severity  exercised  on  Duke 
Robert,  and  a  proper  settlement  for  his  son  Wil- 
liam.    By  this  treaty  of  peace  Henry  Avas  to  pre- 

1  Orderic. — lien.  Hunt. 

2  Calixtus  II.  He  was  related  by  marriaofe  to  Kin?  Ilenrr,  ard 
personally  visited  that  sovereig^i,  who,  among  other  signal  falsehooi's, 
assured  him  that  his  brother  Robert  was  not  a  prisoner,  but  enter- 
tained in  a  sumptuous  manner  in  one  of  the  royal  castles,  whorf  he 
enjo)-ed  as  much  liberty  and  amusement  as  he  desired. 


400 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


sen-e  undisturbed  and  unquestioned  possession  of 
Normandy  ;  and  his  pride  was  saved  by  Louis  con- 
senting to  receive  the  homage  due  to  him  for  the 
duchy  from  the  son  instead  of  the  father.  This  son, 
who  was  in  liis  eighteenth  year,  had  received  the 
oaths  of  the  Norman  nobles,  as  also  the  hand  of  his 
bride,  a  child  only  twelve  years  old,  whose  father, 
Fulk  of  Anjou,  had  given  her  a  considerable  dower. 
King  Henry,  elated  by  success,  now  resolved  to 
return  triumphantly  to  England.  The  place  of 
embarkation  was  Barfleur,  where  Rufus  had  landed 
after  his  stormy  passage  and  impious  daring  of  the 
elements.'  The  double  retinue  of  the  king  and 
|)rince  royal  was  most  numerous,  and  some  delay 
was  caused  by  the  providing  of  accommodation  and 
means  of  transport  for  so  many  noble  personages ; 
among  whom  were  counted  we  scarcely  know  how 
many  illegitimate  children  and  mistresses  of  the 
king.  On  the  25th  of  November  (a.  d.  1120),  how- 
ever, all  was  ready,  and  the  sails  were  joyously 
bent  as  for  a  short  and  pleasant  voyage.  Thomas 
Fitz-Stephen,  a  mariner  of  some  repute,  presented 
himself  to  the  king,  and  tendering  a  golden  mark, 
said, — "  Stephen,  son  of  Evrard,  my  fixther,  served 
yours  all  his  life  by  sea,  and  he  it  was  wlio  steered 
the  ship  in  which  your  father  sailed  for  the  con- 
quest of  England.  Sire  King,  I  beg  you  to  grant 
me  the  same  office  in  fief :  I  have  a  vessel  called 
the  Blanche-Nef,  well  equipped,  and  manned  with 
fifty  skilful  mariners."  The  king  replied  that  he 
had  already  chosen  a  vessel  for  himself,  but  that,  in 
order  to  accede  to  the  prayer  of  Fitz-Stephen,  he 
would  confide  to  his  care  the  prince,  with  his  com- 
panions and  attendants.  Henry  then  embarked, 
and  setting  sail  in  the  afternoon  with  a  favorable 
and  gentle  wind  from  the  south,  reached  the  Eng- 
lish coast  in  safety  on  the  following  morning.  The 
l)rince  was  accompanied  in  the  Blanche-Nef,  or 
White  Ship,  by  his  half-brother,  Richard,  his  half- 
sister  the  Lady  Marie,-  Countess  of  Perche,  Rich- 
ard Earl  of  Chester,  v/ith  his  wife,  who  was  tlie 
king's  niece,  her  brother,  the  prince's  governor, 
with  a  host  of  gay  young  nobles,  both  of  Normandy 
and  of  England,  one  hundred  and  forty  in  number, 
eighteen  being  ladies  of  the  first  rank;  all  these 
and  their  retinues  amounting,  with  the  crew,  to 
about  three  hundred  persons.  On  such  occasions 
it  was  usual  to  regale  the  mariners  with  a  little 
wine,  but  the  prince  and  the  young  men  with  him 
imprudently  ordered  three  whole  casks  of  wine  to 
be  distributed  among  the  men,  who  "  drank  out 
their  wits  and  reason."  The  captain  had  a  sailor's 
pride  in  the  speed  of  his  craft  and  the  qualities  of 
his  crew,  and,  though  hours  passed  away,  he  pro- 
mised to  overtake  every  ship  that  had  sailed  before 
him.  The  prince  certainly  did  not  press  his  de- 
parture, for  he  spent  some  hours  on  deck  in  feast- 
ing and  dancing  with  his  company.     A  few  prudent 

1  See  ante,  p.  387.  Most  of  the  old  historians  are  of  opinion  that 
the  drowning  of  the  nephew  was  a  judgment  provoked  by  the  pre- 
KUniption  of  the  uncle. 

*  By  some  writers  this  lady  is  called  Maud,  and  by  others  Adele  or 
Adela.  The  name  of  her  mothrr  is  not  mentioned.  Richard  was  the 
son  of  an  English  mistress,  who  is  called  the  "  widow  of  Anskill,  a 
iiulilerr.Rn  that  lived  near  the  monastery  of  Abingdon." 


persons  quitted  the  disorderly  vessel,  and  went  on 
shore.  Night  had  set  in  before  the  Blanche-Nef 
started  from  her  moorings,  but  it  was  a  bright 
moon-light,  and  the  wind,  though  it  had  freshened 
somewhat,  was  still  fair  and  gentle.  Fitz-Stephen, 
proud  of  his  charge,  held  the  helm ;  every  sail  was 
set,  and,  still  to  increase  the  speed,  the  fifty  sturdy 
mariners,  encouraged  by  their  boyish  passengers, 
plied  the  oar  with  all  their  vigor.  As  they  pro- 
ceeded coastwise  they  got  engaged  among  some 
rocks  at  a  spot  called  Ras  de  Catte  (now  Ras  de 
Catteville),  and  the  White  Ship  struck  on  one  of 
these  with  such  violence  on  her  larboard  side,  that 
several  planks  were  started,  and  she  instantly  be- 
gan to  fill.  A  cry  of  alarm  and  horror  was  raised 
at  once  by  three  hundred  voices,  and  was  heard  on 
board  some  of  the  king's  ships  that  had  gained  the 
high  sea,  but  nobody  there  suspected  the  cause. 
Fitz-Stephen  lowered  a  boat,  and  putting  the  prince 
with  some  of  his  companions  in  it,  advised  them  to 
row  for  the  shore,  and  save  themselves.  This 
would  not  have  been  difficult,  for  the  sea  was 
smooth,  and  the  coast  at  no  great  distance ;  but  his 
sister  Marie  had  been  left  behind  in  the  ship,  and 
her  shrieks  touched  the  heart  of  the  prince, — the 
best  or  most  generous  deed  of  whose  life  seems  to 
have  been  his  last.  He  ordered  the  boat  to  be  put 
back  to  take  her  in ;  but  such  numbers  leaped  into 
it  at  the  same  time  as  the  lady,  that  it  was  upset 
or  swamped,  and  all  in  it  perished.  The  ship  also 
went  down  with  all  on  board.  Only  two  men  es- 
caped by  rising  and  clinging  to  the  main-yard,  which 
floated,  and  was  probably  detached  from  the  wreck  ; 
one  of  these  was  a  butcher  of  Rouen,  named  Ber- 
old,  the  other  a  young  man  of  higher  condition, 
named  Godfrey,  the  son  of  Gilbert  de  I'Aigle.  Fitz- 
Stephen,  the  unfortunate  captain,  seeing  the  heads 
of  two  men  clinging  to  the  yard,  swam  towards 
them.  "  And  the  king's  son,"  said  he,  "  what  has 
happened  to  him  ?"  "  He  is  gone !  neither  he, 
nor  his  brother,  nor  his  sister,  nor  any  person  of 
his  company,  has  appeared  above  Avater."  "Wo 
to  me  !"  cried  Fitz-Stephen  ;  and  then  he  plunged 
to  the  bottom.  The  night  was  cold,  and  the  young 
nobleman,  the  jiore  delicate  of  the  two  survivors, 
became  exhausted,  and  after  holding  on  for  some 
hours  let  go  the  yard,  and,  recommending  his  poor 
companion  to  God's  mercy,  sunk  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea.  The  butcher  of  Rouen,  the  poorest  of  all 
those  who  had  embarked  in  the  White  Ship, 
wrapped  in  his  sheep-skin  coat,'  held  on  till  morn- 
ing, when  he  was  seen  from  the  shore,  and  saved 
by  some  fishermen,  who  took  him  into  their  boat; 
and  from  him,  being  the  sole  sui-vivor,  the  circum- 
stances of  the  fearful  event  were  learned.  The 
tidings  reached  England  in  the  course  of  the  fol- 
lowing day,  but  no  one  would  venture  on  com- 
municating them  to  the  king.  For  three  days  the 
courtiers  concealed  the  fact,  and  at  last  they  sent  in 
a  little  boy,  who,  weeping  bitterly  with  "  no  coun- 
terfeit passion,"  fell  at  his  feet,  and  told  him  that 
the  White  Ship  was  lost,  and  that  all  on  board  had 

1  Qui  pauperior  erat  omnibus,  renone  amictus  ex   arietinis  pelli- 
bus Orderic. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


401 


^  ^3«t^';^ 


perished.  The  hard  hearl^of  Henry  was  not  proof 
to  this  shock, — he  sunk  to  the  ground  in  a  swoon ; 
and  though  he  survived  it  many  years,  and  indulged 
again  in  liis  habitual  ambition,  he  was  never  after- 
wards seen  to  smile.'  The  English  people  were 
far  indeed  from  partaking  in  this  grief;  and  if  half 
that  is  related  of  him  be  true,  they  were  well  rid  of 
a  flagitious  and  tyrannical  prince.  He  had  none  of 
the  qualities  or  English  feelings  of  his  Saxon  mo- 
ther, the  excellent  JMaud ;  and  he  had  even  been 
heard  to  threaten  that,  when  he  became  king,  he 
would  make  the  English  natives  draw  the  plough, 
and  treat  them  like  beasts  of  burden.  The  old 
chroniclers  considered  his  tragic  fate  as  an  actof 
divine  vengeance, — as  a  just  judgment  of  the  Al- 
mighty ;  and  they  thought  this  notion  was  strength- 

'  f irilpiic— Maliiisb.— Tien.  Hunt.— R.  Iloveden.— W.  Gemot. 
VOL.    I.— 26 


ened  by  the  circumstances  of  the  wreck,  which 
happened  in  no  storm  or  tempest,  but  in  serene 
weather,  and  on  a  tranquil  sea.'  They  recalled 
the  threat  of  the  arrogant  youth,  and  his  designs 
against  the  English  people.  Henry  of  Huntingdon 
exclaims,  "  He  was  thinking  of  his  future  reign  and 
greatness  ;  but  God  said  it  shall  not  be  thus,  thou 
impious,  it  shall  not  be  ;  and  it  so  fell  out  that  his 
brow,  instead  of  being  girded  with  the  crown  of 
gold,  was  beaten  against  the  rocks  of -the  ocean. '" 
The  horrid  accusations  made  against  Rufus  and 
hi3  courtiers  are  renewed  against  Prince  "William 
and  his  associates  by  a  starthng  if  not  convincing; 
number  of  contemporarj"  writ^'s ;  and  we  fear  no 
historical    skepticism    or  charity   can    remove    the 

'  It   was,   of  course,  not   forgotten  that   the  prince   sailed  — on  a 

Friday  ' 


402 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


(ioubt  of  his  having  been  a  dissolute  and  depraved 
youth. 

As  Henry  w.is  now  deprived  of  his  only  legiti- 
mate son,  he  was  cast  upon  new  plans  for  the  se- 
curing of  his  various  states  in  his  family.  At  the 
same  time,  the  same  event  seemed  to  brighten  the 
prospects  of  his  nephew,  William  of  Normandy, 
whose  frit'nds  certainly  increased  soon  after  the 
demise  of  the  heir  apparent.  A  circumstance  con- 
nected wi>h  the  marriage  of  the  drowned  prince 
hastened  and  gave  a  color  of  just  resentment  to 
one  declaration  in  favor  of  Fitz-Robert.  His  for- 
mer friend  Fulk,  Earl  of  Atijou,  demanded  back 
from  Henry  his  daugiiter  Matilda,  together  with 
the  dower  ho  had  given  to  Prince  William.  King 
Henry  willingly  gave  up  the  young  lady,'  but  re- 
fused to  part  with  the  money ;  and  upon  this, 
Fulk,  who  was  an  adej)t  in  these  matters,  renewed 
his  matrimonial  negotiations  with  the  son  of  Duke 
Robert,  and  finally  affianced  to  him  liis  younger 
daughter  Sibylla,  putting  him,  meanwhile,  in  pos- 
session of  the  earldom  of  Mons.  Louis  of  France 
continued  to  favor  the  young  prince,  and  some  of  the 
most  powerful  of  the  Norman  barons  entered  into 
a  conspiracy  in  his  favor  against  his  unkind  uncle 
Henry.  But  no  art,  no  precaution,  could  conceal 
these  manoeuvres  from  the  English  king,  who  liad 
spies  everywhere,  and  who  fell  Uke  a  thunderbolt 
among  the  Norman  lords  before  they  were  prepared. 
It  cost  him,  however,  more  than  a  year  to  subdue 
this  revolt;  but  then  he  made  the  Norman  leaders 
of  it  prisoners,  and  induced  the  Earl  of  Anjou  once 
more  to  abandon  the  cause  of  liis  intended  son-in-law. 

Some  time  before  effecting  this  peace,  Ileniy,  in 
the  vain  hope  of  offspring,  which  he  thought  must 
destroy  the  expectations  of  his  nephew,  espoused 
Adclais,  or  Alice,  daughter  of  Geoffrey,  Duke  of 
Louvain,  and  nieco  to  the  reigning  pope,  Calix- 
tus  11.  This  new  queen  was  young,  and  very 
beautiful,  but  the  marriage  was  not  productive  of 
any  issue  ;  and  after  three  or  four  years  had  passed, 
the  king  formed  the  bold  design  of  sctllijig  the 
crown  of  England  and  the  ducal  coronet  of  Nor- 
mandy on  his  daughter  Matilda,  who  had  become 
a  widow  in  1124,  by  the  death  of  her  husband,  the 
Emperor  Henry  V.  We  call  this  design  a  bold 
one,  because  it  was  opposed  to  the  customs  and 
feelings  then  prevalent  in  all  Europe,  and  most 
especially  so  in  our  country  and  the  neighboring 
continental  states,  where  a  female  reign  was  un- 
known, and  a  she-king  regarded  as  a  preposterous 
anomaly  degrading  to  the  warlike  nobles  and  the 
chivalry  that  propped  the  throne.  Accordingly,  at 
the  first  blush  of  the  business,  tlie  Anglo-Norman 
barons  expressed  their  astonishment  and  disgust ; 
but  Henry's  power  Avas  now  so  absolute  in  England, 
that  they  durst  not  then  venture  to  oppose  it ;  and  he 
purchased  the  acquiescence  of  the  most  formidable 
among  them,  with  money,  lands,  and  promises. 

On  the  solemn  day  of  Christmas  (a.d.  1126) 
there  was  a  general  assembly  in  Windsor  Castle,  of 
l-he  bishops,  abbots,  barons,  and  all  the  great  tenants 

'  Ten  years  after  MalilJa  became  a  aun  in  the  celebrated  convent 
of  Fontevraud. 


of  the  crown,  who,  for  the  most  part  acting  against 
their  inward  conviction,  unanimvusli/  declared  the 
ex-empress  Matilda  to  be  the  next  heir  to  the 
throne,  in  the  case  (now  not  problematical)  of 
her  father's  dying  without  legitimate  male  issue. 
They  then  swore  to  maintain  her  succession — the 
clergy  swearing  first,  in  the  order  of  their  rank, 
and  after  them  the  laity,  among  whom  there  seems 
to  have  been  more  than  one  dispute  touching  pre- 
cedence.' The  most  remarkable  of  these  disputes, 
as  being  an  index  to  hidden  aspirations,  was  that 
for  priority  between  Stephen,  Earl  of  Boulogne,  and 
Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester.  Stephen  was  the 
king's  nephew,  by  the  dai!ghter  of  the  (Conqueror, 
Henry's  sister,  Adela  :  Robert,  on  the  other  side, 
was  the  king's  own  son,  but  was  of  ilh^gitimate 
birth  ;  and  the  delicate  point  to  be  decided  was, 
whether  precedence  was  due  to  legitimacy  of  birth 
or  to  nearness  of  blood— or,  in  other  words,  wliich 
of  the  two — the  lawfully  begotten  nephew  of  a 
king,  or  t4io  unlawfully  begotten  son  of  a  king — 
was  the  greater  personage.  The  shade  of  the 
great  Conqueror  might  liave  been  vexed  at  such  a 
discussion ;  but  though  the  reigning  family  derived 
its  claim  from  a  bastard,  the  question  was  decided 
by  the  assembly  in  favbr  of  the  nephew,  Stephen, 
who  accordingly  swore  first.  The  question  had  not 
arisen  out  of  the  small  spirit  of  courtly  form  and 
etiquet ;  the  disputants  had  higher  objects.  They 
contemplated  perjury  in  the  very  preliminary  of  their 
oaths.  Feeling,  in  common  with  every  baron  pres- 
ent at  that  wholesale  swearing,  that  the  succession 
of  Matilda  was  insecure,  they  both  looked  forward 
to  the  crown  ;  and  on  that  account  each  Wiis  anxious 
to  be  declared  the  first  prince  of  the  blood. 

The  same  year  that  brought  Matilda  to  England, 
saw  Fulk,  the  Earl  of  Anjou,  depart  for  tlu^  Holy 
Land,  it  being  his  destiny  to  become  a  very  indilfer- 
ent  king  of  Jerusalem.  Having  marked  the  sign 
of  the  sacred  cross  on  his  shield,  his  helmet,  and 
other  arms,  as  also  on  his  saddle  and  the  bridle-rein 
of  his  horse,*  he  renounced  the  government  of  the 
province  of  Anjou  to  his  son  Geoffrey,  surnaraed 
Plantagenct,  on  account  of  a  custom  he  had  of 
wearing  a  sprig  of  flowering  broom^  in  his  cap  like 
a  feather.  Henry  had  many  times  felt  the  hostile 
power  of  the  earls  of  Anjou,  and  various  political 
considerations  induced  liim  to  conclude  a  marriage 
between  his  daughter  Matilda  and  Geoffrey,  the  son 
of  Fulk.  The  ex-empress,  though  partly  against 
her  hking,  consented  to  the  match,  which  was  ne- 
gotiated and  concluded  with  great  secrecy.  The 
barons  of  England  and  Normandy  pretended  that 
the  king  had  no  right  thus  to  dispose  of  their  future 
sovereign  without  previously  consulting  them ;  they 
were  generally  dissatisfied  with  the  proceeding,  and 
some  of  them  openly  declared  that  it  released  them 
from  the  obligations  of  the  oath  they  had  taken  to 
Matilda.     This  argument  was  made  more  cogent 

'  David,  Kinj  of  Scotland,  in  his  quality  of  Ene;lish  earl,  or  hold-  r 
of  lands  in  England,  swore  first  of  all  to  support  Matilda,  who  was  His 
own  niece. 

2  In  clypeo,  galeSque  et  in  omnibus  armis,  et  in  fraeno  seI;^^"i^e, 
sacras  crucis  sigmim. — Orderic. 

'  In  old  French  Genest  (now  Genet),  from  the  Latin  genitta. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


403 


when  death  relieved  them  from  the  dread  of  the 
power  and  ability  of  Henry,  who  disregarded  their 
present  murmm-s,  and  congratulated  himself  on  his 
policy,  which  united  the  interests  of  the  house  of 
Anjou  with  those  of  his  own.  The  marriage  was 
celebrated  at  Rouen,  in  the  octaves  of  the  feast  of 
Whitsuntide,  1127,  and  the  festival  was  prolonged 
during  three  weeks.  Henry,  somewhat  despot- 
ically, ordered  everybody  to  be  merry.  On  the 
first  day,  heralds,  in  full  costume,  went  through  the 
streets  and  squares,  crying  this  singular  proclama- 
tion :  "  In  the  king's  name,  let  no  man  here  pi'esent, 
whether  an  inhabitant  or  a  stranger,  rich  or  poor, 
noble  or  mlain,  be  so  boFd  as  to  withdraw  himself 
from  the  royal  rejoicings  ;  for,  whosoever  taketh  not 
part  in  the  diversions  and  games  will  be  held  guilty 
of  an  offence  toward  his  lord  the  king."^ 

But  rejoice  as  he  might,  Henry  felt  that  the  suc- 
cession of  his  daughter  could  never  be  secure,  if  his 
nephew  survived  him;  and  he  applied  himself  with 
all  his  craft  to  effect  the  ruin  of  that  young  man, 
who,  at  the  moment,  occupied  a  position  that  made 
him  truly  formidable.  At  the  late  peace,  the  French 
king  had  not  abandoned  his  interests  like  Fulk,  the 
Earl  of  Anjou ;  on  the  contrary,  Louis  invited  him 
again  to  his  court,  and  soon  after,  in  lieu  of  Sibylla 
of  Anjou,  gave  him  the  hand  of'-his  queen's  sister, 
and  with  her,  as  a  portion,  the  countries  of  Pontoise, 
Chauraont,  and  the  Vexin,  on  the  borders  of  Nor- 
mandy. Soon  after  this  advantageous  settlement, 
Charles  the  Good,  Earl  of  Flanders,  successor  to 
Baldwin,  the  steady  friend  of  the  son  of  Duke  Rob- 
ert, was  murdered  in  a  church  at  the  very  foot  of 
the  altar.  The  King  of  France  entered  Flanders 
as  liege  lord,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  people,  to 
punish  the  sacrilegious  murderers  ;  and  having  done 
this,  he,  in  virtue  of  liis  feudal  suzerainty,  conferred 
the  earldom  upon  William  of  Normandy,  who  had 
accompanied  him  in  the  expedition,  and  who,  had 
such  claims  been  allowed,  had  a  good  hereditary 
right  to  it  as  the  representative  of  his  grandmother, 
Matilda,  who  was  daughter  of  Earl  Baldwin  of  the 
old  legitimate  line.  The  Flemish  people  offered  no 
opposition  to  their  new  earl ;  and  King  Louis,  with 
his  army,  departed,  in  the  gi-atifying  conviction  that 
he  had  secured  a  stable  dominion  to  his  gallant 
young  brother-in-law,  and  placed  him  in  a  situation 
the  most  favorable  for  the  conquest  of  Normandy, 
or  at  least  for  the  curbing  of  that  ambition  in  the 
English  king,  which  continued  to  give  uneasiness  to 
Louis.  This  uneasiness  could  not  fail  of  being  in- 
creased by  the  union  between  the  Norman  line  and 
the  house  of  Anjou,  which  took  place  at  this  very 
time.  But  the  French  army  had  scarcely  left  tlie 
country,  when  the  Flemish  people,  distinguished 
even  in  that  age  by  their  turbulence,  broke  out  into 
revolt  against  their  new  earl,  and  asked  and  received 
assistance  from  King  Henry.  A  respectable  party, 
however,  adhered  to  William,  who  had  many  quali- 
ties to  insure  respect  and  love.  In  the  field  he  had 
a  manifest  advantage  over  the  ill-directed  insurgents, 
who  then  invited  Thiedrik,  or  Thierry,  Landgrave 
of  Alsace,  to  put  himself  at  their  head.     Thierry 

'  Script.  Rtr.  Franc 


gladly  accepted  their  invitation.  He  advanced  x 
claim  to  the  succession  on  the  ground  of  his  descent 
from  some  old  chief  of  the  country;  and  Henry, 
who  found  in  him  the  instrument  he  wanted,  sent 
him  money,  and  engaged  to  support  him  with  all  hig 
might.  The  treacherous  surrender  of  Lisl(^,  Gheni, 
and  other  important  places  in  Flanders,  immediately- 
followed  ;  but  William,  who  had  the  courage  and 
military  skill  of  his  unfortunate  father,  without  any 
of  his  indolence,  completely  defeated  his  antagonist, 
Thierry,  under  the  walls  of  Alost.  Most  unfortu- 
nately, however,  in  the  moment  of  victory,  he  re- 
ceived a  pike  wound  in  the  hand,  and  this  being 
neglected,  or  improperly  treated  by  ignorant  sui-- 
geons,  brought  on  a  mortification.  He  was  conveyed 
to  the  monastery  of  St.  Omer,  where  he  died  on  thu 
27th  of  July,  1128,  in  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  a  life 
which  had  been  subject  to  extraordinary  vicissitudes. 
In  his  last  moments,  he  wrote  to  his  unnatural  uncle, 
to  implore  mercy  for  the  Norman  barons  who  had 
followed  his  fortunes.  Henry,  in  the  joy  of  his 
heart,  granted  the  request  of  his  deceased  nephew, 
who  left  no  children  to  prolong  the  king's  inquietude, 
or  serve  as  a  rallying  point  to  the  disaffected  noble;-. 
We  are  not  informed  whether  the  tidings  of  Wil- 
liam's brief  greatness  were  conveyed  into  the  dun- 
geon of  Cardiff  Castle,  to  solace  the  heart  of  h\\ 
suffering  father,  or  whether  the  news  of  his  early 
death,  which  so  soon  followed  it,  was  in  mercy  con  - 
cealed  from  the  blind  old  man. 

To  work  out  his  purposes,  Henry  had  hesitate  I 
at  no  treachery,  no  bloodshed,  no  crime,  and  yet 
the  infiituated  man  fondly  hoped  to  end  his  days  in 
tranquillity.  The  winding  up  of  his  story  is  littln 
more  than  a  succession  of  petty  family  jars  and 
discords — the  very  bathos  of  ambition  and  worldly 
grandeur.  His  daughter  Matilda,  presuming  on  thu 
imperial  rank  she  had  held,  and  being  naturally  of  a 
proud,  imperious  temper,  soon  quarreled  with  her 
husband  :  a  separation  took  place  ;  Matilda  returned 
to  England,  and  her  father  was  occupied  durin-^ 
many  months  with  these  family  disputes,  and  in 
negotiating  a  peace  between  man  and  wife.  At 
length,  a  reconciliation  was  patched  up,  and  Matilda 
returned  to  her  husband.  The  oath-breaker,  her 
father,  thought  he  could  never  exact  oaths  enough 
from  others;  and  before  his  daughter  left  England, 
he  made  the  prelates  and  baions  again  swear  fealty 
to  her.  Henry,  who,  in  spite  of  these  precautioDi , 
well  knew  the  chances  to  which  Matilda  would  bn 
exposed,  ardently  longed  for  a  grandson,  whom  ho 
hoped  to  see  grow  \\\^ ;  but  for  six  years  he  wani 
kept  uneasy  and  unhappy  by  the  unfruiffulness  of 
the  marriage.  In  March,  1133,  however,  Matilda  wo  ^ 
delivered,  at  Mans,  of  her  first  child,  Henry,  styled 
Fitz-Empress,  who  was  afterwards  Henry  H.  of 
England.  At  the  birth  of  this  gi-andson  the  kin;^ 
again  convoked  the  barons  of  England  and  Nor- 
mandy, and  made  them  recognize  as  his  successors 
the  children  of  his  daughter,  after  him,  and  after 
her.  The  nobles  consented  in  appearance,  and, 
being  accustomed  to  the  taking  of  onths  which  they 
meant  to  break,  swore  fealty  afresh,  not  only  to 
Matilda,  hut  to  her  infant  son,  and  the  rest  of  her 


404 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAxND. 


[Book  III. 


progeny  as  yet  unborn.  The  ex-empress  gave  birth 
to  two  more  princes,  GeoflVey  and  William,  in  the 
course  of  the  two  following  years  ;  but  even  a  grow- 
ing family  failed  to  endear  her  husband  to  her :  she 
quarreled  with  him  on  all  possible  occasions;  and  as 
her  father  took  her  part,  whether  right  or  wrong, 
she  kept  his  mind  almost  constantly  occupied  with 
their  dissensions.  Under  these  circumstances,  it 
was  not  natural  that  GeoflVey  Plantagenet  should 
prove  a  loving  and  dutiful  son-in-law :  he  demanded 
immediate  possession  of  Normandy,  which  he  said 
Henry  had  promised  him ;  and  when  the  king-*re- 
fused,  he  broke  out  into  threats  and  insults.  Ma- 
tilda, it  is  said,  exerted  her  malignant  and  ingenious 
spirit  in  widening  the  breach  between  her  own  hus- 
band and  father.  The  four  last  years  of  Henry's 
reign,  which  were  spent  wholly  abroad,  were 
troubled  with  these  domestic  broils.  At  length  an 
incursion  of  the  Welsh  demanded  his  presence  in 
England;  and  he  was  preparing  for  that  journey, 
when  death  dispatched  him  on  a  longer  one.  His 
health  and  spirits  had  been  for  some  time  visibly  on 
the  decline.  On  the  25th  of  November,  "  to  drive 
his  grief  away,  he  went  abroad  to  hunt."  Having 
pursued  his  sport  during  the  day,  in  the  woods  of 
Lions-la-Foret,  in  Normandy,^  he  returned  home 

'  Lious-la-Fortt,  now  a  town,  is  at  a  short  distance  from  Rouen, 
and  is  approaclied  through  the  remains  of  a  forest,  to  which  it  owes 
its  surname.  To  this  forest,  once  of  great  extent,  the  Norman  princes 
eagerly  resorted  for  the  diversion  of  the  chase.  So  early  as  929, 
William  I.,  Duke  of  Normandy,  built  a  hunting-box  there,  which 
afterward  became  a  castle  imporlant  from  its  strength.  The  forest 
was  the  scene  of  many  of  the  adventures  recorded  in  the  old  chroni- 
rles  and  romances. — Tour  iu  Normandy,  by  Gaily  Knight,  Esq. 


in  the  evening  "somewhat  amended,"  and,  being 
hungry,  "  would  needs  eat  of  a  lamprey,  though 
his  physician  ever  counseled  him  to  the  con- 
trary." The  lamprey  or  lampreys  he  ate  brought 
on  an  indigestion ;  and  the  indigestion  a  fever : 
on  the  third  day,  despairing  of  his  recovery,  he 
sent  for  the  Archbishop  of  Kouen,  who  adminis- 
tered the  sacrament  and  extreme  unction ;  and, 
on  the  seventh  day  of  his  illness,  which  was  Sun- 
day, December  1,  a.d.  1135,  he  expired  at  the 
midnight  hour.  He  was  in  his  sixty-seventh  year, 
and  had  reigned  thirty-five  j^ears  and  four  months, 
wanting  four  days.  By  his  will  he  left  to  hia 
daughter  Matilda  and  her  heirs  for  ever,  all  his 
territories  on  either  side  the  sea;  and  he  desired 
that  when  his  lawful  debts  were  discharged,  and  the 
hveries  and  wages  of  his  retainers  paid,  the  residue 
of  his  effects  should  be  distributed  among  the  ))oor. 
He  seems  to  have  died  in  anger  with  his  son-in-law, 
for  the  name  of  GeoflVey  Plantagenet  was  not  men- 
tioned in  his  wiU.  Tliey  kept  the  royal  bowels  in 
Normandy,  and  deposited  them  in  the  church  of  St. 
Mary,  at  Rouen,  which  his  mother  had  founded ; 
but  the  body  was  conveyed  to  England,  and  interred 
in  Reading  Abbey,  which  Henry  had  built  himself. 
The  best  circumstances  attending  his  long  reign 
were,  the  peace  he  maintained  in  England,  and  a 
partial  respect  to  the  laws  which  his  vigorous  gov- 
ernment imposed  on  his  haughty  and  ferocious 
barons.  If  regard  is  had  only  to  success,  and  no 
attention  paid  to  the  wickedness  of  the  means,  he 
was  certainly  a  great  politician.  Considering  the 
times,  extraordinary  care  had  been  taken  of  his  ed- 


Rci.N.s;  OF  Reading  .\r.EiiY,  the  Burial  Place  of  Henry  I.,  as  they  appeared  in  1721. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  iMILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


40J 


ncation :  his  natural  abilities  were  excellent ;  and 
so  great  was  his  progress  in  the  philosophy  and  lit- 
erature of  the  age,  that  his  contemporaries  honored 
him  with  the  name  of  Beau-clerc,  or  the  fine  scholar. 
Henry  of  Huntingdon,  who  knew  him  well,  calls 
him  the  murderer  of  many  men,  the  violator  of  his 
oaths  ;  and  regards  him  as  one  of  those  princes  who 
cause  royalty  to  be  considered  as  a  crime.  The 
same  contemporary  writer  has  left  us  his  character 
as  differently  painted  by  his  friends  and  by  his  ene- 
mies. According  to  the  first,  he  was  commendable 
for  the  three  glorious  qualities  of  wisdom,  valor,  and 
wealth ;  according  to  the  latter,  he  was  to  be  con- 
demned for  the  three  especial  vices  of  covetousness, 
cruelty,  and  lust.  If  we  unite  the  good  and  the 
evil,  and  add  the  qualities  of  craft,  treachery,  and 
an  implacable  revenge,  we  shall  come  to  a  pretty 
just  estimate  of  his  moral  worth. 

Some  minor  details  may  be  added,  partly  from  the 
insight  they  afford  into  character,  and  in  part  for 
the  naivete  with  which  they  are  recorded  by  the  old 
writers.  He  was  proud  of  his  learning,  and  in  the 
habit  of  saying  that  he  considered  an  unlearned  king 
as  nothing  better  than  a  crowned  ass.  He  was  very 
fond  of  men  of  letters,  and  of  wild  beasts ;  and,  to 
enjoy  both,  he  often  fixed  his  residence  between 
them ;  or,  in  the  words  of  one  of  the  chroniclers, 
"  He  took  chief  pleasure  to  reside  in  his  new  palace, 
which  himself  built  at  Oxford,  both  for  the  delight 
he  had  in  learned  men — himself  being  very  learned 
— and  for  the  vicinity  of  his  new  park  at  Woodstock, 
which  he  had  fraught  with  all  kinds  of  strange  beasts, 
wherein  he  much  delighted,  as  lions,  leopards, 
lynxes,  camels,  porcupines,  and  the  like."^  His  love 
of  letters,  however,  did  not  interfere  with  his  re- 
venge. In  the  last  war  in  which  he  was  personally 
engaged  on  the  continent,  Luke  de  Barre,  a  knightly 
poet,  who  had  fought  against  him,  was  made  pris- 
oner, and  barbarously  sentenced  to  lose  his  eyes. 
Charles  the  Good,  Earl  of  Flanders,  who  was  pres- 
ent, remonstrated  against  the  punishment,  urging, 
among  other  things,  that  it  was  not  the  custom  to  in- 
flict bodily  punishment  on  men  of  the  rank  of  knights, 
who  had  done  battle  in  the  service  of  their  immediate 
superior.  Henry  replied,  "  This  is  not  the  first  time 
that  Luke  de  Barre  has  borne  arms  against  me  ;  but 
he  has  been  guilty  of  still  worse  things — for  he  has 
satirized  me  in  his  poems,  and  made  me  a  laughing- 
stock to  mine  enemies.  From  his  example,  let 
other  verse-makers  learn  what  they  have  to  expect 
when  they  offend  the  King  of  England."  The  cruel 
sentence  was  wholly  or  partly  executed,  and  the 
poet,  in  a  paroxysm  of  agony,  burst  from  the  savage 
hands  of  the  executioners,  and  dashed  out  his  brains 
against  the  wall.*  The  next  anecdote  is  of  a  pleas- 
anter  kind,  but  it  will  not  give  an  advantageous  idea 
of  the  devotion  of  which  Henry  was  accustomed  to 
make  frequent  profession.  Early  in  life,  he  chose 
his  chaplain  by  the  rapidity  with  wliich  he  got 
through  a  mass,  saying,  that  no  man  could  be  so  fit 
a  mass-priest  for  soldiers  as  one  who  did  his  work 
with  such  dispatch.  While  serving  under  his  brother 
William  in  Normandy,  Henry  chanced  to  enter  this 

>  Rossus.,  quoted  in  Speed's  Chron  2  Orderic. 


priest's  church,  as  it  lay  on  his  road,  near  Caen. 
"  And  when  the  royal  youth,"  says  William  of  New- 
bury, "  said,  follow  me,  he  adhered  as  closely  to  him 
as  Peter  did  to  his  heavenly  Lord,  uttering  a  similar 
command ;  for  Peter,  leaving  his  vessel,  followed 
the  King  of  kings — he,  leaving  his  church,  followed 
the  prince,  and  being  appointed  chaplain  to  him  and 
his  troops,  became  a  blind  leader  of  the  blind."  In 
some  worldly  respects,  at  least,  the  censure  was  too 
severe.  The  speedy  chaplain,  who  will  reappear 
under  the  reign  of  Stephen,  and  whose  achievements 
in  architecture  will  be  noticed  in  the  proper  place, 
was  Roger,  afterward  the  famous  bishop  of  Sarum, 
and  treasurer  and  favorite  minister  to  Henry,  who  in- 
variably made  such  selections  from  among  the  most 
able  and  quick-sighted  of  men.'  Another  anecdote 
which  is  told  of  him,  displays  at  once  Henry's  ma- 
hgnity  of  disposition  and  his  profound  dissimulation. 
When  Bloet,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  one  of  his  principal 
judges,  his  steady  friend  for  many  years,  and  who 
was  supposed  to  be  at  the  moment  in  the  greatest 
favor,  was  told  that  the  king  had  spoken  of  him  in 
terms  of  the  highest  praise,  he  exclaimed,  "  Then 
I  am  a  lost  man — for  I  never  knew  him  praise  any 
one  whom  he  had  not  resolved  to  ruin."  The  bishop 
ivas  ruined  very  soon  after,  for  having  said  that  the 
monastery  which  he  was  building  at  Ej-nsham  should 
be  as  fine  an  edifice  as  the  abbey  which  Henry  had 
built  at  Reading. 

Stephen. 

A.D.  1135.  Henry  Beauclerk  was  scarcely  dead 
when  events  proved  how  fruitless  were  all  his  pains 
and  precautions  to  secure  the  succession  to  his 
daughter,  and  how  utterly  valueless  were  luianimous 
oaths  which  were  rather  the  offspring  of  fear  than 
of  inward  conviction  and  good  will.  Passing  over 
the  always  questionable  obligation  of  oaths  of  this 
nature,  there  were  sevei'al  capital  obstacles  to  bar 
the  avenues  of  the  throne  to  Matilda.  The  first 
among  these  was  her  sex.  Since  the  time  of  the 
ancient  Britons  England  had  never  obeyed  a  female 
sovereign,  and  the  Saxons  for  a  long  time  had  even 
a  marked  aversion  to  the  name  and  dignity  of  queen 
when  applied  only  to  the  reigning  king's  wife.''  In 
the  same  manner  the  Normans  had  never  known  a 
female  reign,  the  notion  of  which  was  most  repug- 
nant to  the  whole  course  of  their  habits  and  feelings. 
To  hold  their  fiefs  "  under  the  distaff"  (as  it  was 
called)  was  considered  humiliating  to  a  nobility 
whose  business  was  war,  and  whose  king,  according 
to  the  feudal  system,  was  little  else  than  the  first  of 
many  warriors, — a  chief  expected  to  be  in  the  sad- 
dle and  at  the  head  of  his  chivalry  whenever  occa- 
sion demanded.  Wo  accordingly  find  that  a  loud 
and  general  cry  was  raised  by  the  Anglo-Normau 
and  Norman  barons,  that  it  would  be  most  disgrace- 
ful for  so  many  noble  knights  to  obey  the  orders  of 
a  woman.     In  certain  stages  of  society,  and  in  all 

1  During  Henry's  frequent  and  long  absences  from  England,  Roger 
seems  almost  invariably  to  have  been  lord-lieutenant  or  regent  ol  the 
kingdom. 

2  See  ante,  pp.  142,  144. 


400 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Great  Seal  of  Stephen. 


the  earliest,  the  Salic  law,  or  that  portion  of  it  ex- 
cludinj;  females  from  the  throne,  to  which  we  have 
limited  its  name  and  meaning,  is  a  natural  law. 
These  all  but  insurmountable  objections  would  not 
hold  good  against  her  son  Henry,  but  that  prince 
was  an  infant  not  yet  four  years  old,  and  regencies 
under  a  long  minority  were  as  incompatible  with 
the  spirit  {lod  condition  of  the  times  as  a  female 
reign.  Qrteensigoverning  in  their  own  right  and  by 
themselves,  and  faithfully  guarded  minorities,  are 
both  the  product  of  an  age  much  more  civilized  and 
settled  than  the  twelfth  century,  and  the  approach 
to  them  was  slow  and  gradual.  It  was  something, 
however,  to  have  confined  the  right  of  succession  to 
the  legitimately  born ;  for  if  the  case  had  occurred 
a  little  earlier  in  England,  the  grown-up  and  expe- 
rienced natural  son  of  the  king,  standing  in  the 
position  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  might  possi- 
<>ly  have  been  elected  without  scruple,  as  had  hap- 
'•pened  to  Edmund  Ironside,  Athelstane,  and  others 
■  of  the  Saxon  line.  This  was  a  great  step  made  by 
trhe  clergy  (through  their  enforcing  the  canons  of  the 
'idmrch)  toward  the  establishment  of  that  royal  le- 
'"ghawiacy  which  has  been  the  idol  of  more  modern 
1  times ;  but  still  it  was  only  a  step,  and  the  system 
to  which  it  tended  was  not  completed  and  thoroughly 
established  until  long  after. 

No  one  was  better  acquainted  with  the  spirit  of 
the  times  and  the  obstacles  raised  against  Matilda 
and  Earl  Robert  than  the  ambitious  Stephen,  who 
had  taken  many  measures  beforehand,  who  was  en- 
couraged by  the  irregularity  of  the  succession  ever 
since  the  Conquest,  and  who  would  no  doubt  give 
the  widest  interpretation  to  whatever  of  elective 
character  was  held  to  belong  to  the  English  crown. 
His  perjury,  his  ingi-atitude  for  the  benefits  received 
from  Henry,  belong  to  quite  another  view  of  the 
subject,  and  were  precisely  such  as  might  be  ex- 
pected from  his  circumstances  and  the  time  in  which 
he  lived.  Henry  had  indeed  been  unusually  boun- 
tiful to  this  nephew.  He  married  him  to  Maud, 
daughter  and  heir  of  Eustace,  Count  of  Boulogne, 


who  brought  him,  in  addition  to  the  feudal  sove- 
reignty of  Boulogne,  immense  estates  in  England, 
which  had  been  conferred  by  the  Conqueror  on  the 
family  of  the  count.  By  this  marriage  Stephen  alsc 
acquired  another  close  connection  with  the  royal 
family  of  England  and  a  new  hold  upon  the  sympa- 
thies of  the  English,  as  his  wife  Maud  was  of  the 
old  Saxon  stock,  being  the  only  child  of  Maiy  of 
Scotland,  sister  to  David  the  reigning  king,  as  also 
to  the  good  Queen  Maud,  the  first  wife  of  Henry, 
and  mother  of  the  Empress  Matilda.  Still  further 
to  aggrandize  this  favorite  nephew,  Henry  conferred 
upon  him  the  great  estate  forfeited  by  Robert  Mal- 


Ptepheh. 

Enlarged  from  a  unique  Silver  Cnin  in  the  Ciillection  of 

Sir  Henry  Ellis. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


407 


let  in  England,  and  that  forfeited  by  the  Earl  of 
Mortaigne  in  Normandy.  He  also  brought  over 
Stephen's  younger  brother  Henry,  who,  being  a 
churchman,  was  created  Abbot  of  Glastonbury  and 
Bishop  of  Winchester.  Stephen  had  resided  much 
in  England,  and  had  rendered  himself  exceedingly 
popular  both  to  the  Normans  and  the  people  of 
Saxon  race.  The  barons  and  knights  admired  him 
for  his  undoubted  bravery  and  activity, — the  people 
for  his  generosity,  the  beauty  of  his  person,  and  his 
affable,  familiar  manners.  The  king  might  not  know 
it,  but  he  was  the  popular  favorite  in  the  already 
important  and  fast-rising  city  of  London  before 
Henry's  death.  When  that  event  happened,  he 
was  nearer  England  than  Matilda,  whose  rights  he 
had  long  determined  to  dispute.  Taking  advantage 
of  his  situation,  he  crossed  the  Channel  immediately, 
and  though  the  gates  of  Dover  and  Canterbury  were 
shut  against  him,  he  was  received  in  London  with 
enthusiastic  joy,  the  populace  saluting  him  as  king 
without  waiting  for  the  formalities  of  the  election 
and  consecration.  The  first  step  to  the  English 
throne  in  those  days,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  cases 
of  Rufus  and  Henry,  was  to  get  possession  of  the 
royal  treasury  at  Winchester.  Stephen's  own 
brother  was  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  by  his  as- 
sistance he  got  the  keys  into  his  hands,  but  whether 
before  or  immediately  after  the  election  is  not  quite 
clear.  The  treasure  consisted  of  100,000/.  in  money, 
besides  plate  and  jewels  of  great  value.  His  epis- 
copal brother  was  otherwise  of  the  greatest  use, 
being  mainly  instrumental  in  winning  over  Roger, 
Bishop  of  Sarum,  then  chief  justiciary  and  regent 
of  the  kingdom,  and  William  Corboil,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  without  whose  consent  the  coronation 
would  have  been  informal.  Bishop  Roger,  he  who 
had  been  the  speedy  mass-priest  of  King  Henry, 
was  easily  gained  through  his  constant  craving  after 
money;  but.the  primate  was  not  assailable  on  that 
side,  being  a  very  conscientious  though  weak  man : 
it  was  therefore  thought  necessary  to  practice  a  de- 
ception upon  him,  and  Hugh  Bigod,  steward  of  the 
late  household,  made  oath  before  him  and  other 
lords  of  the  land,  that  the  king  on  his  death-bed  had 
adopted  and  chosen  his  nephew  Stephen  to  be  his 
heir  and  successor,  hecause  his  daughter  the  empress 
had  grievously  offended  him  by  her  recent  conduct. 
This  was  a  most  disgraceful  measure ;  and  those 
men  were  more  honest,  and  in  every  sense  occupied 
better  ground,  who  maintained  that  the  great  king- 
dom of  England  was  not  a  descendible  property,  or 
a  thing  to  be  willed  away  by  a  dying  king,  without 
the  consent  and  against  the  customs  of  the  people. 
After  hearing  Bigod's  oath,  the  archbishop  seems  to 
have  floated  quietly  with  the  current  Avithout  offer- 
ing either  resistance  or  remonstrance.  But  there 
were  other  oaths  to  be  considered,  for  the  whole 
body  of  the  clergy  and  nobility  had  repeatedly  sworn 
fealty  to  Matilda.  We  have  already  shown  how 
the  oaths  were  considered  by  the  mass ;  and  now 
the  all-prevalent  Bishop  of  Sarum  openly  declared 
that  those  vows  of  allegiance  were  null  and  void,  be- 
cause, without  the  consent  of  the  lords  of  the  land, 
the  empress  was  married  out  of  the  realm  ;  whereas 


they  took  their  oath  to  receive  her  as  their  queen 
upon  the  express  condition  that  she  should  never  be 
so  married  without  their  concurrence.'  Some  scru- 
ples may  have  remained,  but  no  opposition  was 
offered  to  his  election,  and  on  the  26th  of  Decem- 
ber, being  St.  Stephen's  day,  Stephen  was  hallowed 
and  crowned  at  Westminster  by  the  primate,  Wil- 
liam Corboil.  Immediately  after  his  coronation  he 
went  to  Reading  to  attend  the  burial  of  the  body  of 
his  uncle,  and  from  Reading  Abbey  he  proceeded  to 
Oxford,  where  he  summoned  a  great  council  of  the 
prelates,  abbots,  and  lay  barons  of  the  kingdom,  that 
he  might  receive  their  oaths  of  allegiance  and  con- 
sult with  them  on  the  affairs  of  the  state.  When 
the  assembly  met  he  allowed  the  clergy  to  annex  a 
condition,  which,  as  they  were  sure  to  assume  the 
right  of  interpretation,  rendered  their  oaths  less 
binding  even  than  usual.  They  swore  to  obey  him 
as  their  king  so  long  as  he  should  preserve  their 
church  liberties  and  the  vigor  of  discipline,  and  no 
longer.  This  large  concession,  however,  had  the 
effect  of  conciliating  the  bishops  and  abbots,  and  the 
confirmation  of  the  pope  soon  followed.  The  letter 
of  Innocent  II.,  which  ratified  Stephen's  title,  was 
brief  and  clear  :  "  We  have  learnt,"  said  the  pontiff, 
"  that  thou  hast  been  elected  by  the  common  voice 
and  unanimous  consent  as  well  of  the  lords  as  the 
people,  and  that  thou  hast  been  hallowed  by  the 
prelates  of  the  kingdom.  Considering  that  the  suf- 
frages of  so  great  a  number  of  men  cannot  have  met 
in  thy  person  without  a  special  cooperation  of  the 
divine  grace,  and  that  thou,  besides,  art  a  near  rela- 
tion of  the  deceased  king,  we  are  well  pleased  with 
all  that  hath  been  done  in  thy  fiivor,  and  adopt  the*; 
with  paternal  affection  a  son  of  the  blessed  aijostle. 
Peter  and  of  the  holy  Roman  church."- 

Stephen  weakened  his  right  instead  of  strength- 
ening it,  by  introducing  a  variety  of  titles  into  his 
charter,  which,  in  imitation  of  his  predecessor  Hen- 
ly,  he  issued  at  this  time ;  but  particular  stress 
seems  to  have  been  laid  on  his  election  as  king, 
"  with  the  consent  of  the  clergy  and  people,"  and 
on  the  confirmation  granted  him  by  the  pope.  In 
this  same  charter  he  promised,  as  his  uncle  had 
done  before  him,  to  redress  all  grievances,  and  grant 
to  the  people  all  the  good  laws  and  good  customs  of 
Edward  the  Confessor.  Whatever  were  his  natural 
inclinations  (and  we  are  inclined  to  believe  they 
were  not  bad  or  ungenerous),  the  circumstances  in 
which  he  was  placed,  and  the  villanous  instruments 
with  which  lie  had  to  work,  fioni  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  his  troubled  reign,  put  it  wholly  out  of 
his  power  to  keef)  the  promises  he  had  made,  and 
the  condition  of  the  English  people  became  infinitely 
worse  under  him  than  it  had  been  under  Henry  or 
even  under  Rufus.  A  concession  which  he  made, 
to  the  lay  barons  contributed  largely  to  the  frightful 
anarchy  which  ensued.  To  secure  their  affections 
and  to  sti'engthen  himself,  as  he  thought,  against 
the  empress,  he  granted  them  all  permission  to  for- 

1  Malt.  Par.— Gesta  Steph. 

2  Surip.  Rer.  Franc.  The  letter  of  the  pope  has  hpcn  pres«rveil 
by  Richard  of  Hexham.  It  may  be  possible,  though  it  appears, 
scarcply  probable,  that  the  pope  knew  nothing  of  the  oaths  previooalx- 
takeii  to  Matilda  and  her  children. 


408 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III 


tify  their  castles  and  build  new  ones;  and  these, 
iilmost  without  an  exception,  became  dens  of  thieves 
and  cut-throats.  At  the  same  time  he  made  large 
promises  to  the  venal  and  rapacious  nobles,  to  engage 
them  the  more  in  support  of  his  title  to  the  crown,  and 
gave  them  strong  assurances  that  they  should  enjoy 
more  privileges  and  offices  imder  him  than  they  had 
possessed  in  the  reigns  of  his  Norman  predecessors. 
The  keeping  of  these  engagements  with  the  barons 
would  of  itself  render  nugatory  his  promises  to  the 
Knglish  people,  whose  greatest  hardships  arose  out 
of  the  already  extensive  privileges  of  the  nobles ; 
and  the  non-performance  of  them  was  sure  to  bring 
down  on  Stephen's  head  the  vengeance  of  a  warlike 
l)ody  of  men,  who  were  almost  everything  in  the 
nation,  and  far  too  much,  when  united,  for  any  royal 
authority,  however  legitimately  founded.  At  first, 
and  probably  on  account  of  the  large  sum  of  money 
lie  had  in  hand  to  meet  demands,  all  went  on  in 
great  peace  and  harmony ;  and  the  court  the  new 
king  held  in  London  during  the  festival  of  Easter, 
in  the  first  year  of  his  reign,  was  more  splendid,  and 
better  attended  in  every  respect,  than  any  that  had 
yet  been  seen  in  England.  The  quantity  of  gold 
and  silver  and  precious  gems,  and  the  costly  dresses 
displayed  at  the  royal  banquets,  are  described  as 
being  most  imposing.' 

Nor  were  the  prelates  and  barons  in  Normandy 
more  averse  to  the  succession  of  Stephen  than  their 
brethren  in  England.  The  old  reasons  for  desiring 
a  continuance  of  their  union  with  our  island  were 
still  in  force  with  many  of  them ;  and  there  was  a 
hereditary  animosity  between  the  nobles  and  people 
of  Normandy  and  those  of  Anjou,  so  that  when  Geof- 
frey Plautagenet,  Earl  of  Anjou,  marched  into  the 
duchy  to  assert  the  rights  of  his  wife  Matilda,  he  and 
his  Angevins  met  with  a  determined  opposition,  and 
he  was,  soon  after,  glad  to  conclude  a  peace  or  truce 
for  two  years  with  Stephen  on  condition  of  receiving 
during  that  time  an  annual  pension  of  5000  marks. 
When  Stephen  appeared  on  the  continent  he  met 
with  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  was  considered  as 
an  unlawful  usurper :  the  Normans  swore  allegiance, 
and  the  French  king  (Louis  VII.),  with  whom  he 
had  an  interview,  formed  an  aUiance  by  contracting 
his  young  sister  Constance  with  Eustace,  Stephen's 
young  son,  and,  as  suzerain,  gi-anted  the  investiture 
of  Normandy  to  Eustace,  who  was  then  a  mere  child. 

During  the  first  year  of  Stephen's  reign  England 
was  disturbed  only  by  the  revolt  of  the  Earl  of  Exe- 
ter, who  was  discontented  with  his  share  in  the 
new  king's  liberalities ;  and  by  a  Scottish  incursion 
made  into  the  northern  counties  in  support  of  Ma- 
tilda by  her  uncle.  King  David,'  who,  however,  was 
bought  oft',  for  the  present,  by  the  grant  of  the  lord- 
ship of  Huntingdon  and  the  castle  of  Carlisle,  with 
a  few  other  concessions.  Robert,  Earl  of  Glouces- 
ter, the  late  king's  natural  sou,  who  had  so  vehe- 
mently disputed  the  question  of  precedence  with 
Stephen,  merged  his  own  pretensions  to  the  crown 
in  those  of  his  half-sister  Matilda,  whose  cause  he 

1  Henry  Hunting-. 

2  The  Scottish  king  was  equally  uncle  to  Stephen's  wife,  but  he 
probably  remembeied  the  oaths  he  had  taken  to  the  mother  of  Henry. 


resolved  to  promote  in  England  conjointly  with  his 
own  immediate  advantages.  He  was  a  soldier  of 
good  repute,  though  by  no  means  so  brilliant  a  one 
as  Stephen ;  he  was  also  a  man  of  political  abihty 
and  of  consummate  craft.  Pretending  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  his  rule,  he  came  over  from  the  continent 
(a.d.  1137)  and  took  the  oaths  of  fealty  and  homage 
to  Stephen,  by  the  performance  of  which  ceremony 
he  obtained  instant  possession  of  his  vast  estates  in 
England,  together  with  more  power  and  opportunity 
of  promoting  the  cause  he  had  embraced  than  a 
more  straightforward  line  of  conduct  or  a  con- 
scientious exile  would  ever  have  alVorded  him.  It 
is  said  that,  in  imitation  of  the  clergy,  he  made  his 
allegiance  conditional,  stating  when  he  took  his 
oaths,  that  they  were  to  be  binding  only  as  long  as 
the  king  kept  his  engagements  with  him ;  but  this, 
if  ti'ue,  will  hardly  excuse  his  conduct,  for  the  first 
use  he  made  of  the  advantages  the  oaths  procured 
him,  and  before  Stephen  had  time  to  break  any 
part  of  his  contract,  was  to  intrigue  with  the  nobles 
in  favor  of  his  half-sister,  and  lay  the  ground-work 
of  plots  against  the  king  de  facto.  The  happy  calm 
in  which  England  lay  did  not  last  long  after  the 
Earl  of  Gloucester's  arrival.  Several  of  the  barons, 
alleging  theu'  services  had  not  met  with  meet  re- 
ward, began  to  seize,  by  force  of  arms,  difl'erent 
parts  of  the  i-oyal  demesne,  which  they  said  Ste-  • 
phen  had  promised  them  in  fief,  either  at  his  core-  I 
nation  or  at  the  council  held  at  Oxford.  Hugh 
Bigod,  who  had  sworn  that  King  Henry  had  ap- 
pointed Stephen  his  successor,  and  Avho  probably  J 
put  a  high  price  on  his  perjury.  Avas  foremost  M 
among  the  disaftected.  and  seized  Norwich  Castle. 
Other  royal  castles  were  besieged  and  taken,  or 
were  treacherously  surrendered.  They  were 
nearly  all  soon  retaken  by  the  king,  but  the  spirit  of 
revolt  was  rife  among  the  nobles,  and  the  sedition, 
suppressed  on  one  spot,  burst  taith  on  others.  Ste- 
phen was  lenient  and  merciful  beyond  all  precedent 
to  the  vanquished  ;  and  if,  on  one  occasion,  in  a  mo- 
ment of  passion  he  ordered  a  baron  who  had  insti- 
gated several  revolts  to  be  hanged,  with  a  number 
of  his  associates,  as  felons  (which  they  were),  the 
sentence  was  only  in  part  executed,  and  he  repent- 
ed of  his  purpose.  It  is  some  relief  to  humanity  to 
find,  auiidst  all  the  horrors  perpetrated  by  others 
during  his  reign,  no  torturiug  and  mutilating  of 
prisoners  performed  by  royal  command ;  no  tearing 
out  of  eyes,  no  lopping  off  of  hands  and  feet,  and 
none  of  those  atrocities  in  which  the  vindictive  spirit 
of  his  Norman  predecessors  had  indulged. 

The  Earl  of  Gloucester  having  settled  with  his 
friends  the  plan  of  a  most  extensive  insmrection, 
and  induced  the  Scottish  king  to  promise  another 
invasion  of  England,  withdrew  beyond  sea,  and  sent 
a  letter  of  defiance  to  Stephen,  in  which  he  for- 
mally renounced  his  homage.  Other  great  barons 
— all  pleading  that  Stephen  had  not  given  them 
enough,  nor  extended  their  privileges  as  he  had 
promised — fell  from  his  side,  and  withdrew  to  their 
castles,  which,  by  his  permission,  they  had  already 
strongly  fortified.  He  was  abandoned,  like  Shak- 
spere's  Macbeth,  but  his  soul  was  as  high  as  that 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


409 


usurper's.  "  The  traitors  !"  he  cried,  "  they  them- 
selves made  me  a  king,  and  now  they  ftill  from  me ; 
but,  by  God's  birth,  they  shall  never  call  me  a  de- 
posed king!"'  At  this  crisis  of  his  fortunes  he  dis- 
played extraordinary  activity  and  valor ;  but  having 
no  other  politic  means  of  any  efficacy  with  such 
men,  who  were  all  grasping  for  estates,  honors,  and 
employments,  he  trenched  on  the  domains  of  the 
crown,  and  besides  had  again  recourse  to  his  old  sys- 
tem of  promising  more  than  he  could  possibly  per- 
form to  the  nobles  who  remained  faithful,  or  who 
came  over  to  him  without -putting  him  to  the  trouble 
of  besieging  them  in  their  castles.  The  history  of 
those  petty  sieges,  wherein  Stephen  was  almost  in- 
variably successful,  is  singularly  uninteresting ;  but 
the  campaign  against  the  Scots  has  some  remarkable 
features.  While  he  was  engaged  with  the  revolted 
barons  in  the  south,  King  David,  true  to  his  prom- 
ise, but  badly  supported  by  the  Earl  of  Gloucester 
and  Matilda,  who  did  not  arrive  in  England  to  put 
themselves  at  the  head  of  their  party  till  a  year 
later,  gathered  his  forces  together  from  every  part 
of  his  dominions — from  the  Lowlands,  the  High- 
lands, and  the  Isles — from  the  great  promontory  of 
Gallowaj-,  the  Cheviot  Hills,  and  from  that  nursing- 
place  of  hardy,  lawless  men,  the  border-land  between 
the  two  kingdoms — and  crossing  the  Tweed  (March, 
1138),  advanced  boldly  into  Northumberland,  riding 
with  Prince  Henry,  his  son  and  heir,  at  the  head 
of  as  numerous,  as  mixed,  and,  in  the  main,  as  wild 
a  host  as  ever  trod  this  ground.  These  "  Scottish 
ants,"  as  an  old  writer  calls  them,*  overran  the  . 
whole  of  the  country  that  lies  between  the  Tweed 
and  the  Tees.  "  As  for  the  king  of  Scots  himself," 
says  the  anonymous  author  of  Gesta  Stephani.  •'  he 
was  a  prince  of  a  mild  and  merciful  disposition  ;  but 
the  Scots  were  a  barbarous  and  impure  nation,  and 
their  king,  leading  hordes  of  them  from  the  remotest 
parts  of  that  l^nd,  was  unable  to  restrain  their  wick- 
edness." Another  contemporary,  Orderic  Vital, 
whose  powerful  descriptions  we  have  so  often 
quoted,  says,  they  exercised  their  barbarity  in  the 
manner  of  wild  beasts,  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex, 
nor  so  much  as  the  child  in  the  womb.  We  fear 
there  is  much  truth  in  this  frightful  picture ;  but 
the  national  prejudices  and  animosity  between  the 
Scots  and  the  English  were  old  and  confirmed  feel- 
ings ;  and  the  chroniclers  we  refer  to  were  Eng- 
lishmen, not  likely  to  give  the  most  favorable  ac- 
count, while  it  seems  certain  that  the  Normans  of 
the  time  purposely  exaggerated  tJie  barbarous  ex- 
cesses, committed  chiefly  by  the  Gallowegiaus,  the 
Highlanders,  and  the  men  of  the  Isles,  in  order  to 
make  the  English  fight  more  desperately  on  their 
side ;  for  had  they  relied  solely  on  their  chivahy 
and  the  men-at-arms  and  mercenaries  in  the  service 
of  their  northern  barons,  their  case  would  have 
been  hopeless.  At  the  same  time,  they  conciliated 
the  English  people  of  the  north  by  a  strong  appeal 
to  the  local  superstitions — they  invoked  the  names 
of  the  saints  of  Saxon  race  whom  they  had  been 
wont  to  treat  with  little  respect ;  and  the  popular 
banners  of  St.  Cuthbert  of  Durham  (or,  according 
>  Malmsb.  »  Matt.  Par. 


to  some,  of  St.  Peter  of  York),  St.  John  of  Bever- 
ley, and  St.  Wilfrid  of  Ripon,  which  had  long  lain 
dust-covered  in  the  churches,  were  reproduced  in 
the  army,  as  the  pledges  and  means  of  victory.  So 
rapid  was  the  advance  of  King  David,  that  Stephen 
had  not  time  to  reach  the  scene  of  hostilities  ;  and 
the  defence  of  the  north  was,  in  a  great  measure, 
left  to  Toustain,  or  Thurstan,  Archbishop  of  York, 
an  infirm,  decrepit  old  man,  but  whose  warlike  en- 
ergies, address,  and  cunning  were  not  affected  by 
age  and  disease.  It  was  he  who  mainly  organized 
the  army  of  defence  which  was  got  together  in  a 
hurry.  He  eloquently  exhorted  the  men  to  fight 
to  the  last,  for  God  and  their  country,  telling  them 
victory  was  certain,  and  Paradise  the  meed  of  all 
who  should  fall  in  battle  against  the  Scots  :  he  made 
them  swear  never  to  desert  each  other ;  he  gave 
them  his  blessing  and  the  remission  of  their  sins ; 
he  sent  forth  all  his  clergy,  bishops  and  chaplains, 
and  the  curates,  w^ho  led  their  parishioners  "  the 
bravest  men  of  Yorkshire ;"  and  though  sickness 
prevented  him  from  putting  on  his  own  coat  of  mail, 
he  sent  Raoul,  or  Ranulf,  the  Bishop  of  Durham, 
to  represent  him  on  the  field  of  battle.  Each  lay 
baron  of  the  north  headed  his  own  vassals ;  but  a 
more  extensive  command  of  divisions  was  intrusted 
by  the  archbishop  to  William  Piperel,  or  Peverel, 
and  Walter  Espec  of  Nottinghamshire,  and  Gilbert 
de  Lacy  and  his  brother  Walter,  of  Yorkshire.  As 
the  Scots  were  aheady  upon  the  Tees,  the  Anglo- 
Norman  army  drew  up  between  that  river  and  the 
Humber,  choosing  their  own  battle-field  at  Elfer- 
tun,  now  Northallerton,  about  equidistant  from 
York  and  Durham.  This  was  the  spot  where  the 
soldiers  of  the  Conqueror,  marching  to  avenge  the 
catastrophe  of  Durham,  were  saint-struck  or  panic- 
seized;  but  now  St.  Cuthbert  was  on  the  Norman 
side.  Hei'e  they  erected  a  remarkable  standard, 
from  which  the  battle  has  taken  its  name.  A  car 
upon  four  wheels,  which  will  remind  the  reader  of 
Italian  history  of  the  carroccio  of  the  people  of  Lom- 
bardy,'  was  drawn  to  the  center  of  the  position ;  the 
mast  of  a  vessel  was  sti'ongly  fastened  in  the  car  ;  at 
the  top  of  the  mast  a  large  crucifix  was  displayed, 
having  in  its  center  a  silver  box  containing  the  con- 
secrated wafer  or  sacrament ;  and,  lower  down,  the 
mast  was  decorated  with  the  banners  of  the  three 
English  saints.  Around  this  sacred  standard  many 
of  the  Enghsh  yeomanry  and  peasants  from  the 
plains,  wolds,  and  woodlands  of  Yorkshire,  Notting- 
ham, and  Lincolnshire,  gathered  of  their  own  ac- 
cord. These  men  were  all  armed  with  large  bows 
and  arrows  two  cubits  long ;  they  had  the  fame  of 

1  The  carroccio,  or  great  standard-car,  is  said  to  have  been  iu- 
vented  or  first  used  by  Eribert,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  in  the  year 
1035.  It  was  a  car  upon  four  wheels,  painted  red,  and  so  heavy  that 
it  was  drawn  by  four  pair  of  oxen.  In  the  center  of  the  car  was 
fixed  a  mast,  which  supported  a  golden  ball,  an  image  of  our  Savior, 
and  the  banner  of  the  republic.  In  front  of  the  mast  were  placed  a 
few  of  the  most  valiant  warriors — in  the  rear  of  it  a  band  of  warlike 
music.  Feelings  of  religion,  of  military  glory,  of  local  attachment, 
of  patriotism,  were  all  associated  with  the  carroccio,  the  idea  of  which 
is  supposed  to  have  been  denved  from  the  Jewish  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant. It  was  from  the  platform  of  the  car  that  the  priest  administered 
the  offices  of  religion  to  the  army.  No  disgrace  was  so  intolerable 
among  the  free  citizens  of  Lombardy  as  that  entailed  by  the  suffering 
aa  enemy  to  take  the  carroccio. 


tio 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Standard  of  tub  English  at  the  Battle  of  Northallerton.    From  Ailriil  dc  Belle  Srandardi,  inTwisdcn's  Sciipmrcs  Decern,  p.  339. 


being  excrllont  archers,  and  the  Normans  gladly 
iissigned  them  posts  in  the  foremost  and  most 
exposed  ranks  of  the  army. 

The  Soots,  whose  standard  was  a  simple  lance, 
with  a  sprig  of  the  "  blooming  heather"  wTeathed 
round  it,  crossed  the  Tees  in  several  divisions. 
Prince  Henry  commanded  the  first  corps,  which 
consisted  of  men  from  the  Lowlands  of  Scotland, 
armed  with  cuir.isses  and  long  pikes ;  of  archers 
from  Teviotdale  and  Liddesdale,  and  all  the  val- 
leys of  the  rivers  that  empty  their  waters  into  the 
Tweed  or  the  Solway  Frith;  of  troopers  from 
the  mountains  of  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland, 
mounted  on  small  but  strong  and  active  horses ; 
and  of  the  fierce  men  of  Galiowa\%  who  wore  no 
defensive  armor,  and  carried  long  thin  pikes  as 
their  chief  if  not  sole  weapon  of  war.  A  body- 
guard of  knights  and  men-at-arms  under  the  com- 
mand of  Eustace  Fitz-John,  a  nobleman  of  Norman 
descent,  rode  round  the  prince.  The  Highland 
clans  and  men  of  the  Isles  came  next,  carrying  a 
small  round  shield,  made  of  light  wood  covered 
with  leather,  as  their  only  defensive  armor,  and  the 
claymore  or  broad-sw^ord  as  their  only  weapon : 
some  of  the  island  tribes,  however,  wielded  the  old 
Danish  battle-axe  instead  of  the  claymore.  After 
these  marched  the  king,  with  a  strong  body  of 
knights,  who  were  all  either  of  English  or  Norman 
extraction ;  and  a  mixed  corps  of  men  from  the 
Moray  Frith  and  various  other  parts  of  the  land, 
brought  up  the  rear.  With  the  exception  of  the 
knights  and  mon-at-arms  Avho  were  clad  in  com- 
plete mail,  and  armed  uniformly,  the  host  of  the 
Scottisli  king  presented  a  disordered  variety  of 
weapons  and  dresses.  The  half-naked  clans  were, 
however,  as  forward  to  fight  as  the  warriors  clad  in 
steel;  and  a  hot  dispute  arose  for  the  honor  of 
beginning  the  action  between  the  natives  of  Gallo- 
way and  the  well-appointed  men-at-arms.  "Why 
should  we  ti-ust  so  much  to  these  foreigners  ?"  said 
Malise,  Eai-I  of  Strathern.  "I  wear  no  armor,  but 
there  is  not  one  among  them  that  will  advance  so 


far  as  I  will  do  this  day."  The  king  was  obliged 
to  decide  the  dispute  in  favor  of  the  men  of  Gallo- 
way, who  accordingly  had  the  post  of  honor,  and 
led  the  van,  when  they  came  in  presence  of  the 
enemy.  The  rapid  advance  of  the  Scottish  forces 
was  covered  and  concealed  by  a  dense  fog,  and 
they  would  have  taken  the  Anglo-Norman  armj'  by 
surprise,  liad  it  not  been  for  Robert  de  Bruce  and 
Bernard  de  Baliol,  two  barons  of  Norman  descent, 
who  held  lands  both  in  Scotland  and  England,  and 
who  were  anxious  for  the  conclusion  of  an  imme- 
diate peace.  Having  in  vain  argued  with  David, 
and  hearing  themselves  called  traitors  by  William, 
the  king's  nephew,  they  renounced  the  Scottish 
part  of  their  allegiance,  bade  defiance  to  the  king, 
and  putting  spurs  to  their  horses,  galloped  off  to 
the  camp  at  Northallerton,  Avhich  they  reached  in 
good  time  to  tell  that  the  Scots  were  coming.  At 
the  sight  and  sound  of  their  headlong  and  tumid- 
tuous  approach,  the  Bishop  of  Durham  read  the 
prayer  of  absolution  from  the  standard-car,  the 
N(n-mans  and  the  English  kneeling  on  the  ground 
the  while,  and  rising  to  their  fee-t  and  shouting 
"Amen,"  when  it  was  finished.  The  representa- 
tive of  the  energetic  old  Thurstan  then  delivered  a 
speech  for  the  further  encouragement  of  the  army; 
it  was  long,  and  seems  to  have  been  interrupted  by 
the  onslaught  of  the  Scots ;  but  the  opening  of  it 
ought  to  be  preserved  :  "  Illustrious  chiefs  of  Eng- 
land," said  the  bishop,  "  by  blood  and  race  Normans, 
before  whom  bold  France  trembles,  to  whom  fierce 
England  has  submitted,  under  whom  Apulia  has 
been  restored  to  her  station,  and  whose  names  are 
famous  at  Antioch  and  Jerusalem,  here  are  the 
Scots,  who  have  done  homage  to  you,  undertaking 
to  drive  you  from  jour  estates." ' 

The  Scots  came  on  with  the  simple  war-cry  •f 
"  Alban  !  Alban  !"  -  which  was  shouted  at  once  by 
all  the  Celtic  tribes  from  the  Highlands.  The 
desperate  charge  of  riie  men  of  Galloway  drove  in 
the  English  infantiy,  and  broke,  for  a  moment,  the 

I  Matt.  Par.  "  Ibid. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


411 


Norman  center.  "  They  burst  the  enemj's  ranks," 
Bays  old  Brompton,  "as  if  they  had  been  but  spi- 
ders' webs."  Ahnost  immediately  after,  both  flanks 
of  the  Anglo-Normans  were  assailed  by  the  moun- 
taineers and  the  men  of  Teviotdale 'and  Liddes- 
dale  ;  but  these  charges  were  not  supported  in 
time,  and  the  Norman  horse  formed  in  an  iiiipene- 
trable  mass  round  the  standard-car,  and  repulsed 
the  Scots  in  a  fierce  charge  they  made  to  penetrate 
there.  During  thrs  fruitless  effort  of  the  enemy, 
the  English  bowmen  r.allied,'  and  took  up  good 
positions  on  the  two  wings  of  the  Anglo-Norman 
army ;  and  when  the  Scots  renewed  their  attack 
on  the  center,  they  harassed  them  with  a  double- 
flank  flight  of  arrows,  while  the  Norman  knights 
and  men-at-arms  received  them  in  front  on  the 
points  of  their  couched  lances.  The  long  thin 
pikes  of  the  men  of  Galloway  were  shivered  against 
the  armor  of  the  Normans,  or  broken  by  their 
heavy  swords  and  battle-axes.  The  Highland 
clans,  still  shouting  "  Alban  !  Alban!"  wielded  their 
claymores,  and  fighting  hand  to  hand,  tried  to  cut 
their  way  through  the  mass  of  iron-cased  chivalry. 
It  was  the  first  time  these  Normans  of  England 
had  come  in  contact  with  the  claymore  of  the 
North,  and  they  had  good  reason  to  bless  the  pro- 
tection of  their  well-bound  shields,  their  hauberks 
of  mail,  and  their  cuisses  of  steel  plate.  For  full 
t>vo  hours  did  the  Scots  maintain  the  fight  in  front 
of  the  Norman  host ;  and  at  one  moment  the  gal- 
lant Prince  Henry  had  neai-ly  penetrated  to  the 
elevated  standard ;  but,  at  last,  with  broken  spears 
and  swords,  they  ceased  to  attack — paused,  re- 
treated, and  then  fled  in  confusion.  The  king, 
however,  retained  near  his  person,  and  in  good 
order,  his  guards  and  some  other  troops,  which 
covered  the  retreat,  and  gave  several  bloody  checks 
to  the  Anglo-Normans  who  pursued.  Three  days 
after,  he  rallied  within  the  walls  of  Carlisle,  and 
employed  himself  in  collecting  his  scattered  troops, 
and  organizing  a  new  army.  He  is  said  to  have 
lost  12,000  men  at  Northallerton.  The  Normans 
were  not  left  in  a  situation  in  which  they  could 
pursue  their  advantages  to  any  extent ;  and  the 
Scots  soon  reassumed  the  offensive,  by  laj^ing 
siege  to  Wark  Castle,  whiclf  they  reduced  by 
famine.  The  famous  battle  of  the  Standai'd,  which 
was  fought  on  the  22d  of  August,  a.  d.  1138,  was, 
however,  the  great  event  of  this  Scottish  war, 
which  was  concluded  in  the  following  year  by  a 
treaty  of  peace,  brought  about  by  the  intercessions 
and  prayers  of  Alberic,  Bishop  of  Ostia,  the  pope's 
legate  in  England,  and  Stephen's  wife,  Maud,  who 
had  an  interview  with  her  uncle  King  David  at 
Durham.  Though  he  left  the  Scots  in  posses- 
sion of  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  and  in- 
vested Prince  Henry  with  the  earldom  of  North- 
umberland, the  issue  of  the  war  dispirited  the  mal- 
contents all  over  England,  and  might  have  given 
some  stability  to  Stephen's  throne,  had  he  not,  in 
an  evil  moment,  roused  the  powerful  hostihty  of 
the  church. 

Roger,  Bishop  of  Sarum,  though  no  longer  trea- 
surer and  justiciary,  as  in  the  former  and  at  the 


beginning  of  the  present  reign,  still  possessed  great 
influence  in  the  nation,  both  among  clergy  and  laity, 
— an  influence  not  wholly  arising  out  of  his  great 
Avealth  and  political  abilities,  but  in  part  owing  to 
the  noble  use  he  made  of  his  money,  to  his  taste 
and  munificence,  and  the  superior  learning  of  his 
family  and  adliereuts.  Among  other  works  of  the 
same  kind  he  rebuilt  the  cathedral  at  Sarum, 
which  had  been  injured  by  fire,  and  the  storms  to 
which  its  elevated  position  exposed  it,  and  he 
beautified  it  so  greatly  that  it  yielded  to  none  in 
England  at  that  time  ;  and  some  respect  is  still  due 
to  the  memory  of  a  man  who  greatly  raised  the 
architectural  taste  of  this  countiy,  and  whose 
genius  affected  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  "  He 
erected  splendid  mansions  on  all  his  estates,"  says 
William  of  Malmsburj^  "  with  unrivaled  magnifi- 
cence, in  merely  maintaining  which  his  successors 
will  toil  in  vain.  Hiscathedral  he  dignified  to  the 
utmost  with  matchl^l  adornments,  and  buildings 
in  which  no  expense  was  spared.  It  was  won- 
derful to  behold  in  this  man  what  abundant  au- 
thority attended,  and  flowed,  as  it  were,  to  his 
hand.  He  was  sensible  of  his  power,  and  some- 
what more  harshly  than  beseemed  such  a  character 
abused  the  favor  of  Heaven."  He  was'  indeed 
little  scrupulous  about  the  manner  in  which  he 
obtained  his  resources  ;  and  we  learn  from  the  same 
contemporary  that,  while  he  was  in  power,  his 
hand  was  as  grasping  in  one  direction  as  it  was 
open  and  liberal  in  another.  "  Was  there  anything 
adjacent  to  his  possessions  which  he  desired,  he 
would  obtain  it  either  by  treaty  or  purchase  ;  and  if 
that  failed,  by  force."  But  other  powerful  barons, 
both  ecclesiastical  and  lay,  equaled  his  rapacity 
without  having  any  of  his  taste  and  elevation  of 
spirit ;  for  he  was  in  all  things  a  most  magnificent 
person,  and  one  who  extended  his  patronage  to 
men  of  learning  as  well  as  to  architects  and  other 
artists.  He  obtained  the  sees  of  Lincoln  and  Ely 
for  his  two  nephews,  Alexander  and  Nigel,  who 
were  men  of  noted  learning  and  industry,  and 
were  said  at  the  time  to  merit  their  promotion  by 
virtue  of  the  education  which  he  had  given  them. 
Alexander,  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  who,  though 
called  his  nephew,  is  significantly  said  to  have  bee'j 
something  nearer  and  dearer,  had  the  same  taste 
for  raising  splendid  buildings ;  he  nearly  rebuilt  the 
cathedral  of  Lincoln,  and  built  the  castle  of  New- 
ark :  but  Nigel,  on  the  contrary,  is  said  to  have 
wasted  his  wealth  on  hawks  and  hounds.  Bishop 
Roger,  next  to  his  own  brother,  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  had  contributed  more  than  any  church- 
man to  his  elevation,  and  Stephen's  consequent  lib- 
erality for  a  long  time  knew  no  stint.  It  sliould 
appear,  however,  that  his  gifts  were  not  the  free- 
offerings  of  gratitude,  and  that  he  treated  the 
bishop  as  one  does  a  sponge  which  is  permitted  to 
fill  before  it  is  squeezed.  He  is  reported  to  have 
said  more  than  once  to  his  familiar  companions, — 
"By  God's  birth,  I  would  give  him  half  England  if 
he  asked  for  it :  till  the  time  be  ripe,  he  shall  tire 
of  asking  before  I  tiro  of  giving."  Roger  was  one 
of  the  castle-builders  of  that  turbulent  period,  being. 


412 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


as  he  thought,  licensed  therein  bj'  the  permission 
granted  by  Stephen  at  his  coronation :  all  his 
stately  mansions  were  in  fact  strongly  fortified 
places,  well  garrisoned,  and  provided  with  warlike 
stores.  Besides  Newark  Castle,  Alexander  had 
built  other  houses,  which  were  also  fortified  ;  and, 
when  abroad,  uncle  and  nephews  were  accustomed 
to  make  a  great  display  of  military  force.  The 
pomp  and  power  of  this  family  had  long  excited 
the  envy  of  Stephen's  favorites,  who  had  no  great 
dKIiculty  in  persuading  their  master  tliat  Bishop 
Roger  was  on  the  point  of  betraying  him,  and 
espousing  the  interests  of  Matilda.  Stephen  was 
threatened  by  an  invasion  from  without,  and  no 
longer  knew  how  to  distinguish  his  friends  from 
his  foes  within :  his  want  of  money,  to  pay  the 
foreign  mercenary  troops  he  had  engaged,  and  to 
satisfy  his  selfish  nobles,  now  drove  him  into  all 
kinds  of  irregular  courses,  and  he  probably  consid- 
ered that  the  bishop's  timerwas  ripe.  The  king 
was  holding  his  court  at  Oxford :  the  town  was 
crowded  with  prelates  and  barons,  with  their  nu- 
merous and  disorderly  attendants  ;  a  quarrel,  either 
accidental  or  preconcerted,  arose  between  the 
bishop's  retainers  and  those  of  the  Earl  of  Brittany 
concerning  quarters,  and  swords  being  drawn  on 
both   sides,   many   men   were    wounded,   and   one 


knight  was  killed.'  Stephen  took  advantage  of  the 
circumstance,  and  ordered  the  arrest  of  the  bishop 
and  his  nephews.  Roger  was  seized  in  the  king's 
own  hall,  and  Alexander,  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 
at  his  lodging  in  the  town  ;  but  Nigel,  the  Bishop 
of  Ely,  who  liad  taken  up  his  quarters  in  a  house 
outside  the  town,  escaped,  and  threw  himself  into 
Devizes,  the  strongest  of  all  his  uncle's  castles. 
The  two  captives  were  confined  in  separate  dun- 
geons : — the  first  charge  laid  against  them  was  a 
flagrant  violation  of  tlie  king's  peace  within  the 
precincts  of  his  court;  and  for  this  they  were 
assured  that  Stephen  would  accept  of  no  atone- 
ment less  than  the  unconditional  surrender  to  him 
of  all  their  castles.  They  at  first  refused  to  part 
with  their  houses,  and  ottered  "  a  reasonable  com- 
pensation" in  money ;  but  moved  by  the  dreadful 
threats  of  their  enemies  and  the  entreaties  of  their 
friends,  they  at  length  surrendered  the  castles 
which  Roger  had  built  at  Malmsbury  and  Sher- 
borne, and  that  which  he  had  enlarged  and 
strengthened  at  Sarum.     Newark  Castle,  the  work 

•  It  appears  that  Bishop  Rogpi  set  out  on  his  journey  to  Oxford 
with  reluctance.  "  For,"  says  William  of  Malmsbury,  "  I  heard  hira 
speaking  to  the  following  purpose:  'by  my  lady  St.  Mary,  1  know 
not  wherefore,  but  my  heart  revolts  at  this  journey  :  this  I  am  sure 
of,  that  I  shall  be  of  much  the  same  service  at  court  as  a  fool  in 
battle  :' " 


Remains  of  Old  Sarum.    The  site  of  the  Castle  is  marked  by  the  Bushes  in  the  Central  Mound. 


of  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  seems  also  to  have  been 
given  up.  But  the  Castle  of  Devizes,  the  most 
important  of  them  all,  remained ;  and,  relying  on 
its  strength,  the  warlike  Bishop  of  Ely  was  pre- 
pared to  bid  defiance  to  the  king.  To  overcome 
this  opposition  Stephen  had  recourse  to  a  measure 
which  was  not  at  all  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of 
the  times — he  ordered  Roger  and  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln  to  be  kept  without  food  till  the  castle  should 


be  given  up.  In  case  of  a  less  direct  appeal  the 
defenders  of  Devizes  might  have  been  obstinate,  or 
incredulous  of  the  fact  that  Stephen  was  starving 
two  bishops ;  but  Roger  himself,  already  pale  and 
emaciated,  was  made  to  state  his  own  hard  fate,  in 
front  of  his  own  castle,  to  his  own  nephew,  whom 
he  implored  to  surrender,  as  the  king  had  sworn 
most  solemnly  to  keep  his  purpose  of  famishing 
him  and  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  to  death  unless  he 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


413 


submitted.  Stephen,  though  fai-  less  cruel  by  na- 
ture than  moit  of  his  contemporaries,  was  yet 
thought  to  be  a  man  to  keep  his  word  in  such  a 
case  as  the  present :  this  was  felt  by  the  Bishop  of 
Ely,  who,  overcoming  his  own  haughty  spirit  out  of 
aft'ection  to  his  uncle,  surrendered  to  save  the  lives 
of  the  captives,  after  they  had  been  three  whole 
days  in  a  "fearful  fast."^ 

At  these  violent  proceedings  the  whole  body  of 
the  dignified  clergy,  including  even  his  own  brother 
Henry,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  who  was  now 
armed  with  the  high  powers  and  jurisdiction  of 
papal  legate  for  all  England,  turned  against  Ste- 
phen, accusing  him  of  sacrilege  in  laying  violent 
hands  on  prelates,  whose  persons  were  held  to  be 
holy,  no  matter  what  the  tenor  of  their  lives,  and 
whose  deeds  were  not  to  be  subjected  to  a  lay  tri- 
bunal or  the  operations  of  kingly  or  civil  law.  The 
legate  Henry  summoned  his  brother,  the  king,  to 
appear  and  answer  for  his  conduct  before  a  synod 
of  bishops  assembled  at  Wincliester.  Stephen 
would  not  attend  in  person,  but  finding  it  absolutely 
necessary  so  to  do,  he  sent  Aubrey  or  Alberic  de 
Vere  as  his  counsel  to  plead  for  him.  Alberic  ex- 
aggerated the  circumstances  of  the  riot  at  Oxford, 
and  laid  all  the  blame  of  that  disgraceful  blood- 
shedding  upon  Roger  and  his  insolent  nephews, 
whom,  moreover,  he  directly  charged  with  a  ti-ea- 
sonable  correspondence  with  the  Empress  Ma- 
tilda. The  legate  answered  that  the  three  bishops, 
uncle  and  nephews,  were  ready  to  abide  their  trial 
before  a  proper  tribunal ;  but  demanded,  as  of  right, 
and  according  to  usage,  that  their  houses  and  prop- 
erty should  be  previously  restored  to  them.  Al- 
beric said  that  they  had  voluntarily  surrendered 
their  castles  and  treasures  as  an  atonement  for 
their  offences  ;  and  it  was  insisted,  moreover,  on 
the  same  side,  that  the  king  had  a  right  to  take 
possession  of  all  fortified  places  in  his  dominions 
whenever  he  considered,  as  circumstances  now 
obliged  him  to  do,  that  his  thi'one  was  in  danger. 
On  the  second  day  of  the  debate  the  Archbishop  of 
Rouen,  the  only  prelate  that  still  adhered  to  the 
kmg.  tooK  a  more  apostolic  ana  simple  view  of  tne 
case,  and  boldly  affirmed  that  the  three  bishops 
were  bound  by  their  vows  at  consecration  to  live 
humbly  and  quietly  according  to  the  canons  of  the 
church,  which  prohibited  them  from  all  kinds  of 
military  pursuits  whatsoever ;  that  they  could  not 
claim  the  restitution  of  castles  and  places  of  war, 
which  it  was  most  unlawful  for  them,  as  church- 
men, to  build  or  to  hold;  and  that,  consequently, 
they  had  merited  the  greatest  part  of  the  punish- 
ment they  had  suffered.  The  points  of  canonical 
law  thus  laid  down  were  undeniable ;  but  the 
bishops  there  assembled  were  no.t  accustomed  to 
their  practice,  and  every  one  of  them  might  have 
said  that,  without  making  his  house  a  cflstle,  there 
was  no  living  in  it  in  those  lawless  times.  As  their 
temper  was  stern  and  uncompromising,  Alberic  de 
Vcre  appealed  to  the  pope  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
and  dissolved  the  council,  the  knights  with  him 
drawing  their  swords  to  enforce  his  orders  if  neces- 

•  Malmsb. — OrJrric. — Gestn  Stpph 


sary.'  The  assembly  broke  up  in  wrath  and  con- 
fusion, and  the  effects  of  this  confirmed  rupture 
were  soon  made  visible.  But  Bishop  Roger  did 
not  live  to  see  the  humiliation  of  Stephen ;  he  was 
heart-broken ;  and  when  in  the  following  month 
of  December,  as  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war  were 
commencing,  he  died  at  an  advanced  age,  his  fate 
was  ascribed  not  to  the  fever  and  ague,  from  which, 
in  Malmsbury's  words,  he  escaped  by  the  kindness 
of  death,  but  to  grief  and  indignation  for  the  injuries 
he  had  suflered.  The  plate  and  money  whicli  had 
been  saved  from  the  king's  rapacity  he  devoted  to 
the  completion  of  his  church  at  Sarum,  and  he  laid 
them  upon  the  high  altar,  in  the  hope  that  Stephen 
might  be  restrained,  by  fear  of  sacrilege,  from 
seizing  them.  But  these  were  not  times  for  deli- 
cate scruples,  and  they  were  carried  off,  by  the 
orders  of  Stephen,  even  before  the  old  man's  death. 
Their  value  was  estimated  at  forty  thousand  marks. 
Bishop  Roger  was  the  Cardinal  Wolsey  of  the 
twelfth  century,  and  his  fate,  not  less  tragic  than 
the  cardinal's,  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
minds  of  his  contemporaries,  even  in  the  midst  of 
the  many  tragedies,  domestic  as  well  as  public,  by 
which  they  were  constantly  surrounded.  "  To 
me,"  says  William  of  Malmsbury,  "  it  seems  that 
God  exhibited  him  to  the  rich  as  an  example  of  the 
■nstability  of  fortune,  in  order  that  men  should  not 

trust  in   uncertain  riches But  the  height  of 

his  calamity  even  I  cannot  help  commiserating, 
that,  wretched  as  he  appeared  to  many  men,  there 
were  rery  few  who  pitied  him,  so  much  envy  and 
hatred  had  his  excessive  poAver  drawn  on  him,  and 
undeservedly,  too,  from  some  of  the  very  persons 
whom  he  had  advanced  to  honor."  It  has  been 
hinted  that  he  must  have  regretted  in  his  last 
hours  that  irreligious  haste  in  saying  mass,  which 
gained  him  the  favor  of  Henry  Beauclerk :  this 
is  veiy  probable  even  in  a  worldly  view,  and  in  his 
season  of  sickness  and  fallen  gieatness  he  may 
have  thought  that  his  life  would  have  been,  in  all 
senses,  a  happier  one,  had  he  remained  a  quiet, 
devout  curate  in  his  little  church  near  Caen.  His 
nepnew,  or  son,  Alexander.  Bisnop  of  Lincoin.  ar»-i 
his  nephew  Nigel,  Bishop  of  Ely,  having  the  advan- 
tage of  a  younger  age,  did  not  resign  themselves  to 
despair  but,  intent  on  taking  vengeance,  they  openly 
joined  Matilda,  and  were  soon  up  in  arms  against 
Stephen. 

The  synod  of  bishops  held  at  Winchester  was 
dissolved  on  the  first  day  of  September  (a.  d.  ll.^O), 
and  toward  the  end  of  the  same  month  3Iatilda 
landed  in  England  with  her  half-brother  Robert, 
Earl  of  Gloucester,  and  one  hundred  and  fortj' 
knights.  Some  Normans  who  went  out  to  meet 
her,  on  finding  she  came  with  so  insignificant  a 
force,  and  brought  no  money,  returned  to  the  other 
side:  and  Stephen,  Ijy  a  rajiitl  movement,  presently 
surprised  her  in  Arundel  Castle,  where  Alice,  or 
Adelais,  the  queen-widow  of  Henry  I.,  gave  her 
shelter  and  encouragement.  Stephen  had  both 
these  dames  absolutely  in  his  power,  but  refining 
on   the   chivali'ous  notions   which   were   becoming 

'  Malmsb. — William  of  Malmsbury  was  present  at  th.<<  -"innl 


414 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


moio  and  more  in  vo'^uc,  and  to  which  he  was  in- 
clined by  nature  more  perhaps  tlian  suited  good 
poHcy,  he  loft  Qu(mmi  Alice  undisturbed  in  her  cas- 
tle, and  gave  .Matilda  permission  to  go  free  and  join 
her  half-brother  Robert,  who  immediately  after 
their  landing  had  repaired  by   by-roads,  and  with 


only  twelve  followers,  to  tho  west  country,  where, 
at  tho  very  moment  of  these  generous  concessions, 
he  was  collecting  his  friends  to  make  war  upon 
Stephen.  The  king's  brother.  Henry,  Bisliop  of 
Winchester,  escorted  Matilda  from  Arundel  (Castle 
to  Bristol,  and  delivered  her  safely  to  Karl  Robert. 


Arundel  Castle. 


It  was  soon  seen  that  those  who  had  declined  join- 
ing Matilda  on  her  fust  landing  had  taken  a  narrow 
view  of  the  resources  of  her  party,  for  most  of  the 
chiefs  in  the  north  and  west  renounced  their  allegi- 
ance to  Stephen,  and  took  fresh  oaths  to  the  em- 
press. There  was  a  moment  of  wavering  and  hes- 
itation, during  which  many  of  the  barons  in  other 
parts  of  th(!  lijugdom  weighed  the  chances  of  suc- 
cess, or  triiMl  i)otli  parties,  to  ascertain  which  would 
grant  the  inore  ample  recompense  to  their  venal 
swords.  While  this  state  of  indecision  lasted  men 
knew  not  who  were  to  be  tlieir  friends  or  who  their 
foes  in  the  coming  struggle  ; — tho  neighbor  could 
put  no  faith  in  his  nearest  neighbor,  nor  tho  friend 
in  his  friend,  nor  the  brother  in  his  own  brother ;'" 
but  at  last  the  more  active  chiefs  chose  their  sides, 
the  game  was  made  up,  and  the  horrors  of  civil  war, 
which  were  to  decide  it,  were  let  loose  upon  the 
land.  Still,  however,  many  of  the  barons  kept  aloof, 
and  strongly  garrisoning  their  own  castles,  took  the 
favorable  opportunitj'  of  setting  all  laws  at  defiance, 
and  despoiling,  torturing,  and  mui'dering  their  weak 
neighbors.  The  whole  war  was  conducted  in  a 
frightful  manner;  but  the  greatest  of  the  atrocities 
seem  to  have  been  comraitted  by  those  separationists, 

'  Ger',  ase  of  Canterbury. 


who  cared  ncitlier  for  Stephen  nor  Matilda,  and 
wlio  rarely  or  never  took  the  field  for  either  party. 
They  waged  war  against  one  another,  and  besieged 
castles,  and  racked  farms,  and  seized  the  unpro- 
tected traveler,  on  their  own  account,  and  for  their 
own  private  spite  or  advantage.  There  was  scarcely 
a  corner  of  the  land  exempt  from  these  insupporta- 
ble evils  ;  for  castles  had  been  built  everywhere,  and 
nearly  every  castle  was  the  scene  of  lawlessness 
and  crime. 

At  first  the  fortune  of  the  greater  war  inclined  in 
favor  of  Stephen  ;  for  though  he  failed  in  an  attempt 
to  take  Bristol,  which  had  become  the  head-quarters 
of  Matilda  and  Earl  Robert,  he  gained  many  advan- 
tages over  their  adherents  in  the  west,  and  defeated 
a  formidable  insurrection  in  tho  east,  headed  by 
Nigel,  the  Bisliop  of  Ely,  who  built  a  stone  rampart 
among  the  bogs  and  fons  of  his  diocese,  on  the  very 
spot,  it  is  said,  whore  the  brave  Earl  Ilcreward  had, 
raised  his  fortress  of  wood  against  the  Conqueror; 
To  reach  the  warlike  and  inveterate  nephew  of  old 
Bishop  Roger,  Stephen  had  recourse  to  the  same^ 
skilful  measures  which  had  been  employed  by  the ' 
Conqueror  at  the  same  difficult  place.  Defeated 
at  Ely,  Nigel  fled  to  Gloucester,  whither  Matilda 
had  transferred  her  standard ;  and  while  Stephen 


CuAP.  T.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


4ir> 


Wiis  still  on  the  eastern  coast,  the  flames  of  war 
were  rekindled  in  all  the  west,  and  the  fugitive 
bishop  distinguished  himself  among  the  men  who 
were  literally  of  the  church  militant.  The  Norman 
prelates  had  no  scruples  in  taking  an  active  part  in 
these  military  operations  ;  and  the  garrisons  of  their 
castles  are  said  to  have  been  as  cruel  to  the  defence- 
less rural  population,  as  eager  after  plunder,  and 
altogether  as  lawless  as  the  retainers  of  the  lay 
barons.  The  bishops  themselves  were  seen,  as  at 
the  time  of  the  Conquest,  mounted  on  war-horses, 
clad  in  armor,  directing  the  siege  or  the  attack,  and 
drawing  lots,  with  the  rest,  for  the  booty.'  No  ex- 
ceptions are  named  ;  but  we  are  inclined,  in  charity, 
to  believe  there  were  several,  and  that  there  were 
many  churchmen  who  deplored,  at  the  same  time, 
the  woful  diminution  of  their  peaceful  revenues,  and 

1  Gesta  Steph. 


the  misei'ies  of  the  people,  whose  labors,  in  hap- 
pier times,  made  their  wealth  and  plenty. 

The  cause  of  Stephen  was  never  injured  by  any 
want  of  personal  courage  and  rapidity  of  movement. 
From  the  east  he  returned  to  the  west,  and  from 
the  west  marched  again  to  the  county  of  fens,  on 
learning  that  Alexander,  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  had 
got  together  the  scattered  forces  of  the  Bishop  of 
Ely  in  those  parts,  and,  in  alliance  with  the  earls  oi' 
Lincoln  and  Chester,  was  making  himself  very  for- 
midable. The  castle  of  Lincoln  was  in  the  hands 
of  his  enemies ;  but  the  townspeople  were  devoted 
to  Stephen,  and  assisted  him  in  laying  siege  to  the 
fortress.  On  the  2d  of  February,  a.d.  1141,  as 
Stephen  was  prosecuting  this  siege,  the  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  who  had  got  together  an  army  10,000 
strong,  and  who  liad  hoped,  by  rapid  marches,  to 
take   his  adversary  by  surprise,  swam  across  the 


^—e^-^.W'^^^^*' 


Lincoln. 


Trent,  and  appeared  in  front  of  Lincoln.  Stephen, 
however,  was  prepared  to  receive  him;  he  had 
drawn  out  his  forces  in  the  best  position,  and,  dis- 
mounting from  his  war-horse,  he  put  himself  at  tlio 
head  of  his  infantry.  But  his  army  was  unequal  in 
number,  and  contained  many  traitors :  the  whole 
of  his  cavalry  deserted  to  the  enemy,  or  lied  at  the 
first  onset ;  and  after  he  had  fought  most  gallantly, 
and  broken  both  his  sword  and  battle-axe,  Stephen 
was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Earl  of  Gloucester. 
Matilda  was  incapable  of  imitating  his  generosity ; 
but  her  partisans  lauded  her  mercy,  because  she 
only  loaded  him  with  chains,  and  threw  him  into  a 
dungeon  in  Bristol  Castle.     Many  of  the  time-serv- 


ing nobles  now  made  their  submission  to  the  em- 
press, and  she  docs  not  appear  to  have  encountereil 
much  difficulty  in  persuading  the  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester wholly  to  abandon  his  unfortunate  brother, 
and  acknowledge  her  title.  The  price  paid  to  the 
l)i8hop  was  the  promise  sealed  by  an  oath,  that  ho 
should  have  the  chief  direction  of  her  affairs,  and 
the  disposal  of  all  vacant  bishoprics  and  abbacies. 
The  scene  of  the  l)argain  was  on  the  downs,  near 
Winchester,  and  the  day  on  which  it  was  concluded 
(the  2d  March)  was  dark  and  tempestuous,  as  if, 
says  Malmsbury,  the  elements  themselves  portend- 
ed the  calamities  that  followed.  The  next  day,  ac- 
companied by  a  great  body  of  the  clergy,  the  brother 


416 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


of  Stephen  conducted  the  empress  in  a  sort  of 
triumph  to  the  ciitliedral  of  Winchester,  within 
whicli  lie  blessed  all  who  should  be  obedient  to  her, 
and  denounced  a  curse  against  all  who  refused  to 
submit  to  her  authority.  As  legate  of  the  pope, 
this  man's  decision  had  the  force  of  law  with  most 
of  the  clergy ;  and  several  bishops,  and  even  Theo- 
b:d.i,  the  new  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  followed 
his  cxamijle.'  It  is  said,  in  order  to  excuse  the 
bri  ach  of  their  former  oaths  to  Stephen,  that  they 
previously  obtained  a  release  from  their  allegiance 
from  their  captive  king;  but  the  very  circumstance 
of  his  being  a  captive  must  deprive  such  a  release 
of  validity.  At  Winchester,  Matilda  took  possession 
of  the  royal  castle,  the  crown,  with  other  regalia, 
and  such  treasure  as  Stephen  had  not  exhausted. 
On  the  7th  of  April,  she,  or  the  legate  acting  for 
her,  convened  an  assembly  of  churchmen  to  ratify 
her  accession.  The  members  of  this  synod  were 
divided  into  three  classes — the  bishops,  the  abbots, 
and  the  archdeacons.  The  legate  conferred  with 
each  class  separately  and  in  private,  and  his  argu- 
ments prevailed  with  them  all.  On  the  following 
day  they  sat  together,  and  the  deliberations  were 
public.  William  of  Mahnsbury,  who  tells  us  he 
was  present,  and  heard  the  opening  speech  with 
great  attention,  professes  to  give  the  very  words  of 
the  legate.  The  brother  of  Stephen  began  by  con- 
trasting the  turbulent  times  they  had  just  witnessed 
with  the  tranquillitj"  and  happiness  enjoyed  under 
the  wise  reign  of  Henry  I. ;  he  glanced  slightly  over 
the  repeated  vows  made  to  Matilda,  and  said  the 
a!)sence  of  that  lady,  and  the  confusion  into  which 
the  country  was  thrown,  had  compelled  the  prelates 
and  lords  to  crown  Stephen ; — that  he  blushed  to 
bear  testimony  against  his  own  brother,  but  that 
Stephen  had  violated  all  his  engagements,  particu- 
larly those  made  to  the  church ; — that  hence  God 
had  jironounced  judgment  against  him,  and  placed 
them  again  under  the  necessity  of  providing  for  the 
tranquillity  of  the  kingdom  i)y  appointing  some  one 
to  fill  the  throne.  "And  now,"  snid  the  legate  in 
conclusion.  "  in  order  that  the  kinadom  mav  not  be 
without  a  ruier,  we,  the  clergy  of  Lnguina,  w  wnom 
it  cliirjhj  bdonffs  to  elect  kiriffs  and  ordain  them, 
having  yesterday  deliberated  on  this  great  cause  in 
private,  and  invoked,  as  is  fitting,  the  direction  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  did,  and  do,  elect  Matilda,  the 
daughter  of  the  pacific,  rich,  glorious,  good,  and  in- 
comparable King  Henry,  to  be  sovereign  lady  of 
England  and  Normandy."  Many  persons  present 
listened  in  silence — but  silence,  as  usual,  was  inter- 
preted into  consent ;  and  the  rest  of  the  assembly 
hailed  the  conclusion  of  the  speech  with  loud  and 
repeated  acclamations.  It  is  curious  to  observe,  that 
the  citizens  of  London  had  risen  to  such  importance, 
that,  if  not  actually  consulted  in  the  disposal  of  the 
crown,  they  were  called  upon  to  confirm  the  elec- 
tion. We  learn  from  Mahnsbury,  that  they  formed 
»  body  of  great  weight ;  that  the  members  of  the 
municipality  were  considered  as  barons,  and  that 
they  also  admitted  barons  into  their  body.  The 
preceding  deliberations  of  the  synod,  and  the  procla- 
'   Malinsb  — Gosta  Slfpli— Ocrvnsc. 


mation  of  IMatilda,  were  hurried  over  before  the 
deputation  from  the  city  of  London  could  reach 
Winchester ;  but  such  was  the  respect  they  im- 
posed, that  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  hold  an  ad- 
journed session  on  the  following  morning.  When 
the  decision  of  the  council  was  announced  to  them, 
the  deputies  said  they  did  not  come  to  debate,  but 
to  petition  for  the  liberty  of  their  king ;  that  they 
had  no  powers  to  agree  to  the  election  of  this  new 
sovereign  ;  and  that  the  whole  community  of  Lon- 
don, with  all  the  barons  lately  admitted  into  it,  ear- 
nestly desired  of  the  legate,  the  archbishop,  and  all 
the  clergy,  the  immediate  liberation  of  Stephen. 
When  they  ended.  Christian,  the  chiiplain  of  Ste- 
phen's queen,  rose  to  address  the  meeting.  The 
legate  endeavored  to  impose  silence  on  this  new  ad- 
vocate ;  but  in  defiance  of  his  voice  and  authority, 
the  chaplain  read  a  letter  from  his  royal  mistress,  in 
which  she  called  upon  the  clergy,  by  the  oaths  of 
allegiance  they  had  taken  to  him,  to  rescue  her 
husband  from  the  imjjrisonment  in  which  he  was 
kept  by  base  and  treacherous  vassals.  But  Ste- 
phen's brother  was  not  much  moved  by  tliese  mea- 
sures :  he  repeated  to  the  Londoners  the  argu- 
ments he  had  used  the  day  before ; — the  deputies 
departed  with  a  promise,  in  which  there  was  prob- 
ably little  sincerit}^  to  recommend  his  view  of  the 
case  to  their  fellow-citizens ;  and  the  legate  broke 
up  the  council  with  a  sentence  of  excommunication 
on  several  persons  who  still  adhered  to  his  brother, 
not  forgetting  a  certain  William  Martel,  who  had 
recentlj^  made  free  on  the  roads  with  a  part  of  his 
(the  legate's)  baggage. 

If  popular  opinion  can  be  counted  for  anything  in 
those  days,  and  if  the  city  of  London,  together  with 
Lincoln  and  other  large  towns,  may  be  taken  as  in- 
dexes of  the  popular  will,  we  might  be  led  to  con- 
clude that  Stephen  was  still  the  sovereign  of  the 
people's  choice,  or,  at  least,  that  they  preferred  him 
to  his  competitor.  The  feelings  of  the  citizens  of 
London  were  indeed  so  decided,  that  it  was  not 
until  some  time  had  passed,  and  the  Earl  of  Glou- 
cester had  soothed  them  with  promises  and  flatter- 
ing prospects,  that  Matilda  ventured  among  them. 
She  entered  the  city  a  few  days  before  Midsum- 
mer, and  made  preparations  for  her  immediate  cor- 
onation at  Westminster.  But  JMatilda  herself,  who 
pretended  to  an  indefeasible,  sacred  hereditary  right, 
would  perform  none  of  the  promises  made  by  her 
half-brother  ;  on  the  contrary,  she  imposed  a  heavy 
tallage  or  tax  on  the  Londoners  as  a  punishment 
for  their  attachment  to  the  usurper,  and  arrogantly 
and  insolently  rejected  a  petition  they  presented  to 
her,  praying  that  the  laws  of  Edward  the  Confessor 
might  be  restored,  and  the  changes  and  usages  in- 
troduced b}-  the  Normans  abolished.  Indeed,  what- 
ever slight  restraint  she  had  formerly  put  on  hei 
haughty,  vindictive  temper,  wns  now  entirely  re- 
moved; and  in  a  surprisingly  short  space  of  timr 
she  contrived  not  only  to  irritate  her  old  oppouent> 
to  the  veiy  utmost,  but  also  to  convert  many  of  her 
best  friends  into  bitter  enemies.  When  the  legate 
desired  that  Prince  Eustace,  his  nephew  and  Ste- 
phen's eldest  son,  should  be  put  in  possession  of  the 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


417 


earldom  of  Boulogne  and  the  other  patrimonial  rights 
of  his  father,  she  gave  him  a  direct  and  insulting  re- 
fusal. In  dethroning  his  brother  this  prelate,  who 
was  perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  character  of 
the  period,  had  not  bargained  for  the  impoverish- 
ment of  all  his  family,  and  an  insult  was  what  he 
never  could  brook.  When  Stephen's  wife,  who 
was  her  own  cousin,  and  a  kind-hearted,  amiable 
woman,  appeared  before  her,  seconded  by  many  of 
the  nobility,  to  petition  for  the  enlargement  of  her 
husband,  she  showed  the  malignancy  and  littleness 
of  her  soul  by  personal  and  most  unwomanly  up- 
braidings. 

The  acts  of  this  tragedy,  in  which  there  was  no 
small  mixtui-e  of  farce,  passed  almost  as  rapidly  as 
those  of  a  drama  on  the  stage  ;  and  before  the  cor- 
onation clothes  could  be  got  ready,  and  the  bishops 
assembled,  Matilda  was  driven  from  London  with- 
out having  time  to  take  with  her  so  much  as  a  change 
of  raiment.  One  fine  summer's  day,  "  nigh  on  to 
the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,"  and  about  noon- 
tide, the  dinner-hour  of  the  court  in  those  times,  a 
body  of  horse  bearing  the  banner  of  Queen  Maud 
(the  wife  of  Stephen),  who  had  kept  together  many 
partisans  in  Kent  and  Surrey,  appeared  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  river  opposite  the  city :  on  a 
sudden  all  the  church  bells  of  London  sounded  the 
alarm,  and  the  people  ran  to  arms.  From  every 
house  there  went  forth  one  man  at  least,  with  what- 
ever weapon  he  could  lay  his  hand  upon.  They 
gathered  in  the  streets,  says  a  contemporary,  like 


bees  rushing  from  their  hives.'  Matilda  saved  her- 
self from  being  made  prisoner  by  rushing  from  table, 
mounting  a  horse,  and  galloping  off  with  headlong 
speed.  She  had  scarcely  cleared  the  western  sub- 
urb when  some  of  the  populace  burst  into  her  apart- 
ment, and  pillaged  or  destroyed  whatever  they  found 
in  it.  Such  was  her  leave-taking  of  London,  which 
she  never  saw  again,  and  which  remained  unusually 
firm  on  the  side  of  Stephen  during  the  rest  of  the 
long  and  destructive  contest.  Some  few  of  her 
friends  accompanied  her  to  Oxford,  but  othei-s  left 
her  on  the  route,  and  fled  singly  by  cross-country 
roads  and  unfrequented  paths  toward  their  respect- 
ive castles.^ 

Matilda  had  not  been  long  at  Oxford  when  she 
conceived  suspicions  touching  the  fidelity  of  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  whom,  in  the  insolence  of 
success,  she  had  offended  beyond  redress,  and  who 
had  taken  his  measures  accordingly,  absenting  him- 
self from  court,  and  manning  the  castles  which  he 
had  built  within  his  diocese, — as  at  Waltham,  Farn- 
ham,  and  other  places.  He  had  also  an  interview 
with  his  sister-in-law,  Maud,  at  the  town  of  Guil- 
ford, where  he  probably  arranged  the  plans  in  favor 
of  his  brother  Stephen  which  were  so  soon  can-ied 
into  execution.  Matilda  sent  hirn  a  rude  order  to 
appear  before  her  forthwith.  The  cunning  church- 
man told  her  messenger  that  he  was  "  getting  him- 
self ready  for  her ;"  which  was  true  enough.     She 

1  Gesta  Stephani. 
2  Malmsb.— Gesta  Steph. — Brompton. — Flcir.  Wig. 


Tower  or  Oxford  Cactlb. 


-27 


418 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


then  attempted  to  seize  him  at  Winchester ;  but 
having  weJI  fortified  his  episcopal  residence,  and  set 
up  liis  brother's  standard  on  its  roofs,  he  rode  out 
by  one  gate  of  the  town  as  she  entered  at  the  other, 
and  then  proceeded  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of 
his  armed  vassals  and  the  friends  who  had  engaged 
to  join  him.  Matilda  was  admitted  into  the  royal 
castle  of  Winchester,  whither  she  immediately 
summoned  the  earls  of  Gloucester,  Hereford,  and 
Chester,  and  her  uncle  David,  King  of  Scots,  who 
had  been  for  some  time  in  England  vainly  endeav- 
oring to  make  her  follow  mild  and  wise  counsel. 
While  these  personages  were  with  her  slie  laid 
siege  to  the  episcopal  palace,  which  was  in  every 
essential  a  castle,  and  a  strong  one.  The  legate's 
garrison  made  a  sortie,  and  set  fire  to  all  the  neigh- 
boring houses  of  the  town  that  might  have  weakened 
their  position,  and  then,  being  confident  of  succor, 
waited  the  event.  The  bishop  did  not  make  them 
wait  long.  Being  reinforced  by  Queen  Maud  and 
the  Londoners,  who,  to  the  number  of  a  thousand 
citizens,  took  the  field  for  Stephen,  clad  in  coats  of 
mail,  and  wearing  steel  casques,  like  noble  men  of 
war,'  he  turned  rapidly  back  upon  Winchester,  and 
actually  besieged  the  besiegers  there.  By  the  1st 
of  August  he  had  invested  the  royal  castle  of  Win- 
chester, where,  besides  the  empress-queen,  there 
were  shut  up  the  King  of  Scotland,  the  earls  of 
Gloucester,  Hereford,  and  Chester,  and  many  other 
of  the  noblest  of  her  partisans.  Sallies  were  made 
by  the  besieged,  splendid  achievements  in  arms  took 
place  on  either  side,  and,  between  them,  the  good 
people  of  Winchester  were  made  very  wretched, 
for  nearly  the  wliole  of  the  town  was  plundered 
and  burned  at  different  times.  When  the  siege  had 
lasted  six  weeks  all  the  provisions  in  the  castle  were 
exhausted,  and  a  desperate  attempt  at  flight  was 
resolved  upon.  By  tacit  consent  the  belligerents  of 
those  times  were  accustomed  to  suspend  their  oper- 
ations and  relax  their  vigilance  on  the  gi-eat  festivals 
of  the  church.  The  14th  of  September  was  a  Sun- 
day, and  (what  was  then  for  more  important)  the 
festival  of  the  Holy  Rood  or  Cross.  At  a  very  early 
hour  of  the  morning  of  that  day  Matilda  mounted  a 
swift  horse,  and,  accompanied  by  a  strong  and  well- 
mounted  escort,  crept  as  secretly  and  quietly  as  was 
possible  out  of  the  castle :  her  half-brother,  the 
Earl  of  Gloucester,  followed  at  a  short  distance  with 
a  number  of  knights  who  had  engaged  to  keep  l)e- 
tween  her  and  her  pursuers,  and  risk  their  own  lib- 
erty for  the  sake  of  securing  the  queen's.  These 
movemeuis  were  so  well  timed  and  executed  that 
they  broke  through  the  beleaguerers  with  little  dif- 
ficulty, and  got  upon  the  Devizes  road  before  the 
legate's  adherents,  who  were  thinking  of  their  mass 
and  prayers,  could  mount  and  follow  them.  Once 
in  the  saddle,  however,  they  made  hot  pursuit,  and 
at  Stourbridge  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  and  his  gallant 
knights  were  overtaken.  To  give  Matilda,  who 
was  only  a  short  distance  in  advance,  time  to  escape, 
they  formed  in  order  of  battle  and  offered  an  obsti- 
nate resistance.  In  the  end  they  were  nearly  all 
made  prisoners ;  but  their  self-devotion  had  the  de- 

1  Gest.  Steph. 


sired  effect,  for  the  queen,  still  pressing  on  her 
steed,  reached  the  castle  of  Devizes  in  safety.  That 
fortress,  the  work  of  Bishop  Roger,  was,  we  know, 
very  strong,  but  it  is  said  that,  not  finding  herself  in 
security  even  there,  Matilda  almost  immediately  re- 
sumed her  journey,  and,  the  better  to  avoid  dangei", 
feigned  herself  to  be  dead,  and  being  placed  on  a 
bier  like  a  corpse,  caused  herself  to  be  drawn  in  a 
hearse  from  Devizes  to  Gloucester.'  This  part  of 
the  story,  however,  rests  on  a  single  authority,  and 
is  not  alluded  to  by  any  other  contemporary  writer. 
Her  adventures,  so  romantic  in  themselves,  seem  to 
require  no  exaggeration,  and  the  probability  is,  that 
if  she  went  from  Devizes  to  Gloucester  at  all,  she 
traveled  in  a  horse-litter.  Of  all  who  formed  her 
strong  rear-guard  on  her  flight  from  Winchester, 
the  Earl  of  Hereford  alone  reached  Gloucester  cas- 
tle, and  he  arrived  in  a  wretched  state,  being  almost 
naked.  The  other  barons  and  knights  who  escaped 
from  the  field  of  Stourbridge  threw  away  their  arms, 
disguised  themselves  like  peasants,  and  made  for 
their  own  homes.  Some  of  them,  beti'ayed  by  their 
foreign  accent,  were  seized  by  the  English  peasantiy, 
who  bound  them  with  cords,  and  drove  the  proud 
Normans  before  them  with  whips,  to  deliver  them 
up  to  their  enemies.  As  this  unhappy  and  uncivil- 
ized class  suflered  so  cruelly  in  these  wars  between 
foreign  lords  and  princes,  it  is  not  surprising  tliat 
they  at  times  took  a  cruel  vengeance  on  the  persons 
chance  threw  in  their  way.  Though,  if  anything, 
rather  more  inclined  to  Stephen  than  to  his  oppo- 
nent, they  seem  in  general  to  have  been  impartial 
in  their  spite,  and  to  have  killed  or  stripped  both 
parties  alike  whenever  the  opportunity  oflered.* 
The  King  of  the  Scots,  Matilda's  uncle,  got  safely 
back  to  his  own  kingdom ;  but  her  half-brother,  the 
Earl  of  Gloucester,  who  was  by  far  the  most  impor- 
tant prisoner  that  could  be  taken,  was  conveyed  to 
Stephen's  queen,  who  secured  him  in  Rochester 
Castle.  According  to  one  account,  she  "caused 
him  to  be  hardly  handled,"  in  retaliation  for  the 
earl's  harsh  treatment  of  her  husband,  who  was  still 
in  a  dungeon  in  his  castle  of  Bristol  ;^  but  another 
statement,  which  is  better  authenticated  and  more 
in  accordance  with  what  we  know  of  the  amiable 
character  of  Maud,  is,  that  she  treated  the  earl 
generously,  and  so  for  from  loading  him  with 
chains,  granted  him  every  indulgence  compatible 
with  captivity."* 

Both  parties  were  now,  as  it  were,  without  a 
head,  for  Matilda  was  nothing  in  the  field  in  the 
absence  of  her  half-brother.  A  negotiation  was 
therefore  set  on  foot,  and,  on  the  1st  of  November, 
it  was  finally  agreed  that  the  Earl  of  Gloucester 
should  be  exchanged  for  King  Stephen.  The  in- 
terval had  been  filled  up  by  unspeakable  misery  to 
the  people  ;  but,  as  far  as  the  principals  were  con- 
cerned, the  two  parties  now  stood  as  they  did  pre- 
viously to  the  battle  of  Lincoln.     The  clergy,  and 

1  Contin.  Wig. 

*  At  different  times  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  several  of 
the  Norman  bishops  and  abbots  were  stripped  by  the  English  peasants. 
— "  equis  et  vestibus  ab  istis  caplis,  ab  illis  horrende  at-stractis." 
Gesta  Steph. 

3  Matt.  Paris  ♦  Mai msb.— Gesta  Steph.— Brompt 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


419 


particularly  the  legate,  who  had  alternately  sided 
with  each,  found  themselves  in  an  embarrassing 
position;  but  the  brother  of  Stephen  had  an  al- 
most unprecedented  strength  of  face  and  impu- 
dence, and  seems  never  to  have  blushed  at  any- 
thing. He  summoned  a  great  ecclesiastical  council, 
w^hich  met  at  Westminster  on  the  7th  of  Decem- 
ber, and  he  there  produced  a  letter  from  the  pope, 
ordering  him  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  effect  the 
liberation  of  his  brother.  This  letter  was  held  as 
a  sufficient  justification  of  all  the  measures  he  had 
recently  adopted ;  and  the  presence  of  Stephen, 
who  w'as  there  to  speak  for  himself,  only  showed 
how  successfully  the  legate  had  obeyed  the  orders 
of  his  spiritual  chief,  who  claimed  the  right  of  bind- 
ing and  loosening  all  mortal  ties.  Stephen  then 
addressed  the  assembly,  briefly  and  moderately 
complaining  of  the  wrongs  and  hardships  he  had 
sustained  from  his  vassals,  unto  whom  he  had  never 
denied  justice  when  they  asked  for  it ;  and  adding, 
that  if  it  would  please  the  nobles  of  the  realm  to 
aid  him  with  men  and  money,  he  trusted  so  to  work 
as  to  relieve  them  from  the  fear  of  a  shameful  sub- 
mission to  the  yoke  of  a  woman ;  a  thing  which  at 
first  they  seemed  much  to  mislike,  and  which  now, 
to  their  great  gi"ief,  they  had  by  experience  found 
to  be  intolerable.  At  last  the  legate  himself  rose  to 
speak,  and  as  he  had  with  a  very  few  exceptions 
the  same  audience  as  in  the  synod  assembled  at 
Winchester  onlj'  nine  months  before,  when  he 
pronounced  the  dethronement  of  his  own  brother, 
and  hurled  the  thunders  of  excommunication 
against  hi?  friends  and  adherents,  his  speech  must 
have  produced  a  singular  effect.  He  pleaded  that 
it  was  through  force,  and  not  out  of  conviction  or 
good-will,  that  he  had  supported  the  cause  of  Ma- 
tilda, who  subsequently  had  broken  all  her  engage- 
ments with  him,  and  even  made  attempts  against 
his  liberty  and  life.  He  was  thus,  he  maintained, 
freed  from  his  oaths  to  the  Countess  of  Anjou,  for 
he  no  longer  deigned  to  style  her  by  a  higher  title. 
The  judgment  of  heaven,  he  said,  was  visible  in 
the  punishment  of  her  perfidy,  and  God  himself 
now  restored  the  rightful  king  Stephen  to  his 
throne.  Though  thei-e  were  some  jealousies  al- 
ready existing  between  him  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  the  council  went  with  the  legate,  and 
no  objection  was  started  save  by  a  solitary  voice, 
which  boldly  asserted,  in  the  name  of  Matilda,  that 
the  legate  himself  had  caused  all  the  calamities 
which  had  happened, — that  he  had  invited  her  into 
England, — that  he  had  planned  the  expedition  in 
which  Stephen  was  taken, — and  that  it  was  by  his 
advice  that  the  empress  had  loaded  his  brother  with 
chains.  This  orator  concluded  with  prohibiting 
him,  by  the  faith  he  had  sworn  to  his  queen,  from 
publishing  any  decision  against  her  rights  and  dig- 
nity. The  imperturbable  legate  heard  these  open 
accusations,  which  contained  some  portion  of  truth, 
without  any  apparent  emotion  either  of  shame  or 
anger,  and  with  the  greatest  composure  proceeded 
to  excommunicate  all  those  who  remained  attached 
to  the  party  he  had  quitted.  The  curse  and  in- 
terdict were  extended  to  all  who  should  build  new 


castles,  or  invade  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
church,  and  (a  most  idle  provision !)  to  all  who 
should  wrong  the  poor  and  defenceless.' 

No  compromise  between  the  contending  parties 
was  as  jet  thought  of;  the  smouldering  ashes  of 
civil  war  Avere  raked  together,  and  England  was 
tortured  as  if  with  a  slow  fire  ;  for  the  flames  were 
not  brought  to  a  head  in  any  one  place,  and  no 
decisive  action  was  fought,  but  a  succession  of 
skirmishes  and  forays,  petty  sieges,  and  the  burn- 
ing of  defenceless  towns  and  villages  kept  people  on 
the  rack  in  nearly  every  part  of  the  land  at  once. 
"  All  England,"  says  a  contemporary,  "  wore  a  face 
of  woe  and  desolation.  Multitudes  abandoned  their 
beloved  country  to  wander  in  a  foreign  land  : 
others,  forsaking  their  own  houses,  built  wretched 
huts  in  the  churchyards,  hoping  that  the  sacredness 
of  the  place  would  afford  them  some  protection."^ 
This  last  miserable  hope  was  generally  vain,  for 
the  belligerents  no  more  respected  the  houses  of 
God  than  they  did  the  abodes  of  humble  men. 
They  seized  and  fortified  the  best  of  the  churches: 
and  the  belfry  towers  from  which  the  sweet  sounds 
of  the  church-bells  were  wont  to  proceed  were 
converted  into  fortresses  and  furnished  with  en- 
gines of  war  :^  they  dug  fosses  in  the  very  ceme- 
teries, so  that  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  brought 
again  to  light,  and  the  miserable  remains  of  mor- 
tality trampled  upon  and  scattered  all  about.  At 
an  early  period  of  the  contest  both  parties  had 
engaged  foreign  mercenaries,  and  in  the  absencf 
of  regular  pay  and  provision  and  of  all  discipline, 
bands  of  Brabanters  and  Flemings  prowled  througli 
the  land,  satisfying  all  their  appetites  in  the  most 
brutal  manner.  So  general  was  the  discourage- 
ment of  the  suffering  people,  that  whenever  only 
two  or  three  horsemen  were  seen  approaching  u 
village  or  open  burgh,  all  the  inhabitants  fled  t<> 
conceal  themselves.  So  extreme  were  their  suf- 
ferings that  their  complaints  amounted  to  impiety, 
for,  seeing  all  these  crimes  and  atrocities  going  on 
without  check  or  visible  judgment,  men  said  openly 
that  Christ  and  his  saints  had  fallen  asleep."* 

A.  D.  1142.  During  Stephen's  captivitj',  3Ia- 
tilda's  husband,  Geoffrey  of  Anjou,  reduced  nearly 
the  whole  of  Normandy,  and  prevailed  upon  the 
majority  of  the  resident  nobles  to  acknowledge 
Prince  Henry  (his  son  by  Matilda)  as  their  legiti- 
mate duke.  The  king's  party  thus  lost  all  hope  of 
aid  and  assistance  from  beyond  sea  ;  but,  as  they 
were  masters  of  the  coasts  of  the  island,  they  were 
able  to  prevent  the  arrival  of  any  considerable  re- 
inforcement to  their  adversaries.  Matilda  pressed 
her  husband  to  come  to  her  assistance  with  all  the 
forces  he  could  raise  ;  but  Geoflfrey's  dislike  of  his 
wife's  society  was  more  prevalent  with   him  than 

1  Gervase. — Malnisb.  The  honest  and  judicjious  monk  of  Malms 
bury  says,  "  I  cannot  relate  the  transactions  of  this  council  with  that 
exact  veracity  with  which  I  did  the  former,  as  I  teas  not  present  at  it.'' 
He  tells  us  that  the  legate  "commanded,  therefore,  on  tlie  part  of  Go<l 
and  the  pope,  that  they  should  strenuously  assist  the  king,  anointed 
by  the  aill  of  the  nation  and  with  the  approbation  of  the  Holy  See  ;  ami 
that  such  as  disturbed  th»  peace  in  favor  of  the  Countess  of  Anjuii 
should  be  excommunicated,  with  the  exception  of  herself,  viho  tots 
sovereign  of  the  Angevzns." 

=  Gcsta  Steph.  3  Id.  «  ChroD   Sai. 


420 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


ambition,  and  the  past  might  have  instructed  him 
that  such  a  war  would  not  be  without  its  dangers 
and  costly  sacrifices  :  he  declined  the  invitation  on 
the  ground  that  he  had  not  yet  made  himself  sure 
of  Normandy,  but  he  offered  to  send  over  Prince 
Henry.  Even  on  this  point  he  showed  no  great 
readiness,  and  several  months  were  lost  ere  he 
would  intrust  his  son  to  tho  care  of  the  Earl  of 
(rloucester,  whom  Matilda  had  sent  into  Normandy. 

Meanwhile  Stephen,  who  had  recovered  from  a 
long  and  dangerous  illness,  marched  in  person  to 
Oxford,  where  the  empress  had  fixed  her  court, 
and  invested  that  city,  with  a  firm  resolution  of 
never  moving  thence  until  he  had  got  his  trouble- 
some rival  into  his  hands.  At  his  first  approach 
the  garrison  came  out  to  meet  him :  these  enemies 
he  put  to  flight,  and  pursued  them  so  hotly  that  he 
entered  the  city  pell-mell  with  them.  Matilda 
then  retired  into  the  castle,  and  the  victor's  troops 
set  fire  to  the  town.  Stephen  invested  the  citadel, 
and  persevfered  in  the  operations  of  the  siege  or 
blockade  thi'ough  the  horrors  of  a  winter  of  extra- 
ordinary severity ;  and  so  intent  was  he  on  his 
purpose  that  he  would  not  permit  his  attention  to 
be  distracted  even  when  informed  that  the  Earl  of 
Gloucester  and  Prince  Henry  had  landed  in  Eng- 
land. The  castle  was  strong,  but  like  all  such 
places  at  the  period,  insufficiently  stocked  with 
provisions  for  a  considerable  force  ;  a  proof,  per- 
haps, not  merel}'^  of  the  thoughtlessness  and  im- 
providence of  the  two  parties,  but  of  the  general 
poverty  and  actual  distress  of  the  countiy.  When 
the  siege  had  lasted  some  three  months,  Matilda 
again  found  herself  in  danger  of  starvation,  to  es- 
cape which  she  had  recourse  to  another  of  her  fur- 
tive flights.  On  the  20th  of  December,  a  little 
after  midnight,  she  dressed  herself  in  white,  and 
accompanied  by  three  knights  in  the  same  attire, 
stole  out  of  the  castle  by  a  postern  gate.  The 
ground  being  covered  with  deep  snow,  the  party 
passed  unobserved,  and  the  Thames  being  frozen 
over,  afforded  them  a  safe  and  direct  passage.  Ma- 
tilda, who  had  the  strength  and  courage  of  her  male 
ancestors,  pursued  her  course  on  foot  as  far  as  the 
town  of  Abingdon,  where,  finding  horses,  the  party 
mounted,  and  she  rode  on  to  Wallingford,  at  or 
near  to  which  place  she  was  soon  after  joined  by 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester  and  her  young  son,  who 
were  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force,  though 
at  their  first  landing  many  who  had  gone  out  to 
meet  him,  on  finding  the  prince  had  stolen  into  the 
land  with  a  very  inconsiderable  force  and  but  little 
money,  turned  their  backs  upon  him  as  they  had 
done  upon  his  mother  under  the  same  circumstan- 
ces, and  resumed  their  allegiance  to  King  Stephen. 
The  day  after  Matilda's  flight  Oxford  Castle  sur- 
rendered to  the  king;  but  the  king  himself  was 
defeated  by  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  at  Wilton  in 
the  following  month  of  July,  and,  with  his  brother 
the  legate,  narrowly  escaped  being  made  prisoner. 

After  the  affair  of  Wilton,  no  military  operation 
deserving  of  notice  occurred  for  three  years,  during 
which  Stephen's  party  prevailed  in  all  the  east; 
Matilda's   maintained    their  ground   in   the  west; 


and  the  young  prince  was  shut  up  for  safety  in  the 
strong  castle  of  Bristol,  where,  at  his  leisure  mo- 
ments, his  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  who 
enjoyed — like  his  father,  Henry  Beauclerk  —  the 
reputation  of  being  a  learned  person,  attended  to 
his  education.  The  presence  of  the  boy  in  Eng- 
land was  of  no  use  whatever  to  his  mother's  or  his 
own  cause,  and,  about  the  feast  of  Whitsuntide, 
1147,  he  returned  to  liis  fether  Geoflrey  in  Nor- 
mandy. Gloucester  died  of  a  fever,  "  the  natural 
consequence  of  an  alternate  succession  of  excess 
and  privation,"  in  the  month  of  October;  and  thus 
deprived  of  son  and  brother,  and  depressed  also  by 
the  loss  of  the  Earl  of  Hereford  and  other  stanch 
partisans,  who  fell  the  victims  of  disease,  the  mas- 
culine resolution  of  Matilda  gave  way,  and,  after  a 
struggle  of  eight  years,  she  quitted  England  and 
retired  to  Normandy.  After  her  departure  Ste- 
phen endeavored  to  get  possession  of  all  the  baronial 
castles,  and  to  reduce  the  nobles  to  a  proper  degree 
of  subordination ;  but  the  measures  he  adopted 
were,  in  some  instances,  characterized  by  craft,  if 
not  treachery ;  and  his  too  openly  avowed  purpose 
of  curbing  the  power  and  license  of  the  nobility 
was  as  unpalatable  to  his  own  adherents  as  to  the 
friends  of  Matilda.  At  the  same  time  he  involved 
himself  in  a  fresh  quarrel  with  the  church,  and  that 
too  at  a  moment  when  his  brother,  the  legate  and 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  had  lost  his  great  authority 
through  the  death  of  the  pope  who  patronized 
him,  and  the  election  of  another  pope,  who  took 
away  his  legatine  office  and  espoused  the  quarrel 
of  his  declared  enemy  Theobald,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury. 

For  attending  the  council  of  Rheims  against  the 
express  orders  of  the  king  the  archbishop  was  ex- 
iled. Caring  little  for  this  sentence,  Theobald 
went  (a.  D.  1148)  and  put  himself  under  the  pro 
tection  of  Bigod  Earl  of  Norfolk,  who  was  of  the 
Angevin  faction,  and  then  pubhshed  a  sentence  of 
interdict  against  Stephen's  party  and  all  that  part 
of  the  kingdom  that  acknowledged  the  rule  of  the 
usurper.  Instantly,  in  one  half  of  the  kingdom,  all 
the  churches  were  closed,  and  the  priests  and 
monks  either  withdrew,  or  refused  to  perform  any 
of  the  offices  of  religion.  From  their  conduct  we 
might  have  expected  the  contrary ;  but  this  was  a 
state  of  things  which  men  could  not  bear,  and  Ste- 
phen was  actually  compelled  to  seek  a  reconcilia- 
tion with  the  archbishop.  About  two  years  after 
this  reconciliation  a  general  council  of  the  high 
clergj^  was  held  at  London ;  and  Stephen,  who,  in 
the  interval,  had  endeavored  to  win  the  hearts  of 
the  bishops  and  abbots  with  donations  to  the  church, 
and  promises  of  much  greater  things  when  the 
kingdom  should  be  settled,  required  them  to  recog- 
nize and  anoint  his  eldest  son  Eustace  as  his 
successor.  This  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
resolutely  and  most  unceremoniously  refused  to  do. 
He  had  consulted,  he  said,  his  spiritual  master, 
and  the  pope  had  told  him  that  Stephen  was  a 
usurper,  and,  therefore,  could  not,  like  a  legitimate 
sovereign,  transmit  his  crown  to  his  posterity.  It 
was  quite  natural,  and  perhaps  excusable  that  Ste- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


421 


phen,  on  thus  hearing  his  rights  called  in  question  by 
a  man  who  had  sworn  allegiance  to  him,  should  be 
overcome  by  a  momentary  rage  (and  it  was  not 
more  in  effect),  and  order  his  guards  to  arrest  the 
bishops  and  seize  their  temporalities ;  but  putting 
aside  the  question  of  right,  and  however  much  they 
may  have  failed  in  the  respect  due  to  one  who  was 
their  king  at  the  time,  the  prelates,  in  acting  as 
they  did,  indubitably  took  a  most  prudent  and  wise 
view  of  the  case,  and  adopted  a  sj'stem  which  was 
calculated  to  narrow  the  limits  of  civil  war. 

As  long  as  the  contest  lay  between  Steplien  on 
the  one  side,  and  a  woman  and  boy  on  the  other, 
it  was  likely  to  be,  on  the  whole,  favorable  to  the 
former ;  but  time  had  worked  its  changes  ; — Prince 
Henry  was  no  longer  a  boy,  but  a  handsome,  gal- 
lant young  man,  capable  of  performing  all  the 
duties  of  a  knight  and  soldier,  and  gifted  with  pre- 
cocious abilities  and  political  acumen.  He  had 
also  become,  by  inheritance  and  marriage,  one  of 
the  most  powerful  princes  on  the  continent.  When 
Henry  Plantagenet  left  Bristol  Castle  he  was  about 
fourteen  years  of  age.  In  a.  d.  1149,  having  at- 
tained the  military  age  of  sixteen,  he  recrossed  the 
seas,  and  landed  in  Scotland  with  a  splendid  ret- 
inue, in  order  to  receive  the  honor  of  knighthood 
at  the  hands  of  his  mother's  uncle.  King  David. 
The  ceremony  was  performed  with  great  pomp  in 
"  merry  Carlisle,"  where  the  Scottish  king  then 
kept  his  court;  crowds  of  nobles  from  most  parts 
of  England,  as  well  as  from  Scotland  and  Nor- 
mandy, were  present,  and  had  tlie  opportunity  of 
remarking  Henry's  many  eminent  qualities  ;  and  as 


that  prince  had  only  been  returned  to  the  conti- 
nent some  twelve  months  when  Stephen  assembled 
the  council  for  the  anointing  of  his  son,  the  impres- 
sions made  by  the  fortunate  Pkntagenet  were  still 
fresh,  and  his  character  was  naturally  contrasted 
with  that  of  Prince  Eustace,  who  was  about  his 
own  age,  but  who  does  not  appear  to  have  had  one 
of  his  high  endowments.  Shortly  after  his  return 
from  Carlisle  Henry  was  put  in  full  possession  of 
the  government  of  Normandy  :  by  the  death  of  his 
father  Geoffrey,  who  died  in  the  course  of  the 
same  year  (1150),  he  succeeded  to  the  earldom  of 
Anjou;  and  in  1152,  together  with  the  hand  of 
Eleanor,  the  divorced  queen  of  Louis  VII.  of 
France,  he  acquired  her  rights  over  the  earldom 
of  Poictou  and  the  vast  duchy  of  Guyenne,  or 
Aquitaine,  which  had  descended  to  her  from  her 
father.  The  Plantagenet  party  in  England,  which 
had  been  for  some  time  in  a  state  of  depression, 
recovered  their  spirits  at  the  prospect  of  this  sudden 
aggi-andizement,  and,  thinking  no  more  of  the  mo- 
ther, they  determined  to  call  in  the  son  to  reign  in 
his  own  right.  The  Earl  of  Chester  passed  over 
to  Normandy,  to  express  what  he  called  the  unani- 
mous will  of  the  nation ;  but  the  King  of  France, 
becoming  jealous  of  the  great  power  of  Henry, 
formed  an  alliance  with  King  Stephen,  Theobald 
Earl  of  Blois,  and  Geoffrey  of  Anjou,  Henry's 
younger  brother,  who  had  good  reason  to  be  dis- 
satisfied, and  marched  a  French  army  to  the  con- 
fines of  Normandy.  This  attempt  occasioned  some 
delay ;  but  as  soon  as  Henry  had  convinced  the 
French    king   that  his   design  of  overrunning  the 


The  TiiAiMEs  at  Wallinqford. 


422 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


duchy  was  hope]ess,  he  obtnined  a  truce,  and  forth- 
with sailed  for  England  with  a  small  fleet.  The 
army  lie  brought  over  with  him  did  not  exceed  140 
knights  and  3000  foot ;  but  it  was  well  appointed 
and  disciplined ;  and  as  soon  as  he  landed  in  Eng- 
land most  of  the  old  friends  of  his  family  flocked 
to  join  his  standard.  It  was  unexpectedly  found, 
however,  that  Stephen  was  still  strong  in  the  af- 
fections and  devotion  of  a  large  party.  The  armies 
of  the  competitors  came  in  sight  of  each  other  at 
Wallingford ;  that  of  Stephen,  who  had  marched 
from  London,  occupying  the  left  bank  of  the 
Thames,  and  that  of  Henry,  who  had  advanced 
from  Marlborough,  the  right.  They  lay  facing 
each  other  during  two  whole  days,  and  were  hourly 
expecting  a  sanguinary  engagement;  but  the  pause 
had  given  time  for  salutary  reflection ;  and  the 
Earl  of  Arundel  had  the  boldness  to  say,  that  it 
was  an  unreasonable  thing  to  prolong  the  calamities 
of  a  whole  nation  on  account  of  the  ambition  of 
two  princes.'  Many  lords  of  both  parties,  who 
were  of  the  same  opinion,  or  wearied  at  length  with 
a  struggle  which  had  already  lasted  fifteen  yeai's, 
labored  to  persuade  both  princes  to  come  to  an 
amicable  arrangement.  The  two  chiefs  consented; 
and  in  a  short  conversation  which  they  carried  on 
with  one  another  across  a  narrow  part  of  the 
Thames,  Stephen  and  Henry  agreed  to  a  truce, 
(luring  which  each  expressed  his  readiness  to  ne- 
gotiate a  lasting  peace.  On  this.  Prince  Eustace, 
who  was  probably  well  aware  that  the  first  article 
of  the  treaty  would  seal  his  exclusion  from  the 
throne,  burst  away  from  his  father  in  a  paroxysm  of 
rage,  and  went  into  Cambridgeshire  to  get  up  a  war 
on  his  own  account.  The  rash  young  «an  took 
forcible  possess^ion  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Edmunds- 
bury,  and  laid  waste  or  plundered  the  country 
round  about,  not  excepting  even" the  lands  of  the 
abbot.  His  licentious  career  was  veiy  brief;  for 
as  he  was  sitting  down  to  a  riotous  banquet,  he 
was  suddenly  seized  with  a  frenzj',  of  which  he 
soon  died. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  this  sudden  frenzy 
and  decease  were  in  all  likelihood  owing  to  an  in- 
flammation of  the  brain,  the  fruit  of  habitual  intem- 
perance and  of  frantic  passions.  According  to  the 
monks,  his  fate  was  a  sudden  judgment  of  the  Al- 
inightj',  provoked  by  his  impiety  in  ravaging  the 
sanctuary  of  the  blessed  St.  Edmund;  and  as  this 
was  one  of  the  capital  favorites  in  their  hagiology, 
the  English  people  seem  generally  to  have  ac- 
counted for  his  death  in  this  way.  We  nowhere 
find  it  hinted  that  he  died  of  poison,  though  the 
cii-cumstances  which  made  his  death  most  desira- 
ble, and  the  apposite  moment  at  which  it  took 
place,  tend  almost  to  excite  a  suspicion.^  The 
principal  obstacle  to  concession  from  Stephen  was 
thus  removed,  for  though  he  had  another  legiti- 
mate son.  Prince  William,  he  was  but  a  boy,  and 
was   docile    and   unambitious.     The  principal   ne- 

1  Gesta  Steph. — Gervase. 

s  Writers  of  a  later  period  introduced  some  confusion  in  this  matter 
by  accounting  for  his  death  m  diflerent  ways.  Some  of  them  said 
Eustace  was  drowned. 


gotiators,  who  with  great  ability  and  address  recon- 
ciled the  conflicting  interests  of  the  two  factions, 
were  Theobald,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  Henry,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Stephen's 
brother,  who  played  so  many  parts  in  this  long  and 
checkered  drama.  On  the  7th  of  November,  1153, 
a  great  council  of  the  kingdom  was  held  at  Win- 
chester, where  a  peace  was  finally  adjusted  on  the 
following  conditions : — Stephen,  who  was  to  retain 
undisturbed  possession  of  the  crown  during  his  life, 
adopted  Henry  as  his  son,  appointed  him  his  suc- 
cessor, and  gave  the  kingdom,  after  his  own  death, 
to  Henry  and  his  heirs  forever.  In  return,  Henry 
did  present  homage,  and  swore  fealty  to  Stephen. 
Henry  received  the  homage  of  the  king's  surviving 
son  William,  and  in  return,  gave  that  young  prince 
all  the  estates  and  honors,  whether  in  England  or 
on  the  continent,  which  his  father  Stephen  had 
enjoyed  before  he  ascended  the  throne  ;  and  Henry 
promised,  as  a  testimonial  of  his  own  afl"ection,  the 
honor  of  Pevensey,  together  with  some  manors  in 
Kent.  There  then  followed  a  mighty  interchange 
and  duplication  of  oaths  among  the  earls,  barons, 
bishops,  and  iibbots  of  both  factions ;  all  swearing 
present  aflegiance  to  Stephen  and  l^uture  fealty  to 
Henry.  A  clause,  for  which  there  were  several 
precedents  under  former  reigns,  was  introduced, 
and  the  earls  and  barons  swore  that  if  either  of  the 
two  princes  broke  his  engagements  they  Avould  in- 
stantly abandon  him,  and  support  the  cause  of  the 
other.  It  is  curious,  and  a  consoling  proof  of  the 
advance  made  by  the  popular  body,  notwithstand- 
ing the  horrors  of  this  reign,  to  observe  that  the 
diflerent  boroughs  of  England  were  taken  into 
account,  and  sAvore  fealty  to  Henry  in  the  same 
terms  as  those  employed  by  the  gi'eat  nobles.  In 
a  minor  article  the  officers  of  Stephen  who  held 
the  Tower  of  London,  and  the  castles  of  Win- 
chester, Windsor,  Oxford,  Lincoln,  and  South- 
ampton, gave  hostages  to  Henry  for  the  immediate 
surrender  to  him  of  those  fortresses  in  the  event 
of  Stephen's  death.  The  whole  arrangement  was 
naiTated  and  drawn  up  in  the  form  of  a  charter, 
which  purported  to  be  octroye,  or  granted  by  King 
Stephen,  and  witnessed  by  the  prelates  and  barons.' 

When  the  time  came  in  which  he  incurred  no 
danger  or  risk  in  so  doing,  Henry  treated  his  adop- 
tion by  Stephen  with  scorn ;  and  while  some  of  his 
partisans,  in  relating  his  history,  impudently  omitted 
the  fact  altogether,  others  considered  it  as  an  idle 
form,  giving  no  right,  and  others  again  maintained 
that  King  Stephen  himself,  and  the  whole  nation, 
were  fain  to  acknowledge  the  personal  claims  of 
Matilda's  son,  who  consequently  was  called  to  reign 
through  a  legitimate,  hereditary  right.  The  treaty, 
however,  stands  recorded  as  we  have  given  it  above, 
and  remains  an  incontrovertible  evidence  of  the  real 
nature  of  the  transaction. 

Stephen  did  not  long  survive  the  arrangement  by 
which  he  renounced  all  hope  of  keeping  the  royal 
crown  in  his  lineage.  After  signing  the  treaty  he 
and  Henry  visited  together  the  cities  of  Winches- 
ter, London,  and  Oxford,  in  which  places  solemn 

1  Rymer's  Foedera. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


423. 


processions  were  made,  and  both  princes  were  re- 
ceived with  acclamations  by  the  people.  At  the  end 
of  Lent  they  parted  with  expressions  of  mutual 
friendship. 

Henry  returned  to  the  continent,  and  on  the 
following  25th  of  October  (1154)  Stephen  died  at 
Dover,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age.  He  was 
buried  by  the  side  of  his  wife  Miiud,  who  died 
three  years  before  him,  at  the  monastery  of  Faver- 
sham,  in  the  pleasant  county  of  Kent,  which  she 
had  loved  so  much  while  living.* 

"  In  this  king's  time,"  says  the  Saxon  chronicler, 
"  all  was  dissension,  and  evil,  and  rapine.  The 
great  men  soon  rose  against  him.  They  had  sworn 
oaths,  but  maintained  no  truth.  They  built  castles, 
which  they  held  out  against  him.  They  cruelly 
oppressed  the  wretched  people  of  the  land  with  this 
castle  work.  They  filled  their  castles  with  devils 
and  evil  men.  They  seized  those  whom  they  sup- 
posed to  have  any  goods,  and  threw  them  into 
prison  for   their  gold   and  silver,  and  inflicted  on 

'  At  the  general  suppression  of  abbeys,  under  Henry  VIII.,  Stephen's 
tomb  was  rifled,  and  his  bones  were  cast  into  the  sea. 


them  unutterable  tortures.  Some  they  hanged  up 
by  the  feet,  and  smoked  with  foul  smoke ;  some  by 
the  thumbs  or  by  the  beard,  and  hung  coats  of 
heavy  mail  on  their  feet.     They  threw  them  into 

dungeons  with  adders,  and  snakes,  and  toads 

They  made  many  thousands  perish  with  hunger. 
They  laid  tribute  after  tribute  upon  towns  and 
cities,  and  this  in  their  language  they  called  tenserie.^ 
When  the  townsmen  had  nothing  more  to  give, 
they  set  fire  to  all  the  towns.  Thou  mightest  go  a 
whole  day's  journey  and  not  find  a  man  sitting  in  a 
town,  nor  an  acre  of  land  tilled.  The  poor  died  of 
hunger,  and  those  who  had  been  men  well  to  do 
begged  for  bread.     Never  was  more  mischief  done 

by  heathen  invaders To  till  the  ground  was 

to  plough  the  sands  of  the  sea.  This  lasted  the 
nineteen  years  that  Stephen  was  king,  and  it  grew 
continually  worse  and  worse." 

1  Tenser,  or  Tanser,  is  a  verb  in  old  French  equivalent  to  the 
modem  ckdtier — to  chastise  or  punish.  The  Saxon  Chronicle  contains 
a  long  description  of  the  tortures  in  use.  Men  of  rank  employed  their 
inventive  faculties  in  this  direction  ;  and  Philip  Gay,  a  relation  of  the 
Earl  of  Gloucester,  had  the  merit  of  inventing  one  of  the  most  horrid 
of  the  instruments  of  torture,  called  a  sachentage. 


Henry  II. — surnamed  Plantagenet 

'A 


Great  Seal  of  Henry  H. 


A.  D.  1154. — "When  Henry  Plantagenet  received 
the  news  of  Stephen's  death  he  was  engaged  in  the 
siege  of  a  castle  on  the  frontiers  of  Normandy. 
Relying  on  the  situation  of  affairs  in  England,  and 
the  disposition  of  men's  minds  in  his  favor,  he  pros- 
ecuted the  siege  to  a  successful  close,  and  reduced 
some  turbulent  continental  vassals  to  obedience, 
before  he  went  to  the  coast  to  embark  for  his  new 
kingdom.  He  was  detained  some  time  at  Barfleur 
by  storms  and  contrary  winds  ;  and  it  was  not  till 
six  weeks  after  the  death  of  Stephen  that  he  land- 
ed in  England,  where  he  was  received  with  enthu- 
siastic joy.  He  brought  with  him  a  splendid  re- 
tinue, and  Eleanor,  his  wife,  whose  inheritance  had 
made  him  so  powerful  on  the  continent,  and  whose 
stern  character  was  to  influence  so  many  events  of 
his  reign.     This  marriage  proved,  that  if  the  young 


Henry  had  the  gallantry  of  his  age  and  all  the 
knightly  accomplishments  then  in  vogue,  he  was 
not  less  distinguished  by  a  cool,  calculating  head, 
and  the  faculty  of  sacrificing  romantic  or  delicate 
feelings  for  political  advantages.  The  lady  he 
espoused  was  many  years  older  than  himself,  and 
the  repudiated  wife  of  another. 

Eleanor,  familiarly  called  in  her  own  country 
Aanor,  was  daughter  and  heiress  of  William  IX.,' 
Earl  of  Poictou  and  Duke  of  Aquitaine ;  that  is  to 
say,  of  the  sovereign  chief  of  all  the  western  coast 
of  France,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Loire  to  the  foot 
of  the  Pyrenees.  She  was  married  in  1137  to 
Louis  VII.,  King  of  France,  who  was  not  less  en- 
chanted with  her  beauty  than  with  the  fine  prov- 

1  This  Duke  William  was  a  troubadour  of  high  renown,  and  the 
most  ancient  of  that  class  of  poets  whose  works  have  been  preserved. 


424 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


luces  she  brought  him.  "WTien  the  union  had 
lasted  some  years,  and  the  queen  had  given  birth 
to  two  daughters,  the  princesses  Marie  and  AUx, 
Louis  resolved  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy 
Land,  and  to  take  along  with  him  his  wife,  whose 
tincle,  Haymond,  or  Raymond,  was  Duke  of  An- 
tioch.  The  general  morality  of  the  royal  and  noble 
crusaders  and  pilgrims  is  represented  in  no  very 
favorable  hght  by  contemporary  Avriters ;  and  it 
13  easily  understood  how  camps  and  marches,  and 
a  close  and  constant  association  with  soldiers,  should 
not  be  favorable  to  female  virtue.  Suspicion  soon 
fell  upon  Eleanor,  who,  according  to  her  least  un- 
favorable judges,  was  guilty  of  great  coquetry  and 
freedom  of  manners;  and  her  conduct  in  the  gay 
and  dissolute  court  of  Antioch  at  last  awakened  the 
indignation  of  her  devout  husband.  She  was  very 
generally  accused  of  an  intrigue  with  a  young  and 
handsome  Turk,  named  Sal.idiu ; '  and  though,  in 
the  notions  of  the  age,  it  made  an  immense  differ- 
ence in  the  weight  of  her  guilt,  we  should  now 
scarcely  waste  time  in  considering  whether  her 
paramour  was  converted  and  baptized,  as  asserted 
by  some,  or  was  an  unredeemed  Mahomedan,  as 
maintained  by  others.  In  1152,  about  a  year  after 
their  return  from  the  Holy  Land,  Louis  summoned 
a  council  of  prelates  at  Baugenci-sur-Loire,  for  the 
express  purpose  of  divorcing  him  from  a  woman 
who  had  pubhcly  dishonored  him.  The  Bishop  of 
Langres,  pleading  for  the  king,  gravely  announced 
that  his  royal  master  "  no  longer  placed  faith  in  his 
wife,  and  could  never  be  sure  of  the  legitimacy  of 
her  progeny" — (she  had  not  borne  him  a  heir 
male) — and  grounded  his  claim  to  a  divorce  on  facts 
proving  her  flagitiousness.  But  the  Archbishop  of 
Bordeaux,  desirous  that  the  separation  should  be 
effected  in  a  less  scandalous  manner,  proposed  to 
treat  the  whole  question  on  very  difierent  grounds 
— namely,  on  the  consanguinity  of  the  parties, 
which  might  have  been  objected  by  the  canonical 
law  as  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the  marriage  when 
it  was  contracted  fifteen  jears  before,  but  which  now 
seemed  to  be  remembered  by  the  clergy  somewhat 
tardily.  This  course,  however,  relieved  them  from 
a  delicate  dilemma,  in  which  they  were  placed  by 
the  rules  of  the  church,  which,  if  fairly  interpreted, 
rendered  divorce  on  any  other  ground  most  difficult, 
and  by  their  anxious  desire  to  avoid  going  to  the 
extremity  of  proof  against  a  royal  personage  ;  and 
as  Eleanor,  who  considered  Louis  to  be  "  rather  a 
monk  than  a  king,"  *  voluntarily  and  readily  agreed 
to  the  dissolution  of  the  marriage,  the  council  dis- 
solved it  accordingly — on  the  pretext  that  the  con- 
sciences of  the  parties  reproached  them  for  living 
as  man  and  wife  when  they  were  cousins  witliin 
the  prohibited  degree.  This  decent  coloring,  how- 
ever, deceived  nobody  ;  but  the  good,  simple  Louis 
wonderfully  deceived  himself,  when  he  thought 
that  no  prince  of  the  time — no,  not  a  private  gen- 
tleman— would  be  so  wanting  in  delicacy,  and  re- 

1  Some  old  writers  confound  this  Saladin  with  the  Great  Saladin, 
the  heroic  opponent  of  Eleanor's  son,  Richard  ;  but  this  is  a  great 
mistake,  involving  an  anachronism. 

>  M6zeTai,  Hist,  de  France.  I 


gardless  of  his  own  honor,  as  to  marry  a  divorced 
wife  of  so  defamed  a  reputation.  According  to  a 
contemporary  authority,  Eleanor's  only  difficulty 
was  in  making  a  choice,  and  escaping  the  too  forci- 
ble addresses  of  some  of  her  suitors.  Immediately 
after  the  dissolution  of  her  marriage,  she  set  off  for 
the  capital  of  her  own  hereditary  states,  and  on 
the  way  met  with  the  following  adventures,  if  we 
are  to  give  credit  to  the  chronicler.  At  the  city  of 
Blois,  Thibaud,  or  Theobald,  Earl  of  Blois,  and 
brother  to  King  Stephen  of  England,  "  more  from 
ambition  than  love,"  made  her  the  offer  of  his  hand, 
and  not  tolerating  her  refusal,  secretly  resolved  to 
make  her  a  prisoner  in  his  castle,  and  marry  her  by 
force.  Suspecting  his  design,  she  stole  out  of  the 
castle  by  night,  and  descended  the  Loire  in  a  boat 
to  the  city  of  Tours,  which  was  then  included  in 
the  duchy  of  Anjou.  Here  Henry's  younger  broth- 
er, Geoffrey  of  Anjou,  conceived  the  same  sort  of 
project  which  had  been  entei-tained  by  Theobald  of 
Blois,  and  lay  in  ambush  to  intercept  her  and  seize 
her  person ;  but  Eleanor,  being  "  warned  by  her 
good  angel,"  suddenly  took  a  different  road,  and 
escaped  to  Poictiers,  where  the  more  courteous  and 
more  fortunate  Henry  soon  presented  himself,  and, 
"  with  more  policy  than  delicacy,"  wooed  and  won, 
and  married  her  too,  within  six  weeks  of  her  di- 
vorce.' King  Louis's  conduct  was  directly  the 
opposite  of  Henry's  ;  for  he  had  been  more  delicate 
than  politic  ;  and,  however  honorable  to  him  indi- 
vidually, his  delicacy  was  a  great  misfortune  to 
France,  for  it  dissevered  states  which  had  been 
united  by  the  marriage — retarded  that  fusion  and 
integration  which  alone  could  render  the  French 
kingdom  respectable,  and  threw  the  finest  territories 
of  France  into  the  hands  of  his  most  dangerous  ene- 
mies. If  he  could  have  freed  himself  of  his  wife, 
without  resigning  her  states,  the  good  would  have 
been  unmixed  ;  but  this  was  impossible  ;  and  though 
he  retained  the  two  daughters  Eleanor  had  borne 
him,  and  who  were  by  these  measures  deprived  of 
their  appanages  and  fortune  on  the  mother's  side, 
he  found  himself  obliged  to  withdraw  all  the  troops 
he  had  in  the  fortresses  of  Guyenne,  or  Aquitaine, 
and  Poictou,  and  resign  those  countries  wholly  and 
immediately  to  his  discarded  wife,  who  seems  to 
have  been  dear  to  the  people,  in  spite  of  her  irreg- 
ularities, and  to  have  encountered  little  or  no  diffi- 
culty in  inducing  them  to  admit  the  garrisons  of  her 
new  husband,  the  young  and  popular  Henry.  When 
it  was  too  late,  Louis  saw  the  great  error  in  policy 
he  had  committed,  and  made  what  efforts  he  could 
to  prevent  the  by  him  most  unexpected  marriage. 
He  prohibited  Henry,  as  his  vassal  for  Normandy 
and  Anjou,  to  contract  any  such  union  without  the 
consent  and  authority  of  his  suzerain  lord,  the  King 
of  France  ;  but  the  obligations  of  the  vassal  or  liege- 
man toward  the  suzerain,  even  where  the  parties 
had  expressly  contracted  and  avowed  them,  were 
little  binding  between  two  princes  of  equal  power; 
and  Henry,  who  was  soon  by  far  the  more  power- 
ful of  the  two,  cared  little  for  the  prohibition,  and 
Louis,  in  the  end,  was  obliged  to  content  himself 

I  Script.  Rer.  Franc. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


425 


with  receiving  the  empty  oaths  of  allegiance  which 
the  fortunate  Plantagenet  tendered  for  Guyenne 
and  Poictou,  in  addition  to  those  he  had  already 
pledged  for  Anjou  and  Normandy.  The  old  French 
historians,  who  cannot  relate  these  transactions 
without  losing  their  temper,  give  it  as  their  opinion 
that  they  would  not  have  happened  had  those  two 
wise  statesmen,  the  Abbot  Suger  and  the  Count  de 
Vermandois,  been  alive  to  counsel  and  direct  the 
king ;  but  the  abbot  and  the  count  had  both  died  the 
preceding  year ;  and  Louis,  who  had  depended  so 
entirely  on  them  (particularly  on  Suger),  that  he 
was  scarcely  capable  of  thinking  or  acting  for  him- 
self, was  bewildered,  like  a  man  who  had  lost  his 
guide  in  a  wild  and  unknown  country,  and  stumbled 
on  the  divorce  which  cost  France  so  dear.' 

'  Cc  qui  nous  couta  bon.  Brantome.  M6zerai  and  Larrey  (Heretiere 
de  Guicnne)  agree  in  attributing'  Louis's  error  to  the  want  of  the  wise 
counsels  of  Suger.  Larrey  and  Bouchet  {Annales  d'Aguitaine),  with 
some  other  writers,  natives  of  Aquitaine,  or  Poictou,  maintained  that 
Eleanor  was  unjustly  calumniated  ;  but  tVe  weight  of  contemporary 
evidenre  is  on  the  other  side. 


The  sacrifice  was  indeed  immense.  The  French 
kingdom  almost  ceased  to  figure  as  a  maritime  state 
on  the  Atlantic  ;  and  when  Eleanor's  possessions 
were  added  to  those  Henry  already  possessed  on 
the  continent,  that  prince  occupied  the  whole  coast- 
line from  Dieppe  to  Bayonne,  with  the  exception 
only  of  the  great  promontory  of  Brittany,  where  a 
race  of  semi-independent  princes  were  established 
that  had  sometimes  supported  the  interests  of  the 
French  kings,  and  at  others  allied  themselves  with 
the  Anglo-Norman  sovereigns.'  Henry,  in  fact, 
was  master  of  one-fifth  of  the  territories  now  in- 
cluded in  the  kingdom  of  France,  and,  deducting 
other  separate  and  independent  sovereignties,  Louis, 
driven  back  from  the  Atlantic  and  cooped  up  be- 
tween the  Loire,  the  Saone,  and  the  Meuse,  did 
not  possess  half  so  much  land  as  his  rival,  even  leav- 

1  Cliarles  the  Simple  appears  to  have  granted  to  Rollo,  the  founder 
of  the  duchy  of  Normandy,  whatever  supremacy  the  kings  of  France 
claimed  over  the  country  of  the  Bretons  ;  so  that  the  princes  of  Brit- 
tany were  considered  as  immediate  vassals  of  the  Norman  dukes,  anJ 
only  through  them  feudally  connected  with  the  French  crown. 


Henry  II.    Drawn  from  the  Tomb  at  Fontevrand. 


ing  out  of  the  account  the  kingdom  of  England,  to 
which  he  succeeded  about  two  years  after  his  mar- 
riage. Eleanor  was  soon  as  jealous  of  Henry  as 
Louis  had  been  of  her.  The  Plantagenet  had  not 
married  with  a  view  to  domestic  happiness,  but  he 
was  probably  far  from  expecting  the  wretchedness 
to  which  the  union  would  condemn  his  latter  days. 
At  their  first  arrival  in  England,  however,  every- 
thing wore  a  bright  aspect.  The  queen  rode  by 
the  king's  side  into  the  royal  city  of  Winchester, 
where  they  both  received  the  homage  of  the  nobili- 
ty; and  when,  on  the  19th  of  December,  Henry 
took  his  coronation  oaths,  and  was  crowned  at  West- 


minster by  Theobald,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Eleanor  was  crowned  with  him,  amid  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  people.  Not  a  shadow  of  opposition 
was  offered :  the  English,  still  enamored  of  their 
old  djnasty  or  traditions,  dwelt  with  complacency 
on  the  Saxon  blood,  which  fi-om  his  mother's  side 
(a  bad  Saxon  herself!)  flowed  in  the  veins  of  the 
youthful,  the  handsome,  and  brave'^enry ;  and  all 
classes  seemed  to  overlook  the  past  history  of  the 
queen  in  her  grandeur  and  magnificence,  and  pres- 
ent attachment  to  their  king.  The  court  pagean- 
tries were  splendid,  and  accompanied  by  the  spon- 
taneous rejoicings  of  the  citizens.     Henry  did  not 


426 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


permit  his  attention  to  be  long  occupied  by  these 
pleasures  and  flattering  demonstrations,  but  pro- 
ceeded to  business  almost  as  soon  as  the  crown  was 
on  his  head,  thus  giving  his  subjects  assurance  of 
the  busy,  active  reign  they  had  to  expect.  He  assem- 
bled a  great  council,  appointed  the  crown  officers, 
issued  a  decree  promising  his  subjects  all  the  rights 
and  liberties  they  had  enjoyed  under  his  grand- 
father, Henry  I.,  whose  reign,  however  tyrannical, 
was  a  blessed  state  compared  to  the  anarchy  which 
had  followed  ;  and  he  made  his  barons  and  bishops 
swear  fealty  to  his  infant  children,  his  wife  Elea- 
nor having  already  made  him  the  happy  father  of 
two  sons.* 

Henry  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  correct- 
ing of  those  abuses  which  had  rendered  the  reign 
of  Stephen  a  long  agony  to  himself  and  a  curse  to 
the  nation.  His  reforms  w'ere  not  completed  for 
several  years,  and  many  events  of  a  foreign  nature 
intervened  during  their  progress  ;  but  it  will  render 
the  narrative  clearer  to  condense  our  account  of 
these  transactions  in  one  general  statement. 

Henry  appointed  the  Earl  of  Leicester  grand 
justiciary  of  the  kingdom,  and  feeling  that  the  office 
had  hitherto  been  insufficiently  supported  by  the 
crown,  he  attached  to  it  more  ample  powers,  and 
provided  the  means  of  enforcing  its  decisions.  As 
happened  in  all  seasons  of  trouble  and  distress  in 
those  ages,  the  coin  had  been  alloyed  and  tampered 
with  under  Stephen ;  and  now  Henry  issued  an 
entirely  new  coinage  of  standard  weight  and  purity. 
The  foreign  mercenaries  and  companies  of  adven- 
ture that  came  over  to  England  during  the  long  civil 
war  between  Stephen  and  Matilda  had  done  incal- 
culable mischief.  Many  of  these  adventurers  had 
got  possession  of  the  castles  and  estates  of  the  Anglo- 
Norman  nobles  who  adhered  to  Matilda,  and  had 
been  created  earls  and  barons  by  Stephen ;  but, 
treating  all  these  as  acts  of  usurpation,  Henry  de- 
termined to  drive  every  one  of  them  from  the  land, 
and  their  expulsion  seems  to  have  aft'orded  almost 
as  much  joy  to  the  Saxon  population  as  to  the  Nor- 
mans, who  raised  a  shout  of  triumph  on  the  occa- 
sion. "  We  saw  them,"  says  a  contemporary,  "  we 
saw  these  Braban9ons  and  Flemings  cross  the  sea, 
to  return  from  the  camp  to  the  plough-tail,  and  be- 
come again  serfs,  after  having  been  lords."*  They 
were,  in  fact,  all  commanded  to  quit  the  kingdom 
by  a  certain  day,  under  penalty  of  death,  and  it  is 
not  likely  that  the  Normans  allowed  them  to  carry 
much  away  with  them.  Up  to  this  point  the  opera- 
tions were  easy,  and  the  king,  unopposed  by  the 
conflicting  interest  of  any  important  party  in  the 
state,  or  by  claims  on  his  own  gratitude,  was  carried 
forward  on  the  high  tide  of  popular  opinion  ;  but  in 
what  there  still  remained  to  do  there  were  great 
and  obvious  difficulties,  and  feelings  of  a  private 
nature,  which  might  have  overcome  a  less  deter- 
mined and  politic  prince,  for,  in  the  impartial  exe- 
cution of  his  measures  he  had  to  despoil  those  who 
fought  his  mother's  battles  and  supported  his  own 
cause  when  he  was  a  helpless  infant.     The  gener- 

>  William  and  Henry.     William  died  in  his  childhood. 
2  R.  d.:  Diceto. 


ous,  romantic  virtues  natural  to  youth  might  have 
been  fatal  to  him  ;  but  Henry's  heart  in  some  re- 
spects seems  never  to  have  been  young,  and  his 
head  was  cool  and  calculating.  In  a  treaty  made 
at  Winchester,  shortly  after  his  pacification  with 
Stephen,  it  was  stipulated  that  the  king  (Stephen) 
should  resume  all  such  royal  castles  and  lands  as 
had  been  alienated  to  the  nobles,  or  usurped  by 
them,  with  the  exceptions  only  of  what  Stephen 
had  granted  to  his  son  William,  or  had  bestowed 
on  the  church  ;  the  two  last  classes  of  donations  to 
remain  to  their  possessors.  Among  the  resumable 
gifts  were  many  made  by  Matilda  ;  for  she,  too, 
acting  as  a  sovereign,  had  followed  Stephen's  ex- 
ample in  alienating  parts  of  the  demesne  of  the 
crown  to  reward  her  adherents.  Stephen,  poor  as 
he  was,  had  neglected  this  resumption,  or  made 
no  progress  in  it  during  the  few  months  that  he 
survived  the  treaty.  But  Henry  was  determined 
not  to  be  a  pauper  king,  or  to  tolerate  that  widely- 
stretched  aristocratic  power  which  at  once  gi-ound 
the  people  and  bade  fair  to  reduce  royalty  to  an 
empty  shadow.  In  the  absence  of  other  fixed 
revenues  the  sovereigns  of  that  time  depended 
almost  entirely  on  the  produce  of  the  crown  lands, 
and  Stephen  had  allowed  so  much  of  these  to  slip 
from  him,  that  there  remained  not  sufficient  for  a 
decent  maintenance  of  royal  dignity.  Besides  the 
numerous  castles  which  had  been  built  by  the  tur- 
bulent nobles,  royal  fortresses,  and  even  royal  cities 
had  been  granted  away ;  and  these  could  hardly 
be  permitted  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  feudal 
lords  without  endangering  the  peace  of  the  king- 
dom. Law  was  brought  in  to  the  aid  of  policy,  and 
it  was  established  as  a  legal  axiom  that  the  an- 
cient demesne  of  the  crown  was  of  so  sacred  and 
inalienable  nature,  that  no  length  of  time,  tenure, 
and  enjoyment,  could  give  a  right  of  prescription 
to  anj^  other  possessors,  even  by  virtue  of  grants 
from  the  crown,  against  the  claim  of  succeeding 
princes,  who  might  (it  was  laid  down)  at  any  time 
resume  possession  of  what  had  formerly  been  alien- 
ated.' 

Foreseeing,  however,  that  this  step  would  create 
much  discontent  in  those  who  were  to  be  aflfected 
by  it,  and  who  (counting  both  of  the  old  parties) 
were  numerous  and  powerful,  Henry  was  cautious 
not  to  act  without  a  high  sanction  ;  and  he  therefore 
summoned  a  great  council  of  the  nobles,  who,  after 
hearing  the  urgency  of  his  necessities,  concurred 
pretty  generally  in  the  justice  of  his  immediately 
resuming  all  that  had  been  held  by  his  grandfather, 
Henry  I.,  with  the  exception  of  the  alienations  or 
grants  to  Stephen's  son  and  the  church,  as  already 
mentioned.  The  cause  assigned  for  these  resump- 
tions was  not  any  inherent  defect  in  the  title  of  the 
grantor,  nor  any  unworthiness  in  the  grantee,  but 
the  indispensable  necessity  of  providing  for  the 
crown.  As  soon  as  he  was  armed  with  this  sanc- 
tion the  young  king  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
formidable  army,  knowing  right  well  that  there 
were   many  who  would   not  consider   themselves 

1  Lord  Lyttehon's  Henry  II.  Contempovary  details  are  found  in 
Gervase  of  Canterbury,  William  of  Newbury,  and  Roger  of  Hoveden. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


427 


bound  by  the  voices  of  the  assembly  of  nobles,  and 
who  would  only  cede  theu'  castles  and  lands  by 
force.  In  some  instances  the  castles,  on  being 
closely  beleaguered,  surrendered  without  blood- 
shed ;  in  others,  they  were  taken  by  storm  or  re- 
duced by  famine.  In  nearly  all  cases  they  were 
leveled  to  the  ground,  and  about  1100  of  these 
"  dens  of  thieves,"  as  they  are  usually  called,  were 
blotted  out  from  the  fair  land  they  defaced,  to  the 
inexpressible  I'elief  and  contentment  of  the  poor 
people.  At  the  siege  of  the  castle  of  Bridgenorth, 
in  Shropshire,  which  Hugh  de  Mortimer  held  out 
against  the  king,  Henry's  life  was  preserved  by  the 
aftection  and  self-devotion  of  one  of  his  followers. 
He  was  commanding  in  person,  and  occupying  an 
exposed  position,  when  his  faithful  vassal,  Hubert 
de  St.  Clair,  seeing  one  of  Moitimer's  archers  aim- 
ing point-blank  at  him,  threw  himself  before  his 
person  and  received  the  arrow  in  his  own  breast. 
The  wound  proved  mortal,  and  St.  Clair  expired 
in  Henry's  arms,  recommending  his  daughter,  an 
only  child  and  an  infant,  to  the  care  of  his  prince, 
who,  to  his  honor,  did  the  duty  of  a  father  to  the 
orphan.  After  many  arduous  toils,  and  not  a  few 
checks  and  delays,  Henry  completed  his  purpose  : 
he  drove  the  Earl  of  Nottingham  and  some  other 
dangerous  nobles  out  of  the  kingdom  ;  he  leveled 
with  the  ground  the  six  strong  castles  of  Stephen's 
brother,  the  famous  Bishop  of  Winchester,  who, 
placing  no  confidence  in  the  new  king  whom  he 
had  helped  to  make,  fled  with  his  treasures  to 
Clugny :  he  reduced  the  Earl  of  Albemarle,  who 
had  long  reigned  like  an  independent  sovereign  in 
Yorkshire,  to  the  proper  state  of  vassalage  and 
allegiance  ;  and  he  finally  obliged  Malcolm,  King 
of  Scots,  to  resign  the  three  northern  counties  of 
Northumberland,  Cumberland,  and  Westmoreland, 
for  the  6o«a/i(/e  possession  of  the  Earldom  of  Hun- 
tingdon, which  the  Scottish  princes  claimed  as  de- 
scendants of  Earl  Waltheof.  In  driving  the  nobles 
from  the  royal  lands  and  houses  they  held,  no  dis- 
tinction was  made  between  the  grants  of  Stephen 
and  Matilda,  for  Henry  was  not  less  eager  to  re- 
cover everything,  than  wisely  anxious  to  avoid  the 
appearance  of  acting  from  motives  of  party  revenge  ; 
and  by  his  equal  and  impartial  proceeding,  he  left 
the  adherents  of  Stephen  no  more  reason  to  com- 
plain than  his  mother's  or  his  own  partisans.  Among 
the  latter  were  several  who  lost  their  all  by  these 
resumptions  ;  but,  steady  to  his  purpose,  the  king 
would  make  no  exceptions,  not  even  in  favor  of 
those  who  had  succored  his  mother  in  the  hour  of 
need,  and  made  the  greatest  sacrifices  for  his  fam- 
ily. He  evaded  the  most  earnest  applications  by  a 
courtesy  of  demeanor,  and  a  prodigality  of  prom- 
ises for  the  future,  which  seldom  lay  heavy  on  his 
conscience  ;  and  whenever  craft  or  subterfuge  could 
avail  him,  he  did  not  scruple  to  employ  them. 

Before  these  measures  were  completed  Henry's 
active  and  ambitious  mind  was  occupied  by  the 
affairs  of  the  continent,  for  his  j'ounger  brother, 
Geoffrey,  advancing  a  title  to  Anjou  and  Maine, 
had  invaded  those  provinces.  A  short  time  after 
his  marriage,  which  made  him  Duke  of  Aquitaine 


and  Earl  of  Poictou,  Henry  became  Earl  of  Aujou 
by  the  death  of  his  father,  but  under  the  express 
condition,  it  is  said,  of  resigning  that  earldom  to  his 
younger  brother  if  he  ever  should  become  King  of 
England.  It  is  even  added  that  the  dying  Geoffrey 
had  exacted  an  oath  from  the  barons  and  bishops 
who  attended  him,  that  they  would  not  suffer  his 
body  to  be  buried  till  his  son  Henry  should  solemnly 
swear  to  fulfil  the  dispositions  of  his  will.  Henry 
hesitated  ;  but  the  nobles  and  prelates,  firm  to  their 
vow,  kept  the  corpse  above  ground  until,  ashamed 
of  preventing  the  Christian  interment,  he  took  the 
oath  required  in  a  most  solemn  manner,  swearing 
over  the  dead  body  of  his  father,  which  was  then 
committed  to  the  gi'ave.  The  King  of  England, 
however,  showed  no  disposition  to  rehnquish  the 
earldom  of  Anjou;  and,  it  is  said,  he  solicited  the 
Pope  to  absolve  him  from  his  oath,  and  that  the 
Pope  complied  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been 
made  to  swear  under  improper  influences.^  This 
story,  though  scarcely  more  romantic  than  others 
of  the  same  period,  has  generally  been  condemned 
as  fiibulous,  and  it  does  not  rest  on  the  authority  of 
any  contemporary  narrator  writing  on  the  conti- 
nent, or  in  the  scene  of  the  events.  Henry,  it  is 
ti"ue,  sent  three  bishops  to  Rome,  but  the  ostensible 
reason  was  probably  the  true  one,  and  should  seem 
to  be  motive  sufficient  in  itself  for  such  a  mission. 
Nicholas  Breakspear,  the  only  Englishman  that 
ever  wore  the  tiara,  had  just  been  elected,  and  the 
three  bishops  were  said  to  be  sent  to  congratulate 
the  new  Pope,  in  the  name  of  the  king  and  the  peo- 
ple of  England.  The  king's  father,  however,  maj* 
have  wished  to  leave  some  proper  provision  for  his 
younger  son,  and  may  even  have  made  a  will  to  that 
effect;  and  Geoffrey,  seeing  his  brother  in  posses- 
sion of  so  many  states,  would  naturally  consider  it 
most  unjust  that  he  himself  should  have  none.  That 
young  prince,  moreover,  was  encouraged  by  the 
French  court,  which  was  still  smarting  under  the 
injuries  received  from  Henry's  marriage ;  and  he 
seems  to  have  had  a  strong  party  in  his  favor  in  the 
provinces  of  Maine  and  Anjou. 

The  King  of  England  crossed  the  seas  in  1156, 
and  again  did  homage  to  Louis  VII.  for  Normandy, 
Aquitaine,  Poictou,  Auvergne,  the  Limousin,  Anjou, 
Touraine,  and  a  long  train  of  dependent  territories  ; 
and  by  this  and  other  means,  the  nature  of  which  is 
not  explained,  he  induced  the  French  king  to  abandon 
the  cause  of  his  younger  brother.  He  then  threw 
himself  into  the  disputed  territory,  at  the  head  of  an 
army  consisting  almost  entirely  of  native  English, 
who  soon  reduced  Chinon,  Loudon,  Mirabeau.  and 
the  other  castles  which  held  for  his  brother.  The 
people  returned  to  their  allegiance  to  Henry,  and 
Geoffrey  was  soon  obliged  to  resign  all  his  claims 
for  a  pension  of  1000  English  and  2000  Angevin 
pounds.  Having  triumphed  over  every  opposition, 
as  much  by  policy  as  by  force  of  arms,  he  made  a 
magnificent  progress  through  Aquitaine  and  the 
other  dominions  he  had  obtained  by  his  marriage, 
and  received  the  fealty  of  his  chief  vassals  in  a  great 
council  hold  in  the  city  of  Bordeaux.  Wherever 
'  W.  Nenbr. 


428 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


he  appeared  he  commanded  respect,  and  no  sove- 
reign of  the  time  in  Europe  could  equal  the  power 
and  splendor  of  this  jouug  king. 

On  his  return  to  England,  in  11.57,  he  engaged  in 
hostilities  with  the  Welsh,  who  still  fought  furiously 
for  their  independence.  Feeling  over-confident  in 
the  number  and  quality  of  his  army,  he  crossed 
Flintshire,  and  threw  himself  among  the  mountains. 
The  Welsh  let  him  penetrate  as  far  as  the  difficult 
country  about  Coleshill  Forest,  when,  issuing  from 
their  concealment,  and  pouring  down  in  torrents 
from  the  ujjlands,  they  attacked  Henry  in  a  narrow 
defile  where  his  troops  could  not  form. 

The  slaughter  was  prodigious.  Eustace  Fitz- 
John  and  Robert  de  Courcy,  men  of  great  honor 
and  reputation,  together  with  several  other  nobles, 
were  dismounted  and  cut  to  pieces ;  the  king  him- 
self was  in  the  gi'eatest  danger,  and  a  rumor  was 
raised  that  he  had  fallen.  Henry,  Earl  of  Essex, 
the  hereditary  standard-bearer,  threw  down  the 
royal  standard  and  fled.  The  panic  was  now  uni- 
versal ;  but  the  king  rushed  among  the  fugitives, 
showed  them  he  was  unhurt,  rallied  them,  and 
finally  fought  his  way  through  the  mountain-pass. 
The  serious  loss  he  suft'ered  made  him  cautious,  and 
instead  of  following  Owen  Gwynned,  who  artfully 
tried  to  draw  him  into  the  defiles  of  Snowdon,  he 
changed  his  route,  and  gaining  the  open  sea-coast, 
marched  along  the  shore  closely  attended  by  a  fleet. 
He  cut  down  some  forests,  or  opened  roads  through 
them,  and  built  several  castles  in  advantageous  situ- 
ations. There  was  no  second  battle  of  any  note, 
and,  after  a  few  months,  the  Welsh  were  glad  to 
purchase  peace  by  resigning  such  portions  of  their 
native  territory  as  they  had  retaken  from  Stephen, 
and  giving  hostages  and  doing  feudal  homage  for 
what  they  retained.  The  homage  cost  them  little  : 
the  giving  of  hostages  did  not  prevent  them  from 
renewing  hostilities  whenever  time  and  circum- 
stances seemed  fiivorable  to  them,  and  the  hardy 
mountaineers  gave  many  a  subsequent  check  to  the 
Anglo-Norman  chivalry.  Six  years  after  the  battle 
of  Coleshill,  the  Earl  of  Essex  was  publicly  accused 
of  cowardice  and  treason  by  Robert  de  Montfort. 
The  standard-bearer  appealed  to  the  trial  of  arms, 
and  was  vanquished  in  the  lists  by  his  accuser.  By 
the  law  of  the  times,  death  should  have  followed, 
but  the  king,  qualifying  the  rigor  of  the  judgment, 
granted  him  his  life,  appointing  him  to  be  a  shorn 
monk  in  Reading  Abbey,  and  taking  the  earl's  pos- 
sessions into  his  hands  as  forfeited  to  the  crown.' 

Geoffrey  did  not  live  long  to  exact  payment  of  his 
annuities  from  his  brother.  Soon  after  concluding 
the  treaty  with  Henry,  which  left  him  without  anj^ 
territory,  the  citizens  of  Nantes,  in  Lower  Brittany, 
spontaneously  offered  him  the  government  of  their 
citj',  just  as  the  people  of  Domfront  had  done  by  Hen- 
ry Beauclerk  when  under  similar  circumstances. 
Lower  Brittany  was  then  occupied  in  unequal  pro- 
portions by  two  populations  of  different  races,  the 
one  speaking  the  ancient  Armoric,  the  other  the 
language  of  France  and  Normandy.  The  latter 
were  the  more  civilized,  and  had  the  greater  weight 

1  Diceto. 


in  the  towns  and  cities,  some  of  which,  like  Nantes, 
were  exclusively  occupied  by  them.  There  was  a 
constant  enmity  between  the  two  races,  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  country,  the  counts  or  dukes,  were 
sure  to  be  unpopular  with  one  party  in  proportion  to 
their  popularity  with  the  other.  The  people  of 
Nantes,  which,  with  its  dependent  territory,  formed 
the  most  opulent  part  of  the  great  promontory  of 
Brittany,  thought  to  detach  their  fortunes  from 
those  of  the  native  race  by  electing  young  Geoffrey 
Plantagenet;  and  during  his  short  life  they  main- 
tained a  separate  administration,  and  a  government 
almost  wholly  independent  of  the  Armorican  princes. 
But  Geoffrej'  died  in  1158,  and  the  citizens  of  Nantes, 
returning  to  their  old  connection  with  the  rest  of 
the  country,  were  governed  by  Conan,  who  was 
Earl  of  Richmond  in  England,  as  well  as  the  hered- 
itarj'  Count  or  Duke  of  Brittany.  To  the  surprise 
of  everybody,  King  Heniy,  setting  forth  the  most 
novel  and  groundless  pretensions,  claimed  the  free 
city  of  Nantes  as  hereditary  property,  devolved  to 
him  by  his  brother's  death.  It  was  in  vain  the  cit- 
izens represented  that  they  had  not,  by  choosing 
Geoffrey  to  be  their  governor,  resigned  their  inde- 
pendence or  converted  themselves  into  a  property 
to  be  descendible  in  his  family.  Henry  wanted  to 
fill  up  the  only  great  gap  in  his  continental  territo- 
ries, and,  careless  of  right  or  appearances,  he  re- 
solved to  seize  Nantes,  hoping  that  if  once  he  gained 
a  firm  footing  there  he  should  soon  extend  his  abso- 
lute dominion  over  the  rest  of  Brittany.  The  stake 
indeed  was  most  tempting,  and  Henry  was  seldom 
very  scrupulous  as  to  the  game  he  played.  He  af- 
fected to  treat  the  men  of  Nantes  as  rebels,  and 
Conan  as  a  usurper  of  his  rights;  he  confiscated 
his  earldom  of  Richmond,  in  Yorkshire,  and  cross- 
ing the  Channel  with  a  formidable  army,  spread 
such  terror  that  the  people  submitted,  and,  re- 
nouncing Conan,  admitted  his  garrison  within  the 
walls  of  Nantes.'  He  then  quietly  took  possession 
of  the  whole  of  the  countr}'  between  the  Loire  and 
the  Vilaine,  relj'ing  on  his  art  and  address  for 
quieting  the  alarms  these  encroachments  could  not 
fail  to  create  in  the  French  court.  He  dispatched 
Thomas  a  Becket,  then  the  most  skilful  and  accom- 
modating of  all  his  ministers,  to  Paris,  the  volatile 
inhabitants  of  which  capital  were  dazzled  and  de- 
lighted by  the  ambassador's  magnificence.  Henry 
soon  followed  in  person,  and,  between  them,  these 
two  adroit  negotiators  completely  won  over  the  ob- 
tuse French  king.  The  price  paid  for  his  neutrality 
was,  Henry's  affiancing  his  eldest  son  to  Margaret, 
an  infant  daughter  Louis  had  had  by  his  wife  Con- 
stance of  Castile,  who  succeeded  Eleanor.  The 
young  lady  was  delivered  over  to  one  of  Henry's 
Norman  barons  ;  and  her  dower,  consisting  of  three 
castles  in  the  Vexin,  was  consigned  to  the  keeping 
of  the  illustrious  order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Tem- 
ple, who  were  to  deliver  up  their  charge  to  Henry's 
son  when  the  marriage  should  be  completed,  or  re- 
store it  to  King  Louis  in  case  of  the  affair  being 
broken  off  by  death  or  other  accidents.  Henry  then 
prosecuted  his  views  on  the  rest  of  Brittany,  and 
I  Newbrig. — Scnpt.  Rer.  Franc 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


429 


concluded  with  Conan,  whom  he  had  driven  from 
Nantes,  a  compact  which  threatened  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  whole  country,  whether  occupied  by 
the  wild  original  population  or  the  bui-ghers  and 
nobles  of  the  other  race.  He  affianced  his  then 
youngest  son  Geoffrey  to  Constantia,  an  infant 
daughter  of  Conan,  the  latter  engaging  to  bequeath 
to  his  daughter  all  his  rights  in  Brittany  at  his 
death,  and  Henry  engaging  to  support  him  in  his 
present  power  during  his  life,  taking  up  arms  for 
him  against  his  turbulent  subjects,  and  all  others 
that  might  attack  him,  whenever  called  upon  so  to 
do.' 

If  this  treaty  was  kept  secret  for  a  time  from 
King  Louis,  Henry's  ambition  hurried  him  into 
other  schemes,  which  interrupted  their  good  under- 
standing before  it  had  lasted  a  year.  Not  satisfied 
with  the  tranquil  enjoyment  of  the  states  he  had 
procured  by  his  marriage,  he  advanced  fresh  claims, 
m  right  of  his  wife,  to  territories  which  neither  she 
nor  her  father  had  ever  enjoyed,  and,  by  obtaining 
the  great  earldom  of  Toulouse,  he  hoped  to  spread 
his  power  across  the  whole  of  the  broad  isthmus 
that  joins  France  to  Spain,  and  to  range  along  the 
French  coast  on  the  Mediterranean  as  he  already 
did  along  the  whole  Atlantic  seaboard.  William, 
Duke  of  Aquitaine,  grandfather  of  Queen  Eleanor, 
Henry's  wife,  and  a  contemporary  of  the  Conquer- 
or, married  Philippa,  the  only  child  of  William,  the 
fourth  Earl  of  Toulouse.  As  a  female  succession 
was  contrary  to  the  laws  or  usages  of  the  countiy, 
the  Earl  William,  Philippa's  father,  conveyed  the 
j)rincipality,  by  a  contract  of  sale,  to  his  brother 
Raymond  de  St.  Gilles,  who  succeeded  at  his  death, 
and  transmitted  it  to  his  posterity  in  the  male  line, 
who  had  held  it  many  years,  not  without  cavil  on 
the  part  of  the  house  of  Aquitaine,  but  without  any 
successful  challenge  of  their  title.  Eleanor  conveyed 
her  rights,  such  as  they  were,  and  which  she  was 
determined  not  to  leave  dormant,  to  Louis  VII.  by 
her  first  marriage ;  and  during  their  union  the 
French  king  sent  forth  an  army  for  the  conquest 
and  occupation  of  Toulouse.  But  the  expedition 
ended  in  a  treaty,  and  Raymond  de  St.  Gilles,  the 
grandson  of  the  first  earl  of  that  name,  was  con- 
firmed in  possession  of  the  country,  and  released 
from  all  claims  to  it,  whether  on  the  part  of  the 
French  king  or  his  wife  Eleanor,  by  marrying  Con- 
stance, the  sister  of  Louis.  Henry  now  urged, 
that  by  her  subsequent  divorce  from  Louis,  Eleanor 
was  restored  to  her  original  rights  ;  and  after  some 
curious  correspondence  and  ransacking  of  dusty 
archives,  he  demanded  the  instant  surrender  of 
the  earldom  of  Toulouse  upon  the  same  grounds 
as  Louis  had  done  before  him.  The  Earl  Ray- 
mond raised  his  banner  of  war  and  applied  for  aid 
to  his  brother-in-law  of  France.  By  most  of  the 
historians  the  will  of  the  people  is  passed  over  as  a 
point  of  no  importance,  but  that  will  was  decidedly 
against  Henry,  and  there  were  free  institutions  in 
Toulouse  at  the  time  to  give  legitimate  weight  and 
effect  to  the  popular  inclination.  "  The  common 
council  of  the  city  and  suburbs,"  for  such  was  the 
'  Chron.  Norm. — Newbrig. — Daru,  Ilist.  de  la  Bretagne. 


title  borne  by  the  municipal  government  of  Tou 
louse, ^  seconded  Raymond's  negotiations  with  the 
French  court,  and  raised  their  banner  as  a  free  and 
incorporated  community.  On  this  occasion  Louis 
broke  through  the  fine  meshes  of  Henry's  and 
Becket's  diplomacy,  and  roused  himself  to  a  formid- 
able exertion  in  order  to  check  the  new  encroach- 
ment. Perceiving  that  the  struggle  would  be  se- 
rious, and  that  success  could  only  be  obtained  by 
the  keeping  on  foot  a  large  army  very  diflferent  in 
its  constitution  and  terms  of  service  from  his  feudal 
forces,  Henry  resolved,  by  the  advice  of  Becket,  to 
commute  the  personal  services  of  his  vassals  for  an 
aid  in  money,^  with  which  he  trusted  to  procure 
troops  that  would  serve  like  modern  soldiers  for  their 
daily  pay,  obey  his  orders  directly  without  the  often 
troublesome  intermission  of  feudal  lords,  and  have 
no  objection  either  to  the  distance  of  the  scene  of 
hostilities  or  the  length  of  time  they  were  detained 
from  their  homes.  The  term  of  forty  days,  to  which 
the  services  of  the  vassals  was  limited,  would  have 
been  in  good  part  consumed  in  the  march  alone 
from  England  and  the  north  of  France  to  Toulouse. 
He  began  by  levying  a  sum  of  money  in  lieu  of  their 
presence  in  services  upon  his  vassals  in  Normandy, 
and  other  provinces  remote  from  the  seat  of  action  : 
the  commutation  was  agreeable  to  most  of  them ; 
and  when  it  was  proposed  in  England  it  was  still 
more  acceptable  on  account  of  the  greater  distance, 
and  the  laudable  anxiety  of  many  of  the  nobles  to 
take  care  of  their  estates,  which  had  suffered  so 
much  during  the  intestine  wars  of  the  preceding 
reign.  The  scutage,  as  it  is  called,  was  levied  at 
the  rate  of  three  pounds  in  England,  and  of  forty 
Angevin  shillings  in  the  continental  dominions,  for 
every  knight's  fee.  There  were  60,000  knight's 
fees  in  England  alone,  which  would  produce 
180,000L — a  sum  so  prodigious  in  those  days,  that 
doubts  are  entertained  as  to  the  correctness  of  the 
account,  though  it  is  given  by  a  contemporary.  But, 
whatever  was  the  sum,  it  sufficed  Henry  for  the 
raising  of  a  strong  mercenary  force,  consisting 
chiefly  of  bodies  of  the  femous  infantry  of  the  Low 
Countries.  With  these  marched  Malcolm,  King  of 
Scotland,  who  courted  the  close  alliance  of  Henry ; 
Raymond,  King  of  Arragon  (to  whose  infant  daugh- 
ter Henry  had  affianced  his  infent  son  Richard) ; 
one  of  the  Welsh  princes,  and  many  English  and 
foreign  barons  who  voluntarily  engaged  to  follow 
the  king  to  Toulouse.  Thomas  a  Becket,  now  Chan- 
cellor of  England,  and  the  inseparable  companion  of 
his  royal  master,  attended  in  this  war,  and  none 
went  in  more  warlike  guise.  He  marched  at  the 
head  of  700  knights  and  men-at-arms,  whom  he  had 
raised  at  his  own  expense  ;  and,  when  they  reached 
the  scene  of  action,  he  distinguished  himself  by  his 
activity  and  gallantrj",  not  permitting  the  circum- 
stance of  his  being  in  holy  orders  to  prevent  him 
from  charging  with  the  chivalry  or  mounting  the 
deadly  breach.     After  taking  the  town  of  Cahors, 

1  Commune   concilium   urbis   TholosE   et   suhurbii.     Script.   Rer. 
Franc. 

2  This  seems  to  have  been  the  first  introduction  of  a  practice  which 
tended  gradually  to  the  overthrow  of  the  whole  feudal  system. 


430 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Henry  marched  upon  tho  city  of  Toulouse.  But 
the  French  king,  crossing  B«rry,  which  belonged  to 
him  in  good  part,  and  the  Limousin,  which  granted 
him  a  free  passage,  threw  himself  with  reinforce- 
ments into  the  threatened  city,  where  he  was  re- 
ceived with  exti'eme  joy  by  Earl  Raymond  and  the 
citizens.  The  latter  meeting  in  solemn  assembly, 
voted  Louis  a  letter  of  thanks,  in  which  thej-  ex- 
pressed their  obligations  for  his  having  succored 
them  "  like  a  father,'" — a  touching  expression  of 
gratitude,  which  did  not  imply  any  civil  or  feudal 
submission  on  the  part  of  the  citizens.  The  force 
which  Louis  brought  with  him  was  small,  and  the 
energetic  Becket  advised  Henry  to  make  an  imme- 
diate assault,  in  which  the  churchman  judged  he 
could  hardly  fail  of  reducing  the  town  and  taking 
prisoner  the  French  king,  whose  captivity  might  be 
turned  to  incalculable  advantage.  But  Henry  was 
cool  and  cautious  even  in  the  midst  of  his  greatest 
successes:  he  did  not  wish  to  drive  the  French  na- 
tion to  extremities, — he  was  so  woven  up  in  the 
complicated  feudal  system,  and  so  dependent  him- 
self on  the  faithful  observance  of  its  nice  gi-adations, 
that  he  wished  to  avoid  outraging  the  great  princi- 
ples on  which  it  rested ;  and  being  himself  vassal  to 
Louis,  and,  in  his  quality  of  Earl  of  Anjou,  heredi- 
tary Seneschal  of  France,  he  declared  he  could  not 
show  such  disrespect  to  his  superior  lord  as  to  be- 
siege hun.  While  he  hesitated  a  French  army 
marched  to  the  relief  of  their  king.  Henry  then 
transferred  the  war  to  another  part  of  the  earldom, 
and  soon  after,  leaving  the  supreme  command  to 
Becket,  returned  with  part  of  his  arm)'  to  Norman- 
dy. The  clerical  chancellor  continued  to  appear 
as  if  in  his  proper  element :  he  fortified  Caliors,  took 
three  castles  which  had  been  deemed  impregnable, 
and  tilted  with  a  Frencli  knight,  whose  horse  he 
carried  away  as  the  proof  of  his  victory.  But 
Heniy  could  not  do  without  his  favorite ;  and  a 
French  force  having  made  a  diversion  on  the  side 
of  Normandy,  Becket  also  returned  thither,  leaving 
only  a  few  insignificant  garrisons  on  the  banks  of  the 
Garonne  and  pleasant  hills  of  Languedoc.  The 
pohtical  condition,  however,  of  that  favored  region 
declined  from  that  hour.  The  habit  of  imploring 
the  protection  of  one  king  against  another  became 
a  cause  of  dependence  ;  and  with  the  epoch  when 
the  King  of  England,  as  Duke  of  Aquitaine  and  Earl 
of  Poictou,  obtained  an  influence  over  the  affairs  of 
the  south  of  France,  commenced  the  decline  and 
misery  of  a  most  interesting  population.  Thence- 
forward, placed  between  two  great  powers,  the 
rivals  of  each  other,  and  both  equally  ambitious  and 
encroaching,  they  sought  the  protection,  now  of  the 
one,  and  now  of  the  other,  according  to  circumstan- 
ces, and  were  alternately  supported  and  abandoned, 
betrayed  and  sold,  by  both.  Their  only  chance  was 
when  the  kings  of  France  and  England  were  en- 
gaged in  open  war  elsewhere  ;  and  the  Troubadours 
were  accustomed  to  sing  the  joys  that  arose  when 
the  truce  between  the  Stirling?  and  the  Tornes  (the 
Easterlings  and  the  people  of  Touraine).  as  they 

1  Quod  eorum   periculis  more    prxtemo   providcat.'"      Script.   Rer. 
Fri;.c. 


called  the  French  and  English,  was  broken.'  They 
had  the  advantages  of  an  earlier  civilization,  but 
state  polic}'  and  wordly  wisdom  seem  to  have  been 
incompatible  with  the  character  of  a  people  so  de- 
voted to  pleasure  and  the  pursuits  of  poetry  and  ro- 
mance. There  was  also  wanting  a  good  substratum  I 
of  national  morals  ;  for  the  code  of  love  and  gallantry,  « 

which  was  almost  the  only  one  in  vogue,  did  not 
make  the  best  of  citizens.  They  were  turbulent, 
restless,  and  passionately  fond  of  change.  They 
were  divided  by  a  thousand  rivalries ;  not  merely 
one  province  being  jealous  of  another,  but  town  of 
town,  and  village  of  village.  They  were  brave,  and 
passionately  fond  of  war ;  but  they  loved  it  rather 
for  its  excitement,  and  its  poetical  and  picturesque 
accompaniments,  than  from  any  noble  impulse  of  pat- 
riotism. Tliey  were  always  more  ready  to  run  at  the 
word  of  a  fair  lady  to  the  wars  of  Palestine,  or  some 
other  distant  and  romantic  enterprise,  than  to  keep 
steady  watch  and  ward  for  the  defence  of  their  own 
fair  land.  They  were  a  people  of  a  light  character 
and  lively  imagination  ;  they  had  a  taste  for  the  arts 
and  all  delicate  enjojments ;  they  were  ingenious 
and  industrious,  and  their  soil  was  rich  and  glowing. 
Nature  had  given  them  everything  except  steadi- 
ness of  character,  political  prudence,  and  the  spirit 
of  union  ;  and  from  the  want  of  these  they  lost  their 
independence,  their  riches,  their  civilization,  their 
poetry,  and  even  their  beautiful  language, — the  first 
that  spread  the  melody  of  recreated  verse  through 
Europe.  Our  Plantagenet  race  of  kings  contributed 
to  all  this  ruin,  and  a  short  digression  may  be  ex- 
cused in  favor  of  an  intellectual  people,  to  whom 
our  early  literature  had  great  obligations. 

In  the  brief  war  which  ensued  after  the  expedi- 
tion to  Toulouse,  on  the  frontiers  of  Normandj', 
Becket  maintained  1200  knights,  with  no  fewer  than 
4000  attendants  and  foot  soldiers  ;  and  when  the 
King  of  France  was  induced  to  treat,  the  eloquent 
and  versatile  churchman  was  charged  with  the  ne- 
gotiations on  the  part  of  his  friend  and  master.  A 
truce  was  concluded  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  a 
few  months  after,  when  the  rival  kings  had  an  inter- 
view, the  truce  was  converted  into  a  formal  peace 
(a.d.  1160),  Henry's  eldest  son  doing  homage  to 
Louis  for  the  duchy  of  Normandy,  and  Henry 
being  permitted  to  retain  the  few  places  he  had 
conquered  in  the  earldom  of  Toulouse.  This  pre- 
cious peace  did  not  last  quite  one  month.  Con- 
stance, the  French  queen,  died  without  leaving  any 
male  issue ;  and  Louis,  anxious  for  an  heir,  as  his 
daughters  could  not  succeed,  in  about  a  fortnight 
after  her  decease  married  Adelais,  niece  of  the 
late  English  king  Stephen,  and  sister  of  the  three 
earls  of  Blois,  Champagne,  and  Sancerre.  This 
union  with  the  old  enemies  of  his  family  greatly 
troubled  Henry,  who,  foreseeing  a  disposition  in  the 
French  court  to  break  off  the  alliance  with  him, 
which  might  give  his  progeny  a  hold  upon  France, 
secretly  secured  a  dispensation  from  the  Pope,  and 
solemnized  the  contract  of  marriage  between  his  son 

'  E  m'plai  quan  la  trega  es  fracta 
Dels  Esterliiis  c  dels  Torucs. 

Puesie  des  Tr«u!)adonrt. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


431 


Henry,  who  was  seven  years  old,  and  the  daughter 
of  Louis,  the  Princess  Margaret,  who  had  been 
placed  in  his  power  at  the  conclusion  of  the  original 
treaty,  and  who  had  attained  the  matronly  age  of 
three  years.  Becket,  the  prime  mover  in  all  things, 
brought  the  royal  infant  to  London,  where  this 
strange  ceremony  was  performed.  As  soon  as  it 
was  finished,  Henry  claimed  the  infant's  dower, 
according  to  the  express  terms  of  the  treaty,  and 
the  Knights  Templars,  without  objecting  to  the  ir- 
regular manner  in  which  he  had  precipitated  the 
marriage,  delivered  up  to  him  the  three  castles  and 
towns.  Louis  instantly  raised  his  banner  of  war, 
and  exiled  the  Templars.  It  was  said  at  the  time 
that  Henry  had  bribed  the  grand  master ;  and  this 
disservice  to  the  French  crown  was  probably  not 
forgotten  a  hundred  and  fifty  j'ears  after,  when  the 
order  was  suppressed  in  France  with  unexampled 
cruelties.  The  French  king,  however,  was  no 
match  for  the  powerful  and  politic  English  monarch; 
and  as  Henry  was  averse  to  hazardous  enterprises 
likely  to  be  accompanied  by  great  cost  and  little 
solid  advantage,  the  war  presented  nothing  more 
important  than  the  shivering  of  a  few  lances  and  the 
besieging  of  a  few  castles,  and  another  peace  was 
soon  concluded  through  the  mediation  of  the  pope. 

At  this  time,  as  at  several  other  periods  in  the 
middle  ages,  there  were  two  popes,  each  calling 
the  other  anti-pope  and  anti-christ.  Victor  IV. 
was  established  at  Rome  under  the  patronage  of 
the  Emperor  Frederic  Barbarossa;  and  Alexander 
III.,  whose  election  is  generally  recognized  as  more 
legal  and  canonical,  was  a  fugitive  and  an  exile  north 
of  the  Alps,  where  both  Louis  and  Henry  bowed 
to  his  spiritual  authority,  and  rivaled  each  other  in 
their  offers  of  an  asylum  and  succor,  and  in  theii" 
reverential  demeanor.  When  the  two  kings  met 
him  in  person  at  Courcy  sur  Loire,  they  both  dis- 
mounted, and  holding  each  of  them  one  of  the 
bridle-reins  of  his  mule,  walked  on  foot  by  his 
side,  and  conducted  him  to  the  castle.' 

A  short  period  of  happy  tranquillity  both  in  Eng- 
land and  Hemy's  continental  dominions  followed 
this  reconciliation ;  and  when  it  was  disturbed,  the 
storm  proceeded  from  a  most  unexpected  quarter 
— from  Thomas  a  Becket,  the  king's  bosom  friend. 
Further  particulars  of  the  history  of  this  extraordi- 
nary man,  and  of  the  ecclesiastical  quarrel  which 
troubled  the  reign  and  embittered  ten  years  of  the 
life  of  Henry,  will  be  given  in  the  next  chapter,  and 
we  shall  here  merely  handle  a  few  of  the  great  con- 
necting links  of  the  narrative.  Becket  was  born  at 
London,  in,  or  about,  the  year  1117.  His  ftither  was 
a  citizen  and  trader,  of  the  Saxon  race — circum- 
stances which  seemed  to  exclude  the  son  from  the 
career  of  ambition.  The  boy,  however,  was  gifted 
with  an  extraordinary  intelligence,  a  handsome  per- 
son, and  most  engaging  manners ;  and  his  father  gave 
him  all  the  advantages  of  education  that  were  within 
his  reach.  He  studied  successively  at  Merton  Ab- 
bey, London,  Oxford,  and  Paris,  in  which  last  city 
he  applied  to  civil  law,  and  acquired  as  perfect  a 
mastery  and  as  pure  a  pronunciation  of  the  French 

'  NewlTig.— Cliron.  Norm. 


language  as  any,  the  best  educated  of  the  Norman 
nobles  and  officers.  While  yet  a  young  man,  he 
was  employed  as  an  under-clerk  in  the  office  of  the 
sherift"  of  London,  where  he  attracted  the  attention 
of  Theobald,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  sent 
him  to  complete  his  study  of  the  civil  law  to  the 
then  famous  school  of  Bologna.  After  profiting  by 
the  lessons  of  the  learned  Gratian,  Becket  recrossed 
the  Alps,  and  staid  some  time  at  Auxerre,  in  Bur- 
gundy, to  attend  the  lectures  of  another  celebrated 
law  professor.  On  his  return  to  London,  he  took 
deacon's  orders,'  and  his  powerful  patron,  the  arch- 
bishop, gave  him  some  valuable  church  preferment, 
which  neither  necessitated  a  residence,  nor  the 
performance  of  any  church  duties;  and  he  soon 
afterward  sent  him,  as  the  best  qualified  person  he 
knew,  to  conduct  some  important  negotiations  at 
the  court  of  Rome.  The  young  diplomatist  (for  he 
was  then  only  thirty-two  years  old)  acquitted  him- 
self with  great  abihty  and  complete  success,  obtain- 
ing from  the  pope  a  prohibition  that  defeated  the 
design  of  crowning  Prince  Eustace,  the  son  of 
Stephen — an  important  service,  which  secured  the 
favor  of  the  Empress  Matilda  and  the  house  of 
Plantagenet.  On  Henry's  accession.  Archbishop 
Theobald  had  all  the  authority  of  prime-minister, 
and  being  old  and  infirm,  he  delegated  the  most  of 
it  to  the  active  Becket,  who  was  made  chancellor 
of  the  kingdom  two  years  after,  being  the  first  Eng- 
lishman since  the  Conquest  that  had  reached  any 
eminent  office.  As  if  to  empty  the  lap  of  royal 
bounty,  Henry  at  the  same  time  appointed  him 
preceptor  of  the  heir  to  the  crown,  and  gave  him 
the  wardenship  of  the  Tower  of  London,  the  castle 
of  Berkhampstead,  and  the  honor  of  Eje,  with  340 
knight's  fees.  His  revenue,  flowmg  in  from  many 
sources,  was  immense ;  and  no  man  ever  spent 
more  freely  or  magnificently.  His  house  was  a 
palace,  both  in  dimensions  and  appointments.  It 
was  stocked  with  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  and  con- 
stantly frequented  by  numberless  guests  of  all  goodly 
ranks,  from  barons  and  earls  to  knights  and  pages, 
and  simple  retainers  —  of  which  he  had  several 
hundreds,  who  acknowledged  themselves  his  imme- 
diate vassals.  His  tables  were  spread  with  the 
choicest  viands ;  the  best  of  wines  were  poured  out 
with  an  unsparing  hand  ;  the  richest  dresses  allotted 
to  his  pages  and  serving-men  ;  but  with  all  this 
costly  magnificence,  there  were  certain  capital  wants 
of  comfort,  which  show  the  imperfect  civilization 
of  the  age  ;  and  his  biographer  relates,  among  other 
things,  that  as  the  number  of  guests  was  often 
greater  than  could  find  place  at  table,  Becket  or- 
dered that  the  floor  should  be  every  day  covered 
with  fresh  hay  or  straw,  in  order  that  those  who 
sat  upon  it  might  not  soil  their  dresses.^  The 
chancellor's  out-door  appearance  was  still  more 
splendid,  and  on  great  public  occasions  wjis  can'ied 
to  an  extremity  of  pomp  and  magnificence;  though 
here  again  there  are  circumstances  that  would 
seem  discordant  and  grotesque  to  a  modern  eye. 
When  he  went  on  his  embassy  to  Paris,  he  was  at- 

'  He  never  took  the  mnjor  orders  till  he  became  archbishop. 

s  Fitz  Stejhen.     This  amusing  biog^rapher  was  Deckel's  secretary. 


432 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


tended  by  two  hundred  knights,  besides  many  barons 
and  nobles,  and  a  complete  host  of  domestics,  all  rich- 
ly armed  and  attired,  the  chancellor  himself  having 
four-and-twenty  changes  of  apparel.  As  he  traveled 
through  France,  hi  strain  of  waggons  and  sumpter- 
horses,  his  hounds  and  hawks,  his  huntsmen  and 
falconers,  seemed  to  announce  the  presence  of  a 
more  than  king.  Whenever  he  entered  a  town, 
the  ambassadorial  procession  Avas  led  by  250  boys 
singing  national  songs ;  then  followed  his  hounds, 
led  in  couples  ;  and  these  were  succeeded  by  eight 
waggons,  each  with  five  large  horses,  and  five  dri- 
vers in  new  frocks.  Every  waggon  was  covered 
with  skins,  and  guarded  by  two  men  and  a  fierce 
mastiflf;  two  of  the  waggons  were  loaded  with  ale, 
to  be  distributed  to  the  people ;  one  carried  the 
vessels  and  furniture  of  his  chapel,  another  of  his 
bed-chamber ;  a  fifth  was  loaded  with  his  kitchen 
apparatus ;  a  sixth  carried  his  abundant  plate  and 
wardrobe  ;  and  the  other  two  were  devoted  to  the 
use  of  his  household  servants.  After  the  wfiggons 
came  twelve  sumpter-horses,  a  monTcey  riding  on 
each,  with  a  groom  behind  on  his  knees.  Then  came 
the  esquires,  carrying  the  shields,  and  leading  the 
war-horses  of  their  respective  knights ;  then  other 
esquires  (youths  of  gentle  birth),  falconers,  officers 
of  the  household,  knights  and  priests ;  and  last  of 
all  appeared  the  great  chancellor  himself  with  his 
familiar  friends.  As  Becket  passed  in  this  guise, 
the  French  were  heard  to  exclaim,  "What  manner 
of  man  must  the  King  of  England  be,  when  his 
chancellor  travels  in  such  state  !"'  Henry  encour- 
aged all  this  pomp  and  magnificence,  and  seems  to 
have  taken  a  lively  enjoyment  in  the  spectacle, 
though  he  sometimes  twitted  the  chancellor  on  the 
finery  of  his  attire.  All  such  offices  of  government 
as  were  not  performed  bj^  the  ready  and  indefati- 
gable king  himself  were  left  to  Becket,  who  had  no 
competitor  in  authority.  Secret  enemies  he  had 
in  abundance,  but  never  even  a  momentary  rival 
in  the  royal  favor.  The  minister  and  king  lived 
together  like  brothers ;  and  according  to  a  contem- 
porarj ,-  who  knew  more  of  Henry  than  any  other 
that  has  written  concerning  him,  it  was  notorious 
to  all  jnen  that  they  were  cor  imutn  et  anima  una 
(of  one  heart  and  one  mind  in  all  things).  With 
his  chancellor  Henry  gave  free  scope  to  a  facetious 
frolicsome  humor,  which  was  natural  to  him,  though 
no  prince  could  assume  more  dignitj'  and  sternness 
when  necessary.  The  amusing  biographer  of 
Becket  tells  the  following  well-known  stoiy.  One 
day  as  the  king  and  his  chancellor  were  riding  to- 
gether through  the  streets  of  London  in  cold  and 
stormy  weather,  the  king  saw  coming  toward  them 
a  poor  old  man  in  a  thin  coat  worn  to  tatters. 
"  Would  it  not  be  very  praiseworthy  to  give  that 
poor  man  a  good  warm  cloak  ?"  said  the  king.  "  It 
would,  surely,"  replied  the  chancellor;  "and  you 
do  well,  sir,  in  turning  your  eyes  and  thoughts  to 
such  objects."  While  they  were  thus  talking,  they 
came  near  to  the  poor  man.  and  the  king,  turning  to 
the  chancellor,  said,  "  You  shall  have  the  merit  of 


1  Fitz  Stpph. 

2  Petrus  Blesensis,  or  Peter  of  Blois 


See  his  Loiters. 


this  good  deed  of  charity  :"  then  suddenly  laying 
hold  of  Becket's  fine  new  cloak,  Avhich  wiis  of  scar- 
let cloth,  lined  with  ermine,  he  tried  to  pull  it  from 
his  shoulders.  The  chancellor  defended  himself 
for  some  time,  and  pulling  and  tugging  at  one  another, 
they  had  both  of  them  like  to  have  fallen  off  their 
horses  in  the  street ;  but,  in  the  end,  Becket  let  go 
his  cloak,  which  the  king  gave  to  the  beggar,  who 
went  his  way  not  less  pleased  than  surprised  ;  while 
the  courtiers  in  the  royal  train  laughed,  like  good 
courtiers,  at  the  passing  pleasantry  of  their  master. 
The  chancellor  was  an  admirable  horseman,  and 
expert  in  hunting  and  hawking,  and  all  the  sports  of 
the  field.  These  accomplishments,  and  a  never- 
failing  wit  and  vivacity,  made  him  the  constant  com- 
panion of  the  king's  leisure  hours,  and  the  sharer 
(it  is  hinted)  in  less  innocent  pleasures — for  Henry 
was  a  very  inconstant  husband,  and  had  much  ol 
the  Norman  licentiousness.  At  the  same  time 
Becket  was  an  able  minister,  and  his  administration 
was  not  only  advantageous  to  the  interests  of  his 
master,  but,  on  the  whole,  extremely  beneficial  to 
the  nation.  IMost  of  the  useful  measures  Avhich 
distinguished  the  early  part  of  the  king's  reign  have 
been  atti'ibuted  to  his  advice,  his  discriminating 
genius,  and  good  intentions.  Such  were  the  resto- 
ration of  internal  tranquillity,  the  curbing  of  the 
baronial  power,  the  better  appointment  of  judges, 
the  reform  in  the  currency,  and  the  encouragement 
given  to  trade,  the  protection  of  which  in  foreign 
countries  now  became  an  object  of  great  attention 
to  the  government.  He  certainly  could  not  be  ac- 
cused of  entertaining  a  low  notion  of  the  royal 
prerogative,  or  of  any  lukewarmness  in  exacting  the 
rights  of  the  king.  He  humbled  the  lay  aristocracy 
whenever  he  could,  and  more  than  once  attacked 
the  extravagant  privileges,  immunities,  and  exemp- 
tions claimed  by  the  aristocracy  of  the  church.  He 
insisted  that  the  bishops  and  abbots  should  pay  the 
scutage  for  the  war  of  Toulouse  like  the  lay  vassals 
of  the  crown,  and  this  drew  upon  him  the  violent 
invectives  of  many  of  the  hierarchy,  Gilbert  Foliot, 
the  Bishop  of  Hereford,  among  others,  accusing  him 
of  plunging  the  sword  into  the  bosom  of  3Iother 
Church,  and  threatening  him  with  excommunication. 
One  day  in  his  synod,  Avhen  some  bishops  exalted  the 
independence  of  the  church  at  the  expense  of  the 
roynl  authority-,  the  chancellor  openlj'  contradicted 
their  pretensions,  and  reminded  them  in  a  tone  of  se- 
veritj'  that  they,  as  men  of  the  church,  were  bound 
to  the  king  by  the  same  oath  as  the  men  of  the  sword 
— by  the  oath  to  preserve  him  in  life,  limbs,  dignity, 
and  honors.'  All  this  tended  to  convince  Henry  that 
Becket  was  the  proper  person  to  name  primate,  as 
one  who  had  already  given  proofs  of  a  spirit  greiftly 
averse  to  ecclesiastical  encroachments,  and  of  an  af- 
fection and  devotion  to  his  own  interests  that  prom- 
ised to  be  of  the  greatest  service  to  him  in  a  project 
which,  in  common  Avith  other  European  sovereigns, 
he  had  much  at  heart,  namelj^,  to  check  the  growing 
power  of  Rome  and  curtail  the  privileges  of  the 
priesthood.  Although  his  conduct  had  not  been  very 
priest-like,  he  was  popular :  the  king's  favor  and  iu- 

1  Wilkins,  Concilia. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


433 


tentions  were  well  known,  and  accordingly,  in  llGl, 
when  his  old  patron  Theobald,  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, died,  the  pubhc  voice  designated  Becket  as 
the  man  who  must  inevitably  succeed  him  ;  and  after 
a  vacancy  of  about  thirteen  months,  during  which 
Henry  drew  the  revenues,  he  was  appointed  Pri- 
mate of  all  England. 

From  that  moment  Becket  was  an  altered  man  : 
the  soldier,  statesman,  hunter,  courtier,  man  of  the 
world,  and  man  of  pleasure,  became  a  rigid  and 
ascetic  monk,  renouncing  even  the  innocent  enjoy- 
ments of  life,  together  with  the  service  of  his  more 
friend  than  master,  and  resolving  to  perish  by  a 
slow  martyrdom  rather  than  suffer  the  king  to  in- 
vade the  smallest  privilege  of  the  church.  Although 
he  then  retained,  and  afterward  showed  a  some- 
what inconsistent  anxiety  to  preserve,  certain  other 
worldly  honors  and  places  of  trust,  he  resigned  the 
chancellorship  in  spite  of  the  wishes  of  the  king — 
he  discarded  all  his  former  companions  and  mag- 
nificent retinue — he  threw  off  his  splendid  attire — 
he  discharged  his  choice  cooks  and  his  cupbearers, 
to  surround  himself  with  monks  and  beggars  (whose 
feet  he  daily  washed),  to  clothe  himself  in  sackcloth, 
to  eat  the  coarsest  food,  and  drink  water,  rendered 
bitter  by  the  mixture  of  unsavory  herbs.  The  rest 
of  his  penitence,  his  prayers,  his  works  of  charity 
in  hospitals  and  pest-houses,  which  soon  caused  his 
name  to  be  revered  as  that  of  a  saint,  and  his  person 
to  be  followed  by  the  prayers  and  acclamations  of 
the  people,  would  lead  us  from  our  present  pur- 
pose. With  the  views  the  king  was  known  to  en- 
tertain in  church  matters,  the  collision  was  inevita- 
ble, yet  it  certainly  was  the  archbishop  who  began 
the  contest,  and  it  is  most  unfair  to  attempt  to  con- 
ceal or  slur  over  this  fact.  In  1163,  about  a  year 
after  his  elevation,  Becket  raised  a  loud  complaint 
on  the  usurpations  by  the  king  and  laity  of  the 
rights  and  property  of  the  church.  He  claimed 
houses  and  lands  which,  if  they  ever  had  been  in- 
cluded in  the  endowments  of  the  see  of  Canterbury, 
had  been  for  generations  in  the  possession  of  lay 
families.  It  is  curious  to  see  castles  and  places  of 
war  figuring  in  his  list.  From  the  king  himself  he 
demanded  the  strong,  and  then  most  important, 
castle  of  Rochester,  which  he  said  was  his,  as 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  From  the  Earl  of 
Clare,  whose  family  had  possessed  them  in  fief 
ever  since  the  Conquest,  he  demanded  the  strong 
castle  and  the  barony  of  Tunbridge  ;  and  from  other 
barons,  possessions  of  a  hke  nature.  But  to  com- 
plete the  indignation  of  Henry,  who  had  laid  it 
down  as  an  indispensable  and  unchangeable  rule  of 
government,  that  no  vassal  who  held  in  capite  of 
the  crown  should  be  excommunicated  without  his 
previous  knowledge  and  consent,  he  hurled  the 
thunders  of  the  church  at  the  head  of  William  de 
Eynsford,  a  mihtary  tenant  of  the  crown,  for  forci- 
bly ejecting  a  priest  collated  to  the  rectory  of  that 
manor  by  the  archbishop,  and  for  pretending,  as 
lord  of  the  manor,  to  a  right  over  that  living.  When 
Henry  ordered  him  to  revoke  the  sentence,  Becket 
told  him  that  it  was  not  for  the  king  to  inform  him 
whom  he  should  absolve  and  whom  excommunicate 
VOL.  I.— 28 


—  a  right  and  faculty  appertaining  solely  to  the 
church.  The  king  then  resorted  from  remon- 
strances to  threats  of  vengeance ;  and  Becket. 
bending  for  awhile  before  the  storm,  absolved  the 
knight,  but  reluctantly  and  with  a  bad  grace.'  In 
the  course  of  the  following  year,  the  king  matured 
his  project  for  subjecting  the  clergy  to  the  authority 
of  the  civil  courts  for  murder,  felony,  and  other 
crimes ;  and  to  this  reform,  in  a  council  held  at 
Westminster,  he  formally  demanded  the  assent  of 
the  archbishop  and  the  other  prelates.  The  leni- 
ency of  the  ecclesiastical  courts  to  offenders  in  holy 
oi"ders  seemed  almost  to  give  an  immunity  to  crime, 
and  a  recent  case,  in  which  a  clergyman  had  been 
but  slightly  punished  for  the  most  atrocious  of  of- 
fences, called  aloud  for  a  change  of  court  and  prac- 
tice, and  lent  unanswerable  arguments  to  the  min- 
isters and  advocates  of  the  king.  The  bishops, 
however,  with  one  voice,  rejected  the  proposed 
innovations,  upon  which  Heniy  asked  them  if  they 
would  merely  promise  to  observe  the  ancient  cus- 
toms of  the  realm.  Becket  and  his  brethren,  ■w;ith 
the  exception  only  of  Hilary,  Bishop  of  Chichester, 
answered  that  they  would  observe  them,  "saving 
their  order."  On  this  the  king  immediately  de- 
prived the  archbishop  of  the  manor  of  Eye  and  the 
castle  of  Berkhampstead,  which  he  had  hitherto 
been  allowed  to  retain.  Finding,  however,  that  the 
bishops  fell  from  his  side  instead  of  supporting  his 
quaiTel,  and  being  on  one  side  menaced  by  the 
king  and  lay  nobles,  and  on  the  other,  it  is  said,  ad- 
vised to  submit  by  the  pope  himself,  Becket  shortly 
afterward,  at  a  great  council  held  at  Clarendon,  in 
Wiltshire  (25th  January,  1164),  consented  to  sign 
a  series  of  enactments  embodying  the  several  points 
insisted  upon  by  the  king,  and  hence  called  the 
"  Constitutions  of  Clarendon ;"  but  he  refused  to  put 
his  seal  to  them,  and  immediately  after  withdrew 
from  the  court,  and  even  from  the  service  of  the 
altar,  to  subject  himself  to  the  harshest  penance  for 
having  acted  contrary  to  his  inward  conviction. 
Subsequently  the  pope  rejected  the  "  Constitutions 
of  Clarendon,"  with  the  exception  only  of  six  arti- 
cles of  minor  importance  ;  and  the  archbishop  was 
then  encouraged  to  persist  by  the  only  superior  he 
acknowledged  in  this  world. 

The  king  being  now  determined  to  keep  no 
measures,  nor  restrict  himself  to  a  purely  legal 
course,  assembled  a  great  council  in  the  town  of 
Northampton,  and  summoned  the  archbishop  to 
appear  before  it.  He  was  charged,  in  the  first 
place,  with  a  breach  of  allegiance  and  acts  of  con- 
tempt against  the  king.  He  offered  a  plea  in  ex- 
cuse, but  Heniy  swore,  "  by  God's  eyes,"  '  that  he 
would  have  justice  in  its  full  extent,  and  the  court 
condemned  Becket  to  forfeit  all  his  goods  and  chat- 
tels ;  but  this  forfeiture  was  immediately  commuted 
for  a  fine  of  oOOZ.  The  next  day  the  king  required 
him   to   refund    300i.   which  he    had   received   as 

1  Gervase  of  Canterbury. — Diceto.  — Fjtz-Steph.  Epist.  St.  Thorn. 
—Hist.  Quail. 

a  This  was  Henry's  usual  oath  when  much  excited.  The  oaths  ot 
all  these  kin?s  would  make  a  curious  collection  of  blasphemy.  The 
chroniclers  have  been  careful  to  preserve  them,  and,  according  to  their 
records,  nearly  every  king  had  his  distinctive  oath. 


434 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  111. 


warden  of  Eye  anJ  Berkhampstead,  and  500Z. 
which  lie  (the  king)  had  given  him  before  the 
walls  of  Toulouse ;  and,  on  the  third  day,  he  was 
required  to  render  an  account  of  all  his  receipts 
from  vacant  abbeys  and  bishoprics  during  his  chan- 
cellorship, the  balance  due  thereon  to  the  crown 
being  set  down  at  the  enormous  sum  of  44,000 
marks.  Becket  now  perceived  that  the  king  was 
bent  on  his  utter  ruin.  For  a  moment  he  was 
overpowered ;  but,  recovering  his  firmness  and  self- 
possession,  which  never  forsook  him  for  long  inter- 
vals, he  said  he  was  not  bound  to  plea  on  that 
count,  seeing  that,  at  his  consecration  as  archbishop, 
he  had  been  publicly  released  by  the  king  from  all 
such  claims.  He  demanded  a  conference  with  the 
bishops  ;  but  these  dignitaries  had  already  declared 
for  the  court,  and  the  majority  of  them  now  ad- 
vised him  to  resign  the  primacy  as  the  only  step 
which  could  restore  peace  to  the  church  and  nation. 
His  health  gave  way  under  these  troubles,  and  he 
was  confined  to  a  sick-bed  for  the  two  following 
days.  His  indomitable  mind,  however,  yielded 
none  of  its  firmness  and  (we  must  add)  its  pride. 
He  considered  the  bishops  as  cowards  and  time- 
servers,  and  resolved  to  retain  that  post  from  which, 
having  once  been  placed  in  it,  it  was  held,  by  all 
law  and  custom,  he  could  never  be  deposed  by  the 
temporal  power,  or  by  any  authority  except  that  of 
the  Pope.  It  is  said  that  he  thought  of  going  bare- 
foot to  the  palace,  and  throwing  himself  at  the 
king's  feet,  to  appeal  to  his  pity  and  the  remem- 
brance of  their  old  and  dear  friendship, — a  course 
which  would  probably  have  effected  a  reconcilia- 
tion, for  the  king  was  not  of  a  harsh  or  unforgiving 
disposition,  and  Jiis  pride  would  have  been  con- 
ciliated by  the  outward  semblance  of  submission. 
But,  in  the  end,  Becket  adopted  a  line  of  conduct 
much  more  natural  to  his  character,  resolving  to 
deny  the  authority  of  the  court  and  brave  the  king 
in  his  wrath.  On  the  morning  of  the  decisive  day 
(October  18th,  1164),  he  celebrated  the  mass  of 
St.  Stephen,  the  first  Martyr,  the  office  of  which 
begins  with  these  words  : — "  Sederunt  principes  et 
adversum  me  loquebantur."  (Princes  also  did  sit 
and  speak  against  me.  Ps.  cxix.  23.)  After  the 
mass,  he  set  out  for  the  court,  arrayed  as  he  was  in 
his  pontifical  robes.  He  went  on  horseback,  bear- 
ing the  archiepiscopal  cross  in  his  right  hand,  and 
holding  the  reins  in  his  left.  When  he  dismounted 
at  the  palace,  one  of  his  suffragans  would  have 
borne  the  cross  before  him  in  the  usual  manner,  but 
he  would  not  let  it  go  out  of  his  hands,  saying,  "  It 
is  most  reason  I  should  bear  the  cross  myself; 
under  the  defence  thereof  I  may  remain  in  safety ; 
and,  beholding  this  ensign,  I  need  not  doubt  under 
what  prince  I  serve." — "  But,"  said  the  Archbishop 
of  York,  an  old  rival  and  enemy  of  Becket,  "  it  is 
defying  the  king  our  lord  to  come  in  this  fashion  to 
his  court ; — but  the  king  has  a  sword,  the  point  of 
which  is  sharper  than  that  of  thy  pastoral  staff." 
As  the  primate  entered,  the  king,  enraged  at  his 
unexpected  manner  of  presenting  himself,  rose 
from  his  seat  and  withdrew  to  an  inner  apartment, 
whither  the  barons  and  bishops  soon  followed  him, 


leaving  Becket  alone  in  the  vast  hall,  or  attended 
only  by  a  few  of  his  clerks  or  the  inferior  clergy, 
the  whole  body  of  which,  unlike  the  dignitaries  of 
the  church,  inclined  to  his  person  and  cause. 
These  poor  clerks  trembled  and  were  sore  dis- 
mayed ;  but  not  so  Becket,  who  seated  himself  on 
a  bench,  and  still  holding  his  cross  erect,  calmly 
awaited  the  event.  He  was  not  made  to  wait 
long  :  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  terrified  at  the  exces- 
sive exasperation  of  the  sovereign,  came  forth  from 
the  inner  apartment,  and  throwing  himself  on  his 
knees,  implored  the  primate  to  have  pity  on  himself 
and  his  brethren  the  bishops,  for  the  king  had 
vowed  to  slay  the  first  of  them  that  should  attempt 
to  excuse  his  conduct.  "  Thou  fearest,"  replied 
Becket;  "flee  then!  thou  canst  not  understand  the 
things  that  are  of  God  !"  Soon  afterward,  the  rest 
of  the  bishops  appeared  in  a  body,  and  Hilary  of 
Chichester,  speaking  in  the  name  of  all,  said, 
"Thou  wast  our  primate,  but  now  we  disavow 
thee,  because,  after  having  promised  faith  to  the 
king,  our  common  lord,  and  sworn  to  maintain  his 
royal  customs,  thou  hast  endeavored  to  destroy 
them,  and  hast  broken  thine  oath.  We  proclaim 
thee,  then,  a  traitor,  and  tell  thee  we  will  no  longer 
obey  a  perjured  archbishop,  but  place  ourselves  and 
our  cause  under  the  protection  of  our  lord  the  Pope, 
and  summon  thee  to  answer  us  before  him." — "  I 
hear,"  said  Becket,  and  he  deigned  no  further 
reply. 

According  to  Roger  of  Hoveden,  the  archbishop 
was  accused  in  the  council  chamber  of  the  im- 
possible crime  of  magic ;  and  the  barons  pro- 
nounced a  sentence  of  imprisonment  against  him. 
The  door  of  that  chamber  soon  opened,  and  Robert, 
Earl  of  Leicester,  followed  by  the  barons,  stepped 
forth  into  the  hall  to  read  the  sentence,  beginning 
in  the  usual  old  Norman  French  form, — "  Oyez- 
ci."  The  archbishop  rose,  and,  interrupting  him, 
said,  "  Son  and  earl,  hear  me  first.  Thou  knowest 
with  how  much  faith  I  served  the  king, — with  how 
much  reluctance  and  only  to  please  him,  I  accepted 
my  present  charge,  and  ia  what  manner  I  was 
declared  free  from  all  secular  claims  whatsoever. 
Touching  the  things  which  happened  before  my 
consecration,  I  ought  not  to  answer,  nor  will  I 
answer.  Y^ou,  moreover,  are  all  my  children  in 
God,  and  neither  law  nor  reason  permits  you  to  sit 
in  judgment  upon  your  father.  I  forbid  you  tTiere- 
fore  to  judge  me ; — I  decline  your  tribunal,  and 
refer  my  quarrel  to  the  decision  of  the  Pope.  To 
him  I  appeal :  and  now,  under  the  holy  protection 
of  the  Catholic  church  and  the  apostolie  see,  I 
depart  in  peace."  After  this  counter  appeal  to 
the  power  which  his  adversaries  had  been  the  first 
to  invoke,  Becket  slowly  strode  through  the  crowd 
toward  the  door  of  the  hall.  When  near  the 
threshold,  the  spirit  of  the  soldier,  which  was  not 
yet  extinguished  by  the  aspirations  of  the  saint, 
blazed  forth  in  a  withering  look  and  a  few  hasty 
but  impassioned  words.  Some  of  the  courtiers  and 
retainers  of  the  king  threw  at  him  straw  or  rushes, 
which  they  gathered  from  the  floor,  and  called  him 
traitor  and  false   perjurer.      Turning   round    and 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


435 


drawing  himself  up  to  his  full  height,  he  cried,  "  If 
my  holy  calling  did  not  forbid  it,  I  would  make  my 
answer  with  my  sword  to  those  cowards  who  call 
me  traitor.'  He  then  mounted  his  horse  amidst 
the  acclamations  of  the  lower  clergy  and  common 
people,  and  rode  in  a  sort  of  triumph  to  his  lodg- 
ings, the  populace  shouting,  "  Blessed  be  God  who 
hath  delivered  his  servant  from  the  hands  of  his 
enemies."  The  strength  of  Becket's  party  was  in 
the  popular  body;  and  it  has  been  supposed,  with 
some  reason,  that  his  English  birth  and  Saxon 
descent  contributed,  no  less  than  his  sudden  sanc- 
tity, to  endear  him  to  the  people,  who  had  never 
before  seen  one  of  their  race  elevated  to  such 
dignities.  He  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been  very 
popular,  even  when  nothing  more  than  a  profane 
chancellor,  and  at  this  critical  moment  he  resorted 
to  means  that  could  hardly  fail  of  giving  enthusiasm 
to  the  feelings  of  the  multitude.  The  stately 
bishops,  as  we  have  said,  had  fallen  from  his  side, 
— the  lordly  abbots  remained  aloof  in  their  houses, 
— the  mass  of  his  own  clerical  followers  had  for- 
saken him, — the  lay  nobles  of  the  land  were  almost 
to  a  man  his  declared  enemies :  his  house  was 
empty,  and  in  a  spirit  of  imitation  which  some  will 
deem  presumptuous,  he  determined  to  fill  it  with 
the  paupers  of  the  town  and  the  lowly  wayfarers 
fi"om  the  road-side.  "  Suffer,"  said  he,  "  all  the 
poor  people  to  come  into  the  place,  that  we  may 
make  merry  together  in  the  Lord."  "  And  having 
thus  spoken,  the  people  had  free  entrance,  so  that 
all  the  halls  and  all  the  chambers  of  the  house  being 
furnished  with  tables  and  stools,  they  were  con- 
veniently placed,  and  served  with  meat  and  drink 
to  the  full,"  ^  the  archbishop  supping  with  them 
and  doing  the  honors  of  the  feast.  In  the  course 
of  the  evening  he  sent  to  the  king  to  ask  leave  to 
retire  beyond  sea,  and  he  was  told  that  he  should 
receive  an  answer  on  the  following  morning.  The 
modern  historians,  who  take  the  most  unfavorable 
view  of  the  king's  conduct  in  these  particulars, 
intimate  more  or  less  broadly  that  a  design  was  on 
foot  for  preventing  the  archbishop  from  ever  seeing 
that  morrow ;  but  the  circumstances  of  time  and 
place,  and  the  character  of  Henry,  are  opposed  to 
tlie  belief  that  secret  assassination  was  contem- 
plated ;  nor  does  any  contemporary  writer  give 
reasonable  grounds  for  entertaining  such  a  belief, 
or  indeed  say  more  than  that  the  archbishop's 
friends  were  sorely  frightened,  and  thought  such 
a  tragical  termination  of  the  quarrel  a  highly 
probable  event.  Becket,  however,  took  his  de- 
parture as  if  he  himself  feared  violence.  He  stole 
out  of  the  town  of  Northampton  at  the  dead  of 
night,  disguised  as  a  simple  monk,  and  calling  him- 
self Brother  Dearman ;  and  being  followed  only  by 
two  clerks  and  a  domestic  servant,  he  hastened 
toward  the  coast,  hiding  by  day  and  pursuing  his 
journey  by  night.  The  season  was  far  advanced, 
and   the   stormy   winds   of   November   swept   the 

'  Fitz-Steph. — Gervase. — Grym. — Diceto.  Dicelo,  we  know,  was  at 
this  meeting,  and  what  gives  singular  interest  to  the  accounts  of  it 
is,  that  it  is  probable  the  other  three  chroniclers,  who  were  all  closely 
connected  with  Becket,  were  also  present. 

2  Holinshed. 


waters  of  the  Channel  when  he  reached  the  coast; 
but  Becket  embarked  in  a  small  boat,  and  after 
many  perils  and  fatigues,  landed  at  Gravelines,  in 
Flanders,  on  the  fifteenth  day  after  his  departure 
from  Northampton. 

From  the  sea-port  of  Gravelines  he  and  his  com- 
panions walked  on  foot,  and  in  very  bad  condition, 
to  the  monastery  of  St.  Bertin,  near  to  Namur, 
where  he  waited  a  short  time  the  success  of  his 
applications  to  the  King  of  France,  and  the  Pope 
Alexander  III.,  who  had  fixed  his  residence  for  a 
time  in  the  city  of  Sens.  Their  answers  were 
most  favorable ;  for,  fortunately  for  Becket,  the 
jealousy  and  disunion  between  the  kings  of  France 
and  England  disposed  Louis  to  protect  the  ob- 
noxious exile,  in  order  to  vex  and  weaken  Henry  ; 
and  the  Pope,  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  a  magnificent 
embassy  dispatched  to  him  by  the  English  sove- 
reign, determined  to  support  the  cause  of  the  pri- 
mate as  that  of  truth,  of  justice,  and  the  church. 
The  splendid  abbey  of  Pontigny,  in  Burgundy,  was 
assigned  to  him  as  an  honorable  and  secure  asylum; 
and  the  pope  reinvested  him  with  his  archiepiscopal 
dignity,  which  he  had  surrendered  into  his  hands, 
notwithstanding  the  urgent  wish  of  some  of  the 
cardinals  that  Alexander  would  keep  his  resigna- 
tion, which  would  allow  of  a  new  primate  being 
appointed  for  England,  and  so  put  an  end  to  a  dan- 
gerous controversy.  Encouraged  by  the  counte- 
nance he  thus  received  from  the  pope,  Becket  now 
declared  that  Christ  was  again  tried  in  his  case 
before  a  lay  tribunal,  and  cnicified  afresh  in  the 
person  of  himself,  the  servant  of  Christ. 

As  soon  as  Henry  was  informed  of  these  par- 
ticulars, he  issued  writs  to  the  sheriffs  of  England, 
commanding  them  to  seize  all  rents  and  possessions 
of  the  primate  within  their  jurisdictions,  and  to 
detain  all  bearers  of  appeals  to  the  pope  till  the 
king's  pleasure  should  be  made  known  to  them. 
He  also  commanded  the  justices  of  the  kingdom  to 
detain  in  like  manner  all  bearers  of  papers,  whether 
from  the  pope  or  Becket,  that  purported  to  pro- 
nounce excommunication  or  interdict  on  the  realm, 
— all  persons,  whether  lay  or  ecclesiastic,  who 
should  adhere  to  such  sentence  of  interdict, — and 
all  clerks  attempting  to  leave  the  kingdom  without 
a  passport  from  the  king.  The  primate's  name 
was  struck  out  of  the  Liturgy,  and  the  revenues  of 
every  clergyman  who  had  either  followed  him  into 
France,  or  had  sent  him  aid  and  money,  were 
seized  by  the  crown.  If  Henry's  vengeance  had 
stopped  here  it  might  have  been  excused,  if  not 
justified  ;  but,  irritated  to  madness  by  the  tone  of 
defiance  his  enemy  assumed  in  a  foreign  country, 
he  proceeded  to  further  vindictive  and  most  dis- 
graceful measures,  issuing  one  common  sentence 
of  banishment  against  all  who  were  connected  with 
Becket,  either  by  the  ties  of  relationship  or  those 
of  friendship.  The  list  of  proscription  contained 
four  hundred  names,  for  the  wives  and  children  of 
Becket's  friends  were  included ;  and  it  is  said  that 
they  were  all  bound  by  an  oath  to  show  themselves 
in  their  miserable  exile  to  the  cause  of  their  ruin, 
that  his  heart  might  be  wrung  by  the  sight  of  the 


436 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


misery  he  had  biou<;ht  down  upon  the  heads  of  all 
those  who  were  most  dear  to  him.  It  is  added 
that  his  ceil  at  Pontigny  was  accordingly  beset  by 
these  exiles,  but  that  he  finally  succeeded  in  reliev- 
ing their  immediate  wants  by  interesting  the  King 
of  France,  the  Queen  of  Sicily,  and  the  Pope,  in 
their  favor. 

In  1165,  the  year  after  Becket's  flight,  Henry 
sustained  no  small  disgrace  from  the  result  of  a 
camj)aign,  in  which  he  personally  commanded, 
against  the  Welsh.  That  hardy  people  had  risen 
once  more  in  arms  in  1163,  but  had  been  defeated 
by  an  Anglo-Norman  army,  which  subsequently 
plundered  and  wasted  with  fire  the  countj-  of  Car- 
marthen. Somewhat  more  than  a  year  later,  a 
nephew  of  Rees-ap-Gryffiths,  prince  or  king  of 
South  Wales,  was  found  dead  in  his  bed,  and  the 
uncle  asserting  he  had  been  assassinated  by  the 
secret  emissaries  of  a  neighboring  Norman  baron, 
collected  the  mountaineers  of  the  south,  and  began 
a  fierce  and  successful  warfare,  in  which  he  was 
presently  joined  by  his  old  allies,  Gwynned,  the 
prince  of  North  Wales,  and  Owen  Cyvelioch,  the 
leader  of  the  clans  of  Powisland.  One  Norman 
castle  fell  after  another,  and,  when  hostilities  had 
continued  for  some  time,  the  Welsh  pushed  their 
incursions  forward  into  the  level  country.  The 
king,  turning  at  length  his  attention  from  the  church 
quarrel,  which  had  absorbed  it,  drew  together  an 
army  "as  well  of  Englishmen  as  strangers,"  and 
hastened  to  the  Welsh  marches.  At  his  approach 
the  mountaineers  withdrew  "to  their  starting  holes," 
their  woods,  and  strait  passages.  Henry,  without 
regard  to  difficulties  and  dangers,  followed  them, 
and  a  general  action  was  fought  on  the  banks  of 
the  Cieroc.  The  Welsh  were  defeated,  and  fled 
to  their  uplands.  Henry,  still  following  them, 
penetrated  as  far  as  the  lofty  Berwin,  at  the  foot  of 
which  he  encamped.  A  sudden  storm  of  rain  set 
in,  and  continued  until  all  the  streams  and  torrents 
were  fearfully  swollen,  and  the  valley  was  deluged. 
Meanwhile  the  natives  gathered  on  the  ridges  of 
the  mountain  of  Berwin ;  but  it  appears  to  have 
been  more  from  the  war  of  the  elements  than  of 
man  that  the  king's  army  retreated  in  great  dis- 
order and  with  some  loss.  Henry  had  hitherto 
showed  himself  remarkably  free  from  the  crueltj' 
of  his  age,  but  his  mind  was  now  embittered,  and 
in  a  hasty  moment  he  resolved  to  take  a  barbarous 
vengeance  on  the  persons  of  the  hostages  whom 
the  Welsh  princes  had  placed  in  his  hands,  seven 
years  before,  as  pledges  for  their  tranquillity  and 
allegiance.  The  eyes  of  the  males  were  picked 
out  of  their  heads,  and  the  noses  and  ears  of  the 
females  were  cut  off.  The  old  chroniclers  hardly 
increase  our  horror  (which  they  intended  to  do) 
when  they  tell  us  that  the  victims  belonged  to  the 
noblest  families  of  Wales. ^ 

This  reverse  in  England  was  soon  followed  by 
successes  on  the  continent.  A  formidable  insur- 
rection broke  out  in  Brittany  against  Henry's  sub- 
servient ally  Conan,  who  applied  to  him  for  succor, 
according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  alliance 
»  Gerrase.— Newbrig. — Girald.  Carob.  Itin. — Dicoto. 


subsisting  between  them.  The  troops  of  the  king 
entered  by  the  frontier  of  Normandy,  under  pretext 
of  defending  the  legitimate  earl  of  the  Bretons 
against  his  revolted  subjects.  Henry  soon  made 
himself  master  of  Dol  and  several  other  towns, 
which  he  kept  and  garrisoned  with  his  own  soldiers. 
Conan  had  shown  himself  utterly  incapable  of  man- 
aging the  fierce  Breton  nobles,  by  whose  excesses 
and  cruelties  the  poor  people,  who  were  the  victims 
of  them,  were  ground  to  the  dust.  Henry's  power 
and  abilities  were  well  known  to  the  suffering 
Bretons,  and  a  considerable  party,  including  the 
priests  of  the  country,  rallied  round  him,  and  hailed 
him  as  a  deliverer.'  Submitting  in  part  to  the 
force  of  circumstances  and  the  wishes  of  Henry, 
and  in  part,  perhaps,  following  his  own  indolent 
inclinations,  Conan  resigned  the  remnant  of  his  au- 
thority into  the  hands  of  liis  protector,  who  gov- 
erned the  state  in  the  name  of  his  son  Geoffrey 
and  Conan's  heiress  Constantia,  the  espousals  of 
these  two  children  being  prematurely  solemnized. 
Another  insurrection  ensued ;  but,  though  the  dis- 
affected barons  of  Brittany  formed  a  life  and  death 
league  with  the  dissatisfied  people  of  Maine,  and 
were  assisted,  at  fii'st  secretly  and  then  openly,  by 
the  King  of  France,  they  could  never  make  head 
against  the  power  of  Henry,  who,  in  the  end, 
leveled  most  of  their  castles,  and  disarmed  and 
disheartened  the  turbulent  Bretons.  In  the  course 
of  this  petty  war  Henry  is  accused  by  more  than  one 
French  chronicler  of  making  a  jest  of  the  virtue  of 
his  female  prisoners  and  hostages ;  but  it  is  fair  to 
remark  that,  though  this  is  touching  one  of  his 
known  vices,  these  accounts  are  from  a  prejudiced 
source ;  and  it  is  acknowledged,  even  by  the  same 
writers,  that  he  gave  to  Brittany  tranquillity,  regu- 
lar courts  of  law,  and  prosperity, — blessings  which 
were  certainly  worth  more  to  the  mass  of  the 
people  than  the  stormy  national  independence  they 
had  before  enjoyed.  In  the  month  of  December, 
1166,  Henry  kept  his  court  in  the  famed  old  castle 
on  Mount  St.  Michael,  whence  his  eye  could  range 
over  the  long  and  extending  land  of  Brittany,  and 
there  he  was  visited  by  William  the  Lion,  who  had 
recently  ascended  the  Scottish  throne,  on  the  death 
of  his  brother,  Malcolm  IV. 

While  still  abroad  he  ordered  a  tax  to  be  levied 
on  all  his  subjects,  whether  English  or  foreign,  for 
the  support  of  the  war  in  the  Holy  Land,  which 
was  taking  a  turn  more  and  more  unfavorable  to 
the  Christians ;  but  at  the  very  time  his  peace  was 
broken  by  his  own  war  with  the  church  and  the 
unremitting  hostilitj'  of  Becket.  In  the  month  of 
May  the  banished  ai'chbishop  went  from  Pontigny 
to  Vezeley,  near  Auxerre,  and  encouraged  by  the 
pope,  who  intimated  that  he  might  proceed  without 
any  fear  of  giving  offence  to  the  see  of  Rome,  he 
repaired  to  the  church  on  the  great  festival  of  the 
Ascension,  when  it  was  most  crowded  with  people, 
and  mounting  the  pulpit  there,  "  with  book,  bell, 
and  candle,"  solemnly  cursed  and  pronounced  the 
sentence  of  excommunication  against  the  defenders 
of  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  the  detainers  of 
I  Script.  Rer.  Franc. — Daru,  Hist,  de  la  Bretagne. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


437 


the  sequestrated  property  of  the  church  of  Canter- 
bury, and  those  who  imprisoned  or  persecuted 
either  laymen  or  clergy  on  his  account.  This 
done,  he  more  particularly  excommunicated  by 
name  Richard  de  Lucy,  Joycelin  Baliol,  and  four 
other  of  Henry's  courtiers  and  prime  favorites.' 
The  king  was  at  Chinon,  in  Anjou,  when  he  was 
startled  by  this  new  sign  of  life  given  by  his  ad- 
versary. Though  in  general  a  great  master  of  his 
feelings  and  passions,  Henr}'^  was  subject  to  ex- 
cesses of  ungovernable  fury,  and  on  this  occasion 
he  seems  f\iirly  to  have  taken  leave  of  his  senses. 
He  cried  out  that  they  wanted  to  kill  him  body  and 
soul — that  he  was  wretched  in  being  surrounded 
by  cowards  and  traitors,  not  one  of  whom  thought 
of  delivering  him  from  the  insupportable  vexations 
caused  him  by  a  single  man.  He  took  off  his  cap 
and  dashed  it  to  the  gi'ound,  undid  his  girdle, 
threw  his  clothes  about  the  room,  tore  off  the  silk 
coverlet  from  his  bed  and  rolled  upon  it,  and 
gnawed  the  straw  and  rushes, — for  it  appears  that 
this  mighty  and  splendid  monarch  had  no  better 
bed.^  His  resentment  did  not  pass  away  with  this 
paroxysm,  and  after  writing  to  the  pope  and  the 
King  of  France,  he  threatened  that,  if  Becket 
should  return  and  continue  to  be  sheltered  at  the 
Abbey  of  Pontigny,  which  belonged  to  the  Cister- 
cians, he  would  seize  all  the  estates  appertaining  to 
that  order  within  his  numerous  dominions.  The 
threat  was  an  alarming  one  to  the  monks,  and  we 
find  Becket  removing  out  of  Burgundy  to  the  town 
of  Sens,  where  a  new  asylum  was  appointed  him 
by  Louis,  who  continued  to  support  him  for  his 
own  views,  but  who  was  unable  or  unwilling  to 
make  any  gi-eat  sacrifice  for  him.  A  paltry  war 
was  begun  and  ended  by  a  truce  all  within  a  few 
months  :  it  was  followed  the  next  year  by  another 
war  equally  short  and  still  more  inglorious  for  the 
French  king ;  for,  although  he  had  excited  fresh 
disturbances  in  Brittany  and  3Iaine,  and  leagued 
himself  with  some  of  Henry's  revolted  barons  of 
Poictou  and  Aquitaine,  he  gained  no  advantage 
whatever  for  himself,  was  the  cause  of  ruin  to  most 
of  his  allies,  and  was  compelled  to  conclude  a  peace 
at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1169.  Nothing  but 
an  empty  pride  could  have  been  gratified  by  a 
series  of  feudal  oaths ;  but  the  designations  given 
to  his  sons  on  this  occasion  by  the  English  king 
contributed  to  fatal  consequences  which  happened 
four  years  later.  Prince  Henry  of  England,  his 
eldest  son,  did  homage  to  his  father-in-law,  the 
King  of  France,  for  Anjou  and  Maine,  as  he  had 
formerly  done  for  Normandy ;  Prince  Richard,  his 
second  son,  did  homage  for  Aquitaine ;  and  Geof- 
frey, his  third  son,  for  Brittany :  and  it  was  after- 
ward assumed  that  these  ceremonies  constituted 
the  boys  sovereigns  and  absolute  masters  of  the 
several  dominions  named.  At  the  same  time  the 
two  kings  agreed  upon  a  marriage  betAveen  Prince 
Richard  of  England  and  Alice,  another  daughter  of 
the  King  of  France,  the  previous  treaty  of  matri- 

1  Epist.  St.  Thomffi. — Rog-.  Hove. — Gervase. 

2  Script.  Rer.  Franc.     Henry  seems  to  have  acted  in  this  mad  way 
on  more  than  one  occasion. 


mony  with  the  King  of  Arragon  being  set  aside. 
Sixteen  months  before  these  events  Henry  lost  his 
mother,  the  Empress  Matilda,  who  ^ied  at  Rouen, 
and  was  buried  in  the  celebrated  Abbey  of  Bee, 
which  she  had  enriched  with  the  donations  of  her 
piety  and  penitence.  Her  adventurous,  busy,  rest- 
less life  ceased  with  the  accession  of  her  able  son 
to  the  throne  of  England ;  but  fi-ora  the  honored 
retirement  of  Normandy,  to  which  he  wisely  con- 
demned her,  she  continued  to  take  a  lively  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  courts  and  governments,  and  it  is 
said  of  her  that  she  foresaw  Becket's  character,  and 
highly  disapproved  of  his  elevation  to  the  primacy. 
To  that  extraordinary  man  we  must  now  return, 
for  his  fate  is  so  interwoven  with  that  of  Heniy 
that  it  is  difificult  to  separate  them  for  any  length  of 
time  until  the  grave  closes  over  the  priest;  and 
then  his  ashes,  his  name,  and  writings  will  be 
found  exercising  an  influence  not  only  over  this 
king  but  over  his  successors. 

About  this  time  Henry  was  prevailed  upon  by 
the  Pope,  the  King  of  France,  and  by  some  of  his 
own  friends,  to  assent  to  the  return  of  Becket  and 
his  party.  The  kings  of  France  and  England  met 
at  Montrairail,  in  Perche,  and  Becket  was  ad- 
mitted to  a  conference.  Henry  insisted  on  quaU- 
fying  his  agreement  to  the  proposed  terms  of  ac- 
commodation by  the  addition  of  the  words,  "  saving 
the  honor  of  his  kingdom," — a  salvo  which  Becket 
met  by  another  on  his  part,  saying  that  he  Avas 
wiUing  to  be  reconciled  to  the  king,  and  obey  him 
in  all  things,  "  saving  the  honor  of  God  and  the 
church."  Upon  this,  Henry,  turning  to  the  King 
of  France,  said, — "  Do  you  know  what  would  hap- 
pen if  I  were  to  admit  this  reservation  ?  That  man 
would  interpret  everything  displeasing  to  himself 
as  being  contrary  to  the  honor  of  God,  and  would  so 
invade  all  my  rights :  but  to  show  that  I  do  not 
withstand  God's  honor,  I  will  here  offer  him  a  con- 
cession ; — what  the  greatest  and  holiest  of  his  pre- 
decessors did  unto  the  least  of  mine,  that  let  him 
do  unto  me,  and  I  am  contented  therewith."  All 
present  exclaimed  that  this  was  enough — that  the 
king  had  humbled  himself  enough.  But  Becket 
still  insisted  on  his  salvo ;  upon  which  the  King  of 
France  said,  he  seemed  to  wish  to  be  "greater 
than  the  saints,  and  better  than  St.  Peter ;"  and 
the  nobles  present  murmured  at  his  unbending 
pride,  and  said  he  no  longer  merited  an  asylum  in 
France.  The  two  kings  mounted  their  horses  and 
rode  away  without  saluting  Becket,  who  retired 
much  cast  down.  No  one  any  longer  offered  him 
food  and  lodging  in  the  name  of  Louis,  and  on  his 
journey  back  to  Sens  he  was  reduced  to  live  on  the 
charity  of  the  common  people.' 

In  another  conference  the  obnoxious  clauses 
on  either  side  were  omitted.  The  business  now 
seemed  in  fair  train ;  but  when  Becket  asked  from 
the  king  the  kiss  of  peace,"  which  was  the  usual 
termination  of  such  quarrels,  Henry's  irritated 
feelings  prevented   him  from  granting  it,   and  he 

1  Vita  S.  ThomEB.— Script.  Rer.  Franc— Gervase.— Epist.  S.  Thomi. 
-  See  a  curious  discourse  on  kisses  of  peace  in  Ducange,  Gluss.  in 
voc.  Osculum  Facis. 


438 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


excused  himself  by  sajing  it  was  only  a  solemn 
oath  taken  formerly,  in  a  moment  of  passion,  never 
to  kiss  Becket,  that  hindered  him  from  giving  this 
sign  of  perfect  reconciliation.  The  primate  must 
have  known  kings  too  well  to  attach  much  value  to 
their  kisses,  but  he  was  resolute  to  wave  no  privi- 
lege and  no  ceremony,  and  this  conference  was 
also  broken  off  in  anger.  Another  brief  quarrel  be- 
tween the  two  kings,  and  an  impotent  raising  of 
banners  on  the  part  of  Louis,  which  threatened  at 
first  to  retard  the  reconciliation  between  Henry 
and  his  primate,  were  in  fact  the  cause  of  hasten- 
ing that  event ;  for  hostiUties  dwindled  into  a  truce, 
the  truce  led  to  another  conference  between  the 
sovereigns,  and  the  conference  to  another  peace,  at 
which  Henry,  who  was  apprehensive  that  the  Pope 
would  finally  consent  to  Becket's  ardent  wishes, 
and  permit  him  to  excommunicate  his  king  by 
name,  and  pronounce  an  interdict  against  the  whole 
kingdom,  slowly  and  reluctantly  pledged  his  word 
to  be  reconciled  forthwith  to  the  dangerous  exile. 
On  the  2'2d  of  July,  1170,  a  solemn  congress  was 
held  in  a  spacious  and  most  pleasant  meadow,'  be- 
tween Freteval  and  La  Ferte-Bernard,  on  the  boi-- 
ders  of  Touraine.  The  king  was  there  before  the 
archbishop,  and  as  soon  as  Becket  appeared,  riding 
leisurely  toward  the  tent,  he  spurred  his  horse  to 
meet  him,  and  saluted  him  cap  in  hand.  They 
then  rode  apart  into  the  field,  and  discoursed  to- 
gether for  some  time  in  the  same  familiar  manner 
as  in  bygone  times.  Then  returning  to  his  attend- 
ants, Henry  said  that  he  found  the  archbishop  in 
the  best  possible  disposition,  and  that  it  would  be 
einfnl  in  him  to  nourish  rancor  any  longer.  The 
quarrel  has  been  still  further  complicated  by  the 
coronation  of  Henrj''s  eldest  son,  a  ceremony  which 
had  been  perfonned  in  the  preceding  month  of 
June  by  the  Archbishop  of  York,  in  defiance  of  the 
rights  of  Becket  as  primate.  But  Henry  softened 
his  rancor  on  this  account  in  the  course  of  his  pri- 
vate conversation  with  him. 

The  primate  came  up  accompanied  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Sens  and  other  priests,  and  the 
forms  of  reconciliation  were  completed ;  always, 
however,  excepting  the  kiss  of  peace,  which,  ac- 
cording to  some,  Henry  promised  he  would  give  in 
England,  where  they  would  soon  meet.*  The  king, 
however,  condescended  to  hold  Becket's  stirrup 
when  he  mounted.  By  their  agreement  Becket 
was  to  love,  honor,  and  serve  the  king,  in  as  far 
ns  an  archbishop  could  "  render  in  the  Lord " 
service  to  his  sovereign ;  and  Henry  was  to  restore 
immediately  all  the  lands,  and  livings,  and  privi- 
leges of  the  church  of  Canterbury,  and  to  furnish 
Becket  with  funds  to  discharge  his  debts  and  make 
the  journey  into  England.  These  terms  were  cer- 
tainly not  kept:  the  lands  were  not  released  for 
four  months ;  and,  after  many  vexatious  delays. 
Becket  was  obliged  to  borrow  money  for  his  jour- 
ney. While  tarrying  on  the  French  coast  he  was 
several  times  warned  that  danger  awaited  him  on 
the  opposite  shore.     This  was  not  improbable,  as 

1  In  prato  amanissimo.     Script.  Rer.  Fiauc. 

2  Fitz-i?tcphen.— Epist.  S.  Thoma;. 


many  resolute  men  had  been  suddenly  driven  from 
the  church  lands,  on  which  they  had  fattened  for 
years,  and  as  he  was  known  to  carry  about  his 
person  letters  of  excommunication  from  the  Pope 
against  the  Archbishop  of  York  and  the  Bishops  of 
London  and  Salisbury,  whom  he  held  to  be  his 
chief  enemies,  and  who  were  men  likely  to  adopt 
strong  measures  to  prevent  his  piomulgating  the 
terrible  sentence.  He  was  even  assured  that 
Ranulf  de  Broc,  a  knight  of  a  family  who  all  hated 
him  to  the  death,  and  who  had  himself  boasted  that 
he  would  not  let  the  archbishop  live  to  eat  a  single 
loaf  of  bread  in  England,  was  lying  with  a  body  of 
soldiers,  between  Canterbury  and  Dover,  in  order 
to  intercept  him.  But  nothing  could  move  Becket, 
who  said  seven  years  of  absence  were  long  enough 
both  for  the  shepherd  and  his  flock,  and  that  he 
would  not  stop  though  he  were  sure  to  be  cut  to 
pieces  as  soon  as  he  landed  on  the  opposite  coast. 
The  only  use  he  made  of  the  warnings  he  received 
was,  to  confide  the  letters  of  excommunication  to  a 
skilful  and  devoted  messenger,  who,  preceding  him 
some  short  time,  stole  into  England  without  being 
suspected,  and  actuallj^  delivered  them  publicly  to 
the  three  bishops,  who  were  as  much  startled  as  if 
a  thunderbolt  had  fallen  at  their  feet.  This  last 
measure  seems  to  have  had  as  much  to  do  with 
Becket's  death  as  any  anger  of  the  king's.  As  he 
was  on  the  point  of  embarking,  a  vessel  arrived  from 
England.  The  sailors  were  asked  what  were  the 
feelings  of  the  good  English  people  toward  their 
archbishop  ?  They  replied,  that  the  people  would 
hail  his  return  with  transports  of  joy.  This  was  a 
good  omen,  and  he  no  doubt  relied  much  more  on 
the  popular  favor  than  on  the  protection  of  John  of 
Oxford,  one  of  the  roj-al  cliaplains,  and  some  others 
whom  Henry  had  sent  to  accompany  him.  He 
sailed  from  France  in  the  same  gloomy  month  of 
the  year  on  Avhich  he  had  begun  his  exile,  and, 
avoiding  Dover,  landed  at  Sandwich,  on  the  1st  of 
December.  At  the  news  of  his  arrival,  the  mari- 
ners, the  peasants,  the  working  people  generally, 
and  the  EngUsh  burgesses  flocked  to  meet  him  ;  but 
none  of  the  rich  and  powerful  welcomed  him  ;  and 
the  first  persons  of  rank  he  saw  presented  them- 
selves in  a  menacing  attitude.  These  latter  were  a 
sherift'  of  Kent,  Reginald  de  Warenne,  Ranulf  de 
Broc  (who  had  ridden  across  the  country  from 
Dover),  and  some  relatives  and  allies  of  the  three 
excommunicated  bishops,  who  carried  swords  under 
their  tunics,  and  drew  them  when  they  approached 
the  primate.  John  of  Oxford  conjured  them  to  be 
quiet,  lest  they  should  make  their  king  pass  for  a 
traitor ;  but  it  is  probable  that  the  determined 
countenance  of  the  English  multitude  made  more 
impression  on-  them  than  his  peaceful  words. 
They  retired  to  their  castles,  and  spread  a  report 
among  their  feudal  compeers  that  Becket  was  liber- 
ating the  serfs  of  the  country,  who  were  marching 
in  his  train  drunk  with  joy  and  hopes  of  vengeance. 
At  Canterbury  the  primate  was  received  with  ac- 
clamations :  but  still  it  was  onlj-  the  poor  and 
lowly  that  welcomed  him.  A  few  daj's  after,  lie 
set  out  for  Woodi-tocU,  to   visit   the   king's  eldest 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


439 


son,  Prince  Henry,  who  had  formerly  been  his 
pupil.  Becket  counted  much  on  his  influence 
over  the  young  prince  ;  but  the  party  opposed  to 
him  succeeded  in  preventing  his  having  an  oppor- 
tunity to  exert  that  influence.  A  royal  inessenger 
met  him  on  his  journey,  and  ordered  him,  in  the 
name  of  the  prince,  not  to  enter  any  of  the  royal 
towns  or  castles,  but  to  return  and  remain  within 
his  own  diocese.  The  primate  obeyed,  and,  re- 
turning, spent  some  days  at  Harrow-on-the-Hill, 
which  belonged  to  the  church  of  Canterbury  a  con- 
siderable time  before  the  Norman  conquest.  During 
his  stay  at  Harrow,  Becket  kept  great  hospitality ; 
but  this  virtue  was  probably  exercised  in  regard  to 
persons  of  a  condition  resembling  those  whom  he 
had  bidden  to  his  memorable  feast  at  Northampton  ; 
and  the  only  ecclesiastic  of  rank  mentioned  as  doing 
him  honor  was  the  abbot  of  the  neighboring  monas- 
tery of  St.  Albans.  Two  of  his  own  clergy,  Ni- 
gellus  de  Sackville,  who  was  called  "  the  usurping 
rector  of  Harrow,"  and  Robert  de  Broc,  the  vicar, 
a  relation  of  his  determined  foe,  Ranulf  de  Broc, 
treated  him  with  great  disrespect,  and  when  he 
was  departing  maimed  the  horse  which  carried  his 
provisions, — an  off'ence  which  was  not  forgotten 
by  one  who  presumed  to  hurl  the  thunderbolts  of 
damnation.  Becket  returned  to  Canterbury  es- 
corted by  a  host  of  poor  people  armed  with  rustic 
targets  and  rusty  lances.  On  Christmas  day  he 
ascended  the  pulpit  in  the  great  cathedral  church, 
and  delivered  an  eloquent  sermon  on  the  words 
Venio  ad  vos  mori  inter  vos  (I  come  to  you  to  die 
among  you).  He  told  his  congregation  that  one  of 
their  archbishops  had  been  a  martyr,  and  that  they 
would  probably  soon  see  another;  "but,"  he  added, 
"before  I  depart  hence,  I  will  avenge  some  of  the 
wrongs  my  church  has  suffered  during  the  last 
seven  years ;  and  he  forthwith  excommunicated 
Ranulf  and  Robert  de  Broc,  and  Nigellus,  the 
rector  of  Harrow.^  This  was  Becket's  last  public 
act.  As  soon  as  his  messengers  had  delivered  his 
letters,  the  three  bishops  excommunicated  by  them 
hastened  to  Prince  Henry,  to  complain  of  his  in- 
satiate thirst  of  revenge,  and  to  accuse  him  of  a 
fixed  plan  of  violating  all  the  royal  privileges  and 
the  customs  of  the  land;  and  almost  immediately 
after  they  crossed  over  to  the  continent,  to  demand 
redress  from  the  king.  "  We  implore  it,"  said 
they,  "  both  for  the  sake  of  royalty  and  the  clergy 
- — for  your  own  repose  as  well  as  ours.  There  is  a 
man  who  sets  England  on  fire ;  he  marches  with 
troops  of  horse  and  armed  foot,  prowling  round  the 
fortresses,  and  trying  to  get  himself  received  with- 
in them."^  The  exaggeration  was  not  needed; 
Henry  was  seized  with  one  of  his  most  violent  fits 
of  fury.  "  How,"  cried  he,  "  a  fellow  that  hath 
eaten  my  bread, — a  beggar  that  first  came  to  my 
court  on  a  lame  horse,  dares  insult  his  king  and 
the  royal  family,  and  tread  upon  the  whole  king- 
dom, and  not  one  of  the  cowards  I  nourish  at  iny 
table — not  one  will  deliver  me  from  this  turbulent 
priest."^     There  were  four  knights  present,  Avho 

1  Fitz-Steph.— Vita  S.  Thorn.— Gervase.—Rog.  Hove.— Matt.  Paris. 

2  Script.  Rer.  Franc.  3  vita  Qiiadriparl. 


had  probably  injuries  of  their  own  to  avenge,  and 
who  took  this  outburst  of  temper  as  a  sufficient 
death-warrant,  and,  without  communicating  their 
sudden  determination  to  the  king  (or,  at  least, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  they  did),  humed  over  to 
England.  Their  names  were  Reginald  Fitzurse, 
William  Tracy,  Hugh  de  Moi-ville,  and  Richard 
Brito ;  and  they  are  described  b}^  a  contemporary 
as  being  barons,  and  servants  of  the  king's  bed- 
chamber. Their  intention  was  not  suspected,  nor 
was  their  absence  noticed  ;  and  while  they  were 
riding  with  loose  rein  toward  the  coast,  the  king 
was  closeted  with  his  council  of  barons,  who  after 
some  discussion,  which  seems  to  have  occupied 
more  than  one  day,  appointed  three  commissioners 
to  go  and  seize,  according  to  the  forms  of  law,  the 
person  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  on  the  charge  of  high 
treason.  But  the  conspirators,  who  had  bound 
themselves  together  by  an  oath,  left  the  commis- 
sioners nothing  to  do.  Three  days  after  Christmas 
day  they  arrived  secretly  at  Saltwood,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Canterbury,  where  the  De  Broc  family 
had  a  house  ;  and  here,  under  the  cover  of  night, 
they  arranged  their  plans  —  for  precautions  were 
necessary,  in  proceeding  against  the  object  of  the 
people's  veneration.  On  the  29th  of  December, 
having  collected  a  number  of  adherents  to  quell 
the  resistance  of  Becket's  attendants  and  the  citi- 
zens, in  case  any  should  be  oft'ered,  they  proceeded 
to  the  monastery  of  St.  Augustine's,  at  Canter- 
bury, the  abbot  of  which,  like  nearly  all  the  su- 
perior churchmen,  was  of  the  king's  party.  From 
St.  Augustine's,  they  went  to  the  archbishop's 
palace,  and  entering  his  apartment  abruptly,  about 
two  hours  after  noon,  seated  themselves  on  the 
floor  without  saluting  him,  or  oifering  any  sign  of 
respect.  There  was  a  dead  pause — the  knights 
not  knowing  how  to  begin,  and  neither  of  them 
Hking  to  speak  first.  At  length,  Becket  asked  what 
they  wanted  ;  but  still  they  sat  gazing  at  him  with 
haggard  eyes.  There  were  twelve  men  of  the  party, 
besides  the  four  knights.  Reginald  Fitzurse,  feign- 
ing a  commission  from  the  king,  at  last  spoke. 
"  We  come,"  said  he,  "  that  you  may  absolve  the 
bishops  you  have  excommunicated  ;  reestablish  the 
bishops  whom  you  have  suspended  ;  and  answer 
for  your  own  off'ences  against  the  king."  Becket 
replied  with  boldness  and  with  great  warmth,  not 
sparing  taunts  and  invectives.  He  said,  that  he 
had  published  the  papal  letters  of  excommunication 
with  the  king's  consent;  that  he  could  not  absolve 
the  Archbishop  of  York,  whose  heinous  case  was 
reserved  for  the  pope  alone,  but  that  he  would  re- 
move the  censures  from  the  two  other  bishops,  if 
they  would  swear  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of 
Rome."  "But  of  whom,  then,"  demanded  Regi- 
nald, "  do  you  hold  your  archbishopric — of  the  king 
or  the  pope  ?"  "  I  owe  the  spiritual  rights  to  God 
and  the  pope,  and  the  temporal  rights  to  the  king." 
"How,  is  it  not  the  king  that  hath  given  you  all.'" 
Becket's  decided  negative  Avas  received  with  mur- 
murs, and  the  knights  furiously  twisted  their  long 
gloves.  Three  out  of  the  four  cavaliers  had  fol- 
lowed Becket  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity  and  vain- 


440 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


ijlory,  aud  vowed  themselves  his  liege  men.  He 
reminded  them  of  this,  and  observed,  it  was  not  for 
such  as  they  to  threaten  him  in  his  own  house ; 
adding  also,  tliat  if  he  were  threatened  by  all  the 
swords  in  England,  he  would  not  yield.  "  We  will 
do  more  than  threaten,"  replied  the  knights,  and 
then  departed.  When  they  were  gone,  his  at- 
tendants loudly  expressed  their  alarm,  and  blamed 
him  for  the  rough  and  provoking  tone  by  which  he 
had  inflamed,  instead  of  pacifying  his  enemies ;  but 
the  prelate  silenced  the  latter  part  of  their  dis- 
course by  telling  them  he  had  no  need  of  their  ad- 
vice, and  knew  what  he  ought  to  do.  The  barons, 
with  their  accomplices,  who  seem  to  have  wished, 
if  they  could,  to  avoid  bloodshed,  finding  that  threats 
were  ineffectual,  put  on  their  coats  of  mail,  and 
taking  each  a  sword  in  his  hand,  returned  to  the 
palace,  but  found  the  gate  had  been  shut  and  barred 
by  the  terrified  servants.  Fitzurse  tried  to  break 
it  open,  aud  the  sounds  of  his  ponderous  axe  rang 
through  the  building.  The  gate  might  have  offered 
some  considerable  resistance,  but  Robert  de  Broc 


showed  them  the  way  in  at  a  window.  The  peo- 
ple about  Becket  had  in  vain  urged  him  to  take  re- 
fuge in  the  church ;  but  at  this  moment  the  voices 
of  the  monks  singing  vespers  in  the  choir  sti-iking 
his  ear,  he  said  he  would  go,  as  his  duty  now  called 
him  thither;  and,  making  his  cross-bearer  precede 
him  with  the  crucifix  elevated,  he  traversed  the 
cloister  with  slow  and  measured  steps,  and  entered 
the  church.  His  servants  would  have  closed  and 
fastened  the  doors,  but  he  forbade  them,  saying 
that  the  house  of  God  was  not  to  be  barricaded  like 
a  castle.  He  had  passed  through  the  nortli  tran- 
sept, and  was  ascending  the  steps  which  led  to 
the  choir,  when  Reginald  Fitzurse  appeared  at  the 
other  end  of  the  church,  waving  his  sword,  and 
shouting,  "  Follow  me,  loyal  servants  of  the  king." 
The  other  conspirators  followed  him  closely,  armed 
like  himself  from  head  to  foot,  and  brandishing 
their  swords.  The  shades  of  evening  had  fallen, 
and  in  the  obscurity  of  the  vast  church,  which  was 
only  broken  here  and  there  by  a  lamp  glimmering 
before  a  shrine,  Becket  might  easily  have  hid  him- 


Mi-RDER  OF  Bt-r  KET.     Fmui  :in  ancient  Painting  hung  at  the  head  of  the  Tomb  of  Henry  IV.,  in  C;inteil)tir.v  Caihrdr.i),     Engraved  and 

described  in  Carter's  Ancient  Sculptures  and  Paintings. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


441 


self  in  the  dark  and  intricate  crypts  under  ground, 
or  beneath  the  roof  of  the  old  church.  Each  of 
these  courses  was  suggested  by  his  attendants,  but 
he  rejected  them  both,  and  turned  boldly  to  meet 
the  intruders,  followed  or  preceded  by  his  cross- 
bearer,  the  faithful  Edward  Gryme,  the  only  one 
who  did  not  flee.  A  voice  shouted,  "  Where  is  the 
traitor?"  Becket  answered  not;  but  when  Regi- 
nald Fitzurse  said,  "  Where  is  the  archbishop  ?"  he 
replied,  "  Here  am  I,  an  archbishop,  but  no  traitor, 
ready  to  suffer  in  my  Savior's  name."  Tracy 
pulled  him  by  the  sleeve,  saying,  "  Come  hither, 
thou  art  a  prisoner."  He  pulled  back  his  arm  in 
so  violent  a  manner,  that  he  made  Tracy  stagger 
forward.  They  advised  him  to  flee,  or  to  go  with 
them  ;  and,  on  a  candid  consideration,  it  seems  to 
us  that  the  conspirators  are  entitled  to  a  doubt  as 
to  whether  they  really  intended  a  murder,  or  were 
not  rather  hurried  into  it  by  his  obstinacy  and 
provoking  language.  Addressing  Fitzurse,  he  said, 
*'  I  have  done  thee  many  pleasures ;  why  comest 
thou  with  armed  men  into  my  church  ?"  They 
told  him  that  he  must  instantly  absolve  the  bishops. 
"  Never,  until  they  have  offered  satisfaction,"  Avas 
his  answer ;  and  he  applied  a  foul  vituperative  term 
to  Fitzurse.  "  Then  die,"  exclaimed  the  latter, 
striking  at  his  head.  The  faithful  Gryme  inter- 
posed his  arm  to  save  his  master;  the  arm  was 
broken,  or  nearly  cut  oft',  and  the  stroke  descended 
on  the  primate's  head,  and  slightly  wounded  him. 
Then  another  voice  cried,  "  Fly,  or  thou  diest ;" 
but  still  Becket  moved  not,  but,  with  the  blood  running 
down  his  face,  he  clasped  his  hands,  and  bowing  his 
head,  exclaimed,  "  To  God,  to  St.  Mary,  to  the  holy 
patrons  of  this  church,  and  to  St.  Denis,  I  com- 
mend raj"^  soul  and  the  church's  cause."  A  second 
stroke  brought  him  to  the  ground,  close  to  the  foot 
of  St.  Bennet's  altar ;  a  third,  given  with  such 
force  that  the  sword  was  broken  against  the  stone 
pavement,  cleft  his  skull,  and  his  brains  were  scat- 
tered all  about :  one  of  the  conspirators  put  his  foot 
on  his  neck,  and  cried,  "  Thus  perishes  a  traitor!"^ 
The  conspirators  then  withdrew,  Avithout  encoun- 
tering any  hinderance  or  molestation ;  but  when 
the  fearful  news  spread  through  Cantei'bury  and 
the  neighboring  country,  the  excitement  was  pro- 
digious ;  and  the  then  inevitable  inference  was 
drawn  that  Becket  was  a  martyr,  and  miracles 
would  be  wrought  at  his  tomb.  For  some  time, 
however,  the  superior  orders  rejected  this  faith, 
and  made  efforts  to  suppress  the  veneration  of  the 
common  people.  An  edict  was  published,  pi-o- 
hibiting  all  men  from  preaching  in  the  churches  or 
reporting  in  the  public  places  that  Becket  was  a 
martyr.  His  old  foe,  the  Archbishop  of  York,  as- 
cended the  pulpit  to  announce  his  death  as  an  in- 
fliction of  divine  vengeance,  saying  that  he  had 
perished  in  his  guilt  and  pride,  like  Pharaoh." 
Other  ecclesiastics  preached  that  the  body  of  the 
traitor  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  rest  in  conse- 
crated ground,  but  thrown  into  a  ditch,  or  hung  on 

>  Gervase. — Fitz  Steph. — Gryme  (who  was  present,  and  suffered  on 
the  occasion). — Newhrig. — Rog.  llove 
2  Epist.  Joan.  Sarisb. 


a  gibbet.  An  attempt  was  even  made  to  seize  the 
body,  but  the  monks,  who  received  timely  warn- 
ing, concealed  it,  and  hastily  buried  it  in  the  sub- 
terranean vaults  of  the  cathedral.  But  it  was  soon 
found  that  the  public  voice,  echoed,  for  its  own 
purposes,  by  the  court  of  France,  was  too  loud  to 
be  drowned  in  this  manner.  Louis,  whom  Henry 
had  so  often  humbled,  wrote  to  the  Pope,  imploring 
him  to  draw  the  sword  of  St.  Peter,  against  that 
horrible  persecutor  of  God,  who  surpassed  Nero  in 
cruelty,  Julian  in  apostasy,  and  .Judas  in  treachery. 
He  chose  to  believe,  and  the  French  bishops  be- 
lieved with  him,  that  Henry  had  ordered  the  mur- 
der. 

Attempts  have  been  made  in  modern  times  to 
lower  the  character  of  a  faulty  man,  but  who  wag 
one  of  the  greatest  of  our  sovereigns,  and  to  revive 
this  belief,  which  is  certainly  unsupported  by  any 
good  evidence  of  contemporary  history.  If  Henry 
had  been  addicted  to  cruelty  and  assassination — 
which  he  certainly  was  not — his  consummate  pru- 
dence and  foresight  would  have  prevented  his  or- 
dering such  a  deed ;  for  he  must  have  felt  what 
would  be  the  inevitable  effect  of  it,  and  have  known 
that  Becket,  so  disposed  of,  would  be  a  greater 
thorn  in  his  side,  when  dead,  than  he  had  ever  been 
while  living.  On  receiving  the  intelligence,  he  ex- 
pressed the  greatest  grief  and  horror,  shut  himself 
up  in  his  room,  and  refused  to  receive  either  food 
or  consolation  for  three  days ;  and  if  he  took  caro 
to  have  a  touching  detail  of  his  distressed  feelings 
transmitted  to  the  Pope,  in  which  he  declared  his 
innocence  in  the  strongest  terms,  and  entreated 
that  censure  might  be  suspended  till  the  facts  of 
the  case  were  examined,  such  a  measure  is  not  to 
be  taken,  in  itself,  as  indicating  the  insincerity  of 
his  grief  and  horror.  Tenderness  for  Becket  he 
could  scarcely  feel,  yet  as  he  was  not  formed  of 
harsh  materials,  he  may  have  been  greatly  shocked 
at  the  manner  of  death  of  one  who  had  been  his 
bosom  friend,  and  he  would  grieve  sincerely  for  the 
foul  suspicions  cast  upon  him,  and  the  incalculable 
mischief  the  event  might  do  to  himself  and  his 
family.  The  extremity  of  his  penance  at  the  tomb 
of  Becket  three  years  and  a  half  later,  has  been  at- 
tributed to  his  remorse — to  his  consciousness  of 
being  guilty  of  the  murder ;  but  he  might  well  feel 
remorse  at  the  hasty  words  he  uttered,  and  which 
were  supposed  to  have  led  to  the  deed,  although  he 
had  used  expressions  equally  violent  on  former  oc- 
casions, without  their  being  taken  at  the  letter,  or 
producing  any  evil  consequences.  It  should  be  re- 
membered, too,  that  at  the  time  of  his  pilgrimage 
to  Becket's  shrine,  Henry  had  to  overcome  a  mighty 
prejudice  which  had  been  carefully  nourished,  and 
spread  by  his  enemies,  and  that  he  was  depressed 
and  troubled  in  spirit  by  the  rebellion  of  his  own 
children.  Like  his  bishops,  who  found  it  much 
easier  to  venerate  a  dead  martyr  than  obey  a  living 
and  rigid  archbishop,  he  may  have  entered  into  the 
view  of  Becket's  sanctity,  in  spite  of  his  familiai-ity 
with  his  frailties  in  the  flesh ;  and  the  suddenness 
of  Becket's  conversion  was  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  the  times,  and  not  to  be  set  down  uuhesi- 


448 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Penance  of  Henry  II.  before  the  Shrine  of  Becket,  al  Canterbury.     From  an  ancient  Painting  on  Glass.    Engraved  aad  described  in 

Carter's  Ancient  Sculptures  and  Paintings  of  England. 


tatingly  as  a  piece  of  hypocrisy.'  We  have  reasoned 
liero  as  if  admitting  Henry's  sincerity,  which  is 
doubted  altogether  by  many  writers. 

When  Henry's  envoys  first  appeared  at  Rome — 
tor  the  pope  was  no  longer  a  dependent  exile — they 
were  coldly  received,  and  everything  seemed  to 
threaten  that  an  interdict  would  be  laid  upon  the 
kingdom,  and  the  king  excommunicated  by  name. 
In  the  end,  however,  Alexander  rested  satisfied 
with  an  excommunication  in  general  terms  of  the 
murderers  and  the  abettors  of  the  crime.  It  is  said 
that  Henry's  gold  was  not  idle  on  this  occasion  ;  but 
the  employment  of  it  is  rather  a  proof  of  the  noto- 
rious rapacity  of  the  cardinals,  than  of  his  having  a 
had  cause  to  plead.  In  the  month  of  May,  1172,  in 
ii  council  held  at  Avranches,  at  which  two  legates  of 
the  pope  attended,  Henry  swore,  on  the  holy  gos- 
pels and  sacred  relics — a  great  concourse  of  the 
clergy  and    people   being    present  —  that   he    had 

'  We  learn,  from  the  letters  of  Peter  of  Blois,  how  Becket  was  con- 
s  licred  by  churchmen  previously  to  his  tragical  death.  lie  says  in 
<iiia  of  his  letters,  written  after  Becket's  canonization,  "  Wc  fools 
rtmnted  his  life  folly.  Sic.  ;  and  whatever  he  did  was  then  misiuterprct- 
,ed.  and  turned  to  matter  of  hatred  and  envy.  If,  therefore,  the  bishop 
t  lert  did.  at  one  time,  as  teas  the  rase  icith  us  all,  hold  the  blessed 
martyr  in  derision,  it  ought  not  to  be  rhareeil  ajainst  him,"  &c.  &c 


neither  ordered  nor  desired  the  murder  of  the 
archbishop.  This  oath  was  not  demanded  from 
him,  but  taken  of  his  own  free  will.  As,  however, 
he  could  not  deny  that  the  assassins  might  have 
been  moved  to  the  deed  by  his  wrathful  words,  he 
consented  to  maintain  two  hundred  knights  during 
a  year,  for  the  defence  of  the  Holy  Land ;  and  to 
serve  himself,  if  the  pope  should  require  it,  for 
three  years  against  the  infidels,  either  the  Saracens 
in  Palestine,  or  the  Moors  in  Spain,  as  the  church 
should  ajjpoint.  At  the  same  time,  he  engaged  to 
restore  all  the  lands  and  possessions  belonging  to 
the  friends  of  the  late  archbishop ;  to  permit  appeals 
to  be  made  to  the  pope  in  good  faith,  and  without 
fraud,  resei-ving  to  himself,  however,  the  right  of 
obliging  such  appellants  as  he  suspected  of  evil  inten- 
tions to  give  security  that  they  would  attempt  noth- 
ing abroad  to  the  deti'iment  of  him  or  his  kingdom. 
To  these  conditions  he  made  an  addition  too  vague  to 
have  any  practical  effect — that  he  would  relinquish 
such  customs  against  the  church  as  had  been  intro- 
duced in  his  time.  The  legates  then  fully  absolved  the 
king ;  and  thus  terminated  this  quarrel,  less  to  Hen- 
ry's disadvantage  than  might  have  been  expected.' 

1  Rog.  Hove  — Epist    S   Thorns.— Ei)ist   Joan   Sarisb.— Gervase. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


443 


In  the  short  interval  he  had  added  a  kingdom  to 
his  dominions.  The  year  that  followed  the  death 
of  Becket  was  made  memorable  by  the  conquest  of 
Ireland. 

In  the  preceding  Book,  the  sketch  of  Irish  his- 
tory was  brought  down  to  the  reign  of  Turlogh,  the 
commencement  of  which  is  assigned^ to  the  year 
1064.  Turlogh,  however,  like  his  uncle  Donchad, 
whom  he  had  succeeded,  and  Donchad's  father,  the 
great  Brien,  is  scarcely  acknowledged  by  the  old 
annalists  as  having  been  a  legitimate  king,  not  being 
of  the  blood  of  the  O'Niells  of  Ulster,  in  which  line 
the  supreme  sceptre  had  been  transmitted,  with 
scarcely  any  interruption  till  its  seizure  by  Brien, 
from  the  time  of  O'Niell,  or  Nial,  of  the  Nine  Host- 
ages, who  flourished  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century.  The  long  acquiescence  of  the  other  pro- 
vincial regal  houses  in  the  superiority  thus  assumed 
by  that  of  Ulster  was  broken  by  the  usurpation  of 
the  Munster  O'Briens,  and  we  shall  find  that  ere 
long  both  the  O'Connors  of  Connaught  and  the 
MacMurroghs  of  Leinster  make  their  appearance 
on  the  scene  as  competitors  for  the  prize  of  the 
chief  dominion  along  with  the  other  two  families. 
The  whole  history  of  the  country  from  this  date  is 
merely  the  history  of  these  contests  for  the  crown, 
the  course  of  which  will  be  made  sufficiently  intel- 
ligible by  a  few  sentences  of  explanation  taken  along 
with  the  tabular  view  of  the  succession  at  the  head 
of  the  present  chapter. 

Turlogh,  Avho  kept  his  court  in  the  palace  of  his 
ancestors,  the  kings  of  Munster,  at  Kinkora,  in 
Clare,  died  there  in  July,  1086.  His  second  son, 
Murtach,  or  Murkertach,  soon  after  acquired  the 
sole  possession  of  the  throne  of  Munster  by  the 
death  of  one  of  his  two  brothers  and  the  banishment 
of  the  other  ;  but  his  attempt  to  retain  the  supreme 
monarchy  in  his  family  was  resisted  by  the  other 
provincial  kings,  who  united  in  supporting,  against 
his  claims,  those  of  Domnal  MacLochlin,  or  Donald 
MacLachlan,  the  head  of  the  ancient  royal  house 
of  O'Niell.  At  last,  after  much  fighting,  it  was  ar- 
ranged, at  a  solemn  convention  held  in  1094,  that 
the  island  should  be  divided  between  the  two  com- 
petitors;  the  southern  half,  called  Leath  Mogh,  or 
Mogh's  Half,  remaining  subject  to  Murtach,  and  the 
northern,  called  Leath  Cuinn,  or  Conn's  Half,  being 
resigned  to  the  dominion  of  MacLochlin.  This  was 
a  well-known  ancient  division,  which  in  former  times, 
even  when  the  nominal  sovereignty  of  the  whole 
country  was  conceded  to  the  kings  of  Ulster,  had 
often  left  those  of  Munster  in  possession  not  only  of 
actual  independence  but  of  a  share  of  the  supremacy 
over  both  Connaught  and  Leinster;  for  the  line  of 
partition  was  drawn  right  across  the  island  from  the 
neighborhood  of  the  town  of  Galway  to  Dublin,  and 
consequently  cut  through  each  of  these  provinces. 
With  this  real  equality  in  extent  of  dominion  and 
authority  between  the  two  houses,  one  circumstance 
chiefly  had  for  a  long  period  held  in  check  the  rising 
fortunes  of  that  of  Munster,  the  law  or  custom, 
namely,  of  the  succession  to  the  crown  in  that  pro- 
vince, which  was  divided  into  two  principalities, 
J)esmond  or  South  Munster,  and  Thomond  or  North 


Munster,  the  reigning  families  of  which,  by  an  ar- 
rangement somewhat  similar  to  that  which  has  been 
already  described  as  anciently  subsisting  in  the  Scot- 
tish monarchy,'  enjoyed  the  supreme  sovereignty 
alternately.  The  two  lines  of  princes  derived  this 
right  of  equal  participation  from  the  will  of  their 
common  ancestor  Olill  Ollum;  those  of  Desmond, 
which  comprehended  the  present  counties  of  Kerry, 
Cork,  and  Waterford,  being  descended  from  that 
king's  eldest  son  Eogan,  whence  the  people  of  that 
principality  were  called  Eoganacths,  or  Eugenians ; 
while  the  princes  of  Thomond,  which  consisted  of 
Clare,  Limerick,  and  the  greater  part  of  Tipperary, 
were  sprung  from  his  second  son  Cormac  Cas, 
whence  their  subjects  took  the  name  of  Dalgais,  or 
Dalcassians.  But  Brien  Boru,  himself  of  the  Dal- 
cassian  family,  had  begun  his  course  of  inroad  upon 
the  ancient  institutions  of  his  country  by  setting  at 
defiance  the  rights  of  his  Eugenian  kindred,  and 
had  possessed  himself,  by  usurpation,  of  the  provin- 
cial throne  of  Munster,  before  he  seized,  by  a  like 
violation  of  the  law,  upon  the  supreme  power.  The 
Munster  kings  had  ever  since  continued  to  be  of  his 
race. 

The  compact  between  MacLochlin  and  3Iurtach 
did  not  put  an  end  to  their  contention.  Several 
more  battles  were  fought  between  them,  till  at 
length,  in  1103,  Murtach  sustained  a  defeat  at 
Cobha,  in  Tyrone,  which  so  greatly  weakened  his 
power  as  to  prevent  him  from  ever  after  giving  his 
adversary  any  serious  annoyance.  They  continued 
to  reign,  however,  MacLochlin  at  Aileach  or  Ali- 
chia,  in  Donegal,  Murtach  at  Cashel,  till  the  death 
of  the  latter,  in  1119,  after  he  had  spent  the  last 
three  or  four  years  of  his  life  in  a  monastery,  the- 
management  of  affairs  having  been  meanwhile  left 
in  the  hands  of  his  brother  Dermot.  From  the 
date  of  the  death  of  Murtach,  MacLochlin  is  re- 
garded as  having  been  sole  monarch ;  but  he  also 
died  in  1121. 

Fifteen  years  of  confusion  followed,  during  which, 
a  contest  between  various  competitors  for  the  su- 
preme authority  spread  war  and  devastation  over 
every  part  of  the  country.  At  last,  in  1136,  Tur- 
logh, or  Tordelvac,  O'Connor,  King  of  Connaught, 
was  acknowledged  monarch  of  all  Ireland ;  the  an- 
cient sceptre  of  the  O'Niells  thus  passing  a  second 
time  into  a  new  house.  O'Connor,  however,  had 
to  maintain  himself  on  the  throne  he  had  thus  ac- 
quired by  a  great  deal  of  hard  fighting  with  his  neigh- 
bors and  rivals.  Connor  O'Brien,  the  King  of  Mun- 
ster, who  had  vigorously  opposed  his  elevation,  and 
his  successor  Turlogh  O'Brien,  did  not  cease  to  dis- 
pute his  power,  till  the  overthrow  of  the  latter  at 
the  great  battle  of  Moinmor,  fought  in  1151,  placed 
Munster  for  the  moment  completely  under  the 
tread  of  the  victor.  O'Brien  was  driven  from  his 
kingdom,  and  the  territory  was  again  divided  into 
two  principalities,  over  which  O'Connor  set  two 
princes  of  the  Eugenian  house  that  had  some  time 
before  joined  him  in  his  contest  with  the  Dalcas- 
sians. A  few  years  after,  howevei',  the  expelled 
king  was  restored  by  the  interference  of  Murtogh- 
I  See  p.  209. 


444 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


O'Lochlin,  or  Murtarh  MacLachlan,  O'Niell,  the 
King  of  Ulster,  and  the  legitimate  heir  of  the  ancient 
nionarchs  of  Ireland,  who  now  also  took  arms  to  re- 
cover for  himself  the  throne  of  his  ancestors.  With 
this  new  rival,  O'Connor,  for  whom  his  martial  reign 
has  procured  from  the  annalists  the  title  of  The 
(jreat,  continued  at  war  during  the  remainder  of 
his  life;  and  at  his  death,  in  1156,  O'Lochlin  was 
acknowledged  supreme  king.  Some  opposition  was 
made  to  his  accession  by  Roderick  O'Connor,  the 
son  of  the  late  king,  and  his  successor  in  the  provin- 
cial throne  of  Connaught;  but  he  also,  at  last,  as 
well  as  the  princes  of  Munster  and  Leinster,  acqui- 
esced in  the  restoration  of  the  old  sovereign  house, 
and  submitted  to  O'Niell. 

The  rule  of  3Iurtogh  O'Lochlin  was  distinguished 
by  vigor  and  ability ;  but  its  close  was  unfortunate. 
He  was  killed,  along  with  many  of  his  nobility,  in 
116G,  in  a  battle  with  some  insurgent  chiefs  of  his 
own  province  of  Ulster,  to  whom  he  had  given 
abundant  cause  for  taking  up  arms  against  him,  if  it 
be  true  that,  after  having  been  professedly  recon- 
ciled to  one  of  them  with  whom  he  had  had  a  quar- 
rel, and  sealing  the  compact  by  the  acceptance  of 
hostages,  he  had  suddenly  seized  the  unfortunate 
chief,  together  with  three  of  his  friends,  and  caused 
his  eyes  to  be  put  out,  and  them  to  be  put  to  death. 
On  his  decease  the  sovereignty  of  Ireland  devolved 
upon  his  rival,  Roderick  O'Connor,  of  Connaught, 
the  son  of  its  former  possessor,  O'Connor  the  Great. 

Up  to  this  time,  almost  the  only  connection  be- 
tween England  and  Ireland  was  that  of  the  com- 
merce carried  on  between  some  of  the  opposite 
ports ;  scarcely  any  political  intercourse  had  ever 
taken  place  between  the  two  countries.  Her  church, 
indeed,  attached  Ireland  to  the  rest  of  Christendom; 
and  some  correspondence  is  still  preserved,  that 
passed  between  her  kings  and  prelates  and  the 
English  archbishops  Lanfranc  and  Ansehn,  relating 
chiefly  to  certain  points  in  which  the  latter  con- 
ceived the  ecclesiastical  discipline  of  the  neighbor- 
ing island  to  stand  in  need  of  reformation.  One  of 
Lanfranc's  letters  is  addressed  to  O'Connor  the 
Great,  under  the  designation  of  "  Tirdelvac,  the 
Magnificent  King  of  Hibernia."  The  bishops  also 
of  the  Danish  towns  in  Ireland  appear  to  have  been 
usually  consecrated  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. But  almost  the  single  well-authenticated  in- 
stance of  any  interference  by  the  one  nation  in  the 
civil  affairs  of  the  other  since  the  Norman  Conquest, 
was  in  the  rebellion  of  Robert  de  Belesme,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  when  that  no- 
bleman's brother,  Arnul{)h  de  Montgomery,  is  said 
by  some  of  the  Welsh  chroniclers  to  have  passed 
over  to  Ireland,  and  to  have  there  obtained  from 
King  Murtach  O'Brien,  both  supplies  for  the  war 
and  the  hand  of  his  daughter  for  himself.  It  is 
said,  indeed,  that  both  the  Conqueror  and  Henry  I. 
had  meditated  the  subjugation  of  Ireland ;  and 
Malmsbury  affirms  that  the  latter  English  king  had 
Murtach  and  his  successors  so  entirely  at  his  devo- 
tion, that  they  wrote  nothing  but  adulation  of  him, 
nor  did  anything  but  what  he  ordered.  But  no  facts 
are  specified  in  support  of  these  vague  assertions. 


It  is,  at  all  events,  certain  that  no  actual  attempt 
had  yet  been  made  by  any  of  the  Anglo-Norman 
kings  to  extend  their  dominion  over  Ireland. 

It  would  appear,  however,  that  such  a  project 
had  been  entertained  by  Henry  II.,  from  the  very 
commencement  of  his  reign.  The  same  year  in 
which  he  came  to  the  throne,  witnessed  the  eleva- 
tion to  the  popedom  of  the  only  Englishman  that 
ever  wore  the  triple  ci'own — Nicholas  Breakspear, 
who  assumed  the  name  of  Adrian  IV.  Very  soon 
after  his  coronation,  Henry  sent  an  embassy  to 
Rome,  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  learned  .lohn 
of  Salisbury,  ostensibly  to  congratulate  Adrian  on 
his  accession,  but  really  to  solicit  the  new  Pope  for 
his  sanction  to  the  scheme  of  the  conquest  of  Ire- 
land. Adrian  granted  a  bull,  in  the  terms  or  to  the 
effect  desired — declaring  that  inasmuch  as  all  islands 
which  had  received  the  light  of  the  gospel  of  Christ 
undoubtedly  appertained  of  right  to  St.  Peter  and 
the  holy  Roman  church,  he  gave  full  permission  to 
the  English  king  to  make  a  descent  upon  Ireland, 
and  charged  the  people  of  that  land  to  receive  him 
and  submit  to  him  as  their  sovereign  lord.  Before 
the  end  of  the  same  year,  the  matter  was  submitted 
by  Henry  to  a  great  council  of  his  barons ;  but  the 
undertaking  was  opposed  by  many  of  those  present, 
and  especially  by  his  mother,  the  empress :  and  in 
consequence  it  Avas  for  the  present  given  up.  The 
pope's  bull  appears  to  have  been  laid  aside  without 
having  been  promulgated. 

Henry's  attention  was  not  recalled  to  the  subject 
till  many  years  after.  The  course  of  the  story  now 
carries  us  back  again  to  Ireland,  and  to  another  of 
the  provincial  kings  of  that  country  of  whom  we 
have  yet  said  nothing,  Dermond  MacMurrogh,  or 
Dermot  MacMurchad,  Kingof  Lagenia,  or  Leinster. 
This  prince  had  early  signalized  himself  by  his  san- 
guinary ferocity,  even  on  a  scene  where  all  the 
actors  were  men  of  blood  and  violence.  So  far 
back  as  the  year  1140,  he  had,  in  order  to  break 
the  power  of  his  nobility,  seventeen  of  the  chief  of 
them  seized  at  once,  all  of  Avhom  that  he  did  not 
put  to  death  he  deprived  of  their  eyes.  His  most 
noted  exploit,  however,  was  of  a  different  character. 
Dervorgilla,  a  lady  of  great  beauty,  was  the  wife  of 
Tiernan  O'Ruarc,  the  lord  of  Breft'ny,  a  district  in 
Leinster,  and  the  old  enemy  of  MacMurrogh.  The 
sworn  foe  of  her  husband,  however,  was  the  object 
of  Dervorgilla's  guilty  passion ;  and,  at  her  own 
suggestion,  it  is  said,  when  her  husband  was  absent 
on  a  military  expedition,  the  King  of  Leinster  came 
and  carried  her  off'  fi-om  an  island  in  Meath,  where 
she  had  been  left.  This  happened  in  the  year  1153, 
when  the  supreme  sovereignty  was  in  the  possession 
of  Turlogh  O'Connor.  To  him  O'Ruarc  applied  for 
the  means  of  avenging  his  \\Tong,  and  received  from 
him  such  effective  assistance  as  to  be  enabled  to  re- 
cover both  his  wife  and  the  property  she  had  car- 
ried off"  with  her.  But.  from  this  time,  as  may  well 
be  supposed,  MacMurrogh  and  O'Ruarc,  that  had 
little  love  for  each  other  before,  were  worse  friends 
than  ever.  They  kept  up  a  spiteful  contest,  with 
alternating  fortunes,  for  many  years.  So  long  as 
Turlogh   lived  O'Ruarc   had  a   steady  ally  in  the 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


445 


common  sovereign,  and  the  King  of  Leinster  was 
effectually  kept  in  check  by  their  united  power. 
The  succeeding  reign  of  O'Loghlin,  on  the  other 
hand,  was,  for  the  whole  of  the  ten  years  that  it 
lasted,  a  period  of  triumphant  revenge  to  MacMur- 
rogh.  But  the  recovery  of  the  supremacy,  on 
O'Loghlin's  death,  by  the  House  of  O'Connor,  at 
last  put  an  end  to  the  long  and  bitter  strife.  A 
general  combination  was  now  formed  against  the 
King  of  Leinster;  King  Roderick,  the  lord  of 
Breffny,  and  his  father-in-law,  the  Prince  of  Meath, 
united  their  forces  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  dri- 
ving him  from  his  kingdom ;  they  were  joined  by 
many  of  his  own  subjects,  both  Irish  and  Danish, 
to  whom  his  tyranny  had  rendered  him  odious  ;  and 
O'Ruarc  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  whole. 
MacMurrogh  made  some  effort  to  defend  himself, 
but  fortune  was  now  against  him ;  he  could  not  long 
keep  his  gi'ound  against  his  old  enemy  thus  formid- 
ably supported  ;  his  few  remaining  adherents  grad- 
ually fell  away  from  him  ;  and  at  last,  finding  him- 
self deserted  by  all,  he  sought  safety  in  flight,  and 
left  his  kingdom  for  the  present  to  the  disposal  of 
his  conquerors.  They  set  another  prince  of  his 
own  family  on  the  vacant  throne.  Meanwhile  the 
deposed  and  fugitive  king  had  embarked  for  Eng- 
land. 

This  is  the  account  of  the  Irish  chroniclers,  who 
have  in  general  taken  part  very  strongly  against 
MacMurrogh,  and  painted  his  character  in  the 
darkest  colors.  The  story  of  the  conquest  of  Ire- 
land, however,  has  been  most  fully  told  by  an  Eng- 
lish writer,  Gerald  Bai'ry,  commonly  called  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  (that  is,  Gerald  the  Welshman),  who 
was  not  only  nearly  related  to  some  of  the  chief 
actors  in  it,  but  was  in  Ireland  during  a  considerable 
part  of  the  time  that  the  events  he  relates  were 
passing  in  that  country.  His  narrative,  though  he 
may  have  fallen  into  some  mistakes,  is  likely  to  be 
as  unprejudiced  as  that  of  any  native  annahst,  at 
least  in  the  view  it  gives  us  of  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  the  personages  that  figure  on  the 
scene.  Against  MacMurrogh,  in  particular,  his 
countrymen  may  be  supposed  to  have  had  some 
prejudices  from  which  the  Welshman  would  be 
free.  Of  the  affair  of  O'Ruarc's  wife,  Giraldus 
gives  substantially  the  common  version,  only  that 
he  is  very  emphatic  in  pointing  out  that  the  lady 
was  herself  the  principal  mover  in  the  business  ;  she 
yielded  herself  to  be  carried  off,  he  says,  because 
she  would  be  carried  off;  "for,  by  her  own  pro- 
curement and  enticings,  she  became  and  would 
needs  be  a  prey  unto  the  preyer;"  '-such,"  he  un- 
gallantly  adds,  "  is  the  variable  and  fickle  nature  of 
woman,  by  whom  all  mischiefs  in  the  world  (for 
the  most  part)  do  happen  and  come."  ^  He  ac- 
knowledges, too,  that  MacMurrogh,  "  from  his  very 
youth  and  first  entry  into  his  kingdom,  was  a  great 
oppressor  of  his  gentlemen,  and  a  cruel  tyrant  over 
his  nobles,  which  bred  unto  him  great  hatred  and 
malice."  But  the  full-length  picture  that  he  draws 
of  him  in  another  place,  though  rather  sombre  upon 
the  whole,  is  not  entirely  unrelieved  : — "  Dermond 

1  Translation  by  Hooker,  1587. 


MacMurrogh  was  a  tall  man  of  stature,  and  of  a 
large  and  great  body — a  valiant  and  bold  warrior  in 
his  nation ;  and  by  reason  of  his  continual  hallooing 
and  crying,  his  voice  was  hoarse ;  he  rather  chose 
and  desired  to  be  feared  than  to  be  loved ;  a  great 
oppressor  of  his  nobility,  but  a  great  advancer  of  the 
poor  and  weak.  To  his  own  people  he  was  rough 
and  grievous,  and  hateful  unto  strangers ;  he  would 
be  against  all  men,  and  all  men  against  him."  Mac- 
Murrogh, we  may  add,  had  been  a  great  founder  of 
churches  and  religious  houses,  however  indiffer- 
ently it  may  be  thought  some  other  parts  of  his 
conduct  would  sort  with  such  show  of  piety. 

His  purpose  in  setting  sail  for  England  was  to 
seek  the  aid  of  King  Henry,  to  enable  him  to  re- 
cover his  kingdom,  in  return  for  which  he  was  ready 
to  acknowledge  himself  the  vassal  of  the  Englisli 
monarch.  On  landing  at  Bristol,  some  time  in  the 
summer  of  1167,  he  found  that  Henry  was  on  the 
continent,  and  thither  he  immediately  pi'oceeded. 
Henry,  when  he  came  to  him  in  Aquitaine,  was 
"  busied,"  says  Giraldus,  "  in  great  and  weighty  af- 
fairs, yet  most  courteously  he  received  him  and  liber- 
ally rewarded  him.  And  the  king,  having  at  large 
and  orderly  lieard  the  causes  of  his  exile,  and  of 
his  repair  unto  him,  he  took  his  oath  of  allegiance 
and  swore  him  to  be  his  true  vassal  and  subject,  and 
thereupon  granted  and  gave  him  his  letters  patent 
in  manner  and  form  as  followeth  :  '  Henry,  King  of 
England,  Duke  of  Normandy  and  Aquitaine,  and 
Earl  of  Anjou,  unto  all  his  subjects.  Englishmen, 
Normans,  Scots,  and  all  other  nations  and  people 
being  his  subjects,  sendeth  greeting.  Whensoever 
these  our  letters  shall  come  unto  you,  know  ye  that 
we  have  received  Dermond,  Prince  of  Leinster, 
into  our  protection,  grace,  and  favor ;  wherefore, 
whosoever  within  our  jurisdiction  will  aid  and  help 
him,  our  trusty  subject,  for  the  recovery  of  his  land, 
let  him  be  assured  of  our  favor  and  license  in  that 
behalf.'  " 

It  would  scarcely  appear,  from  the  tenor  of  these 
merely  permissive  letters,  that  Henry,  in  gi-anting 
them,  looked  forward  to  the  application  of  MacMur- 
rogh leading  to  any  result  so  important  as  the  con- 
quest of  Ireland  ;  the  other  "  great  and  weighty 
affairs  "  in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  had  long 
withdrawn  his  thoughts  from  that  project;  and  em- 
barrassed both  by  his  war  with  the  French  king,  and 
his  more  serious  contest  with  Becket  at  home,  he 
was  at  present  as  httle  as  ever  in  a  condition  to  re- 
sume the  serious  consideration  of  it.  MacMurrogh, 
however,  returned  to  England  well  satisfied  with 
what  he  had  got.  "  And  by  his  daily  journeying," 
proceeds  Giraldus,  "  he  came  at  length  unto  the 
noble  town  of  Bristow  (Bristol),  where,  because 
ships  and  boats  did  daily  repair,  and  come  from  out 
of  Ireland,  he,  very  desirous  to  hear  of  the  state  of 
his  people  and  country,  did,  for  a  time,  sojourn  and 
make  his  abode  ;  and  while  he  was  there,  he  would 
ofttimes  cause  the  king's  letters  to  be  openly  read, 
and  did  then  ofl'er  great  entertainment  and  promised 
liberal  wages  to  all  such  as  would  help  or  serve  him ; 
but  it  served  not."  At  length,  however,  he  chanced 
to  meet  Richard  de  Clare,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  sur- 


446 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


named  Strongbow  (sometimes  also  called  Earl  of 
Chepstow,  or  of  Strighul,  from  a  castle  belonging 
to  his  family  in  the  neighborhood  of  that  town), 
with  whom  he  soon  came  to  an  agreement.  Strong- 
bow,  on  the  promise  of  the  handof  Dermond's  eldest 
daughter,  Eva,  and  the  succession  to  the  throne  of 
Leinster,  engaged  to  come  over  to  Ireland  with  a 
sufficient  military  force  to  effect  the  deposed  king's 
restoration  in  the  following  spring.  A  short  time 
after  this,  Dermond  having  gone  to  the  town  of  St. 
David's  to  reembark  for  his  native  country,  there 
made  another  engagement  with  two  young  noble- 
men, Maurice  Fitzgerald  and  Robert  Fitzstephen, 
l)oth  sons  of  the  lady  Nesta,  a  daughter  of  one  of 
the  Welsh  princes,  who,  after  liaving  been  mistress 
to  Henry  I.,  married  (ierald,  governor  of  Pembroke 
Castle,  and  Lord  of  Carew,  and  finally  became  mis- 
tress to  Stephen  de  Marisco,  or  Maurice,  constable 
of  the  castle  of  Cardigan:  Fitzgerald  was  her  son 
l)y  her  marriage,  and  Fitzstephen  by  her  last  men- 
tioned connection.  To  these  two  half-brothers,  in 
consideration  of  their  coming  over  to  him  with  a 
certain  force  at  the  same  time  with  Strongbow, 
Dermond  engaged  to  grant  the  town  of  Wexford, 
with  two  cautreds  (or  hundreds)  of  land  adjoining, 
in  fee  for  ever.  These  arrangements  being  com- 
pleted, "  Dermond,"  continues  the  historian,  "  being 
weary  of  his  exiled  life  and  distressed  estate,  and 
therefore  the  more  desirous  to  draw  homeward  for 
the  recovery  of  his  own,  and  for  which  he  had  so 
long  traveled  and  sought  abroad,  he  first  went  to  the 
church  of  St.  David's  to  make  his  orisons  and  pray- 
ers, and  then,  the  weather  being  fair  and  wind 
good,  he  adventured  the  seas  about  the  middle  of 
August,  and  having  a  merry  passage,  he  shortly 
landed  in  his  ungrateful  countrj' ;  and,  with  a  very 
impatient  mind,  hazarded  himselfamong  and  through 
the  middle  of  his  enemies  ;  and  coming  safely  to 
Ferns,  he  was  very  honorablj^  received  of  the  clergy 
there,  who  after  their  ability  did  refresh  and  succor 
him.  But  he  for  a  time  dissembling  his  princely 
estate,  continued  as  a  private  man  all  that  winter 
following  among  them."  It  would  appear,  however, 
that  he  was  rash  enough  to  come  out  of  his  conceal- 
ment and  show  himself  in  arms  in  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1169,  before  any  of  his  promised  English 
succors  had  arrived  ;  and  the  result  of  this  prema- 
ture attempt  was,  that  he  was  again  easily  reduced 
by  King  Roderick  and  O'Ruarc,  who,  however,  now 
consented  to  allow  him  to  retain  ten  cantreds  of  his 
former  territory,  on  condition  of  his  holding  the  land 
as  the  immediate  vassal  of  Roderick.  He  accepted 
these  terms,  of  course  with  no  intention  of  observing 
•them. 

His  allies  in  England  meanwhile  did  not  forget 
him.  Robert  Fitzstephen  was  the  first  to  set  out 
about  the  beginning  of  May,  accompanied  with  thirty 
gentlemen  of  his  own  kindred,  sixty  men  in  coats- 
(tf  mail,  and  three  hundred  picked  archers ;  they 
shipped  themselves  in  three  small  vessels,  and  sail- 
ing right  across  from  St.  David's  Head,  landed  at  a 
creek  now  called  the  Bann,  about  twelve  miles  to 
the  south  of  the  citj-  of  Wexford.  Along  with  them 
4ilso  came  the  paternal  uncle  of  Strongbow,  Hervey 


de  Montemarisco,  or  Mountmaurice,  "  a  man,"  ac- 
cording to  Giraldus,  "unfortunate,  unarmed,  and 
without  all  furniture,"  and  intended  to  act  rather  as 
a  conmiissioned  agent  for  his  nephew  than  as  a 
soldier.  On  the  day  following,  two  more  vesels  ar- 
rived at  the  same  place,  bearing  Maurice  of  Pren- 
dergast,  "  a  lustj'  and  a  hardy  man,  born  about  Mil- 
ford,  in  West  Wales,"  with  ten  more  gentlemen 
and  sixty  archers.  It  seems  to  have  been  immedi- 
ately spread  abroad  that  the  armed  foreigners  were 
come  to  aid  MacMurrogh.  He  himself  was  not  long 
in  hearing  of  their  arrival,  on  which  he  instantly  sent 
500  men  to  join  them  under  his  illegitimate  son 
Donald,  and  "  very  shortly  after  he  himself  also  fol- 
lowed with  great  joy  and  gladness." 

It  was  now  deterniined,  without  further  delay,  to 
march  upon  the  town  of  Wexford.  "  When  they  of 
the  town,"  proceeds  the  narrative,  "heard  thereof, 
they  being  a  fierce  and  unruly  people,  but  yet  much 
trusting  to  their  wonted  fortune,  came  forth  about 
2000  of  them,  and  were  determined  to  wage  and 
give  battle."  On  beholding  the  imposing  armor  and 
array  of  the  English,  however,  they  drew  back,  and, 
setting  the  suburbs  on  fire,  took  refuge  within  the 
walls  of  the  town.  For  that  day  all  the  efforts  of 
the  assailants  to  effect  an  entrsince  were  vain ;  as 
they  crowded  into  the  ditches  and  endeavored  to 
mount  the  Avails,  great  pieces  of  timber  and  stones 
were  thrown  down  upon  them,  and  many  of  them 
having  been  wounded,  they  at  length  retired  to  the 
sea-shore,  and  satisfied  themselves  in  the  meantime 
with  setting  fire  to  such  ships  and  boats  as  they  found 
lying  there.  Among  them,  Giraldus  mentions,  was 
"  one  merchant-ship  lately  come  out  of  England 
laden  with  wines  and  corn."  The  next  morning, 
after  the  soleinn  celebration  of  masses  through  the 
whole  camp,  they  made  ready  to  renew  the  assault 
upon  the  town;  but  the  besieged,  seeing  this,  lost 
heart,  and  saved  them  further  trouble  by  offering 
to  surrender.  Four  of  the  chief  inhabitants  were 
given  up  to  MacMurrogh  as  pledges  for  the  fidelity 
of  their  fellow-citizens  ;  and  he,  on  his  part,  imme- 
diately performed  his  promise  to  his  English  friends 
by  making  over  to  Fitzstephen  and  Fitzgerald  the 
town  that  had  thus  fallen  into  his  hands,  with  the 
territories  thereunto  adjoining  and  appertaining. 
To  Hervey  of  Mountmaurice,  he  also  gave  two  can- 
treds, lying  along  the  sea-side  between  Wexford  and 
Waterford. 

This  first  successful  exploit  was  followed  up  by 
an  incursion  into  the  district  of  Ossory,  the  prince 
of  which  had  well  earned  the  enmity  of  MacMur- 
rogh by  having  some  years  before,  on  some  suspi- 
cions he  had  formed  against  the  young  man,  steized 
his  eldest  son,  and  put  out  his  eyes.  The  Ossorians 
at  first  boldly  stood  their  ground,  and  as  long  as  they 
kept  to  their  bogs  and  woods,  the  invading  force, 
though  now  increased  by  an  accession  from  the  town 
of  Wexford  to  about  3000  men,  made  little  impres- 
sion upon  them  ;  but  at  last,  in  a  moment  of  preci- 
pitation, they  were  imprudent  enough  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  drawn  into  the  open  country, 
when  Robert  Fitzstephen  immediately  fell  upon 
I  them  with  a  body  of  horse,  and  threw  down  the  Ul- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


447 


armed  and  unprotected  multitude,  or  scattered  them 
in  all  directions  :  those  that  were  thrown  to  the 
ground  the  foot-soldiers  straight  dispatched,  cutting 
off  their  heads  with  their  battle-axes.  Three  hun- 
dred bleeding  heads  were  brought  and  laid  at  the 
feet  of  MacMui-rogh,  "  who,  turning  every  of  them, 
one  by  one,  to  know  them,  did  then  for  joy  hold  up 
both  his  hands,  and  with  a  loud  voice  thank  God 
most  highly.  Among  these  there  was  the  head  of 
one  whom  especially  and  above  all  the  rest  he  mor- 
tally hated ;  and  he,  taking  up  that  by  the  hair  and 
ears,  with  his  teeth  most  horribly  and  cruelly  bit 
away  his  nose  and  lips !"  So  nearly  in  some  respects 
did  an  Irish  king  of  the  twelfth  century  resemble  a 
modern  savage  chief  of  New  Zealand.  After  this 
disaster,  the  people  of  Ossory  made  no  further  re- 
sistance ;  they  suffered  their  invaders  to  march 
across  the  whole  breadth  of  their  country,  murder- 
ing, spoiling,  burning,  and  laying  waste  wherever 
they  passed  ;  and  at  last  their  prince  sued  for  peace, 
and  was  glad  to  be  allowed  to  swear  fealty  to  the 
King  of  Leinster,  and  to  acknowledge  him  for  hrs 
lawful  and  true  lord. 

All  this  had  taken  place  before  anything  was 
heard  of  a  movement  on  the  part  of  MacMurrogh's 
old  enemies.  King  Roderick  and  O'Ruarc,  whom 
surprise  and  alarm  seemed  to  have  deprived  at  first 
of  the  power  of  action.  But  news  was  now  brought 
that  the  monarch  was  at  last  levying  an  army,  and 
also  that  the  princes  and  nobility  of  the  land  were, 
at  his  call,  about  to  meet  in  a  great  council  at  the 
ancient  royal  seat  of  Tara,  in  Meath.  On  receiv- 
ing this  intelligence,  MacMurrogh  and  his  English 
friends,  withdrawing  from  Ossory,  took  up  a  position 
of  great  natural  strength  in  the  midst  of  the  hills 
and  bogs  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ferns,  and  after 
having  made  it  still  more  secure  by  the  addition  of 
such  artificial  defences  as  the  time  and  circum- 
stances permitted,  there  awaited  what  might  hap- 
pen. Their  small  force  was  speedily  surrounded 
by  the  numerous  army  of  King  Roderick,  and  it 
would  seem  that,  if  they  could  not  have  been  at- 
tacked in  their  inaccessible  stronghold,  they  might 
have  been  starved  into  a  surrender,  at  no  great  ex- 
pense of  patience  on  the  part  of  those  who  had 
them  thus  imprisoned.  But  notwithstanding  the 
inferiority  of  their  numbers,  Roderick  appears  to 
have  been  a  good  deal  more  afraid  of  them  than 
they  were  of  him  :  it  is  said  that  disunion  had 
broken  out  in  the  council,  which,  after  assembling 
at  Tara,  had  adjourned  to  Dublin ;  and  the  Irish 
king  had  probably  reason  to  fear  that  if  he  could  not 
in  some  way  or  other  bring  the  affair  to  a  speedy 
termination,  he  would  soon  be  left  in  no  condition 
to  keep  the  field  at  all. 

In  this  feeling  he  first  attempted,  by  presents  and 
promises,  to  seduce  Fitzstephen  ;  failing  in  that,  he 
next  tried  to  persuade  MacMurrogh  to  come  over 
and  make  common  cause  with  his  countrymen 
against  the  foreigners;  at  last,  when  there  was 
reason  to  apprehend  that  the  enemy,  encouraged 
by  these  manifestations  of  timidity  or  conscious 
weakness,  were  about  to  come  out  and  attack  him, 
he  actually  sent  messengers  to  sue  for  peace ;  on 


which,  after  some  negotiation,  it  was  agreed  that 
MacMurrogh  should  be  reinstated  in  his  kingdom, 
which  should  be  secured  to  him  and  his  heirs,  on 
condition  only  of  his  consenting,  like  the  other  pro- 
vincial kings,  to  acknowledge  the  general  sovereign- 
ty of  Roderick,  and  giving  his  son  as  a  hostage  for 
the  performance  of  his  engagements.  Roderick  also 
promised  to  give  him  his  daughter  in  marriage. 

It  does  not  appear  what  terms  MacMurrogh  pro- 
fessed to  make  in  his  treaty  for  his  Enghsh  allies. 
It  is  afifirmed,  indeed,  that  it  was  agreed  between 
him  and  Roderick  by  a  secret  article,  that  he  should 
send  them  all  home  as  soon  as  he  had  restored  his 
kingdom  to  order,  and  in  the  mean  time  should  pro- 
cure no  more  of  them  to  come  over.  But  whatever 
was  the  intention  with  which  the  King  of  Leinster 
made  these  new  engagements,  he  was  too  far  in- 
volved in  the  consequences  of  those  of  another  kind 
he  had  previously  made,  to  have  it  in  his  power  to 
abide  by  them,  even  if  such  had  been  his  wish. 
His  English  confederates,  whose  valor  and  exertions 
had  replaced  him  on  his  throne,  would  not,  we  may 
be  sure,  after  such  a  service,  and  such  assurance  of 
their  importance,  be  so  easil}'  shaken  off  as  both  his 
countrymen  and  he  himself  may  have  desired.  This 
was  soon  proved  by  the  arrival  at  Wexford  of  two 
more  ships,  bringing  over  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  with 
an  additional  force  of  ten  gentlemen,  thirty  horse- 
men, and  about  a  hundred  archers  and  foot  soldiers. 
On  receiving  this  accession  of  strength,  MacMur- 
rogh immediately  cast  his  recent  engagements  and 
oaths  to  the  winds.  His  first  movement  was  to  march 
with  his  new  auxilinries  against  the  city  of  Dub- 
lin, which  had  not  fully  returned  to  its  submission  : 
he  soon  compelled  the  citizens  to  sue  for  peace,  to 
swear  fealty  to  him,  and  to  give  hostages.  He  then 
sent  a  party  of  his  English  friends  to  assist  his  son- 
in-law,  the  Prince  of  Limerick,  whose  territory  had 
been  attacked  by  King  Roderick ;  and  the  royal 
forces  were  in  consequence  speedily  defeated,  and 
forced  to  return  home. 

From  this  time  MacMurrogh  and  the  English  ad- 
venturers, encouraged  by  the  uniform  and  extraor- 
dinary success  that  had  hitherto  attended  them, 
seem  to  have  raised  their  hopes  to  nothing  short  of 
the  conquest  of  the  whole  country.  The  supreme 
sovereignty  had  already  been  enjoyed  successively 
by  the  kings  of  Ulster,  of  Munster,  and  of  Con- 
naught;  and  the  King  of  Leinster  might  naturally 
enough  think  that  the  turn  of  his  own  house  was 
now  come.  To  whatever  extent  his  foreign  asso- 
ciates may  have  sympathized  with  him  in  this  ambi- 
tion, they  professed,  when  he  opened  his  mind  to 
them,  to  enter  into  his  views.  By  their  advice  he 
dispatched  messengers  to  England  to  urge  the  Earl 
of  Pembroke  to  come  over  with  his  force  imme- 
diately. His  letter,  if  we  must  suppose  it  to  have 
run  in  the  words  given  by  Giraldus,  was  a  some- 
what highflown  composition.  "  We  have  alreadj'," 
he  wrote,  "seen  the  storks  and  swallows,  as  also 
the  summer  birds  are  come,  and  with  the  westerly 
winds  are  gone  again ;  we  have  long  looked  and 
wished  for  your  coming,  and  albeit  the  winds  havo 
been  at  east  and  easterly,  yet  hitherto  you  are  not 


448 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


come  unto  us  ;  wherefore  now  linger  no  longer,"  &c. 
All  Leinster,  it  was  added,  was  already  completely 
reduced,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  earl's 
presence,  with  the  force  he  had  engaged  to  bring 
with  him,  would  soon  add  the  other  provinces  to 
that. 

Strongbow  still  deemed  it  prudent,  before  he  took 
any  decided  step,  to  inform  King  Heniy  of  the  pro- 
posal that  had  been  made  to  him,  and  to  ask  his 
leave  to  engage  in  the  enterprise.  Henry,  with  his 
usual  caution  and  deep  policy,  would  only  answer 
his  request  evasively ;  but  the  earl  ventured  to  un- 
derstand him  in  a  favorable  sense,  and  returned 
home  with  his  mind  made  up  to  make  the  venture. 
As  soon  as  the  winter  was  over,  accordingly,  he 
sent  to  Ireland,  as  the  first  portion  of  his  force,  ten 
gentlemen  and  seventy  archers,  under  the  command 
of  his  relation,  Raymond  Fitzwilliam,  surnamed, 
from  his  corpulency,  Le  Gros,  or  the  Gross,  an  epi- 
thet which  afterward,  in  the  disguised  form  of 
Grace,  became  the  distinguished  family  name  of  his 
numerous  descendants.  Raymond  Le  Gros  was  the 
nephew  of  Fitzgerald  and  Fitzstephen,  being  the 
son  of  William,  Lord  of  Carew,  the  elder  brother 
of  the  former.  He  and  his  company  landed  at  a 
rock  about  four  miles  east  from  the  city  of  Water- 
ford,  then  called  Dundonolf,  afterward  the  site  of 
the  castle  of  Dundorogh,  in  the  beginning  of  May, 
1170.  They  had  scarcely  time  to  cast  a  trench  and 
to  build  themselves  a  temporary  fort  of  turf  and 
twigs,  when  they  were  attacked  by  a  body  of  3000 
of  the  citizens  of  Waterford ;  but  this  mob,  although, 
at  first,  they  made  their  assault  with  such  fierceness 
as  to  compel  the  handful  of  foreigners  to  retire  to 
their  fort,  took  to  flight  as  soon  as  Raymond  and  his 
men,  having  gained  their  entrenchments,  turned 
round  upon  them,  and  were  then  pursued  and  scat- 
tered with  frightful  slaughter.  Five  hundred  of 
them  were  cut  down  in  the  pursuit ;  and  then,  as 
Giraldus  asserts,  the  victors  being  weary  with  kill- 
ing, cast  a  great  number  of  those  whom  they  had 
taken  prisoners  headlong  from  the  rocks  into  the 
seas,  and  so  drowned  them."  A  still  more  disgrace- 
ful atrocity — because  done  with  more  deliberation, 
and  in  colder  blood,  as  well  as  with  additional  cir- 
cumstances of  cruelty — followed  this.  In  the  gen- 
eral destruction  of  their  prisoners  they  had  saved 
seventy  of  the  principal  citizens  of  Waterford,  for 
the  sake  of  what  they  might  receive  for  their  ran- 
som ;  and  Raymond  himself,  on  considerations  of 
humanity,  as  well  as  of  policy,  strenuously  advised 
that  they  should  be  given  up ;  but  Hervey  of  Mount- 
maurice,  who  with  three  of  his  comrades  had  joined 
them,  opposing  this  counsel,  his  arguments  were  at 
last  unanimously  acquiesced  in ;  "  whereupon,"  says 
the  historian,  "  the  captives,  as  men  condemned, 
were  brought  to  the  rocks,  and  after  their  limbs 
were  broken,  they  were  cast  headlong  into  the  seas, 
and  so  drowned." 

The  Earl  of  Pembroke  did  not  set  sail  till  the  be- 
ginning of  September.  He  then  embarked  at  Mil- 
ford  Haven  with  a  force  of  two  hundred  gentlemen 
and  a  thousand  inferior  fighting  men,  and  on  the 
vigil  of  St.  Bartholomew  landed  in  the  neighborhood 


of  the  city  of  Waterford,  which  still  remained  un- 
reduced. On  the  following  day,  Raymond  Le  Gros 
came  with  great  joy  to  welcome  him,  attended  by 
forty  of  his  company.  "  And  on  the  morrow,  upon 
St.  Bartholomew's  day,  being  Tuesday,  they  dis- 
played their  banners,  and  in  good  array  they  marched 
to  the  walls  of  the  city,  being  fully  bent  and  deter- 
mined to  give  the  assault."  The  citizens,  however, 
defended  themselves  with  great  spirit ;  their  reso- 
lution to  die  rather  than  surrender,  was,  no  doubt, 
strengthened  and  made  sterner  by  the  experience 
they  had  already  had  of  the  merciless  character  of 
their  enemy,  and  the  memory  of  the  fate  of  their 
friends  and  relations  a  few  months  before  so  barba- 
rously butchered ;  and  the  assailants  were  twice 
driven  back  from  the  walls.  But  Raymond,  who, 
by  the  consent  of  all,  had  been  appointed  to  the 
command,  now  "  having  espied,"  continues  the  nar- 
rative, "  a  little  house  of  timber  standing  half  upon 
posts  without  the  walls,  called  his  men  together,  and 
encouraged  them  to  give  a  new  assault  at  that  place  ; 
and  having  hewed  down  the  posts  whereupon  the 
house  stood,  the  same  fell  down,  together  with  a 
piece  of  the  town  wall ;  and  then,  a  way  being  thus 
opened,  they  entered  into  the  city,  and  killed  the 
people  in  the  streets  without  pity  or  mercy,  leaving 
them  lying  in  great  heaps ;  and  thus,  with  bloody 
hands,  they  obtained  a  bloody  victoiy."  MacMur- 
rogh  arrived  along  with  Fitzgerald  and  Fitzstephen 
while  the  work  of  plunder  and  carnage  was  still 
proceeding ;  and  it  was  in  the  midst  of  the  desola- 
tion, misnamed  the  restoration  of  quiet  and  order, 
which  followed  the  sacking  of  the  miserable  city, 
that,  in  fulfilment  of  his  compact  with  Strongbow, 
the  marriage  ceremony  was  solemnized  between 
his  daughter  Eva,  whom  he  had  brought  with  him, 
and  that  nobleman. 

Immediately  after  this  they  again  spread  their  1 
banners,  and  set  out  on  their  march  for  Dublin.  ^ 
The  inhabitants  of  that  city,  who  were  mostly  of 
Danish  race,  had  taken  the  precaution  of  station- 
ing troops  at  different  points  along  the  common  road 
from  Waterford,  so  as  to  make  it  impassable  to  a 
hostile  force ;  but  iVIacMurrogh  led  his  followers 
by  another  way  among  the  mountains,  and  to  the 
consternation  of  the  citizens  made  his  appearance 
before  the  walls  ere  they  were  aware  that  he  had 
left  Waterford.  A  negotiation  was  attempted, 
but,  while  it  was  still  going  on,  Raymond  and  his 
friend  Miles,  or  Milo,  de  Cogan,  "  more  desirous," 
as  Giraldus  after  his  fashion  expresses  it,  "  to  fight 
under  Mars  in  the  field  than  to  sit  in  council  under 
Jupiter,  and  more  willing  to  purchase  honor  in  the 
wars  than  gain  it  in  peace,  with  a  company  of  lusty 
young  gentlemen  suddenly  ran  to  the  walls,  and 
giving  the  assault,  brake  in,  entered  the  city,  and 
obtained  the  victory,  making  no  small  slaughter  of 
their  enemies."  These  Norman  knights  seem  to 
have  held  themselves  entitled  in  the  contest  they 
were  now  waging  to  lay  aside  not  only  all  the  cour- 
tesies of  civilized  warfare,  but  even  all  honor  and 
fair  play ;  they  treated  the  people  whom  they  had 
come  to  rob  of  their  country  as  at  once  a  race  to 
whom  no  mercy  was  to  be  shown,  and  with  whom 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


449 


no  faith  was  to  be  kept.  Leaving  Dublin  in  charge 
of  Milo  de  Cogan,  Strongbow  next  proceeded,  on 
the  instigation  of  MacMurrogh,  to  invade  the  dis- 
trict of  Meath,  anciently  considered  the  fifth  prov- 
ince of  Ireland,  and  set  apart  as  the  peculiar  terri- 
tory of  the  supreme  sovereign,  but  which  King  Rod- 
erick had  lately  made  over  to  his  friend  O'Ruarc. 
The  English  chief,  although  he  seems  to  have  met 
with  no  resistance  from  the  inhabitants,  now  laid 
it  waste  from  one  end  to  the  other  with  fire  and 
sword.  While  all  this  was  going  on,  the  only  effort 
in  behalf  of  his  crown  or  his  country  that  Roderick 
is  recorded  to  have  made,  was  the  sending  a  rhet- 
orical message  to  MacMurrogh,  commanding  him 
to  return  to  his  allegiance  and  dismiss  his  foreign 
allies,  if  he  did  not  wish  that  the  life  of  his  son, 
whom  he  had  left  in  pledge,  should  be  sacrificed. 
To  this  threat  MacMurrogh  at  once  replied  that  he 
never  would  desist  from  his  enterprise  until  he  had 
not  only  subdued  all  Connaught,  but  won  to  himself 
the  monarchy  of  all  Ireland.  Infuriated  by  this  de- 
fiance, the  other  savage  instantly  gave  orders  to  cut 
off  MacMurrogh's  son's  head. 

About  this  time,  according  to  Giraldus,  a  synod  of 
the  clergy  was  held  at  Armagh,  at  which  it  was 
unanimously  agreed  that  the  English  invasion  was 
a  just  punishment  by  Heaven  for  the  sins  of  the 
people,  and  especially  for  the  practice,  of  which 
they  had  long  been  guilty,  of  buying  English- cap- 
tives from  pirates  and  merchants,  and  making  slaves 
of  them.  It  was  therefore  ordered  that  all  the 
English  slaves  throughout  the  land  should  be  imme- 
diately set  at  liberty.  It  does  not  appear  what  au- 
thority the  synod  had  to  issue  such  a  decree  as  this, 
or  what  obedience  was  paid  to  it ;  laudable  as  a  gen- 
eral liberation  of  the  English  slaves  may  have  been, 
the  measure  was  certainly  not  very  well  timed,  and 
regarded  as  the  only  expedient  the  reverend  assem- 
bly could  think  of  for  saving  the  country,  it  must  be 
considered  a  somewhat  cui-ious  one.  There  was 
something  suspicious  or  not  easily  intelligible  in  the 
part  taken  by  the  clergy  throughout  the  whole  of 
these  transactions. 

But  now  the  adventurers  were  struck  on  a  sudden 
with  no  little  perplexity  by  the  arrival  of  a  procla- 
mation from  King  Henry  sti-ictly  prohibiting  the 
passing  of  any  more  ships  from  any  port  in  England 
to  Ireland,  and  commanding  that  all  his  subjects  now 
in  the  latter  country  should  return  from  thence  be- 
fore Easter,  on  pain  of  forfeiting  all  their  lands  and 
being  for  ever  banished  from  the  realm.  A  consul- 
tation being  held  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done  in  this 
emergency,  it  was  resolved  that  Raymond  le  Gros 
should  be  immediately  dispatched  to  the  king,  who 
was  in  Aquitaine,  with  letters  from  Strongbow  re- 
minding Henry  that  he  had  taken  up  the  cause  of 
Derm  and  MacMurrogh  (as  he  conceived)  with  the 
royal  permission ;  and  acknowledging  for  himself 
and  his  companions,  that  whatever  they  had  ac- 
quired in  Ireland,  either  by  gift  or  otherwise,  they 
considered  not  their  own,  but  as  held  for  him  their 
hege  lord,  and  as  being  at  his  absolute  disposal. 
While  they  thus  sought,  however,  to  protect  them- 
selves against  its  more  remote  consequences,  the 
VAT.,  :.— ''o 


immediate  effect  of  the  proclamation  was  to  deal  a 
heavy  blow  at  their  cause,  both  by  the  discourage- 
ment and  alarm  it  spread  among  their  adherents, 
and  especially  by  cutting  off  the  supplies  both  of 
men  and  victuals  they  had  counted  upon  receiving 
from  England. 

Things  were  in  this  state  when  a  new  enemy 
suddenly  appeared — a  body  of  Danes  and  Norwe- 
gians brought  to  attack  the  city  of  Dublin  by  its  for- 
mer Danish  ruler,  who  had  made  his  escape  when 
it  was  lately  taken,  and  had  been  actively  employed 
ever  since  in  preparing  and  fitting  out  this  arma- 
ment. They  came  in  sixty  ships,  and  as  soon  as 
they  had  landed  proceeded  to  the  assault.  "  They 
were  all  mighty  men  of  war,"  says  the  description 
of  them  in  Giraldus,  "  and  well  appointed  after  the 
Danish  manner,  being  harnessed  with  good  brigan- 
dines,  jacks,  and  shirts  of  mail ;  their  shields,  buck- 
lers, and  targets  were  round,  and  colored  red,  and 
bound  about  with  iron  ;  and  as  they  were  in  armor,  so 
in  minds  also  they  were  as  iron  strong  and  mighty." 
The  attack  was  made  upon  the  east  gate  of  the  city, 
and  Milo  de  Cogan  soon  found  that  the  small  force 
under  his  command  could  make  no  effective  resis- 
tance. But  the  good  fortune  that  had  all  along 
waited  upon  him  and  his  associates  was  still  true  to 
them.  His  brother,  seeing  how  he  was  pressed, 
led  out  a  few  men  by  the  south  gate,  and,  attacking 
the  assailants  from  behind,  spread  such  confusion 
and  dismay  through  their  ranks,  that  after  a  short 
convulsive  effort  to  recover  themselves,  they  gave 
way  to  their  panic  and  took  to  flight.  Great  num- 
bers of  them  were  slain,  and  their  leader  himself, 
being  taken  prisoner,  so  exasperated  the  English 
commander  when  he  was  brought  into  his  presence 
by  the  bold  expressions  in  which  he  gave  vent  to 
his  feelings,  "  in  the  open  sight  and  audience  of  all 
the  people,"  that  Milo  de  Cogan  ordered  his  head 
to  be  struck  off  on  the  spot. 

It  would  appear  to  have  been  not  long  after  this  that 
Dermond  MacMurrogh  died,  on  which  it  is  said  that 
Strongbow  took  the  title  and  assumed  the  authority 
of  King  of  Leinster  in  right  of  his  wife.  Raymond 
le  Gros  had  now  also  returned  from  Aquitaine  ;  he 
had  delivered  the  letter  with  which  he  was  charged, 
but  Henry  had  sent  no  answer,  and  had  not  even 
admitted  him  to  his  presence.  Meanwhile,  on  the 
side  of  the  Irish,  there  was  one  individual,  Lau- 
rence, Archbishop  of  Dublin,  who  saw  that  the  mo- 
ment was  favorable  for  yet  another  effort  to  save  the 
country.  Chiefly  by  his  patriotic  exertions  a  great 
confederacy  was  formed  of  all  the  native  princes, 
together  with  those  of  Man  and  the  other  surround- 
ing islands,  and  a  force  was  assembled  around  Dub- 
lin, with  King  Roderick  as  its  commander-in-chief, 
of  the  amount,  it  is  affirmed,  of  thirty  thousand  men. 
Strongbow,  and  Raymond,  and  Maurice  Fitzgerald 
had  all  thrown  themselves  into  the  city,  but  their 
united  forces  did  not  make  twice  as  many  himdreds 
as  the  enemy  numbered  thousands.  For  the  space 
of  two  months,  however,  the  investing  force  appears 
to  have  sat  still  in  patient  expectation.  Their  hope, 
no  doubt,  was  that  want  of  victuals  would  in  course  of 
time  compel  the  garrison  to  surrender.  And  at  length 


450 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


a  message  camo  from  Strongbow,  and  a  negotiation 
was  opened ;  but,  before  any  arrangement  was  con- 
eluded,  an  extraordinary  turn  of  fortune  suddenly 
changed  the  whole  position  of  aftairs.  While  the 
besieged  were  anxiously  deliberating  on  what  it 
would  be  best  for  them  to  do  in  the  difficult  and 
perilous  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed, 
Donald  Kavenagh,  the  son  of  the  late  King  Mac- 
.Murrogh,  contrived  to  make  his  way  into  the  city, 
and  informed  them  that  their  friend  Fitzstephen  was 
closely  besieged  by  the  people  of  Wexford  in  his 
castle  of  Carrig,  near  that  place,  and  that,  if  not  re- 
lieved within  a  few  days,  he  would  assuredlj-,  with 
his  wife  and  children,  and  the  few  men  who  were 
with  him,  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  At 
another  time  this  intelligence  might  have  confounded 
and  dismayed  them  ;  in  their  present  circumstances 
it  gave  them  the  courage  of  desperation.  Fitzgerald 
proposed,  and  Raymond  seconded  the  gallant  coun- 
sel, that,  rather  than  seek  to  preserve  their  lives  with 
the  loss  of  all  beside,  they  should,  small  as  their  force 
was,  make  a  bold  attempt  to  cut  their  way  to  their  dis- 
tressed comrades,  and,  at  the  worst,  die  like  soldiers 
and  knights.  The  animating  appeal  nerved  every 
heart.  With  all  speed  each  man  got  ready  and 
buckled  on  his  armor,  and  the  little  band  was  soon 
set  in  array  in  three  divisions;  the  first  led  by  Le 
Gros,  the  second  by  Milo  de  Cogan,  the  last  by  the 
earl  and  Maurice  Fitzgerald.  All  things  being  thus 
arranged,  about  the  hour  of  nine  in  the  morning 
they  suddenly  rushed  forth  from  one  of  the  gates, 
and  threw  themselves  impetuously  upon  the  vast 
throng  of  the  enemy,  whom  their  sudden  onset  so 
bewildered  and  confounded,  that,  while  many  were 
killed  or  thrown  to  the  ground,  and  elsewhere  the 
disordered  masses  ran  against  and  struggled  with 
leach  other,  encumbered  by  their  own  numbers,  the 
bold  assailants  scarcely  encountered  any  resistance, 
and  in  a  short  time  the  scattered  host  was  flying  be- 
fore them  in  all  directions.  King  Roderick  himself 
escaped  with  difficulty,  and  almost  undressed,  for 
he  had  been  regaling  himself  with  the  luxury  of  a 
bath  when  this  sudden  destruction  came  upon  him. 
Great  store  of  victuals,  armor,  and  other  spoils  was 
found  in  the  deserted  camp,  with  which  the  victors 
returned  at  night  to  the  city,  and  there  set  every- 
thing in  order,  and  left  a  sufficient  garrison,  now 
well  provided  with  all  necessaries,  before  setting 
out  the  next  morning  to  the  relief  of  their  friends  at 
Wexford. 

The  earl  and  his  company  marched  on  unopposed 
on  the  road  to  tliat  place  till  they  came  to  a  narrow 
pass  in  the  midst  of  bogs,  in  a  district  called  the 
Odrone  or  Idrone.  Here  they  found  the  way 
blocked  up  by  a  numerous  force  under  the  command 
of  the  prince  of  the  distinct;  but  after  a  sharp  ac- 
tion, in  which  the  Irish  leader  fell,  they  succeeded 
in  overcoming  this  hinderance,  and  were  enabled 
to  pursue  their  journey.  They  had  nearly  reached 
Wexford  when  intelligence  was  received  that  Fitz- 
stephen and  his  companions  were  already  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  After  standing  out  for  several 
days  against  repeated  attacks  from  the  people  of 
Wexford  and  the  surrounding  district,  whose  num- 


bers are  said  to  have  amounted  to  .3000  men,  he  and 
those  with  him,  consisting  of  only  five  gentlemen 
and  a  few  archers,  had,  it  appeared,  been  induced 
to  deliver  up  the  fort  on  receiving  an  assurance, 
solemnly  confirmed  by  the  oaths  of  the  bishops  of 
Kildare  and  Wexford,  and  others  of  the  clergy,  that 
Dublin  had  fallen,  and  that  the  earl,  with  all  the  rest 
of  their  friends  there,  were  kHled.  They  promised 
Fitzstephen  that,  if  he  would  surrender  himself  in- 
to their  hands,  they  would  conduct  him  to  a  place 
of  safety,  and  secure  him  and  his  men  from  the 
vengeance  of  King  Roderick,  who  would  otherwise 
certainly  put  them  all  to  the  sword.  But  as  soon 
as  they  had  by  this  treachery  got  possession  of  their 
persons,  "  some,"  according  to  Giraldus,  "  they 
killed,  some  they  beat,  some  thej^  wounded,  and 
some  they  cast  into  prison," — a  variety  enough  of 
ways,  certainly,  of  disposing  of  so  small  a  number 
of  cases.  Fitzstephen  himself  they  carried  away 
with  them  to  an  island  culled  Beg-Eri,  or  Little 
Erin,  lying  not  far  from  Wexford,  having  fled 
thither,  after  setting  that  town  on  fire,  when  they 
heard  that  Strongbow  had  got  out  of  Dublin,  and 
was  on  his  march  to  their  district.  They  now  also 
sent  to  inform  the  earl,  that,  if  he  continued  his  ap- 
proach, they  would  cut  off  the  heads  of  Fitzstephen 
and  his  companions,  and  send  them  to  him.  De- 
terred by  this  threat,  Strongbow  deemed  it  best  to 
turn  aside  from  Wexford  and  to  take  his  way  to 
Waterford. 

Meanwhile,  since  the  return  of  Raymond  le  Gros 
from  his  unsuccessful  mission,  it  had  been  deter- 
mined to  make  another  application  to  Henry ;  and 
Hervey  of  Fitzmaurice  had  been  dispatched  to 
England  for  that  purpose.  On  reaching  Waterford, 
Strongbow  found  Hervey  there  just  returned,  with 
the  king's  commands,  that  the  earl  should  repair  to 
him  in  person  without  delay.  He  and  Hervey  ac- 
cordingly took  ship  forthwith.  As  soon  as  they 
landed,  they  proceeded  to  where  Henry  Avas,  at 
Newnham,  in  Gloucestershire.  He  had  returned 
from  the  continent  about  two  months  before,  and 
had  ever  since  been  actively  employed  in  collecting 
and  equipping  an  army  and  fleet,  and  making  other 
preparations  for  passing  over  into  Ireland.  When 
Strongbow  presented  himself,  he  at  first  refused  to 
see  him;  but  after  a  short  time  he  consented  to  re- 
ceive his  offers  of  entire  submission.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  earl  should  surrender  to  the  king,  in  full 
possession,  the  city  of  Dublin,  and  all  other  towns 
and  forts  which  he  held  along  the  coast  of  Ireland ; 
on  which  condition  he  should  be  allowed  to  retain 
the  rest  of  his  acquisitions  for  himself  and  his  heirs, 
under  subjection  to  the  English  crown.  This  ar- 
rangement being  concluded,  the  king,  attended  by 
Strongbow  and  many  othef  lords,  embarked  at  Mil- 
ford.  His  force,  which  consisted  of  500  knights  or 
gentlemen,  and  about  4000  common  soldiers,  is  said 
to  have  been  distributed  into  400  vessels.  He 
landed  at  a  place  which  the  contemporary  historians 
name  Croch,  supposed  to  be  that  now  called  the 
Crook,  near  Waterford,  on  the  18th  of  October, 
1171. 

In  the  short  intei-val  that  had  elapsed  since  the 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


451 


departure  of  Strongbow,  another  attack  had  been 
made  upon  Dublin  by  Tiernan  O'Ruarc ;  but  the 
forces  of  the  Irish  prince  were  dispersed  with  great 
slaughter  in  a  sudden  sally  by  Milo  de  Cogan,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  uniform  fortune  of  this  extraor- 
dinary contest.  O'Ruarc's  own  son  was  left  among 
the  slain.  This  proved  the  last  effort,  for  the  pres- 
ent, of  Irish  independence.  When  the  English 
king  made  his  appearance  in  the  country,  he  found 
its  conquest  already  achieved,  and  nothing  remain- 
ing for  him  to  do  except  to  receive  the  eagerly- 
offered  submission  of  its  various  princes  and  chief- 
tains. The  first  that  presented  themselves  to  him 
were  the  citizens  of  Wexford,  who  had  so  treach- 
erously obtained  possession  of  the  person  of  Fitz- 
stephen ;  they  endeavored  to  make  a  merit  of  this 
discreditable  exploit — bringing  their  prisoner  along 
with  them  as  a  rebellious  subject,  whom  they  had 
seized  while  engaged  in  making  war  without  the 
consent  of  his  sovereign.  Henry  entered  so  far  into 
their  views,  that  for  the  present  he  ordered  Fitz- 
stephen  into  custody ;  but  he  soon  after  released 
him,  though  he  insisted  upon  his  resigning  all  his 
claims  to  the  town  of  Wexford  and  the  adjoining 
territory  which  had  been  bestowed  upon  him  by 
Dermond  MacMurrogh.  Some  of  those  who  had 
taken  part  in  betraying  him  were  also  seized  and 
put  to  death.  Before  Henry  removed  fi'om  Water- 
ford,  the  King  of  Cork,  or  Desmond,  came  to  him 
of  his  own  accord,  and  took  his  oath  of  fealty.  From 
Waterford  he  proceeded  with  his  army  to  Lismore, 
and  thence  to  Cashel,  near  to  which  city,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Suir,  he  received  the  homage  of  the 
other  chief  Munster  prince,  the  King  of  Thomond 
or  Limerick.  The  Prince  of  Ossory  and  the  other 
inferior  chiefs  of  Munster  hastened  to  follow  the  ex- 
ample of  their  betters  ;  and  Henry,  after  receiving 
their  submission,  and  leaving  garrisons  both  in  Cork 
and  Limerick,  returned  through  Tipperary  to  Water- 
ford.  Soon  after,  leaving  Robert  Fitzbernard  in 
command  there,  he  set  out  for  Dublin.  Wherever 
lie  stopped  on  his  march,  the  neighboring  princes 
and  chiefs  repaired  to  him,  and  acknowledged 
themselves  his  vassals.  Giraldus  gives  a  list  of  the 
names,  which  we  need  not  copy ;  among  them  is 
that  of  Tiernan  O'Ruarc.  "But  Roderick,  the 
monarch,"  it  is  added,  "  came  no  nearer  than  to  the 
side  of  the  river  Shanon,  whicli  divideth  Connaught 
from  Meath,  and  there  Hugh  de  Lacy  and  William 
Fitzaldelm,  by  the  king's  commandment,  met  him, 
who,  desiring  peace,  submitted  himself,  swore  alle- 
giance, became  tributary,  and  did  put  in  (as  all  others 
did)  hostages  and  pledges  for  the  keeping  of  the 
same.  Thus  was  all  Ireland,  saving  Ulster,  brought 
in  subjection."  After  this,  Henry  kept  his  Christ- 
mas in  Dublin,  the  feast  being  held  in  a  temporary 
erection,  constructed  after  the  Irish  fashion,  of 
wicker-work.  "  On  this  occasion,"  says  Giraldus, 
'  many  and  the  most  part  of  the  princes  of  that 
land  resorted  and  made  repair  unto  Dublin  to  see 
the  king's  court;  and  when  they  saw  the  great 
abundance  of  victuals,  and  the  noble  services,  as  also 
the  eating  of  cranes,  which  they  much  loathed,  being 
not  before  accustomed  thereunto,  they  much  won- 


dered and  marveled  thereat;  but  in  the  end,  they 
being  by  the  king's  commandment  set  down,  did 
also  there  eat  and  drink  among  them." 

Henry  remained  in  Ireland  for  some  months 
longer,  and  during  his  stcay  called  together  a  council 
of  the  clergy  at  Cashel,  at  which  a  number  of  con- 
stitutions or  decrees  were  passed  for  the  regulation 
of  the  church,  and  the  reform  of  the  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  in  regard  to  certain  points  where  its  laxity 
had  long  afforded  matter  of  complaint  and  reproach. 
He  is  also  said,  by  Matthew  Paris,  to  have  held  a 
lay  council  at  Lismore,  at  which  provision  was  made 
for  the  extension  to  Ireland  of  the  English  laws, 
and  other  enactments  were  made  for  the  civil  gov- 
ernment of  the  conquered  country.  He  was  in  the 
mean  time  made  very  uneasy  by  the  non-arrival  of 
any  intelligence  from  England,  in  consequence  of 
the  state  of  the  weather,  which  was  so  tempestuous 
that  scarcely  a  ship,  it  is  said,  came  to  Ireland  all 
the  winter  from  any  part  of  the  world.  Henry  took 
up  his  residence  at  Wexford,  and  while  here  he 
employed  all  his  arts  of  policy,  according  to  Giraldus, 
to  attach  Raymond  le  Gros  and  the  other  principal 
English  adventurers  settled  in  Ireland  to  his  inter- 
est, that  he  might  thereby  the  more  weaken  the 
Earl  of  Pembroke  and  strengthen  himself.  At  last,  • 
about  the  middle  of  Lent,  ships  arrived  both  from 
England  and  Aquitaine,  and  brought  such  tidings  as 
determined  the  king  to  lose  no  time  in  again  taking 
his  way  across  the  sea.  So,  having  appointed  Hugh 
de  Lacy  to  be  governor  of  Dublin,  and  as  such  his 
chief  representative  in  his  realm  of  Ireland ;  and 
having  bestowed  other  high  offices,  of  the  same  kind 
with  those  that  were  established  at  the  English 
court,  upon  the  other  principal  noblemen  whom  he 
left  behind  him  ;  all  of  whom  were,  besides,  amply 
endowed  with  lands  for  the  support  of  their  newly 
created  dignities,  he  set  sail  from  Wexford  at  sun- 
rise on  Easter  Monday,  the  17th  of  April,  1172,  and 
about  noon  of  the  same  day  landed  at  Portfiunan,  in 
Wales. 

It  is  probable  that  Henry's  very  imperfect  oc- 
cupation of  Ireland  did  not  greatly  increase  his 
resources,  but  it  added  to  his  reputation  both  in 
England  and  on  the  continent.  The  envy  that  ac- 
companied his  successes,  and  the  old  jealousy  of  his 
power,  might  have  failed  to  do  him  any  serious 
injury,  or  touch  any  sensitive  part,  but  for  the  dis- 
sensions existing  in  his  own  family.  At  this  period 
the  king  had  four  sons  living  —  Henry,  Richard, 
Geoffrey,  and  John  —  of  the  respective  ages  of 
eighteen,  sixteen,  fifteen,  and  five  years.  He  had 
been  an  indulgent  father,  and  had  made  a  splendid, 
and  what  he  considered  a  judicious,  provision  for 
them  all.  His  eldest  son  was  to  succeed,  not  only  to 
England,  but  to  Normandy,  Anjou,  Maine,  and  Tou- 
raine — territories  which  bordered  on  one  another, 
and  comprised  an  important  part  of  France  ;  Rich- 
ard was  invested  with  the  states  of  his  mother, 
Aquitaine  and  Poictou ;  GeoflVey  was  to  have  Brit- 
tany, in  right  of  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Conan ; 
and  Ireland  was  destined  to  be  the  appanage  of 
John. 

At  the   coronation  of  Prince  Henry,  which  had 


452 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


already  occasioned  so  much  trouble,  his  consort,  the 
daughter  of  the  French  kinj;,  was  not  allowed  to 
be  crowned  with  him  ;  and  this  omission  being  re- 
sented by  Louis,  led  to  fresh  quarrels.  The  king 
at  last  consented  that  the  ceremony  should  be 
repeated  ;  and  Margaret  was  then  crowned  as  well 
as  her  husband.  Soon  after  this  ceremony,  the 
young  couple  visited  the  French  court,  where  Louis, 
though  a  very  devout  prince,  stimulated  the  impa- 
tient ambition  of  his  youthful  son-in-law,  and  in- 
cited him  to  an  unnatural  rebellion  against  his  own 
father.  It  had  been  the  priictice  in  France,  ever 
since  the  establishment  of  the  Capetian  dynasty,  to 
crown  the  eldest  son  during  the  father's  lifetime, 
without  giving  him  any  present  share  of  the  territo- 
ries or  government ;  but  young  Henry  was  per- 
suaded by  Louis  and  others  equally  well  acquainted 
with  this  practice,  that,  by  being  crowned,  he  ob- 
tained a  right  of  immediate  participation  ;  and  as 
soon  as  he  returned,  ho  expressed  his  desire  that 
the  king,  his  father,  would  resign  to  him  either 
England  or  Normandj^  "in  order,"  he  said,  "that 
he  and  the  queen,  his  wife,  might  have  the  means 
of  supporting  the  dignity  he  had  conferred  on  them." 
Henry  rejected  this  strange  demand,  telling  the 
3'outh  to  have  patience  till  his  death,  when  he  would 
have  states  and  power  enough.  His  son  expressed 
astonishment  at  the  refusal,  used  very  undutiful 
language,  and  never  more  exchanged  words  of  real 
love  or  sincere  peace  with  his  parent.  The  vindic- 
tive Eleanor  gave  encouragement  to  her  son,  and 
fomented  his  horrible  hatred;  and  the  "  elder  king,"^ 
as  Henry  was  now  called,  was  punished  for  the  infi- 
delities which  had  long  since  alienated  the  affections 
of  his  wife.  Being  at  Limoges,  Raymond,  the  Earl 
of  Toulouse,  who  had  quarreled  with  the  King  of 
France,  and  renounced  his  allegiance,  went  suddenly 
to  Henry,  and  warned  him  to  liave  an  eye  on  his 
wife  and  son,  and  make  sure  of  the  castles  of  Poic- 
tou  and  Aquitaine.  Without  showing  his  suspicions 
to  young  Henry,  who  was  with  him,  the  king  con- 
ti-ived  to  provision  his  fortresses,  and  assure  himself 
of  the  fidelity  of  the  commanders.  On  their  return 
from  Aquitaine,  he  and  his  son  stopped  to  sleep  at 
the  town  of  Chinon  ;  and  during  the  night  the  son 
fled  and  advanced  alone  to  Alencon.  The  father 
pursued,  but  could  not  overtake  the  fugitive,  who 
reached  Argenton,  and  thence  passed  by  night  into 
the  territories  of  the  French  king.  Henry,  whose 
activitj'  Avas  unimpaired,  then  rode  along  the  whole  of 
the  frontier  of  Normandy,  inspecting  the  fortresses, 
and  putting  them  in  the  best  possible  state  of  de- 
fence, to  resist  the  storm  which  he  saw  would  burst 
in  that  direction. 

A.D.  1173  (March).  A  few  days  after  the  flight 
of  Henry,  his  brothers  Richard  and  Geofii-ey  also 
fled  to  the  French  court,  and  Queen  Eleanor  her- 
self, who  had  urged  them  to  the  step,  absconded 
from  her  husband.  Though  not  for  any  love  that 
he  bore  her,  the  king  was  anxious  to  Recover  his 
wife  :  and  at  his  orders,  the  Norman  bishops  threat- 
ened her  with  the  censures  of  the  church,  unless 
she  returned  and  brought  her  sons  with  her.  It  is 
'  Rei  Senior. 


probable  that  this  threat  would  have  had  no  great 
weight,  but  she  was  seized  as  she  was  trying  to 
find  her  way  to  the  French  court  (where  she  must 
have  met  her  former  husband),  dressed  in  man's 
clothes.  Henry,  the  husband  of  her  old  age,  was 
not  so  soft  and  meek  toward  her  as  Louis,  the  con- 
sort of  her  youthful  years.  He  committed  her  to 
the  custody  of  one  of  his  most  trustworthy  chatelains; 
and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  weeks,  when  her 
presence  was  necessarj'  for  a  political  object,  she 
was  kept  in  confinement  for  sixteen  years,'  and  not 
liberated  till  after  his  death.  Before  matters  came 
to  extremities,  Henry  dispatched  two  bishops  to 
the  French  court,  to  demand,  in  the  name  of  pa- 
ternal authority,  that  liis  fugitive  sons  should  be 
delivered  up  to  him.  Louis  received  these  ambas- 
siidors  in  a  public  manner,  having  at  his  right  hand 
young  Henry,  who  wore  his  crown  as  king  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  when  they  recapitulated,  as  usual,  the 
titles  and  style  of  their  employer,  they  were  told 
that  there  was  no  other  king  of  England  than  the 
one  beside  him.  In  fact,  young  Henry  was  recog- 
nized as  sole  king  of  England  in  a  general  assembly 
of  the  barons  and  bishops  of  the  kingdom  of  France 
— a  ceremony  as  empty  as  it  was  unjust  in  principle. 
King  Louis  swore  first,  and  his  lords  swore  after 
him,  to  aid  and  assist  the  son  with  all  their  might  to 
expel  his  father  from  his  kingdom  ;  and  then  young 
Henry  swore  first,  and  his  brothers  swore  after 
him,  in  the  order  of  their  senioritj',  that  they  would 
never  conclude  peace  or  truce  with  their  father 
without  the  consent  and  concurrence  of  the  barons 
of  France.^  The  taking  and  the  exacting  of  such 
oaths  seem  destructive  of  Louis's  character  for  re- 
ligion and  sanctity  ;  but  the  measures  were  clearly 
urged  by  the  conspiring  foreign  nobles  of  the  Eng- 
lish king,  who  desired  guarantees  that  they  should 
not  be  left  unprotected  by  the  natural  process  of  a 
reconciliation  between  fether  and  sons.  A  great 
seal  like  that  of  England  was  manufactured,  in  order 
that  young  Henry  might  afifiix  that  sign  of  royalty 
and  legality  to  his  treaties  and  charters.  By  the 
feast  of  Easter,  the  plans  of  the  rebellious  boy  and 
his  confederates  were  matured.  The  scheme  was 
bold  and  extensive;  the  confederates  were  numer- 
ous, including,  besides  the  King  of  France,  whose 
reward  was  not  committed  to  a  written  treatj', 
AVilliara,  King  of  Scotland,  who  was  to  receive  all 
that  his  predecessors  had  possessed  in  Northumber- 
land and  Cumberland,  in  payment  of  his  services, 
and  Philip,  Earl  of  Flanders,  who  was  to  have  a 
grant  of  the  earldom  of  Kent,  with  the  castles  of 
Dover  and  Rochester,  for  his  share  in  the  paiTicidal 
war.  The  nature  of  these  arrangements  betokens 
as  gi-eat  a  want  of  patriotism  as  of  filial  aflfection, 
and  shows  the  cunning  and  interestedness  of  his 
allies,  as  much  as  the  ignorance,  folly,  and  rashness 
of  the  young  prince.  To  these  external  enemies 
were  added  many  of  Henry's  own  vassals  —  old 
barons,  who  remembered  the  license  of  former 
years,  and  Avere  impatient  of  his  firm  government, 
— and  young  ones,  eager  for  novelty  and  adventure. 


^  IIoTed.' 


•R.  Diceto. — Neub. — Script.  Rer.  Franc. 
'  Gervase. 


Chap.  I,] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


453 


and  naturally  inclined  to  take  part  with  the  young 
and  prodigal.  Some  of  these,  imitating  the  royal 
examples  set  them,  stipulated  beforehand  for  the 
nature  and  extent  of  their  rewards.  The  Earl  of 
Blois,  for  example,  was  to  have  Amboise,  Ch&teau- 
Reynault,  and  an  allowance  in  money  on  the  reve- 
nues of  Anjou.  The  most  powerful  of  the  conspi- 
rators in  England  were  the  Earls  of  Leicester  and 
Chester. 

Like  the  great  Conqueror  under  similar  circum- 
stances, Henry  saw  himself  deserted  even  by  his 
favorite  courtiers,  and  by  many  of  the  men  whom 
he  had  taught  the  art  of  war,  and  invested  with  the 
honors  of  chivalry  with  his  own  hands.  According 
to  a  contemporary,  it  was  a  painful  and  desolating 
sight  for  him  to  see  those  whom  he  had  honored 
with  his  confidence  and  intrusted  with  the  care  of 
his  chamber,  his  person,  his  very  life,  deserting  him, 
one  by  one,  to  join  his  enemies ;  for  nearly  every 
night  some  of  them  stole  away,  and  those  who  had 
attended  him  in  the  evening  did  not  appear  at  his 
call  in  the  morning.'  But  Henry's  strength  of 
character  and  consummate  abilities  were  quite  equal 
to  the  difficulties  of  his  situation,  and  in  the  midst 
of  his  greatest  trouble  he  maintained  a  cheerful 
countenance  and  pursued  his  usual  amusements, 
hunting  and  haAvking,  even  more  than  his  wont,  and 
was  more  gay  and  affable  than  ever  toward  the 
companions  that  remained  with  him.^  His  courtiers 
and  knights  might  flee,  but  Henry  had  a  strong 
party,  and  wise  ministers  and  commanders,  selected 
by  his  sagacity,  in  most  of  his  states,  and  in  England 
more  than  all :  he  had  also  money  in  abundance, 
and  these  circumstances  gave  him  confidence  without 
relaxing  his  precautions  and  exertions.  Twenty 
thousand  Brabancons,  who  sold  their  mercenary 
services  to  the  best  bidder,  soon  flocked  to  the 
standard  of  the  richest  monarch  of  the  west  of 
Europe.  Not  relying  wholly  on  arms,  he  sent 
messengers  to  all  the  neighboring  princes  who  had 
sons,  to  interest  them  in  his  favor ;  and,  as  his  case 
might  be  their  own,  should  encouragement  and  suc- 
cess attend  filial  disobedience,  their  sympathy  Avas 
tolerably  complete.  In  addressing  the  Pope,  he 
worked  upon  other  feelings,  and  here  his  present 
object  hurried  him  into  expressions  of  submission 
and  vassalage  which  contributed  no  doubt  to  form 
the  grounds  of  future  and  dangerous  pretensions. 
He  declared  that  the  kingdom  of  England  belonged 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  pope,  and  that  he,  as  king 
thereof,  was  bound  to  him  by  all  the  obligations  im- 
posed by  the  feudal  law ;  and  he  implored  the  pon- 
tiflfto  defend  with  his  spiritual  arms  the  patrimony 
of  St.  Peter.  The  rebelHous  son  applied  to  the  court 
of  Rome  as  well  as  his  father ;  and  it  may  be  stated 
generally,  that  if  the  popes  meddled  largely  with 
the  secular  affairs  of  princes,  itAVBS  not  without  their 
being  tempted  and  invited  so  to  do.  The  letter  of 
the  "junior  king,"  as  the  young  Henry  was  called, 
was  a  composition  of  singular  impudence  and  false- 
hood. He  attributed  his  quarrel  with  his  father  to 
the  interest  he  took  in  the  cause  of  Becket,  and  his 
desire  of  avenging  his  death : — "  The  villains,"  he 
1  Gervas  Dorob.  a  Hoved. — Matt.  Par. — Gerv.  Dorob. 


said,  "  who  murdered  within  the  walls  of  the  temple 
my  foster-father,  the  glorious  martyr  of  Christ,  St. 
Thomas  of  Canterbury,  remain  safe  and  sound;  they 
still  strike  their  roots  in  the  earth,  and  no  act  of 
royal  vengeance  has  followed  so  atrocious  and  un- 
heard-of a  crime.  I  could  not  suffer  this  criminal 
neglect,  and  such  was  the  first  and  strongest  cause 
of  the  present  discord  ;  the  blood  of  the  martyr  cried 
to  me ;  I  could  not  render  it  the  vengeance  and 
honors  that  were  due  to  him,  but  at  least  I  showed 
my  reverence  in  visiting  the  tomb  of  the  holy 
martyr  in  the  view  and  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
whole  kingdom.  My  father  was  wrathful  against 
me  therefore,  but  I  fear  not  oflfending  a  father  when 
the  cause  of  Christ  is  concerned."'  The  youthful 
hypocrite  made  most  liberal  offers  to  the  church ; 
but  the  Pope  rejected  his  application,  and  even 
confirmed  the  sentence  of  excommunication  pro- 
nounced by  the  bishops  of  Normandy  against  the 
king's  revolted  subjects.  At  the  same  time  the 
legate  was  dispatched  across  the  Alps  with  the 
laudable  object  of  putting  an  end  to  the  unnatural 
quarrel  by  exhortation  and  friendly  mediation  ;  but 
before  he  arrived,  the  sword  was  drawn  which  it 
was  difficult  to  sheathe,  for  national  antipathies  and 
popular  interests  and  passions  were  engaged  that 
would  not  follow  the  uncertain  movements  of  pater- 
nal indulgence  on  one  side  or  filial  repentance  on 
the  other.  In  the  month  of  June,  the  war  began 
on  several  points  at  once.  Philip,  Earl  of  Flanders, 
entered  Normandy,  and  gained  considerable  advan- 
tages, but  his  brother  and  heir  being  killed  at  a 
siege,  he  thought  he  saw  the  hand  of  God  in  the 
event,  and  he  soon  left  the  country,  most  bitterly 
repenting  having  engaged  in  such  an  impious  war. 
The  King  of  France,  with  his  loving  son-in-law, 
Prince  Henry  of  England,  were  not  more  success- 
ful than  the  Earl  of  Flanders,  and  were  first  checked 
and  then  put  to  rapid  flight  by  a  division  of  the 
Brabanfons.  Prince  Geoflfrey,  who  had  been  joined 
by  the  Earl  of  Chester,  was  equally  unfortunate  in 
Brittany,  and  the  cause  of  the  confederates  was 
covered  with  defeat  and  shame  wherever  the  king 
showed  himself.  King  Louis,  according  to  his  old 
custom,  soon  grew  weary  of  the  war,  and  desired  an 
interview  with  Henry,  who  condescended  to  grant 
it.  This  conference  of  peace  was  held  on  an  open 
plain,  between  Gisors  and  Trie,  under  a  venerable 
elm  of  "  most  grateful  aspect,"  the  branches  of  which 
descended  to  the  earth,*  the  center  of  the  primitive 
scene  where  the  French  kings  and  the  Norman 
dukes  had  been  accustomed  for  some  generations  to 
hold  their  parleys  for  truce  or  peace. 

Instead  of  leading  to  peace,  the  pi'esent  confer- 
ence embittered  the  war,  and  ended  in  a  disgraceful 
exhibition  of  violence.  The  Earl  of  Leicester,  who 
attended  with  the  princes,  insulted  Henry  to  his 
face,  and,  drawing  his  sword,  would  have  killed  or 
wounded  his  king  had  he  not  been  forcibly  pre- 
vented. Hostilities  commenced  forthwith ;  but 
when  Lo^uis  was  a  principal  in  a  war  against  Henry, 

1  Script.  Rer.  Franc. 

3  Ulmus  erat  visu  gratissima,  ramis  ad  terrain  rcdeuntibus.     Script. 
Rer.  Franc. 


454 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


it  was  seldom  prosecuted  with  any  vigor,  and  the 
rest  of  that  year  was  spent  on  the  continent  in  in- 
significant operations.  In  England,  however,  some 
important  events  took  place  ;  for  Richard  do  Lucy 
repulsed  the  Scots,  who  had  begun  to  make  incur- 
sions, burnt  their  town  of  Berwick,  ravaged  the 
Lothians,  and,  on  his  return  from  this  victorious 
expedition,  defeated  and  took  prisoner  the  great 
Earl  of  Leicester,  who  had  recrossed  the  channel, 
and,  in  alliance  with  Bigod,  Earl  of  Norfolk,  Avas 
attempting  to  light  the  flames  of  civil  war  in  the 
lieart  of  England.  It  is  honorable  alike  to  Henry 
and  his  government,  and  the  people  of  the  two 
countries,  that  the  insurgents  never  had  a  chance 
of  success  either  in  England  or  Normandy.  In 
Maine,  Brittany,  Poictou,  and  Aquitaine,  which 
were  held  by  a  more  questionable  tenure,  which 
had  probably  not  been  so  well  governed,  and  where 
the  people  nourished  old  national  prejudices,  the 
case  was  different.  The  natural  sons  of  King 
Henry,  of  whom  there  were  two  in  England  grown 
up  to  man's  estate,  and  occupying  important  posts, 
adhered  faithfully  to  their  father,  and  Geoffrey,  the 
more  distinguished  of  the  two,  fought  most  gallantly 
for  his  cause.  His  faith  and  prowess  caused  Henry 
to  exclaim, — "  This  is  my  lawful  son, — the  rest  are 
bastards  !'" 

A.D.  1174.  The  allies  now  showed  more  resolu- 
tion than  during  the  preceding  year,  and  acted  upon 
a  plan  which  was  well  calculated  to  embarrass  Henry. 
Louis,  with  the  junior  King  of  England,  attacked 
the  frontiers  of  Normandy.  Geoffrey  tried  his  for- 
tune again  in  Brittany.  Prince  Richard,  who  began 
his  celebrated  warlike  career  by  fighting  against  his 
own  father,  headed  a  formidable  insurrection  in 
Poictou  and  Aquitaine.  Relying  on  the  Norman 
barons  for  the  defence  of  Normandy  and  Brittany, 
Henry  marched  against  his  son  Richard,  and  soon 
took  the  town  of  Saintes  and  the  fortress  of  Taille- 
bourg,  drove  the  insurgents  from  several  other 
castles,  and  partially  restored  order  to  the  country. 
Returning  then  toward  Anjou,  he  devastated  the 
frontier  of  Poictou,  and  was  preparing  to  reduce  the 
castles  there  when  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  ar- 
rived with  news  which  rendered  the  king's  presence 
indispensable  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea.  The  Scots, 
as  had  been  preconcerted,  were  pouring  into  the 
northern  counties,  and  had  already  taken  several 
towns.  Roger  de  Mowbray  had  raised  the  standard 
of  revolt  in  Yorkshire  :  Earl  Ferrers,  joined  by 
David,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  brother  to  the  Scottish 
king,  had  done  the  same  in  the  central  counties.  In 
the  east,  Hugh  Bigod,  with  700  knights,  had  taken 
the  castle  of  Norwich ;  and  at  the  same  time  a  for- 
midable fleet,  prepared  by  his  eldest  son  and  the 
Earl  of  Flanders,  was  ready  on  the  opposite  coast 
to  attempt  a  descent  on  England,  where  endeavors 
were  again  making  to  alienate  the  affections  of  the 
people  by  the  old  story  of  the  king  being  guUty  of 
Becket's  murder.  The  great  Conqueror  himself 
did  not  surpass  Henry  in  the  rapidity  of  his  move- 
ments. The  bishop  had  scarcely  finished  his  dismal 
news  ere  the  king,  with  his  court,  was  on  horseback 

1  Angl.  Sac. 


for  the  coast,  and  embarking  in  the  midst  of  a  storm, 
he  sailed  for  England,  taking  with  him,  as  prisoners, 
his  own  wife  Eleanor,  and  his  eldest  son's  wife 
Margaret,  who  had  not  been  able  to  follow  her  hus- 
band to  the  court  of  her  father.  Although  he  had 
still  maintained  an  outward  appearance  of  tranquil- 
lity, his  heart  was  aching  at  the  rebellion  of  his 
children  and  the  treachery  of  his  nobles  and  friends. 
Sorrow  disposes  the  mind  to  devotional  feelings,  and 
Henry's  high  powers  of  intellect  did  not  exempt  him 
from  the  superstition  of  the  times.  Some  sincei-ity 
may  possil)ly  have  mingled  in  the  feelings  and  mo- 
tives that  dictated  the  extraordinary  course  he  now 
pursued,  though,  seeing  the  political  expediency  of 
resorting  to  a  striking  measure  to  remove  all  doubts 
from  the  people,  and  bring  their  devotional  feelings 
to  his  side,  we  would  not  venture  to  afl[irm  that 
this  sincerity  w'as  very  great  or  was  the  sole  motive 
of  his  conduct.  All  attempts  to  depress  the  fame 
of  Becket  had  failed,  —  the  Pope  had  recently  in- 
scribed his  name  in  the  list  of  saints  and  martyrs, — 
the  miracles  said  to  be  worked  over  his  festering 
body  were  now  recognized  by  bishops  and  priests, 
and  reported,  with  amplifications  which  grew  in 
proportion  to  their  distance  from  the  spot,  by  the 
credulous  multitude.  The  English  had  not  had  a 
native  saint  for  a  long  time,  and  they  determined 
to  make  the  most  of  him.  It  was  on  the  8th  of 
July  that  Henry  landed  at  Southampton.  He  had 
scarcely  set  foot  on  shore,  w^hen,  without  waiting  to 
refresh  himself  after  the  fatigues  and  discomforts  of 
a  rough  sea  voyage,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  took 
the  nearest  road  to  Canterburj',  performing  his 
pilgrimage  in  a  maimer  far  from  being  so  agreeable 
as  those  jocund  expeditions  described  by  Chaucer 
a  century  and  a  half  later.  He  took  no  refreshment 
save  bread  and  water,  and  rode  on  his  way  all  night. 
As  the  day  dawned  he  came  in  sight  of  the  towers 
of  Canterbury  Cathedral,  still  at  the  distance  of 
some  miles,  and  instantly  dismounting  from  his 
horse,  he  threw  off  his  royal  dress,  undid  his  san- 
dals, and  walked  the  rest  of  his  way  barefoot  like 
the  veriest  penitent.  The  roads  were  rough,  and 
as  the  king  passed  through  the  gateway  of  Canter- 
bury his  subjects  were  touched  and  edified  by  the 
sight  of  his  blood,  which  fell,  at  every  step  he  took, 
from  his  wounded  feet.  When  he  arrived  at  the 
cathedral  he  descended  at  once  into  the  crypt,  and, 
while  the  bells  tolled  slowly,  he  threw  himself  with 
sobs  and  tears  upon  the  grave  of  Becket,  and  there 
remained  with  his  face  pressed  to  the  cold  earth  in 
the  presence  of  many  people,  —  an  attitude  more 
aft'ecting  and  convincing  perhaps  than  the  discourse 
of  the  bishop  overhead.  Gilbert  Foliot,  formerly 
Bishop  of  Hereford,  now  of  London,  and  the  same 
who,  three  j'ears  and  a  half  before,  had  proposed  to 
throw  the  body  of  Becket  into  a  ditch  or  hang  it  on 
a  gibbet,  but  who  now,  with  the  rest,  acknowledged 
him  to  be  a  blessed  and  glorious  martyr,  ascended 
the  pulpit  and  addressed  the  multitude.  "  Be  it 
known  to  you,  as  many  as  are  here  present,  that 
Henry,  King  of  England,  invoking,  for  his  soul's  sal- 
vation, God  and  the  holy  martyrs,  solemnly  protests 
before  you  all  that  he  never  ordered,  or  knowingly 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


455 


caused,  or  even  desired  the  death  of  the  saint ;  but, 
as  possibly  the  murderers  took  advantage  of  some 
words  imprudently  pronounced,  he  has  come  to  do 
penance  before  the  bishops  here  assembled,  and  has 
consented  to  submit  his  naked  flesh  to  the  rods  of 
discipline."  The  bishop  conjured  the  people  to  be- 
lieve the  assertions  of  their  king  ;  and,  as  he  ceased 
speaking,  Henry  arose  like  a  spectre,  and  walked 
through  the  church  and  cloisters  to  the  chapter- 
house, where,  again  prostrating  himself,  and,  throw- 
ing oft'  the  upper  part  of  his  dress,  he  confessed  to 
the  minor  offence,  and  was  scourged  by  all  the  ec- 
clesiastics present,  who  amounted  to  eighty  persons. 
The  bishops  and  abbots,  who  were  few,  handled  the 
knotted  cords  first,  and  then  followed  the  monks, 
every  one  inflicting  from  three  to  five  lashes,  and 
saying,  as  he  gave  them,  "  Even  as  Christ  was 
scourged  for  the  sins  of  men,  so  be  thou  scourged 
for  thine  own  sin."  The  blows  no  doubt  were  dealt 
with  a  light  hand,  but  the  whole  thing  was  startling, 
and  such  as  had  never  before  been  heard  of.  Nor 
was  the  penance  of  the  king  yet  over.  He  returned 
to  the  subterranean  vault,  and  again  prostrating 
himself  by  Becket's  tomb,  he  spent  the  rest  of  the 
day  and  the  following  night  in  prayers  and  tears, 
taking  no  nourishment,  and  never  quitting  the  spot ; 
"  but  as  he  came  so  he  remained,  without  carpet  or 
any  such  thing  beneath  him."^  At  early  dawn,  af- 
ter the  service  of  matins,  he  ascended  from  the  vault 
and  made  the  tour  of  the  upper  church,  praying 
before  all  the  altars  and  relics  there.  When  the  sun 
rose  he  heard  mass,  and  then,  having  drunk  some 
holy  water  blessed  by  the  martyr  himself,  and  hav- 
ing filled  a  small  bottle  with  the  precious  fluid,  he 
mounted  his  horse  and  rode  to  London  with  a  light 
and  joyous  heart.  A  burning  fever,  however,  fol- 
lowed all  this  fatigue  and  penance,  and  confined 
him  for  several  days  to  his  chamber.*  On  the  fifth 
night  of  his  malady  a  messenger  arrived  from  the 
north,  and  announced  himself  to  the  suffering  mon- 
arch, whose  presence  he  had  not  reached  without 
much  difficulty,  as  the  servant  of  Ranulf  de  Glan- 
ville,  a  name  memorable  in  the  history  of  our  laws 
and  constitution,  and  a  most  dear  friend  of  Henry  : 
— "  Is  Glanville  in  health  ?"  said  the  king.  "  My 
lord  is  well,"  rephed  the  servant,  "  and  your  enemy 
the  King  of  Scots  is  his  prisoner."  Starting  upright, 
Henry  cried,  "  Repeat  those  words."  The  man 
repeated  them,  and  delivered  his  master's  letters, 
which  fully  informed  the  overjoyed  king  of  the  fact. 
On  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  July,  Glanville  had 
surprised  William  the  Lion  as  he  was  tilting  in  a 
meadow  near  Alnwick  Castle  with  only  sixty  Scot- 
tish lords  near  him,  and  had  made  the  whole  party 
captives.  By  a  remarkable  coincidence  this  signal 
advantage  was  gained  on  the  very  day  (it  was  said 
by  some  on  the  very  hour)  on  which  he  achieved 
his  reconciliation  with  the  martyr  at  Canterbury.* 

^  Gerv.  Dorob. 

2  Gervase.— Hen.  Hunt.— Girald.— Diceto.— Hoved.— Neub.  Pre- 
vious to  this  pilgrimage  to  Canterbury,  Henry  had  done  penance  for 
Becket's  murder  in  the  cathedral  of  Avranches  in  Normandy.  The 
church  is  now  a  ruin,  but,  according  to  tradition,  a  flat  stone  with  a 
cup  engraved  upon  it,  still  marks  the  spot  of  kingly  humiliation.— 
Stothard's  Tour  in  Normandy.  a  Neub.— Hoved.— Gervase. 


Indisposition,  and  the  languor  it  leaves,  soon 
departed,  and  Henry  was  again  on  horseback  and 
at  the  head  of  a  numerous  and  enthusiastic  army 
for  the  people  of  England  flocked  to  his  standard 
and  filled  the  land  with  an  indignant  cry  against 
the  leaders  and  abettors  of  an  unnatural  revolt. 
The  insurgents  did  not  wait  the  coming  of  the 
king,  but  dispersed  in  all  directions,  their  chiefs 
purchasing  their  pardon  by  the  surrender  of  then- 
castles.  According  to  a  French  chronicler,  so 
many  were  taken  that  it  was  difficult  to  find  prisons 
for  them  all.^  The  Scots,  disheartened  by  the 
capture  of  their  sovereign,  retreated  beyond  the 
border,  and  peace  being  restored  at  home,  the 
active  Henry  was  enabled,  within  three  weeks,  to 
carry  the  army  which  had  been  raised  to  subdue 
the  revolt  in  England,  across  the  seas  to  Normandy. 

When  the  Earl  of  Flanders,  who  was  now  the 
soul  of  the  confederacy,  had  made  ready  to  invade 
England,  he  counted  on  the  absence  of  the  king, 
whose  prompt  return  disconcerted  that  measure. 
Changing  his  plan,  therefore,  he  repaired  to  Nor- 
mandy, and  joining  his  forces  with  those  of  King 
Louis  and  Henry's  eldest  son,  laid  siege  to  Rouen, 
the  capital.  But  he  was  scarcely  there  when  the 
King  of  England  was  after  him,  and  surprised  all 
his  stores  and  provisions.  In  a  few  days  the  allied 
army  was  not  only  obliged  to  raise  the  siege,  l^ut 
also  to  retreat  out  of  Normandy.  Humbled  by  the 
rapidity,  the  genius,  and  good  fortune  of  the  Eng- 
lish monarch,  the  confederates,  following  the  ad- 
vice of  Louis,  who  was  the  very  king  of  confer- 
ences, requested  an  armistice  and  a  meeting  for  the 
arrangement  of  a  general  peace.  Of  his  rebellious 
children,  Henry  and  Geoffrey  offered  to  submit  to 
these  arrangements,  but  young  Richard,  who  had 
begun  to  taste  the  joys  of  war  and  the  "raptures 
of  the  fight,"  which  were  to  be  his  greatest  pleas- 
ures till  the  hour  of  his  death,  and  who  was  sup- 
ported by  the  restless  nobility  of  Aquitaine,  who 
had  again  revolted,  and  was  led  by  the  intrigues 
and  councils  of  the  indefatigable  lord  who  held 
Hautefort,^  the  famous  Bertrand  de  Born,  refused 
to  be  included,  and  persisted  in  open  war  against 
his  father.  But  the  rash  boy  lost  castle  after 
castle,  and  at  the  end  of  six  weeks  was  fain  to 
throw  himself  at  the  feet  of  his  forgiving  parent, 
and  accompany  him  to  the  congress  or  conference. 

The  conditions  of  the  peace  were  made  easy 
by  the  mildness  and  moderation  of  Henry.  He 
received  from  the  French  king  and  the  Flemish 
earl  all  the  territories  they  had  overrun  since  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  and  he  restored  to 
those  princes  whatever  he  had  conquered  or  oc- 
cupied himself.  With  one  important  exception, 
he  also  set  at  liberty  all  his  prisoners,  to  the  num- 
ber of  969  knights.  To  his  eldest  son  he  assigned 
for  present  enjoyment  two  castles  in  Normandy, 
and  a  yearly  allowance  of  15,000L  Angevin  money ; 
to  Richard,  two  castles  in  Poictou,  with  half  the 
revenue  of  that  earldom ;  to  Geoffrey,  two  castles 
in  Brittany,  with  half  the  rents  of  the  estates  that 

1  Script.  Rer.  Franc. 

*  "  Colui  che  gi4  tenne  Altaforte." — Dante's  Inferno. 


456 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  HI. 


had  belonged  to  his  father-in-law  elect  (for  the 
marriage  was  not  yet  consummated),  Earl  Conan, 
with  a  promise  of  the  remainder.  With  these  con- 
ditions the  impatient  youths  professed  themselves 
satisfied,  and  they  engaged  henceforth  to  love, 
honor,  and  obey  their  father.  Richard  and  Geof- 
frey did  homage  and  took  the  oaths  of  fealty ;  but 
Henry,  the  eldest  son,  was  exempted  from  these 
ceremonies.  The  exception  made  in  liberating  the 
prisoners  was  in  the  important  person  of  the  Scot- 
tish king,  who  had  been  carried  over  to  the  con- 
tinent and  thrown  into  the  strong  castle  of  Falaise, 
where  he  was  kept  until  the  following  month  of 
December,  when  he  obtained  his  enlargement  by 
kneeling  to  Henry  and  acknowledging  himself,  in 
the  set  forms  of  vassalage,  his  "liege-man  against 
all  men."  By  the  degrading  treaty  of  Falaise,  the 
independence  of  Scotland  was  nominally  sacrificed ; 
and  from  the  signing  of  it  in  December,  1174,  to 
the  accession  of  Richard  I.,  in  December,  1189, 
when  a  formal  release  from  all  obligations  was 
granted  for  the  sum  of  10,000  marks,  she  may  be 
said  to  have  figured  as  a  dependent  province  of 
England.' 

A.D.  1175.  —  Henry  was  still  detained  on  the 
continent,  and  a  quarrel  broke  out  afresh  between 
him  and  his  eldest  son :  it  did  not,  however,  lead 
to  any  immediate  consequences ;  and  in  the  month 
of  May,  father  and  son,  or  the  Rex  Senior  and  Rex 
Junior,  were  again  reconciled  and  sailed  together 
over  to  England,  where  for  sometime  they  lived  on 
such  affectionate  terms,  that  they  not  only  fed  at  the 
same  table  but  slept  in  the  same  bed.^ 

Henry  now  enjoyed  about  eight  years  of  profound 
peace ;  but,  as  active  in  civil  affairs  as  in  those  of 
war,  he  devoted  this  time,  and  all  his  energies  and 
resources  of  mind,  to  the  reform  of  the  internal 
administration  of  his  dominions.  His  reputation  for 
wisdom,  judicial  ability,  and  power,  now  stood  so 
high  in  Europe  that  Alfonso,  King  of  Castile,  and 
his  uncle  Sancho,  King  of  Navarre,  who  had  been 
disputing  for  some  years  about  the  boundaries  of 
their  respective  territories,  turning  from  the  un- 
certain arbitrement  of  the  sword,  referred  their 
difference  to  the  decision  of  the  "just  and  im- 
partial" English  monarch,  binding  themselves  in 
the  most  solemn  manner  to  submit  to  his  award,  be 
it  what  it  might.  And  in  the  month  of  March, 
1177,  Henry,  holding  his  court  at  Westminster, 
attended  by  the  bishops,  earls,  barons,  and  justices, 
both  of  England  and  Normandy,  heard  and  dis- 
cussed the  arguments  proposed  on  the  part  of  King 
Alfonso  by  the  Bishop  of  Palencia,  and  on  the  part 
of  King  Sancho  by  the  Bishop  of  Pampeluna,  and, 
after  taken  the  opinion  of  the  best  and  most  learned 
of  the  court,  pronounced  a  wise  and  conciliating 
award,  with  which  both  ambassadors  expressed 
their  entire  satisfaction.' 

We  have  some  curious  evidence  of  Henry's  per- 
sonal activity,  as  evinced  by  his  rapid  change  of 
residence,  just  at  this  period  of  peace  and  tranquil- 
lity, in  a  letter  addressed  to  him,  in  the  most  famil- 

1  Allen's  Vindication  of  the  Ancient  Independence  of  Scotland. 
»  Diceto. — Benedictus  Abbas.  s  Kymer. — Rog.  Hored. 


iar  terms,  by  his  confidential  friend  Peter  of  Blois. 
Peter,  who  was  not  a  timid,  loitering  wa}  farer,  or 
a  luxurious,  ease-loving  churchman,  but  a  bold  and 
experienced  traveler  himself,  seeing  that,  in  the 
dischai-ge  of  his  duty,  he  had  fought  his  way  more 
than  once  across  the  then  pathless  Alps,  in  the 
heart  of  winter,  braving  the  snow  hurricane  and 
the  tremendous  avalanches,  seems  to  have  been 
lost  in  amazement  at  the  incessant  and  untiring 
progi'esses  of  the  king.  He  had  just  returned  from 
a  royal  mission  to  King  Louis,  the  results  of  which 
he  was  anxious  to  report.  He  tells  Henry,  that  he 
has  been  hunting  after  him  up  and  down  England, 
but  in  vain  I — that  when  Solomon  set  down  four 
things  as  being  too  hard  for  him  to  discover,  he 
ought  to  have  added  a  fifth, — and  that  was,  the  path 
of  the  King  of  England!  Poor  Peter  goes  on  to 
say,  that  he  really  knoweth  not  whither  he  is  going 
— that  he  has  been  laid  up  with  the  dysentery  at 
NeAvport,  from  fatigue  in  traveling  after  his  ma- 
jesty, and  has  sent  scouts  and  messengers  on  ail 
sides  to  look  for  him.  He  proceeds  to  express  an 
earnest  wish  that  Henry  would  let  him  know  where 
he  is  to  be  found,  as  he  really  has  important  affairs 
to  treat  of,  and  the  ambassadors  of  the  kings  of  Spain 
have  aiTived  with  a  great  retinue,  in  order  to  refer 
the  old  quarrel  of  their  masters  to  his  majesty.  In 
war,  Henrj-'s  ubiquity,  as  we  might  almost  call  it, 
was  of  course  still  more  conspicuous  and  astonish- 
ing— for  the  field  of  his  exertions  extended  from  the 
shores  of  Ireland  to  the  countries  at  the  foot  of  the 
Pyrenees.  Louis  of  France,  whose  character  Me- 
zerai  rather  happily  describes  by  the  single  word 
mou  (soft  and  sluggish),  was  bewildered  and  con- 
stantly foiled  by  his  sharp  and  active  rival.  He 
was  once  heard  to  exclaim,  "  The  King  of  England 
neither  rides  on  land,  nor  sails  on  water,  but  flies 
through  the  air  like  a  bird.  In  a  moment  he  flits 
from  Ireland  to  England — in  another  from  England 
into  France  !" 

The  moment  Avas  now  approaching,  when  those 
energies,  as  yet  undiminished  by  age  or  the  pre- 
mature decay  which  they  probably  caused  in  the 
end,  were  again  to  be  called  into  full  practice ;  for 
foreign  jealousies  and  intrigues,  the  name  and  history 
of  his  captive  wife  Eleanor,  and  the  unpopularity  of 
the  Anglo-Norman  rule  in  the  provinces  of  the  south, 
contributed,  with  their  own  impatience,  turbulence, 
and  presumption,  to  drive  his  children  once  more 
into  rebellion.     These  princes  seem  to  hcive  passed 
their  time  on  the  continent  in  an  almost  uninter- 
rupted   succession    of  tilts   and    tournaments    and 
knightly  displays,  in  which  they  gained,  in  an  emi- 
nent degree,  the  only  fame,  next  to  the  glory  of  real 
war,  which  was  then  dear  to  young  men  of  their 
condition.     Henry  rejoiced  at  the  report  of  their 
prowess,  which  was  spread  from  court  to  court,  and 
from  castle  to  castle,  by  jongleurs  and  minstrels,  who 
then  performed  some  of  the  offices  which  now  fall 
i  to  our  public  newspapers.     He   probably  thought 
'  that  the  image  of  warfare  might  distract  them  from 
j  its  bloodj'  reality,  and  that  they  might  allow  their 
,  sire — the  greatest  prince  in  Europe — to  descend  to 
;  the  grave  in  peace. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


457 


A.D.  1183.  Richard,  who  was  the  darhng  of  his 
imprisoned  mother,  and  who,  on  account  of  the 
more  general  unpopularity  of  his  father  in  Aquitaine 
and  Poictou,  was  stronger  than  his  brothers,  was  the 
first  to  renew  the  family  war.  When  called  upon 
by  his  father  to  do  homage  to  his  elder  brother, 
Henry,  for  the  duchy  of  Aquitaine,  which  he  was  to 
inherit,  he  arrogantly  refused.  Upon  this  young 
Henry,  or  the  junior  king,  allied  himself  with  Prince 
Geoffrey,  and  marched  with  an  army  of  Bretons  and 
Brabancons  into  Aquitaine,  where  Richard  had  pub- 
lished his  ban  of  war, — for  these  princes  were  not 
more  affectionate  as  bi-others  than  they  were  dutiful 
as  sons.  The  king  flew  to  put  an  end  to  these  dis- 
graceful hostilities,  and  having  induced  his  two  sons 
to  come  into  his  presence,  he  reconciled  them  with 
one  another.  But  the  reconciliation  was  rather  ap- 
parent than  real,  and  Prince  Geoffrey  had  the  hor- 
rible frankness  to  declare,  shortly  after,  that  they 
could  never  possibly  live  in  peace  with  one  another 
unless  they  were  united  in  a  common  Avar  against 
their  own  father.  In  some  respects,  this  was  the 
family  of  Atreus  and  Thyestes.  Contemporaries 
seem  to  have  considered  it  in  this  light,  for  they 
have  recorded  horrible  traditions  connected  with 
the  whole  Plantagenet  race.  The  least  revolting  of 
these  legends  relates  to  an  ancient  countess  of  An- 
jou,  from  whom  King  Heniy  lineally  descended. 
The  husband  of  this  dame  having  remarked  with 
fear  and  trembling  that  she  rarely  went  to  church, 
and,  when  she  did,  always  withdrew  before  the 
celebration  of  mass,  took  it  into  his  head  one  day  to 
have  her  seized  in  church,  and  forcibly  detained 
there  for  the  whole  service  by  four  strong  squires. 
The  strong  men  did  as  they  were  ordered,  but,  at 
the  moment  of  the  consecration  of  the  Host,  the 
countess,  slipping  off  the  mantle  by  which  they  held 
her,  flew  out  of  a  window,  disappeared,  and  was 
never  seen  again.'  Prince  Richard,  according  to  a 
French  chronicler  of  the  time,  was  wont  to  repeat 
this  pretty  tale  of  diablerie,  and  to  say  it  was  not 
astonishing  that  he  and  his  brothers,  issuing  from 
such  a  stock,  should  be  so  fierce  and  lawless  ;  adding, 
that  it  was  quite  natural  that  what  came  from  the 
devil  should  return  to  the  devil.  The  recorded 
gallantries  and  the  worse  whispered  offences  of 
Eleanor  did  not  alienate  the  affections  of  the  people 
of  Poictou  and  Aquitaine,  among  whom  she  had 
been  born  and  brought  up.  In  their  eyes  she  was 
still  their  chieftainess, — the  princess  of  their  old 
native  stock ;  and  Henry  had  no  right  over  them 
except  what  he  could  claim  through  her  and  by  his 
affectionate  treatment  of  her.  Now,  he  had  kept 
her  for  years  a  prisoner,  and  in  their  estimation  it 
was  loyal  and  right  to  work  for  her  delivei-ance,  and 
punish  her  cruel  husband  by  whatever  means  they 
could  command,  even  to  the  arming  of  Eleanor's 
sons  against  their  sire.  In  the  fei'vid  heads  and 
hearts  of  these  men  of  the  south  these  feelings  be- 
came absolute  passions ;  and  the  graces  as  well  as 
the  ardor  of  their  popular  poetry  were  engaged  in 
the  service  of  their  captive  princess.  The  Trouba- 
dours, with  Bertrand  de  Born  at  their  head,  never 

1  Script.  Rer.  Praiio. 


tired  of  this  theme  ;  and  even  the  local  chroniclers 
raised  their  monkish  Latin  into  a  sort  of  poetical 
prose  whenever  they  touched  on  the  woes  and 
wrongs  of  Eleanor, — for  in  Poictou  and  Aquitaine 
the  manifold  provocations  she  had  given  her  husband 
were  all  unknown  or  forgotten. 

"  Thou  wast  carried  off  from  thine  own  land," 
cries  Richard  of  Poictiers,  "  and  transported  to  a  land 
thou  knewest  not  of.  Thou  wast  brought  up  in  all 
abundance  and  delicacy,  and  in  a  royal  liberty,  living 
in  the  lap  of  riches,  enjoying  the  sports  of  thy  mai- 
dens and  their  pleasant  songs  to  the  soft  accompani- 
ment of  the  lute  and  tabor ;  and  now  thou  weepest 
and  lamentest,  consuming  thy  days  in  grief.  Re- 
turn, poor  prisoner,  return  to  thy  faithful  cities ! 
Where  is  now  thy  court? — where  are  thy  young 
companions  ? — where  thy  counselors  ?  .  .  .  .  Thou 
cryest  and  no  one  hears  thee,  for  the  northern  king 
keeps  thee  shut  up  like  a  besieged  town;  but  still 
cry  aloud,  and  tire  not  of  crying.  Raise  thy  voice 
like  a  trumpet,  that  thy  sons  may  hear  thee ;  for 
the  day  is  at  hand  when  thy  sons  shall  deliver  thee, 
and  when  thou  shalt  see  thy  native  land  again.  .  .  . 
Woe  to  the  traitors  that  are  in  Aquitaine,  for  the 
day  of  vengeance  is  near!  ....  Fly  before  the  face 
of  bold  Richard,  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  for  he  will 
overthrow  the  vainglorious,  break  their  chariots, 
and  those  that  ride  in  them.  Yea,  he  will  annihilate 
all  who  oppose  him,  from  the  gi-eatest  to  the  least !'" 

Sentiments  like  these  still  more  vehemently  ex- 
pressed in  their  own  spoken  language,  in  a  deluge 
of  sirventes,  as  they  called  their  satirical  poems,  con- 
stantly kept  alive  and  active  the  hatred  of  the  peo- 
ple to  the  EngUsh  monarch  ;  and'^ertrand  de  Born, 
with  other  men  of  insinuating  manners  and  profound 
intrigue,  could  always  avail  themselves  of  this  pas- 
sionate feeling,  and  make  tools  of  the  young  princes, 
who  (prince-like)  considered  them  their  implements. 
With  the  exception  of  Richard,  whose  fiery  nature 
now  and  then,  for  very  transitory  intervals,  gave 
access  to  the  tenderer  feelings,  the  ambitious  young 
men  seem  to  have  cared  little  about  their  mother; 
but  they  could  raise  no  such  good  excuse  for  being 
in  arms  against  one  parent  as  that  of  their  anxiety  to 
procure  better  treatment  for  the  other ;  and  Henry, 
and  Geoffrey,  and  Richard,  at  times  in  unison,  and 
at  times  separately,  continued  to  take  the  name  of 
Eleanor  as  their  cri  de  guerre  in  the  south.  These 
family  Avars  Avere  more  frequent,  of  longer  duration, 
and  greater  importance  than  Avould  be  imagined 
from  the  accounts  given  of  them  in  our  popular 
English  histories.  Their  details  aa-ouM  lead  us  too 
far  aAvay  from  our  object,  but  a  fcAV  brief  incidents 
may  be  given  as  conveying  a  striking  notion  of  the 
times,  when  refinement  and  barbarity,  baseness  and 
magnanimitjs  Avere  mixed  and  confounded  in  so 
strange  a  manner. 

The  family  reconciliation  which  took  place  in 
1183-4,  was  speedily  interrupted,  for  Bertrand  de 
Born,  nearly  indifferent  as  to  AA'hich  prince  he  act- 
ed with,  but  Avho,  of  the  three,  rather  preferred 

1  Chron.  RicarJi  Pictaviensis,  apud  Script.  Rer.  Franc.  He  calli 
King  Henry  Rei  aquilonis,  or  King  of  the  North,  and  his  son  Rex 
austri,  or  King  of  the  South. 


458 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Henry,  on  seeing  that  Richard  was  inclined  to  keep 
his  oaths  to  his  father,  renewed  his  intrigues  with 
the  eldest  son,  and  got  ready  a  formidable  party  in 
Aqiiitaine,  who  pressed  Prince  Henry,  or  the  Rcy 
Jovcns,  as  they  called  him  in  their  dialect,  to  tlirow 
himself  among  tlicni.  Henry  consequently  revolted 
again,  and  his  brother  Geoffrey  soon  followed  his 
example.  The  French  court  had  no  inconsiderable 
share  in  all  these  movements ;  and  the  sovereign 
openlj-  announced  himself  as  the  ally  of  the  junior 
king  and  the  nobles  of  Aquitaine.  As  Richard  con- 
tinued steady  for  a  while,  the  King  of  England 
joined  his  forces  with  his,  and  they  marched  to- 
gether to  lay  siege  to  Limoges,  Avhich  had  opened 
its  gates  to  Henry  and  Geoftrey.  Thus  the  war 
recommenced  under  a  new  aspect;  it  being  no 
longer  the  three  sons  leagued  against  the  father, 
but  one  fighting  with  the  father  against  two  broth- 
ers. In  little  more  than  a  month,  however,  the 
younger  Henry  deserted  his  partisans  of  Aquitaine, 
and  submitted  to  his  father,  who  forgave  him  as  he 
had  forgiven  him  before,  soothed  his  professed  re- 
morse, and  once  more  accepted  his  oath  of  fealty. 
Geoffrey  did  not  on  this  occasion  follow  his  eldest 
brother's  example  ;  and  the  men  of  Aquitaine  and 
Poictou,  now  regarding  liim  as  their  chief,  confirmed 
hira  in  his  resistance,  apprehending,  not  without 
some  reason,  that  the  King  of  England  would  not 
extend  the  remarkable  clemency  he  had  shown  to 
his  children  to  men  who  were  strangers  to  his  blood, 
and  who  had  incensed  him  by  repeated  revolt. 
Prince  Henry  kept  up  a  private  correspondence 
with  Berti'and  de  Born  and  others  of  the  insurgents, 
and  this  enabled  him  to  arrange  a  meeting  for  the 
purpose  of  conciliation.  The  King  of  England  rode 
to  Limoges,  which  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the  in- 
surgents, to  keep  his  appointment  with  his  son 
Geoffrey  and  the  Aquitaine  barons :  to  liis  surprise 
he  found  the  gates  of  the  town  closed  against  him, 
although  he  had  taken  only  a  few  knights  with  him, 
and  when  he  applied  for  admittance,  he  was  answer- 
ed by  a  flight  of  arrows  and  quarries  from  the  ram- 
parts, one  of  which  pierced  his  cuirass,  while  an- 
other of  them  wounded  a  knight  at  his  side.  This 
treacherous-looking  occurrence  was  explained  away 
as  being  a  mere  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  soldiery, 
and  it  was  subsequently  agreed  that  the  king  should 
have  free  entrance  into  the  town.  He  met  his  son 
Geofirey  in  the  midst  of  the  market-place  of  Limo- 
ges, and  began  the  conference  for  peace  ;  but  here, 
again,  he  was  saluted  by  a  flight  of  arrows  discharged 
from  the  battlements  of  the  castle  or  citadel.  One 
of  these  arrows  wounded  the  horse  he  rode  in  the 
head.  He  ordered  an  attendant  to  pick  up  the  ar- 
row, and  presenting  it  to  Geoffrey  with  sobs  and 
tears,  he  said, — "Oh,  son!  what  hath  thy  unhappy 
father  done  to  deserve  that  thou  shouldest  make 
him  a  mark  for  thine  arrows  ?"^ 

This  foul  attempt  at  assassination  is  laid  by  some 
writers  to  the  charge  of  Geoffrey  himself,  but  it  is 
quite  as  probable,  and  much  less  revolting  to  beheve, 
that  the  bows  and  cross-bows  were  drawn  without 
any  order  from  the  prince,  by  some  of  the  fiery 
*  Script.  Rer.  Fraao. 


spirits  of  Aquitaine  laboring  under  the  conviction 
that  their  cause  and  interests  were  about  to  be  sac- 
rificed in  the  accommodation  between  father  and 
son.  Prince  Henry,  who  accompanied  his  father, 
expressed  horror  at  the  attempt,  and  disgust  at  the 
obstinacy  of  the  men  of  Aquitaine  ;  and  he  declared 
he  would  never  more  have  alliance,  or  peace,  or 
truce  with  them.'  Not  many  days  after  he  once 
more  deserted  and  betrayed  his  sire,  and  went  to 
join  the  insurgents,  who  then  lield  their  head-quar- 
ters at  Dorat  in  Poictou.  The  bishops  of  Norman- 
dy, by  command  of  the  Pope,  fulminated  their  ex- 
communications ;  but  as  Prince  Henry  had  been 
excommunicated  before  this,  it  was  probably  not  the 
thunders  of  the  church,  but  other  considerations 
that  induced  him  to  abandon  the  insurgents  at  Dorat 
as  suddenly  as  he  had  abandoned  his  father,  and  to 
return  once  more  to  the  feet  of  the  king,  who,  with 
unexampled  clemency  or  weakness,  once  more  par- 
doned him,  and  not  only  permitted  him  to  go  at  large, 
but  to  meddle  again  with  political  af!'airs.  Having 
persuaded  his  father  to  adopt  measures  which  cost 
him  the  lives  of  some  of  his  most  faithful  followers, 
this  manifold  traitor,  or  veriest  wheel-about  that 
ever  lived,  again  deserted  his  banner,  and  prepared, 
with  his  brother  Geoffrey  and  the  insurgent  barons 
of  the  south,  to  give  him  battle.  A  short  time  after 
this  revolt,  which  was  destined  to  be  his  last,  and 
before  his  preparations  for  aiming  at  his  father's  life 
or  throne,  or  both,  were  completed,  a  messenger 
announced  to  the  king  that  his  eldest  son  had  fallen 
dangerously  sick  at  Ch^teau-Martel  near  Limoges, 
and  desired  most  earnestly  that  his  father  would  for- 
give him  and  visit  him.  The  king  would  have  gone 
forthwith,  but  his  friends  implored  him  not  to  hazard 
his  life  again  among  men  who  had  proved  themselves 
capable  of  so  much  treacheiy  and  cruelty  ;  and  they 
represented  that  the  accounts  he  had  received  might 
be  all  a  feigned  story,  got  up  by  the  insurgents  of 
Aquitaine  and  Poictou,  for  the  worst  of  purposes. 
Taking,  then,  a  ring  from  his  finger,  he  gave  it  to 
the  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  and  begged  that  pre- 
late to  convey  it  with  all  speed  to  his  repentant  son 
as  a  token  of  his  forgiveness  and  paternal  aflection. 
He  cherished  the  hope  that  the  youth  and  robust 
constitution  of  the  invalid  would  triumph  over  the 
disease,  but  soon  there  came  a  second  messenger, 
to  announce  that  his  son  was  no  more. 

Prince  Henry  died  at  Ch&teau-Martel,  on  the 
11th  of  June,  1183,  in  the  twenty-seventh  year  of 
his  age.'  In  his  last  agony  he  expressed  the  deep- 
est contrition ;  he  pressed  to  his  lips  his  father's 
ring,  which  had  mercifully  been  delivered  to  him ; 
he  publiclj-  confessed  his  undutifulness  to  his  indul- 
gent parent  and  his  other  sins,  and  ordered  the 
priests  to  drag  him  by  a  rope  out  of  his  bed,  and 
lay  him  on  a  bed  of  ashes,  that  he  might  die  in  an 
extremity  of  penance.^ 

The  heart  of  the  king  was  divided  between  grief 
at  the  death  of  his  first-born  and  rage  against  the 
insurgents,  whom  he  held  to  have  been  not  only 
the  cause  of  his  son's  decease,  but  the  impediment 
which  had  prevented  him  from  seeing,  and  em- 
1  Hoved.  »  Id.  5  Id. ;  also  Diceto. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


459 


bracing  him  in  his  last  moments.  The  feeling  of 
revenge,  hoAvever,  allying  itself  with  the  sense  of 
his  immediate  interests,  soon  obtained  entire  mas- 
tery, and  he  proceeded  with  all  his  old  vigor  and 
activity  against  the  barons  of  Aquitaine  and  Poictou. 
The  very  day  after  his  son's  funeral  he  took  Limo- 
ges by  assault ;  then  castle  after  castle  was  stormed 
and  utterly  destroyed ;  and,  at  last,  Bertrand  de 
Born,  the  soul  of  the  conspiracy,  the  seducer  of  his 
children,  fell  into  his  hands.  Never  had  enemy 
been  more  persevering,  insidious,  and  dangei'ous — 
never  had  vassal  so  outraged  his  liege  lord,  or  in 
such  a  variety  of  ways ;  fgr  Bertrand,  like  Luke  de 
Barre,  was  a  poet  as  well  as  knight,  and  had  cruelly 
satirised  Henry  in  productions  which  were  popular 
wherever  the  langue  cVOc^  was  understood.  All 
men  said  he  must  surely  die,  and  Henry  said  so 
himself.  The  troubadour  was  brought  into  his 
presence,  to  hear  his  sentence  :  the  king  taunted 
him  with  a  boast  he  had  been  accustomed  to  make, 
namely,  that  he  had  so  much  wit  in  reserve  as 
never  to  have  occasion  to  use  one  half  of  it,  and 
told  him  he  was  now  in  a  plight  in  which  the 
whole  of  his  wit  would  not  sei-ve  him.  The 
ti-oubadour  acknowledged  he  had  made  the  boast, 
and  that  not  without  truth  and  reason ;  "  And  I," 
said  the  king, — "  I  think  thou  hast  lost  thy  wits." 
"  Yes,  sire,"  replied  Bertrand,  mournfully  ;  "  I 
lost  them  that  day  the  valiant  young  king  died ! — 
then,  indeed,  I  lost  my  wits,  my  senses,  and  all 
wisdom."  At  this  allusion  to  his  son  the  king  burst 
into  tears,  and  nearly  swooned.  When  he  came  to 
himself  his  vengeance  had  departed  from  him. 
"  Sir  Bertrand,"  said  he,  "  Sir  Bertrand,  thou 
mightest  well  lose  thy  wits  because  of  my  son,  for 
he  loved  thee  more  than  any  other  man  upon  earth  ; 
and  I,  for  love  of  him,  give  thee  thy  hfe,  thy  prop- 
erty, thy  castle."  ^  The  details  of  this  singular 
scene  may  have  been  slightly  overcolored  by  the 
warm  poetical  imagination  of  the  south,  but  that 
Henry  pardoned  his  inveterate  enemy  is  a  histo- 
rical fact,  which  shows  how  superior  he  was  in  the 
quality  of  mercy  to  Beauclerk,  when  acting  under 
much  slighter  provocation,^  and  which  ought  to  be 
carefully  preserved,  in  justice  to  his  memory. 

If  Bertrand  de  Born  was  a  villain,  he  was  a  most 
accomplished  one  :  he  appears  to  have  excelled  all 
his  contemporaries  in  insinuation,  elegance,  and 
address,  in  versatility  of  talent,  and  abundance  of 
resource.*  Attempts  have  been  made  to  set  off  his 
patriotism  against  his  treachery ;  and  it  has  been 
hinted,  that  while  laboring  to  free  his  native  country 
from  the  yoke  of  the  Enghsh  king,  he  was  justi- 

1  The  dialect  spoken  in  the  south  of  France,  where,  instead  of 
out  (yes),  they  said  oc  :  hence  the  name  of  the  part  of  this  district, 
still  called  Languedoc.  The  rest  of  France  was  called  Langue-d'oui, 
or  Langue-d'oyl. 

-  Po6sies  des  Troubadours,  Collection  de  Raynouard. — MiUot,  Hist. 
Litt6raire  des  Troubadours. 

3  See  ante,  p.  405,  for  the  death  of  Luke  de  Barr6. 

♦  We  learn  from  Dante,  who  seems  to  have  been  forcibly  impressed 
with  his  strange  character,  that  besides  poems  on  other  subjects.  Sir 
Bertrand  "treated  of  war,  which  no  Italian  poet  had  yet  dune.'' 
(Arma  vero  nullum  Italum  adhuc  poetasse  invenio.) — De  Vulg.  Eloq. 
Bertrand  left  a  son  of  the  same  name,  who  was  also  a  poet,  and  who 
satirised  King  John. 


liable  in  making  use  of  whatever  means  he  could. 
It  is,  perhaps,  difficult  to  fix  precise  limits  to  what 
may  be  done  in  such  a  cause  ;  but  though  we  may 
affect  to  admire  the  conduct  of  the  elder  Brutus, 
who  slew  his  own  son  for  the  liberties  of  Rome,  we 
doubt  whether  the  sympathies  of  our  nature  will 
not  always  be  against  the  man  who  armed  the  sons 
of  another  against  their  father's  life.  Such  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  sentiment  of  the  time  ;  and 
Dante,  who  wrote  about  120  years  after  the  event, 
and  who  merely  took  up  the  popular  legend,  placed 
Bertrand  de  Born  in  one  of  the  worst  circles  of 
hell.i 

Prince  Geoffrey  sought  his  father's  pardon  soon 
after  the  death  of  his  brother  Henry,  and  abandoned 
the  insurgents  of  Aquitaine,  who  then  saw  them- 
selves opposed  to  a  united  family  (for  Richard  was 
as  yet  true  to  his  last  oaths),  whose  unnatural 
divisions  had  hitherto  proved  their  main  strength 
and  encouragement.  The  confederacy,  no  longer 
formidable,  was  partly  broken  up  by  the  victorious 
arms  of  the  king,  and  partly  dissolved  of  itself.  A 
momentary  reconciliation  took  place  between  Henry 
and  Eleanor,  who  was  released  for  a  short  time  to 
be  present  at  a  solemn  meeting,  wherein  "  peace 
and  final  concord"  was  established  between  the 
king  and  his  sons,  and  confirmed  by  "  wi-iting  and 
by  sacrament."  ^  In  this  transaction  Prince  John 
was  included,  who  had  hitherto  been  too  young  to 
wield  the  sword  against  his  father.  The  family 
concord  lasted  only  a  few  months,  when  GeofiVey 
demanded  the  earldom  of  Anjou ;  and,  on  receiving 
his  father's  refusal,  withdrew  to  the  French  court, 
to  prepare  for  another  war.  But  soon  after  (in 
August,  1186)  his  turbulent  career  was  cut  short 
at  a  tournament,  where  he  was  dismounted  and 
trampled  to  death  under  the  feet  of  the  horses  of 
the  other  knights  engaged  in  the  lists.  Louis  VII., 
the  soft  and  incompetent  rival  of  Henry,  had  now 
been  dead  several  years,  and  his  son  Philip  II.,  a 
young  and  active  prince,  sat  on  the  throne  of  France 
— anxious,  and  far  more  able  than  his  father  had 
been,  to  diminish  the  English  monarch's  power  on 
the  continent.  He  buried  Geoffrey  with  great 
pomp,  and  then  invited  to  his  court  his  brother 
Richard,  the  Lion-hearted,  who  was  to  hate  him 
with  a  deadly  hatred  in  after  years,  but  who  now 
accepted  his  invitation,  and  lived  with  him  on  the 
most  affectionate  terms,  "  eating  at  the  same  table, 
and  out  of  the  same  dish  by  day,  and  sleeping  in 
,the  same  bed  by  night;"* — things  which  were 
j  either  the  common  practice  of  princes  who  wished 
I  to  display  their  affectionate  regard  for  each  other, 
I  or  the  common  and  received  expression  of  the 
I  chroniclers  to  denote  the  extreme  of  royal  friend- 
ship. King  Henry  well  knew  that  this  friendship 
betokened  mischief  to  him,  and  he  sent  repeated 
messages  to  recall  Richard,  who  always  replied  that 
he  was  coming,  without  hastening  his  departure. 
At  last  he  moved,  but  it  was  only  to  surprise  and 

I  Inferno,  Canto  xxviii.  The  passage  is  terrific,  and  one  of  the 
most  characteristic  in  the  whole  poem. 

3  Scripto  et  Sacramento. — Rog.  Hoved. 

3  Singulis  diebus  in  una  mens&  ad  unum  catinum  manducabant,  et 
in  noctibus  non  separabat  eos  lectus. — Rog.  Hoved. 


460 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


seize  a  treasure  of  his  father,  deposited  at  Chinon,  1 
aud  then  to  raise  the  banner  o£  revolt  once  more  in 
Aquitaine.  But  this  time  his  standard  failed  to 
attract  a  dispirited  people,  and  he  was  fain  to  ac- 
cept his  father's  pardon.  Ilenrj',  who  had  seen  so 
many  oaths  disregarded,  made  him  swear  fealty 
upon  this  occasion  on  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Evange- 
lists, in  the  presence  of  a  great  assembly  of  church- 
men and  laymen. 

A.  D.  1188.  The  misfortunes  of  the  Christians  m 
the  Holy  Land  were  the  means  of  producing  a 
brief  peace  between  Henry  and  Philip,  who  had 
been  waging  an  insignificant  war  with  each  other, 
and  preparing  for  more  decisive  hostilities.  Jeru- 
salem had  fallen  again  before  the  Mahoraedan 
crescent,  in  the  September  of  the  preceding  year  ; 
the  reigning  pontiff  was  said  to  have  died  of  grief 
at  the  news ;  and  the  new  Pope  called  upon  all 
Christian  princes  to  rescue  the  tomb  of  Christ  and 
the  wood  of  the  true  cross,  which  latter,  it  was  said, 
had  been  carried  away  by  the  victorious  Saladiu. 
No  one  responded  to  the  appeal  more  promptly 
and  enthusiastically  than  Henry,  Avho,  at  once,  de- 
clared himself  willing  to  quit  his  kingdom  and  all 
his  states,  and  proceed  with  an  army  to  Asia.  A 
well-settled  peace  with  France  was,  however,  an 
indispensable  preliminary ;  and  Philip  being  also 
pi-essed  by  the  Pope  to  take  the  cross,  an  inter- 
view for  the  settlement  of  all  differences  Avas  easily 
arranged.  The  two  kings  met  in  the  month  of 
January,  at  the  usual  place  between  Trie  and 
Gisors,  near  to  the  old  elm-tree.  William,  the  elo- 
quent and  enthusiastic  archbishop  of  Tyre,  attended 
the  meeting,  with  many  bishops  and  priests,  of 
whom  some  had  witnessed  the  reverses  and  dan- 
gers of  the  Christians  in  Palestine.  Roger  of 
Hoveden,  the  most  entertaining  and  judicious  of  the 
contemporary  chroniclers,  attributes  to  the  arch- 
bishop's preaching  the  converting  of  the  two  princes, 
who  had  been  such  bitter  enemies,  into  friends  and 
allies.  Henry  and  Philip  swore  to  be  "  brothers  in 
arms  for  the  cause  of  God ;"  and  in  sign  of  their 
voluntary  engagement,  each  took  the  cross  from  the 
bands  of  the  Archbishop  of  Tyre,  and  attached  it  to 
his  dress,  swearing  never  to  quit  it  or  neglect  the 
duties  of  a  soldier  of  Christ,  "either  upon  land  or 
sea,  in  town  or  in  the  field,"  '  until  his  victorious 
return  to  his  home.  Many  of  the  gi-eat  vassals  of 
both  monarchs  followed  their  masters'  example,  and 
took  the  same  oaths. 

The  crosses  given  to  the  King  of  France  and  his 
people  were  red ;  those  distributed  to  the  King  of 
England  and  his  people  were  white.  Richard,  who 
was  to  connect  his  name  inseparabty  with  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Crusades,  had  neither  waited  for  his 
father's  example  nor  permission,  but  had  taken  the 
cross  some  time   before.^     The  old  elm-tree  wit- 

1  Script.  Rer.  Franc. 

s  Nor  was  this  the  first  time  the  king  talked  of  going  to  the  Holy 
Land.  Several  years  before,  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  offered  him 
that  kingdom,  with  the  keys  of  the  city  and  of  the  holy  sepulchre. 
Henry,  who  was  not  then  carried  away  by  the  popular  enthusiasm, 
referred  the  matter  to  an  assembly  of  his  bishops  and  barons,  who, 
mott  wisely,  determined  that,  "  for  the  good  of  his  own  soul,"  he  would 
do  much  better  by  remaining  at  home  and  taking  care  of  his  own 
subjects. 


nessed  another  solemn  peace,  which  was  about  as 
lasting  as  its  predecessors ;  and  Henry  returned  to 
England  evidently  with  a  sincere  desire  of  keeping 
it  on  his  part,  and  making  ready  for  the  Holy  War. 
In  the  month  of  February,  he  called  together  a 
great  council  of  the  kingdom,  at  Gidington,  in 
Northamptonshire,  to  provide  ways  and  means,  for 
money  was  much  wanted,  and  a  royal  crusade  was 
always  so  expensive  an  undertaking  as  to  demand 
the  consent  and  cooperation  of  all  the  vassals  of  the 
crown.  The  barons,  both  lay  and  ecclesiastic, 
readily  enacted  that  a  tenth  of  all  rents  for  one 
year,  and  a  tenth  of  all  the  moveable  property  in 
the  land,  with  the  exception  of  the  books  of  the 
clergy,  and  the  arms  and  horses  of  the  knights, 
should  be  levied  to  meet  the  expenses.  The  lords 
of  manors  who  engaged  to  accompany  the  king  in 
person  were  permitted  to  receive  the  assessments 
of  their  own  vassals  and  tenants ;  but  those  of  all 
others  were  to  be  paid  into  the  royal  exchequer. 
It  appears  that  no  more  than  70,000L  was  raised  ia 
this  manner.  To  make  up  the  deficiency,  Henry 
had  recourse  to  extortion  and  violent  measures 
against  the  Jews,  whom  he  had  hitherto  treated 
with  laudable  consideration  and  leniency ;  and  from 
that  oppressed  fragment  of  an  imhappy  people  he 
procured  60,000^.,  or  almost  as  much  money  as  he 
got  from  all  the  rest  of  his  kingdom  put  together. 
Nominally,  the  tax  was  levied  upon  the  Jews  at 
the  rate  of  one-fourth  of  their  personal  property. 
Another  council  of  bishops,  abbots,  and  lay  barons, 
held  at  Mans,  regulated  the  tax  for  Henry's  con- 
tinental dominions ;  but  we  are  not  informed  what 
amount  was  actually  raised  in  them.  It  was  estab- 
lished, on  both  sides  of  the  Channel,  that  clerks 
(priests),  knights,  and  serjeants-at-arms,  should  be 
exempted  on  taking  the  cross  ;  but  that  all  burgesses 
and  peasants  joining  the  crusading  army,  without 
the  express  permission  of  their  lords,'  should  be 
made  to  pay  their  tenths,  even  as  if  they  had  staid 
at  home.* 

But  the  money  wrung  from  Jew  and  Gentile  was 
never  spent  against  the  Turk.  "  The  malice  of 
the  ancient  enemy  of  mankind,"  sajs  the  honest 
chronicler,  "  was  not  asleep  ;"  ^  and  he  goes  on  to 
deplore  how  that  infernal  malice  turned  the  oaths 
of  Christian  princes  into  a  mockery,  and  relit  the 
flames  of  war  among  Christian  people  on  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe.  The  fiery  Richard  appears  to  have 
been  the  first  cause  of  this  new  commotion,  in  which 
the  French  king  soon  took  a  part.  Another  con- 
ference was  agreed  upon,  and  the  two  kings  again 
met  under  the  petaceful  shadow  of  the  elm ;  they 
could  not,  however,  agree  as  to  terms  of  accommo- 
dation ;  and  Philip,  venting  his  spite  on  the  tree, 
swore  by  all  the  saints  of  France  that  no  more 
parleys  should  be  held  there,  and  cut  it  down.* 
Had  causes  of  dissension  been  wanting,  the  ingenuity 
of  the  King  of  France  and  the  jealous  impatience 
of  Richard  would,  in  all  probability,  have  raised 
imaginary  wrongs ;  but  unfortunately  for  the  fame 
of  Henry,  there  was  a  real  existing  cause,  and  one 


1  "  Sine  licenti4  dominornm." 
s  Roger  Hoved.  3  Id. 


*  Id. — Script.  Rer.  Franc 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


461 


singularly  calculated  to  excite  and  unite  those  two 
princes  against  him,  or,  at  least  on  Richard's  side, 
to  serve  as  a  not  unpopular  pretext  for  hostility, 
while  it  loaded  his  father  with  dark  and  almost  un- 
avoidable suspicions.  Richard,  when  a  child,  had 
been  affianced,  as  already  mentioned,  to  the  infant 
Alix,  or  Adelais,  of  France.  Henry  had  obtained 
possession  of  the  person  of  the  royal  infant,  and  of 
part  of  her  dowry,  and  had  kept  both.  By  the  time 
the  parties  were  of  proper  age  for  the  completion 
of  the  marriage,  Richard  was  at  open  war  with  his 
father;  but  it  is  curious  to  remark,  that  at  none  of 
the  numerous  peaces  and  reconciliations  was  there 
any  deep  anxiety  shown  either  by  her  spouse 
Richard  or  her  father  King  Louis,  or  her  brother 
Philip,  about  the  fate  of  the  fair  Adelais,  who  re- 
mained sometimes  ostensibly  as  a  hostage,  but,  of 
late  years,  in  a  very  ambiguous  situation,  at  the 
court  of  Henry.  A  report,  true  or  false,  had  got 
abroad  that  the  king  was  enamored  of  her  person, 
and  when  he  made  an  unsuccessful  application  to 
the  church  of  Rome  for  a  divorce  from  Richard's 
mother,  Eleanor,  it  was  believed  that  he  had  taken 
the  step  in  order  to  espouse  Richard's  affianced 
bride.  Of  late,  however.  King  Philip,  feeling  that 
the  reputation  of  his  sister  was  committed,  had 
repeatedly  urged  that  Adelais  should  be  given  to 
Richard,  and  the  marriage  completed ;  and  the 
church  of  Rome  had  even  threatened  Henry  with 
its  severest  censures  in  case  of  his  resisting  this 
demand.  An  air  of  mystery  involves  the  whole 
story  and  every  part  of  it :  how  Henry  evaded  the 
demand  we  know  not,  but  of  this  we  are  perfectly 
well  informed,  that  he  had  detained  the  lady, — that 
no  consequences  had  ensued  therefrom  on  the  part 
of  the  Pope, — and  that  Philip  had  even  made  peace 
more  than  once,  and  had  vowed  eternal  friendship 
to  him  while  he  was  thus  detaining  her.  If  Richard 
credited  the  worst  part  of  the  current  reports  (as 
he  afterward  averred  he  did),  he  was  not  likely 
to  feel  anything  but  the  strongest  aversion  to  the 
marriage.  Affection  for  his  affianced  bride  was, 
however,  a  very  colorable  pretext ;  and  as  he  was 
now  haunted  by  a  more  real  and  serious  uneasiness, 
— namely,  by  the  belief  that  his  father  destined  the 
English  crown  for  his  youngest  son  John, — he  set 
this  plea  forward  in  justification  of  his  rebellion,  and 
cooperated  heart  and  hand  with  the  French  king. 
If  the  stipulations  and  engagements  entered  into 
had  been  observed  with  anything  Hke  decency,  we 
should  be  inclined  to  praise  the  wisdom  of  these 
princes  in  staying  the  ravages  of  war,  and  having 
such  frequent  recourse  to  conferences  and  con- 
gi-esses.  In  the  month  of  November  in  this  same 
year  (a.  d.  1188),  another  conference  was  held, 
not,  however,  between  Trie  and  Gisors,  but  near  to 
Bonmouhns  in  Normandy.  Philip  proposed  that 
Adelais  should  be  given  up  to  Richard,  and  that 
Henry  should  declare  that  prince  heir,  not  only  to 
his  kingdom  of  England,  but  also  to  all  his  con- 
tinental dominions,  and  cause  his  vassals  imme- 
diately to  swear  fealty  to  Richard.  Henry,  who 
could  not  forget  the  miseries  he  had  suffered  in 
consequence    of  elevating  his   eldest    son   in   this 


manner,  resolutely  refused  the  latter  proposition. 
A  violent  altercation  ensued,  and  ended  in  a  manner 
which  sufficiently  proved  that  Richard  was  think- 
ing little  of  the  first  proposition  or  of  his  bride. 
Tm-ning  from  his  father,  he  furiously  exclaimed, 
"  This  forces  me  to  believe  that  which  I  before 
deemed  impossible"  (that  is,  the  report  concern- 
ing his  younger  brother  John).  He  then  ungirded 
his  sword,  and  kneeling  at  the  feet  of  King  Philip, 
and  placing  his  hands  between  his,  said, — "  To  you, 
sire,  I  commit  the  protection  of  myself  and  my 
hereditary  rights,  and  to  you  I  do  homage  for  all 
my  father's  dominions  on  this  side  the  sea."  Like 
the  rest  of  his  brothers,  he  had  done  homage  to 
the  French  crown  on  other  occasions ;  but  this 
scene  was  attended  with  peculiar  and  exasperating 
circumstances,  and  the  declaration  of  Richard  was 
meant  to  imply  that,  by  force  of  arms,  and  with  the 
aid  of  Philip,  he  would  seize,  not  one  or  two  states, 
but  everything  Henry  possessed  from  the  Seine 
to  the  Pyrenees.  Philip  ostentatiously  accepted 
his  homage,  and  made  him  a  present  grant  of  some 
towns  and  castles  he  had  captured  from  his  father. 
Henry,  violently  agitated,  rushed  from  the  scene, 
and,  mounting  his  horse,  rode  away  to  Saumur,  to 
prepare  for  the  further  prosecution  of  the  inter- 
minable war.'  But  his  iron  frame  now  felt  the 
inroads  of  disease  and  grief;  his  activity  and  de- 
cision at  last  forsook  him,  and,  relying  on  exertions 
making  in  his  favor  by  the  Pope's  legate,  he  re- 
mained supine  while  Philip  and  Richard  took  sev- 
eral of  his  towns  and  seduced  many  of  his  knights. 
Even  at  this  extremity,  the  good  people  of  Nor- 
mandy were  faithful  to  him,  and,  wishing  to  secure 
that  duchy  for  his  favorite  son,  of  whose  love  and 
faith  he  had  never  doubted,  he  was  careful  to 
procure  an  oath  from  the  seneschal  of  Normandy 
that  he  would  deliver  the  fortresses  of  that  province 
to  John  in  case  of  his  death.  The  church  was  on 
this  occasion  zealously  engaged  on  the  side  of 
Henry,  and  both  the  French  king  and  his  son 
Richard  were  threatened  with  excommunication. 
Though  elated  by  unusual  success,  Philip  was 
obliged  to  consent  to  another  conference  for  ar- 
ranging a  peace.  The  meeting  took  place  in  the 
month  of  June  in  the  following  year  (a.  d.  1189),  at 
La  Ferte-Bernard,  and  Richard,  John  of  Anagni, 
cardinal  and  legate,  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury, 
Rouen,  Rheims,  and  Bourges,  were  present.  Philip 
proposed  the  same  conditions  as  at  the  conference 
of  Boumoulins  seven  months  before ;  Henry,  who 
had  been  hurt  in  every  feeling  by  Richard  in  the 
interval,  rejected  them,  and  proposed  that  Adelais 
should  be  united  to  his  dutiful  son  John, — an  over- 
ture that  tends  to  shake  the  credibility  of  the 
existing  scandal  even  more  than  does  the  circum- 
stance of  Henry's  advanced  age.  Should  Philip 
agree  to  this  arrangement  he  declared  his  readiness 
to  name  Prince  John  heir  to  his  continental  domin- 
ions,— a  distribution  which  he  seems  to  have  long 
contemplated.  But  Philip  would  not  enter  into 
the  new  plan,  or  abandon  Richard,  who  was  pres- 
ent, and  joined  the  French  king  in  violent  abuse  of 

1  Hoved. — Diceto. — Script.  Rer.  Franc. 


462 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


his  father.  Jolin  of  Anagui,  the  cardinal-legate, 
then  threatened  to  put  the  kingdom  of  France 
under  an  interdict;  but  these  menaces,  at  times  all- 
prevalent,  depended  much  for  their  effect  on  cir- 
cumstances and  the  character  of  the  princes  to 
whom  they  were  addressed.  Philip  had  boldness 
enough  to  despise  them :  he  even  accused  the 
legate  to  his  face  of  partial  and  venal  motives  ;  tell- 
ing him  it  was  easy  to  perceive  he  had  already 
scented  the  pounds  sterhng  of  the  English  king.' 
Richard,  who  was  never  exemplary  for  command 
of  temper,  went  still  further :  he  drew  his  sword 
against  the  cardinal,  and  would  have  cut  him  down 
but  for  the  timely  interposition  of  some  more  mode- 
rate members  of  the  party. 

Henry  again  rode  away  from  the  conference,  and 
this  time  with  a  desponding  heart.  The  people  of 
Aquitaine,  Poictou,  and  Brittany  were  induced  to 
rise  in  mass  against  their  now  falling  master  ;  and 
under  the  command  of  Richard  they  fell  upon  him 
on  the  west  and  south,  while  the  French  king 
attacked  him  in  Anjou  on  the  north.  He  had  on 
former  occasions  made  head  against  almost  equally 
formidable  confederacies,  but  the  strength  of  frame, 
the  eagle-glance,  and  the  buoyancy  of  spirits  which 
had  then  carried  him  through  a  victor,  were  now 
crippled  and  dimmed  by  sickness  and  sorrow.  His 
barons  continued  their  open  desertions  or  secret 
treachery,  and  at  last  he  was  induced  to  solicit 
peace,  with  the  offer  of  resigning  himself  to  what- 
ever terms  Philip  and  Richard  should  propose.^ 
The  two  monarchs  met  on  a  plain  between  Tours 
and  Azay-sur-Cher  :  it  appears  that  Richard  did 
not  attend  to  witness  the  humiliation  of  his  father, 
but  expected  the  issue  of  the  negotiations  at  a 
short  distance.  While  the  kings  were  conversing 
together  in  the  open  field  and  on  horseback,  a  loud 
peal  of  thunder  was  heard,  though  the  sky  ap- 
peared cloudless,  and  the  lightning  fell  between 
them,  but  without  hurting  them.  They  separated 
in  great  alarm,  but  after  a  brief  space  met  again. 
Then  a  second  peal  of  thunder  more  awful  than 
the  first  rolled  over  their  heads.  The  state  of 
Henry's  health  rendered  him  more  nervous  than 
his  young  and  then  triumphant  rival :  he  dropped 
the  reins,  and  reeling  in  his  saddle,  would  have 
fallen  from  his  horse  had  not  his  attendants  sup- 
ported him.^  He  recovered  his  self-possession, 
but  he  was  too  ill  to  renew  the  conference ;  and 
the  humiliating  conditions  of  peace,  reduced  to 
writing,  were  sent  to  his  quarters  for  his  signature. 
It  was  stipulated  that  Henry  should  pay  an  in- 
demnity of  twenty  thousand  marks  to  Philip,  re- 
nounce all  his  rights  of  sovereignty  over  the  town 
of  Berry,  and  submit  in  all  things  to  his  decisions  ;* 
that  he  should  permit  all  his  vassals,  both  English 
and  continental,  to  do  homage  to  Richard  ;  that  all 
such  barons  as  had  espoused  Richard's  party  should 

'  Jam  sterlingos  regis  Anglise  olfecerat. — Rog.  Hoved. — Matt.  Par. 

3  Rog.  Iloved. — Script.  Rer.  Franc.  3  Rog.  Iloved. 

♦  "Ex  toto  se  posuit  in  voluntatc  regis  Franciae,"  says  Roger  of 
Hoveden.  Except  in  one  clause  the  name  of  England  seems  hardly 
I  >  have  been  mentioned;  and  this  submission  was  evidently  limited 
to  the  continental  dominions,  over  which  (at  least  in  theory)  the 
authority  of  the  French  crown  was  always  extensive. 


be  censidered  the  liege-men  and  vassals  of  the  son, 
unless  they  voluntarily  chose  to  return  to  the  father; 
that  he  should  deliver  Adelais  to  one  out  of  five 
persons  named  by  Richard,  who  at  the  return  of 
Philip  and  Richard  from  the  crusade  on  which  they 
proposed  to  depart  immediately  (there  was  no  longer 
any  talk  of  Henry's  going),  would  restore  her  in  all 
honor  either  to  her  brother  or  her  affianced ;  and 
finally,  that  he  should  give  the  kiss  of  peace  to 
Richard,  and  banish  from  his  heart  all  sentiments 
of  singer  and  animosity  against  him,' — a  clause 
better  fitted  for  a  sermon  than  for  a  treaty.  The 
envoys  of  the  French  king  read  the  treaty,  article 
by  article,  to  Henry  as  he  lay  suffering  on  his  bed. 
When  they  came  to  the  article  which  regarded  the 
vassals  who  had  deserted  him  to  join  Richard,  he 
asked  for  a  list  of  their  names.  The  list  was  given 
him,  and  the  very  first  name  upon  it  which  struck 
his  eye  was  that  of  his  darling  son  John,  of  whose 
base  treachery  he  had  hitherto  been  kept  happily 
ignorant.  The  broken-hearted  king  started  up  from 
his  bed  and  gazed  wildly  around.  "  Is  it  true,"  he 
cried,  "  that  John,  the  child  of  my  heart, — he 
whom  I  have  cherished  more  than  all  the  rest,  and 
for  love  of  whom  I  have  drawn  down  on  mine  own 
head  all  these  troubles,  hath  verily  betrayed 
me  ?"  They  told  him  it  was  even  so.  "  Now, 
then,"  he  exclaimed,  falling  back  on  his  bed,  and 
turning  his  face  to  the  wall,  "let  everything  go  as 
it  will — I  have  no  longer  care  for  myself  or  for  the 
world  !"  ^ 

Shortly  after  he  caused  himself  to  be  transported 
to  the  pleasant  town  of  Chiuon  f  but  those  favorite 
scenes  made  no  impression  on  his  profound  melan- 
choly and  hopelessness  of  heart,  and  in  a  few  days 
he  laid  himself  down  to  die.  In  his  last  moments, 
as  his  intellects  wandered,  he  was  heard  uttering 
unconnected  exclamations.  "  Oh  shame  !"  he  cried, 
"a  conquered  king!  I,  a  conquered  king! . . .  Cvu'sed 
be  the  day  on  which  I  was  born,  and  cursed  of  God 
the  children  I  leave  behind  me  !"  Some  priests 
exhorted  the  disordered,  I'aving  man  to  retract  these 
curses,  but  he  would  not.  He  was  sensible,  how- 
ever, to  the  affection  and  unwearying  attentions  of 
his  natural  son  Geoffrey,  Avho  had  been  faithful  to 
him  through  life,  and  who  received  his  last  sigh.  As 
soon  as  the  breath  was  out  of  his  body  all  the  min- 
isters, priests,  bishops,  and  barons,  that  had  waited 
so  long,  took  a  hurried  departure,  and  his  personal 
attendants  followed  the  example  of  their  betters, 
but  not  before  they  had  stripped  his  dead  body,  and 
seized  everything  of  any  value  in  the  apartment 
where  he  died. 

The  disrespect  and  utter  abandonment  which  had 
followed  the  demise  of  the  great  Conqueror  102 
years  before,  were  repeated  toward  the  corpse  of 
his  great-gi-andson.  It  was  not  without  delay  and 
difficulty  that  people  were  found  to  wrap  the  body 
in  a  winding-sheet,   and  a   hearse   and   horses  to 

1  Rog.  Hoved. — Script.  Rer.  Franc. 

-  Script.  Rer.  Franc.  "  Iteruin  se  lecto  reddens,  et  faciem  suani  ad 
parietem  vertens,"  &c. 

3  Chinon,  beautifully  situated  on  the  river  Loire,  was  the  French 
Windsor  of  our  Norman  kings,  and  Fontevraud,  at  the  distance  of 
about  seven  miles  (to  the  south),  their  favorite  place  of  burial. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


463 


convey  it  to  the  Abbey  of  Fontevraud.^  While  it 
was  on  its  way  to  receive  the  last  rites  of  sepulture, 
Richard,  who  had  learned  the  news  of  his  father's 
death,  met  the  procession,  and  accompanied  it  to 
the  church.  Here,  as  the  dead  king  lay  stretched 
on  the  bier,  his  face  was  uncovered  that  his  son 
might  look  upon  it  for  the  last  time.  Marked  as  it 
was  with  the  awful  expression  of  a  long  agony,  he 
gazed  on  it  in  silence,  and  shuddered.  He  then 
knelt  and  prayed  before  the  altar,  but  only  for  "  a 
modicum  of  time,  or  about  as  long  as  it  takes  to  say 
the  Lord's  Prayer ;"  and  when  the  funeral  was 
over,  he  quitted  the  church,  and  entered  it  not  again 
until  that  hour  when,  cut  off  in  the  full  strength 
and  pride  of  manhood,  he  was  carried  thither  a 
corpse  to  be  laid  at  the  feet  of  his  father.^  It  was 
a  popular  superstition  which  the  Normans  as  well 
as  the  Anglo-Saxons  had  derived  from  their  common 
ancestors,  the  Scandinavians,  that  the  body  of  the 
dead  would  bleed  in  presence  of  its  murderer ;  and 
more  than  one  chronicler  of  the  time  avers  that  this 
miracle  was  seen  at  the  church  of  Fontevraud, 
where  (say  they),  from  the  moment  that  Richard 
entered  until  that  in  which  he  departed,  the  king 
never  ceased  to  bleed  at  both  nostrils,  —  "  the  very 
corse,  as  it  were,  abhorring  and  accusing  him  for 
his  unnatural  behavior."*  The  story  at  least  shows 
in  what  light  the  conduct  of  Henry's  sons  was  re- 
garded by  their  contemporaries.  On  the  day  of 
Henry's  death  (July  6th,  1189)  he  was  in  the  fifty- 
seventh  year  of  his  age,  and  had  reigned  over  Eng- 
land thirty-four  years,  seven  lunar  months,  and  five 
days,  counting  from  the  day  of  his  coronation.*  This 
long  reign  had  been  highly  beneficial  to  the  country  ; 
with  a  few  brief  exceptions,  peace  had  been  main- 
tained in  the  interior,  and  there  is  good  evidence  to 
show  that  the  condition  of  the  people  generally  had 
been  elevated  and  improved.  The  king's  personal 
character  has  been  differently  represented,  some 
dwelling  only  on  its  bright  qualities,  and  others  lay- 
ing all  their  emphasis  on  his  vices,  which,  in  truth, 
were  neither  few  in  number  nor  moderate  in  their 
nature,  although,  for  the  most  part,  common  attri- 
butes to  the  princes  of  those  ages,  few  of  whom  had 
his  redeeming'  virtues  and  splendid  abilities.  To 
say  with  Hume  that  his  character,  in  private  as  well 
as  in  public  life,  was  almost  without  a  blemish,  is  a 
manifest  defying  of  the  testimony  and  authority  of 
contemporary  history ;  but  yet,  when  every  fair 
deduction  is  made,  he  will  remain  indisputably  an 
illustrious  prince,  and  a  man  possessed  of  many 
endearing  qualities.  We  will  briefly  state  his  vices 
as  portrayed  by  one  party,  and  then  give  his  picture, 
both  physical  and  moral,  as  painted  by  an  admiring 
friend.  , 

He  was  exceedingly  ambitious  of  dominion,  and 
accustomed  to  repeat,  in  his  prosperity,  that  the 
whole  world  was  but  portion  enough  for  one  great 
man.     His  lust  was  boundless,  and  he  set  no  hmits 

1  Script.  Rer.  Franc. — Girald. — Ang.  Sac. — Rog.  Hoved. 

a  Script.  Rer.  Franc. 

3  Benedict.  Abbas.— Script.  Rer.  Franc— Rog.  Iloved.— Speed. 
Chron. 

*  R.  Diceto. — Rog.  Iloved.— Sir  Harris  Nicolas,  Chronology  of 
History. 


to  the  gratification  of  that  passion.  His  dissimula- 
tion, duplicity,  and  disregard  for  truth,  when  he  had 
any  political  purpose  to  serve,  were  all  extreme  :  no 
trust  could  be  placed  in  his  promises ;  he  was  wont 
to  say  himself,  that  it  was  better  to  repent  of  words 
broken  than  of  deeds  done ;  and  Cardinal  Vivian, 
who  had  frequent  intercourse  with  him,  said  of  him, 
that  he  had  never  met  his  equal  in  lying.  He  was 
jealous  of  every  species  of  authority,  —  anxious  to 
concentrate  all  power  within  his  own  person, — and 
to  depress  and  degrade  the  nobles  of  the  land.  [This 
last  accusation  arose  inevitably  out  of  his  successful 
efforts  to  curb  the  baronial  power.]  Though  a  kind 
and  generous  master,  and  a  warm  and  steady  friend, 
he  was  a  most  vindictive  enemy  [a  fact  certainly  not 
borne  out  by  the  history  of  his  life] .  He  could  not 
bear  contradiction.  He  was  irascible  beyond  meas- 
ure [this  is  admitted  by  his  warmest  admirers],  and 
was  not  to  be  approached  without  danger  in  his  mo- 
ments of  passion.  When  under  one  of  his  parox- 
ysms, he  was  more  like  a  wild  beast  than  a  man  ;  his 
eyes  were  blood-shot,  his  face  like  fire,  his  tongue 
abusive  and  blasphemous,  his  hands  most  mischiev- 
ous, striking  and  tearing  whatever  came  in  his  way. 
On  one  occasion  he  flew  at  a  page  to  tear  out  his 
eyes,  and  the  boy  did  not  escape  without  some  ugly 
scratches.^ 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  friendly  picture  of  Peter 
of  Blois, — as  curious,  as  elaborate,  and  as  character- 
istic a  portrait  as  ever  was  painted  of  a  king.  It 
occurs  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Palermo,  and  written  in  the  latter  part  of  Henry's 
reign  : — 

"  You  are  aware,"  says  the  minute  Peter,  "  that 
his  complexion  and  hair  inclined  to  red ;  but  the 
approach  of  old  age  hath  somewhat  altered  this,  and 
the  hair  is  turning  gray.  He  is  of  middle  size,  such 
that  among  short  men  he  seems  tall,  and  even  among 
tall  ones,  not  the  least  in  stature.  His  head  is  spher- 
ical, as  if  it  were  the  seat  of  great  wisdom  and  the 
special  sanctuary  of  deep  schemes.  In  size  it  is 
such  as  to  correspond  well  with  the  neck  and  whole 
body.  His  eyes  are  round,  and,  while  he  is  calm, 
dove-like  and  quiet ;  but  when  he  is  angry,  they 
flash  fire,  and  are  hke  lightning.  His  hair  is  not 
grown  scant,  but  he  keeps  it  well  cut.  His  face  is 
lion-like  and  almost  square.  His  nose  projects  in  a 
degree  proportionate  to  the  symmetry  of  his  whole 
body.  His  feet  are  arched  ;  his  shins  like  a  horse's  ^ 
his  broad  chest  and  brawny  arms  proclaim  him  to  be 
strong,  active,  and  bold.  In  one  of  his  toes,  however, 
part  of  the  nail  grows  into  the  flesh,  and  increases 
enormously  to  the  injury  of  the  whole  foot.  His 
hands,  by  their  coarseness,  show  the  man's  care- 
lessness ;  he  wholly  neglects  all  attention  to  them, 
and  never  puts  a  glove  on,  except  he  is  hawking. 
He  every  day  attends  mass,  councils,  and  other 
public  business,  and  stands  on  his  feet  from  morning 
till  night.  Though  his  shins  are  terribly  wounded 
and  discolored  by  constant  kicks  from  horses,  he 
never  sits  down  except  on  horseback,  or  when  he 

1  Epist.  St.  Thom.-Girald.—Camh.— Script.  Rer.  Franc— Radul- 
phus  Niger  (apud  Wilkins,  Leg.  Sax.)  adds  still  darker  tints  ;  but  this 
writer  had  been  punished  and  banished  by  Henry. 


464 


HISTORY  OF  ExXGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


is  eating.  In  one  day,  if  need  requires,  he  will  per- 
form four  or  five  regular  days'  journeys,  and  by 
these  rapid  and  unexpected  movements  often  defeats 
his  enemies'  plans.  He  uses  straight  boots,  a  plain 
hat,  and  a  tight  dress.  He  is  very  fond  of  field- 
sports  ;  and  if  he  is  not  fighting,  amuses  himself  with 
hawking  and  hunting.  He  would  have  grown  en- 
ormously fat  if  he  did  not  tame  this  tendency  to 
belly  by  fasting  and  exercise.  In  mounting  a  horse 
and  riding,  he  preserves  all  the  lightness  of  youth, 
and  tires  out  the  strongest  men  by  his  excursions 
almost  every  day  ;  for  he  does  not,  like  other  kings, 
lie  idle  in  his  palace,  but  goes  through  his  provinces 
examining  into  every  one's  conduct,  and  particularly 
that  of  the  persons  whom  he  has  appointed  judges 
of  others.  No  one  is  shrewder  in  council,  readier 
in  speaking,  more  self-possessed  in  danger,  more 
careful  in  prosperity,  more  firm  in  adversity.  If  he 
once  forms  an  attachment  to  a  man,  he  seldom  gives 
him  up  ;  if  he  has  once  taken  a  real  aversion  to  a 
person,  he  seldom  admits  him  afterward  to  any 
familiarity.  He  has  forever  in  his  hands  bows, 
swords,  hunting-nets,  and  arrows,  except  he  is  at 
council  or  at  his  books ;  for  as  often  as  he  can  get 
breathing-time  from  his  cares  and  anxieties,  he  oc- 
cupies himself  with  private  reading,  or,  surrounded 
by  a  knot  of  clergymen,  endeavors  to  solve  some 
hard  question.  Your  king  knows  literature  well, 
but  ours  is  much  more  deeply  versed  in  it.  I  have 
had  opportunity  of  measuring  the  attainments  of 
each  in  literature  ;  for  you  know  the  King  of  Sicily 
was  my  pupil  for  two  years.  He  had  learnt  the 
rudiments  of  literature  and  versification ;  and,  by 
mj-  industry  and  anxiety,  reached  afterward  to  fuller 
knowledge.  As  soon,  however,  as  I  left  Sicily,  he 
threw  away  his  books,  and  gave  himself  up  to  the 
usual  idleness  of  palaces.  But  in  the  case  of  the 
King  of  England,  the  constant  conversation  of  learned 
men,  and  the  discussion  of  questions,  make  his  court 
a  daily  school.  No  one  can  be  more  dignified  in 
speaking,  more  cautious  at  table,  more  moderate  in 
drinking,  more  splendid  in  gifts,  more  generous  in 
alms.  He  is  pacific  in  heart,  victorious  in  war,  but 
glorious  in  peace,  which  he  desires  for  his  people 
as  the  most  precious  of  earthly  gifts.  It  is  with  a 
view  to  this,  that  he  receives,  collects,  and  dispenses 
such  an  immensity  of  money.  He  is  equally  skilful 
and  liberal  in  erecting  walls,  towers,  fortifications, 
moats,  and  places  of  inclosure  for  fish  and  birds.  His 
father  was  a  very  powerful  and  noble  count,  and  did 
much  to  extend  his  territory  ;  but  he  has  gone  far 
bej-ond  his  father,  and  has  added  the  dukedoms  of 
Normandy,  of  Aquitaine,  and  Brittany,  the  kingdoms 
of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  Wales,  so  as  to 
increase,  beyond  all  comparison,  the  titles  of  his 
fiither's  splendor.  No  one  is  more  gentle  to  the 
distressed,  more  aflltible  to  the  poor,  more  overbear- 
ing to  the  proud.  It  has  always,  indeed,  been  his 
study,  by  certain  carriage  of  himself  like  a  deity,  to 
put  down  the  insolent,  to  encourage  the  oppressed, 
and  to  repress  the  swellings  of  pride  by  continual 
and  deadly  persecution."^ 

»  We   avail   ourselves  of  the   translation   of  this   highlj-   curious 
passage  given  in  a  late  number  of  the  Quarterly  Revieiv. 


Besides  his  five  legitimate  sons,  of  whom  three 
preceded  him  to  the  grave,  Henry  had  three 
daughters  by  his  wife  Eleanor.  Matilda,  the  eldest, 
was  married  to  Henry,  Duke  of  Saxony,  Bavaria, 
Westphalia,  <S:c. ;  and  from  her  is  descended  the 
present  roj'al  fixmily  of  Great  Britain  :  Eleanor,  the 
second  daughter,  was  married  to  Alfonso  the  Good, 
King  of  Castile  ;  and  Joan,  the  youngest,  was  united 
to  William  II.,  King  of  Sicily,  a  prince  of  the  Nor- 
man line  of  Guiscard.  Two  of  his  natural  children 
have  obtained  the  general  notice  of  history  on  ac- 
count of  the  celebrity  of  their  mother,  and  of  their 
own  eminent  qualities.  The  first,  who  was  born 
while  Stephen  was  yet  on  the  throne  of  England, 
was  William,  surnamed  "  Longsword,"  who  mar- 
ried the  heiress  of  the  Earl  of  Sahsbury,  and  suc- 
ceeded to  the  high  titles  and  immense  estates  of 
that  baron  :  the  second  was  the  still  better  known 
GeofiVey,  who  was  born  about  the  time  when  Henry 
became  king,  and  who  was  made  Bishop  of  Lincoln 
at  a  very  early  age.  He  had  much  of  Henry's 
spirit  and  ability,  and,  if  an  indifferent  prelate,  he 
was  a  bold  and  successful  warrior  in  liis  nonage, 
when  (during  the  first  insurrection  promoted  by  his 
father's  legitimate  sons)  he  gained  in  the  north 
some  signal  advantages  for  the  king,  to  whom  he  and 
his  brother  William  Longsword  were  ever  faithful 
and  affectionate.  Geoffrey  was  subsequentlj-  made 
Chancellor,  when,  like  Becket  in  the  same  capacity, 
he  constantly  accompanied  the  king.  In  his  dying 
moments,  Henry  expressed  a  hope  or  a  wish  that 
he  might  be  made  Archbishop  of  York,  a  promotion 
which,  as  we  shall  find,  he  afterward  obtained. 

The  history  of  their  mother,  the  "  Fair  Rosa- 
mond," has  been  enveloped  in  romantic  traditions, 
which  have  scarcely  any  foundation  in  truth,  but 
which  have  taken  so  firm  a  hold  on  the  popular 
mind,  and  have  been  identified  with  so  much  poetry, 
that  it  is  neither  an  easy  nor  a  pleasant  task  to  dis- 
sipate the  fanciful  illusion,  and  unpeople  the  "bower" 
in  the  sylvan  shades  of  Woodstock.  Rosamond  de 
Clifford  was  the  daughter  of  a  baron  of  Hereford- 
shire, the  beautiful  site  of  whose  antique  castle,  in 
the  valley  of  the  Wye,  is  pointed  out  to  the  traveler 
between  the  town  of  the  Welsh  Hay  and  the  city 
of  Hereford,  at  a  point  where  the  most  romantic  of 
rivers,  after  foaming  through  its  rocky,  narrow  bed 
in  Wales,  sweeps  freely  and  tranquilly  through  an 
open  English  valley  of  surpassing  loveliness.  Henry 
became  enamored  of  her  in  his  youth,  before  he  was 
king,  and  the  connection  continued  for  many  years  ; 
but  long  before  his  death,  and  even  long  before  his 
quarrel  with  his  wife  and  legitimate  sons  ( with 
which,  it  appears,  she  had  nothing  to  do),  Rosa- 
mond retired,  to  lead  a  religious  and  penitent  life, 
into  the  "little  nunnery"  of  Godestow,  in  the  "rich 
meadows  of  Evenlod,  near  unto  Oxford." 

As  Henry  still  preserved  gentle  and  generous 
feelings  toward  the  object  of  his  youthful  and  ardent 
passion,  he  made  many  donations  to  the  "  little  nun- 
nery," on  her  account ;  and  when  she  died  (some 
time,  at  least,  before  the  first  rebellion),  the  nuns,  in 
gi-atitude  to  one  who  had  been  both  directly  and 
indirectly  their   benefactress,  buried   her  in  their 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


465 


Ruins  or  the  Ancient  Royal  Manor-House  of  Woodstock,  as  tliey  appeared  before  their  removal  in  1714. 


choir,  hung  a  silken  pall  over  her  tomb,  and  kept 
tapers  constantly  burning  around  it.  These  few 
lines,  we  believe,  comprise  all  that  is  really  known 
of  the  Fair  Rosamond.  The  legend,  so  fomiliar  to 
the  childhood  of  all  of  us,  was  of  later  and  gradual 
gi'owth,  not  being  the  product  of  one  imagination. 
The  chronicler  Brompton,  who  wrote  in  the  time 
of  Edward  III.,  or  more  than  a  century  and  a  half 
after  the  event,  gave  the  first  description  we  pos- 
sess of  the  secret  bower  of  Rosamond.  He  says, 
chat  in  order  that  she  might  not  be  "  easily  taken 
unawares  by  the  queen  "  (ne  forsan  a  regina  facile 
deprehenderetur)  Henry  constructed,  near  "  Wode- 
stoke,"  a  bower  for  this  "most  sightly  maiden" 
(  puellae  spectatissimse  ),  of  wonderful  contrivance, 
and  not  unhke  the  Daedalian  labyrinth ;  but  he 
speaks  only  of  a  device  against  surprise,  and  inti- 
mates, in  clear  terms,  that  Rosamond  died  a  natural 
death.  The  clue  of  silk,  and  the  poison-bowl 
forced  on  her  fair  and  gentle  rival  by  the  jealous 
and  revengeful  Eleanor,  were  additions  of  a  still 
more  modern  date. 

The  adventures  of  the  amiable  frail  one's  unof- 
fending bones  are  better  authenticated.  A  rigid 
bishop  caused  them  to  be  cast  out  of  the  church, 
and  interred  in  the  common  cemetery,  observing  to 
the  nuns,  that  the  tomb  of  a  harlot  was  no  fit  object 
for  a  choir  of  virgins  to  contemplate,  and  that  reli- 
gion made  no  distinction  between  the  mistress  of  a 
king  and  the  mistress  of  any  other  man.  But 
gratitude  rebelled  against  this  salutary  doctrine, 
und  the  virgin  sisterhood  of  Godestow  gathered  up 
the  remains,  perfumed  the  dry  bones,  laid  them 
again  in  their  church,  under  a  fair,  large  gravestone, 
VOL.  I.— -30 


and  set  up  a  cross  hard  by,  with  an  inscription,  im- 
ploring requiem  or  rest  for  Rosamond. 

Richard  I. — surnamed  Cceur  de  Lion. 

A.  D.  1189.  As  soon  as  his  father  was  buried, 
Richard  laid  hands  on  Stephen  of  Tours,  the  sene- 
schal of  Anjou  and  ti-easurer  to  Henry  II.  This 
unfortunate  officer  was  loaded  with  chains,  and 
thrown  into  a  dungeon,  from  which  he  was  not  re- 
leased until  he  delivered  up,  not  only  the  funds  of 
the  late  king,  but  his  own  money  also,  to  the  last 
penny  he  possessed.'  Letters  were  sent  over  to 
England  for  the  immediate  enlargement  of  the 
queen  dowager;  and,  on  quitting  her  prison,  Eleanor 
was  invested,  for  a  short  time,  with  the  office  of 
regent,  and  especially  charged  to  have  an  eye  on 
the  moneys  in  England.  Her  misfortunes  seem  for 
a  while  to  have  had  a  beneficial  effect  on  her  impe- 
rious character;  for,  during  her  brief  authority,  she 
relieved  the  people  by  many  works  of  mercy ;  re- 
leasing those  who  were  arbitrarily  detained  in  prison, 
pardoning  offences  against  the  crown,  moderating 
the  severity  of  the  forest-laws,  and  reversing  several 
attjiinders.  She  also  distributed  bountiful  alms  to 
the  poor,  that  they  might  pray  for  the  soul  of  the 
husband  whom  she,  more  than  any  one,  had  con- 
trived to  send  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.  She 
hastened  to  Winchester,  where  the  royal  treasure 
was  deposited,  and  having  made  sure  of  that  city, 
summoned  thither  the  bai'ons  and  prelates  of  the 
realm,  that  they  might  recognize  and  receive  their 
new  sovereign.     The  state  of  affairs,  however,  de- 

i  Hoved, 


466 


HISTORr  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


tained  Richard  on  the  continent  for  nearly  two 
months.  At  last,  when  he  had  made  the  necessary 
Hrrano;ements,  he  crossed  the  Channel,  accompanied 
by  his  brother  John,  and  landed  at  Portsmouth, 
whence  he  repaired  to  Winchester.  Henry  had 
left  in  his  treasury  there  a  large  sum  in  gold  and 
silver,  besides  plate,  jewels,  and  precious  stones.  All 
these  Richard  caused  to  be  weighed  and  examined 
in  his  presence,  and  had  an  inventory  of  them  drawn 
up.  His  soul  was  occupied  by  an  enterprise  that 
was  likely  to  absorb  all  the  money  he  could  possibly 
procure  ;  and,  to  find  means  for  a  most  lavish  ex- 
j)enditure,  he  resorted  to  the  cares  and  expedients 
that  more  properly  characterize   avarice.     It  was 


this  enterprise,  however,  that  gave  him  the  benefit 
of  an  undisputed  succession  to  all  his  fathers 
dominions;  for  John,  expecting  to  be  left  in  full 
authority  by  the  immediate  departure  of  his  brother 
for  Palestine,  and  hoping  that  he  would  never 
return  alive  from  the  perils  of  the  Holy  War,  sub- 
mitted to  what  he  considered  would  be  a  very  brief 
arrangement,  and  made  no  effort  to  dispute  Richard's 
right.  But  for  these  circumstances  it  is  very  clear, 
from  the  character  of  the  crafty  and  ambitious  John, 
that  the  old  story  of  a  disputed  succession  would 
have  been  repeated,  and  that  that  prince  would 
have  raised  his  banner  of  war  either  in  England  or 
in  some  one  of  the  continental  states.     As  it  was,  it 


Great  Seal  of  Richard  I. 


was  wiser  for  him  to  wait  awhile  for  the  chance  of 
getting  peaceful  possession  of  the  whole,  than  to 
risk  life  or  failure  for  a  part.  The  confidence  re- 
posed in  him  may  excite  some  surprise,  and  the 
more,  perhaps,  because  one  of  Richard's  first  acts 
as  a  sovereign  was  to  discard  and  persecute  all 
those  who  had  plotted  against  his  father,  not  ex- 
cepting even  his  own  most  familiar  friends  who  had 
plotted  for  his  own  advantage  ;  thus  reading  a  good 
lesson  to  those  who  embark  their  fortunes  in  the 
family  quarrels  of  princes.  On  the  3d  of  September 
the  coronation  festival  was  held  at  Westminster 
with  unusual  magnificence  ;  the  abbots,  and  bishops, 
and  most  of  the  lay  barons  attending  on  the  occa- 
sion. The  crown  was  intrusted  to  the  Earl  of  Al- 
bemarle, who  carried  it  before  Richard,  over 
whose  head  was  a  rich  canopy  of  silk  stretched  on 
four  lances,  each  of  which  Avas  held  by  a  great  baron. 
Two  prelates — the  bishops  of  Durham  and  Bath — 
walked  on  either  side  the  king,  whose  path,  up  to 
the  high  altar,  was  spread  with  cloth  of  the  Tyrian 
dye.  On  the  steps  of  the  altar  he  was  received  by 
Baldwin,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  adminis- 
tered to  him  the  usual  oath: — 1.  That  all  the  days 
of  his  life  he  would  bear  peace,  honor,  and  reverence 
to  God  and  holy  church,  and  the  ordinances  thereof. 
2.  That  he  would  exercise  right,  iustice,  and  law, 


on  the  people  unto  him  committed.  3.  That  he 
would  abrogate  wicked  laws  and  perverse  customs, 
if  anj-  such  should  be  brought  into  his  kingdom  ;  and 
would  enact  good  laws,  and  the  same  in  good  faith 
keep  without  mental  reservation.  The  king  then 
cast  oft' his  upper  garment,  put  sandals  or  buskins  of 
gold  on  his  feet,  and  was  anointed  from  the  ampulla 
of  holy  oil  on  the  head,  breast,  and  shoulders  :  ht 
then  received  the  cap,  tunic,  dalmatica,  sword,  spurs, 
and  mantle,  each  being  presented  by  the  proper  of- 
ficer in  due  order  of  succession.  The  unction  over, 
and  the  king  thus  royally  arrayed,  he  was  led  up  to 
the  altar,  where  the  archbishop  adjured  him,  in  the 
name  of  almighty  God,  not  to  assume  the  royal  dig- 
nity unless  he  fully  proposed  to  keep  the  oaths  he 
had  sworn.  Richard  repeated  his  solemn  promises, 
and  with  his  own  hands  taking  the  ponderous  crown 
from  oft'  the  altar,  "  in  signification  that  he  held  it 
only  from  God,"  he  delivered  it  to  the  archbishop, 
who  instantly  put  it  on  his  head,  and  so  completed 
all  the  ceremonies  of  coronation.^  "  Which  act," 
says  old  Speed,  with  a  cold-bloodedness  less  excu- 
sable than  his  superstition,  "  was  accidentally  han- 
seled and  auspicated  by  the   blood  of  many  Jews 

1  Hoveden  and  Diceto,  who  were  both  present.  At  the  coronation 
feasta  which  immediately  followed,  the  citizens  of  London  were  the 
king's  butlers,  and  the  citizens  of  Winchester  served  up  the  meats. 


Chap.  I.l 


CIVIL  Ax\D  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


467 


:^vn^f|g>^,^|s|[^ 


Portrait  of  Richard  I.    From  the  Tomb  at  Fontevraud. 


(though  Utterly  against  the  king's  wUl),  who,  in  a 
tumult  raised  by  the  multitude,  were  furiously  mur- 
dered, which,  though  it  were  afterward  punished 
by  the  laws,  might  seem  a  presage,  that  this  lion- 
hearted  king  should  be  a  special  destroyer  of  the 
enemies  of  our  Savior."  The  modern  historian 
cannot  permit  these  ati'ocities  to  pass  off  so  easily. 
We  have  mentioned  the  Jews  under  the  preceding 
reign,  and  our  cursory  allusion  to  them  has  shown 
that  they  were  ah-eady  in  possession  of  great  wealth 
in  England,  where  they  were  persecuted  by  the 
government,  though  most  useful,  and,  indeed,  es- 
sential to  it,  and  hated  bj^  the  whole  nation,  though 
nearly  all  the  comforts,  and,  without  exception,  all 
the  ornaments  and  luxuries  of  civilized  life,  brought 
from  foreign  markets,  were  inti'oduced  by  their 
commercial  enterprise.  Their  wealth  seems  to 
have  had  as  much  to  do  in  rendering  them  odious 
as  the  religious  faith  to  wlxich  they  heroically  ad- 
hered, and  the  advance  they  had  made  in  the  rate 
of  interest  on  their  loans  to  men  who  were  about 
departing  on  the  dangerous  expeditions  to  the  Holy 
Land  —  though  the  necessary  consequence  of  the 
great  and  sudden  demand  for  money,  and  of  the 
augmented  risk  incurred  by  the  lenders — had  re- 
cently had  the  effect  of  exasperating  the  minds  of 
many  of  the  noble  but  needy  crusaders,  and  had  in- 
creased that  rancor  against  them  which  was  always 
a  prevalent  feehng  among  the  superstitious  and 
ignorant  populace — if  the  populace  deserve  these 
distinguishing  epithets,  when  ignorance  and  super- 
stition were  so  prevalent  among  all  classes.  At  the 
accession  of  Philip  to  the  throne  of  France,  all  the 
Jews  had  been  banished  that  kingdom,  their  property 
confiscated,  the  obligations  of  their  numerous  debtors 


[  annulled  ;  and  though  Hemy  II.  had  dechned  taking 
this  iniquitous  course,  it  was  expected  by  many  that 
Richard,  on  coming  to  the  throne  of  England,  would 
follow  the  example  of  his  friend  Philip.  The  Jews 
probabl3^  expected  something  of  the  sort :  they  as- 
sembled in  London  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
"  meaning  to  honor  the  coronation  with  their  pres- 
ence, and  to  present  to  the  king  some  honorable 
gift,  whereby  they  might  declare  themselves  glad 
for  his  advancement,  and  procure  his  friendship  to- 
ward themselves,  for  the  confirming  of  their  privi- 
leges and  liberties,  according  to  the  gi-ants  and 
charters  made  to  them  by  the  former  king."'  On 
the  day  before  the  coronation,  Richard  being  "  of  a 
zealous  mind  to  Christ's  religion,  abhorring  their 
nation,  and  doubting  some  sorcery  by  them  to  be 
practiced,  issued  a  proclamation  foi'bidding  Jews 
and  u'omen  to  be  present  at  Westminster,  either 
within  the  church  when  he  should  receive  the 
crown,  or  within  the  hall  while  he  was  at  dinner."* 
A  few,  however,  persevering  in  a  custom  sanctioned 
by  remote  antiquity  among  all  Oriental  people,  ven- 
tured, on  this  daj'  of  general  grace  and  joy,  to  lay 
their  ofterings  at  the  king's  feet.  Their  humble  suit 
was  heard,  —  their  rich  presents  were  accepted, 
"  gladly  enough  ;"  but  a  Christian  raised  an  outcry, 
and  struck  a  Jew  that  was  trying  to  enter  the  gate 
with  the  rest  of  the  crowd.  The  courtiers  and 
king's  servants,  catching  the  contagion  of  the  quar- 
rel, then  fell  on  the  wealthy  Jews  who  had  obtained 
admittance,  and  drove  them  out  of  the  hall.  A  re- 
port spread  among  the  multitude  gathered  outside 
the  palace  that  the  king  had  commanded  the  de- 
struction of  the  unbelievers,  and  therefore,  following 
»  Holinshed.  2  Id. 


468 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


up  an  example  already  set  them  by  their  superiors,  [ 
the  peoi)le  cruelly  beat  the  Jews  aud  drove  them  ! 
with  "  staves,  bats,  and  stones,  to  their  houses  and 
lodgings."  This  violence  being  left  unchecked,  and  i 
the  rumor  of  the  king's  intention  still  spreading, 
fresh  crowds  of  fanatic  rioters  collected,  and  after 
barbarously  murdering  every  Jew  they  found  in  the 
streets,  they  assaulted  the  houses  they  occupied  and 
in  which  they  had  barricaded  themselves.  As  many 
of  these  houses  were  strongly  built,  they  set  fire  to 
them,  and  burned  men,  women,  and  children,  with 
everything  they  contained.  In  some  cases  they 
forced  their  way  into  the  apartments,  and  hurled 
their  victims,  not  excepting  even  the  aged,  the  sick, 
and  bed-ridden,  out  of  the  windows  into  fires  which 
they  had  kindled  below.  The  king,  alarmed  at 
length  by  the  riot,  sent  Ranulf  de  Glanville,  the 
Lord  Justiciary,  and  other  oflficers  to  appease  it ; 
but  the  authority  of  these  high  functionaries  was 
despised,  their  own  lives  were  threatened,  and  in 
the  end  they  were  obliged  to  fly  back  to  Westmin- 
ster Hall,  where  the  banquet  still  continued.  When 
night  set  in,  the  "rude  sort"  were  hghted  in  their 
horrid  work  of  plunder  and  murder  by  the  flames  that 
rose  from  the  Jewish  houses,  and  that,  at  one  time, 
threatened  a  general  conflagration  of  the  town.  The 
magazines  and  shops  of  the  Jews  were  plundered  and 
ransacked;  the  defenceless  wretches  who  attempted 
to  escape  from  their  forced,  or  burning  dwellings, 
"  were  received  upon  the  points  of  spears,  bills, 
swords,  and  gleaves  of  their  adversaries,  that 
watched  for  them  very  diligently."  These  atrocities 
continued  from  about  the  hour  of  noon  on  one  daj-  till 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next,  when  the 
infuriated  populace  seem  to  have  ceased  plundering 
and  butchering  out  of  sheer  weariness.  One  or  two 
days  after,  Richard  hanged  three  men,  not  because 
they  had  robbed  and  murdered  the  Jews,  but  be- 
cause (as  least  so  it  was  declared  in  the  public  sen- 
tence) they  had  burned  the  houses  of  Christians ; 
some  of  which  were  indeed  unintentionally  con- 
sumed by  the  spreading  of  the  flames.  He  then 
issued  a  proclamation,  iu  which,  after  stating  that  he 
took  the  Jews  under  his  own  immediate  protection, 
he  commanded  that  no  man  should  personally  harm 
them  or  rob  them  of  their  goods  and  chattels ;  and 
these  were  the  only  judicial  measures  that  followed 
the  terrific  outrage.'  All  that  the  new  king  could 
think  of  at  this  moment  was  how  he  should  go  to 
Palestine  with  a  splendid  army,  and  leave  the  care 
of  his  kingdom  and  of  all  his  subjects  to  others.  To 
raise  money  he  had  recourse  to  expedients  similar 
to  those  which  ruined  Stephen  and  the  nation  under 
him.  He  alienated  the  demesne  lands,  publicly 
selling,  by  a  sort  of  auction,  royal  castles,  fortresses, 
and  towns,  —  and,  together  with  estates  that  were 
his  own,  not  a  few  that  were  the  property  of  other 
men.  When  some  friends  ventured  to  remonstrate, 
he  swore  he  would  sell  London  itself  if  he  could 
only  find  a  purchaser  for  it.^  Thus  most  of  those 
royal  lands  which  his  father  with  so  much  prudence 
and  address  had  recovered  out  of  powerful  private 
hands,  and  reannexed  to  the  crown,  were  again 
I  Hoved. — Diceto. — Newbr. — Hemingford.  2  Newbr. 


detached  from  it.  In  the  same  way  places  of  trust 
and  honor — the  highest  oftices  in  the  kingdom — 
were  publicly  sold  to  the  highest  bidder. 

"  Richard's  presence  chamber,"  says  a  recent 
writer,  "  was  a  market  overt,  in  which  all  that  the 
king  could  bestow — all  that  could  be  derived  from 
the  bounty  of  the  crown  or  imparted  by  the  royal 
prerogative — was  disposed  of  to  the  best  chapman. 
Hugh  Pudsey,  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  purchased 
the  earldom  of  Northumberland,  together  with  the 
lordship  of  Sadburg.  For  the  chief  justiciarship 
he  paid,  at  the  same  time,  the  sum  of  1000  marks. 
In  the  bargain  was  included  a  dispensation  to  the 
bishop — or  at  least  such  dispensation  as  the  king 
could  grant — from  his  vow  or  promise  of  joining 
in  the  crusade."  '  There  are  circumstances  attend- 
ing the  sale  of  the  justiciarship  which  throw  at 
least  an  odious  suspicion  on  the  king.  At  the 
period  when  Richard  succeeded  to  the  throne, 
the  celebrated  Ranulf  de  Glanville  filled  the  high 
office  of  "rector  regni,"  or  regent  of  the  kingdom, 
and  that  of  "  procurator  regni,"  or  justiciary  ;  and 
under  these  designations  he  is  enumerated  among 
the  great  barons  who  figured  at  the  coronation. 
There  was  not  a  better  or  wiser  man  among  the 
ministers  of  the  crown,  nor  was  there  any  man  more 
cherished  by  the  late  king,  whose  obligations  to 
him  were  immense,  for  Glanville  had  served  him 
with  wonderful  success,  as  well  on  the  field  of 
battle  as  in  the  council  chamber  and  the  infant 
courts  of  law,  and  he  it  was  that  had  taken 
prisoner  the  Scottish  king  near  Alnwick  Castle. 
In  every  sense  the  crown,  as  well  as  the  nation, 
was  deeply  indebted  to  this  extraordinary  and  ex- 
cellent man.  According  to  one  contemporary  au- 
thority he  was  at  the  time  sinking  under  bodily 
infirmity,  and  being  disgusted  by  the  impolicy  of 
the  young  monarch,  he  became  anxious  to  free 
himself  from  the  burden  of  offices  which  he  could 
no  longer  discharge  to  his  satisfaction  and  the 
benefit  of  the  country.  By  this  single  account, 
therefore,  it  appears  that  Glanville  resigned  his 
office  of  his  own  free  will,  and  departed  as  a  cru- 
sader to  the  Holy  Land — that  his  strong  intellect 
became  enfeebled  by  anxiety  and  vexation — that  he 
died  shortly  after,  leaving  only  female  issue,  and 
that  not  an  individual  remained  to  continue  his  hon- 
ored name.  Several  other  authorities,  who  were 
also  contemporaries,  inform  us,  however,  that  Glan- 
ville was  forcibly  and  rudely  deprived  of  the  justi- 
ciarship by  the  rapacious  king,  wheat  the  same 
time  removed  the  sheriffs  and  their  oflficers  through- 
out the  kingdom,  exacting  from  each  the  ransom 
for  his  release  from  imprisonment  to  the  very  last 
farthing ;  and  that  Glanville  himself,  in  spite  of 
his  reproachful  gray  head  and  long  services,  was 
cast  into  prison,  aud  detained  there  until  he  sub- 
mitted to  pay  a  fine  of  three  thousand  pounds. 
"  The  latter  account,"  says  Palgrave,  "  is  not 
destitute  of  plausibility.  Coeur  de  Lion's  avarice 
'  was  equaled  only  by  his  extravagance ;  and,  by 
creating   a   vacancy    in   this   or   any  other   office, 

1  Introduction  to  Rotuli   Cnriai    Regis   (published    by  the   Record 
Commission),  by  Sir  Francis  Palgrave. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


469 


he  obtained  the  means  of  raising  money  by  its 
sale."  ^ 

Richard  hastily  filled  all  the  vacant  bishoprics 
and  abbacies,  exacting  a  heavy  fee  from  each 
prelate  and  abbot  he  appointed.  In  consideration 
of  twenty  thousand  marks  received  from  the  Scot- 
tish king,  he  gi-anted  to  him  a  release  from  all  the 
obligations  w^hich  had  been  extorted  from  him  and 
from  his  subjects  during  his  captivity,  and  gave 
back  to  him  all  the  charters  and  documents  of  his 
servitude,  with  this  proviso,  that  he  should  never- 
theless duly  and  fulty  perform  all  the  services 
which  his  brother  Malcolm  had  performed,  or 
ought  of  right  to  have  performed,  to  Richard's 
predecessors.^  For  the  sum  of  three  thousand 
marks  he  granted  his  peace  to  his  half-brother 
Geoffrey,  who  had  been'  elected  Archbishop  of 
York,  according  to  the  wish  expressed  by  his 
father  Henry  on  his  death-bed;  and  other  sums  of 
money  were  obtained  by  means  much  less  justi- 
fiable. 

It  was  now  necessary  to  nominate  a  regency. 
At  this  step  Prince  John  saw  his  hopes  disap- 
pointed ;  but  he  remained  perfectly  quiet,  being 
anxious,  no  doubt,  that  nothing  should  occur  to 
prevent  or  delay  his  formidable  brother's  departure. 
A  gi'eat  council  was  held  at  the  monastery  of  Pip- 
well,  in  Northamptonshire.  Here  the  king  formally 
announced  the  appointment  of  Hugh  Pudsej',  the 
Bishop  of  Durham,  to  be  Rector  Regni  and  Pro- 
curator Regni ;  but  he  included  with  him  in  the 
commission  of  justiciarship  William  de  Mandeville, 
Earl  of  Albemarle.  This  great  earl,  however, 
quitted  England  soon  after,  leaving  the  bishop  in 
the  full  possession  of  the  high  office ;  but  he  did 
not  retain  it  long,  for  his  authority  was  first  of  all 
weakened  and  subdivided  by  Richard  before  he 
began  his  journey,  and  finally  during  the  king's 
absence,  but  while  he  was  yet  in  Normandy, 
wrenched  from  him  altogether  by  the  much  abler 
hands  of  Longchamp,  Bishop  of  Ely  and  Chan- 
cellor of  England.  In  part  of  his  bargain  Avith  the 
king,  poor  Pudsey  had  paid  a  deal  of  money  for 
nothing ;  but  Richard  seldom  scrupled  to  break  his 
contracts,  or  revoke  and  annul  the  gi-ants  which  he 
had  made.  To  satisfy  his  brother  John  he  gave 
him,  besides  the  earldom  of  Moreton  or  Moretain, 
in  Normandy,  the  earldoms  of  Cornwall,  Dorset, 
Somerset,  Gloucester,  Nottingham,  Derby,  and 
Lancaster,  in  England,  forming  together  not  less 
than  a  third  part  of  the  whole  kingdom.  To  grat- 
ify his  mother  he  added  to  the  estates  she  alreadj- 
possessed  all  the  lands  that  had  been  enjoyed  by 
Matilda,  the  Saxon  wife  of  Henry  I.,  or  by  Alice, 
the  French  widow  of  the  same  monarch. 

She  was  also  to  be  consulted  in  sundry  matters  of 
government;  and  at  a  subsequent  period,  during 
Richard's  confinement  in  Germany,  Eleanor  exer- 
cised considerable  authority  with  the  consent  of 
the  king,  though  whatever  power  in  the  state  his 
brother  John  acquired  was  usurped  and  against  his 
will. 

1  Introduction  to  Roluli  Curise  Regis. 

2  Allen,  Vindic.  Anc.  Ind.  Scot. — Feedera.— Benedict.  Abb. 


Richard  had  proceeded  with  a  most  arbitrary 
haste  ;  but  Philip  of  France  being  ready  before  him, 
and  doubting  he  might  delay,  sent  messengers  to 
remind  him  that  the  time  of  departure  for  the  Holy 
Land  was  unchangeably  fixed  at  the  coming  festiva\ 
of  Easter.  At  the  arrival  of  these  messengers 
Richard,  with  a  vast  number  of  the  earls,  barons, 
and  knights,  who  had  taken  the  cross  with  him, 
swore  he  would  be  ready  by  the  time  appointed, 
and  Philip's  envoys  took  a  like  oath  on  behalf  of 
themselves.  The  form  of  these  oaths  was  some- 
what unusual,  the  Frenchmen  swearing  by  the 
soul  of  the  King  of  France,  the  Englishmen  by 
the  soul  of  the  King  of  England.  By  this  time 
Richard  had  got  all  the  money  he  could  on  this 
side  of  the  Channel,  and  toward  the  end  of  the 
year,  and  a  little  more  than  three  months  after  his 
coronation,  he  left  his  fair  kingdom  to  its  fate,  and 
crossed  over  to  his  continental  dominions,  to  see 
what  money  he  could  raise  and  extort  there. 

A.D.  1190.  In  the  month  of  February  following 
Richard  held  a  great  council  in  Normandy,  which 
was  attended  by  the  queen  dowager,  by  his  brother 
John,  and  by  various  bishops,  who  are  stated  to 
have  crossed  the  Channel  by  the  king's  command. 
At  this  meeting  there  was  an  abundant  pledging  of 
oaths  which  were  but  indifferently  kept,  and  many 
arrangements  for  the  government  of  the  states  on 
both  sides  the  sea  were  made,  most  of  which  were 
defeated  by  ambition  and  intrigue  in  the  sequel. 
Soon  after  the  two  kings  made  a  compact  of  alliance 
and  fraternity  of  arms,  swearing  that  each  would 
defend  the  life  and  honor  of  the  other — that  neither 
would  desert  the  other  in  his  danger — that  the 
King  of  France  would  cherish  and  protect  the  rights 
of  the  King  of  England,  even  as  he  would  protect 
his  own  city  of  Paris,  and  that  the  King  of  England 
wovild  do  the  like  by  his  majesty  of  France,  even 
as  he  would  protect  his  own  city  of — Rouen} 

Owing  to  the  death  of  Philip's  young  queen  their 
departure  was  postponed  from  the  feast  of  Easter 
till  midsummer.  At  last  they  met  in  the  plains  of 
Vezelai,  each  accompanied  by  a  gallant  and  a 
numerous  army,  for  their  forces,  when  united,  are 
said  to  have  amounted  to  one  hundred  thousand 
men.  They  marched  in  company  from  Vezelai  to 
Lyons,  and  the  people,  though  much  distressed  by 
the  passage  of  such  a  host,  confidently  predicted 
that  the  Paynim  could  never  withstand  them,  and 
that  the  city  of  the  Lord,  with  the  whole  of  Pales- 
tine, would  be  recovered  by  their  swords  and  lances. 
At  Lyons  the  two  kings  separated,  with  the  mutual 
understanding  that  they  should  meet  again  in  the 
port  of  Messina,  in  Sicily.  Philip,  with  his  forces, 
took  the  nearest  road  to  Genoa,  for  he  had  no  fleet 
of  his  own,  and  that  flourishing  commercial  re- 
public had  agreed  with  him  for  the  furnisJiing  of 
transports  and  some  ships  of  war.  Although  it 
appears  that  the  two  kings  went  on,  thus  far, 
amicably  together,  great  inconveniences  to  the  cru- 
saders as  well  as  to  the  people  among  whom  they 
traveled  would  result  from  their  keeping  one  line 
of  march :  but  it  was  not  this  consideration,  as 
'  Hoved. 


470 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  ITI. 


assumed  by  some  old  historians,  but  the  necessity 
Philip  wiis  under  of  contracting  for  a  Genoese  fleet, 
that  caused  the  two  armies  to  part  company.  From 
the  time  of  his  expedition  to  Ireland,  Henry  II. 
had  paid  great  attention  to  maritime  aft'airs,  and  an 
English  roijul  navy  had  gradually  grown  up.  We 
do  not  possess  much  information  on  this  interesting 
subject,  but  we  learn  from  the  chroniclers  that  he 
liad  souie  vessels  which  would  be  coneidered,  even 
now,  of  a  large  size,  and  that  one  of  the  "  chiefest 
and  newest"  of  his  ships  was  capable  of  carrying 
400  persons.  Some  time  before  his  death  he  began 
to  build  vessels  expressly  for  the  voyage  to  Palestine ; 
and  when  his  son  succeeded,  he  found  these  pre- 
parations so  far  advanced,  that  he  was  soon  able  to 
lanch  or  equip  fifty  galleys  of  three  banks  of  oars, 
and  many  other  armed  galleys  inferior  in  size  to 
them,  but  superior  to  those  generally  in  use  at  the 
period.  He  had  also  selected  transports  from  the 
shipping  of  all  his  ports ;  and  perhaps  there  is  not 
much  danger  in  assuming,  that  in  size  and  strength 
of  ships,  this  was  the  most  formidable  naval  arma- 
ment that  had  as  yet  appeared  in  modern  Europe.' 
Having  thus  a  fleet  of  his  own,  Richard  was  not 
dependent,  like  Philip,  on  arrangements  with  the 
maritime  Italians,  and,  instead  of  crossing  the 
Alps,  be  kept  his  course  by  the  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Rhone  toward  Marseilles — a  free  trading  city, 
belonging  neither  to  the  English  nor  the  French 
king,-  where  he  had  ordered  that  his  ships  should 
meet  him,  to  convey  him  and  his  army  thence 
across  the  Mediterranean  to  Sicily,  and  then  to 
Palestine. 

When  Richard  reached  the  coast,  he  found  his 
fleet  had  not  arrived.  After  passing  eight  impatient 
days  at  Marseilles,  he  hired  twenty  gallejs  and 
ten  great  busses  or  barks  there,  and  proceeded 
coastwise  with  some  of  his  forces  to  Genoa,  where 
he  again  met  the  French  king.  His  English  ships, 
for  which  he  left  orders  at  Marseilles  to  follow  him 
to  Sicily,  had  met  with  some  strange  adventures, 
even  before  reaching  the  sti-aits  of  Gibraltar  and 
entering  the  Mediterranean.  In  his  absence,  dis- 
cipline was  at  a  low  ebb  among  the  forces  em- 
barked, in  spite  of  the  severe,  and,  in  some  respects, 
singular  scale  of  punishment  he  had  drawn  up  for 
the  preservation  of  order.  He  had  enacted: — 
1.  That  if  any  man  killed  another,  he  should  sufter 
immediate  death ;  if  the  crime  were  committed  at 
sea,  the  murderer  was  to  be  lashed  to  the  dead  body 
of  his  victim,  and  so  thrown  overboard ;  if  in  port, 
or  on  shore,  the  murderer  was  to  be  bound  to  the 
corpse  and  buried  alive  with  it.  2.  That  if  any 
man  drew  a  knife  against  another,  or  struck  another, 
so  as  to  draw  blood,  he  should  lose  his  hand,  and 
that  every  gentler  blow,  causing  no  bloodshed, 
•  should  be  punished  by  ducking  the  offender  three 
several  times  over  head  and  ears.  3.  That  cursing 
and  swearing  and  abusive  language  should  be  punish- 
ed by  a  fine  of  an  ounce  of  silver  for  each  off"ence.    4. 

1  Southey,  Nav.  Hist. 

-  Marseilles  was  not  even  nominally  under  Philip,  but  acknowl- 
edg'ed  the  suzerainty  of  the  King  of  Arragon.  The  same  appears  to 
have  been  the  case  with  all  the  French  ports  on  the  Mediterranean 
from  the  Pyrenees  to  the  maritime  Alps. 


Any  man  convicted  of  theft  or  '•  pickerie"  was  to 
have  his  head  shaved,  and  hot  pitch  poured  upon 
his  bare  pate,  and  over  the  pitch  the  feathers  of 
some  pillow  or  cushion  were  to  be  shaken,  as  a 
mark  whereby  he  might  be  known  as  a  thief.  This 
appears  to  be  the  earliest  mention  of  the  punish- 
ment called,  in  modern  times,  "tarring  and  feather- 
ing." But  this  process  did  not  finish  the  penalty 
incurred  by  theft,  for  the  offender  was  to  be  turned 
ashore  on  the  first  land  the  ship  might  reach,  and 
there  abandoned  to  his  fate,  without  any  hope  of 
returning  to  his  comrades.'  "  These,"  says  Hol- 
inshed,  "  were  the  statutes  which  this  fomons 
prince  did  enact,  at  the  first,  for  his  navy  ;  which, 
since  that  time,  have  been  very  much  enlarged." 
Two  prelates,  Gerard,  Archbishop  of  Aix,  and  Ber- 
nard, Bishop  of  Bayeux,  and  three  knights,  Robert 
de  Saville,  Richard  de  Camville,  and  William  de 
Fortz,  were  intrusted  with  the  command  of  the 
fleet,  with  the  title  of  "  constables  ;"  and  all  men 
were  ordered  to  be  obedient  unto  them  as  deputies 
and  lieutenants  of  the  king. 

The  ships  sailed  from  Dartmouth  with  a  gallant 
display  of  banners  and  painted  shields ;  but  in 
crossing  the  Bay  of  Biscay  they  encountered  a 
storm  which  scattejed  them  in  all  directions.  One 
of  them  which  belonged  to  London  suffered  more 
than  the  rest,  and  was  well  nigh  foundering ;  but, 
according  to  the  superstitious  chroniclers,  there 
were  a  hundred  pious  men  on  board,  who  cried 
aloud  to  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbuiy ;  and  Becket 
not  only  came  himself,  with  crosier  and  pall,  but 
also  brought  with  him  Ed)nund,  the  Saxon  king, 
saint,  and  martyr,  and  St.  Nicholas,  the  protector 
of  distressed  seamen,  and  told  the  crew  that  God 
and  our  lady  had  instructed  him  and  his  beatified 
companions  to  watch  King  Richard's  fleet,  and  see 
it  safe.*  This  same  ship,  however,  or  another  be- 
longing to  the  port  of  London,  did  not  go  far  on  her 
voyage ;  after  beating  off"  the  coast  of  Spain  and 
Portugal,  and  doubhng  Cape  St.  Vincent,  she 
arrived  at  Sylves  in  a  deplorable  state.  The  inhab- 
itants of  that  town,  who  were  menaced  with  a 
siege  by  the  African  Mahomedans,  easily  persuaded 
the  Englishmen  to  let  their  vessel  be  bi'oken  up  to 
form  barricades  with  its  timber,  and  to  assist  them- 
selves in  defending  the  town  against  the  Mooi-s, 
who  were  as  great  infidels  as  any  they  would  meet 
in  Palestine.  The  townspeople,  however,  promised 
them  a  liberal  reward,  together  with  a  vessel  ae 
large  as  that  they  sacrificed,  with  which  they 
might  continue  their  voj'age  when  the  Moors  should 
be  defeated.  Nine  others  of  the  scattered  ships 
put  into  the  Tagus,  where  the  crews,  or  the  cru- 
saders on  board,  were  in  like  manner  entreated  to 
join  the  Portuguese  in  a  war  against  the  Mahome- 
dans. The  King  of  Portugal  was  at  Santarem, 
expecting  an  immediate  attack  from  the  Moors. 
Five  hundred  of  the  English  crusaders  landed  from 
the  ships,  and,  marching  rapidly  to  his  assistance, 
compelled  the  enemy  to  retreat.      The  king  then 

1  Hoved. — Rymer. 

2  Robert  de  Brunne. — Hearne's  Peter  Langtoft.  Old  Robert  tells 
the  story  in  rhymes,  some  of  which  are  sufficiently  impressive 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


471 


marched  down  to  Lisbon,  where  he  found  more 
crusaders  than  he  wished  for,  as  sixty-thi'ee  of 
Richard's  ships  had  by  this  time  found  their  way 
into  the  Tagus,  and  landed  their  passengers  in  his 
capital.  Although  two  of  the  constables,  De  Saville 
and  De  Camville,  were  with  this  portion  of  the 
fleet,  they  could  not  "  so  govern  their  people,  but 
that  some  naughty  fellows  among  them  fell  to 
breaking  and  robbing  of  orchards,  and  some  also, 
on  entering  into  the  city,  behaved  themselves  very 
disorderly." '  The  king,  mindful  of  his  recent 
obligations,  would  resort  to  none  but  courteous 
measures;  and,  for  the  time,  these,  with  the  ex- 
ertions of  the  two  constables,  seemed  to  suffice. 
In  three  days,  however,  fresh  riots  broke  out :  the 
people  of  Lisbon  took  up  arms  for  the  defence  of 
their  wives  and  their  propertj\  and,  as  almost  in- 
variably happened,  whenever  these  holy  warriors 
staid  any  time  at  a  foreign  town,  a  considerable 
quantity  of  Christian  blood  was  shed.  The  king 
then  ordered  the  gates  of  Lisbon  to  be  shut,  and 
committed  all  the  crusaders  found  within  the  walls 
to  prison.  The  English  retaliated  by  making  pris- 
oners outside  the  walls.  Saucho,  the  reigning  king, 
was  moderate  and  prudent,  and  he  I'eadily  consented 
to  a  friendly  accommodation.  The  prisoners  were 
released  on  both  sides ;  the  English  engaged  to 
maintain  peace  and  friendship  with  the  king ;  and 
the  Portuguese,  glad  to  be  rid  of  such  visitors, 
promised  to  aid  and  succor  all  future  pilgi'ims  bound 
for  the  Holy  War  that  might  put  into  their  ports.^ 
The  crusaders  then  sailed  from  Lisbon.  At  the 
mouth  of  the  Tagus  they  were  joined  by  thirty- 
three  vessels ;  and,  with  a  fleet  now  amounting  to 
106  sail,  they  steered  for  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar. 
Passing  those  straits,  and  hugging  the  coasts  of 
Spain  and  southern  France,  they  reached,  in  less 
than  four  weeks  from  the  time  they  had  quitted 
Lisbon,  the  prosperous  city  of  Marseilles,  where 
they  found  their  impatient  king  was  gone.  Ac- 
cording to  his  orders,  the  fleet  took  on  board  the 
mass  of  the  army  which  he  had  left  behind  at  that 
port,  and  made  sail  again  with  all  expedition  for 
Messina,  which  city  it  reached  sevei"al  days  before 
either  the  French  or  English  king.^ 

Richard,  in  the  mean  while,  had  had  several 
adventures  of  his  own.  After  coasting  the  Riviera 
of  Genoa  and  a  part  of  Tuscany,  he  entered  the 
river  Arno,  and  visited  the  splendid  city  of  Pisa. 
Continuing  his  voyage  along  the  coast  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Arno,  he  came  to  the  desolate  spot 
where  the  Tiber  pours  his  brown  waters  into  the 
sea.  His  galley  required  some  repairs,  and  he 
brought  her  to  anchor  in  the  famous  river  where 
the  galleys  of  the  Caesars  had  once  lain.  He  was 
there  within  a  few  miles  of  Rome ;  but  though  a 
liberal   curiosity,   and    devotion,  would   alike   have 

1  Holinshed. 

2  The  accounts  of  these  transactions  given  by  the  old  Portuguese 
historians  differ  in  a  few  particulars.  Dr.  Southey  remarks  that,  to 
the  honor  of  the  Portuguese,  they  relate  the  story  in  the  manner  the 
least  discreditable  to  the  English. 

3  The  English  fleet  sailed  from  Marseilles  on  the  30th  of  August, 
and  entered  the  port  of  Messina  on  the  14th  of  September,  without 
having  lost  a  single  vessel  iii  the  Mediterranean.  The  French  fleet 
from  Genoa  arrived  on  the  16th,  having  lost  several  ships. 


suggested  a  pilgi-image  to  the  eternal  city,  he  did 
not  go  thither.  The  cardinal  bishop  of  Ostia,  a 
town  close  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  went  to  wel- 
come him  to  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter;  but, 
availing  himself  of  the  opportunity,  he  pressed  the 
irascible  Richard  for  the  payment  of  certain  fees 
due  to  the  see  of  Rome.  Instead  of  money,  Richard 
gave  this  prince  of  the  church  abuse,  reproaching 
the  papal  court  with  simony,  rapacity,  and  gross 
corruption  ;  and  for  this  reason  it  is  said  he  re- 
fused to  visit  Rome.'  When  his  galley  was 
repaired,  he  made  his  way  to  Naples,  where  he 
again  landed,  and  whence  he  determined  to  continue 
his  journey  to  the  straits  of  Messina  by  land — his 
active  body  and  restless  mind  being,  no  doubt, 
alike  wearied  ^^•ith  the  close  confinement  of  ship- 
board, and  the  slow  progress  made  in  the  dead 
calms  of  summer  in  the  Mediterranean.  While  at 
Naples,  he  visited  the  sanctuary  of  St.  Januarius, 
the  protector  of  that  city,  and  told  his  orisons  in  a 
crypt,  where  the  bodies  of  the  dead  stood  up  in 
niches,  dry,  and  shriveled,  but  arrayed  in  their 
usual  dresses,  and  otherwise  looking  as  if  they 
were  still  alive.  The  beauties  of  Naples  or  some 
other  inducements  made  him  loiter  several  days  in 
that  citj" ;  but  he  then  mounted  his  horse,  and 
taking  the  beautiful  pass  of  the  Apennines,  which 
leads  bj-  Nocera,  the  Benedictine  abbey  of  La  Cava, 
and  Vietri,  he  went  to  Salerno,  then  celebrated  for 
its  School  of  Medicine,  the  foundation  of  which 
had  been  laid  by  the  Arabs  as  early  as  the  eightb 
century,  and  which  had  been  can-ied  to  its  height 
of  fame  (by  orientals,  or  by  persons  who  had  trav- 
eled and  studied  in  the  east)  under  the  reign  and 
by  the  liberal  patronage  of  Robert  Guiscard,  the 
Norman  conqueror  of  the  south  of  Italy.  But  the 
city  of  Salerno,  which  the  lances  of  the  Normans 
had  won  from  the  Saracen  invaders,  and  which  the 
bold  Guiscard  had  made  for  a  time  his  capital,  was 
redundant  with  Norman  gloiy,  and  crowded  with 
objects  to  interest  Richard.  The  Normans  had 
built  the  cathedral  in  the  plain,  and  rebuilt  the 
noble  castle  on  the  hill.  Princes,  descended,  like 
himself,  from  the  first  Duke  Rollo,  slept  in  sculp- 
tured tombs  in  the  gi-eat  church,  and  goodly  epitaphs, 
with  many  a  Leonine  (or  rhyming  Latin)  verse — 
that  favorite  measure  of  the  Normans — recorded 
their  praise.^  Every  castle  that  met  his  eye  on  the 
flanks  and  crests  of  the  neighboring  mountains  was 
occupied  by  the  descendant  of  some  Norman  knight; 
for  the  time,  though  approaching,  was  not  yet  come, 
when  the  dynasty  of  Suabia  made  a  fresh  distribu- 
tion, and  introduced  a  new  race  of  northern  lords 
into  the  most  glowing  regions  of  the  south.  Sa- 
lerno, too,  then  one  of  the  most  civilized,  as  always 
one  of  the  most  beautifully  situated  towns  of  Italy, 
had  other  schools  besides  that  of  medicine  ;  though 

1  Baronius  speaks  at  some  length,  and  with  great  emphasis,  of  this 
singular  interview  on  the  Tiber. — Annal.  Eccles. 

2  Dr.  Lingard  is  in  error,  in  saying  that  the  celebrated  medical 
poem  in  Leonine  verse,  by  the  professors  of  Salerno,  was  dedicated  to 
Richard.  It  was  first  published  (nearly  eighty  years  before  his  visit) 
in  1100,  and  dedicated  to  Duke  Robert  (the  unfortunate  Courthose), 
who  was  then  in  Italy,  on  his  way  home  from  Jerusalem,  and  who 
was,  by  right  of  birth  and  treaty  at  least,  King  of  England,  through 
the  recent  death  of  Rufus. 


472 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


it  was  held  not  unworthy  of  a  king,  and  a  fitting 
accomphshnient  in  a  true  knight,  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  liealing  art.  Moral  and  natural  philos- 
ophy, such  as  they  were,  geometry,  asti'onomy, 
dialectics,  rhetoric,  and  poetry,  were  all  cultivated, 
and  Richard  himself  was  a  professed  poet,  being 
one  of  the  troubadours.'  After  staying  at  this  in- 
tere'sting  spot  several  days,  during  which,  the  gal- 
leys he  had  hired  at  3Iarseilles  came  round  to  him 
from  Naples,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  left  Salerno 
on  the  13th  of  September.  He  rode  across  the 
Paestan  plain,  and  through  the  luxuriant  district  of 
Cilento,  into  Calabria,  his  galleys  following  along 
shore,  from  which  his  own  path  was  seldom  very 
distant.  Roads  there  were  none  ;  and,  as  it  was 
the  commencement  of  the  rainy  season,  he  must 
have  encountered  great  difficulties  in  crossing  the 
mountain-streams ;  for  he  did  not  reach  Mileto  till 
the  2ist.  From  that  town  he  spurred  on  with  only 
one  knight  to  accompany  him.  On  passing  through 
a  village,  he  was  told  that  a  peasant  there  had  a 
very  fine  hawk.  For  a  man  in  his  condition  to  keep 
that  noble  bird  Avas  conti'ary  to  the  customs  and  the 
written  laws  of  aristocratic  Europe ;  and  Richard, 
who  wanted  some  sport,  to  beguile  the  tedium  of 
the  Avay,  went  into  the  poor  man's  house,  and 
seized  the  hawk.  The  peasant  ran  after  him,  de- 
manding his  property  ;  but  the  king  kept  the  bird 
on  his  wrist,  and  would  not  restore  it.  The  poor 
man's  neighbors  took  up  his  quarrel,  and  the  Ca- 
labrians  being  then,  as  now,  a  pi'oud  and  fiery  race, 
they  presently  attacked  the  robber  with  sticks  and 
stones,  and  one  of  them  drew  his  long  knife  against 
him.  Richard  struck  this  fellow  with  the  flat  of  his 
sword ;  the  sword  broke  in  his  hand,  and  then  matters 
looked  so  serious,  that  the  hero  took  fairly  to  flight. 
The  enraged  rustics  followed  him  with  their  sticks 
and  stones,  and  if  a  priory  had  not  been  close  at 
hand,  to  aflbrd  him  a  refuge,  it  is  probable  the  Lion- 
heart  would  have  perished  in  this  ignoble  brawl.^ 
At  last,  he  reached  the  shore  of  the  narrow  strait, 
commonly  called  the  Faro,  which  separates  Cala- 
bria from  Sicily,  and  passed  the  night  in  a  tent  hard 
by  the  famed  rocks  and  caverns  of  Scylla.  The 
next  morning  (September  23d),  being  either  ad- 
vised by  signal,  or  by  some  one  of  the  Marseilles 
galleys,  the  mass  of  his  fleet  crossed  over  from  the 
island  to  receive  him.  He  embarked,  and  scorning, 
or  being  ignorant  of.  the  Homeric  dangers  of  Scylla 
and  Charybdis,  was  presently  wafted  over  to  the 
noble  harbor  of  Messina,  which  he  entered  with  so 
inuch  splendor  and  majesty,  and  such  a  clangor  of 
horns  and  trumpets  and  other  warlike  instruments, 
that  he  astonished  and  alarmed  the  Sicilians,  and 
the  French  also,  who  had  reached  that  port  with  a 
shattered  fleet  a  week  before  him.  The  first  feel- 
ings of  the  allies  and  confederates  in  the  Holy  War 
toward  each  other  were  not  of  an  amicable  nature  ; 
and  Philip,  foreseeing,  it  is  said,  that  dissensions 
would  be  inevitable  if  the  two  armies  passed  much 

'  He  was  born  a  poet — if  not  in  the  sense  of  Horace,  at  least  gene- 
alogically— for  his  mother  Eleanor,  as  well  as  his  maternal  grand- 
lather,  were  troubadours,  and  the  rank  was  made  hereditary  in  some 
families.     He  merited  it  by  his  cumpositioiis. 

2  Hoved. 


time  together  in  inactivity,  got  ready  his  fleet  as 
soon  as  he  could,  and  set  sail  for  the  east.  But 
contrary  winds  and  storms  drove  him  back  to  Mes- 
sina; and  it  was  then  resolved,  for  the  misfortune 
of  the  country,  that  the  two  kings  should  winter 
there  together,  and  find  supplies  for  their  armies  as 
best  they  could. 

The  kingdom  of  Sicily,  which  then  comprised 
Calabria  and  Apulia,  and  all  those  parts  of  lower 
Italy  now  included  in  the  Neapolitan  realm,  was  in 
a  weak  and  distracted  state.  A  feAV  years  before, 
under  the  reign  of  William  I.,  or  of  his  heroic  father, 
Ruggiero,  when  the  kingdom  was  united,  and  their 
powerful  fleets  of  galleys  gave  the  law  in  both  seas, 
(the  Tyrrhenian  and  the  Adriatic),  the  Sicilians 
might  have  been  able  to  defend  themselves  against 
the  insolent  crusaders,  numerous  as  they  were ; 
but  Richard,  who  had  a  private  account  to  settle 
with  their  king,  well  knew  their  present  weakness, 
and  determined  to  take  advantage  of  it.  The  King 
of  Sicily,  who  had  scarcely  been  ten  months  on  the 
throne,  and  who  reigned  by  a  disputed  title,  was 
Tancred,  a  prince  of  the  Norman  line,  of  great  valor 
and  ability.  Richard's  sister,  Joan,  who  had  been 
wedded  when  a  mere  child,  had  borne  her  husband 
no  children  ;  and,  after  nine  years'  marriage  with 
her.  King  William  II.,  commonly  called  "  The 
Good,"  became  uneasy  about  the  succession,  and  re- 
sorted to  curious  measures  in  order  to  keep  it  in  the 
legitimate  line.  The  only  legitimate  member  of  the 
f\imily  living  was  an  aunt  about  the  same  age  as 
himself — a  posthumous  child  of  his  grandfather,  the 
great  Ruggiero.  Tl>e  Princess  Constance  had  been 
brought  up  from  her  infancy  in  religious  retirement, 
and  was  living  in  a  convent — some  writers  say  she 
had  taken  the  veil  and  the  vows  of  a  nun  long  be- 
fore— when  her  nephew,  the  king,  fixed  his  eyes 
upon  her  for  his  successor.  Notwithstanding  her 
acknowledged  legitimacy,  William  the  Good  knew 
it  would  be  worse  than  useless  to  propose  a  single 
woman  to  his  warlike  barons  as  their  queen.  It  was 
the  same  everywhere,  and  for  the  same  reasons ; 
but,  if  anything,  the  objection  to  a  female  reign  was 
stronger  in  Sicilj^  than  elsewhere.  By  the  old  laws 
of  the  country,  as  of  all  Italy  (and  the  laws  were 
not  changed  in  Sicily  until  after  the  accession  of 
Frederic  II.,  the  son  of  this  very  Constance),  the 
deaf,  the  dumb,  the  blind,  and  women,  were  excluded 
from  the  succession  to  feudal  estates,  or  fiefs,  held 
of  the  crown  on  condition  of  military  service — a  con- 
dition which  applied  to  nearly  all  property,  except 
that  belonging  to  the  church.  And  though  the  old 
laws  expressly  excluding  women  from  the  throne 
had  been  abrogated  since  the  Norman  conquest,  the 
feelings  and  prejudices  of  the  people,  and  the  usage 
of  the  nobles  in  the  inferior  class  of  successions, 
sunived  the  destruction  of  the  theory,  and  all 
tended  to  make  a  female  reign  odious  or  impi-acti- 
cable  in  idea.  William,  therefore,  looked  abroad 
for  a  powerful  husband  that  might  assert  her  rights ; 
or,  considering  the  age  of  the  parties,  he  might  rea- 
sonably have  hoped  to  live  to  see  a  son  of  his  aunt's 
grow  up  before  he  died.  He,  therefore,  negotiated 
a  marriage  with  Henry,  the  son  and  heir  of  the 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


473 


Emperor  Frederic  Bai-barossa.  Considering  the 
countrj^  and  climate,  and  the  juvenile  age  at  which 
royal  ladies  were  then  given  in  mari"iage,  Constance 
was  rather  in  advanced  life — for  she  was  thirty-two 
years  old !  The  dower  and  the  hope  of  succession 
were,  however,  brilliant  and  tempting ;  and  Henry 
espoused  her  with  great  pomp  and  magnificence,  in 
1186,  in  the  city  of  Milan.  In  the  month  of  No- 
vember, 1189 — little  more  than  three  years  after 
this  marriage,  and  between  nine  and  ten  months 
before  the  arrival  of  the  crusaders  at  Messina,  Wil- 
liam died  at  Palermo,  in  the  thirty-sixth  jear  of  his 
age,  leaving  his  childless  widow,  Joan,  the  sister  of 
Richard,  who  was  only  in  her  twenty-fourth  year, 
to  the  care  of  his  successor.  This  successor  was 
declared  by  his  will  to  be  his  aunt  Constance,  to 
whom,  and  to  her  husband  Henry,  some  time  before 
his  decease,  he  had,  according  to  the  practice  of  the 
age,  made  the  barons  of  the  kingdom,  on  both  sides 
the  Faro,  take  an  anticipatory  oath  of  allegiance, 
at  the  town  of  Troja,  in  Apulia.  But  he  was  no 
sooner  dead  than  his  will  and  the  oaths  he  had 
exacted  were  alike  disregarded.  The  prejudice 
against  a  female  succession  was  as  strong  as  ever ; 
and  it  was  not  prejudice,  but  laudable  policy,  in  the 
people  of  the  south  to  be  adverse  to  the  rule  of  the 
German  emperors,  who  were  already  formidable  in 
the  north  of  Italy,  which  they  had  deluged  with 
blood,  and  who  threatened  the  independence  of  the 
whole  peninsula.  By  the  insular  portions  of  the 
kingdom,  or  in  Sicily  proper,  the  notion  of  being 
governed  by  Henry,  a  foreign  prince,  was  held  in 
abhorrence.  Constance  and  Henry  were  both  far 
away  at  the  time,  and,  encouraged  by  these  feelings 
and  circumstances,  several  of  the  great  barons  more 
or  less  closely  connected  with  the  royal  family,  ad- 
vanced claims  to  the  crown.  It  was  difficult,  and  in 
part  impossible,  to  reconcile  these  pretensions  ;  but 
at  length  the  mass  of  the  people  and  a  large  majority 
of  the  nobles  agreed  to  elect  Tancred,  Count  of 
Lecce,  cousin  to  the  deceased  king,  William  the 
Good,  but  reputed  of  illegitimate  birth,  though  avow- 
edly born  of  a  lady  of  the  noblest  rank.^  In  Sicily, 
as  in  England,  the  church  had  made  great  advances 
in  the  establishment  of  the  rights  of  legitimacy  ;  but 
these  rights  were,  as  yet,  far  from  being  imperative 
or  sacred  in  the  ej  es  of  the  people,  who,  in  all  cir- 
cumstances, would  have  preferred  a  bastard  to  a 
woman,  and  whose  choice  on  the  present  occasion 
fell  on  a  prince  of  ripe  manhood  and  mature  expe- 
rience, who  had  many  qualities  to  recommend  hun, 
besides  that  of  his  descent  from  the  great  Ruggiero, 
the  founder  of  the  dynasty.  Tancred  was,  there- 
fore, hailed  king  by  public  acclamation,^  and  solemnly 

'  In  most  of  our  histories  Tancred  is  called  the  illegitimate  brother 
of  William  II.,  which  is  decidedly  incorrect.  He  was  son  of  Rug- 
giero, the  elder  brother  of  William  I.,  who  was  father  to  William  the 
Good.  Count  Ruggiero  died  before  his  father,  the  great  Ruggiero, 
and  first  king  of  Sicily ;  the  lady  of  his  love  was  the  beautiful 
daughter  of  Robert,  Count  of  Lecce,  whose  titles  and  inheritance  were 
subsequently  given  to  his  grandson,  Tancred.  According  to  some 
Italian  writers,  Count  Ruggiero  and  the  young  lady  were  lawfully 
married. 

s  Giannone  says,  "  Tancredi  adunque  non  altro  titolo  pill  plaus.ibile 
poteva  allegar  per  se,  se  non  la  volonti  de'  Popoli."  This  great  writer, 
no  doubt,  thought  the  "  will  of  the  people"  one  of  the  Liest  of  rights, 
but  he  durst  not  say  so,  when  and  where  he  wrote. 


crowned  at  Palermo,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1190.  His  election  by  the  nobles  and  people,  or  his 
right,  was  acknowledged  by  the  court  of  Rome,  just 
as  that  of  Stephen  had  been  in  England,  and  the 
reigning  Pope  (Clement  III.)  sent  him  the  usual 
bulls  of  investiture  and  the  benediction.  Though 
acceptable  and  dear  to  the  people,  Tancred's  throne 
was  immediately  disturbed  by  his  disappointed  com- 
petitors, and  by  Archbishop  Walter  and  some  of  the 
Apulian  barons,  who  declared  for  Constance,  and 
armed  in  her  cause.  In  the  island  of  Sicily  this 
insurrection  was  defeated  by  the  unanimity  of  the 
people  ;  and,  passing  over  to  the  continent  in  per- 
son, Tancred  presently  reduced  most  of  the  Apulian 
barons  to  his  obedience.  But  the  civil  war  had 
weakened  him — plots  and  conspiracies  were  form- 
ing against  him,  and  Henry  of  Suabia,  now  emperor, 
by  the  death  of  his  father,  Barbarossa,  was  on  his 
march  to  the  south  with  a  powerful  army,  to  claim 
the  throne  for  Constance,  when  Richard,  received 
as  a  guest,  commenced  his  course  of  aggressions.' 

The  question  of  Tancred's  legitimacy  was  not,  in 
itself,  likely  to  claim  much  of  the  Lion-heart's  at- 
tention ;  his  quarrel  had  a  more  private  ground. 
When  the  late  king,  William  the  Good,  married  his 
sister  Joan,  in  the  first  impulse  of  love  and  gener- 
osit}',  he  gave  her  a  magnificent  dower — the  cities 
of  Monte  Sant'  Angelo  and  Vesti,  the  towns  and 
tenements  of  Ischitella,  Peschici,  Vico,  Caprino, 
Castel  Pagano,  and  others,  with  their  several  cas- 
tles;  Lesina  and  Varano,  with  their  lakes  and  thei 
forests  adjoining;  two  stately  monasteries,  with 
their  pastures,  woods,  and  vinej'ards — in  short,  in 
one  extensive  and  solid  mass,  the  whole  of  the  beau- 
tiful country  comprised  in  the  great  promontory  of 
Monte  Gargano,  between  the  provinces  of  Apulia 
and  the  Abruzzi,  was  allotted  to  the  fair  daughter 
of  our  Henry  II.  Tancred,  on  his  accession,  had 
withheld  this  splendid  dower,  and  had  even,  it  was 
said,  deprived  the  young  queen-dowager  of  her  per- 
sonal liberty.^  Richard's  first  demand  was  for  the 
enlargement  of  his  sister ;  and,  whether  she  had 
been  a  prisoner  or  not,  it  is  quite  certain  that  Tan- 
cred sent  her  immediately  to  her  brother,  from 
Palermo  to  Messina,  escorted  by  the  royal  galleys. 
The  impetuous  king  of  England  then  demanded  her 
dower,  which,  under  circumstances,  it  would  not 
have  been  easy  for  Tancred  to  put  her  in  possession 
of,  as  the  territories  lay  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
great  fiefs  of  the  continental  barons,  who  were  again 
in  revolt.  Without  waiting  the  result  of  peaceful 
negotiations,  into  which  Tancred  readily  entered, 
Richard,  embarking  part  of  liis  army,  crossed  the 
Straits  of  Messina,  and  took  possession,  by  force  of 
arms,  of  the  town  and  castle  of  Bagnara,  on  the 
opposite  coast  of  Calabria.  Leaving  his  sister  Joan, 
with  a  good  garrison,  in  this  castle,  he  returned  to 
Messina,  to  commit  another  act  of  aggression.  There 
was  a  monastery  on  the  sea-shore  (a  little  beyond 
the  port  of  Messina)  that  covered  one  of  the  flanks 
of  his  army,  which  was  encamped  outside  the  town. 
The  place  was  capable  of  being  strongly  fortified, 

'  Angelodi  Costanza.— Giannone. — Fazello.— Muratori. 
s  This  fact  is  not  admitted  by  the  oldest  Sicilian  historians 


474 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III- 


and  was  otherwise  well  suited  to  his  purpose ;  so 
he  drove  the  monks  out  of  it,  and,  garrisoning  it  for 
himself,  converted  it  into  a  place  of  arms  and  mili- 
tary store-house.  Whether  the  poor  Sicilians  loved 
these  monks'  or  not,  the  honor  of  their  wives  and 
daughters  was  dear  to  them,  and  they  were  proba- 
bly as  jealous  as  at  the  time  of  the  "  Vespers,"  a 
century  later ;  and  when  Richard's  disorderly  sol- 
diers of  the  cross,  the  very  day  after  this  seizure  of 
the  monastery,  "  strolled  licentiously  through  the 
city,  with  much  lasciviousness,"*  the  townspeople, 
no  longer  able  to  contain  their  indignation,  set  upon 
them  in  the  streets,  killed  several  of  them,  and  then 
closed  the  gates  of  the  town.  On  this,  the  whole 
camp  armed,  and  English,  Normans,  Angevins, 
Poictevins,  with  the  rest  that  followed  Richard's 
standard,  rushed  to  the  walls,  and  would  have  scaled 
them  then,  had  not  their  king  ridden  among  them, 
and  commanded  them  to  desist,  beating  them  the 
while  with  his  truncheon  as  hard  as  ho  could.^  He 
then  went  to  the  quarters  of  the  King  of  France, 
\vhither  the  magistrates  of  the  town  soon  repaired. 
After  mutual  complaints,  promises  of  redress  were 
made  on  both  sides,  and  the  king  drew  off  his  men 
to  their  tents  and  ships.  On  the  following  morning 
51  solemn  meeting  was  held,  with  a  view  of  providing 
for  future  tranquillity  and  concord  among  all  parties  ; 
for  Richard's  men  and  the  followers  of  the  French 
king  regarded  each  other  with  evil  eyes,  and  had 
already  shed  some  blood  in  brawls.  The  prelates 
and  chief  barons  of  the  two  nations,  and  the  princi- 
pal men  of  Messina,  went  with  Philip  to  the  quar- 
ters of  Richard.  While  they  were  deliberating,  a 
troop  of  incensed  Sicilians  gathered  on  the  hills 
above  the  English  camp,  with  the  intention,  it  is 
said,  of  attacking  the  king.  A  Norman  knight  was 
■^vounded  by  these  people,  and  so  great  an  upi"oar 
arose,  that  Richard  rushed  from  the  conference,  and 
called  all  his  men  to  arms.  The  English  and  Nor- 
mans rushed  up  the  hill-side,  but  the  French  did 
not  move,  and  Philip  at  one  moment  seemed  in- 
chned  to  take  part  wth  the  Sicilians.  Richard 
drove  the  multitude  from  the  hill,  and  followed 
them  with  the  sword  in  their  loins  to  the  city. 
Some  of  the  English  entered  pell-mell  with  the  fu- 
gitives, but  the  gates  were  then  closed,  and  the  cit- 
izens prepared  to  defend  their  walls.  Five  knights 
and  twenty  men-at-arms  were  killed  before  the 
walls,  but  Richard,  having  brought  up  nearly  the 
whole  of  his  force,  took  the  town  by  storm,  and 
planted  his  banner  on  its  loftiest  tower,  as  if  it  had 
been  his  own  town,  or  one  taken  in  regular  warfare. 
At  this  exhibition  Phihp  was  greatly  incensed,  but 
an  open  rupture  between  the  two  sworn  brothers  in 
arms  was  avoided  for  the  present,  by  Richard's  con- 
senting to  lower  his  banner,  and  commit  the  city  to 
the  keeping  of  the  Knights  Hospitalers  and  Tem- 
plars till  his  demands  upon  Tancred  should  be  sat- 
isfied. 

Soon  after  this  altercation  the  kings  of  France 

1  From  some  accounts  it  appears  that  the  monastery  was  occupied 
by  Greek  monks.  If  that  were  the  case,  they  were  not  likely  to  be 
very  dear  to  the  Messinese. 

a  Fazello.— 1st.  de  Sic.  3  Hoved.— Vinesauf. 


'  and  England  solemnly  renewed  their  vows  of  friend- 
ship and  brotherhood,  and,  by  the  advice  of  the 
prelates  embarked  in  the  crusade,  took  measures 
for  repressing  the  excesses  of  the  pilgrim-soldiers. 
The  vice  of  gaming,  it  appears,  had  become  very 
prevalent.  Playing  for  money  was  now  prohibited, 
with  the  following  exceptions  :  the  two  kings  might 
play  themselves,  and  command  their  followers  to  do 
so  in  their  presence ;  but  these  nobles  were  bound 
not  to  lose  more  than  twenty  shillings  in  one  day 
and  night;  knights  and  priests  might  play  to  the 
same  amount,  but  were  to  forfeit  four  times  twenty 
shillings  every  time  they  lost  more  than  the  sum 
appointed  in  one  day  and  night ;  and  the  servants  of 
archbishops,  bishops,  earls,  and  barons  might,  in  like 
manner,  play  by  their  masters'  command  ;  i)ut  if  any 
servants  were  detected  in  playing  without  such  li- 
cense, then  they  were  to  be  whipped  round  the 
camp  naked  on  three  successive  dajs.  If  any  mar- 
iners played  they  were  to  be  ducked  three  times  in 
the  sea ;  and  any  others  of  the  crusaders  of  like  mean 
degree,  being  neither  knights  nor  priests,  so  ofieud- 
ing,  were  to  be  whipped  as  varlets.  In  all  cases,  how- 
ever, the  pimishment  was  redeemable  by  payment  of 
a  fine  in  money,  which  was  to  go  toward  the  expenses 
of  rescuing  the  tomb  of  Christ.^  Other  laws  ^vere 
enacted  at  the  same  time,  to  prevent  any  pilgrims  or 
crusaders  that  might  chance  to  die  from  remitting 
their  property  to  their  family  or  friends  at  home. 

Two  of  Tancred's  nobles  and  prime  favorites — 
his  admiral  and  another — commanded  at  Messina  at 
the  time  of  Richard's  arrival.  Seeing  that  resist- 
ance was  vain,  and  feeling  that  their  dignity  was 
committed  by  remaining  in  a  town  where  a  foreign 
prince  gave  the  law,  they  both  retii'ed  with  their 
families  and  movable  property ;  upon  which,  Rich- 
ard seized  their  houses,  gallej's,  and  whatever  else 
they  had  not  been  able  to  carry  off  with  them.  He 
made  a  complete  castle  of  the  monastery  on  the 
sea-side,  digging  a  broad  and  deep  ditch  round  it, 
and  he  built  a  new  fort  on  the  hills  above  the  town.' 
These,  and  other  proceedings,  in  which  he  consulted 
no  one,  but  acted  as  if  he  were  absolute  master  of 
the  island,  again  excited  the  en\y  and  disgust  of 
Philip ;  but  they  probably  hastened  the  conclusion 
of  a  treaty  with  Tancred,  who,  in  the  difficulties 
under  which  he  was  laboring,  could  hardly  contend 
with  so  fierce  and  powerful  a  disputant.  Richard 
demanded  for  his  sister  all  the  territories  before 
mentioned,  together  with  a  golden  chair,  a  golden 
table,  twelve  feet  long,  and  a  foot  and  a  half  broad, 
two  golden  tressels  for  supporting  the  same,  twenty- 
four  silver  cups,  and  as  many  silver  dishes — to  all 
which,  it  appears,  she,  as  queen,  was,  by  the  custom 
of  that  kingdom,  entitled.  After  all  this,  he  de- 
manded for  himself,  as  representative  and  heir  of 
his  father,  a  tent  of  silk,  large  enough  to  accommo- 
date 200  knights  sitting  at  meals,  G0,000  measures 
of  wheat,  and  60,000  of  barley,  with  100  armed  gal- 
leys equipped  and  provisioned  for  two  years.^   This 

'  Roved.     We  have  translated  "  solidos  "  by  shillings. 

2  This  castle,  called  Mattag^ritfone,  after  having  been  enlarged  and 
repaired  at  different  periods,  still  frowns  over  Messina. 

3  Hoved. — Bened.  Abb. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


475 


voluminous  donation,  which,  as  it  has  been  judiciously 
leinaiked,  was  not  merely  a  mark  of  friendship,  but 
meant  as  a  pious  contribution  to  the  Holy  Wai-,  had 
been  left  in  his  will  by  William  the  Good  to  his  father- 
in-law,  Henry  of  England,  who  was  bound  for  the 
Holy  Land,  but  who  died  before  the  death  of  his  son- 
in-law  gave  validity  to  the  testamentary  bequest;  and 
Richard  must  have  exercised  ingenuity  as  well  as 
impudence  in  attempting  to  prove  the  legality  of  this 
part  of  his  demand.  In  the  end,  Richard  either 
proposed  or  agreed  to  a  compensation  in  money. 
Twenty  thousand  golden  oncie'  were  paid  in  satis- 
faction of  all  Joan's  demands,  and  twenty  thousand 
more  were  paid  to  Richard  himself,  but  not  in  sat- 
isfaction for  his  claim,  which  he  waived  (caring 
little,  probably,  on  what  ground  he  obtained  the 
money,  so  long  as  he  got  it),  but  on  a  treaty  of 
marriage  which  he  concluded.^  He  affianced 
his  young  nephew  Arthur,  who  was  his  heir  pre- 
sumptive,^ to  an  infant  daughter  of  Tancred,  and 
engaged,  in  case  the  marriage  should  be  prevented 
by  the  death  of  either  of  the  parties,  that  he  or  his 
heirs  would  repay  to  Tancred  or  his  heirs  the 
twenty  thousand  oncie  then  received  by  him,  as  the 
dower  of  the  infant.  But  the  ti-eaty  went  further 
than  this ;  for  Richai'd  guarantied  to  Tancred  the 
possession  of  Apulia,  which  was  partly  in  revolt, 
and  of  the  important  city  of  Capua,  which  liad  never 
submitted  to  the  new  king.  He,  indeed,  contracted 
with  him  what  we  now  call  an  alliance  offensive  and 
defensive — a  league  he  had  cause  to  regret  when 
his  evil  fortune  threw  him  into  the  power  of  Tan- 
cred's  competitor,  the  Emperor  Henry.  The  treatj* 
was  sent  to  Rome,  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
Pope,  who  was  invited,  both  by  Richard  and  by 
Tancred,  to  enforce  its  observance,  should  any  want 
of  faith  be  shown  by  either  of  the  contracting  par- 
ties in  the  sequel.  The  money  obtained  was  lav- 
ished by  Richard  in  a  manner  which  appeared 
thoughtless  and  wild ;  but  his  liberality  had  the 
effect  of  increasing  his  popularity  with  the  crusading 
host ;  for  he  made  the  followers  of  the  French  king, 
and  the  king  himself,  share  his  bounty  with  his  own 
followers,  who  highly  lauded  him,  "  for  that  he  gave 
away  as  much  in  largesses  in  one  month  as  his  father 
Henry  would  do  in  a  whole  year."  Such  a  multitude 
of  men  collected  on  one  point  had  greatly  raised  the 
price  of  provisions  ;  and  Richard's  treasure,  and  his 
table  too,  were  open  to  the  crossed  knights  of  all 
countries,  who  complained  of  the  expensiveness  of 
their  sojourn  at  Messina.  On  the  feast  of  Christ- 
mas he  gave  a  splendid  banquet,  to  which  he  invited 
every  man  of  the  rank  of  a  knight  or  gentleman,  in 
both  armies ;  and  when  the  dinner  was  over,  he 
made  a  present  in  money  to  each,  the  amount  being 

1  An  oncia  is  a  Sicilian  gold  coin  ;  the  present  value  is  about  ten 
shillings  English. 

2  The  Sicilian  historians  mention  only  one  payment  of  20,000  oncie, 
and  this  they  put  down  to  the  account  of  the  dota,  or  dower  of  Tan- 
cred's  daughter. 

3  In  the  treaty,  Richard  styled  him  his  "  most  dear  nephew  and 
heir,"  mentioning,  however,  the  condition  of  his  dying  without  chil- 
dren— "  Si  forte  sine  prole  nos  obire  concingeret.'' — Recueil  des  Histo- 
rians de  France. — Daru,  Hist,  de  la  Bretagne.  The  tinfortunate 
Arthur  was  little  more  than  two  years  old  at  the  time  of  this  con- 
tract. 


more  or  less,  according  to  the  rank  of  the  parties. 
A  little  army  of  troubadours  and  minstrels,  who  had 
followed  him  from  Aquitaine  and  the  rest  of  the 
south  of  France,  constantly  sang  his  praises.  This 
display  of  superior  wealth,  and  the  popularity  he  ob- 
tained by  his  liberality,  seem  to  have  increased  the 
envy  and  malevolence  of  Philip,  who,  however, 
must  have  had,  all  along,  a  standing  cause  of  com- 
plaint, which  we  shall  presently  refer  to.  Part  of 
the  winter  montlis  were  spent  in  repairing  the 
ships,  that  were  nmch  worm-eaten,  in  the  port  of 
3Iessina,  and  in  preparing  catapults,  manginalls,  and 
other  warlike  engines,  wherewith  to  batter  the  walls 
of  the  infidel  towns  in  Syria  and  Palestine,  the  tim- 
ber for  which  was  cut  on  the  mountains  of  Sicily 
and  in  the  extensive  forests  of  Calabria.  But  in 
spite  of  these  and  other  occupations,  time  hung 
heavily  on  the  hands  of  the  impatient  Richard.  In 
a  period  of  inactivity  he  was  seized  with  a  fit  of  de- 
votion and  penitence.  He  called  all  the  prelates 
together  that  were  then  with  his  host  at  Messina, 
into  the  chapel  of  Reginald  de  Moiac,  in  whose 
house  he  then  resided ;  and  there,  in  presence  of 
them  aU,  falling  down  upon  his  knees,  he  confess- 
ed his  sins  and  the  profligate  life  which  he  hither- 
to had  led,  and  humbly  received  the  penance  en- 
joined him  by  the  bishops ;  "  and  so,*'  adds  an  old 
historian,  who  did  not  sufficiently  bear  in  mind  the 
deeds  of  his  after  life,  "  he  became  a  new  man,  fear- 
ing God,  and  delighting  to  live  after  his  laws.'" 

At  this  time  Christian  Europe  was  filled  with  the 
fame  of  Giovacchino,  or  Joachim,  the  Calabrese,  a 
Cistercian  monk  and  abbot  of  Curacio,  who  was 
commonly  reputed  a  prophet,  and  who  had  lashed 
the  vices  of  the  court  of  Rome  in  an  infinitude  of 
books  and  treatises,  all  bearing  the  most  extravagant 
titles.  Richard  being  anxious  to  converse  with  this 
seer,  King  Tancred  sent  for  him  into  Calabria ;  and 
the  monk,  probably  flattered  by  such  an  invitation, 
came  over  to  Messina,  where  the  lion-hearted  sol- 
dier had  a  grand  field-day  of  theologj-  and  vaticina- 
tion. Giovacchino  had  no  difficulty  in  interpreting, 
in  his  own  way,  the  whole  of  the  Apocalypse.  He 
told  his  majesty  of  England  that  Autichiist  was  born, 
and  then  actually  living  in  Rome.  Saladin,  against 
whom  Richard  was  to  fight,  was  one  of  the  heads 
of  the  beast  in  the  Revelations  ;  and  for  every  other 
symbol  or  type  the  fervid  imagination  of  the  Cala- 
brian  monk  found  an  existing  reality  in  some  public 
character  of  the  time.  Christian  or  Pagan.  He 
foretold  the  year  in  which  Jerusalem  would  be  re- 
covered by  the  crusaders ;  and  to  every  doubt  he 
would  reply — "  but  is  it  not  \vi-itten  in  the  book  ?" 
The  bishops  and  learned  clerks,  however,  in 
Richard's  train  would  not  permit  the  abbot  to  have 
it  all  his  own  way,  and  a  fierce  controversy  ensued, 
in  which  English  lungs  (they  would  have  had  no 
chance  but  for  the  disparity  of  numbers)  were  tried 
against  the  stentorian  lungs  of  Calabria.^  According 
to  Giannone,  Richard  at  once  set  the  prophet  down 
as  an  idle  babbler  ;^  but  people  must  have  been  bet- 
ter quahfied  to  give  a  decided  opinion  on  this  head 
some  years  later,  when  everj-  one  of  the  Abbot  Gio- 

i  Holinshed.  =  Hoved.  ^  "  Ciancialore." 


476 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


vacchino's  prophecies  fibout  Jerusalem  and  the  holy 
war  was  falsified  by  the  event.' 

A  short  time  after  these  theological  conferences, 
Richard  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  to  the  flanks 
of  the  towering  and  smoking  Mount  Etna,  which 
had  recently  been  in  active  eruption.  At  the  city 
of  Catania  he  was  met  by  appointment — and  it  ap- 
pears for  the  first  time — by  Tancred.  The  two 
kings  embraced,  and,  walking  in  splendid  procession 
to  the  cathedral  church  (another  work  of  the  Nor- 
mans), prayed,  kneeling  side  by  side,  before  the 
shrine  of  St.  Agatha.  They  lived  in  great  cordiality, 
and  each  seemed  to  entertain  a  high  respect  for  the 
valor  and  character  of  the  other.  Like  the  heroes 
of  Homer,  they  exchanged  presents,  Tancred  giving 
Richard  a  ring,  and  Richard  giving  Tancred  a  sword, 
icputed  to  be  the  enchanted  blade  Excalebar,  or 
Caliburn,  of  the  British  king  Arthur.  But  his  Si- 
cilian majesty  also  gave,  as  a  contribution  to  the  holy 
war,  four  large  ships  and  fifteen  galleys.  On  his 
return  to  Messina,  he  accompanied  his  guest  for 
many  miles,  even  as  far  as  the  town  of  Taormina ; 
and  before  they  parted  there,  it  is  said,  he  gave  to 
Richard  a  letter  wherein  the  French  king  declared 
his  majesty  of  England  to  be  a  traitor,  who  meant 
to  break  the  peace  and  treaty  he  had  concluded 
with  the  King  of  Sicily,  and  offered  to  assist  Tan- 
cred to  drive  him  and  his  English  out  of  the  island. 
Coeur  de  Lion,  after  a  furious  explosion,  and  many 
oaths  that  he  never  had  been,  and  never  would  be, 
false  to  Tancred,  collected  his  ideas,  and  then  ex- 
pressed a  doubt  that  Philip,  his  liege  and  sworn  com- 
rade in  that  pilgrimage,  could  be  guilty  of  so  much 
baseness.  Tancred  declared  that  the  letter  had 
leally  been  delivered  to  him,  as  from  the  King  of 
J<' ranee,  by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy ;  and  he  vowed 
ihat,  if  the  duke  should  deny  having  so  delivered 
it,  he  would  make  good  his  charge  upon  him  in  the 
lists  by  one  of  his  barons.'^  When  he  arrived  at  the 
camp  Richard  met  Philip  with  a  clouded  brow,  and 
a  day  or  two  after,  in  the  course  of  one  of  their 
many  altercations,  he  produced  the  letter,  and  asked 
the  French  king  if  he  knew  it  ?  Philip  pronounced  it 
to  be  a  vile  forgery,  and,  changing  defence  into  attack, 
accused  Richard  of  seeking  a  pretext  for  breaking  off 
liis  marriage  with  the  French  princess.  This  was 
touching  at  once  on  the  grievance  that  must  long 
have  made  all  friendship  on  the  part  of  Philip  a 
mere  simulation.    All  the  clamor  Richard  had  raised 

1  Dante,  however,  diil  not  hesitate  to  place  the  astute  Calabrian  in 
Paradise.  The  abbot  probably  owed  this  elevation  to  liis  enmity  to 
the  popes,  whom  Dante  hated  even  more  than  he  : — 

"  Raban  e  quivi,  e  lucemi  da  lato, 
II  Calavrese  Abate  Giovacchino 
Di  spirito  profetico  dotato." — Paradiso,  canto  xii. 
Raban  is  here  ;  and  at  my  side  there  shines 
Calabria's  Abbot  Joachim,  eudow'd 
With  soul  jirophetic.  .  .  .  Gary's  Translation. 

2  There  are  several  versions  of  this  mysterious  story  ;  we  have 
chosen  that  which  appears  most  natural.  If  there  was  any  deceit 
about  the  letter  it  was  practiced  by  Tancred.  It  is  said  that  before 
Richard's  arrival  the  Sicilian  prince  had  offered  one  of  his  daughters 
to  Philip  for  his  infant  son,  and  that  the  French  king  had  rejected  the 
alliance.  But,  again,  it  is  said  that,  a  few  hours  after  Richard  had 
left  him  at  Taormina,  Tancred  met  Philip  at  the  same  town  and  passed 
the  night  with  him  in  a  friendly  manner.  The  native  historians  are 
provokingly  silent  on  nearly  all  the  transactions  of  the  crusaders  in 
Sicily. 


for  his  affianced  bride,  in  the  last  months  of  his  fa- 
ther's reign,  was  merely  for  political  purposes  :  as 
soon  as  Henry  died  ho  dropped  all  mention  of  the 
Lady  Alice  ;  and  at  this  very  moment,  as  Philip  no 
doubt  well  knew,  he  had  contracted  a  very  different 
alliance,  and  was  every  day  expecting  another  wife. 
"  I  see  Avhat  it  is,"  said  Philip,  "you  seek  a  quar- 
rel with  me,  in  order  not  to  marry  my  sister,  whom, 
by  oath,  you  are  bound  to  marry ;  but  of  this  be 
sure,  that  if  you  abandon  her  and  take  another,  I 
will  be  all  my  life  the  mortal  enemy  of  you  and 
yours."  Richard  replied  that  he  could  not  and 
never  would  marry  the  princess,  as  it  was  of  public 
notoriety  that  his  own  father,  Henry,  had  had  a 
child  by  her ;  and,  according  to  the  minute  relater 
of  these  curious  passages,  he  produced  many  wit- 
nesses to  prove  to  Philip  the  dishonor  and  shame 
of  his  own  sister.  True  or  false,  this  exi)osure 
was  a  cruel  and  degrading  blow,  not  likely  ever 
to  be  forgotten  or  forgiven.^  For  the  present,  how- 
ever, Philip  bartered  his  sister's  honor  for  a  i)en- 
sion,  agreeing  to  release  Richard  from  his  previous 
matrimonial  contract,  and  permit  him  to  marry  what- 
soever wife  he  chose,  for  two  thousand  marks  a-year, 
to  be  paid  for  the  term  of  five  years.  Besides  prom- 
ising this  money,  Richard  engaged  to  restore  the 
Princess  Alice,  together  with  the  fortresses  received 
as  her  marriage  portion,  as  soon  as  he  should  return 
from  the  Holy  Land. — [Eventually  the  lady  was 
not  restored  till  some  years  after  that  event,  when 
she  espoused  the  Count  of  Ponthieu.] — This  pre- 
cious arrangement,  and  the  settlement  of  other  dif- 
ferences," were  confirmed  on  both  sides  by  fresh 
oaths,  for,  in  these  days,  princes  seem  never  to  have 
tired  of  swearing,  or  to  have  felt  that  the  continually 
recurring  rupture  of  their  oaths  made  them  nothing 
but  a  solemn  mockery.  Philip  then  got  ready  for 
sea,  and,  after  receiving  some  vessels  and  stores 
bountifully  given  him  by  Richard,  he  set  sail  on  the 
30th  of  March,  1199,  for  Acre.  Richard  with  a 
few  of  his  most  splendid  galleys,  accompanied  him 
down  the  Straits  of  Messina,  and  returning  the  same 
evening  to  Reggio,  on  the  Calabrian  coast,  took  on 
board  his  new  bride,  who  had  been  for  some  time 
in  the  neighborhood,  waiting  only  for  the  departure 
of  the  French  king,  and  then  carried  her  over  to 
the  citj^  of  Messina.  This  lady  was  Berengaria, 
the  beautiful  daughter  of  the  King  of  Navarre  : 
Richard  had  seen  her  in  her  own  country  a  year 
or  two  before  his  father's  death,  and  was  passion- 
atelj'  enamored  of  her  at  the  moment  when,  to 
annoy  Henry,  he  was  raising  such  a  clamor  for  the 
Princess  Alice.  His  passion  was  romantic  and  dis- 
interested, for  he  gained  no  territories  by  the  union, 
and  seems  to  have  stipulated  for  no  political  advan- 
tages, Avhen  he  dispatched  his  mother,  Eleanor,  to 
ask  the  hand  of  Berengaria.     It  is  said  that  the  fair 

1  According  to  an  old  French  writer  the  insult  was  "  a  nail  stuck  in 
and  driven  through  the  heart  of  Philip." — De  Serres,  luventaire 
G6n6ral  de  I'llist.  de  France. 

Roger  of  Hoveden  gives  the  fullest  account  of  this  quarrel.  See 
also  Diceto. — Iter.  Hiero. 

3  With  reference  to  young  Arthur,  Philip  consented  that  Brittany 
should  continue  to  acknowledge  the  direct  feudal  supremacy  of  the 
Norman  dukes  or  English  kings,  who  should  do  homage  for  it  to  the 
crown  of  France. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


477 


m:iiden  partook  of  his  generous  passion,  and  that, 
without  being  deterred  by  the  many  dangers  and 
privations  to  which  she  exposed  herself,  she  joy- 
fully consented  to  travel  with  her  mother-in-law 
from  the  Pyrenees  to  the  Alps  and  Apennines,  and 
thence  to  follow  her  husband  beyond  sea  to  the 
land  of  the  Paynim.  Leaving  Navarre  with  a  suit- 
able escort  of  barons,  knights,  and  priests,  the  young 
Berengaria  and  Eleanor,  whose  activity  was  not 
destroyed  by  age,  traveled  by  land  to  Naples,  and 
from  the  gay  city  of  Naples  they  traveled  on  through 
the  passes  of  Monteforte  and  Bovino,  and  across  the 
vast  Apulian  plain  to  the  ancient  city  of  Brindisi, 
there  to  wait  until  the  French  king  should  be  out 
of  the  way.  As  the  expedition  of  Richard  was  so 
nearly  ready  for  sea  when  the  royal  travelers  ar- 
rived, it  was  not  thought  proper  to  delay  its  sailing, 
and,  as  the  penitential  season  of  Lent  was  not  quite 
over,  the  marriage  was  not  celebrated  at  Messina; 
and  the  queen-mother,  having  placed  the  bride 
under  the  matronly  care  of  her  own  daughter,  Joan, 
the  dowager-(jueen  of  Sicily,  embarked  for  England 
four  days  after.  Eleanor,  it  will  be  remembered, 
had  already  made  the  "  great  passage,"  as  it  was 
called,  with  her  first  husband,  Louis  of  France,  and 
it  is  probable  that  certain  recollections  of  that  cru- 
sade contributed  more  than  her  advanced  years  in 
preventing  her  from  revisiting  Palestine.  Accord- 
ing to  a  quaint  old  rhyming  writer,  "  Dame  Joan 
held  her  sister  Berengaria  veiy  dear,  and  the  two 
ladies  lived  together  like  two  birds  in  one  cage."' 
They  did  not  embark  in  the  same  ship  with  Rich- 
nrd,  but  a  separate  galley  was  deUcately  allotted  to 
them. 

The  day  after  Eleanor's  departure  for  England 
the  whole  fleet  set  sail  for  Acre.  As  a  rapid  cur- 
rent carried  it  through  the  Straits  of  Messina,  it 
presented  a  beautiful  and  imposing  appearance,  that 
called  forth  the  involuntary  admiration  of  the  people 
of  either  shore, — the  Sicilians  saying  that  so  gallant 
an  armament  had  never  before  been  seen  there,  and 
never  would  be  seen  again.  The  size  and  beauty 
of  the  ships  seem  to  have  excited  this  admiration 
not  less  than  their  number.  The  flag  of  England 
floated  over  fifty-three  galleys,  thirteen  dromones, 
"  mighty  great  ships  with  triple  sails,"'^  one  hundred 
carikes  or  busses,  and  many  smaller  craft.  Thirty 
busses  from  England  had  arrived  just  before,  bring- 
ing out  fresh  stores  and  men.  The  mariners  of 
England,  however,  were  not  then  what  centuries 
of  struggle  and  experience  have  made  them  ;  and 
when  a  great  tempest  arose,  soon  after  leaving  the 
Sicilian  sea,  the  whole  navy  was  "  sore  tossed  and 
turmoiled,"  and  scattered  in  all  directions,  not  a 
few  of  the  ships  being  foundered  or  cast  on  shore.^ 
After  a  narrow  escape  himseff  on  the  coast  of  Can- 
dia  or  Crete,  Richard  got  safely  into  Rhodes ;  but 
the  ship  which  bore  his  sister  and  his  bride  was  not 

'  Robert  of  Brunne. 

2  By  this  is  meant  that  they  were  three-masted. 

^  It  is  said,  however,  by  one  who  was  on  board  the  fleet,  that  the 
sailors  did  everything  that  it  was  possible  for  human  skill  to  do;  but 
old  Vinesauf  was  a  landsman,  and  not  a  good  judge,  and  people  then 
allowed  very  narrow  limits  to  the  extent  of  human  skill  in  many 
things. 


with  him,  and  he  passed  several  days  in  distressing 
anxiety  as  to  their  fate.  At  Rhodes  he  fell  sick, 
and  was  detained  there  several  days.  Incapable 
of  taking  the  sea  himself,  he  dispatched  some  of 
his  swiftest  vessels  to  look  after  the  ladies  and  col- 
lect the  scattered  fleet.  This  storm  blew  more 
mischief  to  the  petty  tyrant  of  Cyprus  than  to  any 
one  else.  One  of  the  English  scouts  returned  to 
Rhodes  with  the  information  that  two  of  his  ships 
had  been  cast  ashore  on  the  island  of  Cyprus,  and 
that  the  people  of  the  country  had  barbarously  plun- 
dered the  wrecks  and  cast  the  mariners  and  cru- 
saders into  prison.  Vowing  vengeance, — and  of 
these  vows  he  was  always  very  tenacious, — Rich- 
ard embarked,  and,  departing  immediately  with  all 
of  the  fleet  that  had  joined  him  at  Rhodes,  made 
way,  with  press  of  oars  and  sails,  for  the  devoted 
island.  Oft'  Limisso,  or  Limasol,  then  the  principal 
seaport  town  of  Cyprus,  he  found  the  galley  of  his 
bride  and  sister.  Either  the  Cypriots  had  refused 
the  royal  ship  the  entrance  of  the  port,  or  (which 
is  more  probable)  the  ladies,  knowing  how  they  had 
treated  the  two  wrecks,  feared  putting  themselves 
in  their  power,  and  had  refused  their  invitation  to 
land.  The  island  of  Cyprus  was  occupied  by  Greeks, 
a  people  who,  from  a  difference  in  some  dogmas  of 
faith  and  from  other  reasons,  had  never  been  able 
to  agree  with  the  crusaders  of  the  West.  The  island- 
ers had  probably  learned  the  overbearing  conduct  of 
Richard  in  Sicily,  where  there  were  many  Greek 
colonies ;  and  general  experience  had  proved  that 
the  holy  warriors  were  most  turbulent  and  danger- 
ous guests.  Hence  the  Cypriots  might  have  been 
induced  to  give  them  so  bad  a  welcome  ;  but,  con- 
sidering the  circumstances  of  the  English  who  were 
thrown  on  their  coast,  the  conduct  they  pursued 
was  odious  and  exasperating.  The  sovereign  of 
the  island  was  one  Isaac,  a  prince  of  the  imperial 
race  of  the  Comneni,  who  pompously  styled  him- 
self "  Emperor  of  Cyprus."  When  harshly  called 
upon  for  satisfaction,  he  put  himself  in  a  posture  of 
defence,  throwing  out  some  armed  galleys  to  the 
mouth  of  the  harbor  of  Limasol,  and  drawing  up  his 
troops  along  shore.  These  troops  were  ill  calcu- 
lated to  contend  with  the  steel-clad  warriors  of 
Richard,  for,  with  the  exception  of  a  body-guard, 
which  was  splendidly  armed  and  appointed,  they 
had  no  defensive  armor,  but  were  half  naked,  and 
the  mass  of  them  had  no  better  weapons  than  clubs 
and  stones.  Richard  boarded  and  took  the  galleys, 
dispersed  the  troops,  and  made  himself  master 
of  the  city,  with  little  difficulty.  The  inhabitants 
fled,  but  had  not  time  to  cany  off"  their  property, 
which  the  crusaders  made  prize  of.  They  found 
an  abundance  of  provisions  of  all  kinds,  and  when 
Queen  Joan  and  Berengaria  landed  at  Limasol  they 
were  welcomed  with  a  feast.  Having  rallied,  to 
make  another  impotent  attempt  at  resistance,  the 
Cypriots  were  surprised  the  next  morning,  and 
"  killed  like  beasts,"  their  "  emperor"  saving  his  fife 
by  flying  "  bare  in  serke  and  breke."'     Isaac,  who 

I  Robert  of  Brunne.  From  Vinesauf  and  Iloveden  it  appears  that 
Isaac,  betrayed  by  the  Cypriots,  was  surprised  before  he  was  out  of 
bed,  and  fled  without  armor  or  clothes. 


478 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


had  now  learned,  to  his  cost,  the  might  and  fury  of 
the  enemy  he  had  provoked,  sent  from  his  capital 
of  Leikosia,  or  Nicosia,  situated  in  the  centre  of 
the  island,  to  sue  for  a  conference  6f  peace.  Rich- 
ard, gaily  mounted  on  a  Spanish  charger,  and  splen- 
didly attired  in  silk  and  gold,  met  the  humbled  Greek 
in  a  plain  near  Limasol.  The  terms  he  imposed 
were  sufficiently  hard;  but  the  "emperor"  agreed 
to  pay  an  indemnity  in  gold  for  the  Avrong  he  had 
done  the  galleys,  to  resign  all  his  castles,  to  do 
homage  to  the  King  of  England,  and  to  follow  him 
to  the  holy  war  with  500  well-armed  infantry,  400 
light-horse,  and  100  knights.  Isaac  was  to  place 
his  daughter  and  heiress  as  a  hostage  in  Richard's 
hands,  and  Richard  was  to  restore  her,  with  all  the 
castles,  on  their  return  from  Palestine,  on  the  deli- 
cate condition,  however,  that  the  emperor's  conduct 
in  the  holy  war  should  give  the  king  entire  satisfac- 
tion. That  very  night  the  Greek  (led  to  make  an- 
other vain  effort  at  resistance  ;  but  Richard  had  no 
great  right  to  complain  of  this,  seeing  that  he  treated 
Isaac,  not  as  a  reconciled  enemy  and  ally,  but  as  a 
prisoner  of  war,  having  actually  placed  guards  over 
him,  whose  brute  force  the  Greek  defeated  by  a 
very  excusable  exercise  of  cunning.  Dispatching 
l)art  of  his  army  by  land  into  the  interior  of  the 
country,  Richard  embarked  with  the  rest,  and, 
sailing  round  the  island,  took  all  the  maritime  towns, 
and  cut  off  Isaac's  flight  by  sea,  for  he  seized  every 
ship,  and  even  every  boat,  though  of  the  smallest 
dimensions.  Isaac  fought  another  battle ;  but  the 
contest  was  in  every  way  unequal,  for  the  people, 
whom  he  had  governed  harshly  and  corruptly,  in- 
stead of  fighting  for  him,  by  connivance,  if  not  ac- 
tively, assisted  the  invaders.  Nicosia,  the  capital, 
surrendered,  and  Isaac's  beautiful  daughter  fell  into 
the  hands  of  Richard,  who  gave  her  as  a  companion 
to  Berengaria.  Isaac,  who  doated  on  his  child,  lost 
all  heart  in  losing  her,  and  quitting  a  strong  castle 
or  fortified  monastery  in  which  he  had  taken  refuge, 
he  again  sought  the  presence  of  the  conqueror,  and 
threw  himself  at  his  feet,  imploring  only  for  the 
restoration  of  his  child  and  for  the  preservation  of 
his  own  life  and  limbs.  The  conqueror  would  not 
restore  his  fair  captive,  and  he  sent  her  father  away 
to  be  confined  in  a  strong  castle  at  Tripoli  in  Syria. 
The  unfortunate  captive  was  loaded  with  chains ; 
but  it  is  said  that,  in  consideration  of  his  rank,  Rich- 
ard ordered  that  his  fetters  should  be  forged  of  sil- 
ver instead  of  rude  iron.'  If  the  Cypriots  had  been 
discontented  with  their  old  master,  they  had  little 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  their  new  one.  Richard's 
first  act  of  government  was  to  tax  them  to  the  dread- 
ful amount  of  half  of  their  movable  property,  after 
which  he  gave  them  an  empty  confirmation  of  the 
rights  and  privileges  which  they  had  enjoyed  in 
former  times  under  the  emperors  of  Constantinople. 
The  amount  of  provisions  and  stores  of  all  kinds 
which  he  carried  off  was  so  considerable  that  it 
enabled  the  crusaders  to  carry  on  their  operations 
with  much  gi-eater  vigor  and  success  than  they 
could  otherwise  have  done.  Having  conquered, 
and  in  a  manner  settled,  the  island,  he  returned  to 
'  Isaac  died  a  prisoner  four  years  after. 


Limasol,  and  at  length  celebrated  his  man-iage 
with  the  Lady  Bei-engaria,  who  w^as  anointed  and 
crowned  by  the  Bishop  of  Evreux.  All  these  im- 
portant operations  did  not  occupy  more  than  a 
month,  and,  granting  the  present  government  of  the 
island  to  Richard  de  Camville,  one  of  the  constables 
of  the  fleet,  and  Robert  de  Turnham,'  Richard 
embarked  with  his  fleet  for  Acre.  Sailing  between 
Cyprus  and  the  Syrian  coast,  he  fell  in  with  a  dro- 
mond, or  ship  of  the  largest  size,  which  was  carry- 
ing troops  and  stores  to  the  great  Saladin.  He  at- 
tacked her  with  his  usual  impetuosity,  threatening 
to  crucify  all  his  sailors  if  they  suftered  her  to  escape. 
She  was  taken  after  a  gallant  action,  in  which  the 
superior  height  of  her  l)oard,  and  an  abundant  use 
of  the  Greek  fire,  to  which  Richard's  followers  were 
as  yet  unaccustomed,  gave  her  for  some  time  a  de- 
cided advantage.  There  were  on  board  seven  Emirs, 
or  Saracens  of  the  highest  rank,  and  650— some  say 
1500 — picked  men.  Thirty-five  individuals  only 
were  saved,  the  rest  were  either  massacred  or 
drowned,  the  gi'eat  ship  sinking  before  the  crusaders 
could  remove  much  of  her  cargo. '^ 

On  the  8th  of  June  an  astounding  clangor  of 
trumpets  and  drums,  and  every  instrument  of  war 
in  the  Christian  camp,  hailed  the  somewhat  tardy 
arrival  of  Richard  and  his  host  in  the  roadstead  of 
Acre.  The  welcome  was  sincere,  for  their  aid  was 
indispensable.  The  French  king  had  arrived  some 
time  before,  but  had  done  nothing,  and  the  atfairs 
of  the  crusaders  were  in  a  deplorable  condition,  for. 
after  prosecuting  the  siege  of  Acre  the  best  part  of 
two  years,  they  were  not  only  still  outside  the  walls, 
but  actually  pressed  and  hemmed  in,  and  almost 
besieged  themselves  by  Saladin,  who  occupied 
Mount  Carmel  and  all  the  neighboring  heights 
with  an  immense  army.  The  loss  of  human  life 
was  fearful.  The  sword  and  the  plague  had  swept 
away  six  archbishops,  twelve  bishops,  forty  earls, 
and  five  hundred  barons,  whose  names  are  recorded 
in  history,  and  150,000  of  "  the  meaner  sort,"  w'ho 
went  to  their  graves  without  any  such  record.^ 
This  heavy  draft  iipon  population  had  been  supplied 
by  fresh  and  continuous  arrivals  from  all  parts  of 
Christendom,  for,  like  a  modern  conqueror,  Europe 
then  believed  that  the  fote  of  Syria  and  the  east  lay 
within  the  narrow  circuit  of  Acre.  The  operations 
of  the  besieged,  which  had  languished  for  some 
weeks,  were  vigorously  renewed  on  Richard's 
arrival ;  but  the  kings  of  France  and  England  quar- 
reled again  almost  as  soon  as  they  had  met :  the 
besiegers  became  inactive,  and  threw  away  some 
thovisands  of  lives  from  mere  pique  and  jealousy  of 
each  other.  The  French  and  the  English  soldiery 
took  a  full  share  in  the  animosities  of  their  respect- 
ive leaders ;  and  of  the  other  bodies  of  crusaders, 
some  sided  with  Philip,  and  some  with  Richard. 

1  Several  of  the  Italian  historians  say  he  sold  the  government  of 
Cyprus  to  the  Order  of  the  Templars,  but  this  does  not  appear  very 
probable. 

2  Vinesauf. — Hove. — Bohadin,  the  Arab  historian. 

3  We  have  taken  the  very  lowest  estimate.  Vinesauf,  who  was 
present  part  of  the  time,  calculates  that  300,000  Christians  peri-shed 
during  the  long  siege.  Bohadin,  and  other  Arabic  writers,  carry  the 
number  to  500,000  or  600,000  '. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


479 


Ramparts  of  Acre. 


The  Genoese  and  Templars  espoused  the  quarrel 
of  France,  the  Pisans  and  Hospitallers  stood  for 
England  ;  and,  on  the  whole,  it  appears  that 
Richard's  more  brilliant  valor,  and  superior  com- 
mand of  money  and  other  means,  rendered  the 
English  faction  the  sti-onger  of  the  two.  The 
French  tried  to  take  the  town  by  an  assault  without 
any  assistance  from  the  English,  and  then  the  Eng- 
lish, wishing  to  have  all  the  honors  to  themselves, 
repeated  the  like  experiment  without  the  French, 
and  with  the  hke  ill  success.  These  two  fatal  at- 
tempts showed  the  necessity  of  cooperation,  and 
another  brief  reconciliation  was  effected  between 
the  rivals. 

Richard's  personal  exertions^  attracted  universal 
admiration  in  the  camp,  and  gave  rise  to  fresh  jeal- 
ousies in  the  breast  of  Philip,  of  whom  it  has  been 
well  said,  that,  though  brave,  he  had  more  of  the 
statesman  than  the  warrior  in  his  character.  At 
length,  being  disappointed  of  aid  from  Cairo,  and 
seeing  that  Saladin  could  no  longer  penetrate  the 
Christian  lines  to  throw  in  provisions,  the  brave 
Mussulman  garrison  offered  to  capitulate.  After 
some  negotiation,  during  which  Philip  and  Richard 
once  more  disagreed,  it  was  finally  stipulated  that 
the  city  should  be  surrendered  to  the  crusaders, 
and  that  the  Saracens,  as  a  ransom  for  their  lives 
(for  their  property,  even  to  their  arms,  was  for- 
feited), should  restore  the  wood  of  the  holy  cross, 

^  He  worked  like  a  common  soldier  at  the  heavy  battering  engines. 
When  sick,  he  cansod  himself  to  be  carried  to  the  entrenchments  on  a 
silk  pallet  or  matress. 


set  at  liberty  1500  Christian  captives,  and  pay 
200,000  pieces  of  gold.  Some  thousands  of  Sara- 
cens were  detained  as  hostages  in  the  fortress  for 
the  performance  of  these  conditions.  Immediately 
afterward, — it  was  on  the  12th  of  June,  1191, — the 
crusaders  entered  Acre,  and  Saladin,  evacuating  all 
his  positions,  retired  a  short  distance  into  the  inte- 
rior. The  banners  of  the  two  kings  were  raised 
with  equal  honors  on  the  ramparts ;  but  it  appears, 
that  Richard  took  the  best  house  in  the  place  for. 
the  accommodation  of  himself  and  family,  leaving 
Philip  to  take  up  his  lodgings  with  the  Templars. 
Scarcely,  however,  had  they  entered  this  terrible 
town  ere  the  French  king  expressed  his  determi- 
nation to  return  to  Europe.  The  cause  he  alleged 
for  his  departure  was  the  bad  state  of  his  health  ;^ 
but  this  probably  was  not  the  true  one — it  certainly 
was  not  the  only  cause.  Though  Jerusalem  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  Mussulmans,  there  was  a  disputed 
succession  to  the  throne  among  the  Christians  : — 
Guy  of  Lusignan  had  worn  the  crown  in  right  of 
his  wife,  a  descendant  of  the  gi-eat  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon,  the  first  Christian  king  of  Jerusalem ;  but 
Sybilla  was  dead,  and  Conrad,  Marquis  of  Montferrat 
and  Prince  of  Tyre,  who  had  married  her  sister, 
contended  that  the  sole  right  of  Guy  of  Lusignan 
was  extinct  by  the  demise  of  his  wife,  and  that  the 
crown  devolved  to  himself  as  the  husband  of  the  le- 
gitimate heiress.  The  dispute  was  referred  to  the 
English  and  French  monarchs,  and  it  was  not  likely 

1  Philip  had  been  sick.     Some  of  the  French  chroniclers  accuse 
Richard  of  having  given  him  poison  I 


480 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


that  tliey,  who  from  the  commencement  of  the  cru-  | 
satle  had  never  agreed  in  anything,  should  act  with 
concord  in  this  important  matter.  As  soon  as  Phihp 
reached  Acre,  without  waiting  for  the  opinion  of 
Richard,  he  declared  in  favor  of  the  claims  of  Con- 
rad, who,  without  reference  to  the  doubtful  right 
uf  legitimacy,  seems  to  have  been  much  better  qual- 
ilied  for  a  throne  tliat  was  to  be  won  and  maintained 
by  the  sword  than  his  miserable  competitor  Lusig- 
nan.  Richard,  however,  swayed  by  other  motives, 
or  possibly  merely  out  of  pique,  had  declared  against 
Conrad,  and  wheu  Lusignan  visited  him  as  a  sup- 
pliant in  Cyprus,  he  had  acknowledged  him  as  King 
of  Jerusalem,  and,  with  his  usual  liberalitjs  had 
given  him  a  sum  of  money,  his  majesty  being  pen- 
niless, and  almost  in  want  of  bread.  This  subject 
had  given  rise  to  many  disputes  during  the  siege, 
and  they  were  renewed  with  increased  violence 
wheu  the  capture  of  Acre  gave  the  French  and 
English  kings  more  leisure.  In  the  end,  Philip 
■was  obliged  to  yield  so  far  to  his  fiery  and  deter- 
mined rival  as  to  allow  that  Lusignan  should  be 
King  of  .Jerusalem  during  his  life. 

The  King  of  France  was  otherwise  irritated  by 
the  absolute  will  and  constant  domineering  of  his 
rival,  who  was  as  superior  to  him  as  an  adventurous 
warrior  as  he  was  superior  to  Richard  in  policy  and 
political  forethought.  One  of  our  old  rhyming 
chroniclers  no  doubt  hit  part  of  the  truth  when  he 
said — 

'•  So  that  King  Philip  was  annoyed  there  at  the  things, 
That  there  was  not  of  him  a  word,  but  all  of  Richard  the  king."  i 

But,  after  all,  we  should  be  doing  a  manifest  injus- 
tice to  Philip's  consummate  king-craft  were  we  not 
to  suppose  that  one  of  his  strongest  motives  for  quit- 
ting an  unprofitable  crusade  was  to  take  advantage 
of  Richard's  absence  in  order  to  raise  and  consolidate 
the  French  kingdom, — an  end  perfectly  natural,  and 
perhaps  laudable  in  itself,  however  dishonorable  the 
means  that  were  employed  to  effect  it.  Dazzled  as 
he  was  by  dreams  of  chivalry  and  glory,  Richard 
himself  was  yet  not  so  blind  as  to  overlook  the  dan- 
ger that  threatened  him  in  the  west,  and,  after  his 
efforts  to  persuade  Philip  to  remain  had  all  failed, 
lie  exacted  from  him  an  oath  not  to  make  war  upon 
any  part  of  the  territories  of  the  English  king,  nor 
attack  any  of  his  vassals  or  allies,  until  at  least  forty 
days  after  the  return  of  Richard  from  Palestine. 
Besides  taking  this  otith,  Philip  agreed  to  leave  at 
Acre  10,000  of  his  followers,  to  be  immediately  com- 
manded by  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  who,  however, 
was  bound  to  recognize  the  superior  authority  of 
the  English  monarch.  In  the  popular  ej'e,  Philip 
appeared  as  a  deserter,  and  the  mob  of  all  nations 
that  witnessed  his  departure  from  Acre  hissed  him 
and  cursed  him.^  His  absence,  however,  saved  him 
from  direct  participation  in  an  atrocious  deed. 
Forty  days  was  the  term  fixed  for  the  fulfilment  of 
the  articles  of  capitulation.  Receiving  neither  the 
Christian  captives,  nor  the  cross,  nor  the  money, 
Richard  made  several  applications  to  Saladin,  who 
Avas  unable  or  unwilling  to  fulfil  the  conditions,  though 
lie  sent  to  oft'er  Richard  some  costly  presents  for 
1  Rob.  Gloucester,  a  Vines. — Hoved. 


himself.  A  rumor — apparently  false — was  spread 
through  the  Christian  camp  and  the  town  of  Acre, 
that  Saladin  had  massacred  his  Christian  captives, 
and  the  soldiers  demanded  instant  vengeance,  mak- 
ing a  fearful  liot,  and  killing  several  of  their  officers 
who  appeared  to  be  opposed  to  a  massacre  in  cold 
blood.  On  the  following  day  the  term  of  forty  daj-s 
expired.  At  an  appointed  hour  a  signal  was  given, 
and  all  the  Saracen  hostages  were  led  out  beyond 
the  barriers  of  the  French  and  English  camps,  antl 
butchered  by  the  exulting  and  rejoicing  crusaders. 
Richard  presided  over  the  slaughter  at  one  camp, — 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy  at  the  other.  Between  2000 
and  3000  prisoners'  were  thus  destroyed,  and  only  a 
few  emirs  and  Mahomedans  of  rank  were  saved  from 
the  carnage,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  valuable  ran- 
soms from  their  families.  Some  centuries  had  to 
elapse  ere  this  deed  excited  any  horror  or  disgust 
in  Christendom.  At  the  time,  and  indeed  long 
after,  it  was  considered  as  a  praiseworthy  smiting 
of  the  infidels, — as  a  sacrifice  acceptable  to  Heaven  ; 
for  was  not  every  drop  of  blood  there  shed  the  blood 
of  the  accursed  followers  of  3Iahomed,  who  had 
plundered  the  sepulchre,  and  who  reviled  the  laws 
of  Christ  ?  Vinesauf  says  his  victorious  master 
showed  therein  his  wonderful  great  zeal  for  the 
glory  of  God ;  and  the  author  of  the  popular  ro- 
mance of  "Richard  Cceur  de  Lion,"  which  was 
produced  two  or  three  centuries  later,  for  the  admi- 
ration of  the  Christian  world,  represents  angels  of 
heaven  as  assisting  at  the  execution,  and  crying  aloud 
to  Richard,  "  kill,  kill,  spare  them  not."^  But  the 
atrocities  of  the  crusaders  did  not  end  with  the  death 
of  their  victims  ;  the  soldiers  cut  open  the  bodies  of 
the  Saracens  to  look  for  precious  stones  and  pieces 
of  gold  which  they  fancied  they  had  swallowed  for 
concealment.  "  They  found  many  of  these  things 
in  their  bowels,"  says  a  contemporary,  and  they 
made  store  of  the  gall  of  the  infidels  for  medicinal 
uses.^  It  appears  that  after  this  Saladin  ordered 
the  massacre  of  the  Christian  prisoners  in  his 
hands ;  but  these  measures  neither  injured  the 
fame  of  the  two  chiefs,  nor  prevented  Richard  and 
Saladin  from  having  a  courteous  correspondence 
with  each  other  at  a  period  a  little  later. 

Having  restored  the  battered  works  of  Acre, 
Richard  prepared  to  march  upon  Jerusalem.  The 
generality  of  the  crusaders  by  no  means  shared  his 
impatience  ;  "  for  the  wine  (says  old  Vinesauf)  was 
of  the  very  best  quality,  and  the  city  abounded  with 
most  beautiful  girls;" — and  the  gravest  knights 
had  made  a  Capua  of  Acre.  At  length,  however, 
Richard  tore  them  from  these  enjoyments,  and, 
leaving  behind  him  his  sister  and  wife,  and  the  fair 
Cypriot,  and  strictly  prohibiting  women  from  fol- 
lowing the  camp,  he  began  his  march  on  the  22d 
of  August.     Thirty  thousand  men,  of  all  countries, 

1  We  have  again  taken  the  very  lowest  number.  Bohadin,  the 
Aral),  says  that  3000  were  destroyed  by  Richard  alone,  and  that  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  sacrificed  a  like  number.  Hoveden  says  that  5000 
were  slain  by  the  king  and  the  duke. 

"  Seigneur,  tuez,  tuez  ! 

Spare  hem  nougnt." 

Ellis,  Spec.  Metr.  Rn 

3  "  Multum  invenerunt  et  fel  eorum  usui  medicinali 

ruut." — Hoved. 


nances. 
servave- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


481 


obeyed  his  orders,  marching  in  five  divisions : 
the  Templars  led  the  van ;  the  Knights  of  St. 
John  brought  up  the  rear.  Every  night,  when  the 
army  halted,  the  heralds  of  the  several  camps  cried 
aloud  three  times,  "  Save  the  holy  sepulchre  !"  and 
every  soldier  bent  his  knee,  and  said  "  Amen !" 
Saladin,  who  had  been  reinforced  from  all  parts, 
infested  their  march  every  day,  and  encamped 
near  tliem  every  night  with  an  army  greatly  supe- 
rior in  numbers.  On  the  7th  of  September  Richard 
brought  him  to  a  general  action  near  Azotus,  the 
Ashdod  of  the  Bible,  on  the  sea-shore,  and  about 
nine  miles  from  Ascalon ;  and  after  a  display  of 
valor,  which  was  never  surpassed,  and  of  more 
cool  conduct  and  generalship  than  might  have  been 
expected,  he  gained  a  complete  victory.  Mourning 
the  loss  of  seven  thousand  men  and  thirty-two 
emirs,  Saladin,  the  victor  of  many  a  field,  retreated 
in  great  disorder,  finding  time,  however,  to  lay 
waste  the  country,  and  dismantle  the  towns  he 
could  not  garrison  or  defend ;  and  Richard  ad- 
vanced without  further  opposition  to  Jaffa,  the 
Joppa  of  Scripture,  of  which  he  took  possession.' 
As  the  country  in  advance  of  that  position  was  still 
clear  of  enemies,  the  Lion-heart  would  have  fol- 
lowed up  his  advantages,  but  many  of  the  crusaders, 
less  hardy  than  himself,  were  worn  out  by  the  heat 
of  the  climate  and  the  rapid  marches,  on  which 
he  had  already  led  them  ;  and  the  French  barons 
urged  the  necessity  of  restoring  the  fortifications 
of  Jaffa  before  they  advanced.  No  sooner  had 
Richard  consented  to  this  arrangement  than  the 
crusaders,  instead  of  prosecuting  the  work  with 
vigor,  abandoned  themselves  to  a  luxurious  ease ; 
and  Richard  himself  gave  many  of  his  days  to  the 
sports  of  the  field,  disregarding  the  evident  feet 
that  Saladin  was  again  making  head,  and  that 
hordes  of  Saracens  were  scouring  the  country  in 
detached  parties.  One  day  he  was  actually  sur- 
prised, and  would  have  lost  either  his  life  or  liberty, 
had  not  one  of  his  companions,  William  de  Pra- 
telles,  a  knight  of  Provence,  cried  out,  "  I  am  the 
king,"  and,  by  drawing  attention  upon  himself, 
given  Richard  the  opportunity  of  escaping.  On 
another  occasion  this  generous  daring  threw  him 
almost  into  an  equal  danger.  A  company  of  Tem- 
plars fell  into  an  ambuscade :  he  sent  the  brave 
Earl  of  Leicester  to  their  aid,  promising  he  would 
follow  as  soon  as  he  could  get  on  his  armor.  Be- 
fore that  rather  long  operation  was  completed  they 
told  him  the  Templars  and  the  earl  were  being 
crushed  by  the  number  of  the  enemy.  Without 
waiting  for  any  one,  he  leaped  on  his  war-horse, 
and  galloped  to  the  spot,  declaring  he  were  un- 
worthy of  the  name  of  king,  if  he  abandoned  those 
whom  he  had  promised  to  succor.  He  spurred  into 
the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  so  laid  about  him,  that 
the  Earl  of  Leicester  and  all  the  Templars  who  had 
not  fallen  previously  to  his  arrival  were  rescued. 
On  such  onslaughts,  say  the  chroniclers,  his  cry 
was  still  "  St.  George,  St.  George."  Many  other 
adventures  equally  or  more  romantic  are  related  of 

1  Jaffa  is  still  a  considerable  maritime  town,  distant  about  thirty 
miles  from  Jerusalem. 
VOL.  I. 31 


this  flower  of  chivalry — this  pearl  of  cnjsading 
princes.  His  battle-axe  seems  to  have  been  the 
weapon  most  familiar  to  his  stalwart  arm.  He 
had  caused  it  to  be  forged  by  the  best  smiths  in 
England  before  he  departed  for  the  east,  and 
twenty  pounds  of  steel  were  wrought  into  the  head 
of  it,  that  he  might  "  break  therewith  the  Saracen's 
bones." '  Nothing,  it  was  said,  could  resist  this 
mighty  axe,  and  wherever  it  fell,  horseman  and 
horse  went  to  the  ground.  It  appears,  indeed, 
after  making  every  rational  deduction  from  the 
exaggeration  of  minstrels  and  chroniclers,  that  it 
was  a  fearful  weapon,  and  that  Richard's  strength 
and  valor  were  alike  prodigious.  When  the  fortifi- 
cations of  Jaffa  were  restored,  the  Lion-heart  was 
duped  into  a  further  loss  of  time,  by  an  affected 
negotiation  artfully  proposed  by  Saladin,  and  skil- 
fully conducted  by  his  brother  Saphadin,  who  came 
and  went  between  the  two  armies,  and,  spite  of  his 
turban,  ingratiated  himself  with  Richard.  At  last, 
the  crusaders  set  forth  from  Jaffa ;  but  it  was  now 
the  month  of  November,  and  incessant  rains,  nearly 
equal  to  those  in  tropical  countries,  wetted  them  to 
the  skin,  rusted  their  arms,  spoiled  their  provisions, 
and  rendered  the  roads  almost  impassable.  Cross- 
ing the  plain  of  Sharon,  where  "  the  rose  of  Sharon 
and  the  lily  of  the  valley"  no  longer  bloomed, 
they  pitched  their  tents  at  Ramula,^  only  fifteen 
miles  in  advance  of  Jaffa ;  but  the  wind  tore  them 
up  and  rent  them.  They  then  sought  quarters  at 
Bethany,  where  they  were  within  twelve  miles  of 
the  holy  city;  but  their  condition  became  daily 
worse — famine,  disease,  and  desertion  thinned  their 
ranks,  and  Richard  was  compelled,  sore  against  his 
will,  to  turn  his  back  on  Jerusalem.  He  retreated 
rapidly  to  Ascalon,  followed  closely  by  the  loose 
light  cavalry  of  the  Kourds  and  Turks,  who, 
though  they  could  make  no  impression  on  the  main 
body,  or  even  penetrate  the  rear-guard,  where  the 
gallant  knights  of  St.  John  wielded  sword  and  lance, 
yet  did  much  mischief  by  cutting  oft'  stragglers, 
and  caused  great  distress  by  keeping  the  whole 
force  constantly  on  the  alert  by  night  as  well  as 
by  day.  On  the  reti-eat,  as  during  the  advance, 
Richard  was  greatly  indebted  to  the  exertions  of 
the  brave  Earl  of  Leicester,  Avho  covered  one  flank 
of  the  English  army,  the  other  being  protected  by 
the  sea.  Ascalon,  so  celebrated  in  the  ancient 
history  of  the  Jews,  was  still  a  city  of  great  im- 
portance, being  the  connecting  link  between  the 
Mahomedans  in  Jerusalem  and  the  Mahomedans  in 
Egypt.  Saladin  had  dismantled  its  fortifications, 
which  Richard  now  determined  to  restore  in  all 
haste.  To  set  a  good  example,  he  worked,  as  he 
had  already  done  at  Acre,  upon  the  walls  and  bat- 
tlements, like  a  common  mason,  and  he  expected 
every  prince  and  noble  in  the  army  would  do  the 
same ;  for  the  common  crusaders  required  a  stim- 
ulus, and  the  Saracens  seemed  to  be  gathering  for 
an  assault  or  siege.     All  the  men  of  rank,  with  the 

1  Weber,  Metrical  Romances. 

a  Ramula,  Ramla,  or  Rainah,  is  the  Arimathea  of  Scripture.  A 
little  beyond  it  begin  the  almost  impracticable  mountain  defiles  of 
Judea,  which  extend  to  Jerusalem. 


482 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Part  of  the  Walls  and  Fortifications  of  Jerusalem,  adjoinino  Ephraim  Gate. 


exception  of  the  proud  Duke  of  Austria,  thought  it 
no  dishonor  to  do  as  the  King  of  England  did. 
There  was  an  old  quan-el  between  these  two 
princes.  During  the  siege  of  Acre,  the  Duke  of 
Austria  took  one  of  the  towers,  and  planted  his 
banner  upon  it ;  Richard,  enraged  at  this  step, 
which  appears  to  have  been,  at  least,  out  of  order, 
tore  down  the  banner,  and  cast  it  into  the  ditch. 
Such  an  affront  could  never  be  forgotten.  And 
now,  when  urged  by  Richard  to  tN'ork  on  the  forti- 
fications of  Ascalon,  the  duke  replied  that  he  would 
not,  seeing  that  he  was  the  son  neither  of  a  mason 
nor  of  a  carpenter.  Upon  this,  it  is  reported  that 
Richard  struck  him  or  kicked  him,  and  turned  him 
and  his  vassals  out  of  the  town,  with  threatening 
and  most  insulting  language.  Notwithstanding  the 
duke's  refusal,  the  greatest  personages  there,  in- 
cluding bishops  and  abbots,  as  well  as  lay  lords, 
worked  as  masons  and  carpenters ;  and  the  repairs 
were  soon  completed.  -Richard,  acting  with  gi'eat 
military  judgment,  then  turned  his  attention  to 
the  other  towns  which  Saladin  had  dismantled,  or 
which  had  not  been  previously  fortified ;  and  in  the 
course  of  the  winter  and  the  following  spring,  he 
made  the  whole  coast  from  Ascalon  to  Acre  a  chain 
of  well-fortified  posts ;  and  below  Acre  he  rebuilt 
the  walls  of  Gaza.  Before  these  works  were  com- 
pleted, however,  his  forces  were  considerably  di- 
minished: his  lavish  generosity  had  hitherto  kept 
the  French  and  other  soldiers  not  his  subjects 
together ;  but  now  his  treasures  were  nearly  ex- 


hausted. Hence  arose  a  wonderful  cooling  of  zeal 
— a  disposition  even  to  criticise  his  military  skill, 
and  a  pretty  general  defection  on  the  part  of  all 
except  his  English  and  Norman  subjects.  Acre,  a 
pleasanter  place  than  Ascalon,  was  again  crowded 
with  jealous  and  mercenarj'  chieftains,  and  became 
a  very  hot-bed  of  corruption  and  political  intrigue. 
The  Genoese  and  Pisans  fought  openly  in  the 
streets  of  the  town,  hiding  their  old  animosities 
under  the  pretence  of  combating  for  the  rights  of 
the  la^vful  king  of  Jerusalem ;  for  Richard's  treaty 
in  favor  of  Guy  had  not  settled  that  question. 
The  Genoese  had  declared  for  Conrad  of  3Iont- 
ferrat — the  Pisans  for  Guy  of  Lusignan  ;  and  when 
Conrad  himself,  disregarding  the  treaty  and  the 
power  of  the  English  king,  joined  his  troops  with 
those  of  the  Genoese,  a  sort  of  civil  war  seemed 
imminent  among  all  the  Christians  in  Palestine. 
On  this,  Richard  moved  from  Ascalon  to  Acre, 
effected  a  reconciliation  between  the  Genoese  and 
Pisans,  and  forced  Conrad  to  retire.  He  attempted 
to  conciliate  that  nobleman,  who  had  given  him 
many  other  causes  of  complaint ;  but  Montferrat 
insultingly  rejected  all  overtures,  and  withdrew  to 
his  strong  town  of  Tyre,  where  he  opened  a  cor- 
respondence with  the  common  enemy,  Saladin,  and 
where  he  was  soon  joined  by  600  French  knights 
and  soldiers,  whom  he  had  seduced  from  Richard's 
garrison  at  Ascalon.  Saladin,  who  was,  in  all 
respects,  a  rival  worthy  of  Richard,  gaining  fresh 
heart,  from  the  dissensions  of  the  Christians,  once 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


48^ 


more  condensed  his  forces,  in  the  hope  of  striking 
a  decisive  blow.  About  this  time  the  Liou-heart, 
in  some  distress  of  mind,  wrote  to  the  Abbot  of 
Clairvaux,'  who  had  great  interest  in  several  of  the 
Em-opean  courts,  earnestly  entreating  him  to  rouse 
the  princes  and  people  of  Christendom  to  arms,  in 
order  that  he  might  have  a  force  sufficient  for  the 
occasion,  and  that  Jerusalem,  the  inheritance  of  the 
Lord,  might  be  rescued,  and  made  secure  for  the 
future.  This  letter  apparently  was  scarcely  dis- 
patched when  he  received  others  from  his  mother, 
Eleanor,  informing  hiln  that  his  own  throne  in 
England  was  beset  by  the  greatest  of  dangers.  At 
this  crisis  he  opened  a  negotiation  for  peace,  declar- 
ing to  Saladin  that  he  wanted  nothing  more  than 
the  possession  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  wood  of  the 
true  cross.  To  this  Saladin  is  reported  to  have 
replied,  that  Jerusalem  was  as  dear  to  the  Mussul- 
mans as  to  the  Christians,^  and  that  his  conscience 
and  the  law  of  the  prophet  would  not  permit  him 
to  connive  at  idolatry  or  the  worshiping  of  a  piece 
of  wood. 

The  next  step  related  of  Richard  excites  wonder, 
if  not  doubt.  It  is  said  that  he  proposed  a  union 
and  consolidation  of  the  Christian  and  Mahomedan 
interests,  with  the  establishment  of  a  government 
at  JeiTisalem  partly  Christian  and  partly  Mahome- 
dan ;  and  that,  as  a  basis  and  bond  to  this  scheme 
of  policy,  he  offered  to  give  his  own  sister  Joan,  the 
queen-dowager  of  Sicily,  in  marriage  to  Saphadin, 
the  brother  of  the  great  Saladin.  And  it  is  added, 
on  the  same  authorities,  that  the  two  Mussulman 
princes  entertained  the  project,  which  was  only  de- 
feated by  the  intolerance  of  the  Imams  on  the  one  side 
and  of  the  Catholic  priests  on  the  other.'  Strange 
as  it  may  appear,  after  the  long  duration  of  hostili- 
ties, and  all  the  horrors  that  had  been  committed, 
the  people  of  the  two  armies,  during  this  negotia- 
tion, as  during  several  preceding  ones,  lived  in 
friendly  intercourse,  mingling  in  the  tournament 
and  other  amusements ;  and  throughout  the  whole 
of  the  war  Saladin  and  Richard  emulated  each 
other  as  much  in  courtesy  as  in  military  exploits. 
Presents  were  frequently  exchanged :  when  the 
King  of  England  was  sick  Saladin  sent  him  the  in- 
comparable plums  of  Damascus,  with  peaches,  pears, 
and  other  fruits ;  and  during  the  heats  of  summer 
he  regularly  fonvarded  to  the  crusader's  camp,  the 
inestimable  luxury  of  snow  gathered  from  the  lofty 
mountains  in  the  interior.'' 

In  order  to  reconcile  parties,  and  facilitate  his 
own  return  to  Europe,  Richard  now  abandoned  the 
cause  of  Guy  of  Lusignan,  whom  he  most  liberally 
recompensed  by  the  gift  of  the  island  of  Cyprus ; 
and  consented  that  Conrad  of  Montferrat,  who  was 
supported  by  the  French,  the  German,  and  the 
Genoese  factions,  should  be  crowned  King  of  Jerusa- 

1  The  successor  of  St.  Bernard,  who  had  done  more  than  any  other 
single  individual,  after  Peter  the  Hermit,  to  promote  the  crusades. 

2  The  Arabs  stiU  call  Jerusalem  "  El  Gootz,"  or  "  The  Blessed 
City." 

3  Mill's  Hist.  Crusades. — Bohadin. — Abulfeda. — D'Herbelot,  in  art. 
Salaheddin. 

*  Hoved.  Vinesauf  says  that  Saladin  had  received  the  honor  of 
knighthood  from  a  French  cavalier,  and  that  Saphadin  obtained  the 
«anie  honor  from  Richard  himself,  for  his  (Saphadin's)  son. 


lem.  Although  Conrad  had  few  virtues  he  had 
much  abiUty,  which,  together  with  his  undisputed 
bravery  in  the  field,  might  have  qualified  him  to 
take  the  command  of  the  crusaders  in  Richard's 
absence,  and  possibly  might  have  enabled  him  to 
gain  Jerusalem,  and  change  his  condition  from  that 
of  a  titular  to  a  real  king ;  but  he  was  murdered  in 
the  streets  of  Tyre,  while  preparing  for  his  corona- 
tion, by  two  of  the  Assassins,  the  fanatic  subjects  of 
the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain.  The  murderers 
were  seized,  and  put  to  the  torture.  Hoveden  and 
Vinesauf  both  say  that  the  wretches  declared  that 
they  had  murdered  Conrad  by  the  order  of  their 
master,  in  revenge  for  injuries  done  to  his  people 
and  insults  oft'ered  to  himself  by  Conrad,  whose 
imprudent  quarrel  with  the  Old  Man  of  the  Moun- 
tain was  notorious.  Bohadin,  the  Arab  historian, 
indeed,  affirms  that  the  men  said  they  were  em- 
ployed by  the  King  of  England;  but  another  Arabic 
writer,  of  equal  weight,  says  that  the  murderers 
would  make  no  confession  whatever,  but  that,  tri- 
umphing amidst  their  agonies,  they  rejoiced  that 
they  had  been  destined  by  Heaven  to  suffer  in  so 
just  and  glorious  a  cause  ;  and  this  account  agrees 
better  with  the  character  of  the  wonderful  associa- 
tion to  which  they  belonged,  and  is  more  probable 
than  any  other.  Everybody  knew  the  generosity 
which  Richard  had  shown  to  Conrad;  and  it  ap- 
pears that  that  unfortunate  prince,  with  his  dying 
breath,  recommended  his  widow  to  the  protection 
of  the  English  monarch.  The  whole  tenor  of 
Richard's  character  and  conduct  should  have  ab- 
solved him  from  all  suspicion;  but  both  the  French 
and  Austrian  factions  at  once  charged  him  with 
being  the  instigator  of  this  murder  ;  and  the  report 
was  dihgently  spread  in  Europe  on  no  evidence  at 
all,  or  on  none  but  of  the  loosest  and  most  contra- 
dictory description.  But  the  French  king,  the  Ger- 
man emperor,  the  Austrian  duke,  and  other  sove- 
reigns, were  burning  with  spite  and  revenge  against 
him ;  and  Philip  more  especially,  who  was  contem- 
plating an  attack  on  Richard's  dominions,  in  oi'der 
to  cover  his  infamy,  filled  all  the  west  with  excla- 
mations against  his  rival's  perfidy ;  and,  pretending 
that  a  hke  attempt  might  be  made  on  his  own  per- 
son even  in  France  (for  the  daggers  of  the  Assas- 
sins despised  the  obstacles  of  distance),  he  ostenta- 
tiously appointed  a  new  body-guard  for  his  protec- 
tion. In  the  mean  while  the  French  within  the 
town,  declaring  that  Richard  had  employed  the 
murderers,  rose  in  arms,  and  demanded  from  the 
widow  of  Conrad  that  she  would  resign  Tyre  to 
them :  this  she  refused  to  do ;  and  the  people, 
siding  with  the  countess,  took  up  arms  against  the 
French.  In  the  midst  of  the  tumult  Count  Henry 
of  Champagne,  King  Richard's  own  nephew,  made 
his  appearance,  and,  at  the  invitation  of  the  people, 
took  possession  of  Tyre  and  the  other  territories  in 
Palestine  which  had  been  held  by  Conrad.  Soon 
after,  by  marrj-ing  Conrad's  widow,  young  Henry 
received  her  claim  to  the  imaginary  crown,  and 
the  crusaders,  with  the  Christians  in  the  country, 
generally  acknowledged  Richard's  nephew  as  King 
of  Jerusalem. 


484 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  HI. 


Richard  had  attempted  to  conceal  his  many 
causes  of  uneasiness,  and  when  the  army  showed 
that  they  were  aware  that  his  presence  was  most 
earnestly  prayed  for  in  his  own  dominions,  he  is- 
sued a  proclamation  stating  his  fixed  resolution  of 
remaining  in  Palestine  another  year.  By  his  prom- 
ises and  exertions  he  again  restored  something  like 
unanimity  of  purpose,  and  at  the  end  of  May  the 
crusaders  once  more  set  out  on  their  march  toward 
Jerusalem  under  his  command.  Early  in  June  he 
encamped  in  the  valley  of  Hebron,  where  he  re- 
ceived some  messengers  from  England  bringing 
fresh  accounts  of  plots  within,  and  armed  confeder- 
acies without  his  dominions.  We  follow  the  most 
consistent,  though  not  the  most  generally  received 
account,  in  saying  that,  on  this  intelligence,  and  at 
the  prospect  of  the  increasing  power  of  the  Sara- 
cens (who  had  not  only  strongly  fortified  and  gar- 
risoned the  holy  city,  but  had  thrown  a  tremendous 
force  between  it  and  his  advanced  post),  and  of  the 
increasing  weakness  and  destitution  of  the  Christian 
forces,  to  whose  wants  he  could  no  longer  adminis- 
ter, Richard  now  came  to  a  stand,  and  turned  his 
heart  to  the  west.  A  council,  assembled  at  his 
suggestion,  declared  that,  under  present  circum- 
stances, it  would  be  better  to  march  and  besiege 
Cairo,  whence  Salad  in  drew  his  main  supplies, 
than  to  attack  Jerusalem.  This  decision  was  per- 
haps a  wise  one,  but  it  came  too  late.  Richard, 
however,  pi'etended  that  he  would  follow  it,  upon 
which  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  wrote  a  song  reflect- 
ing in  severe  terms  on  his  vacillation.  Richard  did 
not  reply  by  dispatching  two  emissaries  of  the  Old 
Man  of  the  3Iountain,  or  by  adopting  any  other 
violent  measure :  he  revenged  himself  with  the 
same  instrument  with  which  the  offence  had  been 
given,  and  wrote  a  satire  on  the  vices  and  foibles  of 
the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  It  could  not  be  expected, 
however,  that  the  Lion-heart  should  renounce  his 
great  enterprise  without  feelings  of  deep  mortifica- 
tion. It  is  related  of  him  that  when  a  friend  led 
him  to  the  summit  of  a  mountain  which  commanded 
a  full  view  of  Jerusalem,  he  raised  his  shield  before 
his  eyes,  declaring  that  he  was  not  worthy  to  look 
upon  the  holy  citj',  which  he  had  not  been  able  to 
redeem.  If  the  expedition  to  Egypt  had  ever  been 
seriously  contemplated,  it  was  presently  seen  that 
it  was  impracticable  ;  for  as  soon  as  a  counter-march 
from  the  Hebron  was  spoken  of,  all  discipline  aban- 
doned the  camp,  and,  after  some  conflicts  among 
themselves,  the  mass  of  the  French  and  Germans 
deserted  the  standard  altogether.  Richard  then 
fell  back  upon  Acre.  Taking  advantage  of  the  cir- 
cumstance, the  vigilant  Saladin  descended  from  the 
mountains  of  Judea,  and  took  the  town  of  Jafia,  all 
but  the  citadel.  At  the  first  breath  of  this  intelli- 
gence Richard  ordered  such  troops  as  he  had  been 
able  to  keep  together  to  march  by  land,  while  he, 
with  only  seven  vessels,  should  hasten  by  sea  to 
the  relief  of  Jafia.  On  arriving  in  the  road  he 
found  the  beach  covered  with  a  host  of  the  enemy, 
but,  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  advice  and  fears  of 
his  companions,  and  shouting  "  Cursed  forever  be 
he  that  followeth  me  not,"  he  leaped  into  the  water. 


The  knights  in  the  ships  were  too  high-minded  to 
abandon  their  king ;  and  this  small  body  dispersed 
the  Saracens,  and  retook  the  town.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day,  between  night  and  morning,  Saladin 
came  up  with  the  main  body  of  his  army ;  and 
Richard,  who  had  been  joined  by  the  troops  that 
had  marched  by  land,  went  out  to  meet  him  in  the 
open  country  behind  Jafia.  The  Lion-heart  made 
up  for  his  immense  inferiority  in  point  of  number 
by  careful  and  judicious  arrangement;  and  the 
victory  of  Jaffa,  which  was  most  decisive,  is  gener- 
ally esteemed  as  the  greatest  of  his  manj'  exploits. 
Overpowered  by  a  generous  admiration,  Saphadin, 
seeing  him  dismounted,  sent  him,  during  the  action, 
two  magnificent  horses,  and  on  one  of  these  Rich- 
ard pursued  his  successes  till  nightfall.  Every 
champion  that  met  him  that  day  was  killed  or  dis- 
mounted ;  and  the  ordinary  troops,  whenever  he 
headed  a  charge  against  them,  are  said  to  have 
turned  and  fled  at  the  very  sight  of  him.  It  was 
by  deeds  like  these  tliat  Richard  left  a  traditionary 
fame  behind  him  that  grew  and  brightened  with 
the  passing  years,  and  that  his  name  became -a 
.word  of  fear  in  the  mouth  of  the  Mussulman  na- 
tives. "  This  tremendous  name,"  says  Gibbon, 
"was  employed  by  the  Syrian  mothers  to  silence 
their  infants  ;  and  if  a  horse  suddenly  started  from 
the  way,  his  rider  was  wont  to  exclaim,  "  Dost 
thou  think  King  Richard  is  in  that  bush?"  ' 

As  the  battle  of  Jafia  was  the  most  brilliant,  so 
also  was  it  the  last  fought  by  the  Lion-heart  in 
the  Holy  Land.  His  health  and  the  health  of  his 
glorious  adversary  were  both  declining ;  and  a  mu- 
tual admiration  and  respect  facilitated  the  terms  of 
a  treaty  which  was  concluded  shortly  after.  A 
truce  was  agreed  upon  for  three  years,  three 
months,  three  weeks,  three  days,  and  three  hours; 
Ascalon  was  to  be  dismantled,  after  Richard  had 
been  reimbursed  the  money  it  had  cost  him ;  but 
Jaffa  and  Tyre,  with  all  the  castles  and  all  the 
country  on  the  coast  between  them,  were  to  be  left 
to  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  the  Christians.  The 
pilgrims  of  the  west  were  to  have  full  liberty  of 
repairing  to  Jerusalem  at  all  seasons  without  being 
subjected  to  those  tolls,  taxes,  and  persecutions 
which  had  originally  provoked  the  crusades.  All 
parties  immediately  prepared  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  treat}--,  and  since  they  could  not  enter  Jerusa- 
lem as  conquerors,  to  visit  it  as  licensed  pilgrims. 
The  French,  who  had  refused  to  take  part  in  the ' 
battle  of  Jafia,  and  who  were  on  the  point  of  em- 
barking at  Acre,  now  declared  their  intention  of 
staying  yet  awhile,  that  they,  too,  might  visit  the 
holy  sepulchre ;  but  Richard,  indignant  at  their 
recent  conduct,  told  them  they  had  no  claim  to  the 
benefits  of  a  treaty  which  they  had  done  nothing  to 
procure.  The  rest  of  the  army  visited  the  hallowed 
spots,  and  Saladin  nobly  protected  them  from  all  in- 
jury or  insult.  The  friends  and  relations  of  the 
hostages  that  had  been  murdered  at  Acre  threw 
themselves  on  their  knees  before  him,  imploring 
permission  to   take  vengeance   on    the    Christians, 

1  The  old  Sire  de  Joinville  is  the  reporter  of  thif   "  Cuides-tu  qua 
cc  soit  le  loi  Richard  ?"  are  his  words. 


4 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


485 


who  were  now  in  their  power ;  but  he  rejected 
their  prayer  with  disgust,  and  successfully  controlled 
their  fanaticism  and  revenge.  The  second  body 
that  arrived  in  Jerusalem  experienced  the  greatest 
kindness,  as  Ave  learn  from  Vinesauf,  who  was  one 
of  the  party.  The  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  led  j 
the  third  body  of  pilgrims,  was  received  with  marked  ' 
respect,  being  invited  to  the  royal  palace,  and  ad- 
mitted to  a  long  and  familiar  conversation  with  the 
sultan.  Saladin  was  eager  of  fame,  even  from  the 
Christians.  "  What  say  your  men  of  your  king  and 
of  me?"  he  inquired.  "My  king,"  repUed  the 
bishop,  "  is  acknowledged  as  one  surpassing  all  men 
in  valorous  deeds  and  generous  gifts  ;  but  your  fame 
also  stands  high,  and  were  you  but  converted  from 
your  unbelief,  there  would  not  be  in  the  world  two 
such  princes  as  you  and  Richard."  Saladin  ap- 
plauded, as  he  had  often  done  before,  the  loyal 
frankness  and  the  courage  of  the  English  king,  but 
blamed  his  rashness  and  unnecessary  exposing  of 
himself;  ending  this  part  of  the  conversation  by 
saying  that,  for  his  own  part,  he  would  rather  enjoy 
the  reputation  of  modesty  and  prudence,  than  that 
of  mere  audacity.  He  conceded  to  the  bishop's  re- 
quest that  the  priests  of  the  Latin  church  should  be 
allowed  to  have  regular  estabhshments  at  Jerusa- 
lem, Bethlehem,  and  Nazareth, — a  privilege  hith- 
erto confined  to  the  eastern  churches  of  Greece, 
Armenia,  and  Syria. 

A  violent  fever,  brought  on  by  his  tremendous 
exertions  in  the  field  of  Jaffa,  is  said  to  have  been 
the  cause  why  Richard  himself  did  not  visit  Jeru- 
.saiem;  but  it  is  at  least  probable  that  his  reluctance 
to  enter  merely  on  sufferance  that  town  which  he 
had  so  vehemently  hoped  to  conquer,  had  some  share 
in  this  omission. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1192,  on  the  feast-day 
of  St.  Dionysius,  Richard  finally  set  sail  from 
Acre  with  his  queen,  his  sister  Joan,  the  Cypriot 
princess,  and  the  surviving  bishops,  earls,  and 
knights  of  England,  Normandy,  Anjou,  and  Aqui- 
taine.  The  next  morning  he  took  a  last  view  of 
ttie  mountains  of  Lebanon  and  the  hills  above  the 
Syrian  shore.  With  outstretched  arms  he  ex- 
claimed, "  Most  holy  land,  I  commend  thee  to 
God's  keeping.  May  he  give  me  life  and  health 
to  return  and  rescue  thee  from  the  infidel."  A 
storm  arose  and  scattered  the  fleet:  —  it  was  the 
usual  season  for  tempestuous  weather  in  the  Med- 
iterranean ;  but  people  atti-ibuted  the  storm  to  the 
wrath  of  Heaven  at  the  Christians  sailing  away  and 
leaving  the  tomb  and  the  cross  of  Christ  unre- 
deemed. Some  of  the  vessels  were  wrecked  on 
the  hostile  shores  of  Egj-pt  and  Barbary,  where  the 
crews  were  made  slaves ;  others  reached  friendly 
ports,  and,  in  time,  returned  to  England.  The 
galley  in  which  Richard's  wife  and  the  other  ladies 
were  embarked  reached  Sicily  in  safety.  It  is  not 
very  clear  why  Richard  sailed  in  another  vessel,  or 
why  he  did  not  take  his  way  homeward  through 
the  friendly  land  of  Navarre ;  but  we  are  told  that 
when  within  three  days'  sail  of  the  city  of  Mar- 
seilles, fearing  the  malice  of  his  numerous  enemies, 
he  suddenly  changed  his  course  for  the  Adriatic, 


resolving,  it  should  seem,  to  pursue  his  way  home- 
ward from  the  head  of  that  sea  through  Styria  and 
Germany.  He  reached  the  island  of  Corfu  about 
the  middle  of  November,  and  there  he  hired  three 
small  galleys  to  carry  him  and  his  suite,  which  con- 
sisted of  Baldwin  de  Bethune,  a  priest,  Anselm 
the  chaplain,  and  a  few  Knights  Templars, — in  all 
twenty  individuals.  After  escaping  capture  by  the 
Greeks,  who  were  among  his  numerous  enemies, 
he  landed  at  Zara,  on  the  coast  of  Dalmatia,  where 
his  liberal  expenditure  attracted  attention,  and  de- 
feated the  object  of  his  disguise.  He  had  put  on 
the  humble  weeds  of  a  pilgrim,  hoping  that  this 
dress,  with  his  beard  and  hair,  which  he  suffered 
to  grow  long,  would  enable  him  to  cross  the  con 
tinent  without  being  discovered.  A  storm  drove 
him  on  the  coast  of  Istria,  between  Venice  and 
Aquileia.  From  this  point  he  and  his  companions, 
crossing  the  Friuli  mountains,  proceeded  inland  to 
Goritz,  a  principal  town  of  Carinthia.  He  could 
hardly  have  taken  a  worse  course ;  for  Maynard, 
the  governor  of  this  town,  was  a  near  relation  to 
Conrad  of  Montferrat.  Richard  sent  a  page  to 
Maynard  to  ask  for  a  passport  for  Baldwin  of 
Bethune  and  Hugh  the  merchant,  who  were  pil- 
gi'ims  returning  from  Jerusalem.  To  forward  his 
request  the  young  man  presented  a  very  valuable 
ring  as  a  proof  of  his  master  the  merchant's  good 
will  toward  the  governor.  Maynard,  much  struck 
with  the  beauty  and  value  of  the  ruby,  exclaimed, 
"  This  is  the  present  of  a  prince,  not  of  a  merchant : 
—  your  master's  name  is  not  Hugh,  but  King 
Richard :  tell  him,  from  me,  that  he  may  come 
and  go  in  peace."  The  king  was  alarmed  at  this 
discovery,  and,  having  purchased  some  horses,  he 
fled  by  night.  Baldwin  de  Bethune  and  seven 
others  who  remained  behind  were  arrested  by  May- 
nard, and  the  news  was  spread  far  and  wide  that 
the  King  of  England  was  advancing  into  Germany 
in  a  helpless  state.  The  fugitives  rode  on  without 
accident  or  molestation  till  they  reached  Freisach, 
in  the  teiTitory  of  Saltzburg,  where  Richard  was 
recognized  by  a  Norman  knight  in  the  service  of 
Frederic  of  Beteson,  another  near  relation  of  Con- 
rad. The  Norman's  sense  of  duty  to  his  native 
prince  overcame  the  love  of  money,  —  for  a  large 
reward  had  been  offered  for  the  detection  and  ap- 
prehension of  the  disguised  king,  —  and  instead  of 
seizing  him  he  warned  him  of  his  danger,  and  pre- 
sented him  with  a  swift  horse.  Richard  escaped 
with  one  knight,  and  a  boy  who  spoke  the  language 
of  the  country,  but  all  the  rest  of  his  companions 
who  had  been  able  to  keep  up  with  him  thus  far 
wei-e  taken  and  thrown  into  prison.  After  traveling 
three  days  and  three  nights  without  entering  a 
house,  and  almost  without  nourishment  of  any  kind, 
he  was  compelled  by  hunger  and  sickness  to  enter 
Erperg,  a  village  close  to  Vienna.  His  ignorance 
of  the  country  was  probably  the  cause  of  his  lighting 
on  a  spot  which,  of  all  others,  he  ought  most  care- 
fullj-  to  have  avoided.  Though  sensible  of  his  danger, 
Richard  was  too  weak  to  renew  his  flight.  He  sent 
the  boy  to  the  market-place  of  Vienna  to  purchase 
provisions  and  a  few  comforts   which  he   greatly 


486 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  HI 


needed.  "With  his  usual  thoughtlessness  in  these 
matters,  he  had  given  the  boy  a  quantity  of  money, 
and  dressed  him  in  costly  clothes.  These  things 
excited  attention,  but  the  messenger  eluded  inquiry 
by  saying  that  his  master  was  a  very  rich  merchant, 
and  would  presently  make  his  appearance  in  Vienna. 
The  boj-  was  again  sent  into  the  town  to  make  pur- 
chases, and  for  some  days  escaped  further  notice  : 
but  one  day  that  he  went  as  usual,  the  citizens  saw 
in  his  girdle  a  pair  of  such  gloves  as  were  not  worn 
save  by  kings  and  princes.  The  poor  lad  was  in- 
stantly seized  and  scourged,  and  on  being  threatened 
with  torture  and  the  cutting  out  of  his  tongue,  he 
confessed  the  truth,  and  revealed  the  retreat  of  the 
king.  A  band  of  Austrian  soldiers  surrounded  the 
house  where  Richard  was,  forgetting  his  pains  and 
anxieties  in  a  deep  sleep.  Surprised  and  overpow- 
ered as  he  was,  Richard  drew  his  sword,  and  re- 
fused to  surrender  to  any  but  their  chief.     That 


chief  soon  made  his  appearance  in  the  person  of  his 
deadliest  enemy — Leopold,  Duke  of  Austria,  who 
had  arrived  from  the  Holy  Land  some  time  before 
him.  "  You  are  fortunate,"  said  Leopold,  with  a 
triumphant  smile,  as  he  received  the  sword  which 
had  often  made  him  quail ;  "  and  you  ought  to  con- 
sider us  rather  as  deliverers  than  as  enemies  :  for, 
by  the  Lord,  if  you  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Marquis  Conrad's  friends,  who  are  hunting  for  you 
everywhere,  you  had  been  but  a  dead  man  though 
you  had  had  a  thousand  lives."  The  duke  then 
committed  the  king  to  the  castle  of  Tiernsteign, 
which  belonged  to  one  of  his  barons  called  Hadmar 
ofCunring.' 

'  There  are  several  versions  of  Richard's  adventures  from  the 
time  he  left  Acre  to  his  captivity  in  the  hands  of  the  emperor,  but 
they  do  not  differ  very  essentially,  and  are  about  equally  romantic. 
We  have  adopted  vvhat  appears  to  us  the  simplest  and  most  con- 
sistent story,  the  chief  authorities  bein?  Htiveden,  Brompton,  R. 
Coggeshall,  William  of  Newbury,  and  Matthevir  Paris 


Castle  and  Town  of  Tiernsteign. 


When  the  Emperor  Henry,  the  degenerate  son 
of  the  great  Frederic  Barbarossa,  was  informed  of 
this  arrest,  he  claimed  the  prisoner,  saying,  "  A 
duke  must  not  presume  to  imprison  a  king, — that 
belongs  to  an  emperor."  Henry,  the  sixth  of  the 
name  in  the  list  of  emperors,  and  whom  old  histo-  ! 
rians  designate  as  "  a  beggar  of  a  prince,  ferocious 
and  avaricious,"'  hated  Richard  almost  as  much  as 
Leopold  of  Austria  did.  This  arose  chiefly  out  of 
the  English  king's  close  alliance  with  Tancred  of 
Sicily,  whom  the  emperor  held  as  the  usurper  of 
his  or  lis  wife  Constance's  lights.  In  the  summer 
of  1191,  the  year  in  which  Richard  sailed  from  Mes- 
sina for  Acre,  Henr}-,  accompanied  by  his  Sicilian  ; 
wife,  advanced  with  a  powerful  German  array  into 
the   south   of  Italy,  and  laid  siege  to  the   city  of 

1   I.ciTiiHro.  Tl-vt.  An  Fr-Mfp 


Naples,  which  made  a  faithful  and  gaUant  stand  for 
Tancred.  During  the  heats  of  summer  a  malaria 
fever  carried  oft"a  vast  number  of  his  men,  and  some 
nobles  of  high  rank, — the  Archlnshop  of  Cologne 
among  others, — and,  as  soon  as  Henry  fell  sick  him- 
self, he  raised  the  siege  of  Naples,  and  made  a  dis- 
gi'aceful  retreat.  Tancred  then  established  himself 
on  the  disputed  throne  more  firmly  than  ever,  nor 
had  the  emperor  been  able  to  retrieve  his  honor  in 
the  South.  He  was,  however,  at  the  moment  of 
Richard's  capture,  engaged  in  preparations  for  that 
object,  and  he  was  overjoyed  at  an  event  which 
would  save  him  from  the  dangerous  hostility  of  so 
groat  a  warrior  and  so  powerful  a  prince ;  for  the 
English  king,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  entered 
into  an  alliance,  offensive  and  defensive,  with  the 
ncrrpnnt  nC  t'ln  >^:f'Ii"!i  tlr.ov,  and   Ilf:  -v  and  Iii 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


487 


advisers  had  little  doubt  that,  if  he  reached  England 
in  time,  Richard  would  perform  his  part  of  the 
treaty  and  prevent  the  success  of  the  emperor.' 
The  Duke  of  Austria  would  not  resign  his  prisoner 
without  a  reservation  of  his  own  claims,  and  a  pay- 
ment, or  at  least  a  promise,  of  a  large  sum  of  money 
from  Henry.  The  disgraceful  sale  and  transfer 
took  place  at  the  feast  of  Easter,  1193,  after  which, 

I  Tancred  died  at  the  end  of  1193,  during  Richard's  imprisonment. 
He  died  a  king,  and  transmitted  the  crown  to  his  young  sun  William, 
who,  however,  could  not  keep  it  on  his  head.  The  Emperor  Henry, 
111  1 195,  enriched  with  Richard's  ransom,  invaded  his  dominions,  and 
became  master  of  them  after  much  treachery  and  bloodshed.  The 
cruelties  committed  by  the  jailer  of  Cceur  de  Lion  were  most 
atrocious  :  his  advent  in  Sicily  and  Naples  was  made  memorable  by 
an  apparently  interminable  process  of  burning,  hanging,  blinding, 
and  mutilating.  Richard's  mother,  Eleanor,  wrote  in  earnest  terms 
to  the  Pope,  imploring  that  he  would  endeavor  to  put  a  stop  to  these 
horrors.  Richard  himself  was  too  much  occupied  with  his  wars  in 
France  to  interfere. 


it  appears  that,  even  in  Germany,  Richard  was  en- 
tirely lost  sight  of,  and  men  knew  not  where  he 
was  confined  for  some  time. 

In  following  the  romantic  adventures  of  one  who 
was  rather  a  knight-errant  than  a  king,  and  whose 
history  is  more  that  of  a  crusade  than  a  reign,'  we 
have  strayed  far  and  long  from  England.  And 
what  were  the  hoine  events  during  the  interval  ? 
Our  information  is  scanty,  but  enough  is  on  record 
to  show  thnt  they  were  of  a  gloomy  nature,  and 
that  the  country  paid  dearly  for  the  knight-eiTanti-y 
of  the  king. 

The  tragedy  of  the  Jews,  enacted  at  Richard's 
coronation,  was  speedily  repeated  in  several  of  the 
other  principal  towns  of  the  kingdom,  beginning  at 
Lynn  in  Norfolk,  in  the  month  of  February,  1190, 
while  Richard  was  in  Normandy.     All  these  hor- 

'  Sir  James  Mackintosh 


Lynn,  as  it  appeared  at  the  commencement  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 


rors,  indeed,  were  committed  before  he  sailed  for 
Palestine  ;  but  though  so  near  home,  he  was  unable 
or  unwilling  to  check  them  in  their  progress,  or  in- 
Mict  a  proper  punishment  on  the  offenders.  Within 
a  month,  the  populace  rose,  and  robbed  and  slaugh- 
tered the  Jews  at  Norwich,  Stamford,  St.  Edmonds- 
bury,  and  Lincoln.  The  great  massacre  of  York 
was  not  a  mere  popular  tumult ;  it  was  conducted 
in  a  more  systematic  manner.  On  the  16th  of 
March,  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  a  number  of 
armed  men,  apparently  strangers,  entered  the  city, 
and,  in  the  darkness  of  night,  attacked  the  house  of 
a  very  ncti  Jew,  who  himself  bad  fallen  six  months 
before  in  the  riot  at  London.  His  widow  and  chil- 
dren were  butchered, — their  property  was  carried 
off, — their  house  was  burnt.  On  the  following  day, 
Jocen,  aHOther  wealthy  Jew,  but  who  had  escaped 
with  life  from   London,  soui^ht  refuge  in  the  castls 


of  York  with  his  movable  treasures  and  family  ;  and 
as  the  governor  received  him,  on  his  stating  that 
his  house  was  marked  for  destruction  on  the  en- 
suing night,  most  of  the  Jews  in  York  and  the 
neighboring  country  followed  his  example,  and  they 
also  were  received  within  the  fortress.  Soon  after, 
the  governor  left  the  castle  ;  and  at  his  return,  the 
Jews,  who,  it  is  said,  amounted  to  five  hundred 
men,  besides  women  aud  children,  fearing  he  came 
with  evil  intentions,  and  that  the  mob  which  fol- 
lowed would  enter  with  him  should  the  drawbridge 
be  lowered,  refused  him  admission.  They  excused 
their  disobedience  by  stating  their  reasonable  dread 
of  the  rabble  ;  but  the  governor  flew  into  a  trans- 
port of  rage,  and,  in  conjunction  with  the  sheriff  of 
York,  ordered  the  v-ry  rabble  to  attack  the  castle. 
It  i§  said  that  he  soon  repented  of  this  command, 
and   that  he  tried   to   r-fa!l   it,  biit  in  vain.     '!"'.:' 


488 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


mob,  which  continuallj^  increased,  and  wliich  was 
kept  in  the  highest  state  of  fervor  by  a  mad  moniv, 
who  exhorted  them  night  and  day  to  exterminate 
the  enemies  of  Christ,  laid  close  siege  to  the  castle, 
and,  at  the  end  of  several  days,  had  made  all  their 
preparations  to  take  the  place  by  assault.  On  the 
eve  of  the  day  fixed  for  the  assault,  a  learned  Rabbi, 
who  had  been  but  a  short  time  in  I^igland,  address- 
ed his  afflicted  and  now  despairing  brethren  : — 
•'  Men  of  Israel,"  he  said,  "  God  bids  us  die  for  the 
law,  and  our  glorious  ancestors  have  so  died  in  all 
ages.  If  we  ftill  into  the  hands  of  these,  our  ene- 
mies, not  merely  death  but  cruel  torture  awaits  us. 
Let  us,  then,  return  to  our  Almightj^  Creator  that 
life  which  he  gave ; — let  us  die  willingly  and  de- 
voutl}"  by  our  owri  hands  !"  The  majority  applaud- 
ed this  resolution.  They  kindled  a  large  fire ; 
they  burnt  their  costly  garments  and  their  Eastern 
shawls ;  they  dcsti'oyed  or  buried  their  preciou's 
stones  and  vessels.  They  set  fire  to  part  of  the 
castle,  in  the  hope  that  the  whole  might  be  con- 
sumed with  them,  making  a  vast  funereal  pyre ; 
and  then  Jocen,  as  the  chief  man  among  them,  cut 
the  throat  of  his  own  wife.  The  rest  followed  his 
example,  each  of  them  cutting  the  throats  of  his 
wife  and  children.  When  the  women  and  children 
were  all  dispatched,  Jocen  stabbed  himself;  and 
the  other  men  stabbed  themselves  after  him.  On 
the  following  morning,  as  the  rabble  prepared  for 
the  assault,  they  saw  only  a  few  Jews,  who  had 
shrunk  from  the  complicated  horrors  of  the  over 
night.  Pale  as  ghosts,  these  wretches  spoke  from 
the  battlements,  and,  in  the  hopes  of  saving  their 
lives,  expressed  their  readiness  to  abjure  their  re- 
ligion. On  this  condition  the  mob  promised  that 
their  lives  should  be  spared.  The  gates  of  the 
castle  were  then  thrown  open,  and,  in  the  next 
minute,  every  Jew  in  it  that  still  lived  was  barba- 
rously murdered.  The  Christians  then  marched 
to  the  cathedral  church,  and  got  forcible  possession 
of  the  bonds  of  Christian  debtors,  which  the  Jews 
had  deposited  there  for  greater  security ;  and  hav- 
ing lit  a  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  nave  of  the  church, 
they  burnt  the  bonds  in  a  mass.'  As  the  perpetra- 
tors of  this  summary  method  of  extinguishing  debt 
by  destroying  the  securities  were  not  of  a  condition 
to  have  money  transactions  with  the  Jews,  a  sus- 
picion naturally  arises  that  they  were  incited  and 
directed  in  part  of  their  operations  by  their  supe- 
riors who  were  in  debt  to  the  only  people  who  then 
had  money  to  lend.  On  this  dreadful  occasion,  an 
unusual  degree  of  activity  was  shown  by  the  gov- 
ernment ;  but  the  proceedings  adopted  were  scarcely 
characterized  by  the  purity  and  proper  efficiency 
of  justice.  Longchamp,  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  in  his 
quality  of  chancellor  and  chief  justiciary  of  the  king- 
dom, went  to  York  with  an  armed  force,  displaced 
the  sheriff  and  governor,  and  laid  a  fine  on  the  rich- 
est and  best  of  the  citizens  of  York,  who  hsi$-  not 
moved  in  the  riot.  As  the  king  was -still  pressing  for 
money,  for  the  holy  war,  it  appears  that  Longchamp's 
cRief  motive  in  moving  at  all  in  the  matter,  was  to 
procure  soine,   and  that  the  amount  of  the  fines 

1   Hnve.I. — Brnmpt. — Matt.  Par. 


raised  was  remitted  to  Richard  on  the  continent, 
whither  many  of  the  real  criminals,  who  were  cru- 
saders, had  already  repaired  to  march  under  his 
banner ;  the  rest  of  the  ringleaders  had  fled  into 
Scotland  ;  and  as  tiie  rabble  of  the  town  had  no 
money  rfo  pay,  they  were  let  alone,  the  "stout 
bishop"  dealing  only  with  such  as  could  pay. 

The  next  important  events  during  Richard's  ab- 
sence arose  out  of  the  struggle  for  power  between 
Hugh  Pudsey,  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  and  Long- 
champ,  the  Bishop  of  Ely.  The  reader  has  been 
already  informed  how  Pudsey  purchased  the  post 
of  chief  justiciary  for  1000  marks.  Richard,  who 
was  never  scrupulous  in  such  bargains,  before  he 
departed  from  England  nominated  a  new  regency, 
and  appointed  other  justiciaries,  by  which  measures 
Pudsey's  bought  authority  was  wofully  reduced. 
These  additional  justiciaries  were,  Hugh  Bardolf, 
WilHam  Briwere,  and  Longchamp — the  last-named 
being  the  royal  favorite,  in  whose  hands  Richard 
openly  showed  his  intention  of  placing  the  whole 
power  of  the  government.  Besides  his  justiciaiy- 
ship,  Longchamp  held  the  chancellorship,  for  which 
he  had  paid  3000  marks.  He  was,  moreover,  in- 
trusted with  the  custody  of  the  Tower  of  London. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  worldly  Avisdom,  activity',  and 
talent  for  business ;  his  ambition  was  immense,  and 
must  soon  have  made  itself  felt ;  but  the  first  accu- 
sation his  opponents  seem  to  have  brought  against 
him  was  his  lowness  pf  birth.  His  gi-andfather, 
they  said,  h.i.d  been  nothing  but  a  serf  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Beauvais.  Richard,  however,  who  did  not 
judge  of  him  by  the  condition  of  his  grandfather, 
issued  letters  patent  addressed  to  all  his  lieges,  com- 
manding them  to  obey  Longchamp  in  all  things 
even  as  they  would  obey  the  king  himself.  He 
wrote  to  the  Pope,  to  obtain  for  him  the  legation  of 
England  and  Ireland;  and  when  Longchamp  was 
appointed  legate — which  he  was  immediately — his 
power  in  spiritual  matters  completed  his  authority. 
The  first  act  of  his  administration  was  the  digging 
of  the  Tower  ditch ;  but,  to  use  the  words  of  Pal- 
grave,  "  he  had  more  skill  as  a  politician  than  as  an 
engineer ;  for  he  supposed  that  the  river  Thames 
would  keep  the  excavation  constantly  full." 

Poor  Pudsey  would  not  without  a  struggle  sink 
into  the  obscurity  for  which  he  seems  to  have  been 
best  fitted.  Complaints  against  Longchamp's  ex- 
cessive power  had  been  sent  after  Richard,  and  he 
arrived  in  great  triumph  in  London,  with  letters 
from  -the  king,  importing  that  he  should  be  restored 
to  some  part,  or  to  the  whole,  of  his  former  author- 
ity. Although  Longchamp  was  absent  from  Lon- 
don,-his  rival  received  an  immediate  check  there 
from  the  barons  of  the  Exchequer,  who  refused  to 
admit  him  on  the  bench.  Thus  rejected,  Pudsey 
posted  after  Longchamp,  who  was  in  the  north,  and 
surrounded  by  an  armed  force  devoted  to  his  inter- 
est. When  the  brother  bishops  met,  he  of  Ely  was 
all  courtesy  and  compliance.  He  said  he  was  quite 
willing  to  obey  the  king's  commands;  and  then  he 
invited  his  lordship  of  Durham  to  visit  him  that  day 
se'nnight  in  the  royal  castle  of  Tickhill.  Pudsey, 
with  "sineular  simpliritv,"  accented  the  invitntion  • 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


489 


and  as  soon  as  he  was  within  the  castle-walls,  Long- 
champ  laid  hands  oq  him,  exclaiming,  "  As  sure  as 
my  lord  the  king  liveth,  thou  shalt  not  depart  hence 
until  thou  hast  surrendered  all  the  castles  which 
thou  holdest.  This  is  not  bishop  arresting  bishop, 
but  chancellor  arresting  chancellor."  Nor  was 
Pudsey  released  from  this  duress  until  he  surren- 
dered the  castle  of  Windsor,  and  the  custody  of  the 
forest,  together  with  the  shrievalty  of  the  county, 
as  well  as  the  earldom  of  Northumberland  and  the 
lordship  of  Sadburgh — everything,  in  short,  which 
be  had  purchased  from  the  king.  Longchamp's 
power  was  now  without  check  or  control.  He  had 
the  whole  powers  of  civil  and  military,  and,  we  may 
add,  ecclesiastical  government ;  and  he  is  repre- 
sented as  tyrannizing  equally  over  clergy  and  laity. 
"  Had  he  continued  in  office,"  said  his  enemies, 
"  the  kingdom  would  have  been  wholly  exhausted  ; 
not  a  girdle  would  have  remained  to  the  man,  nor  a 
bracelet  to  the  woman,  nor  a  ring  to  the  knight,  nor 
a  gem  to  the  Jew."  Another  writer  says  he  was 
more  than  a  king  to  the  laity,  and  more  than  a  pope  to 
the  clergy.  Abroad  and  at  home,  he  made  a  display 
of  as  much  or  more  power  and  parade  than  had 
been  exhibited  by  any  Norman  king.  A  numerous 
guard  always  suiTounded  his  house  ;  wherever  he 
went  he  was  attended  by  a  thousand  horse ;  and 
when  he  passed  the  night  at  an  abbey  or  any  house 
on  the  road,  his  immense  and  greedy  retinue  con- 
sumed the  produce  of  three  whole  years — a  poetical 
exaggeration,  implying  that  they  ate,  and  drank,  and 
probably  wasted  a  gi-eat  deal.  He  was  a  munificent 
patron  of  minsti'els,  troubadours,  and  jongleurs  ;  he 
enticed  many  of  them  over  from  France,  and  these 
sang  his  praises  in  the  public  places,  saying  there 
was  not  such  a  man  in  the  world.'  It  is  evident 
that  Longchamp  was  vain  of  his  authority ;  but 
there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  was  not  most 
loyal  to  the  king,  and  anxious  for  the  preservation  of 
peace  in  the  kingdom  :  the  worst  shades  in  his  por- 
trait were  put  in  by  men  who  were  notoriously  dis- 
loyal to  Richard,  and  careless  of  deluging  the  country 
with  blood,  so  long  as  they  fancied  that  they  were 
forwarding  their  own  views  ;  and  it  was  the  bishop's 
decided  opposition  to  these  men  that  first  called 
forth  the  accusations  against  him.  Peter  of  Blois, 
whose  testimony  carries  no  small  weight,  speaks 
most  highly  of  Longchamp,  and  styles  him  a  man 
famed  for  wisdom  and  unbounded  generosity,  as 
also  for  his  amiable,  benevolent,  and  gentle  temper. 
In  those  turbulent  times,  and  with  such  crafty,  re- 
morseless opponents  as  Earl  John  and  his  advisers. 
It  was  almost  impossible  that  he  should  presene 
peace  ;  but  while  the  ambitious  and  the  great  envied 
him,  it  is  probable  that  the  humbler  and  quieter 
classes  in  the  land  saw  him  with  pleasure  get  that 
power  into  his  hands  which  alone  could  give  him  a 
chance  of  averting  the  storm.  He  was  the  first  to 
see  that  John  was  endeavoring  to  secure  the  suc- 
cession to  the  throne,  and  he  steadily  opposed  those 
pretensions.  After  many  violent  dissensions,  John 
wrote  to  his  brother,  to  tell  him  that  the  chief  jus- 

>  Introduct.  Rot.  Cur.   Reg— Matt.  Par.— Hoved.— Newbr.— Ger- 


ticiary  was  ruining  king  and  kingdom ;  and  several 
barons  of  his  faction  put  their  signatures  or  crosses 
to  this  letter.  Richard,  whose  confidence  in  Long- 
champ was  scarcely  to  be  shaken,  sent,  however, 
from  Messina  two  letters  patent,  in  which  he  or- 
dered, that  if  the  accusations  against  him  were  ti'ue, 
then  Walter,  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  was  to  assume 
the  regency,  or  chief  justiciaryship,  with  William 
Mareschal  and  Geoflfrey  Fitzpeter,  as  his  col- 
leagues ;  if  false,  the  three  were,  nevertheless,  to 
be  associated  with  him  in  the  government.  Although 
those  letters  are  preserved  in  the  contemporary 
chronicle  of  Ralph  de  Diceto,  their  authenticity  has 
been  questioned ;  and  it  appears  quite  certain,  that 
if  they  were  really  written,  Richard  repented  of 
his  doubts,  and  that  immediately  before  he  set  sail 
from  Messina  he  addressed  letters  to  his  subjects  in 
nearly  the  same  terms  as  those  written  about  a  year 
before  from  France,  requiring  them  all  to  obey 
Longchamp,  whom  he  again  mentions  with  the 
gi-eatest  aflfection  and  honor.  It  is  also  equally  cer- 
tain, that  though  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  came 
into  England  from  Sicily,  he  never  showed  any 
royal  order  until  a  year  later,  when  Longchamp 
was  overwhelmed  by  his  enemies,  who  never  made 
any  judicial  inquest  into  his  conduct — nor  could  they 
have  made  it  with  any  fairness,  seeing  that  they 
would  have  been  both  accusers  and  judges. 

As  soon  as  John  knew  for  a  certainty  that  his 
brother  had  actually  departed  from  Sicily,  beyond 
which  the  real  perils  of  the  crusade  were  supposed 
to  begin,  he  assumed  the  state  and  bearing  of  an 
heir-apparent  about  to  enter  upon  his  inheritance. 
He  knew  that  Richard  had  named  his  nephew  Ar- 
thur for  his  heir ;  but  that  circumstance  irritated 
without  discouraging  him — he  felt  that  a  child  would 
be  no  formidable  rival  if  he  could  only  dispose  of 
Longchamp,  who  was  bent  on  doing  his  master's 
will  in  all  things,  and  who,  by  Richard's  orders,  had 
opened  a  treaty  with  the  King  of  Scotland  to  sup- 
port Arthur's  claims  in  case  of  necessitj^.  The  de- 
cisive conflict,  which  had  been  postponed  as  long  as 
Richard  was  in  Europe,  began  as  soon  as  his  loving 
brother  thought  he  was  fairly  in  Asia.  Gerard  de 
Camville,  a  factious  baron  and  a  partisan  of  John, 
claimed  the  custody  of  Lincoln  Castle,  and  kept  that 
place  in  defiance  of  the  regent's  authority.  Raising 
an  army,  Longchamp  marched  to  Lincoln ;  but, 
while  he  was  besieging  the  castle,  John  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  a  still  more  numerous  army,  and  at- 
tacked the  royal  castles  of  Nottingham  and  Tickhill, 
and  took  them  both  after  a  siege  of  two  days.  This 
!  done,  the  earl  sent  a  threatening  message  to  the 
regent.  Longchamp,  who  was  not  much  of  a  sol- 
dier, was  taken  by  surprise  ;  he  gave  up  the  siege 
at  Lincoln,  and  Gerard  de  Camville  did  homage  for 
his  castle  to  John.'  The  regent  then  convened  the 
chiefe  of  the  king's  army  and  the  barons  most  at- 
tach* to  Richard,  and  warned  them  in  strong  terms 
that  John  was  seeking  the  government :  but  he  was 
not  properly  supported,   and,  being  compelled   to 

I  John  peems  to  have  assumed  a  royal  axiihority  in  the  domain* 
which  Richard  had  too  liberally  g^iven  him.  From  the  importance  of 
these  fxisscssions  the  chroniclers  ca)l  .John  <.ht  TctT.Tich. 


490 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III- 


yield,  a  truce  most  disadvantageous  to  Longchamp 
was  concluded  between  the  contending  parties. 
The  regent  was  forced  to  agree  that  a  certain  num- 
ber of  the  royal  castles,  the  possession  of  which  had 
hitherto  constituted  his  greatest  strength,  should  be 
placed  in  the  custody  of  various  bishops  and  barons, 
who  were  sworn  to  keep  the  fortresses  in  the  king's 
fealty  until  he  should  return  from  Palestine;  but 
should  he  die  during  his  pilgrimage,  then  they  were 
to  deliver  them  to  Prince  John.  At  the  same  tnne 
another  concession  of  almost  equal  importance  was 
extorted  from  Longchamp:  the  settlement  in  favor 
of  Arthur  was  formally  set  aside  ;  and,  the  regent 
himself  directing  the  act,  the  earls  and  primates  of 
the  kingdom  took  the  oath  of  fealty  to  .John,  ac- 
knowledging him,  should  Richard  die  without  issue, 
as  heir  to  tlie  throne.'  For  a  short  time  John  was 
satisfied  with  the  progress  he  had  made,  and  left 
to  the  chancellor-regent  his  places  and  honors ;  but 
the  tranquillity  thus  insured  was  disturbed  by  cir- 
cumstances artfully  arranged.  Geofirey,  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  the  son  of  Henry  H.  by  Fair  Rosa- 
mond, had  been  compelled  to  swear  that  he  would 
live  out  of  England.  He  was  now  preparing  to  re- 
turn to  obtain  possession  of  his  church.  The  whole 
board  of  justiciaries  joined  their  chief  in  prohibiting 
his  landing;  and  Longchamp,  fairly  acting  in  the 
exercise  of  his  authority,  commanded  the  sheriffs  to 
arrest  Geoffrey,  should  he  disregard  the  injunction. 
At  the  instigation  of  his  half-brother  John,  Geoffrey 
defied  the  regent,  and  landed  at  Dover,  where,  how- 
ever, he  was  presently  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  a 
church.  When  the  requisition  was  made  by  the 
bheriff  or  the  constable  of  Dover,  he  replied  that  he 
would  never  submit  to  that  "  traitor,  the  Bishop  of 
Ely."  It  was  required  of  him  that  he  should  swear 
fealty  anew  or  depart  the  kingdom.  For  three  days 
he  refused  to  answer,  and  his  asylum  was  respected 
the  while  ;  but  on  the  fourth  morning  the  officers 
broke  into  the  church,  where  the  archl)ishop  had 
just  concluded  mass,  seized  him  at  the  foot  of  the 
altar,  and,  after  literally  dragging  him  through  the 
streets,  lodged  him  in  Dover  Castle.  At  the  news 
of  this  transaction,  which  excited  considerable  in- 
dignation among  the  people,  John  and  his  party 
were  overjoyed.  They  had  got  Longchamp  fast 
in  the  snare  they  had  laid  for  him;  and  now  they 
produced  what  they  called  Richard's  authority 
for  displacing  him  altogether,  and  substituting  the 
Archbishop  of  Rouen.  In  vain  did  the  regent  plead 
that  he  had  not  directed  the  more  violent  and  offen- 
sive part  of  the  proceedings  against  Geoffrey, — that 
the  authorities  of  Dover  had  thought  fit  to  understand 
much  more  from  his  warrant  than  he  ever  intended. 
It  was  equally  in  vain  that,  at  the  solicitation  of  the 
Bishop  of  London,  who  gave  security  for  his  good 
behavior,  Longchamp  released  Geoffrey  within  a 
very  few  days,  and  allowed  him  to  go  to  London. 
John,  acting  >vith  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  who 
assumed  all  the  rights  of  a  chief  justiciary,  peremp- 
torily summoned  him  to  make  amends  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  and  to  answer  for  the  whole  of  his 
public   conduct   before    the   king's   council.      The 

1  B.  Atibn?. — IloveJ. — R:carJiis  Divisiensis. — rxcto. 


semblance  of  an  affection  which  was  as  sudden  as  it 
was  tender,  sprung  up  between  John,  who  had  hith- 
erto hated  him,  and  his  illegitimate  brother.  On 
the  one  side  all  the  prelates  and  barons  in  the  king- 
dom were  invited  or  ordered  by  John  to  assemble — 
on  the  other  they  were  all  forbidden  by  Longchamp 
(who  declared  that  John's  object  was  to  disinherit 
his  sovereign)  from  holding  any  such  meeting. 
The  meeting,  however,  was  held  at  Loddon  Bridge 
on  the  Thames,  between  Reading  and  Windsor;  and 
Longchamp  himself,  who  was  in  Windsor  Castle, 
was  ordered  to  attend — an  order  he  did  not  care  to 
obey.  There  John  and  Geoffrey  embraced  each 
other  weeping ;  and  John,  who  was  a  good  actor, 
fell  on  his  knees  before  the  bishops  and  barons,  and 
implored  them  to  avenge  his  dear  brother's  wrongs. 
Soon  after  this  meeting  Longchamp  marched  from 
Windsor  Castle  to  the  capital,  being  informed  by 
Richard  Biset  that  John  intended  to  seize  the  city 
of  London.  The  regent  required  the  citizens  to 
close  their  gates  against  the  earl ;  but  Geoffrey,  the 
Archbishop  of  York,  who  was  beforehand  with  him, 
had  spread  disaffection,  and  John  was  close  behind 
him  with  a  consideral)le  army.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances the  Londoners  replied  to  the  regent's 
summons  by  declaring  that  they  would  not  obey  a 
traitor  and  disturber  of  the  public  peace.  Sorely 
disappointed,  Longchamp  then  took  refuge  in  the 
Tower  of  London  ;  and  Earl  John  was  joyfully  re- 
ceived on  taking  a  solemn  oath  that  he  would  be 
faithful  to  his  brother  Richard,  and  would  maintain 
and  enlarge  the  franchises  of  the  city.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day,  the  9th  of  October,  1191,  it  was  decreed 
by  what  was  called  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
bishops,  earls,  barons,  and  citizens  of  London,  that 
the  chief  justiciary  should  be  deposed,  and  that  John 
should  be  proclaimed  "  The  Chief  Governor  of  the 
whole  kingdom."  On  receiving  this  news  Long- 
champ f\iinted  and  fell  on  the  floor.  At  an  early 
hour  the  next  morning  John  assembled  his  troops  in 
the  East  Smithfield,  which  was  then  a  great,  open, 
green  plain.  A  part  of  his  forces,  united  with  a 
London  mob,  had  already  closel}' blockaded  the  Tow- 
er both  by  land  and  water.  The  deposed  regent  came 
out  of  the  fortress  to  receive  the  propositions  of  his 
opponents,  which  were  rather  liberal,  in  order,  prob- 
ably, to  induce  Longchamp  to  ratify  John's  title. 
They  offered  him  his  bishopric  of  Ely,  and  the  cus- 
tody of  three  of  the  royal  castles.  But  he  was  not  to 
be  won,  and  his  conduct  on  this  occasion  was  honor- 
able and  dignified  :  he  refused  to  commit  any  of  the 
king's  rights,  or  to  surrender  any  of  the  powers  in- 
trusted to  him  by  his  master.  "  But,"  said  he, 
"you  are  stronger  than  I:  and,  chancellor  and  jus- 
ticiary as  I  am,  I  yield  to  force."  So  saying,  he  de- 
livered up  the  keys  of  the  ToAver  to  John. 

It  is  rather  surprising  that,  after  these  proceed- 
ings, Longchamp  should  be  left  at  large,  and  allowed 
to  escape  from  the  kingdom.  It  appears,  however, 
that  he  was  obliged  to  put  on  an  unseeiuly  disguise. 
Some  fishermen's  wives  saw  the  tall  figure  of  a 
woman  sitting  on  the  sea-shore  near  Dover,  with  a 
web  of  cloth  under  one  arm  and  a  mercer's  yard- 
mrasure  in  the  right  hand  :   i;pon  a  neare;-  insprc- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  iMILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


491 


tion,  the  women  discovered  under  the  "green  hood" 
the  "black  face  and  new  shorn  beard  of  a  man."' 
It  was  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  the  regent,  the  "chancel- 
lor, on  his  way  to  Norjnandy !  John  appointed  the 
Archbishop  of  Rouen  grand  justiciary  and  chancellor 
in  his  place,  and  sequestrated  the  revenues  of  his 
bishopric  to  answer  for  public  moneys  which  he  was 
accused  of  having  dissipated  or  purloined.  His 
enemies  said  that,  when  expelled  from  office,  he 
left  nothing  behind  him  in  the  treasury  except  empty 
chests  and  the  keys.  It  is  very  probable  that  Long- 
champ  did  not  leave  much  specie,  but  it  should  be 
remembered  that  Richard  had  been  constantly  call- 
ing upon  liiin  for  money,  and  had  left  him  heavj' 
debts  to  discharge  ;  and  the  chancellor  offered  to 
account  for  every  farthing  which  had  come  into  his 
hands.  He  maintained  in  the  face  of  the  world  that 
his  beloved  master  had  never  ordered  his  removal, 
which  had  been  effected  by  force,  in  order  that  .John 
might  with  the  more  ease  usurp  the  crown.  The 
Pope,  to  whom  he  wrote  from  Normandy,  took  this 
view  of  the  case,  and  warmly  espoused  Longchamp's 
quarrel,  denouncing  excommunication  against  all 
those  who  had  seized  his  authority.  This  time  the 
anathema  had  little  or  no  effect,  for  not  a  bishop  in 
England  would  obey  the  commands  of  Pope  or 
legate.  The  displaced  minister  wrote  to  his  master, 
who  assured  him  that  he  had  not  withdrawn  his 
confidence  from  him,  and  it  should  appear  (  we 
venture  no  positive  assertion  where  all  is  mystery 
and  confusion)  that  Richard  made  representations 
to  his  mother  in  his  behalf,  for  in  the  following  year 
Longchamp  was  in  friendly  correspondence  with 
Eleanor,  and  soon  after,  through  her  means,  with 
John  himself,  who  had  probably  not  found  all  he 
expected  in  the  new  chief  Justiciary,  the  Archbishop 
of  Rouen, — a  man  acknowledged  by  all  parties  as  a 
prudent  and  upright  minister,  one  who  conducted 
himself  mildly  and  conscientiouslj-,  refusing  all 
bribes,  and  deciding  equitably  and  according  to  law. 
Prince  John,  on  the  contrary,  was  only  to  be  gained 
by  money,  and  when  Longchamp  made  him  a  large 
otter  for  repurchasing  his  places,  he  invited  the  ex- 
ile back  to  England,  pi'omising  to  reinstate  him. 
Eleanor,  it  is  said,  had  been  already  propitiated  by 
gifts  a.r\d  promises  ;  and  she  certainly  joined  John  in 
setting  up  Longchamp,  and  endeavoring  to  persuade 
the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  and  the  other  prelates 
and  nobles  to  reinstate  the  legate.  John,  who,  in 
fact,  had  displaced  Longchamp  under  a  color  of 
acting  in  obedience  to  his  brother's  orders,  now  un- 
blushingly  urged  that  it  would  much  displease  the 
king  to  know  how  Longchamp  had  been  removed 
from  the  government  without  his  command.  It  is 
quite  evident  that  this  fickle,  selfish  prince  only 
wanted  to  make  money.  A  council  being  assembled 
at  London  during  these  negotiations,  a  messenger 
suddenly  presented  himself,  and  announced  the  ar- 

'  Viderunt  faciem  hnminis  nigrani  et  nonter  rasam. — Iloved.  We 
have  omitted  the  indelicate  and  improbable  parts  of  the  story  of 
Li)ii^'c!ianip's  escape  which  were  written  by  Hugh,  Bishop  of  Coven- 
try, the  bitter  enemy  of  the  chancellor.  Peter  of  Blois  took  Huijh  to 
account  for  this  satire,  which  was  evidently  intended  to  put  Long- 
champ in  a  more  ridiculous  and  degrading-  light  than  Archbishop 
GeoSi'.'v  hud  been  in  at  the  san.:;  p.ace. — Dover 


rival  of  his  master  Longchamp,  "legate  and  chan- 
cellor," at  Dover.  Alarmed  at  this  intelligence,  the 
new  ministers  sent  for  John,  who  soon  appeared  anti 
told  them  that  Longchamp  defied  them  all,  provided 
he  could  obtain  his  (John's)  protection,  for  whicli 
he  offered  700Z.,  to  be  paid  within  a  week ;  and  he 
concluded  this  significant  speech  by  saying  that  he 
was  in  great  want  of  money,  and  that  "  a  word  to 
the  wise  is  enough."  Such  a  monition  could  not  be 
misunderstood,  and,  anxious  to  prevent  the  return 
of  their  great  rival,  the  ministers  agreed  to  buy  John 
off"  by  lending  him  5001.  from  the  king's  treasury. 
John  then  withdrew  his  proposition ;  Eleanor  did 
the  same,  and  a  harsh  and  thi'eatening  letter  was 
addressed  to  Longchamp  in  the  name  of  the  queen, 
the  clergy,  and  the  people,  insisting  upon  his  im- 
mediate departure  from  England.'  The  fallen 
minister  withdrew  again  to  Normandy,  there  to 
await  the  return  of  his  master. 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  government  in  England. 
On  the  continent,  the  French  king,  who  was  in  close 
correspondence  with  Earl  John,  and  who  disregarded 
all  his  solemn  oaths,  was  preparing  most  dishonorably 
to  take  advantage  of  Richard's  absence.  Almost  as 
soon  as  he  returned  to  France,  Philip  had  demanded 
the  cession  of  Gisors  and  the  other  places  in  the 
Vexin  constituting  the  dower  of  that  princess, 
together  with  the  person  of  Alice,  whom,  strange 
to  say,  he  offered  in  marriage  to  John,  who  (stranger 
still)  listened  to  the  proposition  with  a  willing  ear. 
The  governor  of  Normandy  replied  that  he  had  no 
orders  from  his  master ;  and  all  of  them  knew  that, 
by  the  treaty  of  Messina,  these  restitutions  were  not 
to  be  made  until  the  return  of  Richard.  Philip  then 
threatened  to  invade  Normandy ;  but,  when  his 
army  was  partly  assembled,  some  of  the  French 
nobles  refused  to  accompany  him,  alleging  the  oaths 
they  had  taken  to  protect  his  states,  and  in  no  way 
make  war  on  Richard  till  he  should  be  returned 
from  the  crusade.  As  the  Pope,  too,  expressed  his 
abhorrence  of  the  project  of  invasion,  and  threatened 
him  with  the  thunders  of  the  church,  Philip  was 
obliged  to  renounce  his  disgraceful  enterprise,  and 
to  satisfy  himself  with  hatching  mischief  to  his  rival 
by  intrigues  still  more  disgi-aceful.  John,  it  appears, 
offered  no  objection  whatever  to  the  marriage  with 
Alice,  and  Philip  engaged  to  put  him  in  possession 
of  all  that  his  heart  had  so  long  coveted.'^  These 
intrigues  were  in  full  activity  when  the  news  of 
Richard's  departure  from  the  Holy  Land  arrived  in 
England.  The  people  were  daily  expecting  his  ar- 
rival, when  vague  and  contradictory,  and  then  very 
inauspicious  intelligence  began  to  circulate.  Some 
returned  crusaders  asserted  that  he  must  have  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  Moors,  others  that  he  must 
have  perished  at  sea,  and  others  again  affirmed  that 
they  had  seen  the  ship  in  which  he  had  embarked 
safe  in  the  Italian  port  of  Brindisi.  We  are  sorry 
at  being  again  forced  to  reject  a  touching  and 
beautiful  legend,  but,  leaving  Blondel  in  the  con- 
genial hands  of  the  poets,  we  fear  that  in  historical 
soberness    we    must    attribute    the     discovery    ot 

'  Pal?rave.  Rot.  Cur.  Ke?. 

2  Script.  Rrr.  Franc— }1  ived—NcAbr 


492 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Richard's  imprisonment  to  the  copy  of  a  letter 
from  his  jailer  Henry  to  Philip.  The  emperor 
told  the  king  that  the  enemy  of  the  empire — the 
disturber  of  France — was  loaded  with  chains  and 
safely  lodged  in  one  of  his  castles  of  the  Tyrol,  where 
trusty  guards  watched  over  him,  day  and  night, 
with  drawn  swords.  This  discovery  shocked  and 
disgusted  all  Europe.  Longchamp,  who  was  still 
on  the  continent,  was  one  of  the  first  to  learn  it,  and 
the  first  to  adopt  measures  for  his  master's  deliver- 
ance. Earl  John  openly  rejoiced  at  the  intelli- 
gence; but  Richard's  English  subjects  voluntarily 
renewed  their  oaths  of  allegiance.  The  Airhbishop 
of  Rouen,  and  the  bishops  and  barons,  met  at  Oxford, 
and  immediately  sent  two  deputies — the  abbots  of 
Broxley  and  Pont-Robert  —  into  Germany  to  give 
the  king  advice  and  consolation.  .Beyond  the  Alps, 
as  everywhere  else  where  the  cause  of  the  crusades 
was  cherished  and  Richard  known  as  the  greatest 
champion  of  the  cross,  a  most  violent  indignation 
was  excited.  The  Pope  at  once  excommunicated 
Leopold,  the  Austrian  duke,  and  threatened  the 
emperor  with  the  same  sentence  unless  he  imme- 
diately liberated  Richard.  Seeing  that  he  could  not 
work  his  ends  with  English  means,  John  hastened 
over  to  Paris,  where  he  surrendered  the  greater 
partof  Normandy  to  the  French  king,  and  did  PhiUp 
homage  for  the  rest  of  his  brother's  continental  do- 
minions. He  then  engaged  some  troops  of  foreign 
mercenaries,  and  returned  home,  having  agreed 
with  his  ally,  that  Philip  should  foil  upon  Normandy 
with  a  powerful  army,  while  he  overran  England. 

John  took  the  castles  of  Windsor  and  Wallingford, 
and,  marching  on  London,  reported  that  his  bi-other 
was  dead  in  prison,  and  demanded  the  crown  as 
lawful  heir.  For  a  moment  the  steadiness  of  the 
grand  justiciary,  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen,  was 
doubtful,  but  the  pi-elates  and  barons  raised  Richard's 
standard,  defeated  John's  mercenaries,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  retreat.  He,  however,  obtained  an 
armistice,  during  which  he  extended  the  threads  of 
his  intrigues.  Philip  was  still  less  fortunate  in 
Nt)rmandy ;  for,  after  advancing  to  Rouen,  he  was 
beaten  by  the  indignant  and  enthusiastic  people, 
commanded  by  Richard's  old  comrade,  the  brave 
Earl  of  Leicester,  who  had  got  safely  from  Pales- 
tine, and  he  was  obliged  to  make  a  most  disgraceful 
retreat  into  his  own  territories. 

In  the  mean  time,  though  irritated  by  the  indig- 
nities he  suffered,  and  at  times  depressed  by  the 
notion  that  his  subjects  would  abandon  him — a 
captive  as  he  was  in  the  hands  of  his  ungenerous 
enemies  —  Richard's  sanguine  and  jovial  spirit 
saved  him  from  any  long  fits  of  despair  or  despond- 
ence. He  whiled  away  the  weary  hours  by  singing 
or  composing  troubadour  verses,'  and  when  tired  of 

•  The  love  stanzas  of  Richard  have  all  been  lost,  but  a  short  poem 
nf  his,  written  in  prison,  has  been  preserved.  The  following  passages 
iVom  Mr.  Ellis's  translation  will  give  an  idea  of  it.  There  is  more 
pathos  in  it  than  might  be  expected  ;  but  most  men  can  be  pathetic 
:ibout  their  own  sufferings  : — 

If  captive  wight  attempt  the  tuneful  strain. 

His  voice,  belike,  full  dolefully  will  sound ; 
Yet,  to  the  sad,  'tis  comfort  to  complain. 

T?..;..Ti'l..  Vovp  I  storp  •  ""i^  nromises  atm'iT,.!  . 


this  resource,  he  caroused  with  his  keepers,  who 
seem  to  have  been  about  equally  pleased  with  hia 
music,  his  facetiousness,  and  his  powers  of  drinking. 
Borne  down  by  the  weight  of  European  opinion, 
and  the  authority  of  the  church,  the  emperor  was 
at  length  obliged  to  relax  his  hold  ;  and  Longchamp, 
who  was  now  with  Richard,  seems  to  have  been  in- 
strumental in  inducing  him  to  produce  his  captive 
before  the  diet  at  Hagenau.  Richard  was  on  his 
way  to  that  place,  when  the  two  abbots  dispatched 
from  England  first  met  him.  He  received  them  in 
a  gay  and  courteous  manner.  The  full  accounts 
they  gave  him  of  his  brother's  treachery  made  him 
look  grave  ;  but  it  was  only  for  a  moment,  and  he 
said,  laughing,  "  My  brother  John,  however,  will 
never  gain  a  kingdom  by  his  valor."  On  his  Jirrival 
at  Hagenau,  Richard  was  received  with  a  show  of 
courtesy ;  but  his  first  interview  with  the  emperor 
was  discouraging.  Henry  revealed  all  his  avarice 
and  unjustifiable  pretensions,  and  made  many  de- 
mands, with  which  his  captive  would  not  comply, 
saying  he  would  rather  die  where  he  Wiis,  than  so 
drain  his  kingdom  and  degrade  his  crown.  On  the 
following  day,  Richard  appeared  before  the  diet  of 
the  empire  ;  and  Henry,  who  had  no  right  over 
him,  except  Avhat  he  gained  by  treachery  and  force, 
and  from  the  exploded  theory  of  the  imperial  su- 
premacy over  all  the  kings  of  the  west,  accused  him 
of  many  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  the  chief  of 
which  were  :  —  1.  His  alliance  with  Tancred,  the 
usurper  of  Sicily.  2.  His  treatment  of  Isaac,  the 
Christian  sovereign  of  Cyprus.  3.  His  insults  of- 
fered to  the  Duke  of  Austria,  and  through  him  to 
the  whole  German  nation.  4.  His  impeding  the 
crusade  by  his  quarrels  with  the  French  king.  5. 
His  having  employed  assassins  to  murder  Conrad 
of  Montferrat.  6.  The  most  impudent  charge  of 
all — his  having  concluded  a  base  truce  with  Saladin, 
and  left  Jerusalem  in  his  hands.  Richard,  after 
asserting  that  his  royal  dignity  exempted  him  from 
answering  before  any  jurisdiction  except  that  of 
Heaven,  yet  condescended,  for  the  sake  of  his  rep- 
utation, to  justify  his  conduct  before  that  august  as- 
sembly, which  was  composed  of  all  the  ecclesiastical 
and  secular  princes  of  Germany.  His  speech  is  not 
given  by  any  original  writer,   but  it  is  stated   by 

Shame  on  the  niggards !     Since,  these  winters  twain 
XInransom'd,  still  I  bear  a  tyrant's  chain. 
Full  well  they  know,  my  lords  and  nobles  all, 
Of  England,  Normandy,  Guienne,  Poictou, 
Ne'er  did  I  slight  my  poorest  vassal's  call, 

But  all  whom  wealth  could  buy  from  chains  withdrew 
Not  in  reproach  I  speak,  nor  idly  vain, 
But  I  alone  unpitied  bear  the  chain. 
My  fate  will  show,  "  the  dungeon  and  the  grave 

Alike  repel  our  kindred  and  our  friends." 
Here  am  I  left  their  paltry  gold  to  save  1 

Sad  fate  is  mine  ;  but  worse  their  crime  attends. 
Their  lord  will  die  ;  their  conscience  shall  remain. 
And  tell  how  long  1  wore  this  galling  chain. 
There  are  three  more  stanzas  in  the  same   strain.     Another  sir- 
venle,  attributed  to   Richard,  is   preserved.     It  is  addressed   to  his 
cousin,  Count  Guy  of  Auvergne,  whom  it  reproaches  for  lukewarm- 
ness  in  not  taking  up  arms  against  the  traitor,  King  Philip.     One 
passage  is  curious — "  The  desire  of  building  strong  castles  makes  you 
forgetful  of  ladies  and  gallantry.     You  are  no  more  seen  at  bowers  or 
tournaments.     Have  a  care  of  the  French  ;  they  are  Lombards  in  their 
HsalinD'.s." — ffift.  Troubad. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


493 


Hoveden  and  other  contemporaries,  that  his  reply  I 
to  all  the  charges  was  manly,  clear,  and  convincing 
— that  his  eloquence  filled  the  members  of  the  diet 
with  admiration,  and  left  no  suspicion  of  guilt  in 
their  minds.'  Matthew  Paris  says  that  the  emperor 
was  convinced  of  Plantagenet's  innocence,  and  that 
he  treated  him  thenceforth  with  humanity.  He 
still,  however,  exacted  a  heavy  ransom,  though  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  by  what  right,  or  under  what 
decent  pretext,  he  could  detain  Richard,  or  put  him 
to  ransom,  if  his  innocence  was  acknowledged.  But 
there  was  no  right  in  the  transaction — no  decency 
in  the  actors  in  it ;  it  began  in  revenge,  and  was  to 
end  in  money,  and  as  much  money  as  could  be  pos- 
sibly obtained,  without  a  care  or  a  thought  about 
guilt  or  innocence.  After  fixing  one  price,  the 
emperor  raised  it  to  another,  and  the  bargain  was 
proti-acted  for  five  tedious  months,  during  which, 
though  his  fetters  were  removed,  Richard  was  still 
kept  in  prison.  This  was,  no  doubt,  the  most 
anxious  and  most  painful  part  of  his  captivity.  He 
sent  Longchamp,  as  his  chancellor,  to  the  council  of 
regency,  to  press  the  raising  of  the  ransom.  The 
captivity  of  the  king,  or  superior  lord,  was  a  case 
especially  provided  for  by  the  feudal  tenures  on 
which  the  vassals  of  the  crown  and  others  held  their 
estates ;  and  a  tax  of  twenty  shillings  was,  there- 
fore, imposed  on  every  knight's  fee.  The  clergy 
and  laity  were  besides  called  upon  for  a  fourth  part 
of  their  yearly  incomes.  While  the  money  was 
slowly  raising,  the  emperor  still  kept  increasing  his 
demands.  At  last,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1193, 
the  terms  were  fixed.  It  was  agreed  that  Richard 
should  pay  100,000  marks  of  pure  silver  of  Cologne 
standard  to  the  imperial  court ;  that  he  was  also  to 
pay  50,000  marks  to  the  emperor  and  the  Duke  of 
Austria  conjointly,  giving  sixty  hostages  to  the  em- 
peror for  30,000  marks,  and  other  hostages  to  the 
Duke  of  Austria  for  20,000  marks ;  on  condition, 
however,  that  these  50,000  marks  were  to  be  re- 
mitted altogether  if  Richard  performed  certain  pri- 
vate promises.  Several  clauses  of  this  treaty  were 
either  secret  or  added  afterward.  It  was  also 
agreed  that  Richard  should  restore  Isaac  of  Cyprus 
to  his  liberty,  though  not  to  his  dominions,  and  de- 
liver Isaac's  beautiful  daughter  to  the  care  of  the 
Duke  of  Austria,  and  send  his  own  niece,  Eleanor 
of  Bi-ittany,  the  sister  of  young  Arthur,  to  be  mar- 
ried to  the  Duke  of  Austria's  son.  Henry,  on  his 
side,  agreed  to  aid  Richard  against  all  his  enemies ; 
and,  that  he  might  have  the  air  of  giving  something 
for  so  much  money,  invested  him  with  the  feudal 
sovereignty  of  the  kingdom  of  Aries,  or  Provence — 
an  obsolete  right  which  the  emperors  long  claimed 
without  being  able  to  enforce  it.  According  to 
Hoveden,  one  of  the  very  best  of  contemporary  au- 
thorities, Richard,  in  an  assembly  of  the  German 

1  Richard  produced  two  letters  from  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain, 
or  the  Prince  of  the  Assassins,  who  (in  them)  gloried  in  having 
ordered  the  murder  of  the  Marquess  of  Montferrat,  because  the  mar- 
quess had  robbed  and  murdered  one  of  his  subjects.  These  letters 
are  generally  set  down  as  spurious  ;  but  they  may  have  been  written, 
and,  as  Sir  James  Mackintosh  remarks,  the  unskilful  hands  of  the 
chroniclers  may  have  disfigured  them,  without  encroaching  on  their 
substantial  truth.  But,  true  or  false,  such  evidence  was  scarcely 
wanted. 


princes  and  English  envoys,  by  delivering  the  ca}) 
from  his  head,  resigned  his  crown  into  the  hands  of 
Henry,  who  restored  it  to  him  again,  to  be  held  as 
a  fief  of  the  empire,  with  the  obligation  attached  to 
it,  of  paying  a  yearly  tribute  of  5000  pounds.  But 
is  there  not  some  error  in  the  transmission  of  this 
statement,  or  was  not  the  fanciful  crown  of  Aries 
here  intended  ?  Such  a  debasing  tender  may,  how- 
ever, have  been  made  by  Richard  to  cajole  the  Ger- 
man, and  defeat  the  active  intrigues  of  his  brother 
John  and  King  Philip.  These  precious  confederates 
offered  to  pay  the  emperor  a  much  larger  sum  than 
that  fixed  for  the  ransom,  if  he  would  detain  Richard 
in  captivity.  Henry  was  greatly  tempted  by  the 
bait ;  but  the  better  feelings  of  the  German  princes, 
who  had  attended  the  diet,  compelled  him  to  keep 
his  bargain.  More  difficulties  than  might  have  been 
expected  were  encountered  in  obtaining  the  money 
for  the  ransom ;  and  what  was  procured  seems  to 
have  been  raised  almost  wholly  in  England,  the  con- 
tinental dominions  contributing  little  or  nothing.  In 
our  island,  the  plate  of  all  churches  or  monasteries 
was  taken  ;  the  Cistercian  monks,  who  had  no  plate, 
gave  up  their  wool ;  and  England,  in  the  words  of 
an  old  annalist,  "  from  sea  to  sea  was  reduced  to  the 
utmost  distress."  Seventy  thousand  marks  were 
sent  over  to  Germany,  and  in  the  month  of  Febru- 
ary, 1194,  Richard  was  at  length  freed.'  He  landed 
at  Sandwich,  on  the  13th  of  March,  after  an  absence 
of  more  than  four  years — about  fourteen  months  of 
which  he  had  passed  in  the  prisons  of  the  duke  and 
emperor.  Though  they  had  been  sorely  fleeced, 
the  English  people  received  him  with  an  enthusi- 
astic and  honest  joy.  There  was,  it  appears,  wealth 
enough  left  to  give  him  a  magnificent  reception  in 
London ;  and  one  of  the  German  barons  who  ac- 
companied him  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "  Oh  king  I 
if  our  emperor  had  suspected  this,  you  would  not 
have  been  let  off  so  hghtly."^  After  spending  only 
three  days  at  London,  he  headed  such  troops  as 
were  ready,  and  marched  against  Nottingham  Cas- 
tle, belonging  to  Earl  John,  which  surrendered  at 
discretion.  As  for  John  himself,  being  timely  ad- 
vised by  his  ally,  Philip,  who  wrote  to  him  as  soon 
ae  he  learned  Richard's  deliverance,  "  Take  care  of 
yourself — the  devil  is  broken  loose,"  —  he  had  put 
himself  in  safety  at  a  distance.  On  the  30th  of 
March,  Richard  held  a  great  council  at  Nottingham, 
at  which  it  was  determined,  among  other  things, 
that,  if  John  did  not  appear  within  forty  days,  all 
his  estates  in  England  should  be  forfeited,  and  that 
the  ceremony  of  the  king's  coronation  should  be 
repeated,  in  order  that  every  unfavorable  impression 
which  his  captivity  had  made  might  be  thereby 
effaced.*  Accordingly,  he  was  recrowned  with 
great  pomp  (not  at  Westminster,  but  at  Winchester) 
on  the  feast  of  Easter.  All  his  attention  was  again 
turned  to  the  raising  of  money ;  and  he  proceeded 
with  a&  little  scruple  or  delicacy  as  he  had  done  four 

t  Hoved.— Brompt.— Diceto. — Newb. — Matt.  Par. — Rymer,  Feed.— 
Michaud.  Hist,  des  Croisades. — Mills,  Hist.  Crusades. — Raumer, 
House  of  Hoheustaufen. 

3  Brompt. — Hemingford. 

3  It  appears  that  Richard  was  opposed  to  this  recoronation,  but 
submitted  to  it  in  deference  to  the  opinion  of  the  council. 


494 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


years  before,  when  filling  his  purse  for  the  holy 
war.  He  resumed  many  of  the  estatos  which  he 
had  then  alienated  or  sold,  and  took  from  several 
individuals  the  employments  and  offices  which  they 
had  bought,  selling  them  all  again  to  the  best 
bidders. 

A.D.  1194.  Even  from  a  nature  much  less  fiery 
and  vindictive  than  Richard's,  the  forgiveness  of 
such  injuries  as  had  been  inflicted  by  the  French 
king  could  scarcely  be  expected.  Philip,  moreover, 
who  during  his  confinement  liad  sent  him  back  liis 
homage,  was  now  actually  in  arms  within,  or  upon 
the  frontiers  of,  his  continental  states.  Richard 
prepared  for  war,  and  his  people  of  England  were 
as  eager  for  it  as  himself.  About  the  middle  of 
May,  he  landed  at  Barfleur,  in  Normandy,  bent  on 
revenge.  He  was  met  at  his  landing  by  his  craven- 
hearted  brother  John,  who  threw  himself  at  his 
feet,  and  implored  forgiveness.  At  the  interces- 
sion of  his  mother  Eleanor,  Richard  forgave  liim, 
and  received  him  into  favor.  This  is  a  noble  trait,  and 
a  wonderful  one,  considering  the  amount  of  the  prov- 
ocation and  the  barbarous  usages  of  the  times.  •'  I  for- 
give him,"  said  Richard,  "  and  hope  I  shall  as  easily 
forget  his  injuries  as  he  will  forget  my  pardon." ' 
The  demoniac  character  of  John  was  placed  in  a 
not  less  forcible  light.  To  return  to  his  brother,  he 
had  deserted  from  Philip,  to  whom  he  had  sworn 
that  he  would  never  make  peace  without  his  con- 
currence :  so  far,  however,  his  step  was  a  usual 
one  ;  but  he  further  impressed  it  with  his  inherent 
treachery  and  ferocity.  Before  quitting  Philip's 
partly,  he  invited  to  dinner  all  the  officers  of  the 
garrison  which  that  king  had  placed  in  Evreux,  and 
massacred  them  all  during  the  entertainment.  His 
hands  were  wet  with  this  blood  when  he  waited 
upon  Richard  ;  but,  with  all  his  vices,  we  think  too 
well  of  the  Lion-heart  to  believe  that  such  a  deed 
facilitated  his  pardon.  Although  begun  with  fury, 
this  campaign  was  carried  on  rather  languidly  and 
on  a  confined  scale,  in  part  owing  to  the  impover- 
ished state  of  Richard's  exchequer,  and  in  part  to 
the  disaffection  prevalent  in  most  of  his  dominions 
on  the  continent.  He,  however,  defeated  Philip  in 
several  engagements,  took  several  towns,  and  in 
one  encounter  got  possession  of  his  adversary's  mil- 
itary chest,  together  with  the  cartulary,  the  records, 
and  the  archives  of  the  crown.  The  campaign  ter- 
minated, on  the  23d  of  Julj%  in  a  truce  for  one 
year. 

A.D.  119.5.  Hubert  Walter,  who  had  been  lately 
advanced  from  the  bishopric  of  Salisbury  to  the 
archbishopric  of  Canterbury,  was  appointed  guardi- 
an of  England  and  grand  justiciary.  He  had  shown 
his  bravery  and  attachment  to  Richard  in  the  wars 
of  Palestine,  and  now  he  displayed  admirable  talent 
and  conduct  as  a  peaceful  minister.  He  deserved 
better  times,  and  a  more  prudent  master.  He  had 
been  educated  under  the  great  Ranulf  de  Glanville, 
and  was  versed  in  the  science  of  the  English  laws. 
Under  his  administration  the  justices  made  their 
regular  circuits  ;  a  general  tranquillity  was  restored  ; 
and  men,  gradually  recovering  from  the  late  oppres- 

'  Brompt. 


sions  and  vexations,  began  to  be  reanimated  with 
the  spirit  of  order  and  industry.  The  absence  of 
the  king  might  have  been  felt  as  a  real  benefit  to 
the  nation,  had  it  not  been  for  his  constant  demands 
for  money  to  carry  on  his  wars  abroad,  and  com- 
plete the  payment  of  his  ransom,  which  demands 
frequentlj'  obliged  the  minister  to  act  contrary  to 
the  conviction  of  his  better  judgment  and  his  con- 
science. Hubert,  however,  seems  to  have  raised 
more  money  with  less  actual  violence  and  injustice 
than  any  of  his  predecessors.  Longchamp  was 
employed  in  some  important  embassies,  and  con- 
tinued to  hold  the  office  of  chancellor  till  his  dejith, 
which  happened  about  a  year  before  that  of  his 
master. 

Toward  tlie  end  of  the  preceding  year  death  had 
delivered  Ricliard  from  a  part  of  his  anxieties. 
Fearing  that  the  brutal  Leopold  would  take  the 
lives  of  the  hostages  placed  in  his  hands,  the  Eng- 
lish king  fulfilled  one  of  his  agreements,  by  send- 
ing the  Princess  of  Cyprus  and  his  niece,  "  The 
Maid  of  Brittany,"  into  Germany.  Before  the 
ladies  reached  A'^ienna  they  received  news  of  the 
duke's  death.  As  he  was  tilting  on  St.  Stephen's 
day,  his  horse  fell  upon  him,  and  crushed  his  foot; 
a  mortification  ensued  ;  and,  when  liis  ph3^sicians 
told  him  he  must  die,  he  was  seized  with  dread 
and  remorse  ;  and,  to  obviate  some  of  the  effects  of 
the  excommunication  under  which  he  still  lay,  he 
ordered  that  the  English  hostages  should  be  set 
free,  and  that  the  money  he  had  extorted  should 
be  returned  to  Richard.'  When  war  broke  out 
again  in  France — which  it  did  before  the  term  of 
the  truce  had  expired — it  was  carried  on  in  a  desul- 
tory manner,  and  a  strange  treaty  of  peace  was 
proposed,  by  which  Richard  was  to  give  "  the  Maid 
of  Brittany,"  who  had  returned  to  him  on  learning 
the  Duke  of  Austria's  death,  in  marriage  to  the 
son  of  the  French  king.  Peace  was,  however, 
concluded  at  the  end  of  the  year  without  this  mar- 
riage. 

Great  discontents  had  long  prevailed  in  London, 
on  account  of  the  vmequal  assessment  of  the  taxes  ; 
the  poor,  it  is  alleged,  were  made  to  pay  out  of  all 
proportion  with  the  rich.  The  people  found  an 
advocate  and  champion  in  William  Fitz-Osbert, 
commonly  called  "  Longbeard" — a  man  of  great  ac- 
tivity and  energy,  "somewhat  learned  and  very 
eloquent,"  who,  in  his  first  proceedings,  seems  to 
have  been  perfectlj'  in  the  right.  He  went  over  to 
the  continent  to  laj-  his  complaints  before  the  king ; 
and  as  he  admitted  that  the  war  which  called  for 
so  much  money  was  perfectly  just,  and  even  neces- 
sary ;  and  as  he  contended  for  nothing  more  than 
that  the  rich  should  not  throw  all  the  burden  of  the 
supplies  upon  the  poor,  Richard  received  him  with- 
out anger,  and  promised  that  the  matter  should  bo 
properly  examined.  It  appears,  however,  that 
nothing  was  done.  Longbeard  then  (a.d.  1196) 
had  recourse  to  secret  political  associations — an 
expedient   always    dangerous,    but   particularly   so 

1  It  does  ni)t  appear  what  part,  or  whether  any,  of  the  money  was 
restored.  It  is  asserted  that  Richard's  ransom  was  spent  in  beauti- 
fying and  fortifying  Vienna. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS, 


495 


with  an  unenlightened  people.  Fifty-two  thousand 
persons  are  said  to  have  sworn  implicit  obedience 
to  the  orders  of  their  "advocate,"  the  "savior  of 
the  poor,"  whose  somewhat  obscure  and  mystical 
harangues,'  delivered  eveiy  day  at  St.  Paul's  Cross, 
filled  the  wealthier  citizens  with  alarm. 

It  is  pretty  clear  that  Fitz-Osbert  now  became  a 
dangerous  demagogue,  but  the  particular  accusa- 
tion brought  against  him  is  curious  :  he  was  charged 
with  inflaming  the  poor  and  middling  people  with 
the  love  of  liberty  and  happiness.  He  was  cited  to 
appear  before  a  great  council  of  prelates  and  nobles  ; 
he  went,  but  escorted  by  so  many  of  the  inferior 
classes,  who  proclaimed  him  "  the  king  of  the 
poor,"  that  it  was  not  considered  safe  to  proceed 
against  him.  The  agents  of  govei-nment  then  en- 
deavored to  gain  over  a  part  of  the  mob,  and  suc- 
ceeded by  a  cunning  alternation  of  promises  and 
threats.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the 
other  justiciaries  met  the  poorest  citizens  on  several 
occasions,  and  at  last  induced  them  to  give  up  many 
of  their  children  as  hostages  for  their  peaceable 
behavior.  Longbeard,  however,  was  still  so  for- 
midable that  they  durst  not  arrest  him  openly.  One 
GeoflTrey.  and  another  wealthy  citizen  whose  name 
is  not  recorded,  undertook  to  seize  him  by  surprise  : 
they  watched  all  his  motions  for  several  days, 
being  always  followed  by  a  body  of  armed  men 
ready  to  act  at  their  signal.  At  length  they  caught 
him  as  he  was  walking  quietly  along  with  only  nine 
adherents.  They  approached  him  as  if  they  had  no 
business  with  him,  but  when  sufificiently  near  they 
laid  hands  on  him,  and  the  armed  men,  who  were 
concealed  close  at  hand,  ran  up  to  secure  him.  Long- 
beard  drew  his  knife,  stabbed  Geoffrey  to  the  heart, 
and  then  with  his  comrades  fought  his  way  to  the 
church  of  St.  Mary  of  Arches.  He  barricaded  the 
church  tower,  and  there  made  a  desperate  resist- 
ance. On  the  fourth  day  fire  was  set  to  the  tower, 
and  the  besieged  were  driven  forth  by  the  flames. 
They  were  all  taken  and  bound,  and,  while  they 
were  binding  Longbeard,  the  son  of  that  Geoffrey 
whom  he  had  slain  plunged  his  long  knife  into  his 
bowels.  He  fell,  but  was  not  so  fortunate  as  to  die 
there.  Wounded  and  bleeding  as  he  was,  they 
tied  him  to  the  tail  of  a  horse,  and  so  dragged  him 
to  the  Tower,  where  he  was  presented  to  the 
archbishop-regent,  who  presently  sentenced  him 
to  the  gallows.  From  the  Tower  they  dragged 
him  at  the  same  horse's  tail  to  "  the  Elms"  in  West 
Smithfield,  and  there  hanged  him  on  a  high  gibbet, 
and'his  nine  companions  along  with  him. 

The  mob,  who  had  done  nothing  to  rescue  him 
while  living,  honored  him  as  a  saint  and  martyr 
when  dead.  They  stole  away  the  gibbet  on  which 
he  was  hanged,  and  distributed  it  in  precious  mor- 
sels for  rehcs ;  they  preserved  the  very  dust  on 
which  he  had  trod  ;  and  by  degrees  not  only  the 
people  in  the  neighborhood  of  London,  but  the 
peasantry  from  distant  parts  of  the  kingdom,  made 
pilgrimages  to  Smithfield,   beheving  that  miracles 

1  It  appears  that  Fitz-Osbert,  or  Longbeard,  took  a  text  from 
Scripture,  and  gave  to  his  political  discourses  the  form  and  character 
of  sermons.     He  wore  his  beard  that  he  might  look  like  a  true  Saxon. 


were  wrought  on  the  spot  where  the  "king  of  the 
poor"  had  breathed  his  last.  The  archbishop  sent 
troops  to  disperse  these  rustic  enthusiasts ;  but, 
driven  away  by  day,  they  reassembled  in  the  dark- 
ness of  night ;  and  it  was  not  until  a  permanent 
guard  was  established  on  the  spot,  and  many  men 
and  women  had  been  scourged  and  thrown  into 
prison,  that  the  pilgrimages  were  stopped,  and  the 
popular  enthusiasm  and  ferment  abated.'  Not 
many  months  after  these  events  England  was  aflSicted 
with  a  dreadful  scarcity,  and  the  famine  was  accom- 
panied or  followed  by  the  plague,  a  frequent  visitor 
in  those  ages,  but  which,  on  this  particular  occasion, 
committed  unusual  havoc.  The  monasteries  alone 
were  exempted. 

A.D.  1197.  A  war,  contemptible  in  its  results, 
but  savagely  cruel,  again  broke  out  between  Rich- 
ard and  Philip,  and  ended  when  their  barons  were 
tired  of  it,  or  when  they,  the  kings,  had  no  more 
money  to  purchase  the  services  of  Brabauters  and 
other  mercenaries.  Even  had  the  vengeance  of 
Richard  been  less  implacable,  and  the  ambition  of 
Philip  to  establish  his  supremacy  in  France,  at  the 
cost  of  the  Plantagenets,  a  less  fixed  and  ruling 
passion,  there  were  other  causes  which  would  have 
sufficed  for  the  disturbance  of  peace.  In  Brittany 
the  rule  or  paramount  authority  of  the  Enghsh  king 
was  most  unpopular,  and  the  same  was  the  case  in 
Aquitaine,  where  Bertrand  de  Born,  who  had  so 
often  intrigued  with  Richard  against  his  father 
Henry,  was  now  intriguing  with  the  French  king 
against  Richard.  In  both  these  states  some  of  the 
most  powerful  of  Richard's  vassals  raised  the  ban- 
ner of  war,  and,  at  times  separately,  at  times  united 
with  French  troops,  they  fought  with  the  view  of 
emancipating  their  country  from  the  Plantagenets, 
not  heeding  the  obvious  danger  of  only  changing 
masters  and  bearing  the  yoke  of  Philip.  The  Earl 
of  Toulouse  also  declared  war  in  the  south,  and, 
changing  from  an  ally  into  an  enemy,  the  Earl  of 
Flanders  in  the  north  at  one  time  menaced  Richard 
with  his  dangerous  attacks.  Though  surprised  and 
defeated  by  the  Bretons  at  Carhaix,  and  beaten 
again  by  the  Bretons  united  with  some  troops  of 
France  near  Aumale,  Richard,  on  the  whole,  main- 
tained his  usual  superiority  on  the  field  of  battle. 
The  Earl  of  Toulouse  was  reconciled  by  a  treaty  of 
family  alliance,  Richard  bestowing  on  him  the  hand 
of  his  sister  Joan,  the  queen-dowager  of  Sicily.^ 

The  most  memorable  incident  of  this  campaign 
was  the  capture  of  the  Bishop  of  Beauvais,  a  near 
connection  to  the  French  king,  and  one  of  the  most 
bitter  of  Richard's  enemies.  He  was  taken,  fight- 
ing in  complete  armor,  by  Marchadee,  the  leader 
of  the  Brabanters  in  Richard's  service.  The  king 
ordered  him  to  be  loaded  with  irons,  and  cast  into 
a  dungeon  in  Rouen  Castle.  Two  of  his  chaplains 
waited  on  Richard  to  implore  for  milder  treatment 
"  You,  yourselves,  shall  judge  whether  I  am  not 
justified,"  said  Richard.     "  This  man  has  done  me 

1  Newb. — Hoved. — Gervase. — Knighton. — Matt.  Par. 

2  We  have  mentioned  that  Queen  Berengaria  and  the  two  other 
ladies  reached  Sicily  safely  from  Acre.  From  Sicily  they  went  to 
Rome,  where  the  Pope  entertained  them  some  months,  and  then 
caused  them  to  be  conducted  to  Aquitaine. 


49G 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


many  wrongs.  Mucli  I  could  forget,  but  not  this. 
When  in  the  hands  of  the  emperor,  and  when,  in 
consideration  of  my  royal  character,  they  were  be- 
ginning to  treat  me  more  gently,  and  with  some 
marks  of  respect,  your  master  airived,  and  I  soon 
experienced  the  effect  of  his  visit;  over-night  he 
spoke  with  the  emperor,  and  the  next  morning  a 
chain  was  put  upon  me  such  as  ahorse  could  hardly 
bear.  What  he  now  merits  at  my  hands  declare 
yourselves,  and  be  just."  The  chaplains,  it  is 
said,  were  silent,  and  withdrew.  The  bishop  then 
addressed  the  Pope,  imploring  him  to  intercede. 
Celestine  rated  him  severely  on  his  flagrant  depart- 
ure from  the  canons  of  tlie  church ;  and  told  him 
that  though  ho  might  ask  mercy  as  a  friend,  he 
could  not  interfere  in  such  a  case  as  pope.  Soon 
after  this  the  pontiff  wrote  to  Ricliard,  imploring 
him  to  pity  "  his  son,"  the  bishop.  Richard,  who, 
like  most  of  his  Normau  predecessors,  was  not 
■wanting  in  a  rude  wit  or  caustic  humor,  replied  to 
the  Pope,  by  sending  him  the  Bishop  of  Beauvais' 
coat  of  mail,  which  was  besmeared  with  blood,  and 
had  the  following  scroll  attached  to  it, — an  apposite 
quotation  from  the  Old  Testament, — "  This  have 
■we  found :  know  now  whether  it  be  thy  son's  coat 
or  no."  Though,  as  usual,  sorely  in  want  of  money, 
Richard  refused  ten  thousand  marks  which  were 
offered  as  a  ransom,  and  the  Bishop  of  Beauvais  oc- 
cupied his  dungeon  and  wore  his  chains  till  Richard 
went  to  the  gi-ave." ' 

In  the  month  of  September,  of  this  same  year, 
disease,  misfortune,  remorse,  and  a  premature  de- 
cay, did  the  English  king  justice  on  another  of  his 
foes.  The  Emperor  Henry  died  at  Messina,  after 
suffering  an  extremity  of  humiliation  at  the  hands 
of  his  Sicilian  wife  ;  and  in  his  dying  moments  he 
confessed  his  shameful  injustice  to  Richard,  and 
ordered  that  the  money  he  had  extorted  as  his  ran- 
som should  be  restored.  Though  a  bishop  was 
charged  with  a  message  to  Richard,  and  though  the 
clause  was  solemnly  inserted  in  the  emperor's  will, 
the  money  was  never  repaid.  As  the  war  again 
waxed  languid,  and  the  powerful  vassals  of  both  po- 
tentates showed  again  that  they  were  actuated  by 
other  motives  and  interests  than  those  of  their  mas- 
ters, the  two  kings  again  spoke  of  peace,  and  meet- 
ing at  Andely,  on  the  Seine,  finally  "  concluded 
upon  an  abstinence  of  war,  to  endui-e  from  the  Feast 
of  St.  Hilary  for  one  whole  year."  These  paltry 
details  vex  and  tire  the  narrator,  but  it  is  impossible 
to  convey  a  just  notion  of  the  course  of  events  and 
the  spirit  of  the  times  without  them. 

A.  D.  1198. — When  the  truce  expired,  hostilities 
were  again  renewed,  and  with  greater  ferocity  than 
ever,  both  princes  burning  and  utterly  desolating  the 
territories  they  invaded,  and  tearing  out  the  eyes 
of  many  of  their  prisoners.  Near  Gisors,  Richard 
gained  another  victory,  and  Philip  in  his  flight  was 
nearly  drowned  in  the  river  Epte,  abridge  he  had  to 
cross  breaking  down  under  the  weight  of  the  fugitives. 
In  his  triumphant  bulletin,  Richard  said,  "  This  day 
I  have  made  the  King  of  France  drink  deep  of  the 
waters  of  the  Epte !"     As  for  himself,  he  had  un- 

1  Hoved.— Brumpt.— Matt.  Par.— Newbrif 


horsed  three  knights  at  a  single  charge,  and  made 
them  prisoners.  It  was  Caur  de  Lion's  last  fight. 
A  ti-uce  was  concluded,  and  early  in  the  following 
year,  through  the  mediation  of  Peter  of  Capua,  the 
Pope's  legate,  it  was  prolonged  and  solemnly  de- 
clared to  be  binding  for  five  years.  A  fresh  ground 
of  quarrel  arose  almost  immediately  after,  but  the 
diflerences  were  made  up,  and,  marching  from  Nor- 
mandy, Richard  repaired  to  Aquitaine  to  look  after 
his  intriguing  and  ever-turbulent  vassals  in  that  quar- 
ter. A  strange  ballad  had  for  some  time  been  cur- 
rent in  Normandy.  Its  burden  purported,  that  in 
the  Limousin  the  arrow  was  making  by  which  the 
tyrant  would  die.  The  learned  writer^  who  has 
collected  all  the  discrepancies  and  contradictions 
respecting  the  circumstances  by  which  Richard's 
death  was  attended,  will  not  venture  to  decide 
whether  these  shadows  cast  before  the  event,  arose 
out  of  the  wishes  of  the  people,  or  indicated  any 
organized  conspiracy.  We  are  inclined  to  believe 
ourselves  that  there  was  no  conspiracy  beyond  the 
old,  dark  brooding,  the  settled  hatred  and  vindictive 
spirit  of  his  vassals  of  the  south.  Those  fiery  men, 
it  will  be  remembered,  had  attempted  the  life  of  his 
father  Henry,  more  than  once,  by  shooting  arrows 
at  him.  There  are  many  contradictions  which 
throw  doubt  upon  j)arts  of  the  commonly  received 
story  of  the  death  of  Richard,  but  all  accounts  agree 
in  stating  that  the  heroic  Lion-heart  fell  before  an 
obscure  castle,  and  in  consequence  of  a  wound  re- 
ceived either  from  an  arrow  or  a  quarrel.  The 
usual  narrative,  which  has  almost  a  prescriptive 
right  to  insertion,  is  to  this  effect : — Arriving  from 
Normandy  in  the  south,  Richard  learned  that  Vido- 
mar.  Viscount  of  Limoges,  his  vassiil,  liad  found  a 
treasure  in  his  domains.  This,  as  superior  lord,  lie 
demanded  ;  and  when  the  viscount  oflered  only  half 
of  it,  and  refused  to  give  more,  Richard,  determined 
to  have  the  whole,  besieged  him  in  his  castle  of 
Chaluz.  The  want  of  provisions  reduced  the  gar- 
rison to  the  greatest  straits,  and  they  offered  to  sur- 
render at  the  king's  mercy,  their  lives  only  being 
spared.  Richard  refused  the  terms,  telling  them 
he  would  take  the  place  by  storm,  and  hang  every 
man  of  them  upon  the  battlements.  The  garrison 
of  the  castle  were  driven  to  despair.  The  king, 
with  Marchadee,  the  leader  of  his  mercenaries,  then 
surveyed  the  walls  to  see  where  the  assault  should 
be  made,  when  a  youth,  by  name  Bertrand  de  Gur- 
dun,  having  recognized  him  from  the  ramparts,  pray- 
ing God  to  speed  it  well,  discharged  an  arrow,  and 
hit  the  king  in  the  left  shoulder.  Soon  after,  the 
castle  was  taken  by  assault,  and  all  the  men  in  it 
were  butchered,  with  the  exception  of  Bertrand. 
The  wound  was  not  in  itself  dangerous,  but  it  was 
made  mortal  by  the  unskilfulness  of  the  surgeon  in 
extracting  the  arrow-head,  which  had  been  broken 
off  in  the  shoulder.  Feeling  his  end  approacJi, 
Richard  summoned  Bertrand  de  Gurdun  into  his 
presence.  "Wretch!"  he  exclaimed,  "what  have 
I  done  unto  thee  that  thou  shouldest  seek  my  life  ?" 
The  chained  youth  replied  firmly, — "  My  father 
and  my  two  brothers  hast  thou  slain  with  thine  own 

1  Sir  Francis  Palgrave,  lutroduct.  Rot.  Cur.  Reg. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


497 


hand,  and  myself  thou  wouldest  hang!  Let  me 
die  now,  in  cruel  torture  if  thou  wilt;  I  am  content 
if  thou  diest,  and  the  world  be  freed  of  an  oppressor!" 
"  Youth,  I  forgive  thee  !"  cried  Richard,  "  loose  his 
chains  and  give  him  a  hundred  shillings  !"  But  Mar- 
chadee^  would  not  let  him  go,  and  after  the  king's 
death  he  flayed  him  alive,  and  hanged  him.  Rich- 
ard expired  in  anguish  and  contrition,  on  Tuesday, 

1  Here  there  is  a  varying  accdunL  The  MS.  chronicle  of  Win- 
<:hester  saye  that  Marchadee  surrendered  the  prisoner  to  Richard's 
sister  Joan,  and  that  she  plucked  out  his  eyes,  and  caused  him  to 
suffer  other  horrible  mutilations  and  tortures,  under  which  he  ex- 
pired. 


the  6th  of  April,  1199,  a  date  in  which  all  the  con- 
temporary writers  of  best  note  seem  to  be  agreed. 
He  had  reigned  nearly  ten  years,  not  one  of  which 
was  passed  in  England,  but  which  had  all  been 
wasted  in  incessant  wars,  or  in  preparations  for 
war.  He  was  only  forty-two  years  old,  and  he  left 
no  children  to  succeed  him.  By  his  will  he  directed 
that  his  heart  should  be  carried  to  his  faithful  city 
of  Rouen  for  interment  in  the  cathedral,  that  his 
bowels,  "  as  his  ignoble  parts,"  should  be  left  among 
the  rebellious  Poictevins,  and  that  his  body  should 
be  buried  at  the  feet  of  his  father  at  Fontevraud. 


John. — surnamkd  Sans-Terre,  or  Lackland.* 


Great  Seal  of  Kjng  John. 


A.D.  1199.  Earl  John  was  in  Normandy  when 
his  brother  died.  As  soon  as  he  received  the  in- 
telligence, he  sent  to  retain  the  foreign  mercenaries 
who  had  been  in  Richard's  pay,  promising  them  large 
gifts  and  increased  salaries.  Dispatching  Hubert 
Walter,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  William 
Mareschall  into  England,  to  overawe  the  barons 
there,  he  himself  hastened  to  Chinon  to  seize  his 
brother's  trea^sure,  which  was  deposited  in  that 
castle.  Chinon,  with  several  other  castles  in  the 
neighborhood,  voluntarily  received  him  ;  but,  in  the 
meanwhile,  the  barons  of  Touraine,  Maine,  Anjou, 
and  Brittany,  proclaimed  his  nephew,  the  young 
Arthur,  as  their  lawful  sovereign.  John,  in  asser- 
tion of  his  claim,  proceeded  to  chastise  the  citizens 
of  Mans  for  the  support  they  afforded  his  nephew, 
and  then,  returning  to  Normandy,  he  was  received 
at  Rouen  without  opposition,  and  on  Sunday  the 
2.5th  of  April,  he  was  there  inaugurated,  being  girt 
with  the  sword  of  the  duchy,  and  having  the  golden 
coronal  put  upon  his  head.  News,  whether  good 
or  bad,  traveled  but  slowly  in  those  days.  A  vague 
report  of  Richard's  death  was  spread  in  England, 
but  nothing  certain  was  known,  and  the  friends  of 
John  seem  purposely  to  have  concealed  the  fact  for 


many  days.  When  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
and  his  companion  arrived,  they  required  all  the 
lieges  in  the  cities  and  burghs  throughout  the  king- 
dom, and  all  the  earls,  barons,  and  freeholders,  to 
be  in  the  fealty,  and  keep  the  peace  of  John,  Duke 
of  Normandy,  son  of  King  Henry,  son  of  the  Em- 
press Matilda.^  But  John  had  never  been  popular 
in  the  nation,  and  the  more  powerful  classes  seemed 
disposed  to  resist  his  accession.  Bishops,  earls,  and 
barons — most  of  those  who  had  castles — filled  them 
with  armed  men  and  stocked  them  with  provisions. 
The  poorer  classes  committed  great  devastations, 
for  in  those  times  a  king's  death  was  the  signal  for 
the  general  disorganization  of  society.  The  primate 
and  his  associate  acted  with  great  alacrity  and  vigor, 
seeing  that  nothing  less  would  save  the  country  from 
a  frightful  anarchy.  They  convened  a  great  council 
at  Northampton,  and  there,  by  secret  gifts  and  open 
promises  of  justice  and  good  government  on  the  part 
of  John,  they  induced  the  assembled  prelates  and 
barons  to  swear  fealty,  and  faithful  service  to  the 
"  Duke  of  Normandy,"  as  the  pretender  was  care- 
fully called,  until  his  coronation  at  Westmmster. 
John  did  not  arrive  until  the  2.5th  of  May,  when  he 
landed  at  Shoreham.     On  the  27th  he  repaired  to 


'  A   nickname,  according  to  Brompton,  given  him  by  his  father,  who,  in  a  will  which  he  made  at  Domfrnnt  in  1170,  left  John  no  lands,  but 
only  recommended  him  to  be  provided  for  by  his  eldest  brother.  '  Iloved.— Malt.  Par.— Palgrave,  Rot.  Cur.  Reg. 

VOL.  I.— 32 


498 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Portrait  of  Kiso  John.    From  his  Tomb  at  Worcester. 


the  church  of  St.  Peter  at  Westminster  to  claim 
the  crown.  He  well  knew  that  many  prefen-ed 
the  right  of  his  nephew,  the  son  of  an  elder  brother, 
who  had  repeatedly  been  declared  his  heir  by  the 
late  king ;  and  now  John  professed  to  be  in  posses- 
sion of  a  will,  drawn  up  in  his  last  hours,  by  which 
Richard  revoked  former  wills,  and  appointed  him 
his  successor.  But  this  testament,  whether  true 
or  false,  seems  to  have  can-ied  no  weight  with  it, 
and  to  have  been  altogether  disregarded  on  this  sol- 
emn occasion.  The  fact  that  the  crown  was  not 
considered  heritable  property  was  stated  in  the 
broadest  terms,  and  never  was  the  elective  char- 
acter of  the  monarchy  so  forcibly  put  by  such  high 
authority.  The  Archbishop  Hubert,  having  an- 
nounced to  the  audience  that  the  Duke  of  Normandy 
had  been  elected  king  at  Northampton,  laid  it  down 
as  a  known  principle  that  no  one  could  be  entitled  by 
any  previous  circumstances  to  succeed  to  the  crown 
unless  he  were  chosen  to  be  king  by  the  body  of 
the  nation, — "  ab  universitate  regni  electus."  Mat- 
thew Paris  pretends  to  give  the  words  of  the  arch- 
bishop :  their  substance  is  as  follows : — "  Hear,  all 
ye  people ;  it  is  well  known  that  no  one  can  have  a 
right  to  the  crown  of  this  kingdom,  unless  for  his 
excellent  virtues  he  be  elected  to  it,  and  then 
anointed  king,  as  was  the  case  with  Saul,  the  son 
of  no  king,  nor  even  rojally  connected  ;  such  a  man 
also  was  David.  And  thus  it  was  ordained,  to 
the  end  that  he  whose  merits  are  preeminent  be 
chosen  the  lord  of  all  the  people.  If  indeed  of  the 
family  of  the  deceased  monarch  there  be  one  thus 
supereminently  endowed,  he  should  have  our  pre- 
ference. This  I  say  touching  the  noble  Duke  John, 
here  present,  brother  of  our  late   excellent   King 


Richard,  who  had  no  heir  proceeding  of  his  body. 
He  possesses  the  same  worthiness  of  qualities,  and 
is  also  of  the  same  blood  as  King  Richard  was  of, 
and  for  these  qualities,  having  invoked  the  Holy 
Spirit,  we  elect  him  our  king."  According  to  Mat- 
thew Paris,  John  assented  without  starting  the  ques- 
tion either  of  his  inherent  right  by  birth,  or  of  his 
right  by  will ;  and  when  he  had  taken  the  usual  oaths 
to  protect  the  church  and  govern  justly,  all  present 
hailed  him  with,  "  Long  live  the  king !'"  On  the 
following  day,  the  prelates  and  barons  did  homage 
to  him,  immediately  after  which  he  repaired  to  St. 
Albans  to  pray  before  the  shrine  of  the  martyr. 

John  was  at  this  time  thirty-two  years  old, — a 
manly  age, — which  gave  him  many  advantages  over 
kings  commencing  their  reigns  in  youth.  He  was 
robust,  healthy,  and  like  most  of  his  race,  handsome  ; 
but  his  evil  passions  distorted  his  countenance,  and 
gave  him  a  treacherous  and  ci'uel  expression.  He 
was  already  hated  by  the  people,  and  his  reign 
opened  inauspiciously.  Many  of  the  nobles  in  Eng- 
land immediately  showed  disaffection  :  the  King  of 
Scotland,  William  the  Lion,  who  had  quarreled  with 
him  on  account  of  the  provinces  of  Northumberland 
and  Cumberland,  threatened  him  wth  invasion ; 
and  on  the  continent,  with  the  exception  of  those  in 
Normandy,  all  the  great  vassals  were  up  in  arms  for 
his  nephew,  and  in  close  alliance  with  the  French 
king,  who  had  renewed  the  war,  and  was  promising 
himself  every  success,  well  knowing  the  difference 

1  The  claims  of  young  Arthur  do  not  appear  to  have  bpen  men- 
tioned. It  was,  however,  only  by  stretching  a  point,  and  declaring 
the  crown  elective,  that  the  boy  could  be  set  aside.  If  they  had  gone 
on  legitimacy  and  the  rights  of  primogeniture,  they  must  have 
awarded  the  crown  to  him, — and  this  sufficiently  accounts  for  the 
mode  of  proceeding  adopted  by  John  and  his  partisans. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


499 


between  the  warlike  Richard  and  the  cowardly 
John,  as  also  the  weakness  that  must  arise  out  of  a 
disputed  succession,  for  the  election  at  London  and 
the  inauguration  at  Rouen  had  no  legal  effect  in 
those  provinces  which  had  declared  for  Arthur.^ 
Leaving  William  de  Stuteville  to  keep  in  check  the 
Scots,  John  crossed  over  to  Normandj^  where  the 
Earl  of  Flanders  and  other  great  lords  who  had 
confederated  with  Richai-d  brought  in  their  forces. 
PhiUp  demanded  and  obtained  a  truce  for  six  weeks, 
at  the  end  of  which  term  he  met  John  to  propose  a 
definitive  peace.  His  demands  led  to  an  instant 
renewal  of  war,  for  he  not  onlj'  required  the  sur- 
render by  the  English  king  of  all  his  French  pos- 
sessions (Normandy  excepted)  to  Arthur,  but  the 
cession  also  of  a  considerable  part  of  Normandy 
itself  to  the  French  crown. 

The  only  being  engaged  in  this  game  of  ambition 
that  can  at  all  interest  the  feelings  was  the  innocent 
Arthur,  who  was  too  young  and  helpless  to  play  his 
own  part  in  it.  The  greatest  of  our  poets  has 
thrown  all  the  intensity  both  of  pathos  and  horror 
around  the  last  days  of  this  prince ;  but  all  the  days 
of  his  brief  life  were  marked  with  touching  vicissi- 
tudes. Like  WilUam  of  Normandy,  the  hapless  son 
of  Duke  Robert,  Arthur  was  the  child  of  sorrow 
fz'om  his  cradle  upward.  His  misfortunes,  indeed, 
began  before  he  came  into  the  world ;  his  father 
Geoffrey  was  killed  in  a  toui-nament  eight  months 
prior  to  his  birth,  and  Brittany,  to  which  he  had  an 
hereditary  right  through  his  mother,  was  divided 
into  factions,  fierce  yet  changeabjp,  desti'uctive  of 
present  prosperity  and  unproductive  of  future  good; 
for  the  national  independence,  their  main  object, 
was  an  empty  dream,  in  the  neighborhood  of  such 
powerful  and  ambitious  monarchs  as  the  Plantage- 
nets  of  England  and  the  Capetians  of  France.  The 
people  of  Brittany,  however,  hailed  the  birth  of  the 
posthumous  child  of  Geofirey  with  transports  of 
patriotic  joy.  In  spite  of  his  grandfather  Henry, 
who  wished  to  give  the  child  his  own  name,  they 
insisted  on  giving  him  the  name  of  Arthur.  That 
mysterious  hero  was  as  dear  to  the  people  of  Brit- 
tany as  to  their  kindred  of  our  own  island  :  tradition 
painted  him  as  the  companion  in  arms  of  their 
"King  Hoel  the  Great;"  and  though  he  had  Jaeen 
dead  some  centuries,  they  still  expected  his  coming 
as  the  restorer  of  their  old  independence.  Merlin 
had  predicted  this,  and  Merlin  was  still  revered  as 
a  prophet  in  Brittany  as  well  as  in  Wales.  Popular 
credulity  thus  attached  ideas  of  national  glory  to  the 
cherished  name  of  Arthur ;  and,  as  the  child  was 
handsome  and  promising,  the  Bretons  looked  for- 
ward to  the  day  when  he  should  rule  them  without 
the  control  of  French  or  English.^  His  mother 
Constance,  a  vain  and  weak  woman,  could  spare 
little  time  from  her  amours  and  intrigues  to  devote 
to  her  son,  and  at  the  moment  when  his  uncle  John 
threatened  him  with  destruction,  she  was  occupied 
by  her  passion  for  a  third  husband,  whom  she  had 
recently  married,  her  second  husband  being  still 
living.     During  the  lifetime  of  Richard,   she   had 

1  Daru,  Hist,  de  la  Bretajne. — Matt.  Par. — Hoved. 

2  Daru,  Hist,  de  la  Brelagne. 


bandied  her  son  between  that  sovereign  and  the 
French  king  as  circumstances  and  her  caprice  va- 
ried ;  and  now  when,  awakened  to  a  sense  of  hi.s 
danger,  the  only  course  she  could  pursue  was  to 
carry  him  to  Paris,  and  place  him  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  astute  and  selfish  Philip,  to  whom  she 
offered  the  direct  vassalage  not  only  of  Brittany 
which  Arthur  was  to  inherit  through  her,  but  also 
of  Normandy,  Anjou,  Aquitaine,  and  the  other  states 
he  claimed  as  heir  to  his  father.     The  troops  of 
.John,  composed  almost  entirely  of  mercenaries,  fell 
with  savage   fury  upon  Brittany,  burning  and   de- 
stroj'ing  the  houses  and  fields,  and  selling  the  inhab- 
itants as  slaves.    Philip  assisted  William  Desroches, 
the  commander  of  the  small  Breton  army,  and  took 
several   castles    on   the   frontiers   of   Brittany  and 
France  fi'om  the  English.    But  as  soon  as  he  gained 
these  fortresses  he  destroyed  them,  in  order  evi- 
dently to  leave  the  road  open  to  himself  when  he 
should  throw  off  the  mask  and  invade  the  country 
on  his  own  account.     Desroches,  incensed  at  thes.' 
proceedings,  withdrew  Arthur  and  his  mother  from 
the  French  court,  and  they  would  both  have  sought 
his   peace,  and  delivered  themselves  up  to  John, 
had  they  not  been  scared  away  by  the  report  that 
he  intended  the  murder  of  his  nephew.     After  thi.-^. 
young  Arthur  returned  to  Philip,  who  knighted  him, 
notwithstanding  his  tender  age,  and  promised  to  give 
him  his  daughter  Mary  in   marriage.     But  Philip 
only  intended  to  make  a  tool  of  the  unfortunate  boy  ; 
and  when  some  troublesome  disputes,  in  which  ho 
was  engaged  with  the  Pope,  induced  him  to  treat 
with  John,  he  sacrificed  all  his  interests  without  any 
remorse.     By  the  treaty  of  peace  which  was  con- 
cluded between  the  two  kings,  in  the  spring  of  1200, 
John  was  to  remain  in  possession  of  all  the  states 
his  brother  Richard  had  occupied  ;  and  thus  Arthur 
was   completely  disinherited,  with   the   connivance 
and  participation  of  the  French  king ;  for  it  is  said, 
that  by  a  secret  article  of  the  treaty,  Philip  was  to 
inherit  his  continental  dominions,  if  John  died  with- 
out children.     Circumstances  and  the  unruly  pas- 
sions of  John  soon  nullified  the  whole  of  this  treaty, 
and  made  Philip  again  the  slippery  friend  of  young 
Arthur ;  but  nothing  could  eft'ace  the  French  king's 
perfidy,  or  reinspire  confidence  in  him,  in  reasona- 
ble men.     In  the  summer  of  this  same  year,  the 
second  of  his  reign,  John  made  a  royal  progress  into 
Aquitaine,  to  receive  the  homage  of  the  barons  of 
that  province.     He  delighted  the  lively  people  of  the 
south  with  his  magnificence  and  parade ;  he  capti- 
vated some  of  the  volatile  and  factious  nobles  with 
a  display  of  a  familiar  and  festive  humor  ;  but  these 
feelings  were  but  momentary  ;  for  neither  with  the 
people  nor  their  chiefs  could  he  keep  up  the  favora- 
ble impression  he  had  made.    Though  a  skilful  actor, 
his  capability  was  confined  to  a  single  scene  or  two; 
it  could  never  extend  itself  over  a  whole  act :  his 
passions,  which  seem  to  have  partaken  of  insanity, 
were  sure  to  baffle  his  hypocrisy  on  anything  like 
a  lengthened  intercourse.     He  had  thus  shown  his 
true  character,  and  disgusted  many  of  the  nobles  of 
Poictou   and  Aquitaine,  when   his    lawless    passion 
for  the  young  wife  of  one  of  them  completed  their 


1^0 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


iiTitation  and  disgust.  Isabella,  the  daughter  of  the 
Count  of  Angoulenie,  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
beauties  of  her  time  :  she  had  been  recently  married 
to  the  Count  of  la  Marche,  a  powerful  noble  ;  and 
John  had  been  married  ten  years  to  Avisa,  a  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  a  fair  and  virtuous  woman, 
who  had  brought  him  an  immense  dower.  In  spite  of 
these  obstacles,  John  got  possession  of  the  person  of 
Isabella,  and  married  her  at  Angouleme,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Bordeaux  performing  the  ceremony.  In 
the  autumn,  he  brought  his  new  wife  to  England, 
and  caused  her  to  be  crowned  at  Westminster.  He 
himself  was  recrowned  at  the  same  time,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  officiating.  He  then  gave 
himself  up  to  idleness  and  luxurious  enjoyment. 
But  in  the  following  spring  he  was  disturbed  by  the 
vengeance  of  the  Count  of  la  Marche,  whom  he  had 
robbed  of  his  wife.  That  n  ibleman,  with  his  brother, 
the  Earl  of  Eu,  and  several  other  barons,  took  up 
arms  in  Poictou  and  Aquiiaine.  When  summoned 
to  attend  their  liege  lord,  many  of  the  EngUsh  vas- 
sals refused,  declaring  that  it  was  too  insignificant 
and  dishonorable  a  warfare  for  them  to  embark  in. 
They  afterward  said  that  they  would  sail  with  him 
if  he  would  restore  their  rights  and  liberties.  For 
the  present,  John  so  far  triumphed  over  their  oppo- 
sition as  to  make  the  refractory  barons  give  him 
hostages,  and  pay  scutage  in  lieu  of  their  personal 
attendance.  Their  resistance  was  not  yet  organ- 
ized ;  but  as  John's  insolence,  rapacity,  and  lawless 
lust  had  provoked  lay  and  clergy,  and  as  he  had 
engaged  in  a  personal  quarrel  with  one  of  the  most 
powerful  of  the  monastic  orders,  a  regular  and  an 
extensive  opposition  was  in  due  process  of  forma- 
tion. John,  accompanied  by  Isabella,  went  through 
Normandy  to  Paris,  where  he  was  courteously  en- 
tertained by  Philip,  a  much  greater  master  in  deceit, 
who  was,  at  the  very  moment,  in  league  with  the 
Count  of  la  Marche,  in  Aquitaine,  and  preparing  a 
fi-esh  insurrection  against  his  guest  in  Brittany. 
From  Paris,  John  miirched  without  his  wife  into 
Aquitaine,  but  not  to  fight,  and  after  a  paltry  parade 
through  the  safe  part  of  the  country,  he  marched 
back  again  to  his  pleasures,  leaving  the  insurgents 
in  greater  power  and  confidence  than  ever. 

A.  D.  1202.  The  moment  had  now  arrived  for 
the  decision  of  the  question  at  issue — whether  the 
Plantagenets  or  the  Capetians  should  be  lords  of 
France.  The  superiority  of  the  former  race  had 
been  established  by  the  wisdom  of  Henry  II.,  and 
pretty  well  maintained  by  the  valor  of  Richard ; 
but  under  the  unwise  and  pusillanimous  John  it 
had  no  longer  a  chance.  Having  settled  his  dis- 
putes with  the  Pope,  and  freed  himself  from  other 
troubles,  Philip  now  broke  the  peace,  by  openly 
succoring  the  insurgents  in  Aquitaine,  and  by  re- 
viving and  again  espousing  the  claims  of  young 
Arthur.  The  poor  orphan — his  mother  had  died 
the  preceding  year — was  living  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  French  king,  because,  says  a  chronicler, 
he  was  in  constant  fear  of  treachery  on  the  part  of 
John.  "  You  know  your  rights,"  said  Philip  to 
the  youth;  "and  would  you  not  be  a  king?" 
"  That  truly  would  I,"  replied  Arthur.     "  Here, 


then,"  said  Philip,  "are  200  knights;  march  with 
them,  and  take  possession  of  the  provinces  which 
are  yours,  while  I  make  an  inroad  on  Normandy." 
In  the  treaty  drawn  up  between  these  most  unequal 
allies,  Arthur  was  made  to  agree  that  the  French 
king  should  keep  all  that  he  pleased  of  the  terri- 
tories in  Normandy  which  he  had  taken,  or  might 
henceforth  take,  with  God's  aid ;  and  he  agreed 
to  do  homage  for  the  rest  of  the  continental  domin- 
ions.^ Arthur  then  raised  his  banner  of  war;  the 
Bretons  sent  him  500  knights  and  4000  foot  sol- 
diers; the  barons  of  Touraine  and  Poictou  110 
men-at-arms  ;  and  this,  with  the  insignificant  con- 
tingent supplied  by  Philip,  was  all  the  force  at  his 
disposal.  His  friends  had  counted  on  a  force  of 
30,000  men ;  but  it  was  not  the  plan  of  his  treach- 
erous ally  to  make  him  powerful.  Philip  only 
wanted  a  diversion  in  his  own  favor,  while  he  fol- 
lowed up  his  successes  in  Normandy  The  young 
orphan — for,  even  now,  Arthur  was  only  in  liis 
fifteenth  year — was  of  course  devoid  of  all  military 
experience,  and  dependent  on  the  guidance  of 
others.  Some  of  his  friends — or  they  may  have 
been  his  concealed  enemies — advised  him,  as  his 
first  trial  in  arms,  to  march  against  the  town  of 
Mirebeau,  about  six  miles  from  Poictiers,  because 
his  grandmother,  Eleanor,  who  had  always  been  ? 
the  bitter  enemy  of  his  mother,  was  residing  there; 
and  because  (it  was  reasoned)  if  he  got  possession 
of  her  person,  he  would  be  enabled  to  bring  liis 
uncle  to  terms.  He  marched,  and  took  the  town, 
but  not  his  grandmother.  The  veteran  Amazon, 
though  surprised,  had  time  to  throw  herself  into  a 
strong  tower,  which  served  as  a  citadel.  Arthur 
and  his  small  army  established  themselves  in  the 
town,  and  laid  siege  to  the  tower  where  the  "  Ate" 
— the  stirrer  "  to  blood  and  strife" — stoutly  defended 
herself.  John,  with  an  activity  of  which  he  was 
not  deemed  capable,  marched  to  her  rescue  ;  and 
his  troops  were  befoi'e  Mirebeau,  and  had  invested 
that  town,  ere  his  nephew  Avas  aware  of  his  de- 
parture from  Normandy.  The  unnatural  discords 
of  the  Norman  and  Plantagenet  race  had  already 
and  repeatedly  presented  the  spectacle  of  son  war- 
ring against  father,  brother  against  brother,  but 
here  was  a  boy  of  fifteen  besieging  his  grandmother 
of  eighty,  and  an  uncle  besieging  his  nephew — all 
at  one  point.  On  the  night  between  the  31st  of 
July  and  the  first  of  August  the  savage  John,  by 
means  of  treachery,  got  possession  of  the  town. 
Arthur  was  taken  in  his  bed,  as  were  also  most  of 
the  nobles  who  had  followed  him  on  that  dismal 
expedition.  The  Count  of  la  Marche,  Isabella's 
husband,  on  whom  he  had  inflicted  the  most  in- 
supportable of  wrongs,  and  whom  John  considered 
as  his  bitterest  enemy,  the  Viscounts  of  Limoges, 
Lusignan,  and  Thouars,  were  among  the  distin- 
guished captives,  who  amounted  in  all  to  200  noble 
knights.  The  captor  reveled  in  base  vengeance; 
he  caused  them  to  be  loaded  with  irons,  tied  in  t 
open  carts,  drawn  by  bullocks,  and  afterward  to  be 
thrown  into  dungeons  in  Normandy  and  England. 
Of  those    whose    confinement    fell   in   our   island, 

1  Guil.  Arinoric. — Matt.  Par. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


501 


Castle  of  Falaise. 


twenn-two  noblemen  are  said  to  have  been  starved 
to  death  in  Corfe  Castle — a  mode  of  destruction, 
indeed,  "worthy  of  a  being  of  unmingled  malig- 
nity."^ Young  Arthur  was  carried  to  Falaise,  and 
from  Falaise  he  was  removed  to  the  castle  of  Rouen, 
where  ail  positive  traces  of  him  are  lost.  Such 
damnable  deeds  are  not  done  in  the  light  of  day,  or 
in  the  presence  of  witnesses,  and  some  obscurity 
and  mystery  must  always  rest  upon  their  horrors. 
The  version  of  Shakspeare  has  made  an  impression 
which  no  time  and  no  skepticism  will  ever  efface  ; 
and,  after  all,  it  is  probably  not  far  from  being  the 
true  one.  Of  the  contemporary  writers  who  men- 
tion the  disappearance  of  Arthur,  Matthew  Paris 
is  the  one  who  expresses  himself  in  the  most 
measured  terms  ;  yet  his  words  convey  a  fearful 
meaning.  He  says,  John  went  to  his  nephew  at 
Falaise,  and  besought  him  with  gentleness  to  trust 
his  uncle.  Arthur  replied,  indignantly,  "  Give  me 
mine  inheritance — restore  to  me  my  kingdom  of 
England."  Much  provoked,  John  immediately  sent 
him  to  Rouen,  with  orders  that  he  should  be  more 
closely  guarded.  "  Not  long  after,"  proceeds  Mack- 
intosh, "he  suddenly  disappeared;  I  trust  not  in 
the  way  that  malignant  rumor  alleges.  It  was  sus- 
pected l)y  all  that  John  murdered  his  nephew  with 
his  own  liand,  and  he  became  the  object  of  the 
blackest  hatred.  The  monks  of  Margan  tell  us, 
in  their  brief  yearly  notes,  'that  John  being  at 
Rouen  in  the  week  before  Easter,  1203,  after  he 
had  finished  his  dinner,  instigated  by  drunkenness 
and  malignant  fiends,  literally  imbrued  his  hands 
in  the  blood  of  his  defenceless  nephew,  and  caused 
his  body  to  be  thrown  into  the  Seine,  with  heavy 

'  Mackintosh.— Rigord.  Gest.  Phil.  Aug.— Matt.  Par.— Guil.  Armoric. 


Stones  fastened  to  his  feet ;  that  the  body  was  not- 
withstanding cast  on  shore,  and  buried  at  the  abbey 
of  Eec  secretly,  for  fear  of  the  tyrant.'  " 

According  to  the  popular  traditions  of  the  Bre- 
tons, John,  pretending  to  be  reconciled  with  his 
nephew,  took  Arthur  from  his  dungeon,  in  the  castle 
of  Rouen,  and  proceeded  with  him  toward  Cher- 
bourg, traveling  on  horseback,  and  keeping  near  the 
coast.  Late  one  evening,  when  the  king  and  his 
nephew  had  outridden  the  rest  of  the  party,  John 
stopped  on  a  high  chff  which  overhung  the  sea  : 
after  looking  down  the  precipice  he  drew  his  sword, 
and,  riding  suddenly  at  the  young  prince,  ran  him 
through  the  body.  Arthur  fell  to  the  ground  and 
begged  for  mercy,  but  the  murderer  dragged  him 
to  the  brink  of  the  precipice,  and  hurled  him,  yet 
breathing,  into  the  waves  below.'  But  Ralph,  the 
Abbot  of  Coggeshall,  who  tells  the  pitiable  tale  most 
minutely,  is  probably  the  most  correct  of  all.  His 
account  is  as  follows  : — Some  of  the  king's  counsel- 
ors (we  believe  John  needed  no  counsel  save  from 
his  own  depraved  heart),  representing  how  many 
slaughters  and  seditions  the  Bretons  were  commit- 
ting for  their  lord  Arthur,  and  maintaining  that 
they  would  never  be  quiet  so  long  as  that  prince 
lived  in  a  sound  state,  suggested  that  he  should  de- 
prive the  noble  youth  of  his  eyes,  and  so  render  him 
incapable  of  government.  Some  wretches  were  sent 
to  his  prison  at  Falaise  to  execute  this  detestable 
deed  :  they  found  Arthur  loaded  with  chains,  and 
were  so  moved  with  his  tears  and  prayers  that  they 
staid  their  bloody  hands.  The  compassion  of  his 
guards  and  the  probity  of  Hubert  de  Burgh — the 
kind   Hubert  of  Shakspeare  —  saved  him  for  this 

'  Aigeutr6,  Hist,  de  Bretajne. — Dutnoulin,  Hist,  de  Normandie. 


502 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Hubert  and  Prince  Arthur. — Norlhcote. 


time.  Hubert,  who  was  warden  of  the  castle,  took 
upon  him  to  suspend  the  cruelties  till  the  king  should 
be  further  consulted.  This  merciful  appeal  only 
produced  his  removal  from  Falaise  to  Rouen.  On 
the  3d  of  April,  in  the  year  of  mercy  1203,  the 
helpless  orphan  was  startled  from  his  sleep  and  in- 
vited to  descend  to  the  foot  of  the  tower,  which  was 
washed  by  the  peaceful  waters  of  tlie  Seine.  At 
the  portal  he  found  a  boat,  and  in  it  his  uncle,  at- 
tended by  Peter  de  Maulac,  his  esquire.  The  lonely 
spot,  the  dark  hour,  and  the  darker  countenance 
of  his  uncle,  told  the  youth  his  hour  was  come. 
Ma-king  a  vain  and  last  appeal,  he  threw  himself  on 
his  knees  and  begged  that  his  life  at  least  might  be 
spared.  But  John  gave  the  sign,  and  Arthur  was 
murdered.  Some  say  that  Peter  de  Maulac  shrunk 
from  the  deed,  and  that  John  seized  his  nephew  by 
the  hair,  stabbed  him,  with  his  own  hands,  and  threw 
his  body  into  the  river.  Hemingford  find  Knyghton, 
who  wrote  near  the  time-,  say  that  the  squu-e  was 


the  executioner,  and  this  statement  is  confirmed  by 
the  circumstance  which  they  mention,  and  which  is 
otherwise  established,  of  John  having  bestowed  on 
De  IMaulac,  the  heiress  of  the  barony  of  Mulgref  in 
marriage,  as  the  reward  of  his  iniquity.  In  the  es- 
sential parts  of  the  crime  all  writers  agree.  "  The 
small  number  of  English  writers,"  says  a  recent 
historian,  "  who  do  not  speak  of  the  murder,  are 
equally  silent  respecting  the  notorious  fart  of  the 
disappearance  of  Arthur,  which  they  could  have  no 
reason  for  being  afraid  to  relate,  but  their  conviction 
of  the  guilt  of  John.  In  all  who  have  dared  to  speak 
we  can  evidently  perceive  a  sort  of  rivalship  in  ex- 
pressing the  horror  felt  by  their  contemporaries, 
which  more  than  outweighs  in  the  scales  of  evidence 
any  mistakes  or  exaggerations  into  which  these 
honest  feelings  may  have  betrayed  them."^ 

The  rumor  of  the  murder,  which  was  certainly 
spread  in  the  month  of  April  of  this  year,  excited  a 

'   .Mackintosh. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


503 


universal  cry  of  horror  and  indignation.  The  Bre- 
tons, among  whom  the  young  prince  had  been  born 
and  brought  up,  and  who  had  looked  to  him  with 
the  fondest  hopes,  were  the  loudest  of  all :  their 
rage  amounted  to  an  absolute  frenzy ;  and  even 
when  cooler  moments  came  they  unanimously  swore 
to  revenge  their  prince's  death.  The  Maid  of 
Brittany  —  the  fair  and  unfoitunate  Eleanor,  Ar- 
thur's eldest  sister — was  in  John's  hands,  and  closely 
confined  in  a  monastery  or  prison  at  Bristol,  where 
she  consumed  forty  years  of  her  life  ;  but  the  en- 
thusiastic people  rallied  round  Alice,  an  infant  half- 
sister  of  the  prince,  and  appointed  her  father,  Guy 
de  Thouars,  the  last  husband  of  their  duchess  Con- 
stance, their  regent  and  general  of  their  confederacy. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  estates  of  the  province,  held  at 
Vannes,  it  was  determined  that  Guy,  with  a  depu- 
tation, should  forthwith  carry  their  complaints  be- 
fore the  French  king,  "  their  suzerain  lord,"  and 
demand  justice.'  He  listened  to  their  petition,  and 
summoned  John  to  a  trial  before  his  peers,  as  a  vas- 
sal of  the  French  crown.  The  process  was  in  the 
regular  order  of  feudal  justice.  But  the  accused 
monarch  did  not  appear ;  on  which,  with  the  con- 
currence of  the  barons,  this  sentence  was  pronounced 
on  him  :  —  "  That  John,  Duke  of  Normandy,  un- 
mindful of  his  oath  to  Philip,  his  lord,  had  murdered 
his  elder  brother's  son,  a  homager  to  the  crown  of 
France,  within  the  seignory  of  that  realm  ;  whereon 
he  is  judged  a  traitor ;  and,  as  an  enemy  to  the  crown 
of  France,  to  forfeit  all  his  dominions  which  he  held 
by  homage  ;  and  that  reentry  be  made  by  force  of 
arms." 

Philip,  who  had  been  obliged  to  retreat  from 
Normandy  after  the  capture  of  Prince  Arthur  and 
the  barons  at  Mirebeau  in  the  preceding  year,  was 
now  on  the  frontier  of  Poictou,  where  a  general 
insurrection  took  place,  and  most  of  the  nobles 
joined  him  against  the  murderer  John.  They  sur- 
rendered to  Philip  most  of  the  strong  places,,  and 
then  marched  with  him  to  Normandy.  Here  the 
enraged  Bretons  were  before  him,  having  invaded 
and  occupied  all  the  territory  near  their  own 
frontiers :  they  took  the  strong  castle  of  Mount  St. 
Michael  by  assault,  made  themselves  masters  of 
Avranches,  and  then  advancing,  burnt  all  the  towns 
between  that  city  and  Caen.  There  was  the  na- 
tional wildness  and  ferocity  in  their  vengeance,  but 
it  appears  that  not  a  few  of  the  Normans  joined 
them.  These  movements  facilitated  the  progress 
of  the  French  king,  who,  being  joined  by  John's 
subjects  of  Anjou  and  Maine,  advanced  by  Andely, 
Evreux,  Domfront,  and  Lisieux,  all  of  which 
places  he  took,  and  then  effected  his  junction  with 
the  army  of  the  Bretons  at  Caen.  While  tower  and 
town  thus  fell  before  the  invaders,  John  was  passing 
his  time  in  a  voluptuous  indolence  at>  Rouen,  sur- 
rounded by  women  and  effeminate  courtiers,  who 
feasted  and  played,  sang  and  danced,  without  a 
thought  of  the  morrow.  He  wished  to  remain  ig- 
norant of  the  loss  of  his  towns,  the  miseries  of  his 
people,  his  own  shame  ;  and,  when  obliged  to  listen 
to  some  dismal  news,  he  was  accustomed  to  say,  in 
I  Daru. 


the  fulness  of  his  infatuation,  "  Let  them  go  on  ; 
let  these  French  and  this  rabble  of  Bretons  go  on;  1 
will  recover  in  a  single  day  all  that  they  are  taking 
from  me  with  so  much  pains."  At  last  his  enemies 
appeared  at  Radepont,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rouen, 
and  then  (in  the  month  of  December)  he  fled  over 
to  England  to  demand  succor.' 

We  are  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  noble  families  of  the  time,  and  the  trans- 
mission or  division  of  their  estates;  but  it  appears 
that  the  Norman  barons  of  England  had  no  longer 
that  property  at  stake  in  Normandy,  which  on  all 
former  occasions  had  made  them  resolute  to  pre- 
vent the  separation  of  the  two  countries.  There 
were  no  doubt  other  causes  for  their  apathy ;  but, 
in  spite  of  John's  demerits,  we  cannot  but  believe 
that  they  would  have  made  great  exertions  if  they 
had  been  in  the  same  position  as  formerly,  when 
the  same  barons  held  great  estates  in  Normandy  as 
well  as  in  England.  Now  they  would  make  no 
strenuous  effort ;  and  we  find  John  complaining  on 
this  occasion,  as  a  little  later,  when  his  other  con- 
tinental provinces  were  occupied  by  the  French 
king,  that  his  English  nobles  had  forsaken  him,  and 
thereby  put  it  out  of  his  power  to  resist  his  enemies. 

A.D.  1204.  Unable  to  meet  Phihp  with  the  sword, 
John  attempted  to  stop  his  pi'ogress  with  the  spiritual 
weapons  of  Rome :  he  applied  to  the  Pope,  imploring 
him  to  interfere.  Innocent  dispatched  two  legates 
to  plead  in  the  recreant's  favor ;  but,  in  the  high 
tide  of  his  success,  the  French  king,  made  the  bolder 
by  the  universal  odium  John  had  fallen  into,  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  their  representations  and  menaces, 
and  the  legates  departed  without  producing  any 
apparent  effect. 

When  John  fled  nothing  remained  to  him  save 
Rouen,  Verneuil,  and  Ch^teau-Gaillard.  The  last 
was  a  strong  castle,  the  pride  of  the  late  king,  who 
took  extraordinary  pains  in  its  construction,  and  it 
was  held  for  John  by  a  brave  warrior  who  was  ti-ue 
to  his  trust.  In  Rouen,  the  people,  animated  by  an 
hereditary  hatred  of  the  French,  determined  to 
defend  themselves  ;  but  when  pressed  by  a  vigorous 
siege,  they  applied  for  aid  to  their  sovereign,  the 
King  of  England.  John  had  no  aid  to  give.  It  was 
in  vain  he  punished  his  lukewarm  barons  of  England 
by  fines  and  forfeitures, — it  was  in  vain  that  he 
collected  a  considerable  army  at  Portsmouth, — the 
nobles  resolutely  told  him  that  they  would  not  follow 
his  standard  out  of  England.  Thus  abandoned  to 
themselves,  and  suffering  from  famine,  the  citizens 
of  Rouen  surrendered  to  the  French  king.  Verneuil 
was  taken  about  the  same  time,  and  Ch^teau-Gaillard 
fell  after  nobly  sustaining  a  siege  of  seven  months. 
Thus  John  had  no  longer  an  inch  of  ground  in 
Normandy,  which  duchy,  after  a  separation  of 
two  hundred  and  ninety-two  years,  was  finally  re- 
annexed  to  the  French  kingdom.  Within  this  year 
Brittany,  Anjou,  Maine,  Touraine,  and  Poictou 
equally  acknowledged  the  authority  of  Philip,  and 
John  had  nothing  left  in  those  wide  provinces  ex- 
cept a  few  castles.  Aquitaine,  or  Guienne,  re- 
tained its  connection  with  the  English  crown,  but 

1  Matt.  Par.— Annal.  de  Margan. 


504 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


there  the  authority  of  the    king  wa3  Umited  and 
uncertain. 

A.D.  1206.  Philip  soon  found  that  it  was  much 
easier  to  incite  the  people  against  the  detested  John 
than  to  keep  them  obedient  to  himself.  The  men 
of  Brittany,  who  indulged  in  their  old  dream  of 
national  independence,  were  soon  disgusted  by 
seeing  their  country  treated  as  a  mere  province  of 
France  ;  and  discontents  also  broke  out  in  Anjou  i 
and  Poictou.  John  contrived  to  land  an  English 
army  at  Rochelle,  and  even  to  take  the  strong  castle 
of  Montauban  ;  then  marching  to  the  Loire,  he  took 
and  burned  Angers,  committing  many  cruelties. 
He  then  reposed  on  his  laurels,  and  gave  himself  up 
to  feasting  and  debauchery.  When  again  aroused, 
he  descended  the  Loire,  and  laid  siege  to  Nantes. 
This  siege  he  raised,  to  offer  battle  to  Philip.  As 
the  battle  was  about  to  commence  he  proposed  a  ne- 
gotiation, and  as  the  proposal  was  under  discussion 
he  ran  away  to  England,  loaded  with  new  infamy. 
Philip,  who  had  nothing  more  to  do,  as  it  was  not 
convenient  for  him  to  attack  Guienne,  and  an  inva- 
sion of  England  was  as  yet  a  thing  not  to  be  con- 
templated, listened  to  another  legate  from  the  Pope, 
who  induced  him  to  consent  to  a  truce  with  John 
for  two  yeai"s. 

A.D.  1207.  The  next  step  of  the  degraded  but 
still  arrogant  John  was  to  quarrel  with  the  Pope,  and 
provoke  to  the  utmost — and  by  deeds  which  gave  an 
odious  coloring  to  his  cause,  even  where  he  was 
wholly  or  partially  in  the  right — the  enduring  enmity 
of  that  power  which  had  shaken  the  throne  of  his 
great  and  wise  father.  The  dispute  arose  out  of 
the  conflicting  claims  of  the  crown  and  the  church 
in  the  appointment  of  bishops;  while  John  insisted 
that  his  favorite  minister,  John  de  Gray,  Bishop  of 
Norwich,  should  be  elevated  to  the  see  of  Canter- 
bury, the  Pope  canonically  appointed  Stephen 
Langton, — and  the  monks  of  Canterbury  would  re- 
ceive no  other  archbishop.  Never  was  time,  never 
was  place  so  ill  chosen  for  an  attack  on  the  church ; 
but  John,  blinded  by  passion,  dispatched  two  knights 
with  an  armed  band  to  drive  the  monks  of  Canter- 
bury from  the  land.  The  ministers  of  his  vengeance 
entered  with  drawn  swords  into  the  cloisters  which 
had  alike  witnessed  the  slaughter  of  Becket  and  the 
subsequent  humiliation  of  his  sovereign.  "  In  the 
king's  name,"  exclaimed  the  knights,  "  we  command 
you,  as  traitors,  to  quit  the  realm ;  begone  in  a  mo- 
ment, or  we  will  set  fire  to  these  walls,  and  burn 
you  with  your  convent."  All  the  monks  who  were 
not  bed-ridden  departed  forthwith,  and  going  into 
Flanders  were  there  received  and  hospitably  enter- 
tained in  different  religious  houses.  John  seized 
their  effects :  but  as  no  one  would  labor  upon 
them  for  the  king,  the  lands  of  the  archbishopric 
and  of  the  convent  of  Canterbury  lay  without  cul- 
ture.' When  Innocent,  in  a  gentle  but  most  decided 
tone,  asked  for  redress,  John  braved  his  authority ; 
and  thus  an  0{^n  struggle  began  between  one  of  the 
ablest  priests  that  ever  wore  the  tiara,  and  the 
meanest  and  basest  king  that  ever  disgraced  the 
F^nglish  throne.     While  John  amused  himself  with 

'  Matt.  Par. — Anna!  de  Marg 


terrible  but  impotent  threats  against  the  monks,  the 
Pope  wrote  to  the  already  disaffected  English  barons, 
ordering  them  to  do  all  they  could  with  the  arms  of 
the  flesh  to  save  their  king  and  kingdom  from  perdi- 
tion ;  and  he  called  upon  the  prelates  and  abbots  of 
the  kingdom  to  fight  with  their  spiritual  weapons  for 
Langton  and  the  liberties  of  the  church.  He  then 
sent  orders  to  the  bishops  of  London,  Ely,  and  AVor- 
cester  to  wait  upon  the  king  in  his  name,  and,  if 
they  found  him  still  refractory,  to  threaten  him  with 
the  interdict.  John  at  last  received  these  prelates  : 
when  they  came  to  the  threat  he  grew  pale  with 
rage,  and  his  lips  quivered  and  frothed.  "  By  God's 
teeth,"  he  cried,  "  if  you,  or  any  of  your  body,  dare 
to  lay  my  states  under  interdict,  I  will  send  you  and 
all  your  clergy  to  Rome,  and  confiscate  your  prop- 
erty. As  for  the  Roman  shavelings,  if  I  find  any  in 
my  dominions,  I  will  tear  out  their  eyes  and  cut  off 
their  noses,  and  so  send  them  to  the  Pope,  that  the 
nations  may  witness  their  infamy."  The  bishops 
trembled  and  withdrew :  but  these  were  not  times 
when  personal  fear  stopped  the  triumphant  march 
of  Rome.  A  few  weeks  after,  on  Monday,  the  23d 
of  March,  1208,  in  passion  week,  they  pronounced 
the  sentence  of  interdict  against  all  John's  domin- 
ions, and  then  fled  for  safety  to  the  continent.  To 
secure  himself  at  this  moment  of  danger,  the  king 
obliged  as  many  of  his  nobles  as  he  could  to  place 
their  children  in  his  hands  as  securities  for  their 
allegiance ;  a  measure  which  created  fresh  disgust. 
When  his  commissioners  went  to  the  castle  of 
William  de  Braouse,  that  nobleman's  lady  ex- 
claimed, "  My  son  shall  not  go  near  him ;  he  mur- 
dered his  own  nephew,  whom  he  should  have 
cherished."  "  Thou  hast  spoken  like  a  foolish 
woman,"  said  her  husband ;  and  then  turning  to 
the  officers,  the  baron  added,  "  If  I  have  done  any- 
thing against  my  sovereign,  let  a  day  and  place  be 
named,  for  I  am  readj',  and  ever  shall  be,  to  make 
him  satisfaction,  without  hostages,  according  to  the 
judgment  of  his  court  and  of  mj"  peers."  John  gave 
secret  orders  to  seize  the  whole  family  :  they  were 
warned  in  time,  and  escaped  safely  into  Ireland,  but 
soon  after  perished  in  a  miserable  manner,  the  vic- 
tims of  the  tA'rant's  insatiable  vengeance.' 

In  the  mean  time  the  nation  was  plunged  in 
mourning  by  the  interdict, — the  churches  were  in- 
stantly closed, — the  priests  ceased  their  functions, 
refusing  to  administer  any  of  the  usual  sacred  rites, 
except  baptism  to  infants,  and  the  sacrament  to  the 
dying.  The  dead  were  buried,  without  prayers,  in 
unconsecrated  ground, — the  relics  of  the  saints  were 
taken  from  their  places  and  laid  upon  ashes  in  the 
silent  church, — their  statues  and  pictures  were 
covered  with  veils  of  black  cloth, — the  chime  of 
church  bells  no  longer  floated  on  the  air,  and  every- 
thing was  so  arranged  under  an  interdict  as  to  give 
a  most  lugubrious  aspect  to  the  whole  country  upon 
which  it  had  fallen.  When  this  had  lasted  a  year, 
the  Pope  followed  up  the  sentence  of  interdict  by  a 
bull  of  excommunication  against  John.  Although 
by  narrowly  watching  the  ports,  he  prevented  the 
entrance  of  the  Roman  envoj'  and  the  official  publi- 

1  Matt.  Par. — Annal.  de  Marg. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


SO.'i 


cation  of  the  latter  bull,  the  king  was  seriously 
alarmed,  for  he  knew  that  excommunication  would 
be  followed  by  a  sentence  of  dethronement,  and 
that  Philip  was  making  ready  to  invade  England 
with  a  banner  that  would  be  blessed  by  the  Pope. 
He  also  saw  that  the  disaffection  of  his  barons  was 
still  increasing,  and  that  there  was  no  part  of  Chris- 
tian Europe  to  which  he  could  apply  for  succor  or 
alliance.  At  this  critical  moment,  if  we  are  to  be- 
lieve a  curious  story  picturesquely  told  by  Matthew 
Paris,  he  applied  for  aid  to  the  Mahomedans  of 
Spain.  The  Emir  al  Nassir  was  in  the  full  career 
of  conquest,  and,  by  crossing  the  Pyrenees,  he  could 
at  any  time  fall  upon  the  dependencies  and  states  of 
Philip  in  the  south,  and  so  make  an  important  di- 
version in  favor  of  John.  Sovereigns  much  more 
sci"upulous  than  this  false-hearted  tyrant  have  had 
recourse  to  such  infidel  alliances,  even  when  pressed 
by  much  less  danger  than  John,  who,  it  is  reported, 
intrusted  a  secret  negotiation  to  Thomas  Hardington 
and  Ralph  Fitznicholas,  knights,  and  a  priest  called 
"Robert  of  London."  These  envoys  being  led 
through  several  apartments,  lined  with  Moorish 
guards  with  turbans  on  their  heads  and  cimeters  in 
their  girdles,  were  presented  to  the  emir,  "  a  man 
of  moderate  size  and  grave  aspect,"  who  kept  his 
eyes  fixed  on  a  book  which  lay  open  before  him. 
The  Englishmen  presented  their  king's  letter, 
which  was  translated  to  the  emir  by  an  interpreter. 
According  to  the  report  which  was  afterward 
spread,  John  offered  to  hold  the  English  crown  of 
the  emir,  and  to  embrace  the  faith  of  Mahomed. 
This  looks  like  exaggeration,  but  John  may  have  set 
no  limits  whatever  to  promises  which  he  never 
intended  to  keep,  and  was  quite  capable  of  offering 
even  more  than  this  to  serve  his  purpose  in  such  an 
emergency.  The  Moorish  chief  questioned  the 
envoys  as  to  the  population  and  strength  of  England, 
and  the  age  and  personal  character  of  the  king,  and 
then  dismissed  them  with  vague  expressions  of 
friendship  which  signified  nothing.  He,  however, 
recalled  "  Robert  of  London,"  the  priest,  and  adjured 
him,  by  his  respect  for  the  faith  of  Christ,  on  which 
he  trusted  for  salvation,  to  tell  him  what  manner  of 
man  his  master  really  was.  Thus  pressed,  Robert 
replied  that  John  was  a  tyrant  that  would  soon  feel 
his  own  subjects'  wrath.  This  terminated  the  busi- 
ness. On  his  return,  Robert  received  the  custody 
of  the  abbey  of  St.  Albans,  and  there  Matthew  of 
Paris,  who  was  a  monk  of  that  house,  heard  him 
tell  the  curious  story  to  his  companions. 

The  effect  of  the  interdict  upon  the  laity  of  Eng- 
land must  have  been  weaker  than  was  anticipated, 
or  probably  the  expedient  had  lost  its  efficiency  by 
time  and  use,  for,  as  it  has  been  justly  remarked, 
John's  strength  was  so  Httle  lessened  that  the  only 
two  successful  expeditions  of  his  reign,  those  against 
Ireland  and  Wales,  occurred  during  the  time  that 
he  lay  under  the  proscription  of  the  Roman  see. 

A.  D.  1210. — John  employed  the  spring  of  this 
year  in  raising  money  by  the  most  arbitrary  means ; 
all  classes  suflfered,  but  none  like  the  unfortunate 
Jews,  who  were  seized,  imprisoned,  and  tortured 
all  over  the  kingdom.     A  great  sum  is  said  to  have 


been  collected,  and  with  this  he  levied  an  army,  pre- 
tending that  he  would  go  and  drive  Philip  out  of 
Normandy.  When  all  was  ready,  he  sailed  for 
Ireland,  where  the  English  nobles  had  for  some 
time  defied  his  authority.  On  the  6th  of  June,  he 
landed  on  the  Irish  coast  and  proceeded  to  Dublin, 
where  more  than  twenty  of  the  native  chieftains 
repaired  to  do  him  homage  and  ofi'er  tribute.  He 
then  marched  into  the  province  of  Connaught,  re- 
duced the  castles  of  some  of  the  revolted  English 
nobles,  and  drove  Hugh  de  Lacy,  Earl  of  Ulster, 
and  his  brother,  Walter  de  Lacy,  Earl  of  Meath, 
out  of  the  island.  He  divided  such  parts  of  the 
island  as  were  subjected  to  England  into  counties, 
established  English  laws,  and  appointed  sherifl's  and 
other  officers.  He  also  ordered,  for  the  convenience 
of  traffic,  that  the  same  moneys  should  be  equally 
current  in  both  countries  ;  and  then,  intrusting  the 
government  of  Ireland  to  his  favorite,  the  Bishop 
of  Norwich,  whom  he  had  not  been  able  to  make 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  he  returned  to  England, 
after  an  absence  of  twelve  weeks,  during  which  he 
had  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of  an  easy  triumph,  for 
no  one  offered  resistance.  In  the  following  year  he 
determined  to  show  his  prowess  in  Wales.  Money 
was  again  wanted  :  he  summoned  all  the  abbots  and 
lady-abbesses;  all  the  heads  of  monastic  houses, 
whether  male  or  female,  to  meet  him  in  London  ; 
he  urged  his  wants  in  a  manner  which  was  not  to 
be  resisted,  and,  having  got  what  he  could  from 
these  servants  and  hand-maidens  of  Christ,  he  again 
racked  the  unheheving  Jews,  putting  them  to  tor- 
ture and  throwing  them  into  dungeons,  where  they 
were  kept  until  they  paid  enormous  fines  to  the 
king.  Among  other  Jews  thus  treated  was  one  of 
Bristol,  a  very  wealthy  man,  but  who  would  not 
consent  to  pay  10,000  marks  for  his  deliverance. 
"  Whereupon,"  says  an  old  historian,  "by  the  king's 
commandment  he  was  put  into  this  penance  :  that 
every  day  till  he  would  agree  to  give  those  10,000 
marks  that  he  was  seized  [assessed]  at,  he  should 
have  one  of  his  teeth  plucked  out  of  his  head.'" 
The  Jew  braved  the  pain  to  save  his  money.  John's 
executioner  began  with  the  double  teeth,  and,  m 
the  course  of  as  many  days,  pulled  out  seven.  On 
the  eighth  day  this  torture  had  its  eflfect,  and  the 
Jew  gave  security  for  the  money .^  With  the  sums 
obtained  in  part  by  such  flagitious  means  John  raised 
a  mighty  army,  and  penetrated  into  Wales  as  far  as 
the  foot  of  Snowdon.  He  was  not  a  man  to  do 
more  than  his  great  and  warlike  predecessors,  and  he 
marched  back  again  immediately,  having,  however, 
forced  the  Welsh  to  pay  him  a  tribute  in  cattle  and 
horses,  and  to  give  him  twenty-eight  hostages,  youths 
of  the  best  families.  Whenever  John  had  a  glimpse 
of  success,  he  increased  his  arbitrary  proceedings 
against  his  English  subjects :  on  a  former  occasion 
he  gave  new  rigor  to  the  barbarous  forest  laws,  and 
now  he  levied  scutage-money  in  an  unjust  manner. 
In  the  following  year  the  Welsh  agam  were  up  in 
arms  to  assert  their  independence.  John  savagely 
hanged  the  twenty-eight  hostages,  and  was  pre- 
paring for  a  fresh  invasion,  when  he  was  terrified 
1  Holinshed.  »  Matt.  Par. 


.006 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLA.ND. 


[Book  III. 


Iiy  a  report  that  many  of  his  own  barons  were  con- 
spiring against  him.  He  shut  himself  up  in  the 
castle  of  Nottingham  for  fifteen  days,  seeing  no  one 
but  the  personal  attendants  on  whom  he  most  re- 
lied. He  then  marched  to  Chester,  still  collecting 
troops,  and  vowing  to  exterminate  the  Welsh;  but 
from  Chester  he  turned  suddenly  back  to  London, 
where  he  kept  strong  bodies  of  foreign  mercenaries 
fonstantly  about  him,  and  seldom  showed  himself 
to  his  people.  His  enemies  increased  every  day, 
and  the  crowd  of  English  exiles  were  incessantly 
urging  the  Pope  to  t.ike  vengeance  on  their  king. 

A.  D.  1213. — At  last  Innocent  hurled  his  deadliest 
thunderbolt  at  the  head  of  John :  he  pronounced 
his  deposition,  absolved  his  vassals  from  their  oaths 
of  allegiance,  and  called  upon  all  Christian  princes 
and  barons  to  take  part  in  the  meritorious  act  of  de- 
throning an  impious  tyrant.  He  then  sent  Stephen 
Langton,  the  exiled  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  with 
other  English,  and  some  Italian  prelates,  to  the 
French  court,  there  to  convoke  a  solemn  meeting, 
and  declare  to  the  king  and  the  whole  nation  that 
the  Pope  authorized  an  immediate  invasion  of  Eng- 
land. The  worldly  temptation  was  so  great  that 
Philip  probably  required  none  other ;  but  the  Pope 
promised  him  the  remission  of  his  sins  if  he  executed 
this  pious  purpose,  and  drove  John  from  his  throne. 
About  the  middle  of  3Iarch,  Philip  collected  a  great 
array  in  Normandy,  and  prepared  a  fleet  of  1700 
vessels,  of  all  sizes,  at  Boulogne  and  the  other  ports 
on  the  Channel.  John,  being  well  informed  of  these 
preparations,  took  for  once  a  bold  step :  he  sum- 
moned every  man  capable  of  bearing  arms  to  be 
ready  to  march  to  the  coasts  of  Kent  and  Sussex, 
and  he  collected  every  vessel  in  his  dominions  capa- 
ble of  carrying  six  or  more  horses.  When  the  ships 
were  i"eady,  he  anticipated  Philip's  attack:  the  Eng- 
lish mariners  crossed  the  Channel,  took  a  French 
squadron  at  the  mouth  of  the  Seine,  destroyed  the 
ships  in  the  harbor  of  Fecamp,  and  burned  Di- 
eppe to  the  ground.  They  swept  the  whole  coast 
of  Normandy,  and  returned  in  tiiumph,  the  main 
division  of  the  French  fleet  at  Boulogne  not  hazard- 
ing an  attack.  On  Barnham  Downs  60,000  lands- 
men stood  as  yet  firm  around  the  standard  of  John ; 
but  he  dreaded  these,  his  own  brave  subjects,  and 
he  was  always  spiritless  and  unmanly.  It  was  soon 
seen,  after  all  his  vain  boasting,  and  his  threats 
against  the  Church  of  Rome,  that  he  would  lower 
himself  to  the  dirt  before  that  incensed  enemy,  that 
he  would  do  anything  rather  than  fight.  The  Pope's 
legate,  Pandulph,  well  knew  his  dastardly  charac- 
ter, and  now  skilfully  took  advantage  of  it.  Two 
knights  of  the  Temple  (traveled  men  and  crafty 
diplomatists)  landed  at  Dover  and  proceeded  to  the 
English  camp.  "  We  come,"  said  they,  with  great 
respect,  "  from  Pandulph,  the  sub-deacon  and  ser- 
vant of  our  lord,  the  Pope  :  for  your  advantage  and 
for  that  of  the  realm  of  England,  he  asks  to  see  you 
in  private."  P  Let  him  come  forthwith,"  said  John. 
Pandulph  came,  and  drew  so  formidable  a  picture 
of  the  French  army  of  invasion,  and  represented 
the  general  and  just  disaff"ection  of  the  great  barons 
of  England  in  such  forcible,  and,  on  the  whole,  true 


colors,  that  the  paltry  despot's  heart  died  away 
within  hnn.  What  added  to  his  fears,  was  the  pre- 
diction of  a  certain  Peter,  called  "  the  Hermit," 
that,  before  the  Feast  of  the  Ascension  should  be 
passed  (it  was  distant  only  three  days),  John  would 
be  unknighted.  As  he  trembled  before  the  astute 
churchman,  Pandulph  bade  him  repent,  and  re- 
member that  the  pontiff' was  a  merciful  master,  who 
would  require  nothing  which  was  not  absolutely 
necessary  either  to  the  honor  of  the  church,  or  to 
the  security  of  the  king  himself.  After  a  little 
wavering,  John  gave  way,  and  subscribed  an  instru- 
ment which,  in  itself,  was  not  very  objectionable, 
and  which  had  been  oflfered  him  some  time  be- 
fore, when,  by  accepting  it,  he  might  have  avoided 
his  present  excessive  debasement.  It  was  agreed, 
on  the  13th  day  of  May,  that  John  should  obey  the 
Pope  in  all  things  for  which  he  had  been  excommu- 
nicated ;  that  he  should  receive  into  favor  the  exiled 
bishops  and  others,  particularly  Stephen  Langton 
and  the  prior  and  monks  of  Canterbury ;  that  he 
should  make  full  satisfaction  to  the  clergy  and  laity 
for  the  damages  they  had  suff'ered  at  his  hands,  or 
otherwise,  on  account  of  the  interdict,  and  that  he 
should  pay  down,  in  part  of  restitution,  the  sum  of 
8000L  John  further  agreed  not  to  prosecute  any 
person  for  any  matter  relating  to  the  late  disagree- 
ment ;  and,  on  his  part,  Pandulph  promised  that, 
on  the  performance  of  these  conditions,  the  sen- 
tences of  interdict  should  be  recalled,  and  that  the 
bishops  and  other  proscribed  churchmen,  on  their 
return,  should  swear  to  be  true  and  faithful  to  the 
king.  John  set  his  seal  to  the  instrument,  and  four 
of  his  greatest  barons,  William,  Earl  of  Salisbury, 
Reginald,  Earl  of  Boulogne,  and  the  earls  of  War- 
ren and  Ferrers,  swore,  "  on  the  soul  of  the  king," 
that  he  would  keep  this  compact  inviolate.  The 
dastardly  spirit  of  John,  the  overreaching  policy 
and  ambition  of  the  Pope,  and  the  address  of  the 
envoy,  Pandulph,  can  alone  account  for  the  consum- 
mation of  ignominy  which  followed.  On  the  14th 
of  May,  the  following  day,  John  was  closeted  with 
the  Italian  in  secret  consultation,  and  when  seen 
for  a  moment  abroad,  his  countenance  was  sadly 
dejected.  Though  depraved  in  morals  and  notori- 
ously irreligious,  he  was  a  prey  to  superstition,  and 
he  was  now  thinking  more  of  the  prediction  of  a 
hair-brained  recluse  than  of  his  kingdom,  for  he  fan- 
cied that  Peter  the  Hermit's  prophecj'  betokened 
he  must  die. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  at  an  early  hour  of  the  morn- 
ing, John  repaiied  to  the  church  of  the  Templars  at 
Dover,  and  there,  surrounded  by  bishops,  barons, 
and  knights,  took  on  his  knees,  before  Pandulph, 
an  oath  of  fealty  to  the  Pope — the  same  oath  which 
vassals  took  to  their  lords.  At  the  same  time,  he 
put  into  the  envoy's  hands  a  charter,  testifying  that 
he,  the  King  of  England  and  Lord  of  Ireland,  in 
atonement  for  his  offences  against  God  and  the 
church,  not  compelled  by  the  interdict  or  by  any 
fear  or  force,  but  of  his  own  free  will,  and  with  the 
general  consent  of  his  barons,  surrendered  to  our 
lord,  the  Pope  Innocent,  and  Innocent's  successors 
forever,  the  kingdom  of  England  and  the  lordship 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTION-S. 


507 


of  Ireland,  which  were  henceforth  to  be  held  as  fiefs 
of  the  holy  see,  John  and  his  successors  paying  for 
them  an  annual  tribute  of  700  marks  of  silver  for 
England  and  300  marks  for  Ireland.  He  then  of- 
fered some  money  as  an  earnest  of  his  subjection, 
but  Pandulph  trampled  it  under  his  feet — an  act 
which  called  forth  an  angry  remonstrance  from  the 
Bishop  or  Aixhbishop  of  Dubhn.  Pandulph,  it  is 
said,  meant  to  signify  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
scorned  worldly  riches ;  but  it  is  hinted  bj"^  some 
old  writers  that  he  afterward  stooped  down  to 
gather  up  the  money.  The  next  day  was  the  fatal 
term,  the  Feast  of  the  Ascension,  during  which  John 
watched  the  progress  of  the  sun  with  an  anxious 
eye  :  it  set,  and  he  died  not, — it  rose  on  the  mor- 
row, and  he  was  still  alive ;  instantly,  in  punish- 
ment for  the  vile  terror  he  had  suffered,  he  ordered 
Peter  and  his  son  to  be  dragged  at  the  tails  of 
horses  and  hanged  on  gibbets.  The  people  con- 
tended that  Peter,  after  all,  was  no  false  prophet, 
and  that  John,  by  laying  his  crown  at  the  feet  of  a 
foreign  priest,  had  verified  the  prediction.' 

Five  or  six  days  after  these  transactions,  Pan- 
dulph went  over  to  France,  and,  to  the  astonish- 
ment and  great  wrath  of  Philip,  announced  to  him 
that  he  must  no  longer  molest  a  penitent  son  and  a 
faithful  vassal  of  the  church,  nor  presume  to  invade 
a  kingdom  which  was  now  part  of  the  patrimony 
of  St.  Peter.  "  But,"  said  Philip,  "  I  have  already 
expended  enormous  sums  of  money  on  this  expe- 
dition, which  I  undertook  at  the  pontiff's  express 
commands,  and  for  the  remission  of  my  sins."  The 
nuncio  repeated  his  inhibition  and  withdrew. 
The  French  king,  however,  who  was  already  on 
the  road,  continued  his  march  to  the  coast.  It 
appears,  indeed,  that  Philip,  who  inveighed  pub- 
licly against  the  selfish  and  treacherous  policy  of 
the  Pope,  would  not  have  been  prevented  from 
attempting  the  invasion  by  the  dread  of  the  thun- 
ders of  the  church,  which  again  rumbled  over  his 
head.'  But  other  circumstances  of  a  more  worldly 
nature  interfered  :  Ferrand,  the  new  Earl  of  Flan- 
ders, demanded  that  certain  towns  which  had  lately 
been  annexed  to  the  French  crown  should  be 
restored  to  him.  Philip  refused  ;  and  now  when 
he  proposed  to  his  great  vassals  that  they  should 
continue  the  enterprise  against  England,  the  Earl 
of  Flanders,  the  most  powerful  of  them  all,  said 
that  his  conscience  would  not  permit  him  to  follow 
his  lord  in  such  an  unjust  attempt;  and  so  saying, 
he  suddenly  withdrew  with  all  his  forces.  Philip, 
vowing  he  would  make  Flanders  a  mere  province 
of  France,  marched  after  him,  and,  taking  several 
of  the  earl's  best  towns  on  his  way,  sat  down  with 
his  army  before  the  sti-ong  city  of  Ghent.  For- 
tunately for  both  parties,  Ferrand  had  already  a 
secret  understanding  with  John,  and  now  he  ap- 
plied to  that  king  for  help.  John's  fleet  lay  ready 
in  the  harbor  of  Portsmouth.  Seven  hundred 
knights,  with  a  large  force  of  infantry,  embarked  in 

'  Matt.  Par. — Matthew  Westminster,  or  Florilegus. — W.  Heming. — 
Chion.  MailrM. — Annal.  Waver.— Chron.  T.  Wykes. 

■•*  Philip  hud  been  excommunicated,  and  his  kingdom  had  been  laid 
under  an  interdict,  a  few  years  before,  by  the  reigning  pope,  Inno- 
<:ent  III. 


500  vessels,  under  the  command  of  William,  Earl 
of  Holland,  and  William  Longspear,  Earl  of  Salis- 
bury, one  of  the  sons  of  Fair  Rosamond,  and  im- 
mediately made  sail  for  the  coast  of  Flanders. 
They  found  the  French  fleet  at  anchor  at  Damme, 
which  was  at  that  time  the  port  of  Bruges :  it  was 
three  times  more  numerous  than  the  English  fleet ; 
but  most  of  the  sailors  and  land-troops  embarked 
with  them  were  on  shore  plundering  the  neighbor- 
ing country,  and  committing  all  sorts  of  ravages  in 
a  district  M'hich,  through  the  blessings  of  peace  and 
commerce,  had  made  a  wondierfully  rapid  progress 
in  civilization  and  the  arts  that  adorn  life.  This 
was  the  first  fleet  that  the  French  kings  of  the 
Capetian  line  had  ever  put  to  sea, — this  was  the 
first  naval  engagement  between  the  two  nations 
whose  unfortunate  enmity  has  since  then  animated 
so  many  sanguinary  encounters  in  all  the  quarters 
of  the  globe.  It  was  an  unfortunate  beginning  for 
the  French :  their  navy  was  annihilated.  We 
quote  the  account  of  the  battle  as  Southey  has 
abridged  it  from  Holinshed : — "  The  English,  as 
they  neared  the  coast,  espied  many  ships  lying 
Avithout  the  haven,  which,  capacious  as  it  was,  was 
not  large  enough  to  contain  them  all ;  many,  there- 
fore, were  riding  at  anchor  without  the  haven's 
mouth,  and  along  the  coast.  Shallops  were  pres- 
ently sent  out  to  espy  whether  they  were  friends 
or  enemies  ;  and  if  enemies,  what  their  strength, 
and  in  what  order  they  lay.  These  espials,"  ap- 
proaching as  if  they  had  been  fishermen,  "  came 
near  enough  to  ascertain  that  the  ships  were  left 
without  sufficient  hands  to  defend  them,  and,  has- 
tening back,  told  the  commanders  that  the  victory 
was  in  their  hands  if  they  would  only  make  good 
speed.  No  time  was  lost :  they  made  sail  toward 
the  enemy,  and  won  the  'tall  ships,'  which  were 
riding  at  anchor,  with  little  difficulty,  the  men  on 
board  only  requesting  that  their  lives  might  be 
spared.  The  smaller  ones,  which  were  left  dry 
when  the  tide  was  low,  they  spoiled  of  whatever 
was  useful  and  set  on  fire,  the  sailors  escaping  to 
the  shore.  This  done,  they  set  upon  those  that 
lay  in  the  harbor,  within  the  haven;  and  'here 
was  hard  hold  for  a  while,'  because  of  the  narrow- 
ness of  the  place  allowing  no  advantage  for  num- 
bers or  for  skill.  'And  those  Frenchmen,'  says 
the  chronicler,  '  that  were  gone  abroad  into  the 
country,  perceiving  that  the  enemies  were  come  by 
the  running  away  of  the  mariners,  returned  with 
all  speed  to  their  ships  to  aid  their  fellows,  and  so 
made  valiant  resistance  for  a  time,  till  the  English- 
men, getting  on  land,  and  ranging  themselves  on 
either  side  of  the  haven,  beat  the  Frenchmen  so 
on  the  sides,  and,  the  ships  grapphug  together  in 
front,  that  they  fought  as  it  had  been  in  a  pitched 
field,  till  that,  finally,  the  Frenchmen  were  not 
able  to  sustain  the  force  of  the  Englishmen,  but 
were  constrained,  after  long  fight  ai^great  slaugh- 
ter, to  yield  themselves  prisoners.'  xhe  first  act  of 
the  conquerors  was  to  give  thanks  to  God  for  their 
victory.  They  then  manned  three  hundred  of  the 
prizes,  which  were  laden  with  corn,  wine,  oil.  and 
other  provisions,  and  with  militaiy  stores,  and  sent 


508 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


them  to  England — the  first  fruits  of  that  maritime 
superiority  for  which  the  church  bells  of  this  glori- 
ous island  have  so  often  pealed  with  joy.  A  hun- 
dred more  were  burnt,  because  they  were  drawn  up 
80  far  upon  the  sands  that  they  could  not  be  got  off 
without  more  hands  and  cost  of  time  than  could  be 
spared  for  them.  There  still  remained  a  great  part 
of  the  enemy's  fleet  higher  up  the  harbor,  and  pro- 
tected by  the  town,  in  which  Philip  had  left  a  suf- 
ficient force  to  protect  the  stores  which  he  had  left 
there,  and  the  money  for  the  payment  of  his  troops. 
The  English  landed ;  the  Earl  of  Flanders  joined 
them,  and  they  proceeded  to  attack  the  place ;  but 
by  this  there  had  been  sufficient  time  for  the 
French  king  to  hasten,  with  an  overpowering  force, 
from  the  siege  of  Ghent.  The  English  and  their 
allies  sustained  a  sharp  action,  and  were  compelled 
to  retreat  to  their  ships,  with  a  loss  computed  by 
the  French  at  two  thousand  men.  But  they  re- 
treated no  farther  than  to  the  near  shores  of  the 
Isle  of  Walcheren ;  and  Philip  saw  the  impossi- 
bility of  saving  the  remainder  of  his  fleet,  consider- 
ing the  unskilfulness  of  his  own  seamen,  as  well  as 
other  things.  He  set  fire  to  them,  therefore,  him- 
self, that  they  might  not  fall  into  the  enemy's 
hands.'"  The  French  king  thus  lost  the  means 
of  supporting  his  army  in  Flanders  or  of  transport- 
ing it  to  the  Enghsh  coast :  half  famished  and  over- 
come with  vexation,  he  hurried  across  his  own  fi-on- 
tiers,  leaving  Earl  Ferrand  to  recover  with  ease  all 
that  he  had  lost. 

The  first  great  naval  victory  transported  the 
English  people  with  joy  ;  but  with  joy  was  mingled 
a  malicious  confidence  and  presumption  in  the 
heart  of  John,  who  now  betrayed  a  determination 
to  break  the  best  part  of  his  recent  oaths.  Being 
determined  to  carry  the  war  into  France,  he  sum- 
moned his  vassals  to  meet  him  at  Portsmouth. 
The  barons  went  armed  and  appointed,  as  if  ready 
to  sail;  but,  when  ordered  to  embark,  they  reso- 
lutely refused  unless  the  king  recalled  the  exiles, 
ns  he  had  promised  to  do.  After  some  tergiver- 
sation John  granted  a  reluctant  consent,  and  Arch- 
bishop Langton,  the  bishops  of  London,  Ely,  Here- 
ford, Lincoln,  and  Bath,  the  monks  of  Canterbury, 
uU  with  their  companions  and  numerous  depen- 
dents returned.  John  and  the  archbishop  met 
and  kissed  each  other  at  Winchester  ;  and  there, 
in  the  porch  of  the  cathedral  church,  Langton  gave 
full  absolution  to  the  king,  who  again  swore  to 
govern  justly  and  maintain  his  fealty  to  the  Pope. 
It  was,  however,  clear  to  all  men  that  Langton 
placed  no  confidence  in  the  king ;  and  that  the 
king,  who  considered  him  as  the  chief  cause  of  all 
his  troubles,  regarded  Langton  with  all  the  deadly 
liatred  which  his  dark  character  was  capable  of. 
John  now  set  sail  with  a  few  ships,  but  his  barons 
■were  in  no  hurry  to  follow  him,  being  far  more 
eager  to  secure  their  own  liberties  than  to  recover 
the  king's  domAions  on  the  continent.  They  said 
that  the  time  of  their  feudal  service  Avas  expired, 
and  they  withdrew  to  a  great  council  at  St.  Albans, 
where  Fitz-Peter,  one  of  the   king's  justiciaries, 

-  Naval  Historj-,  i.  187,  188. 


presided,  and  where  they  published  resolves,  in  the 
form  of  royal  proclamations,  ordering  the  observ- 
ance of  old  laws,  and  denouncing  the  punishment  of 
death  against  the  sheriffs,  foresters,  or  other  of- 
ficers of  the  king  who  should  exceed  their  proper 
and  legal  authority.  John  got  as  far  as  the  island 
of  Jersey,  when,  finding  that  none  followed  him,  he 
turned  back  with  vows  of  vengeance.  He  landed, 
and  marched  with  a  band  of  mercenaries  to  the 
north,  where  the  barons  were  most  contumacious. 
Burning  and  destroying,  he  advanced  as  far  as  North- 
ampton. Here  Langton  overtook  him.  "  These 
barbarous  measures,"  said  the  prelate,  "  are  in  vio- 
lation of  your  oaths  ;  your  vassals  must  stand  to  the 
judgment  of  their  peers,  and  not  be  wantonly  har- 
assed by  arms."  "  Mind  you  your  church,"  roared 
the  furious  king,  "  and  leave  me  to  govern  the 
state."  He  continued  his  march  to  Nottingham, 
where  Langton,  who  was  not  a  man  to  be  intimi- 
dated, again  presented  himself,  and  threatened  to 
excommunicate  all  the  ministers  and  officers  that 
followed  him  in  his  lawless  course.  John  then  gave 
way,  and,  to  save  appearances,  summoned  the 
barons  to  meet  him  or  his  justices.  Langton  has- 
tened to  Loudon,  and  there,  at  a  second  meeting 
of  the  barons,  he  read  the  liberal  charter  which 
Henry  I.  had  granted  on  his  accession  ;  and  after 
inducing  them  to  embrace  its  provisions,  he  made 
them  swear  to  be  true  to  each  other,  and  to  conquer 
or  to  die  in  support  of  their  liberties.  This  was 
on  the  25th  of  August.  On  the  29th  of  September 
a  new  legate  from  the  Pope,  Cardinal  Nicholas,  ar- 
rived in  England  to  settle  the  indemnitj'  due  to  the 
exiles,  and  to  take  off  the  interdict.  John  renewed 
his  oath  of  fealty  to  Innocent,  knelt  in  homage  be- 
fore the  legate,  paid  fifteen  thousand  marks,  and 
promised  forty  thousand  more  to  the  bishops.  The 
interdict  was  removed ;  and  from  this  moment  the 
court  of  Rome  changed  sides,  and,  abandoning  the 
cause  of  liberty  and  the  barons,  stood  for  the  king. 
This  abandonment,  however,  did  not  discourage  the 
nobles,  nor  did  it  even  detach  Archbishop  Langton 
from  the  cause  for  which  they  had  confederated. 

A.  D.  1214.  A  formidable  league  was  now 
formed  against  the  French  king,  and  John  was 
enabled  to  join  it  with  some  vigor.  Ferrand,  Earl 
of  Flanders,  Reynaud,  Earl  of  Boulogne,  and  Otho, 
the  new  emperor  of  Germany,  nephew  to  John, 
determined  to  invade  France  and  divide  that  king- 
dom among  them,  giving  the  English  king  all  the 
country  beyond  the  Loire  for  his  share.  Ferrand 
was  to  have  Paris  with  all  the  Isle  of  France,  Rej'- 
naud  the  country  of  Vermandois,  and  the  emperor 
all  the  rest.  John  sent  some  English  forces  under 
the  command  of  his  half-brother,  the  Earl  of  Salis- 
bury, to  Valenciennes,  where  the  confederates 
established  their  head-quarters,  and  then  sailed 
himself  to  the  coast  of  Poictou,  where  several  of  his 
former  vassals  joined  him,  and  enabled  him  to 
advance  to  Angers.  This  diversion  was  well-plan- 
ned :  it  obliged  Philip  to  divide  his  forces,  and 
while  he  himself  marched  toward  the  frontiers 
of  Flanders,  he  sent  his  son  Louis  into  Brittany, 
whither   the    English    king   now   advanced.     John 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


509 


was  kept  in  check,  or  lost  his  opportunity  through 
cowardice    and    indolence,    while    his    allies    were 
thoroughly  defeated  at  the   battle  of  Bouvines, — 
one  of  the  most  memorable  battles  of  the  middle 
ages,  in  which  the  emperor  was  completely  ruined, 
and  the   Earl  of  Flanders,   the  Earl  of  Boulogne, 
and  the  Earl  of  Salisbury  were  taken   prisoners, 
with   an   immense   number   of  inferior   lords    and 
knights.     Salisbury,   the   gallant   Longsword,    was 
captured  by  the  Bishop  of  Beauvais,  the  very  in- 
dividual  whom    King    Richard    had    loaded    with 
chains,  and  upon  whose  coat  of  mail  that  king  had 
been   so    facetious.      This   prelate,    however,   had 
become  more  pinident  or  more  circumspect, — he  no 
longer  wielded  the  sword,  but  fought  with  a  heavy 
club,  thus  knocking  people  on   the   head   without 
shedding  blood,  which  was  contrary  to  the  canons 
of  the    church.     He  was  not   the  only  prelate  in 
this  fierce  mtlee.     Phihp  was  chiefly  indebted  for 
his  success  to  Guerin,  bishop-elect  of  Senlis,  who 
had  also  some  scruples  of  conscience,  for  he  would 
not  use  a  sword,  but  marshaled  the   French  host 
and   directed   the    slaughter  with   a   wand.     This 
battle  certainly  gave  lustre   to  the  French  arms  ; 
but  the  French  writers  gi'ossly  exaggerate  the  dis- 
parity of  numbers.     It  was  fought  on  the  27th  of 
July,  near  an  obscure  village  called  Bouvines,  be- 
tween Lisle  and  Tournay.     On  the  19th  of  October 
following  John  begged  a  truce,  and  obtained  one 
for  five  years,  on  condition  of  abandoning  all  the 
towns  and  castles  he  had  taken  on  the  continent. 
He  arrived  in  England  on  the  20th  of  October  in  a 
humor  more  ferocious  than  ever.     As  if  he  would 
take   vengeance    on   his  English   subjects   for   the 
reverses  and  shame  he  had  suffered,  he  again  let 
loose  his  foreign  mercenaries  on  the  land,  and  be- 
gan to  violate  all  his  most  solemn  promises.     Fitz- 


Peter,  his  justiciary,  the  only  one  of  his  ministers 
that  could  moderate  his  fury,  had  now  been  dead 
some  months.  John,  who  feared  him,  rejoiced  at 
his  death.  "  It  is  well,"  cried  he,  laughing  as  they 
told  him  the  news ;  "  in  hell  he  may  again  shake 
hands  with  Hubert,  our  late  primate,  for  surely  he 
will  find  him  there.  By  God's  teeth,  now  for  the 
first  time  I  am  king  and  lord  of  England." '  But 
there  were  men  at  work  resolute  and  skilful.  Im- 
mediately after  his  arrival  the  barons  met  to  talk  of 
the  league  they  had  formed  with  Langton.  "  The 
time,"  they  said,  "  is  favorable ;  the  feast  of  St. 
Edmund  approaches ;  amidst  the  multitudes  that 
resort  to  his  shrine  we  may  assemble  without  sus- 
picion." On  the  20th  of  November,  the  saint's 
day,  they  met  in  crowds  at  St.  Edmunds-Bury, 
where  they  finally  determined  to  demand  their 
rights,  in  a  body,  in  the  royal  court  at  the  festival  of 
Christmas.  The  spirit  of  freedom  was  awakened, 
not  soon  to  sleep  again :  they  advanced  one  by  one, 
according  to  seniority,  to  the  high  altar,  and,  laying 
their  hands  on  it,  they  solemnly  swore  that,  if  the 
king  refused  the  rights  they  claimed,  they  would 
withdraw  their  fealty  and  make  war  upon  him,  till, 
by  a  charter  under  his  own  seal,  he  should  confirm 
their  just  petitions.  They  then  parted  to  meet 
again  at  the  Feast  of  the  Nativity.  Wlien  that 
solemn  but  festive  season  arrived,  John  found  him- 
self at  Worcester,  and  almost  alone,  for  none  of  his 
great  vassals  came  as  usual  to  congratulate  him, 
and  the  countenances  of  his  own  attendants  seemed 
gloomy  and  unquiet.  He  suddenly  departed,  and 
riding  to  London,  there  shut  himself  up  in  the 
strong  house  of  the  Knights  Templars.  The  barons 
followed  close  on  the  coward's  steps,  and  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Epiphany  (at  every  move  they  chose 

1  Matt.  Par. 


St.  Edmunds  Bury.— 1745. 


510 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


some  day  consecrated  by  religion)  they  presented 
themselves  in  such  force  that  he  was  obliged  to 
admit  them  to  an  audience.  At  first  he  attempted 
to  browbeat  the  nobles.  One  bishop  and  two 
barons  were  recreants,  and  consented  to  recede 
from  their  claims,  and  never  trouble  him  again,  but 
all  the  rest  were  firm  to  their  purpose.  John 
turned  pale,  and  trembled.  He  then  changed  his 
tone,  and  cajoled  instead  of  threatening.  "  Your 
petition,"  he  said,  "  contains  matter  weighty  and 
arduous.  You  must  gi'ant  me  time  till  Easter,  that, 
with  due  deliberation,  I  may  be  able  to  do  justice 
to  myself,  and  satisfy  the  dignity  of  my  crown." 
Many  of  the  barons,  knowing  the  use  he  would 
make  of  it,  would  not  have  granted  this  delay,  but 
the  majority  consented,  on  condition  that  Cardinal 
Langton,  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  and  William,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  should  be  the  king's  sureties  that  he 
would  give  thein  the  satisfaction  they  demanded  on 
the  appointed  day.  The  confederated  nobles  then 
retired  to  their  homes.  They  were  no  sooner  gone 
than  John  adopted  measures  which  he  fondly  hoped 
would  frustrate  all  their  plans,  and  bring  them 
bound  hand  and  feet  within  the  verge  of  his  re- 
venge. He  began  by  courting  the  church,  and 
formally  renounced  the  important  prerogative  that 
had  been  hitherto  so  zealously  contended  for  by 
himself  and  his  great  ancestors,  touching  the  elec- 
tion of  bishops  and  abbots.  Having  thus,  as  he 
thought,  bound  the  clergy  to  his  service,  he  turned 
his  attention  to  the  body  of  the  people,  whose 
progress  had  been  slow,  but  pretty  steady,  and 
whose  importance  was  now  immense.  He  ordered 
his  sheriffs  to  assemble  all  the  free  men  of  their 
several  counties,  and  tender  to  them  a  new  oath  of 
allegiance.  His  next  step  was  to  send  an  agent  to 
Rome,  to  appeal  to  the  Pope  against  what  he 
termed  the  treasonable  violence  of  his  vassals.  The 
barons,  too,  dispatched  an  envoy  to  the  eternal  city; 
but  it  was  soon  made  more  than  ever  evident  that 
Innocent  would  support  the  king  through  right  and 
•WTong.  He  wrote  a  startling  letter  to  Cardinal 
Langton ;  but  that  extraordinary  priest  was  deaf 
to  the  voice  of  his  spiritual  chief  where  the  in- 
terests of  his  country  were  concerned.  To  make 
himself  still  surer,  John  took  the  cross  on  the  2d 
of  February,  solemnly  swearing  that  he  would  lead 
an  army  to  the  Holy  Land.  This  taking  of  the 
cross,  by  which  the  debtor  was  exempted  from  the 
pursuit  of  his  creditor, — by  which  the  persons, 
goods,  and  estates  of  the  crusaders  were  placed 
under  the  immediate  protection  of  the  church  till 
their  return  from  Palestine, — seemed  to  John  the 
best  of  all  defences. 

On  the  appointed  day  in  Easter  week  the  barons 
met  at  Stamford  with  great  military  pomp,  being 
followed  by  two  thousand  knights  and  a  host  of 
retainers.  The  king  was  at  Oxford.  The  barons 
marched  to  Brackley,  within  a  few  miles  of  that 
city,  where  they  were  met  by  a  deputation  from 
the  sovereign,  composed  of  Cardinal  Langton,  the 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  the  Earl  of  Warenne.  The 
confederates  delivered  the  schedule  containing  the 
chief  articles  of  their  petition.     "  These   are  our 


claims,"  they  said,  "and  if  they  are  not  instantly 
granted,  our  arms  shall  do  us  justice."  When 
the  deputies  returned,  and  Langton  expounded  the 
contents  of  the  parchment  he  held  in  his  hand, 
John  exclaimed,  in  a  fury,  "  And  why  do  they  not 
demand  my  crown  also  ?  By  God's  teeth  I  will 
not  grant  them  liberties  which  will  make  me  a 
slave."  He  then  made  some  evasive  offers  which 
the  barons  understood,  and  rejected.  Pandulph, 
who  was  with  the  king,  now  contended  that  the 
cardinal-primate  ought  to  excommunicate  the  con- 
federates ;  but  Langton  said  he  knew  the  Pope's 
real  intentions  had  not  been  signified,  and  that 
unless  the  king  dismissed  the  foreign  mercenaries, 
whom  he  had  brought  into  the  kingdom  for  its 
ruin,  he  would  presently  excommunicate  them. 
The  barons  now  proclaimed  themselves  "  the  army 
of  God  and  of  holy  church,"  and  unanimously 
elected  Robert  Fitz- Walter  to  be  their  general. 
They  then  marched  against  the  castle  of  North- 
ampton, but  they  had  no  battering  engines ;  the 
walls  were  lofty  and  strong;  the  garrison,  com- 
posed of  foreigners,  stood  out  for  the  king ;  and 
their  first  warlike  attempt  proved  a  failure.  After 
fifteen  days  they  gave  up  the  siege,  and  marched 
to  Bedford  with  anxious  minds.  On  whichever 
side  the  fi"ee  burghers  of  England  threw  their  sub- 
stantial weight  that  party  must  prevail,  and,  as 
yet,  no  declaration  had  been  made  in  favor  of  the 
confederates.  But  noAv  anxiety  vanished, — the 
people  of  Bedford  threw  open  their  gates ;  and 
soon  after  messengers  arrived  from  the  capital  with 
secret  advice  that  the  principal  citizens  of  London 
were  devoted  to  their  cause,  and  would  receive 
them  with  joy.  Losing  no  time,  they  marched  to 
Ware,  and,  not  stopping  to  rest  for  the  night,  pur- 
sued their  course  to  London,  which  they  readied 
in  the  morning.  It  was  the  24th  of  May,  and  a 
Sunday:  the  gates  were  open, — the  people  hearing 
mass  in  their  churches, — when  the  army  of  God 
entered  the  city  in  excellent  order  and  profound 
silence.  On  the  following  day  the  barons  issued 
proclamations  requiring  all  such  earls,  barons,  and 
knights,  as  had  hitherto  remained  neutral,  to  join 
them  against  the  perjured  John,  unless  they  wished 
to  be  treated  as  enemies  of  their  country.  In  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom  the  lords  and  knights  quitted 
their  castles  to  join  the  national  standard  at  Lon- 
don. It  is  needless,  say  the  old  chroniclers,  to 
enumerate  the  barons  who  composed  the  army  of 
God  and  of  holy  church  :  they  were  the  whole 
nobility  of  England.  The  heart  of  the  dastard  John 
again  turned  to  water :  he  saw  himself  almost  en- 
tirely deserted,  only  seven  knights  remaining  near 
his  person.  Recovering,  however,  from  his  first 
stupefaction,  he  resorted  to  his  old  arts ;  he  as- 
sumed a  cheerful  countenance ;  said  what  his  heges 
had  done  was  well  done ;  and  from  Odiham,  in 
Hampshire,  where  he  was  staying,  he  dispatched 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke  to  London,  to  assure  the 
barons  that,  for  the  good  of  peace,  and  the  exalta- 
tion of  his  reign,  he  was  ready  freely  to  grant  all 
the  rights  and  liberties ;  and  only  wished  them  to 
name  a  day  and  place  of  meeting.     "  Let  the  day," 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


511 


replied   the   barons,   "  be  the   15th   of  June, — the 
place,  Runny-mead.'" 

On  the  morning  of  the  appointed  day,  the  king 
moving  from  Windsor  Castle,  and  the  barons  from 
the  town  of  Staines,  the  parties  met  on  the  green 
meadow,  close  by  the  Thames,  which  the  barons 
had  named.  With  John  came  eight  bishops,  Pan- 
dulph,  Almeric,  the  Master  of  the  English  Tem- 
plars, the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  thirteen  other 
gentlemen  ;  but  the  majority  of  this  party,  though 
they  attended  him  as  friends  and  advisers,  were 
known  to  be  in  their  hearts  favorable  to  the  cause 
of  the  barons.  On  the  other  side  stood  Fitz- Walter 
and  the  whole  nobility  of  England.  With  scarcely 
an  attempt  to  modify  any  of  its  clauses,  and  with  a 
facility  that  might  justly  have  raised  suspicion,  the 
king  signed  the  scroll  presented  to  him.  This  was 
Magna  Charta, — the  Great  Charter, — a  most 
noble  commencement  and  foundation  for  the  future 
liberties  of  England.  As  the  profound  duplicity 
and  immorality  of  John  were  well  known,  the 
barons  exacted  securities.  They  required  that  he 
should  disband  and  send  out  of  the  kingdom  all  his 
foreign  officers,  with  their  families  and  followers ; 
that  for  the  two  ensuing  months  the  barons  should 
keep  possession  of  the  city,  and  Langton  of  the 
Tower  of  London  ;  and  that  they  should  be  allowed 
to  choose  twenty-five  members  from  their  own 
body  to  be  guardians  or  conservators  of  the  liberties 
of  the  kingdom,  with  power,  in  case  of  any  breach 
of  the  charter. — such  breach  not  being  redressed 

1  Matt.  Par. 


immediately, — to  Tnake  war  on  the  king ;  to  distrain 
and  distress  him  by  seizing  his  castles,  lands,  pos- 
sessions, and  in  any  other  manner  they  could,  till 
the  grievance  should  be  redressed ;  always,  how- 
ever, saving  harmless  the  person  of  the  said  lord 
the  king,  the  person  of  the  queen,  and  the  persons 
of  their  royal  children.  This  last  article,  which 
invested  a  council  of  twenty-five  with  the  real  sov- 
ereignty of  the  realm,  has  been  viewed  by  some  as 
an  unwarrantable  invasion  of  the  royal  prerogative ; 
but  a  strong  barrier  was  indispensable  against  the 
tyrannical  and  faithless  character  of  the  monarch, 
and  without  extreme  securities  the  charter  drawn 
from  his  reluctant  hand  would  have  been  utterly 
valueless.  It  is  true  that  no  hmits  were  set  to  the 
authority  of  the  barons  either  in  extent  or  duration; 
but,  under  the  circumstances,  it  was  necessary  that 
their  power  should  be  dictatorial,  and  the  only 
bound  as  to  time  which  could  have  been  introduced 
was  the  death  of  John, — a  clause  which  could  not 
be  decently  inserted. 

As  soon  as  the  great  assembly  dispersed,  and  John 
found  himself  in  Windsor  Castle  safe  from  the  ob- 
serving eyes  of  his  subjects,  he  called  a  few  foreign 
adventurers  around  him,  and  gave  vent  to  rage  and 
curses  against  the  charter.  According  to  the  chron- 
iclers his  behavior  was  that  of  a  frantic  madman  ; 
for,  besides  swearing,  he  gnashed  his  teeth,  rolled 
his  eyes,  and  gnawed  sticks  and  straws.  The  crea- 
tures, who  would  be  ruined  and  expelled  by  the 
charter,  roused  him  by  appealing  to  his  passion  ot 
revenge,  and  he  forthwith  dispatched  two  of  them 


512 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


to  the  continent  to  procure  liiin  the  means  of  undo- 
ing all  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  do.  One  of  these 
adventurers  went  to  Flanders,  Poictou,  Aquitaine, 
and  Gascony,  to  hire  other  adventurers  to  come  to 
England  and  fight  against  the  barons;  the  other  went 
to  Rome,  to  implore  the  aid  of  Innocent.  John  then 
sent  messengers  to  such  governors  of  his  castles  as 
were  foreigners  or  men  devoted  to  him,  command- 
ing them  to  lay  in  provisions  and  put  themselves  in 
a  state  of  defence  ;  "doing  all  tiiis  ^v'ithout  noise  and 
with  cjiution,  lest  the  barons  should  be  alarmed." 
lie  caused  the  alarm  himself,  by  instantly  evading 
some  of  the  clauses  of  the  charter.  On  their  de- 
parture from  Runny-mead,  the  barons,  in  the  joy 
of  their  hearts,  appointed  a  great  tournament  to  be  1 
held  at  Stamford  on  the  2d  of  July.  John,  during 
their  absence,  formed  a  plot  to  surprise  London, 
where  the  main  strengtli  of  the  party  lay  ;  but,  being  l 
warned  in  time,  the  nobles  put  off  the  celebration  of  j 
the  tournament  to  a  more  distant  day,  and  named  a 
place  for  it  nearer  to  London.  The  king  now  with- 
drew to  Winchester,  where,  alarmed  at  the  whole 
course  of  his  conduct,  a  deputation  waited  on  him 
on  the  27th  of  June.  He  laughed  at  their  suspi- 
cions,— swore,  with  his  usual  volubility,  that  they 
were  unfounded,  and  that  he  was  ready  to  do  all 
those  things  to  which  he  was  pledged.  He  issued 
u  few  writs  required  of  him,  and  then  withdrew 
.still  further  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  he  would 
mjx  with  no  society  save  that  of  the  fishermen  of 
the  place  and  the  mariners  of  the  neighboring  ports, 
whom  he  tried  to  captivate  by  adopting  their  man- 
ners. Here  he  remained  about  three  weeks  (not 
months,  as  stated  by  Matthew  Paris) ;  for  it  appears 
from  public  instruments,  still  extant,  that  he  was  at 
Oxford  on  the  21st  of  July,  where  he  appointed  a 
conference  which  he  did  not  attend,  posting  away 
to  Dover,  where  he  staid  during  the  whole  of  Sep- 
tember, anxiously  awaiting  the  arrival  of  his  merce- 
nary recruits  from  the  continent.  When  the  barons 
learned  that  troops  of  Brabanters  and  others  were 
stealing  into  the  land  in  small  parties,  they  dis- 
patched William  d'Albiney,  at  the  head  of  a  chosen 
band,  to  take  possession  of  the  royal  castle  of  Roch- 
ester. D'Albiney  had  scarcely  entered  the  castle, 
which  he  found  almost  destitute  of  stores  and 
engines  of  defence,  when  John  found  himself  suf- 
ficiently strong  to  venture  from  Dover.  The  un- 
English  despot,  followed  by  Poictevins,  Gascons, 
Flemings,  Brabanters,  and  others, — the  outcasts  and 
freebooters  of  Europe, — laid  siege  to  Rochester 
Castle  at  the  beginning  of  October.  The  barons, 
knowing  tlie  insufificient  means  of  defence  within 
the  castle,  marched  from  London  to  its  relief,  but 
they  were  obliged  to  retreat  before  the  superior 
force  of  the  foreigners,  who,  day  after  day,  were 
joined  by  fresh  adventurers  from  the  other  side  of 
the  Channel.  Fortunately  for  England,  one  Hugh 
<le  Boves  and  a  vast  horde  of  marauders  perished  in 
a  tempest  on  their  way  from  Calais  to  Dover.  John 
bewailed  this  loss  like  a  maniac,  but  he  pressed  the 
siege  of  Rochester  Castle,  and  still  prevented  the 
barons  from  relieving  it.  After  a  gallant  resistance 
of  eight  weeks,  when  the  outer  walls  were  thrown 


down,  an  angle  of  the  keep  shattered,  and  the  last 
mouthful  of  provision  consumed,  D'Albiney  surren- 
dered. John,  with  his  usual  ferocity,  ordered  him 
to  be  hanged,  with  his  whole  garrison ;  but  Savaric 
de  Manleon,  the  leader  of  one  of  the  foreign  bands, 
opposed  this  barbarous  mandate,  because  he  feared 
the  English  might  retaliate  on  his  own  followers,  if 
any  should  fall  into  their  hands.  The  tyrant  was, 
therefore,  contented  to  butcher  the  inferior  prison- 
ers, while  all  the  knights  were  sent  to  the  castles 
of  Corfe  and  Nottingham. 

The  loss  of  Rochester  Castle  was  a  serious  blow 
to  the  cause  of  the  barons,  who  were  soon  after 
excommunicated  by  the  Pope ;  for  the  king's  appli- 
cation to  Rome  had  met  with  full  success,  notwith- 
standing a  counter  ajjpeal  made  by  the  English 
nation.  Innocent  declared  that  the  barons  were 
worse  than  Saracens  for  molesting  a  vassal  of  the 
holy  see — a  religious  king  who  had  taken  the  cross. 
Thus  emboldened,  John  marched  from  Kent  to  St. 
Alban's,  accompanied  by  "  Faico,  without  bowels," 
"  Manleon,  the  bloody,"  "  Walter  Buch,  the  mur- 
derer," "  Sottim,  the  merciless,"  "  Godeschal,  the 
iron-hearted,"  and  a  most  mixed  and  savage  host. 
It  was  thought  at  one  time  he  would  turn  upon 
London,  but  the  attitude  of  the  capital  struck  him 
with  terror ;  and  leaving  a  strong  division  to  manoeu- 
vre round  it,  and  devastate  the  southeastern  coun- 
ties, he  moved  toward  Nottingham,  marking  his 
progress  with  flames  and  blood.  Alexander,  the 
young  king  of  Scotland,  had  entered  into  an  alliance 
with  the  English  barons,  and,  having  crossed  the 
borders,  was  investing  the  castle  of  Norham.  The 
whole  northern  country,  moreover,  was  especially 
obnoxious  to  John,  and  thither  he  determined  to 
carry  his  vengeance.  A  few  days  after  the  feast  of 
Christmas,  when  the  ground  was  covered  with  deep 
snow,  he  marched  from  Nottingham  into  York- 
shire, still  burning  and  slaying,  and  becoming  more 
savage  the  farther  he  advanced  and  the  less  he  was 
opposed.  Every  hamlet,  every  house  on  the  road, 
felt  the  fury  of  his  execrable  host, — he  himself  giv- 
ing the  example,  and  setting  fire  with  his  own  hands 
in  the  morning  to  the  house  in  which  he  had  rested 
the  preceding  night.  His  foreign  soldiery  put  his 
native  subjects  to  the  torture  to  make  them  confess 
where  they  had  concealed  their  money.  The  tor- 
tures inflicted  were  worthy  of  fiends,  and  too  horri- 
ble to  bear  description.  All  the  castles  and  towns 
they  could  take  were  given  to  the  flames ;  and  the 
people  of  Yorkshire  and  Northumberland  were  re- 
minded of  the  expedition  of  William  the  Conqueror, 
which  their  local  traditions  faithfully  painted  as  the 
extremity  of  human  barbarity  on  the  one  side,  and 
of  human  misery  on  the  other.  The  Scottish  king 
retired  before  a  superior  force,  and  John,  vowing  he 
would  "unkennel  the  young  fox,"  followed  him  as 
far  as  Edinburgh.  Here,  meeting  with  opposition, 
he  paused,  and  then — never  having  any  valor  butr 
when  unopposed — he  turned  back  to  England,  burn- 
ing Haddington,  Dunbar,  and  Berwick  on  his  way. 
Near  the  borders,  Morpeth,  Mitford,  Alnwick, 
Wark,  and  Roxburgh  had  been  consumed  already. 

In  the  meantime  the  division  left  in  the  south. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


513 


which  seems  to  have  been  reinforced  by  fresh  ar- 
rivals of  mercenaries  from  the  continent,  committed 
equal  atrocities  ;  and  wherever  the  castle  of  a  noble 
was  taken,  it  was  given,  with  the  adjoining  estate, 
to  some  hungry  adventurer, — John  thus  renewing 
the  early  scenes  of  the  Conquest.  On  the  16th  of 
December  another  sentence  of  excommunication 
was  proniulgated  by  the  Abbot  of  Abingdon  and  two 
other  ecclesiastics  :  in  this  bull  Robert  Fitz- Walter, 
the  general  of  the  confederacy,  and  all  the  principal 
barons,  were  mentioned  by  name  ;  and  the  city  of 
London  was  laid  under  an  interdict.  This  measure 
excited  some  fear  and  wavering  in  the  country,  but 
the  citizens  of  London  had  the  boldness  to  despise 
it.  According  to  Matthew  Paris  they  asserted  that 
the  pontiff  had  no  right  to  interfere  in  worldly  con- 
cerns ;  and,  spite  of  the  interdict,  they  kept  open 
their  churches,  rang  their  bells,  and  celebrated  their 
Christmas  with  unusual  festivity. 

But  the  barons,  who  were  confined  in  London  by 
the  force  that  continually  increased  around  them — 
who  saw  their  property  the  prey  to  new  invaders — 
and  who  knew  the  full  extent  of  the  danger  to 
which  the  nation  was  exposed  (the  effect  of  the  ex- 
communication on  the  villains  in  the  country  not 
being  the  least  of  these),  were  sorely  disquieted, 
and  knew  •  not  what  measures  to  adopt.  Many 
meetings  were  held,  and  a  variety  of  plans  debated  ; 
but  at  last  they  unanimously  resolved,  in  a  moment 
of  desperation,  upon  the  very  equivocal  and  perilous 
expedient  of  calling  in  foreign  aid.  They  sent  to 
offer  the  crown  to  Philip's  eldest  son.  Prince  Louis, 
who  was  connected  with  the  reigning  family  by  his 
marriage  with  Blanche  of  Castile,  John's  own  niece  ; 
believing  that,  should  he  land  among  them,  the 
mercenaries  now  with  John,  who  were  chiefly  sub- 
jects of  France,  would  join  his  standard,  or  at  least 
refuse  to  bear  arms  against  him.  Philip  and  Louis 
eagerly  grasped  at  this  off'er ;  but  the  wary  old  king 
moderated  the  impatience  of  his  son,  and  would  not 
permit  him  to  venture  into  England  until  twenty- 
four  hostages,  sons  of  the  noblest  of  the  English, 
were  sent  into  France.  Then  a  fleet,  with  a  small 
army,  was  sent  up  the  Thames  :  it  arrived  at  Lon- 
don at  the  end  of  February,  and  the  commander 
assured  the  barons  that  Louis  himself  would  be 
there  with  a  proper  force  by  the  feast  of  Easter. 
Innocent  in  the  meanwhile  was  not  inactive  in 
John's,  or  rather  in  his  own,  cause  ;  he  dispatched 
a  new  legate  to  England  ;  and  Gualo,  on  his  journey, 
reached  France  in  time  to  witness  and  to  endeavor 
to  prevent  the  preparations  making  for  invasion. 
He  boldly  asked  both  king  and  prince  how  they 
dared  attack  the  pati-imony  of  the  church,  and 
threatened  them  with  instant  excommunication. 
To  the  astonishment  of  the  churchman,  Louis  ad- 
vanced a  claim  to  the  English  throne  through  right 
of  his  wife,  and  departed  for  Calais  where  his  army 
was  collecting.  At  the  appointed  time,  he  set  sail 
from  Calais  with  a  numerous  and  well-appointed 
armj%  embarked  on  board  680  vessels.  His  passage 
was  stormy :  the  mariners  of  the  Cinque  Ports, 
who  adhered  to  the  English  king,  cut  off  and  took 
some  of  his  ships ;  but,  on  the  30th  of  May,  he  landed 
VOL.  I.— 33 


safely  at  Sandwich.  John,  who  had  come  round 
to  Dover  with  a  numerous  army,  fled  before  the 
French  landed,  and,  burning  and  ravaging  the  coun- 
try, he  went  to  Guildford,  then  to  Winchester,  and 
then  to  Bristol,  where  Gualo,  the  Pope's  legate, 
soon  joined  him.  Leaving  Dover  Castle  in  his  rear, 
Louis  besieged  and  took  the  Castle  of  Rochester. 
He  then  marched  to  the  capital,  where,  on  the  2d 
of  June,  A.D.  1216,  he  was  joyfully  received  by  the 
barons  and  citizens,  who  conducted  him,  with  a 
magnificent  procession,  to  St.  Paul's.  After  he 
had  offered  up  his  prayers,  the  nobles  and  citizens 
did  homage,  and  swore  fealty  to  him.  And  then 
he,  with  his  hand  on  the  Gospels,  also  swore  to 
restore  to  all  orders  their  good  laws,  and  to  each 
individual  the  estates  and  property  of  which  he  had 
been  robbed.  Soon  after,  Louis  published  a  mani- 
festo, addressed  to  the  King  of  Scotland  and  all  the 
nobles  not  present  in  London.  An  immense  effect 
was  presently  seen  :  nearly  every  one  of  the  few 
nobles  who  had  followed  John  now  left  him  and 
repaired  to  London  ;  all  the  men  of  the  north,  from 
Lincolnshire  to  the  borders,  rose  up  in  arms  against 
him ;  the  Scottish  king  made  ready  to  march  to 
the  south ;  and,  at  first  in  small  troops,  and  then  in 
masses,  all  the  foreign  mercenaries,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  those  of  Gascony  and  Poictou,  deserted 
the  standard  of  the  tyrant,  and  either  returned  to 
their  homes  or  took  service  under  Louis  and  the 
barons,  who  were  now  enabled  to  retake  many  of 
their  castles.  Gualo,  the  legate,  did  all  he  could 
to  keep  up  the  drooping,  abject  spirit  of  John  ;  but, 
at  the  very  moment  of  crisis,  on  the  16th  of  July, 
the  Pope  himself,  the  mighty  Innocent,  died,  and 
left  the  church  to  be  wholly  occupied  for  some 
time  by  the  election  of  a  new  pontiff. 

Louis  marched  to  Dover,  and  laid  siege  to  the 
castle,  which  was  most  bravely  defended  for  the 
king  by  Hubert  de  Burgh;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
some  of  the  barons  attacked  Windsor  Castle,  which 
was  equally  well  defended.  Philip  sent  his  son  a 
famous  military  engine,  called  the  malvoisine,  or 
bad  neighbor,  with  which  to  batter  the  walls  of 
Dover  Castle ;  but  when  the  siege  had  lasted  sev- 
eral weeks,  Louis  found  himself  obliged  to  convert 
it  into  a  blockade.  Withdrawing  his  army  beyond 
reach  of  the  arrows  of  the  garrison,  he  swore  that 
he  would  reduce  the  place  by  famine  and  then 
hang  all  its  defenders.  The  barons  raised  the 
siege  of  Windsor  Castle  entirely,  in  order  to  repel 
John,  who,  after  running  from  place  to  place,  had 
at  last  made  his  appearance  near  them,  and  was 
pillaging  the  estates  of  some  of  those  nobles.  At 
their  appi-oach  he  fell  back,  and  eluding  their  pur- 
suit by  skill,  or,  more  probably,  by  hard  running, 
he  reached  the  town  of  Stamford.  The  barons 
wheeled  round,  and  joined  Louis  at  Dover,  where 
much  valuable  time  was  lost  in  inactivity,  for  that 
prince  would  neither  assault  the  castle  nor  move 
from  it.  Other  circumstances  at  the  same  time 
caused  discontent :  Louis  treated  the  English  with 
disrespect,  and  began  to  make  grants  of  estates  and 
titles  in  England  to  his  French  followers.  BuC 
jealousy  and  apprehension  were  excited  to  the  ver-' 


514 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  III. 


utmost  by  ixn  event  which  happened,  or  at  least  was 
said  to  have  happened.  The  Viscount  de  Melun, 
who  had  come  over  with  the  prince,  being  suddenly 
seized  by  a  mortal  malady  in  London,  earnestly 
implored  to  see  such  of  the  English  nobles  as  had 
remained  in  that  city.  The  barons  went  at  the 
summons  of  the  dying  man.  "  Your  fate  grieves 
me,"  said  De  Melun  ;  "  the  prince  and  sixteen  of 
his  army  have  bound  themselves  by  oath,  when  the 
realm  shall  be  conquered  and  he  be  crowned,  to 
banish  forever  those  who  have  joined  his  standard 
as  traitors  not  to  be  trusted.  Their  whole  ofispring 
will  be  beggared  or  exterminated.  Doubt  not  my 
■words;  I,  who  here  lie  dying  before  j^ou,  was  one 
of  the  conspirators :  look  to  your  siifety  !"  and  so 
saying,  the  viscount  died.  This  dramatic  scene, 
which  possibly  originated  in  the  invention  of  some 
of  John's  partisans,  was  whispered  everywhere, 
and  believed  by  many.  Several  barons  and  knights 
withdrew  from  Dover,  and  though  few  would  ti'ust 
John,  all  began  to  doubt  whether  they  liad  not  com- 
mitted a  fatal  mistake  in  calling  in  the  aid  of  a  for- 
eign prince.  As  these  doubts  prevailed  more  and 
more,  and  as  the  gloom  thickened  round  the  camp 
at  Dover,  where  Louis  had  now  lost  nearly  thi-ee 
months,  the  cause  of  John  brightened  in  proportion. 
Soon  after  eluding  the  pursuit  of  the  barons,  he 
had  made  himself  master  of  Lincoln,  where  he 
established  his  head-quarters  for  some  time,  making, 
hoAvever,  predatory  incursions  on  all  sides.  Asso- 
ciations were  formed  in  his  favor  in  several  of  the 
maritime  counties;  and  the  English  cruisers  fre- 
quently captured  the  supplies  from  the  continent 
destined  for  Louis.  At  the  beginning  of  October, 
marching  through  Peterborough,  he  entered  the 
district  of  Croyland,  and  plundered  and  burnt  the 
form-houses  belonging  to  that  celebrated  abbey :  he 
then  proceeded  to  the  town  of  Lynn,  where  he  had 
a  depot  of  provisions  and  other  stores.     Here,  turn- 


ing his  face  again  toward  the  north,  he  marched  to 
Wisbeach,  and  from  Wisbeach  he  proceeded  to  a 
place  called  the  Cross  Keys,  on  the  southern  side 
of  the  Wash.  It  is  not  clear  why  he  took  that  dan- 
gerous route,  but  he  resolved  to  cross  the  Wash  by 
the  sands.  At  low  water  this  estuary  is  passable ; 
but  it  is  subject  to  sudden  rises  of  the  tide.  John 
and  his  army  had  nearly  reached  the  opposite  shore, 
called  the  Fossdike,  when  the  returning  tide  began 
to  roar.  Pressing  forward  in  haste  and  terror,  they 
escaped ;  but,  on  looking  back,  John  beheld  the 
carriages  and  sumpter-horses  which  carried  his 
money  overtaken  by  the  waters ;  the  surge  broke 
furiously  over  them,  and  they  presently  disappeared 
— carriages,  horses,  treasures,  and  men  being  swal- 
lowed up  in  a  whirlpool  caused  by  the  impetuous 
ascent  of  the  tide  and  the  descending  current  of  the 
river  Welhand.  In  a  mournful  silence,  only  broken 
by  curses  and  useless  complaints,  John  traveled  on 
to  the  Cistercian  abbey  of  Swineshead,  where  he 
rested  for  the  night.  Here  he  ate  gluttonously  of 
some  peaches  or  pears,  and  drank  new  cider  im- 
moderately. The  popular  story  of  his  being  poi- 
soned by  a  monk  may  be  true  or  false ;  but  it  is 
told  in  two  ways,  and  was  never  told  at  all  by  any 
writer  living  at  the  time  or  within  half  a  century  of 
it,  and  the  excess  already  mentioned,  acting  upon 
an  irritated  mind  and  fevered  body,  seems  to  be 
cause  enough  for  what  followed.  He  passed  the 
night  sleepless,  restless,  and  in  horror.  At  an  early 
hour  on  the  following  morning,  the  15th  of  October, 
he  mounted  his  horse  to  pursue  his  march,  but  he 
was  soon  compelled,  by  a  burning  fever  and  acute 
pain,  to  dismount.  His  attendants  then  brought  up  a 
horse-litter,  in  which  they  laid  him,  and  so  conveyed 
him  to  the  castle  of  Sleaford.  Here  he  rested  for 
the  night,  which  brought  him  no  repose,  but  an  in- 
crease of  his  disorder.  The  next  day  they  carried 
him  with  great  difficulty  to  the  castle  of  Newark, 


Tomb  or  Kino  John,  at  Worcester 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


515 


on  the  Trent,  and  there  he  sent  for  a  confessor, 
and  laid  himself  down  to  die.  The  Abbot  of  Crox- 
ton,  a  religious  house  in  the  neighborhood,  who,  it 
appears,  was  equally  skilled  in  medicine  and  divin- 
ity, attended  him  in  his  last  hours,  and  witnessed  his 
anguish  and  tardy  repentance.  He  named  his  eldest 
son  Henry  his  successor,  and  dictated  a  letter  to  the 
recently  elected  pope,  Honorius  III.,  imploring  the 
protection  of  the  church  for  his  young  and  helpless 
children.  He  made  all  the  knights  who  were  with 
him  swear  fealty  to  Henry ;  and  he  sent  orders  to 
the  sheriffs  of  counties  and  the  governors  of  castles 
to  be  faithful  to  the  prince.  Messengers  .arrived 
from  some  of  the  barons,  who  were  disgusted  with 
Louis,  and  proposed  returning  to  their  allegiance. 
This  gleam  of  hope  came  too  late, — the  "  tyrant 
fever"  had  destroyed  the  tyrant.  The  Abbot  of 
Croxton  asked  him  where  he  would  have  his  body 
buried?  John  groaned,  "  I  commit  my  soul  to  God, 
and  my  body  to  St.  Wulstan  !"  and  soon  after  he 
expired,  on  the  18th  of  October,  in  the  forty-ninth 
year  of  his  age  and  the  seventeenth  of  his  wretched 
reign.  They  carried  his  body  to  Worcester  and  in- 
terred it  in  the  cathedral  church  there,  of  which 
St.  Wulstan  was  the  patron  saint.' 


During  the  whole  of  the  period  through  which 
we  have  now  passed,  the  three  states  of  Albin, 
Pictland,  and  Strathclyde,  which  had  formerly 
divided  the  northern  part  of  the  island,  were  con- 
solidated into  the  single  kingdom  of  Scotland,  of 
which,  however,  the  southern  limits  varied  consid- 
erably at  different  times;  for  the  proper  Scotland 
lay  all  beyond  the  Forth  and  the  Clyde  ;  and  the 
territory  to  the  south  of  these  rivers  was  not  ac- 
counted as  strictly  forming  part  either  of  Scotland 
or  England  till  some  ages  after  the  Norman  Con- 
quest, At  the  time  of  that  event  the  Scottish  king 
was  Malcolm  III.,  surnamed  Canmore,  or  Great 
Head,  whose  reign  commenced  in  1057.^  His 
dominions  undoubtedly  included  the  ancient  king- 
dom of  Strathclyde,  or  the  district  now  forming  the 
southwestern  part  of  Scotland,  which  had  been 
conquered  by  Kenneth  III.  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
preceding  century  f  and  the  district  of  Cumbria, 
lying  on  the  same  side  of  the  island,  but  within 
what  is  now  called  England,  was  also  at  this  time 
an  appanage  of  the  Scottish  crown,  having  been 
made  over  to  Malcolm  I.  by  the  Saxon  king,  Ed- 
mund I.,  in  946,*  and  held  from  that  date,  either  by 
the  occupant  of  the  throne  or  by  the  person  next  in 
succession,  as  an  English  fief  or  lordship.  With 
regard  to  the  southeastern  portion  of  modern 
Scotland,  or  the  district  then  known  by  the  name  of 
Lodonia  or  Lothian  (now  confined  to  a  part  of  it), 
the  state  of  the  case  is  not  so  clear.  The  people 
appear  to  have  been  chiefly  or  exclusively  Angles, 
mixed  in  later  times  with  Danes ;  and  the  territorj- 
undoubtedly  at  one  period  formed  part  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  kingdom  of  Northumbria.  From  the  defeat, 
however,  of  the  Northumbrian  king,  Egfrid,  b}-  the 


Matt.  Par.— Matt.  West. 
See  ante,  p.  208. 


5  See  ante,  p.  211. 

*  See  ante,  pp  161  and  208. 


Picts  in  685,'  it  may  be  considered  as  having  been 
withdrawn  from  the  actual  dominion  of  its  former 
masters,  although  perhaps  their  claim  to  its  sove- 
reignty was  never  abandoned,  and  it  may  have  been 
for  short  periods  wholly  or  partially  resubjected  by 
the  English.  "  Situated  between  the  Scotch  or 
Pictish  and  the  Northumbrian  kingdoms,"  observes 
a  writer  to  whom  we  owe  the  latest  as  well  as  the 
most  acute  and  learned  discussion  of  this  obscure 
matter,  "  it  is  impossible  to  say  to  which  it  usually 
or  rightfully  belonged.  It  seems  to  have  been  a 
debatable  land,  subject,  as  they  alternately  prepon- 
derated, to  the  strongest."^  Mr.  Allen,  however, 
is  inclined  to  accept  the  account  given  by  Walling- 
ford  (who,  although  he  wrote  in  the  twelfth  or 
thirteenth  century,  appears,  as  it  is  observed,  "  to 
have  possessed  original  materials  which  are  now 
lost")  of  the  manner  in  which  what  he  calls  the  old 
quarrel,  respecting  Lothian,  was  at  last  determined. 
Wallingford's  statement  is,  that  in  the  reign  of  the 
English  Edgar,  Kenneth  IV.,  King  of  Scotland, 
having  come  to  London,  and  represented  that  Lo- 
thian properly  belonged  by  hereditary  right  to  the 
Scottish  kings,  Edgar  laid  the  affair  before  his  no- 
bles, who,  seeing  that  it  was,  from  its  remoteness, 
difficult  to  protect,  and  little  profitable  to  England, 
agreed  to  resign  the  territory  to  Kenneth ;  but  only 
on  condition  that  he  should  hold  it,  as  they  main- 
tained his  predecessors  had  done,  or  at  least  ought 
to  have  done,  by  doing  homage  for  it  to  the  EngHsh 
crown.  To  these  terms  Kenneth  assented,  promi- 
sing, while  he  did  his  homage,  that  he  would  allow 
the  people  to  keep  their  ancient  customs,  and  that 
they  should  continue  English  in  name  and  in  lan- 
guage f  all  which,  adds  the  historian,  remains  firmly 
established  to  this  day.  This  transaction  appears  to 
have  taken  place  in  the  year  971.  It  is  probable, 
from  the  account,  that  Lothian  was  already  in  the 
actual  possession  of  the  Scottish  kings ;  and  they 
appear  from  this  time  to  have  continued  in  the  un- 
disturbed occupation  of  it  till  the  defeat  of  Malcolm 
II.,  in  1005,  by  the  Earl  of  the  Northumbrians  ;  in 
consequence  of  which,  Mr.  Allen  thinks,  the  whole 
or  part  of  the  district  was  reannexed  to  the  North- 
umbrian earldom.  Some  years  after,  however,  the 
Northumbrians  were  in  their  turn  defeated  by  the 
same  Malcolm  at  the  battle  of  Carrum,  near  Werk. 
and  eventually,  in  1020,  a  final  cession  of  Lothian 
to  the  Scottish  king  was  formally  made  by  the 
Northumbrian  eai;l  Eadulf.''  It  is  probable  that  the 
English  kings  did  not  consider  their  ancient  claim  to 
the  paramount  dominion  of  the  district  to  be  affected 
by  this  last  cession  ;  but  there  is  no  record  of  any 
subsequent  assertion  of  the  claim  till  after  the  Nor- 
man conquest.  Malcolm  Canmore  may  therefore  be 
regarded  as  reigning  in  full  sovereignty  over  Lothian, 
as  well  as  over  all  the  rest  of  the  country  now  in- 
cluded under  the  name  of  Scotland. 

It  is  only  necessary  further  to  mention,  that  th*- 
southwestern    angle    of  Scotland,    formerly  called 

1  See  ante.  p.  206. 

"  Allen's  Vindication  of  the   Ancient   Independence   of  Scotland, 
8vo.  1833. 
'  "  Sub  nomine  et  lingua  Anglicana  permanerent." 
*  See  ante,  p.  210 


516 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  HI. 


Galloway,  and  now  forming  the  counties  of  Wigton 
and  Kirkcudbright,  received  various  bodies  of  colo- 
nists from  Ireland  in  the  course  of  the  ninth,  tenth, 
and  eleventh  centuries.  »•  They  appear,"  says  Mr. 
Allen,  "at  all  times  to  have  owed  subjection  to  the 
Scottish  kings,  but  they  long  retained  the  barbarous 
habits  and  ferocious  manners  which  the  ravages  of 
the  Northmen  had  impressed  on  the  country  they 
had  quitted.  In  the  twelfth  century,  they  are  called 
Picts,  or  Galwegians  ;  and  as  late  as  the  fourteenth 
century,  they  are  distinguished  by  the  appellation  of 
the  Wild  Scots  of  Galloway."  In  fact,  the  name 
of  Galloway,  which  is  first  mentioned  in  the  early 
part  of  the  twelfth  century,  was  derived  from  this 
Irish  or  Gaelic  population. 

Malcolm  had  passed  about  fifteen  years  at  the 
court  of  the  Confessor  before  he  became  king  ;  and 
in  his  long  exile  he  must  have  formed  various  Eng- 
lish connections,  as  well  as  become  habituated  to 
the  manners  of  the  sister  country.  He  may  there- 
fore be  supposed  to  have,  from  the  first,  kept  up  a 
more  intimate  intercourse  with  England  than  had 
been  customary  with  his  predecessors.  The  chief 
of  his  English  friends,  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
appears  to  have  been  Harold's  notorious  brother 
Tostig,  who  obtained  the  earldom  of  Northumber- 
land about  tlie  same  time  that  Malcolm  ascended 
the  throne  of  Scotland.  Simeon  of  Durham  says 
they  were  so  much  attached  to  each  other  that 
they  were  commonly  called  the  sworn  brothers. 
Accordingly,  when  Tostig  was  driven  off  from  the 
English  coast,  on  his  first  invasion  after  the  accession 
of  Harold,^  he  took  refuge  in  the  first  instance  with 
Malcolm.  The  Scottish  king,  however,  seems  to 
have  taken  no  part  in  the  new  attempt  made  by  his 
friend  in  the  close  of  the  same  year;  and  he  did  not 
therefore  share  in  the  decisive  defeat  of  Stamford 
Bridge,  in  which  both  Tostig  and  his  ally,  Hardrada 
of  Norwjiy,  lost  their  lives. 

The  principal  events  that  make  up  the  subsequent 
history  of  the  reign  of  Malcolm  arose  out  of  his 
connection  with  another  English  fugitive,  the  un- 
fortunate Edgar  Atheling.  Edgar  fled  to  Scotland,^ 
according  to  the  most  probable  account,  with  his 
mother  and  his  two  sisters,  in  the  beginning  of 
1068;  and  soon  after,  Malcolm  espoused  Edgar's 
oldest  sister  Margaret,  at  Dunfermline.  From  some 
cause,  which  is  not  distinctly  explained,  Malcolm 
did  not  arrive  with  his  forces  in  time  to  support  the 
insurrection  of  the  people  of  Northumbria,^  in  con- 
junction with  the  Danes  and  the  friends  of  Edgar, 
in  the  following  year  :  and  it  was  not  till  after  the 
complete  suppression  of  that  attempt,  and  the  whole 
of  the  east  coast;  from  the  Humber  to  the  Tyne, 
had  been  made  a  desert  by  the  remorseless  ven- 
geance of  the  Norman,  that  the  Scottish  king,  in 
1070,  entered  England,  through  Cumberland,  and 
spread  nearly  as  great  devastation  in  the  western 
parts  of  York  and  Durham  as  William  had  done  in 
the  east.  He  commanded  his  soldiers  to  spare  only 
the  young  men  and  women ;  and  they  were  driven 
into  Scotland  to  be  made  slaves.     A  writer*  of  the 


1  See  ante,  p.  198. 
3  See  ante,  p.  358 


2  See  ante,  p.  356. 
♦  Simeon  of  Durham 


following  century  says  that  Scotland  was  in  conse- 
quence so  fully  supplied  with  male  and  female 
slaves  of  English  race  that,  in  his  own  days,  not  a 
village,  and  scarcely  even  a  house,  could  be  found 
without  them.  Great  numbers  of  the  people  of  the 
east  coast  also  now  fled  to  Scotland,  and  there  sold 
themselves  into  slavery,  to  escape  from  the  sword 
of  the  conqueror,  or  from  perishing  by  hunger  in 
the  desolation  it  had  left. 

It  was  not  till  1072  that  William  found  leisure 
to  chastise  Malcolm  for  this  inroad.  He  then 
iidvanced  into  Scotland,  and  wasted  the  country  as 
far  as  -the  Tay,  though  the  inhabitants,  after  the 
plan  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  pursue  in 
such  cases  from  the  days  of  Galgacus,  and  which 
they  continued  to  follow  occasionally  to  a  much 
later  age,  destroyed  or  removed  everything  of  value 
as  the  invader  advanced,  so  that,  as  the  Saxon 
chronicler  expresses  it,  "  he  nothing  found  of  that 
which  to  him  the  better  was."  In  the  end,  how- 
ever, Malcolm  came  to  him  at  Abernethy,'  when, 
according  to  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  a  peace  was 
arranged  between  the  two  kings,  on  Malcolm 
agreeing  to  give  hostages,  and  to  do  homage  to 
William  as  his  liege  lord.  William  then  returned 
home  with  his  army. 

This  transaction  makes  a  principal  figure  in  the 
controversy  which  was  formerly  carried  on  with  so 
much  unnecessary ^leat,  and  which  still  continues 
to  divide  historical  inquirers,  respecting  the  alleged 
dependence  in  ancient  times  of  the  kingdom  of 
Scotland  upon  the  English  crown.  The  position 
taken  by  the  asserters  of  this  dependence  appears 
to  be  that,  from  a  date  long  before  the  Norman  Con- 
quest of  England,  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  of  that 
country  had  in  some  way  or  other  obtained  posses- 
sion of  the  sovereignty  of  the  whole  island,  and  the 
kings  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  the  princes  of  Wales, 
had  become  their  acknowledged  vassals.  We  may 
say  without  hesitation  that  this  notion  is  directly 
opposed  to  the  whole  course  of  the  history  of  the 
two  countries. 

Upon  what  could  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings  possibly 
found  any  pretension  to  the  sovereignty  of  Scotland  ? 
The  country  was  never  conquered  by  any  of  them, 
nor  is  there  a  vestige  of  evidence  that  even  an  at- 
tempt was  ever  made  by  them  to  settle  in  it,  or 
to  Nvrest  it  from  the  possession  of  the  people  of 
another  lineage  that  occupied  it  before  the  Saxons 
and  Angles  ever  set  foot  in  the  island.  The  North- 
umbrian kings  were  occasionally  engaged  in  wars 
with  those  of  the  Scots  and  Picts ;  but  no  one  of 
these  wars,  as  far  as  any  account  of  it  has  been  pre- 
served, ever  terminated  in  anything  like  the  conquest 
of  the  one  country  by  the  other,  or  even  took  the 
shape  of  a  contest  having  that  object;  and  the  sup- 
position that  it  did,  would  be  as  contr<iry  to  all  the 
probabilities  of  the  case,  as  it  is  wholly  unsupported 

1  This  seems  to  be  realiy  the  place  meant  by  the  "Abemithi" 
of  Ingulphus,  the  "  Abernithici"<)f  Florenre  of  Worcester,  the  "  Aber- 
nitici"  of  R.  de  Diceto,  and  the  "Abrenitici"  of  Walsingham, 
although  Lord  Hailes,  Pinkerton,  and  other  writers  hav«  contendeJ 
that  it  was  more  probably  some  place  on  the  river  Nith.  Mr.  Alien 
conceives  that  no  doubt  can  exist  as  to  its  being  Abemethy  on  tli« 
Tay. — Vindication,  &c.  p.  47 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


517 


by  the  testimony  of  historians  or  records.  The 
quarrel  between  the  two  contending  parties  appears 
to  have  been  exclusively  for  the  possession  of  Lo- 
thian ;  and,  on  the  whole,  the  course  of  the  contest 
went  rather  against  the  English,  who,  as  we  have 
just  seen,  were  at  a  very  early  period  driven  from 
the  disputed  territory,  and  eventually  consented  to 
relinquish  all  claims  to  its  occupation  and  actual  gov- 
ernment, on  receiving  from  the  Scottish  kings  at 
most  an  empty  acknowledgment  of  their  merely 
titular  sovereignty.  But  at  any  rate  there  is  no  evi- 
dence whatever  to  show  that  any  attempt  was  ever 
made  by  a  Northumbrian  or  other  Anglo-Saxon  king 
to  conquer  the  territory  to  the  north  of  the  Forth, 
which  alone  originally  and  properly  constituted  the 
country  called  Scotland ;  to  suppose  that  any  such 
attempt  was  ever  successfully  made,  would  be  an 
assumption  in  the  face  of  all  evidence. 

Notwithstanding  this  state  of  the  fact,  it  appears 
to  be  clear,  on  the  other  hand,  that  certain  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  kings  did  assume  the  title  of  monarch 
or  emperor  of  all  Britaiin — of  Scotland  as  well  as  of 
England.  This  is  proved,  not  only  by  the  testimony 
of  the  monkish  chroniclers,  but  by  the  charters  of 
the  kings  themselves.  It  is  unnecessary  for  our 
present  purpose  to  dispute  the  genuineness  of  these 
charters ;  their  evidence  may  be  at  once  admitted — 
for  it  proves  nothing.  The  dispute  is  not,  as  to 
whether  the  vaunting  titles  in  question  were  assumed 
by  some  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  kings,  but  as  to  whether 
they  ever  actually  possessed  that  right  of  dominion 
over  the  whole  island  which  they  thus  arrogantly 
claimed.  The  whole  course  of  the  history  of  the 
two  countries  shows  that  they  never  could  have  ac- 
quired any  such  dominion  ;  their  asserted  sovereignty 
over  Scotland  could  only  have  been  founded  upon  a 
conquest  of  that  country,  of  which  there  is  no  more 
evidence  than  there  is  of  their  conquest  of  France 
or  of  Spain.  As  little  good  evidence  is  there  of  any 
acknowledgment  of  this  pretended  sovereignty  by 
the  Scottish  kings.  To  prove  what  is,  in  itself,  so 
grossly  improbable,  as  that  any  country  would,  with- 
out being  compelled  by  force,  relinquish  its  inde- 
pendence, and  place  itself  in  subjection  to  another 
country,  which  had  always  been  its  rival,  and  often 
its  enemy,  would  demand  the  very  strongest  evi- 
dence. But  here  all  the  evidence  that  we  have  con- 
sists of  a  few  vague  expressions  by  waiters  for  the 
most  part  extremely  credulous  and  ill-informed, 
neither  agreeing  in  this  particular  matter  one  with 
another,  nor  even  each  with  himself,  and  especially 
all  having  their  testimony,  meager  and  unsatisfactory 
as  it  is,  rendered  suspicious  by  their  national  con- 
nection and  partialities,  and  for  the  most  part  by  a 
manifest  anxiety  to  flatter  or  magnify  the  renown  of 
the  particular  kings  to  whom  they  attribute  this  fan- 
cied supremacy  over  the  whole  island.  Against  all 
this,  we  have,  in  an  age  of  writing  and  of  charters, 
the  absence  of  any  authentic  instrument  in  which 
any  of  the  Scottish  kings  acknowledges  his  subjec- 
tion, and  a  crowd  of  undisputed  historical  facts, 
proving  that,  in  the  general  government  of  their  do- 
minions at  least,  all  of  these  Scottish  kings  acted  in 
every  respect  as  independent  sovereigns. 


The  titles  of  Basileus,  or  Emperor  of  Britain,  and 
King  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  assumed  by 
Edgar  and  some  of  the  other  Anglo-Saxon  princes, 
are  really  no  better  evidence  of  their  possession  of 
this  extensive  dominion  either  in  fact  or  in  right, 
than  was  the  long-continued  assumption  of  the  title 
of  King  of  France  bj-  our  modern  English  kings  a 
proof  that  they  really  were  sovereigns  of  that  coun- 
try in  any  sense  whatever.  The  fact,  indeed,  seems 
to  be  merely  that  the  principal  Saxon  king,  aftei- 
having  reduced  to  subjection  the  other  states  of  the 
heptarchy,  and  thus  made  himself  king  of  all  Eng- 
land, not  unnaturally  chose  to  consider  himself  as 
in  some  sort  the  legitimate  successor  of  Carausius 
and  Maximus,  and  the  other  rulers  over  a  similar 
extent  of  territory,  who,  in  the  old  Roman  times, 
had  boasted  with  as  little  truth  of  possessing  the 
empire  of  Britain.  We  have  nearly  a  parallel  case 
in  the  pretensions  of  the  emperors  of  Germany, 
who,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  the  successors 
of  the  Roman  emperors,  long  claimed  a  sort  of  sove- 
reignty over  all  the  other  kings  of  Europe,  and  were 
strenuously  supported  in  this  vain  assumption  by  a 
crowd  both  of  churchmen  and  of  lawjers.^  It  may 
be  conceded  that  the  English  king  in  Britain,  like 
the  emperor  in  Europe,  was  considered  the  chief 
among  the  several  crowned  heads ;  the  others  may 
have  generally  "  confessed  the  preeminence  of  his 
rank  and  dignity  ;"  but  the  deference  that  may  thus 
have  been  paid  to  him  is  altogether  a  different  thing 
from  any  acknowledgment  of  his  paramount  domin- 
ion, or  any  surrender  by  those  who  yielded  it  of  the 
independence  of  their  own  kingdoms. 

The  only  subjection  or  homage  which  either  the 
Scottish  kings  rendered,  or  the  English  crown 
claimed  from  them,  before  the  Norman  conquest, 
appears  to  have  been  not  for  the  kingdom  of  Scot- 
land, but  for  territories  annexed  to  that  kingdom  or 
otherwise  held  by  them,  situated  or  conceived  to  be 
situated  in  England.  Such  was  the  lordship  of 
Cumbria,  or  Cumbraland,  after  the  donation  of  it 
by  the  English  king  Edmund  to  Malcolm  I.,  in  946. 
Lothian,  or  a  part  of  it,^  may  be  considered  to  have 
been  similarly  circumstanced  after  the  agi-eement 
between  Kenneth  IV.  and  Edgar,  in  971.  There 
is  reason  to  beUeve,  also,  that  the  Scottish  kings 
were    anciently   possessed   of  other   lands   clearly 

1  "Nor  was  the  supremacy  of  the  emperor,"  says  Gibbon,  "con- 
fined to  Germany  alone  :  the  hereditary  monarchs  of  Europe  con- 
fessed 'he  preeminence  of  his  rank  and  dignity  ;  he  was  the  first  ol 
the  Christian  princes,  the  temporal  head  of  the  great  republic  of  the 
west ;  to  his  person  the  title  of  majesty  was  long  appropriated  ;  and 
he  disputed  with  the  Pope  the  sublime  prerogative  of  creating  kings 
and  assembling  councils.  The  oracle  of  the  civil  law,  the  learned 
Bartolus,  was  a  pensioner  of  Charles  IV.  ;  and  his  school  resounded 
with  the  doctrine  that  the  Roman  emperor  was  the  rightful  sovereign 
of  the  earth,  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  siin.  The  contrary  opinion 
was  condemned,  not  as  an  error,  but  as  a  heresy;  since  even  the 
gospel  had  pronounced,  '  And  there  went  forth  a  decree  from  CKsar 
Augustus,  that  all  the  world  should  be  taxed.'" — Dec.  and  Fall  of 
Rom.  Empire,  ch.  49. 

2  Lord  Hailes  has  endeavored  to  show  that  the  district  anciently 
called  Lothian,  and  perhaps  considered  as  part  of  England,  by  no 
means  included  the  whole  of  the  southeast  of  Scotland,  but  only  the 
counties  of  Berwick  and  East  Lothian,  and  the  part  of  Mid  Lothian 
lying  to  the  east  of  Edinliurgh.  And,  he  adds,  "  only  s  small  part  of 
that  territory  could  be  considered  as  feudally  dependent  on  England. 
Great  part  of  those  territories  was  the  patrimony  of  St.  Cuthbert." — 
Remarks  on  the  Hist,  of  Scotland  (Edm.  1772),  chap.  2. 


518 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IIL 


within  the  realm  of  England,  besides  the  county  of 
Cumberland.  For  these  possessions  of  course  they 
did  homage  to  the  English  king,  and  acknowledged 
him  as  their  liege  lord,  exactly  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  Norman  kings  of  England  acknowledged 
themselves  the  vassals  of  the  crown  of  France  for 
their  possessions  on  the  continent. 

When  Malcolm  III.,  however,  on  the  seizure  of 
the  English  crown  by  the  Duke  of  Normandy,  es- 
poused the  cause  of  Edgar  Atheling,  he  necessarily 
at  the  same  time  refused  to  do  homage  for  his  Eng- 
lish lands  to  the  Norman  invader,  whom  by  that 
very  proceeding  he  declared  that  he  did  not  ac- 
knowledge as  the  rightful  king  of  England.  Will- 
iam, on  the  other  hand,  took  measures  to  maintain 
his  authority  and  to  compel  the  obedience  of  his 
rebellious  vassal ;  and  these  objects  he  completely 
attained  by  the  submission  of  Malcolm  at  Abernethy. 
The  latter  now  consented  to  make  that  acknowledg- 
ment of  William's  title,  and  of  his  own  vassalage  for 
the  lordship  of  Cumberland  and  his  other  English 
possessions,  which  he  had  hitherto  refused  ;  he  gave 
hostages  to  the  English  king,  as  the  Saxon  chroni- 
cler expresses  it,  and  became  his  man. 

After  this  Malcolm  appears  to  have  remained 
quiet  for  some  years.  He  did  not,  however,  finally 
abandon  the  cause  of  his  brother-in-law,  the  Athe- 
ling ;  and  in  1079,  choosing  his  opportunity  when 
the  English  king  was  engaged  in  war  with  his  son 
Robert  on  the  continent,  he  again  took  up  arms,  and 
made  another  destructive  inroad  into  Northumber- 
land.    The  following  year,  after  the  reconcilement 


of  William  and  his  son,  the  latter  was  sent  at  the 
head  of  an  army  against  Scotland  ;  but  he  soon  re- 
turned without  effecting  anything.  It  was  immedi- 
ately after  this  expedition  that  the  fortress  bearing 
the  name  of  the  Castellum  Novum,  on  the  Tyne, 
which  gave  origin  to  the  town  of  Newcastle,  was 
erected  as  a  protection  against  the  invasions  of  the 
Scots. 

When  Rufus  succeeded  to  the  English  throne  the 
two  countries  appear  to  have  been  at  peace.  But 
in  the  summer  of  1091  we  lind  Malcolm  again  in- 
vading Northumberland.  Rufns  immediatelj^  made 
preparations  to  attack  Scotland,  both  by  sea  and 
land  ;  and,  although  his  ships  were  destroyed  in  a 
storm,  he  advanced  to  the  north  with  his  army  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  year.  We  have  already  rela- 
ted' the  course  and  issue  of  this  new  war.  After 
being  suspended  for  a  short  time  by  a  treaty  made, 
according  to  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  "  at  Lothian  in 
England,"  whither  Malcolm  came  "  out  of  Scot- 
land," and  awaited  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  it 
was  renewed  by  the  refusal  of  the  Scottish  king  to 
do  the  English  king  right,  that  is,  to  afford  him  sat- 
isfaction about  the  matter  in  dispute  between  them, 
anywhere  except  at  the  usual  place, — namely,  on 
the  frontiers,  and  in  presence  of  the  chief  men  of 
both  kingdoms.  William  required  that  Malcolm 
should  make  his  appearance  before  the  English  ba- 
rons alone,  assembled  at  Gloucester,  and  submit  the 
case  to  their  judgment.  "  It  is  obvious  on  feudal 
principles,"  as  Mr.  Allen  obseiTes.  "that  if  Malcolm 

»  See  ante,  p.  384. 


Castlk  or  Newcastle  rpoN-TYNK 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


519 


had  done  homage  for  Scotland  to  the  King  of  Eng- 
land, the  Scotch  nobles  must  have  been  rere-vassals 
of  the  latter,  and  could  not  have  sat  in  court  with 
the  tenants  in  chief  of  the  English  crown."  Yet  it 
is  evident  that  the  nobility  of  both  kingdoms  had 
been  wont  on  former  occasions  to  meet  and  form 
one  court  for  adjudication  on  such  demands  as  that 
now  made  by  the  English  king.  The  hostilities 
that  followed,  however,  were  fatal  to  Malcolm.  He 
was  slain  in  a  sudden  attack  made  upon  him  while 
besieging  the  castle  of  Alnwick,  on  the  13th  of  No- 
vember, 1093. 

The  reign  of  Malcolm  was  one  of  the  most  mem- 
orable and  important  in  the  early  history  of  Scot- 
land. It  was  in  his  time,  and  in  consequence,  in 
great  part,  of  his  personal  fortunes,  that  the  first 
foundations  of  that  intimate  connection  were  laid 
which  afterward  enabled  the  country  to  draw  so 
largely  upon  the  superior  civilization  of  England, 
and  in  that  way  eventually  revolutionized  the  whole 
of  its  social  condition.  From  the  time  of  Malcolm 
Canmore,  Scotland  ceased  to  be  a  Celtic  kingdom. 
He  himself  spoke  the  language  of  his  forefathers  as 
well  as  Saxon ;  but  it  may  be  doubted  if  any  of  his 
children  understood  Gaelic,  any  more  than  their 
English  mother.  All  his  six  sons,  as  it  has  been 
remarked,  as  well  as  his  two  daughters,  received 
English  names,  apparently  after  their  mother's  re- 
lations. His  marriage  with  the  sister  of  Edgar 
Atheling  exercised  a  powei-ful  influence  both  over 
the  personal  conduct  of  Malcolm  and  over  public 
aftairs.  There  is  still  extant  a  Latin  Life  of  Queen 
Margaret  by  her  confessor  Turgot,  which  is  on  va- 
rious accounts  one  of  the  most  interesting  records 
of  those  times.  Margaret  was  very  learned  and 
eloquent,  as  well  as  pious,  and  she  exercised  her 
gifts  not  only  in  the  instruction  of  her  husband,  but 
also  in  controversy  with  the  Scottish  clergy,  whose 
various  errors  of  doctrine  and  discipline  she  took 
great  pains  to  reform.  One  of  the  subjects  upon 
which  she  held  a  solemn  conference  with  them  was 
the  proper  season  for  celebrating  Lent.  On  this 
occasion,  "  three  days,"  says  Turgot,  "  did  she  em- 
ploy the  sword  of  the  spirit  in  combating  their 
errors.  She  seemed  another  St.  Helena,  out  of 
the  Scriptures  convincing  the  Jews."  Turgot  has 
preserved  the  heads  of  the  debate,  in  which  Mal- 
colm acted  as  interpreter  between  his  wife  and  the 
clergy,  and  which  ended  in  the  acquiescence  of  the 
latter  in  the  queen's  arguments.  Her  affections, 
however,  were  not  all  set  upon  the  beauty  of  spiri- 
tual things.  She  encouraged  merchants,  we  are 
told  by  Turgot,  to  come  from  various  parts  of  the 
world,  with  many  precious  commodities  which  had 
never  before  been  seen  in  that  country,  among 
which  are  especially  mentioned  vestments  orna- 
mented with  various  colors,  which,  when  the  peo- 
ple bought,  adds  the  chronicler,  and  were  induced 
by  the  persuasions  of  the  queen  to  put  on,  they 
might  almost  be  believed  to  have  become  new 
beings,  so  fine  did  they  appear.  She  was  also,  to 
adopt  the  summary  of  the  monk's  account  given  by 
Lord  Hailes,  "  magnificent  in  her  own  attire ;  she 
increased  the  number  of  attendants  on  the  person 


of  the  kifig,  augmented  the  parade  of  his  public  ap- 
pearances, and  caused  him  to  be  sei'ved  at  table  in  gold 
and  silver  plate.  At  least  (says  the  honest  historian) 
the  dishes  and  vessels  were  gilt  or  silvered  over." 

Malcolm  is  traditionally  said  to  have,  with  the 
advice  of  his  nobility,  made  various  important  inno- 
vations in  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom,  or  the 
administration  of  public  affairs.  He  appears  to 
have  restored  the  rule  of  law  and  order,  which  had 
been  banished  from  the  country  by  the  civil  wars 
that  preceded  his  accession ;  and  it  is  probable  that 
in  the  measures  he  adopted  to  accomplish  this  end, 
he  imitated,  as  far  as  he  could,  the  forms  and  usages 
of  England.  There  is  neither  proof  nor  probability', 
however,  for  the  statement  which  has  been  often 
repeated,  that  he  introduced  feudalism  in  a  sj'ste- 
matic  form  into  Scotland.  That  state  of  things  ap- 
pears rather  to  have  grown  up  gradually  under  the 
influence  of  various  causes,  and  its  complete  estab- 
lishment must  be  referred  to  a  period  considerably 
later  than  the  reign  of  this  king.  The  modern 
titles  of  Earl  and  Baron,  however,  are  traced  nearly 
to  his  time,  and  seem  then,  or  very  soon  after,  to 
have  begun  to  supplant  the  older  Celtic  Marmor 
and  Saxon  Thane.  Surnames  also  began  to  be 
used  in  this  or  the  next  reign.  But,  on  the  whole, 
it  was  probably  not  so  much  by  any  new  laws  which 
were  enacted  by  Malcolm  Canmore  (the  collection 
in  Latin  which  has  been  attributed  to  him  is  admit- 
ted to  be  spurious),  or  by  any  new  institutions  which 
he  established,  that  Scotland  was  in  a  manner  trans- 
formed into  a  new  country  in  his  days,  as  by  his 
English  education  and  marriage,  the  English  man- 
ners which  were  thus  introduced  at  his  court,  and 
the  numbers  of  English  of  all  ranks  whom  the  poht- 
ical  events  of  the  time  drove  to  take  refuge  in  the 
northern  kingdom.  Much  of  the  change,  therefore, 
was  really  the  eft'ect  of  the  Norman  Conquest  of 
England,  which  in  nearly  the  same  degree  that  it 
made  Saxon  England  Norman,  made  Celtic  Scot- 
land Saxon. 

The  disastrous  close  of  the  reign  of  Malcolm, 
whose  own  death  was  followed  in  a  few  days  by 
that  of  his  excellent  queen,  worn  out,  it  is  said,  by 
her  vigils  and  fastings,  and  other  pious  exercises, 
aflbrded  an  opportunity  to  his  brother  Donald  Bane 
(or  the  Fair)  to  seize  the  throne.  Malcolm's  eldest 
son,  Edward,  had  fallen  with  his  father  at  Alnwick; 
his  second,  Ethelred,  was  a  churchman  ;  but  he 
left  four  other  legitimate  sons,  although  they  were 
all  as  yet  under  age.  Donald  is  said  to  have  re- 
mained till  now  in  the  Western  Islands,  where  he 
had  taken  refuge,  on  the  death  of  his  father  Dun- 
can, more  than  fifty  years   before.'     He   now  in- 

1  See  ante,  p.  211.  It  must  be  confessed  that  the  great  length  of 
the  interval — fifty-four  years — between  the  dates  assigned  to  the  death 
of  Duncan  and  that  of  Malcolm,  throws  some  suspicion  upon  the 
common  statement  that  the  one  was  the  son  of  the  other.  All  that 
we  know  of  the  age  of  Malcolm  is,  that  he  was  married  about  1069  or 
1070,  that  he  reigned  thirty-six  or  thirty-seven  years,  and  that  at  his 
death  he  left  several  children  under  age.  As  he  fell  in  battle,  how- 
ever, it  seems  improbable  that  he  was  very  old  when  he  died.  Pink- 
erton  (who,  by-the-by,  places  his  accession,  on  the  authority  of  the 
Chronicle  of  Melrose,  in  1056,  not  in  1057)  strongly  insists  that  he 
must  have  been  not  the  son,  but  the  grandson  of  Duncan. — Inquiry,  ii 
203,  204. 


520 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  111. 


vaded  Scotland  with  a  fleet  fitted  out  in  the  West- 
ern Islands,  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  faction  which 
had  ail  along  been  opposed  to  the  English  innova- 
tions of  Malcolm,  carried  everything  before  him. 
The  children  of  the  late  king  were  hastily  conveyed 
to  England  by  their  uncle  Edgar  Atheling ;  and 
Donald,  as  soon  as  he  mounted  the  throne,  expelled 
all  the  foreigners  that  had  taken  refuge  at  his  broth- 
er's court. 

He  had  reigned  only  a  few  months,  however, 
when  another  claimant  of  the  crown  appeared  in 
the  person  of  Duncan,  according  to  the  common 
account,  an  illegitimate  son  of  Malcolm  Canmore. 
He  had  been  sent,  it  seems,  by  his  father  as  a  host- 
age to  England  ;  and  by  now  offering  to  swear  fealty 
to  Rufus,  he  obtained  his  permission  to  raise  a  force 
for  the  invasion  of  Scotland.  He  succeeded  in  driv- 
ing Donald  from  the  throne  and  mounting  it  himself 
in  May,  1094. 

But  after  a  reign  of  only  about  a  year  and  a  half, 
Duncan  was,  at  the  instigation  of  Donald  Bane, 
assassinated  by  Malpedir,  Earl  of  3Iearns,  and 
Donald  again  became  king  about  the  end  of  the 
year  1095.  After  his  restoration,  he  proceeded  in 
his  former  course  of  policy — the  expulsion  of  the 
foreign  settlers,  and  the  abolition,  as  far  as  possible, 
of  all  the  recent  innovations  upon  the  old  national 
manners  and  usjiges,  being  now  prosecuted  with 
greater  zeal  and  vigor  than  ever. 

Affairs  proceeded  in  this  train  for  about  two  years ; 
but  at  length,  in  1097,  Edgar  Atheling  raised  an 
army,  with  the  approbation  of  the  English  king,  and 
marching  with  it  into  Scotland,  after  an  obstinate 
contest,  overcame  Donald,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
following  year,  and  obtained  the  crown  for  his 
nephew  Edgar,  the  son  of  Malcolm  Canmore. 
"  Edgar,  like  Duncan,"  observes  Mr.  Allen,  "  ap- 
pears to  have  held  his  kingdom  in  fealty  to  WiUiam. 
These  two  cases,  and  the  extorted  submission  of 
William  the  Lion,  during  his  captivity  (to  be  pres- 
ently mentioned),  are  the  only  instances  I  have 
found  since  the  Conquest  of  any  king  of  Scotland 
rendering  fealty  to  England  for  his  crown.  Both 
occurrences  took  place  after  a  disputed  succession 
in  Scotland,  terminated  by  the  arms  and  assistance 
of  the  English.  Duncan  was  speedily  punished  for 
his  sacrifice  of  the  honor  and  dignity  of  the  sceptre 
he  unworthily  held.  Edgar  appears  to  have  re- 
pented of  his  weakness,  and  to  have  retracted  be- 
fore his  death  the  disgraceful  submission  he  had 
made  in  order  to  obtain  his  crown.  One  of  his 
coins  is  said  to  bear  the  impress  of  '  Eadgarus  Scot- 
torum  Basileus,'  a  title  which,  like  Imperator,  im- 
plied that  the  holder  acknowledged  no  superior 
upon  earth." 

On  his  second  deposition,  Donald  Bane  was  de- 
prived of  the  power  of  giving  further  disturbance 
by  being  detained  in  prison  and  having  his  eyes  put 
out.  Edgar  retained  the  throne  till  his  death,  on 
the  8th  of  January,  1107;  and  during  his  reign  the 
country  appears  to  have  enjoyed  both  internal  tran- 
quillity and  freedom  from  foreign  war.  The  acces- 
sion of  Henry  I.  to  the  throne  of  England,  which 
took  p'.ace  in  1100,  and  his  marriage  the  same  year 


with  Edgar's  sister  Maud,  had  the  effect  of  main- 
taining peace  between  the  two  countries  for  a  long 
course  of  years  from  this  date.  This  favorable  ten- 
dency of  circumstances  was  not  opposed  by  the  dis- 
position of  Edgar,  whom  a  contemporaiy  chronicler 
describes  as  "  a  sweet-tempered,  amiable  man,  in 
all  things  resembling  Edward  the  Confessor;  mild 
in  his  administration,  equitable  and  beneficent."' 
Like  Edward,  the  Scottish  king  appears  to  have 
been  a  favorite  of  the  clergy,  to  whom  he  probably 
showed  both  liberality  and  deference. 

Edgar,  dying  without  issue,  was  succeeded  by 
his  next  brother,  Alexander  I.  Soon  after  his 
accession,  Alexander  strengthened  his  connections 
with  the  English  king  by  a  marriage  with  one  of 
Henry's  numerous  illegitimate,  daughters,  the  Lady 
Sibilla,  or,  as  she  is  called  by  other  authorities, 
Elizabeth,  whose  mother  was  a  sister  of  Walleran, 
Earl  of  Mellent.  A  dismemberment,  however,  of 
the  Scottish  kingdom,  as  it  had  existed  for  some 
reigns  preceding,  now  took  place,  by  the  separation 
of  Cumberland,  which  Edgar  on  his  death-bed  had 
bequeathed  to  his  younger  brother  David.  Alex- 
ander at  first  disputed  the  validity  of  this  bequest; 
but,  the  English  barons  taking  the  part  of  David, 
he  found  himself  obliged  to  submit.  By  this  ar- 
rangement, the  King  of  Scotland  would  for  the 
present  (putting  aside  the  doubtful  case  of  Lothian) 
cease  to  be  an  English  baron;  and  accordingly  it 
appears  that  Alexander  never  attended  at  the 
English  court.  Nearly  the  whole  history  of  his 
reign  that  has  been  preserved  is  made  up  of  a  long 
contest  in  which  he  was  engaged  with  the  English 
archbishops  on  the  subject  of  their  assumed  au- 
thority over  the  Scottish  church.  Turgot,  the 
confessor  of  the  late  Queen  Margaret,  had  been 
appointed  to  the  bishopric  of  St.  Andrews  soon 
after  the  accession  of  Alexander :  but  his  consecra- 
tion was  delayed  for  two  years  in  consequence  of  a 
two-fold  dispute  about  the  right  of  performing  the 
ceremony,  the  archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York 
severally  laying  claim  to  it,  while  the  king  and 
clergy  of  Scotland  denied  that  it  lay  with  either. 
In  the  latter  form  this  ecclesiastical  dispute  was 
closely  connected  with  the  question  respecting  the 
independence  of  the  Scottish  crown;  and  Alexander 
the  Fierce,  as  he  was  surnamed,  fought  the  battle 
with  apparently  a  full  sense  of  its  importance. 
Turgot  was  at  length  consecrated  on  the  30th  July, 
1109,  by  the  Archbishop  of  York,  but  only  after  an 
agreement  between  the  two  kings  that  the  necessary 
ceremony  should  be  so  performed,  "  saving  the 
authority  of  either  church."  Turgot,  however,  died 
in  1115;  and  then  the  former  difficulty  recurred. 
For  some  years  no  new  bishop  was  nominated ;  but 
at  last,  in  1120,  Alexander  wrote  to  Anselm,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  requesting  him  to  set  at 
liberty  Eadmer,  one  of  the  monks  of  that  church, 
that  he  might  be  placed  in  the  vacant  episcopal 
throne.  Eadmer  was  accordingly  sent  to  Scotland, 
and  elected  to  the  bishopric,  as  he  has  himself  told 
us,  by  the  clergy  and  people  of  the  country,  with 
the  consent  of  the   king.     On  the  following  day, 

1  Aldred.  Rival. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


521 


however,  Alexander  cnlled  the  new  bishop  to  a 
secret  conference,  and  surprised  him  by  intimating 
the  strongest  avei'sion  to  his  receiving  consecration 
from  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  On  Eadmer 
remarking  that  the  church  of  Canterbury  had  by 
ancient  right  a  preeminence  over  all  Britain,  Alex- 
ander started  up  with  much  emotion  and  left  the 
apartment.  It  was  not  till  after  a  month,  during 
which  time  the  person  who  had  presided  in  the 
bishopric  since  the  demise  of  Turgot  had  by  the 
royal  command  resumed  his  functions,  that  Eadmer 
was  again  sent  for.  A  compromise  was  now  ar- 
ranged, and  it  was  agreed  that  the  bishop  should 
in  the  mean  time  assume  the  charge  of  his  diocese 
without  consecration,  on  receiving  the  ring  from 
the  hands  of  the  king,  and  taking  the  pastoral  staff 
from  the  altar.  Eadmer,  however,  soon  found 
that,  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  in  which  he  was 
placed,  his  situation  was  not  a  very  comfortable  one, 
and  he  resolved,  therefore,  to  repair  to  Canterbury 
for  advice.  But  Alexander  at  first  peremptorily 
refused  to  allow  him  to  leave  the  kingdom.  "  I 
received  you  altogether  free  from  Canterbury,"  he 
said,  in  a  warm  altercation  they  had  together; 
"  while  I  live  I  will  not  permit  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Andrews  to  be  subjected  to  that  see."  "  For  your 
whole  kingdom,"  answered  Eadmer,  "  I  would  not 
renounce  the  dignity  of  a  monk  of  Canterbury." 
"  Then,"  rephed  the  king  passionately,  "  I  have 
done  nothing  in  seeking  a  bishop  out  of  Canter- 
bury." In  a  letter  wi'itten  some  time  after  to 
Anselm,  Alexander  affirmed  that  the  bishop  had 
refused  to  accommodate  himself  to  the  usages  of 
the  country  and  the  manners  of  its  inhabitants,  as 
thie  exigencies  of  the  times  required ;  but  Eadmer 
himself  denies  that  there  was  any  ground  for  this 
charge.  Perhaps,  however,  he  may  have  needed 
the  advice  which  it  appears  he  received  from  an 
English  friend,  named  Nicolas,  who,  in  a  long  letter 
which  he  wrote  to  him,  urged  upon  him  with 
especial  earnestness,  as  the  best  course  he  could 
take  for  softening  the  barbarity  of  the  Scots,  pro- 
moting sound  doctrine,  and  establishing  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  the  keeping  of  a  plentiful  and  hospitable 
table !  Nicolas,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of 
agent  or  solicitor  in  ecclesiastical  causes,  strongly 
advised  Eadmer  to  obtain  consecration  from  the 
Pope  himself;  and  he  requested  him  to  inform 
Alexander  that  he  should  himself  be  happy  to 
undertake  the  defence  of  the  independence  and 
freedom  of  the  Scottish  church  at  the  papal  court. 
[n  making  this  oft'er  he  probably  had  an  eye  to  his 
own  interests  fully  as  much  as  to  those  of  the 
bishop.  It  was  followed  up  by  a  strange  request 
— "  I  entreat  you,"  the  letter  concluded,  "  to  let 
me  have  as  many  of  the  fairest  pearls  as  you  can 
procure  :  in  particular,  I  desire  four  of  the  largest 
sort.  If  you  cannot  procure  them  otherwise,  ask 
them  as  a  present  from  the  king,  who  is  the  richest 
of  all  men  in  this  sort  of  treasure."  Eadmer  at 
last  was  obliged,  in  order  to  obtain  permission  to 
take  his  departure,  to  resign  his  bishopric,  and  to 
engage  not  to  reclaim  it  during  the  life  of  Alex- 
ander, unless  by  the  advice  of  the  Pope,  his  con- 


vent, and  the  King  of  England.  Yet,  soon  after  he 
had  returned  to  Canterbury,  he  wrote  a  long  letter 
to  Alexander  requesting  leave  to  return  and  resume 
his  office.  "  I  mean  not,"  he  said,  "  in  any  par- 
ticular to  derogate  fi-om  the  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland.  Should  you 
continue  in  your  former  sentiments,  I  will  desist 
from  my  opposition ;  for,  with  respect  to  the  King 
of  England,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterburj^  and 
the  sacerdotal  benediction,  I  had  notions  which,  as 
I  have  since  learned,  were  erroneous.  They  will 
not  separate  me  from  the  service  of  God  and  your 
favor.  In  those  things  I  will  act  according  to 
your  inclinations,  if  you  only  permit  me  to  enjoy 
the  other  rights  belonging  to  the  see  of  St. 
Andrews."  Alexander,  however,  would  not  listen 
to  his  petition  ;  and  in  January,  1124,  a  new  bishop 
of  St.  Andrews  was  appointed  in  the  person  of 
Robert,  Prior  of  Scone.  The  Archbishop  of  York 
again  insisted  upon  his  right  of  consecration  ;  "  but 
the  Scots,"  says  Simon  of  Durham,  "with  foohsh 
prating,  asserted  that  his  claim  had  no  foundation 
either  in  right  or  usage." 

Alexander  did  not  long  survive  the  settlement  of 
this  affair.  He  had  about  two  years  before  lost  his 
queen,  who  had  brought  him  no  offspring ;  and  his 
own  death  took  place  on  the  27th  of  April,  1124. 
The  quality  for  which  this  king  is  most  celebrated 
by  the  old  historians  is  his  personal  valor,  of  which 
various  remarkable  instances  are  related,  although 
some  contests  with  revolted  portions  of  his  own 
subjects,  of  which  there  are  obscure  notices,  seem 
to  have  been  the  only  opportunities  he  had  of  dis- 
playing military  talent.  But  he  sufficiently  proved 
his  intrepidity  and  firmness  of  character,  in  the 
manner  in  which  he  defended  and  maintained  the 
independence  of  his  kingdom,  in  the  only  point  in 
which  it  was  attacked  in  his  time.  In  the  stand 
which  he  made  here,  he  appears  to  have  had  with 
him  the  great  body  of  the  national  clergy,  and  they 
and  he  were  always  on  the  best  terms.  Aldred 
describes  him  as  "humble  and  courteous  to  the 
clergy;  but  to  the  rest  of  his  subjects,  terrible  be- 
yond measure  ;  high-spirited,  always  endeavoring  to 
compass  things  beyond  his  power ;  not  ignorant  of 
letters;  zealous  in  establishing  churches,  collecting 
relics,  and  providing  vestments  and  books  for  the 
clergy  ;  liberal,  even  to  profixsion,  and  taking  delight 
in  the  offices  of  charity  to  the  poor." 

David,  Earl  of  Cumberland,  the  youngest  of  the 
sons  of  Malcolm  Canmore,  now  became  king.  Hav- 
ing lived  from  his  childhood  in  England,  his  man- 
ners, says  Malmsbury,  were  polished  from  the  rust 
of  Scottish  barbarity.  He  had  also,  before  he  came 
to  the  throne,  married  an  English  wife,  Matilda,  or 
Maud,  the  daughter  (and  eventually  heiress)  of 
Waltheof,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  and  the  widow 
of  Simon  de  St.  Liz,  Earl  of  Northampton.  The 
King  of  Scotland  was  now  again  an  English  baron, 
by  his  tenure  of  the  earldom  of  Cumberland ;  and 
accordingly,  when  Henry  I.,  in  1127,  called  together 
the  prelates  and  nobles  of  the  realm,  to  swear  that 
they  would  after  his  decease  support  the  right  of  his 
daughter  Matilda  to  the  inheritance  of  the  English 


522 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


crown,'  David  was  one  of  those  that  attended,  and 
was  the  first  who  took  the  oath.  In  observance  of 
this  engagement,  the  Scottish  king,  on  the  usurpa- 
tion of  Stephen,  led  an  army  into  England,  and 
compelled  the  northern  barons  to  swear  fealty  to 
Matilda.  "  What  the  King  of  Scots,"  said  Stephen, 
when  this  news  was  brought  to  him,  "  has  gained  by 
stealth,  I  will  manfully  recover."  He  immediately 
collected  a  powerful  force,  and  advanced  at  its  head 
against  David.  They  met  at  Newcastle ;  but  no 
engagement  took  place  ;  a  compromise  was  effected 
(February,  1136),  and  David  consented  to  withdraw 
his  troops,  on  Stephen  engaging  to  confer  on  his 
eldest  son,  Henrv,  the  earldom  of  Huntingdon,  with 
the  towns  of  Carlisle  and  Doncaster,  and  promising 
to  take  into  consideration  his  claims,  in  right  of  his 
mother,  to  the  earldom  of  Northumberland.  Earl 
Henry  did  homage  to  Stephen  for  the  new  English 
honor  he  was  thus  to  receive ;  but  David  himself 
still  refused  to  do  so,  although  he  appears  to  have 
retained  the  earldom  of  Cumberland  in  his  own 
hands. 

The  war  was,  however,  renewed  before  the  end 
of  the  same  year  by  David,  on  the  pretence  that 
Stephen  delayed  to  put  his  son  in  possession  of  the 
county  of  Northumberland,  but,  in  reality,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  confederacy  into  which  he  had  entered 
with  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  and  the  other  partisans 
of  the  Empress  Matilda,  who  were  now  making  prep- 
arations for  a  grand  effort  to  drive  her  rival  from  the 
throne.  With  the  same  impetuosity  he  had  shown 
on  the  former  occasion,  David  was  again  first  in  the 

1  See  ante,  page  402,  note. 


field.  A  truce,  negotiated  bj'  Archbishop  Thurstan 
of  York,  gained  a  short  space  for  Stephen  ;  but  in 
1137  David  entered  Northumberland,  and  ravaged 
that  imfortunate  district  for  some  time,  without 
mercy  and  without  check.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
following  year,  however,  he  deemed  it  advisable  to 
fall  back  upon  Roxburgh  at  the  approach  of  Stephen, 
who  followed  him  across  the  Tweed,  and  made  re- 
quital by  wasting  the  Scottish  border  for  part  of  the 
injury  his  own  subjects  had  sustained.  But  the 
P^nglish  king  was  soon  recalled  by  other  enemies  to 
the  south,  and  then  David  (in  March,  1138)  reen- 
tered Northumberland,  sending  forward  at  the  same 
time  William,  a  son  of  the  late  King  Duncan,  into 
the  west,  where  he  and  his  wild  Galwegians  (on 
the  9th  of  June)  gave  a  signal  discomfiture  to  a  party 
of  English  at  Clithcrow.  Meanwhile,  Norham  Cas- 
tle, erected  in  the  preceding  reign  by  Bishop  Flam- 
bard  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Tweed,  to  guard  the 
main  access  from  Scotland,  surrendered  to  the 
Scottish  king  after  a  short  siege ;  and  from  this 
point  he  marched  forward,  through  Northumber- 
land and  Durham,  to  Northallerton  in  Yorkshire, 
without  opposition.  Here,  however,  his  barbarous 
host  was  met  by  an  English  force,  collected  chiefly 
by  the  efforts  of  the  aged  Archbishop  of  York.  At 
the  great  battle  of  the  Standard,  fought  on  the  22d 
of  August,'  the  Scots  sustained  a  complete  defeat. 
The  victors,  however,  were  not  in  a  condition  to 
pursue  their  advantage.  King  David  retired  to 
Carlisle,  and  soon  after  laid  siege  to  the  castle  of 
Werk,  which  having  reduced,  he  razed  it  to  the 

1  See  ante,  p  409-411. 


^;^^^,;  Jfei^  ^f®^-^ 

RciNs  OF  Norham  Castle 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


523 


ground,  and  then,  to  adopt  the  expression  of  Lord 
Hailes,  ♦'  returned  into  Scotland  more  like  a  con- 
queror, than  like  one  whose  army  had  been  routed." 
The  next  year  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  be- 
tween the  two  kings  at  Durham,  by  which  David 
obtained  the  earldom  of  Northumberland,  the  osten- 
sible object  of  the  war,  for  his  son,  who  enjoyed  it 
till  his  death,  and  left  it  to  his  descendants. 

David,  however,  was  never  cordially  attached  to 
the  interests  of  Stephen.  When  a  few  years  after 
this  the  cause  of  Matilda  for  a  short  time  gained 
the  ascendant,  he  repaired  to  the  court  of  his  niece, 
and  endeavored  to  persuade  her  to  follow  a  course 
of  moderation  and  policy,  at  which  her  imperious 
temper  spurned.  He  was  shut  up  with  her  in  Win- 
chester Castle,  when  she  was  besieged  there  by  Ste- 
phen, in  August  and  September,  1141,'  and  escaped 
thence  along  with  her.  It  is  said  that  he  was  in- 
debted for  his  concealment  afterward,  and  his  con- 
veyance home  to  his  own  kingdom,  to  the  exertions 
of  a  young  man,  named  David  Oliphant,  to  whom 
he  had  been  godfather,  and  who  chanced  to  be  serv- 
ing in  the  army  of  Stephen. 

From  this  period  the  reign  of  David  is  scarcely 
marked  by  any  events,  if  we  except  the  disturb- 
ances occasioned  by  some  piratical  descents  made 
upon  the  Scottish  coasts  by  an  adventurer  of  ob- 
scure birth,  named  Wimund,  who  gave  himself  out 
for  a  son  of  the  Earl  of  Moray,  but  was  at  last,  after 
giving  considerable  trouble,  taken  and  deprived  of 
his  eyes,  in  1151.  In  his  latter  years,  however, 
David,  relieved  from  foreign  wars,  applied  himself 
assiduously  to  the  internal  improvement  of  his  coun- 
try, by  the  encouragement  of  agriculture,  commerce, 
and  manufactures,  the  establishment  of  towns,  the 
erection  of  churches,  monasteries,  and  other  public 
buildings,  and  the  reform  of  the  law  and  its  admin- 
istration. Many  of  the  statutes  enacted  by  him  are 
still  preserved. 

When  the  son  of  the  Empress  Matilda,  afterward 
Henry  II.,  came  over  from  the  continent,  in  1149, 
to  assert  in  person  his  claim  to  the  English  crown, 
he  was  met  by  the  Scottish  king  at  Carlisle,*  and 
after  receiving  from  him  the  honor  of  knighthood, 
bound  himself,  when  he  should  become  king  of  Eng- 
land, to  make  over  to  David  the  town  of  Newcastle, 
and  the  whole  territory  between  the  Tweed  and 
the  Tyne.  David  and  his  son,  Henry,  immediately 
invaded  England,  and  advanced  as  far  as  Lancaster ; 
but  on  the  approach  of  Stephen,  the  Scottish  army 
retired  without  risking  a  battle. 

David  did  not  live  to  witness  the  issue  of  the  con- 
test between  Stephen  and  Henry.  His  death  was 
probably  hastened  by  that  of  his  son,  Henry,  which 
took  place  on  the  12th  of  June,  1152,  to  the  gi-eat 
grief  of  his  countrymen,  whom  his  amiable  charac- 
ter had  filled  with  the  anticipation  of  a  continuation 
of  the  same  prosperity  and  happiness  under  his  rule 
which  they  enjoyed  under  that  of  his  father.  AI- 
dred,  Avho  knew  him,  says  that  he  resembled  his 
father  in  all  things,  except  that  he  was  in  manner 
somewhat  more  gentle.  Soon  after  this  stroke, 
David  fixed  his  residence  at  Carlisle  ;  and  there  he 
1  See  ajite,  p,  418  a  Ibid.  p.  421. 


expired  on  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  May,  1153, 
having  been  found  dead  in  bed,  with  his  hands  joined 
together  over  his  breast,  in  the  posture  of  devotional 
suppHcation.  Both  the  virtues  and  the  capacity  of 
this  king  have  been  extolled  in  the  highest  terms  by 
the  monkish  chroniclers  ;  but  he  seems  on  the  whole 
to  have  deserved  the  praises  bestowed  upon  him. 
It  is  true  that  among  the  acts  for  which  he  is  most 
eulogized,  his  donations  to  the  church,  and  his  found- 
ing of  numerous  religious  houses,  stand  conspicuous 
— in  allusion  to  which,  his  descendant,  James  I.,  is 
said  to  have  feelingly  complained  of  him  as  having 
been  "a  sore  saint  for  the  crown."  But  we  may 
reasonably  doubt  whether  it  would  have  been  for 
the  advantage  of  the  public  interests  that  the  funds 
thus  expended  should  have  remained  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  crown  ;  and  it  may  also  be  questioned 
whether  anything  more  effective  could  have  been 
done  to  promote  the  civilization  of  a  countiy  just 
emerging  from  barbarism,  as  Scotland  was  at  this 
period,  than  the  planting  over  all  parts  of  it  these 
establishments,  which  Avere  not  only  seminaries  of 
piety  and  letters,  but  examples  of  ornamental  archi- 
tecture, and  even  central  fountain-heads  for  diffu- 
sing a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  cultivating  the  civil 
and  other  useful  arts.  David,  however,  had  many 
other  estimable  qualities  besides  his  regard  for  re- 
ligion and  the  church.  He  was, always,  Aldred  tells 
us,  accessible  to  his  subjects,  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest ;  and  on  certain  days  of  every  week  he 
sat  at  the  gate  of  his  palace,  hearing  and  deciding 
upon  the  causes  brought  before  him  by  the  poor. 
He  took  great  pains  also,  it  is  added,  to  make  them 
understand  the  reasons,  and  to  convince  them  of  the 
justice  of  his  decisions — allowing  them  freely  to 
argue  the  matter  with  him  when  they  were  not  sat- 
isfied. His  custom  was  to  dismiss  all  his  attendants 
at  sunset,  and  to  retire  for  solitary  meditation  ;  at 
daybreak  he  reappeared  in  public.  One  of  the 
favorite  occupations  of  his  leisure  hours  was  garden- 
ing, and  the  planting  and  engrafting  of  trees.  Hunt- 
ing also  he  used  as  an  exercise  ;  but  "  I  have  seen 
him,"  says  Aldred,  "quit  his  horse,  and  dismiss  his 
hunting  equipage,  when  any  of  the  meanest  of  his 
subjects  implored  an  audience." 

The  late  Earl  Henry's  eldest  son,  though  as  yet 
onl}^  in  his  twelfth  year,  succeeded  his  gi-andfather, 
under  the  name  of  Malcolm  IV.  The  notices  we 
have  of  the  events  of  his  reign  in  the  contemporary 
chroniclers  are  scarcely  sufficient  to  furnish  a  con- 
tinuous or  intelligible  narrative — and  in  the  lack  of 
recorded  facts  the  writers  of  later  date  appear  to 
have  filled  up  the  story  bj'  drawing  on  their  inven- 
tion with  even  more  than  their  usual  liberality. 
With  a  king  of  such  tender  age,  the  government 
must  have  been  for  some  years  in  the  hands  of  a 
regency  ;  but  there  is  no  account  of  any  such  ar- 
rangement. This  was  the  first  example  of  the  Scot- 
tish throne  having  been  occupied  by  a  boy,  and  it 
may  be  regarded  as  having  for  the  first  time  estab- 
lished the  principle  of  hereditary  succession  as  the 
rule  of  the  monarchy  in  all  circumstances.  As  might 
have  been  expected,  however,  the  sceptre  was  not 
allowed  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  so  mere  a  pageant 


524 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III 


of  a  king  without  dispute.  A  few  months  only  after 
Malcolm's  accession,  the  public  tranquillity  was  dis- 
turbed by  what  appears  to  have  been  more  properly 
an  invasion  than  an  insurrection,  being  an  attack 
made  with  the  avowed  object  of  effecting  the  con- 
quest of  the  kingdom  by  Somerled,  the  Thane  of 
Argyle,  whose  daughter  had  married  the  adven- 
turer Wimund.  The  provinces,  it  may  be  observed, 
of  Argyle,  Moray,  Ross,  and  Galloway,  seem  still  to 
have  remained  so  many  principalities,  usu.illy  indeed 
acknowledging  a  sort  of  feudal  dependence  upon  the 
Scottish  crown,  but  scarcely  considered  as  forming 
parts  of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  any  more  than 
the  vassal  dukedoms  and  earldoms  of  the  crown  of 
France  were  held  to  be  integi-al  parts  of  that  king- 
dom. They  had  each  its  own  chief,  and  in  all  re- 
spects its  own  government,  "with  which  that  of  the 
supreme  sovereign  rarely  if  ever  interfered.  Their 
princes  indeed  were  legally  bound  to  follow  his  ban- 
ner in  war ;  but  even  this  was  an  obligation  which 
was  only  attended  to  when  the  vassal  chose,  or  did 
not  feel  himself  sti'ong  enough  to  disregard  it.  In 
the  present  case  the  Thane  of  Argjle  made  war 
upon  his  sovereign  just  as  any  independent  poten- 
tate might  have  made  war  upon  another.  All  that 
we  know  of  the  events  of  the  war  is,  that  it  lasted 
for  some  years;  and  then  in  1157  the  King  of  Scot- 
land appears  to  have  made  peace  with  the  Thane 
of  Argyle,  just  as  he  might  have  done  with  any 
other  sovereign  as  independent  as  himself.  To  this 
date  also  is  assigned  Malcolm's  first  transaction  with 
the  English  king.  At  an  interview  held  at  Chester 
he  was  induced  not  only  to  give  up  his  claim  to  the 
territory  to  the  north  of  the  Tyne,  promised  to  his 
father  David,  but  also  to  abandon  Cumberland,  and 
whatever  other  lands  and  honors  he  possessed  in 
England,  with  the  exception  only  of  the  earldom  of 
Huntingdon,  which  Henry  either  confirmed  to  him, 
or  conferred  upon  him,  taking  it  from  his  youngest 
brother  David,  to  whom  it  appears  to  have  been  left 
by  the  late  king.  Malcolm  at  the  same  time  is 
stated  to  have  done  homage  to  Henry  in  the  same 
manner  as  his  grandfather  had  to  Henry's  grand- 
father— that  is  to  say,  with  the  reservation  of  all  his 
dignities.  The  accounts  given  of  the  whole  of  this 
affiiir  by  the  old  chroniclers  are  confused  and  ob- 
scure ;  but  it  is  asserted  by  Fordun  that  Henry 
succeeded  in  effecting  the  agreement  by  bribing  the 
advisers  of  the  Scottish  king,  and  taking  advantage 
of  his  youth  and  inexperience,  and  that  it  produced 
a  deep  and  settled  hatred  against  Malcolm  among 
all  classes  of  his  own  subjects.  Nor  does  his  facil- 
ity appear  to  have  gained  for  him  much  gratitude  or 
consideration  from  Henry.  He  repaired  the  follow- 
ing year  to  Carlisle  to  obtain  the  honor  of  knight- 
hood from  the  English  king ;  but  this  interview  ended 
in  a  quarrel,  and  Malcolm  returned  home  in  disgust, 
and  without  his  knighthood.  When  Henry,  how- 
ever, set  forth  on  his  expedition  for  the  recovery 
of  Toulouse  in  1159,'  Malcolm  went  with  him  to 
France,  and  was  knighted  by  him  there.  But  he 
had  followed  Henry's  banner  on  this  occasion  in 
opposition  to  the  judgment  of  the  Scottish  nobiUty, 
I  See  ante,  p.  429. 


and  after  a  few  months  a  solemn  deputation  was 
sent  to  him  to  urge  his  immediate  return  to  his 
dominions.  The  people  of  Scotland,  the  deputies 
were  commanded  to  tell  him,  would  not  have  Henry 
to  rule  over  them.  Malcolm  felt  it  necessary  to 
obey  this  call ;  but  the  faction  opposed  to  the  con- 
nection with  England  was  not,  it  appears,  to  be  sat- 
isfied with  having  succeeded  in  merely  bringing  him 
home.  While  he  was  holding  a  great  council  at 
Perth,  Ferquhard,  Earl  of  Strathearn,  and  five  other 
noblemen,  made  an  attempt  to  seize  his  person,  and 
openly  assaulted  a  tower  in  which  he  was  lodged. 
The  movement  threatened  to  lead  to  a  general 
popular  insurrection,  when  an  accommodation  was 
brought  about  by  the  intervention  of  the  clergy.  Im- 
mediately after  this,  Malcolm  with  judicious  policy 
applied  himself  to  the  reduction  of  those  districts  of 
his  kingdom  which,  inhabited  for  the  most  part  by 
races  of  foreign  extraction,  had  never  yet  been  com- 
pletely brought  under  subjection  to  the  general  gov- 
ernment, and  in  which  revolts  or  disturbances  were 
constantly  breaking  out.  He  found  occupation  for 
his  restless  nobility  by  leading  them  first  against  the 
wild  Irish  of  Galloway,  and  then  against  the  people 
of  3Ioray,  who  seem  to  have  been  principally  of 
Danish  lineage.  In  his  two  first  expeditions  against 
Gallowaj-  he  was  repulsed  ;  but  in  a  third  attempt, 
he  compelled  Fergus,  the  lord  of  the  country,  to 
sue  for  peace  and  to  make  complete  submission.  In 
regard  to  the  province  of  Moray  (at  that  time  cer- 
tainly not  confined  to  the  modern  county  of  the  same 
name,  but  comprehending  apparently  the  whole  or 
the  gi'eater  part  of  what  is  now  called  Inverness), 
where  rebellions  had  been  incessant,  Malcolm  is  as- 
serted to  have  adopted  the  strong  measure  of  remov- 
ing the  old  inhabitants  altogether  to  other  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  and  replacing  them  with  new  colonies. 
We  may  presume,  however,  that  any  such  trans- 
ference of  population  could  have  been  only  very 
partially  carried  into  effect.  The  subjugation  of 
Galloway  and  Moray  was  followed  in  1164  by  an- 
other contest  with  Somerled,  who  had  again  risen 
in  arms,  and  landed  at  Renfrew  on  the  Clyde  with 
a  numerous  force,  which  he  had  collected  both  from 
his  own  territories  and  from  Ireland.  The  Thane 
of  Argyle  probably  sympathized  with  the  lords  of 
Gsilloway  and  Moray,  or  regarded  their  fate  as  of 
evil  omen  to  himself.  The  issue  of  his  present  at- 
tempt, however,  was  eminently  disastrous;  his  army 
was  scattered  with  great  slaughter  in  its  first  en- 
counter with  the  king's  forces,  and  both  himself  and 
his  son  were  left  among  the  slain. 

It  thus  appears  that  Malcolm  IV.  was  at  least 
as  successful  as  any  of  his  predecessors  in  the 
maintenance  of  his  proper  authority  as  sovereign  of 
Scotland,  and  that  he  probably  indeed  very  con- 
siderably extended  the  real  sway  of  the  sceptre 
which  they  had  left  him  in  the  country  beyond  the 
Tweed.  His  relinquishment,  however,  of  the  pos- 
sessions which  had  been  held  by  his  grandfather 
in  the  south,  and  the  partiality  he  evinced  for  a 
connection  with  England,  seem  to  have  been  in  the 
highest  degree  distasteful  to  the  generality  of  his 
subjects.     At  the   head  of  the   party  which  this 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


feeling  raised  against  him  was  his  next  brother 
Wilham,  for  whom  his  grandfather  is  said  to  have 
intended  the  earldom  of  Northumberland,  and  who 
accordingly  considered  himself  to  be  deprived  of  his 
inheritance  by  the  agi-eement  with  Henry  which 
Malcolm  had  made  in  the  commencement  of  his 
reign.  Meanwhile  Malcolm  is  recorded  to  have, 
on  the  1st  of  Julj%  1163,  at  Woodstock,  renewed 
his  homage  to  Henry,  and  also  to  have  taken  an 
oath  of  fealty  to  his  infant  son  as  heir  apparent, 
and  the  relations  between  the  two  kings  appear  to 
have  become  more  intimate  than  ever.  The  next 
notice  that  we  have  of  the  course  of  events  in 
Scotland  represents  Malcolm  as  deprived  of  the 
government,  and  his  brother  William  at  the  head 
of  affairs  as  Regent.  Even  the  fact  of  this  revolu- 
tion, however,  is  involved  in  considerable  doubt, 
and  various  accounts  are  given  of  the  causes  that 
led  to  it.  One  story  is,  that  Malcolm  incurred  the 
displeasure  of  his  subjects  by  neglecting  the  ad- 
ministration of  affairs,  and  giving  himself  up  wholly 
to  devotion ;  and  that,  moreover,  he  had  bound 
himself  by  a  vow  of  chastity,  from  which  no  en- 
treaties of  nobles  or  prelates  could  prevail  upon 
him  to  depart.  Boyce  gives  at  full  length  a  singu- 
lar harangue,  which  he  says  was  addressed  to  the 
king  upon  this  subject  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  An- 
drews, at  a  great  council  held  for  its  especial  con- 
sideration at  Scone.  But  the  legend  of  Malcolm's 
vow  of  chastity  appears  to  be  most  probably  an 
invention,  founded  upon  his  surname  of  the  Maid- 
en, which  it  is  likely  was  intended  to  designate 
him  only  as  young  and  of  an  effeminate  coun- 
tenance ;  for  it  is  known  from  one  of  his  own  char- 
ters that  he  ha'd  a  natural  son.  Nor  would  the 
histoiy  of  his  reign  and  actions  denote  him  to  have 
been  in  any  respect  a  person  of  monkish  ten- 
dencies. His  devotion,  indeed,  may  have  come 
on  in  his  last  days.  Be  this  as  it  may,  another 
account  (by  no  means  irreconcilable  with  the  last) 
makes  him  to  have  been  obliged  to  give  up  the 
management  of  affairs  in  consequence  of  an  attack 
of  illness.  It  is  certain  that  he  died  at  Jedburgh 
on  the  9th  of  December,  1165,  on  which  his  brother 
William  was  raised  to  the  throne. 

Notwithstanding  the  part  he  had  hitherto  taken, 
Wilham  appears  to  have  begun  his  reign  by  court- 
ing the  alliance  of  the  English  king.  He  passed 
over  to  the  continent  to  Henry,  while  he  was  em- 
ployed in  reducing  the  revolted  Britons  in  1166, 
and,  as  already  mentioned,  was  with  him  while  he 
kept  court  in  the  castle  on  Mount  St.  Michael  in 
the  close  of  that  year.^  The  Chronicle  of  Melrose 
(which  is  written  throughout  in  an  English  spirit) 
says  that  Wilham  followed  Henry  to  France  "  to 
do  the  business  of  his  lord."  It  is  probable  that  he 
expected  to  succeed  by  this  conduct  in  his  favorite 
object  of  recovering  possession  of  Northumberland. 
Henry  seems  to  have  kept  up  his  hopes  by  fair 
promises  for  some  years :  when  his  eldest  son 
Henry  was  solemnly  crowned  at  London  on  the 
14th  of  June,  1170,  both  William  and  his  younger 
brother  David  were  present  at  the  ceremony,  and 
1  See  ante,  p.  436. 


both  did  homage  to  the  heir  apparent  along  with 
the  other  English  barons  ;  but  in  1173,  when  the 
quarrel  broke  out  between  the  English  king  and 
his  son,  William,  tired  of  fruitless  solicitation, 
changed  his  course,  and,  joining  in  confederacy 
with  the  "junior  king,"  from  whom  he  obtained  a 
grant  of  the  earldom  of  Northumberland  for  him- 
self, and  of  that  of  Cambridge  for  his  brother,  he 
raised  an  army  and  entered  England  as  an  enemy. 
But  after  merely  ravaging  part  of  the  northern 
counties,  he  consented  to  a  truce,  which  was 
eventually  prolonged  to  the  end  of  Lent  in  the  fol- 
lowing year.  In  1174,  however,  he  again  invaded 
Northumberland.  As  before,  his  troops  spread 
devastation  wherever  they  appeared  ;  but  their 
destructive  course  was  soon  stopped.  William,  as 
has  been  already  related,'  was  on  the  12th  of  July 
suddenly  fallen  upon  at  Alnwick  by  a  party  of 
Yorkshire  barons,  headed  by  Ranulf  de  Glanville, 
and  made  prisoner,  with  all  his  attendants.  The 
Scottish  king  and  his  sixty  knights,  however,  were 
not  taken  captive  without  resistance.  As  soon  as 
William  perceived  who  the  enemy  were,  which 
was  not  till  they  were  close  upon  him,  for  at  first 
he  had  taken  them  for  a  returning  party  of  his  own 
sti-agglers,  he  cried  out,  "  Now  it  will  be  seen  who 
are  true  knights,"  and  instantly  advanced  to  the 
charge.  But  the  numbers  of  the  Enghsh  (there 
were  four  hundred  horsemen  with  Glanville)  made 
this  gallantry  wholly  unavaihng.  The  king  was 
quickly  overpowered  and  unhorsed,  and  was  then 
carried  that  same  night  to  Newcastle,  his  attend- 
ants voluntarily  sharing  the  fate  of  their  sovereign. 
He  was  at  first  confined  in  the  castle  of  Richmond, 
in  Yorkshire  ;  but  after  a  few  weeks  Heniy  carried 
him  across  the  seas  to  Falaise,  in  Normandy.  In 
this  strong  fortress  he  remained  shut  up  till  the 
conclusion  of  the  treaty  of  Falaise,  in  December 
following,  by  which  William,  with  the  consent  of 
his  barons  and  clergy,  became  the  hegeman  of 
Henry  for  Scotland  and  all  his  other  territories. 
He  was  then  liberated  and  allowed  to  return  home, 
on  delivering  up  to  the  English  king  the  castles  of 
Edinburgh,  Stirling,  Roxburgh,  Berwick,  and  Jed- 
burgh, and  giving  his  brother  David  and  many  of 
his  chief  nobility  as  hostages  for  his  adherence  to 
the  treaty. 

The  next  event  requiring  to  be  noticed  in  the 
reign  of  Wilham  is  a  remarkable  contest  in  which 
he  was  engaged  with  the  court  of  Rome.  It  began 
in  1178,  when  on  the  death  of  Richard,  Bishop  of 
St.  Andrews,  the  chapter  elected  as  his  successor 
John  Scot,  an  Englishman  of  distinguished  learn- 
ing. The  nomination  of  a  bishop  by  the  chapter, 
without  the  rojal  consent,  was  a  stretch  of  eccle- 
siastical authority  which  had  never  been  quietly 
submitted  to  either  in  England  or  Scotland,  al- 
though any  actual  conflict  between  the  claims  of 
the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  powers  had  usually 
been  avoided  by  the  king  and  the  chapter  uniting 
in  the  election  of  the  same  person.  But  in  the 
present  case  William  had  a  particular  motive  for 
making  a  stand  against  the  clerical  encroachment, 

1  See  ante.  p.  455. 


526 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


having  destined  the  see  for  Hugh,  his  chaplain. 
"  By  the  arm  of  St.  James,"  he  passionately  ex- 
claimed, when  lie  heard  of  the  election  made  by  the 
chapter,  "while  I  live  John  Scot  shall  never  be 
bishop  of  St.  Andrews."  He  immediately  seized 
the  revenues  of  the  see,  and,  disregarding  the  ap- 
peal of  John  to  Rome,  made  Hugh  be  consecrated, 
and  put  him  in  possession.  When  the  Pope, 
Alexander  HI.,  canceled  this  appointment,  and 
John  was  the  following  year  consecrated  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  papal  mandate,  William  instantly  ban- 
ished him  from  the  kingdom.  The  Pope  on  this 
resorted  to  the  strongest  measures;  he  laid  the  dio- 
cese of  St.  Andrews  under  an  interdict ;  he  com- 
manded the  Scottish  clergy  within  eight  days  to 
install  John  ;  soon  after  he  ordered  them  to  excom- 
municate Hugh;  and,  finally,  he  granted  legiitine 
powers  over  Scotland  to  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
and  authorized  that  prelate  and  the  Bishop  of  Dur- 
ham to  excommunicate  the  King  of  Scotland,  and 
to  lay  the  whole  kingdom  under  an  interdict  if  the 
king  did  not  forthwith  put  John  in  peaceable  pos- 
session of  the  see.  Still  William  was  inflexible  on 
the  main  point.  He  offered  to  make  John  chan- 
cellor, and  to  give  him  any  other  bishopric  which 
should  become  vacant :  but  this  was  the  only  con- 
cession he  would  make.  When  the  Archbishop  of 
York  and  the  Bishop  of  Durham  called  upon  the 
clergy  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Andrews  to  yield 
obedience  to  John  under  pain  of  suspension,  he 
banished  all  who  complied  with  that  summons. 
At  last  the  two  prelates  went  to  the  full  extent  of 
their  tremendous  powers,  and  actually  pronounced 
sentence  of  excommunication  against  William,  and 
laid  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  under  an  interdict. 
But  at  this  point  the  death  of  Alexander  (in  August, 
llSl)  prevented  further  consequences.  WiUiam 
lost  no  time  in  making  application  to  the  new  Pope, 
Lucius  HI.,  who,  \vith  the  customary  regard  of 
each  sovereign  pontiff  for  the  decrees  of  his  pre- 
decessor, consented  to  reverse  the  sentence  of  ex- 
communication, and  to  recall  the  interdict.  The 
affair  was  ended  by  the  Pope  himself  nominating 
Hugh  to  the  bishopric  of  St.  Andrews,  and  John  to 
that  of  Dunkeld,  and  so,  to  use  the  words  of  Lord 
Hailes,  "  making  that  his  deed  which  was  the  king's 
icill."  Lord  Hailes  observes  that  William,  in  the 
obstinate  stand  he  made  on  this  occasion  against 
Pope  Alexander,  "  seems  to  have  been  proud  of 
opposing  to  the  uttermost  that  pontiff,  before  whom 
his  conqueror  Henry  had  bowed." 

Notwithstanding  the  success  which  is  attributed 
to  the  measures  taken  by  the  preceding  king  for 
reducing  to  a  real  obedience  the  various  provinces 
that  had  before  only  acknowledged,  at  the  utmost, 
a  qualified  dependence  upon  the  Scottish  crown, 
we  find  insurrections  in  these  districts  still  disturb- 
ing the  present  reign.  In  1171  the  old  annalists 
record  another  revolt  of  the  people  of  Moray  :  in 
1179  William  was  obliged  to  march  with  an  army 
to  Ross,  to  compose  some  commotions  there  ;  a  state 
of  anarchy  and  confusion  which  had  lasted  for  more 
t  han  ten  years  in  Galloway  was  only  put  an  end  to 
J!)  118G;  and  in  1187  Ross  and  Moray  were  invaded 


by  Donald  Bane,  or  Mac-William,  a  grandson  of  the 
late  king,  Duncan,  whose  attempt,  however,  was 
soon  put  down,  and  himself  slain. 

In  1186,  William,  on  the  proposal  of  the  English 
king,  married  Ermengarde,  the  daughter  of  Rich- 
ard, Viscount  Beaumont,  and  the  descendant  of  an 
illegitimate  daughter  of  Henry  I. ;  on  which,  as 
part  of  the  dower  of  his  cousin,  Henry  restored  the 
castle  of  Edinburgh.  Two  years  afterward  he  also 
offered  to  give  up  the  castles  of  Roxburgh  and 
Berwick,  if  William  would  pay  the  tenths  of  his 
kingdom  for  the  holy  war ;  but  the  Scottish  barons 
and  clergy  made  answer,  "  That  they  would  not, 
although  both  kings  should  have  sworn  to  levy 
them." 

The  accession  of  Richard  I.  to  the  English  throne 
was  followed,  in  a  few  months,  by  the  release  of 
William  from  the  obligations  which  Henry,  in  the 
words  of  the  charter  of  acquittance  (dated  Decem- 
ber 5th,  1189),  "had  extorted  from  him  by  new  in- 
struments, in  consequence  of  his  captivity ;"  with 
the  proviso,  only,  that  he  should  in  future  perform 
whatever  homage  had  of  I'ight  been  performed,  or 
had  been  of  right  due,  by  his  brother  Malcolm. 
There  seems  to  be  no  pretence  for  denying  that 
this  was  a  full  renunciation  by  Richard,  at  least  of 
whatever  new  riglits  of  sovereignty  over  Scotland 
had  been  created  by  the  treaty  of  Falaise.  "  There 
is  no  clause,  it  must  be  owned,"  observes  Mr.  Allen, 
"  in  the  charter  of  Richard,  which  recognizes  in 
express   terms  the   independence  of  the   Scottish 

crown The  charter  merely  replaces  the  two 

kingdoms  on  their  ancient  footing,  and  leaves  it  open 
to  discussion  what  were  the  lands  and  possessions  for 
which  homage  and  fealty  were  due  to  the  English 
crown.  But  from  one  of  the  most  full  and  accurate 
of  our  contemporary  chroniclers,  it  is  apparent  that 
the  independence  of  Scotland  was  understood  at 
the  time  to  be  the  effect  and  purport  of  the  treaty. 
Benedictus  Abbas,  in  his  account  of  the  transaction, 
informs  us  that  William  did  homage  to  Richard  for 
his  English  dignities  ;  and  that  Richard,  on  the  part 
of  himself  and  his  successors,  granted  to  the  Scotch 
king,  and  to  his  heirs  forever,  an  acquittance  from 
all  allegiance  and  subjection  for  the  kingdom  of 
Scotland."  For  this  acquittance,  and  the  restitu- 
tion of  the  castles  of  Roxburgh  and  Berwick,  Wil- 
liam agreed  to  pay  ten  thousand  marks  sterling. 

William  lived  many  years  after  this,  but  scarcely 
any  events  of  importance  mark  the  remainder  of 
his  reign.  Some  disturbances  in  Caithness,  in  1196 
and  the  following  year,  compelled  him  to  march  an 
armj-  into  that  province,  where  he  seized  Harold, 
the  Earl  of  Orkney  and  Caithness,  who  was  at  the 
head  of  the  insurrection,  and  detained  him  in  cap- 
tivity until  his  son  Torfin  sviri'endered  himself  as 
a  hostage.  This  was,  perhaps,  the  earliest  actual 
assertion  by  any  Scottish  king  of  his  authority  in 
that  remote  district ;  the  earls  of  which,  if  they 
acknowledged  any  limitation  of  their  independence, 
had  probablj-  been  wont  to  consider  themselves  sub- 
ject rather  to  the  Danish  than  to  the  Scottish  crown. 

After  the  accession  of  John  to  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land, William  did  homage  to  him  (November  22d, 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


527 


1200)  at  Lincoln,  "  saving  his  own  rights."  A  few 
years  afterward  a  misunderstanding  arose  between 
the  two  kings  respecting  a  fort  which  John  attempt- 
ed to  erect  at  Tweedmouth,  and  which  WiUiam 
repeatedly  demolished  as  soon  as  it  was  built.  A 
war  at  last  threatened  to  arise  out  of  this  quarrel ; 
and,  in  1209,  the  English  king  advanced  to  Norham, 
and  the  Scottish  to  Berwick,  each  at  the  head  of 
an  army.  But  no  encounter  took  place ;  a  treaty 
of  peace  was  concluded  by  the  intervention  of  the 
barons  of  both  nations,  by  which  William  became 
bound  to  pay  to  John  fifteen  thousand  marks,  as  a 
compensation,  it  is  supposed,  for  his  demolition  of 
the  fort,  which  John,  on  his  part,  is  said  to  have 
undertaken  not  to  rebuild.  William  also  delivered 
his  two  daughters  to  John,  that  they  might  be  pro- 
vided by  him  with  suitable  matches. 

William  died,  after  a  long  illness,  at  Stirling,  on 
the  4th  of  December,  1214,  in  the  seventy-second 


year  of  his  age,  and  forty-ninth  of  his  reign.  He 
was  surnamed  The  Lion  on  account,  says  Boyce, 
of  his  singular  justice — which  seems  a  strange  rea- 
son. It  is  more  probable  that  he  took  this  title  from 
the  lion  rampant,  the  coat  armorial  of  the  Scottish 
kings,  which  he  appears  to  have  been  the  first  to 
introduce.  The  statutes  attributed  to  him  consist 
of  thirty-nine  chapters  ;  but  a  few  of  them  are  be- 
lieved to  be  interpolations  of  a  later  period.  He 
left  many  natural  children ;  but,  besides  his  two 
daughters,  mentioned  above,  only  one  son  by  his 
wife,  Ermengarde  de  Beaumont,  a  youth  in  his 
seventeenth  year,  who  succeeded  his  father,  and 
was  crowned  at  Scone  on  the  10th  of  December. 
1214,  by  the  name  of  Alexander  II.  The  part  taken 
by  the  new  King  of  Scots,  in  conjunction  with  the 
English  barons  in  their  contest  with  John,  has  been 
related  above. 


Seal  of  William  the  Lion,  of  Scotlaxd. 

[This  IS  the  only  Seal  of  William  the  Lion  that  has  been  engraved.  But  it  is  believed,  on  the  authonty  of  Alexander  Nisbet,  the  herald,  that 
there  was,  in  the  charter-chest  of  the  Setons,  Earls  of  Winton,  a  Charter  of  William  with  a  seal  appended  to  it,  in  which  the  lion  rampant 
appeared  on  the  shield,  as  it  does  in  the  seal  of  his  son  and  successor,  Alexander  IL — See  Anderson's  Diplomata,  p.  54,  note  A.] 


We  have  now  merely  to  add  a  notice  of  the  few 
leading  events,  of  subsequent  date  to  Henry's  expe- 
dition, which  occur  in  the  history  of  Ireland  before 
it  becomes  mixed  in  one  stream  with  that  of  Eng- 
land. The  appearances  of  entire  submission  which 
had  been  exhibited  during  Henry's  stay  in  the  island 
were  not  long  preserved  after  he  left  its  shores. 
Before  the  close  of  the  year  1172  the  people  had 
risen  against  the  English  domination  in  various  dis- 
tricts ;  and,  for  the  next  three  years,  De  Lacy, 
Strongbow,  and  their  associates,  were  kept  in  con- 
stant activity  by  the  active  or  passive  resistance  of 
one  part  of  the  country  or  another.  In  1175,  Hen- 
ry, in  the  hope  that  it  might  have  some  effect  in 
subduing  this  rebellious  temper,  produced,  for  the 
first  time,  the  bull  which  he  had  procured  from 
Pope  Adrian,  twenty-four  years  before,  along  with 
a  brief  confirming  it,  which  he  had  received  in  the 
interval  from  Alexander  III.     William  Fitzaldelm, 


and  Nicholas,  Prior  of  Wallingford,  were  sent  over 
to  Ireland  with  the  two  instruments ;  and  they 
were  publicly  read  in  a  synod  of  bishops,  which 
these  commissioners  summoned  on  their  arrival. 
In  this  same  year,  also,  a  formal  treaty  was  con- 
cluded between  Henry  and  Roderick  O'Connor,  by 
which  the  former  granted  to  the  latter,  who  was 
styled  his  liegeman,  that  so  long  as  he  continued 
faithfully  to  serve  him,  he  should  be  king  of  the 
country  under  him,  and  enjoy  his  hereditarj'  terri- 
tories in  peace,  on  payment  of  the  annual  tribute  of 
a  merchantable  hide  for  every  tenth  head  of  cattle 
killed  in  Ireland.  For  some  years  after  this,  one 
chief  governor  rapidly  succeeded  another,  as  each 
either  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  king  by  the 
untoward  events  of  his  administration,  or,  as  it  hap- 
pened in  some  cases,  awakened  his  jealousy  by 
seeming  to  have  become  too  popular  or  too  power- 
ful.    But  Henry  never  himself  returned  to  Ireland. 


528 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


At  length,  in  1185,  he  determined  to  place  at  the 
head  of  the  government,  his  youngest  son,  John,  then 
only  in  his  nineteenth  year ;  the  lordship  of  Ireland, 
it  is  said,  being  the  portion  of  his  dominions  which 
he  had  always  intended  that  John  should  inherit. 
But  this  experiment  succeeded  worse  than  any 
other  he  had  tried.  The  same  evil  dispositions 
which  were  afterward  more  conspicuously  displayed 
on  the  throne,  showed  tliemselves  in  John's  conduct 
almost  from  the  first  day  he  began  to  exercise  his 
<lelegated  authority ;  by  liis  insulting  behavior  he 
converted  into  enemies  those  of  the  Irish  chieftains 


who  had  hitherto  been  the  most  attached  friends  of 
the  English  interest ;  and  he  met  with  nothing  but 
loss  and  disgrace  in  every  military  encounter  with 
the  natives.  He  was  hastily  recalled  by  Henry 
after  having  been  only  a  few  months  in  the  country. 
The  government  was  then  put  into  the  hands  of 
John  de  Courcy,  who  had  some  years  before  pene- 
trated into  Ulster,  and  established  the  English  power 
for  the  first  time  in  that  province.  De  Courcy  re- 
mained governor  to  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  ; 
and  from  this  date  the  history  of  Ireland  may  be 
considered  as  merged  in  the  history  of  England. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


529 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE   HISTORY  OF   RELIGION. 


HE  first  act 
by  which  the 
Conqueror 
expressed 
the  joy  of  his 
heart  for  the 
victory  of 
Hastings  was 
in  accord- 
ance with  the 
spirit  in 
which  he  had 
professed  to 
conduct  his 
enterprise 
from  its  com- 
mencement, 
and  betrayed 
none  of  that  jealousy  of  the  church  which  he  showed 
at  a  later  period.  Up  to  this  time  the  countenance 
of  the  Pope  and  the  church  had  been  one  of  his 
main  stays,  and  he  had  still  to  look  to  that  quarter 
for  much  important  aid  in  establishing  his  power. 
In  these  circumstances,  and  in  the  hour  of  triumph, 
when  he  gave  orders  for  building  the  abbey  of  Bat- 
tle, he  was  naturally  liberal  to  profusion,  both  in  the 
privileges  which  he  granted  to  the  new  establish- 
ment and  the  revenues  with  which  he  proposed  to 
endow  it.  On  being  told,  after  the  foundation  was 
dug,  that  there  was  a  scarcity  of  water  in  the  place, 
in  consequence  of  which  it  would  be  advisable  to 
choose  another  site  for  the  building ; — "  Work ! 
work  on  !"  cried  the  elated  victor.  "  If  God  gives 
me  life,  there  shall  be  more  wine  for  the  monks  of 
the  abbey  to  drink  than  there  is  now  clear  water  in 
the  best  convent  in  Christendom.'" 

Although  many  of  the  higher  churchmen,  how- 
ever, had,  during  a  great  part  of  the  reign  of  the 
Confessor,  been  in  the  Norman  interest,  and  con- 
tinued among  the  firmest  friends  of  William  after 
his  seizure  of  the  throne,  the  great  body  of  the 
clergy  were  strongly  attached  to  the  national  cause. 
Some  of  them  had  even  taken  arms  and  fought  on 
the  side  of  Harold  at  Hastings ;  and,  in  the  course 
of  the  protracted  contest  which  followed  before  the 
country  was  finally  subjugated,  the  English  in  their 
resistance  to  the  foreigners  had  been  on  several 
occasions  animated  and  led  on  by  their  priests. 
Hence  it  soon  became  a  leading  principle  in  the 
policy  of  William  to  depress  the  ecclesiastical 
power ;  while  on  the  other  hand  the  church,  thus 
selected  as  a  chief  object  of  attack,  rose  on  that 
account  in  the  affections  of  the  country,  and  grew 
every  day  to  be  more  and  more  regarded  as  the 

'  Dugdale's  Monasticun,  iii.  241 
VOL   I. — 34 


strength  and  best  representative  of  the    patriotic 
cause. 

Among  the  higher  ecclesiastics  who  stood  by 
what  was  considered  as  the  English  faction,  the 
most  conspicuous  had  all  along  been  the  Primate 
Stigand.  He  had  refused,  as  we  have  already  rela- 
ted, to  put  the  crown  on  the  head  of  the  Conqueror, 
who  was  thereupon  obliged  to  apply  to  Aldred  of 
York  to  perform  that  office.  Stigand,  beside,  lay 
under  the  displeasure  of  the  court  of  Rome  on 
other  grounds.  William  therefore,  when  he  judged 
that  the  proper  time  had  come,  found  no  difficulty 
in  effecting  the  removal  of  the  obnoxious  prelate  ; 
he  was  deposed  by  the  papal  legates  at  a  council 
held  at  Winchester  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
1070.  The  person  appointed  by  the  king,  with  the 
consent  of  the  barons,  to  be  his  successor,  was  the 
celebrated  Lanfranc.  Lanfranc  had  been  a  profes- 
sor of  laws  in  his  native  city  of  Pavia;  but  he  had 
afterward  removed  to  Normandy,  and  opened  a 
school  at  Avranches.  Here  he  acquired  great  ce- 
lebrity, and  his  seminary  became  the  source  from 
which  the  surrounding  country  was  gradually  pro- 
vided with  a  lettered  clergy.  Of  such  importance 
were  his  services  thought  to  be,  that  having,  on  the 
advance  of  old  age,  given  up  his  public  employment 
and  retired  to  the  monastery  of  Bee,  he  was  after 
a  few  years  induced,  much  against  his  own  wish, 
to  resume  his  occupation  of  schoolmaster  or  lec- 
turer, and  he  continued  to  perform  his  duties  with 
undiminished  reputation  till  he  was  past  the  age  of 
eighty,  when  William  made  him  abbot  of  his  new 
monastery  of  St.  Stephen  at  Caen.  He  had  nearly 
reached  his  ninetieth  year  when  he  was  invited  to 
the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury.  At  first  he  sought 
an  apology  for  refusing  the  offered  dignity  in  his 
ignorance  of  the  language  and  manners  of  the  Eng- 
lish barbarians — for  such  they  still  appeared  to  an 
Italian  ecclesiastic.  The  request  of  William,  how- 
ever, backed  by  the  earnest  exhortations  of  the  Pope, 
at  length  overcame  his  scniples. 

Having  once  assumed  his  high  office,  Lanfranc 
showed  himself  determined  to  neglect  neither  its 
duties  nor  its  rights.  The  first  thing  to  which  he 
applied  himself  was  to  recover  for  his  church  of 
Canterbury  the  numerous  ancient  possessions  of 
which  it  had  been  deprived  in  the  confusions  or  by 
the  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  last  few  years.  In 
pursuing  this  object,  obhged  as  he  was  to  contend 
with  haughty  barons,  whom  their  hege  lord  could 
scarcely  control,  his  intrepidity  and  perseverance 
enabled  him  to  succeed  in  many  instances.  Even 
the  powerful  Odo,  uterine  brother  to  the  king,  was 
thus  compelled  to  restore  twenty-five  manors  which 
had  formerly  belonged  to  the  see  of  Canterbury. 


530 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


The  wealth  thus  recovered  for  the  church  Avas  ap- 
pHed  by  Lanfranc  to  the  promotion  of  its  interests. 
He  rebuilt  the  cathedral  of  Canterbury  with  Nor- 
man stone,  repaired  the  sacred  edifices  in  a  style 
of  comfort  and  elegance  hitherto  unknown  to  the 
Saxons,  and  erected  churches  and  monastic  estab- 
lishments where  they  were  considered  most  neces- 
sary. He  also  caused  the  bishops  to  remove  their 
seats  from  the  villages,  in  which  many  of  them 
resided,  to  the  larger  towns ;  he  is  said  to  have 
introduced  cevtain  reforms  into  the  monastic  insti- 
tutions; and  he  established  schools  in  various  parts 
of  the  kingdom.  Lanfranc  at  the  same  time  cor- 
dially cooperated  with  William  in  that  particular 
point  of  ecclesiastical  reformation  which  the  latter 
no  doubt  had  most  at  heart,  the  general  substitution 
of  a  foreign  for  a  native  clergy.  Very  good  reasons 
were  easily  found  for  the  displacement  of  many  of 
the  English  priests,  on  the  ground  both  of  ignor- 
ance and  immorality ;  and,  on  the  whole,  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  result  of  their  ejection  was  the  settle- 
ment in  the  country  of  a  more  instructed  body  of 
pastors  than  it  had  previously  possessed. 

We  must  suppose  that,  whatever  may  have  been 
the  motives  of  another  kind  that  principally  actuated 
William,  this  was  the  end  which  Lanfranc  kept  in 
view,  and  by  which  he  justified  to  himself  the 
measures  of  severity  in  which  he  took  part.  His 
own  elevation,  indeed,  had  been  one  of  the  com- 
mencing moves  of  the  royal  scheme  of  reform ;  for 
it  was  at  the  council  at  which  Stigand  was  deposed, 
held  by  the  papal  legates  in  1070,  that  the  removal 
of  the  native  clergy  and  the  introduction  of  foreigners 
were  begun.  For  some  years  after  this,  the  course 
which  had  been  thus  entered  upon  was  vigorously 
pursued,  till  the  conversion  of  the  spiritual  estate 
to  a  community  of  interest  and  feeling  with  the 
civil  government  was  pretty  completely  effected. 
In  many  instances  the  crime  of  being  an  English- 
man, or  inability  to  speak  the  Norman  tongue, 
was  reckoned  sufficient  for  clerical  deposition  in  the 
absence  of  more  substantial  charges.  Even  the 
saints  of  the  Saxon  calendar  shared  in  the  fate  of 
their  Avorshipers.  Their  sanctity  was  denied,  and 
their  worship  ridiculed.  Of  the  unfortunate  clergy, 
some  endeavored  to  make  terms  with  a  power  they 
had  no  means  of  resisting,  by  consenting  to  descend 
to  a  humbler  station  in  the  church :  others  fled  to 
Scotland.  Their  necessities,  or  the  hope  of  ven- 
geance, drove  many  to  the  forests,  where  they 
joined  the  bands  of  outlaws,  and  sanctioned  with 
the  rites  of  religion  the  wild  struggle  of  independ- 
ence which  was  there  long  maintained  by  the  sparks 
of  the  popular  spirit  that  were  last  in  being  trodden 
out.  and  also  the  deeds  of  rapine  and  cruelty  with 
which  it  was  doubtless  plentifully  deformed.  Some 
even  of  the  deposed  prelates  are  said  to  have  taken 
this  course. 

It  appears  that  in  most  instances  the  higher 
church  benefices  were  filled  by  William  with  men 
of  learning  and  virtue ;  but  it  was  impossible  for 
him,  whatever  his  wishes  may  have  been,  to  pre- 
vent the  intrusion  of  many  unworthy  persons  into 
the   inferior  appointments.     He  had  hired  adven- 


turers to  his  standard  by  promises  of  ecclesiastical 
as  well  as  political  preferment.  The  powerful 
barons,  whose  swords  had  hewn  out  his  way  to  the 
throne,  and  now  maintained  him  upon  it,  had  kins- 
men and  retainers  of  the  clerical  order,  whose  de- 
mands could  not  be  refused  ;  and  thus,  though  vacan- 
cies were  rapidly  made,  they  were  still  insufficient 
for  a  throng  of  greedy  expectants,  the  gratification 
of  whose  demands,  on  the  other  hand,  only  deep- 
ened the  miseries  of  the  land  and  the  hatred  of  the 
unhappy  people. 

Amid  the  acts  of  deposition  that  took  place  during 
this  reign,  an  attempt  was  made  to  eject  the  ven- 
erable Wulstan  from  the  see  of  Winchester.  This 
bishop,  though  illiterate,  surpassed  the  generality  of 
his  brethren  of  English  birth  in  purity  of  character 
and  a  blameless  life.  But,  on  the  charge  that  he 
was  unacquainted  with  the  French  language,  the 
resignation  of  his  episcopal  staff  was  required  of 
him,  in  a  synod  held  in  Westminster  Abbej-,  at 
which  Lanfranc  presided.  At  this  demand,  Wul- 
stan arose,  and,  grasping  the  crosier  with  a  firmer 
hand,  thus  addressed  the  primate :  "  I  am  aware, 
my  lord  archbishop,  that  I  am  neither  worthy  of 
this  dignity,  nor  equal  to  its  duties:  this  I  knew 
when  the  clergy  elected — when  the  prelates  com- 
pelled— when  my  master  called  me  to  fill  it.  By 
the  authority  of  the  holy  see  he  laid  this  burden 
upon  me,  and  with  this  staflf  he  commanded  me  to 
receive  the  rank  of  a  bishop.  You  now  demand  of 
me  the  pastoral  staff  which  you  did  not  present,  and 
the  office  which  you  did  not  bestow.  AAvare  of  my 
insufficiency,  and  obedient  to  this  holy  synod,  I  now 
resign  them — not,  however,  to  you,  but  to  him  by 
whose  authority  I  received  them."  He  then  ad- 
vanced to  the  tomb  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and 
thus  solemnly  invoked  the  dead  king :  "  Master, 
thou  knowest  how  reluctantly  I  assumed  this  charge, 
at  thy  instigation.  It  was  thy  command  that,  more 
than  the  wish  of  the  people,  the  voice  of  the  pre- 
lates, and  the  desire  of  the  nobles,  compelled  me. 
Now  we  have  a  new  king,  a  new  primate,  and  new 
enactments.  Thee  they  accuse  of  error,  in  having 
so  commanded,  and  me  of  presumption  because  I 
obeyed.  Formerly,  indeed,  thou  mightest  err,  be- 
cause thou  wert  mortal;  but  now  thou  art  with 
God,  and  canst  err  no  longer.  Not  to  them,  there- 
fore, who  recall  what  they  did  not  give,  and  who 
may  deceive,  and  be  deceived,  but  to  thee  who  gave 
them,  and  art  now  raised  above  all  error,  I  resign 
my  staff,  and  surrender  my  flock."  He  then  laid 
his  crosier  upon  the  tomb,  and  took  his  seat  among 
the  monks  as  a  simple  brother  of  their  order.  The 
synod  did  not  dare  to  accept  of  a  resignation  so 
tendered.  The  staflf  remained  untouched  ;  and,  to 
justify  the  continuance  of  Wulstan  in  his  see,  a 
miracle  was  invented.  It  was  alleged  that  the  cro- 
sier was  so  firmly  imbedded  in  the  stone,  that  it 
could  not  be  removed.  At  the  death  of  the  Con- 
queror, Wulstan  was  the  only  English  bishop  who 
retained  his  office.' 

1  Anglia  Sacra,  ii.  255.— W.  Malms.  De  Pontif.  lib.  iv.— Crispinus, 
Vit.  Lanfranc,  torn.  \-i.— Parker,  de  Antiq.  Ecc.  Brit.  p.  110.— J 
Brampton,  p.  976. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


531 


But  while  William  was  thus  exercising  the  priv- 
ileges of  a  victor  in  the  church  as  well  as  the  state, 
he  was  surprised  by  finding  himself  threatened 
with  vassalage  in  turn.  The  subtle  and  imperious 
Hildebrand,  now  Pope,  by  the  title  of  Gregory  VII., 
declaring  that  kings  and  princes  were  but  the  vas- 
sals of  St.  Peter  and  his  successors,  summoned 
William  to  do  homage  for  the  possession  of  Eng- 
land. The  answer  of  the  proud  Norman  was  brief 
and  decisive.  The  tax  of  Peter's-pence,  discontin- 
ued of  late  years  in  England,  and  now  required  by 
the  Pope,  he  declared  that  he  would  regularly  pay  ; 
but  the  homage  he  peremptorily  refused,  alleging 
that  it  had  never  been  promised  by  himself,  nor 
rendered  by  any  of  his  predecessors.  With  this 
answer  to  his  demand,  Gregory  was  obliged  to  re- 
main satisfied  for  the  present ;  he  probably,  indeed, 
expected  no  other,  and  only  announced  his  claims 
with  a  view  to  their  enforcement  in  more  favorable 
circumstances,  and  that  no  future  English  king 
might  be  able  to  profess  astonishment  at  their  being 
advanced,  seeing  that  they  had  first  been  pressed 
upon  the  Conqueror.  William,  in  the  mean  time, 
taking  advantage  of  the  contest  which  arose  between 
the  Pope  and  the  emperor,  and  of  his  own  remote- 
ness from  Rome,  which  enabled  him  to  act  with 
the  more  independence,  commenced  a  vigorous 
warfare  against  the  papal  encroachments.  He  or- 
dered, first,  that  no  pontiff  should  be  acknowledged 
in  his  dominions  without  his  previous  sanction,  and 
that  papal  letters,  before  they  were  published, 
should  be  submitted  to  his  inspection ;  secondly, 
that  no  decision,  either  of  national  or  provincial 
synods,  should  be  carried  into  execution  without 
his  permission  ;  and,  thirdly,  that  the  clerical  courts 
should  neither  implead  nor  excommunicate  any 
tenant  holding  of  the  crown  in  capite,  until  the  of- 
fence had  been  certified  to  himself.^ 

During  the  latter  period  of  William's  reign,  an 
event  occurred,  arising  out  of  the  disorders  of  the 
conquest,  but  from  which  an  important  benefit  re- 
sulted to  religion.  No  uniformity  was  observed  in 
the  public  worship — the  prayers  and  their  mode  of 
recital  frequently  depending  upon  the  caprices  of 
the  oflficiating  priest.  In  order  to  enforce  a  favorite 
liturgy  among  the  Saxon  .monks  of  Glastonbury, 
Thurston,  their  Norman  abbot,  entered  the  church 
with  a  band  of  archers  and  spearmen.  The  monks 
withstood  even  this  armed  demonstration  ;  a  des- 
perate conflict  commenced  round  the  altar,  and  be- 
hind the  great  crucifix,  which  was  soon  stuck  thick 
with  arrows,  while  benches,  candlesticks,  and 
crosses  were  wielded  in  their  defence  by  the  breth- 
ren, several  of  whom  were  slain.  This  incident 
suggested  the  necessity  of  a  form  established  by 
authority ;  and  Oswald,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  com- 
posed a  church-service  that  became  universal 
throughout  the  realm.^ 

Lanfranc  did  not  long  survive  the  accession  of 
Rufus,  for  whom  he  materially  assisted  in  securing 
the  throne,  and  whose  chief  counselor  he  continued 
to  be  while  he  lived.  The  archbishop,  it  is  record- 
ed, did  not  foil  to  press  upon  the  new  king  the  ful- 

'  Eadmer,  p.  6.  2  w.  Malms.— Chron.  Sax. — Knyghton. 


filment  of  the  oaths  he  had  taken  to  observe  the 
laws  ;  but  Rufus,  now  that  he  had  obtained  his  end, 
was  little  inclined  to  give  heed  to  these  exhortations. 
"  What  man,"  he  impatiently  replied,  "  is  able  to 
perform  all  that  he  has  promised  ?"  ^  The  primate, 
however,  maintained  a  considerable  ascendency 
over  the  irregular  spirit  of  the  king,  by  which  his 
excesses  were  frequently  restrained ;  and,  with 
longer  time,  Lanfranc  might  perhaps  have  been  also 
enabled  to  develop  some  of  those  better  qualities, 
the  elements  of  which  Rufus  undoubtedly  possessed. 
But  the  archbishop,  being  nearly  a  hundred  years 
old,  died  in  1089,  about  two  years  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  reign.^ 

Lanfranc  was  succeeded  in  his  office  of  the  king's 
chief  adviser  by  the  notorious  Ralph  Flarabard 
One  of  the  chief  sources  to  which  the  new  minister, 
among  his  plans  of  extortion,  looked  for  the  supply 
of  the  royal  coffers,  was  the  plunder  of  the  church. 
At  his  instigation  Rufus  took  to  himself  the  reve- 
nues of  all  vacant  bishoprics  and  abbacies,  and  in 
many  cases  kept  the  most  important  offices  in  the 
church  unfilled  for  years,  drawing  the  profits  all  the 
while  into  his  own  exchequer.  In  these  cases  the 
ecclesiastical  estates  were  farmed  out  to  those  who 
offered  the  highest  terms  for  the  uncertain  tenure, 
and  who  of  course  employed,  without  scruple,  all 
the  means  at  their  command  to  repay  themselves, 
and  to  make  the  most  of  their  temporary  occupa- 
tion. The  tenants  under  this  system  were  ground 
to  the  earth  by  the  most  merciless  exactions;  and 
when,  at  last,  an  occupant  was  appointed  to  the 
benefice,  he  was  usually  required  to  pay  a  heavy 
premium  for  his  promotion,  which,  again,  he  could 
only  raise  by  a  continuation  of  the  same  methods 
which  had  already  produced  so  much  suffering,  and 
gone  so  far  to  exhaust  the  resources  of  the  benefice. 
Hence,  also,  the  intrusion  into  the  church  of  a  swarm 
of  hirelings,  who  were  regarded  by  their  people 
rather  as  slave-merchants,  by  whom  they  were 
bought  and  sold,  than  as  pastors  by  whom  they  were 
to  be  benefited.^ 

This  oppressive  course  of  the  king  had  continued 
for  about  four  years,  when,  in  1093,  he  was  seized 
with  a  dangerous  sickness,  and,  under  the  agonies 
of  terror  and  remorse,  he  became  anxious  to  repair 
the  wrongs  he  had  done  the  church.  Since  the 
death  of  Lanfranc  he  had  kept  the  see  of  Canter- 
bury vacant,  swearing  that  it  should  have  no  arch- 
bishop but  himself;  but  now,  impetuous  in  repent- 
ance as  in  guilt,  he  insisted  that  Anselm,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Lanfranc  in  the  abbacy  of  Bee,  and  whom 
that  prelate  had,  before  his  death,  expressed  his 
wish  to  have  also  for  his  successor  in  the  primacy, 
should  forthwith  be  appointed  archbishop.  Anselm 
happening  to  be  at  the  time  in  England,  he  was 
hurried  to  the  bedside  of  the  king.  A  crosier  was 
presented  to  him,  but  he  refused  to  touch  it,  till  the 
royal  attendants  unclenched  his  fingers,  and  forced 
the  sacred  staff  into  his  struggling  hand,  when  all 
with  one  accord  burst  forth  into  a  Te  deum  for  the 
primate  whom  heaven  had  sent  them,  while  the 

1  Eadmer,  p   14.  =  Orderic,  p.  241-45.    W.  Malmsb.  117 

3  Eadmer. — W.  Malmsb 


532 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


helpless  monk  in  vain  protested  ngainst  the  whole 
proceeding.  It  would  perhaps  be  wrong  to  assume 
that  the  resistance  of  Anselm  was  hypocritical.  In- 
dependently of  his  love  of  studious  retirement,  he 
may  be  supposed  to  have  foreseen  that  the  primacy, 
from  the  temper  of  the  king  and  the  state  of  the 
country,  would  be  no  enviable  elevation.  "  What 
are  you  doing  ?"  was  his  language  to  his  friends  who 
were  most  importunate  for  his  consent :  "  the  church 
of  England  should  be  drawn  by  two  animals  of  equal 
strength  :  but  you  are  yoking  to  the  plough  a  feeble 
old  sheep  with  a  mad  young  bull  that  will  tear  its 
companion  through  every  obstacle,  and  finally  drag 
it  to  death." 

Anselm  had  not  done  justice  to  his  own  character 
when  he  likened  himself  to  the  most  gentle  of  ani- 
mals. Although  unequally  yoked  with  the  fiery 
spirit  of  Rufus,  yet  upon  occasion  he  could  display 
an  unbending  obstinacy  that  even  matched  the 
fierceness  of  the  king.  The  seeds  of  future  dis- 
sension were  sown  betAveen  them  at  the  commence- 
ment of  their  connection.  Anselm,  upon  accepting 
the  primacy,  had  stipulated  for  the  restoration  of 
all  the  church  lands  belonging  to  his  see,  and  the 
implicit  obedience  of  the  king  to  his  advice  in  all 
matters  of  religion  ;  and  to  these  demands  William 
had  evasively  replied  that  the  archbishop's  reason- 
able expectations  would  be  fulfilled.  But  the  peni- 
tence of  the  king  vanished  with  his  fit  of  illness, 
and  he  rose  from  his  sick  bed  with  fresh  vigor  to 
resume  the  plunder  of  the  church.  His  first  quar- 
rel with  the  primate  was  on  the  subject  of  the 
price  to  be  paid  by  the  latter  for  his  promotion.  As 
Rufus  had  not  been  accustomed  to  confer  the  higher 
benefices  without  a  valuable  consideration,  Anselm 
was  willing  to  comply  with  the  usage  ;  but,  pleading 
his  previous  poverty  and  the  impoverished  condition 
of  the  see,  he  offered  only  the  sum  of  five  hundred 
pounds.  Rufus  eyed  tUe  money  with  disdain,  and 
refused  it,  on  which  the  primate  bestowed  it  upon 
the  poor.  Afterward  he  was  given  to  understand 
that  a  thousand  pounds  would  be  a  more  welcome 
offering,  but  he  declared  that  he  was  unable  to 
raise  such  a  sum  from  his  exhausted  revenues.^ 
When  this  answer  was  reported  to  the  king  it 
filled  him  with  fury.  "  As  I  hated  him  yesterday," 
he  exclaimed,  "  so  I  hate  him  more  to-day ;  and 
tell  him  that  I  shall  hate  him  more  bitterly  the 
longer  I  live.  I  shall  never  acknowledge  him  for 
my  archbishop."* 

A  ground  of  open  quarrel  was  soon  found.  About 
seven  months  after  his  forced  acceptance  of  the 
see,  the  primate  proposed,  after  the  custom  of  his 
predecessors,  to  proceed  to  Rome,  to  receive  the 
pall  from  the  hands  of  the  sovereign  pontiff;  but 
there  were  at  present  two  rival  popes,  between 
whom  Rufus  had  not  yet  made  his  election.  When 
Anselm,  therefore,  presented  himself  to  request 
permission  to  set  out  on  his  journey,  Rufus  asked 
him,  in  real  or  affected  surprise,  to  what  pope  he 

>  Rufus  exacted  the  same  sum  from  his  favorite  Flambard,  on 
presenting  him  with  the  bishopric  of  Durham.  It  is  likely,  however, 
that  this  able  financier  found  no  great  difficulty  in  raising  the  money 

2  Ead.  p.  21-25. 


meant  to  go  ?  Anselm  at  once  answered  that  he 
should  go  to  Urban  II.  Indignant  at  tliis  arbitrary 
decision,  the  king  instantly  exclaimed,  "  As  well 
tear  the  crown  fi-om  my  head  as  dispossess  me  of  n 
right  which  is  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  the  Eng- 
lish kings !"  The  archbishop,  nevertheless,  did  not 
hesitate  to  announce  that  he  intended  to  proceed  on 
his  journey,  even  without  the  leave  of  the  king.  In 
these  circumstances  a  council  of  the  nobility  and 
prelates  was  forthwith  assembled  at  Rockingham  to 
decide  upon  the  case.  The  bishops  acknowledged 
the  illegality  of  the  primate's  conduct ;  but  when 
the  king  demanded  his  deposition,  they  declared 
that  that  could  only  be  effected  by  the  authority  of 
the  Pope.  They  agi*eed,  however,  to  unite  in  en- 
deavoring to  persuade  him  to  retract  his  decision  in 
favor  of  Urban,  and  to  forego  his  journey ;  but 
Anselm  would  make  no  such  concessions.  The 
affair  was  thus  fast  advancing  to  a  crisis,  when  the 
difficulty  was  solved  by  Rufus  finding  it  expedient 
to  acknowledge  the  claims  of  Urban,  and  by  the 
Pope,  on  the  other  hand,  by  way  of  returning  the 
favor,  dispensing  with  the  personal  attendance  of 
Anselm,  and  transmitting  the  pall  to  England. 

As  Rufus,  however,  still  persisted  in  keeping 
many  of  the  chief  offices  of  the  church  vacant,  while 
Anselm  felt  it  his  duty  to  urge  that  proper  persons 
should  be  appointed  to  the  abbacies  and  other  pre- 
ferments which  the  king  thus  retained  in  his  own 
hands,  the  quarrel  between  them  was  not  long  in 
breaking  out  again  with  all  its  former  violence. 
"Are  not  the  abbeys  mine?"  exclaimed  the  Red 
King,  when  the  archbishop  pressed  his  unwelcome 
solicitations  ;  "  Do  Avhat  you  please  with  the  farms 
of  your  archbishopric,  but  leave  me  the  same  liberty 
with  my  abbeys !"  Anselm  eventually  detennined 
to  go  to  Rome,  and  lay  the  matter  before  the  Pope, 
deterred  neither  by  the  steady  refusal  of  Rufus  to 
grant  him  permission  to  leave  the  kingdom,  nor  by 
the  confiscation  and  banishment  which  he  was  as- 
sured would  follow  his  unauthorized  departure.  He 
set  out  on  his  journey  in  the  spring  of  1098,  on  foot, 
as  a  humble  pilgrim,  with  a  staff  and  wallet;  and  in 
this  guise  he  reached  Dover,  where  he  underwent 
the  indignity  of  a  strict  search  from  the  king's  offi- 
cers, that  he  might  carry  no  money  out  of  England. 
He  arrived,  however,  in  safety  at  Rome,  where  he 
was  greeted  by  the  Pope  with  the  most  distinguished 
welcome.  Urban,  addressing  him  in  a  long  speech 
before  his  whole  court,  called  him  the  pope  of 
another  world,  while  all  the  English  in  the  city 
were  commanded  to  kiss  his  toe.'  The  pontiff  soon 
after  sent  a  letter  to  Rufus,  requiring  the  restitu- 
tion of  Anselm's  property'  which  had  been  confisca- 
ted at  his  departure  ;  but  when  the  king  understood 
that  the  bearer  was  a  servant  of  the  archbishop,  he 
swore  that  he  would  tear  out  his  eyes  unless  he 
instantly  quitted  the  kingdom. 

Before,  however,  it  was  known  what  reception 
the  Pope's  application  had  met  with,  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal council  which  was  held  at  Rome  in  the  close  of 
this  year,  and  at  which  Anselm  was  present,  de- 
clared that  the  King  of  England  deserved  excom- 
1  W  Malmsb.,  p.  127. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


533 


munication  for  his  treatment  of  that  prelate  ;  but  at 
Ansehn's  request,  made  upon  his  knees,  the  Pope 
refrained  from  actually  pronouncing  the  sentence 
for  the  present.  But  this  council  is  especially  mem- 
orable in  the  history  of  the  church,  for  the  decision 
to  which  it  came  upon  the  great  question  of  investi- 
ture, which  had  now  become  the  main  point  in 
the  contest  between  the  pretensions  of  the  spiritual 
and  of  the  temporal  power  in  every  part  of  Christen- 
dom. The  matter  in  dispute  was  simply,  whether 
ecclesiastical  persons,  on  being  inducted  into  bish- 
oprics and  abbeys,  should  be  permitted  to  receive 
the  ring  and  crosier,  by  which  the  temporalities  of 
the  benefice  were  understood  to  be  conveyed,  from 
the  hands  of  the  prince.  It  is  evident,  however, 
that  this  ceremony  involved  the  whole  question  of, 
whether,  in  every  country,  the  clergy  should  be 
under  the  dominion  of  the  king  or  of  the  Pope.  Its 
observance  accordingly  had  been  for  a  long  time  as 
strongly  protested  against  by  the  court  of  Rome,  as 
it  had  been  usually  insisted  upon  by  every  temporal 
sovereign.  The  present  council  denounced  excom- 
munication both  against  all  laymen  who  should 
presume  to  grant  investiture  of  any  ecclesiastical 
benefice,  and  against  every  priest  who  should  accept 
of  such  investiture.  It  was  alleged,  with  a  daring 
freedom  of  language,  to  be  too  horrible  for  hands 
that  created  the  Creator  himself — a  power  not 
granted  even  to  the  angels — and  that  offered  him  to 
the  Father  as  a  sacrifice  for  the  world's  redemp- 
tion, to  be  placed  in  fealty  between  the  hands  of 
one  who  might  be  stained  and  polluted  with  every 
excess.' 

Soon  after  this  arrived  the  answer  of  Rufus  to 
the  Pope's  lettei*.  "  I  am  astonished,"  he  wrote, 
how  it  could  enter  your  mind,  to  intercede  for  the 
restoration  of  Anselm.  If  you  ask  wherefore,  this 
is  the  cause : — when  he  wished  to  go  away,  he  was 
plainly  warned  that  the  whole  revenues  of  his  see 
would  be  confiscated  at  his  departure.  Since,  there- 
fox-e,  he  would  needs  go,  I  have  done  what  I  threat- 
ened ;  and  I  think  I  have  done  right."  Anselm  was 
not  recalled  so  long  as  Rufus  lived. 

When  Henry  Beauclerc  succeeded,  his  defective 
title  required  the  sanction  of  the  church,  and  he, 
therefore,  politically  recalled  Anselm  from  banish- 
ment, at  the  commencement  of  his  reign.  He  also 
promised  neither  to  farm  nor  sell  the  ecclesiastical 
benefices,  as  his  brother  had  done,  and  to  restore 
to  the  church  all  its  former  immunities ;  and  he 
threw  into  prison  the  obnoxious  Flambard,  the 
agent  of  the  late  oppressions.  The  friendship  and 
aid  of  the  church  in  the  matter  both  of  his  estab- 
lishment on  the  throne,  and  of  his  marriage  shortly 
after  with  Matilda,  notwithstanding  her  apparent 
dedication  as  a  nun,  rewarded  this  show  of  regard. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the  quarrel  re- 
specting investiture  was  renewed,  by  the  demand 
of  Henry,  that  Anselm  should  do  homage  for  his 
archbishopric.  To  this  demand,  the  latter  returned 
a  decided  negative.  In  consequence,  the  vexatious 
subject  was  again  referred  to  Rome,  and,  as  might 

»  The  proceedings  of  this  council  are  very  minutely  related  by 
Eadmer,  the  companion  of  Anselm  in  his  flight  and  banishment 


have  been  expected,  the  decision  pronounced  by 
Pascal  II.,  who  was  now  pope,  was  in  favor  of  the 
church.  Henry,  notwithstanding,  still  commanded 
Anselm  either  to  do  homage,  or  leave  the  kingdom ; 
but  the  archbishop  would  do  neither.  He  declared 
that  he  would  abide  in  his  province,  and  he  defied 
any  one  to  injure  him  there.  A  second  deputation 
was  thereupon  sent  to  Rome,  to  intimate,  in  the 
name  of  the  king  and  nobles,  that  unless  the  right 
of  investiture  was  conceded,  they  would  banish  An- 
selm, dissolve  their  connection  with  the  papal  see, 
and  withhold  the  usual  payments. 

Thus  pressed,  if  we  may  believe  the  account 
given  by  Ansehn's  biographer,  Eadmer,  the  court 
of  Rome  had  recourse  to  a  very  strange  and  clumsy 
stratagem.  Three  bishops  had  brought  the  message 
of  the  king,  and  two  monks  had  also  arrived  to  plead 
the  cause  of  the  archbishop.  To  the  bishops  it  is 
affirmed,  the  Pope  verbally  conceded  the  right  of 
investiture  as  claimed  by  the  king,  but  excused 
himself  from  committing  the  permission  to  writing, 
lest  other  sovereigns  should  demand  the  same  privi- 
leges, and  despise  his  authority  ;  while  by  the  monks 
he  sent  letters  to  Anselm,  exhorting  him  to  resist 
all  royal  investitures,  and  hold  out  to  the  uttermost. 
The  deputies  of  both  parties  returned  to  London, 
and,  at  a  great  council  held  there  (a.d.  1102),  after 
the  bishops  had  rehearsed  their  verbal  commission, 
the  monks  produced  their  letters.  The  Pope  after- 
ward declared  the  statement  of  the  bishops  to  be 
false,  and  even  excommunicated  them  as  liars ;  but 
still  Henry  stood  out.  At  length  it  was  arranged 
that  the  archbishop  should  himself  repair  to  Rome 
to  obtain  a  positive  decision ;  and  he  set  out  on  his 
journey,  accordingly,  on  the  29th  of  April,  1103. 

Some  years  of  further  negotiation  followed,  dur- 
ing which  Anselm  remained  abroad.  At  last  a 
compromise  was  effected  by  the  Pope  consenting 
that,  provided  the  king  would  abstain  from  insisting 
upon  the  investiture  with  ring  and  crosier,  the 
bishops  and  abbots  should  do  homage,  in  the  same 
manner  with  the  lay  tenants  in  chief  of  the  crown, 
for  the  temporalities  of  their  sees.  On  the  tedious 
controversy  being  thus  brought  to  a  close,  Anselm 
returned  to  England  in  August,  1106. 

Two  years  after  this  act  of  pacification,  a  council 
was  held  at  London,  to  enforce  the  obligation  of 
clerical  celibacy,  a  rule  which  both  Anselm  and  his 
predecessor  Lanfranc  had  always  shown  great  zeal 
in  promoting,  although  the  subject  had  been  par- 
tially lost  sight  of  during  the  late  controversies. 
Ten  canons  were  now  passed  on  this  head  more 
rigid  than  any  that  had  been  hitherto  promulgated. 
All  maiTied  priests  of  whatever  degree  were  com- 
manded instantly  to  put  away  their  wives, — not  to 
sufl^er  them  to  live  on  any  lands  belonging  to  the 
church, — and  never  to  see  them  or  converse  with 
them  except  in  urgent  cases,  and  in  the  presence 
of  witnesses.  As  a  punishment  for  their  crime  in 
marrying,  they  were  to  abstain  from  saying  mass 
for  a  certain  period,  and  to  undergo  several  pen- 
ances. Those  who  refused  to  banish  their  wives 
were  to  be  deposed  and  excommunicated ;  their 
goods  were  to  be  confiscated,  and  their  wives,  as 


534 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


adulteresses,  txj  bo  mcide  slaves  to  the  bishop  of  the  ! 
diocese.' 

Anselm  ended  his  troubled  career  in  1109,  in  the  | 
seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age  and  sixteenth  of  his 
primacy.  His  writings,  which  still  remain,  prove 
that  he  possessed  a  large  share  both  of  literary  i 
knowledge  and  metaphysical  acuteness ;  and  it  de- 
serves to^e  remembered,  as  one  of  his  chief  merits, 
that  he  zealously  followed  up,  and  even  extended, 
rhe  plans  of  his  predecessor  Lanfranc,  for  the  es- 
rablishraeut  of  schools  and  the  diffusion  of  learning 
in  the  country  of  his  adoption.  Whatever  may  be 
rhousht,  also,  of  the  course  which  he  took  in  de- 
fence  of  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  rights  of  his 
station  and  of  his  order,  or  of  some  of  his  measures 
for  the  reform  of  the  church  over  which  he  pre- 
sided, it  is  evident  that  the  contest  he  so  persever- 
ingly  waged  was  for  no  merely  personal  or  selfish 
objects.  To  his  honor,  it  is  recoi'ded  that  the  Eng- 
lish loved  him  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  themselves.^ 
To  the  fovor  which  he  thus  enjoyed  with  the  con- 
(]uered  race,  and  the  predilection  for  them  on  his 
part  by  which  it  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  ac- 

'  Spelman's  Concilia,  i.  p.  29.  ^  EaJmer,  Hist.  Nov.  112. 


quired,  it  is  probable  that  he  owed  part  of  that  royal 
aversion  by  which  his  primacy  was  embittered. 
After  his  death,  Henry  was  in  no  haste  to  fill  the 
see  of  Canterbury,  and  he  kept  it  vacant  for  the 
space  of  five  years. 

The  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  remainder  of  tho 
reign  of  Henry  offers  no  events  that  require  to  be 
related.  The  conduct  of  the  leading  clergy  in  the 
contention  between  Stephen  and  Matilda  has  been 
detailed  at  sufficient  length  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter. The  defective  nature  of  Stephen's  title  af!brd- 
ed  a  favorable  opportunity,  which  the  ecclesiastical 
interest  did  not  neglect,  of  extorting  from  the  crown 
an  acknowledgment  of  its  haughtiest  and  hereto- 
fore most  strenuously  disputed  pretensions.  Ex- 
emption from  the  royal  investiture,  and  the  right 
of  carrying  ecclesiastical  causes  by  appeal  to  Rome, 
were  conceded  by  Stephen,  or  usurped  in  spite  of 
him,  by  a  church  that  was  daily  improving  in  tho 
art  of  profiting  by  every  political  emergency.  It  '\3 
not  till  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  however,  thiit  the 
contest  reassumes  much  interest  or  distinctness ; 
and  to  that  period  we  will  now  therefore  at  once 
proceed. 


Baptism  of  the  Mother  or  Becket.    From  the  Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 

From  this  it  may  be  seen  that  entire  or  partial  immersion  was  part  of  the  old  mode  of  baptism  ;  immersion,  indeed,  continued  to  be  practiced  in 

the  English  Church  till  after  the  Reformation. 


The  principal  figure  here  is  Becket.  The  legend 
of  the  origin  of  this  celebrated  personage  is  suffi- 
ciently romantic.  Gilbert  Beck,  or  Becket,  a  Saxon 
yeoman,  followed  to  the  crusades  the  pennon  of  his 
Norman  lord,  but  being  taken  prisoner  bj'  an  emir 
of  the  Saracens,  he  was  thrown  into  a  dungeon. 
The  daughter  of  the  infidel  prince  saw  and  loved 
the  humble  captive,  and  by  her  aid  he  effected  his 
escape  and  reached  his  native  country.  Pining  at 
his  absence,  the  maiden  afterward  conceived  the 
wild  idea  of  following  his  steps,  though  she  knew  no 
more  of  his  language  than  his  name  and  that  of  the 
city  in  which  he  dwelt.  She  hastened  to  a  seaport, 
and  making  her  wishes  known  by  repeating  the 
W'^rd  "  London,"  she  obtained  a  passage  in  a  ship 


bound  for  England.  Having  reached  the  English 
capital,  she  went  from  street  to  street  calling  upon 
"  Gilbert,"  until  the  invocation  met  the  ear  of  the 
lost  object  of  her  affection.  Having  abjured  her 
native  faith,  and  been  baptized,  the  foreign  maiden 
became  the  wife  of  Becket,  now  a  citizen  of  Lon- 
don. From  this  union  was  born  Thomas,  the  future 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  a  man  whose  remarkable 
life  was  destined  to  be  a  fit  sequel  to  this  singular 
history.' 

His  education,  his  introduction  at  court  by  the 
patronage  of  Archbishop  Theobald,  the  rapid  pro- 
gress which  he  made  in  the  royal  favor,  his  elevation 

1  Brompton,  in  X  Scriptores.  The  story  is  told  by  this  author  at 
great  length  and  with  considerable  pathos. 


Cbap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


535 


GrOCP  or  NORMAN-E.NOLISH  Fojiis 


Marriage  of  the  Father  and  Mother  of  Becket.    From  the  Royal  MS.  2B.  vii. 


to  the  chaucellorship,  and  his  subsequent  appoint- 
ment to  the  primacy,  with  the  extraordinary  trans- 
formation which  his  mode  of  life  and  his  whole 
character  underwent  upon  the  last-mentioned  event, 
have  been  already  related.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  as  to  what  Henry's  design  was  in  thus  placing 
at  the  head  of  the  church  the  man  who  had  hitherto 
been  the  most  compliant  as  well  as  the  most  active 
and  dextrous  of  his  ministers  in  civil  affairs.  When 
the  intention  of  making  him  primate  was  first  inti- 
mated to  Becket  he  frankly  declared  to  his  friends 
that,  in  accepting  the  new  dignity,  he  was  aware 
that  he  must  forfeit  the  favor  either  of  God  or  the 
king.  He  expressed  the  same  sentiment  to  Henry 
himself,  but  in  such  an  equivocal  manner  that  hie 
remark  seemed  rather  intended  for  a  jest.  When 
the  king  informed  him  that  he  had  fixed  upon  him 
for  archbishop,  he  lifted  up  a  corner  of  his  gay  robe, 
and  laughingly  said,  "  A  fine  saint  you  have  chosen 


for  so  holy  an  office  !"  At  first,  also,  men  wondered 
when  the  news  became  public,  as  if  a  miracle  had 
been  announced.'  Many  persons,  also,  professed  to 
be  not  a  little  shocked  as  well  as  astonished  ;  but  per- 
haps the  indignant  feehngs  of  the  Norman  part  of  the 
community  were  as  much  excited  by  Becket's  Saxon 
lineage  as  by  the  daring  profanation,  at  which  they 
affected  to  be  scandalized. 

During  the  space  of  twelve  months  that  the  mea- 
sure waited  its  accomplishment,  the  chancellor  gave 
no  indication  of  that  decided  change  of  sentiment 
and  conduct  which  he  aftei"ward  exhibited.  It  was 
not  till  after  the  appointment  was  completed,  and 
made  irrevocable,  that  he  suddenly  underwent  that 
metamorphosis  at  which  the  whole  realm  was  as- 
tounded. The  effect,  however,  produced  throughout 
the  nation  by  so  complete  a  disappointment  of  the 
expectations  that  all  men  had  formed,  was  great  and 

1  Stephen. — Vita  Quadripart. 


536 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  TII. 


Consecration  or  Bkcket  as  Archbishop.    From  the  Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii 


instantaneous.  Unclerical  as  the  archbishop's  for- 
mer life  had  been,  and  notwithstanding  his  obnoxious 
promotion,  the  bishops,  as  well  as  the  clergy  gener- 
ally, were  at  first  delighted  with  such  a  primate ; 
and  the  Saxon  population,  while  they  were  charmed 
with  his  affability  and  humbleness  of  demeanor,  had 
their  exultation  and  affection  heightened  in  regard- 
ing him  as  belonging  to  their  own  race. 

The  circumstances  which  led  to  the  first  breach 
between  the  king  and  the  archbishop  have  already 
been  stated.  The  whole  course,  indeed,  of  the  con- 
test between  Henry  and  Becket  is  so  interwoven  with 
the  general  history  of  the  kingdom,  that  a  sketch  of 
it  from  its  commencement  to  its  close  has  been 
necessarily  given  in  relating  the  civil  transactions  of 
the  period,  and  we  have  only  now  to  fill  up  certain 
parts  of  that  outline  by  a  few  additional  details  in 
regard  to  points  belonging  more  especially  to  the 
subject  of  the  present  chapter. 

The  various  matters  in  dispute  between  the  two 
parties,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  all  submitted 
to  the  great  council  of  prelates  and  barons  which 
met  at  Clarendon  in  January,  1164.  A  short  review 
of  what  took  place  upon  that  occasion,  and  of  the 
history  of  the  decrees,  or  "  constitutions,"  as  they 
were  called,  passed  by  the  council,  will  best  explain 
the  conflicting  claims  of  the  king  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  archbishop  on  the  other,  and  the  relative 
positions  in  which  the  church  and  the  state  were 
left  by  the  issue  of  the  controversy. 

The  particular  question  which  originated  what 
eventually  became  a  general  contest  about  their 
respective  rights  between  the  crown  and  the  spiri- 
tual estate,  appears  to  have  been — whether  the 
clergy,  when  accused  of  crimes,  should  be  tried  and 
punished  by  the  ecclesiastical  or  the  civil  courts. 
Filled  as  many  of  the  lower  offices  in  the  church 
were,  with  persons  of  little  education,  and  whose 
emoluments  were  not  such  as  to  raise  them  above 
the  habits  and  temptations  of  the  lowest  poverty,  it 
is  no  wonder  that,  in  an  age  of  such  general  rude- 


ness and  disorder,  some  of  the  most  serious  offences, 
including  even  acts  of  violence  and  blood,  should 
occasionally  be  committed  by  churchmen.  It  was 
alleged,  however,  with  apparent  reason,  that  the 
temptations  to  the  commission  of  crime  in  the  case 
of  a  priest  were  greatly  augmented  by  the  peculiar 
sort  of  trial  and  punishment  to  which  it  subjected 
him.  During  the  Saxon  times,  the  clergy  and  laity 
were  alike  amenable  to  the  courts  of  common  law ; 
but  the  Conqueror  withdrew  the  bishops  from  the 
civil  tribunals,  and,  in  imitation  of  the  order  of  things 
already  existing  in  all  the  other  countries  of  Christ- 
endom, placed  them  at  the  head  of  other  courts  of 
their  oAvn.  The  extent  of  the  ecclesicistical  juris- 
diction thus  established  had,  from  the  first,  been  a 
subject  of  uncertainty  and  dispute  ;  but  latterly  the 
church  courts  had  asserted  the  right  of  alone  taking 
cognizance  of  all  offences  whatever  committed  by 
the  clergy.  One  strong  ground  on  which  this  claim 
was  objected  to  by  the  civil  authorities,  was  the  in- 
adequacy of  the  punishments  which  the  ecclesias- 
tical judges  were  considered  to  have  the  power  of 
inflicting ;  for  they  were  held  to  be  restricted  by 
the  canons  from  pronouncing  sentence  of  death; 
and,  in  consequence,  for  the  most  heinous  offence 
committed  by  a  priest,  the  heaviest  retribution  was 
stripes  and  degi'adation  from  his  sacred  ofl[ice.  It 
was  also  alleged  that  a  natural  partiality  for  their 
order  induced  those  who  presided  in  the  church 
courts  to  treat  the  offenders  that  were  brought  be- 
fore them  with  dangerous  lenity,  and  sometimes, 
perhaps,  made  them  shut  their  eyes  altogether  to  the 
proofs  of  a  churchman's  guilt. 

The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  as  finally  di- 
gested, were  sixteen  in  number.  They  were  pre- 
sented for  the  acceptance  of  the  council  by  the 
king,  as  a  restoration  or  recognition  of  the  ancient 
customs  of  the  realm,  or,  as  it  was  more  specifically 
declared  in  the  preamble,  of  the  usages,  liberties, 
and  dignities  which  had  prevailed  and  been  main- 
tained in  the  days  of  his  grandfather  and  the  other 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


537 


kings  his  predecessors.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
this  title  was  not  a  correct  description  as  applied  to 
all  the  articles.  The  instrument  comprehended, 
as  has  been  already  observed,  the  entire  scheme  of 
reformation  by  which  Henry  proposed  to  bring  the 
church  under  subjection  to  the  civil  authorities ; 
and,  however  necessaiy  certain  of  the  clauses  might 
be  for  this  end,  or  however  just  and  proper,  they 
were  undoubtedly  innovations  upon  the  laws  and 
practice  that  had  subsisted  ever  since  the  Conquest. 
The  substance  of  the  principal  enactments  was — 
that  all  cases,  whether  civil  or  criminal,  in  which  a 
clergyman  was  concerned,  should  be  tried  and  de- 
termined in  the  king's  court ;  that  appeals  should  lie 
from  the  archbishop  to  the  king ;  and  that  no  cause 
should  be  carried  further  than  the  archbishop's 
court  (in  other  words,  to  Rome)  without  the  king's 
consent;  that  no  archbishop,  bishop,  or  dignified  cler- 
gyman should  depart  from  the  kingdom  without  the 
king's  leave ;  that  no  tenant  in  chief  of  the  crown, 
and  no  officer  of  the  royal  household  or  demesne, 
should  be  excommunicated,  or  his  lands  put  under 
an  interdict,  until  application  had  been  made  to  the 
king  or  the  grand  justiciary ;  that  churches  in  the 
king's  gift  should  not  be  filled  without  his  consent ; 
that  when  an  archbishopric,  bishopric,  abbacy,  or 
priory  became  vacant,  it  should  remain  in  the  cus- 
tody of  the  king,  who  should  receive  all  its  rents  and 
revenues ;  that  the  election  of  a  new  incumbent 
should  be  made  upon  the  king's  writ,  in  the  royal 
chapel,  and  with  the  assent  of  the  king ;  and  that 
the  person  elected  should  do  homage  and  fealty  to 
the  king  before  being  consecrated. 

To  these  propositions  Becket,  at  an  interview 
with  the  king  some  time  before  the  meeting  of  the 
council,  had,  although  with  much  reluctance,  prom- 
ised that  he  would  give  his  assent ;  and  all  the  other 
bishops  had  also  expressed  their  readiness  to  acqui- 
esce in  them.  But  now  the  archbishop,  on  being 
formally  asked  by  the  king  to  fulfil  his  promise,  to 
the  surprise  of  all  present,  peremptorily  refused  to 
give  any  other  answer  than  that  he  would  render 
obedience  to  the  said  ancient  customs  of  the  realm, 
saving  the  rights  of  his  order.  Terrified  at  the  rage 
into  which  the  king  broke  out  at  this  unexpected 
opposition,  Becket's  brethren  vehemently  implored 
him  to  yield.  Meanwhile  the  door  of  the  ante- 
chamber being  thrown  open,  discovered  a  band  of 
knights  standing  clad  in  armor,  and  with  their  swords 
drawn.  In  these  alarming  circumstances  Becket's 
firmness  was  at  last  shaken  ;  and  he  promised  that 
if  the  meeting  should  be  adjourned  for  the  purpose 
of  having  the  enactments  digested  into  a  regular 
form,  he  would  then  do  what  was  required  of  him. 
But  when  he  retired  into  solitude  he  was  confounded 
at  the  thought  of  his  weakness.  Filled  with  re- 
morse, he  resolved  even  yet  to  draw  back,  to  what- 
ever of  reproach  or  danger  he  might,  by  so  doing, 
expose  himself.  When,  therefore,  the  meeting 
reassembled  on  the  following  day,  and  copies  of 
the  Constitutions  were  produced,  he  peremptorily 
refused  his  signature.  Neither  entreaties  nor  threats 
could  now  move  him.  Retiring  from  the  council,  he 
wrote  to  the  Pope  an  account  of  all  that  had  taken 


place,  soliciting  absolution  for  the  momentary  lapse 
of  which  he  had  been  guilty ;  and,  as  a  penance 
for  the  same  crime,  he  condemned  himself  to  an 
abstinence  of  forty  days  from  the  service  of  the 
altar.' 

The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,  however,  as 
assented  to  by  the  barons  and  the  other  prelates, 
became  for  the  present  the  law  of  the  land,  not- 
withstanding the  dissent  and  opposition  of  the 
archbishop. 

The  rest  of  Becket's  memorable  story, — his  con- 
demnation a  few  months  after  this  by  the  council 
of  Northampton  —  his  flight  to  the  continent  —  his 
reconciliation  with  the  king  and  return  to  England 
after  an  absence  of  nearly  six  years — and,  finally, 
his  barbarous  murder,  has  been  already  told.  It  is 
only  necessary  to  add  here,  that  Henry,  on  his 
reconcihation  with  the  Pope  in  1172,  only  obtained 
absolution  on  solemnly  promising  to  abolish  all  laws 
and  customs  hostile  to  the  clergy  that  might  have 
been  introduced  in  his  kingdom  since  the  beginning 
of  his  reign — to  reinstate  the  church  of  Canterbury 
in  all  the  possessions  it  had  held  a  year  previous  to 
Becket's  departure — and  to  make  restitution  to  all 
the  friends  of  the  late  primate  who  had  been  de- 
prived of  their  property.  To  these,  it  is  said,  were 
added  some  other  engagements  which  were  not 
committed  to  wi'iting ;  and  one  version  of  the  oath 
taken  by  Heniy  makes  him  acknowledge  the  king- 
dom of  England  to  be  held  by  him  in  feudal  subjec- 
tion to  the  Pope.  This  article,  however,  has  generally 
been  held  io  be  a  forgery ;  and  while  on  the  one 
hand  the  evidence  of  its  authenticity  is  very  defective, 
its  inherent  improbability  on  the  other  is  certainly 
strong.  We  cannot  agree  with  a  modern  writer* 
in  thinking  it  hkely  that  this  acknowledgment  of 
vassalage  on  the  part  of  Henry  may  be  what  is 
alluded  to  in  some  of  the  accounts  as  one  of  the 
king's  promises  or  engagements  which  it  was  held 
expedient  to  keep  secret.  It  is  much  more  probable 
that  what  is  thus  alluded  to  was  a  payment  of  money 
to  the  sovereign  pontiff.  It  is  expressly  stated  that 
these  secret  engagements  were  not  committed  to 
writing,  so  that  they  would  not  be  found  in  any  copy 
of  the  oath.  It  is  unnecessary  to  remark  how  ir- 
reconcilable with  the  character  of  Henry  is  the 
supposition  that  he  could  in  any  circumstances  have 
made  such  an  acknowledgment  as  this.  If  the 
oath,  it  may  also  be  asked,  existed  with  his  signature 
in  the  form  in  which  it  has  been  published  by  Ba- 
ronius  and  Muratori,  how  came  it  never  afterward 
to  be  brought  forward,  even  when,  as  in  the  reign 
of  John,  it  might  have  been  produced  with  so  much 
advantage  in  support  of  the  pretensions  of  the  papal 
court  ? 

Notwithstanding  Henry's  promise  to  abclish  the 
customs  that  infringed  upon  the  rights  of  the  clergy, 
the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  remained  unrepealed 
for  some  years  after  this  time.  But  if  they  were 
still  nominally  law,  they  were  little  better  than  a 
dead  letter.  All  effective  opposition  to  the  cause  of 
which  Becket  had  been  the  great  champion,  was  for 

J.  Gervase,  1388. 

8  See  Lingard's  History  of  England,  vol.  ii.  p.  114. 


638 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Becket's  Crown,  a  Chapel  in  Canterbury  Cathedral, 

Situated  immediately  behind  the  chapel  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  in  which  stood  the  shrine  of  the  martyr.     Becket's  Crown,  probably  so  called  from 

the  form  of  the  ribs  of  the  arched  roof,  appears  to  have  been  in  course  of  erection  at  the  Reformation,  and  was  only  finished  about  the 

middle  of  the  last  century,  at  the  expense  of  a  private  citizen  of  t^anterburj'. 


the  present  put  down  by  liis  martyrdom,  and  l)y  the 
wonders  that  were  believed  to  have  followed  that 
event.  The  spirit  of  the  murdered  archbishop 
seemed  still  to  walk  through  the  land,  to  animate 
his  friends  and  confound  his  enemies.  While  his 
mangled  body  lay  in  the  choir  of  the  church,  the 
right  hand,  it  was  affirmed,  had  solemnly  raised  it- 
self, and  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  benediction 
of  the  collected  multitude.'  His  eyes  also,  which 
had  been  dislodged  by  the  blows  of  the  murderers, 
were  averred  to  have  been  replaced  by  two  others 
smaller  in  size,  and,  that  the  miracle  might  be  in- 
contestable, of  different  colors.^  After  the  interment 
of  the  body,  crowds  of  the  afflicted  repaired  to  the 
spot,  where  the  lame  recovered  the  action  of  their 
limbs,  the  bhnd  received  sight,  and  the  sick  were 
healed.^  Every  day  added  to  the  number  of  the 
pilgrims  and  the  miracles,  and  consequently  to  the 
spread  and  fervor  of  the  delusion.  The  court,  per- 
plexed and  paralyzed,  looked  on  in  silence ;  the 
prelates,  who  had  opposed  the  martyr  while  he 
lived,  had  still  their  own  peace  to  make  with  the 

1  Iloveden,  p.  522.  2  Girald.  Cambren,  cap.  xx. 

*  Gervase,  p.  14J7.— Matt.  Par.  125. 


Pope,  and  might  be  uncertain  how  far  their  interfe- 
rence would  be  welcome;  and  perhaps  among  both 
parties  there  might  be  a  lurking  dread  that  miracles 
so  numerous  and  so  well  attested  might  be  true. 
The  enthusiasm  became  general,  and  messenger 
after  messenger  was  dispatched  to  Rome  with  fresh 
tidings  of  prodigies,  and  supplications  that  Becket 
might  be  made  a  tutelary  saint  for  the  blessing  and 
protection  of  England.  This  favor  was  at  last  granted 
by  the  Pope ;  and  the  29th  of  December,  the  day 
on  which  the  saint  was  assassinated,  was  assigned 
to  him  in  the  calendar.^ 

It  was  not,  however,  till  the  year  1176  that,  at  a 
great  council  held  at  Northampton,  the  repeal,  or 
rather  the  modification,  of  the  Constitutions  of 
Clarendon  was  formally  effected.  It  was  there 
agreed,  though  not  without  much  opposition  from 
many  of  the  barons,  first,  that  the  clergy  should 
not  be  brought  to  trial  before  the  temporal  courts 
on  any  charges  except  for  offences  against  the  forest 
laws ;  and,  secondly,  that  no  bishopric  or  abbey 
should  be  kept  in  the  king's  hands  longer  than  a 
year,  except  in  circumstances  which  might  make  it 
1  Baron.  Anaal.  1173. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


539 


impossible  to  have  the  vacancy  filled  up  in  that  time. 
In  this  state  the  law  continued  during  the  remain- 
der of  the  period  now  under  review. 

Before  dismissing  this  reign,  an  event  remains 
to  be  mentioned,  which  although  otherwise  insig- 
nificant, is  memorable  as  the  first  instance  on  record 
of  any  opposition  being  made  to  the  common  faith, 
and  as  such  may  be  regarded  as  the  earhest  har- 
binger of  the  Reformation  in  England.  About  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1166,  a  synod  was  held  at 
Oxford  in  the  presence  of  the  king,  for  the  arraign- 
ment of  certain  foreigners  accused  of  heresy.  It 
appears  that  five  years  before,  several  Germans,  to 
the  number  of  thirty  men  and  women,  had  arrived 
in  England,  and  began  to  disseminate  their  reli- 
gious opinions ;  but  as  they  had  hitherto  only 
converted  one  woman  of  low  rank,  and  as  their 
demeanor  had  been  peaceful,  they  had  been  al- 
lowed to  live  unmolested.  Attention,  however, 
was  at  last  called  to  the  ciixumstance  that  their 
principles  differed  from  the  established  creed,  on 
which  they  were  thrown  into  prison,  and  now 
brought  for  trial  before  the  king.  To  the  question 
of  what  was  their  belief,  Gerard  their  leader  an- 
swered that  they  were  Christians,  and  venerated 
the  doctrines  of  the  apostles.  But  it  is  alleged 
that  when  they  were  examined  upon  particulars, 
they  spoke  impiously  of  the  eucharist,  baptism,  and 
marriage,  and  when  urged  ^\^th  texts  of  scripture, 
refused  all  discussion,  declaring  that  they  believed 
as  they  were  taught,  and  would  not  dispute  about 
their  faith.  When  they  were  exhorted  to  recant, 
they  received  the  admonition  with  scorn  ;  and  when 
threatened  with  punishment,  they  answered,  with 
a  smile,  "  Blessed  are  they  who  suffer  for  righte- 
ousness' sake,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
As  heresy  was  new  in  England,  the  judges  were 
at  a  loss  how  to  act ;  but  canons  had  already  been 
enacted  by  the  council  of  Tours  against  the  Albi- 
genses,  and  sentence  was  pronounced  in  conformity 
with  these.  The  accused  were  condemned  to  be 
branded  in  the  forehead  with  a  hot  iron,  and  to  be 
publicly  whipped  and  expelled  out  of  Oxford,  while 
the  king's  subjects  were  forbidden  by  proclama- 
tion to  shelter  or  relieve  them.  The  enthusiasts 
went  to  their  punishment  in  triumph,  singing, 
"Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  hate  you  and  per- 
secute you."  Their  garments  were  cut  off  by  the 
waist,  their  brows  were  seared,  and  their  backs 
torn  with  scourges ;  and  thus  bleeding,  and  almost 
naked,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  they  wandered 
about  unsheltered  among  the  fields,  until  they  died. 
Such  is  the  obscure  account  delivered  by  the  con- 
temporary writers,  in  whose  eyes  dissent  in  belief 
from  the  church  of  Rome  was  an  incomprehensible 
anomaly.  It  is  probable  that  these  strangers,  from 
the  notions  ascribed  to  them  on  the  institution  of 
marriage  and  the  sacraments,  were  Cathari,  or 
Albigenses. 

The  history  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  in  England 
during  the  reign  of  Richard  I.  is  almost  a  blank  ; 
every  feeling  was  absorbed  in  the  great  subject  of 
the  Crusades,  and  the  clergy,  who  had  already 
gained  all  for  which  they  had  contended  at  home, 


found  ample  scope  for  their  belligerent  propen- 
sities in  the  fields  of  Palestine,  to  which  many  of 
them  repaired  in  warlike  array  notwithstanding  the 
canons  that  had  been  enacted  against  their  bearing 
arms.  During  the  reign,  the  power  of  the  pope 
dom,  which  had  been  exerted  in  favor  of  Richard 
in  the  negotiations  for  his  release,  was  also  directed 
effectually  against  him  when  he  showed  symptoms 
of  opposition  to  Rome.  Hubert,  the  primate, 
jealous  of  the  monks  of  Canterburj-,  and  desirous 
to  abridge  their  privileges,  had  determined  to 
raise  up  against  them  a  rival  body,  in  the  form  of 
an  establishment  of  canons  regular,  for  whom  he 
proceeded  to  erect  a  splendid  edifice  at  Lambeth, 
with  the  approbation  of  Richard.  But  the  monks 
of  Canterbury,  alarmed  for  their  rights,  and  sus- 
pecting that  the  gainful  reUcs  of  Becket  would  be 
transferi'ed  to  the  new  house,  fiercely  opposed  the 
project,  and  appealed  to  the  Pope,  Innocent  III., 
who  warmly  espoused  their  cause,  and  directed  a 
bull  to  the  archbishop,  in  1198,  commanding  him 
in  a  very  imperious  stj'le  to  desist  immediately  from 
his  proceedings.  "  It  is  not  fit,"  he  said,  "  that 
any  man  should  have  any  authority  who  does  not 
reverence  and  obey  the  apostolic  see."  He  after- 
wai"d  addressed  another  bull  to  Richard,  whom  he 
threatened  for  his  contumacy  in  abetting  the  arch- 
bishop ;  warning  him  that  if  he  persevered  he 
should  soon  find  in  his  punishment  how  hard  it  was 
to  kick  against  the  pricks.  By  a  subsequent  man- 
date also  addressed  to  the  king,  Innocent  declared 
that  he  would  not  endure  the  least  contempt  of 
himself  or  of  God,  whose  place  he  held  upon  earth. 
"  We  will  take  care,"  he  says,  "  so  to  punish  both 
persons  and  lands  without  distinction  that  oppose 
our  measures,  as  to  show  our  determination  to  pro- 
ceed prudently,  and  in  a  royal  manner."  The  lion- 
hearted  king  and  the  rebellious  archbishop  were 
equally  dismayed  at  these  menaces,  and  the  obnox- 
ious building  was  destroyed.^ 

The  history  of  the  church  in  the  reign  of  King 
John  is  principally  a  continuation  of  the  same  great 
contest  respecting  the  appointment  to  the  higher 
ecclesiastical  offices  between  the  clergy,  or  the  pope, 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  crown  on  the  other,  which 
had  been  carried  on  throughout  the  greater  part  of 
the  preceding  century  ;  and  the  events  that  arose 
out  of  which,  exercising  as  they  did  an  important 
influence  on  the  course  of  public  affairs,  have  neces- 
sarily been  related  in  the  preceding  chapter.  In 
the  earliest  ages  of  the  Christian  church,  the  elec- 
tion of  bishops  was  by  the  voice  of  the  clergy  and 
the  people  of  the  diocese.  After  the  estabhshment, 
however,  of  the  feudal  system  in  the  different  king- 
doms of  Europe,  and  the  annexation  to  bishoprics  of 
high  political  power  and  large  landed  possessions, 
the  king  naturally  claimed  the  right  of  being  at  least 
a  party  in  the  nomination  to  an  office  which  gave  to 
its  possessor  so  much  weight  in  the  state.  The 
claim  to  a  veto  upon  the  election,  was  as  naturally 
extended  to  that  of  an  absolute  right  of  appointment, 
as  soon  as  the  crown  found  that  it  could  not  other- 
wise secure  the  office  for  its  own  nominee.  Ac- 
1  Gervase,  1616-1624. 


540 


HISTORY  OF  EiNGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Ruins  or  the  Auqustine  Monastery  at  Canterbury. 


<;ordingly,  this  was  substantially  the  position  which 
the  croAvn  at  last  assumed,  although  the  form  in 
which  it  asserted  its  claim  varied  with  circum- 
stances. When  it  found  itself  obliged,  for  instance, 
to  relinquish  the  absolute  nomination  of  the  bishop, 
it  stood  out  for  the  right  of  granting  or  refusing  to 
the  individual  elected  that  investiture,  without  which 
h«  certainly  could  not  draw  the  revenues  of  the 
see,  even  if  he  could  exercise  any  of  the  spiritual 
powers  of  his  office.  The  course  taken  by  the 
church,  on  the  other  hand,  equally  varied  in  cor- 
formity  to  the  course  of  events.  In  the  first  place, 
at  a  very  early  period,  the  interference  of  the  laity 
was  first  reduced  to  a  mere  form,  and  then  got  rid 
of  altogether.  Subsequently  the  claim  of  the  gen- 
eral body  of  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  to  a  voice  in 
the  election  was  disputed,  and  the  right  of  voting 
was  asserted  to  reside  solely  in  the  chapter.  As 
the  chapter  in  many  cases  consisted  of  the  monks  of 
some  religious  house  to  which  the  cathedrals  were 
held  to  belong,  the  natural  enmity  between  the  reg- 
ular and  the  secular  clergy  here  interfered  mate- 
rially to  inflame  the  quarrel.  This  was  the  case, 
for  instance,  at  Canterbury,  where  the  chapter  con- 
sisted of  the  monks  of  the  great  monastery  of  St. 
Augustine,  who  thus  claimed  the  sole  right  of  elect- 
ing the  Primate  of  all  England.  The  regular  clergy 
(that  is,  those  living  under  a  monastic  rule)   were 


always,  it  may  be  observed,  regarded  by  the  court 
of  Rome  as  the  main  support  of  its  authority,  and 
it  usually  took  their  side  against  the  secular  (so 
called,  as  living  at  large  in  the  world).  What  the 
popes  therefore  endeavored  to  effect  in  regard  to 
the  nomination  of  bishops,  was  to  retain  that  power 
either  in  their  own  hands  or  in  those  of  the  chap- 
ters. Against  the  claim  of  the  king  to  present  in 
the  first  instance  they  constantly  protested,  and  this 
was  a  point  which  they  would  never  concede.  In 
many  cases,  however,  the  chapters  submitted  to 
present  the  person  named  to  them  by  the  king,  and 
when  the  affair  was  arranged  in  that  manner,  the 
compromise  of  course  prevented  for  the  present  any 
collision  between  the  adverse  claims  of  the  church 
and  the  crown.  Even  in  this  case,  however,  the 
question  of  investiture,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
created  a  serious  difficulty  to  be  got  over  after  the 
nomination  had  been  settled.  But  the  particular 
point  upon  which  the  dispute  between  John  and 
Innocent  III.  hinged,  was  the  power  claimed  by  the 
papal  court  of  appointing  to  a  bishopric  vacated  by 
the  irregularity  of  the  election,  or  by  the  unfitness 
of  the  person  elected,  the  right  being  also  assumed 
by  it  of  deciding  upon  the  irregularity  or  unfitness. 
On  the  death  of  Archbishop  Hubert,  the  monks  of 
Canterbury  had,  in  the  first  instance,  elected  Regi- 
nald, their  sub-prior,  to  the  vacant  see,  but  had  sub- 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


541 


sequently,  in  their  apprehension  of  the  king's  dis- 
pleasure, proceeded  to  a  new  election,  and  nomina- 
ted the  royal  candidate,  John  de  Gi-ay,  the  Bishop 
of  Norwich.  The  Pope  decided  that,  although  the 
right  of  election  was  in  the  monks,  the  appointment 
of  the  Bishop  of  Norwich  was  invalid,  as  having 
been  made  without  the  previous  election  of  Regi- 
nald being  legally  annulled ;  and  thereupon  he  took 
the  nomination  into  his  own  hands,  and  appointed 
Stephen  Langton,  who  happened  to  be  then  at 
Rome.  John's  resistance  to  this  appointment,  the 
consequence  that  followed  to  himself  and  the  king- 
dom, and  the  issue  of  the  contest,  have  been  already 
related. 

Little  or  no  change  took  place  in  the  internal 
constitution  of  the  English  church  in  consequence 
of  the  Norman  conquest ;  and  its  establishment 
remained  through  the  whole  of  the  period  now 
under  review  nearly  the  same  as  it  was  before  that 
event.  The  principal  alteration  was  that  made  by 
the  creation  of  two  new  sees — of  Ely  in  1109,  and 
of  Carlisle  in  1133,  in  addition  to  the  fifteen  (includ- 
ing the  two  archbishoprics)  that  had  existed  in  the 
Saxon  times,  being  the  same  that  still  exist,  with 
the  exception  of  Oxford,  Peterborough,  Gloucester, 
Chester,  and  Ripon. 

Before  the  Conquest  the  only  order  of  monks 
known  in  England  was  that  of  the  Benedictines,  or 
observers  of  the  rule  of  St.  Benedict,  instituted  in 


A  Benedictine. 

the  early  part  of  the  sixth  century,  which  some 
conceive  to  have  been  brought  over  by  Augustin, 
but  which  was  most  probably  unknown  in  the 
country  till  a  considerably  later  period,  and  certainly 
was  first  generally  established  by  St.  Dunstan  in 
the  tenth  century.  Nor  perhaps  was  the  rule  of 
St.  Benedict  ever  strictly  observed  by  the  English 
monks  till  after  the  Conquest.  In  the  course  of  the 
twelfth  century  two  new  orders  were  introduced. 


the  Cistercians,  or  Bernardines,  in  1128,  and  the 
Carthusians  in  1180.  Both  these  indeed  may  be 
considered  as  branches  of  the  Benedictines,  only 
distinguished  by  subjection  to  a  discipline  of  greater 
severity.  The  order  of  the  Carthusians  especially 
(founded  at  Chartreux,  in  France,  by  St.  Bruno,  in 


A  Carthusian. 

1080,  whence  their  establishments  in  England  were 
corruptly  called  Charter-houses)  was  the  strictest 
of  all  the  monastic  orders,  the  members  never  being 
allowed  to  taste  flesh,  and  being  restricted  on  one 
day  of  every  week  to  bread,  water,  and  salt.  The 
Carthusians  never  became  numerous  in  England. 
The  order  of  the  Cistercians  (instituted  at  Cisteaux, 
in  Latin  Cistertium,  in  Burgundy,  in  1098,  and 
afterward  greatly  patronized  by  the  celebrated  St. 


A  Cistercian. 


542 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Bernard)  was  chiefly  distinguished  by  having  its 
houses  situated  for  the  most  part  at  a  distance  from 
all  other  habitations.  There  were  a  considerable 
number  of  them  both  in  England  and  in  Scotland. 
The  habits  of  the  monks  of  these  three  orders  were 
distinguished  from  each  other  by  some  minor  pecu- 
liarities ;  but  they  all  consisted  of  an  under  garment 
of  white,  with  a  long,  loose  black  cloak  or  gown  over 
it,  which  latter,  however,  seems  to  have  been  only 
occasionally  worn.  The  Cistercians,  and,  accord- 
ing to  some  representations,  the  Carthusians  also, 
when  in  church,  Avore  a  cloak  of  white. 

The  most  common  form,  however,  which  enthu- 
siastic devotion  assumed  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries,  was  that  of  going  on  pilgrimage  to  some 
spot  supposed  to  be  of  peculiar  sanctitj-,  either 
within  the  kingdom  or  abroad.  After  the  martyr- 
dom and  canonization  of  Becket,  his  shrine  at  Can- 
terbury became,  and  for  ages  continued  to  be,  the 
favorite  resort  of  the  pious  when  they  did  not  extend 
their  penitential  journey  beyond  the  limits  of  their 
own  country.  Abroad,  Rome,  Loretto,  but  espe- 
cially Jerusalem,  Mount  Sinai,  and  the  other  parts 
of  the  Holy  Land  now  attracted  crowds  of  palmers,' 
"  beyond  the  example  of  former  times,"  to  use  the 
words  of  Gibbon,  "  and  the  roads  were  covered  with 
multitudes  of  either  sex,  and  of  every  rank,  who 

1  Pilgrims  to  foreign  parts  were  properly  called  Palmers,  from  the 
branches  of  the  palm-tree,  the  emblem  of  victory,  which  they  used 
to  bear  in  their  hands.     In  token  of  having  crossed   the  seas,  or  of 
their  intention  of  doing  so,  they  were  wont  to  put  cockle,  or  scallop 
shells  in  their  hats — according  to  Ophelia's  song  in  Hamlet, 
"  How  should  I  your  true-love  know 
From  another  one  ? 
By  his  cockle-hat  and  staff. 
And  by  his  sandal  shoon." 


professed  their  contempt  of  life,  so  soon  as  they 
should  have  kissed  the  tomb  of  their  Redeemer. 
Princes  and  prelates  abandoned  the  care  of  their 
dominions ;  and  the  members  of  these  pious  cara- 
vans were  a  prelude  to  the  armies  which  marched 
in  the  ensuing  age  under  the  banner  of  the  Cross." 
Out  of  this  practice  of  pilgrimage  grew  the  Crusades, 
in  which  the  spirit  of  devotion  formed  a  strange 
alliance  with  the  military  spirit,  each  communicating 
something  of  its  peculiar  color  and  character  to  the 
other.  Four  of  these  extraordinary  expeditions 
belong  to  the  present  period,  of  which  the  first  (the 
consequence  of  which  was  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem)  set  out  in  1097,  the  second 
in  1147,  the  third  (that  in  which  Coeur  de  Lion  took 
so  distinguished  a  part)  in  1189,  and  the  fourth 
(which  resulted  in  the  conquest  of  Constantinople 
from  the  Greeks)  in  1203.  The  crusades,  however, 
though  professedly  religious  enterprises,  produced 
less  effect  upon  the  religion  of  the  age  in  which  they 
were  undertaken  than  upon  most  of  the  other  great 
constituents  of  its  social  condition.  Among  the 
phenomena  that  sprung  out  of  the  Crusades  none 
presented  a  moi-e  expressive  type  of  their  character 
than  the  religious  orders  of  knighthood.  The  two 
earliest  and  most  distinguished  of  these,  the  Knights 
Hospitallers  of  St.  John,  and  the  Knights  Templars, 
both  acquired  establishments  and  extensive  posses- 
sions in  this  country  soon  after  their  institution  ;  the 
principal  seat  of  the  former  having  been  established 
at  St.  John's  Hospital  in  Clerkenwell,  London,  that 
of  the  latter  at  the  Temple  (to  which  they  had  re- 
moved from  a  previous  residence  in  Holborn),  many 
years  before  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century. 


Templar  in  his  Mantle 


Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayetx,  pronouncing  a  Pastoral  Blessing. 

From  Kerrick's  Collection  in  the  British  Museum,  Additional  MSS 
No.  6728.  Here  may  be  observed  the  intermediate  form  assumed  by 
the  crosier,  or  pastoral  staff,  in  its  passage  from  the  cross  to  the  crook 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


543 


CHAPTER  III. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


HE  essential  charac- 
ter of  the  Norman 
Conquest  of  England, 
as  distinguished  from 
the  conquests  of  the 
northern  nations  who 
overran  the  Roman 
empire  (for  example, 
fi'om  those  of  the  Sax- 
ons in  Britain,  and  of 
the  Franks  in  Gaul), 
was  this :  it  was  not 
an  old  eneiTated  com- 
munity overrun  by  a 
band  of  men  much  inferior  to  it  in  civilization  and 
much  superior  in  energy  and  courage,  but  a  semi- 
barbarous  and  warlike  people  invaded  and  subdued 
by  another  people  in  the  same  state  nearly  as  re- 
garded these  points,  but  better  organized,  and  led 
by  an  able  chief  whose  power  was  sufficiently  estab- 
lished and  concentrated  to  insure  order  and  disci- 
pline. The  Normans  would  appear  to  have  been 
the  most  widely  successful  warriors  of  the  middle 
ages ;  comparatively  a  mere  handful  of  men,  they 
filled  Europe  and  Asia  with  their  victories  and  their 
renown.  They  were  victorious  wherever  they 
went ;  in  Italy  and  the  East,  under  Robert  Guis- 
card,  no  less  than  in  England  under  William  the 
Bastard, — and  again,  be  it  added,  in  France,  strongly 
backed,  however,  by  Anglo-Saxon  aid,  under  the 
banner  of  the  Anglo-Norman  Plantagenets,  the 
Henrys  and  the  Edwards.  Their  victorious  course 
is  no  less  striking  and  no  less  distinctly  marked  if  we 
turn  our  eyes  to  Scotland  and  Ireland.  Like  the 
huge  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream,  which  was 
broken  by  the  shock  of  the  stone  cut  from  the  moun- 
tain rock,  horde  after  horde,  nation  after  nation, 
sank  beneath  the  desperate  onset  of  the  Norman 
chivalry, — was  shivered  to  pieces  by  the  fierce  yet 
firm  and  compact  charge  of  the  Norman  lances.  It 
was  mainly  by  the  help  of  the  Anglo-Norman  no- 
bility, whom  they  attached  to  their  country  by  the 
ofl['er  of  broad  domains,  that  the  kings  of  a  part  of 
the  eastern  coast  of  North  Britain  became  "  kings 
of  broad  Scotland."  The  Bruces  and  Baliols  had 
about  as  much  Norman  blood  in  their  veins  as  the 
Plantagenets  or  Abrincis.  The  battle  of  the  Harlaw 
was  as  decisive  in  establishing  a  Scoto- Norman  aris- 
tocracy in  the  northern  extremity  of  the  island  as 
that  of  Hastings  had  been  in  estabhshing  an  Anglo- 
Norman  aristocracy  in  the  south. 

After  the  Conquest,  the  Norman  feudal  aris- 
tocracy, encamped  as  it  were  in  the  midst  of  a  hos- 
tile people,  who  had  possessed  independence,  and 
who  might  therefore  be  supposed  to  have  the  will, 


as  they  had  a  considerable  portion  of  the  power,  to 
regain  it,  would  necessarily  be  firmly  united.  On 
the  other  hand,  their  common  sufl^erings  united  the 
Saxons.  Those  dissensions  which,  before  the  Nor- 
man invasion,  had  rent  the  kingdom  in  pieces,  dis- 
appeared. While  the  Normans,  too,  found  an 
insti'ument  of  union  in  the  feudal  organization  which 
they  had  possessed  in  Normandy,  the  Saxons  found 
one  in  their  ancient  customs  and  laws,  which  they 
now  cherished  the  more  as  being  associated  with 
the  remembrance  of  their  independence  and  their 
prosperity.  It  was  for  this  reason,  probably,  as 
much  as  for  anything  peculiarly  and  eminently  good 
in  them,  that  they  constantly  demanded  with  such 
earnestness  the  restitution  of  the  laws  of  Edward 
the  Confessor. 

In  order  to  comprehend  the  constitution  of  society 
during  this  period  of  our  history,  it  will  be  necessaiy 
to  enter  into  a  short  examination  of  the  feudal  sys- 
tem. We  have  already  touched  upon  this  subject 
when  treating  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  tenures,  but  it 
will  now  be  necessary  to  go  into  it  somewhat  more 
fully.  For  although,  under  the  Saxons,  feudahsm 
existed  in  parts,  it  was  with  the  Normans  that  it 
came  in  as  a  system. 

The  formation  of  the  feudal  system  was  not,  as 
sometimes  conceived  and  described,  sudden  and  re- 
ferrible  to  one  point  of  time,  but  progiessive,  and 
the  work  of  several  centuries. 

In  the  fifth  century,  when  the  northern  hordes 
overran  and  took  possession  of  the  Roman  empire, 
the  leaders  portioned  out  among  them  the  lands  in 
full  and  unconditional  ownership.  They  called  these 
alod,  a  term,  according  to  some  etymologists,  prop- 
erly signifying  allotted  possessions;  according  to  oth- 
ers, full,  independent  property.  It  is  probable  that, 
from  the  very  first,  the  portions  which  they  gave  to 
their  followers  were  held  on  a  diflerent  tenure,  as 
we  find  them  very  early  called  henejicia  and  precaria. 
The  former  term  is  still  retained  in  Enghsh,  and  its 
signification  will  elucidate  our  subject.  A  clergy- 
man receives  his  benejice  upon  condition  of  perform- 
ing certain  services.  Similarly  a  soldier  received 
his  benefice.  The  word  was  borrowed  from  the 
mode  of  rewarding  the  Roman  soldiers,  and  apphed 
to  the  same  purposes.  The  conquests  having  been 
made  by  a  great  number  of  separate  and  indepen- 
dent bands  of  warriors,  the  leaders  of  each  of  which 
would  of  course  have  a  larger  portion  of  land  than 
those  they  led,  Europe,  or  at  least  the  greater  part 
of  it,  was  divided  into  a  very  great  number  of  inde- 
pendent properties,  we  might  almost  say  small  inde- 
pendent sovereignties,  for,  according  to  the  nature 
of  allodial  property,  the  smallest  landholder  was  as 
little  dependent  on  any  one  else  as  the  largest. 


544 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III 


Now  in  the  state  of  war  and  insecurity  which  then 
prevailed,  the  small  landholders  would  of  course  have 
a  much  less  sure  existence,  and  much  less  secure 
tenure  of  their  land,  than  the  large  ones.  Whence 
it  came  to  pass  in  time,  that  most  of  the  small  allo- 
dial holders  of  land  gave  up  to  some  large  holder  the 
absolute  dominion  over  their  land  which  they  before 
possessed,  receiving  in  its  stead  a  conditional  domin- 
ion ;  the  condition  being,  that  they  should  help  the 
large  proprietor  when  he  required  their  assistance, 
and  likewise,  when  they  required  it,  receive  help 
from  him.  Benejicium  was  the  word  made  use  of, 
from  the  fifth  to  the  ninth  century,  to  denote  this 
sort  of  tenure,  and  is  proved'  to  have  designated  the 
same  thing  which,  toward  the  end  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury, received  the  name  o{  feodum,  the  origin  of  our 
feud.  The  etymology  of  the  latter  word  is  uncer- 
tain ;  some  deriving  it  from  the  Latin,  others  from 
the  German. 

According  to  M.  Guizot,  the  principal  facts,  the 
essential  elements  of  the  feudal  system,  are  reduci- 
ble to  three — 

1.  The  particular  nature  of  the  territorial  prop- 
erty. 

2.  The  combination  of  sovereignty  with  property; 
that  is  to  say,  the  assignment  to  the  owner  of  the 
soil  over  all  the  inhabitants  of  that  soil,  of  all  or 
nearly  all  the  rights  which  constitute  what  we  call 
sovereignty,  and  are  now  possessed  by  the  govern- 
ment. 

3.  The  system  of  political,  that  is  of  legislative, 
judicial,  and  military  institutions,  which  bound  to- 
gether the  owners  of  fiefs,  and  formed  them  into  a 
general  society. 

We  have  already,  in  the  section  on  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  government,  said  as  much  as  is  necessary  on 
the  first  of  the  above-named  subjects.  Of  the  his- 
tory of  the  other  two,  into  which  M.  Guizot  enters 
at  considerable  length,  our  limits  will  not  permit  us 
to  give  more  than  his  conclusions.  That  fusion, 
then,  of  sovereignty  with  property,  was  not  alto- 
gether, as  by  some  supposed,  the  result  of  conquest. 
An  analogous  fact  existed  in  Germany.  In  the 
German  tribe,  the  head  of  a  family  was  sovereign 
within  his  domains.  There  also  existed  the  fusion 
of  sovereignty  and  property.  But  in  Germany  this 
fusion  took  place  from  the  influence  of  two  princi- 
ples ; — from  the  family  or  clannish  spirit  on  the  one 
hand,  on  the  other  from  conquest — from  force. 
Whatever  might  have  been  the  proportions  in  which 
these  two  elements  existed  together  in  Germany,  it 
is  certain  that  in  Gaul  the  patriarchal  or  clannish 
proportion  was  greatly  diminished  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  other  element,  that  of  conquest — of 
force,  became  the  principal,  if  not  the  only,  cer- 
tainly the  predominating  element  of  that  fusion. 

With  regard  to  the  third  leading  fact : — Imme- 
diately after  the  establishment  of  the  Germanic 
nations  in  the  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire, 
three  principles  of  social  organization,  three  systems 
of  institutions,  are  found  coexisting  among  them  : 
1 .  The  system  of  free  institutions.     2.  The  system 

1  M.  Guizot  refers  to  a  charter  of  the  Emperor  Frederic  I.,  of  date 
1162,  in  which /eoduOT  and  benejicium  are  employed  indifferently. 


of  aristocratical  institutions.  3.  The  system  of  mo- 
narchical institutions.  Of  these  the  system  of  free 
institutions  had  its  origin  —  1.  In  Germany,  in  the 
general  assembly  of'  the  heads  of  families  of  the 
tribe,  and  in  the  common  deliberation  and  personal 
independence  of  the  warriors  who  formed  the  band. 
2.  In  Gaul,  in  the  remains  of  the  municipal  regime 
in  the  cities.  The  system  of  aristocratical  institu- 
tions originated  —  1.  In  Germany,  in  the  domestic 
sovereignty  of  the  heads  of  families,  and  in  the  pat- 
ronage of  the  leader  of  a  band  over  his  companions. 
2.  In  Gaul,  in  the  very  unequal  division  of  landed 
property,  and  in  the  reduction  of  the  great  mass  of 
the  population  to  the  condition  of  villains  or  of  slaves. 
The  system  of  monarchical  institutions  originated — 
1.  In  Germany,  in  the  military  and  religious  royalty 
of  the  people.  2.  In  Gaul,  in  the  traditions  of  the 
Roman  empire  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
church.  Now,  while  the  system  of  free  and  that 
of  monarchical  institutions  went  on  declining,  the 
system  of  aristocratical  institutions  acquired  greater 
strength,  so  that  toward  the  end  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury it  was  the  predominating  one  in  Europe. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  tenth  century  the  feudal 
society  was  fully  formed.  It  is  therefore,  then,  in 
a  state  fit  to  be  studied,  to  be  analyzed, — in  a  state 
such  that  its  dissection  will  make  known  to  us  its 
component  elements. 

The  fundamental  element  of  the  feudal  system, 
the  "  primitive  feudal  molecule,"  to  use  the  words 
of  M.  Guizot,  is  the  simple  domain  possessed  in  fief 
or  fee  by  a  lord  who  has  over  the  inhabitants  the 
sovereignty  inherent,  as  we  have  seen,  in  property. 
This  contains — 1.  The  feudal  castle  and  its  propri- 
etor.    2.  The  feudal  village  and  its  inhabitants. 

After  learning  the  relations  between  the  owner 
of  a  fief  and  the  inhabitants  of  that  fief,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  inquire  into  those  subsisting  as  between 
the  owners  of  fiefs  themselves.  And,  even  then, 
to  approximate  to  a  complete  view  of  the  subject,  it 
would  be  also  requisite  to  inquire  how  the  feudal 
system  was  acted  upon  or  affected  by  two  other  ele- 
ments, which,  though  coexistent,  never  thoroughly 
amalgamated  with  it,  and  at  last  destroyed  it, — we 
mean  royalty  and  the  towns,  or  municipal  institu- 
tions. 

The  feudal  castle,  then,  usually  built  in  an  ele- 
vated and  isolated  situation,  and  rendered  as  strong 
as  nature  and  the  art  of  the  time  could  make  it,  is 
inhabited  by  the  owner  of  the  fief,  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren :  in  addition  to  these,  perhaps  by  a  few  free- 
men who  have  not  become  proprietors,  and,  being 
attached  to  his  person,  continue  to  live  with  him. 
Without,  close  under  the  walls,  is  grouped  a  small 
population  of  coloni,  or  cultivators  of  the  soil.  Be- 
fore the  German  invasion  nothing  of  this  kind  existed 
in  the  Roman  empire.  The  rich  either  lived  in  the 
cities  or  in  fine  houses  agreeably  situated  near  the 
cities,  in  rich  plains,  or  on  the  banks  of  rivers. 
Throughout  the  country  were  scattered  the  villae, 
properly  a  sort  of  farm  buildings,  where  lived  the 
slaves  or  coloni,  who  tilled  the  soil — hence  called 
villani,  villains.     Of  these  we  shall  speak  presently. 

One  of  the  first  features  that  strikes  us  in  the 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


54/5 


condition  of  this  feudal  lord  is  its  isolation.  Take 
any  other  form  of  human  society  with  which  history 
has  made  us  acquainted, — the  purely  savage, — the 
nomadic, — the  Greek  and  Roman, — in  all  you  will 
find  man  brought  into  constant  contact  and  coopera- 
tion with  his  equals.  Not  so  here.  The  feudal 
lord  is  like  Robinson  Crusoe  in  the  desert  island, — 
•'  monarch  of  all  he  surveys  ;"  for  the  human  beings 
about  the  former  are  as  much  subjected  to  his  will 
as  the  brutes  around  the  latter. 

To  this  feature  was  joined  another — idleness, 
want  of  occupation,  almost  unexampled  in  any  other 
human  society.  For  although  the  feudal  baron  is 
compelled,  from  time  to  time,  to  make  great,  to  make 
desperate  exertions  to  retain  his  place  in  that  wild, 
almost  anarchical  society  in  which  he  lives,  yet  these 
exertions  are  called  for  at  such  long  and  irregular 
intervals,  that  they  provide  him  with  nothing  what- 
ever of  the  nature  of  regular  occupation.  He  be- 
comes, therefore,  a  prey  to  ennui — an  ennui  so  intol- 
erable, that,  cost  what  it  may,  he  must  find  an  escape 
from  it.  And  what  is  the  refuge  he  seeks  ?  The 
documents  that  have  come  down  to  us  from  these 
wild  times  sufficiently  show  the  nature  of  it.  It 
consisted  in  that  long  series  of  hunting-matches,  rob- 
beries, and  wars,  which  characterize  the  middle 
ages.  The  crusades  may  be  considered  as  one  valve 
by  which  the  pent-up  energy  escaped — by  which 
the  ennui  was  sought  to  be  dispelled. 

Two  consequences  of  the  above-mentioned  fea- 
tures are — 1.  The  strange  and  savage  energy  with 
which  individual  character  is  developed,  as  in  the 
case  when  man  lives  alone,  given  up  to  the  caprices 
of  his  imagination  and  the  original  tendencies  of  his 
nature.  2.  The  very  slow  progi'ess  of  civilization 
— slower  than  under  any  other  circumstances  when 
a  similar  previous  advance  had  been  made. 

Yet,  at  the  same  time,  there  existed  within  those 
rude  and  gloomy  feudal  fortresses  a  principle  of  civ- 
ilization which  has  exerted  a  most  powerful  influ- 
ence in  modern  society.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
domestic  life  and  the  condition  of  women  have  at- 
tained a  much  higher  degree  of  importance  in  mod- 
ern Europe  than  anywhere  else.  Of  the  causes  of 
the  importance  of  women  in  modern  Europe,  the 
life  of  the  feudal  lord  in  his  solitary  castle  must  be 
considered  as  one  of  the  principal. 

In  the  other  nations  that  have  made  most  advances 
in  civilization — the  Greeks  and  Romans, — as  well 
as  in  those  that  more  resembled  in  their  mode  of 
life  the  feudal  society — the  men  were  too  much  oc- 
cupied to  devote  much  time  and  attention  to  their 
wives  and  children  : — 

Sword,  gown,  gain,  glory,  offer'd  in  exchange, 
Pride,  fame,  ambition  to  fill  up  the  heart. 

Here,  on  the  other  hand,  the  sword  was  the  only, 
and  that  not  a  constant  occupation, — and,  indeed, 
rather  an  amusement  than  an  occupation.  When 
the  feudal  baron  returned  from  any  of  his  wild  ad- 
ventures to  his  castle,  he  always  found  his  wife  and 
children  there  to  receive  him  —  almost  his  only 
equals,  his  only  intimates.  When  he  left  his  home, 
too,  in  search  of  adventures,  his  wife  remained  mis- 
tress of  the  castle,  the  representative  of  her  hus- 
VOL.  I. — 35 


band,  charged  in  his  absence  with  the  services  and 
the  defence  of  the  fief.  Hence  the  examples  of 
displays  of  courage  and  dignity  which  we  meet  with 
in  women  of  this  period  to  a  greater  degree  than 
anywhere  else. 

Out  of  this  state  of  things  arose  the  order  and 
spirit  of  chivalry ;  the  latter  of  which  has  long  out- 
lived the  former,  and  has  certainly  performed  no 
mean  or  unimportant  part  in  the  drama  of  European 
civilization.  But  into  this  our  hmits  do  not  permit 
us  to  enter  in  any  detail.  We  shall  content  our- 
selves with  stating  M.  Guizot's  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject— which  is,  that  chivalry  was  not  the  result  of 
any  regular  design,  but  sprung  up  spontaneously  in 
the  interior  of  the  feudal  castles — a  consequence, 
on  the  one  hand,  of  the  ancient  German  customs — 
on  the  other,  of  the  relations  subsisting  between  the 
suzerain  and  his  vassals. 

Leaving  the  lordly  fortress,  let  us  pause  for  a  mo- 
ment among  the  population  inhabiting  the  cluster 
of  huts  that  are  closely  huddled  together  under  its 
walls,  or  at  the  foot  of  the  rock  or  hill  on  which  it 
is  built.  It  is  a  common  opinion  that  the  deplorable 
condition  of  the  agricultural  population  in  the  times 
of  which  We  are  writing,  dates  from  the  destruction 
of  the  Roman  empire ;  that  the  progi-essive  devel- 
opment of  the  feudal  system  plunged  them  into  the 
state  in  which  we  find  them  from  the  sixth  to  the 
twelfth  century.  Von  Savigny,  and  after  him  M. 
Guizot,  have  completely  demonstrated  the  errone- 
ousness  of  this  opinion.  By  numerous  passages 
which  they  have  quoted  from  the  Theodosian  Code, 
from  the  code  and  novels  of  Justinian,  and  from  the 
Constitutions  of  Justinian  and  succeeding  emperors, 
they  have  shown  that,  at  least  during  the  latter  pe- 
riods of  the  Roman  rule,  the  condition  of  the  tillers 
of  the  soil,  of  the  coloni,  was  almost  precisely  the 
same  as  it  was  afterward  under  the  feudal  system ; 
that  the  husbandman,  or  peasant,  occupied  a  sort  of 
intermediate  position  between  that  of  the  freeman 
and  that  of  the  personal  slave,  corresponding  exactly 
to  that  of  the  class  in  the  feudal  times  described  in 
the  language  of  the  English  law  as  villains  regard- 
ant, that  is,  annexed  to  the  manor  or  land  ;  and  in- 
termediate between  freemen  and  the  class  described 
in  English  law  language  as  villains  in  gross,  who 
were  annexed  to  the  person  of  the  lord,  and  trans- 
ferable by  deed  from  one  owner  to  another.'  There 
was,  however,  this  diflference  between  the  condition 
of  the  Roman  colonus  and  that  of  the  feudal  villain. 
The  rent  which  the  Roman  colonus  paid  to  the  pro- 
prietor of  the  soil  was  a  fixed  sum ;  but  the  tax 
which  he  paid  to  the  State  was  a  variable  one. 
When  the  northern  nations  came  into  the  Roman 
possessions,  they  left  the  coloni  pretty  much  as  they 
were  ;  but  from  the  union  of  property  and  sove- 
reignty, which  we  have  already  adverted  to  as  a 
characteristic  feature  of  the  feudal  system,  the  State 
and  the  owner  of  the  soil  became  to  the  tiller  of  the 
soil  identical.  Consequently,  the  variable  sum  which 
was  before  in  the  power  of  the  State,  passed  to  that 

1  Blarkstone,  Com.  b.  ii.  c.  6.  The  word  "  serf,"  often  confounded 
with  "  villain  regardant,"  or  "  colonus,"  means  the  same  as  "  villain 
in  gross." 


546 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  ITI. 


of  the  owner ;  and  hence  the  peculiar  relations  long 
subsisting  between  the  feudal  lord  and  the  feudal 
villain.  On  the  one  side,  unchecked  oppression,  in- 
solence, rapacity — on  the  other,  helpless,  hopeless 
toil,  degradation  and  suffering. 

The  priest,  another  portion  of  this  little  society, 
was  not  likely,  M.  Guizot  thinks,  to  be  able  to  exer- 
cise much  inriuence  between  the  lord  and  liis  vil- 
lains, although  the  church  exercised  a  very  great 
influence  upon  European  civilization,  but  in  a  gen- 
eral manner. 

We  now  pass  to  the  wider  feudal  society,  exhibit- 
ing the  relations  of  the  fief  owners  with  one  smother. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  feudal  obligations 
of  service  on  the  one  side,  of  protection  on  the  other. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  raise  uprights  correspond- 
ing to  these  obligations,  and  to  establish  institutions 
that  might  protect  those  rights.  Thus  there  were 
certain  jurisdictions  appointed  to  decide  disputes 
and  administer  justice  among  the  owners  of  fiefs. 
And  thus  every  feudal  lord  of  some  consequence 
assembled  his  vassals  in  a  parliament,  to  treat  with 
them  of  the  affairs  in  which  he  required  their  con- 
currence. It  is  to  be  understood  that  we  speak 
now  rather  of  what  was  the  case  in  France,  than  of 
any  state  of  things  that  ever  existed  in  England, 
either  before  or  after  the  coming  in  of  the  Normans ; 
but,  in  order  to  have  a  correct  idea  of  feudalism, 
we  must  stud}'  it  in  its  pure  state,  and  it  never  was 
precisely  pure  in  England ;  and  this,  too,  is  neces- 
sary, in  order  to  understand  the  state  in  which  it 
existed  in  England,  inasmuch  as  to  know  anything 
in  a  modified,  it  should  first  be  studied  and  known 
in  a  simple  form. 

But,  to  give  efficacy  to  the  rights  and  obligations 
which  feudalism  professed  to  recognize,  one  indis- 
pensable element  was  wanting, — a  sovereign,  a  su- 
preme power.  Consequently,  whenever  any  mem- 
ber of  the  feudal  body  disliked  the  sentence  of  the 
court,  he  refused  to  comply  with  it,  and,  taking  ref- 
uge in  his  feudal  fastness,  set  it  at  defiance.  Some- 
times the  other  members  of  the  confederacy,  by 
uniting  their  force  against  the  delinquent,  carried 
their  point,  but  that  was  a  work  of  time  and  diffi- 
culty ;  and  sometimes  they  failed,  and  the  obnox- 
ious member  of  their  body  succeeded  in  defying 
them.  The  histories  of  France  and  of  Scotland 
abound  in  examples  of  this.  Why  that  of  England 
does  not  Equally  abound  in  them,  why,  there,  the 
suzerain  became  really  the  sovereign,  we  will  now 
endeavor  to  explain. 

Any  of  the  great  feudatories  in  France  was  much 
more  powerful,  in  relation  to  any  one  of  his  own 
immediate  vassals,  than  the  King  of  France  was 
in  relation  to  him.  Thus,  the  Duke  of  Normandy, 
for  example,  had  much  more  of  the  substance  of 
sovereignty  in  Normandy  than  the  King  of  France 
had  throughout  France.  This  power  the  Duke  of 
Normandy  retained  in  full:  afterward,  bj obtaining 
possession  of  England,  the  field  of  his  suzerainele 
became  greatly  enlarged.  The  general  of  a  victo- 
rious army,  if  in  addition  to  his  military  he  pos- 
sesses political  talent,  may  make  his  power  almost 
coextensive  with  his  will.     This  was  the  case  with 


William  the  Norman,  who,  to  the  character  of  an 
able  militaiy  leader,  united  that  of  a  cold,  hard,  far- 
sighted  statesman.  The  consequence  was,  that  he 
was  able  to  retain  as  much  of  the  feudal  system, 
then  established  in  France,  as  tended  to  support  hi? 
power,  and  to  set  aside  or  alter  much  of  it  which 
was  calculated  to  weaken  that  power.  For  exam- 
ple, it  was  a  principle  of  that  system,  that  fealty 
was  due  from  the  vassal  to  the  lord  of  whom  lie 
immediately  held  his  land,  and  to  no  other.     But 

,  William  received  the  fealty  of  all  landholders  in 
England,  both  those  who  held  in  capite  or  in  chief, 
and  their  tenants  or  vassals.  This  was  one  power- 
ful blow  struck  against  the  great  feudatories.  More- 
over, the  fiefs  of  the  Anglo-Norman  barons  were 
not  only  much  smaller  than  those  of  France,  but 
they  were  dispersed  over  various  counties.'  These 
two  circumstances,  taken  along  with  the  preceding, 
must  have  had  a  powerful  effect  in  preventing  any 
one  of  the  vassals  of  the  crown  from  making  head 
against  it. 

Again,  there  were  certain  feudal  services  which, 
though  everywhere  due  to  feudal  royalty,  were, 
from  the  very  nature  of  feudalism,  as  explained 
above,  often  incapable  of  being  enforced  by  the 
feudal  kings  of  the  continent,  but  which  the  early 
Anglo-Norman  kings  were  in  a  condition  to  enforce. 
Their  vassals,  for  instance,  were  bound  to  attend 
them  to  the  wars  for  forty  days  in  every  year,  if 
called  upon.  Then  there  were  the  pecuniary  pay- 
ments due  from  the  vassal  to  his  lord  ;  and  the  va- 
rious profits  arising  from  wardship,  marriage,  and 
other  rights,  the  nature  of  which  will  be  explained 
when  we  come  to  speak  of  the  royal  revenue.  Be- 
side all  this,  William  secured,  as  his  own  share  of 
the  Conquest,  1422  manors,  and  the  principal  towns 
of  the  kingdom.  The  forfeitures  of  the  insurgent 
Saxons  were  constantly  adding  to  these  acquisitions. 

;  All  these  sources  of  revenue,  together  with  the  sale 
of  public  offices,  and  of  the  royal  protection  and 
justice,  and  the  ginevous  imposition  upon  the  infe- 
rior subjects,  called  tallages,  secured  to  the  king  an 
independent  power — a  power  against  which  any 
of  his  vassals,  however  great,  would  singly  be  as 
nothing. 

As  we  have  before  had  occasion  to  remark,  their 
very  position,  in  the  midst  of  a  conquered  but  spir- 
ited and  warlike  people,  caused  the  great  vassals  of 
the  king  to  assemble  frequently  around  him.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that,  at  least  on  certain  solemn 

,  occasions,  all  the  immediate  vassals  of  the  king  had 
a  right  to  attend  his  great  council.  According  to 
the  Saxon  Chronicle  and  other  ancient  authorities, 
the  Conqueror  was  wont  "  to  wear  his  crown,"  as 

'  it  is  expressed,  at  Christmas  in  the  city  of  Glouces- 
ter, at  Easter  in  Winchester,  and  at  Whitsuntide 
in  Westminster.  On  these  occasions,  Malmsbury 
states,  all  the  spiritual  and  temporal  nobles  were 
assembled  and  feasted  by  the  king.  The  same  cus- 
tom was  kept  up  by  William  Rufus,  and,  although 
discontinued  by  Henry  I.,  was  revived  by  Stephen. 
Henry  II.  and  his  successors,  in  the  same  manner, 
used  to  call  their  nobles  around  them,  both  at  these 

j  1  Dugdale's  Baronage. — Madox's  History  of  the  Exchequer. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


647 


i"lil"'''!! '"''"'''BlillilJiWW 


William  1.  granting  lands  to  his  nephew,  the  Earl  of  Brittant.    From  the  Registrum  Honoris  de  Richmond.  Kerrick,  Collect.  6730. 


great  festivals  and  on  other  occasions ;  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  from  the  accounts  of  contemporary 
writers,  that  consultation  on  public  affairs  was  always 
one  of  the  purposes  of  these  meetings.  But  the 
real  power  of  such  a  parliament  could  not  have  been 
considerable.  The  king  is  far  richer  and  more  pow- 
erful than  any  of  his  vassals.  He  alone  makes  laws, 
levies  taxes,  rewards  with  lands,  punishes  with  ban- 
ishment or  death.  He  is  supreme  judge  and  com- 
mander-in-chief, as  well  as  supreme  legislator, 
throughout  his  dominions.' 

Before  we  proceed  further  in  the  development  of 
our  subject,  let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  examine 
the  machinery  by  which  he  puts  his  government  in 
motion  and  does  its  work.  It  is  the  more  impor- 
tant that  we  should  do  this,  as  the  explanation  we 
are  about  to  give  is  the  analysis  of  a  system  out  of 
which  has  arisen  the  whole  machinery  which  has 


set  in  motion  the  English  government  and  laws  from 
that  day  to  this. 

The  power  of  William  the  Conqueror  and  hia* 
immediate  successors  being,  as  we  have  seen,  no^ 
limited  by  any  other  power  within  the  realm  of 
England,  they  did  whatever  seemed  good  in  their 
own  eyes.  If  they  chose,  therefore,  to  administer 
the  afiiiirs  of  state,  or  to  execute  justice  between 
subject  and  subject,  in  person,  they  did  so;  or  if 
they  chose  to  delegate  any  of  those  functions  to 
their  officers,  they  did  so.  Among  our  early  Nor- 
man princes,  as  throughout  the  whole  of  feudal 
Europe,  and  likewise,  as  we  have  seen,  under  the 
Roman  empire,  the  officers  of  state  were  the 
prince's  household  officers.  Thus  the  king's  trea- 
surer was  the  State  treasurer;  the  king's  steward 
the  State  steward;  the  king's  secretary  the  State 
secretary  ;'  and  so  for  other  officers. 


I  Glanville,  in  the  Preface  to  his  Tractatus  de  Legib.  et  Consuetud ,  ^  The  Home  Secretary  was  at  first  merely  the  clerk  of  the  Privy 
speaks  of  the  will  of  the  prince  as  law  ;  using  almost  the  very  words  j  Council.  The  King's  secretary,  or  clerk,  was,  properly  speiking,  tha 
of  Justinian,  with  whose  Cor^u* /uri*  he  seems  to  have  been  familiar.  1  Chancellor. 


548 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


There  is  here  a  contrast  not  unworthy  of  remark 
between  the  Roman  polity  and  the  feudal.  In  the 
former  everything  bore  the  popular  stamp;  in  the 
latter,  the  monarchical.     Thus,  instead  of  PRiEXORS, 

^DILES,    QUATUOR  VIRl   VlARUM    PuBLICARUM    CU- 

RANDARUM,'  (the  Four  Curators  of  the  Public  Roads), 
we  have  the  King's  Justiciary,  the  King's  Cham- 
berlain, the  King's  Forester  (now  Commission- 
ers of  Woods  and  Forests).  The  contrast  between 
the  results  is  also  striking.  Here  the  basis  of  the 
government  has  been  widening  from  the  first  AVill- 
iam  downward.  There  it  went  on  narrowing,  that 
is  with  some  oscillations,  till  it  ended  in  the  apex  of 
the  imperial  despotism. 

The  only  titles  of  nobility  at  this  period  were 
those  of  Baron  and  Earl,  or  Count ;  the  latter  being 
in  all  cases  either  the  possessor  or  at  least  the 
governor  of  a  county,  and  being  always  also  a 
Baron,  which  indeed  meant  no  more  than  a  person 
holding  lands  in  fee  of  a  superior  on  the  usual 
condition  of  military  service.  The  king's  barons 
were  the  tenants  of  the  crown,  or  the  tenants  in 
chief,  as  they  were  called,  just  as  other  tenants 
were  the  batons  of  the  lordship  of  which  they  held. 
AH  the  barons  of  the  crown,  among  whom  were  in- 
cluded the  bishops,  appear  to  have  constituted  what 
the  old  writers  call  the  Commvne  Concilium,  or 
Common  Council  of  the  realm.  It  has  been  com- 
monly supposed  that  what  is  called  the  Curia  Regis 
(literally,  the  king's  council  or  senate)  was  a  differ- 
ent body  from  this ;  but  for  that  notion  there  ap- 
pears to  be  no  foundation.*  The  ordinary  business 
of  the  state,  however,  was  certainly  mainly  con- 
ducted in  the  first  ages  after  the  Conquest  by  the 
great  officers  of  the  king's  court,  or,  which  is  much 
the  same  thing,  the  great  officers  of  the  king's 
household.  In  order  to  see  this  matter  in  a  clear 
hght,  we  must  go  a  good  way  back.  The  Anglo- 
Normans  borrowed  from  the  Normans,  the  Nor- 
mans from  the  Franks ;  and  the  Franks,  though 
doubtless,  like  other  people  in  a  similar  stage  of  civ- 
ilization, they  would  have  some  offices  attached  to 
the  persons  of  their  kings,  which  they  retained  after 
their  conquest  over  the  Roman  territory  (that  they 
had  such,  is  implied  in  the  names  seneschal,  mar- 
eschal) ;  yet  they  unquestionably  borrowed  that 
complex  graduated  system  of  officers  and  ranks 
from  the  courts  of  the  Roman  emperors. 

The  English  lawyers  and  legal  antiquaries  have 
produced  between  them  almost  inextricable  confu- 
sion on  the  subject  of  some  of  these  offices.  Ma- 
dox,  who,  in  an  antiquarian  point  of  view,  has  done 
the  most  for  this  subject,  and  whom  Blackstone 
and  others  seem  to  have  followed,  in  his  History 
of  the  Exchequer,  places  the  great  officers  of  the 
king's  court  in  the  following  order: — 1.  The  High 
Justiciary,  or  High  Justiciar,  as  he  writes  it.  2.  The 
Constable.  3.  The  Mareschall.  4.  The  Senes- 
chall,  or  Dapifer.  5.  The  Chamberlain.  6.  The 
Chancellour.     7.  The  Treasurer.     Instead  of  this 

I  Ileinccc.  Hist.  Jur.  Rom.  ^  55  et  seq.,  and  1.  2,  ^  30  D.  de  orig.  jur. 

'  See  this  point  established  in  a  very  learned  and  able  Article  on 
the  History  of  Ihe  English  Legislature  in  the  Edinburgh  Review, 
No.  69. 


classification  we  shall  substitute  the  following,  for 
reasons  which  will  be  given  immediately:  1.  The 
Grand  Seneschall,  or  Dapifer  Angliee.  2.  The 
High  Justiciary.  3.  The  Seneschall,  or  Dapifer 
Regis.  4.  The  Constable.  5.  The  Mareschall. 
6.  The  Chamberlain.  7.  The  Chancellor.  8.  The 
Treasurer. 

1.  The  Grand  Seneschall,  or  Dapifer — Senes- 
callus,  or  Dajnfer^  Anglite;  in  modern  phraseo- 
logy, the  Lord  High  Steward — comes  palalii,  major 
domus  regi(e,  or  maire  du  j^alais.  The  word  sene- 
schalch,  about  the  etymology  of  which  opinions  vary 
somewhat,  meant  originally  a  sort  of  steward  in  the 
household  of  the  Frank  kings.  After  their  con- 
quest of  Gaul,  it  came  to  signify  a  high  political 
dignity.  Dapifer,  as  shown  in  the  preceding  note, 
means  the  same  thing,  being  the  Latin  synonym 
for  it.  This  officer  was  the  highest  in  the  State 
after  the  king,  executing  all  the  chief  offices  of  the 
kingdom  as  the  king's  representative.  He  was  not 
only  at  the  head  of  the  king's  palace,  but  of  all  the 
departments  of  the  State,  civil  and  military,  chief 
administrator  of  justice,  and  leader  of  the  armies  in 
war.  Tliis  is  proved  not  only  to  have  been  the 
case  in  France  by  Ducange  and  other  high  authori- 
ties, as  well  as  by  the  public  records  of  that  king- 
dom,* but  to  have  been  so  also  in  England,  by  a  doc- 
ument published  by  Madox  himself,  from  the  black 
and  red  books  of  the  Exchequer — to  wit,  the  cele- 
brated Dialogus  de  Scaccario,  written  in  the  time 
of  Henry  II.  f  and  likewise  by  certain  MSS.  pre- 
served in  Sir  Robert  Cotton's  collection  in  the 
British  Museum,  particularly  an  old  MS.,  entitled, 
"  Quis  sit  Seneschallus  Angliae,  et  quid  ejus  offi- 
cium."^  Consequently,  Madox  is  wrong,  when  he 
says  (Hist.  Excheq.  p.  28)  that  in  the  reign  of  Will- 
iam  I.  William  Fitz-Osbern  was  the  king's  con- 

1  That  these  terms  are  synonymous,  is  shown  by  Ducange,  Spel- 
man,  &c.  Dapifer  seems  to  have  been  introduced  when  a  Latin  word 
came  to  be  wanted  for  seneschall,  and  was  adopted  for  want  of  abetter, 
there  being  no  Latin  term  exactly  corresponding.  Dapifer  has  been 
ignoranlly  translated  "  sewer"  by  Dugdale  and  others  ;  whereas  sewer, 
so  far  from  meaning  seneschall,  means  only  ecuyer  tranchant,  an  officer 
a  great  many  degrees  below  the  seneschall.  See  Ducange,  ad  voc. 
Dapifer  Senescaltus ;  Spelman,  ad  voc.  Dapifer,  Capitalis  Justitiarius, 
Senescallus  ;  and  Dugdale's  Baronage. 

2  Ducange  Gloss,  ad  toc.  Dapifer  et  Senescallus.  See  also  the 
Grand  Coustumier  de  Normandie,  c.  x.  "  Solebat  autem  antiquitus 
quidam  justiclarius  predictis  superior  per  Normaniam  discurrere  qui 
seneschallus  principis  vocabatur." — Conf.  La  Coutume  Reformee  de 
Normandie  comment6e  par  Basnage,  t.  i.  p.  2,  col.  2  (Senfeschal).  See 
also  the  charters  of  the  various  Frank  kings,  in  the  witnessing  ot 
which  the  name  of  the  seneschal  or  dapifer  (sometimes  the  one  word 
is  used,  sometimes  the  other)  alwaj's  stands  before  those  of  all  the 
other  great  officers.  It  is  right  to  add,  that  in  the  English  charters 
the  name  of  the  dapifer,  or  seneschal,  does  not  invariahly  stand  so  high 
as  in  the  French. 

3  Madox,  Hist.  Exchequer  (edition  1711).  See  also  Co.  Litt.  fol. 
61  a,  for  some  account  of  the  judicial  part  of  the  office  of  seneschal,  or 
steward,  and  some  attempts  at  the  etymology  of  the  word,  which,  how- 
ever, are  not  very  successful. 

♦  Cotton  MS.  Vespasian,  b.  vii.  fol.  99  b.  It  will  also  be  found  in 
Harl.  MSS.,  305,  fol.  48,  transcribed  in  a  modern  hand  by  D'Ewes, 
who  supposed  it  to  be  of  the  age  of  Edw.  II.  See  also  Cotton  MS. 
Titus  C.  passim,  at  the  beginning  of  which  volume  there  is  a  well- 
written  tract,  which  contains  the  most  satisfactory  account  we  have 
met  with  of  the  subject.  There  is  also  a  tract  entitled  "  Summus 
Anglioe  Seneschallus,"  in  Somers'  Tracts,  vol.  viii.  All  these  agree  in 
one  thing,  viz. — the  vastness  and  paramount  nature  of  the  authority 
originally  wielded  by  the  high  steward,  though  none  of  them  explain 
the  anomaly  of  the  coexistence  of  such  an  officer  as  the  high  justiciary. 
This  we  hope  we  shall  now  be  enabled  to  do. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


549 


stable,  because  he  is  called  magistcr  militum.  The 
fact  is,  that  in  the  very  same  passage  (of  Ordericus 
Vitalis)  he  is  called  Normanniee  Dapifer,  in  virtue 
of  which  office  he  would  be  magister  militum.  It 
was  not  till  afterward  that  the  constable  became 
magister  militum,  being  originally  an  ofifiicer  subor- 
dinate to  the  dapifer. 

By  the  nature  of  feudalism,  everything  had  a 
tendency,  as  we  remarked  before,  to  be  given  in 
fief.  Among  other  things,  the  oflRce  of  seneschal 
was  given  in  fief  too,  and  became  hereditary  among 
the  Franks,  Normans,  and  at  the  conquest  of  Eng- 
land, among  the  Anglo-Normans.  In  France, 
under  the  Merovingian  dynasty,  the  office  was  in 
the  family  of  Charles  Martel,  from  whom  sprung 
the  Carlovingian  dynasty;  afterward  the  Planta- 
genet  counts  of  Anjou  were  hereditary  seneschals  of 
France  ;  and  in  England  this  high  office  was  granted 
by  William  the  Conqueror  to  the  Grantmesnils,  and 
thence  came  by  marriage  to  the  earls  of  Leicester. 
After  the  attainder  of  the  fiimily  of  Montfort,  earls 
of  Leicester,  the  office  was  given  to  Edmund,  the 
second  son  of  King  Henry  III.,  and  it  then  re- 
mained in  the  royal  family  till  its  abolition  — 
Thomas  Plantagenet,  second  son  of  King  Henry 
IV.,  being  the  last  permanent  High  Steward. 
The  office  has  been  since  conferred  only  for  special 
occasions. 

In  France,  when  the  office  became  hereditary  in 
the  counts  of  Anjou,  it  soon  became  necessary,  for 
various  reasons,  to  have  another  seneschal,  or  dapi- 
fer, beside  the  hereditary  one ;  and  this  officer, 
whether  he  be  considered  as  the  representative  or 
as  the  deputy  of  the  hereditary  seneschal,  still  took 
precedence,  as  appears  from  the  charters  of  the 
French  king,  of  all  the  other  great  officers  of  state. 
In  England  also,  something  of  the  same  kind  took 
place,  but  with  this  difference — that  the  various 
functions  of  the  original  grand  seneschal,  or  Senes- 
callus  Angliee,  were  divided  into  two  parts,  and 
committed  to  two  distinct  officers  as  his  repre- 
sentatives; the  judicial  functions  being  committed 
to  an  officer  styled  the  High,  or  rather  Chief  Justi- 
ciary ;  the  administrative  and  those  relating  to  the 
affairs  of  the  king's  palace  or  household,  to  an 
officer  styled,  not  the  Senescallus  Angliee,  but  the 
senescallus,  or  dapifer  Regis.^  This  explanation 
will  be  found  completely  to  remove  the  confusion 
that  has  so  long  prevailed  among  the  English  his- 
torians, antiquaries,  and  lawyers  on  this  subject. 
Our  view  of  the  subject,  if  it  needed  it,  would  be 
corroborated  by  the  high  privileges  of  the  officer 
created  in  later  times,  to  preside  in  the  House  of 
Lords  at  State  Trials,  which  officer,  be  it  observed, 
is  not  "High  Justiciary,"  but  "  Lord  High  Stew- 
ard," that  is,  "  Senescallus  Angliee."  This  expla- 
nation also  removes  the  difficulty  of  accounting  for 
the  extraordinary  powers  of  the  Lord  High  Stew- 
ard's court,  which  some  English  lawyers  have  at- 
tempted to  get  over,  by  saying  that  the  Lord  High 
Steward  succeeded  to  some  of  the  powers  of  the 
High    Justiciary,    whereas    he'  merely    exercises 

I  Among  many  other  proofs  of  this,  see  Madox's  Form.  Anglic, 
cclxxxiz. 


powers  which  he  had  delegated  to  the  High  Jus- 
ticiary.^ 

We  would  add  a  reflection  which  will  make  appa- 
rent to  every  one  the  vast  power  anciently  attached 
to  this  high  office  of  seneschal,  dapifer,  or  steward. 
To  two  of  the  most  illustrious  royal  lines  of  modern 
Europe,  the  Carlovingians  and  Plantagenets,^  it 
served  as  a  stepping-stone  to  the  throne.  It  was  for 
fear  of  its  again  doing  the  same  thing  to  the  House 
of  Montfort,  earls  of  Leicester,  that  the  office  was 
first  taken  into  the  royal  family,  and  afterward  abol- 
ished in  England.  And  the  very  name  of  the 
House  of  Stuart  came  from  their  holding  the  office 
of  Steward  of  Scotland. 

II.  The  Chief  Justiciary — Capitalis  Justitiarius. 
This  officer  was  usually  a  person  Avho  had  given 
special  attention  to  the  study  of  jurisprudence.  As 
the  representative  of  the  judicial  portion  of  the 
Grand  Seneschal's  power,  his  authority  extended 
over  every  court  in  the  kingdom.  One  of  the  most 
distinguished  persons  who  filled  this  high  office  was 
Ranulph  de  Glanville,  to  whom  is  usually  attributed 
the  Tractatus  de  Legibus  et  Consuetudinibus  An- 
gliee, the  oldest  English  law  book  extant.  The  two 
offices  of  Chief  Justiciary  and  Dapifer  seem  to 
have  been  sometimes  filled  by  the  same  person ; 
Ranulf  de  Glanville  seems  to  have  been  at  the  same 
time  High  Justiciary  and  Dapifer.' 

HI.  Tlie  Seneschal,  or  Dapifer  Regis.  —  That 
the  functions  of  this  officer,  as  the  representative 
of  that  portion  of  the  Grand  Seneschal's  authority, 
were  political,  and  not  merely,  hke  those  of  the 
present  Lord  Steward  of  the  Household,  confined 
to  matters  connected  with  the  king's  household,  is 
proved  from  the  constant  appearance  of  his  name 
in  the  charters  and  other  important  public  docu- 
ments of  the  time.  His  relative  position  with 
regard  to  the  Mareschal  appears  from  the  follow- 
ing passage  of  Britton :  "We  ordain  also,  that  the 
Earl  of  Norfolk  (Marshal)  shall,  either  by  himself 
or  his  deputy  (being  a  knight),  be  attendant  upon 
us  and  our  Steward,  to  execute  our  commands,  and 
the  attachments  and  executions  of  our  judgments, 
and  those  of  our  Steward,  throughout  the  verge  of 
our  palace,  so  long  as  he  shall  hold  the  office  of 
Marshal."* 

IV.  The  Constable — Comes  Stabidi. — An  officer 
who  originally  had  the  care  of  the  king's  stable  and 
horses  ;®  afterward,  as  the  power  of  the  Seneschal 
declined,  leader  of  the  armies,  or,  at  least,  holding 
certain  posts  of  honor  in  them  —  as,  for  instance, 
leading  the  vanguard  in  an  advance,  the  rearguard 
in  a  retreat. 

V.  The  Mareschall,  or  Marshal ;  from  Ger- 
man march   or  marach,   horse,   and  schalch,   mas- 

1  See  a  Disquisition  on  the  Office  of  Lord  High  Steward,  by  Mr. 
Amos,  in  Phillips'  State  Trials,  Appendix,  vol.  ii.  Mr.  Amos  falls  into 
the  usual  error  of  supposing  that  the  judicial  authority  of  the  Lord 
High  Steward  "  grew  out  of  that  which  appertained  to  the  Chief  Jus- 
ticiar at  the  period  when  the  latter  office  was  aliolished." 

2  Charles  Martel  was  maire  du  palais,  or  seneschal,  to  the  Merovin- 
gian kings,  and  the  Plantagenets,  counts  of  Anjou,  were  seneschals  of 
France.  The  eldest  son  of  Henry  II.  is  said  to  have  actually  performed 
the  duties  of  the  office  to  the  French  king. 

3  Madox,  p.  35.     Beames'  Glanville,  Introd.  p.  12 

*  Britton,  fol.  1,  b  5  Ducange,  ad  voc 


550 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


ter.'  Madox"  says  mareschall  is  a  general  name  for 
several  officers  emploj'cd  about  horses,  game,  &c. 
For  some  time  the  Mareschall  was  an  officer  subordi- 
nate, in  the  leading  of  the  armies,  to  the  Constable. 

V].  The  Cliamhcrlaui. — This  requires  little  ex- 
planation. It  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that  while 
some  of  his  functions  belonged  to  the  king's  house- 
hold, others  belonged  to  the  Exchequer. 

VII.  The  Chancellor. — This  officer  did  not  enjoy 
by  any  means  the  same  importance  in  early  times 
which  he  afterward  obtained.  There  was  an  officer 
about  the  court  in  later  times  whose  functions  and 
even  whos.e  title  will  furnish  a  good  idea  of  what 
the  chancellor  originally  was.  This  was  the  "clerk 
of  the  closet,"  a  sort  of  confidential  chaplain  or 
(before  the  Reformation)  confessor  to  the  king,  oc- 
casionally employed  by  him  as  secretary,  or  clerk, 
in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term.  In  this  capacity 
the  Chancellor  applied  the  king's  great  seal  to  char- 
ters and  other  public  documents.  But,  as  Madox 
observes,  "  the  chancellorship,  from  a  small  begin- 
ning, became,  in  process  of  time,  an  office  of  great 
dignity  and  preeminence."'  When  the  grandeur  of 
the  Seneschal  and  High  Justiciary  began  to  decline, 
the  power  of  the  Chancellor  gradually  increased,  un- 
til it  at  last  approached  to  within  a  certain  distance 
of — for  it  has  never  come  up  to  by  many  steps — that 
portion  of  the  authority  of  the  Great  Seneschal 
which  was  represented  by  the  High  Justiciary. 
The  Chancellor  up  to  a  late  period  was  a  church- 
man. He  was  ex  officio  chief  of  the  king's  chapel.'' 
He  also  was  wont  to  act  with  the  High  Justiciary 
and  other  great  officers  in  matters  of  revenue  at  the 
Exchequer.^ 

Of  the  Chancellor,  we  shall  add  one  curious  fact, 
given  from  an  ancient  memorial  by  Madox.  "  The 
Chancellor  has  five  shillings  a  day,  and  so  much  in 
simnells  (a  sort  of  sweet  biscuit),  wine,  and  other 
small  things."^ 

VIII.  The  Treasurer. — He  was  mostly  an  eccle- 
siastic. Anciently  it  seems  to  have  been  the  duty 
of  the  Treasurer  to  act  with  the  other  barons  at  the 
Exchequer  in  the  management  of  the  king's  reve- 
nue.'' The  dignity  of  the  Treasurer,  as  -well  as 
that  of  the  Chancellor,  was  by  no  means,  however, 
what  it  became  afterward,  he  being  an  officer  sub- 
ordinate to  the  Chamberlain,  and  more  so  to  the 
Seneschal.  But  in  the  mutations  brought  about  by 
time,  which  often  decrees  that  the  first  shall  be  last 
and  the  last  first,  the  Chancellor  has  become  (after 
the  king),  in  point  of  dignity,  the  first  officer  of  the 
state ;  and  the  Treasurer,  or  rather  only  a  portion 
of  him — namely,  the  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury — 
the  first  in  political  power ;  while  the  Lord  Steward 
and  Lord  Chamberlain  of  the  Household,  and  the 
Earl  Marshal  (albeit  the  last  has  become  hereditary 
in  a  potent  house  of  high  and  compai-atively  ancient 
nobility),  are  little  more  than  old  lumber ;  and  the 
High  Steward,  to  all  ordinary  intents  and  purposes, 
is  no  longer  in  existence. 


■-  Ducange,  ad  voc.  MarescaJhis. 

-  Hist.  Excheq.  chap.  ii.  p.  30.     Edit.  1711. 

3  Hist.  Eicheq.  p.  43.  *  Madox,  p.  42. 

*  Madox,  p.  42.  «  Ibid.  p.  131  '  Ibid.  p.  5a. 


These  high  officers  seem  not  only  to  have  attended, 
each  in  his  department,  to  all  the  public  business 
which  is  commonly  understood  at  present  to  fall 
under  the  province  of  the  king's  ministers,  but  also 
to  the  hearing  and  decision  of  causes  between  suit- 
ors— to  have,  in  other  words,  fulfilled  the  judicial 
as  well  as  the  administrative  office.  The  court  of 
justice  which  was  thus  formed  was  originally  held 
in  the  king's  palace  or  wherever  he  happened  to  be 
in  person.  There  was  a  particular  In-anch  of  it  held 
in  a  particular  part  of  the  palace,  in  which  all  mat- 
ters relating  to  the  revenue  were  transacted,  and 
which,  though  composed  of  nearly  the  same  persons, 
was  known  by  the  name  of  the  Exchequer. 

Among  the  things  that  most  strike  us  on  first  look- 
ing at  this  period  of  our  legal  and  judicial  history 
are  the  substitution  of  general  and  central  for  local 
judicatures,  and  the  appointment  of  judges  regularly 
trained  to  a  knowledge  of  the  law  to  preside  in  the 
several  courts.  Soon  after  the  Conquest  great  in- 
conveniences appear  to  have  been  felt  from  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  in  the  county  courts,  hundred 
courts,  and  courts  baron.  These  inconveniences 
arose  from  various  causes,  of  which  the  principal, 
according  to  Sir  Matthew  Hale,'  were  the  three 
following  :  —  1st.  The  ignorance  of  the  judges, 
■who  were  the  fi-eeholders  of  the  county.  "  For," 
says  Hale,  "  although  the  alderman  or  chief  consta- 
ble of  every  hundred  w'as  always  to  be  a  man  learned 
in  the  laws,  and  although  not  only  the  freeholders, 
but  the  bishops,  barons,  and  great  men,  were,  by 
the  laws  of  King  Henry  I.,  appointed  to  attend  the 
county  court,  yet  they  seldom  attended  there,  or, 
if  they  did,  in  process  of  time  they  neglected  to 
study  the  English  laws,  as  great  men  usually  do." 
2dly.  The  great  variety  of  laws,  the  efl'ect  of 
several  independent  jurisdictions.  Glanville  says, 
"  The  customs  of  the  lords'  courts  are  so  numerous 
and  various  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  reduce 
them  into  writing."*  3dly.  The  corruption  and  in- 
timidation practiced;  for  all  the  business  of  any 
moment  was  carried  by  parties  and  factions. 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  we  are  to  seek  for 
the  main  causes  of  the  subversion  of  the  ancient 
system  in  certain  changes  which  the  very  principle 
of  that  system  was  itself  producing,  and  which  we 
shall  now  proceed  to  consider. 

Of  these  changes  the  most  important  and  funda- 
mental was  the  establishment  of  the  trial  by  jury. 
It  has  been  explained,  in  the  preceding  book,  that 
the  essential  principle  of  the  original  Saxon  mode  of 
trial  was  the  submission  of  the  matter  in  dispute, 
in  some  form  or  other,  to  what  was  held  to  be  the 
arbitration  of  Heaven.  There  was  no  interference 
of  the  human  judgment — no  attempt  to  amve  at  the 
truth  by  weighing  and  comparing  the  adverse  prob- 
abilities ;  the  question  was  not  held  to  be  a  question 
of  probabilities  at  all ;  it  was  conceived  to  be  capable 
of  a  solution  as  certain  as  any  question  in  arithmetic. 
The  decision  was  left  not  to  the  fallible  judgment 
of  man,  but,  as  was  believed,  to  the  infallible  judg- 
ment of  the  Deity.     As  long  as  this  behef  subsisted 

1  History  of  the  Common  Law  of  England,  c.  7. 
-  Lib.  xii.  c.  6. — Beames'  Translation. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


561 


universally,  it  is  evident,  as  we  have  already  ob- 
served, that  no  mode  of  trial  proceeding  upon  a 
different  principle  could  well  come  into  use.  Men 
would  not  readily  relinquish  a  method  which  af- 
forded them  in  all  cases  a  certain  determination  of 
the  matter,  for  one  which  afforded  them  only  a 
doubtful  determination  of  it.  They  would  not  easily 
be  disposed  to  remain  satisfied  with  a  decision  which 
might  be  wrong,  while  they  believed  that  they  had 
it  in  their  power  to  obtain  one  that  could  not  but  be 
right.  That  belief,  however,  was  so  entirely  founded 
in  ignorance  and  superstition,  that  it  of  necessity 
decayed  in  the  light  of  increasing  knowledge  and 
civilization  ;  even  the  results  of  the  trials  at  law  that 
were  founded  on  it  would  themselves  be  constantly 
raising  suspicions  of  its  fallacy.  Nevertheless,  there 
is  reason  to  suppose  that  it  was  not  any  general 
conviction  of  the  absurdity  of  the  ordeal,  or  of  the 
vanity  of  the  imagination  on  which  the  use  of  it 
rested,  that  led  first  to  its  discouragement,  and 
eventually  to  its  entire  abandonment.  If  such  a 
conviction  had  been  arrived  at,  the  pi'actice  would 
have  been  given  up  at  once,  as  one  wholly  irrational 
and  iniquitous.  But  this  was  not  the  course  taken. 
In  the  first  instance,  the  legislature  only  interfered 
to  narrow  the  application  of  the  ordeal,  and  the 
church  to  discountenance  the  frequent  or  indis- 
criminate resort  to  it.  It  is  evident  that  the  popular 
prejudice  in  its  favor  could  not  yet  be  attacked  in 
front.  Its  folly  was.  discerned  by  the  ruling  and 
more  enlightened  part  of  the  community;  and  the 
government  and  the  church,  even  if  either  or  both 
may  be  supposed  to  have  had  an  interest  in  keeping 
it  up  as  a  convenient  instrument  of  control,  must 
have  perceived  that  it  was  one  which  could  not  be 
much  longer  left  iu  their  hands  ;  but  they  did  not, 
for  all  that,  announce  that  the  supposed  judgment 
of  Heaven  was  really  nothiug'of  the  kind.  If  they 
had,  they  would  have  offended  what  was  yet  the 
general  sentiment,  and  their  announcement  would 
probably  have  been  received  with  incredulity  and 
acorn.  Beside,  there  would  be  a  natural  reluctance 
■on  the  part  of  those  by  whom  the  ordeal  had  been 
hitherto  sanctioned  and  upheld  to  make  a  frank 
acknowledgment  that  it  was  all  a  solemn  mockery. 
They  therefore  took  another  course.  The  clergy 
began  to  preach  against  the  ordeal,  not  as  being 
absurd,  but  as  being  impious ;  they  did  not  deny  its 
efiftcacy,  as  an  appeal  to  Heaven,  but  they  endeavored 
to  show  that  it  was  an  appeal  which,  in  ordinary 
circumstances,  at  least,  it  was  sinful  in  human  beings 
to  make.  They  may  possibly  also  have  sometimes 
insinuated  that  one  of  the  consequences  of  its  abuse 
would  be  its  frequent  failure — that  the  Deity  would 
not  consent  to  favor  with  a  true  decision  of  their 
cause  the  parties  who  thus  improperly  called  upon 
hijTi.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  was  only  after  a  long 
course  of  partial  opposition  to  the  ordeal  that  the 
church  ventured  finally  and  distinctly  to  prohibit  its 
use.  It  did  do  this  at  last,  however,  by  the  18th 
canon  of  the  Fourth  Council  of  Lateran,  published 
in  November,  1215. 

Meanwhile,  the  ordeal  had  been  gradually  foiling 
more  and  more  into  disuse  under  the  operation  of 


various  causes.  The  discouragement  of  it  by  the 
church,  and  the  diffusion  of  the  feeling  upon  which 
that  discouragement  was  professedly  grounded, 
would,  no  doubt,  have  a  powerful  effect  in  indispo- 
sing the  public  mind  toward  such  a  mode  of  trial 
except  in  very  extraordinary  circumstances.  Then, 
the  conviction  of  its  inherent  absurdity,  and  utter 
unsuitableness  in  any  circumstances,  was  of  course 
gi'owing  and  extending  itself.  Beside,  it  was  not 
necessary,  in  order  to  be  opposed  altogether  to  the 
ordeal  as  a  mode  of  trying  causes,  that  a  person 
should  be  a  disbeliever  in  the  assumed  principle  of 
that  kind  of  trial.  That  principle  was,  that  the 
Deity,  if  fairly  appealed  to,  would  work  a  miracle 
in  vindication  of  the  innocent  party — would  prevent 
the  boiling  water  from  scalding  him,  or  the  red-hot 
iron  from  burning  him.  This  might  be  granted  ;  and 
still  the  ordeal  might  be  objected  to  on  the  ground 
that  there  was,  and  could  be,  no  security  for  its 
being  in  any  case  a  fair  submission  of  the  matter  to 
the  arbitration  of  Heaven.  It  might  be  alleged  that, 
from  the  way  in  which  the  matter  was  managed, 
the  result  was  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  function- 
aries who  superintended  the  process.  The  histo- 
rian Eadmer  relates,  as  an  instance  of  the  daring 
impiety  of  William  Rufus,  that  upon  one  occasion, 
when  about  fifty  Englishmen,  of  good  quality  and 
fortune,  whom  he  had  caused  to  be  tried  for  killing 
his  deer,  by  the  ordeal  of  hot  iron,  had  all  come  off 
unburnt^  and  were  consequently  acquitted,  that  king 
declared  he  would  have  them  tried  again  by  another 
mode,  and  not  by  this  pretended  judgment  of  God, 
which  was  made  favorable  or  unfavorable  at  any 
man's  pleasure.  Yet  Rufus  here  did  not  dispute 
the  efficacy  of  the  ordeal  if  it  had  been  fairly  man- 
aged ;  he  did  not  deny  that  Heaven,  if  appealed  to, 
would  pronounce  a  just  decision,  and  would  even,  if 
necessary,  work  a  miracle  for  that  purpose  ;  he  only 
denied  that  the  professed  appeal  to  Heaven  was 
really  made.  And  this  was  a  suspicion  that  was,  no 
doubt,  very  generally  entertained. 

The  gi-adual  extinction,  however,  of  the  practice 
of  trying  causes  by  appeal  to  the  judgment  of 
Heaven  was  mainly  brought  about  by  the  natural 
development  of  the  principle  of  that  mode  of  trial 
itself.  And  this  is  the  most  curious  point  in  the 
inquiry,  and  that  which  is  most  deserving  of  at- 
tention. It  has  been  shown  in  the  former  Book 
that  the  manner  in  which  what  we  should  now  call 
evidence  originally  obtained  admission  in  trials  at 
law  was  by  its  assuming  the  form  of  an  appeal  to 
Heaven ;  that  is  to  say,  it  obtained  admission  on  the 
only  principle  then  recognized, — the  principle  of  the 
ordeal.  In  a  criminal  case,  instead  of  the  ordeal  of 
water  or  iron  being  at  once  resorted  to,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  avoid  that  expedient,  and  to  decide  the 
case  by  a  contest  of  oaths  between  the  authors  of 
the  charge  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  accused  party 
and  his  friends  on  the  other :  it  was  only  in  the 
event  of  the  charge  not  being  established  by  this 
preliminary  process  that  the  trial  was  caried  far- 
ther. But  the  persons  who  thus  swore  were  not 
at  first  witnesses  at  all :  they  did  not  profess  to  tes- 
tify to  the  facts  at  issue  upon  their  own  knowledge ; 


552 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


all  that  they  declared  was,  those  on  the  one  side 
their  belief  in  the  guilt,  those  on  the  other  their 
belief  in  the  innocence  of  the  accused.  Nor  was 
their  testimony  considered  and  weighed  by  any  act 
of  the  judgment ;  their  testimony,  properly  speak- 
ing, was  not  estimated  at  all,  but  they  themselves 
were  counted  and  valued,  each  man  according  to  his 
•'  were,"  or  the  legal  worth  at  which  he  was  rated 
according  to  his  rank  in  society.  This,  therefore, 
was  not  the  hearing  of  evidence  in  any  sense ;  it 
was  merely  another  mode  of  appealing  to  Heaven, 
which  it  was  supposed  would  no  more  sufl'er  the 
guilty  party  to  come  oft'  victor  in  this  contest  of 
oaths  than  it  would  fail  to  vindicate  the  innocent  in 
the  ordeal  of  fire  or  water.  Nevertheless,  this  me- 
thod of  compurgation,  as  it  was  called,  could  scarcely 
fail  to  lead,  in  course  of  time,  to  a  further  innova- 
tion. The  person  pledging  his  faith  in  favor  of  the 
one  side  or  the  other,  with  an  evident  or  understood 
knowledge  of  the  facts  bearing  on  the  question  at 
issue,  would  inevitably  make  a  stronger  impression 
upon  the  court  than  the  person  manifestly  destitute 
of  such  knowledge  who  presented  himself  to  make 
a  similar  or  an  opposite  deposition  :  this  would  hap- 
pen even  while  the  letter  and  practice  of  the  law 
made  no  distinction  on  that  ground  between  the 
two  deponents.  The  bringing  forward  of  persons 
to  make  their  depositions  who  were  not  acquainted 
with  the  facts  of  the  case  would,  in  this  way,  be- 
come disreputable,  and  gradually  fall  into  disuse,  till 
at  length  the  deponents  on  both  sides,  though  still 
only  called  upon  to  make  oath  to  their  belief  in  the 
statement  of  the  one  party  or  of  the  other,  would 
be  almost  always  understood  to  speak  not  merely 
from  partiality  to  the  party  whom  their  declarations 
were  to  benefit,  or  from  a  general  confidence  in  his 
credibility,  but  from  their  own  knowledge  of  the 
disputed  facts.  In  truth,  a  person  ignorant  of  the 
facts  would,  it  may  fairly  be  presumed,  scarcely  dare 
now  to  present  himself  to  make  oath  in  opposition 
to  one  to  whom  the  facts  were  well  known.  Here, 
then,  we  have  the  deponents  on  both  sides  already 
turned  into  witnesses  even  before  the  law  yet  de- 
mands their  testimony.  But,  this  point  arrived  at, 
it  is  impossible  that  the  next  step  should  be  long  de- 
layed. The  witnesses,  that  is  the  persons  having  a 
knowledge  of  the  facts,  being  thus  brought  before 
the  court,  would  naturally  be  led  by  degrees  to  ex- 
tend their  depositions  beyond  a  mere  general  decla- 
ration in  support  of  either  party ;  they  would  pro- 
ceed to  state  the  grounds  of  the  belief  which  they 
made  oath  that  they  entertained ;  in  other  words, 
they  would  state  the  facts  which  they  knew  in  re- 
lation to  the  cause, — they  would  give  their  testimony 
as  well  as  their  depositions.  Evidence  having  thus 
once  obtained  admission,  however  irregularly,  and 
with  however  Uttle  legal  efficacy  in  the  first  instance, 
would  speedily  come  to  be  received  as  of  weight  in 
the  decision  of  the  cause,  and  would  then  be  de- 
manded as  indispensable.  But  this  change  would 
render  necessary  other  important  changes. 

So  long  as  causes  were  tried  on  the  principle  of 
submitting  the  matter  in  dispute,  in  some  form  or 
other,  to  the  arbitration  of  Heaven,  no  functionaries 


that  could  properly  be  called  judges  were  required 
in  the  courts  of  law.  There  might  be  a  person  to 
preside,  and  to  declare  or  make  publicly  known  the 
result  of  the  process  which  had  been  gone  through; 
but  no  exercise  of  the  judgment  was  demanded  either 
here  or  in  any  other  part  of  the  proceedings.  The 
whole  aftair,  as  already  observed,  was  of  the  nature 
of  a  chemical  experiment,  or  an  arithmetical  calcu- 
lation ;  it  was  conducted  according  to  certain  fixed 
rules,  or  might  be  said  to  carry  on  itself;  and  the 
ascertainment  of  the  result  was  merely  a  matter  of 
observation,  and  of  observation  of  the  easiest  kind. 
Under  this  state  of  things  therefore,  all  kinds  of 
causes  were  tried  at  popular  meetings — at  the  wit- 
enagemot,  and  the  shiremote,  and  the  other  assem- 
blies of  the  same  kind  ;  and  the  judgment  passed  in 
each  case  might  as  truly  be  said  to  be  that  of  the 
attending  crowd  as  that  of  the  members  of  the 
court.  It  was  really  the  judgment  neither  of  the 
one  nor  of  the  other,  nor  was  it  so  considered ;  it 
was  called  not  the  judgment  of  man  at  all,  but  the 
judgment  of  God.  But  as  soon  as  the  principle  of 
the  appeal  to  Heaven  was  departed  from,  by  the 
admission  of  evidence,  the  whole  system  of  the  ad- 
ministiation  of  the  law  necessarily  assumed  a  new 
form.  The  exercise  of  judgment  by  the  court  now 
became  indispensable.  It  is  probable,  however,  that 
in  the  gradual  progi-ess  of  the  change,  this  conse- 
quence was  not  for  some  time  very  clearly  per- 
ceived, and  that  it  came  upon  the  country  and  the 
government  before  the  requisite  preparations  were 
made  for  it.  Hence,  as  occasions  arose,  expedients 
of  various  kinds  would  be  at  first  resorted  to  with 
the  view  of  making  the  old  machinery  still  answer. 
It  would  soon  be  found,  for  instance,  that  the  hear- 
ing of  evidence,  unlike  the  ordeal  and  the  trial  by 
compurgation,  produced  differences  of  opinion  among 
the  persons  present ;  and  it  would  also  become 
abundantly  apparent  that  a  large  multitude  of  per- 
sons did  not  form  the  most  convenient  tribunal  for 
weighing  and  coming  to  a  decision  upon  the  state- 
ments of  conflicting  witnesses.  In  these  circum- 
stances we  might,  on  the  first  view  of  the  matter, 
suppose  the  most  natural  course  would  be  to  ap- 
point a  small  committee  of  the  court  to  examine 
the  witnesses  and  come  to  a  judgment  upon  the 
cause.  But  this  is  to  assume  that  the  proper  dis- 
tinction between  the  provinces  of  the  court  and  of 
the  witnesses  was  already  much  more  distinctly 
perceived  than  it  could  as  yet  be,  when  things 
were  only  beginning  to  emerge  out  of  that  state  in 
which  the  court  had  really  never  taken  any  part 
in  the  trial  of  the  cause  at  all.  The  witnesses,  or 
the  persons  who  came  to  give  evidence,  and  not  the 
court,  would  at  this  time  in  fact  be  most  naturally 
looked  upon  as  the  real  triers  of  the  cause.  A  com- 
mittee of  the  witnesses,  therefore,  rather  than  a 
committee  of  the  court,  would  be  the  select  body 
appointed  for  its  consideration  and  settlement  in  the 
earliest  attempts  to  escape  from  the  confusion  and 
perplexity  of  conflicting  evidence.  Those  of  the 
witnesses  who  were  conceived  to  be  the  persons  of 
gi-eatest  probity,  or  to  be  those  best  acquainted  with 
the  facts,  would  be  chosen  out  from  among  the  rest, 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


553 


and  left  to  agree  among  themselves  as  to  how  the 
truth  stood, — in  other  words  to  try  the  cause.  The 
persons  thus  set  apart  would  probably  be  called  upon 
to  make  their  depositions  with  more  form  and  so- 
lemnity than  ordinary  witnesses :  for  instance,  al- 
though the  ordinary  witness  might  be  heard  merely 
upon  his  declaration,  the  selected  witness  would  be 
required  to  give  his  evidence  upon  oath.  Finally, 
it  would  very  soon  become  the  custom  for  the  se- 
lected witnesses,  or  ti-iers,  to  be  always  of  the  same 
number;  such  a  rule  would  be  properly  held  to 
conduce  to  fairness  of  procedure ;  and  beside,  the 
popular  feeling  has  always  attached  a  certain  virtue 
or  importance  to  particular  numbers. 

In  the  above  deduction  we  have  in  fact  what  ap- 
pears to  be  the  history  of  the  origin  in  this  country 
of  trial  by  jury,  in  as  far  as  it  can  be  collected  from 
the  scanty  notices  that  remain  to  us  of  changes 
which,  however  important  they  were  destined  to  be 
in  their  ultimate  results,  were  scarcely  deemed 
worthy  of  being  recorded  by  any  contemporary 
chronicler,  and  the  only  memory  of  which  that  has 
come  down  to  us  has  been  preserved  more  by  acci- 
dent than  by  design.  We  know,  thai,  even  in  the 
Saxon  times,  it  was  occasionally  the  practice  to  se- 
lect for  the  decision  of  a  civil  suit  certain  of  the  most 
reputable  of  the  persons  who  professed  to  be  ac- 
quainted with  the  facts  in  dispute,  the  parties  agree- 
ing together  in  their  nomination,  and  consenting  to 
abide  by  their  decision  or  verdict.  In  the  Norman 
times  this  became  a  more  usual  mode  of  trying 
causes,  and  it  was  now  consequently  subjected  to 
more  strict  regulation.  Nothing  is  better  estab- 
lished than  that  the  original  jury,  or  body  of  sworn 
triers,  were  really  the  witnesses  in  the  case,  and 
that  their  verdict  was  their  deliverance  upon  it  from 
their  own  knowledge  of  the  facts.  At  first  this  mode 
of  trial  appears  to  have  been  only  occasionally  and 
sparingly  resorted  to.  Two  instances  are  recorded 
4Hn  the  reign  of  the  Conqueror,  one  in  a  suit  between 
the  crown  and  Gundulphus,  Bishop  of  Rochester, 
in  1078,  the  other  in  a  suit  respecting  certain  lands 
claimed  for  the  bishopric  of  Ely  in  1080.^  In  the 
subsequent  reigns  the  instances  are  more  frequent. 
Sir  F.  Palgrave  is  of  opinion  that  in  criminal  cases 
the  jury  was  unknown  in  this  country  until  enacted 
by  the  Conqueror.  William,  in  a  charter  by  which 
he  professed  to  restore  the  laws  of  the  Confessor, 
with  certain  additions,  directed  that,  in  the  partic- 
ular case  of  a  charge  made  by  an  Englishman  against 
a  Norman,  or  by  a  Norman  against  an  Englishman, 
the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused  should  be  de- 
termined by  a  tribunal  of  sworn  witnesses,  "  accord- 
ing to  the  law  of  Normandy."  The  first  regulation, 
however,  which  established  the  jury  as  a  general 
mode  of  ti'ial,  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  laws, 
or  "  assizes,"  as  they  were  called,  enacted  by  Henry 
11.  at  Clarendon,  about  1176.  By  this  law,  to  quote 
the  account  of  Sir  F.  Palgrave,  "the  justices,  who 
represented  the  king's  person,  were  to  make  inquiry 
by  the  oaths  of  twelve  knights,  or  other  lawful  men, 
of  each  hundred,  together  with  the  four  men  from 
each  township,  of  all  murders,  robberies,  and  thefts, 

'  See  Palgrave's  Eng.  Com.  p.  253,  and  Illustrations,  p.  clxiviii. 


and  of  all  who  had  harbored  such  offenders  since 
the  king's  accession  to  the  throne."  Another  en- 
actment of  the  same  assizes  abolished  the  trial  by 
compurgation  in  criminal  cases,  except  in  certain 
boroughs.  The  verdict  of  the  inquest,  however, 
was  not  yet  made  final.  The  person  charged  by 
the  twelve  knights  was  still  allowed  to  clear  himself, 
if  he  could,  by  the  ordeal  of  fire  or  water.  Other 
laws  of  the  same  king,  some  of  which,  however,  are 
only  imperfectly  preserved,  appear  to  have  estab- 
lished the  inquest  or  "  recognition"  by  the  twelve 
lawful  men  as  the  regular  mode  of  trial  in  various 
kinds  of  civil  suits. 

If  tlie  trial  by  battle  was  at  all  known  in  the  Saxon 
times,  the  earliest  record  of  it  in  England  is  subse- 
quent to  the  Conquest.  The  duel  (or  orneste,  as 
its  Saxon  name  appears  to  have  been)  would  seem 
to  be  a  still  ruder  mode  of  trial  than  any  of  those 
methods  that  were  more  peculiarly  called  the  ordeal, 
as  allowing,  which  they  did  not,  mere  physical  force 
to  be  the  main  arbitrator  of  the  dispute,  and  being 
therefore  almost  identical  in  principle  with  the  mode 
of  deciding  quarrels  which  is  proper  to  a  state  of 
nature.  It  is  probably,  indeed,  of  greater  antiquity 
than  the  ordeal ;  yet  it  was  neither  supplanted  by 
the  ordeal,  nor  when  that  mode  of  trial  was  abolished 
did  the  duel  even  share  its  fate.  It  continued  in 
common  use  for  ages  afterward.  The  duel  was 
undoubtedly  looked  upon  as  being,  not  less  than  the 
ordeal,  an  appeal  to  the  judgment  of  God,  and  it  was 
in  virtue  of  this  character  that  it  retained  its  place 
as  one  of  the  allowed  modes  of  trial  in  association 
with  the  ordeal.  If  it  had  been  deemed  to  be  a 
mere  contest  of  physical  strength,  it  is  difificult  to 
conceive  that  it  ever  should  have  been  adopted  as  a 
mode  of  legal  trial  at  all,  and  it  certainly  could  not 
have  kept  its  gi-ound  as  such  after  the  more  refined 
principle  of  the  ordeal  came  to  be  recognized.  The 
belief  was  that  Heaven  would  by  no  means  allow 
the  issue  of  the  appeal  to  depend  upon  the  thews 
and  sinews  of  the  two  combatants,  but  would  defend 
the  right,  if  necessary,  by  enabling  the  weaker  man 
to  overcome  the  stronger, — that  is  to  say,  by  working 
a  miracle,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  ordeal.  The  duel 
and  the  ordeal  therefore  stood  in  the  popular  imagi- 
nation upon  the  same  principle.  Why,  then,  when 
the  ordeal  was  prohibited,  was  not  the  duel  abolished 
along  with  it  ?  To  be  enabled  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion we  must  recollect  that  the  prohibition  of  the  or- 
deal was  by  no  means  distinctly  placed  by  the  church 
upon  the  ground  of  the  inherent  absurdity  of  such 
a  mode  of  trial, — of  the  fallacy  of  the  notion  that  the 
special  interference  of  Heaven  was  to  be  so  secured. 
The  practice  was  discouraged,  and  at  last  formally 
condemned  as  unlawful,  on  other  gi-ounds  altogether, 
as  has  been  shown  above.  It  was  denounced  as  im- 
pious rather  than  as  fallacious  or  absurd.  If  it  was 
admitted  to  be  in  any  sense  fallacious,  it  was  merely 
in  so  far  as  the  supposed  appeal  to  Heaven  might  by 
dishonest  management  be  rendered  only  apparent 
instead  of  real.  The  generally  received  opinion 
that  the  direct  judgment  of  God  in  a  cause  might  be 
obtained  by  being  properly  sought  for  was  left  unas- 
sailed.     All  that  was  affirmed  was,  that  the  ordeal 


554 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


of  fire,  or  of  water,  was  not  a  proper  mode  of  seek- 
ing for  such  judgment.  The  condemnation  of  these 
modes,  therefore,  did  not  necessarily  touch  the  trial 
by  combat.  It  lay  under  none  of  the  objections  on 
account  of  which  they  Avere  condemned.  It  did  not 
easily  admit  of  collusion  or  any  other  species  of  un- 
fair management.  It  was  from  its  nature  not  likely 
to  be  resorted  to  upon  trivial  occasions,  or  to  be  taken 
advantage  of  in  any  circumstances  as  a  mere  form, 
but  was  always  of  necessity  a  solemn  encounter,  in 
which  neither  party  could  engage  without  peril  of 
his  life.  Add  to  all  this  the  accordance  of  the  trial 
by  combat  with  the  martial  spirit  of  the  times,  when 
prowess  in  arms  was  looked  upon  as  almost  the  chief 
of  human  virtues  ;  and  we  shall  be  at  no  loss  to  un- 
derstand the  favor,  or  at  least  the  toleration,  which 
was  shown  to  this  mode  of  trial  when  the  not  more 
barbarous  or  more  unjust  custom  of  the  07"deal  was 
banished  from  the  judicial  practice  of  Christendom. 
Yet  even  within  the  period  now  under  consideration 
an  important  step  was  taken  toward  the  extinction  of 
the  appeal  of  battle  in  civil  suits  by  a  law  of  Henry  II., 
which  gave  to  both  the  tenant  and  defendant  in  a  writ 
of  right'  the  alternative  of  having  the  case  tried  by 
what  was  called  the  grand  assize,  which  was  in  fact 
merely  a  jury  composed  of  four  knights  returned  by 
the  sheriff,  and  of  twelve  other  persons  named  by 
them.  The  inti'oduction  of  the  grand  assize  is  ascrib- 
ed to  the  advice  of  Glanville,  who  has  in  his  book  given 
a  very  particular  description  of  it,  and  expatiated  upon 
its  great  importance  as  an  improvement  of  the  law.^ 
It  is  obvious  that  the  entirely  new  form  and  char- 
acter assumed  by  judicial  proceedings,  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  practice  of  trying  and  deciding 
causes  by  evidence,  would  render  the  old  machineiy 
for  the  administration  of  the  law  altogether  unser- 
viceable. An  exercise  of  the  judgment  was  now 
called  for  on  the  part  of  the  court,  instead  of  merely 
an  exercise  of  the  faculty  of  observation.  Judges 
were  therefore  of  necessity  appointed  in  all  the 
courts.  It  is  probable  that  this  innovation  was  par- 
tially introduced  in  the  Saxon  times  ;  but  it  was  not 
generally  established  till  after  the  Conquest.  The 
general  character  of  the  Norman  domination,  under 
which  all  authority  was  held  to  proceed  and  to 
derive  its  being  from  the  crown,  was  especially  fa- 
vorable to  the  completion  of  the  new  system.  It 
appears  to  have  been  as  early  as  1118,  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  I.,  that  Justices  Itinerant,  or  Justices  in 
Eyre,  as  they  were  called,  were  first  appointed  to 
go  on  circuits  through  the  kingdom  for  the  holding 
of  all  pleas  both  civil  and  criminal.'  They  were  not, 
however,  made  a  regular  part  of  the  judicature  of 
the  kingdom  till  1176,  the  twenty-second  year  of 
the  i-eign  of  Henry  II. 

1  The  writ  of  right  was  the  proceeding  in  which  the  right  to  land 
was  tried  when  the  claimant,  or  those  under  whom  he  claimed,  had  lost 
the  possession  for  more  than  twenty  years.  The  limitation  to  this  cus- 
tom was  sixty  years. — Booth  on  Real  Actions. 

2  The  mode  of  trial  by  the  grand  assize  was  only  abolished  in  1833, 
by  the  3rd  and  4th  Will.  IV.  c.  27.  We  may  take  this  opportunity  of 
mentioning  that  the  other  ancient  mode  of  trial  by  Wager  of  Law  (a 
remnant  of  the  primitive  practice  of  compurgation),  which  was  spoken 
of  by  mistake  in  a  former  page  (247)  as  still  subsisting,  was  also  abol- 

shed  the  same  year  by  the  3rd  and  4th  Will.  IV.  c.  42. 
'■>  Madox,  Hist.  E.xcheq.  c.  iii. 


The  court  which  sat  in  the  king's  palace  was  also, 
in  course  of  time,  divided  into  several  courts,  although 
opinions  vai'y  somewhat  as  to  the  precise  period  at 
which  this  change  took  place.  According  to  Madox, 
whose  inquiries  into  the  subject  were  more  minute 
and  accurate  than  those  of  Sir  Edward  Coke  and 
others,  the  bank  or  Court  of  Common  Pleas  was  in 
being  several  years  before  the  Magna  Charta  of  the 
seventeenth  of  King  John,  though  it  was  then  first 
made  stationary.  That  the  division,  as  existing  at 
this  day,  was  complete  in  the  time  of  Edward  I.  is 
proved  more  fully  than  from  any  other  of  the  ancient 
law  books  from  a  passage  of  Britton,  in  which  he 
speaks  of  the  "  clerks  of  our  court  of  chancery,  and  of 
one  bench  and  of  the  other,  and  of  the  exchequer.''^^ 

Upon  the  subdivision  of  the  king's  court  into  sev- 
eral separate  judicatures,  and  the  increasing  com- 
plication of  legal  proceedings,  the  great  ofllicers  of 
state,  whom  we  have  enumerated,  and  who  were 
originally,  together  with  the  king,  the  judges  of  it, 
gave  up  their  places  in  it  to  regular  lawyers.  Of 
the  original  nature  of  this  great  court  it  will  afford 
some  illustration  to  remark  that,  as  was  the  case 
generally  in  the  feudal  system,  where,  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom,  the  less  was  shaped  after  the  image 
of  the  greater,  the  court-baron  Avas  a  model  of  it  on 
a  small  scale.  The  baron  had  his  court,  in  which, 
subordinate  to  himself,  presided  his  seneschal,  dap- 
ifer,  or  steward,  precisely  as  the  king  had  his  court, 
wherein,  subordinate  to  himself,  presided  his  senes- 
chal, dapifer,  or  steward.  In  the  case  of  the  kings 
of  England  one  portion  of  the  judicial  functions^  of 
the  steward's  office  came,  as  we  have  shown,  first 
to  be  executed  by  a  sort  of  deputy  or  representative, 
called  the  chief  justiciary,  afterward  to  be  abolished, 
or  rather  to  be  divided  among  a  number  of  judges ; 
while  the  other  portion  of  those  judicial  functions 
remained  with  another  representative  of  the  original 
steward,  or  rather  representative  of  another  portion 
of  him,  called  the  Steward  of  the  king's  Household. 

There  has  been  much  controversy  respecting  the 
origin  of  what  is  called  the  common  law  of  England. 
The  oldest  treatise  we  have  on  the  Enghsh  law 
after  the  Conquest  is  the  work  bearing  the  name  of 
"  Glanville,"  and  composed  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
II.  Doubtless  many  individual  laws  and  customs 
passed  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  to  the  Anglo-Norman 
times.  There  is  still  extant,  as  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  notice,  a  charter,  or  body  of  laws 
which  the  Conqueror  is  said  to  have  granted  to  the 
English  people,  being,  says  the  title,  "  the  same 
which  his  predecessor  and  cousin.  King  EdAvard, 
observed  before  him."'  These  recognize  all  the 
main  fe.itures  of  the  Saxon  system,  and  especially 
the  principle  of  the  "AA^ere,"  or  pecuniary  compen- 
sation for  personal  injuries.  We  knoAv,  also,  that 
the    system  of  the  frank-pledge  continued  to  be 

1  Britton,  f.  37,  b. 

2  For,  originally,  as  has  been  shown,  the  seneschal  was  the  k  ii<.''< 
representative  universally,  in  his  military  as  well  as  his  judicial  capa- 
city. 

3  These  laws  of  the  Conqueror  have  been  preserved  both  in  Latin 
and  in  Romance,  or  French.  The  best  edition  of  both  texts  is  to  be 
found  (with  a  valuable  Commentary)  in  the  Illustrations  to  Sir  F.  Pal- 
grave's  Eng.  Com.  pp.  Ixxxviii— cxl. 


Cjjap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


555 


strictly  enforced  for  a  long  period  after  the  Con- 
quest.* Still  the  genei-al  features  and  character  of 
the  English  law  after  the  Conquest  appear  to  be,  on 
the  whole,  more  Norman  than  Anglo-.Saxon.  One 
striking  feature  of  distinction  between  Glanville  and 
the  Anglo-Saxon  laws  is  the  detail  with  which  the 
former  enters  into  the  matter  of  procedure  or  actions 
at  law ;  and  the  minute  intricacy  of  the  system 
which  he  thus  presents  to  us  strangely  contrasts 
with  the  rudeness  and  simplicity  of  that  of  the  An- 
glo-Saxons, described  in  the  last  chapter.  We  find 
in  Glanville  the  germs  of  the  system  of  pleading 
which  was  afterward  cairied  out  into  so  much 
greater  complexity.  In  fact,  Glanville  presents 
much,  both  in  body  and  spirit,  of  the  English  com- 
mon law  as  it  existed  for  many  ages,  and  does  in 
some  degi-ee  still  exist.  With  respect,  however,  to 
the  portion  of  the  common  law  that  may  be  consid- 
ered of  Saxon,  and  the  portion  that  may  be  consid- 
ered of  Norman  origin,  there  is  a  remark  of  Mr. 
Hallam's  that  appears  worthy  of  quotation.  "  Per- 
haps," says  he,  "  it  might  be  reasonable  to  conjecture 
that  the  treatise  called  '  Leges  Henrici  Primi'^  con- 
tains the  ancient  usages  still  prevailing  in  the  inferior 
jurisdictions,  and  that  of  Glanville  the  rules  estab- 
lished by  the  Norman  lawyers  of  the  king's  court, 
which  would  of  course  acquire  a  general  recognition 
and  efficacy  in  consequence  of  the  institution  of  jus- 
tices holding  their  assizes  periodically  throughout 
the  country."''  It  is  remarkable,  and  may  be  taken 
as  some  confirmation  of  what  is  here  advanced,  that 
the  pecuniary  compositions  are  not  mentioned  in 
Glanville.  However,  even  by  Mr.  Hallam's  esti- 
mate, the  Saxon  would  bear  but  a  small  proportion 
to  the  Norman  element  in  the  compound  produced 
under  the  name  of  the  common  law  of  England. 
But  to  say  precisely  what  the  proportion  of  either 
element  may  be,  is  a  very  different  matter ;  for  we 
must  needs  admit  thus  much  at  least,  with  Sir 
Matthew  Hale,  that  "  among  all  those  various  in- 
gredients and  mixtures  of  laws,  it  is  almost  an  im- 
possible piece  of  chemistry  to  reduce  eveiy  caput 
legis  to  its  true  original,  as  to  say  this  is  a  piece  of 
the  Danish,  this  of  the  Norman,  or  this  of  the  Saxon 
or  British  law."'' 

Among  the  most  impoitant  of  the  remaining  inno- 
vations in  the  law  and  its  administi-ation  Avhich  were 
introduced  in  the  period  now  under  review  may  be 
mentioned  the  following : — Courts  of  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction  were  for  the  first  time  established  by 
the  Conqueror,  the  bishops  being  forbidden  for  the 
future  to  sit  as  heretofore  with  laymen  in  the  county 
or  other  civil  courts,  and  all  spiritual  causes,  and  all 
those  in  which  clergymen  Avere  concerned,  being 
made  over  to  the  new  jurisdiction.  By  the  time  of 
Henry  II.  we  find  express  mention  of  the  courts  of 
the  archdeacon,  the  bishop,  and  the  archbishop. 
The  contests  which  soon  broke  out  between  the 
temporal  and  the  spiritual  jurisdictions  have  repeat- 
edly occupied  our  attention  in  the  two  preceding 

1  See  Palgrave's  Eng.  Com.  p.  527. 

2  A  summary  of  Saion  law,  in  niuety-four  chapters,  found  appended 
'.n  some  copies  of  the  charter  of  Henry  I, 

3  Middle  Ages,  vol.  ii.  p.  468.  ♦  Hist,  of  Com,  Law,  chap.  iv. 


j  chapters.  These  ecclesiastical  courts  established 
the  partial  authority  of  the  canon  law  in  England ; 
and  the  principles  and  rules  of  the  civil,  or  Roman 
imperial  law  being  also  favored  by  the  clergy,  were 
introduced  into  the  Court  of  Chancery  and  into 
other  jurisdictions  where  churchmen  presided,  and 
opposed  by  them  to  the  common  law.  Attorneys, 
or  agents  for  the  management  of  causes  at  law,  are 
first  distinctly  mentioned  after  the  Conquest,  and 
were  probably  not  introduced  till  then.  The  series 
of  our  judicial  records  commences  with  the  reign  of 
Richard  I.,  and  the  custom  of  making  any  written 
memorials  of  legal  proceedings  does  not  appear  to 
be  of  much  earlier  origin.  Down  to  this  time  the 
technical  phrase,  "  to  record,"  meant  merely  to  tes- 
tify from  memory.  It  is  commonly  said  that  after 
the  coming  of  the  Normans  all  pleadings,  at  least  in 
the  supreme  courts,  were  carried  on  in  French,  and 
that  all  deeds  were  drawn  and  all  laws  promulgated 
in  the  same  language.  "  This  popular  notion," 
observes  Sir  F.  Palgrave,  "  cannot  be  easily  sup- 
ported. .  .  .  Before  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  we  can- 
not discover  a  deed  or  law  drawn  or  composed  in 
French.  Instead  of  prohibiting  the  English  lan- 
guage, it  was  employed  by  the  Conqueror  and  his 
successors  in  their  charters  until  the  reign  of  Henry 
II.,  when  it  was  superseded,  not  by  the  French,  but 
by  the  Latin  language,  which  had  been  gradually 
gaining,  or  rather  regaining,  ground  ;  for  the  char- 
ters anterior  to  Alfred  are  invariably  in  Latin."* 
To  this  it  may  be  added  that,  according  to  Ordericus 
Vitalis,  so  far  was  the  Conqueror  from  showing  any 
aversion  to  the  English  language,  or  making  any 
such  attempt  as  has  been  ascribed  to  him  to  effect 
its  abolition,  that  he  applied  himself  to  learn  it  for 
the  special  purpose  of  understanding  the  causes 
that  were  pleaded  before  him.  The  common  state- 
ment rests  on  the  authority  of  Ingulphus,  which  is 
extremely  suspicious. 

Mr.  Hallam  thinks  the  subtle  and  complex  char- 
acter of  English  law  and  legal  proceedings  attribu- 
table in  some  measure  to  the  shrewd  and  litigious 
spirit  observable  in  the  Normans.*  It  may,  perhaps, 
be  more  correctly  ascribed  to  a  more  general  cause 
— the  state  of  society  then  existing  in  feudal  Europe. 
The  practitioners  of  the  law,  who  were,  in  a  great 
measure,  churchinen,  had  to  deal  with  men — the 
iron  barons  "of  the  bloody  hand" — who  were  ac- 
customed to  obtain  every  object  of  their  desire  by 
the  shortest  road — direct  violence.  In  bringing  about 
many  alterations  in  the  law,  both  as  regarded  the 
punishment  of  crimes  and  the  conveyance  and  de- 
scent of  real  propertj-,  each  of  M'hich  alterations 
might  be  considered  as  a  step  made  in  the  march  of 
civilization,  though  it,  at  the  same  time,  either  di- 
rectly or  obliquely,  struck  at  the  power  of  the  feudal 
aristocracy,  they  had  to  take  a  circuitous  course,  so  as 
in  a  great  measure  to  conceal  their  real  design  from 
the  powerful  and  violent,  but  for  the  most  part  obtuso 
and  uninstructed  men  with  whom  they  had  to  deal. 
We  must  here  note  a  grand  distinction  between  the 
Roman  aristocracy  and  the  feudal.  The  Roman 
patricians,  as  wc  before  observed,  were  carefully 

I  Eng.  Com.  p.  56.  =  Middle  Ages,  vol.  ii.  p.  468. 


556 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


instructed,  not  onlj-  in  the  art  of  war,  but  in  the 
laws  and  proceedings  of  the  courts.  The  feudal 
aristocracy  were  mere  men  of  the  sword,  regarding 
the  habits  of  study  and  intellectual  industry  that 
would  have  been  necessary  to  enable  them  to  master 
a  knowledge  of  their  laws  as  things  far  beneath  their 
consideration.  The  consequence  was,  that  the 
more  comphcated  the  legal  net  became  which  was 
woven  around  them,  the  less  powerful  they  became, 
and  the  more  dependent  upon  the  subtle  men  of 
the  gown,  whose  power  proportionally  rose,  till 
they  were  at  last  reduced  somewhat  to  the  condi- 
tion of  an  animal  which,  though  physically  stronger 
than  a  spider,  has  become  the  spider's  prey,  by 
being  caught  in  its  cunningly-devised  net.  In  short, 
what  M.  Guizot  has  remarked  of  the  Roman  law- 
yers (meaning  rather  those  under  the  empire,  when 
the  practice  of  the  law  had  become  a  distinct  pro- 
fession, than  the  patrician  lawyers  alluded  to  some 
sentences  back)  is  applicable,  with  very  slight  mod- 
ification, to  the  English.  The  English  as  well  as 
the  Romans  troubled  themselves  little  about  the 
foundations  and  the  general  principles — about  the 
philosophy  of  law.  They  set  out  with  certain 
axioms — with  certain  legal  precedents  ;  and  their 
ability  consisted  in  tracing  with  subtlety  the  conse- 
quences of  these,  in  order  to  apply  them  to  particu- 
lar cases  as  such  presented  themselves.  Thus  the 
English,  as  well  as  the  Roman  lawyers,  were  dia- 
lecticians of  wonderful  acuteness,  but  never  philos- 
ophers. As  to  what  has  been  said  of  the  English 
lawyers  borrowing  less  than  those  of  any  other 
civilized  people  from  the  writings  of  philosophers, 
it  just  amounts  to  nothing  at  all,  seeing  that  in  the 
works  of  the  Roman  jurisconsults  and  their  modern 
commentators  (however  admirable  as  expositors 
both  may  be)  there  is  not  a  particle  more  of  the 
philosophy  of  law  than  in  the  writings  of  the  Eng- 
lish lawyers. 

The  most  important  part  of  the  history  of  the 
legislation  of  this  period  consists  of  the  history  of 
those  great  Charters  which  are  usually  regarded  as 
the  bulwarks  of  English  liberty. 

As  we  have  before  remarked,  the  Norman  bar- 
ons, from  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
placed  in  England,  formed  a  compact  body,  of  which 
body  the  Norman  king  was  the  undisputed  head. 
When  the  necessity  which  kept  this  body  together 
ceased  to  exist,  when  the  invaders  began  to  feel 
themselves  tolerably  secure  in  their  possessions, 
feudalism  again  resumed  its  natural  character. 
Each  fief-owner  sought  to  isolate  himself  on  his 
own  lands,  and  to  enrich  himself  by  violence  and 
robbery.  The  kings  took  advantage  of  this  to  in- 
crease their  own  power.  If  Henry  I.  and  Henry 
II.  cannot  be  called  absolute  sovereigns,  they  pos- 
sessed more  power  than  any  other  contemporary 
king.  But  the  barons,  although  they  had  no  longer 
the  same  motives — namely,  their  common  safety — 
to  rally  round  the  king,  which  they  had  formerly, 
had  not  lost  the  recollection  of  how  they  had  thus 
been  banded  together  to  side  ivith  the  king ;  and 
they  now  thought  that  they  might  again  assemble 
and  unite,  when  the  purpose  was  no  longer  to  de- 


fend themselves  and  the  king  against  the  Saxons  or 
Enghsh,  but  to  defend  themselves  against  the  en- 
croachments of  the  royal  power,  becoming  every 
day  more  formidable. 

Several  circumstances  favored  the  tendency 
which  we  have  above  alluded  to.  Three  usurpers 
in  less  than  fifty  years,  WiUiam  Rufus,  Henry  I., 
and  Stephen,  had  occasion  to  have  their  title  ac- 
knowledged by  the  barons,  and  consequently  made 
general  promises  respecting  their  liberties.  After- 
ward, in  the  reign  of  Richard  I.,  from  the  disputes 
about  the  regency,  and  the  intrigues  of  John,  fac- 
tions of  all  sorts  arose.  In  this  state  of  things  the 
government  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  council  of  bar- 
ons. Hence  one  portion  of  the  barons  acquired 
the  habit  of  governing,  the  other  portion  that  of 
resisting  the  government,  composed  only  of  their 
peers;  and  when,  in  1199,  John  mounted  the 
throne,  the  face  of  things  was  quite  changed. 
Though  the  amalgamation  of  the  two  races,  the 
Normans  and  Saxons,  was  by  no  means  completed, 
the  principal  war  was  no  longer  between  the  Nor- 
mans and  Saxons,  but  between  royalty  and  aristoc- 
racy ;  the  former  desiring  to  retain  the  power,  very 
nearly  absolute,  which  it  had  held  for  a  httle  time — 
the  latter  confederating  to  compel  the  recognition 
of  certain  rights  which  they  claimed.  Some  bar- 
ons joined  the  king ;  and  without  that  there  could 
have  been  no  struggle.  And  the  struggle,  when  it 
came,  was  not,  as  on  the  continent,  a  series  of  com- 
bats between  individual  interests — it  was  truly  a 
contest  between  two  general  independent  forces. 
The  concession  of  the  charters  was  the  result  of 
that  struggle. 

The  confirmation  of  the  laws  of  Edward  the 
Confessor  by  the  Conqueror,  mentioned  above,  may 
be  considered  as  the  first  charter  granted  by  the 
Anglo-Norman  kings.  It  is  assigned  by  the  old 
chroniclers  to  the  year  1070. 

Henry  I.  having  usurped  the  throne  from  his 
elder  brother  Robert,  who  remained  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, occupied  a  less  firm  position  than  his  father. 
Soon  after  his  coronation  he  granted  a  charter, 
which  enumerates  the  abuses  of  the  preceding 
reigns,  and  promises  the  redress  of  them.  Many 
of  its  enactments  have  reference  to  the  relations  of 
feudalism ;  but  one  of  its  clauses  expressly  restores 
the  laws  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  "  with  those 
emendations,"  adds  Heniy,  "  with  which  my  father 
amended  them,  by  the  advice  of  his  barons."  Most 
of  the  engagements  contained  in  this  charter  were 
very  indifferently  observed ;  but  it  is  of  importance 
in  the  history  of  the  Constitution,  as  having  served 
in  some  respects  for  the  model  of  that  which  was 
afterward  extorted  from  John.  Matthew  Paris 
informs  us  that  when  the  barons  took  arms,  in 
1215,  their  demand  was  that  those  rights  and  Uber- 
ties  should  be  conceded  to  the  church  and  the  king- 
dom which  were  set  down  in  the  charter  of  Henry 
I.  and  in  the  laws  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  Lord 
Lyttelton  remarks  that,  "in  some  respects,  this 
charter  of  Henry  I.  was  more  advantageous  to  lib- 
erty than  Magna  Charta  itself." 

Stephen,  likewise  a  usurper,  gi-anted  two  char- 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


557 


ters — one  to  the  barons,  the  other  to  the  clergy — 
both  short,  and  confined  to  a  renewal  of  the  prom- 
ises before  made,  but  not  kept. 

Henry  II.  again  renewed  those  promises  in  a 
fourth  charter,  also  short,  and  also  inefficacious. 

The  Anglo-Norman  barons,  under  their  first  kings, 
were  not  in  a  condition  to  undertake  a  struggle,  even 
if  they  had  wished  to  do  so.  Under  Henry  II.  cir- 
cumstances were  somewhat  changed.  The  extent  of 
Henry's  possessions  on  the  continent  drew  him  into 
long  wars,  into  which  the  Anglo-Norman  barons 
were  not  always  disposed  to  follow  him.  Nor  were 
they  much  more  disposed  to  submit  patiently  to  the 
heavy  imposts  he  levied  on  them  to  support  the 
numerous  mercenary  troops  he  was  obliged  to  em- 
ploy. The  strong  and  firm  hand  of  Henry  II., 
however,  suppressed,  for  a  time,  this  insurgent 
spirit,  which,  on  that  account,  only  broke  out  with 
the  more  violence  under  his  feeble,  cowardly,  and 
vicious  son  John.  It  would  seem  that  the  circum- 
stances most  favorable  to  liberty's  making  a  step 
in  its  progress  are  those  of  a  powerful  and  arbitrary 
ruler,  followed  by  a  feeble  successor,  who  fancies 
that  he  has  an  undoubted  right  to  all  that  his  prede- 
cessor claimed,  without  possessing  any  of  the  quali- 
ties that  made  good  that  claim.  Such  were  the 
circumstances  in  which  John  assumed  the  crown 
of  England.  The  strong  hands  of  the  two  first 
Plantagenets — Henry  II.  and  Richard  Coeur  de 
Lion,  his  father  and  brother — were   in  the   dust, 


and  the  iron  sceptre  which  they  had  wielded  lay 
rusting  among  the  heavy  armor  which  an  imbecile 
and  a  coward  could  not  wear. 

Magna  Charta  was  granted  on  the  15th  of  June, 
1215.  The  enactments  of  it  may  be  arranged  under 
three  heads: — 1.  Rights  of  the  clergy.  2.  Rights 
of  the  barons  or  fief-holders.  3.  Rights  of  the  peo- 
ple at  large. 

I.  With  regard  to  the  clergy,  the  charter  merely 
gives  a  general  confirmation  of  their  immunities 
and  privileges. 

II.  It  carefully  enumerates  and  confirms  the 
rights  of  the  barons.  In  particular,  the  right  of 
imposing  an  escuage,  or  any  extraordinary  aid,  is 
formally  confined  to  the  great  national  council ;  and 
the  occasions  and  modes  of  convocation  of  that 
council  are  carefully  determined. 

III.  The  rights  of  the  freemen  of  the  kingdom 
are  attended  to  in  the  following  provisions :  "  The 
court  of  common  pleas  shall  not  follow  the  king's 
court,  but  shall  be  held  in  a  certain  fixed  place.' 
Justice  shall  not  be  sold,  refused,  or  delayed  to  any 
one.*  We,  or  if  we  are  absent  from  the  kingdom, 
our  chief  justiciary  shall  send  four  times  a  year 
into  each  county  two  judges,  who,  with  four  knights, 
chosen  by  each  county,  shall  hold  the  assizes  at 
the  time  and  place  appointed  in  the  said  county.^ 
No  ft-eemen  shall  be  arrested  or  imprisoned,  or  dis- 
possessed of  his  tenement,  or  outlawed,  or  exiled. 

1  Art.  J7.  2  Art.  40.  a  Art.  18. 


ikiwia 


f  (f        ''^ 


Uttur.-toiC 


liuW  Ub<tr  hoiMo  eiM Ac  al4wt|mCDM^,aittrVfraiUit. U-tVtldije^ 
^0  oem^*".nec {up  mm  tlmmilTJa-luH  euAix^.ymifemuitn^x^v  ic- 


nieY' 


■vHO  ocawo, 

Bpecimkn  of  Mjlona.  Charta,  engraved  from  one  of  the  Original  Copies  in  the  British  Museum.  The  passages  are  a  portion  of  the  Preamble 

the  Forty-sixth  Clause,  and  the  Attestation,  as  follows:— 

Johannes  dei  gratia  rex  Anglie,  dominus  Hybernie,  dux  Normannie,  Aquitanie,  et  comes  Andegavie,  archiepiscopis,  episcopis,  alibatibus, 
cotnitibus,  baronibus,  justiciariis,  forestariis,  vicecomitibns,  prepositis,  ministris,  et  omnibus  ballivis,  et  fidelibus  suis,  salutem. 

46.  NqIIus  liber  homo  capiatur,  vel  imprisonetur,  aut  dissaisiatur,  aut  utlagetnr,  aut  e.^uletur,  aut  aliqao  modo  destruatur,  nee  super  eum 
ibimus,  nee  super  eum  mittemus,  nisi  per  legale  judicium  parium  suorum,  vel  per  legem  terre. 

Data  per  manum  nostram  in  prato  quod  vocatur  Euningmede  inter  Windlesorum  et  Slanes  quinto  decimo  die  Junii  anno  regni  nostn 
septimo  decimo. 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


or  in  anywise  proceeded  against,  unless  by  the  legal 
judgment  of  his  peers,  or  by  the  law  of  the  land.' 
Ho  freeman,  or  merchant,  or  villain,  shall  be  unrea- 
sonably fined  for  a  small  offence  :  the  first  shall  not 
be  deprived  of  his  tenement;  the  second  of  his 
merchandise ;  the  third  of  his  implements  of  hus- 
bandry." -  This  last  is  the  onlj-  clause  which  relates 
to  the  interests  of  the  class  of  villains — probably,  as 
Hume  observes,  at  that  time  the  most  numerous  in 
the  kingdom. 

The  king,  also,  promised  to  appoint  none  but  able 
and  upright  judges  ;  to  reinstate  in  his  possessions 
every  man  unjustly  ousted ;  to  compel  no  one  to 
make  or  support  bridges  but  by  ancient  customs  ; 
that  the  goods  of  every  freeman  should  be  disposed 
of  according  to  his  will,  or,  if  he  died  intestate,  that 
his  heirs  should  succeed  to  them;  and  that  no  offi- 
cer of  the  crown  should  take  any  horses,  carts,  or 
wood,  without  the  consent  of  the  owner. 

Upon  the  whole,  w-e  are  inclined  to  agree  with 
Barrington,  that  the  main  object  of  those  who  framed 
and  obtained  Magna  Charta  was  not  so  much  the 
restoration  of  the  Saxon  laws  in  general,  or  those  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  in  particul.ir,  as  the  contin- 
uance of  the  Norman  and  feudal  law  introduced 
with  the  Conquest,  and  the  preservation  of  their 
own  feudal  privileges,  which  the  great  power  of  the 
early  Anglo-Norman  kings  threatened  to  destro}'. 
"In  Magna  Charta,"  says  Barrington,  "there  is  not 
one  Saxon  term  for  anything  that  relates  to  feudal 
tenures,  which  are  the  gi'eat  object  of  many  of  the 
chapters.  It  appears  by  the  last  chapter  of  the 
Charter,  that  all  the  attesting  witnesses  not  in  holy 
orders  were  of  Norman  extraction.  Whence,  then, 
could  arise  the  inducement  to  make  it  an  express 
article  that  the  Saxon  laws  should  be  restored?" 
"  The  Norman  barons,"  he  adds,  "  could  never  mean 
to  abolish  the  Norman  and  feudal  law,  which  w-as 
in  every  respect  so  highly  advantageous  to  them."' 

In  reading  Magna  Charta,  we  are  struck  with 
the   even   lawyer-like    precision  with  which  it  is 

1  An.  39.  2  Art.  20. 

'  Observations  upon  the  Statutes,  p.  3. 


worded.  It  was  evidently  drawn  up  by  men  with 
intellects  as  sharp  as  the  swords  of  the  iron  barons 
who  wrested  it  from  the  reluctant  king,  who  had 
the  will,  but  not  the  courage  and  abilitj',  to  be  a 
tyrant. 

But  though  the  provisions  of  this  famous  charter 
were  as  complete  as  the  knowledge  of  that  age 
could  make  them,  and  though  they  were  then  and 
there  solemnly  signed  and  sealed,  they  had  many 
fortunes  to  go  through,  many  reverses  to  encounter, 
many  violations  to  endure,  before  they  were  des- 
tined to  operate  quietly  and  securely.  These  it 
will  be  our  business  to  give  some  account  of  in  the 
sequel ;  contenting  ourselves  here  with  the  cheering 
reflection,  that  though  the  movement  of  free  insti- 
tutions is  an  oscillating  one,  it  is,  upon  the  whole,  a 
decided  progress — an  advance  in  the  course  of  a 
certain  number  of  years,  and  that 

"  Freedom's  liattle,  once  begTin, 
Though  bafHeU  oft,  is  ever  won." 

We  have  now  to  give  a  short  account  of  the 
famous  record  called  Domesdaj',  which  remains  so 

!  remarkable  a  monument  of  the  extensive  and  states- 
manlike genius  of  the  Conqueror.  Domesday  Book 
consists  of  a  general  survey  of  all  the  lands  in  the 
kingdom,  with  the  exception  of  the  northern  coun- 

I  ties,  Westmoreland,  Cumberland,  Northumberland, 
Durham,  and  part  of  Lancashire ;  specifying  their 
extent  in  each  district ;  their  proprietors,  tenures, 
value ;  the  quantity  of  meadow,  pasture,  wood,  and 

j  arable   land,  which  they  contained ;    and,  in  some 

I  counties,  the  number  of  tenants,  villains,  cottarii, 
and  servi  who  lived  upon  them.     "  All  this,"  says 

I  Sir  H.  Ellis,  in  his  "  Introduction  to  Domesday," 
"  was  to  be  triply  estimated  ;   first,  as  the   estate 

j  was  held  in  the  time  of  the  Confessor ;  then,  as  it 
was  bestowed  by  King  William ;  and  thirdly,  as  its 
value  stood  at  the  formation  of  the  survey.  The 
jurors  (upon  whose  oaths  it  was  made)  were,  more- 
over, to  state  whether  any  advance  could  be  made 
in  the  value."  The  making  of  this  survey  was  de- 
termined upon,  after  much  deliberation,  at  a  great 
council  held  at  Gloucester  in  1085,  and  it  was  finished 


J>^  -tod  uv  Jivao  S^^  i)  ^  (in)va-  Y^.  ^  .^^'Xc  fe  clc|^ 

Specimen  of  Domespay  Book.    From  the  page  engraved  in  the  Report  on  the  Public  Records.    The  reading  is  as  follows: — 

Rex  tenet  in  Doniinio  Stoch*.  De  firma  Reg^is  E.  fuit.  Tunc  se  defendebat  pro  17  Hidis.  Nichil  geldaverunt.  Terra  est  16  Carucats. 
In  Dominio  sunt  2ae  CarucatEE  &  24  Villani  et  10  Bordarij  cum  20  Carucis.  Ibi  Ecclesia  quae  Willelmus  tenet  de  Rege  cum  dimidia  Hida  in 
Elemosina.     Ibi  5  Servi  &  2  Molini  de  25  sol.  &  16  Acrae  Prali.     Silva  40  Porcorum  &  ipsa  est  in  parco  Regis. 

T.  R.  E.  tc  post  valebat  12  lib.  Modo  15  lib.     Tamen  qui  tenet  reddit  15  lib.  ad  pensura.     Vioecomes  habet  25  solid 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


559 


in  the  course  of  the  following  year.  The  particu- 
lars were  collected  by  commissioners  appointed  by 
the  king,  on  the  verdicts  of  sworn  inquests,  or  re- 
cognitions ;  and  this  important  application  of  the 
jury  (in  the  form  in  which  it  then  existed)  may 
probably  be  considered  to  have  had  much  influence 
in  establishing  the  general  use  of  that  mode  of 
ti'ial. 

Domesdiiy  Book,  perhaps  the  most  valuable  mon- 
ument of  its  kind  possessed  by  any  nation,  is  still 
preserved.  It  consists  of  two  volumes — a  greater 
and  a  less  ;  the  greater  comprehending  all  the  coun- 
ties of  England  except  those  specified  above,  which 
were  never  surveyed,  and  except  Essex,  Suffolk, 
and  Norfolk,  which  are  contained  in  the  lesser 
volume. 

The  name  Domesday  has  been  by  many,  and, 
among  others,  the  author  of  the  "  Dialogue  on  the 
Exchequer,"  supposed  to  allude  to  the  final  day  of 
judgment.  But  "  if  this  whimsical  account  of  the 
name  was  the  real  one,"  saj  s  Barrington,  "  the 
Liatin  for  it  would  be  Dies  Judicii;  whereas,  in  all 
the  old  chronicles,  it  is  styled  either  Liber  Judi- 
ciALis,  or  Censualis.  Bullet,  in  his  Celtic  Dic- 
tionary, has  the  word  Dom,  which  he  renders  Seur, 
Seigneur,  and  hence  the  Spanish  word  Don  ;  as 
also  the  words  Deya  and  Deia,  which  he  trans- 
lates Proclamation,  Advertisement.  Domes- 
day, therefore,  may  signify  the  lord's  or  king's  ad- 
vertisement to  the  tenants  who  hold  under  him ; 
and  this  sense  of  the  word  agrees  well  with  part  of 
the  contents  of  this  famous  survey.'"  Another  ac- 
count given  by  Stow,  from  an  old  monastic  chronicle 
— the  "  Book  of  Bermondsey" — is,  that  Domesday  is 
a  corruption  of  Dotnus  Dei  (or  God's  house),  the 
name  of  the  apartment  in  the  king's  Treasury  where 
the  volumes  were  kept. 

As  some  specimen  of  so  curious  and  important 
a  document  may  be  acceptable  to  our  readers,  we 
select  the  following  examples  of  the  manner  of 
entering  the  lands  in  it,  and  subjoin  an  English 
translation. 

"  Essessa.  Terra  Regis.  Dimid.  Hundred  de 
Witham.  Witham  tenuit  Haroldus  t.  R.  E.  pro 
maner.  et  pro  5  hidis.  Modo  custodit  hoc  mane- 
rium  Petrus  vicecomes  in  manu  regis ;  tunc  2  car. 
in   dnio.  modo  3 ;    tunc  21  villan.  modo   15 ;   tunc 

9  bordar.  modo  10;  tunc  6  servi,  modo  9;  tunc 
23  sochemanni,  et  modo  similiter;  tunc  18  car. 
hominum,  modo  7;  tunc  inter  totum  valebat  10  lib. 
modo  20 ;  sed  vicecomes  inter  suas  consuetudinis 
et  placita  de  dimid.  hundred,  recepit  inde  34  lib. 

et  4  lib.  de  gersuma In  hoc  manerio  adjace- 

bant  t.  R.  E.  34  liberi  hominis,  qui  tunc  reddebant 

10  sol.  de  consuetudine  et  lid.  Ex  ilhs  tenet 
Ilbodius  2,  de  45  acr.  et  val.  6  sol.  et  redd,  maner. 
suam  consuetudinem.  Tedricus  Pointel  8,  de 
dimid.  hid.  et  22  acr.  dimid.  reddentes  consuetu- 
dinem. Ranulph  Piperel  10  de  2  hid.  et  45  acr. 
non  reddentes  consuetudinem.  Willielmus  Grosse 
5,  et  unus  tantura  reddit  consuetudinem,  et  val.  3 
lib.  13s.  Rad.  Baignard  6,  et  unus  reddit  consuetud. 
et  val.  20s.  Hamo  dapifer  1.  de  dimid.  hid.  et  val. 

1  Barrington  on  the  Statutes,  p.  232,  note. 


20s.  Goscelinus  Loremarius  habet  terrata  unius, 
et  non  reddit  consuetud.' 

Thus  in  English : — "  Essex  (title  in  the  top  of 
the  leaf) ;  the  king's  land ;"  and  before  the  par- 
ticular manor  or  town,  the  hundred  is  noted,  as 
here,  "  The  half-hundred  of  Witham.  Harold  held 
Witham,  in  the  time  of  King  Edward,  for  a  manor 
and  for  5  hides.  Now,  Peter,  the  sheriflT,  keeps 
this  manor  in  the  king's  hand.  Then  there  were 
2  carucates  in  the  lord's  hands,  now  3.  Then  there 
were  21  villeins,  now  15"  (for  they  recorded  Avhat 
was  in  Edward  the  Confessor's  time  as  well  as  in 
that  of  the  Conqueror) ;  "  then  there  were  9 
bordars,  now  10  ;  then  6  slaves,  now  9;  then  there 
were  23  sochemans,  now  the  same  number;  then 
18  carucates  among  the  men,  now  7:  then  the 
whole  was  valued  at  10  pounds,  now  20  poimds; 
but  the  sheriff,  for  his  customs  and  nmlcts  from  the 
half-hundred,  received  on  account  of  this  manor 
{inde)  34  pounds,  and  four  pounds  for  fine.  In  this 
manor  there  were,  in  the  time  of  King  Edward.  34 
freemen,  who  then  paid  an  accustomable  rent  of 
10  shillings  and  11  pence.  Of  these,  Ilbods  holds  2, 
who  had  45  acres,  and  they  were  worth  to  him  6 
shillings,  and  paid  their  old  rent  to  the  manor. 
Tedric  Pointel  holds  8,  who  had  half  a  hide,  and 
22|  acres,  paying  custom  or  old  rent.  Ranulph 
Piperel  holds  10,  who  had  2  hides  and  45  acres, 
not  paying  custom  or  old  rent.  William  Grosse 
holds  5,  and  only  one  of  them  pays  custom,  and 
were  worth  3  pounds  13  shillings.  Ralph  Baignard 
holds  6,  and  one  pays  custom ;  they  were  worth 
20  shillings.  Hamo,  the  seneschal  or  steward, 
holds  1,  who  has  ^  hide,  and  is  worth  20  shillings. 
Goscelin  Loremar  has  the  land  of  1,  and  pays  no 
custom." 

We  give  another  example,  which  differs  some- 
what from  the  former : — 

"Essessa  Terra  Regis  Hund.  de  Beventre. 
Haveringas  tenuit  Haroldus  t.  R.  E.  pro  1.  maner. 
et  pro  10  hid.  Tunc  41  villan.  modo  40;  semp. 
41  bordar.  et  6  servi,  et  2  car.  in  dominio ;  tunc 
41  car.  hominum,  modo  40 ;  sylv.  d.  pore.  c.  acr. 
prati;  modo  1  molen.  et  2  rune,  et  10  animalia,  et 
160  pore,  et  269  ov.  Huic  maner.  adjacebant 
4  lib.  homines,  de  4  hidis  t.  R.  E.  reddentes  con- 
suetudinem ;  modo  ten.  3  hid.  Rob.  fil.  Corbu- 
tionis,  et  Hugo  de  Montafori  quartam  hidam,  et  non 
reddidere  consuetudinem  ex  quo  eas  habuere,  &c. 
Hoc  maner.  val.  t.  R.  E.  361.  modo  40;  et  Petrus 
vicecomes  inde  recepit  801.  de  censu,  et  101.  de 
gersuma.^ 

Thus  in  English : — "  Essex  (title  as  before),  the 
king's  land;  the  hundred  of  Beventre.  Harold 
held  Haveringe,  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor, for  1  manor  and  10  hides.  Then  there 
were  41  villeins,  now  40 ;  there  were  always  41 
bordars,  and  6  slaves,  and  2  carucates  in  demesne, 
or  the  lord's  lands;  there  were  41  carucates  among 
the  men  (or  vassals  or  tenants),  now  40;  wood  suf- 
ficient for  500  hogs,  100  acres  of  meadow ;  now  1 
mill,  and  2  working-horses  or  pack-horses,  and  10 
young  gi'owing  beasts,  160  hogs,  and  269  sheep. 

^  Dumesd.  torn  ii.  fol.  16.  '  Ibid.  torn.  ii.  fol.  2  b. 


5G0 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


To  this  manor  there  belonged  4  freemen,  who  had 
4  hides  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  pay- 
ing an  accustomable  rent ;  now  Robert,  son  of  Cor- 
butio,  holds  3  of  those  hides,  and  Hugh  Montfort 
the  fourth,  and  have  paid  no  rent  since  they  held 
them.  This  manor  was  worth,  in  the  time  of  King 
Edward,  36  pounds,  now  40 ;  and  Peter  the  vis- 
count, or  sheriff,  receives  from  it  80  pounds  for 
rent,  and  10  pounds  for  an  income  or  fine." 

Domesday  Book  was  formerly  kept  by  the  side 
of  the  Talley  Court  in  the  Exchequer,  under  three 
different  locks  and  keys ;  one  in  the  custody  of  the 
treasurer,  and  the  others  of  the  two  chamberlains 
of  the  exchequer.  In  1696  it  was  deposited  in  the 
Chapter-house  at  Westminster,  where  it  still  re- 
mains."' 

In  1767,  in  consequence  of  an  address  of  the 
house  of  lords,  his  majesty  gave  directions  for  the 
publication,  among  other  records,  of  the  Domesday 
Survey.  "  In  the  following  year,"  says  Sir  Henry 
ElUs,-  "specimens — one  executed  with  types,  the 
other  by  engraving — were  submitted,  by  command 
of  the  lords  of  his  majesty's  Treasury,  to  the  presi- 
dent and  council  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  for 
their  opinion ;  and  an  engraved  copy  of  the  work 
appears  to  have  been  at  first  considered  as  the 
most  proper  and  advisable.  At  the  close,  however, 
of  1768,  the  fairest  and  most  perfect  letter  having 
been  selected  from  different  parts  of  the  survey,  a 
resolution  was  taken  to  print  it  with  metal  tjpes. 
A  facsimile  type,  uniform  and  regular,  with  tolera- 
ble exactness,  though  not  with  all  the  correspond- 
ing nicety  of  the  original,  was  at  last  obtained,  and 
the  publication  was  intrusted  to  Mr.  Abraham  Far- 
ley, a  gentleman  of  learning  as  well  as  of  great  ex- 
perience in  records,  and  who  had  had  almost  daily 
recourse  to  the  book  for  more  than  forty  years.' 
It  was  not,  however,  till  after  1770  that  the  work 
was  actually  commenced.  It  was  completed  early 
in  1783,  having  been  ten  years  in  passing  through 
the  press.  The  type  with  which  it  was  executed 
was  destroyed  in  the  fire  which  consumed  Mr. 
Nichols'  printing  office,  in  the  month  of  February, 
1808." 

We  shall  subjoin  here  a  few  explanations  of  the 
terms  made  use  of  in  the  above  extracts  which  have 
not  been  already  noticed. 

1.  LiBERi  HOMINES  (Froo  men). — In  this  term, 
beside  the  freemen  or  freeholders  of  a  manor,  ap- 
pear to  have  been  included  all  the  ranks  of  society 
above  these,  i.  e.,  all  holding  in  militarj'  tenure. 
•'  The  ordinary  freemen  before  the  Conquest,  and 
at  the  time  of  compiling  Domesday,"  says  Kelham, 
"  were  under  the  protection  of  great  men  ;  but  what 
their  quality  was,  further  than  that  their  persons 
and  blood  were  free,  that  is,  that  they  were  not 
nativi,  or  bondmen,  it  will  give  a  knowing  man 
trouble  to  discover  to  us."*  In  Domesday,  the 
liberi  homines  are  mentioned  as  distinct  from  the 
SocHEMANNi,    or    Socmeu ;    but    by   the    time   of 

1  Sir  H.  Ellis's  Introduct.  to  Domesday,  i.  354. 

2  Introd.  V.  i.  p.  359. 

3  "  He  was  for  many  years  the  principal  deputy  in  the  Tally  Court 
of  the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer." 

«  Domesday  Book,  lllust.  p.  254. 


Magna  Charta,  they  would  seem  not  to  have  been 
distinct ;  at  least  the  three  classes  of  society  speci- 
fied in  the  famous  20th  article  of  that,  are  the  free 
men,  the  merchants,  and  the  villains. 

2.  The  SocHEMANM,  or  Socmen. — In  regard  to 
these,  whatever  may  be  the  disputes  about  the 
origin  of  their  name  (some  deriving  it  from  sora,  a 
plough ;  others  from  soc,  a  franchise)  and  their 
condition,  one  thing  is  certain,  that  they  held  their 
land  by  a  tenure  of  a  different  and  inferior  kind  to 
military  tenure.  Littelton  defines  tenures  in  soc- 
age to  be  where  the  tenant  holds  his  tenement  of 
the  lord  by  any  certain  service,  in  lieu  of  all  other 
services,  so  that  the  service  be  not  knight's  ser- 
vice ;  and  Blackstone  describes  the  "  grand  cri- 
terion and  distinguishing  mark  of  this  species  of 
tenure"  to  be,  "  the  having  its  renders  or  services 
ascertained." 

3.  The  BoRDARii. — Respecting  these,  opinions 
vary.  Coke  calls  them  "  boors,  holding  a  little 
house  with  some  land  of  husbandry,  bigger  than  a 
cottage.'  *'  The  Bordarii,  often  mentioned  in  the 
Domesday  Inquisition,"  says  Bishop  Kennett, 
"  were  distinct  from  the  Servi  and  Villani,  and 
seem  to  be  those  of  a  less  servile  condition,  who 
had  a  bord  or  cottage,  with  a  small  parcel  of  land 
allowed  to  them,  on  condition  they  should  supply 
the  lord  with  poultry  and  eggs,  and  other  small 
provisions  for  his  board  and  entertainment."  "  Bor- 
darii," adds  Sir  H.  Ellis,  "  it  should  seem,  were 
cottagers  merely ;  and  in  the  Ely  manuscript,  we 
find  Bordarii  where  the  Breviate  of  the  same  entry 
in  Domesday  itself  reads  Cotarii." 

4.  Servi.  —  These,  as  distinguished  from  the 
villani,  seem  personal,  the  latter  being  territorial 
bondmen  ;  or,  in  the  English  law  language,  villains 
in  gross,  as  distinguished  from  villains  regardant. 
The  term  serf,  which  is  used  on  the  continent  as 
the  translation  of  servus.  is  not  recognized  in  Eng- 
lish law,  though  it  is  sometimes  loosely  used  in 
common  discourse  to  designate  villains  regardant. 

5.  Homines  is  synonymous  with  vassals,  or  feuda- 
tory tenants,  and  seems,  in  fact,  a  literal  translation 
of  the  Saxon  "  men  ;"  to  be  any  one's  man  being  the 
same  as  being  his  vassal. 

6.  Terra  Regis. — "  The  Terra  Regis  of  Domes- 
day," says  Mr.  Allen,  "was  derived  from  a  variety 
of  sources.  It  consisted  in  part  of  land  that  hap- 
pened at  the  time  of  the  survey  to  be  in  the  king's 
hands  by  escheat  or  forfeitures  from  his  Norman 
followers.  It  was  constituted,  in  part,  of  the  lands 
of  Saxon  proprietors,  Avhich  had  been  confiscated 
after  the  Conquest,  and  had  not  been  granted  away 
to  subjects.  But  it  was  chiefly  composed  of  land 
that  had  been  possessed  by  the  Confessor  in  de- 
mesne, or  in  farm,  or  had  been  held  by  his  thegns 
and  other  servants.  Of  the  last  description,  part 
was  probably  the  private  bocland  of  the  Confessor, 
which  had  belonged  to  him  as  his  private  inherit- 
ance. But  if  we  compare  the  number  of  manors 
assigned  to  him  as  his  demesne  lands  in  Domesday, 
with  the  estates  of  bocland  possessed  by  Alfred,  it 
seems  incredible  that  the  whole  should  have  been 

1  1  Inst.  p.  5,  b. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


561 


his  private  property.  A  great  part  must  have  been 
the  folclaud  or  pubhc  property  of  the  state,  of 
which,  though  the  nominal  proprietor,  he  was  only 
the  usufructuary  possessor,  and,  with  the  license 
and  consent  of  his  witan,  the  distributor  on  the  part 
of  the  public.  The  land  which  is  called  terra  regis 
in  the  Exchequer  Domesday,  is  termed,  in  the 
original  returns  of  the  Exon  Domesday,  demesne 
land  of  the  king  belonging  to  the  kingdom."  ^ 

7.  Terra.  —  "  Put  simply,"  says  Sir  H.  Ellis, 
"uniformly  signifies  arable  land,  as  distinct  from 
wood,  meadow,  and  common  pasture."^ 

8.  Hide. — The  quantity  of  land  it  contained  is 
uncertain.  "  Gervase  of  Tilbury,"  says  Bishop 
Jvennett,  "  makes  it  100  acres.  The  Malmsbury 
MS.,  cited  by  Spelman,  computes  it  at  96  acres, 
1  hide,  4  vigates ;  and  every  vigate  24  acres. 
And  yet  the  history  of  the  foundation  of  the  abbey 
of  Battle  makes  8  vigates  go  to  1  hide.  But  Poly- 
dore  Vergil  blunders  most,  who  reduces  a  hide  to 
20  acres.  The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  a  hide,  a 
yard-land,  a  knight's  fee,  &c.,  contained  no  certain 
number  of  acres,  but  varied  accoi-ding  to  different 
places."' 

9.  Carucate. — The  carucate  was  of  Norman 
introduction,  and  probably  nearly  corresponded  in 
Norman  to  hide  in  Saxon.  Its  measure  is  involved 
in  as  much  uncertainty  as  that  of  the  hide.  Bishop 
Kennett  gives  instances  of  its  application  to  quan- 
tities of  land  varying  from  60  to  as  much  as  150 
acres. 

We  now  proceed  to  give  some  account  of  the 
royal  revenue  in  this  period. 

The  complete  establishment  of  the  feudal  system 
after  the  Norman  conquest,  put  the  kings  of  England 
in  possession  of  revenues  greatly  more  ample  than 
their  predecessors  had  enjoyed.  The  crown,  in 
the  first  place,  as  appears  from  Domesday  Book, 
acquired  the  entire  property  of  above  1400  manors, 
the  rents  of  which  must  have  formed  a  large  in- 
come altogether  independent  of  casualties.  These 
were  in  addition  to  68  royal  forests,  13  chases,  and 
781  parks,  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  which 
were  retained  to  serve  as  hunting  grounds,  and  only 
became  a  source  of  revenue  in  consequence  of  the 
penalties  to  which  the  people  were  subjected  for 
trespasses  upon  them  in  breach  of  the  forest  laws. 
But  a  very  considerable  annual  return  must  also 
have  been  derived  from  the  various  feudal  dues  that 
remained  payable  even  from  the  lands  that  were 
gi-anted  to  his  followers  by  the  Norman  Conqueror. 
The  crown,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  still  retained 
to  itself  what  was  called  the  dominium  directum,  or 
property  of  these  lands  :  the  persons  to  whom  they 
were  granted  held  them  only  as  tenants  under  the 
crown  ;  and,  beside  the  services  which  they  were 
bound  to  render  as  vassals,  they  were  subjected  to 
the  payment  both  of  quit-rents,  which  were  regu- 
larly collected  by  the  sheriffs,  and  of  other  dues  to 
the  lord  superior,  which,  although  only  exigible  upon 
certain  extraordinary  occasions,  were  generally  of 

1  Inquiry  into  the  Rise  and  Growth  of  the  Royal  Prerogative  in  Eng- 
land.    8v().  Lond.  1830,  p.  160. 

s  Introd.  to  Domesday,  v.  i.  p.  95.  3  p^^.  Antiq.  Gloss.  Hide. 

VOL.  I. — 36 


much  greater  amount  than  the  annual  quit-rents. 
Of  these,  the  principal  were,  the  Relief,  or  fine 
which,  on  the  death  of  every  tenant,  his  heir  was 
obliged  to  pay  to  the  lord  before  entering  upon  the 
possession  of  the  lands — being  the  same  thing  that 
was  known  in  the  Saxon  times  by  the  name  of  the 
Heriot,  that  is,  the  suit  of  armor,  a  certain  quan- 
tity of  warlike  weapons  being  the  original  exaction  ; 
the  Primer  Seisin,  a  species  of  additional  relief, 
consisting  in  some  cases  of  a  whole,  in  others  of 
half  a  year's  profits  of  the  lands,  which  was  paya- 
ble only  by  tenants  of  the  crown ;  Fines  of  Aliena- 
tion, paid  on  the  sale  or  grant  by  the  tenant  of  any 
part  of  the  lands  to  a  stranger ;  and  Aids,  which 
were  called  for  to  ransom  the  king  whenever  he 
was  taken  prisoner  in  war,  to  furnish  a  portion  for 
any  of  his  daughters  when  she  was  married,  and 
to  defray  the  expense  incurred  when  his  eldest  son 
was  made  a  knight.  Every  tenant  of  the  crown 
also  was  bound,  whenever  the  king  went  to  war,  to 
furnish  an  armed  soldier,  and  to  maintain  him  in 
the  field  for  forty  days,  for  each  knight's  fee  that 
he  possessed — the  whole  kingdom,  as  appears  from 
Domesday  Book,  containing  60,215  such  fees. 
This  law,  therefore,  enabled  the  crown  to  raise  and 
keep  on  foot  a  numerous  army  in  times  of  war  at 
no  cost.  The  burden  which  it  imposed  upon  the 
tenants  of  the  crown  was  afterward  commuted  by 
Henry  II.  into  a  money-payment  of  twenty  shil- 
lings for  each  knight's  fee,  which  was  called  an 
escuage,  or  scutage,  that  is,  literally,  a  tax  for  fur- 
nishing a  soldier  armed  with  a  bow.^ 

The  crown,  beside,  drew  large  profits  from  its 
prerogatives  of  wardship  and  of  marriage,  by  the 
first  of  which  it  took  the  custody  and  drew  the  rents 
of  all  estates  held  of  it  so  long  as  the  tenant,  if  a 
male,  was  under  twenty-one ;  if  a  female  under 
sixteen  years  of  age  :  and  by  the  second  of  which  it 
disposed  of  all  female  heiresses,  and  also  of  all 
widows,  of  its  tenants  in  marriage,  or  exacted  a  fine 
for  the  rehnquishment  of  the  right.  Both  of  these, 
indeed,  were  rights  of  all  lords  of  manors  over  their 
vassals;  and  that  of  marriage  was  extended  in, the 
thirteenth  century  to  heirs  male  as  well  as  female. 
Another  right  which  the  king  possessed  in  common 
with  other  lords  was,  to  all  escheats,  that  is,  to  all 
the  landed  property  of  persons  who  either  died 
without  heirs  or  whose  blood  was  attainted  by  the 
commission  of  treason  or  felony.  The  numerous 
forfeitures  of  the  estates  of  the  large  proprietors, 
who  were  all  tenants  of  the  crown,  that  were  con- 
stantly occurring  in  the  first  ages  after  the  Con- 
quest, must  have  brought  immense  wealth  into  the 
royal  treasury.  The  estates  of  which  the  crown 
acquired  possession  in  this  manner  formed  the  only 
fund  from  which  it  could  legally  make  new  grants 
— the  alienation  of  any  part  of  the  original  royal 
demesne  being  prohibited  by  law ;  and  although 
this  restriction  was  often  violated,  it  was  also  at 
other  times  taken  advantage  of  by  the  king,  and 
made  a  pretext  for  resuming  the  illegal  grants  of 
his  predecessors.  It  was  in  this  way  that  Henry 
II.,  on  his  accession,  recovered  for  the  crown  all 
I  See  Barrington's  Observations  on  the  Statutes  (2d  edit.)  p.  277. 


562 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


the  estates  (with  the  exception  only  of  those  ac- 
quired by  the  church)  that  had  been  ahenated  in 
the  preceding  times  of  confusion,  whether  by  Ste- 
phen or  by  liis  own  mother,  the  empress.  The 
profits  of  the  estates  of  all  idiots  also  belonged  to 
the  crown,  as  well  as  all  the  personal  effects  of  per- 
sons who  had  died  without  known  heirs.  The 
crown  had  likewise  a  right  to  all  treasure  trove,  or 
money,  plate,  or  bullion  found  hidden  in  the  earth ; 
to  all  waifs,  or  stolen  goods  thrown  away  by  the 
thief  in  his  flight ;  to  all  estrays,  or  cattle  found 
wandering  without  an  owner ;  to  all  royal  fish — that 
is,  whales  and  sturgeons — either  thrown  ashore,  or 
caught  close  to  it ;  to  all  goods  wrecked  to  which  the 
owner  did  not  establish  his  claim  within  a  certain 
time ;  and  to  all  spoil  taken  in  war. 

The  crown  also  possessed  various  other  regular 
sources  of  income,  beside  the  produce  of  the  crown 
lands,  and  the  different  dues  from  its  vassals.  There 
were  various  descriptions  of  what  we  should  now 
call  taxes,  either  permanently  established,  or  occa- 
sionally imposed.  In  1083,  the  Conqueror  is  said 
to  have  revived  the  old  Saxon  land-tax,  or  hideage, 
called  the  danegeld,  of  which  an  account  has  been 
given  in  the  preceding  book,'  and  to  have  advanced 
it  to  six  shillings  on  each  hide ;  a  rate  at  which,  if 
the  common  account  of  the  number  of  hides  of  land 
in  England  may  be  depended  upon,  it  would  have 
produced  above  80,000Z.,  an  amountof  silver  equal  to 
what  is  contained  in  240,000^.  of  our  present  money. 
Gervase  of  Tilbury,  or  the  author  of  the  "  Dialogue 
on  the  Exchequer,"  commonly  attributed  to  him,  says 
that  William  would  not  revive  this  tax  as  an  annual 
supply,  nor  yet  would  he  entirely  give  it  up,  but 
reserved  it  to  answer  extraordinary  and  unforeseen 
occasions ;  for  which  reason  it  was  rarely  taken 
either  by  him  or  his  successors,  and  only  when 
actual  wars  with  foreign  nations,  or  the  fear  thereof, 
came  upon  them.  A  land-tax,  however,  can  be 
traced  to  have  been  repeatedly  collected,  either 
under  this  or  another  name,  by  all  the  succeeding 
kings.  Such  a  tax  appears,  indeed,  to  have  been 
regularly  levied  throughout  a  great  part  of  the  reign 
of  Stephen ;  it  was  occasionally  revived  by  Henry 
II. ;  and  Richard  I.  is  recorded  to  have,  in  the  tenth 
year  of  his  reign,  collected  it  at  the  mte  of  five 
shillings  on  each  hide.  The  aids,  mentioned  above, 
and  also  the  scutages,  appear  to  have  been  some- 
times exacted  under  the  name  of  a  hideage,  or 
carucage. 

A  species  of  house-tax  is  mentioned  in  Domesday 
Book  under  the  name  of  Hearth-money,  and  seems 
to  have  been  collected  both  before  and  after  the 
Conquest.  Another  species  of  hearth-money,  of 
Norman  origin,  which  was  collected  till  its  abolition 
on  the  accession  of  Heniy  I.,  was  that  called  Mon- 
eyage, being  a  tax  of  a  shilling  on  each  hearth,  pay- 
able every  three  years,  as  a  recompense  to  the  king 
for  not  exercising  his  prerogative,  as  he  was  en- 
titled to  do,  in  altering  or  debasing  the  coins.  Cus- 
toms, or  duties  upon  the  import  and  export  of  articles 
of  merchandise,  seem  to  have  existed  from  the  ear- 
liest times,  and  were  no  doubt  continued  after  the 

1  See  ante,  p  241. 


Conquest.  Similar  duties  appear  to  have  been  also 
paid  by  merchants  selling  their  goods  within  the 
kingdom,  for  the  use  of  the  king's  warehouses, 
weights,  measures,  &c.  Another  permanent  tax 
consisted  of  the  tallages,  that  is,  the  cuttings,  being 
a  certain  assessment  upon  their  property,  annually 
exacted  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  and  bo- 
roughs throughout  the  kingdom.  The  first  general 
personal  tax,  however,  is  said  to  have  been  imposed 
by  Henry  II.,  in  1166,  for  the  support  of  the  war 
in  the  Holy  Land  :  it  amounted  only  to  sixpence  in 
the  poimd  upon  each  man's  personal  effects,  to  be 
collected  in  five  years,  at  the  rate  of  twopence  the 
first  year,  and  a  penny  each  of  the  four  years  fol- 
lowing. It  was  followed,  in  1188,  on  the  news  of 
the  expulsion  of  the  crusaders  from  Jenisalem,  by 
another  tax  of  the  same  kind,  but  much  heavier  in 
amount,  being  an  exaction  of  the  tenth  of  the  per- 
sonal property  of  all  those  who  should  not  join  the 
expedition  which  it  was  proposed  to  send  to  regain 
the  holy  city.  This  tax,  which  came  to  be  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Saladin  tithe,  is  said  to  have 
produced  130,000L,  of  which  the  Jews  contributed 
60,000/.  Some  years  after  another  new  species  of 
general  taxation  was  introduced  by  Richard  I.,  un- 
der the  form  of  a  scheme  for  the  sale  of  licenses, 
which  persons  of  different  degrees  were  obliged  to 
obtain  before  being  permitted  to  engage  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  tournament ;  an  earl  being  called  upon 
to  pay  twenty  marks  of  silver,  a  baron  ten  marks,  a 
knight  having  lands,  four  marks,  and  a  knight  with- 
out lands,  two  marks. 

Much  additional  revenue  was  also  obtained  by 
means  of  various  prerogatives  of  the  crown  that  yet 
remained  to  be  mentioned.  By  that  of  pui-veyance 
and  preemption  the  king's  pui-veyors  were  entitled 
to  take  such  provisions  and  other  necessaries  as 
were  wanted  for  the  use  of  his  household  at  a  cer- 
tain fixed  price,  without  the  owner's  consent,  and 
also  to  impress  the  carriages  and  horses  of  the  sub- 
ject to  do  the  king's  business  on  the  public  roads. 
Considerable  profits  were  derived  from  the  tolls 
and  other  dues  exacted  at  public  fairs  and  markets ; 
from  the  coining  of  money,  and,  in  later  times  at 
least,  from  the  superintendence  of  weights  and 
measures,  for  which  fees  were  received  ;  and  from 
the  grant  of  patents  and  monopolies.  All  fines  and 
amerciaments  paid  by  persons  convicted  of  breaches 
of  the  law  also  went  to  the  king ;  and  this  was  one 
of  the  most  productive  sources  of  revenue  in  early 
times.  The  maintenance  of  the  Saxon  system  of 
pecuniary  expiation  for  crimes,  including  both  com- 
pensation to  the  party  injured  and  a  fine  to  the  king, 
was  no  doubt  recommended  to  the  Conqueror, 
among  other  considerations,  by  the  supplies  it  pro- 
vided for  the  royal  coffers.  It  has  even  been  sus- 
pected that  Henry  II.,  in  the  institution  of  the  itin- 
erant justices,  looked  more  to  the  benefit  of  the 
revenue  than  to  any  other  object.  The  instructions 
given  to  them  certainly  show  a  great  solicitude  to 
turn  their  administration  of  the  law  to  account  in 
the  augmentation  of  the  royal  profits.  But  the  fines 
exacted  for  offences  by  no  means  formed  the  only 
revenue  that  the  crown  drew  from  its  power  of 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNIMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


563 


administeriag  and  executing  the  law.  Privileges  of 
all  kinds  wei'e  matter  of  open  purchase  from  the 
king  or  the  royal  ofificers,  by  what  were  called  obla- 
tions or  offerings,  which  was  really  onl}'  another 
name  for  bribes.  If  the  dealers  for  instance,  in  any 
commodity  in  a  particular  place,  wished  a  certain 
price  to  be  fixed  upon  it  below  which  it  might  not 
be  sold  for  a  certain  time,  they  bought  an  order  to 
that  effect.  Numbers  of  persons  are  recorded  in 
the  rolls  of  the  Exchequer  to  have  paid  large  sums 
merely  to  obtain  the  favor  or  good-will  of  the  king, 
or  to  induce  him  to  remit  his  displeasure.  Other 
payments  were  made  to  purchase  his  direct  inter- 
ference with  law  proceedings.  "  Even  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  II.,"  observes  Lord  Lyttelton,  "we  have 
instances  of  fines  being  paid  to  the  king,  from  several 
of  his  subjects,  for  stopping  or  delaying  of  pleas, 
trials,  and  judgments,  or  for  expediting  and  speed- 
ing them,  or  to  have  seisin  or  restitution  of  their 
lands  or  chattels,  or  to  be  replevied  or  bailed,  or  to 
be  quit  of  certain  crimes  or  certain  methods  of  trial 
(as,  for  instance,  by  hot  iron),  or  to  have  the  assist- 
ance of  the  king  in  recovering  their  debts."  The 
right  of  being  tried  by  a  jury  was  at  first  often  pur- 
chased by  a  money  payment.  Fines  were  often 
paid  for  permission  to  hold  or  quit  certain  offices : 
and  in  some  reigns  all  offices  under  the  crown  were 
sold.  In  the  reign  of  John  we  find  the  wife  of 
Hugh  de  Neville  paying  a  fine  of  two  hundred  hens 
for  permission  to  sleep  one  night  with  her  husband  : 
she  was  probably  a  ward  of  the  crown  who  had 
married  without  the  king's  consent.  It  appears 
also  to  have  been  customary,  when  any  of  these 
bribes  were  paid  to  the  king,  for  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  smaller  amount,  which  passed  under  the 
name  of  the  queen's  gold,  to  be  paid  to  his  consort.' 
To  all  these  irregular  sources  of  revenue  may  be 
added  the  sums  that  were  repeatedly  obtained  by 
actual  extortion  and  robbery.  The  Conqueror,  ac- 
cording to  Matthew  Paris,  possessed  himself  in  this 
way  of  great  quantities  of  wealth  by  plundering  the 
churches  and  monasteries,  and  seizing  not  only  the 
money  that  had  been  deposited  in  these  buildings 
for  security,  but  even  the  shrines  and  chalices,  and 
other  furniture  of  the  altars.  Both  Rufus  and  Ste- 
phen are  accused  of  obtaining  money  by  the  same 
open  disregard  of  all  law  and  right.  The  victims 
of  the  most  frequent  exactions  of  this  description, 
however,  were  the  Jews.  '•  As  they  fleeced  the  sub- 
jects of  the  realm,"  says  Madox,  "so  the  king  fleeced 
them."  Beside  the  general  impositions  that  were 
laid  upon  them,  so  constant  a  stream  of  fines  and 
amerciaments  was  derived  from  individuals  of  their 
body,  that  a  particular  office  of  the  Exchequer  was 
set  apart  for  the  management  of  the  revenues  thus 
obtained.  In  the  same  class  of  irregular  gains  may 
be  placed  the  profits  accruing  from  vacant  church 
livings  retained  in  the  hands  of  the  crown,  which 
were  sometimes  very  great.  William  Rufus  is 
stated  to  have  been  at  his  death  in  the  receipt  of 
the  temporalities  of  an  archbishopric,  four  bishop- 
rics, and  eleven  abbeys.     Under  this  head,  too,  may 

'  Mention  is  also  found  of  the  aurum  regince,  or  queen's  gold,  in  the 
Saxon  times.     See  Palgrave's  Eng.  Com.  p.  652. 


be  reckoned  the  sums  first  extracted  fi-om  individ- 
uals in  the  same  reign  under  the  name  of  Benevo- 
lences, and  the  disguise  of  being  free  gifts,  although 
they  were  in  fact  compulsory;  and  the  Loans, 
equally  free  and  equally  gifts  with  the  benevolences, 
the  credit  of  the  contrivance  of  Avhich  is  assigned 
to  Richard  I.  Another  of  the  expedients  by  this 
king  for  raising  money  is  said  to  have  been  the 
causing  a  new  gi-eat  seal  to  be  made,  under  the 
pretence  that  the  old  one  had  been  lost,  and  then 
declaring  all  existing  royal  grants  to  be  invalid  un- 
less the  holders  should  take  out  renewals  and  con- 
firmations of  them  at  the  cost  of  a  second  payment 
of  the  fees.  But  it  would  be  endless  to  enumerate 
all  the  forms  of  royal  extortion  of  which  the  records 
of  the  period  furnish  instances.  Any  contrivance, 
however  essentially  iniquitous  or  oppressive,  to 
which  the  thinnest  color  of  a  legal  character  could 
be  given,  would  appear  to  have  answered  the 
purpose  when  an  urgent  occasion  arose  ;  and  indeed 
at  all  times  the  sovereign  seems  to  have  been  less 
restrained  in  his  exactions  from  the  subject  by  any 
barriers  that  the  law  presented,  than  by  his  own 
sense  of  the  length  to  which  it  was  prudent  to  go, 
or  by  the  absolute  failure  of  sources  from  which  to 
feed  his  rapacitj''. 

It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  annual  returns 
whicli  flowed  into  the  royal  treasury  through  all 
these  channels  must  have  been  very  great.  Orderi- 
cus  Vitalis,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  the  Con- 
queror, assures  us  that  the  daily  income  of  that 
prince  amounted  to  above  1060Z.,  without  including 
the  casual  profits  arising  from  the  redemption  of 
offenders  and  the  other  prerogatives  of  the  crown. 
This  would  make  a  fixed  ordinary  revenue  of  about 
400,000^.  a-year  in  the  money  of  that  day,  which 
would  be  equivalent  in  weight  of  silver  to  nearly 
1,200,OOOL  of  our  money,  and  in  real  efficacy,  no 
doubt,  to  a  much  larger  sum.  This  statement  of 
Ordericus  has  been  rejected  as  incredible  by  Hume 
and  other  modern  writers  ;  but  from  its  precision 
and  formahty  (the  exact  sum  is  set  down,  after  the 
manner  of  keeping  accounts  in  the  Exchequer  books, 
at  one  thousand  and  sixty  pounds,  thirty  shillings, 
and  three  farthings,  and  that  in  words  at  full  length), 
it  would  seem  to  have  been  taken  from  an  official 
record,  and  it  can  only  be  reasonably  disputed  on 
the  supposition  of  some  corruption  having  crept  into 
the  text.  Wilham  is  said  to  have  left  at  his  death, 
in  the  royal  treasury  at  Winchester,  60,000  pounds 
of  silver,  beside  gold,  jewels,  vestments,  and  other 
articles  of  great  value ;  and  this  was  probably  only 
part  of  his  accumulated  wealth,  much,  if  not  most, 
of  which  we  may  suppose,  he  would  have  with  him 
in  Normandy,  where  he  died.  Nor  is  the  accaunt 
of  the  Conqueror's  income  given  by  Ordericus  incon- 
sistent with  almost  the  only  other  notice  of  a  similar 
kind  relating  to  this  period  that  has  been  preserved 
— that  which  is  found  in  Hoveden  of  the  revenue 
of  Richard  I.  This  historian  relates  that  when 
Hubert,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  resigned  the 
office  of  high  justiciary  in  1196,  he  proved  from 
his  books  that  the  revenue  he  had  collected  for  the 
king  during  the  two  preceding  years  amounted  to 


564 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


not  less  than  1,100,000  marks,  or  about  750,000 
pounds  of  silver.  The  revenue  of  the  Conqueror,  in 
all  probability,  considerably  exceeded  that  of  Richard. 
According  to  the  author  of  the  "  Dialogue  on  the 
Exchequer,"  the  rents  of  the  crown  lands  were 
paid  in  kind  from  the  Conquest  till  the  latter  part 
of  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  when,  in  consequence 
of  the  complaints  of  the  vassals  of  the  great  oppres- 
sions they  suffered  in  being  obliged  to  bring  provi- 
sions for  the  royal  household  to  different  parts  of 
the  country  from  their  own  dwellings,  that  prince, 
with  the  advice  of  his  great  council,  sent  commis- 
sioners over  the  kingdom  to  estimate  the  money 
value  of  all  the  rents ;  after  which  the  sheriff  of 
each  county  was  appointed  to  collect  them,  and  to 
account  for  them  to  the  Exchequer.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  they  were  partially  paid  in  money 
before  this  time.     The  institution  of  the  Exchequer, 


we  may  add,  is  ascribed  b3-  the  author  of  the  "Dia- 
logue" to  the  Conqueror,  who  took  the  plan  of  it,  he 
says,  from  the  Exchequer  of  Normandy,  yet  with 
many  differences,  and  some  even  in  points  of  great 
importance.  "  The  authority  of  this  court,"  the 
writer  proceeds,  "  is  very  eminent,  as  well  in  re- 
spect of  the  image  of  the  king  impressed  on  his 
great  seal,  which  is  constantly  kept  in  the  Treasury, 
as  of  the  persons  who  sit  there,  by  whose  wisdom 
the  whole  state  of  the  realm  is  preserved  and  main- 
tained in  safety  ;  for  there  resides  the  king's  chief 
justiciary,  who  is  next  to  the  king  in  jurisdiction ; 
and  all  the  gi'eatest  men  of  the  kingdom,  who  are 
of  his  privy  council,  have  also  places  there ;  that 
whatsoever  is  decreed  or  determined  in  the  presence 
of  so  august  an  assembly  may  remain  inviolable." 
This  treatise  appears  to  have  been  written  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  H. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY, 


565 


CHAPTER  IV. 
HISTORY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  INDUSTRY 


HE      Norman 
quest,   by    the 


Con- 
closer 
connection  which  it 
established  between 
our  island  and  the 
continent,  must  have 
laid  the  foundation  for 
an  ultimate  extension 
of  English  commerce ; 
but  a  revolution  which 
so  completely  over- 
turned the  estabhshed 
order  of  things,  and 
produced  so  much  suffering  to  the  body  of  the  pop- 
ulation, could  not  be  favorable,  in  the  first  instance, 
or  until  after  the  lapse  of  a  considerable  space  of 
time,  either  to  the  foreign  trade  of  the  country,  or 
to  the  national  industry  in  any  of  its  other  branches. 
For  the  first  four  reigns  after  the  Conquest,  accord- 
ingly, the  notices  that  have  come  down  to  us  on  the 
subject  of  the  present  chapter  are  very  few  and  un- 
important. 

When  the  Normans  first  came  over,  however,  they 
found  England  a  country  possessed  of  considerable 
capital,  or  accumulated  wealth,  and  also,  as  it  would 
seem,  of  a  flourishing  foreign  commerce,  which  had, 
no  doubt,  chiefly  grown  up  in  the  long,  and,  for  the 
greater  part,  tranquil  reign  of  the  Confessor.  We 
have  already  quoted  the  account  given  by  William 
of  Poictiers,  of  the  quantities  of  gold  and  silver  and 
other  precious  effects  which  the  Conqueror  carried 
with  him  on  his  first  visit  to  Normandy,  and  of  the 
admiration  which  these  spoils  excited  both  in  the 
Normans  themselves,  and  in  strangers  from  other 
parts  of  the  continent  by  whom  they  were  seen.^ 
The  writer  expressly  testifies  that  merchants  from 
distant  countries  were  at  this  time  wont  to  import  in- 
to England  articles  of  foreign  manufacture  that  were 
unknown  in  Normandy.  He  mentions  also  in  other 
passages,  the  great  wealth  of  the  native  or  resident 
merchants,  both  of  London  and  Winchester.  Exe- 
ter was  another  town  distinguished  for  its  opulence  ; 
and  Ordericus  Vitalis  relates,  that  when  it  was  at- 
tacked by  the  Conqueror,  in  1068,^  there  were  in 
the  harbor  a  gi-eat  number  of  foreign  merchants 
and  mariners,  who  were  compelled  by  the  citizens 
to  assist  them  in  their  defence.  These  notices 
occur  incidentally  in  the  relation  of  political  transac- 
tions or  military  events ;  no  chronicler  has  thought 
it  worth  his  while  to  enumerate  either  the  various 
points  at  which  this  foreign  commerce  was  carried 
on,  or  the  articles  in  the  exchange  of  which  it  con- 
sisted. If  our  information  were  more  complete, 
we  should  probably  find  that  it  was  shared  by  vari- 

1  See  ante,  p.  351.  a  ibiJ.  p.  353. 


ous  Other  towns  beside  those  that  have  been  men- 
tioned. There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Hastings, 
Dover,  Sandwich,  and  the  other  towns  on  the  coast 
nearest  to  France,  which  afterward  came  to  be  dis- 
tinguished as  the  Cinque  Ports,  and  also  Lincoln, 
and  York,  and  other  places  in  the  more  northern 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  all  at  this  time  maintained 
some  commercial  intercourse  with  the  Continent — 
with  Italy,  and  perhaps  also  with  Spain,  as  well  as 
with  France,  and  the  North  of  Europe  or  Germany. 
An  active  trade  seems  also  to  have  existed  between 
Ireland  and  both  Bristol  and  Chester  on  the  west 
coast. 

The  principal  exports  at  this  early  period  were 
probably  the  same  that  for  many  ages  after  consti- 
tuted the  staples  of  our  trade  with  foreign  coun- 
tries, namely,  the  natural  productions  of  the  island 
— its  tin  and  lead,  its  wool  and  hides,  and  sometimes 
perhaps  also  its  beeves,  and  the  other  produce  of 
the  same  description  reared  in  its  pastures  and 
forests.  We  find  a  regular  trade  in  these  and  other 
articles  established  at  the  most  remote  date  to  which 
it  is  possible  to  carry  back  the  history  of  English 
commerce  ;  and  it  may  be  safely  presumed  that 
they  were  the  commodities  for  which  the  island 
was  resorted  to  by  foreign  merchants  from  the  ear- 
liest times.  As  for  corn,  it  was  pi'obably  at  this 
date,  as  it  long  afterward  continued  to  be,  some- 
times an  article  of  export,  sometimes  of  import. 
The  articles  we  have  enumerated  were,  lio  doubt, 
those  in  the  production  of  which  the  industry  of 
the  great  body  of  the  people  was  employed.  The 
only  manufacture  for  their  skill,  in  which  the  Eng- 
lish were  then  eminent,  was  the  working  in  gold 
and  silver ;  and  William  of  Poictiers  states  that  the 
best  German  artists  in  that  department  found  them- 
selves encouraged  to  come  and  take  up  their  resi- 
dence in  the  country.  From  this,  we  may  presume 
that  the  chief  demand  for  their  productions  and 
those  of  the  native  artists  of  the  same  class  was 
among  the  English  themselves;  but  from  the  high 
repute  of  the  English  workmanship,  some  of  the 
embroidered  stuffs,  of  the  vases,  ornamented  drink- 
ing-cups,  and  other  similar  articles  fabricated  here, 
would,  no  doubt,  also  be  sent  abroad.  Considerable 
quantities  of  the  precious  metals  must  have  been 
consumed  in  the  manufacture  of  these  articles  ;  and 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  supply  was  in  great  part 
obtained  from  Ireland,  where  it  is  agi-eed  on  all 
hands,  that,  whencesoever  it  mny  have  been  obtained 
— whether  from  native  mines,  or  from  the  ancient 
intercourse  of  the  island  with  the  East,  or  from 
the  Northmen,  enriched  by  the  spoils  of  their  pi- 
racy, who  had  conquered  and  occupied  a  great  pnrt 
of  the  island  in  the  period  immediately  precediuc: 


566 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


that  with  wliich  we  are  now  engaged — there  was 
formerly  an  extraordinary  abundance  of  gold  and 
silver,  of  the  former  especially.'  William  of  Malms- 
bury,  it  may  be  observed,  seems  to  speak  of  the 
trade  between  England  and  Ireland  as  one  which 
the  former  country  could  dispense  with  without  any 
serious  inconvenience,  but  upon  which  the  latter 
was  dependent  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  He  tells 
us  that  upon  one  occasion,  when  the  Irish  monarch, 
Murcard  (or  Murtach  O'Brien)  behaved  somewhat 
haughtily  toward  Henry  I.,  he  was  speedily  hum- 
bled by  the  English  king  prohibiting  all  trade  be- 
tween the  two  countries ;  "  for  how  wretched," 
adds  the  historian,  "  would  Ireland  be  if  no  goods 
were  imported  into  it  from  England."  Perhaps 
English  agricultm-al  produce  was  exchanged  for  Irish 
gold. 

In  the  violent  transference  and  waste  of  property, 
however,  that  followed  the  Conquest,  and  tlie  long 
struggle  the  invaders  had  to  sustain  before  thc^y 
made  good  their  footing  in  the  country,  the  wealth, 
and  commerce,  and  general  industry  of  England, 
must  all  have  received  a  shock  from  which  it  was 
not  possible  that  they  could  rapidly  recover.  The 
minds  and  the  hands  of  men  were  necessarily 
called  away  from  all  peaceful  pursuits,  and  engaged 
in  labors  which  produced  no  wealth.  Nor  was  the 
system  of  government  and  of  society  that  was  at 
List  established  favorable,  even  after  its  consolidation 
and  settlement,  to  trade  and  industry.  It  was  a 
system  of  oppression  and  severe  exaction  on  the  one 
hand,  depriving  the  industrious  citizen  of  the  fruits 

1  "  It  appears  that  there  were  greater  stores  of  the  precious  metals 
inlrelaiiil  than  could  well  be  supposed.  Large  sums  of  gold  and  silver 
were  frequently  given  for  the  ransom  of  men  of  rank  taken  in  liattle  ; 
and  duties  or  rents,  paid  in  gold  or  silver,  to  ecclesiastical  establish- 
ments, occur  very  often  in  the  Irish  annals.  At  the  consecration  of  a 
church  in  the  year  1157,  Murha  O'Lochlin,  King  of  Ireland,  gave  a 
town,  150  cows,  and  60  ounces  of  gold,  to  God  and  the  clergy  ;  a  chief, 
called  O'Carrol,  gave  also  60  ounces  of  gold  ;  and  Tiernan  O'Ruark's 
wife  gave  as  much — donations  which  would  have  been  esteemed  very 
great  in  that  age  in  England  or  upon  the  continent.  What  superstition 
so  liberally  gave,  some  species  of  industry  must  have  acquired  ;  and 
that  was  most  probably  the  pasturage  of  cattle. ...unless  we  will  sup- 
pose that  the  mines  of  Ireland,  which,  though  unnoticed  by  any 
writer,  seem  to  have  been  at  some  time  very  productive,  were  still 
capable  of  supplying  the  sums  collected  in  the  coffers  of  the  chiefs  and 
the  clergy  " — Macpherson's  Annals  of  Commerce,  p.  334.  See  also 
ante,  p.  12 


of  his  exertions  and  of  the  motive  to  labor  ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  was  a  system  of  which  the  ani- 
mating principle  was  the  encouragement  of  the 
martial  spirit,  to  which  that  of  trade  and  industry  is 
as  nmch  opposed  as  creation  is  opposed  to  destruc- 
tion. 

Two  charters  were  granted  to  the  citj'  of  London 
by  the  Conqueror,  and  a  third  by  Henry  I.  ;  but  it 
is  remarkable,  that  not  even  in  the  last-mentioned, 
which  is  of  considerable  length,  and  confers  nume- 
rous privileges,  is  there  anything  relating  to  the 
subject  of  commerce,  with  the  exception  of  a  clause, 
declaring  that  all  the  men  of  London  and  their  goods 
should  be  exempted  throughout  England  and  also  in 
the  ports  from  all  tolls  and  other  customs.  There 
is  no  reference  to  the  city  itself  as  a  great  mart,  or 
to  either  its  shipping  or  its  port.  Even  in  the  gen- 
eral charter  granted  by  Henry  I.,  on  his  acces- 
sion, there  is  not  a  word  in  relation  to  commerce 
or  merchants.  It  is  stated,  however,  by  William 
of  Poictiers,  that  the  Conqueror  invited  foreign 
merchants  to  the  country  by  assurances  of  his  pro- 
tection. 

The  numerous  ships  in  which  the  Conqueror 
brought  over  his  troops  —  amounting,  it  is  said,  in 
all,  to  about  700  vessels  of  considerable  size,  beside 
more  than  three  times  that  number  of  inferior 
dimensions  —  must  have  formed,  for  some  time,  a 
respectable  royal  navy.  William  of  Poictiers  in- 
forms us  that  the  first  care  of  the  duke,  after  dis- 
embarking his  men,  was  to  erect  defences  for  the 
protection  of  his  ships  ;  and  most  of  them  were, 
doubtless,  preserved,  and  afterward  employed  in 
war  or  commerce.  It  is  the  opinion  of  a  late  writer, 
that  the  numerous  fleet  thus  brought  over  by  the 
Conqueror,  "when  not  engaged  in  ferrying  himself 
and  his  armies  to  and  from  the  continent,  was 
probably  employed  in  trading  between  his  old  and 
new  territories  and  the  adjacent  coasts  of  France 
and  Flanders,  which  Avere  all  now  connected  with 
the  new  masters  of  England."'  We  find  a  naval 
force  occasionally  employed  in  the  wars  even  of  the 
first  English  kings  after  the  Conquest.  The  Saxon 
Chronicle  states,  that  when  the   Conqueror  made 

1  Macpherson's  Annals  of  Commerce,  i   307. 


Ship  BriLmso.     Roval  MS.  2  B.  vii 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


567 


his  expedition  against  Scotland  in  1072.  he  sent  a 
fleet  to  attack  that  country  by  sea,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  invaded  it  in  person  at  the  head  of  his  army. 
The  good  service  done  for  Rufus  against  his  brother 
Robert  by  the  privateers  which  he  pei-mitted  his 
Enghsh  subjects  to  fit  out  in  the  beginning  of  his 
reign,  has  been  mentioned  in  the  narrative  of  civil 
and  military  transactions.^  A  fleet  was  also  equip- 
ped by  Henry  I.,  to  oppose  the  threatened  invasion 
of  Robert,  on  his  accession,  the  greater  part  of 
which,  however,  deserted  to  the  enemy.^  Pro- 
vision, indeed,  was  made  by  the  Conqueror  for  the 
defence  of  the  kingdom,  whenever  it  should  become 
necessary,  by  a  naval  force,  by  means  of  the  regu- 
lations which  he  established  in  regard  to  the  Cinque 
Ports — originally  Hastings,  Hythe,  Romney,  Dover, 
and  Sandwich  —  each  of  which  towns  was  bound, 
upon  forty  days'  notice,  to  furnish  and  man  a  certain 
number  of  ships  of  war,  in  proportion  probably  to  its 
estimated  wealth  or  population.  Other  towns  in 
different  parts  of  the  coast  also  appear  to  have  held 
of  the  crown  by  the  same  kind  of  service- 
One  of  the  old  Saxon  laws  revived  or  continued 
by  the  Conqueror,  and  the  only  one  in  the  collection 
of  enactments  which  passes  under  the  name  of  his 
charter,  having  any  reference  to  ti'ade,  is  the  pro- 
hibition against  all  purchases  above  a  certain  amount, 
except  in  the  presence  of  witnesses.  "  No  one 
shall  buy,"  it  is  declared,  "  either  what  is  living  or 
what  is  dead,  to  the  value  of  four  pennies,  without 
four  witnesses,  either  of  the  borough  or  of  the 
village."^ 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  establishment 
by  Henry  I.  of  the  colony  of  Flemings  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Ross,  in  Pembrokeshire.*  These  foreigners 
had  come  over  in  the  reign  of  the  Conqueror,  driven 
from  their  native  country,  it  is  said,  by  an  inunda- 
tion of  the  sea,  and  they  had  been  settled,  in  the 
first  instance,  chiefly  about  Carlisle  and  the  neigh- 
boring ports,  and  as  it  would  seem,  with  a  view 
merely  to  the  service  their  hardihood  and  skill  in 
war  might  be  of  in  the  defence  of  the  northern 
frontier  of  the  kingdom.  But  they  were  as  dex- 
trous in  handling  both  the  plough  and  the  shuttle  as 
the  sword.  Henry  is  said  to  have  been  induced  to 
remove  them  to  Wales,  by  finding  that  they  and 
the  English,  with  whom  they  were  mixed,  did  not 
agree  well  together.  In  the  district  of  which  he 
put  them  in  possession,  and  which  he  had  taken 
from  the  Welsh,  they  maintained  their  ground 
against  all  tliB  efforts  of  the  hostile  people  by  whom 
they  were  surrounded,  to  dislodge  them,  and  soon 
came  to  be  regarded  as  the  force  to  be  mainly  de- 
pended upon  for  keeping  the  Welsh  in  check.  By 
these  Flemings  the  manufacture  of  woolen  cloths 
appears  to  have  been  first  introduced  into  this 
country  ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  they  soon  came  to 
be  made  for  exportation  as  well  as  for  home  con- 
sumption. Giraldus  Cambrensis  describes  the  for- 
eigners as  "  a  people  excellently  skilled  both  in  the 
business  of  making  cloth  and  in  that  of  merchandise, 
and  always  ready  with  any  labor  or  danger  to  seek 


1  See  ante,  p.  380. 

3  See  ante,  p.  258. 


2  Ibid.  p.  394. 
i  Ihid.  p.  39S. 


for  gain  by  sea  or  land."'  It  is  probable  that  they 
also  introduced  some  improvements  in  agriculture  ; 
and,  altogether,  the  example  of  industry,  activity, 
and  superior  acquirements  set  by  this  interesting 
colony — the  last,  as  it  has  been  remarked,  of  any 
consequence  settled  in  any  part  of  the  island  till 
the  coming  over  of  the  French  Protestant  silk- 
weavers,  after  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes, 
in  1685 — could  not  fail  to  be  of  high  public  benefit. 
Their  language  was  very  nearly  the  same  with  the 
English ;  and  the  district  in  which  they  dwelt,  it 
seems,  used  to  be  called  little  England  beyond 
Wales  ;  in  fact,  they  made  the  whole  county  of 
Pembroke,  though  lying  at  the  further  extremity  of 
Wales,  an  English  county.  Henry  II.  afterward 
added  to  their  numbers  by  permitting  some  of  those 
of  their  countrymen  who  had  served  as  mercena- 
ries under  Stephen  to  settle  among  them.  It  is  said 
that  the  descendants  of  these  Flemings  may  still  be 
distinguished  from  their  Welsh  neighbors. 

The  Flemings  were  indebted,  both  for  the  wel- 
come reception  they  met  with  in  the  first  instance, 
and  for  the  permanent  settlement  they  obtained,  to 
their  martial  more  than  to  their  commercial  skill — 
to  their  being  a  people,  as  Giraldus  expresses  it, 
equally  most  ready,  now  at  the  plough — now  at  the 
sword.^  The  Jews,  who  came  over  in  great  num- 
bers soon  after  the  Conquest,  were  a  people  of 
altogether  another  stamp.  Precluded  by  their  re- 
ligion from  engaging  in  the  wars  of  any  of  the  Eu- 
ropean nations  among  whom  they  had  settled,  they 
had  become  mere  traders,  and  were,  indeed,  men 
of  peace  in  a  more  strict  sense  than  any  other  class 
of  persons  in  those  days,  the  clergy  themselves  not 
excepted.  Independently,  therefore,  of  the  odium 
to  which  their  faith  exposed  them,  their  habits  made 
them  in  a  peculiar  degi-ee  objects  of  hatred  and 
contempt  to  the  warlike  population  of  England  and 
the  other  countries  in  which  they  took  up  their 
residence.  Yet  almost  wherever  commerce  had 
taken  any  root,  there  were  they  to  be  found,  pur- 
suing perseveringly,  under  obloquy,  danger,  and  the 
cruelest  oppression,  their  peculiar  ti'ade.  To  draw 
down  upon  them  still  more  of  the  popular  suspicion 
and  dislike  in  a  rude  and  ignorant  age,  that  trade 
was  not  any  species  of  industry  by  which  produce 
of  any  kind  was  visibly  created  ;  it  did  not  necessarily 
imply  even  the  exertion  of  any  peculiar  powers  or 
acquirements  ;  it  was  labor  neither  of  the  hand 
nor  of  the  head.  Yet  it  was,  in  truth,  a  trade  as 
essential  to  the  creation  of  wealth  as  any  labor. 
The  Jews  were  the  capitalists  of  those  times  ;  they 
were  the  dealers  in  that  other  element,  by  a  com- 
bination with  which  alone  it  is  that  labor  itself  can, 
in  the  creation  of  wealth,  accomplish  any  extraordi- 
nary results.  Even  in  that  dark  and  turbulent  age 
the  inherent  power  of  property  was  strikingly 
evinced  in  their  case,  by  the  protection  which  it 
long  secured  to  them,  notwithstanding  all  the  hos- 
tility of  the  popular  feeling,  and  the  disregard  of 
them  by  the  law  itself.     It  was  early  found  neces- 

1  Itinerar.  Canib.  i.  ii.  Giraldus  adds,  that  they  were  admirably 
skilled  in  soothsaying,  by  the  inspection  of  the  entrails  of  beasts  I 

2  Nunc  ad  aralra,  nunc  ad  arnia,  pens  pn)niptissinia. 


568 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  1111 


sary  to  support  them  iu  their  rights  over  their  debt- 
ors; and,  while  affairs  went  on  in  their  ordinary 
course,  it  does  not  appear  that  a  Jew  ever  had  any 
greater  difficulty  in  recovering  the  money  owing  to 
him  than  a  Christian.  The  law,  indeed,  seems  to 
have  considered  the  Jews  as  the  property  of  the 
king ;  and  he  oppressed  and  ])Iundered  them  to 
any  extent  that  he  deemed  prudent.  But  he  did 
not  usually  allow  them  to  be  injured  by  others  ;  and 
perhaps,  indeed,  they  were  more  secure  imdor  the 
royal  protection  than  they  would  have  been  under 
that  of  the  law.  Some  of  the  kings,  William  Rufus 
in  particular,  excited  much  popular  clamor  by  fa- 
voring them,  as  it  was  alleged,  too  much.  Their 
wealth  enabled  them,  at  different  times,  to  purchase 
charters  from  the  crown.  For  one  which  they  ob- 
tained from  King  John,  and  which  is  styled  a  con- 
firmation of  their  charters,  they  are  recorded  to  have 
paid  four  thousand  marks ;  and  it  refers  to  previous 
charters  which  they  had  received  both  from  Henry  I. 
and  Henry  H.' 

There  are  traces,  as  we  have  already  had  occa- 
sion to  observe,  of  an  intercourse  having  subsisted 
between  these  islands  and  the  East,  from  the  remo- 
test times.  The  mere  derivation  of  the  people  of 
Europe  from  Asia,  most  probably  of  itself  had  always 
kept  up  some  connection  between  the  East  and  the 
West ;  neither  the  Gothic  nor  the  earlier  Celtic  col- 
onists of  Europe  seem  to  have  ever  altogether  for- 
gotten their  Oriental  origin  ;  the  memory  of  it  lives 
in  the  oldest  traditions  alike  of  the  Irish  and  of  the 
Scandinavians.  But  even  within  the  historic  period 
we  find  a  succession  of  different  causes  operating  to 
keep  up  a  connection  between  Britain  and  the  East. 
As  long  as  the  country  was  under  the  dominion  of 
the  Romans  it  was  of  course  united  by  many  ties, 
and  by  habits  of  regular  intercourse,  with  all  the 
other  parts  of  the  extended  empire  to  which  it  be- 
longed. Afterward,  in  the  Saxon  times,  the  estab- 
lishment of  Christianity  in  the  country  contributed 
in  various  ways  to  keep  up  its  connection  with  the 
East.  The  Greek  learning,  and  probably  also  some 
of  the  Greek  arts,  were  introduced  by  Archbishop 
Theodore  and  other  churchmen  from  Asia :  at  a 
later  date  we  find  Alfred  dispatching  a  mission  to 
the  Christians  in  India;  and  not  long  afterward  we 
find  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land  becoming  a  com- 
mon practice.  From  this  practice  we  may  most 
properly  date  the  commencement  of  our  modern 
trade  with  the  East ;  it  has  ever  since  been  a  well- 
established  and  regular  intercourse.  The  pilgrims, 
from  the  first,  very  generally  combined  the  charac- 
ters of  devotees  and  merchants.  Then,  toward  the 
close  of  the  eleventh  century,  commenced  the  cru- 
sades, which  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  kept,  as 
it  were,  a  broad  highway  open  between  Europe  and 
Asia,  along  which  multitudes  of  persons  of  all  sorts 
were  continually  passing  and  repassing. 

Some  curious  evidences  of  the  extent  to  which 
Eastern  commodities  noAv  began  to  find  their  way  to 
rhe  remotest  extremities  of  Europe,  may  be  collected 
from  the  records  of  the  times.  One  very  remark- 
able notice  occurs  in  the  Register  of  the  Priory  of 

'  Madox,  Hist.  Excheq.  p.  174. 


St.  Andrew,  in  Scotland,  in  which  it  is  related  that 
Alexander  I.,  when  bestowing  a  certain  endowment 
of  land  upon  the  church  of  that  city,  presented  at 
the  same  time  an  Arabian  horse  which  he  was  wont 
to  I'ide,  with  his  bridle,  saddle,  shield,  and  silver 
lance,  a  magnificent  pall  or  horse-cloth,  and  other 
Turkish  arms  (arma  Turchensia )  of  various  descrip- 
tions. He  caused  the  horse,  arrayed  in  its  splendid 
furniture,  to  be  led  up  to  the  high  altar  of  the 
church  ;  and  the  chronicler  adds  tliat  the  Turkish 
armor,  the  shield,  and  the  saddle  were  still  pre- 
served there,  and  shown  to  the  pco])le,  who  came 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  behold  them.  Alex- 
ander reigned  from  1107  till  1124  ;  and  this  account 
is  written  in  the  reign  of  his  brother  and  successor, 
David  I.' 

But  the  most  precious  gift  which  Europe  obtained 
from  the  East  within  tlie  present  period  was  the 
knowledge  of  the  art  of  rearing  and  managing  the 
silk-worm.  Cloth  of  silk  had  long  been  known  in 
England  and  other  European  countries,  to  which  it 
was  brought  in  a  manufoctui-ed  state  from  Greece 
and  other  parts  of  the  East.  Afterward  the  Sara- 
cens introduced  the  art  of  weaving  silk  into  Spain. 
The  silk-worm,  however,  was  first  brought  from 
Greece,  in  1146,  by  Roger,  the  Norman  king  of 
Sicily,  who,  in  an  expedition  which  ho  led  against 
Athens,  Thebes,  and  Corinth,  carried  off  a  great 
number  of  silk-weavers  from  these  cities,  and  set- 
tled them  in  his  capital  of  Palermo.  From  them 
the  Sicilians  learned  both  how  to  weave  the  cloth 
and  how  to  rear  the  worm  ;  and  within  twenty  years 
from  this  time  the  silk  fabrics  of  Sicily  were  cele- 
brated over  Europe.  It  is  not  till  some  centuries 
later  that  we  have  any  accounts  of  the  establishment 
of  any  branch  of  the  manufecture  in  this  country ; 
but  from  about  this  time  we  find  silks  becoming 
much  more  abundant  in  England  as  well  as  in  the 
other  countries  of  Europe  than  formerly — and  they 
must  now  have  been  imported,  probably  from  Spain, 
Sicily,  and  Italy,  as  well  as  from  Asia,  in  consider- 
able quantities. 

It  so  happens  that  rather  more  information  has 
come  down  to  us  respecting  the  commerce  of  Scot- 
land than  of  England  during  the  first  half  of  the 
twelfth  century.  We  have  not  only  some  very  in- 
teresting notices  respecting  David  I.,  who  reigned 
from  1124  till  1153,  from  the  historian  Ailred,  or 
Aldred,  who  was  educated  in  Scotland  along  with 
Prince  Henry,  David's  eldest  son  ;  but  we  have  also 
a  collection  of  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  burghs 
of  Scotland,  which  professes  to  be  as  old  as  the  reign 
of  the  same  king,  and  is  generally  admitted  to  be, 
in  the  greater  part,  of  that  antiquity.  Ailred  cele- 
brates the  attention  of  David  to  foreign  commerce. 
He  exchanged,  he  says,  the  produce  of  Scotland  for 
the  wealth  of  other  kingdoms,  and  made  foreign 
merchandise  abound  in  his  harbors.  Among  the 
laws  of  the  burghs  attributed  to  him,  the  following 
may  be  quoted  as  referring  to  trade  with  other  coun- 
tries : — By  chap.  10,  all  goods  imported  by  sea  are 

1  Extracts  from  the  Register  of  St.  Andrews,  printed  in  Pinkerton's 
Inquiry,  i.  464.  The  circumstance  is  also  mentioned  by  Wynton,  who 
is,  however,  a  much  later  authority. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY, 


569 


ordered  not  to  be  sold  before  being  landed,  except 
salt  and  herrings  ;  by  chap.  18,  foreign  merchants 
are  prohibited  from  buying  wool,  hides,  or  other 
goods,  from  any  but  burgesses ;  and  by  chap.  48,  the 
lands  of  all  persons  trading  to  foreign  countries  are 
exempted  from  seizure  for  any  claim  whatever  du- 
ring their  absence,  unless  they  appeared  to  have 
withdrawn  on  purpose  to  evade  justice.  From  this 
regulation  it  would  appear  that  some  of  the  Scottish 
merchants  already  traded  themselves  to  foreign 
parts.  Another  of  these  burgh  laws  prohibits  all 
persons  except  bui'gesses  from  buying  wool  for  dye- 
ing, or  making  into  cloth,  or  for  cutting  cloth  for  sale, 
except  the  owners  of  sheep,  who  might  do  with 
their  own  wool  what  they  chose.  The  manufac- 
ture of  woolen  cloth  had,  therefore,  been  by  this 
time  introduced  into  Scotland.  The  art  had  prob- 
ably been  taught  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  country 
by  settlers  from  England.  William  of  Newbury, 
writing  about  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  David, 
says  that  the  towns  and  burghs  of  Scotland  were 
then  chiefly  occupied  by  English  inhabitants.  We 
know,  too,  that  in  the  next  reign  numbers  of  Flem- 
ings left  England  and  took  refuge  in  Scotland. 
"  We  can  trace  the  settlement  of  these  industrious 
citizens,"  says  Mr.  Tytler,  "during  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  in  almost  every  part  of  Scot- 
land ;  in  Berwick,  the  great  mart  of  our  foreign  com- 
merce ;  in  the  various  towns  along  the  east  coast; 
in  St.  Andrews,  Perth,  Dumbarton,  Ayr,  Peebles, 
Lanark,  Edinburgh  ;  and  in  the  districts  of  Ren- 
frewshire, Clydesdale,  and  Annandale.  There  is 
ample  evidence  of  their  industrious  progress  in  Fife, 
in  Angus,  in  Aberdeenshire,  and  as  far  north  as  In- 
verness and  Urquhart.  It  would  even  appear,  from 
a  record  of  the  reign  of  David  II.,  that  the  Flemings 
had  procured  from  the  Scottish  monarchs  a  right  to 
the  protection  and  exercise  of  their  own  laws.  It 
has  been  ingeniously  conjectured  that  the  story  of 
Malcolm  IV.  having  dispossessed  the  ancient  inhab- 
itants of  Moray,  and  of  his  planting  a  new  colony  in 
their  stead,  may  have  originated  in  the  settlement 
of  the  Flemings  in  that  remote  and  rebellious  dis- 
trict.^ The  early  domestic  manufactures  of  our 
country,  the  woolen  fabrics  which  are  mentioned  by 
the  statutes  of  David,  and  the  dyed  and  shorn  cloths 
which  appear  in  the  charter  of  William  the  Lion 
to  the  burgh  of  Perth,  must  have  been  greatly  im- 
proved by  the  superior  dexterity  and  knowledge  of 
the  Flemings  ;  and  the  constant  commercial  inter- 
course which  they  kept  up  with  their  own  Uttle 
states  could  not  fail  to  be  beneficial  in  imparting  the 
knowledge  and  improvements  of  the  continental 
nations  into  the  remoter  country  where  they  had 
settled."^  A  manuscript  in  the  Cottonian  Library, 
the  work  of  a  contemporary  writer,  is  quoted  by  Mr. 
Macpherson  for  the  fact,  that,  in  the  reign  of  Da- 
vid I.,  the  Frith  of  Forth  was  frequently  covered 
with  boats  manned  by  English,  Scottish,  and  Belgic 
fishermen,  who  were  attracted  by  the  great  abun- 
dance of  fish  (most  probably  herrings)  in  the  neigh- 
l)orhood  of  the  island  of  May.  Anderson  speaks  of 
the  Netherlanders  resorting  to  Scotland  so  early  as 

1  See  ante,  p.  524.  •  Ilistorj-  of  Scctland,  ii.  287. 


about  the  jear  836,  for  the  purpose  of  buying  salted 
fish  of  the  Scotch  fishermen ;'  but  his  authority  for 
this  statement  is  not  known.  Mr.  Macpherson  con- 
siders the  passage  in  the  Cottonian  Manuscript  to 
be  "  the  very  first  authentic  and  positive  notice  of  a 
fishery,  having  any  claim  to  consideration  as  a  com- 
mercial object,  upon  the  North-British  coast.'*  Hw 
also  doubts  if  it  be  not  "  the  eai-liest  notice  of  Eng- 
lish fishermen  going  so  far  from  their  own  ports,  on 
a  fishing  voyage,  if  they  were  indeed  subjects  of 
England  ;  for  in  the  age  of  the  wi'iter  here  quoted, 
the  Scottish  subjects  on  the  south  side  of  the  Frith 
of  Forth  were  called  English."  '^ 

The  long  reign  and  able  and  successful  govern- 
ment of  Henry  II.  not  only  enabled  the  commerce 
of  England  to  recover  from  the  depression  under 
which  it  had  languished  during  the  whole  of  the 
turbulent  and  miserable  reign  of  his  predecessor, 
but  eventually  raised  it  to  an  extent  and  importance 
which  it  had  certainly  never  attained  either  since 
the  Conquest  or  before  it,  at  least  since  the  depart- 
ure of  the  Romans.  The  intercourse,  in  particular, 
between  this  country  and  France,  must  immedi- 
ately have  been  placed  upon  a  new  footing,  and  no 
doubt  greatly  augmented,  both  by  the  restoration  of 
the  old  connection  with  Normandy,  and  still  more 
by  Henry's  acquisition  through  his  marriage  of  the 
great  duchy  of  Aquitaine,  which  gave  the  English 
crown  the  dominion  of  all  the  French  coast  from 
Picardy  to  the  Pyrenees.  Some  years  afterward 
the  conquest  of  Ireland,  and  the  establishment  in 
that  island  of  a  numerous  English  population,  must 
have  also  considerably  extended  the  range,  or  at 
least  added  to  the  activity,  of  English  commerce  in 
that  other  direction. 

In  several  contemporary  wi'iters  we  find  notices 
of  the  commerce  of  London,  and  also  of  other  Eng- 
lish cities,  in  this  reign.  Henry  II.,  in  a  charter 
which  is  without  date,  but  which  was  probably 
gi-anted  soon  after  he  came  to  the  throne,  confirmed 
to  the  citizens  of  London  all  the  privileges  which 
they  enjoyed  under  his  grandfather,  with  some  oth- 
ers in  addition,  none  of  which,  however,  have  any 
particvilar  reference  to  the  commerce  of  the  city. 
The  fullest  and  most  curious  account  we  have  of 
London  at  this  period,  is  that  given  in  the  introduc- 
tion to  a  Latin  Life  of  Becket,  by  a  monk  of  Can- 
terbury, of  Norman  descent,  named  William  Fitz- 
stephen,  or  Stephanides,  as  he  calls  himself  in 
Latin,  which  appears  to  have  been  written  about 
1174.  He  says  that  no  city  in  the  world  sent  out 
its  wealth  and  merchandise  to  so  great  a  distance : 
but  he  has  not  recorded  either  the  description  of 
goods  that  were  thus  exported,  or  the  countries  to 
which  they  were  sent.  Among  the  articles,  how- 
ever, which  were  then  brought  to  London  by  for- 
eign merchants,  he  enumerates  gold,  spices,  and 
frankincense  from  Arabia  ;  precious  stones  from 
Egypt ;  purple  cloths  from  India;  palm-oil  from  Bag- 
dad ;  furs  and  ermines  from  Norway  and  Russia  ; 
arms  from  Scythia  ;  and  wines  from  France.  The 
citizens    he    describes   as   distinguished    above    all 

'  Origin  of  Commerce,  i.  77.     (Edit,  of  \'i.'-j 
-  Annals  of  Commerce,  i.  325 


570 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


others  in  England  for  the  elegance  of  then-  manners 
and  dross,  and  the  magnificence  of  their  tables.  It 
was  in  this  reigu,  it  may  be  observed,  that  London 
first  became  decidedly,  what  Fitzstephen  calls  it, 
the  capital  of  the  kingdom  of  England  (regni  Anglo- 
rum  sedes).  Winchester,  the  ancient  royal  seat  of 
the  West  Saxons,  although  it  was  the  place  where 
the  early  Norman  kings  kept  their  treasury,  had 
begim  to  decline  even  befoi'e  the  Conquest,  and  had 
sustained  such  calamities  in  the  civil  wars  of  the 
time  of  Stephen  that  it  was  never  afterward  in  a 
condition  to  dispute  the  ascendency  of  its  rival  on 
the  Thames.  At  this  time,  according  to  Fitz- 
stephen, and  his  account  is  confirmed  by  Peter  of 
Blois,  there  were,  in  the  city  and  suburbs,  thirteen 
large  conventual  churches  and  126  parochial  ones. 
The  archdeacon  says  that  the  population  was  only 
40,000  ;  but  this  is  not  absolutely  inconsistent  with 
the  statement  of  Fitzstephen,  that  in  the  reign  of 
Stephen  there  issued  from  the  citj%  of  fighting  men, 
no  fewer  than  GO, 000  foot  and  20,000  horse,  since 
the  army  assembled  in  the  city,  or  raised  under  the 
orders  of  its  authorities,  might  very  possibly  greatly 
exceed  the  number  of  the  actual  inhabitants.  It  is 
most  probable,  however,  that  there  is  an  error  in 
the  numbers  found  in  Fitzstephen's  text  as  it  has 
come  down  to  us.  He  adds,  that  the  dealers  in  the 
various  sorts  of  commodities,  and  the  laborers  and 
artisans  of  every  kind,  were  to  be  found  every  day 
stationed  in  their  several  distinct  places  throughout 
the  city,  and  that  a  market  was  held  every  Friday 
in  Smithfield  for  the  sale  of  horses,  cows,  hogs,  &c. 
At  this  time  Ludgate,  now  far  within  Temple  Bar, 
Avas  the  west  end  of  London  ;  the  space  from  thence 
to  Westminster  was  a  tract  of  fields  and  gardens  : 
Moorfields  was  a  lai-ge  lake  of  water,  into  which  ran 
several  streams  turning  mills  ;  the  rising  grounds 
toward  Pentonville  and  Islington  were  covered  with 
corn  and  grass  ;  and  a  large  district  of  country  be- 
yond was  a  forest,  that  had  probably  stood  since  the 
creation,  in  which  the  citizens  hunted  wild  boars 
and  other  game.  Acccording  to  Fitzstephen,  the 
citizens  of  London  were  distinguished  from  those 
of  other  towns  by  the  appellation  of  barons ;  and 
Malmsbury,  an  author  of  the  same  age,  also  tells  us 
that,  from  their  superior  opulence  and  the  great- 
ness 'of  the  city,  they  were  considered  as  ranking 
with  the  chief  people  or  nobility  of  the  kingdom. 
"It  is  filled,"'  he  adds,  "with  merchandise  brought 
by  the  merchants  of  all  countries,  but  chiefly  those 
of  Germany ;  and,  in  case  of  scarcity  of  corn  in  other 
l)arts  of  England,  it  is  a  granary  where  the  article 
may  be  bought  cheaper  than  anywhere  else."  It 
was  in  London  that  the  Jews  chiefly  resided,  and 
many  of  them  were  no  doubt  among  its  wealthiest 
citizens. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  most  remarkable 
particulars  that  are  to  be  collected  from  contempo- 
rary authorities  respecting  other  English  cities  at 
this  period.  Exeter,  according  to  Malmsbury,  was 
a  magnificent  city,  filled  with  opulent  citizens. 
Henry  of  Huntingdon  states,  that  in  consequence  of 
its  being  the  principal  port  for  the  mineral  produc- 
t'l  n?  of  the  adjacent  country,  it  was  so  much  resorted 


to  by  foreign  merchants,  that  everytliing  that  could 
be  desired  might  be  purchased  there  in  abundance. 
Bristol  is  mentioned  by  Malmsbury  as  having  a  great 
trade,  not  only  with  Ireland,  but  also  with  Norway 
and  other  foreign  countries.  Both  Gloucester  and 
Winchester  are  celebrated  for  the  excellence  of 
their  wines  made  from  the  grapes  of  the  country. 
For  foreign  wines,  again,  Chester  would  appear  to 
have  been  one  of  the  chief  ports,  if  we  may  trust 
the  testimony  of  a  monk  of  that  city  named  Lucian, 
whom  Camden  quotes.  According  to  this  authority, 
ships  repaired  to  Chester  in  great  numbers,  not  only 
from  Ireland,  but  also  from  Gascony,  Spain,  anA|| 
Germany,  and  supphed  the  inhabitants  with  all  soit^ 
of  commodities ;  "  so  that,"  adds  Lucian,  "  being 
comforted  by  the  favor  of  God  in  all  things,  we  drink 
wine  very  plentifully ;  for  those  countries  have 
abundance  of  vineyards."  Dunwich,  on  the  coast 
of  Suttolk,  now  reduced  by  the  encroachments  of 
the  sea  to  an  insignificant  village,  is  described  by 
William  of  Newburgh  as  a  famous  seaport  town, 
stored  with  various  kinds  of  riches  ;  and  in  the  reign 
of  John  this  town  is  stated  to  have  paid  twice  as 
much  rent  to  the  king  as  any  other  upon  the  neigh- 
boring coast.  Norwich  is  described  in  general  terms 
by  Malmsbury  as  famous  for  its  commerce  and  the 
numbers  of  its  population.  Lynn  is  described  by 
Newburgh  as  a  city  distinguished  for  commerce  and 
abundance,  the  residence  of  many  wealthj-  Jews, 
and  resorted  to  by  foreign  vessels.  Lincoln,  Malms- 
bury speaks  of  as  having  become  one  of  the  most 
populous  seats  of  home  and  foreign  trade  in  Eng- 
land, principally  in  consequence  of  a  canal  of  about 
seven  miles  in  length,  made  by  Henry  I.,  from  the 
Trent  to  the  Witham,  which  enabled  foreign  vessels 
to  come  up  to  the  city.  Grimsby  is  noted  by  the 
Norwegian,  or  Icelandic  writers,  as  an  emporium 
resorted  to  by  merchants  from  Norway,  Scotland, 
Orkney,  and  the  Western  Islands.  York  is  men- 
tioned by  Malmsbury  as  resorted  to  by  vessels  both 
from  Germany  and  Ireland,  though  surely  it  lay  very 
much  out  of  the  way  of  any  trade  with  the  latter 
country.  Whitby,  Hartlepool,  and  some  other  towns 
on  the  same  part  of  the  east  coast,  appear  to  have 
possessed  shipping.  Berwick,  as  already  noticed, 
was  the  most  eminent  of  the  Scottish  towns  for 
foreign  commerce.  It  had  many  ships.  Perth, 
however,  was  at  this  time,  properly  speaking,  the 
capital  of  Scotland  ;  and  Alexander  Neckhem,  Abbot 
of  Cirencester,  a  Latin  poet  of  this  ag«,  says  that 
the  whole  kingdom  was  supported  by  the  wealth  of 
that  city.  Inverleith  (now  Leith),  Striveling  (now 
Stirling),  and  Aberdeen,  are  also  mentioned  in  char- 
ters as  places  at  which  there  was  some  shipping 
and  trade,  and  where  customs  were  collected.' 
Glasgow  was  as  yet  a  mere  village ;  it  was  made  a 
burgh,  subject  to  the  bishop,  by  William  the  Lion, 
in  1175;  but  in  the  charter  there  is  no  mention  of 
a  guild,  of  any  mercantile  privilege,  or  of  any  trade 
whatever,  except  the  liberty  of  having  a  weekly 
market.  Edinburgh,  though  it  was  probably  made 
a  burgh  by  David  I.,  was  of  little  note  till  the  middle 

1  See  these  and  other  facts  collected,  and  the  authorities  cited,  by 
the  laborious  and  accurate  Macpherson,  Ann.  of  Com.  i.  330—333 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


571 


of  the  fifteenth  century.  In  Ireland,  Dublin,  which 
Henry  II.  granted  by  a  charter  in  1172  to  be  inhab- 
ited by  his  men  of  Bristol,  is  spoken  of  by  Newburgh 
as  a  noble  city,  which,  it  is  added,  somewhat  hyper- 
bolically,  might  be  considered  as  almost  the  rival  of 
London  for  its  opulence  and  commerce. 

There  are  two  laws  of  Henry  II.  relating  to 
commerce,  that  deserve  to  be  here  mentioned. 
Henry  I.  had  so  far  mitigated  the  old  law  or  cus- 
tom, which  made  all  wrecks  the  property  of  the 
crown,  as  to  have  enacted,  that  if  any  human  being 
escaped  alive  out  of  the  ship,  it  should  be  no  wreck ; 
and  his  grandson  still  further  extended  the  operation 
of  the  humane  principle  thus  introduced,  by  decree- 
ing, that  if  either  man  or  beast  should  be  found  alive 
in  any  vessel  wrecked  upon  the  coasts  of  England, 
Poictiers,  Gascony,  or  the  Isle  of  Oleron,  the  prop- 
erty should  be  preserved  for  the  owners,  if  claimed 
within  three  months.  The  other  law  is  the  last 
clause  of  the  statute  called  the  "  Assize  of  Arms," 
published  in  1181:  it  very  emphatically  commands 
the  Justices  in  Eyre  in  their  progress  through  the 
counties,  to  enjoin  upon  all  the  lieges,  as  they  love 
themselves  and  their  property,  neither  to  buy  nor 
sell  any  ship  for  the  purpose  of  its  being  carried  out 
of  England,  and  that  no  person  should  convey,  or 
cause  to  be  conveyed  away,  any  mariner  out  of  Eng- 
land. It  has  been  inferred,  from  these  regulations, 
that  both  English  ships  and  English  seamen  were 
already  held  to  be  superior  to  those  of  other  coun- 
tries ;  but  they  can  only  be  considered  as  showing 
that  the  naval  force  of  the  kingdom  had  now  come 
to  be  looked  upon  as  an  important  arm  of  its  strength, 
and  was  the  object  of  a  watchful  and  jealous  super- 
intendence. 

The  only  articles  that  are  mentioned  as  imported 
into  England  from  foreign  counti-ies  in  this  period, 
are  the  spiceries,  jewels,  silks,  furs,  and  other  luxu- 
ries enumerated  by  Fitzstephen,  of  which  there 
could  not  be  any  very  extensive  consumption  ;  some 
woad  for  dyeing,  and  occasionally  corn,  which  was 
at  other  times  an  article  of  export.  The  exports, 
on  the  other  hand,  appear  to  have  been  of  much 
greater  importance  and  value.  Henry  of  Hunting- 
don enumerates  as  being  annually  sent  to  Germany 
by  the  Rhine,  great  cargoes  of  flesh  and  of  different 
kinds  of  fish  (especially  herrings  and  oysters),  of 
milk,  and,  above  all,  of  what  he  calls  "  most  precious 
wool."  He  also  mentions  mines  of  copper,  iron,  tin, 
and  lead  as  abundant ;  and  it  appears  from  other 
authorities  that  there  was  a  large  exportation  both 
of  lead  and  tin.  The  roofs  of  the  principal  churches, 
palaces,  and  castles,  in  all  parts  of  Europe,  are  said 
to  have  been  covered  with  English  lead;  and  the 
exports  of  tin  fi-om  mines  belonging  to  the  crown  in 
Cornwall  and  Devonshire  furnished  at  this  time  and 
forages  afterward  a  considerable  portion  of  the  royal 
revenue.  It  is  probable  also  that  hides  and  skins, 
and  woolen  cloths  were  exported,  as  well  as  wool. 
All  this  could  not  be  paid  for  by  the  few  articles  of 
luxury  above  enumerated ;  and  it  may,  therefore,  be 
concluded  that  a  large  part  of  the  annual  returns 
derived  by  the  country  at  this  time  from  its  foreign 
trade  was  received  in  the  form  of  money  or  bullion. 


This  supposition  is  confirmed  by  the  account  of  Hun- 
tingdon, who  expressly  informs  us  that  the  Germans 
paid  for  the  wool  and  provisions  they  bought  in  sil- 
ver ;  on  which  account,  he  adds,  that  metal  is  even 
more  plentiful  in  England  than  in  Germany,  and  all 
the  money  of  England  is  made  of  pure  silver.  The 
balance  of  trade,  then,  was  what  is  commonly  called 
in  favor  of  England,  unreasonably  enough,  as  if 
nothing  were  wealth  but  gold  and  silver.  The 
country  at  this  time  did  not  really  become  richer  by 
exchanging  its  produce  for  money,  than  it  would 
have  done  by  taking  foreign  produce  or  manufac- 
tures in  exchange  for  it.  Nor,  even  if  we  should 
hold  money  to  be  the  only  true  wealth,  could  it 
have  accumulated  in  the  country  with  moi"e  rapidity 
or  to  a  greater  amount  under  the  one  system  than 
under  the  other ;  for  a  country  in  a  given  social 
condition  can  only  retain  a  certain  quantity  of  money 
in  circulation  within  it,  and  that  quantity  it  always 
will  obtain,  if  it  is  able  to  obtain  anything  else  of 
equivalent  value.  Money  is  necessary,  and  profita- 
ble, to  a  certain  extent,  just  as  shoes  or  hats  are  ;  but 
beyond  that  extent,  neither  they  nor  it  are  either 
profitable  or  necessary — that  is  to  say,  something 
else  for  which  the  article  could  be  exchanged  would 
be  more  useful.  The  money  anciently  obtained  by 
England  through  its  foreign  trade  did  not  enrich  the 
country,  or  even  remain  in  it ;  so  much  of  it  as  was 
not  required  for  the  purposes  of  circulation  was  as 
sure  to  find  its  way  abroad  again,  as  the  stone 
thrown  up  into  the  air  is  to  return  to  the  gi'ound. 

If  the  commerce  of  England  had  not  struck  far 
deeper  root,  and  grown  to  far  gi'eater  magnitude 
and  strength  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Henry  II. 
than  at  that  of  Henry  I.,  somewhat  more  than  half 
a  centviry  before,  the  reign  of  Richard  would  have 
been,  in  proportion  to  its  length,  nearly  as  ruinous 
to  it  as  was  the  disorderly  and  distracted  reign  of 
Stephen.  All  the  activity  and  resources  of  the 
country  were  now  turned  from  trade  and  industry 
to  the  wasteful  work  of  war,  which  was  carried  on, 
indeed,  in  a  foreign  and  distant  laud,  and  therefore 
did  not  produce  the  confusion  and  desolation  within 
the  kingdom  that  would  have  resulted  from  a  civil 
contest ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  was,  doubtless,  on 
that  account  attended  with  a  much  larger  expendi- 
ture both  of  money  and  of  human  life.  Yet  even 
from  Richard's  warlike  preparations,  and  the  pecu- 
niary burdens  which  his  expedition  in  other  ways 
brought  upon  his  people,  we  may  collect  a  few  no- 
tices of  interest  in  regard  to  the  progress  of  the 
commerce,  navigation,  and  wealth  of  the  country. 
The  fleet  which  carried  out  his  troops  to  the  Holy 
Land  was  probably,  as  already  observed,  by  far  the 
most  magnificent  that  had  ever  as  yet  left  the  Eng- 
lish shores,  although  some  of  those  of  former  times 
may  have  consisted  of  a  greater  number  of  vessels. 
But  the  barks,  amounting,  it  is  said,  to  some  thou- 
sands, in  which  the  Conqueror  brought  over  his 
army  from  Normandy,  and  the  four  hundred  vessels 
in  which  Henry  II.  embarked  his  forces  for  the 
conquest  of  Ireland,  not  to  speak  of  the  more  ancient 
navies  of  Edgar  and  Ethelred  in  the  Saxon  times, 
must  have  been  craft  of  the  smallest  size,  or  what 


372 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


FBooK  III. 


would  now  be  merely  called  boats.  Beside  a 
iTowd  of  vessels  of  this  description — the  number  of 
which  is  not  given — Richard's  fleet,  when  it  assem- 
liled  in  the  harbor  of  Messina,  is  said  to  have  con- 
sisted of  thirteen  large  vessels,  called  busses  or 
dromons,  fifty-three  armed  galleys,  and  a  himdred 
carricks,  or  transports.*  AH  these  vessels  were 
constructed  both  to  row  and  to  sail,  the  dromons 
having  three  sails,  probably  each  on  a  separate  mast, 
and  both  they  and  the  galleys  having,  as  it  would 
appear,  in  general  two  tiers  or  banks  of  oars. 
"  Modern  vessels,"  says  Vinesauf,  "  have  greatly 
fallen  off  from  the  magnificence  of  ancient  times, 
when  the  galleys  carried  three,  four,  five,  and  even 
six  tiers  of  oars,  whereas  now  they  rarely  exceed 
two  tiers.  The  galleys,  anciently  called  liburnee, 
are  long,  slender,  and  low,  with  a  beam  of  wood 
fortified  with  iron,  commonly  called  a  spur,  project- 
ing from  the  head,  for  piercing  the  sides  of  the 
enemy.  There  are  also  small  galleys  called  galeons, 
which,  being  shorter  and  lighter,  steer  better,  and 
are  fitter  for  throwing  fire."*  The  fire  here  alluded 
to  is  the  famous  Greek  fire,  the  great  instrument  of 
desti'uction  at  this  time,  both  in  encounters  at  se;i, 
and  in  assaults  upon  fortified  places  on  shore.  This 
expedition  of  Richard  was  the  first  in  which  an 
English  fleet  had  accomplished  so  long  and  various 
a  navigation  ;  and.  under  the  conduct  of  so  energetic 
a  commander,  it  could  not  fail  to  give  an  impulse  to 
the  naval  progress  of  the  country,  and  to  raise  both 
the  military  skill  and  the  seamanship  of  English 
sailors. 

The  kingdom  had  not  yet  recovered  from  the  ex- 
hausting exertions  it  had  made  in  fitting  out  this 
great  fleet  and  army,  when  it  was  called  upon  to 
raise  what  was  in  those  days  an  immense  sum  for 
the  king's  ransom.  The  agreement  was,  that  be- 
fore Richard's  liberation,  his  jailer,  the  emperor, 
should  be  paid  100,000  marks  of  silver,  beside  50,000 
more  afterward — an  amount  of  money  then  deemed 
so  great,  that  a  contemporary  foreign  chronicler. 
Otto  de  St.  Bias,  declines  mentioning  it,  as  he  could 
not,  he  says,  expect  to  be  believed.  It  does  not 
clearly  appear  how  much  of  the  150,000  marks  was 
paid  in  all ;  but  it  is  stated  that  70,000  marks  of 
silver,  equal  in  weight  to  nearly  100,000^.  of  our 
money,  were  remitted  to  Germany  before  the  king 
was  set  free.  The  grievous  exactions  by  which 
this  money  was  raised  have  been  alluded  to  in  a 
former  chapter.^  It  was  not  all  obtained  till  three 
successive  collections  had  been  made.  Four  years 
before  this,  it  may  be  noted,  in  the  beginning  of 
Richard's  reign,  the  much  poorer  kingdom  of  Scot- 
land had  repurchased  its  independence  at  the  cost 
of  10,000  marks. 

A  few  laws  for  the  regulation  of  trade  are  re- 
corded to  have  been  enacted  by  Richard  after  his 
return  home.  The  same  year  in  which  he  returned, 
a  prohibition  was  issued  against  the  exportation  of 
corn,  "  that  England,"  as  it  was  expressed,  "  might 
not  suffer  from  the  want  of  its  own  abundance." 

I  See  ante,  p.  477 

2  Translation  in  Macpherson,  Ann.  of  Com.  i.  352. 

'■'  See  ante,  p.  493. 


The  violation  of  this  law  is  stated  to  have  been  pun- 
ished in  one  instance  with  merciless  severity  ;  some 
vessels  having  been  seized  in  the  port  of  St.  Valery, 
loaded  with  English  corn  for  the  King  of  France, 
Richard  burned  both  the  vessels  and  the  town 
(which  belonged  to  that  king),  hanged  the  seamen, 
and  also  put  to  death  some  monks  who  had  been 
concerned  in  the  illegal  transaction.  He  then,  after 
all  this  wild  devastation,  divided  the  corn  among  the 
poor.  In  1197  also  a  law  was  passed  for  establish- 
ing a  uniformity  of  weights  and  measures,  and  for 
regulating  the  dyeing  and  sale  of  woolen  cloths. 
The  business  of  dyeing,  except  in  black,  it  was 
enacted,  should  only  be  carried  on  in  cities  and  bor- 
oughs, in  which  alone  also  any  dyeing  stuffs,  except 
black,  were  allowed  to  be  sold.  It  appears  that 
the  duties  upon  woad  imported  into  London  in 
1195  and  119(3,  amounted  to  9GL  6s.  8d.  "If  Lon- 
don alone,"  observes  Macpherson,  "  imported  woad 
to  an  extent  that  could  bear  such  a  payment  (and  it 
will  afterward  appear  that  but  a  small  part  of  the 
whole  woad  imported  arrived  in  London),  the  woolen 
manufacture,  to  which  it  was  apparently  mostly 
confined,  must  have  been  somewhat  considerable. 
But  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that  but  few  Jine 
woolen  goods  were  made  in  England,  and  that  the 
Flemings,  who  were  famous  at  this  time  for  their 
superior  skill  in  the  woolen  manufacture,  as  is  evi- 
dent from  the  testimony  of  several  of  the  English 
historians  of  this  age,  continued  for  a  series  of  ages 
to  supply  most  of  the  western  parts  of  Europe,  and 
even  some  of  the  Mediterranean  countries,  with  fine 
cloths,  which  the  Italians  called  French  cloths, 
either  as  reckoning  Flanders  a  part  of  France  (as, 
indeed,  in  feudal  language  it  was),  or  because  they 
received  them  from  the  ports  of  the  south  coast  of 
that  country."  Much  of  the  wool  used  in  Flanders, 
however,  appears  to  have  been  obtained  from  Eng- 
land. In  the  History,  indeed,  which  bears  the 
name  of  Matthew  of  Westminster,  it  is  said  that 
all  the  nations  of  the  world  used  at  this  time  to 
be  kept  warm  by  the  wool  of  England,  which  was 
made  into  cloth  by  the  Flemish  manufacturers.  In 
the  patent  of  incorporation  of  the  guild  of  Aveavers 
in  London  by  Henry  II.,  granted  in  the  thirty-first 
year  of  his  reign,  there  is  a  prohibition  against  mix- 
ing Spanish  with  English  wool  in  the  making  of 
cloth,  from  which  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  wool 
of  England  was  in  this  age  of  superior  quality  to 
that  obtained  from  Spain. 

From  the  commencement  of  his  reign.  John  ap- 
pears to  have  affected  to  favor  the  interests  of  the 
part  of  the  community  connected  with  ti'ade,  now 
daily  rising  into  more  importance,  and  to  have 
courted  their  support  against  the  power  of  the  no- 
bility and  the  clergy.  Immediately  after  his  acces- 
sion, he  gi'anted  three  charters  to  the  citizens  of 
London  ;  the  first  generally  confirming  all  their  an- 
cient rights  and  privileges ;  the  second  empowering 
them  to  remove  all  kidells,  or  wears,  for  catching 
fish,  from  the  rivers  Thames  and  Medway,  the 
navigation  of  which  had  been  much  impeded  by 
these  erections,  set  up  by  the  keeper  of  the  Tower 
and  others ;  and  the  third  confirming  to  them  the 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


573 


fee-farm  of  the  sheriffwicks  of  London  and  Middle- 
sex at  the  ancient  rent,  and  also  giving  to  them  the 
election  of  the  sheriffs.  For  these  charters  he  re- 
ceived 3000Z.  He  also,  probably  at  the  same  time, 
addressed  letters  to  the  most  important  commercial 
towns  throughout  the  kingdom,  promising  that  for- 
eign merchants  of  every  country  should  have  safe 
conduct  for  themselves  and  their  merchandise  in 
coming  into  and  going  out  of  England,  agreeably  to 
the  due  right,  and  usual  customs,  and  should  meet 
with  the  same  treatment  in  England  that  the  Eng- 
lish merchants  met  with  in  their  countries.'  The 
places  to  which  these  letters  were  sent  were  the 
towns  of  London,  Winchester,  Southampton,  Lynn, 
the  Cinque  Ports,  and  the  counties  of  Sussex,  Kent, 
Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Dorset,  Somerset,  Hants,  Hert- 
ford, Essex,  Devon,  and  Cornwall;  "whence  it 
appears,"  observes  Macpherson,  "  that  the  south 
coast,  and  the  east  coast  only  as  far  as  Norfolk, 
were  esteemed  the  whole,  or  at  least  the  chief,  of 
the  commercial  part  of  the  country."  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  several  towns  beyond  these  limits 
had  already  risen  to  considerable  commercial  im- 
portance. In  a  list  of  towns  which  in  the  year  1205 
paid  the  tax  called  the  quinzieme,  or  fifteenth, 
which  appears  to  have  been  a  species  of  excise  or 
tallage  exacted  from  merchants,  we  find  enumera- 
ted the  following  places  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
kingdom  : — Newcastle  in  Northumberland  ;  Yarum, 
Cotham,  Whitby,  Scarborough,  Headon,  Hull,  York, 
and  Selby,  in  Yorkshire;  and  Lincoln,  Barton, 
Ymmingham,  Grimsby,  and  Boston  in  Lincolnshire. 
The  other  towns  in  the  list  are  Lynn,  Yarmouth, 
and  Norwich,  in  Norfolk ;  Dunwich,  Orford,  and 
Ipswich,  in  Suffolk ;  Colchester  in  Essex ;  Sand- 
wich and  Dover  in  Kent ;  Rye,  Winchelsea,  Peven- 
sey,  Seaford,  and  Shoreham,  in  Sussex ;  South- 
ampton in  Hampshire  ;  Exmouth  and  Dartmouth 
in  Devonshire  ;  Esse  (now  Saltash),  and  Fowey,  in 
Cornwall;  and  London.  It  will  be  observed,  how- 
ever, that  these  are  all  coast  towns,  or  places  having 
a  river  communication  with  the  sea ;  and  it  surely 
cannot  be  supposed  that  there  were  not  at  this  time 
some  trading  towns  in  the  interior  of  the  country. 
Either  the  quinzieme  was  not  a  duty  payable,  as 
has  been  asserted,  by  "all  persons  who  made  a  bus- 
iness of  buying  and  selling,  however  trifling  their 
deahngs  might  be,"*  or  this  is  not  a  complete  list 
of  the  places  from  which  it  was  collected.  Beside, 
not  a  single  place  on  the  western  coast  of  the  king- 
dom is  mentioned,  not  even  Bristol  or  Chester.  We 
should  be  disposed  to  conjecture  that  the  quinzieme 
was  only  an  impost  upon  foreign  commerce,  and 
even  perhaps  only  upon  some  particular  branch  or 
branches  of  that.  This  supposition  Would  make 
somewhat  more  intelligible  the  proportions  of  the 
whole  amount  collected  which  are  set  down  as  re- 
ceived from  particular  towns.  It  appears  that  the 
whole  tax  at  this  time  yielded  about  5000Z.  per  an- 
num ;  while  of  this  total  Lynn  paid  6511.,  South- 
ampton 712Z.,  Boston  7801.,  and  London  only  836Z. 
It  cannot  for  a  moment  be  believed  that  in  their 


'  Maitland's  Hist,  of  London,  i.  73—75. — Hakluyt's  Voyages,  : 
s  Macpherson,  Ann.  of  Cona.  i.  371. 


129. 


general  mercantile  wealth  London  and  Boston  stood 
in  this  relation  to  each  other.  To  add  to  the  per- 
plexity, we  find  that  three  years  after  this  time  the 
merchants  of  London  purchased  from  the  king  an 
entire  exemption  from  paying  the  quinzieme  for  the 
small  sum  of  200  marks,  that  is  to  say,  for  less  than 
a  sixth  part  of  the  amount  of  the  tax  for  one  year. 
We  must,  in  these  circumstances,  suppose  the  ex- 
emption to  have  been  accorded  as  a  mark  of  royal 
favor  to  the  city,  and  the  200  marks  to  have  been 
paid  merely  as  an  acknowledgment.  Newcastle  is 
the  only  other  town  the  amount  paid  by  which  is 
mentioned ;  it  is  set  down  as  paying  158/.,  and  must 
therefore  have  already  grown  to  considerable  conse- 
quence, although  only  founded,  as  we  have  seen, 
little  more  than  a  century  before  this  time.'  Hull 
also  appears  for  the  first  time  as  a  place  of  trade 
only  in  the  close  of  the  last  reign. 

That  several  of  the  Scotch  burghs  were  at  this 
period  possessed  of  very  considerable  opulence  is 
testified  by  their  having,  in  1209,  contributed  6000 
marks  of  the  15,000  which  William  the  Lion  bound 
himself  to  pay  to  John  by  the  treaty  of  Berwick.* 
In  this  age  Mr.  Macpherson  calculates  that  6000 
marks  would  have  purchased  in  Scotland  about 
240,000  bolls  of  oats,  or  60,000  bolls  of  wheat. 
Among  other  countries,  a  trade  with  Norway  is 
known  to  have  been  carried  on  by  the  Scotch  in  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Among  the 
ai'ticles  which  are  mentioned  in  the  monastic  char- 
tularies  of  the  country  as  paying  tithe  at  this  time 
are  wool,  corn,  butter,  cheese,  cattle,  fish,  and  flax. 
From  the  occurrence  of  the  last  article  it  may  be 
inferred  that  some  linen  was  already  made  in  Scot- 
land. 

It  was  in  the  reign  of  John,  as  already  related, 
that  their  first  gi'eat  naval  victory  was  gained  by  the 
Enghsh,  at  the  battle  of  Damme,  or  of  the  Sluys, 
as  it  is  sometimes  called,  fought  in  1213.^  As  yet. 
however,  the  country  possessed  nothing  that  could 
properly  be  called  a  navy.  The  royal  navy  usually 
consisted  merely  of  merchant  ships  collected  from 
all  the  ports  of  the  kingdom,  each  of  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  bound,  when  required  by  the  king, 
to  furnish  him  with  a  certain  number.  In  pressing 
emergencies,  indeed,  the  king  seized  upon  the 
whole  mercantile  shipping  of  the  kingdom,  or  as 
much  of  it  as  he  required ;  "  so  that  in  those 
times,"  as  die  historian  of  commerce  observes,  "  the 
owners  could  never  call  their  vessels  their  own. 
A  striking  illustration  of  the  king's  claim  of  right 
to  the  services  of  all  merchant  ships  appears  in  a 
letter,  written  by  Edward  11.  to  the  King  of  Nor- 
way upon  the  detention  of  three  English  vessels, 
which  he  concludes  by  saying,  that  he  cannot 
quietly  put  up  with  the  vessels  belonging  to  his 
kingdom,  which  ought  at  all  tinies  to  be  ready  for  his 
service,  being  detained  in  foreign  countries.""*  John 
appears  to  have  possessed  merely  a  few  galleys  of 
his  own. 

In  this  reign  we  find  the  earliest  mention  of 
what  may  be  called  letters  of  credit,  the  first  form, 


»  See  ante,  p.  518. 
3  See  ante,  p.  507. 


2  Ibid.  p.  527. 

*  Macpherson's  Ann.  of  Com.  i.  379 


■574 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


it  iiiiiy  be  su|>posed,  of  6(7/5  of  exchange,  the  inti"o- 
duction  and  general  employment  of  which  very 
soon  followed.  In  a  document  printed  in  the 
Foedera,  John,  under  date  of  25th  August,  1199, 
at  Rouen,  engages  to  repay  in  four  installments, 
in  the  course  of  two  years,  a  sum  of  2125  marks, 
which  had  been  advanced  by  a  company  of  mer- 
chants of  Placentia  to  the  bishops  of  Anjou  and 
Bangor,  on  the  faith  of  the  letters  of  King  Richard. 
Afterward  John  himself  repeatedly  raised  money 
by  such  letters,  addressed  to  all  merchants,  where- 
by he  bound  himself  to  repay  the  sums  advanced  to 
his  agents  to  the  amount  named,  at  such  time  as 
should  be  agreed  upon,  to  any  person  presenting 
his  letter,  together  with  the  acknowledgment  of  his 
agents  for  the  sum  received  by  them.  Mr.  Miic- 
pherson  is  of  opinion  that,  as  there  is  no  mention 
of  interest  in  any  of  those  letters,  it  must  have 
been  discounted  when  the  money  was  advanced. 
It  is  remarkable  that  although  at  this  time,  in  Eng- 
land, no  Christian  was  permitted  by  law  to  take 
interest,  or  usmy  as  it  was  called,  even  at  the 
lowest  rate,  upon  money  lent,  the  Jews  in  this 
respect  lay  under  no  restriction  whatever.  The 
interest  which  they  actually  received,  accordingly, 
was  sometimes  enormous.  In  the  large  profits, 
however,  which  they  thus  made  the  crown  largely 
shared,  by  the  power  of  arbitrarily  fining  them, 
which  it  constantly  exercised.  William  of  New- 
burgh  frankly  speaks  of  them  as  well  known  to  be 
the  royal  usurers ;  in  other  words,  their  usury 
was  a  mode  of  suction,  by  which  an  additional 
portion  of  the  property  of  the  subject  was  drawn 
into  the  royal  treasury :  and  this  sufficiently  ac- 
counts for  the  manner  in  which  they  were  tolerated 
and  protected  in  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  of 
money-lending. 

Very  few  direct  notices  of  the  state  of  trade  in 
this  reign  have  come  down  to  us.  Licenses  are 
recorded  to  have  been  granted  to  the  merchants  of 
various  foreign  countries  to  bring  their  goods  to 
England,  on  due  payment  of  the  quinzieme,  which 
would  thus  appear  to  have  been  a  customs  duty, 
payable  probably  both  on  the  import  and  export  of 
commodities.  .  The  Flemings  were  the  chief  foreign 
traders  that  resorted  to  the  country,  and  next  to 
them,  apparently,  the  French.  In  1213  the  duties 
paid  on  woad  imported  from  foreign  countries 
amounted  to  nearly  600L ;  of  which  the  ports  in 
Yorkshire  paid  98/. ;  those  in  Lincoln,  47/. ;  those 
in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  53/. ;  those  in  Essex,  4/. ; 
those  in  Kent  and  Sussex  (exclusive  of  Dover), 
103/.;  Southampton,  72/.;  and  other  places,  not 
named,  214/.  The  woad,  it  may  be  presumed,  was 
almost  wholly  used  in  dyeing  cloths ;  but  much 
cloth  would  also  be  both  exported  and  worn  at  home 
without  being  dyed. 

The  freedom  of  commerce  was  sought  to  be 
secured  by  one  of  the  clauses  of  the  Great  Charter 
(the  forty-first),  which  declared  that  all  merchants 
should  have  safety  and  security  in  going  out  of, 
and  coming  into  England,  and  also  in  staying  and 
traveling  in  the  kingdom,  whether  by  land  or  by 
water,  without  any  gi-ievous  impositions,  and  ac- 


cording to  the  old  and  upright  customs,  except  in 
time  of  war,  when,  if  any  merchants  belonging  to 
the  hostile  country  should  be  found  in  the  land, 
they  should,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  be 
attached,  without  injury  of  their  ])ersons  or  prop- 
erty, until  it  should  be  known  how  the  English  mer- 
chants who  happened  to  be  in  the  hostile  country 
were  treated  there:  if  they  were  uninjured,  the 
foreign  merchants  should  be  equally  safe  in  England. 
This  was  as  reasonable  and  even  liberal  a  regula- 
tion as  could  have  been  desired  on  the  subject. 
By  other  clauses,  it  was  declared,  that  the  debts  of  a 
minor  should  bear  no  interest  during  his  minority, 
even  if  they  should  be  owing  to  a  Jew ;  that  Lon- 
don and  other  cities  and  towns  should  enjoy  their 
ancient  privileges ;  that  no  fine  should  be  imposed 
upon  a  merchant  to  the  destruction  of  his  merchan- 
dise ;  and  that  there  should  be  a  uniformity  of 
weights  and  measures  throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  only  coined  money  of  this  period,  as  far  as 
is  certainly  known,  was  the  silver  penny,  which, 
as  at  present,  was  the  twelfth  part  of  a  shilling; 
the  shilling  being  also,  as  it  has  ever  since  been, 
the  twentieth  part  of  a  pound.  The  pound,  how- 
ever, was  still  a  full  pound  of  silver,  according  to 
the  ancient  Saxon  or  German  standard  of  eleven 
ounces  and  a  quarter  troy,  or  5400  grains  to  the 
pound.'  The  same  amount  of  silver  is  now  coined, 
as  explained  in  the  former  book,  into  2/.  IGs.  Zd- 
sterling;  and  that,  therefore,  was  the  amount  of 
money  of  the  present  denominations  in  the  early 
Norman  pound.  The  shilling,  consequently,  being 
tlie  twentieth  part  of  this,  was  equivalent  to  2s. 
9?<i.  of  our  present  money;  and  the  penny,  being 
the  twelfth  part  of  the  shilling,  or  the  240th  part  of 
the  pound,  was  still  of  the  same  value  as  in  the 
Saxon  times,  and  contained  an  amount  of  silver 
equal  to  a  trifle  more  than  what  might  be  purchased 
by  2-^d.  of  our  money.  But  both  the  pound  and 
the  shilling  were  only  money  of  account ;  there 
were  no  coins  of  these  denominations.  It  is  doubt- 
ful, also,  if  there  were  any  coins  of  inferior  value 

1  Sec  ante,  p.  259-261 


Coiner  at  Work.     From  the  capital  of  a  pillar  at  St  Georges  de 
Bocherville,  Jsormandy 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


575 


to  the  silver  penny ;  no  specimens  of  any  such  have 
been  discovered.  Both  halfpence  and  farthings, 
however,  are  mentioned  in  the  writings  of  the 
time ;  and  a  coinage  of  round  halfpennies  by 
Henry  I.  is  expressly  mentioned  by  Florence  of 
Worcester,  Simeon  of  Durham,  and  Hoveden.  It 
has  been  supposed  that  the  people  before,  and  also 
perhaps  after  this,  used  to  make  halfpence  and 
faithings  for  themselves,  by  breaking  the  penny 
into  halves  and  quarters,  which,  it  has  been  said, 
they  were  more  easily  enabled  to  do  from  the  coin 
having  on  one  side  of  it  a  cross  very  deeply  in- 
dented. Leake,  however,  has  remarked  that  "  the 
story  of  the  cross  being  made  double,  or  so  deeply 
impressed  for  the  conveniency  of  breaking  the 
penny  into  halves  and  quarters,  is  disproved  by  the 
coins  now  extant,  whereon  the  crosses  generally 
terminate  at  the  inner  circle,  and,  instead  of  being 
impressed,  are  embossed,  which  prevents  their 
being  broken  equally."^  It  is  most  probable,  per- 
haps, that  both  halfpence  and  farthings  were  actually 
coined,  though  none  have  come  down  to  us. 

Other  denominations  of  money,  however,  than 
the  above  are  also  mentioned.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  period,  and  especially  in  the  reign  of  the 
Conqueror,  the  Saxon  mode  of  reckoning  appears 
to  have  remained  in  general  use.  "In  his  laws," 
says  Ruding,  "the  fines  are  regulated  by  pounds, 
oras,  marks,  shillings,  and  pence.  The  shillings 
are  sometimes  expressly  stated  to  be  English  shil- 
lings of  four  pennies  each.  But  in  Domesday  Book 
various  other  coins  or  denominations  of  money  are 
to  be  found,  such  as  the  mite,  farthing,  halfpenny, 
mark  of  gold  and  silver,  ounce  of  gold,  and  marsum. 
There  seems  also  to  have  been  current  a  coin  of 
the  value  of  half  a  farthing,  which  was  probably  the 
same  as  the  mite  above  mentioned."^  The  values 
of  the  Saxon  coins  here  enumerated  have  been 
stated  in  the  former  book.^  The  mark,  it  may  be 
added,  long  remained  a  common  denomination, 
and  was  at  all  times  reckoned  two-thirds  of  the 
pound.  Some  foreign  coins,  especially  Byzantines, 
which  were  of  gold,  are  also  supposed  to  have  been 
still  in  use,  as  in  the  Saxon  times. 

The  coins  of  the  earher  Norman  kings  are  of 
great    rarity.      Those    issued    by    the    Conqueror 


Silver  Penny  of  William  t.    From  specimen  in  Brit.  Mus. 

"werf  made,"  Ruding  thinks,  "to  resemble  those 
of  Harold  in  weight  and  fineness,  and  some  of  them 
in  type,"  in  conformity  with  the  policy  upon  which 
William  at  first  acted,  of  aflfecting  to  be  the  regular 
successor  of  the  Saxon  kings.  The  coins  of  the 
two  Williams  can  scarcely  be  distinguished,  the  nu- 

1  Historical  Account  of  English  Money  (2d.  edit.),  P-  38. 

2  Annals  of  the  Coinage  (2d.  edit.). 

3  See  ante,  pp.  259—261. 


Silver  Pknny  of  William  II.    From  specimen  in  Brit.  Mus. 

merals  being  for  the  most  part  absent.  The  same 
is  the  case  with  those  of  the  two  Henrys.  Royal 
mints   were    still  established   in   all   the   principal 


Silver  Penny  of  Henry  I.     From  specimen  in  Brit.  Mus 

towns ;  and  the  name  of  the  place  where  it  was 
struck  continues  to  be  commonly  found  on  the 
coin.  In  the  lawless  times  of  Stephen  all  the 
bishops  and  greater  barons  are  said  to  have  very 
generally  coined  and  issued  money  of  their  own ; 
every  castle  had  its  mint ;  and  the  money  thus 
thrown  into  circulation  is  alleged  to  have  been  so 
debased  that,  in  ten  shiUings,  not  the  value  of  one 
in  silver  was  to  be  found.     Stephen  himself  is  also 


Silver  Penny  of  Stephen.    From  specimen  in  Brit.  Mus. 

charged  with  having,  in  his  necessities,  resorted  to 
the  expedient  of  diminishing  the  weight  of  the 
penny.  When  Henry  II.  came  to  the  throne,  how- 
ever, he  put  down  all  this  base  money ;  and  none 


Silver  Penny  of  Henry  II.    From  a  fine  specimen  in  Brit.  Mus. 

The  coins  of  this  reign  are  very  nnnierous,  but  in  most  cases  badly 
struclc. 

of  the  baronial  coins  of  Stephen's  reign  are  now 
known  to  exist,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  bearing 
the  names  of  his  son  Eustace,  and  of  his  brother, 
the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  which  were  probably 
issued  by  the  royal  license. 

Henry  I.,  on  his  accession,  abolished  the  tax  of 
moneyage,  which  had  been  introduced  either  by 
the  Conqueror  or  his  son  Rufus ;  and  he  afterward 
effected  a  reform  of  the  coinage,  which  had  been 
greatly  corrupted  by  the  frauds  of  the  moneyers. 
Henrj'  II.  also  called  in  all  the  old  coins  in  circula- 
tion in  the  year  1180.     No  coins  are  known  to  be 


576 


IIISTORr  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


iu  existence  either  of  Richard  I.  or  John,  as  kings 
of  England,  although  there  are  some  of  the  former 
us  Earl  of  Poictou  and  as  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  and 
of  the  latter  as  lord  of  Ireland. 

An  English  penny  of  Richard's  is  given  in  various 
collections  of  plates  of  coins,  but  is  admitted  to  be  a 
forgerj'.  iNIr.  Ruding,  speaking  of  it  and  another 
of  John,  says  : — "  These  two  pennies  are  now  well 
known  to  be  the  fabrication  of  a  late  dealer  in  coins, 
who  pretended  to  have  discovered  them  among  some 
which  were  found  upon  Bramham  JMoor  in  York- 
shire. He  sold  one  of  them  for  thirty  guineas  ;  the 
other  remained  in  liis  possession  and  was  disposed 
of  with  the  rest  of  his  collection,  after  his  death." 
The  man's  name  was  White.' 

The  earliest  Scotch  coins  that  have  been  discov- 
ered are  some  of  Alexander  I.,  who  began  his  reign 
in  1107.  The  Scotch  money  appears  to  have,  at 
this  period,  entirely  corresponded  with  the  English; 


Irish  Silver  Penny  of  John.    From  a  specimen  in  Brit.  Mus. 

and,  indeed,  the  circulation  of  Scotland  probably 
consisted  in  great  part  of  English  coins. 

In  regard  to  the  real  or  efficient  value  of  the 
money  of  those  days,  as  compared  with  that  of  our 
present  money,  it  is,  as  we  have  before  had  occasion 
to  remark,  impossible  to  make  any  statement  which 
shall  be  universally  applicable.  The  question  of  the 
value  of  money  at  any  given  period  is  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  the  price  of  a  particular  commodity — namely, 
the  metal  of  which  the  money  is  made.  But  we 
have  no  means  of  estimating  with  precision  the 
price  of  any  commodity  whatever,  in  tlie  scientific 
sense  of  that  term.  All  that  we  can  do  is  to  state 
it  relatively  to  the  price  of  some  other  commodity. 
This  is  all  that  we  really  do  when  we  state  the 
money-price  of  anything.  That  is  only  a  statement 
of  the  relation  between  the  price  of  the  article  in 
question  and  the  price  of  the  other  article  called 
money.  It  is  no  expression,  either  of  the  general 
price  of  either,  or  of  the  relation  of  the  price  of 
either  to  that  of  any  other  article  whatever.  Com- 
modities of  all  kinds,  from  causes  sufficiently  obvious, 
are  constantly  changing  their  relative  positions  in 
regard  to  price  ;  and,  therefore,  the  relation  between 
the  prices  of  any  two  of  them  can  be  no  permanent 
index  of  the  relation  between  the  prices  of  any  two 
others.  In  other  words,  the  money-price  of  any 
one  article  at  a  particular  time  will  give  us  no  cer- 
tain information  as  to  the  money-price  either  of  all 
other  articles,  or  of  any  other  article. 

Although  no  precise  estimate,  however,  can  be 
arrived  at  of  the  general  value  of  money  in  former 
times  as  compared  with  its  present  value,  many 
important  conclusions  iu  regard  to  the  state  of  so- 
ciety, and  the  command  possessed  by  the  several 

1  See  Ruding's  Ann.  of  the  Coinag-e,  ii.  35  and  50,  and  v.  98  and  262. 


classes  of  the  population  over  the  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life,  may  be  drawn  from  the  notices  that 
have  been  preserved  of  the  money-prices  of  com- 
modities and  labor  at  diffi3ront  periods.  But  these 
inferences  will  be  more  fitly  introduced  in  our  chap- 
ter on  the  Condition  of  the  People.  The  only  point 
which  properly  belongs  to  our  present  subject  is 
that  of  the  relative  values  of  gold  and  silver  in  the 
period  we  have  been  reviewing.  The  relation  be- 
tween the  values  of  these  two  metals  has  fluctuated 
considerably  in  different  ages.  In  ancient  Rome, 
about  the  commencement  of  our  era,  it  seems  to 
have  i)een  usually  as  one  to  ten.  About  the  fourth 
century,  however,  silver  had  become  so  much  more 
plentiful,  or  gold  so  much  scarcer,  that  fourteen 
pounds  eight  ounces  of  the  former  were  exchanged 
for  a  pound  of  the  latter.  In  England,  in  the  Saxon 
times,  the  legal  proportion  appears  to  have  been  as 
one  to  twelve.  After  the  Conquest,  however,  gold 
became  cheaper;  and,  about  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century,  one  pound  of  it  was  exchanged  for 
nine  pounds  of  silver.  In  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth century  we  find  the  value  of  silver  rated  to 
that  of  gold  in  the  proportion  of  ten  to  one.  At 
present  the  proportion  is  about  as  fourteen  to  one. 

Our  notice  of  the  useful  arts  within  the  six  cen- 
turies which  the  Saxon  period  comprises  will,  in 
some  degree,  render  it  unnecessary  to  enter  into  a 
lengthened  account  of  their  state  from  the  Conquest 
to  the  death  of  King  John.  A  century  and  a  half 
is  an  interval  sufficiently  long  to  produce  and  con- 
solidate political  changes  ;  but  the  arts  of  life,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  move  with  a  slower  step, 
and  their  progress  is  thwarted  by  individual  habits, 
and  prejudices,  and  old  customs.  The  power  which 
effects,  with  httle  difficulty,  alterations  of  a  consti- 
tutional nature  cannot  be  brought  to  act  with  the 
same  force  upon  the  common  course  of  life,  and  time 
is  required  to  work  silently  any  material  changes  in 
its  character.  The  devastations  of  the  Conqueror 
at  the  commencement  of  the  present  period,  the 
wretchedness  of  the  people  during  the  nineteen 
turbulent  years  of  Stephen's  reign,  and  the  lawless- 
ness which  distinguished  the  unprincipled  reign  of 
King  John  at  its  close,  together  with  many  inter- 
mediate causes  arising  from  the  unsettled  state  of 
society,  were  sufficient  to  retard  improvement  either 
of  handicrafts  or  agi'iculture.  There  were,  how- 
ever, some  other  causes  of  a  beneficial  kind  which 
served  to  counteract  the  evils  of  the  times.  The 
instabiUty  of  Stephen's  position  led  to  concessions 
which  were  subsequently  favorable  to  improvement. 
Stephen's  reign  had  been  preceded  by  five-and- 
thirty  years  of  comparative  tranquillity',  and  it  was 
fortunately  followed  by  a  reign  of  the  same  length, 
presenting  the  same  contrast  to  the  intermediate 
period. 

As  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  times,  land  was  still  held 
during  the  present  period  in  large  masses,  the  great 
landowners  residing  in  the  midst  of  their  posses- 
sions, and  reserving  to  themselves  a  portion  of  their 
demesne,  which  they  cultivated  by  their  own  hinds. 
The  following  are  the  descriptions  of  rural  laborers 
mentioned  in  Domesday  Book,  from  which  we  may 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


577 


Reapino  and  Gleaning.     Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii 


infer  the  ordinary  divisions  of  rural  employments 
soon  after  the  Conquest :  ploughmen,  shepherds, 
neatherds,  cowherds,  goatherds,  swine-herds,  and 
keepers  of  bees.' 

The  population  to  be  fed  from  the  produce  of 
the  soil  was  probably  under  two  millions,  and  an 
unfavorable  season  always  occasioned  severe  dis- 
tress ;  while  in  our  own  time  the  soil  of  Great 
Britain  is  capable,  in  ordinary  seasons,  of  sustaining 
a  population  of  sixteen  millions.  Still  the  impor- 
tance of  agriculture  was  highly  estimated.  The 
Conqueror  seems  to  have  been  fully  aware  of  the 
capabilities  of  the  soil,  and  did  not  neglect  the  means 
of  deriving  the  utmost  advantage  from  its  resources. 
The  Saxon  chronicler  complains  of  the  rapacity 
which  he  exercised  toward  his  tenants : — "  The 
king  (he  says)  let  his  land  at  as  high  a  rate  as  he 
possibly  could ;  then  came  some  other  person,  and 
hade  more  than  the  former  one  gave ;  and  the  king 
let  it  to  the  man  that  bade  him  more.  Then  came 
the  third,  and  bade  him  yet  more ;  and  the  king 
let  it  to  hand  to  the  man  that  bade  him  most  of  all ; 
and  he  recked  not  how  very  sinfully  the  stewards 
got  it  of  wretched  men."* 

1  Sir  H.  Kllis,  Introd.  to  Domesday  Book. 

2  Ingram's  Sax.  Chron.  p.  291. 


The  use  of  manures  was  carried  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent than  before,  as  not  only  was  the  old  practice 
of  marling  the  land  continued,  but  the  more  expen- 
sive application  of  chalk  was  not  uncommon.'  In- 
gulphus  notices  the  spirit  with  which  one  of  the 
great  landowners,  Richard  de  Rules,  lord  of  Brunne 
and  Deeping,  and  chamberlain  of  the  Conqueror, 
carried  on  his  agricultural  operations.  "  He  was," 
says  Ingulphus,  "  much  addicted  to  agriculture,  and 
delighted  in  breeding  horses  and  cattle.  Beside 
inclosing  and  draining  a  great  extent  of  country,  he 
embanked  the  river  Welland  (which  used  every 
year  to  overflow  the  neighboi-ing  fields)  in  a  most 
substantial  manner,  building  many  houses  upon  the 
bank,  which  increased  so  much  that,  in  a  little  time, 
they  formed  a  large  town  called  Deeping,  from  it« 
low  situation.  Here  he  planted  orchards,  cultivated 
commons,  and  converted  deep  lands  and  impassable 
quagmires  into  fertile  fields,  rich  meadows,  and 
pastures." 

To  the  monks  belong  the  praise  of  effecting  the 
greatest  improvements  in  the  agriculture  of  this  pe- 
riod. They  were,  many  of  them,  acquainted  with 
the  best  modes  practiced  in  Normandy,  and  their 
intelligence  enabled  them  to  apply  their  knowledge 

1  Peter  of  Blois,  Ep.  v. 


VOL.  I. — 37 


Threshixo     Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii 


57S 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Corn-Sacks  and  Store-Basket.  Roval  MS.  2  B.  vi;. 


with  skill  in  the  cultivation  of  theii-  own  ample  es- 
tates. Land  was  the  cheapest  means  of  obtaining  the 
favors  of  the  church,  and  it  was  rich  in  this  descrip- 
tion of  property ;  but  it  was  the  skill  and  labor  of 
the  monks  which  gave  it  value,  which  drained  the 
marshes,  and  cleared  the  woodland.  They  engaged 
actively  in  the  labors  of  husbandry ;  and  even 
Becket,  while  he  filled  the  see  of  Canterbury,  was 
accustomed  during  harvest,  to  go  into  the  fields  with 
the  monks  of  the  monasteries  where  he  happened 
to  reside,  and  to  join  them  in  reaping  their  corn  or 
in  making  their  hay.^ 

Further  to  illustrate  the  part  which  the  clergy 
took  in  husbandry,  the  twenty-sixth  canon  of  the 
third  Council  of  Lateran,  held  a.d.  1179,  may  be 
quoted.  This  canon  decreed  "  that  all  presbyters, 
clerks,  monks,  converts,  pilgrims,  and  peasants, 
when  they  were  engaged  in  the  labors  of  husband- 
ry, together  with  the  cattle  in  their  ploughs,  and 
the  seed  which  they  carried  into  the  field,  should 
enjoy  perfect  security ;  and  that  all  who  molested 
or  interrupted  them,  if  they  did  not  desist  when 
they  had  been  admonished,  should  be  excommuni- 
cated."- 

The  draining  of  the  fens  of  Cambridgeshire  and 
Lincolnshire,  which  was  commenced  at  this  period, 
proves  that,  in  spite  of  the  insecurity  arising  from 
various  causes,  the  spirit  of  agricultural  improve- 
ment existed  in  considerable  vigor,  and  that  it  only 
waited  for  tranquillity  and  the  stimulus  of  commerce 
to  put  forth  greater  powers.  Agriculture  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  in  so  advanced  a  state  in  Scot- 
land ;  for  we  find  that,  in  1214,  a  law  made  respect- 
ing the  cultivation  of  the  land  directed  that  those 
who  did  not  possess  a  sufficient  number  of  oxen 
should  delve  as  much  with  hand  and  foot  as  would 
produce  enough  of  corn  to  support  themselves  and 
their  families.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  at 
this  time  a  considerable  part  of  the  country  was 
only  cultivated  by  the  method  of  spade  husbandry. 
At  the  same  time  a  law  was  passed  requiring  farm- 
ers carefully  to  destroy  a  weed  called  "  guilde." 
In  Ireland,  somewhat  earlier,  agriculture  was  prob- 
ably not  much  further  advanced   than  among   the 

1  Chron.  Gervas,  col.  1400.  -  Idem,  col.  1456. 


ancient  Britons.  The  food  of  the  people  was  flesh, 
fish,  and  milk  ;  and  it  is  even  said  that  neither  bread 
nor  cheese  formed  any  part  of  their  diet.' 

It  is  impossible,  at  this  distance  of  time,  to  obtain 
any  certain  knowledge  of  the  processes  of  agricul- 
ture in  England  at  this  period.  In  most  parts  of 
the  country  they  ploughed  their  lands  twice  in  sum- 
mer and  once  in  winter,  to  prepare  them  for  wheat; 
but  in  Wales  they  were  ploughed  only  once  a-year, 
in  March  or  April,  in  order  to  be  sown  with  oats.- 
Summer  fallowing  and  careful  ploughing  were  con- 
fined to  England,  and  the  produce  would  be  large 
in  proportion  to  the  care  bestowed.  The  descrip- 
tion of  stock  upon  a  farm  would  be  regulated  by  the 
state  of  the  land.  If  there  were  much  wood-land 
many  hogs  would  be  kept;  while  sheep  would  be 
more  profitable  on  the  uplands  and  wolds.  Goats 
were  kept  in  parts  of  the  country  where  they  are 
now  seldom  seen.  The  authority  for  these  infer- 
ences rests  upon  a  single  statement  in  Domesday 
Book,  in  which  the  stock  upon  a  farm  is  enumerated. 
The  land  was  in  Hertfordshire,  and  was  held  by 
Hunfrid,  who,  it  appears,  possessed  68  head  of  cat- 
tle (animalis),  350  sheep,  150  hogs,  59  goats,  and  1 
mare.  The  number  of  sheep  is  larger  than  could 
have  been  expected,  being  gi-eater  than  that  of  hogs.' 
Horses,  it  will  be  recollected,  were  not  commonly 
employed  in  field  labor.  Hunfrid  had  as  much 
household  stuflF  (pannos  et  vasa)  as  was  worth  twenty 
shillings.* 

Licenses  to  export  corn,  as  has  already  been 
mentioned,  were  not  unfrequently  granted  during 
this  period ;  and  though  there  were  frequent  fam- 
ines, they  seem  to  have  been  occasioned  rather  by 
untoward  seasons  and  warlike  devastations  than  by 
defective  husbandry.  This  part  of  the  subject,  and 
the  casualties  which  agriculture  experienced,  may 
be  illustrated  by  a  reference  to  some  of  the  notices 
in  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  in  which  years  of  scarcity 
are  carefully  recorded. 

In  1070,  four  years  after  the  Conquest,  and  before 

1-  Giraldus  Cambrensis.  '  Idem,  c.  viii.  p.  887. 

3  At  Kempsfurd,  Gloucestershire,  120  weys  nf  cheese  were  paid  as 
rent  for  a  sheep-walk. — Bawdwen's  Domesday,  p.  60. 

*  Translation  of  Domesday;  Hertfordshire,  p.  51.  By  Rev.  W 
Bawdwen. 


Chap.  VI.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


579 


the  Conqueror  had  firmly  established  his  power, 
there  was  a  gi-eat  famine.  In  1082,  1086,  and  1087, 
there  were  also  famines ;  but  these  were  owing 
either  to  one  or  other  of  the  causes  before  alluded 
to.  The  year  1086,  the  Chronicler  remarks,  "was 
a  very  heavy  season,  and  a  swinkful  and  sonowful 
year  in  England  in  murrain  of  cattle  ;  and  corn  and 
fruits  were  at  a  stand,  and  so  much  untowardness 
in  the  weather  as  a  man  may  not  easily  think."  The 
following  year  "  was  a  very  heavy  and  pestilential 
year  in  this  land ;"  and  the  cause  is  atti-ibuted  "  to 
the  badness  of  the  weather."  Then  came,  says  the 
writer,  "  so  great  a  famine  over  all  England,  that 
many  men  died  a  miserable  death  through  hunger." 
The  year  1089  "was  a  very  late  year  in  corn,  and 
in  every  kind  of  fruits,  so  that  many  men  reaped 
their  corn  about  Martinmas  and  yet  later."  In 
1095  the  weather  was  "very  unseasonable ;  in  con- 
sequence of  which,  throughout  all  this  land  were  all 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  reduced  to  a  moderate  crop." 
The  year  1096  "was  a  very  heavy-timed  year 
through  all  England ;  both  through  the  manifold 
tributes,  and  also  through  the  very  heavy-timed 
hunger,  that  sorely  oppressed  this  earth."  The 
succeeding  year  was  "  in  all  things  a  very  heavy- 
timed  year,  and  beyond  measure  laborious  from 
badness  of  weather,  both  when  men  attempted  to 
till  the  land,  and  afterward  to  gather  the  fruit  of 
their  tilth."  Again,  1098  "was  a  very  troublesome 
year,  through  manifold  impositions ;  and  from  the 
abundant  rains  that  ceased  not  all  the  year,  nearly 
all  the  tilth  in  the  marsh-lands  perished."  Five 
years  afterward  (a.d.  1103)  was  "a  very  calamitous 
year."  There  was  a  murrain  among  the  cattle,  and 
a  deficiency  of  the  crops  of  every  kind ;  but  the 
latter  misfortune  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  by 
a  violent  storm  of  wind  on  St.  Lawrence's  day, 
which  "  did  so  much  harm  to  all  fruits  as  no  man 
remembered  that  ever  any  did  before."  In  1105 
the  produce  of  the  soil  was  also  injured  by  the 
weather.  In  1110  the  weather  was  again  unfavor- 
able, "  by  which  the  fruits  of  the  earth  were  very 
much  marred,  and  the  produce  of  the  trees  over  all 
this  land  almost  entirely  perished."  In  1111  "was 
the  winter  very  long,  and  the  season  heavy  and 
severe  ;  and  through  that  were  the  fruits  of  the 
earth  sorely  marred,  and  there  was  the  greatest 
muiTain  of  cattle  that  any  man  could  remember." 
The  next  year  was  fortunately  "  a  very  good  year, 
and  very  fruitful  in  wood  and  in  field."  It  was, 
however,  accompanied  by  a  severe  mortahty  among 
men.  In  1116  occurred  a  "very  heavy-timed  win- 
ter, long  and  strong  for  cattle,  and  for  all  things." 
The  chronicler  adds,  that  "  this  was  a  very  vexa- 
tious and  destractive  j^ear  with  respect  to  the  fruits 
of  the  earth,  through  the  immoderate  rains  that  fell 
soon  after  the  beginning  of  August  harassing  and 
perplexing  men  till  Candlemas  day."  It  was  also 
noted  for  a  deficiency  of  the  woods  in  mast,  to  such 
an  extent  "  that  there  was  never  known  such  in  this 
land  or  in  Wales."'     The  next  year  was  "  a  very 

^  The  fluctuation  in  produce  of  this  description,  which  we  have  now 
ceased  to  notice,  was  of  great  importance  in  this  and  the  preceding^ 
period.    The  mast  which  fell  in  the  woods  in  the  autumn  might  be  of 


blighted  year  in  corn,  through  the  rains,  that  scarcely 
ceased  for  nearly  all  the  year."  In  1124  "the  sea- 
sons were  very  unfavorable  in  England  for  corn  and 
all  fruits."  A  famine  ensued  in  the  following  year. 
In  1131  "was  so  great  a  murrain  of  cattle  as  never 
was  before  in  the  memory  of  man  over  all  England. 
That  was  in  neat-cattle  and  swine ;  so  that  in  a 
town  where  there  were  ten  ploughs  going  or  twelve, 
there  was  not  one  left;  and  the  man  that  had  two 
or  three  hundred  swine  had  not  one  left.  After- 
ward perished  the  hen-fowls ;  then  shortened  the 
flesh-meat  and  the  cheese."  In  1137  (in  Stephen's 
reign)  the  writer  of  the  Chronicle  observes, — "  then 
was  corn  dear,  and  flesh,  and  cheese,  and  butter. 
The  earth  bare  no  corn," — in  consequence  of  the 
pervading  rapine. 

It  seems  impossible  to  read  these  notices  without 
entertaining  the  conviction  that  the  vicissitudes  of 
the  seasons  were  greater  in  those  days  than  in  our 
own.  Years  of  plenty  and  scarcity  still  occur,  and 
with  something  like  regularity,  but  there  is  no  com- 
parison in  the  averages  of  the  two  periods.  An 
unfavorable  season  tries  severely  the  present  highly- 
improved  system  of  agriculture ;  but  it  is  easy  to 
see  that  when  the  means  of  stall-feeding  were  ex- 
ceedingly limited,  the  backwardness  of  vegetation 
would  be  fatal  to  numbers  of  cattle  which  had  been 
supported  with  difficulty  throughout  a  proti'acted 
winter. 

It  appears  from  Domesday  Book,  which  was  com- 
pleted twenty  years  after  the  Conquest,  that  there 
was  generally  "pasture  for  the  cattle  of  the  village" 
on  land  where  all  enjoyed  rights  of  common.  The 
owners  of  woodland  were  accustomed  to  let  at  a 
fixed  sum  the  right  of  turning  hogs  into  the  woods. 
The  charge  for  pannage  was  often  defrayed  by  ta- 
king one  hog  in  ten  :  this  system  also  prevailed  in 
Scotland.  But  money  was  also  paid.  The  value 
of  a  wood  was  ascertained  by  the  number  of  hogs  it 
would  support;'  and  a  wood  yielding  neither  acorns 
nor  beech-mast  was  comparatively  of  little  value. 
We  find,  however,  that  there  were  in  some  parts  of 
the  country  young  plantations ;  a  fact  which  seems 
a  little  inconsistent  with  this  notion.  The  oak  is 
mentioned  in  Domesday  Book  only  once  :*  a  grove 
of  ash  trees  occurs  in  one  county,  and  many  osieries 
existed.  "Wood  for  the  hedges"  is  often  men- 
tioned in  the  survey  of  the  southern  counties. 

Gardens,  orchards,  and  vineyards  are  mentioned 
in  the  Conqueror's  survey ;  and  if  the  improvements 
that  took  place  in  agriculture  were  in  a  great  meas- 
ure owing  to  the  skill  of  the  monks,  still  more  was 
the  kindred  art  of  gardening  indebted  to  them.  The 
objects  of  culture  to  which  the  husbandman  directs 
his  care  are  few  in  number,  but  there  is  a  much 
greater  diversity  in  those  which  claim  the  attention 

more  value  than  timber,  on  account  of  its  use  as  food  for  hogs  ;  and  it 
is  not  longer  ago  than  the  year  1764  since  a  year  of  great  abundance  in 
acorns  had  a  very  sensible  effect  upon  the  meat  market  of  the  metropo- 
lis. In  consequence  of  the  great  abundance  two  years  before,  the 
feeders  had  been  induced  to  fatten  their  whole  stock  of  hogs,  and  an 
extraordinary  number  were  in  consequence  slaughtered.  The  number 
had  not  been  replaced  in  the  subsequent  two  years,  and  the  meat  mar- 
ket not  receiving  the  usual  supply,  prices  rose  to  an  unusual  heighL 

1  Nichols,  vol.  i.  p.  63. — Hist.  Leicester. 

2  Sir  H.  Ellis,  Introd.  to  Domesday  Book. 


580 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


of  the  horticulturist.  The  iqtroduction  of  a  foreign 
clergy  at  the  Conquest  could  not  fail  to  be  immedi- 
ately followed  by  the  transplanting  of  the  arts  with 
which  they  were  acquainted  ;  and  gardening  was 
one  of  those  which  the  soil  and  climate  of  Normandy 
had  alike  encouraged.  Vineyards  are  mentioned  in 
tliirty-eight  different  places  in  the  Survey.'  The 
vine  had  been  cultivated  in  the  time  of  Bede,  and  is 
noticed  in  the  laws  of  Alfred,  but  probably  its  cul- 
ture was  but  little  attended  to.  In  several  parts  of 
Middlesex  vineyards  are  mentioned  in  the  Survey 
as  being  "newly  planted."  The  vale  of  Gloucester 
is  represented  as  being  rich  in  vineyards  and  fruit- 
trees.  William  of  Malmsbury  describes  it  in  glow- 
ing terms  :  "  This  vale,"  he  says,  "  is  planted  thicker 
with  vineyards  than  any  other  province  in  England  ; 
and  they  produce  grapes  in  the  greatest  abundance 
and  of  the  sweetest  taste.  The  wine  that  is  made 
in  these  vineyards  hath  no  disagreeable  tartness  in 
the  mouth,  and  is  very  little  inferior  in  flavor  to  the 
wines  of  France."  It  was  not,  however,  until  a 
subsequent  period  that  additions  were  made  to  the 
number  of  culinary  vegetables,  or  that  the  number 
and  qualitj'  of  fruits  underwent  much  change  ;  but 
the  work  of  improvement  had  commenced.    At  Ful- 

1  Sir  H.  Ellis,  Introd. 


ham,  now  celebrated  for  the  number  and  productive- 
ness of  its  market-gardens,  there  were  in  the  days 
of  the  Conqueror  "  eight  cottagers  with  their  gar- 
dens ;"  and  it  is  stated,  that  in  the  village  where  the 
church  of  St.  Peter  (Westminster  Abbey)  is  situ- 
ated, there  were  forty-one  cottagers  who  paid  forty 
shillings  for  their  gardens. 

In  addition  to  the  food  furnished  by  the  field  and 
the  garden,  a  considerable  supply  would  he  obtained 
from  the  woods  and  forests  after  the  forest-laws 
had  become  less  rigorous.  Parks  of  "  beasts  of  the 
wood"  were  kept  by  persons  of  distinction.  The 
"Haiae"  belonging  to  manor-houses  were  inclosed 
places,  hedged  or  paled  round,  into  which  beasts 
were  driven  for  catching.'  A  warren  of  hares  oc- 
curs in  the  Survey  of  Lincolnshire.  By  a  letter  of 
grace  respecting  the  forests,  in  1215,  proprietors  of 
land  were  permitted  to  form  rabbit-warrens  on  their 
own  land.  The  coasts,  rivers,  and  meres  were  also 
productive  of  food.  In  Kent,  Sussex,  Norfolk,  and 
Suflblk,  herring-fisheries  are  noticed  as  existing  at 
the  period  of  the  Survey.  Sandwich  yielded  annu- 
ally 40,000  herrings  to  the  monks  of  Christ  Church, 
Canterbury ;  and  in  Cheshire  and  Devonshire  there 
were  salmon-fisheries.  In  the  former  county  one 
1  Sir  H.  EUis,  lutrod. 


FisHiNO  WITH  A  Skine  Net.    Roj'al  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


fishery  paid  1000  salmon  annually  as  rent.  Stews  or 
fish-ponds  are  also  frequently  mentioned.  One  at 
Tudeuuorde  (Tudworth),  Yorkshire,  yielded  20,000 
eels  annually.  The  rent  of  marsh  or  fen-land  was 
generally  paid  in  eels. 

Another  source  of  natural  riches  which  the  in- 
dustry of  the  age  rendered  productive,  existed,  as 
already  mentioned,  in  mines  and  quarries.  In  Glou- 
cestershire, mines  of  iron  were  worked  ;'  and  in  the 
king's  demesne,  in  Derbyshire,  the  mines  of  lead 
supplied  ore  which  was  smelted  and  rolled  into 
sheets,  and  used  for  roofing  the  churches  and  other 
purposes.  The  progress  of  cultivation  had  not  yet 
rendered  wood  the  dearest  description  of  fuel,  and 
though  coal  was  consumed  to  a  small  extent,  yet 
wood  and  turf  continued  to  be  used  for  fuel  in  this 
as  it  had  been  in  the  preceding  period.  Stone- 
quarries  are  but  seldom  mentioned  in  the  Survey, 
and  the  stone  used  in  many  of  the  ecclesiastical  edi- 
fices was  brought  from  Normandy.  Salt  was  not 
obtained  in  a  fossil  state  until  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, before  which  time  it  was  procured  by  evapo- 
ration in  salt-pans  on  the  coast,  and  from  the  salt 

1  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  lib.  i.  c.  5. 


springs  in  the  interior  parts  of  the  country.  The 
management  of  these  salt-pans  was  an  important 
branch  of  industry. 

But  few  changes  in  the  common  handicrafts  took 
place  within  the  century  and  a  half  subsequent  to 
the  Conquest.  The  arts  of  the  miller  and  baker 
were  necessarily  in  constant  exercise.  No  descrip- 
tion of  building  is  so  frequently  mentioned  in  Domes- 
day Book  as  water-mills.  They  were  in  every  case 
the  property  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  and  his  ten- 
ants were  not  permitted  to  grind  at  any  other  mill ; 
a  restriction  which  has  not  been  abolished  in  some 
cases  even  at  the  present  daJ^  Hand-mills  had  not, 
however,  gone  out  of  use.  The  lord  of  the  manor 
monopolized  also  the  privilege  of  baking  his  tenants' 
bread  at  the  common  fourne ;  but  the  necessity  of 
the  case  put  an  end  to  this  restriction  at  an  early 
period.  Water-mills  were  known  on  the  continent 
at  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  :  they  existed  in 
England  before  the  Conquest,  and  were  applied  to 
other  purposes  beside  that  of  grinding  corn.  The 
corn-mills  are  described  by  Strutt  as  square  weather- 
boarded  houses,  sometimes  without  a  covering  nt 
the  top,  the  water-wheel  being  at  one  end.     The 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


581 


Corn  Hand-Mill.    Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


machinery  was  simple  enough,  as  the  process  of 
separating  the  bran  from  the  meal  was  not  performed 
by  the  machinery,  but  by  a  sieve  with  the  hand. 
Wind-mills  were  not  known  in  England  at  the  Con- 
quest,^ but  were  introduced  in  less  than  a  century 
afterward.  Those  who  did  not  bake  at  the  common 
fourne  made  the  dough  into  cakes  and  baked  them 
on  the  hearth.  The  law  fixed  the  assize  of  bread, 
and  the  price  at  which  it  was  to  be  sold  by  the 
bakers  ;  and  they  were  severely  punished  for  "lack 
of  size,"  the  first  offence  subjecting  tliem  to  the  loss 
of  the  bread,  the  second  to  imprisonment,  and  a 
third  offence  to  the  pillory  or  tumbrel.  In  the  year 
1202  the  assize  of  bread  was  fixed  on  the  principle 

'  In  the  year  1143,  there  was  in  Northamptonshire  an  abbey,  situated 
in  a  wood,  which,  in  the  course  of  180  years,  was  entirely  destroyed. 
One  of  the  causes  of  this  destrnction  was  said  to  be,  that,  in  the  whole 
neighborhood,  there  was  no  house,  water-mill,  or  "  wind-mill"  built,  for 
which  timber  was  not  taken  from  this  wood. — Beckmann,  Hist,  of  In- 
ventions, vol.  i.  p.  250. 


that  in  a  quarter  of  wheat,  supposed  to  weigh  512 
lbs.,  the  baker  should  make  a  profit  of  three  pen- 
nies. The  price  of  wheat  at  this  period  ranged  from 
two  to  six  shillings  the  quarter,  and  a  scale  was 
framed  which  fixed  the  weight  of  the  farthing  loaf 
at  each  fluctuation.  Thus,  when  wheat  was  sold 
at  two  shillings  the  quarter,  the  loaf  of  white  bread 
was  to  weigh  three  lbs.,  and  the  loaf  of  brown  bread 
four  lbs.,  and  the  weight  was  diminished  at  each 
successive  increase  in  the  price  of  wheat.' 

The  fabrication  of  armor  now  gave  a  new  and 
higher  direction  to  the  art  of  working  in  metal. 
The  shoeing  of  horses  with  iron  is  supposed  not 
to  have  been  usual  before  the  Conquest.'  The 
number  of  builders  and  artificers  employed  in  the 
construction  of  domestic,  ecclesiastical,  and  defen- 
sive edifices  was  far  greater  than  it  had  been   at 

1  Lingard's  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  ii.  p.  13. 

2  Beckmann,  Hist,  of  Inventions,  vol.  2,  p.  310. 


BtnLDiNo  A  House.    Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 
The  architect  eiplainmg  his  plan  and  receiving  instructions  :— the  builders  raising  and  laying  stones  with  a  crane  ;  carving,  plumbing 

the  work,  <J:c 


582 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


any  previous  time,  and  their  skill  was  much  superior, 
as  will  be  evident  from  the  notice  of  the  progress  of 
architecture  in  the  subsequent  chapter.  Norman 
piety  displaj'ed  itself  in  founding  cathedrals,  abbeys, 
and  monasteries,  and  the  insecurity  of  society 
everywhere  led  to  the  erection  of  strongholds  for 
protection.  In  Stephen's  reign,  "  every  one  who 
was  able  (says  the  Saxon  chronicler)  built  a  castle  ;" 
and  he  adds,  that  "  the  whole  kingdom  was  covered 
with  castles."  The  progress  of  one  art  inevitably 
leads  to  improvements  in  others,  as  obstacles  which 
have  never  before  been  encountered  stimulate  in- 
genuity, and  lead  to  inventions  for  overcoming 
them.  Thus,  we  are  told  that  William  of  Sens, 
whom  Lanfranc  the  archbishop  employed  as  an 
architect,  constructed  machines  for  loading  and 
unloading  vessels,  and  for  conveying  heavy  weights 
by  land.  In  the  reign  of  Rufus,  a  bridge  of  timber 
was  thrown  across  the  Thames,  the  old  one  having 
been  carried  away  by  a  flood  ;  and  in  1209  this 
timber  bridge  was  replaced  by  one  of  stone. 

The  textile  arts  were  also  improved.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  art  of  weaving  woolen  cloth  by  the 
Flemings  has  been  mentioned  above.  In  1197  this 
manufacture  had  become  of  sufficient  consequence 
to  call  forth  laws  for  its  proper  regulation,  in  regard 
to  both  the  fabrication  and  the  sale  of  the  cloth. 
In  the  unprincipled  reign  of  King  John  the  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers  obtained  licenses  for  per- 
mission to  manufacture  cloth  under  the  prescribed 
measure.'  Linen  was  also  manufactured.  The 
weavers  and  fullers,  and  the  bakers,  were  among 
the  earliest  of  the  incorporated  trades  or  guilds.  In 
the  reign  of  Henry  I.  the  weavers  and  fullers  had 
guilds  at  Winchester  and  Oxford  as  well  as  in  Lon- 
don.* Subsequently  many  other  trades  were  incor- 
porated ;  but  the  next  period  was  the  era  in  which 
these  incorporations  generally  took  place.  In  1180, 
the  sadlers  were  an  incorporated  body,  but  the 
goldsmiths,  glovers,  butchers,  and  curriers  who  had 
established  themselves  as  corporate  bodies  without 
permission  from  the  king  were  fined.^  The  oldest 
charters  of  incorporation  now  existing  are  of  a  later 
date.     The  object  of  the  Saxon  guilds  was  rather 

1  Hovcden,  Annal.  p.  467,  col.  2. 

'  Madoi,  Fenna  Burgi.  3  Madoi 


to  afford  each  other  mutual  succor  than  to  regulate 
trade. 

The  art  of  dyeing  was  necessarily  of  considerable 
importance  in  connection  with  the  woolen  manufac- 
ture. The  Jews  in  some  instances  are  said  to  have 
followed  the  trade  of  dyeing ;  but  the  art  was  prob- 
ably in  a  very  imperfect  state,  and  persons  of  rank 
are  said  to  have  maintained  dye-houses  on  their 
own  account.  Embroidery  was  the  chief  occupa- 
tion of  ladies  of  rank,  as  it  had  been  in  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  period.  Christina,  Abbess  of  Markgate,  is 
mentioned  as  having  worked  three  mitres  and  a 
pair  of  sandals,  which  slie  sent  as  a  present  to  Pope 
Adrian.  The  vestments  of  the  higher  ranks  of  the 
clergy  were  embroidered,  and  it  was  regarded  as  a 
pious  work  to  be  thus  occupied.  The  churches  on 
festival  days  were  many  of  them  hung  with  tapestry, 
which  illustrated  the  lives  of  saints  and  holy  men. 
It  is  not  perhaps  of  much  importance  to  determine 
whether  these  works  were  the  production  of  pro- 
fessed artisans,  or  of  the  pious  industry  of  the  in- 
mates of  convents  and  the  higher  class  of  females. 

The  art  of  refining  and  working  in  metals  was 
perhaps,  as  already  observed,  carried  to  greater  per- 
fection than  any  of  the  useful  arts ;  and  a  superior 
class  of  men  was  engaged  in  this  department  of  in- 
dustry. Two  candlesticks,  made  of  gold  and  silver, 
which  Robert,  Abbot  of  St.  Albans,  sent  to  his 
countryman.  Pope  Adrian,  are  stated  to  have  ex- 
cited the  warm  admiration  of  the  pontiff,  who  de- 
clared that  he  had  never  seen  more  beautiful 
workmanship.'  A  large  cup  of  gold,  made  by  order 
of  the  same  abbot,  by  a  goldsmith  named  Baldwin, 
is  described  by  Matthew  Paris  as  being  "  adorned 
with  flowers  and  foliages  of  the  most  delicate  work- 
manship, and  set  around  with  precious  stones  in  the 
most  elegant  manner."  Native  artisans  were  al- 
ways to  be  found  to  execute  the  vessels  required  in 
the  services  of  the  church  and  the  costly  and  curi- 
ous ornaments  with  which  shrines  and  altars  were 
adorned.  The  precious  metals  were  lavished  on 
works  of  this  description.  Otho,  a  goldsmith,  re- 
ceived orders  from  William  Rufus  to  ornament  his 
father's  tomb  out  of  the  gold  and  silver  which  formed 
a  part  of  the  royal  treasure  at  Winchester. 
1  Matthew  Paris. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


583 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


T  is  probable  that  learn- 
ing in  England  had  be- 
gun before  the  Norman 
Conquest  to  recover 
fiom  the  state  of  de- 
jnession  into  which  it 
h  id  fallen  in  the  calam- 
itous period  of  the  last 
Danish  invasions.  The 
Danish  Conquest,  as 
completed  by  the  acces- 
sion of  Canute,  prece- 
ded the  Norman  by  ex- 
actly half  a  century,  and 
during  the  whole  of  this  space,  with  scarcely  any 
interruption,  the  country  had  enjoyed  a  government 
which,  if  not  always  national,  was  at  least  acknowl- 
edged and  submitted  to  by  the  whole  nation.  The 
public  tranquillity  was  scarcely  disturbed  either  by 
attacks  fi'om  abroad  or  by  domestic  commotions. 
Such  of  the  latter  as  occurred  were  either  merely 
local  or  of  very  short  duration.  During  this  pei-iod, 
therefore,  many  of  the  monastic  and  other  schools 
that  had  existed  in  the  days  of  Alfred,  Athelstane, 
and  Edgar,  had  probably  been  reestablished.  The 
more  frequent  communication  with  the  continent, 
that  began  in  the  reign  of  the  Confessor,  ought  also 
to  have  been  favorable  to  the  intellectual  advance- 
ment of  the  country.  Accordingly,  as'we  have  be- 
fore remarked,  the  dawn  of  the  revival  of  letters  in 
England  may  be  properly  dated  from  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  eleventh  century."  ^ 

Still,  at  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  literature  was  at  a  very  low 
ebb  in  this  country.  Ordericus  Vitalis,  a  contempo- 
rary \vriter,  and  himself  a  native  of  England,  though 
of  French  descent  and  educated  abroad,  describes 
his  countrymen  generally  as  having  been  found  by 
the  Normans  a  rustic  and  almost  illiterate  people. 
The  last  epithet  may  be  understood  as  chiefly  in- 
tended to  characterize  the  clergy,  for  the  great  body 
of  the  laity  at  this  time  were  everywhere  illiterate. 
In  fact  we  know  that,  a  few  years  after  the  Con- 
quest, the  king  took  advantage  of  the  general  illiter- 
acy of  the  Saxon  clergy  to  deprive  great  numbers  of 
them  of  their  benefices,  and  to  supply  their  places 
with  foreigners.  His  real  motive  for  making  this 
substitution  was  probably  not  that  which  he  avowed ; 
but  he  would  scarcely  have  alleged  what  was  noto- 
riously not  the  fact,  even  as  a  pretence.  No  names 
eminent  for  learning,  it  may  be  observed,  are  re- 
corded in  this  age  of  the  annals  of  the  Saxon  church. 
The  Norman  Conquest  introduced  a  new  state  of 
things  in  this  as  in  most  other  respects.     That  event 

1  See  ante,  pp.  276  and  393. 


made  England,  as  it  were,  a  part  of  the  continent, 
where,  not  long  before,  a  revival  of  letters  had  taken 
place  scarcely  less  remarkable,  if  we  take  into  con- 
sideration the  circumstances  of  the  time,  than  the 
next  great  revolution  of  the  same  kind  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifteenth  century.  In  France,  indeed, 
the  learning  that  had  flourished  in  the  time  of 
Charlemagne  had  never  undergone  so  great  a  decay 
as  had  befallen  that  of  England  since  the  days  of 
Alfred.  The  schools  planted  by  Alcuin  and  the  phil- 
osophy taught  by  Erigena  had  both  been  perpetua- 
ted by  a  line  of  the  disciples  and  followers  of  these 
distinguished  masters,  which  had  never  been  alto- 
gether interrupted.  But  in  the  tenth  century  this 
learning  of  the  West  had  met  and  been  intermixed 
with  a  new  learning  originally  from  the  East,  but 
obtained  directly  from  the  Arab  conquerors  of  Spain. 
The  Arabs  had  first  become  acquainted  with  the 
literature  of  Greece  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighth 
century,  and  it  instantly  exercised  upon  their  minds 
an  awakening  influence  of  the  same  powerful  kind 
with  that  with  which  it  again  kindled  Europe  seven 
centuries  afterward.  One  diff'erence,  however, 
between  the  two  cases  is  very  remarkable.  The 
mighty  efi'ects  that  arose  out  of  the  second  revival 
of  the  ancient  Greek  literature  in  the  modern  world, 
were  produced  almost  solely  by  its  eloquence  and 
poetry ;  but  these  were  precisely  the  parts  of  it  that 
were  neglected  by  the  Arabs.  The  Greek  books 
which  they  sought  after  with  such  extraordinary 
avidity,  were  almost  exclusively  those  that  related 
either  to  metaphysics  and  mathematics  on  the  one 
hand,  or  to  medicine,  chemistry,  botany,  and  the 
other  departments  of  physical  knowledge  on  the 
other.  All  Greek  works  of  these  descriptions  that 
they  could  procure  they  not  only  translated  into 
their  own  language,  but  in  course  of  time  illustrated 
with  voluminous  commentaries.  The  prodigious 
magnitude  to  which  this  Arabic  literature  event- 
ually grew  will  stagger  the  reader  who  has  adopted 
the  common  notion  with  regard  to  what  are  called 
the  middle  or  the  dark  ages.  "  The  royal  library 
of  the  Fatimites"  (sovereigns  of  Egypt),  says  Gib- 
bon, "consisted  of  100,000  manuscripts,  elegantly 
transcribed  and  splendidly  bound,  which  were  lent, 
without  jealousy  or  avarice,  to  the  students  of  Cairo. 
Yet  this  collection  must  appear  moderate  if  we  can 
believe  that  the  Ommiades  of  Spain  had  formed  a 
library  of  600,000  volumes,  44  of  which  were  em- 
ployed in  the  mere  catalogues.  Their  capital  Cor- 
dova, with  the  adjacent  towns  of  Malaga,  Almeria, 
and  Murcia,  had  given  birth  to  more  than  300  \vri- 
ters,  and  above  70  public  libraries  were  opened  in 
the  cities  of  the  Andalusian  kingdom."'     The  difti- 

1  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Rom.  Emp.  c.  lii. 


584 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


culty  we  have  in  couceiving  the  existence  of  a  state 
of  things  such  as  that  here  described,  arises  in  great 
part  from  the  circumstance  of  the  entire  disappear- 
ance now,  and  for  so  long  a  period,  of  all  this  Arabic 
power  and  splendor  from  the  scene  of  Euro])ean 
affairs.  But  long  extinct  as  it  has  been,  the  domin- 
ion of  the  Arabs  in  Europe  was  no  mere  moment- 
ary blaze.  It  lasted,  with  little  diminution,  for 
nearly  five  hundred  years,  a  period  as  long  as  from 
the  age  of  Chaucer  to  the  present  day,  and  abun- 
dantly sufficient  for  the  growth  of  a  body  of  litera- 
ture and  science,  even  of  the  wonderful  extent  that 
has  been  described.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are 
now  writing,  Arabic  Spain  was  the  fountain-head  of 
learning  in  Europe.  Thither  students  were  accus- 
tomed to  repair  from  every  other  country  to  study 
in  the  Arabic  schools ;  and  many  of  the  teachers  in 
the  chief  towns  of  France  and  Italy  had  finished 
their  education  in  these  seminaries,  and  were  now 
diftusing  among  their  countrymen  the  new  knowl- 
edge which  they  had  thence  acquired.  The  wri- 
tings of  several  of  the  Greek  authors,  also,  and 
especially  those  of  Aristotle,  had  been  made  gener- 
ally known  to  scholars  by  Latin  versions  of  them 
made  from  the  Arabic. 

There  is  no  trace  of  this  new  literature  having 
found  its  way  to  England  before  the  Norman  Con- 
quest. But  that  revolution  immediately  brought  it 
in  its  train.  "  The  Conqueror  himself,"  observes  a 
writer  who  has  illustrated  this  subject  with  a  pro- 
fusion of  curious  learning,  "  patronized  and  loved 
letters.  He  filled  the  bishoprics  and  abbacies  of 
England  with  the  most  learned  of  his  countrymen, 
who  had  been  educated  at  the  University  of  Paris, 
at  that  time  the  most  flourishing  school  in  Europe. 
He  placed  Lanfrane,  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  St. 
Stephen  at  Caen,  in  the  see  of  Canterbury — an  em- 
inent master  of  logic,  the  subtleties  of  which  he 
employed  with  great  dexterity  in  a  famous  contro- 
versy concerning  the  real  presence.  Anselm,  an 
acute  metaphysician  and  theologian,  his  immediate 
successor  in  the  same  see,  was  called  from  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  abbey  of  Bee,  in  Normandy.  Her- 
man, a  Norman,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  founded  a  noble 
library  in  the  ancient  cathedral  of  that  see.  Many 
of  the  Norman  prelates  preferred  in  England  by  the 
Conqueror,  were  polite  scholars.  Godfrey,  Prior  of 
St.  Swithin's  at  Winchester,  a  native  of  Cambray, 
was  an  elegant  Latin  epigrammatist,  and  wrote  with 
the  smartness  and  ease  of  Martial ;  a  circumstance 
which,  by  the  way,  shows  that  the  literature  of  the 
monks  at  this  period  was  of  a  more  liberal  cast  than 
that  which  we  commonly  annex  to  their  character 
and  profession."  Geoffrey,  also  a  learned  Norman, 
who  came  over  from  the  University  of  Paris,  and 
established  a  school  at  Dunstable,  where,  according 
to  Matthew  Paris,  he  composed  a  play,  called  the 
"  Play  of  St.  Catherine,"  which  was  acted  by  his 
scholars,  dressed  characteristically  in  copes  borrowed 
fi-om  the  sacrist  of  the  neighboring  abbey  of  St.  Al- 
bans, of  which  Geoflfrey  afterward  became  abbot. 
"  The  king  himself  gave  no  small  countenance  to 
the  clergj%  in  sending  his  son  Henry  Beauclerc  to 
the  abbey  of  Abingdon,  where  he  was  initiated  in 


!  the  sciences  under  the  care  of  the  abbot  Grymbald, 
and  Farice,  a  physician  of  Oxford.  Robert  D'Oilly, 
j  constable  of  Oxford  Castle,  was  ordered  to  pay  for 
the  board  of  the  young  prince  in  the  convent,  which 
the  king  himself  frequently  visited.  Nor  was  Will- 
iam wanting  in  giving  ample  revenues  to  learning. 
He  founded  the  magnificent  abbeys  of  Battle  and 
Selby,  with  other  smaller  convents.  His  nobles  and 
their  successors  cooperated  with  this  liberal  spirit  in 
erecting  many  monasteries.  Herbert  de  Losinga, 
a  monk  of  Normandy,  Bishop  of  Thetford,  in  Nor- 
folk, instituted  and  endowed  with  large  possessions 
a  Benedictine  abbey  at  Norwich,  consisting  of  sixty 
monks.  To  mention  no  more  instances,  such  great 
institutions  of  persons  dedicated  to  religious  and  lit- 
eraiy  leisure,  while  they  diffused  an  air  of  civility, 
and  softened  the  manners  of  the  people  in  their  re- 
spective circles,  must  have  afforded  powerful  incen- 
tives to  studious  pursuits,  and  have  consequently 
added  no  small  degree  of  stability  to  the  interests 
of  learning." ' 

To  this  it  may  be  added,  that  most  of  the  success- 
ors of  the  Conqueror  continued  to  show  the  same 
regard  for  learning  of  which  he  had  set  the  exam- 
ple.    Nearly  all  of  them  had  themselves  received 
a   learned    education.      Beside    Henry   Beauclerc, 
Henry  II.,  whose  father  Geoffrey  Plantagenet,  Earl 
of  Anjou,  was  famous  for  his  literary  acquirements, 
had  been  carefully  educated  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  his  admh'able  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Gloucester 
and  he  appears  to  have  taken  care  that  his  children  ] 
should  not  want  the  advantages  which  he  had  him- 
self enjoyed  ;  for,  at  least,  the  three  eldest,  Henry,  j 
Geoffrey,  and  Richard,  are  all  noted  for  their  liter- 
ary as  well  as  their  other  accomplishments. 

What  learning  existed,  however,  was  still  for  the] 
most  part  confined  to  the  clergy.     Even  the  nobil- 
ity— although  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  they  were  I 
left  altogether  without  literary  insti'uction — appear] 
to  have  been  very  rarely  initiated  in  any  of  those  | 
branches  which  were  considered  as  properly  consti- 
tuting the  scholarship  of  the  times.     The  familiar] 
knowledge  of  the  Latin  language  in  particular,  which 
was  then  the  key  to  all  other  erudition,  seems  to] 
have   been  almost  exclusively  confined  to  church- 
men, and  to  those  few  of  the  laity  who  embraced] 
the  profession  of  schoolmasters,  as  some,  at  least  on] 
the  continent,  were  now  wont  to  do.     The  contem- 
porary writer  of  a  Life  of  Becket  relates,  that  when  j 
Henry  II.,  in  11G4,  sent  an  embassy  to  the  Pope,  in  ] 
which  the  Earl  of  Arundel  and  three  other  noble- 
men were  associated  with  an  archbishop,  four  bish-  j 
ops,  and  three  of  the  royal  chaplains,  four  of  the  j 
churchmen  at  the  audience  to  which  they  were  ad- 
mitted, first  delivered  themselves  in  as  many  Latin  > 
harangues  ;  and  then  the  Earl  of  Arundel  stood  up, 
and  made  a  speech  in  English,  which  he  began  with , 
the  words,  "We,  who  are  illiterate  laymen,  do  not 
understand  one  word  of  what  the  bishops  have  said 
to  your  hohness." 

The  notion  that  learning  properly  belonged  ex- 
clusively to  the  clergy,  and  that  it  was  a  possession 

1  Warton's  Dissertation  on  Introduction  of  Learning-  into  England, 
prefixed  to  History  of  English  Poetry,  p.  cxliii.     (EJit.  of  ]824.) 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


585 


in  which  the  laity  were  unworthy  of  participating, 
was  in  some  degree  the  common  belief  of  the  age, 
and  by  the  learned  themselves  was  almost  uni- 
versally held  as  an  article  of  faith  that  admitted  of 
no  dispute.  Nothing  can  be  more  strongly  marked 
than  the  tone  of  contempt  which  is  expressed  for 
the  mass  of  the  community,  the  unlearned  vulgar, 
by  the  scholars  of  this  period;,  in  their  correspond- 
ence with  one  another  especially,  they  seem  to 
look  upon  all  beyond  their  own  small  circle  as 
beings  of  an  inferior  species.  This  pride  of  theirs, 
however,  worked  beneficially  upon  the  whole  :  in 
the  first  place,  it  was  in  great  part  merely  a  proper 
estimation  of  the  advantages  of  knowledge  over 
ignorance ;  and,  secondly,  it  helped  to  make  the 
man  of  the  pen  a  match  for  him  of  the  sword — the 
natural  liberator  of  the  human  race  for  its  natural 
oppressor.  At  the  same  time,  it  intimates  very 
forcibly  at  once  the  comparative  rarity  of  the  highly- 
prized  distinction,  and  the  depth  of  the  darkness 
that  still  reigned  far  and  wide  around  the  few  scat- 
tered points  of  light. 

Schools  and  other  seminaries  of  leai'niug,  how- 
ever, were  greatly  multiphed  in  this  age,  and  also 
elevated  in  their  character,  in  England  as  well 
as  elsewhere.  Allusion  has  been  made  in  a  pre- 
ceding chapter  to  the  exertions  made  by  Arch- 
bishop Lanfranc  to  establish  proper  schools  in 
connection  with  the  cathedrals  and  monasteries  in 
all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Both  he  and  his  suc- 
cessor, Anselm,  labored  for  this  praiseworthy  ob- 
ject with  great  zeal ;  and  it  was  one  which  was 
also  patronized  and  promoted  by  the  general  voice 
of  the  church.  In  1179  it  was  ordered  by  the 
third  general  council  of  Lateran,  that  in  every 
cathedral  should  be  appointed  and  maintained  a 
head-teacher,  or  scholastic,  as  was  the  title  given 
to  him,  who,  beside  keeping  a  school  of  his  own, 
should  have  authority  over  all  the  other  school- 
masters of  the  diocese,  and  the  sole  right  of  grant- 
ing licenses,  without  which  no  one  should  be  en- 
titled to  teach.  In  former  times  the  bishop  himself 
had  frequently  undertaken  the  office  of  scholastic 
of  the  diocese  ;  but  its  duties  were  rarely  efficiently 
performed  under  that  an-angement,  and  at  length 
they  seem  to  have  come  to  be  generally  altogether 
neglected.  After  the  custom  was  introduced  of 
maintaining  it  as  a  distinct  office,  it  was  filled  in 
many  cases  by  the  most  learned  persons  of  the 
time.  Beside  these  cathedral  schools  there  were 
others  established  in  all  the  religious  houses,  and 
many  of  the  latter  were  also  of  high  reputation.  It 
is  reckoned  that  of  rehgious  houses  of  all  kinds 
there  were  founded  no  fewer  than  five  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  between  the  Conquest  and  the  death 
of  King  John ;  and,  beside  these,  there  still  existed 
many  others  that  had  been  founded  in  the  Saxon 
times.  All  these  cathedral  and  conventual  schools, 
however,  appear  to  have  been  intended  exclusively 
for  the  instruction  of  persons  proposing  to  make 
the  church  their  profession.  But  mention  is  also 
made  of  others  established  both  in  many  of  the 
principal  cities,  and  even  in  the  villages,  which 
would  seem  to  have  been  open  to  the  community 


at  large ;  for  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  laitj-, 
though  generally  excluded  from  the  benefits  of  a 
learned  education,  were  not  left  wholly  without  the 
means  of  obtaining  some  elementary  instruction. 
Some  of  these  city  schools,  however,  were  eminent 
as  institutes  of  the  highest  departments  of  learning. 
One  in  particular  is  mentioned  by  Matthew  Paris 
as  established  in  the  town  of  St.  Albans,  which 
was  presided  over  by  Matthew,  a  phj'sician,  who 
had  been  educated  at  the  famous  school  of  Salerno, 
in  Italy,  and  by  his  nephew  Garinus,  who  was 
eminent  for  his  knowledge  of  the  civil  and  canon 
laws,  and  where  we  may  therefore  suppose  in- 
structions were  given  both  in  law  and  in  medicine. 
According  to  Fitzstephen  there  were  three  of 
these  schools  of  a  higher  order  regularly  established 
in  London,  beside  several  others  that  were  occa- 
sionally opened  by  distinguished  teachers.  The 
London  schools,  however,  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  academies  of  science  and  the  higher  learning, 
like  that  of  St.  Albans.  Fitzstephen's  description 
would  rather  lead  us  to  infer  that,  although  they 
were  attended  by  pupils  of  diflferent  ages  and  de- 
grees of  proficiency,  they  were  merely  schools  of 
gi"ammar,  rhetoric,  and  dialectics.  "  On  holidays," 
he  says,  "  it  is  usual  for  these  schools  to  hold  public 
assemblies  in  the  churches,  in  which  the  scholars 
engage  in  demonstrative  or  logical  disputations, 
some  using  enthymems,  and  others  perfect  syllo- 
gisms ;  some  aiming  at  nothing  but  to  gain  the  vic- 
tory, and  make  an  ostentatious  display  of  their 
acuteness,  while  others  have  the  investigation  of 
truth  in  view.  Artful  sophists  on  these  occasions 
acquire  great  applause ;  some  by  a  prodigious  inun- 
dation and  flow  of  words,  others  by  their  specious 
but  fallacious  arguments.  After  the  disputations 
other  scholars  deliver  rhetorical  declamations,  in 
which  they  observe  all  the  rules  of  art,  and  neglect 
no  topic  of  persuasion.  Even  the  younger  boys  in 
the  diflferent  schools  contend  against  each  other,  in 
verse,  about  the  principles  of  grammar,  and  the 
preterites  and  supines  of  verbs." 

The  twelfth  century  may  be  considered  as  prop- 
erly the  age  of  the  institution  of  what  we  now  call 
Universities  in  Europe,  though  many  of  the  es- 
tablishments that. then  assumed  the  regular  form 
of  universities  had  undoubtedly  existed  long  before 
as  schools  or  studia.  This  was  the  case  with  the 
oldest  of  the  European  universities,  with  Bologna 
and  Paris,  and  also,  in  all  probability,  with  Oxford 
and  Cambridge.  But  it  may  be  questioned  if  even 
Bologna,  the  mother  of  all  the  rest,  was  entitled, 
by  any  organization  or  constitution  it  had  received, 
to  take  a  higher  name  than  a  school  or  studium  be- 
fore the  latter  part  of  this  century.  It  is  admitted 
that  it  was  not  till  about  the  year  1200  that  the 
school  out  of  which  the  University  of  Paris  arose 
had  come  to  subsist  as  an  incorporation,  divided  into 
nations,  and  presided  over  by  a  rector.'  The  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  properly  so  called,  is  probably  of 
nearly  the  same  antiquity.  It  seems  to  have  been 
patronized  and  fostered  by  Richard  I.,  as  that  of 
Paris   was    by  his    great  rival,    Philip    Augustus. 

1  See  Crevier,  Hist,  de  I'Univ.  de  Tari?,  i.  255. 


586 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Both  Oxford  and  Cambridge  had  undoubtedly  been 
eminent  seats  of  learning  long  before  this  time,  as 
London,  St.  Albans,  and  other  cities  had  also  been; 
but  there  is  no  evidence  that  either  the  one  school 
or  the  other  had  at  an  earlier  date  become  anything 
more  than  a  great  school,  or  even  that  it  was  dis- 
tinguished by  any  assigned  rank  or  privileges  above 
the  other  gi-eat  schools  of  the  kingdom.  In  the 
reign  of  Richard  I.  we  find  the  University  of  Oxford 
recognized  as  an  establishment  of  the  same  kind 
with  the  University  of  Paris,  and  as  the  rival  of  that 
seminary. 

Of  the  state  of  the  school  at  Cambridge  through- 
out the  twelfth  century  we  have  the  following  dis- 
tinct account  from  a  contemporary  writer : — "  In 
the  year  1109,"  says  Peter  of  Blois,  in  his  "Con- 
tinuation of  the  History  of  Ingulphus,"  "  Jolfrid, 
Abbot  of  Croyland,  sent  to  his  manor  of  Cottenham, 
near  Cambridge,  Master  Gislebert,  his  fellow  monk, 
and  professor  of  theology,  with  three  other  monks 
who  had  followed  him  into  England ;  who  being 
very  well  instructed  in  philosophical  theorems,  and 
other  primitive  sciences,  went  every  day  to  Cam- 
bridge, and,  having  hired  a  certain  public  barn, 
taught  the  sciences  openly,  and  in  a  little  time  col- 
lected a  gi'eat  concourse  of  scholars  ;  for,  in  the 
very  second  year  after  their  arrival,  the  number  of 
their  scholars  from  the  town  and  country  increased 
so  much  that  there  was  no  house,  barn,  nor  church 
capable  of  containing  them.  For  this  reason  they 
separated  into  different  parts  of  the  town,  and  imi- 
tating the  plan  of  the  Studium  of  Orleans,  Brother 
Odo,  who  was  eminent  as  a  grammarian  and  satiri- 
cal poet,  read  grammar,  according  to  the  doctrine 
of  Priscian  and  of  his  commentator  Remigius,  to 
the  boys  and  younger  students,  that  were  assigned 
to  him,  early  in  the  morning.  At  one  o'clock, 
Brother  Terricus,  a  most  acute  sophist,  read  the 
logic  of  Aristotle,  according  to  the  Introductions  and 
Commentaries  of  Porphyry  and  Averroes,^  to  those 
who  were  further  advanced.  At  three.  Brother 
William  read  lectures  on  TuUy's  Rhetoric  and 
Quintilian's  Institutions.  But  Master  Gislebert, 
being  ignorant  of  the  English,  but  very  expert  in 
the  Latin  and  French  languages,  preached  in  the 
several  churches  to  the  people  on  Sundays  and 
holidays."  There  is  here  no  hint  of  any  sort  of  in- 
corporation or  public  establishment  whatever;  the 
description  is  merely  that  of  a  school  set  on  foot 
and  conducted  by  an  association  of  private  individ- 
uals ;  and  even  this  private  school  would  seem  to 
have  been  first  opened  in  the  year  1109,  although 
there  may  possibly  have  been  other  schools  taught 
in  the  place  before.  It  may  be  gathered  from  what 
the  writer  adds,  that  at  the  time  when  he  wrote 
(in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  century),  the  school 
founded  by  Gislebert  and  his  companions  had  at- 
tained to  great  celebrity ;  but  there  is  nothing  to 
lead  us  to  suppose  that  it  had  even  then  become 
more   than  a  very  distinguished   school.     "  From 

I  The  works  of  Averroes,  however,  who  died  in  1 198,  were  certainly 
not  in  existence  at  the  time  here  referred  to.  Either  Peter  of  Blois 
must  have  been  i^orant  of  this,  or— if  he  was  really  the  author  of  the 
statement — the  name  must  have  been  the  insertion  of  some  later 
iranscriber  of  his  text. 


this  little  fountain,"  he  says,  "  which  hath  swelled 
into  a  gi-eat  river,  we  now  behold  the  city  of  God 
made  glad,  and  all  England  rendered  fruitful,  by 
many  teachers  and  doctors  issuing  from  Cambridge, 
after  the  likeness  of  the  holy  Paradise." 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  rising  reputation 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  the  most  ambitious  of 
the  English  students  continued  to  resort  for  part  of 
their  education  to  the  more  distinguished  foreign 
schools  during  the  whole  of  the  twelfth  century. 
Thus,  it  is  recorded  that  several  volumes  of  the 
Arabian  philosophy  were  brought  into  England  by 
Daniel  Marlac,  who,  in  the  year  1185,  had  gone  to  - 
Toledo  to  study  mathematics.  Salerno  was  still  I 
the  chief  school  of  medicine,  and  Bologna  of  law,  " 
although  Oxford  was  also  becoming  famous  for  the 
latter  study.  But,  as  a  place  of  general  instruction, 
the  University  of  Paris  stood  at  the  head  of  all 
others.  Paris  was  then  wont  to  be  styled,  by  way 
of  preeminence,  the  City  of  Letters.  So  many 
Englishmen,  or,  to  speak  more  strictly,  subjects  of 
the  English  crown,  were  constantly  found  among 
the  students  at  this  great  seminary,  that  they 
formed  one  of  the  four  nations  into  which  the 
members  of  the  university  were  divided.  It  would 
appear  from  the  following  verses  of  Negel  Wircker, 
an  English  student  at  Paris  in  1170,  that  his  coun- 
trymen, whom  they  describe,  were  ah'eady  noted 
for  that  spirit  of  display  and  expense  which  still 
makes  so  prominent  a  part  of  their  continental  rep- 
utation : — 

Moribus  egregii,  verbo  vultuque  venusti, 

Ingenio  pollent,  consilioque  vigcnt. 
Dona  pluunt  populis,  et  delestantur  avaros, 
Fercula  multiplicant,  et  sine  lege  bibunt. 
Of  graceful  mien  and  manners,  gracious  speech, 
Strong  sense,  with  genius  brightened,  shines  in  each. 
Their  free  hand  still  rains  largess  ;  when  they  dine, 
Course  follows  course,  in  rivers  flows  the  wine. 

Among  the  students  at  the  University  of  Paris 
in  the  twelfth  century  are  to  be  found  nearly  all 
the  most  distinguished  names  among  the  learned 
of  every  country.  One  of  the  teachers,  the  cele- 
brated Abelard,  is  said  to  have  alone  had  as  pupils 
twenty  persons  who  afterward  became  cardinals, 
and  more  than  fifty  who  rose  to  be  bishops  and 
archbishops.  It  has  already  been  mentioned  that 
Thomas  a  Becket  received  part  of  his  education 
here.  Several  of  the  most  eminent  teachers  were 
Englishmen.  Among  these  may  be  particularly 
mentioned  Robert  of  Melun  (so  called  from  having 
first  taught  in  that  city),  and  Robert  White,  or 
Pullus,  as  he  is  called  in  Latin.  Robert  of  Melun, 
who  afterward  became  Bishop  of  Hereford,  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  the  zeal  and  ability  with 
which  he  opposed  the  novel  views  which  the  rising 
sect  of  the  Nominalists  were  then  introducing  both 
into  philosophy  and  theology.  He  was  the  author 
of  several  theological  treatises,  none  of  which,  how- 
ever, have  been  printed.  Robert  White,  after 
teaching  some  years  at  Paris,  where  he  was 
attended  by  crowded  audiences,  was  induced  to 
return  to  his  own  country,  where  he  is  said  to  have 
read  lectures  on  theology  at  Oxford  for  five  years, 
which  greatly  contributed  to  spread  the  renown  of 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


587 


that  rising  seminary.  After  having  declined  a 
bishopric  that  was  offered  to  him  by  Henry  I.,  he 
went  to  reside  at  Rome  in  1143,  on  the  invitation 
of  Celestine  II.,  and  was  soon  after  made  a  cardinal 
and  chancellor  of  the  holy  see.  One  work  written 
by  him  has  been  printed,  a  summary  of  theology, 
under  the  then  common  title  of "  The  Book  of 
Sentences,"  which  is  said  to  be  distinguished  by  the 
superior  correctness  of  its  style  and  the  lucidness 
of  its  method. 

Another  celebrated  name  among  the  Englishmen 
who  are  recorded  to  have  studied  at  Paris  in  those 
days  is  that  of  Nicholas  Breakspear,  who  afterward 
became  pope  by  the  title  of  Adrian  IV.  But,  above 
all  others,  John  of  Salisbury  deserves  to  be  here 
mentioned.  It  is  in  his  writings  that  we  find  the 
most  complete  account  that  has  come  down  to  us 
not  only  of  the  mode  of  study  followed  at  Paris,  but 
of  the  entire  learning  of  the  age. 

At  this  time,  it  is  to  be  observed,  those  branches 
of  literary  and  scientific  knowledge  which  were 
specially  called  the  Arts  were  considered  as  divided 
into  two  great  classes, — the  first  or  more  elementary 
of  which,  comprehending  Grammar,  Rhetoric,  and 
Logic,  was  called  the  Trivium ;  the  second,  com- 
prehending Music,  Arithmetic,  Geometry,  and 
Astronomy,  the  Quadrivium.  The  whole  seven 
arts,  so  classified,  used  to  be  thus  enumerated  in  a 
Latin  hexameter : — 

Lingua,  Tropus,  Ratio,  Numerus,  Tonus,  Angulus,  Astra ; 

or,  with  definitions  subjoined,  in  the  two  still  more 
singularly  constructed  verses, — 

Gram,  loquitur,  Dia.  vera  docet,  Rhet.  verba  colorat, 
Mus.  cadit,  Ar.  numerat,  Geo.  ponderat,  Ast.  colit  astra. 

John  of  Salisbury  speaks  of  this  system  of  the 
sciences  as  an  ancient  one  in  his  day.  "  The  Tri- 
vium and  Quadrivium,"  he  says,  in  his  work  entitled 
"  Metalogicus,"  "  were  so  much  admired  by  our 
ancestors  in  former  ages,  that  they  imagined  they 
comprehended  all  wisdom  and  learning,  and  were 
sufficient  for  the  solution  of  all  questions  and  the 
removing  of  all  difficulties  ;  for  whoever  understood 
the  Trivium  could  explain  all  manner  of  books  with- 
out a  teacher ;  but  he  who  was  farther  advanced, 
and  was  master  also  of  the  Quadrivium,  could 
answer  all  questions  and  unfold  all  the  secrets  of 
nature."  The  present  age,  however,  had  outgrown 
the  simplicity  of  this  arrangement ;  and  various  new 
studies  had  been  added  to  the  ancient  seven,  as 
necessary  to  complete  the  circle  of  the  sciences  and 
the  curriculum  of  a  liberal  education. 

It  was  now,  in  particular,  that  Theology  first 
came  to  be  ranked  as  a  science.  This  was  the  age 
of  St.  Bernard,  the  last  of  the  Fathers,  and  of  Peter 
Lombard,  the  first  of  the  Schoolmen.  The  distinc- 
tion between  these  two  classes  of  wrriters  is,  that 
the  latter  do,  and  the  former  do  not,  treat  their 
subject  in  a  systematizing  spirit.  The  change  was 
the  consequence  of  the  cultivation  of  the  Aristotelian 
Logic  and  Metaphysics.  When  these  studies  were 
first  introduced  into  the  schools  of  the  West,  they 
were  wholly  unconnected  with  theology.  But, 
especially  at  a  time  when  all  the  learned  were 


churchmen,  it  was  impossible  that  the  great  instru- 
ment of  thought  and  reasoning  could  long  remain 
unapplied  to  the  most  important  of  all  the  subjects 
of  thought — the  subject  of  religion.  It  would  appear, 
as  was  formerly  stated,  that  John  Erigena  and  other 
Irish  divines  introduced  philosophy  and  metaphysics 
into  the  discussion  of  questions  of  religion  as  early 
as  the  eighth  centuiy ;  and  they  are  consequently  en- 
titled to  be  regarded  as  having  first  set  the  example 
of  the  method  afterward  pursued  by  the  schoolmen. 
But  although  the  influence  of  their  wi'itings  may 
thus  probably  be  traced  in  preparing  the  way  for 
the  introduction  of  the  scholastic  system,  and  also 
afterward,  perhaps,  in  modifying  its  spirit,  it  was 
derived  immediately,  in  the  shape  in  which  it  ap- 
peared in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  from 
another  source.  Erigena  was  a  Platonist ;  the  spirit 
of  his  philosophy  was  that  of  the  school  of  Alexan- 
dria. But  the  first  schoolmen,  properly  so  called, 
were  Aristotelians  ;  they  drew  their  logic  and  met- 
aphysics originally  from  the  Latin  translations  of  the 
works  of  Aristotle  made  from  the  Arabic.  How 
far,  if  at  all,  they  may  also  have  been  indebted  to 
the  commentaries  of  the  Arabic  doctors,  would  be 
a  curious  inquiry.  '  But  whether  they  took  their 
method  of  philosophy  entirely  from  the  ancient 
heathen  sage,  or  in  part  from  his  modern  Mahom- 
edan  interpreters  and  illustrators,  it  could  in  neither 
case  have  at  first  any  necessary  or  natural  alhance 
\vith  Christianity.'  Yet  it  very  soon,  as  we  have 
said,  formed  this  alliance.  Both  Lanfranc  and 
Anselm,  although  not  commonly  reckoned  among 
the  schoolmen,  were  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the 
new  learning,  and  it  is  infused  throughout  their 
theological  writings.  Abelard  soon  after,  before  he 
was  yet  a  churchman,  may  almost  be  considered  to 
have  wielded  it  as  a  weapon  of  skepticism.  Even 
so  used,  however,  religion  was  still  the  subject  to 
which  it  was  applied.  At  last  came  Peter  Lom- 
bard, who,  by  the  publication,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  twelfth  century,  of  his  celebrated  Four  Books 
of  Sentences,  properly  founded  the  system  of  what 
is  called  the  Scholastic  Theology.  The  schoolmen, 
from  the  Master  of  the  Sentences  down  to  Francis 
Suarez,  who  died  after  the  commencement  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  were  all  theologians.  Al- 
though, however,  religious  speculation  was  the  field 
of  thought  upon  which  the  spirit  of  the  Aristotelian 
philosophy  chiefly  expended  itself,  there  was  scarce- 
ly any  one  of  the  arts  or  sciences  upon  which  it 
did  not  in  some  degree  seize.  The  scholastic  logic 
became  the  universal  instrument  of  thought  and 
study ;  every  branch  of  human  learning  was  at- 
tempted to  be  pursued  by  its  assistance ;  and  most 
branches  were  more  or  less  aflfected  by  its  influence 
in  regard  to  the  forms  which  they  assumed. 

John  of  Salisbury  went  to  complete  his  education 
at  Paris  in  the  year  1136.  "When  I  beheld,"  he 
writes  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Becket,  "  the  reve- 
rence paid  to  the  clergy,  the  majesty  and  glory  of 
the  whole  church,  and  the  various  occupations  of 
those  who  applied  themselves  to  philosophy  in  that 
city,  it  raised  my  admiration  as  if  I  had  seen  the 
ladder  of  Jacob,  the  top  of  which  reached  to  heaven. 


5S8 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


while  the  steps  were  crowded  with  angels  ascend- 
ing and  descending."  The  first  master  whose  lec- 
tures he  attended  was  the  renowned  Abelard,  still, 
after  all  the  vicissitudes  of  his  life,  teaching  with 
undiminished  glory,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  confluence 
of  ad  miring  disciples,  on  the  Mount  of  St.  Genevieve. 
"I  drank  in,"  says  his  English  pupil,  "with  incred- 
ible avidity,  every  word  that  fell  from  his  lips ;  but 
he  soon,  to  my  infinite  regret,  retired."  Abelard 
lived  only  a  few  years  after  this  date,  which  he 
spent  in  devotion  and  entire  seclusion  from  the 
world.  John  of  SaUsbury  then  studied  dialectics 
for  two  years  under  other  two  masters,  one  of  whom 
was  his  countryman,  Robert  de  Melun,  mentioned 
above.  After  this  he  returned  to  the  study  of 
grammar  and  rhetoric,  which  he  pursued 'for  three 
years  under  William  de  Couches,  of  whose  method 
of  teaching  he  has  left  a  particular  account.  It  ap- 
pears to  have  embraced  a  critical  exposition  both  of 
the  style  and  the  matter  of  the  writers  commented 
upon,  and  to  have  been  well  calculated  to  nourish 
both  the  understanding  and  the  taste.  After  this 
he  spent  seven  years  under  other  masters,  partly 
in  the  further  prosecution  of  his  acquaintance  with 
the  writers  of  antiquity  and  the  practice  of  Latin  com- 
position, partly  in  the  study  of  the  mathematics  and 
theology.  The  entire  course  thus  occupied  twelve 
years  ;  but  some,  it  would  appear,  devoted  the  whole 
of  this  time  to  the  study  of  dialectics,  or  logic,  alone. 
One  of  the  treatises  of  John  of  Salisbury,  that  enti- 
tled "  Metalogicus,"  is  intended  principally  to  expose 
the  absurdity  and  injurious  effects  of  this  exclusive 
devotion  to  the  art  of  wrangling ;  and  although  it 
must  be  considered  as  written  with  some  degree  of 
satirical  license,  the  representation  which  it  gives  of 
the  state  of  things  produced  by  the  new  spirit  that 
had  gone  abroad  over  the  realms  of  learning  is  very 
curious  and  interesting.  The  turn  of  the  writer's 
own  genius  was  decidedly  to  the  rhetorical  rather 
than  the  metaphysical,  and  he  was  not  very  well 
qualified,  perhaps,  to  perceive  certain  of  the  uses  or 
recommendations  of  the  study  against  which  he 
directs  his  attack ;  but  the  extravagances  of  its  de- 
votees, it  must  be  confessed,  fairly  exposed  them  to 
his  ridicule  and  castigation.  "  I  wish,"  he  says  in 
one  place,  "  to  behold  the  light  of  truth,  which  these 
logicians  say  is  only  revealed  to  them.  I  approach 
them, — I  beseech  them  to  instruct  me,  that,  if  pos- 
sible, I  may  become  as  wise  as  one  of  them.  They 
consent, — they  promise  great  things, — and  at  first 
they  command  me  to  observe  a  Pythagorean  silence, 
that  I  may  be  admitted  into  all  the  secrets  of  wisdom 
which  they  pretend  are  in  their  possession.  But 
ijy-and-by  they  permit,  and  even  command  me,  to 
prattle  and  quibble  with  them.  This  they  call  dis- 
puting ;  this  they  say  is  logic ;  but  I  am  no  wiser." 
He  accuses  them  of  wasting  their  ingenuity  in  the 
discussion  of  such  puerile  puzzles  as  whether  a  per- 
son in  buying  a  whole  cloak  also  bought  the  cowl  ? 
or  whether,  when  a  hog  was  carried  to  market 
with  a  rope  tied  about  its  neck  and  held  at  the  other 
end  by  a  man,  the  hog  was  really  carried  to  market 
by  the  man  or  by  the  rope  ?  It  must  be  confessed 
that  if  their  logic  had  been  worth  much,  it  ought 


to  have  made  short  work  with  these  questions,  if 
their  settlement  was  deemed  worth  anything.  Our 
author  adds,  however,  that  they  were  declared  to 
be  questions  which  could  not  be  solved,  the  argu- 
ments on  both  sides  being  perfectly  equal.  But  his 
quarrel  with  the  dialecticians  was  chiefly  on  the 
ground  of  the  disregard  and  aversion  they  mani- 
fested, in  their  method  of  exercising  the  intellectual 
powers,  to  all  polite  literature,  to  all  that  was  merely 
graceful  and  ornamental.  And  there  can  be  no 
question  that  the  ascendency  of  the  scholastic  phi- 
losophy was  fatal  for  the  time  to  the  cultivation  of 
polite  literature  in  Europe.  So  long  as  it  reigned 
supreme  in  the  schools,  learning  was  whollj'  divorced 
from  taste.  The  useful  utterly  rejected  all  connec- 
tion with  the  beautiful.  The  head  looked  down 
with  contempt  upon  the  heart.  Poetry  and  fiction, 
and  whatever  else  belonged  to  the  imaginative  part 
of  our  nature,  were  left  altogether  to  the  unlearned, 
to  the  makers  of  songs  and  lays  for  the  people.  It 
was  probablj'  fortunate  for  poetry,  and  the  kindred 
forms  of  literature,  in  the  end,  that  they  were  thus 
left  solely  to  the  popukir  cultivation  for  a  time  ;  they 
drew  nourishment  and  new  life  from  the  new  soil 
into  which  they  were  transplanted ;  and  their  pro- 
duce has  been  the  richer  and  the  racier  for  it  ever 
since.  The  revival  of  polite  literature  probably 
came  at  a  better  time  in  the  fifteenth,  than  if  it  had 
come  in  the  twelfth  century.  Yet  it  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  when  it  was  threatened  with  blight 
and  extinction  at  the  earlier  era,  its  friends  should 
either  have  been  able  to  foresee  its  resurrection 
two  or  three  centuries  later,  or  should  have  been 
greatly  consoled  by  that  prospect  if  they  had. 

John  of  Salisbury's  chief  work  is  his  "  Polycrati- 
con,"  or,  as  he  further  entitles  it,  "A  Treatise  in 
eight  books,  on  the  Frivolities  of  Courtiers  and  the 
Footsteps  of  Philosophers."  (De  Nugis  Curialium 
et  Vestigiis  Pliilosophorum.)  It  is,  says  Warton, 
"an  extremely  pleasant  miscellany,  replete  with 
erudition,  and  a  judgment  of  men  and  things,  which 
properly  belong*  to  a  more  sensible  and  reflecting 
period.  His  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  clas- 
sics appears  not  only  from  the  happj'  facility  of  his 
language,  but  from  the  many  citations  of  the  purest 
Roman  authors  with  which  his  works  are  perpetu- 
ally interspersed." '  He  also  wrote  Latin  verses 
with  extreme  elegance.  John  of  Salisbury  died 
Bishop  of  Chartres  in  1182.  Another  distinguished 
cultivator  of  polite  literature  in  the  same  age  was 
Peter  of  Blois,  to  whose  letters,  abounding  as  they 
do  in  graphic  descriptions  of  the  manners  and  char- 
acters of  the  time,  we  have  already  more  than  once 
had  occasion  to  refer.  Neither  in  elegance  of  taste 
and  style,  however,  nor  in  general  literaiy  accom-  ' 
plishment,  is  the  Frenchman  to  be  compared  with 
his  illustrious  English  contemporaiy. 

The  classical  knowledge  of  this  period,  however, 
was  almost  confined  to  the  Roman  authors,  and 
some  of  the  most  eminent  of  these  were  as  yet 
unstudied  and  unknown.  Even  John  of  Salisbury, 
though  a  few  Greek  words  are  to  be  found  in  his 
compositions,  seems  to  have  had  only  the  slightest 

1  Introd.  of  Learning  into  Eng.  r-  153. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


589 


possible  acquaintance  with  tbat  language.  Both  it 
and  the  Hebrew,  however,  were  known  to  Abelard 
and  Eloisa;  and  it  is  probable  that  there  were  both 
in  England  and  other  European  countries  a  few 
students  of  the  Oriental  tongues,  for  the  acquisition 
of  which  inducements  and  facilities  must  have  been 
presented,  not  only  by  the  custom  of  resorting  to 
the  Arabic  colleges  in  Spain,  and  the  constant  inter- 
course with  the  East  kept  up  by  the  pilgrimages 
and  the  crusades,  but  also  by  the  numbers  of  learned 
Jews  that  were  everywhere  to  be  found.  In  Eng- 
land the  Jews  had  schools  in  London,  York,  Lin- 
coln, Lynn,  Norwich,  Oxford,  Cambridge,  and  other 
towns,  which  appear  to  have  been  attended  by 
Christians  as  well  as  by  those  of  their  own  per- 
suasion. Some  of  these  seminaries,  indeed,  were 
rather  colleges  than  schools.  Beside  the  Hebrew 
and  Arabic  languages,  arithmetic  and  medicine  are 
mentioned  among  the  branches  of  knowledge  that 
were  taught  in  them ;  and  the  masters  were  gen- 
erally the  most  distinguished  of  the  rabbis.  In  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  the  age  of  Sarchi, 
the  Kimchis,  Maimonides,  and  other  distinguished 
names,  rabbinical  learning  was  in  an  eminently 
flourishing  state. 

In  regard  to  the  state  of  the  other  branches  of 
knowledge  that  have  been  mentioned,  only  a  few 
words  more  require  to  be  added.  There  is  no 
certain  evidence  that  the  Arabic  numerals  were  yet 
known  in  Europe  ;  they  certainly  were  not  in  gen- 
eral use.  Although  the  Elements  of  Euclid  and 
other  geometrical  works  had  been  translated  into 
Latin  from  the  Arabic,  the  mathematical  sciences 
appear  to  have  been  but  little  studied.  "  The  sci- 
ence of  demonstration,"  says  John  of  Salisbury,  in 
his  Metalogicus,  "  is  of  all  others  the  most  difficult, 
and  alas !  is  almost  quite  neglected,  except  by  a 
very  few  who  apply  to  the  study  of  the  mathemat- 
ics, and  particularly  of  geometry.  But  this  last  is 
at  present  very  little  attended  to  among  us,  and  is 
only  studied  by  some  persons  in  Spain,  Egypt,  and 
Arabia,  for  the  sake  of  astronomy.  One  reason  of 
this  is,  that  those  parts  of  the  works  of  Aristotle 
that  relate  to  the  demonstrative  sciences  are  so  ill 
translated,  and  so  incorrectly  transcribed,  that  we 
meet  with  insurmountable  difficulties  in  every  chap- 
ter." The  name  of  the  mathematics  at  this  time, 
indeed,  was  chiefly  given  to  the  false  science  of 
astrology.  "  Mathematicians,"  says  Peter  of  Blois, 
"  are  those  who,  from  the  position  of  the  stars,  the 
aspect  of  the  firmament,  and  the  motions  of  the 
planets,  discover  things  that  are  to  come."  As- 
tronomy, however,  or  the  time  science  of  the  stars, 
which  was  zealously  cultivated  by  the  Arabs  in  the 
East  and  in  Spain,  seems  also  to  have  had  some  cul- 
tivators among  the  learned  of  Christian  Europe. 
Latin  translations  existed  of  several  Greek  and 
Arabic  astronomical  works.  Ingulphus  gives  the 
following  curious  description  of  a  sort  of  scheme  or 
representation  of  the  planetary  system  called  the 
Nadir,  which  he  says  was  destroyed  when  his  abbey 
of  Croyland  was  burnt  in  1091  :  "We  then  lost  a 
most  beautiful  and  precious  table,  fabricated  of  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  metals,  according  to  the  variety  of 


the  stars  and  heavenly  signs.  Saturn  was  of  cop- 
per, Jupiter  of  gold.  Mars  of  iron,  the  sun  of  latten, 
Mercury  of  amber,  Venus  of  tin,  the  moon  of  silver. 
The  eyes  were  charmed,  as  well  as  the  mind  in- 
structed, by  beholding  the  colure  circles,  with  the 
zodiac  and  all  its  signs,  formed  with  wonderful  art, 
of  metals  and  precious  stones,  according  to  their 
several  natures,  forms,  figures,  and  colors.  It  was 
the  most  admired  and  celebrated  Nadir  in  all  Eng- 
land." These  last  words  would  seem  to  impl}'  that 
such  tables  were  then  not  uncommon.  This  one, 
it  is  stated,  had  been  presented  to  a  former  abbot  of 
Croyland  by  a  king  of  France. 

John  of  Salisbury,  in  his  account  of  his  studies 
at  Paris,  makes  no  mention  either  of  medicine  or 
of  law.  With  regard  to  the  former,  indeed,  he 
expressly  tells  us  that  the  Parisians  themselves  used 
to  go  to  study  it  at  Salerno  and  Montpellier.  By 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  however, 
we  find  a  school  of  medicine  established  at  Paris, 
which  soon  became  very  celebrated.  Of  course 
there  were,  at  an  earlier  date,  persons  who  prac- 
ticed the  medical  art  in  that  city.  The  physicians 
in  all  the  countries  of  Europe  at  this  period  were 
generally  churchmen.  Many  of  the  Arabic  medical 
works  were  early  translated  into  Latin ;  but  the 
Parisian  professors  soon  began  to  publish  treatises 
on  the  art  of  their  own.  The  science  of  the  physi- 
cians of  this  age,  beside  comprehending  whatever 
was  to  be  learned  respecting  the  diagnostics  and  treat- 
ment of  diseases  from  Hippocrates,  Galen,  and  the 
other  ancient  writers,  embraced  a  considerable  body 
of  botanical  and  chemical  knowledge.  Chemistry 
in  particular  the  Arabs  had  carried  far  beyond  the 
point  at  which  it  had  been  left  by  the  ancients.  Of 
anatomy  little  could  as  yet  be  accurately  known, 
while  the  dissection  of  the  human  subject  was  not 
practiced.  Yet  it  would  appear  that  phj-sicians  and 
surgeons  were  already  beginning  to  be  distinguished. 
Both  the  canon  and  civil  laws  were  also  introduced 
into  the  routine  of  study  at  the  University  of  Paris 
soon  after  the  time  John  of  Salisbury  studied  there. 
The  canon  law  was  originally  considered  to  be  a 
part  of  theology,  and  only  took  the  form  of  a  sep- 
arate study  after  the  publication  of  the  systematic 
compilation  of  it  called  the  "  Decretum  of  Gratian," 
in  1151.  Gratian  was  a  monk  of  Bologna,  and  his 
work,  not  the  first  collection  of  the  kind,  but  the 
most  complete  and  the  best  arranged  that  had  yet 
been  compiled,  was  immediately  introduced  as  a 
text-book  in  that  university.  It  may  be  regarded 
as  having  laid  the  foundation  of  the  science  of  the 
canon  law,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  system  of 
the  scholastic  philosophy  was  founded  by  Peter 
Lombard's  Book  of  Sentences.  Regular  lecturers 
upon  it  very  soon  appeared  at  Orleans,  at  Paris,  at 
Oxford,  and  all  the  other  chief  seats  of  learning  iu 
western  Christendom  ;  and  before  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century  no  other  study  was  more  eagerly 
pursued,  or  attracted  greater  crowds  of  students, 
than  that  of  the  canon  law.  One  of  its  first  and 
most  celebrated  teachers  at  Paris  was  Girard  la 
Pucelle,  an  Englishman,  who  afterward  became 
Bishop  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry.     Girard  taught 


590 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  ITI. 


the  canon  law  in  Paris  from  1160  to  1177  ;  and,  in  ! 
consideration  of  his  distinguished  merits  and  what 
was  deemed  the  great  importance  of  his  instruc-  ] 
tions,  he  received  from  Pope  Alexander  III.  letters  | 
exempting  him  from  the  obligation  of  residing  on  i 
his  pi-eferments  in  England  while  he  was  so  en- 
gaged ;  this  being,  it  is  said,  the  first  known  exam- 
l)le  of  such  a  privilege  being  granted  to  any  pro- 
fessor.' The  same  professors  who  taught  the  canon 
law  taught  also,  along  with  it,  the  civil  law,  the 
systematic  study  of  which,  likewise,  took  its  rise  in 
this  century,  and  at  the  University  of  Bologna, 
where  the  Pandects  of  Justinian,  of  which  a  more 
perfect  copy  than  had  before  been  known  is  said  to 
have  been  found,  in  1137,  at  Amalphi,*  were  ar- 
ranged and  first  lectured  upon  by  the  German 
Irnerius — the  Lamp  of  the  Law  as  he  was  called^ 
about  the  year  1150.  Both  the  canon  and  the  civil 
law,  however,  are  said  to  have  been  taught  a  ffew 
years  before  this  time  at  Oxford  by  Rogei%  sur- 
named  the  Bachelor,  a  monk  of  Beck,  in  Normandy. 
The  study  was,  from  the  first,  vehemently  opposed 
by  the  practitioners  of  the  common  law,  but,  sus- 
tained by  the  influence  of  the  church,  and  eventually 
also  favored  by  the  government,  it  rose  above  all 
attempts  to  put  it  down.  John  of  Salisbury  affirms 
that,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  the  more  it  was  per- 
secuted the  more  it  flourished.  Peter  of  Blois,  in 
one  of  his  letters,  gives  us  the  following  curious 
account  of  the  ardor  with  which  it  was  pursued 
under  the  superintendence  of  Archbishop  Theobald: 
— "  In  the  house  of  my  master,  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  there  are  several  very  learned  men, 
famous  for  their  knowledge  of  law  and  politics,  who 
spend  the  time  between  prayers  and  dinner  in  lec- 
turing, disputing  and  debating  causes.  To  us  all 
the  knotty  questions  of  the  kingdom  are  referred, 
which  are  produced  in  the  common  hall,  and  every 
one  in  his  order,  having  first  prepared  himself,  de- 
clares, with  all  the  eloquence  and  acuteness  of 
which  he  is  capable,  but  without  wrangling,  what 
is  wisest  and  safest  to  be  done.  If  God  suggests 
the  soundest  opinion  to  the  youngest  among  us,  we 
all  agree  to  it  without  envy  or  deti'action." 

Study  in  every  department  must  have  been  still 
greatly  impeded  in  this  period  by  the  scarcity  of 
books  ;  but  their  multiplication  now  went  on  much 
more  rapidly  than  it  had  formerly  done.  We  have 
already  alluded  to  the  immense  libraries  said  to 
have  been  accumulated  by  the  Arabs,  both  in  their 
Oriental  and  European  seats  of  empire.  No  col- 
lections to  be  compared  with  these  existed  any- 
where in  Christian  Eurojie ;  but  of  the  numerous 
monasteries  that  were  planted  in  every  country, 
few  were  without  libraries  of  greater  or  less  ex- 
tent. A  convent  without  a  library,  it  used  to  be 
proverbially  said,  was  like  a  castle  without  an  ar- 
mory.    When  the  monastery  of  Croydon  was  burnt 

1   Crevier,  Hist,  de  rUniv.  de  Paris,  i.  244. 

'■>  "The  discovery  of  the  Pandects  at  Anialphi,"  says  Gibbon,  "is 
first  noticed  (in  J301)  by  Ludovicus  Bologninus,  on  the  faith  of  a 
Pisan  chronicle,  without  a  name  or  date.  The  whole  story,  though 
unknown  to  the  twelfth  century,  embellished  by  ignorant  ages,  and  sus- 
pected by  rigid  cnticism,  is  not,  however,  destitute  of  much  internal 
probability.'' 


in  1091,  its  library,  according  to  Ingulphus,  con- 
sisted of  900  volumes,  of  which  300  were  very 
large.  "  In  every  great  abbej,"  says  Warton, 
"  there  was  an  apartment  called  the  Scriptorium  ; 
where  many  writers  were  constantly  busied  in 
transcribing  not  only  the  service-books  for  the  choir, 
but  books  for  the  library.  The  Scriptorium  of  St. 
Alban's  Abbey  was  built  by  Abbot  Paulin,  a  Nor- 
man, who  ordered  many  volumes  to  be  written 
there,  about  the  year  1080.  Archbishop  Lanfranc 
furnished  the  copies.  Estates  were  often  granted 
for  the  support  of  the  Scriptorium ....  I  find  some 
of  the  classics  written  in  the  English  monasteries 
very  early.  Henry,  a  Benedictine  monk  of  Hyde 
Abbey,  near  Winchester,  transcribed  in  the  year 
1178,  Terence,  Boethius,  Suetonius,  and  Claudian. 
Of  these,  he  formed  one  book,  illuminating  the  ini- 
tials, and  forming  the  brazen  bosses  of  the  covers 
with  his  own  hands."  Other  instances  of  the  same 
kind  are  added.  The  monks  were  much  accus- 
tomed both  to  illuminate  and  to  bind  books,  as  well 
as  to  transcribe  them.  "  The  scarcity  of  parch- 
ment," it  is  afterward  observed,  "  undoubtedly  pre- 
vented the  transcription  of  many  other  books  in 
these  societies.  About  the  year  1120,  one  Master 
Hugh,  being  appointed  by  the  convent  of  St.  Ed- 
mondsbury,  in  Suftblk,  to  write  and  illuminate  a 
grand  copy  of  the  Bible  for  their  library,  could  pro- 
cure no  parchment  for  this  purpose  in  England." ' 
Paper  made  of  cotton,  however,  was  certainly  in 
common  use  in  the  twelfth  century,  though  no  evi- 
dence exists  that  that  manufactured  from  linen 
rags  was  known  till  about  the  middle  of  the  thir- 
teenth. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice  the  in- 
correctness of  a  statement  frequently  made  which 
attributes  to  the  Conqueror  the  dehberate  design  of 
abolishing  the  Saxon  language  in  England.  The 
oldest  authority  for  this  statement  appears  to  be  a 
wTiter  of  the  name  of  Robert  Holkot,  who  lived  in 
the  fourteenth  century  ;  and  his  account  is  not  more 
improbable  in  itself  than  it  is  in  opposition  to  the 
testimony  of  the  earlier  historians.  But  although 
the  Norman  appears  neither  to  have  made  any 
efibrts  to  extirpate  the  English  tongue,  nor  even  to 
have  introduced  the  French  as  the  language  of  the 
law  and  of  all  public  documents,  the  substitution  of 
French  for  English  must  have  followed  to  a  great 
extent  as  one  of  the  inevitable  consequences  of  the 
Conquest.  Indeed,  causes  that  helped  to  bring 
about  this  change  were  in  operation  even  before 
that  event.  The  Confessor  himself,  according  to 
Ingulphus,  though  a  native  of  England,  yet,  from 
his  education  and  long  residence  in  Normandy,  had 
become  almost  a  Frenchman ;  and  when  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  English  throne,  he  brought  over  with 
him  great  numbers  of  Normans,  whom  he  advanced 
to  the  highest  dignities  in  the  church  and  the  state. 
"  Wherefore,"  it  is  added,  "  the  whole  land  began, 
under  the  influence  of  the  king  and  the  other  Nor- 
mans introduced  by  him,  to  lay  aside  the  English 
customs,  and  to  imitate  the  manners  of  the  French 
in  many  things ;  for  example,  all  the  nobility  in 
1  Introd.  of  Learning  into  Eng.  p.  146. 


Chap.  V.j 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


591 


their  courts  began  to  speak  French  as  a  great  piece 
of  gentility,  to  draw  up  their  charters  and  other 
writings  after  the  French  fashion,  and  to  grow 
ashamed  of  their  old  national  habits  in  these  and  in 
many  other  particulars."  The  establishment  of  the 
Norman  dominion  of  course  perpetuated  and  added 
much  additional  force  to  this  tendency,  in  various 
ways.  The  king  himself,  and,  with  few  exceptions, 
all  the  nobility,  could  speak  no  language  but  French. 
The  residence  of  the  Norman  nobles  and  great  pro- 
prietors in  all  parts  of  the  country  must  have  spread 
the  language  of  the  court.  Above  all,  it  would  be 
diffused  over  the  land  by  the  clergy,  who  were  now 
brought  over  in  great  numbers  from  Normandy,  both 
to  serve  in  the  parochial  cures,  and  to  fill  the  mon- 
asteries that  were  multiplying  so  rapidly.  These 
churchmen  must  have  been  in  constant  intercourse 
with  the  people  of  all  classes.     Beside,  they  were 

Tha  was  Engle-laud  suithe  todeled.  sume  helden  mid  te 
king.  &,  sume  mid  themperice.  for  tha  the  king  was  in 
prisun.  tha  wendeu  the  eorles  &  te  rice  men  that  he  nevre 
mare  sculde  cumme  ut.  &  ssehtleden  wyd  themperice.  & 
brohten  hire  into  Oxenford.  and  iauen  hire  the  burch. 
Tha  the  king  was  ute.  tha  herde  that  ssegen.  and  toe  his 
feord  &  besaet  hire  in  the  tur.  &  me  Iset  hire  dun  on  niht 
of  the  tur  mid  rapes.  &  stal  ut  <&  scse  fleh  &  isede  on  fete 
to  Walingford.  Thaer  efter  scse  ferde  ofer  see.  &,  hi  of 
Nonnandi  wenden  alle  fra  the  king  to  the  eorl  of  Angeeu. 
sume  here  thankes  &  smne  here  unthankes.  for  he  besaet 
heom  til  hi  aiauen  up  here  castles.  &  hi  nau  helpe  ne 
haefden  of  the  king.  Tha  ferde  Eustace,  the  kinges  sune. 
to  France.  &  nam  the  kinges  suster  of  France  to  wife, 
weude  to  bigaeton  Normandi  thaer  thurh.  oc  he  spedde 
Utel.  &  be  gode  rihte.  for  he  was  an  yuel  man.  for  ware 
se  he  wes  dide  mare  yuel  thanne  god.  lie  reuede  the  landes 
&  laeide  micel  gildes  on.  he  brohte  his  wif  to  Engle-land. 
&  dide  hire  in  the  castle  of .  .  .  .  teb.  god  wmman  scse  waes. 
oc  scae  hedde  htel  bhsse  mid  him.  &  xpist  ne  wolde  that 
he  sculde  lange  rixan.  &  wserd  ded  and  his  moder  beien. 
&  te  eorl  of  Angaeu  waerd  ded.  &  his  sune  Henri  toe  to  the 
rice.  And  te  cwen  of  France  todselde  fra  the  king.  &  scae 
com  to  the  iunge  eorl  Henri.  &  he  toe  hire  to  wive.  &  al 
Peitou  mid  hire.  Tha  ferde  he  mid  micel  faerd  into  Engle- 
land.  &  wan  castles.  &  te  king  ferde  agenes  him  mid  micel 
mai'e  ferd.  &  thoth  waethere  fuhten  hi  noht.  oc  ferden  the 
aercebiscop  &  te  wise  men  betwux  heom.  &  makede  that 
sahte.  that  te  king  sculde  ben  lauerd  &  king  wile  he  liuede. 
&  aefter  his  daei  ware  Henri  king,  and  he  helde  him  for 
fader  &  he  him  for  sune.  &  sib  &  saehte  sculde  ben  betwyx 
heom  &  on  al  Engle-land.  This  and  te  othre  forwardes 
that  hi  makeden  suoren  to  halden  the  king  &  te  eorl.  and 
te  biscop.  &  te  eorles.  &  ricemen  alle.  Tha  was  he  eorl 
nnderfangen  set  Wincestre  and  aet  Lundene  mid  micel 
wnrtscipe.  and  alle  diden  him  manred.  and  suoren  the 
pais  to  halden.  and  hit  ward  sone  suithe  god  pais  sua  that 
neure  was  here.  Tha  was  the  king  strengere  thanne  he 
aeuer  ther  was.  &  te  eorl  ferde  ouer  sae.  &  al  folc  him 
luuede.  for  he  dide  god  justise  &  makede  pais. 


not  only  the  instructors  of  the  people  from  the  altar, 
but  the  teachers  of  all  the  schools.  This  last  cir- 
cumstance sufficiently  accounts  for  the  fact  men- 
tioned by  Ingulphus.  that  it  now  became  the  prac- 
tice for  the  elements  of  grammar  to  be  taught  to 
boys  at  school,  not  in  English,  as  formerly,  but  in 
French.  All  this  would  soon  make  the  French 
language  universally  familiar  to  the  educated  classes 
even  of  the  Saxon  population,  while  to  the  Norman 
part  of  the  nation  it  was  the  only  language  known. 
The  English  or  Saxon,  however,  still  continued  to 
be  the  common  language  of  the  great  body  of  the 
people  ;  and  for  nearly  a  century  after  the  Conquest 
it  appears,  though  considerably  modified  from  its 
form  in  earlier  times,  to  have  preserved  what  may 
still  be  called  a  decidedly  Saxon  character.  We  give 
as  a  specimen  the  following  passage  from  the  Saxon 
Chronicle,  relating  to  the  close  of  Stephen's  reign : 

Then  was  England  very  much  divided :  some  held  with 
the  king,  and  some  with  the  empress ;  for  when  the  king 
was  in  prison,  the  earls  and  the  rich  men  supposed  that  he 
never  more  would  come  out :  and  they  settled  with  the 
empress,  and  brought  her  into  Oxford,  and  gave  her  the 
borough.  When  the  king  was  out,  he  heard  of  this,  and 
took  his  force,  and  beset  her  in  the  tower.'  And  they  let 
her  down  in  the  night  from  the  tower  by  ropes.  And  she 
stole  out,  and  fled,  and  went  on  foot  to  Wallingford.  After- 
ward she  went  over  sea ;  and  those  of  Normandy  turned  all 
from  the  king  to  the  Earl  of  Anjou ;  some  willingly,  and 
some  against  their  will ;  for  he  beset  them  till  they  gave 
up  their  castles,  and  they  had  no  help  of  the  king.  Then 
went  Eustace,  the  king's  son,  to  France,  and  took  to  wife 
the  sister  of  the  King  of  France.  He  thought  to  obtain 
Normandy  thereby ;  but  he  sped  little,  and  by  good  right; 
for  he  w^as  an  evil  man.  Wherever  he  was  he  did  more 
e%-il  than  good ;  he  robbed  the  lands,  and  le\'ied  heavy 
guilds  upon  them.  He  brought  his  wife  to  England,  and 
put  her  into  the  castle  of. . . .  Good  woman  she  was ;  but 
she  had  little  bliss  with  him ;  and  Christ  would  not  that  he 
should  long  reign.  He  therefore  soon  died,  and  his  mother 
also.  And  the  Earl  of  Anjou  died,  and  his  son  Henry 
took  to  the  earldom.  And  the  Queen  of  France  parted 
from  the  king ;  and  she  came  to  the  young  Earl  Henry, 
and  he  took  her  to  wife,  and  all  Poictou  \\-ith  her.  Then 
went  he  with  a  large  force  into  England,  and  won  some 
castles ;  and  the  king  went  against  him  with  a  much  larger 
force.  Nevertheless,  fought  they  not ;  but  the  archbishop 
and  the  wise  men  went  between  them,  and  made  this 
settlement ;  that  the  king  shoidd  be  lord  and  king  while 
he  hved,  and  after  his  day  Heniy  should  be  king :  that 
Henry  should  take  him  for  a  father,  and  he  him  for  a  son  : 
that  peace  and  union  should  be  betwixt  them,  and  in  all 
England.  This,  and  the  other  provisions  that  they  made, 
swore  the  king  and  the  earl  to  obsen-e,  and  all  the  bishops, 
and  the  earls,  and  the  rich  men.  Then  was  the  earl  re- 
ceived at  Winchester,  and  at  London,  with  great  worship ; 
and  all  did  him  homage,  and  swore  to  keep  the  peace 
And  there  was  soon  so  good  a  peace  as  never  ^va^  here 
before.  Then  was  the  kuig  stronger  than  he  ever  was 
before.  And  the  earl  went  over  sea;  and  all  people  loved 
him  ;  for  he  did  good  justice,  and  made  peace. 

An.  MCLiv.     On  this  gaer  waerd  the  king  Stephne  ded.  A.n.  1154.     In  this  year  died  the  King  Stephen;  and 

&  bebyried  ther  his  wif  and  his  sune  weeron  bebyried  aet  he  was  buried  where  his  wife  and  his  son  were  bmied, 

Fauresfeld.  thaet  minstre  hi  makeden.     Tha  the  king  was  at  Faversham,  which  monastery  they  founded.    \Vhen  the 

ded  tha  was  the  eorl  beionde  sae.  &  ne  durste  nan  man  king  died,  then  was  the  earl  beyond  sea  ;  but  no  man 

^  The  tower  of  the  castle  at  Oxford,  built  by  D'Oyley,  which  still  remains. 


592 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


don  other  bute  god  for  the  micel  eie  of  him.     Tha  he  to  durst  do  other   than    good,  for   the   great   fear  of  him. 

Engle-laud    com.    tha  was  he    underfangen    mid    micel  When  he  came  to  I'.ngland,  then  was  he  received  with 

wurtscipe.  &.  to  king  bletcaed  in  Luudeue  on  the  sunuen  great  worship,  and  blessed  to  king  in  London  on  the  Sun- 

daei    beforen   midwinter   da;i.    and   ther   held   he   micel  day  before  midwinter  day.     And  there  he   held  a  full 

curt.  court. 


The  short  composition  which  follows  appears  to  present  a  specimen  of  our  language  and  poetrj'  at  the 
latest  period  at  which  they  could  fairly  be  denominated  Saxon.  It  is  from  a  volume  of  Homilies  in  the 
Bodleian  Library  (MS.  343),  supposed  to  have  been  written  in  the  time  of  Henrj'  II.  It  was  first  com- 
municated to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  in  1811,  by  the  late  Rev.  John  Josiah  Conybeare. 


Tlie  wes  bold  gebyld 
Er  thu  iboren  were, 
The  wes  mold  imynt 
Er  thu  of  moder  come 
The  hit  nes  no  idiht 
Ne  thes  deopnes  imetea 
Nes  til  iloced, 
Hu  long  hit  the  were, 
Nu  me  the  bringicth 
AVer  thu  beon  scealt, 
Nu  me  sceal  the  meten 
And  tha  mold  seoththa : 
Ne  bith  no  thine  bus 
Healice  itimbred. 
Hit  bith  unheh  and  lab  ; 
Thonne  thu  bist  therinne 
The  helewages  beoth  lage, 
Sidwages  unhege. 
The  rof  bith  ybild 
Theie  brost  fiill  neh, 
Svva  thu  scealt  in  mold 
Winnen  fill  cald, 
Dimme  and  deorcae. 
Thet  clen  fulae-t  on  hod. 
Dureleas  is  thEBt  hus. 
And  deorc  hit  is  withinnea 
Daer  thu  hist  fest  bidyte 
And  Dseth  hefth  tha  csege 
Lathlic  is  that  eorth  bus. 
And  grim  inne  to  wumen 
Ther  thu  scealt  wmiien 
And  wurmes  the  to  deletb. 
Thus  thu  bist  ileyd, 
And  ladffist  thine  fronden, 
Nefst  thu  nenne  freond 
The  the  wylle  faren  to, 
Theet  aefre  wule  lokien 
Hu  the  tha?t  hus  the  Uke, 
Thaet  aefre  imdon 
The  wule  tha  dure. 
And  the  sefter  haten 
For  sone  thu  bist  ladlic 
And  lad  to  iseonne. 

From  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century, 
the  Saxon  language  is  commonly  considered  to  have 
begun  to  take  a  form  in  which  we  may  discover 
the  beginning  of  the  present  English.^  We  are 
not,  however,  in  possession  of  any  undoubted  speci- 
mens of  the  language  in  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth 
century.  Of  the  pieces  which  Warton  has  given  as 
belonging  to  this  period,  the  late  able  and  learned 
editor  of  the  "  History  of  English  Poetry"  has  re- 
marked that,  "judging  from  internal  evidence,  there 
is  not  one  which  may  not  safely  be  referred  to  the 

1  See  History  of  the  English  Language,  prefixed  to  Johnson's 
Dictionary. 


For  thee  is  a  house  built 

Ere  thou  wert  born, 

For  thee  was  a  mould  shapen  ^ 

Ere  thou  of  (thy)  mother  earnest. 

Its  height  is  not  determined, 

Nor  its  depth  mea.sured. 

Nor  is  it  closed  up 

(However  long  it  may  be) 

Until  I  thee  bring 

Where  thou  shalt  remain 

Until  I  shall  measure  thee 

And  the  sod  of  earth. 

Thy  house  is  not 

Highly  built  (timbered), 

It  is  unhigh  and  low  ; 

When  thou  art  in  it 

The  heelways  are  low. 

The  sideways  unhigh. 

The  roof  is  built 

Thy  breast  fuU  nigh  ; 

So  thou  shalt  in  earth 

Dwell  full  cold, 

Dim,  ami  dark. 

That  clean  putrefies. 

Doorless  is  that  house. 

And  dark  it  is  within  : 

There  thou  art  fast  detained. 

And  Death  holds  the  key. 

Loathly  is  that  earth-house, 

And  grim  to  dwell  in ; 

There  thou  shalt  dwell, 

And  worms  shall  share  thee. 

Thus  thou  art  laid 

And  leavest  thy  friends ; 

Thou  hast  no  friend 

That  will  come  to  thee. 

Who  will  ever  inquire 

How  that  house  liketh  thee  ? 

Who  shall  ever  open 

For  thee  the  door, 

And  seek  thee  ? 

For  soon  thou  becomest  loathly. 

And  hatefid  to  look  upon. 

thirteenth  century,  and  by  far  the  greater  number 
to  the  close  of  that "  period."  ^  In  these  circum- 
stances we  shall  reserve  the  consideration  of  what 
may  be  called  the  birth  of  the  English  language  for 
the  next  book.  We  shall  there  also  find  the  most 
convenient  opportunity  of  noticing  the  rise  and 
progress  of  the  poetry  of  the  Provencal  trouba- 
dours and  of  the  French  and  Anglo-Norman  ro- 
mance minstrelsy. 

The  Latin,  during  the  whole  of  the  present  pe- 
riod, was  the  chief  language  of  literary  composition. 
It  was  in  Latin  that  the  teachers  at  the  chief  seats 

»  Warton's  Hist,  of  Eng.  Poetry,  i.  7      (Edit,  of  1824.) 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


593 


of  learning  (many  of  whom  were  foreigners)  deliv- 
ered their  prelections  in  all  the  sciences,  and  that 
all  the  disputations  among  the  students  were  carried 
on.  English  and  French  churchmen  of  this  age 
appear  to  have  generally  been  as  familiar  with  Latin 
as  with  their  native  tongue,  and  to  have  usually 
employed  it  in  their  intercourse  with  each  other. 
Nay,  some  of  them  who  could  not  speak  English 
seem  to  have  been  accustomed  to  preach  to  the  peo- 
ple in  Latin,  and,  what  is  remarkable  enough,  some- 
times with  much  acceptance  and  effect.  Peter  of 
Blois,  as  we  have  seen,  speaks  of  this  having  been 
done  by  the  French  monk  Gislebert,  or  Gilbert, 
who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  University  of 
Cambridge.  So  Giraldus  Cambrensis  tells  us  that, 
in  a  progress  which  he  made  through  Wales  in 
118G,  to  assist  Archbishop  Baldwin  in  preaching  a 
crusade  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land,  he  was 
always  most  successful  when  he  appealed  to  the 
people  in  a  Latin  sermon  ;  it  never  failed,  although 
they  did  not  understand  a  word  of  it,  to  melt  them 
into  tears,  and  to  make  them  come  in  crowds  to  take 
the  cross. 

Much  poetry  was  also  written  in  Latin,  in  various 
styles.  Joannes  Grammaticus,  Laurence,  Prior  of 
Durham,  Robert  Dunstable,  the  historian,  Henry 
of  Huntingdon,  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  Eadmer, 
William  of  Malmsbury,  John  Hanvil,  Giraldus  Cam- 
brensis, Alexander  Neckham,  Walter  Mapes,  and, 
above  all,  Josephus  Iscanus,  or  Joseph  of  Exeter, 
are  enumerated  and  celebrated  by  Warton  as  flour- 
ishing within  the  present  period.  Joseph  of  Exeter 
Warton  characterizes  as  "  a  mii'acle  in  classical  com- 
position :"  of  his  epic  poem  on  the  Trojan  war,  he 
says,  "  the  diction  is  generally  pure,  the  pej'iods 
round,  and  the  numbers  harmonious ;  and,  on  the 
whole,  the  structure  of  the  versification  approaches 
nearly  to  that  of  polished  Latin  poetry.  The  writer 
appears  to  have  possessed  no  common  command  of 
poetical  phraseology,  and  wanted  nothing  but  a 
knowledge  of  the  Virgilian  chastity."  Some  of  the 
compositions  of  this  age,  especially  some  of  those 
of  Walter  Mapes,  who  has  been  styled  the  Anacreon 
of  the  eleventh  century,  are  written  in  the  rhyming 
Latin,  called  Leonine  verse.  Mapes'  drinking  song, 
in  particular,  beginning — 

"  Mihi  est  prupositum  in  taberna  mori," 

is  well  known.  This  jovial  bard  was  Archdeacon 
of  Oxford. 

But  by  far  the  most  precious  literary  remains  of 
this  age  are  the  numerous  historical  works  it  has 
left  us.  So  large  a  body  of  early  contemporary 
history  as  that  formed  by  the  writings  of  the  Eng- 
lish chroniclers  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centu- 
ries is  probably  not  possessed  by  any  other  nation. 
We  will  briefly  mention  some  of  the  chief  names. 
That  venerable  monument,  the  Saxon  Chronicle, 
in  the  first  place,  comes  down  to  the  end  of  the 
reign  of  Stephen.  We  have  the  Life  of  the  Con- 
queror from  the  pen  of  William  of  Poictiers,  hk 
chaplain.  Doubts  have  been  cast  upon  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  history  which  passes  under  the  name 
of  Ingulphus,  Abbot  of  Croyland,  and  indeed  it  may 
now  be  considered  as  established  that  the  work  is 
vol,.  I. — jd 


not  what  it  professes  to  be ;'  but  if  a  forgery  in  re- 
spect to  its  title  and  the  form  it  is  made  to  assume, 
it  is  impossible  not  to  believe  that  it  is  founded  upo» 
genuine  records  of  the  times  to  which  it  relates, 
and  that  much  of  the  information  contained  in  it  is 
as  trustworthy  as  it  is  curious.  It  narrates  the  his- 
tory of  the  Abbey  of  Croyland,  and  to  a  cei  tain  ex- 
tent, that  of  the  kingdom,  from  the  foundation  of 
that  abbey  in  a.d.  664  to  a.d.  1091.  The  Eccle- 
siastical History  of  Ordericus  Vitalis  comes  down 
to  the  year  1121,  and  is  interspersed  with  many 
notices  of  civil  transactions.  The  History  of  Ead- 
mer, the  monk  of  Canterbury,  which  embraces  the 
period  from  the  Conquest  to  the  year  11J2,  is  espe- 
cially valuable  for  the  original  papers  preserved  in 
it,  and  for  the  great  number  of  facts  related  upon 
the  author's  own  knowledge.  The  work  of  Flo- 
rence of  Worcester,  though  in  what  he  has  given 
of  English  history  he  is  little  more  than  a  translator 
of  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  is  not  to  be  the  less  prized 
on  that  account.  "  He  understood  the  ancient  Sax- 
on language  well,"  says  the  le.arned  critic  to  whom 
we  have  referred  above,  "  better,  perhaps,  than 
any  of  his  contemporaries ;  and  he  has  furnished 
us  with  an  accurate  translation  from  a  text  whicli 
seems  to  have  been  the  best  of  its  kind.""  He 
comes  down  to  the  year  1117  ;  and  the  work  is  con- 
tinued to  the  year  1141  by  another  monk  of  the 
same  place. 

The  excellent  histories  of  William  of  Malmsbury, 
his  five  books  of  the  Acts  of  the  EngUsh  kings,  and 
the  sequel,  in  two  books,  under  the  title  of  "  Historia 
Novella,"  extend  over  the  time  from  the  first  ar- 
rival of  the  Saxons  to  the  year  1143,  in  which  the 
author  died.  Simeon  of  Durham,  and  his  contin- 
uators,  John  and  Richard,  successively  priors  of 
Hexham,  have  preserved  much  information,  espe- 
cially respecting  the  northern  part  of  the  kingdom, 
that  is  nowhere  else  to  be  found :  their  narrative 
comes  down  to  the  year  1156.  Another  higlily 
valuable  work  relating  to  the  latter  part  of  the  same 
period  is  the  anonymous  account  of  the  reign  of  Ste- 
phen, entitled  "  Gesta  Stephani."  The  eight  books 
of  the  History  of  Henry  of  Huntingdon,  which, 
beginning  with  the  earliest  accounts  of  Britain,  also 
come  down  to  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Stephen,  and 
are  continued  by  another  writer  for  ten  years  far- 
ther, derive  a  high  value  from  the  numerous  ancient 
authorities,  now  lost,  which  appear  to  have  been 
consulted  in  their  preparation ;  some  fragments  of 
very  early  Saxon  compositions  appear  to  be  almost 
literally  translated  and  fitted  into  the  text.  William 
of  Newbridge,  or  Newburgh  (also  known  by  the 
names  of  Little,  or  Parvus,  or  Petit),  has  written 
with  great  ability  a  history  of  the  events  from  the 
Norman  Conquest  to  the  year  1197.  The  Annals 
of  Roger  de  Hoveden,  from  a.d.  731,  where  Bede's 
Ecclesiastical  History  ends,  to  a.d.  1202,  present 
an  immense  repertory  of  minute  details.  It  has 
been  supposed  also  that  the  work  entitled  the  Flow- 
ers of  History,  and  attributed  to  Matthew  of  West- 

1  See  an  able  Article  on  the  sources  of  early  English  History,  in  the 
Quarterly  Review,  No.  Ixvii.  pp.  289 — 297. 
3  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  Ixvii.  p.  281 


/>94 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  ITI. 


minster,  who  appears  to  be  a  fictitious  personage, 
most  probably  belongs  to  this  age.  The  critic  quoted 
above  is  iuclined  to  beUeve  that  the  author  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  work  was  anterior  even  to  Flo- 
rence of  Worcester.' 

To  these  might  be  added  a  long  list  of  other 
names  : — Brompton,  Turgot,  Ailred,  Gervase  of  Can- 
terbury, Ralph  de  Diceto,  Benedict,  Abbot  of  Pe- 
terborough, Giraldus  Cambrensis,  Richard  of  Devi- 
zes, Walter  of  Coventry,  Ralph,  Abbot  of  Coggeshall, 
&c.  ;  not  to  mention  the  foreign  writers,  William 
of  Jumieges  (Guhelmus  Gemeticeusis),  Vinesauf, 
William  of  Tyre,  aud  others  ;  and  the  Chronicle  of 
Mailros,  the  Annals  of  Burton,  Margan,  Waverley, 
and  other  monastic  registers.* 


Few  nations,  in  any  period  of  history,  have  been 
more  distinguished  than  the  Normans  by  a  taste  for 
magnificent  buildings.  At  the  period  of  their  estab- 
lishment in  Neustria,  the  later  Romanesque  archi- 
tecture— the  origin  of  which  has  been  adverted  to 
in  the  preceding  book — had  already  taken  its  ulti- 
mate form  and  character ;  and  in  this  stj  le,  which 
they  adopted,  and  continued  to  prsictice  for  above 
two  hundred  years,  many  examples  remain  to  at- 
test their  proficiency  as  early  as  the  tenth  century. 
But  in  the  early  part  of  the  eleventh  century,  which 
was  to  them  an  interval  of  comparative  peace  and 
tranquillity,  when  they  began  to  enjoy  the  benefits 
of  permanent  security  in  their  possessions,  the  Nor- 
mans appear  to  have  been  seized  with  a  mania  for 
founding  monasteries.  The  nobility  emulated  each 
other  in  erecting  churches  on  their  domains,  and 
the  period  immediately  preceding  the  descent  upon 
England  is  distinguished  by  the  erection  of  the  most 
magnificent  edifices  in  this  style  remaining  in  Nor- 
mandy. Among  these  may  be  cited  the  two  cele- 
brated abbeys  at  Caen,  founded  by  William  the 
Conqueror  and  his  wife  Matilda,  of  which  one  at 
least  was  nearly  completed  at  the  time  of  the  Con- 
quest, and  the  other  immediately  after.     The  suc- 

'  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  livii.  p.  281. 

-  The  principal  of  the  works  mentioned  above  are  to  be  found  in  the 
following  collections : — 

1.  Rerum  Britannicarum,  id  est,  Anglia;,  Scotia;,  Vicinarumque  Insu- 
larum  ac  Regionum,  Scriptores  Vctustiores  ac  Prsecipui :  (a  HiER. 
CoMMELiNO).     Fol.  Heidelb.  <fc  Lugd.  l.'iS". 

2.  Rerum  Anglicarum  Scriptores  post  Bedam  Prscipui,  ex  Vetus- 
tissimis  MSS.  nunc  primuni  in  lucem  editi :  (a  Hen.  Savile).  Fol. 
Lon.  1596,  and  Francof.  1601. 

3.  Anglica,  Nomiannica,  Ilibernica.  Canibrica,  a  vcteribus  Scripta, 
ex  Bibl      Glilielmi  Camdeni.     Fol.  Francof.  1603. 

4  Historian  Anglicanie  Scriptores  X.  ex  Vetustis  MSS.  nunc  primum 
in  lucem  editi:  (a  RoG.  Twysde.n  et  Joan.  Selden).  Fol.  Lon. 
1652. 

5.  Rerum  Anglicarum  Scriptorum  Vetcrum  Tomus  I""" ;  Quorum 
Ingulfus  nunc  primum  integer,  ceteri  nunc  primum  phidcunt:  (a  Joan. 
Fkll).  Fol.  Oxun.  1684  (sometimes  cited  as  the  1st  vol.  of  Gale's 
Collection). 

6.  Ilistoriae  Anglicanae  Scriptores  Quinquc,  ex  Vetustis  Codicibus 
MSS  nunc  primum  in  lucem  editi  (a  Thom.  Gale).  Fol.  Oxou.  1687. 
(This  is  called  the  2d  vol.  of  Gale's  Collection.) 

7.  Historiae  Britannica?,  Saxonicae,  Anglo-Danica,  Scriptores  XV.  ex 
Vetustis  Codd.  MSS.  editi,  Opera.  THOMa;  Gale.  Fol.  Oxon.  1691. 
(This  is  called  the  1st  vol.  of  Gale's  Collection.) 

8.  Historiae  Anglicana  Scriptores  Varii,  e  Codicibus  manuscriptis 
nunc  primum  editi :  (a  Jos.  Sparke).     Fol.  Lon.  1723. 

9.  HistorisE  Normannorum  Scriptores  Antiqui  ;  studio  Andre*  liu 
Chesne.     Fol.  Paris,  1619. 

10.  Gesta  Dei  per  Francos:  (a  Jacob.  Bongarsio),  2  torn.  fol. 
Hajiov.  1611 


cess  of  the  Norman  arms  in  England  was  immedi- 
ately followed  by  the  general  difi'usion  of  Norman 
arts  ;  and  when  the  land  was  parceled  out  among 
Norman  barons,  and  appropriated  to  the  endow- 
ment of  Norman  monasteries,  and  when  the  sees 
and  religious  establishments  were  filled  with  Nor- 
man bishops  and  monks,  edifices  rivaling  those  of 
their  continental  dominions  speedily  rose  in  every 
part  of  the  country.  Such  was  the  activity  and 
zeal  with  which  the  Normans  exerted  themselves 
in  securing  their  acquisitions  by  the  construction  of 
fortresses,  and  in  displaying  their  piety  by  the  foun- 
dation of  monasteries,  and  the  erection  and  restora- 
tion of  ecclesiastical  buildings,  that  before  the  end 
of  the  eleventh  century  their  strongholds  were  scat- 
tered over  the  kingdom  to  its  remotest  parts ;  aud 
in  addition  to  the  numerous  religious  establishments 
originating  from  the  munificence  of  the  Normans, 
many  of  those  already  existing  were  refounded, 
and  the  buildings  demolished  for  tlie  purpose  of 
restoring  them  on  a  more  extensive  scale.  How- 
ever rapaciously  the  Normans  may  have  possessed 
thenieelves  of  the  wealth  of  England,  they  certainly 
applied  it  with  good  taste,  and,  by  a  liberal  expendi- 
ture, encouraged  the  arts,  and  restored  the  forms 
of  religion.  "  You  might  see,"  says  William  of 
Malmsbury,  "  churches  rise  in  every  village,  and 
monasteries  in  the  towns  and  cities,  built  in  a  stj'le 
unknown  before.  You  might  behold  the  country 
flourishing  with  renovated  sites,  so  that  each  wealthy 
man  accounted  that  day  lost  to  him,  which  he  neg- 
lected to  signalize  by  some  magnificent  action." 

The  twelfth  century  was  still  more  productive 
in  works  of  architecture,  especially  of  the  military 
class.  Henry  I.  was  a  gi'eat  builder  both  of  castles 
and  monasteries ;  but  in  the  following  turbulent 
reign  the  country  became,  in  the  words  of  the  Saxon 
Chronicle,  "  covered  with  castles — every  one  built 
a  castle  who  was  able."  So  that  before  the  death 
of  Stephen  they  are  reckoned  to  have  amounted  to 
the  number  of  11 15.  Church  architecture  flourished 
in  nearly  an  equal  degree  in  the  more  tranquil  part 
of  this  century ;  and  to  this  period,  accordingly,  we 
are  indebted  for  a  large  proportion  of  our  principal 
ecclesiastical  edifices. 

Of  the  resources  which  the  clergy  of  this  period 
brought  to  the  work  of  founding  and  constructing 
churches  and  monasteries,  we  may  form  an  idea 
from  the  example  of  Bishop  Herbert  Losing,  who 
removed  the  episcopal  see  of  Thetford  to  Norwich 
in  1094.  Beside  settUng  a  community  of  Clugniac 
monks  at  Thetford,  he  established  an  extensive  and 
numerous  monastery  at  Norwich,  defraying  the  ex- 
pense entirely  out  of  his  private  fortune,  and  erected 
the  splendid  church  which  still  remains  a  monument 
of  hia  wealth  and  liberality ;  and  yet  William  of 
Malmsbuiy,  to  whom  we  owe  these  particulars, 
expressly  says,  that  he  u-as  hy  no  means  a  rich  bishop. 
This  church,  however,  was  much  surpassed  in  size 
by  others  of  the  same  date ;  and  the  enlarged  ideas 
of  Mauritius,  Bishop  of  London,  appear  to  have  as- 
tonished even  his  contemporaries.  He  began  to 
rebuild  his  cathedral,  in  1086,  upon  a  plan  so  vast 
and  magnificent,  that  it  was  censured  as  a  rash  un- 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


595 


dertaking,  never  likely  to  be  completed  ;  and  though 
this  building  be  lost  to  posterity,  the  accounts  we 
have  of  its  form  and  dimensions  would  go  far  to  jus- 
tify these  feelings  of  wonder  and  incredulity.  Roger, 
Bishop  of  Sarum  (1107-1139),  was  another  munifi- 
cent builder.  Beside  his  cathedral,  which  he  re- 
built in  such  a  manner  "  that  it  yielded  to  none,  and 
surpassed  many,  he  erected  several  castles,"  says 
Malmsbury,  "  and  splendid  mansions  on  all  his 
estates,  with  such  unrivaled  magnificence,  that  in 
merely  maintaining  them,  the  labor  of  his  success- 
ors will  toil  in  vain."  The  abbpy  of  Malmsbury  was 
also  the  work  of  this  great  prelate  ;  and  its  ruins  and 
some  fragments  of  Sherborne  Castle  are  all  that 
remain  of  the  numerous  works  which  drew  forth 
these  high  encomiums  from  the  historian. 

To  particularize  all  the  ecclesiastical  edifices 
founded  during  this  period,  would  be  to  enumerate 
most  of  the  cathedrals  and  principal  abbeys  in  Eng- 
land. So  solid  and  well  constructed  are  these 
works,  that  wherever  the  hand  of  time  has  not  been 
assisted  by  violence  or  neglect,  they  remain  to  this 
day  entire,  and  apparently  imperishable.  It  is  true 
that  in  many  instances  the  alterations  and  additions 
of  succeeding  periods  have  done  much  to  obliterate 
the  original  character  of  the  Norman  style,  yet 
there  are  few  of  the  buildings  in  which  it  cannot  be 
distinctly  traced,  and  in  a  considerable  number  it 
still  predominates.  In  this  latter  class,  beside  the 
cathedral  of  Norwich  already  mentioned,  we  may 
notice  those  of  Durham,  founded  by  William  de 
Carilepho  (1093) ;  Chichester,  by  Bishop  Ralph 
(1091);  Peterborough,  by  Ernulph  (1107);  Roches- 
ter, by  Gundulph  (1077) ;  Hereford,  by  Robert  de 
Losing  (1079) ;  Gloucester,  by  Abbot  Serlo  (1088) ; 
and  Oxford,  by  Prior  Guymond  (1120).  There  are 
also  considerable  remains  of  this  period  at  Ely,  in 
the  nave  and  transepts  (1081-1106);  at  Exeter,  in 
the  two  noble  towers  built  by  Bishop  Warelwast 
(1112) ;  at  Winchester  in  the  tower  and  transepts, 
the  work  of  Bishop  Walkelyn  (1070);  and  in  the 
cathedral  of  Canterbury,  of  which  the  whole  of  the 
eastern  part  waa  erected  before  the  end  of  the  12th 
century.  Many  other  examples  will  be  noticed  in- 
cidentally as  we  proceed. 

It  is  not  only  as  the  munificent  founders  of  so 
1 


many  noble  buildings,  and  the  patrons  of  the  artists 
by  whom  their  erection  was  superintended,  that 
these  prelates  have  a  claim  upon  our  admiration. 
In  an  age  when  all  arts,  sciences,  and  learning  were 
confined  to  the  clerical  order,  there  is  great  reason 
to  believe  that  it  was  their  architectural  skill  which 
produced  the  designs  which  their  wealth  contrib- 
uted to  carry  into  execution.  Gundulph,  Bishop  of 
Rochester,  is  recorded  to  have  been  the  most  able 
architect  of  his  day,  not  only  in  the  ecclesiastical, 
but  also  in  the  military  style.  The  cathedral  and 
castle  of  Rochester,  though  neither  was  completed 
in  his  lifetime,  and  the  Tower  of  London,  are  suflli- 
cient  evidence  of  his  talents.  Peter  of  Colechurch, 
architect  of  the  first  stone  bridge  across  the  Thames 
at  London  (1176),  was  also  an  ecclesiastic.  To  these 
may  be  added,  though  on  less  direct  evidence,  the 
names  of  Henry  de  Blois,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
who,  beside  continuing  the  works  at  his  cathedral, 
founded  the  monasteries  of  St.  Cross  and  Romsey, 
in  Hampshire,  where  the  churches  still  retain  their 
original  architectural  character ;  the  bishops  Roger 
and  Ernulph,  already  mentioned,  and  Alexander, 
Bishop  of  Lincoln  (from  1124  to  1147).  The  list 
might  be  much  further  extended  upon  at  least  prob- 
able grounds.  William  of  Sens,  however,  who  re- 
built part  of  Canterbury  Cathedral  in  1174,  appears 
to  have  been  a  professional  architect,  as  well  as  an- 
other William,  an  Enghshman,  who  succeeded  him, 
and  completed  his  works. 

As  the  Norman  style  of  architecture  forms  an  in- 
termediate link  between  the  Roman  and  the  Gothic, 
and  as  its  transition  into  the  latter  is  extremely 
gradual,  we  find  in  it,  as  may  be  expected,  much 
that  recalls  the  memory  of  the  one,  and  much  which 
connects  it  with  the  other.  Its  principal  character- 
istic feature  is  the  circular  arch,  springing  either 
from  a  single  column,  varying  in  every  degree  from 
a  cylinder  of  tv/o  diameters  high  to  a  proportion 
nearly  classical,  or  from  a  pier  decorated  with  half 
columns  or  light  shafts,  the  evident  origin  of  the 
clustered  pillar  of  a  later  date.  Both  these  forms 
are  frequently  used  in  the  same  building,  as  in  the 
cathedral  of  Durham,  where  they  support  the  main 
arches  alternately.  Polygonal  shafts  and  plain  rect- 
angular piers  are  also  to  be  met  with,  but  they  are 

3 


1.  Southwell  Minster, 


Norman  Windows. 
2.  St.  Cross,  Hants. 


3.  Caston  Church,  Northamptonshire 


596 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


less  common.  The  wiills  are  so  massive  as  to 
render  buttresses  unnecessary — the  projections  so 
called  being  rather  for  ornament  than  utility.  The 
windows  are  small  in  proportion,  and  generally 
simple  in  form,  though  sometimes  divided  by  a  col- 
un)n  into  two  lights  within  the  exteiiial  arch.  Cir- 
cular windows  were  also  used,  and  in  their  simple 
division  by  small  shafts,  we  may  see  the  outline  of 
the  elaborate  wheel  windows  of  the  Gothic  style. 


stone  roof,  many  of  which  remain  in  Normandy ; 
though  in  England,  so  universal  has  been  the  taste 
for  alterations,  as  various  styles  of  architecture  suc- 
ceeded to  each  other,  it  would  be  diflicult  to  find 
an  example  in  its  original  state.  These  roofs  are 
p)obably  the  origin  of  the  spire  ;  and  in  that  of  the 
church  of  Then,  the  angles  are  decorated  in  a  man- 
ner in  which  the  germ  of  a  crocket  may  be  distin- 
guished. But  the  general  pitch  of  the  Norman  roof 
is  moderate ;  the  acute  pitcli  accompanied  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  pointed  arch. 


Window  of  Castle  Hedingham  CnuRcn. 

The  cornices  are  often  extremely  bold,  and  sup- 
ported by  corbels  in  a  variety  of  forms,  of  which 
gi'otesque  and  monstrous  heads  are  the  most  com- 
mon. Another  sort  of  cornice  consists  merely  of  a 
band,  indented  underneath,  and  forming  a  parapet : 
this  cornice  is  usually  of  the  same  projection  as  the 
buttresses,  which  die  into  it.  The  former  style  of 
cornice  was  generally  used  to  terminate  towers, 
and   perliaps  originally  to  support  an  acute-angled 


Tower  of  Tuen  Church,  Normandy 
3  4 


NoRMAW  Capitals. 

1    lumiegcs.  2.  Sanson  sur-Rille.  3.  St.  Peter's,  Norlt.ampton.  4.  Steelly,  Derlnshire.  5.  nnd  11.  St.  John's,  Chester. 

6.  7.  and  10.  Rochester  Cathedral.  8.  Canterbury.  9.  St.  Georges  de  Bjcherville  12.  Oxford. 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 
34  5  6 


597 


'K^ 


i 


mi 


^^>y;^ 


aOT 


I  to  8  Shafts  of  Columns. 


Norman  Architectural  Decorations. 
9  to  16,  and  24.  Arch-Mouldings.  17  to  23.  Strings  and  Imposts. 

27  to  30.     Ornaments  on  Flat  Surfaces. 


25  and  26.  Cornices 


The  details  of  the  Norman  style  are  extremely 
varied,  yet  the  mouldings  are  few  and  simple,  and 
may  be  traced  to  a  Roman  origin.  The  bases  of 
the  columns  are  also  usually  simple  and  regular.  In 
the  capitals  we  constantly  find  imitations  of  the 
classical  orders  (except,  perhaps,  the  Ionic),  from 
the  plainest  to  the  most  elaborate.  Other  forms  of 
the  most  frequent  occurrence  appear  to  be  peculiar 
to  the  style,  while  in  a  very  large  class,  possessing 
the  general  resemblance  of  a  sort  of  campanulate 
form  with  a  massive  square  abacus,  the  imagination 
seems  to  have  exhausted  itself  in  devising  the 
ornaments  with  which  they  are  sculptured.  In  the 
main  columns  of  buildings  the  shafts  are  for  the 
most  part  plain,  and  a  certain  degi-ee  of  uniformity 
is  observed  in  the  capitals,  as  in  those  of  the  cathe- 
dral of  Oxford,  where  they  are  foliated  and  of  the 
same  general  aspect,  though  varied  in  the  details 
with  much  taste ;  but  when  columns  are  iised  as 
decorations  only,  as  they  frequently  are  to  a  great 
extent,  it  is  common  to  find  a  studied  variety  not 
only  in  the  capitals,  but  even  in  the  shafts. 

The  running  decorations  are  also  extremely  vari- 


ous, and,  like  the  capitals,  may  often  be  traced  to  a 
classical  origin.  The  antique  scroll  is  reproduced  in 
a  variety  of  modifications.  But  the  most  character- 
istic ornament  of  the  style  is  the  chevron,  or  zigzag, 
which  is  used  in  the  greatest  profusion  equally  in 
the  earliest  and  latest  examples,  and  even  lingers 
after  almost  every  other  trace  of  the  style  has  dis- 
appeared. After  this  almost  universal  decoration, 
frets  and  reticulations  of  various  forms,  right-angled, 
triangular,  and  lozenge-shaped,  are  the  most  com- 
mon ;  and  the  billeted  moulding,  described  by  Ben- 
tham,  "as  if  a  cylinder  should  be  cut  into  small 
pieces  of  equal  length,  and  then  stuck  on  alternately 
round  the  face  of  the  arch."  Another  common  and 
peculiar  decoration  is  a  range  of  beaked  heads  lying 
over  a  hollow  moulding.  Cabled  and  spiral  mould- 
ings are  also  frequent. 

These  decorations,  and  an  infinite  number  of 
others,  of  which  many  may  be  gathered  from  the 
preceding  illustrations,  were  frequently  used  in 
great  profusion,  both  in  arches  and  horizontal  bands. 
But  in  Anglo-Norman  works  the  greatest  display  of 
ornament  was  lavished  on  the  doorways,  the  arch 


598 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


of  which  often  consists  of  a  repetition  of  many  en-  I  rare)  inclosed  within  an  arch,  and  the  space  filled 
riched  bands,  one  within  another,  surrounded  by  an  1  up  with  sculpture.  These  particulars  will  be  best 
archivolt,  sometimes  resembling  that  member  in  i  understood  by  reference  to  the  ongravings.  The 
classical  architecture,  sometimes  partaking  more  of  i  mode  of  ornamenting  the  archivolt  with  figures  in 
the  form  of  a  label.  Square-headed  doors  are  com-  compartments,  as  in  the  doorway  of  BarfrestoD 
mon;  but  this  form  is  generally  (the  exceptions  are  1  Church,  is  not  uncommon. 


Door-way,  Romsey  Abbey,  Hants 


Door-way  of  Barfreston  Church,  Kent. 


1    LtDcolu  MiDitar 


Decorative  Normam  Arches 
2    Castle  Acre  Pnory  3.  St.  Auffuatin,  Caiiter'jury 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


599 


As  the  windows  in  the  Norman  stj'le  are  small, 
and  there  are  no  sahent  buttresses  to  break  the 
external  outline  of  the  building,  several  kinds  of 
decoration  are  appropriated  to  ornament  the  face  of 
the  walls,  which  would  otherwise  exhibit  a  large 
extent  of  plain  surface.  Of  these  the  most  con- 
spicuous is  a  series  of  small  columns  and  arches, 
sometimes  simple,  and  sometimes  interlaced.  One 
or  two  tiers  of  these  graceful  aixades  are  veiy 
common,  either  introduced  as  a  dado  (both  inside 
and  out),  as  at   Canterbury,   Christ  Church,  and 


Winchester,  or  as  a  band  between  the  upper  and 
lower  windows,  as  at  Norwich;  but  some  facades 
present  a  mass  of  this  beautiful  arch-work ;  such 
are  the  west  fronts  of  Rochester  Cathedral  and 
Castle  Acre  PriOry,  and  the  ancient  parts  of  Lin- 
coln. Sometimes  these  arches  are  richly  decorated, 
and  even  the  flsit  surfaces  within  them ;  as  in  the 
tower  of  St.  Augustin  at  Canterbury,  now  de- 
stroyed, of  which  a  representation  has  been  given 
in  a  preceding  page. 

The  Latin  cross  had  become,  at  this  period,  the 


rA--  ^^-r\^'fUW\^M 


West  Front  op  Rochester  Cathedral. 
The  centre  window  is  an  addition  of  much  later  date. 


established  form  for  churches  of  the  larger  class, 
terminating  at  the  east  end  in  a  semicircular  apsis. 
The  circular  form  also  predominated  in  the  append- 
ent  chapels,  as  may  be  observed  in  the  cathedrals 
of  Canterbury,  Norwich,  and  Gloucester,  and  still 
more  distinctly  in  their  prototypes  in  Normandy, 
which  have  undergone  less  alteration.  The  inter- 
nal elevation  consists  of  three  divisions — the  lower 
arches  ;  the  triforium,  occupying  the  space  between 
the  vaulting  and  external  roof  of  the  side  aisles ; 
and  the  clerestory.  These  parts  may  be  considered 
invariable  ;  and  the  interior  of  Durham  Cathedral 
may  be  taken  as  an  example  of  their  arrangement. 
But  their  forms  and  proportions  differ  in  different 
buildings  ;  the  triforium  being  sometimes  a  spacious 
open  arch,  as  at  Waltham  Abbey,  and  sometimes  a 
very  insignificant  member  of  the  composition,  as  at 


Tewksbury.  The  windows  of  the  clerestory  also 
vary  from  a  single  to  a  triple  light. 

The  internal  roofs  are  sometimes  vaulted  and 
sometimes  left  open  to  the  timbers.  In  the  former 
case  the  groins  most  commonly  spring  fi-om  a  lofty 
shaft,  either  rising  from  the  ground,  or  superposi- 
ted  on  the  capitals  of  the  main  columns. 

The  intersection  of  the  cross  generally  supports 
a  tower,  low  in  proportion,  and  much  decorated 
with  arches  pierced  for  windows.  Within  it  is 
open  to  the  roof,  and  forms  a  lantern.  The  west 
end  is  often  flanked  by  two  other  towers,  as  at 
Southwell  Minster,  Worksop  Abbey,  and  Durham 
Cathedral.  The  angles  of  the  building  very  com- 
monly break  forward  before  the  face  of  the  wall, 
and  are  surmounted  by  square  or  octangular  turrets, 
formed  of  gioups  of  columns  and  arches,  and  ter- 


600 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


TBOOK   III. 


MaVE   of  DlRIIAM   Catiikdral. 


minatjng  in  a  pinnacle,  of  which  examples  remain 
at  Rochester,  Bishop's  Cleave  in  Gloucestershire, 
and  a  few  other  places ;  but  their  mutilation  is 
almost  universal. 

The  smaller  parish  churches  of  this  period  con- 
sist of  a  nave  and  chancel,  without  side  aisles  or 
transepts,  with  a  tower,  generally  at  the  west  end, 
but  sometimes,  as  at  Iffley  and  Stewkeley,  at  the 
junction  of  the  two  divisions  of  the  building.  In  all 
churches  of  this  class  which  possess  a  decorative 
character  a  great  share  of  enrichment  is  bestowed 
upon  the  arch  which  spans  the  building  between 
the  nave  and  chancel,  as  at  Tickencote  and  Barfres- 
ton.     The   east  end   sometimes  terminates   in  the 


semicircular  apsis,  as  at  Steetly  in  Derbysliire,  but 
is  more  commonly  square. 

In  this  view  of  Norman  ecclesiastical  architec- 
ture it  has  been  deemed  expedient  to  dwell  at  some 
length  upon  its  details.  In  the  most  important 
structures  of  this  class,  the  dates,  as  we  have  had 
occasion  to  see,  are  generally  to  be  ascertained ; 
but  we  shall  not  find  the  light  of  history  so  clearly 
thrown  upon  the  other  branches  of  our  inquiry ; 
analogy  must  often  supply  its  place,  and  then  a 
knowledge  of  detail  will  be  our  only  guide. 

But,  previously  to  entering  into  the  subject  of  the 
military  and  domestic  architecture  of  this  period,  it 
may  not  be   uninteresting  to  ofl'er  a  few  remarks 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ART 


601 


upon  a  point  which  has  caused  some  embarrassments 
to  antiquaries — namely,  that  in  some  particulars 
there  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  Anglo- 
Norman  style  and  that  of  the  continent.  Thus  the 
common  occurrence  of  the  enriched  doorways 
that  have  been  described  is  peculiar  to  England; 
for  though  highly-decorated  examples  are  to  be 
found  in  Normandy,  yet  they  are  rare  ;  whereas  on 
our  side  of  the  Channel  they  abound,  and  seem  at 
all  periods  to  have  been  respected  and  thought 
worthy  of  preservation,  since  nothing  is  more  com- 
mon than  to  find  an  enriched  Norman  doorway 
remaining  in  a  phrish  church  of  which  every  other 
part  has  been  altered  or  rebuilt  at  a  subsequent 
period.  In  fact,  the  exterior  of  our  principal 
churches  of  this  date  is  generally  in  a  more  deco- 
rative stj-le  than  those  in  Normandy.  The  front 
of  the  church  of  St.  Stephen  at  Caen'  (as  high  at 
least  as  the  towers)  is  not  merely  plain,  but  mean, 
especially  the  windows,  to  a  degree  unknown  in 
any  English  structure  of  equal  importance — a  cir- 
cumstance difficult  to  be  accounted  foi',  since  there 
is  no  appearance  of  parsimony  or  of  imperfection  in 
the  style  in  any  other  respect ;  and  the  instance  is 
by  no  means  singular.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
details  are  more  regular,  better  drawn,  and  more 
skilfully  executed  in  Normandy  than  in  England, 
where  we  shall  seek  in  vain  for  so  near  an  approach 
to  the  graceful  forms  of  antiquity  as  in  the  tAvo  first 
examples  of  capitals.  The  style  of  these  capitals, 
and  of  many  other  specimens  of  architectural  sculp- 
ture to  be  found  in  France,  may  lead  to  an  expla- 
nation of  the  difficulty. 

The  architectural  works  of  this  period,  and 
throughout  the  middle  ages,  must  have  been  the 
result  of  a  division  of  labor.  The  share  the  clerical 
architect  took  in  the  work  was  probably  confined  to 
the  general  dimensions,  outline,  and  character  of 
the  building;  the  actual  construction  was  the  busi- 
ness of  the  master  mason  ;  while  the  subordinate 
parts,  with  their  various  details,  were  confided  to  a 
class  of  operative  artists  unknown  in  the  present 
age,  whose  minds  as  well  as  hands  were  occupied 
upon  the  mouldings  and  decorations,  which  they 
invented  as  well  as  executed,  each  man's  province 
being,  perhaps,  extremely  limited.  It  is  difficult 
upon  any  other  theory  to  account  for  the  combina- 
tion of  unity  of  design  and  prodigious  variety  of 
detail  in  the  works  of  the  middle  ages.  We  shall 
find,  upon  examination,  what  has  been  incidentally 
noticed  in  a  former  chapter — that  Byzantine  sculp- 
ture abounds  in  the  architecture  of  this  period  on 
the  continent,  but  is  of  extreme  rarity  in  England. 
A  people  so  far  advanced  as  the  Anglo-Saxons  in  an 
original  style  of  decorative  painting  might  be  inde- 
pendent of  foreign  aid  in  architectural  sculpture ; 
general  designs  would  naturally  be  modified  by  the 
means  of  execution  at  hand ;  and  we  may  fairly 
conclude  that,  though  we  undoubtedly  owe  our 
greatest  works  to  the  energy  and  magnificence  of 
the  Normans,  yet  much  that  is  valuable  about  them 
is  due  to  genuine  native  talent. 

The  military  structures  of  this  period  must  not 

1  Page  376. 


be  confounded  with  the  extensive  fortified  resi- 
dences which  came  into  vogue  toward  the  end  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  The  palatial  character  of 
the  castles  of  the  feudal  barons,  the  vast  halls  and 
lightsome  oriels  which  the  records  and  fictions  of 
chivalry  and  romance  have  inseparably  associated 
with  them,  had  no  existence  in  those  of  the  twelfth 
centurj',  which  were  essentially  fortresses,  in  which 
everything  was  sacrificed  to  security. 

At  this  period  the  principles  upon  which  such 
places  were  constructed  were  of  necessity  essen- 
tially different  from  those  adapted  to  the  modern 
art  of  war,  and  in  some  respects  even  totally  oppo- 
site, the  chief  strength  of  the  fortress  lying  in  the 
height  and  inaccessibility  of  the  defences.  For 
resistance  to  the  modes  of  attack  then  in  use  the 
buildings  in  question  were  admirably  calculated, 
and  though  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the  strong- 
holds of  the  Anglo-Norman  barons  were  as  various 
as  the  positions  in  which  they  were  erected,  yet  it 
is  not  difficult  to  perceive  in  their  scattered  remains 
a  common  resemblance  from  which  the  general 
system  of  their  construction  may  be  deduced. 

The  Anglo-Norman  castle  occupied  a  consider- 


A  Norman  Castle. 
From  an  Ancient  Drawing-  published  in  Grose's  Military  Antiquities. 

1.  The   Dungeon.     3.   Stable.  5.  Outer  Bailey.      7.  Mount. 

2.  Chapel.  4.  Inner  Bailey.  6.  Barbican.  8.  Soldiers' 
Lodgings. — The  Mount  is  supposed  by  Grose  to  be  the  Court-hill 
where  the  lord  dispensed  justice,  and  where  it  was  also  executed. 

able  space  of  ground,  sometimes  several  acres,  and 
usually  consisted  of  three  principal  divisions — the 
outer  or  lower  Ballium  (Anglice  Bailey)  or  court. 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Plan  and  Elevation  of  Monk  Bar.  York. 

a  Outer  Gale.     6  Barbican,     c  Groove  for  Portcullis,     d  Inner  Gate. 

/  City  Walls,     g  Stairs  to  ditto,     h  Guard- room,     i  Sally-port. 

the  inner  or  upper  court,  and  the  keep.  The  outer 
circumference  of  the  whole  was  defended  by  a 
lofty  and  solid  perpendicular  wall  strengthened  at 
intervals  by  towers,  and  surrounded  by  a  ditch  or 
<noat.  Flights  of  steps  led  to  the  top  of  this  ram- 
part, which  was  protected  by  a  parapet,'  embattled 
itnd  pierced  in  different  directions  by  loop-holes  or 
chinks,  and  oeillets,  through  which  missiles  might 
l>e  discharged  without  exposing  the  men.  The 
ramparts  of  Rockingham  Castle,  according  to  Le- 
land,  were  embattled  on  both  sides,  "  so  that  if  the 
area  were  won  the  castle  keepers  might  defend  the 
waUs."  The  entrance  through  the  outer  wall  into 
the  lower  court  was  defended  by  the  barbican, 
which  in  some  cases  was  a  regular  outwork,  cover- 
ing the  approach  to  the  bridge  across  the  ditch; 
but  the  few  barbicans  which  remain  consist  only  of 
a  gateway  in  advance  of  the  main  gate,  with  which 

'  See  aats,  p.  355 


it  was  connected  by  a  narrow  open  passage  com- 
manded by  the  ramparts  on  both  sides.  Such  a 
work  remained  until  lately  attached  to  several  of 
the  gates  of  York,  and  still  remains,  though  of  a 
later  date,  at  Warwick  Castle.  The  entrance  arch- 
way, besides  the  massive  gates,  was  crossed  by  the 
portcullis,  which  could  be  instantaneously  dropped 
upon  any  emergency ;  and  the  crown  of  the  arch 
was  pierced  with  holes,  through  which  melted  lead 
and  pitch,  and  heavy  missiles,  could  be  cast  upon 
the  assailants  below. 

A  second  rampart,  similar  to  the  first,  separated 
the  lower  from  the  upper  court,  in  which  were 
placed  the  habitable  buildings,  including  the  keep, 
the  relative  position  of  which  varied  with  the  nature 
of  the  site.  It  was  generally  elevated  upon  a  high 
artificial  mound,  and  sometimes  inclosed  by  out- 
works of  its  own.  The  keep  bore  the  same  relation 
to  the  rest  of  the  castle  that  the  citadel  bears  to  a 
'itified  town.  It  was  the  last  retreat  of  the  gar- 
rison, and  contained  the  apartments  of  the  baron  or 
commandant.  In  form  the  Anglo-Norman  keeps 
are  varied,  and  not  always  regular ;  but  in  those  of 
the  larger  size  rectangular  plans  are  the  most  com- 
mon, and  of  the  smaller  class  many  are  circular. 
The  solidity  of  their  construction  is  so  great  that 
we  find  them  retaining  at  least  their  outward  form 
in  the  midst  of  the  most  dilapidated  ruin.  Time 
and  violence  appear  to  have  assaulted  them  in  vain, 
and  even  the  love  of  change  has  respected  them 
through  successive  generations. 

In  those  towers  much  judgment  is  shown  in  dis- 
.posing  of  the  limited  space  they  afi'ord  so  as  to 
obtain  the  best  accommodation  in  a  manner  com- 
patible with  security  ;  and  as  it  was  also  necessary 
to  provide  for  the  subsistence  of  a  garrison  inde- 
pendently of  all  external  communication,  they  in- 
variably contain  a  well,  which  is  sometimes  con- 
trived with  a  funnel  in  the  wall  to  supply  water  to 
each  story  separately.  There  are  generally  three 
stories,  and  often  four,  of  which  the  lowest  is  a 
dark,  vaulted  basement,  traditionally  assigned  to 
the  custody  of  prisoners  of  war.  To  such  a  use 
these  dungeons  were  undoubtedly  too  often  put, 
but  their  general  destination  was  more  probably  for 
store  rooms.  This  story  communicated  from  above 
with  the  second,  on  which  was  the  entrance,  acces- 
sible only  by  a  steep  and  narrow  flight  of  steps. 
The  upper  floor  was  the  piincipal  apartment,  and 
often, the  only  one  possessing  the  advantage  either 
of  a  window  or  a  chimney.  There  was  always 
one,  and  in  the  larger  keeps  two  roon:s,  on  each 
floor,  as  large  as  the  extent  within  the  walls  would 
admit;  and,  in  the  upper  story,  a  variety  of  closets 
and  conveniences  contrived  in  the  projections  and 
thickness  of  the  walls.  At  Conisborough,  the  keep, 
which  is  four  stories  high,  is  a  circle  of  about 
twenty-two  feet  diameter  inside,  with  walls  fifteen 
feet  thick,  flanked  by  six  projecting  turrets.  In 
this  example  both  the  third  and  fourth  stories  con- 
tain fire-places,  and  were  therefore  both  intended 
for  lodging  rooms,  though  the  former  is  very  im- 
perfectly lighted.  From  the  latter,  though  the 
state-apartment  has  but  one  window,  opens  a  small 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


603 


CONISBOROUGH    CaSTLE,  YORKSHIRE. 

A.    Plan  of  the  Second,  or  Entrance  Story.  B.    The  Third  Story.  C.    The  Fourth  Story. 

1.  Steps.  4.  Opening  to  the  Vaulted  Story  6.  Window.  9.  Stairs  to  Fourth  Story.      12.  Window 

2.  Entrance.  below.  7.  Chimney.  10.  Chapel.  ]3.  Chimney. 

3.  Stairs  to  Third  Story        5.  Stairs  from  the  Second  Floor.  8.  Pnvy.  11    Stairs  from  Third  Floor.     14.  Stairs  to  Plalfort 


CONISBOROUOH    CaSTLE. 


but  well-decorated  hexagon  room,  occupying  one  of 
the  turrets,  with  a  closet  adjoining.  A  piscina  or 
basin  for  holy  water  in  the  wall  indicates  the  former 
to  be  the  chapel,  a  necessary  appendage  to  every 
castle.  Six  other  closets,  opening  to  the  platform 
on  the  top  of  the  building,  are  obtained  in  the  six 
turrets,  which  rise  above  the  parapet,  one  of  which, 
from  the  appearance  of  an  oven  within,  seems  to 
have  been  used  as  a  kitchen.  The  floors  have  been 
of  timber,  and  the  stone  corbels  upon  which  the 
beams  rested  still  remain.  In  its  extent  and  ar- 
rangement this  building  may  be  taken  as  a  fair 
representation  of  the  Norman  keeps  of  the  smaller 
class. 

The  greater  keeps  are  often  enormous  masses  of 
buiidiDg.     That  of  the  Tower  of  London  id  a  par- 


allelogram of  one  hundred  and  sixteen  feet  by 
ninety-six,  and  sixty-nme  high.  Rochester  occu- 
pies a  square  of  about  seventy  feet,  and  rises  to  the 
hnmense  height  of  one  hundred  and  four.  Dover, 
Colchester,  Castle  Rising,  Kenilworth,  Richmond, 
Bamborough,  and  others  too  numerous  to  be  sepa- 
rately distinguished,  are  of  the  same  class  and  on  a 
similar  plan.  Their  vast  surfaces  are  relieved  by 
shallow  buttresses,  and  in  some  instances,  as  at 
Norwich,'  by  ornamental  arches.  Their  angles  are 
broken  by  turrets  containing  staircases,  and  a  pro- 
jecting tower  of  entrance  with  the  chapel  in  tha 
upper  story  is  a  feature  common  to  many."  In 
their  internal  accommodation  they  differ  from  tha 
smaller  keeps  only  in  extent.  The  principal  rooms* 
»  See  ante,  p.  367  »  See  ante,  p.  381. 


604 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


The  Keep  or  Richmond  Castle 


iire  larger,  and  the  secondary  ones  more  numerous, 
but  they  are  in  no  respect  more  conveniently  ar- 
ranged or  less  gloomy. 

Dark  and  comfortless  as  these  towers  were,  the 
incessant  warfiire  which  rendered  their  construction 
necessary  also  compelled  the  Anglo-Norman  barons 
to  inhabit  them  with  their  families  and  i-etinue.  In 
Scotland,  and  particularly  in  the  boi'der  country, 
where  society  long  remained  in  a  similar  state,  even 
the  private  houses  continued  for  centuries  to  be 
erected  in  the  form  of  towers,  with  windows  re- 
duced to  loop-holes ;  the  ground-floor,  strongly  bar- 
ricaded, being  used  to  secure  the  cattle  at  night, 
and  the  family  dwelling  in  the  ill-lighted  apartments 
above,  where  they  were  sometimes  obliged  to  shut 
themselves  up  for  da5-s  together.  These  Peel 
houses,  as  they  are  called,  abounded  on  the  frontier  ; 
and  Hoddam  Castle,  a  fortalice  of  this  description, 
was  erected  by  John,  Lord  Herries,  as  late  as  the 
reign  of  Mary  Stuart. 

The  long  continuance  of  the  feudal  system  in  the 
northern  parts  of  Great  Britain  has  had  the  effect 
of  bringing  down  many  ancient  customs  to  a  recent 
date.  As  lately  as  the  year  1740,  the  notorious 
Simon  Frazer,  Lord  Lovat,  maintained  all  the  cus- 
toms of  his  ancestors  in  his  residence  of  Castle 
Dunie ;  and  his  manner  of  living,  described  on  the 
authority  of  Ferguson  (the  astronomer),  who  in  his 
youth  had  passed  several  months  there,  may  serve 
to  explain  by  what  means  the  Norman  barons  and 
their  numerous  retainers  could  find  even  temporary 
accommodation  in  the  confined  buildings  that  have 
been  described.     "  The  residence  of  this  powerful 


laird  was  a  sort  of  tower,  forming  at  best  such  a 
house  as  would  be  esteemed  but  an  indifferent  one 
for  a  private  country  gentleman  in  England.  It 
had  in  all  only  four  apartments  on  a  floor,  and  none 
of  them  large.  Here,  however,  he  kept  a  sort  of 
court  and  several  public  tables,  and  had  a  very 
numerous  body  of  retainers  always  attending.  His 
own  constant  residence,  and  the  place  Avhcro  he 
received  company  and  dined  with  them,  was  in  one 
room  only,  and  that  the  very  room  in  which  he 
lodged.  His  lady's  sole  apartment  was  also  her 
bedchamber.  The  only  provision  made  for  lodg- 
ing either  the  domestic  servants  or  the  numerous 
retainers  was  a  quantity  of  straw,  which  was  spread 
every  night  over  the  lower  rooms,  where  the  whole 
of  the  inferior  part  of  the  family,  consisting  of  a 
very  great  number  of  persons,  took  up  their  abode. 
Sometimes  above  400  persons  attending  this  petty 
court  were  kenneled  there." 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  doubted  that  the  ex- 
tensive circuit  of  the  Norman  castles  inclosed  sub- 
sidiary buildings,  and  those  not  always  confined  to 
such  as  were  requisite  for  the  mere  accommodation 
of  the  garrison,  their  horses,  and  their  live-stock. 
Porchester  Castle  protected  a  religious  community 
within  its  walls,  whose  church  remains  to  attest  its 
early  date.  A  similar  structure  is  to  be  traced  at 
Bamborough.  At  Okeham  Castle,  a  great  hall 
erected  before  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  is 
still  extant,  and  Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  who 
died  in  1147,  is  said  to  have  built  a  baronial  hall  in 
his  castle  of  Bristol.  All  such  appendages  must, 
however,  be    absolutely   distinguished    from   thoSf^ 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


605 


which  were  afterward  incorporated  with  the  mam 
edifice.  The  extensive  and  connected  residentiary 
buildings  which  form  the  upper  Avard  of  such  Nor- 
man castles  as  were  subsequently  retained  for  habi- 
tation, are  invariably  in  a  later  style  than  the  keep. 
The  castle  of  Newark,  built  by  Alexander,  Bishop 
of  Lincoln,  is  a  rare  example  of  any  departure  from 
the  established  system  of  fortification  at  that  period, 
and  its  remains  may  indicate  a  first  step  toward 
that  union  of  habitable  space  with  strength,  which 
afterward  expanded  into  the  magnificence  of  War- 
wick, Kenilworth,  and  Alnwick. 

There  are  few  remains  of  the  domestic  buildings 
of  this  period,  but  a  suflficient  number  exist  to  prove 
that  even  those  of  the  greatest  extent  and  solidity 
were  buildings  of  a  character  altogether  distinct 
from  the  strongholds  that  have  just  been  described. 
This  fact  may  also  be  inferred  from  the  incidental 
testimony  of  ancient  writers.  At  an  earlier  period 
we  find  that  Edward  the  Confessor  had  a  hunting- 
seat,  and  Harold  a  country-house.  William  of 
Malmsbury,  in  a  passage  already  quoted,  distin- 
guishes the  mansions  erected  by  Bishop  Roger 
from  his  castles ;  and  from  the  same  passage  we 
may  also  infer,  that  they  were  in  a  style  of  mag- 
nificence corresponding  to  that  of  the  other  descrip- 
tions of  Norman  architecture.  Of  the  Palatial 
style  of  the  period,  William  Rufus'  hall  at  West- 
minster survives,  a  splendid  monument ;  for  though 
no  feature  of  its  original  character  remains  in  view, 
yet  there  is  indisputable  evidence  that  the  dimen- 


sions of  the  building  are  unaltered.  It  is  supposed, 
with  much  reason,  to  have  been  originally  divided 
by  columns  into  a  center  and  side  aisles.  This  at 
least  appears  to  have  been  the  general  construction 
of  the  great  halls  of  the  Norman  period,  as  far  as 
there  are  means  of  judging.  Such  was  the  hall  of 
Henry  I.'s  palace  at  Oxford  ;  that  of  Okeham  Casth; 
is  on  the  same  plan  ;  and  the  remains  of  a  similar 
hall  existed  until  lately  at  the  Norman  manor-house 
of  Barnack,  in  Northamptonshire. 

Of  the  smaller  class  of  country-houses  there  are 
sufilicient  remains  to  warrant  some  general  conclu- 
sions as  to  their  usual  form  and  distribution,  which 
we  shall  find  to  have  been  mainly  influenced  by  the 
necessity  for  protection  from  hostile  attacks.  The 
manor-house  of  Boothby  Pagnel,  which,  though 
degraded  to  baser  uses,  remains  nearly  in  its  origi- 
nal state,  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram, 
with  a  gable  at  each  end  ;  the  lower  story  is  vaulted, 
and  has  no  communication  with  the  habitable  apart- 
ment above,  which  was  originally  divided  into  two 
rooms,  of  which  one  only  had  a  chimney ;  the  en- 
trance was  by  an  external  stair,  probably  movable. 
In  the  roof  was  a  loft,  accessible  only  by  a  ladder, 
for  there  is  no  appearance  of  an  internal  staircase  in 
this  building  or  any  other  of  the  same  class.  The 
structure  called  Pythagoras'  school,  at  Cambridge, 
has  been  a  domestic  edifice,  in  all  respects  similar ; 
and  another  was  destroyed  near  the  church  of  St. 
Olave,  in  Southwark,  during  the  alterations  conse- 
quent upon  rebuilding  London  Bridge. 


Jew's  Hoise  at  I^incoln 


()06 


IllSTORr  OF  EiNGLAND. 


[Book  HI. 


Abbey  Gateway,  Bcry  St.  Edmunds. 


These  confined  and  comfortless  dwellings  evi- 
dently bear  considerable  analogy  to  the  lieeps  of  the 
same  period,  and  we  must  suppose  them  to  have 
been  placed  within  inclosures,  and  surrounded  by 
offices  and  outbuildings,  Avhich  were  probably,  for 
ihe  most  part,  of  timber ;  upon  the  general  use  of 
which  material  in  domestic  architecture,  now  and 
b)ng  after,  some  observations  have  appeared  in  a 
former  chapter.'  In  town  houses  it  was  certainly 
the  principal  material,  but  that  stone  was  sometimes 
employed,  and  a  high  degree  of  decorative  character 
bestowed  upon  sti'eet  architecture  at  this  period, 
several  instances  remain  to  prove,  especially  that  re- 
markable building  at  Lincoln,  known  by  the  name  of 
the  Jew's  house  (p.  G05),  in  which  the  position  of  the 
chimney  clearly  shows  the  same  distribution  to  have 
been  followed,  of  placing  the  principal  apartment  in 
the  upper  floor.  Another  Norman  house,  on  pre- 
cisely the  same  plan,  but  in  a  less  perfect  state, 
remains  within  a  short  distance ;  and  a  third  in  the 
same  city  (vulgarly  called  John  of  Gaunt's  stables), 
<»f  which  the  lower  part  remains  intact,  shows  the 
ground-floor  to  have  been  lighted  on  the  outside  by 
loopholes  only.  This  latter  is  an  extensive  building, 
and  incloses  a  court-yard,  with  a  large  ornamented 
gateway.  Moyses  Hall,  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds, 
another  Norman  domestic  building,  agreeing,  in 
every  respect,  with  the   general   conclusions   that 

J  See  ante,  p.  303. 


have  been  stated,  is  further  remarkable  for  the  form 
of  the  windows,  which  are  square-headed  (within 
the  circular  arch),  and  divided,  not  by  a  column, 
but  a  muUion.  These  windows  are  undoubtedly 
original. 

The  conventual  buildings  of  all  ages  may  be  ex- 
pected to  throw  considerable  light  upon   contem- 


Staircase  in  the  Conve.ntual  BciLDiNos,  Canterbury 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


607 


porary  domestic  architecture ;  but  of  those  of  the 
period  under  consideration  subsequent  alterations 
have  left  little  but  what  is  peculiar  to  the  monastic 
style.  The  systematic  use  of  external  staircases  is, 
however,  proved  by  several  instances,  and  especially 
by  the  very  remarkable  one  remaining  in  the  con- 
ventual buildings  at  Canterbury. 

The  distribution  of  the  conventual  buildings  of 
the  twelfth  century  will  be  best  understood  by  refer- 
ence to  the  accompanying  plan  of  the  remains  of 
Kirkstall  Abbey,  Yorkshire,  the  principal  features 
of  which  are  common  to  all  similar  edifices,  whether 
on  a  larger  or  a  smaller  scale.  The  quadrangle, 
which  adjoins  the  transept,  and  extends  westward, 
is  always  placed  on  the  south  side  of  the  church, 
unless  local  circumstances  prevent  it.  The  position 
of  the  chapter-house  is  invariable,  and  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  larger  apaitments  about  the  quadrangle 
differs  but  little  in  any  instance.  This  edifice  and 
that  of  the  Norman  Abbey  of  Jervaux,  in  the  same 
county,  are  nearly  similar  in  plan,  and  the  conjec- 
tural references  in  the  one  are  supplied  by  compari- 
son with  the  other.  Much  architectural  splendor 
was  at  all  times  displayed  in  the  abbey  gate-houses. 
That  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds  is  the  most  perfect 
remaining  of  this  period,  and  exhibits  in  its  plain 


rectangular  outline  the  unvarying  character  of  the 
Norman  style. 

The  Norman  chimneys  are  of  the  same  consti'uc- 
tion  as  those  now  in  common  use.  It  is  only  in 
some  very  early  examples  that  we  find  the  flues 
carried  through  the  wall,  and  continued  merely  for 
a  few  feet  upward  outside.  The  fire-place  consists 
of  a  spacious  hearth,  with  a  projecting  funnel  on 
brackets  above.     Those   at  Conisborough   are  re 


Fire-place,  Boothby  Pagnel  Manor  HonsE. 


aoir 


Plan  of  Kirkstall  Abbey,  Yorkshire. 

A.  The  Church.        B.  Quadrangle.        C.  Cloister,  over  which  was  the  Dormitory.        D.  Chapter-House.        E.  An  addition  of  later  date 

F.  Refectory.        G  G.  Kitchen  and  Offices.        H.  Remains  of  the  Abbot's  lodgings.        I.  Buildings  of  later  date. 


GOS 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III 


FxRE  Place,  Comsboroiuh  Castle. 

markable  for  their  close  resemblance  to  the  modern 
stjie  of  chimney-pieces.  With  this  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  their  construction,  it  seems  astonishing  that 
the  Norman  builders  should  have  introduced  chim- 
neys so  sparingly;  but  when  we  see  that  the  build- 
ers of  the  middle  ages  down  to  a  much  later  period 
gave  the  preference  to  warming  their  halls  by  a 
central  hearth,  leaving  the  smoke  to  blacken  the 
roof,  and  escape  as  it  best  might  by  an  open  lantern, 
■we  can  only  wonder  at  the  different  ideas  of  domes- 
tic convenience  which  have  prevailed  in  diff'ereut 
ages. 

The  conclusions  which  have  been  drawn  as  to 
the  general  system  of  the  military  and  domestic 
architecture  of  the  Normans  will  be  strikingly  cor- 
roborated by  a  reference  to  the  Bayeux  Tapestrj-. 
In  the  compartment  relating  to  the  embarkation 
of  Harold,  he  is  represented  setting  out  with  his 
suite  from  a  house  precisely  like  those  that  have 
been  described,  arched  below,  a  large  apartment 
above  (in  which  several  persons  are  drinking),  and 
an  external  stair,  which  two  of  the  party  are  de- 
scending to  join  those  who  are  on  their  way  to  the 


Elevation-  of  a  Norman  House.    From  the  Bayeu.\  Tapestry. 

ships.  Farther  on  is  a  building,  which,  from  the 
connection  of  the  history,  must  be  the  palace  of 
Rouen,  represented  by  a  gate-house  in  advance  of 
the  hall  in  which  William  receives  the  embassy,  the 
architectural  character  of  which  is  distinctly  marked 
by  the  long  range  of  windows  above.  Subsequently 
we  have  several  fortified  places,  of  which  Dol,  Di- 
nant,  and  Bayeux  are  identified  by  the  inscriptions. 
They  are  represented,  according  to  the  ancient 
custom,  both  in  the  classical  and   middle   ages,  of 


putting  a  part  for  the  whole,  as  castles,  consisting, 
in  every  case,  of  the  mound,  the  tower,  and  the 
steep  approach  by  steps  :  that  of  Dinant  is  also 
surrounded  by  palisades,  to  which  the  assailants  are 
setting  fire. 

In  this  general  view  of  the  architecture  of  the 
Norman  period,  the  great  change  of  style  which 
took  place  before  its  conclusion  by  the  introduction 
of  the  pointed  arch,  has  not  yet  been  adverted  to. 
The  Norman  style  of  architecture  expired  with  the 
twelfth  century  ;  and  in  the  reign  of  John,  the 
lancet  Gothic  had  entirely  superseded  it.  To  enter 
into  a  description  of  that  style  in  the  present  chap- 
ter would  be  to  extend  it  to  an  undue  length,  and 
to  anticipate  much  that  properly  belongs  to  the 
ensuing  period,  to  which  it  may  be  deferred  with- 
out inconvenience ;  since  the  transition  led  to  no 
immediate  alteration  in  those  general  outlines,  char- 
acteristic of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  age 
into  which  it  is  more  especially  the  province  of  his- 
tory to  inquire.  The  origin  of  the  pointed  arch, 
and  the  priority  of  invention  of  the  style  with  which 
it  became  identified,  are  questions  which  it  would 
be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  discuss.  None  of  the 
theories  which  have  been  propounded  with  regard 
to  the  origin  of  the  pointed  arch  have  succeeded 
satisfactorily  in  assigning  it  to  any  remote  source, 
and  the  latter  question  can  scarcely  be  settled  but 
by  the  assistance  of  a  mass  of  precise  dates  which 
are  known  to  be  unattainable. 

The  first  introduction  of  the  pointed  arch  cer- 
tainly brought  Avith  it  no  change  of  style,  either  in 
Normandy  or  England,  but  was  merely  incidental, 
as  in  the  example  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Great,  in 
London,  founded  in  1133,  where  the  arches  of  the 
transept  at  their  intersection  being  naiTower  than 
those  of  the  nave,  are,  for  convenience,  thrown  into 
the  pointed  form  in  preference  to  using  the  Jiorse- 
shoe  arch,  which  is  very  commod  in  similar  cases. 
But  it  was  not  long  before  the  pointed  arch  came 
to  be  introduced  systematically,  as  in  the  church  of 
St.  Cross,  in  Hampshire,  and  the  abbeys  of  Malms- 
bury  and  Kirkstall ;  in  all  of  which  examples  the 
main  arches  are  pointed,  though  the  style  is  essen- 
tially Norman  in  every  other  respect.  After  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  a  new  mode  of  treat- 
ing the  detail  may  be  observed,  sometimes  altogether 
independent  of  the  pointed  arch,  as  in  the  chapel  of 
St.  Leonard,  near  Stamford,  in  which  the  detached 
and  slender  shafts,  the  band  which  encircles  them, 
the  uniform  foliated  capitals,  the  circular  abacus, 
and  the  lightness  and  deep  under-cutting  of  the 
arch  mouldings,  all  approaching  the  character  of 
the  lancet  Gothic,  and  tending  to  an  entire  revolu- 
tion in  style,  are  applied  to  forms  of  the  purest 
Norman  design.  During  the  latter  part  of  the 
twelfth  century  the  two  styles  are  blended  in  every 
possible  variety,  and  apparently  with  a  caprice  sub- 
ject to  no  rule.  The  eastern  part  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral,  fiom  the  choir  to  the  extremity  called 
Becket's  Crown,  is  an  interesting  example  of  the 
transition  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  In  the 
latter  the  lancet  Gothic  is  nearly  complete ;  but 
the  square  abacus  and  the  chevron  ornament  still 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATL'RE.  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


G09 


Doorway  of  St.  Leonard's  Cuapel,  Stamford. 

This  door  was  originally  square,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  abutments  of 

the  flat  arch. 

remain  to  connect  it  with  the  Norman.^  Of  the 
same  date  is  the  round  church  in  the  Temple,  one 
of  the  imitations  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusa- 
lem which  resulted  from  the  crusades.  But  the 
mixture  of  style  in  this  example  is  greater ;  for 
though  the  main  arches  are  pointed,  and  spring 
from  a  cluster  of  four  detached  shafts,  yet  the  door 
and  windows  are  circular,  the  triforium  displays 
the  interlaced  arch,  and  the  dado  is  ornamented 
with  billets.  After  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  the  new 
style  is  dominant. 

The  architecture  of  Scotland  during  this  period 
is  identical  in  character  with  that  of  the  southern 
portion  of  Great  Britain ;  but  there  are  few  exam- 
ples of  the  Norman  style  in  an  unmixed  state.  Not- 
withstanding the  introduction  of  the  Norman  arts 
of  civilization  under  3Ialcolm  Canmore,  and  the 
foundation  of  Dunfermline  Abbey,  of  which  the 
style  indicates  its  early  date,  architecture  seems  to 
have  been  little  cultivated  until  the  time  of  David  I., 
since,  in  the  reign  of  his  predecessor,  magic,  was 
supposed  to  have  assisted  in  the  construction  of  an 
arch  somewhat  beyond  the  ordinary  proportions. 
The  reign  of  David  I.  is  the  great  architectural  era 
of  Scotland  ;  and  the  buildings  of  the  numerous 
monastic  institutions  founded  by  that  munificent 
prince  and  his  nobles  during  the  twelfth  century, 
rival  those  of  England,  and  exhibit  the  same  sti"ug- 
gle  between  the  circular  and  pointed  styles  of  ar- 
chitecture. The  churches  of  Kelso,  Dryburgh,  Jed- 
burgh, Dundrennan,  and  Dunkeld  may  be  cited  as 
examples.  All  these  were  founded  before  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  centur}' ;  and  if  no  delay  took 
place  in  the  erection  of  the  buildings  (and  there  is 
no  reason  to  suppose  any),  it  would  appear  that  the 
transition  style  was  introduced  into  Scotland  in  a 
more  forward  state  than  it  had  attained  in  England 
at  the  same  date — a  fact  very  difficult  to  be  accounted 
for,  since  there  is  no  room  to  believe  that  the  Scots 
at  this  period  drew  their  st}-le  of  architecture  from 
any  source  independent  of  the  Anglo-Norman  school. 

1  See  ante.  p.  538. 
'.  OL.   I. —  ■/! 


Kelso,  which  exhibits  a  considerable  mixture  of 
the  pointed  arch,  was  founded  in  1128,  and  was 
certainly  completed  in  the  lifetime  of  David  I.,  since 
his  son  was  buried  there.  In  Dundrennan  Abbey, 
founded  in  1142,  the  arches  are  mixed,  though  the 
circular  form  predominates ;  and  the  transition  pro- 
ceeded regularly  till  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth 
century,  when  the  lancet  Gothic,  as  in  England, 
became  completely  established.  The  abbeys  of 
Aberbrothic  and  Glenluce,  the  one  founded  by 
William  the  Lion  in  1178,  and  the  other  by  Roland, 
Lord  of  Galloway,  in  1190,  are  both  in  that  style. 

The  system  of  military  architecture  in  Scotland 
at  this  period  is  also  the  same  as  that  of  the  Anglo- 
Normai>s.  The  construction  of  the  Scottish  keep- 
towers  differs  in  nothing  from  those  already  de- 
scribed, but  they  do  not  generally  possess  an  equal 
degree  of  architectural  character,  being  for  the 
most  part  plain  rec^^angular  masses,  without  breaks 
or  buttresses,  or  any  decollations  on  the  arches. 

Sculpture  did  not  flourish  during  the  Norman 
period.  Statues  hold  no  place  in  the  composition 
of  Norman  architecture.  A  few  examples  of  such 
an  imperfect  approach  to  a  figure  in  a  niche  as  that 
of  Herbert  Losing,  at  Norwich,  cannot  be  consid- 
ered as  exceptions.  Those  of  Henry  I.  and  his 
queen,  under  the  porch  at  Rochester,  form  one  of 
extreme  rarity ;  and  the  feeble  artists  of  the  age 
seldom  ventured  upon  the  human  figure  otherwise 
than  in  relief,  in  which  manner  we  sometimes  find 
the  second  person  of  the  Trinity  in  glory,  repre- 
sented in  the  heads  of  doorways.  Even  in  monu- 
mental sculpture  the  effigy  was  rarely  introduced 
before  the  twelfth  century,  and  then  in  a  very  im- 
perfect manner. 

The  earliest  sepulchral  monuments  of  the  Norman 
period  consist  merely  of  the  stone  coffins  in  general 
use  with  all  who  could  afford  them ;  the  lids  of 
which  were  shaped  in  a  ridge,  or,  as  it  is  com- 
monly called,  en  dos  d'dne.  Such  coffins  being  let 
into  the  ground  no  lower  than  their  depth,  which 
was  the  usual  mode  of  interring  persons  of  conse- 
quence, the  covering-stone  stood  above  the  level  of 
the  pavement ;  and  they  thus  became  a  memorial 
as  well  as  a  receptacle  for  the  dead. 

Monuments  of  this  kind  were  frequently  q.uite 
plain.  When  they  bore  an  inscription,  which  was 
seldom,  it  ran  round  the  edge  of  the  covering- 
stone.  The  custom  of  sculpturing  them  with  a 
cross  is  nevertheless  of  great  antiquitj-,  and  was  by 
no  means  confined  to  the  clergy,  as  it  has  been 
supposed,  though  Gough  imagines  that  some  pecu- 
liar forms  may  have  been  appropriated  to  them  to 
mark  not  only  their  profession  but  their  rank. 
Thus  a  cross-florj'  in  a  circle  may  denote  a  rector, 
as  a  cross-patee  may  probably  indicate  a  Templar. 
Crosiers,  chalices,  and  other  ecclesiastical  insignia, 
are  also  introduced  for  the  same  purpose. 

Stone  coffins  were  often  placed  entirely  above 
ground,  in  the  manner  of  a  sarcophagus,  in  which 
case  the  sides  are  sometimes  sculptured.  Archi- 
tectural decorations  were  afterwai-d  introduced,  but 
probably  not  earlier  than  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century.     Of  this  kind  is  the  monument  at  Cantor- 


610 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


SARroPHAOCs,  assigned  to  Archbishop  Theobald,  at  Cnnterbuty. 

bury  assigned  to  Archbishop  Theobald,  who  died  in 
1161.  And  here  it  may  be  remarived,  with  refer- 
ence to  thrs  monument,  that  in  all  transitions  the 
new  style  first  shows  itself  in  a  perfect  form  in 
smaller  works,  such  as  tombs  and  shrines  ;  and  we 
must  not  be  surprised  at  finding  in  such  works  the 
trefoil  arch,  and  other  forms  peculiar  to  the  lancet 
(xothic,  at  an  earher  date  than  the  establishment  of 
that  style  in  works  of  architecture  generally. 

The  earliest  monumental  effigies  are  sculptured 
on  the  covering  slabs  of  coffins  in  low-relief,  the 
ground  being  sunk  into  the  stone,  and  the  figure 
level  with  the  surrounding  margin.  A  specimen  of 
this  kind,  probably  a  very  early  one,  reiuains,  though 
in  the  last  stage  of  dilapidation,  in  the  cloister  at 
Westminster.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  a 
bolder  style  was  adopted ;  and  the  monumental 
»;ffigies  of  the  twelfth  century  are  mostly  in  half- 
relief. 

With  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture,  canopies 
were  introduced  over  the  head  of  the  effigy,  con- 
sisting of  a  trefoil  arch  supported  by  colunms,  to 
which  was  added  the  pediment  and  other  charac- 
teristics of  that  style  as  it  advanced.     Of  this  class 


several  monuments  of  the  abbots  remain  at  Peter- 
borough. 

Most  of  the  effigies  which  remain  of  this  period 
represent  ecclesiastics.  There  is  little  variety  in 
the  manner  of  treating  the  subjects.  The  figures 
are  generally  represented  treading  on  a  dragon, 
emi)lematic  of  the  evil  principle,  and  piercing  it 
with  the  pastoral  staft"  or  crosier  they  bear  in  the 
right  hand  ;  the  left  frequently  holds  a  book  :  or 
the  left  hand  bears  the  crosier,  and  tlie  right  is 
elevated  in  the  act  of  benediction.  The  two  angels 
supporting  the  head  of  the  effigj'  were  introduced 
at  this  period,  and  are  to  be  found  in  early  exam- 
ples. 

The  full  recumbent  effigy  cannot  be  assigned  to 
a  date  much  earlier  than  the  thirteenth  century. 
King  John  is  the  first  of  our  monarchs  for  whop 
such  a  memorial  was  executed  in  England,  though 
his  two  predecessors  were  so  commemorated  at 
Fontevraud.  The  effigy  of  Hobcrt,  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, who  died  in  1134,  in  Gloucester  Cathedral, 
is  admitted  not  to  be  contemporary,  and  that  of 
Geoffrey  de  Magnaville,  Earl  of  Essex,  in  the  Tem- 
ple Church,  assigned  to  about  the  middle  of  this 
century,  must  be  considered  more  than  doubtful. 
The  armorial  bearing  on  the  shield  seems  sufficient 
to  invalidate  its  claims  to  so  early  a  date,  independ- 
ently of  its  similarity  to  other  statues  in  the  same 
place,  which  indisputably  belong  to  the  succeeding 
period.  In  addition  to  these,  the  circumstances 
attending  his  death  and  burial  render  it  not  im- 
probable that  a  delay  took  place  in  executing  the 
monument. 

In  the  higher  departments  of  the  art  of  painting 
this  period  is  destitute  of  monuments  and  scanty  in 
records.  The  most  industrious  collector  of  authen- 
tic documents  on  the  subject,  Vertue,  could  find 
none  bearing  even  remotelj'  upon  it  until  the  reign 


1.  0.  ?TONE  CoFFiNV.— Ixwcrth  Alilifv.  PufTnlk. 

4.  UoGEU.  I'isnor  (iK  Sap.vm.  1  1'J3.  — r-'alisbiin"  C'Mihedral. 


3.  One  of  ihP  carlv  Abbots  of  WKPTMiN-^TEn.—Cloisle^-.  Westminster 
.">.  Amri:\v.  AcTi'iT  OF  rKTERBORotGU,  ] ! 09.— rcierboroiigh  Calhfdral. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


611 


of  Henry  III.,  when  a  precept  appears  to  the  sheriff 
of  Southampton,  directing  that  the  wainscot  of  the 
king's  room  in  the  castle  of  Winchester  shall  be 
painted  with  the  same  pictures  as  formerly.  This, 
as  Walpole  obsei*ves,  implies  that  history  painting 
had  been  in  use  at  an  earlier  date  ;  and  we  ma}% 
moreover,  reasonably  conclude  that  riie  artists  who 
designed  the  Bayeux  Tapestiy  would  not  flinch 
from  any  historical  subject,  however  extensive  or 
complicated. 

Nothing,  however,  is  certain  but  that  painting  and 
gilding  were  used  abundantly,  especially  in  the 
decoration  of  ceilings.  William  of  Malmsbury,  in 
a  curious  passage,  calls  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  "  a  brill- 
iant mirror  of  chivalry,  in  which,  as  in  a  splendid 
ceiling,  the  lustre  of  every  virtue  was  reflected." 
Both  this  author  and  Gervasius  extol  highly  the 
painted  roof  of  Canterbury  Cathedral,  completed 
by  Prior  Conrad  in  1114,  but  give  us  no  insight 
into  the  stjle  in  which  it  was  executed  further 
than  that  it  represented  Heaven,  though  the  latter 
is  very  particular  in  his  description  of  the  building. 
A  reference  to  Normandy  will  afford  no  better  sat- 
isfaction. The  portraits  of  William  the  Conqueror 
and  his  family,  formerly  at  Caen,  might  be  cited ; 
but  their  authenticity,  the  antiquity  of  the  wall  on 
which  they  were  painted,  and  the  accuracy  of 
Montfaucou's  engraving,  by  which  alone  they  are 
preserved  to  the  present  day,  are  alike  doubtful. 
Nor  is  any  trace  left  of  the  paintings  on  the  tomb  of 
Walter  Giftbrd,  Earl  of  Buckingham  (buried  at  his 
own  foundation  of  the  Priory  of  Longueville,  in 
1102),  though  they  existed  to  a  comparatively  re- 
cent date. 


With  this  deficiency  of  examples  in  its  more  im- 
portant branches,  we  must  again  have  recourse  to 
illuminated  manuscripts  for  information  upon  the 
state  of  the  art  as  regards  composition  and  drawing: 
and  upon  these  points  it  will  be  sufficient  to  refer 
to  the  numerous  engi-avings  from  these  manuscripts 
that  are  elsewhere  given  in  illustration  of  the  man- 
ners and  costumes  of  the  period. 

The  manuscripts  of  the  twelfth  century  are 
described  by  Sir  F.  Madden'  "as  remarkable  for  a 
profusion  of  ornament,  and  a  gi-aceful  but  intricate 
mode  of  illuminating  capital  letters,  which  renders 
it  more  easy  to  recognize  manuscripts  of  this  period 
than  any  other.  This  style,  by  the  aid  of  gold  and 
silver,  was  carried  to  an  excess  of  extravagance 
scarcely  to  be  conceived.  In  elegance  and  elabor- 
ate art  the  decorations  of  this  century  will  yield 
to  none,  but  they  occasionally  betray  a  portion  of 
that  fiilse  taste  which  gradually  crept  into  the  pat- 
terns of  a  later  period.  About  this  time  it  became 
the  practice  with  the  scribes  to  leave  blanks  for  the 
initial  letters,  to  be  filled  up  by  one  or  more  limners  ; 
and  this  accounts  for  the  imperfect  state,  and  some- 
times total  omission  of  them,  which  we  find  in 
manuscript  volumes  of  this  and  the  two  succeeding 
centuries.  The  fashion,  also,  of  writing  books  of  a 
size  and  magnitude  almost  incredible,  was  adopted 
toward  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century." 

A  short  time  bofore  the  commencement  of  the 
present  period,  a  new  form  was  given  to  the  science 
of  music  by  the  improved  scale  of  musical  notation 
invented  by  the  celebrated  Guide  of  Arezzo.  This 
invention  was  first  published  by  the  author  in  his 

1  Introduction  to  Shaw's  Illuminated  Ornaments. 


f^PEriMEN  OF  OilNAMEXTAL  LETTER  Or  THE  PERiop.     Prnwii  froiii  n  MP.  of  the  period  in  i1k  T^ 


612 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  111. 


"  Micrologus,"  which  appeared  about  1030.  It  was 
not,  however,  till  after  the  introduction  of  a  correct 
method  of  marking  time  that  the  full  benefit  from 
Guido's  invention  was  felt.  In  the  present  period 
great  attention  was  paid  to  church  music  by  the 
clergy,  some  of  whom  composed  pieces  for  the  use 
if  the  chou's.  Thomas,  the  first  archl)ishop  of 
Vork  after  the  Conquest,  who  had  doubtless  be- 
come acquainted  with  the  Italian  scale,  is  described 
as  frequently  employing  his  leisure  in  singing  or  in 
playing  upon  the  organ  ;  and  "  in  making  organs, 
and  in  teaching  his  clerg)'  to  make  them,  and  to  set 
hymns  both  in  prose  and  verse  to  music."  '  When 
the  archbishop  "heard  any  of  the  secular  minstrels 
sing  a  tune  which  pleased  him,  he  adopted  and 
formed  it  for  the  use  of  the  church,  by  some  neces- 
sary variations."  *  The  trouveurs  and  troubadours 
were  also  active  in  contributing  to  the  improvement 
of  secular  music  during  the  twelfth  century.  Du- 
ring the  thirteenth  century,  it  is  not  unlikely,  from 
the  increasing  popularity  of  minstrels  and  trouba- 
dours, that  secular  music,  having  a  wider  field  for 
its  exercise,  underwent  gi'eater  improvement  than 
church  music.  Attempts  were  made  to  force  the 
latter  beyond  the  limits  to  which  it  had  been  con- 
fined during  an  earlier  period.  John  of  Salisbury 
complains  of  this  change,  and  says  that  in  the 
churches,  "  the  singers  endeavor  to  melt  the  hearts 
of  the  admiring  multitude  with  their  eft'eminate 
notes  and  quavers,  and  with  a  certain  wanton  luxu- 
riancy  of  voice."  ^  But  at  this  period  the  choral 
services  were  not  the  same  in  all  parts  of  the  coun- 

1  Stubbs,  de  Pontific.  Ebor.  ^  William  of  Malinsburr. 

-  J.  Sarisburien.  Polirrat. 


try.  Kach  cathedral  had  its  own  formulary,  or  as 
it  came  to  be  called,  "  use."  In  the  northern  coun- 
ties the  "  use"  of  the  archiepiscopal  church  of  York 
prevailed ;  in  South  Wales  that  of  Hereford ;  in 
North  Wales  that  of  Bangor ;  and  in  other  jjlaces 
the  "  use"  of  other  principal  sees,  particularly  that 
of  Lincoln,  hi  Canterbury,  where  the  monks  ol' 
St.  Augustin  had  introduced  their  church  music, 
the  "use"  of  Salisbury  was  almost  general  through- 
out the  province.  Secular  music  was  still  more 
likely  to  be  modified  by  local  circumstances.  The 
music  of  the  English  was  grave  and  measured,  and 
that  of  the  Scotch,  Irish,  and  Welsh  of  a  more  lively 
kind.  In  the  country  about  York,  and  generally 
beyond  the  Humber,  the  popular  music  resembled 
that  of  Wales.  The  organ  was  the  instrument 
used  in  sacred  music.  The  harp,  used  as  an  ac- 
companiment to  the  popular  minstrels,  was  tlie 
most  common  instrument  in  Scotland,  Wales,  and 
Ireland ;  and  there  were  but  few  others  in  those 
countries.  "  The  Irish,"  says  the  writer  just  quoted,' 
"  use  only  two  musical  instruments — the  harp  and 
the  timbrel ;  the  Scotch  use  three — the  harp,  the 
pib-corn,  and  the  bagpipe.  The  Irish  harps  have 
brass  strings."  "  It  is  the  opinion  of  many,"  he 
adds,  "  that  the  Scotch  music  at  present  not  only 
equals,  but  even  very  much  excels  the  Irish  ;  for 
which  reason  they  go  to  Scotland  as  to  the  fountain- 
head  of  perfection  in  that  art."  The  English  were 
acquainted  with  a  greater  variety  of  instruments — a 
fact  which  may  be  accounted  for  by  their  more  in- 
timate and  extensive  intercourse  with  the  conti- 
nent. 

1  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  Topog.  Hibemis,  1.  3. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


613 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


E  shall  begin  the  pres- 
ent chapter  as  we 
did  the  last  under 
the  same  title,  with 
a  notice  of  the  few 
facts  that  are  to  be 
collected  respecting 
the  furniture  of  the 
houses  and  other  do- 
mestic accommoda- 
tions of  the  period. 
In  as  far  as  we  can 
judge  from  the  Bay- 
eux  Tapestry  and  the  various  illuminated  MSS.  of 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  it  would  appear 
that  very  few  additions  or  improvements  were  made 
by  the  Normans  to  the  stock  of  English  household 
furniture.  We  perceive  the  same  description  of 
tables,  long  and  oval,  bearing  the  same  sort  of  plates, 
dishes,  cups,  and  knives ;  the  fowls  and  roast  meats 
being  still  served  up  upon  the  spit  to  the  guests  seated 
at  the  festive  board.  In  the  reign  of  King  John  we 
find   mention   of  saltcellars.      A   mark   of  gold   is 


ordered  in  the  Close  Rolls  to  be  furnished  to  make 
a  saltcellar  for  the  king's  use ;  and  twenty-nine 
shilhngs  and  sixpence  to  be  paid  for  a  silver  saltcel- 
lai-,  gilt  within  and  without.  The  chairs  of  state, 
the  seats  of  regal  and  ecclesiastical  personages,  are 
similar  to  those  already  described  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  ;  and  though  some  appear  to  be  more  elab- 
orately carved  and  ornamented,  it  is  a  question 
whether  such  was,  indeed,  the  fact,  or  if  the  im- 
provement is  not  rather  in  the  art  of  the  delineator 
than  in  that  of  the  maker  of  the  article  itself.  The 
chairs  in  which  are  seated  the  kings  and  bishops  of 
the  set  of  chess-men  of  the  twelfth  century,  found 
in  the  isle  of  Lewis,  in  1831,  and  engraved  in  the 
24th  volume  of  the  Archseologia,  are  among  the 
best  specimens  of  the  ornamental  carved  furniture 
of  that  period.  The  hangings  of  needlework  and 
embroidery  which  adorned  the  walls  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  palace  seem  to  have  been  partial^  super- 
seded in  the  course  of  this  period  by  the  fashion  of 
painting  on  the  walls  themselves,  or  the  wainscot  of 
the  chamber,  the  same  historical  or  fabulous  sub- 
jects which  had  hitherto  been  displayed  in  threads 


Chairs.    Ancient  Chessmen,  from  Specimens  in  the  British  Museum 


Cradle.    Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii 


G14 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


of  colors  and  gold  ;  for  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign 
of  Henr}-  III.,  as  mentioned  in  a  preceding  page, 
the  slierift"  of  Hampshire  is  commanded  to  take  care 
that  the  wainscoted  chamber  of  the  king  in  the 
castle  of  Winchester  be  painted  with  the  same  his- 
tories and  pictures  with  wliich  it  had  heen  ]>reviouslij 
painted,  therebj'  sliowing  that  this  style  of  decora- 
tion had  been  introduced  prior  to  that  date.  Thus, 
says  un  old  French  romance  : — 

'•  Lors  Camlires  et  lors  grans  sales  font  tambroissier  peinOre  et  pour- 
traire.'' 

They  cansed  their  chambers  and  great  halls  to  be  wainscoted  and 
painted  with  figures. 

In  the  23d  volume  of  the  Archreologia  is  engi-aved 
one  of  a  pair  of  candlesticks  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, now  at  Goodrich  Court.  Thej^  are  of  copper, 
engraved  and  gilt,  and  ornamented  with  enamel  of 
seven  colors  let  into  the  metal,  displaying  figures  of 


Candlestick.    Archacologia,  vol.  23. 


Ccp  found  in  the  RniNs  of  Glastonbvry  Abbey 


men,  women,  and  animals.  They  have  spikes  at 
top,  on  which  the  candles  were  fixed,  the  socket  to 
contain  them  being  of  much  later  date. 

Limoges,  in  France,  was  celebrated  as  earlv  as 
1187  for  the  art  of  enameling;  and  boxes,  cups, 
and  dishes,  ornamented  like  the  candlesticks  above 
mentioned,  are  occasionally  met  with,  and  may  be 
considered  of  the  same  period; 

Ypres,  in  Flanders,  was  equally  famous  before 
the  year  1200  for  its  manufactures  of  fine  linen,  and 
from  thence  the  term  Diaper,  or  D' Ypres,  i.  e.  of 
Ypres,  which  was  afterward  applied  to  all  similar 
cloths  wherever  fabricated.  Thus,  in  the  "Koman 
d'Alexandre,"  written  about  1200,  we  find  the  ex- 
pression "  Dyapres  d'Antioche," '  and  we  may  pre- 
sume the  napkins  and  cloths  of  the  Anglo-Normans 
were  scarcely  inferior  to  those  of  the  present  day. 

In  the  Close  Rolls  of  the  reign  of  King  John 
forty-nine  shillings  and  eight  pence  lialf])enny  are 
ordered  to  be  paid  for  three  pieces  of  taft'ety  and 
one  and  a  half  of  fustian,  and  five  pounds  of  silk  or 
fine  cotton  for  three  couches  or  beds  for  the  king 
and  for  the  workmanship  of  the  same. 

Linen  sheets  were  also  used  at  tlie  same  period  : 
there  is  an  order  to  the  sheriff  of  Southampton  to 
deliver  to  Norman  Esturiny,  the  king's  valet,  among 
other  gifts,  because  he  had  become  a  knight,  a  couch 
or  bed,  and  a  pair  of  linen  sheets. 

Slender  as  the  information  is  that  we  possess 
upon  this  subject,  it  affords  some  indications  of  the 
advance  of  refinement;  and  if  our  materials  were 
more  ample  we  should  no  doubt  find  that  the  aug- 
mentation of  wealth  and  the  improvement  of  taste 
made  themselves  visible  in  many  more  particulars 
than  we  can  now  discover,  though  it  is  not  probable 
that  the  progress  of  comfort  and  elegance  in  either 
the  useful  or  decorative  furniture  of  the  houses  of 
the  period  at  all  corresponded  to  that  which  took 
place  in  the  magnificence  of  their  external  archi- 
tecture. The  art  of  architecture  was  fostered  by 
the  passion  for  erecting  ecclesiastical  buildings  into 
what  we  may  almost  call  a  premature  development 
as  compared  with  any  of  the  other  arts — certainlj- 
as  compared  with  those  whose  province  it  is  to 
minister  to  the  convenience  of  the  great  body  of 
the  people.  But  the  spirit  of  show  which  belonged 
to  the  time  found  ample  opportunity  of  displaying 
itself  in  what  we  are  next  to  describe,  the  fashions 
of  dress  which  prevailed,  and  which  had  already 
acquired  not  a  little  of  the  mutability  for  which 
this  characteristic  is  still  proverbial  above  all  other 
fashions. 

The  Anglo-Saxons  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
the  Confessor  had  aped  so  much  the  dress  and 
manner  of  the  Normans,  that,  at  the  time  of  the 
Conquest,  little  dilference  seems  to  have  existed 
between  the  two  nations  in  their  appearance,  if  we 
except  that  produced  by  the  singular  fashion  among 
the  Normans  of  not  only  shaving  the  upper  lip  as 
well  jxs  the  rest  of  the  face,  but  also  of  shaving  or 

1  To  diaper  was  also  understood  in  heraldry  to  signify  the  mode  of 
covering  the  field  with  a  pattern  of  flower-checkers  or  scroll-work  quite 
independent  of  the  ch;irge  placed  upon  it.  Tlie  shield  of  Robert  de 
Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  engraved  in  Stothard's  Monumental  Effigies,  ex- 
hibits a  fine  specimen  of  this  style  of  ornament. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


615 


Groups  of  Soldiers,  selected  from  ihe  Bayeux  Tapestry,  to  pIiow  the  Norman  fashion  of  snearing  the  hack  of  the  head. 

cropping  the  hair  at  the  back  of  their  heads,  a  cus- 
tom they  had  themselves  borrowed  of  the  Poicte- 
vins,  as  Glaber  Rodolphiis  informs  us,  and  which 
induced  the  spies  of  Harold  to  declare  that  the 
army  of  William  appeared  to  be  composed  wholly 
of  priests.^ 

The  general  habit  of  the  Normans  consisted  of 
the  tunic,  the  cloak,  the  long  tight  hose,  called  by 
them  chausses,  the  leg  bandages  and  shoes,  or  short 
boots.     A  greater  variety  of  caps   appear   in   the 

'  William  of  Malinsbury,  lib.  iii.  and  Wace,  Roman  de  Rou.  Will- 
lam  de  Percy,  who  came  over  with  Ihe  Conqueror,  was  called  Alsger- 
non,  i.  e.  with  the  whiskers,  from  his  not  being  shaven  so  closely  as  the 
rest  of  the  Normans. 


M.\TTLDA,  QcEEN  OF  Henry  I.,  from  a  Statue  in  the  West  rionr-way 
of  Rochester  Cathedral,  exhibiting  the  mode  of  plaiting  the  h;iir. 


Costume  of  Norman  English  Ladies  of  the  Twelfth  Century. 
Cotton  MS.  Nero,  C.  iv. 

Anglo-Norman  illuminated  MSS.;  but  the  Phry 
gian-shaped  and  a  flat  sort  of  bonnet,  like  that  of 
the  modern  Scotch,  are  those  most  frequently  met 
with.  The  Saxon  subjects  of  William  continued 
for  some  time  after  the  Conquest  to  be  distinguished 
by  their  long  flowing  locks  and  the  rich  embroidery 
of  their  dresses.' 

In  the  female  costume  the  change  was  more  in 
name  than  in  garment.  The  gunna  or  gown  be- 
came the  rohc,  and  the  veil  or  head-cloth  the  couvre- 
clief,  from  whence  the  modern  word  kerchief.  Tht^ 
hair  is  rarely  seen  in  illuminations  of  this  period, 
but  occasionally  it  appears  long,  and  sometimes 
plaited,  after  the  ancient  Gothic  or  in  the  modern 
Swiss  fashion. 

During  the  reigns  of  Rufus  and  Henry  I.  the 
dress  of  the  higher  classes  became  much  more 
costly  in  material^  and  extravagant  in  shape.    Some 

1  William  of  Malmshiiry.— William  of  Poictiers. 

2  The  well  known  story,  told  by  William  of  Malmsbury  and  Robert 
of  Gloster,  of  Rufus,  that  he  threw  away  with  disdain  a  pair  of  new 
hose  because  they  only  cost  three  shillings,  is  very  characteristic.  "A 
king," said  he,  "  shoold  not  wear  anything  so  cheap;  fetch  me  som* 
worth  a  mark  of  silver  !'' 


616 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


most  ridiculous  fashions  are  reprobated  and  cari- 
catured by  the  historians  and  illuminators  of  that 
period.  The  sleeves  of  the  tunics  were  made  long 
enough  to  cover  and  hang  considerably  below  the 
hand.  Peaked-toed  boots  and  shoes  of  the  most 
absurd  shapes,  some  terminating  like  a  scorpion's 
tail,  others  stuffed  with  tow  and  curling  round  like 
a  ram's  horn,  are  mentioned  by  the  monkish  histo- 
rians. Ordericus  Vitalis  says  they  were  invented 
by  some  one  deformed  in  the  foot.  The  mantles 
and  tunics  were  worn  much  longer  and  fuller,  and 
the  former  lined  with  the  most  expensive  furs. 
Henry  I.  is  said  to  have  had  one  presented  to  him 
by  the  Bishop  of  Uincoln,  lined  with  black  sable 
with  white  spots,  and  which  cost  lOQl.  of  the  money 
of  that  day. 

The  English  now,  both  Saxon  and  Norman,  suf- 
fered their  hair  to  grow  to  an  immoderate  length, 
instead  of  being  cropped  ridiculously  short ;  and 
William  of  Malmsbury,  who  has  previously  com- 
plained of  his  countrymen  having  imitated  the 
latter  fashion,  now  laments  over  the  long  hair,  the 
loose  flowing  garments,  the  pointed  shoes,  and 
effeminate  appearance  of  the  English  generally. 
Even  long  beards  were  worn  during  the  reign  of 
Henry  I. ;  and  Ordericus  Vitahs  compares  the 
men  of  that  day  to  "  filthy  goats." 

Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  refused  his 
benediction  on  Ash  Wednesday  to  those  who  would 
not  cut  their  hair.^  Councils  were  held  on  this  im- 
portant matter.*  The  razor  and  the  scissors  were 
not  only  recommended  e.v  cathedra,  but  positively 
produced  sometimes  at  the  end  of  a  sermon,  against 
the  sinfulness  of  long  locks  and  curhng  mustaches. 
Serlo  d'Abon,  Bishop  of  Seez,  on  Easter  Day,  1105, 
after  preaching  against  beards  before  Henry  I., 
cropped  not  only  that  of  the  king  but  those  of  the 
whole  congregation  with  a  pair  of  scissors  he  had 
provided  for  the  occasion.  But  nothing  could  long 
repress  these  fashions,  which  in  the  time  of  Ste- 
phen again  raged  to  such  an  extent  that  the  fops  of 
the  day  suffered  their  hair  to  grow  till  they  looked 
more  like  women  than  men  ;  and  those  whose  ring- 
lets were  not  sufficiently  luxurious  added  false  hair 
to  equal  or  surpass  in  appearance  their  more  favored 
bretlireu. 

The  female  dress  of  those  times  appears  to  have 
had  its  share  of  their  preposterous  and  expensive 
fashions.  The  sleeves  of  the  ladies'  robes,  and  their 
veils  or  kerchiefs,  appear,  in  the  illuminations  of 
this  period,  knotted  up,  to  prevent  their  trailing  on 
the  ground.  Some  of  the  sleeves  have  cuffs  hang- 
ing from  the  wrists  down  to  the  heels,  and  of  the 
most  singular  forms.  The  ancient  heraldic  maunch 
is  evidently  copied  from  them.  A  garment  called 
the  surcote  (surcoat)  was  worn  as  an  upper  robe  or 
tunic,  as  its  Latin  name  implies  [super-tunica) ;  and 
the  under  garment  was  laced  up  the  front,  a  custom 
often  alluded  to  in  the  romances  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centui-ies.  In  an  illuminated  manu- 
script of  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,^  the 


1  Eadmer,  p.  23. 

2  At  Limoges,  in  1031  ; 
Rouen,  in  1093. 


by  Pope  Gregory  VII.,  m  1073  ; 
'  C'olton,  Nero,  C.  iv. 


Female  Costume  of  the  time  of  Rpfvs  and  Henry  I.  From 
a  Psalter  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  long  and  knuttcil  sleeves 
are  very  remarkable. 

sarcastic  painter  has  represented  the  devil  so  at- 
tired ;  the  skirts  as  well  as  the  sleeves  of  the  robe 
being  tied  up  in  knots,  as  before  mentioned.     The 


Laced  Boddice  and  Knotted  Sleeves,  from  a  Satirical  MS.  Illu 
niination  of  the  eleventh  century-.    Cotton  MS.  Nero,  C.  iv. 

suixoat  was  frequently  richlj'  embroidered,  and  the 
edges  escalloped  or  indented,  a  fashion  exceedingly 
prevalent  during  the  middle  ages,  and  which  pro- 
voked many  legislative  attempts  to  put  it  down. 
The  first  enactment  against  it  being  followed  by 
the  lower  classes  appeared  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  reign  of  Henry  II.  The  hair  was  still  worn  in 
long  plaited  tails,  and  sometimes  incased  in  a  sort 
of  silken  pipe,  or  bound  with  ribbon  like  a  pigtail. 

With  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  a  more   becoming 
and   graceful,    although   equally   splendid   style   of 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


617 


attire,  seems  to  have  made  its  appearance.  The 
monumental  effigies,  which  begin  now  to  afford  us 
their  valuable  information,  exhibit  the  sovereign 
and  the  nobles  of  this  period  in  full  and  flowing 
robes  of  a  moderate  length,  girded  with  a  richly 
ornamented  waist-belt,  mantles  fastened  by  fibulae 
on  the  breast  or  on  the  shoulders,  chausses  or  long 
hose,  and  shoes  or  boots,  the  latter  sometimes  beau- 
tifully embroidered,  caps  of  various  forms  (the 
Phrygian  style  predominating),  and  jeweled  gloves. 
In  the  illuminated  manuscripts  we  still  see  the  leg 
bandages  crossing  each  other  all  the  way  up  the  leg 
from  the  very  point  of  the  toes,  sandal-wise,  as 
they  are  seen  in  the  latest  Saxon  and  earliest 
Norman  manuscripts,  the  Bayeux  Tapestry,  &c. 
They  are  generally  represented  as  made  of  gold 
stuff  or  leather.  Henry  II.  introduced,  or,  we 
should  rather  say,  reintroduced  the  short  cloak  of 
Anjou,  and  was  in  consequence  surnamed  Court- 
manteau  or  Curt-mantell ;  and  also  the  old  Norman 
fashion  of  close  cropping  and  shaving,  which  was 
adhered  to  pretty  generally  till  the  latter  part  of 
the  reign  of  Richard  I.,  when  the  beard  and  mus- 
tache were  again  worn. 

In  the  reign  of  John  the  laity  were  at  length 
liberated  from  all  legislative  interference  upon  this 
point,  and  allowed  to  consult  their  own  fancy  or 
convenience.     The  hair  in  the  reign  of  King  John 


was  curled  with  crisping-irons,  and  bound  with 
fillets  or  ribbons ;  the  beaux  of  the  day  wearing  no 
caps,  in  order  that  its  beauty  might  be  seen  and 
admired. 

The  ladies,  following  the  example  of  the  men, 
or  having  set  them  the  example  (for  we  confess 
we  have  no  authority  for  deciding  that  part  of  tho 
question),  appear  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  to  have 
discarded  their  long  cuffs  and  trailing  skirts,  their 
knotted  sleeves,  kerchiefs,  &c.,  and  adopted  a  more 
rational  appearance  altogether.  The  robe,  like 
that  of  the  men,  girdled  round  the  waist,  and  hav- 
ing long  but  tight  sleeves  reaching  to  the  waist,  a 
mantle  gracefully  depending  from  the  shoulders, 
and  the  hair  again  almost  entirely  concealed  by 
the  veil,  kerchief,  or  wimjjle,  which  is  frequently 
brought  together  under  the  chin,  or  fastened  by  a 
band  passing  beneath  it,  give  altogether  a  conventual 
appearance  to  the  costume. 

There  is  nothing  requiring  notice  in  the  eccle- 
siastical costume  of  the  present  period,  except  that 
the  form  of  the  mitre  begins  to  approach  that  now 
in  use. 

The  armor  of  the  Anglo-Normans,  judging  from 
the  figures  in  the  Bayeux  Tapestry,  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  differed  very  materially  from  that  of 
the  Saxons.  During  the  eleventh  century  the  hau- 
berk of  flat  rings  sewn  upon   leather,  or  of  small 


Effigy  of  Henry  II., 
from  the  Tomb  at  Fontevraud 


Eleanor,  aiEES  of  Henry  II., 
from  tlie  Tomb  at  Fontevraud 


BkRESOARIA.   QlEEN    Of    HlCIIARD    I, 

from  thfi  "Tomb  at  Fontevraud. 


(^1S 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


pieces  of  iron  similarly  secured,  was  apparent!}-  the 
defensive  body  armor  of  the  Saxons,  the  Danes, 
the  Franks,  and  the  Normans.  It  was  called,  as 
we  have  observed,  the  gehrinfjed  hyrne  by  the  first, 
bnjnio  by  the  second,  and  by  the  Normans  luilhers 
and  haubert,  or  hauberk,  Latinized  hdUicrcum,  the 
word  being  generally  derived  from  halsbcrg,  a  pro- 
tection for  the  throat;  and  as  at  this  period  we 
jjerceive  that  the  mailed  tunic  is  furnished  with  a 
cowl  which  protects  the  neck  behind,  and  is  hooked 
up  occasionally  over  the  chin,  and  fastened  to  the 
nasal  before,  it  may  owe  its  Norman  denomination 
to  that  additional  safeguard.  The  word  mail,  too, 
go  familiiir  to  our  ears,  is  of  this  period,  the  French 
word  maillcs  being  derived,  according  to  some  au- 
thors, from  the  Latin  macula,  sometimes  used  for 
the  mesh  of  a  net.'  Several  hauberks  represented 
in  the  Bayeux  Tapestry,  and  in  the  illuminated 
manuscripts  of  this  period,  appear  marked  Avith 
transverse  lines,  which,  if  they  were  not  intended 

1  There  is  a  British  word  mael,  signifying  iron  generally,  but  it  may 
have  had  the  same  derivation. 


MAsr  LED  Armor.— Seal  of  Milo  Fitz- Walter,  Constalile  of  England, 
and  Governor  of  Gloucester  under  Henry  I. 


Examples  of  Mascled  Armor.     Cotton  MS.  Caligula,  A. 
The  Illumination  represents  the  Slaughter  of  the  luuoceuts. 


to  depict  the  quilted  panzar  worn  by  the  Danes, 
and  therefore  most  likely  by  the  Normans  and  Sax- 
ons also,  would  seem  to  be  lozenge-shaped  pieces 
of  iron  or  steel  sewn,  like  the  rings,  upon  a  leathern 
or  woolen  foundation ;  a  species  of  defence  which 
Sir  S.  Meyrick  has  denominated  mascled  armor,' 
and  which  still  more  resembles  tlie  meshes  of  a  net. 
Instances  of  that  peculiar  mail  composed  of  rings 
set  uj)  edgewise,  which  came  generally  into  use 
toward  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  occur  as 
early  as  the  close  of  the  eleventh. 

In  Kerrick's  collection  of  notes  and  drawings  in 
the  British  Museum,  there  is  a  highly  curious 
sketch  of  the  marble  figure  of  a  knight  under  one 
of  the  lions  which  support  the  choir  of  the  cathedral 
of  Modena,  armed  in  a  hauberk  of  rings  set  edge- 
wise, the  front  hooked  up  to  the  nasal  of  the  helmet, 
which  is  of  a  very  early  sliape,  and  laced  or  buckled 
under  the  throat  by  double  thongs  of  leather.  His 
shield  is  of  the  pear  or  kite  shape,  and  has  a  ridgo 


Knight  of  Mode.sa.    Kerrick's  Collect.  6738. 

down  the  center  like  that  of  King  Stephen  on  his 
great  seal.  The  long-pointed  shoe,  the  prick  spur, 
and  the  great  breadth  of  the  sword-blade  near  the 
hilt,  are  all  indicative  of  a  period  corresponding  with 
that  of  our  early  Anglo-Norman  monarchs,  Rufus, 
Henry  I.,  and  Stephen.^ 

1  Vide  Letter  on  the  Body-armor  anciently  worn  in  England 
Archaeologia,  vol.  xi.T. 

3  Mr.  Kerrick  remarks,  in  his  note  to  this  sketch,  "  I  take  this  to  be 
the  most  ancient  figure  1  have  yet  seen  in  carving."' 


Teoulated  Armor. 
Seal  of  Richard,  Constable  of  Chester  in  the  time  of  Stephen 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 


61P 


Scale  armor,  the  lorica  squamata,  in  fact,  of  the 
ancients  was  also  worn  during  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries,  and  in  some  instances  the  overlap- 
ping plates  are  of  a  square  form,  instead  of  being 
rounded  or  plumated.  This  description  has  been 
denominated  by  Sir  S.  Meyrick  the  tegidated — and 
a  specimen  is  presented  in  the  seal  of  Richard,  con- 
stable of  Chester,  temp.  Stephen. 

Anna  Comnena  mentions  the  French  knights  at 
the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  as  wearing  both 
ringed  and  scale  armor  ;  and  Bohadin,  the  Saracen 
historian  of  the  Crusades,  describing  the  infantry  of 
Richard  I.,  says,  "  they  were  covered  with  thick 
strong  pieces  of  cloth,  fastened  together  with  rings, 
so  as  to  resemble  dense  coats  of  mail.^ 

The  Anglo-Norman  helmet  was  conical,  with  a 
nose-guard,  called  the  nasal,  to  which,  as  we  have 
remarked,  the  front  of  the  collar  of  the  hauberk 
was  occasionally  looped  up,  so  as  to  leave  no  part  of 
the  face  exposed  but  the  eyes.  Cheek-pieces  were 
afterward  added  ;  and  in  the  reign  of  Richard  I. 
we  find  the  helmet  assume  a  cylindrical  or  barrel 
shape,  flat  at  the  top,  with  an  oval  opening  for  the 


AVANTAILLES. 

a  Plelmet  of  Richard  I. 

b  Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders,  1192. 

c  „  „  1203. 

face,  which  was,  during  combat,  covered  with  a 
perforated  plate  or  grating,  removable  at  pleasure, 
and  called  the  avanfaille  or  ventaille. 

In  some  lately  discovered  perfect  impressions  of 
the  second  gi'eat  seal  of  Richard  I.,  the  monarch's 
helmet  of  this  form  is  surmounted  by  a  sort  of 
crest  composed  of  a  semicircle  of  rays  or  points,  in 
the  centre  of  which  is  portrayed  a  lion  passant 
gardant. 

The  shield  was,  from  the  time  of  the  Conquest 
to  that  of  Henry  II.,  of  the  form  called  kite  or 
pear-shape ;  and,  from  its  similitude  to  those  seen 
m  the  Sicilian  bronzes,  is  imagined  to  have  been 
brought  by  the  Normans  from  that  part  of  Europe 
after  their  Italian  conquests.  Those  in  the  Bayeux 
Tapestry  are  perfectly  flat,  and  ornamented  with 
nide  figures  of  animals,  crosses,  rings,  &c.  About 
the  time  of  Stephen  it  appeal's  curved,  but  desti- 
tute of  heraldic  bearings.  On  the  first  great  seal 
of  Richard  I.  it  is  considerably  shortened,  and  bent 
till  it  is  almost  a  semi-cylinder  ;  and  this  is  the  first 
of  our  regal  seals  which  presents  us  with  an  un- 
doubted armorial  bearing — namely,  a  lion  heraldi- 
cally  termed  counter-rampant,  i.  e.,  feeing  the  sin- 
ister or  left  side  instead  of  the  dexter  or  right  side 
of  the  shield.  The  form  of  the  military  standard 
1  Vule  Turner's  Hist,  of  Eng.  vol.  i.  p.  3S2,  note. 


Geoffrey  Plantagenet.    (Le  Bel.)    Kerrick's  Collect.  C 


is  shown  in  some  of  the  great  seals,  and  also  by  the 
following  representation. 


William  I.  and  Tonstain  bearing  the  Consecrated  Banner  at  the 
Battle  of  Hastings.    Bayeux  Tapestry. 

A  short  notice  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  Eng- 
lish heraldry  may  here  not  inappropriately  find  a 
place. 

Most  writers  on  the  subject  worthy  of  attention 
consider  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  as  the 
period  when  armorial  bearings,  propc^rly  so  called, 
became  the  distinctions  of  the  royal  and  knightly 
families  of  Europe  ;  but  until  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  we  have  no  positive  authority  for  their 
existence  in  England.  The  rude  and  fanciful 
figures  upon  the  shields  of  the  Normans,  in  the 
Bayeux  tapestry,  can  no  more  be  called  coats  ol 
arms  than  the  better  executed  lions  and  griffins  on 


620 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


the  bucklers  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  A  monk 
of  Marmonticr,  who  is  said  to  have  lived  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  I.,  describes  that  <iionarch,  upon 
the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  Geoffrey  Plantage- 
net,  Count  of  Anjou,  with  his  daughter  Matilda,  a.d. 
1122,  as  hanging  about  the  neck  of  his  son-in-law  "a 
shield  ornamented  with  little  golden  lions,"  and  the 
count  is  said  also  to  have  worn  shoes  eml)roidered 
with  similar  animals.  But  neither  the  number  of 
the  lions  nor  the  color  of  the  field  is  mentioned,  and 
they  are  spoken  of  more  as  fanciful  ornaments  than 
as  insignia  having  any  distinct  signification,  not  the 
sliglitest  allusion  being  made  to  the  arms  of  England, 
of  Henry  himself,  or  of  any  particular  family.' 

The  shield  of  Stephen  on  his  great  seal  is  per- 
fectly plain,  having  only  a  ridge  down  the  centre  ; 
and  that  of  Richard,  constable  of  Chester  during 
his  reign,  is  covered  with  a  pattern  resembling  the 
tegulated  hauberk  he  wears.  It  may  be  intended 
to  represent  that  charge  which  the  heralds  after- 
ward called  checquy,  but  we  know  not  who  would 
venture  to  asseit  its  title  to  be  considered  an  armor- 
ial bearing. 

Henry  II.,  on  his  great  seal,  presents  us  but 
with  the  interior  of  his  shield.^  John  of  Salisbury, 
however,  who  wrote  during  his  reign,  speaking  of 
the  luxuriousness  and  effeminacy  of  the  English 
knights,  says,  "  if  a  piece  of  gold,  minium,  or  any 
color  of  the  rainbow,  by  any  chance  or  blow  should 
fall  out  of  their  shields,  their  garrulous  tongues 
would  make  it  an  everlasting  memorial ;"  and,  fur- 
ther, he  remarks  that  they  "gild  their  shields;" 
but  he  intimates  nothing  of  armorial  bearings. 

It  is  nevertheless  during  the  reign  of  this  mon- 
arch that  the  first  undoubted  description  of  English 
heraldic  devices  occurs.  Gulielmus  Brito,  or  Will- 
iam the  Breton,  the  author  of  the  Latin  poem  on 
the  exploits  of  Philip  Augustus,  called  the  "  Philip- 
peis,"  not  only  describes  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion, 
while  Count  of  Poictou,  as  being  recognized  by  his 
antagonist,  William  de  Barr,  by  "the  lions  grinning 
on  his  sliield,"  ^  but  he  also  mentions  the  swallows 
borne  by  an  ancestor  of  the  Cornish  family  of  Arun- 
del, and  which  his  descendants  display  to  this  hour.'* 

1  The  words  are  simply  "  Clypeus  leunculos  aureos  imaginarios 
habens  coUo  ejus  suspenditur"  (a  shield  is  suspended  from  his  neck, 
having  upon  it  the  likenesses  of  little  lions  in  gold).  The  same 
author,  speaking  afterward  of  a  combat  of  this  prince,  again  mentions 
the  lions  on  his  shield, — "  Pictos  leones  prsferens  in  clypeo,  veris 
leonibus  nulla  erat  inferior  fortitudo"  ^bearing  painted  lions  on  his 
shield,  his  courage  was  not  inferior  to  that  of  real  lions). — Menestner, 
Origine  des  Armoiries. 

'  A  proof,  in  our  opinion,  that  it  bore  no  particular  device  by  which 
that  monarch  was  distinguished,  or  the  artist  would  surely  have  so 
disposed  the  shield  as  to  have  rendered  the  bearing  at  least  partly 
visible.  The  same  inference  may  be  drawn  from  those  of  William  1. 
.and  II.,  Henry  I.,  and  the  various  knights  and  nobles  of  those  reigns, 
whose  seals  are  extant,  on  which  the  interior  of  the  shield  alone  is 
uniformly  represented.  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  Henry  II. 
may  have  occasionally  borne  lions  on  his  shield,  as  his  father  Geof- 
frey did  before  him,  and  thus  transmitted  them  to  his  sons,  Richard  and 
John. 

3  Eccc  comes  Pictavus  agro  nos  provocat,  ecce 

Nos  ad  bclla  vocat ;  rictus  agnosco  Leonum 
Illius  in  Clypeo.  Gul.  Brito,  lib.  iii. 

*  Hirunileloc  velocior  alite,quffi  dat 

Hoc  agnomen  ei,fert  cujus  in  agide  signvm. 

Gul.  Brito,  lib.  iii. 
This  is  one  of  the  earliest  specimens  of  what  are  called  canting  arms, 
or  armcs  parlantes. 


The  first  great  seal  of  Richard  I.  presents  us, 
as  we  have  already  mentioned,  with  a  shield  on 
which  is  distinctly  seen  a  lion  counter-rampant, 
leaving  it  doubtful,  according  to  some  writers, 
whether  this  alone  constituted  the  whole  charge  of 
the  field,  or  that  the  remaining  half  unseen,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  curve  of  the  shield,  was  charged 
with  another  lion-rampant,  making  the  device  two 
lions  combatant,  and  therein  bearing  out  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  old  Latin  writer  above  quoted. 

On  Richard's  second  seal,  and  after  his  return 
from  captivity,  we  find  his  shield  emblazoned  with 
three  lions  passant  regardant,  as  they  have  ever 
since  been  quartered  in  the  English  arms.  The 
shield  of  his  brother  John  exhil)its  before  his  acces- 
sion to  the  throne  two  lions  passant  regardant,  and 
to  these  a  third  was  added  when  he  became  king. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  heraldry  appears  to 
have  become  a  science.  A  roll  of  arms  of  that 
period  is  in  existence,  and  from  that  time  the  prin- 
cipal terms  of  blazon  are  to  be  found  in  the  fabliaux 
and  romances  of  Franc*  and  England. 

The  singular  combination  of  the  military  and  the 
religious  spiiit,  which  forms  tlie  most  striking  char- 
acteristic of  the  present  period,  was  especially 
exemplified  in  those  usages  which  constituted  the 
system  of  knighthood  or  chivalry.  The  youth  of 
noble  birth  was  placed,  while  yet  in  his  boyhood, 
under  the  care  of  some  distinguished  knight,  in  the 
quality  of  a  page.  In  this  capacity  he  waited  upon 
his  preceptor,  by  whom  he  was  treated  as  a  son, 
and  carefullj'  instructed  in  the  forms  of  courtesy 
and  the  military  exercises.  Even  the  sons  of 
princes  attended  in  this  manner  upon  knights  of 
inferior  rank,  but  redoubted  prowess  and  great 
military  accomplishments,  under  whose  severe  in- 
stniction  they  were  trained  for  future  eminence. 
After  the  youth  had  finished  this  stage  of  his 
novitiate,  and  was  deemed  qualified  for  a  higher 
grade,  he  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  squire.  He 
was  now  perfected  in  the  necessary  arts  of  riding 
and  tilting,  and  also  in  the  accomplishments  of 
hunting  and  hawking,  and  frequently  of  music  ;  and 
if  war  broke  out,  he  then  followed  the  baimer  of 
his  instructor  into  actual  service.  The  rank,  but 
more  especially  the  military  renown  of  the  knight, 
contributed  to  swell  his  train  of  pages  and  squires; 
and  while  the  houses  of  some  might  be  considered 
as  schools,  those  of  others  might  be  termed  colleges 
of  chivalry.  Fitzstephen  describes  their  pupils 
during  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  as  exhibiting,  on 
horseback,  before  the  citizens,  all  the  active  evolu- 
tions of  a  battle,  on  the  Sundays  during  Lent. 
Youths  so  educated,  and  constituting  one  house- 
hold, naturally  formed  strong  attachments  for  each 
other,  and  each  selected  his  future  companion  in 
arms,  between  whom  and  himself  there  was  from 
thenceforth  to  subsist  a  reciprocity  of  aflection  and 
interest.  The  connection  between  the  members  of 
these  associations,  who  were  termed/ra^res  conjurati, 
or  sworn  brothers,  often  superseded  the  ties  of 
common  relationship.' 

When  the  pupil  had  spent  seven  or  eight  years 

1  Ducange. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


621 


in  the  capacity  of  squire,  and  was  considered  fit  to 
receive  the  high  distinction  of  knighthood,  a  solemn 
and  imposing  ceremony  took  place.  The  candidate 
passed  several  nights  in  prayer  and  watching,  in  a 
church  or  chapel,  and  the  sacraments  of  religion 
were  administered  during  this  period  of  probation. 
At  length,  when  the  longed-for  day  of  consumma- 
tion had  arrived,  the  sacred  building  was  arrayed  in 
all  its  splendor ;  the  youth,  accompanied  by  his 
patron,  his  kindred,  his  friends  and  companions,  and 
followed  by  an  eager  crowd,  repaired  in  procession 
to  the  church,  with  his  sword  of  knighthood  de- 
pendent from  his  neck  in  a  scarf;  the  weapon  was 
blessed  by  the  officiating  priest  at  the  altar,  and  the 
oaths  of  the  highest  oi'der  of  chivalry  were  adminis- 
tered. He  swore  that  he  would  be  loyal  and  obe- 
dient to  his  prince ;  that  he  would  defend  the 
church  and  clergy ;  and  be  the  champion  of  virtuous 
ladies,  and  especially  of  the  orphan  and  the  widow. 
When  he  had  thus  pledged  himself  to  fulfil  the 
duties  of  a  true  knight,  the  warriors  of  noble  rank, 
or  sometimes  the  high-born  ladies,  who  attended 
the  spectacle,  first  buckled  on  his  spurs,  then  clothed 
him  in  the  various  pieces  of  a  suit  of  armor,  and, 
lastly,  girded  his  sword  to  his  side.  The  prince  or 
noble  from  whom  he  was  to  receive  the  honor  of 
knighthood  then  advanced,  and  giving  him  the  acco- 
lade, which  consisted  of  three  gentle  strokes  with 
the  flat  of  a  sword  upon  the  shoulder,  exclaimed, 
"In  the  name  of  God,  St.  Michael,  and  St.  George, 
I  make  thee  a  knight;  be  brave,  hardy,  and  loyal !" 
After  the  impressive  ceremony  was  thus  finished, 
the  young  cavalier,  all  armed  as  he  was,  leaping 
into  the  saddle  of  his  war-steed,  pranced  up  and 
down  within  the  church,  and  then  issuing  forth, 
galloped  to  and  fro  before  the  spectators,  brandish- 
ing his  weapons  to  display  his  strength,  graceful- 
ness, and  skill.  His  education  was  now  complete  ; 
he  had  assumed  an  important  rank  in  society ;  and 
from  thenceforth  he  might  aspire  to  its  highest 
offices  and  distinctions.'  It  is  not,  however,  till  an 
age  considerably  later  that  we  are  to  look  for  the 
full  development  of  the  principles  of  chivalry;  what 
we  have  now  described  of  it  is  perhaps  as  much  of 
the  system  as  existed  at  the  close  of  the  present 
period. 

The  knightly  virtues  inculcated  by  this  course  of 
education,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  were 
finally  impressed  by  the  solemn  sanction  of  oaths; 
and  chiefly  consisted  in  devotion,  in  courtesy  to 
females,  and  in  gentleness  toward  the  weak.  The 
general  practice  of  the  age,  however,  and,  what  is 
more  strange,  even  that  of  most  of  the  persons  who 
took  upon  themselves  the  vows  of  knights,  was  cer- 
tainly very  little  in  accordance  with  the  elevated 
theoretical  morality  which  was  thus  taught  and  pro- 
fessed. Still,  amidst  the  disorder  and  licentiousness 
that  prevailed,  we  meet  with  occasional  instances  of 
true  knightly  excellence,  proving  that  noble  princi- 
ples could  not  be  announced,  even  in  a  form  the  most 
fantastic  and  in  a  state  of  society  the  most  unfavor- 
able, without  producing  some  beneficial  efl'ect. 

The  science  of  heraldry  arose   naturally  out  of 

1  M^moires  sur  la  C'hevalprie.  par  M.  ilo  St.  Palave,  torn.  i. 


the  usages  of  knighthood  and  war.  The  adoption 
by  each  knight  of  some  peculiar  mark  or  cognizance 
was  rendered  necessary  by  the  sort  of  panoply  in 
which  he  was  wrapped  up,  which  otherwise,  espe- 
cially after  the  introduction  of  the  avantaille,  or  the 
vizor,  would  have  made  it  impossible  to  distinguish 
him  in  the  fight  or  the  tournament.  The  Saxon 
and  Norman  warriors,  therefore,  like  their  savage 
ancestors  in  the  wilds  of  Germanj%  were  probably 
early  accustomed  to  wear  upon  their  crests  the 
figure  of  some  animal.  As  the  parts  of  defensive 
armor  were  multiplied,  and  chivalry  assumed  a 
more  regular  form,  additional  cognizances  were 
painted  upon  the  shield.  These  were  chiefly  ani- 
mals, or  emblematic  devices,  rudely  delineated,  and 
which  seem  for  a  long  period  to  have  been  assumed 
at  the  caprice  of  each  individual.  At  first,  also,  it 
was,  probably,  only  the  individual,  and  not  the  family 
to  which  he  belonged,  that  was  to  be  distinguished 
by  the  blazonry  upon  a  shield.  The  case,  how- 
ever, was  altered  by  the  wars  of  the  ci'usades.  A.s 
romantic  valor  was  displayed  to  the  uttermost  in 
the  well-fought  fields  of  the  East,  while  a  peculiar 
sacredness  was  supposed  to  belong  to  those  warlike 
devices  by  which  the  brave  knights  who  wore  them 
were  distinguished,  a  feeling  of  honorable  pride  as 
well  as  piety  induced  the  son  to  assume  the  hal- 
lowed escutcheon  of  his  crusading  parent ;  and  thus 
the  bearings  upon  the  shield,  from  a  merely  per- 
sonal, became  a  family  and  hereditary  distinction. 
It  was  from  this  period  that  heraldry  assumed  the 
form  of  a  regular  science,  while  the  bezant,  the 
crescent,  and  other  Asiatic  emblems,  became  its 
choicest  distinctions.  Contemporaneously  with  this 
practice  on  the  part  of  the  princely  and  lordlj-  lead- 
ers, the  natural  custom  was  copied  by  such  of  their 
followers  as  were  by  their  birth  entitled  to  that 
privilege,  of  adopting  all  or  a  part  of  the  military 
distinctions  of  their  patron.  Those  who  had  fol- 
lowed the  banner  of  a  distinguished  noble,  or  who 
even  held  lands  of  hiin  as  their  lord,  thus  indicated 
the  illustrious  house  with  which  they  were  con- 
nected, and  perpetuated  the  tie  to  their  posterity. 
When  a  motto  was  added  to  the  figures  upon  tlae 
shield,  it  was  generally  taken  from  the  war-cry 
with  which  the  leader  summoned  his  followers  to 
the  rescue  or  animated  them  in  the  conflict.  As 
for  the  crest,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  used 
at  this  period  as  a  family  cognizance.  It  was  only 
when  tlie  lefinements  of  heraldry  had  so  overloaded 
the  shield  with  figures  as  to  make  its  frequent  de- 
lineation a  work  of  labor  and  difficulty,  that  the  crest 
was  adopted  as  the  more  summary  distinction  of  a 
noble  family.' 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  Normans  assumed 
family  names  at  the  same  time  that  they  adopted 
family  escutcheons.  The  former  distinction  was  as 
yet  unknown  even  to  the  royal  house,  and  such 
additions  as  the  Bastard,  the  Red,  the  Fine  Scholar, 
the  Son  of  the  Empress,  the  Lion-heart,  and  the 
Landless,  were  the  only  surnames  by  which  the 
proud  sovereigns  of  the  Norman  race  were  distin 
guished.     We  find,  however,  that  their  chief  vas 

>  BryilsniiV  Simimary  A'icw  of  Ilt-iaWrv.— Caindeu's  Remains. 


622 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


sals  had  been,  from  an  early  period,  accustomed  I 
to  use  an  addition  to  their  Christian  name,  as  may  i 
1)6  seen  by  the  roll  of  Battle  Abbey.  This  was 
generally  derived  from  the  birthj)lace  or  patrimonial 
possession  of  the  individual,  on  which  account  so 
many  names  of  our  noble  English  families  are  de- 
rived from  towns  or  estates  upon  the  continent. 
Sometimes,  also,  the  office  held  at  court  supplied 
the  possessor  with  the  necessary  distinction,  such 
as  the  Steward,  the  Seneschal,  the  Waiden,  Arc. 
What  is  properly  termed  a  family-name,  however, 
was  scarcely  introduced  within  the  present  period. 
The  nearest  approach  to  it  was  the  assumption  of 
the  father's  Christian  name  in  addition  to  his  own, 
by  which  the  man  who  perhaps  had  neither  office 
nor  landed  property  still  announc(?d  his  Norman 
descent.  The  only  species  of  surname  known 
among  the  English,  for  some  time  after  the  Con- 
(|uest,  appears  to  have  been  an  epithet  descriptive 
of  some  quality  of  the  individual,  distinguishing  him 
from  others  of  the  same  baptismal  name.  But  this 
addition  was  not  regarded  as  a  family  name,  and 
did  not  descend  to  the  posterity  of  the  person  who 
bore  it.  The  generality  of  the  people  had  only  one 
name.  The  Normans,  on  the  contrary,  soon  came 
universally  to  assume  second  names,  usually  com- 
mencing with  a  De,  or  Le,  or  Fitz  (that  is,  Fils,  or 
son),  taken  either  from  the  estate,  the  birthplace, 
the  office,  or  the  immediate  parentage  of  the  indi- 
vidual, till  it  became  a  mark  of  low  birth  or  of  bas- 
tardy to  be  without  such  a  distinction.  Thus,  it  is 
related  by  one  of  the  old  chroniclers  that  the  daugh- 
ter and  heiress  of  a  great  lord,  named  Fitzhaman, 
refused  at  first  to  give  her  hand  to  Robert,  the 
bastard  son  of  King  Henry  I.,  for  no  other  reason 
except  that  he  had  no  second  name.  "  My  father 
and  my  grandfather,"  said  the  lady,  "  had  each  two 
names,  and  it  were  a  gi-eat  shame  to  me  to  marry 
a  man  who  has  only  one."  This  was,  in  other 
words,  declaring  that  she  would  not  consent  to 
accept  the  husband  proposed  for  her  until  the  stain 
of  his  illegitimate  birth  should  be  as  far  as  possible 
wiped  oft'.  The  king  on  this  gave  him  the  surname 
of  Fitzroy,  which  amounted  to  a  distinct  acknowl- 
edgment of  him  for  his  son.  He  is  the  same  who 
makes  so  great  a  figure  in  the  succeeding  reign 
under  the  title  of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  and  Avho, 
if  he  WJis  not,  as  Camden  has  called  him,  "  the  only 
worthy  of  his  age  in  England,"  was  cei'tainly  one 
of  the  very  few  characters  entitled  to  that  epithet, 
and  the  first  of  those  few. 

During  the  ages  of  chivalry,  personal  distinction 
was  eagerly  attempted  to  be  secured,  not  merelj^ 
by  names  and  heraldic  insignia,  but  also  by  nu- 
merous and  splendid  retinues;  these  formed  the 
guard  of  the  prince  or  noble  in  war  and  his  orna- 
ment in  peace ;  and  as  the  Norman  chiefs,  from 
their  national  habits  as  well  as  the  immense  pos- 
sessions they  acquired  in  flngland,  were  able  as 
well  as  willing  to  indulge  in  this  species  of  ostenta- 
tion, we  find  that  their  attendants  were  sometimes 
multiplied  to  an  incredible  amount.  But,  after  all. 
these  cavalcades  more  resembled  an  Asiatic  caravan 
toiling    through    the    desert    than    a   well-ordered 


princely  procession.  Such  was  the  case  even  at 
the  court  of  Henry  II.,  incontestably  the  richest 
and  most  powerful  monarch  in  Europe.  Peter  of 
Blois,  in  one  of  his  letters,  gives  a  description  of 
one  of  these  royal  processions,  which  is  sufficiently 
startling  to  every  idea  of  modern  refinement. 
There  were  knights  and  nobles — throngs  of  cavalry 
and  foot  soldiers  —  baggage-waggons,  tents,  and 
pack-horses — players,  prostitutes,  and  the  marshals 
of  the  j)rostitute8 — gamesters,  cooks,  confectioners, 
mimics,  dancers,  barbers,  pimps,  and  parasites — and 
in  the  rising  at  morn  of  this  tremendous  medley  to 
commence  the  march  of  the  day,  he  adds,  that 
there  was  such  justling,  overturning,  shouting,  and 
brawling,  that  you  Avould  have  imagined  hell  itself 
had  let  loose  its  inhabitants.  Such  was  the  real 
squalidness  that  lay  beneath  so  much  superficial 
glitter ;  a  kingly  array  was  but  a  mob,  in  which 
everything  j)ertaining  to  taste  and  order  was  un- 
known or  disregarded.  The  train  of  Becket,  not- 
withstanding the  waggons  of  ale  and  furniture  with 
which  it  was  encumbered,  and  the  monkeys  on 
horseback,'  was  immeasurably  superior  in  point  of 
dignity  and  true  elegance  to  that  of  his  royal  mas- 
ter, and  perhaps  was  the  choicest  specimen  of  this 
kind  of  magnificence  which  the  taste  of  the  age 
could  have  produced.  When  a  royal  procession 
traveled  through  the  coundy  the  purveyors  swept 
the  district  in  every  direction  of  its  provisions, 
which,  in  virtue  of  the  prerogative,  were  seized  for 
the  king's  use  at  any  price  they  chose  to  offer ;  and 
the  powerful  barons  were  not  slow  to  imitate  the 
example  of  their  sovereign.  The  greatest  of  the 
English  nobles  traveled  with  trains  scarcely  inferior 
to  that  of  the  king;  and,  in  time  of  war,  their  re- 
tainers composed  formidable  armies.  William  Long- 
champ  usuall}^  traveled,  in  the  time  of  peace,  with 
above  1000  horse ;  ^  and  we  may  suppose  that  the 
same  vanity  operated  through  all  the  inferior  ranks 
of  nobles  down  to  the  knight  who  could  muster  a  few 
spears  under  his  pennon,  and  that  in  most  cases 
there  was  the  same  want  of  order,  economy,  and 
elegance.  We  are  not,  however,  to  attribute  this 
mode  of  traveling  altogether  to  a  passion  for  show 
and  magnificence.  From  the  scarcity  of  places  for 
the  entertainment  of  travelers,  and  the  wild  state 
of  many  parts  of  the  country,  it  was  often  difficult 
to  find  the  articles  of  subsistence,  or  at  least  the 
instruments  with  which  to  cook  them;  and  even 
materials  for  setting  up  tents  in  which  they  might 
lodge  had  to  be  provided  and  carried  along  with 
them  by  personages  undertaking  any  considerable 
journey  with  a  numerous  train  of  attendants.  Du- 
ring part  of  this  period,  also,  in  the  reign  of  Stephen, 
the  land  was  dotted  with  fortresses,  the  abodes  of 
predatory  nobles,  who  were  ready  to  dart  out  upon 
those  whom  they  were  able  to  outnumber,  while 
the  forests,  on  the  other  hand,  embosomed  numer- 
ous bands  of  Saxon  outlaws  who  regarded  eveiy 
Norman  as  an  object  of  hate  and  vengeance. 

When  we  descend  from  the  public  to  the  domes- 
tic life  of  this  period,  we  find   the  same  uncouth 
combination    of    giniideur    and    discomfort.       The 
•  Sec  p.  132.  -  Hr  mpton. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


G23 


Normans,  indeed,  introduced  a  more  stately  and 
durable  style  of  architecture  than  had  hitherto  been 
practiced  in  the  island ;  and  it  is  probable  that,  with 
tliese  exterior  improvements,  they  added  largely 
to  the  elegancies  and  comforts  of  domestic  life. 
But  still  this  improvement  was  only  comparative, 
and,  in  its  best  condition,  was  sordid  and  poor  when 
measured  by  the  present  standard  of  hving.  Thus 
the  stately  palaces  and  castles  of  those  days  had  no 
better  carpets  than  a  litter  of  straw  or  rushes,  and 
no  better  beds  than  a  rug  laid  upon  a  wooden  bench, 
or  spread  upon  the  floor.  The  kingly  or  noble 
banquet,  although  it  blazed  with  a  rich  profusion  of 
gold  and  silver  plate,  could  not  even  furnish  the 
necessary  accommodation  of  a  fork ;  the  fingers  of 
the  eaters  were  thrust  into  the  rich  dishes,  or  em- 
ployed in  tearing  the  flesh  into  morsels;  and  the 
luxuries  that  were  collected  at  the  greatest  expense 
were  laid  upon  a  huge  table  of  plain  oak,  while  the 
princes  and  lords  sat  upon  clumsy  benches,  and 
partook  of  the  good  cheer.  Several  English  estates 
were  held  upon  the  condition  of  supplying  fresh 
straw  for  the  royal  beds,  and  litter  for  the  apart- 
ments of  the  palace ;  ^  and  Fitzstephen,  describing 
the  splendid  hospitality  of  Becket  while  chancellor, 
adds,  as  a  special  proof  of  his  munificence,  that  he 
caused  his  servants  to  cover  tlie  floor  of  his  dining- 
room  with  clean  straw  or  hay  every  morning  in 
winter,  and  gi'een  branches  of  trees  in  summer, 
that  those  guests  who  could  not  find  room  at  table 
might  sit  on  the  ground  without  spoiling  their  fine 
clothes.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  ofiicial  situa- 
tion of  rusli-strewer  remained  to  a  very  late  period 
on  the  list  of  the  royal  household.  From  these  few 
hints  we  may  conjecture  that  the  rest  of  the  domes- 
tic accommodations  of  this  age  were  mean  and 
scanty;  but  we  must  remember,  also,  that  as  yet 
household  comfort  was  a  word  not  understood,  or 
at  least  of  very  limited  signification ;  and  as  the 
Normans  were  an  active  out-door  people,  independ- 
ent of  domestic  conveniences,  it  was  enough  for 
them  if  they  possessed  stately  buildings,  large  re- 
tinues, rich  armor,  and  splendid  tournaments.  This 
rude  simplicity,  however,  sometimes  degenerated 
into  exti'eme  coarseness.  Peter  of  Blois,  in  one  of 
liis  letters,  thus  vents  his  ire  at  the  discomforts  of 
the  English  courtiers  while  waiting  upon  their  sov- 
ereign :  "  To  say  nothing  of  other  matters,  I  cannot 
endure  the  annoyances  of  the  marshals.  ...  I  have 
seen  veiy  many  who  have  been  most  generous  to 
them ;  and  yet,  when  after  the  fatigue  of  a  long 
journey,  the  persons  had  got  a  lodging,  when  their 
meat  was  half-dressed,  or  when  they  were  actually 
at  table,  nay,  sometimes  when  they  were  asleep  on 
their  rugs,  the  marshals  would  come  in  with  vio- 
lence and  abuse,  cut  their  horses'  halters,  tumble 
their  baggage  out  of  doors  without  any  distinction, 
and  (with  great  loss  to  the  owners)  turn  them  out 
f)f  their  lodgings  shamefully  ;  and  thus,  when  they 
had  lost  everything  which  they  had  brought  for 
their  comfort,  at  night  they  could  not,  thougli  rich. 
Hnd  a  place  to  hide  their  head  in."- 

1  Blount's  Ancient  Teiuirrs. 

•  Translatinu  in  the  Quarterly  Review,  vol   Iviii. 


The  Normans,  however,  are  stated  to  have  intro- 
duced into  England  a  fashion  of  more  delicate  living 
and  solemn  banqueting  than  had  previously  been 
known  in  the  countrj\  The  Saxons,  as  ■sve  have 
already  seen,  were  a  people  of  large  and  gross 
appetite,  who  spent  the  chief  part  of  the  day  at 
feasts,  in  which  excess  was  considered  to  compen- 
sate for  elegance  ;  while  their  thirst  was  at  least 
commensurate  with  their  hunger;  so  that  drunk- 
enness had  become  their  national  reproach.  The 
Normans,  on  the  other  hand,  notwithstanding  their 
Danish  descent,  appear  to  have,  in  a  gi-eat  degree, 
renounced  the  coarse  habits  of  their  ancestors  ;  so 
that  at  their  arrival  in  England,  their  moderation 
and  refinement  in  eating  and  drinking  distinguished 
them  from  the  natives.  This  is  testified,  not  only 
by  incidental  hints  of  the  mode  of  living  that  are 
scattered  through  the  writings  of  the  period,  but  by 
the  expi-ess  testimony  of  William  of  Malmsbury. 
He  tells  us  that  the  Normans  were  delicate  in  the 
choice  of  meats  and  drinks,  but  seldom  exceeded 
the  bounds  of  temperance  ;  so  that  they  lived  with 
greater  elegance,  and  at  less  expense  than  the 
English.  Peter  of  Blois,  indeed,  would  seem  to  inti- 
mate that,  by  the  time  of  Henry  H.,  they  had  con- 
siderably degenerated  in  this  particular:  he  describes 
the  knights  going  forth  to  battle  laden  with  all  kinds 
of  provisions,  carrying  cheeses  instead  of  lances,  and 
wine  skins  and  spits  instead  of  swords  and  spears. 
But  this  ludicrous  description,  which  more  than 
realizes  Falstaft"'s  preparations  for  the  battle  of 
Shrewsburj',  is  evidently  a  caricature.  Either  the 
worthy  archdeacon  had  established  in  his  own  mind 
a  romantic  standard  of  abstinence  with  which  the 
expeditions  of  the  period  were  incompatible,  or 
these  recreant  sons  of  chivalry  were  a  few  of  the 
younger  sort  whom  the  wealth  which  their  fathers 
had  won  in  England  had  excited  to  such  whimsical 
extravagance. 

The  feasts  of  the  Norman  nobles,  however,  after 
they  came  to  England,  soon  came  to  be  distin- 
guished by  the  rarity  and  costliness  of  their  mate- 
rials. According  to  John  of  Salisbury,  the  Con- 
queror used  to  send  into  every  country,  from  whence 
he  collected  all  that  was  rich  and  difficult  to  be  pro- 
cured for  the  furnishing  of  his  table.  The  same 
author  also  mentions  that  he  was  present  at  a  great 
entertainment  where  there  were  served  up  the 
choicest  luxuries  of  Babylon  and  Constantinople,  of 
Palestine  and  Alexandria,  of  Tripoly,  Syria,  and 
Phenicia.  But,  still,  that  the  Normans  were  con- 
tented with  little,  compared  with  the  Saxons,  is  at- 
tested by  their  common  proverb,  which  gives  us  not 
only  the  number  of  their  meals,  but  the  hours  at 
which  they  were  eaten  : — 

Lever  a  cinque,  diner  a  neuf, 
Sou  per  a  cinque,  couchcr  a  neuf. 
Fait  vivre  d'ans  nonante  et  neuf. 
To  rise  at  five,  to  dine  at  nine, 
To  sup  at  five,  to  bed  at  nine, 
Makes  a  man  live  to  ninety-nine. 

Among  a  people  so  choice  in  their  diet  as  tho 
Normans  are  declared  to  have  been,  we  ran  ima- 
gine that  cookery,  as  a  science,  was  held  in  particu- 
lar estimation.     We  find,  accordingly,  that  some  o^ 


624 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


the  English  estates  were  held  by  the  tenure  of  dress- 
ing a  particular  dish.  Among  the  dishes  of  which 
the  names  are  recorded,  we  find  jSIaiipi^irniin, 
Diligrout,  Karumpie  ;'  but  we  are  ignorant  of  their 
particular  composition.  Indeed,  of  their  prepara- 
tions in  cookery  in  general,  nearly  all  we  know  is, 
that  rich  spices  were  plentifully  used  in  the  greater 
part  of  them.  Among  their  most  esteemed  dainties 
seem  to  have  been  the  peacock  and  the  crane ;  the 
former  of  which  was  only  produced  at  solemn  chiv- 
alric  banquets,  while  the  latter  was  served  up  at 
the  common  meals  of  the  Norman  princes.  The 
boar's  head  was  regarded  as  a  truly  regal  dish ; 
and  we  are  told  that  it  was  brought  to  the  tai)le  of 
Henry  II.  in  great  pomp  upon  the  coronation  of  his 
son,  and,  as  it  was  brought  into  the  hall,  musicians 
went  before  it  sounding  upon  their  trumpets. 

The  bread  which  was  used  was  of  various  kinds. 
The  panis  piperatus  was  a  sort  of  spice-cake  com- 
posed of  the  finest  flour;  and,  at  the  tables  of  the 
rich  and  noble,  simnel  and  wastel  cakes  were  also 
in  general  use.  But  while  the  finest  of  the  wheat 
was  only  used  for  the  bread  of  tlie  aristocracy,  the 
common  people  were  contented  with  their  brown 
bread,  made  of  rye,  oats,  and  barley.  It  is  likely 
that  the  Saxon  population  still  adhered  to  the  homely 
cookery  and  rough  dishes  of  their  ancestors. 

The  drinks  used  by  the  rich  of  both  nations  were 
spiced  wines  and  hippocras,  pigment,  morat,  and 
mead;  while  the  poorer  classes  were  satisfied  with 
cider,  perrj*,  and  ale.  Excess  in  the  use  of  liquor 
still  continued  to  form  the  national  vice  of  the  Sax- 
ons, as  we  find  from  the  revival  of  the  laws  against 
"  drinking  at  pins,"  which  were  esptjcially  directed 
against  their  rural  clergy. 

But  whatever  the  refinements  in  Norman  gas- 
tronomy may  have  been,  we  are  justified  in  suspect- 
ing that  they  were  too  exclusively  confined  to  set 
banquets  and  solemn  occasions.  Peter  of  Blois,  in 
one  of  his  letters,  speaking  of  the  wretched  accom- 
modation afforded  to  those  unfortunate  knights  and 
nobles  who  attended  the  court  of  Henry  II.,  says, 
•'I  often  wonder  how  one  who  has  been  used  to 
the  service  of  scholarship  and  the  camps  of  learning 
can  endure  the  annoyances  of  a  court  life.  Among 
courtiers  there  is  no  order,  no  plan,  no  moderation, 
either  in  food,  in  horse  exercise,  or  in  watchings. 
A  priest  or  a  soldier  attached  to  the  court  has  bread 
put  before  him  wiiich  is  not  kneaded,  not  leavened, 
made  of  the  dregs  of  beer  ;  bread  like  lead,  full  of 
bran,  and  unbaked  ;  wine  spoiled  either  by  being 
sour  or  mouldy,  thick,  greasy,  rancid,  tasting  of  pitch, 
and  vapid.  I  have  sometimes  seen  wine  so  full  of 
dregs  put  before  noblemen,  that  they  were  com- 
pelled rather  to  filter  than  drink  it — with  their  eyes 
shut,  and  their  teeth  closed ;  with  loathing  and 
retching.  The  beer  at  court  is  horrid  to  taste,  and 
filthy  to  look  at.  On  account  of  the  great  demand, 
meat,  whether  sweet  or  not,  is  sold  alike  :  the  fish 
is  four  days  old,  yet  its  stinking  does  not  lessen  its 
price.  The  servants  care  nothing  whatever  wheth- 
er the  unlucky  guests  are  sick  or  dead,  provided 
there  are   fuller  dishes  sent  up  to  their  master's 

'  Blount's  Ancient  Tenures. 


tables.  Indeed,  the  tables  are  filled  (sometimes) 
with  carrion,  and  the  guests'  stomachs  thus  become 
the  tombs  for  those  who  die  in  the  course  of  nature. 
Indeed,  many  more  deaths  would  ensue  from  this 
putrid  food,  were  it  not  that  the  famishing  greedi- 
ness of  the  stomach  (which,  like  a  whirlpool,  will 
suck  in  anything),  by  the  help  of  powerful  exercise, 
gets  rid  of  everything.  But  if  the  courtiers  cannot 
have  exercise  (which  is  the  case  if  the  court  stays 
for  a  time  in  town),  some  of  them  always  stay  be- 
hind at  the  point  of  death."' 

We  have  seen  from  tVie  proverb  quoted  above, 
that  the  customary  hour  of  retiring  to  rest  in  Eng- 
land was  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening;  and  it  has 
been  commonly  supposed  that,  by  a  regulation  es- 
tablished by  the  Conqueror,  the  people  were  com- 
pelled to  put  out  their  fires  and  all  other  lights  on 
the  ringing  of  the  curfew-bell  (or  couvre-feu,  that 
is,  cover-fire),  which  took  place  at  sunset  in  sum- 
mer, and  about  eight  or  nine  o'clock  in  winter.  But 
there  is  really  no  good  authority  for  believing  that 
any  such  regulation  as  this  was  introduced  by  the 
Conqueror.  The  curfew  appears  to  have  prevailed 
in  early  times  not  only  in  England,  but  in  Scotland, 
Franco,  Spain,  Italy,  and  jjerhaps  most  of  the  other 
countries  of  Europe  ;  and  it  was  probably  in  use  in 
England,  as  elsewhere,  long  before  the  Norman 
Conquest.  Such  a  regulation  was  rendered  expe- 
dient by  the  combustible  materials  of  which  the 
houses  were  generally  composed,  and  the  frequency 
of  conflagrations  in  the  towns  and  villages.  Not- 
withstanding the  precaution  of  the  curfew  law,  Fits- 
stephen,  in  his  account  of  London,  mentions  fre- 
quent fires  as  one  of  the  great  inconveniences  of 
the  metropolis.  It  may  be  added  that  the  curfew 
was  continued  in  England  as  a  useful  police  regula- 
tion till  after  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

In  the  article  of  popular  superstitions,  both  the 
Normans  and  Saxons  might  furnish  a  chapter  suf- 
ficiently copious.  From  their  northern  descent, 
their  ancient  traditions,  their  recent  and  imperfectly 
understood  Christianity,  and  the  habits  of  a  chival- 
rous life  among  the  great,  as  well  as  the  general 
rudeness  and  ignorance  of  the  common  people,  the 
path  of  their  existence  was  bestrewn  with  omens, 
prodigies,  and  superstitious  observances.  People 
were  afraid  to  meet  a  hare  in  their  path,  as  the 
omen  of  some  coming  calamity.  A  woman  with 
disheveled  hair,  a  i)lind  man,  a  lame  man,  or  a  monk, 
were  all,  strangely  enough,  regarded  as  equally  in- 
dicative of  misfortune.  On  the  contrary,  if  a  wolf 
happened  to  cross  them,  if  St.  3Iartin's  bird  flew 
from  left  to  right,  if  they  heard  distant  thunder,  or 
met  a  humpbacked  or  leprous  man,  these  omens 
were  considered  as  promises  of  good  fortune.^ 

We  find  that  certain  particular  forms  character- 
ized the  practice  of  sepulture  at  the  present  period. 
The  nearest  relative,  as  in  the  earUest  ages  of  an- 
tiquity, closed  the  eyelids  of  the  dead.  The  face 
was  then  covered  with  a  linen  cloth,  and  afterward 
the  body  was  washed,  anointed,  and  laid  out  for 
burial.  A  suit  of  apparel  which  the  deceased  had 
been  accustomed  to  wear  frequently,  sufl^ced  for  a 

'  Translation  in  Quarterly  Review,  vd.  Iviii.  -  Peter  of  Blois. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


625 


slu-oud ;  the  body  was  carried  to  the  place  of  inter- 
lueut  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  mourners,  or,  when 
the  distance  was  considerable,  upon  a  sledge  or  car ; 
and,  commonly,  the  remains  were  deposited  in  the 
grave  without  the  protection  of  a  coffin.  We  do 
not  find  coffins  in  general  use  until  the  reign  of 
Henry  III. ;  and  for  some  time  before  this  date 
they  seem  to  have  been  confined  to  people  of 
high  rank.  But  at  first  they  were  dispensed  with 
even  in  the  case  of  princes  themselves.  The  Con- 
queror appears  to  have  been  inteiTed  in  this  primi- 
tive fashion,  except  that  the  grave  itself  was  a  sort 
of  chest  or  coffin  formed  of  solid  masonry.  A  more 
decent  and  respectful  ceremonial  was  observed  in 
the  funerals  of  the  succeeding  kings.  A  rude  and 
unskilful  attempt  was  made  to  embalm  the  body  of 
Henry  I.  After  the  brains  and  bowels  had  been 
carefully  extracted,  it  was  saturated  with  salt,  and 
inclosed  in  a  skin  of  wool.  A  triple  funeral  gi-aced 
the  obsequies  of  Richard  I. ;  and  Carlisle,  Fonte- 
vraud,  and  Rouen  had  each  the  honor  of  receiving 
a  portion  of  his  remains  for  sepulture.  The  body 
of  young  Henry,  the  junior  king  (son  of  Henry  II.), 
was  wrapped  up  in  those  hnen  clothes  that  had 
been  used  at  his  coronation,  and  upon  which  the 
sacred  oil  had  flowed.  But  the  most  splendid  of 
all  the  royal  funerals  in  England,  during  this  period, 
appears  to  have  been  that  of  Henry  II.,  which  is 
particularly  described  by  Matthew  Paris.  The 
body  was  arrayed  in  royal  robes ;  the  face  was  un- 
covered, and  the  head  was  adorned  with  a  golden 
crow-n ;  the  hands  were  covered  with  gloves,  and 
the  feet  with  shoes  embroidered  with  gold-work; 
spurs  were  buckled  to  the  heels,  and  a  sword  was 
girded  upon  the  side  of  the  dead,  while  the  fingers, 
on  one  of  which  was  a  large  ring,  were  closed  upon 
a  sceptre. 

The  royal  coffins  seem  to  have  been  lined  with 
lead ;  at  least  such  is  stated  to  have  been  the  case 
with  that  of  Stephen.  As  kings  were  thus  buried 
with  the  insignia  of  their  rank,  the  same  rule  was 


probably  followed  in  the  funerals  of  the  nobility. 
At  all  events  we  know  that  it  prevailed  in  the  sep- 
ulture of  ecclesiastical  dignitaries  ;  primates,  bish- 
ops, and  abbots  were  always  placed  in  their  graves 
attired  in  their  canonical  robes,  and  having  beside 
them  the  several  symbols  of  their  rank  in  the  church.' 

Such  were  the  practices  that  generally  prevailed 
in  the  royal,  noble,  and  common  burials,  during  this 
period,  and  by  which  the  living  endeavored  to  dis- 
play their  respect  and  affection  for  the  dead.  But 
the  case  was  very  different  with  those  who  died 
under  excommunication.  The  body,  now  regarded 
as  the  special  property  of  Satan,  was  viewed  with 
fear  and  abhorrence ;  no  sacred  earth  could  receive 
it,  or  hallowed  rights  be  performed  over  it;  it  was 
thrown  forth  hke  a  polluted  thing,  or  hurried  into 
some  obscure  spot,  and  interred  in  silence  and  se- 
crecy by  those  who  were  ashamed  of  so  humane 
and  necessary  a  deed.  Thus,  in  the  case  of  an  un- 
fortunate Templar,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  I. — 
one  Geoffrey  Mandeville,  who  had  been  excommuni- 
cated, and  who  had  died  without  being  reconciled 
to  the  church — it  is  related  that  his  brethren,  equalh 
afraid  to  bury  and  unwilling  to  degrade  the  corpse 
of  their  departed  member,  adopted  a  singular  com- 
promise by  which  it  might  be  reduced  to  its  kindred 
dust  within  their  sacred  precmcts.  They  inclosed 
the  body  in  a  pipe  or  coating  of  lead,  after  which 
they  hung  it  upon  a  tree  in  the  orchard  of  the  old 
Temple.- 

It  is  chiefly,  hoAvever,  in  the  sports  and  pastimes 
followed  by  the  different  classes  of  the  people  that 
we  discern  the  spirit  of  the  national  character  and 
of  that  of  the  times.  In  an  age  of  martial  habits 
and  imperfect  civilization,  the  excitements  of  ii 
game,  during  the  short  intervals  of  peace,  are  adopt- 
ed as  the  natural  substitutes  for  those  of  real  war. 
The  chase  was  pursued  by  the  Normans,  from  the 
time  they  obtained  possession  of  England,  with  an 
eagerness  to  which  the  conquered  race  owed  some 

1  Strutt's  Horda  Angel  Cynnan,  vol.  ii.  2  Ibid. 


Hosting  Stag.    Royal  JIS.  2  B.  vii. 
The  Huntsman,  followed  by  a  servant  on  foot  with  bow  and  arrows 


of  their  worst  sufferings.  The  history  of  the  for- 
mation of  the  New  Forest,  and  of  the  depopulation 
and  misery  wrought  by  that  act  of  despotic  power, 
has  already  been  detailed.'  The  Conqueror  was 
so  jealous  of  his  kingly  prerogatives  in  this,  his  fa- 
vorite recreation,  that  the  royal  chases  were  guarded 

1  See  ante,  p.  374. 
VOL.  I. — 40 


from  the  intrusion  of  both  Saxon  and  Norman  L\ 
the  severest  penalties:  everj-  offender  detected  in 
hunting  the  king's  deer  was  subjected  to  the  lo.'i> 
of  life  or  limb ;  and  the  dog  that  sti-ayed  into  the 
king's  inclosures  was  lamed  by  the  amputation  ol 
one  of  its  claws,  unless  redeemed  by  the  owner. 
The  nobles  followed  the  example  of  their  sovereign.-^ 


to26 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


Royal  Party  hunting  Rabbits.    Royal  JIS.  2  B.  vii. 


hy  surrounding  extensive  parks  with  walls,  for  the 
preservation  of  game ;  in  doing  which  they  fre- 
(|uently,  by  a  lawless  exercise  of  power,  drove  the 
unfortunate  peasantry  from  their  meadows,  fields, 
and  pasture  lands ;  and  when  these  ferocious  hunt- 
ers burst  through  inclosures  and  swept  over  corn- 
fields in  pursuit  of  the  flying  deer,  the  wretched 
cottagers  were  compelled  to  hurry  to  their  doors 
with  provisions  and  refreshments,  lest  they  should 
be  reckoned  disaffected,  or  punished  as  traitors.^ 
The  Conqueror,  in  his  paternal  fondness  for  wild 
beasts,  is  said  to  have  collected  and  imported  many 
from  abroad,  with  which  he  stocked  the  New  Forest. 

1  W.  Newb. 


As  the  habits  and  interests,  however,  of  the  two 
races  become  more  closely  united,  the  lawlessness 
of  these  tyrannical  Nimrods  was  restrained,  and 
after  the  reign  of  Rufus  the  severity  and  restrictive 
character  of  the  game-laws  were  considerably 
abated.  It  has  been  already  mentioned  that,  by  a 
charter  of  Henry  I.,  the  citizens  of  London  were 
allowed  to  have  their  chases  to  hunt  as  well  and 
fully  as  their  ancestors  had  had,  in  the  Chiltern 
hundreds,  in  Middlesex,  and  in  Surrey.  The  Nor- 
man prelates  and  clergy,  it  would  appear  from  the 
records  of  the  times,  were  as  keen  hunters  as  the 
laity.  Females,  also,  seem  to  have  sometimes  pur- 
sued this  diversion. 


Ladies  hunting  Deer.     Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 
A  lady  seems  to  have  roused  the  deer  by  a  blast  from  a  horn,  while  another  prepares  to  discharge  an  arrow  at  it. 


Hawking  was  another  favorite  sport  of  this  period. 
This  amusement  had  been  keenly  followed  in  Eng- 
land before  the  period  of  the  Conquest ;  so  that,  by 
some  writers,  the  cause  of  Harold's  unfortunate 
voyage  to  Normandy  is  attributed  to  the  straying  of 
a  favorite  falcon  which  he  wished  to  recover ;  and 
in  the  Bayeux  Tapestry,  as  we  have  seen,  he  is 
represented  as  journeying  to  the  court  of  William 
with  one  of  those  birds  on  his  wrist.  After  the 
Conquest  the  common  people  seem  to  have  been 
prohibited  even  from  keeping  hawks ;  to  hunt  with 
them  was  considered  an  amusement  fitting  only  for 
kings  and  nobles.  Thus  those  birds  became  as  dis- 
tinct marks  of  high  rank  as  the  spurs  of  knighthood 
or  the  emblazonry  upon  a  shield.  The  nobles  car- 
ried their  fitvorite  falcons  along  with  them  on  jour- 
neys, and  even  to  battle.    These  feelings  and  habits. 


which  at  that  time  prevailed  throughout  Europe, 
will  account  for  the  exti'avagant  conduct  of  Richard 
when  he  seized  by  force,  as  already  related,  the 
splendid  hawk  of  the  peasant  in  Calabria.' 

By  the  Great  Charter,  however,  granted  by  King 
John,  liberty  was  given  to  every  freeman  to  have  in 
his  woods  eyries  of  hawks,  spar-hawks,  falcons, 
eagles,  and  herons.  Stores  of  good  hawks  were 
generally  kept  in  the  monasteries  for  the  recreation 
of  their  reverend  inmates  ;  and  many  of  the  eccle- 
siastical dignitaries  were  so  enamored  of  the  sport 
of  hawking,  that  one  of  the  favorite  topics  of  decla- 
mation with  the  censors  of  the  manners  of  the  time 
was  the  conduct  of  those  pastors  who  cared  for 
birds,  not  sheep  ( ares,  non  oves ),  and  hallooed  the 
folcon  upon  its  quarry  with  the  same  voice  that  had 
'  See  inte,  p.  472. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


627 


been  consecrated  to  chant  the  praises  of  God.*  From 
the  gentle  exercise  which  this  sport  promoted,  it 
seems  to  have  been  endeared  not  only  to  churchmen, 
but  also  to  the  female  sex  ;  and  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury we  find  that  they  excelled  the  men  in  dexterity 
in  hawking — a  proof,  says  John  of  Salisbury,  that  it 
is  an  effeminate  amusement.  When  the  hawk  was 
carried  it  was  generally  upon  the  WTist,  which  was 
protected  by  a  thick  glove  ;  the  head  of  the  bird  was 
covered  with  a  hood,  and  its  feet  were  secured  to 
the  wrist  by  straps  of  leather  called  jesses,  and  to 
its  legs  were  fastened  small  bells  toned  according  to 
the  musical  scale. 

Another  of  the  sports  of  the  time,  which  as  yet 
however  was  practiced  only  on  a  small  scale,  was 
that  of  horse-racing.  Fitzstephen  has  given  us  a 
description  of  the  London  horse-races,  which  were 
held  in  Smithfield,  then,  as  in  the  present  day,  the 
great  cattle-mart  of  the  city.  "  When  a  race,"  he 
says,  "  is  to  be  run  by  this  sort  of  horses  (hackneys 
and  war-steeds),  and  perhaps  by  others  which  also, 
in  their  kind,  are  strong  and  fleet,  a  shout  is  imme- 
diately raised,  and  the  common  horses  are  ordered 
to  withdraw  immediately  out  of  the  way.  Three 
jockeys,  sometimes  only  two,  according  as  the  match 
is  made,  prepare  themselves  for  the  contest  (for 
such,  as  being  used  to  ride,  know  how  to  manage 
the  horses  with  judgment)  :  the  grand  point  is  to 
prevent  a  competitor  from  getting  before  them. 
The  horses,  on  their  part,  are  not  Avithout  emula- 
tion —  they  tremble,  are  impatient,  and  continually 
in  motion  ;  and  at  last,  the  signal  once  given,  they 
strike,  devour  the  course,  hurrying  along  with  un- 
remitting velocity.  Tne  jockeys,  inspired  with  the 
thoughts  of  applause  and  the  hopes  of  victory,  clap 
spurs  to  the  willing  horses,  and  brandish  their 
whips,  and  cheer  them  with  their  cries.  You 
would  think,  according  to  Heraclitus,  that  all  things 
were  in  motion,  and  that  the  opinion  of  Zeno  was 
certainly  wrong,  as  he  held  that  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  motion,  and  that  it  w'as  impossible  to  reach 
the  goal."- 

But  the  chief  of  all  the  amusements  of  those  ages, 
and  that  which  was  the  most  characteristic  of  the 
chivalric  period,  was  the  tournament.  The  origin 
of  this  great  military  spectacle  is  lost  in  the  darkness 
of  the  middle  ages ;  but  we  find  that  tournaments 
were  practiced  in  France  and  Normandy  previous 
to  the  Norman  conquest  of  England.  It  might  have 
been  expected,  that  after  the  Norman  invasion  they 
would  have  been  speedily  established  in  England ; 
but  instead  of  this,  we  find  that  William  and  his  im- 
mediate successors  absolutely  forbade  them.  The 
reason  assigned  for  this  prohibition  was,  the  expense 
and  danger  with  which  tournaments  were  attended. 
But  it  may  be  suspected  that  the  true  reason  was 
of  a  different  kind.  It  is  probable  that  the  Norman 
kings  apprehended  danger  from  such  concourses  as 
those  which  a  tournament  would  have  occasioned, 
where  the  hard-ruled  nobles  would  have  learned 
their  own  strength,  and  found  every  facility  for 
plotting  against  their  sovereign.  During  the  unset- 
tled reign  of  Stephen,  when  the  royal  authority  was 

1  Letters  of  Peter  of  Blois.  2  Translation  by  Pegge. 


relaxed,  these  prohibitory  laws  were  disregarded, 
and  tournaments  were  frequently  held  by  the  nobil- 
ity, at  which  it  is  probable  they  alternately  conspired 
against  him  and  his  rival  Matilda,  as  circumstances 
inclined  them.  This  license,  however,  with  many 
others,  was  restrained  on  the  accession  of  Henry  II. 
He  revived  the  prohibitions  that  had  formerly  been 
in  force  ;  so  that  his  sons,  when  arrived  at  manhood, 
were  obliged  to  repair  to  the  tournainents  on  the 
continent,  at  which  they  exhibited  the  reckless 
daring  of  knights-errant,  and  gathered  many  trophies 
of  their  valor  and  skill.  A  partial  revival  of  the 
tournament  took  place  in  England  under  the  reign 
of  the  Lion-hearted  Richard.  After  his  truce  with 
the  French  king  in  1194,  he  permitted  tournaments 
to  be  held  in  his  own  kingdom,  in  consequence  of 
having  seen  the  insults  and  numerous  foils  which 
his  own  unskilful  knights  had  suffered  at  the  hands 
of  those  of  France.^  Still,  however,  this  chivalrous 
monarch  had  the  policy  to  restrict  these  dangerous 
assemblages,  so  that  they  could  only  be  held  at  five 
places  in  England,  which  were  particularly  speci- 
fied ;  and  as  money  was  at  all  times  welcome  to 
him,  he  contrived  that  they  should  be  conducive  to 
the  replenishment  of  his  empty  exchequer,  by  com- 
pelling those  who  attended  them,  as  we  have  had 
occasion  to  mention  in  a  preceding  chapter,  to  pur- 
chase each  a  license,  the  price  of  which  varied  with 
the  rank  of  the  party."  By  the  same  law,  all  for- 
eigners were  prohibited  from  entering  the  lists, 
probably  in  consequence  of  their  superior  experience 
and  skill.  From  this  era,  the  tournament  rose  in 
importance  in  England,  and  speedily  occupied  a 
prominent  place  in  the  national  institutions  and 
history. 

During  the  long  interval  that  elapsed  before  these 
military  spectacles  were  sanctioned  by  law,  we  find 
that  the  young  students  of  chivalry  in  England  im- 
proved their  strength  and  skill  by  certain  military 
sports,  which  still  continued  to  be  practiced  after 
the  tournament  was  legalized.  One  of  these  was 
the  Pel  (in  Latin,  palus),  practiced  with  a  post,  or 
the  stump  of  a  tree,  about  six  feet  in  height,  which 
the  youth,  armed  at  all  points,  attacked  vigorously 
on  foot ;  and  while  he  struck  or  thrust  at  the  differ- 
ent parts  which  were  marked  to  represent  the 
head,  breast,  shoulders,  and  legs  of  an  antagonist,  he 
was  taught  to  cover  himself  carefully  with  his  shield 
in  the  act  of  rising  to  the  blow.  Similar  to  this  was 
the  Quintain,  where  the  attack  was  made  on  horse- 
back. A  pole  or  spear  was  set  upright  in  the  ground, 
with  a  shield  strongly  bound  to  it,  and  against  this 
the  youth  tilted  with  his  lance  in  full  career,  en- 
deavoring to  burst  the  ligatures  of  the  shield,  and 
bear  it  to  the  earth.  A  steady  aim  and  a  firm  seat 
were  acquired  from  this  exercise,  a  severe  fall  being 
often  the  consequence  of  failure  in  the  attempt  to 
strike  down  the  shield.  This,  however,  at  the  best, 
was  but  a  monotonous  exercise,  and  therefore  the 
pole,  in  process  of  time,  was  supplanted  by  the  more 
stimulating  figure  of  a  misbelieving  Saracen,  armed 
at  all  points,  and  brandishing  a  formidable  wooden 
sabre.     The  puppet  moved  freely  upon  a  pivot  or 

I  W.  Newb.  -  Set  ante,  p.  563 


628 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  NI. 


Ancient  Quintain,  now  standing  on  the  Green  of  Offham,  Kent. 


spindle,  so  that  unless  it  was  struck  with  the  lance 
adroitly  in  the  center  of  the  face  or  breast,  it  rapidly 
revolved,  and  the  sword,  in  consequence,  smote  the 
back  of  the  assailant  in  his  career,  amid  the  laughter 
of  the  spectators.  Every  blow  in  the  centre  of  the 
figure  was  numbered  from  one  to  three,  according 
to  its  ascertained  effectiveness  in  unhorsing  a  real 
enemy,  while  the  false  strokes  that  only  sufficed  to 
turn  the  figure  were  counted  against  the  player  as 
forfeits.  In  addition  to  these  exercises,  the  young 
squires  and  pages  were  taught  to  career  against 
each  other  with  staves  or  canes;  and  sometimes  a 
Avhole  party  exhibited  on  horseback  the  various  evo- 
lutions of  a  battle,  but  without  the  blows  or  blood- 
shed of  a  tournament.  The  elegant  practice  of 
riding  at  the  ring,  which  was  an  improvement  upon 
the  quintain,  was  the  refinement  of  a  later  age.^ 

As  for  the  tournament  itself,  it  was  generally  held 
in  honor  of  some  important  event,  such  as  a  corona- 
tion, a  marriage,  or  great  national  victory  ;  and  pre- 
vious to  the  celebration,  heralds  were  dispatched  in 
every  direction  to  announce  the  place  of  meeting, 
and  invite  all  good  knights  and  true  to  repair  to  the 
solemnity.  The  joyous  summons  roused  the  neigh- 
boring counties — the  hut  and  the  castle  equally  sent 
forth  their  inhabitants,  and  every  road  to  the  place 
of  meeting  was  thronged  with  those  who  repaired 
to  the  appointed  spot  as  combatants  or  spectators. 
Even  from  distant  lands,  when  the  event  commem- 
orated was  of  general  importance,  the  noblest  in 
rank  were  accustomed  to  attend,  either  to  gi-ace  the 
spectacle  by  their  presence,  or  win  honor  in  the 
lists.     The  space  marked  out  for  the  combat  was  a 

1  Stnitt's  Sports  of  the  English. 


level  piece  of  ground,  cleared  of  every  impediment 
that  might  annoy  the  feet  of  the  horses,  and  strongly- 
paled  in,  to  prevent  the  intrusion  of  the  crowd  ;  the 
inclosure  was  entered  by  two  gates,  one  of  which 
was  at  the  east,  and  the  other  at  the  west  end  of 
the  barriers ;  and  round  the  whole  paling  scaffolds 
were  erected  for  the  high-born  dames  and  maidens, 
the  princes,  the  nobles,  and  the  elected  judges  of 
the  conflict.  A  throng  of  heralds,  troubadours,  and 
minstrels,  dressed  in  their  gorgeous  and  picturesque 
attire,  were  also  present  to  discharge  their  several 
offices,  and  give  order  and  solemnity  to  the  assembly. 
As  so  much  importance  was  attached  to  the  tourna- 
ment, various  precautions  were  adopted  to  prevent 
the  intrusion  of  the  unworthy;  the  shields  of  those 
who  Avere  competitors  for  the  honors  of  the  combat 
were,  for  some  days  previous  to  the  event,  hung  up 
in  the  neighboring  church  ;  and  if  any  candidate 
was  charged  with  an  offence  against  the  rules  of 
chivalry,  the  accusation  was  sometimes  made  by  a 
lady  touching  his  shield  with  a  wand.  Even  when 
the  lists  were  filled,  and  when  the  combats  had 
commenced,  the  same  anxiety  Avas  manifested  to 
guard  the  tournament  from  profanation ;  and  if  a 
knight  behaved  himself  discourteously  to  the  assem- 
bled ladies,  or  infringed  upon  the  fair  and  chivalrous 
rules  of  encounter,  he  was  driven  from  the  inclosure 
as  a  recreant  by  the  spear-staves  of  the  combatants. 
It  sometimes  happened  that  a  favored  knight  was 
led  to  the  gate  of  the  barrier  by  the  lady  of  his  love, 
in  Avhose  honor  he  had  vowed  to  contend,  and  whose 
colors  he  wore  in  his  crest  and  upon  his  scarf.  Two 
different  kinds  of  fighting  Avcre  practiced  at  the 
tournament.     The  first  was  called  justing — an  en- 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


G29 


counter  performed  with  the  lance  ;  the  second  was 
either  a  close  hand-to-hand  duel,  or  a  desperate, 
general  pell-mell,  in  which  the  combatants,  divided 
into  two  parties,  hewed,  struck,  and  thrust  at  each 
other  with  battle-axes,  two-handed  swords,  maces, 
and  daggers.  The  simple  just  was  not  reckoned  so 
honorable  as  the  latter  kind  of  engagement,  which 
properly  constituted  the  tournament.  The  just, 
however,  from  the  superior  grace  and  dexterity 
which  it  was  qualified  to  display,  and  perhaps  on 
account  of  its  less  hazardous  nature,  outlasted  the 
more  formidable  tneUe  of  the  tournament,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  practiced  with  sharpened  or  headless 
lances  till  a  very  late  period.  The  chief  excellence 
of  a  combatant  in  this  kind  of  exercise  consisted  in 
bearing  the  point  of  his  spear  against  the  breast  or 
helmet  of  his  adversary,  so  as  to  throw  him  back- 
ward out  of  the  saddle  to  the  ground — or,  faihng  in 
this,  to  shiver  his  own  weapon  in  the  encounter,  by 
which  he  avoided  a  similar  do^\^lfall  for  himself. 
The  lists,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  were 
guarded  from  intruders  ;  but  every  knight  or  squire 
who  entered  them  was  allowed  to  bring  with  him  a 
page,  who  stood  aloof  from  the  contest,  and  supplied 
his  master,  at  need,  with  a  sword  or  truncheon. 

Such  were  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  tournament, 
and  the  circumstances  devised  to  give  them  splendor 
and  importance.  We  now  proceed  to  describe  the 
encounter : — The  combatants,  in  two  parties,  having 
entered  the  barriers,  the  one  by  the  eastern,  and  the 
other  by  the  western  gate,  aiTanged  themselves  in 
order  for  battle  ;  and  at  the  sonorous  cry  of  the 
heralds — "  To  achievements  !  to  achievements  !" — 
they  closed  their  vizors,  couched  their  spears,  and 
impatiently  waited  the  signal  of  onset.  This  was 
given  by  the  president  dropping  his  wand  or  trun- 
cheon, and  the  trumpets  at  the  same  instant  sound- 
ing the  charge ;  and  then  commenced  the  furious 
.  hurtling  together  of  men  and  horses,  the  shivering 
of  spears,  and  the  clashing  of  helmets  and  shields. 
As  the  conflict  proceeded,  and  the  confusion  deep- 
ened, the  ground  was  gradually  covered  with  fallen 
knights,  some  deeply  wounded,  and  others  endea- 
voring to  continue  the  sti'ife  on  foot ;  or,  where  they 
were  uttei'ly  disabled,  the  pages  endeavored  to  ex- 
tricate them  from  amidst  the  rushing  and  trampling 
of  the  horses'  hoofs.  When  the  battle  had  continued 
for  some  time,  knight  after  knight  from  either  party 
might  be  seen  retiring  to  the  palisade,  to  open  his 
avantaille,  and  take  breath  for  a  few  moments  ;  and 
it  was  considered  ignoble  and  unlawful  to  assail  him 
while  so  occupied.  Ghastly  wounds,  lameness,  and 
death,  generally  summed  up  the  disasters  of  the 
day ;  but  victory  had  been  won,  and  the  lustre  of 
the  wreath  was  only  enhanced  by  the  blood  that 
stained  it.  At  the  close  of  each  day  (for  sometimes 
the  tournament  continued  for  several  days  )  the 
names  of  those  who  had  most  distinguished  them- 
selves were  proclaimed  by  the  heralds,  and  the  re- 
wards distributed  by  the  ladies  ;  after  which,  the 
joys  of  the  banquet  succeeded:  the  successful  com- 
batants, after  being  unarmed  by  those  fair  hands  that 
had  distributed  the  prizes,  were  advanced  to  an 
honored  place  at  the  board,  where  their  valor  was 


commended  by  princes  and  redoubted  warriors,  and 
sung  by  attendant  minstrels.  Such  was  the  nature 
of  that  solemn  festival,  which  may  be  regarded  as 
the  great  master-piece  of  chivalry,  and  by  which 
knightly  braveiy  and  skill  were  improved  to  their 
utmost  capability.  The  church,  indeed,  denounced 
the  tournament  on  account  of  the  bloodshed  with 
which  it  was  attended,  and  the  priests  directed  their 
spiritual  thunder  against  all  who  engaged  in  it  or 
favored  it ;  but  this  opposition  had  little  eflect  against 
a  species  of  amusement  so  accordant  with  the  whole 
bent  of  the  spirit  and  habits  of  the  times.' 

As  noble  birth  was  so  indispensable  a  qualification 
for  these  heroic  exercises,  that  none  under  the  rank 
of  an  esquire  could  engage  in  them,  the  yeomen  and 
burgesses  consoled  themselves  with  certain  other 
warlike  amusements,  in  all  probability  derived  from 
those  of  the  Norman  aristocracy ;  and  although  these 
homely  sports  were  inferior  in  solemnity  and  high 
excitement  to  the  tournament,  they  were  certainly 
superior  in  merriment  and  freedom.  One  of  these 
was  similar  to  the  quintain  of  the  young  nobility.  A 
pole  was  sti'ongly  fixed  in  the  ground,  and  across  its 
top  was  fixed,  to  turn  upon  a  spindle,  a  piece  of 
wood,  having  at  one  end  of  it  a  board,  and  at  the 
other  a  sand-bag.  The  peasants  who  repaired  to 
the  sport  galloped  against  the  quintain  by  turns, 
couching  their  staves,  and  striking  the  board  in  their 
rapid  career.  But  unless  a  dextrous  escape  imme- 
diately followed  the  blow,  the  heavy  sand-bag  at  the 
other  extremity  came  round  with  a  furious  counter- 
buff,  and  struck  the  tilter  between  the  shoulders, 
amid  the  jeers  and  shouts  of  the  spectators.  An- 
other sport  in  use  among  the  English,  and  similar 
to  the  foregoing,  has  been  called  the  water-quintain, 
and  is  thus  described  by  Fitzstephen,  as  practiced 
by  the  Londoners.  A  shield  was  nailed  to  a  mast 
that  was  set  up  in  the  midst  of  the  Thames,  against 
which  a  boat  was  impelled  swiftly  by  vigorous  row- 
ers, and  a  man  standing  upright  in  the  stern  of  the 
boat  couched  his  lance  against  the  shield,  and  struck 
it  in  passing.  If  the  spear  shivered  while  the  cham- 
pion maintained  his  place,  the  prize  was  won ;  but 
if,  on  the  contrary,  the  stave  did  not  yield  to  the 
encounter,  the  boat  glided  from  beneath  his  feet, 
and  he  fell  back  into  the  water.  To  avoid  a  tragic 
close,  however,  to  such  mirthful  exhibitions,  two 
boats  filled  w'lXh.  men  were  always  in  readiness  be- 
side the  quintain,  to  rescue  the  baffled  wight.     There 

1  M^raoires  sur  rAncipnne  Chevalerie,  par  M.  de  St.  Pelaye. — Du- 
cange  in  Tournament.— W\\W  History  of  Chivalry.— Strutt's  Sports 
of  the  English. 


Water  Toornament     Koyal  MS.  2  B.  vil. 


630 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


was  also  practiced  what  may  be  called  the  water 
tournameut,  iu  which  the  combatants,  armed  with 
staves  and  shields,  tilted  against  each  other  in  boats, 
in  the  same  maimer  as,  in  the  common  land  tourna- 
ment, the  knights  were  wont  to  do  on  horseback. 
These  sports,  in  their  natural  course,  descended, 
with  the  necessary  modifications,  to  the  children, 
who  had  also  their  own  quintains,  by  which  they 
trained  themselves  to  the  exercises  of  manhood  and 
to  dexterity  in  war.  One  of  these  is  mentioned  by 
Fitzstephen.  In  winter,  he  tells  us,  the  young  boys 
tied  the  shank-bones  of  sheep  to  their  feet,  upon 
which  they  skated  along  the  ice,  and  tilted  against 
each  other  with  staves  in  full  career.  Such,  it  would 
appear,  was  in  those  days  the  substitute  for  skates. 

In  addition  to  these  exciting  sports,  the  peasantry 
amused  themselves  with  archery,  throwing  large 
stones,  darting  spears,  \\Testling,  running,  leaping, 
and  sword  and  buckler  playing  ;  and  in  large  towns, 
the  citizens  frequently  diverted  themselves  with  boar 
and  bull  baiting.  Cock-fighting,  which  as  yet  had 
not  been  exalted  into  a  noble  or  even  a  manly  amuse- 
ment, was  confined  to  children.  On  the  Tuesday 
of  Shrovetide,  each  schoolboy  was  allowed  to  bring 
a  fighting-cock  to  the  school,  which  for  a  day  was 
turned  into  a  cockpit  for  the  diversion  of  the  ur- 
chins. The  game  of  football  was  general  in  England 
during  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  and  seems  to  have 
possessed  equal  attractions  for  men  and  children.' 

Of  the  sedentary  or  within-doors  amusements  that 
were  known  in  England  in  this  period,  a  very  brief 
notice  will  be  sufficient.  Among  them,  we  find  cer- 
tain diversions  then  possessing  attractions  for  per- 
sons of  the  highest  rank,  which  in  a  more  refined 
age  are  exclusively  confined  to  the  lowest.  The  jug- 
gler, with  his  feats  of  dexterity  and  sleight-of-hand, 
was  an  important  personage  even  in  the  royal  court, 
when  men  had  not  yet  learned  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  natural  and  the  supernatural.  The  buf- 
foon, with  his  ribald  jests,  was  a  welcome  substitute, 
where  more  refined  wit  was  wanting,  along  with  the 
power  to  appreciate  it ;  and  the  mime,  with  his  an- 
tic personifications,  added  enjoyment  to  the  luxuries 

I  Fitzstephen's  London. 


of  the  feast.  To  these  may  be  added  dramatic  ex- 
hibitions. Plays  founded  upon  romantic,  historical, 
or  passing  events,  were  already  represented  before 
the  nobles  and  citizens  ;  but  these  primitive  attempts 
were  so  completely  in  accordance  with  the  gross- 
ness  and  licentiousness  of  the  age,  both  in  language 
and  manner  of  acting,  that  they  were  condemned 
by  the  church,  and  all  priests  were  prohibited  from 
attending  them.'  The  actors  of  those  days  appear 
to  have  strolled  from  town  to  town,  and  from  castle 
to  castle,  attended  by  a  congenial  fraternity  com- 
posed of  jongleurs,  tumblers,  dancers,  jesters,  and 
mimics.^  The  immorality  of  these  theatrical  exhibi- 
tions awoke  not  only  the  ire,  but  the  inventive  pow- 
ers of  the  church,  and  the  clergy  endeavored  to 
supersede  the  secular  by  the  religious  drama ;  and 
hence  the  origin  of  those  pi'89uctions  called  miracles 
and  mysteries.  These  were  composed  of  scriptural 
incidents;  or,  as  Fitzstephen  informs  us,  "repre- 
sentations of  those  miracles  that  were  wrought  by 
holy  confessors,  or  those  passions  and  sufferings  in 
which  the  martyrs  so  signally  displayed  their  forti- 
tude." The  actors  were  the  scholars  of  the  clergy  ; 
the  church  itself  was  frequently  used  as  the  place 
of  exhibition ;  and  the  rich  vestments  and  sacred  fur- 
niture employed  in  the  church  service  were  some- 
times permitted  to  be  used  by  the  actors,  to  give 
superior  truth  and  lustre  to  their  representations. 

In  a  propensity  to  gambling,  the  Normans  and 
Saxons  equally  evinced  their  northern  origin :  they 
had  ten  different  games  that  were  played  with  dice ; 
of  which,  however,  we  have  no  particular  account ; 
and  the  large  sums  that  were  lost,  as  well  as  the 
quarrels  that  were  stirred  up  by  what  the  clergy  of 
those  days  emphatically  called  the  "damnable  art  of 
dicing,"  may  be  surmised  from  the  curious  enact- 
ments on  this  head  by  Richard  I.  and  Philip  Augus- 
tus, on  their  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land.^  Matthew 
Paris  also  is  careful  to  reproach  the  English  barons- 
who  revolted  against  John,  with  their  fondness  for 
dice  ;  and  the  same  charge  was  brought  against  the 
clergy  in  general  by  those  'ecclesiastics  who  cen- 
sured the  vices  of  the  age.     The  intellectual  game 

'  J.  Sarisbur.  de  Nugis  Curialiura.        '  Idem.        '  See  ante,p.  4T4. 


Anciknt  Chessmen,  preserved  in  the  British  Museum. 


Chai.'.  \'I.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


G31 


of  chess,  we  may  also  notice,  which  is  undoubtedly 
of  oriental  origin,  is  commonly  supposed  to  have  been 
imported  into  England  and  the  other  countries  of 
Europe  in  this  period,  by  the  Crusaders.  There  is 
some  reason  however  for  believing  that  it  was  known 
to  our  Saxon  ancestors  before  the  Norman  Conquest. 


Allusion  has  been  already  made  to  the  bands  of 
Saxon  glee-men,  dancers,  and  jugglers,  that  traversed 
the  kingdom,  and  found  aready  welcome  from  burgher 
and  noble.  The  following  group  represents  one  of 
these  peripatetic  bands,  consisting  of  a  taborer,  a 
bagpiper,  three  dancers,  and  a  singer  or  glee-man. 


Country  Revel.    Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


The  juggler  was  generally  the  superintendent  of 
the  party  ;  and  his  feats  of  sleight-of-hand,  which 
passed  for  supernatural,  and  by  which  he  astonished 
the  unskilful  peasants  and  equally  illiterate  nobles, 
were  similar  to  those  exhibited  in  the  present  day. 


A  part  ot  the  exhibitions  of  these  jugglers  consisted 
in  feats  of  balancing,  of  which  the  following  engrav- 
ing is  a  representation.  Here,  two  men  support  a 
large  board,  on  which  a  girl  kneels,  and  balances 
three   swords,  resting  upon  their  hilts,  with   the 


Balancing. — Strutt,  from  various  ancient  MSS.  in  the  Bodleian  and  private  Collections 


points  in  contact.  The  steadiness  of  nerve  requi- 
site for  such  a  feat,  in  the  female,  but  more  espe- 
cially in  her  supporters,  is  evident  at  a  glance.  The 
other  figures  of  the  gi'oup  are  employed  in  such 
trials  of  balancing  as  are  witnessed  among  us  every 
day,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  the  person  who 
is  attempting,  in  rather  an  unfavorable  attitude,  to 
make  two  swords  stand  upright  on  the  ground.  The 
women  who  formed  a  part  of  the  juggler's  train  bal- 
anced, danced,  and  tumbled,  and  performed  those 
feats  of  agility  or  gracefulness  for  which  they  were 
better  qualified  than  the  more  robust  sex.  These 
females,  as  may  be  supposed,  were  of  very  light 
reputation,  on  which  account  the  daughter  of  He- 
rodias  was  classed  among  them  by  our  ancestors. 
When  she  procured  the  death  of  John  the  Baptist, 
she  is  said,  in  the  Saxon  translation  of  the  Gospels, 
to  have  "tumbled  before  Herod;"  and  in  an  ancient 
illuminated  MS.,  she  is  thus  represented  at  her 
exercise,  attended  by  her  maid-servant. 


The  Daughter  of  Herodias  Ti-mblino.    Strutt,  from  an 
ancient  MS. 

In  addition  to  such  displays  of  human  strength 
and  dexterity,  the  ingenuity  of  the  jugglers  trained 
the  inferior  animals  to  cofiperate  in  their  exhibitions : 
bears  were  taught  to  dance  and  tumble,  and  horses 


032 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


[Book  III. 


Playixo  Monkeys  and  Bears.    Harl.  MS.  603.— Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii.— Bodleian  MS.  2C4. 


;ind  monkeys  to  imitate,  or  rather  ape,  the  actions 
of  humanity.  The  above  sketch,  copied  from  an 
jincient  MS.,  represents  a  monkey  imitating  the 
action  of  playing  on  the  harp,  and  a  second  mimick- 
ing the  violin-player;  a  third  is  riding  on  a  bear, 


which  is  dancing  to  the  imaginary  music  ;  and  a 
fourth  monkey  is  tumbhng  under  the  directions  of 
its  teacher.  In  another  drawing  we  have  a  glee- 
woman  dancing  round  an  unmuzzled  bear,  that 
endeavors  to  seize  her,  while  the  bear-keeper  is 


Playing  Bears.    Harl.  MS.  603.— Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


scourging  the  animal,  and  exciting  it  to  greater  fury. 
The  docility  also  of  that  noble  animal  the  horse  did 
not  escape  the  notice  of  these  ingenious  tormentors  : 


it  was  taught  to  dance,  to  fence  with  its  fore-feet 
against  a  man  armed  with  a  staftand  buckler ;  to  put 
a  trumpet  to  its  mouth  as  if  about  to  sound  a  charge  ; 


Equestrian  Exercises. 
Horse  lutored  to  beat  time  with  his  fore  and  hind  feet  on  a  tabor. — Strutt,  from  an  ancient  MS. 


and  to  beat  a  war-point  with  its  hoofs  upon  a  drum  I  been  sometimes  exhibited,  in  which  a  horse,  haltered 
or  tabor.     A  still  more  cruel  sport  appears  to  have  {  to  a  stake  or  tree,  was  baited  by  dogs. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


633 


Horse  Baiting.    Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


The  jugglers  also  made  the  science  of  defence  a 
part  of  their  public  exhibitions.  On  this  account 
they  are  frequently  called  gladiators  by  the  writers 
of  the  time.  They  not  only  exhibited  feats  of  skill 
at  sword  and  buckler,  but  they  were  also  the  teach- 
ers of  the  art  of  fencing.  Fitzstephen  mentions  this 
as  a  common  exercise  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II. ; 
and  in  the  following  engravings  from  ancient  manu- 
scripts we  have  representations  of  the  principal 
wards  and  feints  that  were  practiced. 


Sword  Fight.    Royal  MS.  20  E.  6. 


Sword  Fight.    Royal  MS.  14  E.  3. 


Fencing.  Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 
The  combatants  here  appear  to  be  in  right  earnest, 
and  the  kind  of  combat  in  which  they  are  engaged 
was,  no  doubt,  attended  with  some  danger.  In 
other  cases  the  mock  encounter  was  practiced  in  a 
feshion  much  less  perilous.  In  the  following  en- 
graving, two  youths,  who  appear  to  be  studying  the 


BccKLER  Flay. 
Strutt,  from  an  ancient  MS.  in  the  Douce  Collection. 

defensive  part  of  the  science  merely,  are  crouching 
safely  behind  their  bucklers,  while  each  is  armed 
with  nothing  better  than  a  light  cudgel.  The  Sax- 
ons also  appear  to  have  learned  from  their  German 


WORD  Dance.    Royal  MS.  14  E.  iii. 


634 


HISTORr  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


ancestors  to  play  gracefully  with  their  weapons  in 
the  sword-dance/  where  dexterity  could  be  exhibited 
without  dangerous  consequences.  The  sword-dance 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  which  we  have  already  de- 
scribed," continued  to  be  practiced  long  after  the 
Norman  Conquest.  In  the  foregoing  dehneation,  two 
men  are  wielding  sword  and  buckler,  and  directing 
their  movements  by  the  music  of  the  bagpiper. 

'  The  sword-dance  described  by  Tacitus  (de  Mor.  Germaiii.  c.  24) 
was  among  naked  weapons  with  the  points  upward.  The  fashion  in 
which  it  was  perrormed  by  the  Saxons  was  much  less  dangerous. 

"  See  ante,  p.  339. 


VVeestlino.    Eoyal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


Wrestling  was  also  practiced  in  various  forms. 
One  mode  of  a  very  peculiar  kind  is  also  said  to 
have  been  in  use  among  the  ancient  Greeks.  In 
this  game,  two  persons,  mounted  each  on  the  back 
of  a  companion,  encountered  each  other  like 
knights  on  horseback ;  and  he  who  could  throw 
his  antagonist  to  the  ground  was  declared  the  con- 
queror. 

Bowling  is  another  amusement  which  we  find 
represented  in  the  manuscripts  of  this  period.  In 
the  annexed  drawing  two  small  cones  are  set  up  to 
serve  as  marks  for  the  bowl.  Similar  to  this  was 
the  game  of  kayles  (in  French  quilles),  probably  of 
Norman  origin,  and  from  which  the  game  of  nine- 
pins was  perhaps  derived.  A  number  of  pins  were 
set  up — not  in  three  rows,  however,  but  in  a  line — 
and  these  the  player  endeavored  to  strike  down  by 
throwing  a  cudgel.  The  same  amusement,  with 
slight  variations,  is  common  at  our  fairs  in  the  pres- 
ent day.  Three  pins  are  placed  upright,  surmounted 
by  toys  :  at  these  the  player,  standing  at  a  consider- 
able distance,  throws  a  stick,  and  whatever  he  can 
manage  to  knock  down  becomes  his  own. 

Most  of  the  amusements  still  practiced  by  our 
peasantry  in  some  parts  of  the  country  on  the  eve 
of  All-Hallows  are  probably  much  older  than  the 
Norman,   or   even   th'j   previous    Saxon   conquest. 


BouLiNo.    Royal  MS.  20  Ed.  iv. 


Kayle  Pins.    Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


The  following  representation  of  the  well-known 
game  of  bob-apple  is  found  in  a  manuscript  of  the 
present  period. 


were  so  severe  against  the  English  using  dogs  and 
hawks  for  the  purposes  of  hunting  and  fowling,  we 
may  presume  that  the  conquered  people  (when  they 


While  the  prohibitions  of  their  Norman  masters  |  dared  to  pursue  these  sports)  would  betake  them- 


Chap.  VI.] 


iVIANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


62fi 


Bob-Apple.     Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


selves  to  gins,  snares,  and  nets.  In  the  following 
representation  we  have  birds  taken  by  the  clap-net. 
In  another  drawing  we  see  the  cross-bow  employed 
in  shooting  at  small  birds.  This  instrument  was 
introduced  into  England  by  the  Conqueror,  whose 
soldiers  did  great  execution  with  it  at  the  battle  of 
Hastings.  The  second  Council  of  Lateran  after- 
ward forbade  the  use  of  it  in  wars  between  Christian 


nations,  and  it  was,  in  consequence,  for  some  time 
laid  aside ;  but  Richard  I.  reintroduced  it  in  his 
French  wars  after  his  return  from  Palestine.  His 
death,  which  took  place  soon  after  by  an  arrow  dis- 
charged from  a  crossbow,  was  of  course  considered 
as  a  judgment  which  he  had  thus  brought  upon 
himself  by  his  disregard  of  the  authority  of  the 
church. 


BiRD-CATCHiNO  BY  Clap-Net.    Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


Cross-Bow  shootino  at  small  Birds.    Royal  MS.  2  B.  vii. 


C36 


HISTOKY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


T  is  no  justification,  on 
the  one  band,  of  the 
spirit  of  wrong  and  vio- 
lence in  which  the  en- 
terprises in  question 
may  have  originated, 
nor  any  condemnation, 
on  the  other,  of  the  re- 
sistance that  was  made 
to  them,  to  admit  that 
ail  the  successive  for- 
eign conquests  of  Eng- 
land have  turned  out, 
in  the  end,  to  be  for- 
tunate events  for  the 
country.  We  do  not  include  under  that  term  the 
temporary  ascendencj'  of  the  Danes,  which  lasted 
only  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  all,  and  was  then 
followed  by  the  reestablishment  of  the  Saxon  power 
— although  the  country  probably  made  greater  pro- 
gi'ess  in  wealth  and  civilization,  and  enjojed  in  every 
way  more  of  the  advantages  of  good  government, 
during  the  twenty  years  of  the  reign  of  Canute  than 
it  had  done  in  any  period  of  the  same  length  since 
the  death  of  the  great  Alfred  ;  but,  confining  our 
view  to  the  permanent  conquests  of  the  original 
Britons  by  the  Romans, — of  the  Roman  provincials 
by  the  Saxons, — and  of  the  Saxons  by  the  Normans, 
— it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that,  of  each  of  these 
revolutions,  severe  as  Avas  the  immediate  suflfering 
which  they  occasioned,  the  eventual  result  was  an 
immense  addition  to  the  civilization,  the  power,  and 
the  general  prosperitj'  of  the  country. 

It  was  by  the  Romans  that  the  arts  and  habits  of 
civilized  life  were  first  introduced  into  and  planted 
in  the  island.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that, 
but  for  their  subjugation  bj^  the  arms,  and  annexation 
to  the  empire  of  Rome,  the  ancient  Britons  Avould 
have  attained  a  condition  much  superior  to  that  of 
their  contemporaries  inhabiting  the  forests  of  Ger- 
many or  Scandinavia.  The  establishment  of  the 
Roman  dominion  substituted  for  this  state  of  rudeness 
and  comparative  destitution  an  empire  of  the  arts  and 
of  letters,  which  continued  to  flourish  unimpaired  for 
a  longer  space  of  time  than  has  elapsed  from  the  Ref- 
ormation to  the  present  day,  and  which,  even  after  its 
decay  and  ruin,  left  behind  it  many  enduring  benefits. 
It  is  not  probable,  however,  that  the  Romanized 
Britons,  if  they  had  been  left  to  themselves  after 
the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire,  would  have  suc- 
ceeded in  working  out  their  emancipation  from  the 
anarchy  into  which  they  were  thrown  by  the  dis- 
memberment of  the  mighty  system  of  which  they 
had  formed  a  part ;  the  stroke  of  fate  liad  fallen  upon 
the  heart  of  that  system,  and  it  was  impossible  that 
any  of  its  extremities  should  escape  dissolution. 


The  Saxons  brought  along  with  them  no  new 
arts  or  additional  intellectual  culture ;  they  swept 
away,  in  the  violence  of  their  first  seizure  of  the 
country,  much  of  the  civilization  that  had  previously 
been  established  in  it ;  and  they  were  indebted  for 
the  communication  of  the  light  of  religion  and  letters 
long  after  their  settlement  to  that  very  Rome  whose 
old  institutions  and  monuments  they  had  at  first 
thrown  down  and  ti'ampled  upon.  But  they  brought 
with  them  what  was  better  than  any  literary  civili- 
zation, the  spirit,  at  least,  and  elementary  forms  of 
a  new  system  of  political  arrangements,  founded 
upon  larger  and  juster  views  of  human  rights  and 
duties,  and,  in  its  final  development,  more  favorable 
to  the  general  securitj'  of  person  and  property,  and 
to  the  promotion  of  all  the  other  ends  of  good  gov- 
ernment and  social  union,  than  any  with  which  anti- 
quity had  been  acquainted. 

The  soil  of  the  national  character  is  to  this  day 
mainly  Saxon,  with  our  institutions,  our  manners, 
our  language,  our  literature,  and  whatever  else  has 
sprung  out  of  it.  The  conquest  of  the  country  by 
the  Saxons  has  made  its  population  in  all  things  es- 
sentially a  Teutonic  race,  and,  as  such,  partakers  in 
the  most  vigorous  and  productive  species  at  least  of 
modern  civilization.  This  is  a  distinction  which  no 
subsequent  revolutions  or  changes  have  been,  and 
wliicli  it  is  not  probable  that  any  ever  will  be  able  to 
obliterate. 

But  various  causes  contributed  to  hinder  the  Sax- 
ons from  rearing  a  superstructure  of  state,  in  their 
kingdom  of  England,  of  a  height  and  proportions  at 
all  corresponding  to  the  broad  and  deep  foundations 
they  had  laid.  The  better  part  of  their  original 
energy  they  would  seem  to  have  expended  in  the 
long  and  arduous  contest  they  had  to  sustain  before 
they  made  good  their  possession  of  the  country ; 
when,  after  this  was  over,  they  found  themselves  in 
the  undisturbed  occupation  and  enjoyment  of  the 
settlements  their  swords  had  won,  the  cessation  of 
the  only  excitement  to  exertion  they  had  ever  hith- 
erto known,  and  the  want,  owing  to  their  unac- 
quaintance  with  letters  and  the  arts,  of  any  new 
stimulus  to  supply  its  place,  would  naturally  have 
the  efl!"ect  of  allowing  them  to  subside  into  habits  of 
indolence  and  sensuality.  Then  followed  a  long 
succession  of  miserable  contests,  sometimes  between 
one  state  and  another,  sometimes  between  adverse 
fections  in  the  same  state, — in  either  case  having 
almost  equally  the  rancorous  character  of  civil  strifes. 
Thus  were  consumed  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
of  the  six  hundred  which  make  up  what  is  commonly 
called  the  Saxon  period.  The  destructive  ravages 
of  the  Danes  extend,  with  some  interruptions,  over 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  remaining  two  centuries 
and  a  half:    the  several  states  had,   indeed,  been 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


637 


consolidated  into  one  kingdom,  and  their  ferocious 
contention  with  one  another  was  at  an  end  ;  but  for 
the  greater  part  of  this  space  the  old  scene  of  blood- 
shed, desolation,  and  public  disti'action  was  kept  up 
by  the  restless  plague  of  a  foreign  enemy,  either 
hovering  upon  the  coasts  and  making  descents  now 
at  one  point,  now  at  another,  throughout  their  whole 
circuit,  or  permanently  stationed  in  the  heart  of  the 
kingdom  and  sweeping  it  in  all  directions  with  fire 
and  sword.  Even  during  the  only  considerable 
interval  for  which  this  long  contest  with  the  Danes 
Avas  suspended,  the  space  that  elapsed  from  the  time 
of  Alfred  to  that  of  Ethelred,  the  numerous  foreign 
population  which  had  forced  its  way  into  the  coun- 
try was  only  kept  quiet  by  being  allowed  to  divide 
the  possession  of  it  with  its  previous  occupants. 
How  precarious  was  the  subjection  that  was  thus 
obtained  from  them  was  at  length  testified  by  the 
renewal  of  the  old  contest  between  the  two  races  in 
the  reign  of  Ethelred,  and  its  obstinate  prosecution 
by  the  Danes  till  they  placed  their  own  king  on  the 
English  throne.  In  short,  of  the  whole  six  hundred 
years  that  intervened  from  the  coming  of  the  Saxons 
to  the  coming  of  the  Normans,  the  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury forming  the  reign  of  the  Confessor  is  almost 
the  only  portion  that  can  be  refeiTed  to  as  that  in 
which  the  country  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  a  national 
government  and  a  united  people.  Nearly  all  the  rest 
of  the  period  was  spent  in  the  contest  of  the  invaders 
with  the  previous  inhabitants,  in  the  wars  that  the 
several  bands  of  the  invaders  afterward  carried  on 
among  themselves,  and,  finally,  in  the  long  struggle 
they  had  to  sustain  with  their  foreign  competitors 
for  the  possession  of  the  country,  the  course  of 
which  was  only  an  alternation  of  hard  fighting  and 
reluctant  concession,  of  the  din  and  confusion  of 
arms  and  of  occasional  intervals  of  an  insecure  and 
uneasy  calm,  attempted  to  be  maintained  by  truces 
and  oaths  which  quenched  no  hostile  feeling,  and 
which  either  party  was  constantly  on  the  watch  for 
the  first  fair  occasion  to  bi-eak. 

It  was  impossible  that  in  such  circumstances  the 
national  character  should  not  have  become  deterio- 
rated, and  that  the  country  should  not  have  lagged 
behind  in  the  career  of  wealth,  of  the  arts,  of  liter- 
ature, and  of  every  other  line  of  public  prosperity 
and  greatness.  Accordingly,  at  the  era  of  the  Nor- 
man invasion,  England  was  still  a  country  of  no 
account  in  the  political  map  of  Europe.  Some 
foreign  commerce  it  was  beginning  to  have ;  but 
still  its  intercourse,  either  commercial  or  of  any 
other  description,  with  other  parts  of  the  world  was 
apparently  very  limited.  A  certain  degi'ee  of  excel- 
lence indeed  seems  to  have  been  attained  by  its 
artists  in  some  kinds  of  ornamental  work,  in  the  fab- 
rication of  trinkets  and  other  articles  of  luxury,  a 
taste  for  which  probably  prevailed  among  its  few 
wealthier  inhabitants, — and  on  a  first  view  we  might 
be  disposed  to  conjecture  that  other  and  more  ne- 
cessary descriptions  of  industry  must  needs  have 
also  flourished  where  there  was  room  and  encour- 
agement for  the  exercise  of  this  species  of  refined 
and  expensive  ingenuitj- ;  but  nothing  can  be  more 
unsafe  and  fallacious  than  such  a  mode  of  inference. 


by  which  some  particular  feature  is  taken  to  indicate 
in  one  age,  or  countiy,  or  state  of  society,  the  same 
thing  which  it  would  indicate  in  another.  It  would 
be  quite  unwarrantable  to  assume  the  existence  of 
any  general  wealth  or  refinement  among  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  of  the  eleventh  century  merely  from  their 
passion  for  show  and  glitter,  which,  in  its  lower 
manifestations,  is  an  instinct  of  the  rudest  savages: 
and,  even  when  directed  with  very  considerable 
taste,  may  coexist  both  with  the  most  imperfect  civ- 
ilization and  with  much  general  poverty  and  squalor, 
as  we  see  it  doing  in  Eastern  countries  at  the  present 
day.  No  other  species  of  art  or  manufacture,  except 
the  ordinary  trades  required  for  the  supply  of  their 
most  common  necessities,  appears  to  have  been 
practiced  among  them.  But  the  backward  and  de- 
clining condition  of  the  country  was  most  expressively 
evinced  by  the  lamentable  decay  of  all  liberal  knowl- 
edge among  all  classes  of  the  people.  The  oldest 
historians  are  unanimous  in  their  attestations  to  the 
general  ignorance  and  illiteracy  that  prevailed  among 
the  English  of  this  age.  To  the  testimony  of  Or- 
dericus  Vitalis,  which  has  been  already  adduced,* 
may  be  added  that  of  Malmsbury,  who,  writing 
within  sixty  or  seventy  years  from  the  time  of  the 
Conquest,  may  be  considered  to  speak  almost  with 
the  authority  of  a  contemporary.  He  was  an  Eng- 
lishman as  well  as  Vitalis,  and,  as  he  informs  us 
himself,  as  much  a  Saxon  as  a  Norman  by  descent- 
He  assures  us  that,  when  the  Normans  first  came 
over,  the  gi-eater  number  of  the  English  clergy  could 
hardly  read  the  church  service,  and  that,  as  for 
anything  like  learning,  they  were  nearly  to  a  man 
destitute  of  it :  if  any  one  of  them  understood  gram- 
mar, he  was  admired  and  wondered  at  by  the  rest 
as  a  prodigj'.  The  rest  of  his  account  represents 
the  upper  classes  in  general  as  sunk  in  sloth  and 
self-indulgence,  and  addicted  to  the  coarsest  vices. 
Many  of  the  nobility,  he  says,  had  even  given  up 
attending  divine  service  in  churches  altogether,  and 
used  to  have  matins  and  mass  said  to  them  in  their 
chambers  while  they  lay  in  bed,  and  as  fast  as  the 
priests  could  hurry  them  over.  Besides  other  gross 
practices,  they  were  universally  given  to  gluttonous 
feeding  and  drunkenness,  continuing  over  their  cups 
for  whole  days  and  nights,  and  spending  all  their 
incomes  at  riotous  feasts,  where  they  ate  and  drank 
to  excess,  without  any  display  either  of  refinement 
or  of  magnificence.  The  dress,  the  houses,  and  the 
domestic  accommodations  of  the  people  of  all  ranks 
are  stated  to  have  been  mean  and  wretched  in  the 
exti'erae. 

Whatever  judgment  may  be  formed  as  to  the 
comparative  moral  qualities  of  the  two  races,  the 
Normans,  at  the  time  of  their  conquest  of  England, 
were  undoubtedly  much  farther  advanced  than  the 
Saxons  in  that  sort  of  cultivation  to  which  the  name 
of  civilization  is  commonly  applied.  They  introduced 
into  the  country  not  only  a  higher  learning,  but 
improved  modes  of  life.  They  set  an  example  of 
elegance  and  magnificence,  to  which  the  Saxons 
were  strangers,  in  their  festivities,  in  their  apparel, 
and  in  their  whole  expenditure.  Instead  of  wasting 
i  See  ante.  p.  583. 


638 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


the  whole  of  then-  wealth  in  eating  and  drinking, 
their  pride  was  to  devote  the  greater  part  of  it  to 
works  of  permanent  utility  or  embellishment,  to  the 
building  of  castles,  and  churches,  and  monasteries. 
The  art  of  architecture  in  England  may  be  said  to 
have  taken  its  rise  from  them.  By  them,  also,  it  is 
probable  that  the  agriculture  of  the  country  was 
improved,  and  its  commerce  extended.  Under  their 
government,  after  it  was  fairly  established,  the  king- 
dom for  the  first  time  had  its  natural  strength  and 
resources  turned  to  account,  and  came  to  be  recog- 
nized as  of  any  importance  in  the  political  system  of 
Europe. 

These  eventual  benefits,  however,  were  purchased 
at  a  heavy  immediate  cost.  No  national  revolution 
brought  about  by  violence  can  take  place  without 
occasioning  much  misery  to  individuals,  and  also 
giving  a  severe  shock  for  the  moment  to  the  whole 
fabric  of  the  public  interests.  But  the  Norman  con- 
quest of  England,  from  the  manner  and  circum- 
stances in  which  it  was  effected,  swept  the  land 
with  an  uprooting  and  destructive  fury,  far  trans- 
cending that  of  ordinary  tempests  of  this  description. 
It  was  much  more  than  a  mere  transference  of 
the  dominion  of  the  country  into  the  hands  of  for- 
eigners ;  along  with  the  dominion  nearly  the  whole 
propertj'  of  the  country  was  torn  from  its  former 
possessors,  and  seized  by  the  conquei'ors.  A  hand- 
ful of  aliens  not  only  wielded  the  powers  of  the 
government,  and  recast  at  will  the  whole  system  of 
the  national  institutions,  but  the  natives  were,  for 
tlie  most  part,  stripped  of  their  estates  as  well  as  of 
their  pohtical  rights,  and  driven  forth  to  destitution 
and  beggary,  at  the  same  time  that  they  were  made 
to  pass  under  the  yoke.  The  distinction  of  this 
conquest  was,  that  it  was  to  an  almost  unexampled 
extent  one  of  confiscation  and  plunder.  It  was  not 
merely  the  establishment  of  a  foreign  prince  upon 
the  throne,  but  the  surrender  of  the  countiy  to  a 
swai"m  of-  foreign  robbers,  who  divided  it  among 
them  like  so  much  spoil,  and,  settling  in  all  parts  of 
it,  treated  the  unhappy  natives  as  their  thralls.  The 
necessity  of  satisfying  the  claims  of  the  troops  of 
hungry  and  rapacious  adventurers  from  all  countries, 
by  Avhom  he  had  been  assisted  in  his  enterprise, 
compelled  the  Norman  thus  extravagantly  to  over- 
stretch and  abuse  even  the  hateful  rights  of  con- 
quest; and  the  system  thus  entered  upon  could 
only  be  maintained  by  a  perseverance  in  the  sternest 
and  most  gi'inding  tyranny.  It  was  impossible  that 
the  moderation  and  clemency  with  which  William 
iit  first  affected  to  treat  the  conquered  people  should 
be  long  kept  up.  His  spoliations  and  incessant  ex- 
actions could  not  fail  to  provoke  a  spirit  of  resistance, 
which  was  only  to  be  reined  in  by  the  steadiest  and 
most  determined  hand.  After  some  time,  accord- 
ingly, he  seems  to  have  thrown  away  all  scruples, 
and,  resigning  himself  to  the  necessities  of  his  posi- 
tion and  the  current  of  events,  to  have  relinquished 
every  view  of  governing  his  English  subjects  by 
any  other  means  than  force  and  terror.  The  con- 
sequence was,  the  establishment  of  a  system  of 
government  which,  in  so  far  as  respected  the  great 
body  of  the  people,  was  certainly  as  iron  a  despot- 


ism as   ever   existed   in   any  country  calling  itself 
civilized. 

The  constitutional  changes  introduced  by  the 
Norman  Conquest  do  not  appear  to  have  greatly 
altered  the  legal  position  of  the  different  ranks  of 
the  population.  The  laboring  classes,  and  the  great 
body  of  the  occupiers  and  cultivators  of  the  soil,  re- 
mained, as  before,  partly  serfs  or  bondmen,  entirely 
the  property  of  their  masters, — partly  villains,  at- 
tached to  the  estates  on  which  they  resided,  so  as 
neither  to  have  the  power  of  removing  at  their  own 
will  nor  to  be  removable  at  the  will  of  their  lord. 
Of  these  latter  there  appear  to  have  been  a  variety 
of  descriptions,  whose  conditions  and  rights  probably 
differed  in  some  subordinate  particulars ;  but  the 
distinctions  implied  by  the  various  names  which  we 
find  used  to  designate  them  are  very  imperfectly 
understood.  Some  of  them,  perhaps,  were  entitled 
only  to  a  maintenance  from  the  land, — others  to  the 
occupation  of  a  cottage, — others  to  a  certain  portion 
of  the  estate  to  cultivate  for  their  own  profit,  for  it 
would  appear  that  some  descriptions  of  the  villains 
at  least  were  capable  of  possessing  and  accumulating 
private  property.  There  is  no  proof  that  all  of  them 
might  not  have  done  so,  although  some  classes  of 
them  may  have  been  more  advantageously  placed 
than  others  for  saving  or  otherwise  acquiring  wealth. 
Glanville,  indeed,  informs  us  that  whatever  money 
or  goods  a  villain  possessed  were  considered  by  the 
law  to  belong  to  his  lord,  and  therefore  he  could  not 
emancipate  himself,  or  purchase  his  freedom,  Avith 
his  own  money ;  but  all  that  can  be  meant  by  this 
is,  that  the  lord  had  perhaps  the  legal  right,  if  he 
chose,  of  taking  from  his  villain  whatever  property 
the  latter  might  have  acquired.  This  very  statement 
is  an  evidence  that  the  villain  might  possess  money 
or  other  propertj',  which  was  his  own  at  least  so 
long  as  his  lord  refrained  from  demanding  it.  It  is 
probable  that  custom,  if  not  the  laAv,  imposed  some 
limitation  upon  the  lord's  power  of  exaction,  and  that 
even  although  all  that  the  villain  had  might  strictly 
or  technically  be  said  to  belong  to  his  master,  it 
rarel)'  or  never  happened  that,  if  he  paid  from  his 
earnings  or  his  savings  the  ordinary  dues,  he  was 
disturbed  in  the  possession  of  what  remained.  The 
great  and  conspicuous  distinction  at  all  events  of  his 
peculiar  position  was,  as  explained  in  the  last  book,^ 
that  on  the  one  hand  he  was  bound  to  remain  on  the 
estate  on  which  he  was  born,  and  to  perform  certain 
labors  or  services,  and  to  pay  certain  dues  to  the 
lord  or  proprietor  of  the  estate ;  and  that  on  the 
other  hand  he  could  not  be  removed  by  the  lord  from 
the  soil  to  which  he  was  thus  attached,  nor  deprived 
of  what  was  substantially  his  tenure  or  holding  in  it, 
which  no  doubt  always  implied  at  least  lodging  and 
maintenance  for  himself  and  his  family,  and  probably 
in  many  cases  more  extensive  rights.  Besides  the 
villains,  however,  there  was  a  considerable  class  of 
persons  designated  as  freemen  or  free  tenants. 
These,  it  may  be  presumed,  were  in  no  respect 
bound  to  the  soil,  or  otherwise  subjected  to  a  quali- 
fied servitude,  as  the  villains  were.  They  held  ap- 
parently the  same  legal  position  that  all  commoners 

1  See  ante,  p.  340,  &c. 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


639 


hold  in  the  present  day,  modified  only  by  the  very 
different  constitution  of  society  and  state  of  the 
law  generally  which  then  prevailed.  The  villains, 
though  by  no  means  excluded  from  the  protection 
of  the  law,  seem  not  to  have  possessed  any  political 
rights  ;  these  were  exclusively  confined  to  freemen. 
They  alone  were  the  legales  homines,  or  lawful 
men,  of  whom  the  laws  and  other  writings  of  the 
time  so  often  make  mention.  Such  of  the  freemen 
as  occupied  land  which  was  not  their  own  property 
may  be  considered  as  having  nearly  corresponded  to 
our  modern  tenantryrin  the  popular  acceptation  of 
that  term.  The  tenants  of  those  days  again  were, 
what  tenants  still  are  in  the  language  of  the  law, 
the  proprietors  of  estates ;  and  were  called  either 
tenants-in-chief  (in  Latin  tenentes  in  capife),  by 
which  expression  were  meant  holders  under,  that 
is,  by  direct  gi"ant  from  the  king,  or  tenants  under  a 
mesne  (that  is,  a  middle)  lord,  under  which  descrip- 
tion was  included  all  other  proprietors.  The  higher 
political  rights  seem  originally  to  have  been  exclu- 
sively confined  to  the  tenants-in-chief.  The  com- 
mon freeholder,  or  freeman,  for  instance,  might  ex- 
ercise municipal  functions ;  might  be  a  deputy  from 
his  township  to  the  hundred  or  the  county-court, 
and  might  sit  upon  an  inquisition  or  jury ;  in  other 
words,  he  might  take  part  in  various  ways  in  the 
execution  or  administration  of  the  law  ;  but  with  the 
making  of  the  law,  or  with  the  function  of  legisla- 
tion in  any  form,  he  seems  to  have  been  considered 
as  having  nothing  to  do.  That  was  a  right  reserved 
to  the  tenants  of  the  crown,  though  in  what  degree 
it  was  participated  in,  or  in  what  manner  exercised, 
by  all  the  descriptions  of  persons  who  belonged  to 
that  class,  has  given  rise  to  much  difference  of  opin- 
ion. It  may  certainly  be  reasonably  doubted  if  all 
the  tenants-in-chief  were  ever  considered  as  barons, 
in  the  sense  of  what  we  now  call  noblemen,  and 
were  summoned  as  such  to  the  meetings  of  the  great 
council  or  parliament.  It  seems  to  be  more  prob- 
able that  such  a  barony  as  entitled  to  this  privilege 
was  a  distinct  honor  conferred  by  the  crown  only 
upon  certain  of  the  tenants-in-chief.  The  others, 
who  had  no  such  privilege,  might  be  considered  as 
lesser  barons.  It  may  be  added,  that  the  existence 
of  allodial  property^  ceased  altogether  in  England 
from  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest.  The  es- 
tablishment of  the  feudal  system  was  made  com- 
plete by  the  Conqueror  assuming  to  himself  the 
dominium  directum,  or  original  and  supreme  prop- 
erty, of  all  the  lands  in  the  kingdom,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  took  possession  of  the  throne.  "  If  we 
compare  the  constitution  established  here  by  the 
Normans  with  that  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,"  says  a 
learned  historian  of  this  period,  "the  greatest  dif- 
ference between  them  will  be  found  to  arise  from 
many  estates  which  were  allodial  being  made  feu- 
dal, and  fi'om  others  which  approached  the  nearest 
to  fiefs,  and  were  indeed  of  a  feudal  nature,  but  not 
lands  of  inheritance,  being  rendered  hereditary,  and 
in  consequence  of  that  change  subjected  to  burdens 
to  which  they  had  not  been  liable  in  their  former 
condition."  ^ 

1  See  ante,  p.  236.  •  Lyttelton's  Henry  II.,  vol.  ii.  p   189. 


The  sufferings  of  the  nation  under  the  Norman 
dominion,  therefore,  were  not  principally  occasioned 
by  any  new  form  or  element  of  slavery  that  was 
introduced  into  the  constitution  of  the  kingdom  or 
of  society.  The  legal  restrictions  and  disabilities  by 
which  the  great  body  of  the  people  were  fettered, 
all  existed  before  the  Conquest,  nor  was  any  portion 
of  the  community  deprived  by  that  revolution  of 
rights  which  it  had  previously  exercised,  or  de- 
pressed to  a  lower  position  in  the  state  than  it  had 
previously  held.  The  laws  and  institutions  of  the 
countiy,  in  short,  remained  in  all  essential  respects 
nearly  the  same  as  before.  But  in  that  immature 
state  of  society  comparatively  little  of  the  substance 
of  liberty  resided  in  its  mere  forms.  As  yet  the 
spirit  in  which  the  law  was  administered  was  of 
infinitely  greater  importance  than  the  letter  of  its 
enactments.  The  government  of  the  Normans 
proved  a  yoke  of  grievous  bondage  to  the  English, 
in  manifold  ways.  First,  it  was  a  government  of 
foreigners,  and  therefore  intolerably  hateful  to  every 
feeUng  of  patriotism  and  national  honor.  Secondly, 
it  was  a  system  which  put  a  mark  of  exclusion  and 
degradation  upon  all  native  Englishmen,  ejecting  and 
debarring  them  from  every  office  of  honor  or  profit 
in  the  state,  and  treating  them  in  eveiy  way  as  aliens 
and  outcasts  in  their  own  land.  Thirdly,  feudalism 
now  bound  the  land,  and  all  degrees  of  men  in  it, 
with  a  much  firmer  grasp  than  formerly ;  it  was  the 
difference  between  the  waters  beginning  to  congeal, 
with  the  ice,  indeed,  floating  here  and  there  upon 
their  surface,  but  still  free  and  flowing  in  the  greater 
part,  and  their  state  when  hardened  into  one  vast 
floor  of  fixed  and  impenetrable  rock.  There  was 
no  escape  now  anywhere  from  the  embrace  and 
pressure  of  the  system, — no  retiring  out  of  its  way, 
or  assuaging  its  force  by  a  mixture  of  yielding  and 
resistance ; — the  closely  fitting  iron  bolt  was  driven 
forward  to  the  bottom  of  its  cavity,  and  ci'ushed 
every  obstacle  to  dust.  Fourthly,  it  was  a  frightful 
national  calamity,  and  one  that,  for  the  time,  must 
have  disorganized  society  as  completely  as  the  most 
convulsive  overthrow  of  old  laws  and  institutions 
could  have  done,  for  neai-ly  the  whole  body  of  the 
landed  proprietors  of  the  country  to  be  suddenly 
stripped  of  their  possessions,  and  new  families  to 
enter  everywhere  upon  the  lordship  of  the  soil  and 
of  its  cultivators.  Domesday  Book  shows  the  ex- 
tent to  which  this  spoliation  of  the  natives  was  car- 
ried by  the  Norman  conquerors.  It  is  not  correct 
to  assert,  as  has  been  sometimes  done,  that  the  Eng- 
lish were  indiscriminately  deprived  of  their  lands ; 
for  a  few  of  them  appear  to  have  been  left  in  almost 
every  countj'  even  as  tenants-in-chief,  and  a  consid- 
erable number  more  are  mentioned  as  holding  of 
mesne  lords.  But  still  the  deprivation  was  so  sweep- 
ing and  general  as  to  produce  nearly  the  same 
amount  of  change  and  misery  as  if  it  had  been  uni- 
versal ;  it  was  substantially  the  overthrow  of  the 
Avhole  or  ler  of  native  proprietors,  and  the  transfer- 
ence of  the  lordship  of  the  soil  into  new  hands. 
The  sufferings  of  the  numerous  individuals  who 
were  the  immediate  victims  of  this  policy,  woidd  be 
but  a  part  of  the  misery  it  inflicted  ;  the  slwck  of 


G40 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


their  downfall  would  be  felt  in  some  degree  by  all 
their  connections  and  dependents  ;  and  in  the  violent 
and  simultaneous  tearing  asunder  of  so  many  old 
ties,  and  unlinking  of  men  from  the  anchorages  by 
which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  hang,  the  entire 
frame  of  society  must  have  been  loosened  and  weak- 
ened. But,  fifthly,  the  conquered  people  were 
made,  by  the  rapacity  and  incessant  exactions  of 
their  new  masters,  to  groan  under  a  permanent  load 
much  more  burdensome  and  oppressive,  there  is 
reason  to  believe,  than  they  had  ever  before  experi- 
enced. Their  foreign  government  and  their  foreign 
landlords  ground  them  to  the  earth  at  the  same  time 
with  their  separate  extortions.  The  government, 
especially,  was  essentially  a  government  of  extor- 
tion and  rapine  ;  the  main  principle  upon  which  it 
was  conducted  was  to  wring  from  the  country  the 
utmost  revenue  it  could  be  made  to  yield ;  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  government  upon  themselves, 
again,  the  nobles  and  other  landed  proprietors  were 
compelled  in  their  turn  to  become  the  fleecers  of  all 
under  them ;  and  thus,  in  every  way,  tlie  miserable 
people  were  harassed  and  robbed  of  the  earnings  of 
their  industry.  Sixthly,  there  was  the  occasional 
occurrence  of  such  terrible  excesses  of  reckless  and 
unbridled  tyranny  as  the  formation  of  the  New  For- 
est, by  which  the  government  made  open  profes- 
sion of  its  contempt  for  all  the  restraints  of  law,  and 
right,  and  common  humanity;  and  might  be  said 
actually  to  wage  unprovoked  war  upon  its  subjects. 
Finally,  there  was  the  long  succession  of  wars  that 
grew  out  of  the  Conquest, — first  between  the  two 
races  nearly  throughout  the  reign  of  the  Conqueror, 
and  afterward  between  the  two  factions  that  divided 
the  country  in  the  time  of  Stephen, — by  which  the 
lives  of  two  out  of  the  first  three  generations  that 
followed  the  establishment  of  the  Norman  dominion 
were  made  to  pass  in  the  sadness  of  continual  anx- 
iety and  fear,  the  land  was  everywhere  drenched 
with  blood,  and  large  districts  of  it  were  repeatedly 
laid  desolate  with  fire  and  sword. 

The  sufferings  of  the  people  from  all  these  causes 
have  been  very  imperfectly  detailed  in  the  accounts 
that  have  come  down  to  us  ;  but  they  are  expres- 
sively indicated  by  the  demand  that  was  constantly 
made  for  the  restoration  of  the  laws  of  the  Con- 
fessor— in  other  woi'ds,  of  the  comparatively  happy 
state  of  things  that  had  existed  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Normans.  It  is  remarkable  that  these  supposed 
laws  of  the  Confessor  were  really,  as  has  been 
already  noticed,  the  laws  which  had  been  first  col- 
lected and  reduced  to  a  system  by  the  Danish  king 
Canute  ;  so  that  the  popular  cry  was  the  expression 
of  a  strong  preference  even  for  the  Danish  over  the 
Norman  dominion.  And,  in  fact,  there  can  be  no 
question  that  the  nation  was  much  happier  under 
the  government  of  Canute  than  under  that  of  the 
Norman  Conqueror. 

Domesday  Book  also  is  the  faithful  record  both  of 
the  extent  of  the  spoliation  which  followed  tpon  the 
Norman  Conquest,  and  of  part  of  the  gent  ral  de- 
pression of  the  national  prosperity  which  was  the 
immediate  consequence  of  that  great  revolution. 
By  tlio  statements  there  given,  almost  all  the  prin- 


cipal towns  throughout  the  kingdom  appear  to  have 
been  greatly  reduced  in  their  population  and  the 
number  of  houses  they  contained,  at  the  end  of  the 
reign  of  the  Conqueror,  from  their  condition  in  the 
time  of  the  Confessor ;  while  the  rents,  customs, 
and  other  payments  exacted  from  them  had  been  in 
most  cases  seriously  augmented.  Part  of  this  dimi- 
nution appears  to  have  been  brought  about  Ijy  the 
ravages  of  war  or  accidental  conflagrations — part  by 
mere  decay  and  neglect.  In  either  case  it  equally 
told  the  miseries  through  which  the  country  had 
passed,  and  the  heavy  weight  that  pressed  upon  all 
the  springs  of  the  national  industry.  This  will  be 
more  clearly  shown  by  the  enumeration  of  a  few 
particulars.  The  city  of  York — as  yet  the  only 
town  in  the  vast  county  to  which  it  gives  name — is 
set  down  as  containing,  at  the  date  of  the  survey, 
only  967  inhabited  houses  out  of  IfiO?  which  it  had 
contained  before  the  Conquest.  Of  the  six  scyrw, 
or  wards,  into  which  it  was  divided,  one  is  described 
as  laid  waste  for  building  the  castles,  or  military 
strongholds  for  overawing  the  town.  Beside  the 
G40  houses  pulled  down  or  quite  waste,  400  others 
are  stated  to  be  so  much  decayed  as  to  be  capable 
of  paying  to  the  crown  only  an  annual  tax  of  a  penny 
each,  or  even  less.  In  Lincoln  there  were  formerly 
1150  inhabited  houses;  of  these,  166  were  now  laid 
waste  for  building  the  castle,  and  other  74  were  also 
in  ruins,  having  been  reduced  to  that  state  by  fire  or 
the  poverty  of  their  proprietors.  In  Dorchester,  of 
188  houses,  100  were  totally  destroyed.  In  Oxford, 
out  of  721  houses  which  the  town  formerly  con- 
tained, 478  were  so  decayed  as  not  to  be  in  a  con- 
dition to  pay  any  geld  or  tax.  In  Cambridge,  28 
houses  had  been  pulled  down  to  build  a  castle.  In 
Northampton,  of  46  houses — all  that  the  place  ap- 
pears to  have  contained — 14  were  Ij'ing  waste.  In 
many  of  the  towns  also  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  houses  were  now  occupied  by  Frenchmen,  as 
the  Normans  are  called,  who,  in  most  instances,  ap- 
pear to  have  contributed  no  part  of  the  tax  exacted 
from  the  place  by  the  crown.  Thus,  in  the  city  of 
Shrewsbury,  it  is  noted  as  a  complaint  of  the  Eng- 
lish burgesses,  that  they  were  still  compelled  to  pay 
the  whole  of  the  royal  dues  they  paid  in  the  time  of 
King  Edward,  although,  of  the  252  houses  of  which 
the  town  consisted,  there  were  51  destroyed  for  the 
earl's  castle,  and  50  others  lying  waste,  beside  43 
that  were  occupied  by  French  burgesses,  who  paid 
nothing,  and  39  given  by  the  earl  to  an  abbey,  which 
were  in  like  manner  exempted  from  taxation.  The 
annual  geld  exacted  from  this  town,  and  now,  ac- 
cording to  this  statement,  to  be  paid  by  little  more 
than  a  fourth  of  the  number  of  persons  who  formerly 
contributed  to  it,  was  ll.  IGs.  8d.  But  the  geld  or 
tax  paid  by  the  burgesses  w^as  far  from  being  the 
whole  of  what  each  town  paid  to  the  king.  From 
Shrewsbury,  for  instance,  the  entire  profits  of  the 
crown  were  estimated  at  30Z.  annually.  In  Derby, 
103  houses  were  destroyed  out  of  243.  In  Ipswich. 
328  houses  are  set  down  as  now  waste,  which  had 
yielded  geld  in  the  time  of  King  Edward.  Of  210 
burgesses  which  remained  out  of  808,  100  were  so 
poor  as  to  be  able  to  pay  only  a  penny  each.     The 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


641 


entry  respecting  the  city  of  Chester  presents  a  rare 
instance  of  a  partial  recovery  from  the  devastations 
of  the  earlier  part  of  the  reign  ;  there  were,  it  is 
stated,  205  houses  lying  waste  when  the  town  came 
into  the  possession  of  Earl  Hugh,  and  it  w<as  worth 
only  30/. ;  but  it  had  since  so  far  recovered  as  to  be 
farmed  from  the  earl  for  70/.  and  one  mark  of  gold. 

Both  the  Conqueror  and  his  son  Henry  have  the 
character  of  having  been  strict  administrators  of 
the  laws,  and  rigorously  exact  and  severe  in  the 
punishment  of  offences  against  the  public  peace. 
The  Saxon  chronicler  says  that,  in  the  time  of  the 
former,  a  girl  loaded  with  gold  might  have  passed 
safely  through  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  In  like 
manner  the  same  authority  tells  us,  that,  under  the 
government  of  Henry,  "  whoso  bore  his  bui'den  of 
gold  and  silver,  durst  no  man  say  to  him  nought  but 
good."  The  maintenance  of  so  effective  a  system 
of  police  must,  no  doubt,  have  made  a  great  differ- 
ence between  these  reigns  and  those  of  Rufus  and 
Stephen — in  both  of  which  robbery  ranged  the  king- 
dom almost  without  restraint,  and,  in  the  latter 
especially,  the  whole  land  was  almost  given  up  as  a 
prey  to  anarchy  and  the  power  of  the  strongest. 
But  still  even  this  supremacy  of  the  law  was  in 
many  respects  an  oppressive  bondage  to  the  subject. 
In  this,  as  in  everything  else,  the  main  object  of 
the  government  was  the  protection  and  augmenta- 
tion of  the  royal  revenue ;  and  it  may  be  correctly 
enough  affirmed,  that  private  robbery  and  depreda- 
tion were  prohibited  and  punished  chiefly  on  the 
principle  that  no  interference  was  to  be  tolerated 
with  the  rights  of  the  great  public  robber,  the  gov- 
ernment. Many  of  the  laws,  also,  which  were  so 
sternly  enforced,  were  in  reality  most  unjust  and 
grievous  restrictions  upon  the  people.  Of  this  char- 
acter, in  particular,  were  the  forest-laws,  which 
punished  a  trespass  upon  the  royal  hunting-grounds, 
or  the  slaughter  of  a  wild  beast,  with  the  same  pen- 
alty that  was  inflicted  upon  the  robber  or  the  mur- 
derer. And  in  all  cases  the  vengeance  of  the  law 
was  %\Teaked  upon  its  victims  in  a  spirit  so  precipi- 
tate, reckless,  and  meixiless,  that  any  salutary  effect 
of  the  example  must  have  been,  to  a  great  extent, 
neutralized  by  its  tendency  to  harden  and  brutalize 
the  public  mind ;  and  the  most  cruel  injustice  must 
have  been  often  perpetrated  in  the  name  and  under 
the  direct  authority  of  the  law. 

Henry  I.  was  popularly  called  the  Lion  of  Jus- 
tice, and  he  well  deserved  the  name.  His  mode  of 
judicial  procedure  was  in  the  highest  degree  sum- 
mary and  sweeping.  In  the  twenty-fifth  year  of 
his  reign,  for  instance,  in  a  fit  of  furious  indignation 
occasioned  by  the  continued  and  increasing  debase- 
ment of  the  coin,  he  had  all  the  moneyers  in  the 
kingdom,  to  the  number  of  more  than  fifty,  brought 
up  before  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  when,  after  a 
short  examination  by  the  treasurer,  they  were  all, 
except  four,  taken  one  by  one  into  an  adjoining 
apartment,  and  punished  by  having  their  right  hands 
struck  oft",  and  being  otherwise  mutilated.  The 
year  before  he  had  hanged  at  one  time,  at  Huncot, 
in  Leicestershire,  no  fewer  than  forty-four  persons, 
charged  with  highway  robbery.     Robberies,  how- 

VOL.  I. — 41 


ever,  of  the  most  atrocious  description  were,  dur- 
ing a  great  part  of  the  reign,  perpetrated,  without 
check,  by  the  immediate  servants,  and  it  may  be 
said  under  the  very  orders,  of  the  crown.  The  in- 
solence of  the  purveyors  and  numerous  followers 
of  the  court  in  the  royal  progresses,  is  described  by 
contemporary  writers  as  having  reached  a  height 
under  this  king  far  transcending  even  what  it  had 
attained  to  under  either  of  his  immediate  predeces- 
sors. They  used  not  only  to  enter  the  houses  of 
the  farmers  and  peasantry  without  leave  asked,  to 
take  up  their  lodgings  and  remain  as  long  as  it  suited 
them,  and  to  eat  and  drink  their  fill  of  whatever 
they  found,  but,  in  the  wantonness  of  their  official 
license,  frequently  even  to  burn  or  otherwise  de- 
stroy what  they  could  not  consume.  At  other 
times  they  would  carry  it  away  with  them,  and  sell 
it.  If  the  owners  ventured  to  remonsti-ate,  their 
houses  would  probably  be  set  on  fire  about  their 
ears,  or  mutilation,  and  sometimes  even  death,  might 
punish  their  presumption.  Nor  was  it  their  goods 
only  that  Avere  plundered  or  wasted ;  the  honor  of 
their  wives  and  daughters  was  equally  a  free  prey 
to  these  swarms  of  protected  spoilers.  The  aj)- 
proach  of  the  king  to  any  district,  accordingly,  spread 
as  much  dread  as  could  have  been  occasioned  by  an 
announcement  that  a  public  enemy  was  at  hand. 
The  inhabitants  were  wont  to  conceal  whatever 
they  had,  and  to  flee  to  the  woods. 

It  was  not  till  the  necessity  of  reforming  these 
frightful  abuses  was  at  last  forced  upon  Henry,  by 
the  solitude  which  he  found  around  him  wherever 
he  appeared — in  other  words,  till  this  sj'stem  of 
unrestrained  rapacity  came  at  last  to  defeat  its  own 
purpose  —  that  he  had  some  of  the  dehnquents 
brought  before  him,  and  punished  by  the  amputa- 
tion of  a  hand  or  a  foot,  or  the  extraction  of  one  of 
their  eyes.  Yet  the  most  unsparing  pillage  of  the 
people  in  other  forms  continued  throughout  the 
whole  of  this  reign.  Taxes  were  imposed  with  no 
reference  to  any  other  consideration  except  the 
wants  of  the  ci'owu ;  and  the  raising  of  the  money 
was  managed  by  any  measures,  however  violent  or 
irregular,  that  would  serve  that  end.  It  is  an  affect- 
ing trait  of  the  sufferings  of  one  numerous  class  of 
the  people  which  is  recorded  by  the  historian  Ead- 
mer,  in  his  statement  that  tlie  peasantry  on  the 
domains  of  the  crown  would  sometimes  offer  to  give 
up  their  ploughs  to  the  king,  in  their  inability  to 
pay  the  heavy  exactions  with  which  they  were 
burdened.  These  unhappy  men,  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered, were  without  any  means  of  escape  from  ex- 
tortion which  thus  ground  them  to  the  earth  ;  even 
if,  in  some  cases,  they  were  not  attached  to  the  soil 
by  any  legal  bond,  they  might  still  be  considered  as 
rooted  to  it  nearly  as  much  as  the  trees  that  grew 
on  it;  for  in  that  state  of  society  there  was,  goner- 
ally  speaking,  no  resource  for  the  gi-eat  body  of  the 
community  except  to  remain  in  the  sphere  in  which 
they  were  born,  and  in  which  their  fathers  had 
moved. 

The  same  historian  paints  in  strong  colors  tlie 
miseries  occasioned  by  the  oppressiveness  of  the 
general  taxes.     The  collectors,  he  says,  seemed  to 


642 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


have  no  sense  either  of  humanity  or  justice.  It 
was  equally  unfortunate  for  a  man  to  be  possessed 
of  money  as  to  be  without  it.  In  the  latter  case, 
he  was  cast  into  prison,  or  obliged  to  flee  from  the 
country  ;  or  his  goods  were  taken  and  sold,  the  very 
door  of  his  house  being  sometimes  carried  away  as 
a  punishment  for  not  satisfying  the  demand  made 
upon  him.  But,  if  he  had  money,  it  was  no  better; 
his  wealth  was  only  a  provocation  to  the  rapacity 
of  the  government,  which  never  ceased  to  harass 
him  by  threats  of  prosecutions  on  unfounded  charges, 
or  by  some  of  the  other  means  of  extortion  at  its 
command,  until  it  drove  him  to  comply  with  its 
most  unjust  requisitions.  The  language  of  the 
.Saxon  chronicler  is  to  the  same  purport,  and  equally 
strong.  "God  knows,"  says  that  other  contempo- 
rary writer,  "how  unjustly  this  miserable  people  is 
dealt  Avith.  First  they  are  deprived  of  their  prop- 
erty, and  then  they  are  put  to  death.  If  a  man 
possesses  anj'thing,  it  is  taken  from  liim  ;  if  he  has 
nothing,  he  is  left  to  perish  by  fomine." 

A  legend  respecting  Henry  I.,  which  is  related 
by  some  of  the  old  historians,  forcibly  depicts  the 
deep  sense  that  was  popularlj'  entertained  of  the 
tyranny  of  his  government,  and  the  fierce  hatred 
which  it  engendered  in  the  hearts  of  his  subjects. 
In  the  year  1130,  as  he  was  passing  over  to  Nor- 
mandy, he  is  said  to  have  been  visited  one  night 
with  an  extraordinary  dream  or  vision.  First,  there 
gathered  around  him  a  multitude  of  countrymen, 
bearing  scythes,  spades,  and  pitch-forks,  and  with 
anger  and  threatening  in  their  countenances  :  they 
passed  away,  and  the  place  they  had  occupied  was 
filled  by  a  crowd  of  armed  soldiers  with  drawn 
swords ;  the  scene  changed  again,  and  crosiered 
bishops  seemed  to  be  leaning  over  his  bed,  ready  to 
fall  upon  him,  as  if  they  meant  to  kill  him  with  their 
holy  staves.  Thus,  the  tillers  of  the  ground,  the 
military,  and  the  church — the  three  most  important 
interests  of  the  kingdom — appeared  to  have  each 
sent  its  representatives  to  reproach,  and  curse,  and 
menace  him.  We  insert  copies  of  three  ancient 
drawings,  which  are  found  accompanying  a  contem- 
porary manuscript  version  of  this  legend,  and  which, 
beside  illustrating  the  story,  will  convey  some  notion 
of  the  costume  and  general  appearance  of  the  dif- 
ferent ranks  of  men  introduced  in  it.  The  dream, 
it  may  be  added,  is  said  to  have  made  a  great  im- 
pression on  Henry.  He  awoke  in  extreme  pertur- 
bation, leaped  out  of  his  bed,  seized  his  sword,  and 
called  violently  for  his  attendants.  AVhen  he  be- 
came more  calm  he  solemnly  resolved  upon  repent- 
ance and  amendment  of  life,  and  it  is  affirmed  that, 
from  this  time,  he  began  to  be  an  altered  man. 

The  excess  to  which  the  tja-anny  of  the  crown 
was  thus  carried  probai)ly  had  the  effect  of  bringing 
about,  sooner  than  it  might  otherwise  have  taken 
place,  the  commencement  of  the  intermixture  of  the 
two  races  inhabiting  the  country,  and  their  union 
into  one  nation.  It  was  not  long  after  the  Con- 
'juest,  as  we  learn  from  William  of  Malmsbury, 
before  the  superior  refinement  of  their  Norman 
masters  began  to  communicate  itself  to  the  English. 
That  historian,  who  died  in  the  reign  of  Stephen, 


after  describing  the  pecuharities  of  manners  and 
habits  which  originally  distinguished  each  people, 
tells  us  that  this  diversity  had  become  in  great  part 
obliterated  at  the  time  when  he  wrote.     The  Eng- 
lish had  generally  accommodated  themselves  to  the 
customs  and  the  mode  of  living  brought  over  by  the 
Normans,  in  all  points  except  one,  their  old  habit 
of  immoderate  eating  and  drinking  :  this,  wViich  they 
themselves  are  said  to  have  learned  from  the  Danes, 
the  Normans  had  now  acquired  from  them.     The 
two  races  must,  therefore,  have  come,  by  this  time, 
to  live  with  each  other  in  common  and  familiar  as- 
sociation.    The   name  of  Englishman,   it  appears, 
had  also  now  ceased  to  be  what  it  was  esteemed  in 
the  reign  of  the  Conqueror — a  term  of  degradation 
and  reproach.     It  was  assumed  even  by  the  barons, 
and  others  of  Norman  lineage,  as  their  proper  ap- 
pellation, under  which  they  were  accustomed  to 
make  common  cause   with  the  great  body  of  the 
population  in  demanding  the  restoration  of  the  old 
Saxon  laws  and  customs.     By  the  time  of  Henry  II. 
the  English  had  begun  to  be  readmitted  to  offices 
of  honor  and  profit  in  the  state,  and  intermarriages 
had  taken  place  between  the  two  races  to  a  great 
extent.     The  historian   Ailred,  who  hved  in  that 
reign,  observes  that  England  had  now,  not  only  a 
king,  but  many  bishops  and  abbots,  many  great  earls 
and  noble  knights,  who,  being  descended  both  from 
the  Norman  and  English  blood,  were  an  honor  to 
the  one  and  a  comfort  to  the  other.     But  the  most 
distinct  statement  of  the   general  intermixture  of 
the  two  races  that  had  by  this  time  taken  place  is 
found  in  a  remarkable  passage  of  the  Dialogue  on 
the  Exchequer,  in  relation  to  the  old  legal  custom 
of  what  were  called  presentments  of  Englishry.     A 
presentment  of  Englishry  was  the  return  of  an  in- 
quisition held  upon  the  body  of  a  person  found  slain, 
when  the  author  of  the  slaughter  could  not  be  dis- 
covered, declaring  him  to  have  been  an   English- 
man ;  in  which  case  the  vill  or  hundred  was  excused 
from  a  heavy  amerciament,  which  it  would  other- 
wise have  had  to  pay,  by  a  law  said  to  have  been 
first  introduced  by  Canute  for  the  protection  of  his 
Danish  countrymen,  and  which  was  afterward  con- 
tinued or  revived  by  William  the   Conqueror  for 
the  security  of  the  Normans.     But  now,  says  the 
AATiter  of  the  Dialogue,  by  reason  of  the  English 
and  Normans  dwelling  together,  and  constantly  in- 
termarrying,  the    two   nations   are    so   completely 
mixed  one  with  the  other,  that,  in  so  far  as  regards 
the  portion  of  the  community  that  is  free,  it  can 
scarcelj'  any  longer  be  ascertained  who  is  of  Eng- 
lish, who  of  Norman  descent.     The  villains  attached 
to  the  soil,  however,  it  is  added,  were  still  an  ex- 
ception ;  they  remained  of  unmixed  Saxon  blood — 
a  statement,  by  the  way,  from  which  we  may  gather 
that  it  was  not  usual  for  marriages   to  take   place 
between  the  villains  and  persons  in  a  state  of  free- 
dom ;  that  such  marriages  sometimes  happened  we 
know,  from  the  provisions  made  by  law  respecting 
their  issue.     The  consequence  of  the  state  of  things 
which  had  thus  arisen,  the  writer  of  the  Dialogue 
concludes  by  informing  us,  was,  that,  except  it  were 
a  villain,  the  case  of  every  person  found   secretly 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


G43 


Vision  of  Henry  I 


644 


HISTORY  OF  ExNGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


slain  was  considered  to  be  murder — that  is  to  saj% 
was  punislied  by  the  imposition  of  the  fine  upon 
the  neighborhood,  for  that  was  then  the  meaning 
of  the  word  which  we  now  use  for  the  highest  de- 
gree of  the  illegal  shedding  of  blood.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  sake  of  the  revenue  which  accrued  to 
the  crown  from  these  amerciaments,  the  directly 
opposite  result  would  seem  to  be  that  which  should 
have  most  naturally  flowed  from  the  general  oblit- 
eration of  the  old  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
the  two  races  ;  all  persons  found  secretly  slain  should 
have  been  assumed  to  be  English,  and  the  fine  upon 
the  neighborhood  remitted.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
nearly  two  centuries  after  this  time  that  presenta- 
tions of  Englishry  were  formally  abolished  by  statute. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  national  char- 
acter was  decidedly  improved  on  the  whole  by  this 
mixture  of  new  blood  with  that  of  the  old  Saxon 
population  of  the  country.  The  Saxon  solidity  was 
brightened,  and  its  tendency  to  decline  into  heavi- 
ness and  coarseness  checked  by  an  infusion  of  the 
more  fiery  temperament  and  more  brilliant  qualities 
of  the  Norman  race.  The  Celtic  tincture  which 
was  thus  introduced  into  the  pure  Teutonic  blood 
of  the  Saxons  was,  however,  but  very  slight;  for 
the  Normans  were  but  half  Frenchmen,  and  the 
French  themselves  were  but  half  Gauls.     The  sub- 


stance of  the  English  character,  therefore,  remained 
thoroughly  Teutonic  as  before,  though  lighted  up 
with  something  of  a  more  refined  animation.  But 
the  perfect  produce  of  this  chemistry  was  a  result 
not  to  be  realized  till  a  distant  period ;  the  conse- 
quences of  the  oblivion  by  the  two  races  of  their 
old  animosities,  and  their  coalescence  into  one  na- 
tion, were  evidenced  for  the  present  chiefly  in  the 
favorable  change  that  followed  in  their  pohtical  and 
social  circumstances.  The  government,  indeed, 
still  continued  to  be  in  many  respects  an  oppressive 
tyranny :  its  spirit,  and  also  to  a  great  extent  its 
power,  was  still  despotic  ;  the  law  was  a  most  im- 
perfect protection  for  either  the  property  or  the 
liberty  of  the  subject ;  witness,  to  mention  no  other 
instances  of  its  scandalous  insufficiency  and  barbar- 
ism, the  right  which  it  appears  was  still  left  to  the 
crown,  and  not  unfrequently  exercised  by  it  even  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  of  not  only  punishing  the 
individual  himself  who  might  have  l)een  found  guilty 
of  cei'tain  crimes,  but  also  sending  into  banishment 
all  his  innocent  relations.  Henry,  it  may  be  re- 
membered, in  1165,  banished  out  of  P^ngland,  by  a 
general  sentence,  all  the  relations,  friends,  and  con- 
nections of  Thomas  a  Becket,  to  the  number  of 
nearly  four  hundred  persons,  without  distinction  of 
sex  or  age  ;  even  infants  at  the  breast,  as  we  learn 


Henry  II.  banishing  Bucket's  Family.    Royal  MS.  2  15.  vii 


both  from  Becket's  own  letters  and  from  his  biogra- 
pher, Fitzstephen,  were  not  excepted.  What  lib- 
erty, or  what  law  deserving  the  name,  could  there 
be  said  to  exist  in  a  country  where  so  enormous  a 
stretch  of  ai'bitrary  power  could  be  tolerated  ?  Many 
of  the  other  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  indeed,  were 
utterly  incompatible  with  a  state  of  general  security 
and  freedom.  Yet  from  this  time  the  spirit  of  re- 
sistance to  bad  government,  however  inefficient  as 
yet  for  the  prevention  of  numerous  abuses,  was  at 
least  a  national  spirit.  It  was  no  longer  the  mere 
feeling  of  a  part  of  the  people  either  actually  con- 
tending in  arms  with  tlie  rest,  or  only  kept  down 
l)y  force  and  fear;  it  was  no  longer  a  sentiment  of 
(lisaff'ection  or  open  rebellion ;  the  classes  naturally 
most  attached  to  the  existing  government,  and  most 


interested  in  its  preservation,  shared  equally  with 
their  fellow-subjects  in  the  desire  for  good  laws 
and  a  just  administration  of  them.  The  Saxons 
had  ceased  to  be  rebels  ;  the  Normans  had  ceased 
to  be  conquerors ;  both,  united  under  the  common 
name  of  Englishmen,  had  come  to  feel  that  they 
had  the  same  interests  and  the  same  rights.  Their 
union,  as  has  been  just  observed,  did  not  at  first 
enable  them  always  to  restrain  the  excesses  of  the 
crown ;  that  power  would  still,  on  occasion,  break 
through  all  restraints ;  but  yet,  in  ordinary  circum- 
stances, a  considei'able  degree  of  moderation  and 
good  government  was  enforced.  The  government 
of  Henry  II.,  for  instance,  was  undoubtedly  an  in- 
finite improvement  on  that  of  his  grandfother.  At 
first  this  practical  amelioration  was  nearly  all  that 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


645 


the  kingdom  followed  in  due  course  :  when  King 
John  attempted  to  renew  the  arbitrary  rule  of 
the  Conqueror  and  his  sons,  he  found  that  he  had 
neither  the  same  kind  of  resistance  to  encounter, 
nor  the  same  support  to  lean  upon  ;  the  Norman 
party  was  not  now  to  be  wielded  as  an  instrument 
for  beating  down  the  English ;  his  tyrannical  pro- 
ceedings were  as  little  agreeable  to  the  former  as 
to  the  latter ;  and  they  soon  gave  proof  of  their 
combined  strength,  and  of  the  birth  of  a  power 
which  hitherto  had  not  showed  itself  in  the  state, 
by  not  only  stopping  him  in  his  course  of  insolent 
aggression  and  outrage,  but  by  proceeding  to  extract 
some  and  to  pare  down  others  of  the  mischievous 
prerogatives  through  which  he  had  been  enabled 
to  perpetrate  the  wrongs  thus  put  an  end  to.  For 
the  manner  in  which  it  was  gained,  and  its  glorious 
memory  as  the  first  victory  of  the  nation  over  the 
old  despotism  of  the  crown,  even  more  than  for 
any  of  the  provisions  contained  in  it,  Magna 
Charta  is  worthy  to  stand  in  the  front  of  the 
Statute  Book,  and  to  be  regarded  as  having  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  liberties  of  England. 

The  precise  information  that  has  come  down  to 
us  respecting  the  social  statistics  of  this  period, 
amounts  only  to  a  few  scattered  facts,  from  which 
scarcely  any  general  conclusions  can  be  drawn  as  to 
the  condition  of  the  people.  We  have  not  as  yet 
arrived  at  the  age  of  regular  and  official  records  ;  we 
have  only  the  occasional  notices  incidentally  let  fall 
by  the  chroniclers  while  pursuing  their  main  subject 
— the  course  of  public  affairs.  Most  of  these  notices 
that  throw  any  light  upon  the  important  point  of 
the  price  of  commodities  and  of  labor  have  been 
collected  by  Bishop  Fleetwood,  in  the  "  Chronicon 
Preciosum,"  by  Sir  Frederick  Eden,  in  his  "  State 
of  the  Poor,"  and  by  Mr.  Macpherson,  in  his  "  An- 
nals of  Commerce."  Their  number,  as  we  have 
said,  is  very  inconsiderable  ;  and,  few  as  they  are, 
they  are  for  the  most  part  of  httle  value.  "  The 
accounts,  for  instance,"  as  is  obsei"ved  by  one  of  the 
writers  we  have  just  named,  "of  the  prices  of  grain, 
are  in  general  only  those  which,  from  the  particular 
circumstances  of  the  time,  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  annalist;  they  are  usually  the  prices  in  dearths 
and  famines,  or  in  years  of  extraordinary  cheapness ; 
and  are,  therefore,  no  very  accurate  criterion  of  the 
mean  or  ordinaiy  price  :  it  is  often  impossible  to  as- 
certain the  capacity  of  the  measures  that  were  used, 
or  to  point  out  the  places  where  the  prices  were 
taken.  In  the  distracted  state  of  the  country  from 
the  twelfth  to  the  fifteenth  century,  the  intercourse 
between  the  diflPerent  parts  of  the  island  was  inter- 
rupted ;  the  want  of  good  roads,  an  injudicious  sys- 
tem of  agriculture,  and  the  desolating  incursions  of 
rival  barons,  often  preventer!  one  part  of  the  kingdom, 
where  the  crop  was  scanty,  from  being  supplied 
with  the  superabundant  produce  of  another.  It  is 
further  to  be  remarked,  that,  in  stating  both  the 
prices  of  labor  and  commodities,  authors  have  often 
been  misled  by  the  composition-price  agreed  upon 
between  the  landlord  and  tenant,  perhaps  according 
to  some  ancient  valuation.  In  some  instances  it  is 
difficult  to  distinguish  whether  the  rent  of  land,  as 


stated  in  ancient  records,  is  the  whole  benefit  the 
landlord  received,  or  whether  the  personal  services 
of  the  tenant  did  not  constitute  by  far  the  most  val- 
uable part;  in  others,  whether  the  price  of  grain  is 
the  price  for  which  it  sold  in  the  market,  or  the 
quota  which  in  ancient  times  tenants  paid  to  their 
landlords  in  lieu  of  a  rent  in  kind,  and  which  was 
always  much  below  the  market  price."'  To  these 
sources  of  fallacj"  may  be  added  the  chances  of  a 
corrupt  text,  which  are  very  great  wherever  figures 
are  concerned,  and  the  occasional  contradictions 
between  one  authority  and  another,  or  even  some- 
times between  two  statements  of  the  same  writer. 
The  value  of  the  money  of  the  present  period, 
or  rather  the  quantity  of  silver  contained  in  each 
denomination,  has  been  explained  in  a  preceding 
chapter.^ 

The  price  which,  in  ordinary  circumstances, 
chiefly  regulates  all  other  prices,  or  sympathizes 
with  them  where  it  does  not  regulate  them,  is  the 
price  of  labor.  But,  in  regard  to  that  in  the  present 
period,  our  information  is  hardly  worth  anything. 
It  appears,  however,  to  have  varied  from  about  three 
farthings  to  a  penny  a  day,  with  victuals.  Thus,  in 
1126,  the  wages  of  the  common  servants,  employed 
at  the  abbey  of  Peterborough,  are  stated  to  have 
been  ll.  As.  id.  yearly,  which  is  at  the  rate  of  about 
three  farthings  a  day.  The  abbey  baker  had  the 
same  wages,  with  bread  and  beer;  but  what  we  are 
to  infer  from  this  probably  is,  not  that  the  other  ser- 
vants had  no  victuals,  but  that  bread  (that  is,  wheaten 
bread)  and  beer  were  not  allowed  them  as  a  part  of 
their  fare.  In  1173,  the  subsistence  of  a  footman 
for  one  day  is  set  down  at  twopence,  which  makes 
about  3L  in  the  year ;  so  that  it  can  hardly  be  sup- 
posed that  the  \l.  45.  id.  was  the  whole  that  do- 
mestic servants  received.  The  entire  yearly  gains 
of  persons  of  this  class  may  probably  be  taken  as 
amounting  to  about  Al.  Labor  of  a  higher  kind  was 
of  course  better  paid.  By  the  old  Scottish  burgh 
laws,  Avhich  may  be  referred  to  about  the  middle  of 
this  century,  it  is  enacted,  that  a  butcher,  for  slaugh- 
tering an  ox,  or  a  cow,  or  a  hog,  or  five  sheep,  should 
be  paid  a  halfpenny,  with  victuals,  while  employed. 
Supposing  the  work  stated  to  be  that  of  half  a  day, 
the  butcher's  annual  earnings  in  money  would  amoiiat 
to  about  \l.  10s.  6d.;  and,  if  he  was  allowed  pro- 
visions at  the  same  rate  with  a  footman  or  common 
domestic  servant,  his  entire  yearly  income  would 
amount  to  about  4/.  105.,  or,  in  quantity  of  silver,  to 
about  IZl.  of  our  present  money. 

The  prices  of  grain  were  wont  to  vary  excessively, 
not  only  in  different  years,  but  even  at  different 
periods  of  the  same  year.  Stow  asserts  that,  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  II.,  the  usual  price  of  wheat  was  l5.. 
and  of  oats  Ad.  the  quarter ;  but  no  contemporary 
notice  places  it  nearly  so  low.  In  scarce  years  the 
price  of  wheat  is  stated  to  have  sometimes  risen  to 
a  pound.  If  we  take  it  as  averaging  4s.,  the  yearly 
crains  of  the  butcher  would  purchase  about  twenty- 
three  quarters  of  wheat,  which,  estimating  the  wheat 
at  about  505.  the  quarter,  would  now  make  an  in- 

1  Eden's  Slate  of  the  Poor,  vol.  iii.,  Appendix,  p.  vi 

2  See  ante,  p.  574 


r.46 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  III. 


(•ome  of  betsveen  50/.  and  COL  Nothing,  however, 
can  possibly  be  nioro  uncertain  than  such  a  deduc- 
tion as  this.  Every  element  and  step  of  it  is  tainted 
with  uncertainty. 

The  prices  of  many  other  kinds  of  provisions  were 
low  in  comparison  with  that  wliich  we  have  as- 
sumed for  wheat.  Thus,  in  1185,  we  fmd  hens 
rated  at  a  halfpenny  each;  sheep  at  about  Sit/.; 
rams  at  6d.  ;  hogs  at  Is. ;  oxen  at  5s.  6d. ;  cows  at 
about  4s.  6d. ;  breeding-mares  at  less  tlian  .3s.  At 
these  rates,  the  expense  of  a  day's  maintenance  of 
ii  man-servant  at  '2d.  would  be  equivalent  to  the  value 
of  four  hens,  and  of  more  than  a  third  of  a  sheep. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  remark  how  greatly  these  and 
the  other  proportions  deducible  from  the  account 
dilfer  from  those  that  now  subsist.  In  the  year  1205, 
again,  we  find  ten  capital  horses  rated  at  201.  each, 
or  nearly  601.  of  our  present  money. 

Of  the  prices  of  other  commodities  we  have  very 
few  notices.  In  1172,  twenty-five  ells  of  scarlet 
cloth,  bought  for  the  king,  cost  5s.  Gd.  the  ell ;  and 
twenty-six  ells  of  green,  2s.  lOd.  the  ell.  Ten  pairs 
of  boots  for  his  majesty  at  the  same  time  cost  Is.  6d. 
each.  In  1212,  a  pair  of  Cordovan  boots  for  the 
k^ng  are  charged  at  2s.  6d. ;  and  a  pair  of  what  are 
called  single  boots,  at  only  7d.  About  the  end  of 
the  twelfth  century,  the  price  of  the  tun  of  French 
wine  appears  to  have  varied  from  about  ll.  to 
\l.  6s.  8d.  A  sack  of  wool  about  the  same  time  cost 
3/.  6s.  8d.  The  expense  of  the  building  of  two  arches 
of  London  Bridge  in  1140,  was  25/.  A  few  years 
later,  a  piece  of  ground,  with  a  stone  house  on  it, 
in  the  city  of  London,  was  sold  for  2/.,  beside  a  rent 
in  perpetuity  of  6s.  6d.  It  is  evident  that,  by  an 
appeal  to  these  various  prices,  the  value  of  money 
in  the  twelfth  century  might  be  made  out  to  bear 
any  proportion  to  its  value  in  the  present  day  that 
the  fancy  of  the  calculator  might  prefer,  or  that  it 
might  best  suit  his  particular  object  to  fix  upon. 

The  most  curious  illustrations  we  possess  of  the 
social  life  of  this  period,  and  the  point  to  which  civ- 
ilization had  attained  in  England,  are  afforded  by 
some  of  the  facts  mentioned  in  Fitzstephen's  account 
of  London.  According  to  this  writer,  for  instance, 
the  English  capital  had  already  its  sewers  and  aque- 
ilucts  in  the  streets  (eluvies  et  aqueductus  in  vicis). 
He  speaks  of  the  comfort  of  a  residence  in  the  place, 
and  the  beauty  of  the  surrounding  country,  in  very 
glowing  terms.  It  was  encompassed,  he  tells  us,  on 
the  north  side,  by  "  corn-fields,  pastures,  and  de- 
lightful meadows  ;"  and  these  fields,  he  adds,  "  are 
by  no  means  hungry  gravel  or  barren  sands,  but  may 
vie  with  the  fertile  plains  of  Asia,  as  capable  of  pro- 
ducing the  most  luxuriant  crops,  and  filling  the  barns 
of  the  herds  and  farmers  with  Ceres'  golden  sheaf." 
"  The  citj',  on  the  whole,"  he  proceeds,  "  is  doubt- 
less most  charming  —  at  least,  when  it  has  the  hap- 


piness of  being  well  governed."  *'  The  two  only 
inconveniences  of  London,"  he  afterward  informs 
us,  "  are  the  excessive  drinking  of  some  foolish  peo- 
ple, and  the  frequent  fires."  "  To  all  that  has  been 
said,"  he  concludes,  "  I  may  add,  that  almost  all  the 
bishops,  abbots,  and  great  men  of  this  kingdom,  are, 
in  a  manner,  citizens  and  inhabitants  of  London,  as 
having  their  respective  and  not  inelegant  habitations 
there,  to  which  they  resort,  and  where  tlieir  dis- 
bursements and  expenses  are  not  sparing,  whenever 
they  are  summoned  thither  from  the  country,  to 
attend  councils  and  solemn  meetings,  by  the  king  or 
their  metropolitan,  or  are  compelled  to  repair  thither 
for  the  prosecution  of  their  own  proper  business." 
But  the  most  remarkable  passage  in  the  account  is 
the  description  he  gives  of  a  sort  of  pubhc  eating- 
house,  or  cook's  shop  [jyuhlica  coquina),  which  was  es- 
tablished on  the  bank  of  the  river.  "  Here,"  he  says, 
"  according  to  the  season,  you  may  find  victuals  of  all 
kinds,  roasted,  baked,  fried,  and  boiled ;  fish,  large 
and  small ;  and  coarse  viands  for  the  poorer  sort,  and 
more  delicate  ones  for  the  rich,  such  as  venison, 
fowls,  and  small  birds.  In  case  a  friend  should  ar- 
rive at  a  citizen's  house  much  wearied  with  liis 
journey,  and  chooses  not  to  wait,  ahungered  as  he 
is,  for  the  buying  and  cooking  of  meats, — 

'  Dant  famuli  manibus  lymphas  panesque  canistris.' — 

^n.  i.  705. 
The  water's  served,  the  bread's  in  baskets  brought ; 

and  recourse  is  immediately  had  to  the  bank  above- 
mentioned,  where  everything  desirable  is  instantly 
procured.  No  number  so  great,  of  knights  or 
strangers,  can  either  enter  the  city  at  any  hour  of 
day  or  night,  or  leave  it,  but  all  may  be  supplied 
with  provisions  ;  so  that  those  have  no  occasion  to 
fast  too  long,  nor  these  to  depart  the  city  >vithout 
their  dinner.  To  this  place,  if  they  are  so  disposed, 
they  resort,  and  there  they  regale  themselves,  every 
man  according  to  his  abilities.  Those  who  have  a 
mind  to  indulge  need  not  hanker  after  sturgeon,  or  a 
Guinea-fowl,  or  a  gelinote  de  bois  (a  particularly  del- 
icate bird),  for  there  are  delicacies  enough  to  gratify 
their  palates.  It  is  a  public  eating-house,  and  is  both 
highly  convenient  and  useful  to  the  city,  and  is  a 
clear  proof  of  its  civilization.'"  We  may  smile  at 
this  notion  of  civihzation,  and  at  the  instance  selected 
to  set  forth  the  wealth  and  preeminence  of  London 
at  this  early  period  ;  but,  after  all,  the  establishment 
here  described  is  highly  interesting,  as  an  indication 
of  the  growing  importance  of  the  more  numerous 
classes,  and  as  the  commencement  of  that  extended 
system  of  public  accommodations  of  all  kinds, 
which,  far  more  than  the  palaces  of  her  grandees, 
has  since  made  our  noble  capital  the  Queen  of 
Cities. 

1  Fitzstephen's  Description  o"  "he  City  of  London,  newly  translated 
(By  Pegge.)    4to.  Lond.  1772. 


648 


HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND. 


[Book  TV 


Gre.vt  Seal  of  Henry  III. 

CHAPTER  I. 
NARRATIVE  OF  CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


HEiNRT   III.,    SURNAMED    OF   WINCHESTER. 


S  soon  as  they  had  bu- 
ried John  at  Worces- 
ter, the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke, the  Marshal 
of  England,  marched 
with  the  royal  army 
and  Prince  Henry, 
the  deceased  king's 
eldest  son,  to  the  citj' 
of  Gloucester.  On  the 
day  after  their  arrival, 
being  the  feast  of  St. 
'  Simon  and  St.  Jude, 
October  28th,  1216, 
Henry  was  crowned  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter, 
belonging  to  the  abbey  of  Gloucester,  by  Gualo, 
the  Pope's  legate,  whose  services  in  supporting  the 
royal  cause  were  of  great  value  and  efficacy.  The 
ceremony  was  precipitated:  no  English  bishops 
were  present  except  those  of  Winchester,  Bath, 
and  Worcester ;  no  lay  nobles  save  the  earls  of 
Chester,  Pembroke,  and  Ferrers,  and  four  barons. 
The  scanty  retinue  was  completed  by  a  few  abbots 
and  priors.  The  prince  took  the  usual  oaths  "  upon 
the  gospels  and  relics  of  saints."  The  crown  had 
been  lost,  with  the  rest  of  the  regalia,  in  the  Wash, 
and,  instead  of  it,  Gualo  put  a  plain  ring  of  gold  on 
his  head.     Henry  was  only  ten  years  old  when  he 


went  through  these  solemnities,  without  under- 
standing them.  It  required  no  great  force  or  per- 
suasion to  induce  him  to  consent  to  do  homage  to 
the  Pope  for  England  and  Ireland,  and  to  swear  to 
pay  the  thousand  marks  a  year,  which  his  father 
had  promised.  The  clergy  of  Westminster  and 
Canterbury,  who  considered  their  rights  invaded 
by  this  hurried  and  informal  coronation,  appealed 
to  Rome  for  redress  :  Gualo  excommunicated  the 
appellants,  who,  however,  persevered ;  and  this 
matter  occasioned  considerable  trouble,  which  did 
not  end  till  the  ceremony  was  repeated  in  a  more 
regular  manner. 

A  great  council  was  held  at  Bristol  on  the  lltli  of 
November  following ;  and  there  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke was  chosen  Protector,  with  the  title  of  Rector 
Reffis  et  Regni.  His  pure  character  and  many 
eminent  qualities — his  temper,  prudence,  and  con- 
ciliating manners — his  experience  in  public  affairs 
and  his  military  skill,  all  seemed  to  point  him  out  as 
the  most  eligible  person  ;  but  some  jealousies  arose 
on  the  part  of  the  great  Earl  of  Chester,  and  Pem- 
broke did  not  assume  the  style  of  "Rector"  till  the 
end  of  the  month  of  November.  At  the  same  great 
council  of  Bristol  Magna  Charta  was  carefully,  and, 
on  the  whole,  skilfully  revised,  with  the  view  of 
satisfying  the  demands  of  the  barons  who  adhered 
to  Louis,  without  sacrificing  the  royal  prerogative. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  XSD  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS 


G19 


Hknry  III.    From  liis  Tomb  in  Westminster  Abbev. 


These  measures,  howevei",  were  not  considered 
conclusive,  for  Pembroke  prudently  left  several 
clauses  open  for  future  discussion,  when  all  the 
barons  of  the  kingdom  should  be  reconciled,  and 
should  meet  again  in  one  council.  As  yet  the  greater 
number  of  the  nobles  were  on  the  side  of  Louis, 
who  not  only  held  London  and  the  rich  provinces 
of  the  south,  but  was  powerful  both  in  the  north 
and  the  west,  where  the  King  of  Scotland  and  the 
Prince  of  Wales  supported  his  cause. ^ 

When  Louis  learned  the  death  of  John  he  fan- 
cied that  all  opposition  would  presently  cease.  To 
take  advantage  of  the  consternation  which  he  fan- 
cied must  prevail  among  the  royal  party,  he  again 
pressed  the  siege  of  Dover  Castle  with  great  vigor, 
and,  finding  himself  still  incapable  of  taking  it  by 
force,  he  skilfully  worked  upon  the  fears  and  mis- 
givings of  the  garrison,  representing  to  them  that 
they  were  fighting  for  a  king  who  no  longer  ex- 
isted, and  whose  death  freed  them  from  the  obliga- 
tion of  their  oaths  of  fealty.  He  tempted  the  gov- 
ernor, the  brave  Hubert  de  Burgh,  with  the  most 
magnificent  offers;  and,  when  these  failed,  he 
threatened  to  put  Hubert's  brother  to  death.  But 
threats  were  as  ineffectual  as  promises;  and,  finding 
he  was  losing  precious  time,  the  French  prince 
finally  raised  the  siege,  and  returned  to  London, 
where  the  Tower,  which  had  hitherto  held  out, 
was  given  up  to  him  on  the  6th  of  November.  From 
London  Louis  marched  to  Hertford,  and  laid  siege 
to  the  castle  there,  which  he  took  on  the  6th  of 
December.  He  then  attacked  the  castle  of  Berk- 
hampstead,  Avhich  he  reduced  on  the  20th  of  the 
same  month.     Both  these  castles  made  a  stout  re- 

1  Ryraer. — Carte. — M.  Paris 


sistance,  costing  him  many  men ;  and  the  taking  of 
that  of  Berkhampstead  was  a  loss  rather  than  u 
gain,  for  it  lead  to  a  quarrel  with  Robert  Fitzwalter, 
to  whom  he  refused  the  custody  of  the  castle.  But 
his  mistrust  of  the  English  was  made  every  day 
more  evident.  From  Berkhampstead  Louis  marcli- 
ed  to  St.  Albans,  where  he  threatened  to  burn  tin; 
vast  abbey  to  the  gi-ound  if  the  abbot  did  not  come 
forth  and  do  him  homage  as  legitimate  king  of  Eng- 
land ;  but  the  abbot,  it  is  said,  escaped  on  paying  ii 
fine  of  eighty  marks  of  silver.  For  a  long  period 
the  carnage  of  war  had  been  brought  to  a  ])ause,  by 
unanimous  consent,  on  the  seasons  of  our  Savior's 
birth  and  suffering.  Christmas  was  now  at  hand, 
and  a  truce  was  agreed  upon  which  was  to  last  till 
a  fortnight  after  the  Epiphany.  At  the  expiration 
of  this  truce  Pembroke  willingly  agreed  to  another 
which  did  not  expire  till  some  days  after  the  festival 
of  Easter.  Each  party  hoped  to  gain  by  this  long 
armistice,  and  both  were  extremely  active  during 
its  continuance.  Louis,  in  Lent,  went  over  to 
France  to  procure  supplies  of  men  and  money,  and 
Pembroke  recruited  in  England,  and  drew  oft" many 
of  the  nobles  during  the  absence  of  the  French 
prince.  Louis  left  the  government  in  the  hands  of 
Enguerrand  de  Coucy,  a  nobleman  of  great  quality, 
but  of  very  little  discretion,  under  whose  misrule 
the  French  became  more  arrogant  than  ever,  and 
the  English  barons  were  made  to  feel  that,  by  se- 
curing the  throne  to  a  foreign  prince,  they  should 
impose  upon  themselves  foreign  nobles  for  masters. 
At  the  same  time  the  death-bed  story  of  the  Vis- 
count de  Melun  was  artfully  revived ;  and  the 
clergy,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  Gualo  the 
legate,  read  the   sentence  of  excommunication  in 


650 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


the  churches  every  Sunday  and  holiday  against  the 
partisans  of  Louis.  Hubert  de  Burgh,  as  constable 
of  Dover  Castle  and  warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports, 
was  in  constant  communication  with  the  best  mari- 
ners in  England,  and  he  kept  them  true  to  young 
flenry.  Philip  d'Albiney  put  hiujself  at  the  head 
of  a  popular  party  in  Sussex,  where  one  William 
de  Collingham  collected  a  thousand  gallant  archers, 
rough  English  yeomen,  who  would  allow  of  no  truce 
with  the  French,  and  cared  not  for  the  armistice 
concluded  by  the  Earl  of  Pembroke.  On  his  way 
to  the  coast  Louis  came  into  collision  with  these  ' 
-sturdy  patriots,  who  treated  him  very  roughly,  and 
would  have  made  him  a  prisoner  but  for  the  oppor- 
tune arrival  of  the  French  fleet,  in  which  he  and  i 
his  attendants  embarked  in  gi-eat  disorder.  On  his 
return  from  France  with  reinforcements,  the  mari- 
ners of  the  Cinque  Ports  cut  oft'  several  of  his  ships 
jit  sea,  and  took  them  by  boarding.  On  this  Louis 
landed  at  Sandwich,  and  burned  that  town  to  the 
ground  in  spite.  He  then,  after  making  another 
unsuccessful  attempt  on  Dover  Castle,  marched  to 
London,  where  everything  was  falling  into  confu- 
sion. 

On  the  expiration  of  the  truce  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke recommenced  hostilities  by  laying  siege  to  the 
castle  of  3Iount  Sorel,  in  Leicestershire.  Louis  sent 
the  Count  of  Perche  with  six  hundred  knights  and 
twenty  thousand  armed  men  to  relieve  it.  On  their 
inarch  this  mixed  army  of  English,  French,  Flem- 
ings, and  all  kinds  of  mercenaries,  committed  gi'eat 
havoc,  plundering  the  peaceful  inhabitants,  and  wan- 
tonly burning  the  churches  and  monasteries.  They 
succeeded,  however,  in  their  first  object,  Pembroke's 
forces  raising  the  siege  and  retiring  before  superior 
numbers.  Flushed  with  this  success,  the  Count  of 
Perche  marched  away  to  Lincoln :  the  town  re- 
ceived him,  but  the  castle  resisted,  and  when  he 
laid  siege  to  it,  he  was  foiled  by  a  woman — Nichola, 
the  widow  of  Gerard  de  Camville,  who  held  the 
custody  of  Lincoln  Castle  by  hereditary  right,  and 
made  a  brave  defence.  While  the  confederates 
were  wholly  occupied  with  this  siege,  Pembroke 
suddenly  collected  a  force  of  four  hundred  knights, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  cross-bowmen,  many  yeomen 
on  horseback,  and  a  considerable  body  of  foot,  and 
appeared  before  Lincoln  in  admirable  order.  The 
count  for  a  time  would  not  believe  that  the  English 
would  venture  to  attack  him  within  a  walled  town ; 
and  though  his  superiority  in  cavalry  would  have 
given  him  an  advantage  in  the  open  country,  he  re- 
jected the  advice  of  some  English  barons  who  were 
with  him,  and  would  not  march  out  of  the  town. 
He  continued  to  batter  the  castle  until  he  found 
himself  engaged  in  a  fatal  street  contest.  To  ani- 
mate Pembroke's  force  Gualo  now  excommunicated 
Prince  Louis  by  name,  and  pronounced  the  curse 
of  the  church  against  all  his  adherents  ;  dispensing 
at  the  same  time  full  absolution,  and  promises  of 
eternal  life  to  the  other  party.  The  regent  took 
advantage  in  the  most  skilful  manner  of  the  count's 
blunder :  he  threw  all  his  crossbows  into  the  castle 
by  means  of  a  postern.  These  yeomen  made  gi-eat 
havoc  on  the   besiegers  by   firing  from  the   castle 


walls ;  and  seizing  a  favorable  opportunity  they 
made  a  sortie,  drove  the  enemy  from  the  inside  of 
the  northern  gate  of  the  city,  and  enabled  Pembroke 
to  enter  with  all  his  host.  The  French  cavalry  could 
not  act  in  the  narrow  streets  and  lanes :  they  were 
wounded  and  dismounted,  and  at  last  were  obliged 
to  surrender  in  a  mass.  The  victory  was  complete : 
as  usual,  the  foot-soldiers  were  slaughtered,  but  the 
*•  better  sort "  were  allowed  quarter ;  only  one 
knight  fell,  and  that  was  the  commander,  the  Count 
of  Perche,  who  threw  away  his  life  in  mere  pride 
and  petulance,  swearing  that  he  would  not  surrender 
to  any  English  traitoi*.  This  battle,  facetiously 
called  bj'  the  Enghsh  "  the  Fair  of  Lincoln,"  was 
fought  on  Saturday,  the  ^Oth  of  May,  1217. 

Without  halting  or  refreshing  himself,  the  Earl 
of  Pembroke  rode  the  same  night  to  Stow,  to  give 
his  royal  pupil  an  account  of  his  success.'  It  was 
indeed  a  victory  worthy  of  such  a  courier — its  effect 
was  to  keep  Louis  cooped  up  within  the  walls  of 
London,  where  plots  and  disturbances  soon  forced 
him  to  propose  terms  of  accommodation.  In  the 
middle  of  June  a  conference  was  held  at  a  place  be- 
tween Brentford  and  Hounslow,  but  it  led  to  nothing. 
Philip  of  France  had  been  so  scared  by  the  threats 
of  Rome  that  he  durst  not  send  reinforcements  in 
his  own  name  :  but  he  urged  that  he  could  not  pre- 
vent Blanche  of  Castile,  the  wife  of  his  son  Louis, 
from  aiding  her  own  husband  in  his  extremity  ;  and 
under  this  cover  another  fleet  and  army  were  pre- 
pared for  England.  It  was  not  till  the  23d  of  Au- 
gust that  this  fleet  could  sail  from  Calais  :  it  con- 
sisted of  eighty  great  ships  and  many  smaller 
vessels,  having  on  board  three  hundred  choice 
knights  and  a  large  body  of  infantry.  On  the  next 
day,  the  great  festival  of  St.  Bartholomew,  as  they 
were  attempting  to  make  the  estuary  of  the  Thames, 
in  order  to  sail  up  the  river  to  London,  they  were 
met  by  the  hero  of  Dover  Castle,  the  gallant  De 
Burgh.  Hubert  had  only  forty  vessels  great  and 
small,  but  he  gained  the  weather  gage,  and  by  tilting 
at  the  French  Avith  the  iron  beaks  of  his  galleys, 
sunk  several  of  the  transports  with  all  on  board.  He 
afterward  grappled  with  the  enemy,  fastening  his 
ships  to  theirs  by  means  of  hooks  and  chains,  and  in 
the  end  he  took  or  destroyed  the  whole  fleet  with 
the  exception  of  fifteen  vessels.  Eustace  le  Moine, 
or  "  the  Monk,"  who  had  left  his  monastery  in 
Flanders  to  adopt  the  more  congenial  life  of  a  sea- 
rover,  had  his  head  struck  oft"  on  his  own  deck;  for 
he  was  not  considered  a  true  knight  entitled  to  the 
honors  of  war,  and  he  had  previously  given  great 
oft'ence  to  the  English.* 

This  decisive  naval  victory  gave  the  death-blow  to 
the  project  of  Louis.  That  prince,  however,  acted 
generously  and  noblj*  in  the  midst  of  his  difliculties  : 
he  would  not  abandon  his  friends,  but  said,  when 
pressed,  that  he  was  ready  to  agree  to  any  terms 
not  inconsistent  with  his  honor  or  the  safety  of  his 
English  adherents.  The  prudent  regent  was  glad 
enough  to  promise  good  terms  to  these  barons,  who, 
whatever  might   be   their   after  errors,    had  been 

1  Matt.  Par. — Chron.  Dunstap. 

2  Matt.  Par.— Holinshed.— Southey,  Nav.  Hist. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


651 


among  the  foremost  champions  of  English  liberty, 
and  had  assisted  in  obtaining  the  great  charter, 
which  he  himself  loved  as  much  as  any  of  them. 
There  were  also  many  other  nobles,  on  the  same 
side,  equally  averse  to  proceeding  to  extremities 
against  countrymen,  former  friends,  and  relations. 
The  final  terms  were  easily  settled  in  a  conference 
held  on  the  11th  of  September  on  an  islet  of  the 
Thames  near  Kingston.  It  was  agreed  that  the 
English  barons  who  had  continued  to  adhere  to 
Louis,  beside  having  their  estates  restored  to  them, 
should  enjoy  the  customs  and  liberties  of  the  king- 
dom, and  all  improvements  thereof,  equally  with 
others.  The  privileges  of  London,  as  of  all  other 
cities  and  boroughs,  were  to  be  confirmed,  and  the 
prisoners  on  both  sides  taken  since  Louis'  first 
landing  were  to  be  released  without  ransom,  unless 
where  previous  arrangements  had  been  made  be- 
tween parties.  Louis  was  to  give  up  all  the  castles 
he  possessed ;  to  order  the  brothers  of  Eustace  the 
monk  to  evacuate  the  isles  they  had  made  themselves 
masters  of;  and  to  write  to  Alexander,  King  of 
Scotland,  and  Llewellyn,  Prince  of  Wales,  to  in- 
duce them  to  restore  all  the  fortresses  and  places 
they  had  taken,  if  they  would  be  included  in  the 
treaty.  He  also  acquitted  the  English  nobles  of  their 
oaths  and  obligations  to  him,  and  promised  never  to 
enter  again  into  any  confederacy  with  them  to 
Henry's  prejudice  ;  and  the  barons  made  a  like 
engagement  on  their  own  behalf.  The  French 
prince  and  his  adherents  swore  to  observe  these 
articles,  and  to  stand  to  the  judgment  of  the  church, 
upon  which  they  were  all  absolved  by  the  legate.' 
Matthew  Paris  adds  another  article,  which  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  committed  to  writing,  though 
it  was  frequently  urged  by  Henry  in  after  times  as 
an  existing  and  sacred  engagement.  This  article 
imported  that  Louis  would  do  all  in  his  power  to 
persuade  his  father  to  restore  all  the  foreign  pos- 
sessions lost  by  John  ;  and,  failing  in  this,  that  he 
should  fairly  restore  those  provinces  when  he  him- 
self became  King  of  France.  Such  a  clause  was 
utterly  useless,  for  it  was  one  which  could  never  be 
considered  binding  by  the  French  nation,  nor  by  any 
other  in  similar  circumstances.  Louis  was  so  poor, 
that  he  was  obliged  to  borrow  money  from  the  citi- 
zens of  London  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  journey 
home.  On  the  14th  of  September,  a  safe  conduct 
was  granted  to  him  :  he  was  honorably  escorted  to 
the  sea-side  by  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  he  sailed 
for  France  with  his  foreign  associates.  On  the  2d 
of  October,  a  few  refractory  barons,  the  only  rem- 
nant of  a  great  party,  went  to  court,  and  were  ex- 
ceedingly well  received  there.  On  the  fourth  day 
of  the  same  month,  a  new  charter  for  the  city 
of  London  was  pi'omulgated ;  and  a  few  days  later, 
the  regent,  for  the  general  good  of  the  nation,  con- 
cluded with  Haquin,  or  Haco,  King  of  Norway,  a 
treaty  of  free  commerce  between  the  two  countries. 
At  the  same  time,  this  excellent  regent's  prudence 
and  equity  did  more  than  a  written  ti-eaty  in  recon- 
ciling conflicting  parties  at  home.  He  was  accessi- 
ble and  courteous  to  all,  taking  especial  cai-e  that  no 

1  Rvmer. 


man  should  be  oppressed  for  his  past  politics.  His 
authority,  however,  did  not  extend  to  the  church, 
and  Gualo  severely  chastised  many  of  the  English 
abbots  and  monks  who  had  ventured  to  disregard  his 
excommunications.  This  circumstance  contributed 
with  others  to  render  the  new  reign  unpopular  with 
a  large  portion  of  the  English  church;  and,  during 
the  struggles  between  the  king  and  the  barons  which 
ensued  at  a  later  period,  the  barons  had  generally 
the  monks  on  their  side. 

In  all  these  transactions  no  mention  had  been  made 
of  Eleanor,  the  Maid  of  Brittany,  who  still  occupied 
her  dungeon  or  her  cell  at  Bristol,  nor  was  her  name 
ever  breathed  during  the  civil  wars  which  followed 
— a  proof  how  little  female  right  was  then  regarded ; 
for,  by  the  rules  of  succession  as  now  recognized, 
she  was  the  undoubted  heiress  to  the  throne.  Henry 
began  his  reign  in  leading-strings,  and  owing  to  his 
weak  and  defective  character,  he  never  freed  him- 
self from  such  absolute  guidance,  but  passed  his 
whole  life  in  a  state  of  tutelage  and  dependence — 
being  now  governed  by  one  powerful  noble,  or  by 
one  foreign  favorite,  and  now  by  another.  Nothing, 
however,  could  well  surpass  the  wise  policy  and 
moral  worth  of  his  first  guardian,  the  great  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  who  continued  to  act  as  protector  to  the 
kingdom,  and  as  a  more  than  father  to  the  boy-king. 
As  for  Eleanor,  the  selfish  queen-mother,  she 
abandoned  her  child  in  the  midst  of  his  troubles, 
and  hurried  back  to  Guienne  in  search  of  a  new 
husband.  It  conveys  a  strange  notion  of  the  delicacy 
of  those  times,  to  find  that  the  Count  of  La  Marche, 
from  whom  John  had  stolen  her,  consented  to  take 
her  back,  and  remarried  her  with  great  pomp. 
England,  and  probably  her  son  too,  gained  by  her 
absence,  for  she  had  as  httle  conscience  or  conduct 
as  her  husband  John.  Gualo,  the  Pope's  legate, 
continued  for  some  time  near  the  young  king's  per- 
son. Every  day  the  peace  of  the  country  was  made 
more  secure  —  "the  evil  will  borne  to  King  John 
seeming  to  die  with  him,  and  to  be  buried  in  the 
same  grave.'"  But  the  determination  to  preserve 
the  liberties  which  had  been  ^^Tung  from  him  was 
alive  and  active,  and  a  second  confirmation  of  3Iagna 
Charta  was  gi-anted  by  the  young  king.  Beside 
that  the  benefits  of  the  charter  were  now  extended 
to  Ireland,  several  alterations  were  made  in  the 
deed,  and  a  clause  was  added,  ordering  the  demoli- 
tion of  every  castle  built  or  rebuilt  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  war  betAveen  John  and  the  barons.  Other 
clauses  were  withdrawn,  to  form  a  separate  charter, 
called  the  Charter  of  Forests.  By  this  instrument, 
which  materially  contributed  to  the  comfort  and 
prosperity  of  the  nation,  all  the  forests  which  had 
been  inclosed  since  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  were 
thrown  open  ;  offences  in  the  forests  were  declared 
to  be  no  longer  capital ;  and  men  convicted  of  the 
once  heinous  crime  of  killing  the  king's  venison, 
were  made  punishable  only  by  fine  or  imprisonment. 
These  famous  charters  were  now  brought  nearly  to 
the  shape  in  which  they  have  ever  since  stood,  the 
repeated  confirmations  of  them  not  being  intended 
to  change  or  modify  them,  but  to  strengthen  them 

1  Speed.  Chron. 


652 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


by  fresh  guarantees,  and  increase  the  reverence  of 
the  people  for  them. 

Meanwhile  the  spirit  of  insubordination  which 
had  arisen  out  of  the  civil  war,  was  gradually  co- 
erced or  soothed  by  the  valor  and  wisdom  of  the 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  was  singularly  averse  to  the 
cruelties  and  bloodshedding  which  had  formerly  dis- 
graced all  similar  pacifications.  But  the  excellent 
Protector  did  not  long  enjoy  the  happy  fruit  of  his 
labors;  he  died  in  the  year  1219,  about  tlie  middle 
of  3Iay,  and  was  buried  in  tiie  church  of  the  Knights 
Templars  at  London,  where  his  tomb  or  statue  is 
still  to  be  seen,  with  an  inscription  which  scarcely 
exaggerates  his  virtues  as  a  warrior  and  statesman. 
His  autliority  in  the  state  was  now  shared  between 
Hubert  de  Burgh,  the  justiciary,  the  gallant  de- 
fender of  Dover  Castle,  and  Peter  des  Roches  (a 
Poictevin  by  birth).  Bishop  of  Winchester.  These 
ministers  were  jealous  of  each  other  :  De  Burgh 
was  the  more  popular  with  the  nation  ;  but  Des 
Roches,  who  liad  the  custody  of  the  royal  person, 
possessed  the  greater  influence  at  court,  and  among 
the  many  foreigners  who,  like  himself,  had  obtained 
settlements  and  honors  in  the  land.  Dissensions 
soon  broke  out ;  but  dangerous  consequences  were 
prevented  by  the  skill  of  Pandulpli,  who  had  re- 
sumed the  legateship  on  the  departure  of  Gualo. 
On  the  17th  of  31ay,  1220,  young  Henry  was 
crowned  again  by  Langton,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, whom  the  Pope  had  permitted  to  return  to 
the  kingdom.  In  the  following  year,  Joanna,  the 
eldest  sister  of  Henry,  was  married  at  York,  to  Al- 
exander, the  King  of  Scotland  ;  and  nearly  at  the 
same  time,  one  of  the  Scottish  princesses  who  had 
been  delivered  to  John,  and  who  had  ever  since 
remained  in  England,  was  married  to  Hubert  de 
Burgh,  the  justiciary.  Pandulph  then  returned  to 
Rome,  having  previously  demanded,  in  the  name  of 
the  Pope,  that  no  individual  should  hold  more  tlian 
two  of  the  rojal  castles.  On  his  departure,  how- 
ever, little  respect  was  paid  to  the  orders  from 
Rome.  Many  of  the  barons — chiefly  foreigners  im- 
ported by  John — refused  to  deliver  up  the  fortresses, 
which  they  pretended  to  hold  in  trust  till  the  j'oung 
king  shovild  be  of  age.  While  De  Burgli  insisted 
on  their  surrender,  his  rival,  Des  Roches,  favored 
the  recusant  chiefs.  Plots  and  conspiracies  fol- 
lowed;  but  in  1223,  the  justiciary,  with  the  assent 
of  the  Pope  and  the  great  council  of  the  nation, 
declared  Henry  of  age  ;  and  in  the  course  of  the 
following  year  he  succeeded  in  getting  possession  of 
most  of  the  disputed  castles,  taking  some  of  them 
by  siege  and  assault.  Des  Roches  then  gave  up 
the  struggle,  under  pretence  of  making  a  pilgrim- 
age to  Jerusalem,  and  many  of  the  foreign  adven- 
turers followed  him  out  of  England.  Though  not  a 
cruel  man,  Hubert  de  Burgh  was  far  more  severe 
than  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  ;  for  at  the  taking  of 
Bedford  Castle  he  hanged  eighty  of  the  foreign  gar- 
rison, knights  and  others,  who  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  committing  frightful  excesses  in  the  country. 

A.  D.  1225.  In  the  following  year,  1225,  one  of 
the  main-springs  of  the  English  constitution,  which 
checks  the  abuse  of  power,  by  the  mode  of  allotting 


money,  began  its  s.ilutary  movements.  Louis,  the 
French  prince,  who  had  now  succeeded  his  father, 
Philip,  on  the  French  throne,  unmindful  of  hi« 
promises,  not  only  refused  to  surrender  Normandy 
and  the  other  states  wrested  from  King  John,  but 
overran  some  parts  of  Guienne  and  Poictou,  and 
took  the  important  maritime  town  of  Rochelle.  The 
j-oung  king  summoned  a  parliament  (for  that  name 
was  now  coming  into  use)  to  meet  at  Westminster; 
and  there  Hubert  de  Burgh,  having  opened  the  pro- 
ceedings by  an  explanatory  speech,  asked  for  money 
to  enable  the  king  to  recover  his  own.  At  first  the 
assembly  refused  to  make  any  grant,  but  it  was 
finally  agi'eed  that  a  fifteenth  of  all  movable  prop- 
erty should  be  given,  on  the  express  condition,  how- 
ever, that  the  king  should  ratify  the  two  charters. 
Henry  accordingly  gave  a  third  ratification  of  Magna 
Charta,  together  with  a  ratification  of  the  Charter 
of  Forests,  and  sent  fresh  orders  to  some  of  his 
ofiicers,  who  had  hitherto  treated  them  with  little  re- 
spect, to  enforce  all  their  provisions.'  In  the  month 
of  April,  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  king's 
brother,  was  sent  to  Guienne,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  with  an  English  army.  But 
the  French  king  had  taken  the  cross  against  the 
Albigenses,  an  unfortunate  people  in  the  south  of 
France,  who  were  called  heretics,  and  treated  more 
cruelly  than  Saracens.  A  papal  legate  interfered, 
threatened  the  English  with  excommunication  if 
they  raised  obstacles  to  Louis  in  his  holy  war,  and 
,it  last  made  both  parties  agree  to  a  truce  for  one 
year.  Before  the  term  expired,  the  French  king 
died  at  Paris,  after  a  brief  reign  of  three  years,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son  Louis  IX.,  who  was  only 
in  his  twelfth  year.  A  stormy  minority  ensued  ; 
and  Henry,  who  was  now  twenty  yeai-s  of  age, 
might  have  taken  advantage  of  it,  had  his  character 
and  his  own  circumstances  been  somewhat  difierent 
from  what  they  w^ere.  But  the  English  king  had 
little  more  real  manhood  than  the  child  on  the 
French  throne ;  his  barons  were  by  no  means  anx- 
ious for  the  foreign  war,  and  the  armistice  was 
subsequently  renewed  year  after  year,  the  English 
never  recovering  Rochelle,  and  the  French  making 
no  further  progi-ess  of  importance. 

Though  he  ruled  with  a  firm  hand,  Hubert  do 
Burgh  was  not  always  able  to  cause  the  government 
to  be  respected,  and  to  maintain  the  tranquillity  of 
the  countrj-.  The  king's  brother,  Richard,  Earl  of 
Cornwall,  who  was  possessed  of  immense  estates, 
repeatedly  defied  his  authority,  and  exacted  humil- 
iating concessions.  As  for  the  king,  he  continued 
a  mere  puppet,  notwithstanding  the  flattering  as- 
surance of  the  Pope,  that  his  manly  virtues  supplied 
the  defects  of  his  unripe  years. 

A.  D.  1229.  It  was  at  length,  however,  resolved 
to  carry  war  into  France.  Henry  was  twenty-two 
years  old,  Louis  only  fifteen ;  but  Blanche,  the  mother 
of  the  latter  prince,  and  regent  of  the  kingdom,  had 
composed  all  dissensions,  and  put  the  kingdom  into 
a  posture  of  defence.  When  Henry  went  to  Ports- 
mouth, he  found  that  the  shipping  provided  was  not 
sufficient  to  carry  over  his  army,  and  after  a  violent 

I  Matt.  Par.— Brady 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


653 


altercation  with  Hubert  de  Burgh,  who  was  accused 
of  being  the  cause  of  this  deficiency,  the  expedition 
was  given  up  till  the  following  year.  At  length  the 
English  king,  elated  by  the  promises  and  invitations 
of  the  barons  of  Guienne,  Poictou,  and  even  many 
nobles  of  Normandy,  set  sail  for  the  continent,  and 
landed  at  St.  Malo,  in  Brittany,  where  he  was  joined 
by  a  host  of  Bi-etons.  He  advanced  to  Nantes, 
where,  like  his  father  before  him,  he  wasted  his 
time  and  his  means  in  feasts  and  pageantries,  leav- 
ing the  malcontents  in  Normandy  and  Poictou  to 
curse  their  folly  in  committing  their  fortunes  in  the 
cause  of  so  unwarlike  a  prince.  In  the  meantime 
young  Louis,  accompanied  by  his  mother,  who 
shared  all  the  hardships  of  a  campaign  which  was 
prolonged  through  the  winter  months,  took  several 
towns  belonging  to  Henry.  In  the  beginning  of 
October  the  English  king  returned  home,  covered 
with  disgrace;  and  his  ally,  the  Duke  of  Brittany, 
was  obliged  to  appear  at  the  foot  of  the  throne  of 
Louis,  with  a  rope  round  his  neck.'  De  Burgh  had 
accompanied  his  master  on  this  expedition ;  and,  in 
spite  of  his  known  honor,  bravery,  and  ability,  the 
king,  and  some  favorites  with  whom  he  had  sur- 
rounded himself,  attempted  to  throw  all  the  blame 
of  the  miserable  failure  upon  Hubert.  The  people, 
however,  took  a  diftei'ent  view  of  the  case,  and  set 
Henry  down  as  a  trifler  and  a  coward.  When  he 
applied  to  Parliament  for  a  further  gi-ant  of  money, 
and  complained  of  the  poverty  to  which  his  French 
expedition  had  reduced  him,  they  refused  the  aid, 
and  told  him  that,  through  his  thoughtlessness  and 
extravagance,  his  barons  were  as  poor  as  he  was. 

A.  D.  1232.  Hubert  had  now  been  eight  years  at 
the  head  of  affairs.  He  enjoyed  the  good  opinion 
of  the  people,  whom  he  had  never  wantonly  op- 
pressed ;  but  many  of  the  nobles  envied  him  his 
power,  and  hated  him  for  his  zeal  in  resuming  the 
castles  and  other  possessions  of  the  crown.  But  for 
his  tried  fidelity,  and  his  courage  in  the  worst  of 
times,  that  crown  in  all  probability  would  never  have 
been  worn  by  the  helpless  Henry.  But  the  pro- 
verbial ingratitude  of  princes  was  fostered  in  the 
present  case  by  other  circumstances,  the  most  co- 
gent of  all  being,  that  the  minister  was  rich  and  the 
king  wofully  in  want  of  money.  On  a  sudden, 
Hubert  saw  his  old  rival  Peter  des  Roches,  the 
Poictevin  bishop  of  Winchester,  reappear  at  court, 
and  he  must  have  felt  from  that  moment  that  his 
ruin  was  concerted.  In  fact,  very  soon  after,  Henry 
threw  off  his  faithful  guardian  and  able  minister, 
and  left  him  to  the  persecutions  of  his  enemies. 
The  frivolous  charges  brought  against  Hubert  almost 
lead  to  a  conviction  that  he  was  guilty  of  no  breach 
of  trust  or  abuse  of  authority, — of  no  real  public 
crime  whatever.  Among  other  things,  he  was  ac- 
cused of  winning  the  affections  of  the  king  by  means 
of  magic  and  enchantment.-  The  fallen  minister  took 
)-efuge  in  Merton  Abbej^  His  flight  gave  unwonted 
courage  to  the  king,  who  vapored  and  stormed,  and 
then  commanded  the  mayor  of  London  to  force  the 
asylum  and  seize  Hubert,  dead  or  alive.  The  mayor, 
who  seems  a  strange  officer  to  employ  on  such  an 

1  naru,  Hist,  de  Bret  '  Matt.  Par. 


occasion,  set  forth  with  a  multitude  of  armed  men  ; 
but  the  king  being  reminded  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Dublin  of  the  illegality  and  sacrilegiousness  of  such 
a  procedure,  dispatched  messengers  in  a  great  hurrj- 
and  recalled  the  mayor.      In  the  end,   the   Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin,  the  only  one  among  the  great  men 
who  did  not  forsake   Hubert,  obtained  for  him  n 
delay  of  four  months,  that  he  might  prepare  for  his 
defence,  the   charges  against  him   being  daily  in- 
creased.    P'or  the  interval,  the  king  gave  him  a  safe 
conduct.    Relying  on  these  letters-patent,  De  Burgh 
departed  to  visit  his  wife,  the  Scottish  princess,  at 
St.  Edraundsbuiy  ;  but  he  had  scarcely  begun  his 
journey,  when  the  king,  notwithstanding  his  plighted 
faith,  listened  to  his  enemies,  and  sent  a  knight — 
one  Sir  Godfrey  de  Crancumb — with  300  armed  men 
to  surprise  and  seize  him.     Hubert  was  in  bed  at 
the  little  town  of  Brentwood,  in  Essex,  when  this 
troop  fell  upon  him.     He  contrived  to  escape,  naked 
as  he  was,  to  a  parish  church,  where,  with  a  cruci- 
fix in  one  hand  and  the  host  in  the  other,  he  stood 
firmly  near  the  altar,  hoping  that  this  attitude  and 
the  sanctity  of  the  place  would  procure  him  respect. 
His  furious  enemies,  however,  were  not  deterred 
by  any  considerations  ;  and  bursting  into  the  church 
with  draAvn  swords,  they  dragged  him  forth,  and 
sent  for  a  smith  to  make  shackles  for  him.     The 
poor  artisan,  struck  with  the  sad  state  of  the  great 
man,  and  moved  with  generous  feelings,  said  he 
would  rather  die  the  worst  of  deaths  than  forge  fet- 
ters for  the  brave  defender  of  Dover  Castle  and  the 
conqueror  of  the  French  at  sea.     But  Sir  Godfrey 
and  his  "black  band"  were  not  to  be  moved  by  any 
appeal :  they  placed  the  earl  on  horseback,  naked 
as  he  was,  and  tying  his  feet  under  the  girths,  so 
conveyed  him  to  the  Tower  of  London.     As  soon 
as  this  violation  of  sanctuary  was  known,  an  outciy 
was  raised  by  the  bishops ;  and  the  king  was  in  con- 
sequence obliged  to  order  those  who  had  seized  him 
to  carry  the  prisoner  back  to  the  parish  church  ;  but 
at  the   same   time    he   commanded   the    sheriff  of 
Essex,  on  the  pain  of  death,  to  prevent  the  carl's 
escape,  and  to  compel  him  to  an  unconditional  sur- 
render.    The  sheriff  dug  a  deep  trench  round  the 
sanctuary, — erected  palisades, — and  effectually  pre- 
vented all  ingress  or  egress.      Thus  cut  off  from 
every  communication, — unprovided  with   fuel  and 
proper  clothing  (the  winter  was  setting  in),— and  at 
last  left  without  provisions,  Hubert  de  Burgh  came 
forth,  on  the  fortieth  day  of  his  beleaguerment,  and 
surrendered  to  the  black  band,  wlio  again  carried 
him  to  the  Tower  of  London.     A  few  days  after, 
Henry  ordered  him  to  be  enlarged,  and  to  appear 
before  the  court  of  his  peers ;  but  it  is  said  that  this 
decent  measure  was  not  adopted  until  Hubert  sur- 
rendered all  his  ready  money,  which  he  had  placed 
for  safety  in  the  hands  of  the  Knights  Templars. 
When  llubert  appeared  in  court  in  the  midst  of  his 
enemies,  he  declined  i)leading ;  some  were  urgent 
for  a  sentence  of  death,  but  the  king,  who  said  with 
perfect  sincerity  that  he  was  not  fond  of  blood,  and 
would  rather  be  reputed  weak  and  negligent  than  a 
cruel  tyrant  or  a  bloody  man  toward  one  who  bail 
long  served  him  and  his  predecessors,  proposed  an 


654 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


award  which  was  finally  adopted  by  all  parties. 
Hubert  forfeited  to  the  crown  all  such  lands  as  had 
been  granted  him  in  the  time  of  King  John,  or  been 
obtained  by  him,  by  purchase  or  otherwise,  under 
Henry.  He  retained  for  himself  and  his  heirs  the 
property  he  had  inherited  from  his  family,  together 
with  some  estates  he  held  in  fief  of  mesne  lords. 
Thus  dipt  and  shorn,  the  brave  Hubert  was  com- 
mitted to  the  castle  of  Devizes,  there  to  abide,  in 
"  free  prison,"  under  the  custody  of  four  knights, 
appointed  by  four  great  earls.  Within  these  walls, 
which  had  iDeen  built  by  the  famous  Roger,  Bishop 
of  Sarum,  whose  adventures  in  some  respects  re- 
sembled his  own,  Hubert  remained  for  nejirly  a 
year,  when  he  was  induced  to  adopt  a  desperate 
mode  of  escape,  by  learning  that  the  custody  of  the 
castle  had  just  been  given  to  a  dependent  of  his  bitter 
enemy,  the  Poictevin  bishop  of  Winchester.  In  a 
dark  night  he  climbed  over  the  battlements,  and 
dropped  from  the  high  wall  into  the  moat,  which 
was  probably  in  part  filled  with  water.  From  the 
moat  he  made  his  way  to  a  country  church  ;  but 
there  he  was  presently  surrounded  by  an  armed 
band,  led  on  by  the  sherift'.  Circumstances,  how- 
ever, were  materially  altered  :  several  of  the  barons, 
who  had  before  been  intent  on  the  destruction  of  the 
jninister,  were  now  at  open  war  with  the  king,  and 
anxious  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  so  able  a  man 
as  De  Burgh.  A  strong  body  of  horse  came  down, 
released  him  from  the  hands  of  his  captors,  and  car- 
ried him  oft'  into  Wales,  where  the  insurgent  nobles 
were  then  assembled.  Some  eighteen  months  later, 
when  peace  was  restored,  Hubert  received  back 
his  estates  and  honors  :  he  was  even  readmitted  into 
the  king's  council  ;  but  he  had  the  wisdom  never 
again  to  aspire  to  the  dangerous  post  of  chief  min- 
ister or  favorite.  At  a  subsequent  period  the  king 
again  fell  upon  him,  but,  it  appears,  merely  to  enrich 
himself  at  his  expense,  for  the  quarrel  was  made  up 
on  Hubert's  presenting  Henry  with  four  castles.^ 

The  Poictevin  bishop,  who  succeeded  to  power 
on  the  first  displacement  and  captivity  of  Hubert, 
soon  rendered  himself  extremely  odious  to  all  classes 
of  the  nation.  He  encouraged  the  king's  growing 
antipathy  to  the  English  barons,  and  to  Magna 
Charta;  he  taught  him  to  rely  on  the  friendship 
and  fidelity  of  foreign  adventurers  rather  than  on 
the  inconstant  affection  of  his  own  subjects  ;  and  he 
crowded  the  court,  the  offices  of  government,  the 
royal  fortresses,  with  hosts  of  hungry  Poictevins, 
Gascons,  and  other  Frenchmen,  who  exhausted  the 
revenues  of  the  already  impoverished  crown,  deri- 
ded the  national  charters,  invaded  the  rights  of  the 
people,  and  provoked  the  nobles  by  their  insolence 
and  their  grasping  at  every  place  or  honor  in  the 
state  that  fell  vacant.  The  business  of  politics  was 
as  yet  in  its  infancy,  the  nature  of  an  opposition, 
constitutional  and  legal  in  all  its  operations,  was  as 
yet  a  discoveiy  to  be  made ;  nor  could  men  in  their 
times  and  circumstances  be  expected  to  understand 
such  things.  The  barons  withdrew  from  parlia- 
ment, where  they  were  surrounded  by  armed  for- 
eigners, and  took  up  arms  themselves.    When  again 

I  Matt.  Par.— M.  West.— Wykes.— Chron.  Dunst.— Ilolinshed. 


summoned,  they  answered  that  unless  the  king 
dismissed  his  Poictevins  and  the  other  foreigners, 
they  would  drive  both  them  and  him  out  of  the 
kingdom.  Peter  des  Roches  averted  his  ruin  for 
the  present  by  sowing  dissensions  among  the  English 
nobles.  Several  battles  or  skirmishes,  which  defy 
anything  like  a  clear  narration,  were  fought  in  the 
heart  of  England  and  on  the  Welsh  borders.  Rich- 
ard, Earl  of  Pembroke,  the  son  of  the  virtuous 
Protector,  to  whom  King  Henry  was  so  deeply  in- 
debted, was  treacherously  and  most  barbarously 
murdered,  and,  following  up  his  temporary  success, 
the  Poictevin  bishop  confiscated  the  estates  of  sev- 
eral of  the  English  nobles  without  any  legal  trial, 
and  bestowed  them  on  adventurers  from  his  own 
land.  The  last  sting  was  given  to  revenge  by  the 
bishop's  declaring,  in  his  place  at  court,  that  the 
barons  of  England  were  inferior  in  rank  and  condi- 
tion to  those  of  France,  and  must  not  pretend  to 
put  themselves  on  the  same  footing.  Edmund,  the 
new  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  had  succeeded 
Langton,  and  who  was,  like  that  gi-eat  churchman, 
a  patriot  and  a  statesman,  took  up  the  national 
cause,  and  threatened  the  king  with  excommuni- 
cation if  he  did  not  instantly  dismiss  Des  Roches 
and  his  associates.  Henry  trembled  and  complied : 
the  foreigners  were  banished,  and  the  archbishop 
for  a  short  time  governed  the  land  with  great  pru- 
dence, and  according  to  the  charters.  But  Henry's 
dislike  both  of  his  native  nobles  and  of  the  charters 
increased  with  his  years.  The  barons  evidently 
took  little  pains  to  remove  his  prejudices  or  concili- 
ate his  affections,  and  he  continued  to  repose  all 
his  confidence  in  foreigners. 

A.D.  1236.  Henry  now  married  Eleanor,  daugh- 
ter of  the  Count  of  Provence,  who  came  to  England 
with  a  numerous  retinue,  and  was  soon  followed  by 
a  swarm  of  foreigners.  These  were  mostly  persons 
of  higher  rank  than  their  precursors ;  they  were 
Gascons  and  Provencals  instead  of  Poictevins,  but 
they  Avere  equally  odious  to  the  English  nobility 
and  people,  equally  insolent,  and  quite  as  grasping. 
The  Bishop  of  Valence,  the  queen's  maternal  uncle, 
was  made  chief  minister.  Boniface,  another  uncle, 
was  promoted  to  the  see  of  Canterbury;  and  Peter, 
a  third  uncle,  Avas  invested  with  the  earldom  of 
Richmond,  and  received  the  profitable  wardship  of 
the  Earl  Warenne.  The  queen  invited  over  dam- 
sels from  Provence,  and  the  king  married  them  to 
the  young  nobles  of  England  of  whom  he  had  the 
wardship.  This  was  bad  enough,  but  it  was  not 
all ;  the  queen-mother,  Isabella,  whom  the  nation 
detested,  had  now  four  sons  by  the  Count  of  la 
Marche,  and  she  sent  them  over  all  four,  Guy, 
William,  Geoffrey,  and  Aymer,  to  be  provided  for  in 
England.  The  king  heaped  honors  and  riches  upon 
these  half-brothers,  who  were  soon  followed  by  new 
herds  of  adventurers  from  Guienne.  Henry  had 
resumed,  with  the  Pope's  permission,  nearly  all  the 
grants  of  estates  he  had  made  to  his  native  subjects  ; 
but  even  the  resources  thus  obtained  were  soon 
exhausted,  and  he  found  himself  without  money 
and  without  credit.  When  he  asked  aids  from  the 
Parliament,  the  Parliament  told  him  that  he  must 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS, 


655 


dismiss  the  foreigners  who  devoured  the  substance 
of  the  land,  and  they  several  times  voted  him  small 
supplies,  on  the  express  condition  that  he  should 
so  do,  arid  also  redress  other  grievances;  but  he 
forgot  his  promises  as  soon  as  he  got  the  money. 
The  barons  then  bound  him  by  oath,  and  Henry 
took  the  oaths,  broke  them,  and  acted  just  as  before. 
The  great  charter  had  provided  for  the  banishment 
of  unjust  favorites  w^ithout  any  process  of  law,  and 
the  king  was  frequently  reminded  of  the  clauses 
relating  to  this  subject;  but  the  Poictevins  and 
Gascons,  who  were  in  the  habit  of  breaking  every 
part  of  that  charter,  said  with  effrontery,  "  What 
signify  these  English  laws  to  us  ?"  '■ 

A.  D.  1242.  Isabella,  the  queen-mother,  added 
alike  to  the  odium  in  which  she  was  held  by  the 
English,  and  to  the  embarrassments  and  unpopu- 
larity of  her  son,  by  hurrying  him  into  a  war  with 
France.  Other  grounds  were  publicly  assigned ; 
but  it  appears  that  that  woman's  offended  vanity 
was  the  chief  cause  of  hostilities,  which  ended  in  a 
manner  disgraceful  to  the  English  king.  Louis  was 
now  in  the  prime  of  manhood,  and  immeasurably 
superior  in  all  eminent  qualities  to  his  rival.  He 
was  loved  and  respected  by  his  subjects ;  whereas 
Henry  was  despised  by  his.  When  the  English 
parliament  was  called  upon  for  a  supply  of  men  and 
money,  they  resolutely  refused  both,  telling  the 
king  that  he  ought  to  observe  the  truce  which  had 
been  continually  renewed  with  France,  and  never 
broken  (so  at  least  they  asserted)  by  Louis.  By 
means  not  recorded,  but  which  were  probably  not 
very  legal  or  very  honorable,  Henry  contrived  to 
fill  thirty  hogsheads  with  silver,  and,  sailing  from 
Portsmouth  with  his  queen,  his  brother  Richard, 
and  300  knights,  he  made  for  the  river  Garonne. 
Soon  after  his  landing,  he  was  joined  by  nearly 
20,000  men,  some  his  own  acknowledged  vassals, 
some  the  followers  of  nobles  who  had  once  been  the 
vassals  of  his  predecessors,  and  who  were  now 
anxious,  not  to  reestablish  the  supremacy  of  the 
English  king  in  the  south,  but  to  render  themselves 
independent  of  the  crown  of  France  by  his  means 
or  at  his  expense.^  Louis  met  Henry  with  a  supe- 
rior force  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Charente,  in 
Saintonge,  and  defeated  him  in  a  pitched  battle 
near  the  castle  of  Taillebourg.  The  English  king, 
after  being  saved  from  capture  by  the  presence  of 
mind  and  address  of  his  brother  Richard,  retreated 
down  the  river  to  the  town  of  Saintes,  where  he 
was  beaten  in  a  second  battle,  which  was.  fought  on 
the  very  next  day.  His  mother's  husband,  the 
Count  of  La  Marche,  who  had  led  him  into  this 
disastrous  campaign,  then  abandoned  him,  and  made 
his  own  terms  with  the  French  king.  Henry  fled 
from  Saintes  right  across  Saintonge,  to  Blaye,  leav- 
ing his  military  chest,  and  the  sacred  vessels  and 
the  ornaments  of  his  movable  chapel  royal,  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  A  terrible  dysentery  which 
broke  out  in  his  army,  some  scruples  of  conscience, 
and  the  singular  moderation  of  his  own  views,  pre- 
vented Louis  from  following  up  his  successes,  and 
induced   him   to  agree   to  a   truce  for  five  years. 

1  Matt.  Par.— Chron.  Dunst.— Ann.  Waverl.  =  Mezeray. 


Although  their  ardor  for  foreign  wars  and  conquests 
was  marvelously  cooled  for  a  season,  the  pride  of 
the  English  was  much  hurt  by  these  defeats. 

A.  D.  1244.  When  Henry  met  his  parliament 
this  year,  he  found  it  more  refractory  than  it  had 
ever  been.  In  reply  to  his  demands  for  money, 
they  taxed  him  with  extravagance — with  his  fre- 
quent breaches  of  the  great  charter :  they  told  him, 
in  short,  that  they  would  no  longer  trust  him, 
and  that  they  must  have  in  their  own  hands  the 
appointment  of  the  chief  justiciary,  the  chancellor, 
and  other  great  officers.  The  king  would  consent 
to  nothing  more  than  another  ratification  of  Magna 
Charta,  and  therefore  the  Parliament  would  only 
vote  him  twenty  shillings  on  each  knight's  fee  for 
the  marriage  of  his  eldest  daughter  to  the  Scottish 
king.  After  this  he  looked  to  a  meeting  of  Parlia- 
ment as  a  meeting  of  his  personal  enemies,  and. to 
avoid  it  he  raised  money  by  stretching  his  preroga- 
tive in  respect  to  fines,  benevolences,  purveyances, 
and  the  other  imdefinable  branches  of  the  ancient 
revenue.  He  also  tormented  and  ransacked  the 
Jews,  acting  with  regard  to  that  unhappy  people 
like  a  very  robber ;  and  he  begged,  beside,  from 
town  to  town — from  castle  to  castle — until  he  ob- 
tained the  reputation  of  being  the  sturdiest  beggar 
in  all  England.  But  all  this  would  not  suffice,  and, 
in  the  year  1248,  he  was  again  obliged  to  meet  his 
barons  in  parliament.  They  now  told  him  that  he 
ought  to  blush  to  ask  aid  from  his  people  whom  he 
professed  to  hate,  and  whom  he  shunned  for  the 
society  of  aliens  ;  they  reproached  him  with  dispar- 
aging the  nobles  of  England  by  forcing  them  into 
mean  marriages  with  foreigners.  They  enlarged 
upon  the  abuse  of  the  right  of  purveyance,  telling 
him  that  the  victuals  and  wine  consumed  by  him- 
self and  his  un-English  household^that  the  very 
clothes  on  their  backs  were  all  taken  by  force  and 
violence  from  the  English  people,  who  never  re- 
ceived any  compensation ;  that  foreign  merchants, 
knowing  the  dangers  to  which  their  goods  were 
exposed,  shunned  the  ports  of  England  as  if  they 
were  in  possession  of  pirates ;  that  the  poor  fisher- 
men of  the  coast,  finding  they  could  not  escape  his 
hungry  purveyors  and  courtiers,  were  frequently 
obliged  to  carry  their  fish  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Channel ;  and  they  added  other  accusations  still 
more  minute  and  humiliating.'  It  has  generally 
been  conceived  that  there  entered  no  small  share 
of  spite  and  exaggeration  into  this  remarkable  list 
of  grievances ;  but  if  we  consider  the  small  sums 
doled  out  by  Parliament  to  Henry,  who  received 
less  money  in  the  waj'^  of  grants  than  any  of  his 
immediate  predecessors — if  we  bear  in  mind  that 
many  sources  of  profit  were  narrowed  or  stopped 
altogether  by  the  provisions  of  the  national  charter, 
and  that  the  revenue  formerly  derived  from  the 
continental  dominions  of  the  crown  had  in  great 
part  ceased,  it  will  not  appear  improbable  that  thi.'i 
king  and  his  rapacious  ministers,  who  were  retained 
by  no  national  sympathy — by  no  sense  of  shame — 
should  have  tried  to  make  up  these  deficiencies  in 
mean  and    irregular  ways;  and  that  the   peaceful 

1  Matt.  Par.- Matt   West.— Chron.  Dunst. 


Go6 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


traders,  the  mass  of  the  people,  who  had  no  arms  ' 
wherewith  to  defend  themselves,  and  no  towers  or 
castles  wherein  to  take  refuge,  should  have  been 
siorely  harried  and  oppressed.  Another  argument 
in  support  of  this  supposition  may  be  derived  from 
the  well-known  and  lasting  unpopularity  of  the 
King  in  London  and  the  other  great  trading  towns. 
Our  old  historians  talk  vaguely  about  the  insubordi- 
nation— the  nmtinous  spirit — the  proneness  to  riot- 
ing—  of  the  Londoners;  but,  judging  of  those 
citizens,  not  by  later  epochs  when  they  were  more 
civilized,  but  by  their  conduct  in  earlier  and  still 
ruder  times,  we  cannot  believe  that  the  excesses 
complained  of  could  have  arisen  under  any  other 
than  a  vile  and  oppressive  system  of  government. 
In  reply  to  the  remonstrance  of  his  barons,  Henry 
gave  nothing  but  fair  promises  which  could  no 
longer  deceive,  and  he  got  nothing  save  the  cutting 
reproof  to  which  he  had  been  obliged  to  listen. 

The  king  now  racked  his  imagination  in  devising 
pretexts  on  which  to  obtain  what  he  wanted.  At 
one  time  he  said  he  was  resolved  to  reconquer  all 
the  continental  dominions  of  the  crown  ;  but,  un- 
fortunately, all  men  knew  that  Louis  had  departed 
for  the  East,  and  that  Henry,  who  had  not  shone 
in  the  field,  had  contracted  the  most  solemn  obliga- 
tions not  to  make  war  upon  him  during  his  crusade. 
He  next  took  the  cross  himself,  pretending  to  be 
anxious  to  sail  for  Palestine  forthwith ;  but  here 
again  it  was  well  known  he  had  no  such  intention, 
and  only  wanted  money  to  pay  his  debts  and  satisfy 
his  foreign  favorites.  At  a  moment  of  urgent  ne- 
cessity he  was  advised  to  sell  all  his  plate  and  jewels. 
"  Who  will  buy  them  ?"  said  he  :  his  advisers  an- 
swered— "  The  citizens  of  London,  of  course."  He 
rejoined  bitterly — "  By  ray  troth,  if  the  treasures 
of  Augustus  were  put  up  to  sale,  the  citizens  would 
be  the  purchasers !  These  clowns,  who  assume 
the  style  of  barons,  abound  in  all  things,  while  we 
are  wanting  in  common  necessiiries."^  This  curi- 
ous anecdote  throws  light  upon  more  than  one  svib- 
ject,  and  it  is  said  that  the  king  was  thenceforth 
more  inimical  and  rapacious  toward  the  Londoners 
than  he  had  been  before.  To  annoy  them  and 
touch  them  in  a  sensitive  part,  he  established  a 
new  fair  at  Westminster,  to  last  fifteen  days,  during 
which  all  trading  was  prohibited  in  London.  He 
went  to  keep  his  Christmas  in  the  city,  and  let 
loose  his  purveyors  among  the  inhabitants:  he  made 
them  offer  new-5'ear's  gifts,  and  shortly  after,  in 
spite  of  remonstrances,  he  compelled  them  to  pay 
him  the  sum  of  2000/.  by  the  most  open  violation  of 
law  and  right. 

In  A.D.  1"253,  Henry  was  again  obliged  to  meet 
his  parliament,  and  this  he  did,  averring  to  all  men 
that  he  only  wanted  a  proper  Christian  aid  that  he 
might  go  and  recover  the  tomb  of  Christ.  If  he 
thought  that  this  old  pretence  would  gain  unlimited 
confidence  he  was  deceived.  The  barons  who  had 
been  duped  so  often,  treated  his  application  with 
coldness  and  contempt;  but  they  at  last  held  out 
the  hope  of  a  liberal  grant  on  condition  of  his  con- 
senting to  a  fresh  and  most  solemn  confirmation  of 

>  Ma't.  Par 


their  liberties.  On  the  .3d  day  of  May,  the  king 
went  to  Westminster  Hall,  where  the  barons,  pre- 
lates, and  abbots  were  assembled.  The  bishops  and 
abbots  were  appareled  in  their  canonical  robes,  and 
every  one  of  them  held  a  burning  taper  in  his  hand. 
A  taper  was  offered  to  the  king,  but  he  refused  it, 
saying  lie  was  no  priest.  Then  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  stood  up  before  the  people  and  denounced 
sentence  of  excommunication  against  all  those  who 
should,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  infringe  the 
chaiters  of  the  kingdom.  Every  striking,  every  ter- 
rific part  of  this  ceremonj'was  performed:  the  pre- 
lates and  abbots  dashed  their  tapers  to  the  gi-ound, 
and  as  the  lights  went  out  in  smoke,  they  exclaimed 
— "  May  the  soul  of  every  one  who  incurs  this  sen- 
tence so  stink  and  be  extinguished  in  hell !"  The 
king  subjoined  on  his  own  behalf — "  So  help  me 
God !  I  will  keep  these  charters  inviolate,  as  I  am 
a  man,  as  I  am  a  Christian,  as  I  am  a  knight,  and 
as  I  am  a  king  crowned  and  anointed  !"  His  out- 
ward behavior  during  this  awful  performance  was 
exemplary ;  he  held  his  hand  on  his  heart,  and 
made  his  countenance  express  a  devout  acquies- 
cence ;  but  the  ceremony  was  scarcely  over  when, 
following  the  impulse  given  him  by  his  foreign  favor- 
ites, he  returned  to  his  old  courses,  and  thus  utterly 
uprooted  whatever  confidence  the  nation  yet  had  in 
him.^ 

With  the  money  he  thus  obtained,  he  went  to 
Guienne,  where  Alphonso,  the  King  of  Castile,  had 
set  up  a  claim  to  the  earldom,  and  induced  many 
of  the  fickle  nobles  to  revolt  against  the  English 
crown.  This  expedition  was  less  dishonorable  than 
the  former  ones ;  indeed  it  was  successful  on  the 
whole,  and  led  to  a  friendly  alliance  between  Eng- 
land and  Castile — Prince  Edward  marrying  Eleanor, 
the  daughter  of  Alphonso.  But  no  cunning  was 
too  mean  or  low  for  Hemy,  who  concealed  these 
arrangements  for  some  time,  in  order  to  obtain  a 
fresh  grant  from  the  Parliament,  under  color  of  car- 
rying on  the  war.  During  part  of  this  expedition, 
in  spite  of  the  money  he  had  carried  with  him,  he 
had  not  wherewithal  to  feed  his  troops  ;  and  he  dis- 
patched the  Prior  of  Newburgh,  with  others,  into 
England,  to  cause  provisions  to  be  sent  to  him  into 
Gascon}' ;  "  And  so,"  says  an  old  historian,-  "  there 
was  a  gi-eat  quantity  of  grain  and  powdered  flesh 
taken  "up,  and  sent  away  with  all  convenient  speed." 
Henry  i-eturned  penniless  ;  for  the  partial  reestab- 
lishment  of  his  authority  in  the  south  of  France 
seems  never  to  have  benefited  his  exchequer.  The 
expedients  to  which  he  had  recourse  in  England, 
rendered  him  more  and  more  odious  and  contempt- 
ible. When  his  fortunes  were  at  this  low  ebb  he 
blindly  embarked  in  a  project  which  immensely 
increased  his  embarrassments.  This  project  was 
no  other  than  to  raise  one  of  his  sons  to  the  throne 
of  the  Two  Sicilies.  Frederick  II.,  the  son  of 
Constance  of  Sicily,  had  died  in  the  year  1250, 
after  a  reign  which  had  been  disturbed  from  its 
commencement  to  its  close  by  the  inveterate  hos- 
tility of  the  court  of  Rome.  He  left  a  legitimate 
son.  Prince  Conrad ;  but  Frederick  had  died  in  a 

1  Matt.  Par. -Matt.  West.— W.  IIcniing'"ord.  2  Holiiished. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


657 


state  of  excommunication,  and  Pope  Innocent  IV. 
claimed  the  southern  kingdom  as  forfeited  to  its 
feudal  superior,  the  holy  see.  Conrad  maintained 
his  rights  with  an  army,  and  as  he  was  supported 
Ijy  the  Neapolitan  and  Sicilian  people,  the  Pope  had 
no  chance  of  succeeding,  unless  he  invited  some 
new  foreign  host  into  the  heart  of  Italy.  He  offered 
the  kingdom  to  be  held  as  a  fief  of  the  church  to  a 
variety  of  princes  in  succession,  who  all  found  some 
good  reason  for  declining  his  proposals.  After  the 
Pope  had  thus  hawked  the  Sicilian  crown  through 
the  continent  of  Europe,  he  turned  his  eyes  toward 
England,  where  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the 
king's  brother,  attracted  attention  l)y  his  great 
wealth,  which  (it  was  reasoned  at  Rome)  would 
enable  him  to  bribe  the  Sicihau  barons,  and  engage 
mercenaries  of  all  nations.  Accordingly,  the  crown 
was  offered  to  Richard,  but  he  wisely  saw  the  diffi- 
culties that  stood  in  his  way,  and  declined  the  prof- 
fered kingdom,  observing  that  those  who  made  the 
offer  of  it  might  just  as  well  say,  "  I  make  you  a 
present  of  the  moon — step  up  to  the  sky  and  take 
it  down."  Soon  after  this  Innocent  offered  the 
crown  to  Henry  himself,  for  his  second  son.  Prince 
Edmund  ;  and  the  beggared  and  incapable  king  joy- 
fully closed  with  the  proposal,  agreeing  to  march 
presently  with  a  powerful  army  into  the  south  of 
Ital}',  accepting  an  advance  of  money  from  the  Pope 
to  enable  him  to  commence  the  enterprise,  and  pro- 
posing also  to  raise  what  nipre  it  might  be  neces- 
sary to  borrow  on  the  Pope's  security.  Had  the 
energj'and  the  means  of  the  English  king  at  all  cor- 
responded with  the  activity  and  cunning  policy  of 
the  Roman  priest,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the 
prince  might  have  obtained  a  dependent  and  preca- 
rious throne ;  but  Henry  was  placed  in  circum- 
stances in  which  he  could  do  little — and,  wavering 
and  timid,  he  did  nothing  at  all,  except  giving  his 
son  the  empty  title  of"  King  of  Sicily."  The  Pope 
ordered  the  English  clergj-  to  lend  money  for  the 
expedition,  and  even  to  pawn  the  property  of  their 
church  to  obtain  it.  The  clergy  of  England  were 
not  very  obedient ;  but  whatever  sums  were  raised 
were  dissipated  by  the  king  or  the  Roman  legate, 
and,  in  the  end,  the  Pope  brought  a  claim  of  debt 
against  Henry,  to  the  amount  of  more  than  100, 000^, 
which,  it  was  alleged,  had  been  borrowed  on 
the  continent,  chiefly  from  the  rich  merchants  of 
Venice  and  Florence.  Henry,  it  appears,  had 
never  been  consulted  about  the  borrowing  or  spend- 
ing of  this  money;  but  the  Pope  was  an  impera- 
tive accountant — a  creditor  that  could  enforce  pay- 
ment by  excommunication,  interdict,  and  dethrone- 
ment; and  Henry  was  obliged  to  promise  that  he 
would  pay,  and  to  rack  his  weak  wits  in  devising 
the  means.  Backed  by  the  Pope,  he  levied  enor- 
mous contributions  on  the  churches  of  England  and 
Ireland.  The  native  clergy  were  already  disaf- 
fected, but  these  proceedings  made  them  as  openly 
hostile  to  the  king  as  were  the  lay  barons.  The 
wholesale  spoliation  of  the  church  had  also  the  eft'ect 
of  lessening  the  clergy's  reverence  for  the  Pope, 
and  of  shaking  that  power  which  had  already  at- 
tained its  highest  pitch,  and  which  was  thenccfor- 
voL.  I. — 42 


ward  gradually  to  detline.  AVhen  called  upon  to 
take  up  some  of  the  Pope's  bilh,  the  Bishop  of 
Worcester  told  Rustan,  tlie  legate,  that  he  would 
rather  die  than  comply ;  and  the  Bishop  of  London 
said,  that  the  Pope  and  king  were,  indeed,  more 
poAverful  than  he,  but  if  they  took  his  mitre  from 
his  head  he  would  clap  on  a  warrior's  helmet.  The 
legate  moderated  his  demands  and  withdrew,  fully 
convinced  that  a  storm  was  approacliiiig,  and  that 
the  Sicilian  speculation  had  completed  the  ruin  of 
the  bankrupt  king.'  As  long  as  his  brother  Richard, 
the  great  Earl  of  Cornwall,  remained  in  England, 
and  in  possession  of  the  treasures  lie  had  hoarded, 
there  was  a  powerful  check  upon  insurrection ;  for 
though  the  earl's  abilities  in  public  affairs  seem 
hardly  to  have  been  equal  to  his  wealth,  still  the 
influence  he  possessed  in  the  nation  was  most  ex- 
tensive. He  had  repeatedly  opposed  the  illegal 
courses  of  the  king,  and  had  even  been  out  in  arms 
with  the  barons  more  than  once  ;  but  he  was  averse 
to  extreme  measures,  and,  from  his  position,  not 
likely  to  permit  any  invasion  of  the  just  prerogative 
of  the  crown.  He  had  rejected  one  dazzling  temj)- 
tation,  yet  was  he  not  proof  against  a  second.  The 
Germans  were  setting  up  their  empire  for  sale,  and 
Richard's  vanity  and  ambition  induced  him  to  be- 
come a  purchaser.  Having  spent  immense  snins, 
he  was  elected  in  the  beginning  of  1256  as  "  King 
of  the  Romans,"  which  was  considered  the  sure 
step  to  the  dignity  of  emperor.  But  there  was  a 
schism  among  the  electors,  part  of  whom  a  few 
weeks  later  gave  their  sufiVages  to  Alplionso,  King 
of  Castile.  Richard,  however,  went  over  to  the 
continent,  was  crowned  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  left 
the  crown  of  England  to  be  dragged  through  the 
mire. 

A.  D.  1258.  A  scarcit)' of  provisions  disposed  the 
people  to  desperate  measures.  On  the  2d  of  3Iay, 
Henry  called  a  parliament  at  Westminster.  Thft 
barons,  who  had  formed  a  new  confederacy,  went 
to  the  hall  in  complete  armor.  As  the  king  entered, 
there  was  a  rattling  of  swords  :  his  eye  glanced 
timidly  along  the  mailed  ranks ;  and  he  said,  with  ii 
faltering  voice,  "  What  means  this  ?  am  I  a  pris- 
oner ?"  "Not  so,"  replied  Roger  Bigod,  "but  your 
foreign  favorites  and  your  own  extravagance  have 
involved  this  realm  in  great  wretchedness:  where- 
fore we  demand  that  the  powers  of  government  be 
intrusted  and  made  over  to  a  committee  of  bishops 
and  barons,  that  the  same  may  root  up  abuses  and 
enact  good  laws."  One  of  the  king's  foreign  half- 
brothers  vapored  and  talked  loudly,  but  as  for  him- 
self, he  could  do  nothing  else  than  give  an  uncondi- 
tional assent  to  the  demands  of  the  barons,  who 
thereupon  promised,  that  if  he  proved  sincere,  they 
would  help  him  to  pay  liis  debts,  and  prosecute  the 
claims  of  his  son  in  Italy.  The  Parliament  then 
dissolved,  appointing  an  early  day  to  meet  again  at 
Oxford,  where  the  committee  of  government  should 
be  appointed,  and  the  afl'airs  of  the  state  finally  nd- 
justed.- 

The  present  leader  of  the  barons,  and  in  all  re- 
spects the  most  remarkable  man  among  them,  was 
I  Matt.  Par.  *  Matt.  Par.— Wykcs.— Rymcr. 


GoS 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 

the  Earl  of  Leicester.  It  is  evident  that  tlie  monk-  miuster-hall,  and  now  he  was  ready  to  follow  up 
ish  chroniclers  were  incapable  of  understanding  or  those  demonstrations  at  Oxford.  It  cannot  be  de- 
proj)erly  appreciating  the  extraordinary  character  nied  that  measures  beyond  the  ordinary  course  of 
of  this  foreign  champion  for  English  liberties  ;  and  the  constitution  were  necessary  to  control  so  prodi- 
those  writers  have  scarcely  left  materials  to  enable  ,  gal  and  injudicious  a  sovereign.  The  legal  course 
us  to  form  an  accurate  judgment.  Simon  de  Mont- ,  of  the  constitution,  moreover,  was  not  yet  ascer- 
fort  was  the  joungest  son  of  the  Count  de  JNIontfort    tained  and  defined — all  was  experiment — a  groping 


in  France,  who  had  gained  an  unhappy  celebrity  in 
the  barbarous  crusades  against  the  Albigensos.  In 
right  of  his  mother,  Amicia,  he  had  succeeded  to 
the  earldom  of  Leicester ;  but  he  appears  to  have 
been  little  known  in  England  until  the  year  1238, 
when  he  came  over  from  his  native  country,  and 
married  Eleanor,  the  countess-dowager  of  Pem- 
broke, a  sister  of  King  Henry.  This  match  was 
carried  by  the  royal  favor  and  authority-;  for  Ricli- 
ard.  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  king's  brother,  and  many 
of  the  English  barons,  tried  to  prevent  it,  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  not  fitting  a  princess  should  be 
married  to  a  foreign  subject.  But  the  earl  had  no 
sooner  secured  his  marriage,  and  made  himself 
known  in  the  country,  than  he  set  himself  forward 
as  the  decided  opponent  of  foreign  encroachment 
and  foreign  favorites  of  all  kinds;  and  such  was  his 
ability,  that  he  caused  people  to  overlook  the  anom- 
aly of  his  position,  and  to  forget  that  he  himself  was 
a  foreigner.  lie  not  only  captivated  the  good-will 
of  the  English  nobles,  but  endeared  himself  in  an 
extraordinary  degree  to  the  English  people,  whose 
worth  and  importance  in  the  state  he  certainly  seems 
to  have  been  one  of  the  first  to  discover  and  count 
upon.  His  devotional  feelings  —  which  upon  no 
ground  that  we  can  discover,  have  been  regarded 
as  hypocritical — gained  him  the  fixvor  of  the  clergy; 
his  literary  acquirements,  so  unusual  in  those  times, ' 
increased  his  influence  and  reputation.  There  seems 
to  be  no  good  reason  for  refusing  him  the  merits  of 
a  skilful  politician ;  and  he  was  a  master  of  the  art 
of  war  as  it  was  then  understood  and  practiced. 

The  favor  of  the  king  was  soon  turned  into  a 
hatred  as  bitter  as  Henry's  supine  and  not  cruel 
nature  was  capable  of:  it  seemed  monstrous  that  a 
foreigner  should  be',  not  a  courtier,  but  the  popular 
idol — and  Leicester  was  banished  the  court.  He 
was  afterward  intrusted  with  the  government  of 
Guienne,  where,  if  he  did  not  achieve  the  impossi 


in  the  dark,  and  men,  for  the  present,  saw  no  im 
propriety  in  abridging  the  prerogative  of  a  king  who 
had  constantl}-  abused  it,  and  who  had  so  repeatedly 
broken  his  promises,  his  most  solemn  vows,  that  it 
would  have  looked  like  fatuity  to  place  the  smallest 
trust  in  him. 

On  the  11th  of  June  the  Parliament,  which  the 
Royalists  called  the  "  INIad  Parliament,"  met  at 
Oxford.  Having  no  reliance  on  the  king,  the  great 
barons  summoned  all  who  owed  them  military  ser- 
vice to  attend  in  arms  on  the  occasion.  Thus 
secured  from  the  attack  of  the  foreigners  in  the 
king's  pay,  they  proceeded  to  their  object  with 
great  vigor  and  determination.  The  committee  of 
government  was  ai)pointed  without  a  murmur  on 
the  part  of  the  timid  Henry:  it  consisted  of  twenty- 
four  members,  twelve  of  whom  were  chosen  by  the 
barons  and  twelve  by  the  king.  The  king's  choice 
fell  upon  liis  nephew  Henry,  the  son  of  Richard, 
the  titular  king  of  the  Romans,  upon  Guy  and  Will- 
iam, his  own  half-brothers,  the  bishops  of  London 
and  Winchester,  the  earls  of  Warwick  and  AVar- 
enne,  the  abbots  of  Westminster  and  St.  Martin's, 
London,  on  John  Mansel,  a  friar,  and  Peter  of 
Savoy,  a  relation  of  the  queen.  The  members 
appointed  by  the  barons  were  the  Bishop  of  Worces- 
ter, the  earls  Simon  of  Leicester,  Richard  of  Glou- 
cester, Humphrey  of  Hereford,  Roger  of  Norfolk, 
earl  marshal ;  the  lords  Roger  Mortimer,  John  Fitz- 
geo(Tre}%  Hugh  Bigod,  Richard  de  Gray,  William 
Bardolf,  Peter  de  Montfort,  and  Hugh  Despencer. 
The  Earl  of  Leicester  was  at  the  head  of  this  su- 
preme council,  to  the  maintenance  of  whose  oidi- 
nances  the  king,  and  afterward  his  son  Edward,  took 
a  solemn  oath.  The  Parliament  then  proceeded  to 
enact  that  four  knights  should  be  chosen  bj'  the  votes 
of  the  freeholders  in  each  county,  to  lay  before  the 
Parliament  all  breaches  of  law  and  justice  that  might 
occur ;  that  a  new  sheritT  should  be  annually  chosen 


l)ility  of  giving  entire  satisfaction  to  the  turbulent    by  the  freeholders  in  each  county ;  and  that  three 
and  intriguing  nobles,  he  did   good  service  to  the  ,  sessions  of  parliament  should  be  held  regularly  every 


king,  his  master,  and  acquitted  himself  with  ability 
and  honor.  Henrj-,  however,  was  weak  enough  to 
listen  to  the  complaints  of  some  of  his  southern  vas- 
sals, who  did  not  relish  the  firm  rule  of  the  earl. 
Leicester  was  hastily  recalled,  and  his  master  called 


year ;  the  first,  eight  days  after  Michaelmas  ;  the 
second,  the  morrow  after  Candlemas-day  ;  and  the 
third,  on  the  first  day  of  June. 

The  benefits  derived  from  the  acts  of  this  parha- 
ment  were  prospective  rather  than  immediate ;  for 


him  traitor  to  his  face.  Thus  insulted  by  a  man  he  ;  the  first  consequences  were  seven  or  eight  years  of 
despised,  the  earl  gave  the  lie  to  his  sovereign,  and  '  anarchy  and  confusion,  the  fruits  of  insincerity  and 
told  him  that,  but  for  his  kingly  rank,  he   would    discontent  on  the  part  of  the  court,  and  of  ambition 

and  intrigue  on  the  part  of  the  great  barons.  Prince 
Edward,  the  heir  to  the  throne,  the  Earl  of  War- 
enne,  and  others,  took  the  oaths  to  the  statutes  or 
provisions  of  Oxford  with  unconcealed   reluctance 


make  him  repent  the   wrong  he  had  done    hii 
This  happened  in  1252.     Leicester  withdrew  for  a 
season  into  France,  but  Henry  was  soon  reconciled, 
in  appearance,  and  the  earl  returned  to  England, 

where  his  popularity  increased  in  proportion  to  the    and  ill-humor.     Prince  Henry  openly  protested  that 

growing  weakness  and  misgovernment  of  the  king.  '  they  were  of  no  force  till  his  absent  father,  the  king 

He  was  one  of  the  armed  barons  that  met  in  West-    of  the  Romans,  should  consent  to  them.     "Letj'our 

1  iMatt.  Par.  ;  father  look  to  himself,"  cried   Leicester;   "if  he 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


G59 


Oxford  Castlk,  as  it  appeared  in  tlie  Fifteenth  Century. 


refuse  to  join  the  barons  of  the  kingdom  in  these 
provisions,  he  shall  not  enjoy  a  foot  of  ground  in 
England."  Though  their  leaders  were  liberally 
included  among  the  twenty-four  guardians  of  the 
kingdom,  the  foreign  faction  was  excessively  dissat- 
isfied with  the  recent  changes,  and  said  openly,  and 
wherever  they  went,  that  the  Acts  of  Oxford  ought 
to  be  set  aside  as  illegal  and  degi'adiug  to  the  king's 
majesty ;  which  indeed  they  would  have  been  had 
Henry  had  any  character  to  degi'ade,  and  had  it  not 
been  indispensable  to  adopt  extreme  precautions 
against  the  sovereign's  well-known  faithlessness  and 
perfidy,  or  fatal  facility  of  disposition.  Irritated  by 
their  opposition  and  their  secret  intrigues,  Leices- 
ter and  his  partj'  scared  the  four  half-brothers  of 
the  king  and  a  herd  of  their  relations  and  retainers 
out  of  the  kingdom.  The  departure  of  these  for- 
eigners increased  the  popularity  of  the  barons  with 
the  English  people ;  but  they  were  seduced  by  the 
temptations  of  ambition  and  an  easy  triumph  over 
all  opposition  ;  they  filled  up  the  posts  vacated  in 
the  committee  of  government  with  their  own  adhe- 
rents, leaving  scarcely  a  member  in  it  to  represent 
the  king ;  and  they  finally  lodged  the  whole  author- 
ity of  government  in  the  hands  of  their  council  of 
state  and  a  standing  committee  of  twelve  persons. 
This  gi-eat  power  was  abused,  as  all  unlimited 
power,  whether  held  by  a  king  or  an  oligarchy,  ever 
will  be,  and  the  barons  soon  disagreed  among  them- 
selves.^ 

A.D.  1259. — About  six  months  after  the  meeting 
at  Oxford,  Richard,  King  of  the  Romans,  having  spent 
all  his  money  among  the  Germans,  was  anxious  to 
return  to  England,  that  he  might  get  more.  At  St. 
Omer  he  was  met  by  a  messenger  from  Leicester, 
who  told  him  that  he  must  not  set  foot  in  the  kiug- 
'  Rymer.— Anual.  Burt.— Matt.  West. 


dom  unless  he  swore  beforehand  to  observe  the  pro- 
visions of  Oxford.  Richard  finally  gave  an  ungra- 
cious and  most  unwilling  assent :  lie  took  the  oath, 
joined  his  brother,  and  immediately  commenced 
organizing  an  opposition  to  the  committee  of  govern- 
ment.' Soon  after  his  arrival  it  was  seen  that  the 
barons  disagreed  more  than  ever.  The  Earl  of 
Gloucester  started  up  as  a  rival  to  Leicester,  and  a 
violent  quarrel — the  first  of  many — broke  out  be- 
tween these  two  powerful  lords.  Then  there  was 
presented  a  petition  from  the  knights  of  shires  or 
counties,  complaining  that  the  barons  had  held  pos- 
session of  the  sovereign  authority  for  eighteen 
months,  and  had  done  no  good  in  the  way  of  reform. 
A  few  improvements,  chiefly  regai-ding  the  admin- 
istration of  justice,  were  then  enacted  ;  but  their 
slender  amount  did  not  satisfy  the  nation,  and  most 
of  the  barons  were  more  anxious  for  the  piolonga- 
tion  of  their  own  powers  and  profits  than  for  any- 
thing else.  By  degrees  two  factions  were  formed 
in  the  committee  :  when  that  of  Gloucester  obtained 
the  ascendency,  Leicester  withdrew  into  France. 
Then  Gloucester  would  have  reconciled  himself 
with  the  king ;  but  as  soon  as  Prince  Edward  saw 
this,  he  declared  for  Leicester,  who  returned.  The 
manoeuvres  and  intrigues  of  party  now  become  almost 
as  unintelligible  as  they  are  uninteresting — recon- 
ciliations and  breaches  between  the  Leicester  and 
Gloucester  factions,  and  then  between  the  barons 
generally  and  the  court — a  changing  and  a  changing 
attain  of  sides  and  principles,  perplex  and  disgrace  a 
scene  where  nothii^  seems  fixed  except  Leicester's 
dislike  and  distrust  of  the  king,  and  a  general  but 
somewhat  vague  affection  among  the  barons  of  both 
parties  for  the  provisions  of  Magna  Charta. 

A.  D.  1261. — Henry,  who  had  long  rejoiced  at  the 
*  Rymer. 


660 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


division  among  the  barons,  now  tlionght  tlie  moment 
was  come  for  esciiping  from  their  autliority.  He 
had  a  papal  dispensation  in  liis  ])ocket  for  the  oaths 
he  liad  taken  at  Oxford,  and  this  set  his  conscience 
quite  at  ease.  On  the  '2d  of  February  he  ventured 
to  tell  the  committee  of  government  that,  seeing  the 
abuse  they  had  made  of  their  authority,  he  should 
henceforward  govern  without  them.  He  then  has- 
tened to  the  Tower,  whicli  had  recently  been  re- 
paired and  strengthened,  and  seized  all  the  money 
in  the  Mint.  From  behind  those  strong  walls  he 
ordered  that  the  gates  of  London  should  be  closed, 
and  tliat  all  the  citizens  should  swear  fresh  fealty  to 
him.  At  these  unexpected  proceedings  the  barons 
called  out  their  vassals  and  marched  upon  the  capi- 
tal. Prince  Edward  was  amusing  himself  in  France 
at  a  tournament,  and  it  was  agreed  by  both  parties 
to  await  his  arrival.  He  came  in  haste,  and  instead 
of  joining  his  father  in  the  Tower,  joined  the  barons. 
In  spite  of  this  junction,  or  perhaps  we  ought  rather 
lo  say,  in  consequence  of  it,  many  of  the  nol)les 
went  over  and  joined  the  king,  who  puljlished  the 
Pope's  bull  of  dispensation,  together  with  a  mani- 
festo in  which  he  set  forth  that  he  had  reigned  forty- 
live  years  in  peace  and  according  to  justice,  never 
committing  such  deeds  of  wrong  and  violence  as  the 
barons  had  receiitly  committed.  For  a  time  he  met 
with  success,  and  Leicester  returned  once  more  to 
France,  vowing  that  he  would  never  trust  the  faith 
of  a  perjured  king.' 

A.  D.  12G3. — Another  change  and  shifting  of  parts 
now  took  place  in  this  troubled  drama  :  the  Earl  of 
Gloucester  was  dead,  and  his  son,  a  very  young  man, 
instead  of  being  the  rival,  became  for  a  while  the 
l)OSom  friend  of  Leicester.  Prince  Edward,  on  the 
other  hand,  veered  round  to  the  court,  and  had  made 
himself  unpopular  by  calling  in  n  foreign  guard.  In 
the  month  of  March  young  Gloucester  called  his 
retainers  and  confederates  together  at  Oxford,  and 
the  Earl  of  Leicester  returned  to  England  in  the 
month  of  April,  and  put  himself  at  their  head.  The 
great  earl  at  once  raised  the  banner  of  war,  and  after 
taking  several  royal  castles  and  towns,  marched  rap- 
idly upon  London,  where  the  mayor  and  the  com- 
mon [)eople  declared  for  him.  The  king  was  safe 
in  the  Tower;  Prince  Edward  fled  to  Windsor  Cas- 
tle, and  the  queen,  his  mother,  attempted  to  escape 
by  water  in  the  same  direction ;  but,  when  she  ap- 
proached London  Bridge,  a  cry  rang  among  the 
populace,  who  hated  her,  of  "  Drown  the  witch !" 
and  tilth  and  stones  were  thrown  at  the  barge.  The 
mayor  took  pity  on  her,  and  carried  her  for  safety 
to  St.  Paul's.^ 

The  King  of  the  Romans,  who,  though  his  hoarded 
ti-easures  were  exhausted,  still  possessed  consider- 
able influence,  contrived  to  effect  a  hollow  reconcili- 
ation between  the  barons  and  his  unwarlike  brother, 
who  yielded  everything, — only  reserving  to  himself 
the  usual  resource  of  breaking  his  compact  as  soon 
as  circumstances  should  seem  favorable.  It  is  true 
his  subjects  had  repeatedly  exacted  too  much  ;  but 
it  is  equally  certain  that  he  never  made  the  smallest 

1  M.  West.— Wykes.— Carte. 

2  Wykes.— West.— Trivet.— Cliron.  Dunst. 


concession  to  them  in  good  faith,  and  with  a  deter- 
mination of  respecting  it.  Foreigners  were  once 
more  banished  the  kingdom,  and  the  custody  of  the 
royal  castles  was  again  intrusted  to  Leicester  and 
his  associates.  This  was  done,  and  peace  and  amity 
w'ere  sworn  in  July,  but  by  the  month  of  October 
the  king  was  in  arms  against  the  barons,  and  nearly 
succeeded  in  taking  Leicester  a  prisoner.  This 
new  crisis  was  mainly  attributable  to  a  condition 
exacted  by  that  great  earl,  that  the  authority  of  the 
committee  of  government  should  not  only  last  for 
the  lifetime  of  the  king,  but  be  prolonged  during  the 
reign  of  his  successor.  Up  to  this  point  Prince 
Edward  had  pretended  a  great  respect  for  his  oath, 
professing  to  doubt  wliether  an  absolution  trom  Rome 
could  excuse  perjury  ;  and  he  had  frequently  ])re- 
tested  that,  having  sworn  to  the  provisions  of  Oxford, 
he  would  religiously  keep  that  vow ;  but  this  last 
measure  removed  all  his  scruples,  and  denouncing 
the  barons  as  rebels,  traitors,  and  usurpers,  he  openly 
declared  against  them  and  all  their  statutes. 

A.  D.  1264. — To  stoj)  the  horrors  of  a  civil  war, 
some  of  the  bishops  induced  both  parties  to  refer 
their  difierences  to  the  arbitration  of  the  French 
king.  The  conscientious  and  justice-loving  Louis 
IX.  pronounced  his  award  in  the  beginning  of  Feb- 
ruarj'  :  he  insisted  on  the  observance  of  the  great 
charter;  but  otherwise  his  decision. was  in  favor  of 
the  king,  as  he  set  aside  the  provisions  of  Oxford, 
ordered  that  the  royal  castles  should  be  restored, 
and  tliat  the  sovereign  should  have  full  power  of 
choosing  his  own  ministers  and  officers,  whether  from 
among  foreigners  or  natives.  The  barons,  who  were 
better  acquainted  than  Louis  with  the  character  ol 
their  king,  well  knew  that  if  the  securities  they  had 
exacted  (with  too  grasping  a  hand,  perhaps)  were 
all  given  up,  the  provisions  of  the  national  charters 
would  be  despised,  as  they  were  previously  to  the 
pai'liament  of  Oxford,  and  they  therefore  resolved 
not  to  be  bound  by  the  award,  which  they  insisted 
had  been  obtained  through  the  unfair  influence  of 
the  wife  of  Louis,  who  was  sister-in-law  to  King 
Henr^-.  The  civil  war  was  therefore  renewed  with 
more  fury  than  ever.  The  strength  of  the  royal- 
ists lay  in  the  counties  of  the  north  and  the  extreme 
west, — that  of  the  barons  in  the  midland  counties, 
the  southeast,  the  Cinque  Ports,  and,  above  all,  iu 
the  city  of  London  and  its  neighborhood.  At  the 
tolling  of  the  great  bell  of  St.  Paul's,  the  citizens  of 
London  assembled  as  an  Jirmed  host,  animated  by 
one  daring  spirit.  In  the  midst  of  this  excitement 
they  fell  upon  the  unfortunate  Jews,  and,  after  plun- 
dering them,  massacred  above  500,  men,  women, 
and  children,  in  cold  blood.  In  other  parts  of  the 
kingdom  the  royalists  robbed  and  murdered  the  Jews 
under  pretext  of  their  being  friends  to  the  barons, 
and  the  barons'  party  did  the  like,  alleging  that  they 
were  allied  with  the  king,  and  that  they  kept  Greek 
fire  hid  in  their  houses  in  order  to  destroy  the  friends 
of  liberty. 1 

The  opening  of  the  campaign  was  in  favor  of  the 
royalists,  but  their  fortunes  changed  when  they 
advanced  to  the  southern  coast  and  endeavored  to 
1  Wykes. -West. —Dunst. 


Chap.  11] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


661 


win  over  the  powerful  Cinque  Ports.  Leicester, 
who  had  remained  quietly  in  London  organizing 
iiis  forces,  at  length  marched  from  the  capital  with 
the  resolution  of  fighting  a  decisive  battle.  He 
found  the  king  at  Lewes,  in  Sussex — a  bad  posi- 
tion, in  a  hollow — which  Henry,  relying  on  his 
superiority  of  numbers,  did  not  quit  on  the  earl's 
approach.  Leicester  encamped  on  the  downs  about 
two  miles  from  Lewes.  Whether  in  war  or  peace, 
lie  had  always  been  an  exact  observer  of  the  rites 
of  religion  :  he  now  endeavored  (and,  it  should  ap- 
pear, with  full  success)  to  impress  his  followers 
with  the  belief  that  the  cause  in  which  they  were 
engaged  was  the  cause  of  Heaven,  as  well  as  that 
of  liberty  :  the  king,  he  said,  was  obnoxious  to  God 
liy  reason  of  his  many  perjuries :  he  ordered  his 
men  to  wear  a  white  cross  on  the  breast  as  if  they 
were  crusaders  engaged  in  a  holy  war ;  and  his 
friend,  the  Bishop  of  Chichester,  gave  a  general 
absolution  to  the  army,  together  with  Assurances 
that  all  those  who  fell  in  battle  would  be  welcomed  in 
lieaven  as  martyrs.  On  the  following  morning,  the 
14th  of  May,  leaving  a  strong  reserve  on  the  downs, 
he  descended  into  the  hollow.  The  two  armies 
soon  joined  battle :  on  the  king's  side  were  the 
great  houses  of  Bigod  and  Bohuu,  Earl  Warenne, 
all  the  foreigners  in  the  kingdom,  the  Percys  with 
their  warlike  borderers,  and  from  beyond  the  bor- 
ders, John  Comyn,  John  Baliol,  and  Robert  Bruce — 


names  that  were  soon  to  appear  in  a  very  different 
drama.  On  the  earl's  side  were  Gloucester,  Derby, 
the  Despencers,  Robert  de  Roos,  William  Marmion, 
Richard  Grey,  John  Fitzjohn,  Nicholas  Seagrave, 
Godfrey  de  Lucy,  John  de  Vescy,  and  others  of 
noble  lineage  and  great  estates.  Prince  Edward, 
who  was  destined  to  acquire  the  rudiments  of  war  in 
the  slaughter  of  his  own  subjects,  i)egan  the  battle 
by  falHng  desperately  upon  a  body  of  Londoners, 
who  had  gladly  followed  Leicester  to  the  field.  This 
burgher  militia  could  not  stand  against  the  trained 
cavalry  of  the  prince,  who  chased  and  slew  them 
by  heaps.  Eager  to  take  a  bloody  vengeance  for 
the  insults  the  Londonei-s  had  offered  his  mother, 
Edward  spurred  forwai-d,  regardless  of  the  manoeu- 
vres of  the  other  divisions  of  the  rojaiist  army.  He 
was  as  yet  a  young  soldier,  and  the  experienced 
and  skilful  leader  of  the  barons  made  him  pay  dearly 
for  his  mistake.  Leicester  made  a  concentrated 
attack  on  the  king,  beat  him  most  completely,  and 
took  him  prisoner,  with  his  brother  the  King  of  the 
Romans,  John  Comyn,  and  Robert  Bruce,  before 
the  prince  returned  from  his  headlong  pursuit. 
When  Edward  arrived  at  the  field  of  battle  he  saw  it 
covered  with  the  slain  of  his  own  party,  and  learned 
that  his  father,  with  many  nobles  beside  those  just 
mentioned,  were  in  Leicester's  hands,  and  shut  up 
in  the  priory  of  Lewes.  Before  he  could  recover 
himself,  he  was  charged   by  a  body  of  horse,  and 


.  ■g*f  f 


Lewes  Puiory. 


made  prisoner.  The  Earl  Warenne,  with  the  king's 
half-brothers,  who  were  again  in  England,  fled  to 
Pevensey,  whence  they  escaped  to  the  continent.' 
The  victory  of  the  barons  does  not  seem  to  have 
lieen  disgraced  by  cruelty,  but  it  is  said  to  have  cost 
the  lives  of  more  than  5000  Englishmen,  who  fell 

1  Matt.  Par. — Wjl«es. — West. — Chron.  Dunst 


on  the  field.  On  the  following  morning  a  treaty, 
or  the  "M/.se  of  Lewes,"  as  it  was  called,  was  con- 
cluded. It  was  agreed  that  p:dward  and  his  cousin 
Henry,  the  son  of  the  King  of  the  Romans,  should 
remain  as  hostages  for  their  fathers,  and  that  the 
whole  quarrel  should  be  again  sul)mitted  to  a  peace- 
ful arbitration.     But  Leicester,  who  had  now  tlx* 


662 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


right  of  tlie  strongest,  kept  both  the  king  and  his 
brother  prisoners  as  well  as  their  sons,  and,  feeling 
his  own  greatness,  began  to  be  less  tractable.  Al- 
though the  Pope  excoinmunicated  him  and  his  party, 
the  people  regarded  the  sentence  with  indifference; 
and  many  of  the  native  clergy,  who  had  long  been 
disgusted  both  with  Pope  and  king,  praised  him 
in  their  sermons  as  the  reformer  of  abuses,  the 
protector  of  the  oppressed,  the  father  of  the  poor, 
the  savior  of  his  country,  the  avenger  of  the  churcli. 
Thus  supported,  and  indeed  carried  forward  by  a 
boundless  popularity,  he  soon  forced  all  such  barons 
as  held  out  for  the  king  to  surrender  their  castles 
and  submit  to  the  judgment  of  their  peers.  These 
men  were  condemned  merely  to  short  periods  of 
exile  in  Ireland ;  not  one  suJfered  death,  or  chains, 
or  forfeiture,  and  the  age  was  not  so  generally  im- 
proved in  humanity  as  to  have  enforced  this  mild- 
ness, had  the  earl  himself  not  been  averse  to  cruelty. 
Every  act  of  government  was  still  performed  in  the 
name  of  the  king,  whose  captivity  was  made  so 
light  as  to  be  scarcely  apparent,  and  who  was  treated 
with  every  outward  demonstration  of  respect.  The 
queen  had  retired  to  the  continent  before  the  battle 
of  Lewes,  and  having  busied  herself  in  collecting 
a  host  of  foreign  mercenaries,  in  which  she  was 
greatly  assisted  by  the  active  sympathies  of  foreign 
princes,  who  saw  in  the  proceedings  of  the  English 
barons  nothing  but  the  degradation  of  a  crowned 
head,  she  now  lay  at  Damme,  in  Flanders,  ahnost 
ready  to  cross  over  and  renew  the  civil  war.  The 
steps  taken  by  Leicester  show  at  once  his  entire 
confidence  in  the  good-will  of  the  nation,  and  his 
personal  bravery  and  activity .  he  summoned  the 
whole  force  of  the  country,  from  castles  and  towns, 
cities  and  boroughs,  to  meet  in  arms  on  Barham 
Downs,  and,  having  encamped  them  there,  he  threw 
himself  among  the  mariners  of  England,  and,  taking 
the  command  of  a  fleet,  cruised  between  the  Eng- 
lish and  Flemish  coasts  to  meet  the  invaders  at  sea. 
But  the  queen's  fleet  never  ventured  out  of  port ; 
her  land  forces  disbanded,  and  that  enterprise  fell 
to  the  ground. 

The  ruin  of  Leicester  was  effected  bj'^  very  differ- 
ent means :  confident  in  his  talents  and  popularity, 
he  ventured  to  display  too  marked  a  superiority 
above  his  fellows  in  the  same  cause  :  this  excited 
hostile  feelings  in  several  of  the  barons,  whose  jeal- 
ousies and  pretensions  were  skilfully  worked  upon 
by  Prince  Edward,  who  had  by  this  time  been  re- 
moved from  Dover  Castle,  into  which  he  had  been 
throAvn  after  the  battle  of  Lewes,  and  placed  with 
his  father,  in  the  enjoyment  of  considerable  personal 
liberty,  by  the  order  of  a  parliament  which  Leices- 
ter had  summoned  expressly  to  consider  his  case 
in  the  beginning  of  the  present  year  (12Go),  and 
which  is  memorable  in  tlic  history  of  the  constitu- 
tion as  the  first  in  which  we  have  certain  evidence 
of  the  appearance  of  representatives  from  the  cities 
and  boroughs.  The  Earl  of  Derbj-  opened  a  corres- 
pondence with  the  prince,  and  the  Earl  of  Glouces- 
ter set  himself  up  as  a  rival  to  Montfort,  and  then, 
by  means  of  his  brother,  Thomas  de  Clare,  who 
had  been  placed  about  the  prince's  person,  concerted 


a  plan  for  releasing  Edward.  This  plan  was  suc- 
cessful ;  and  on  Thursday  in  Whitsun  week  the 
prince  escaped  on  a  fleet  horse  which  had  been 
conveyed  to  him,  and  joined  the  Earl  of  Gloucester 
at  Ludlow,  where  the  royal  banner  was  raised. 
The  prince  was  made  to  swear  that  he  would  re- 
spect the  charters,  govern  according  to  law,  and 
expel  foreigners ;  and  it  was  upon  these  express 
conditions  that  Gloucester  surrendered  to  him  the 
command  of  the  troops.  This  earl  was  a  vain, 
weak  young  man,  but  his  jealous  fury  against  Lei- 
cester could  not  blind  him  to  the  obvious  fact  that 
but  few  of  the  nobility  would  make  any  sacrifices 
for  the  royal  cause  unless  their  attachment  to  con- 
stitutional liberty  were  gi-atified  by  such  pledges. 

About  the  same  time  Earl  Warenne,  who  had 
escaped  from  the  battle  of  Lewes,  landed  in  South 
Wales  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  knights  and  a 
troop  of  archers ;  and  other  royalist  chiefs  rose  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  according  to  a  plan 
which  seems  to  have  been  suggested  by  the  military 
sagacity  of  Prince  Edward.  The  Earl  of  Leicester, 
keeping  good  hold  of  the  king,  remained  at  Here- 
ford, while  his  eldest  son,  Simon  de  Montfort,  with 
a  part  of  his  army,  was  in  Sussex.  The  object  of 
the  prince  was  to  prevent  the  junction  of  these 
separated  forces,  and  to  keep  the  earl  on  the  right 
bank  of  tlie  Severn.  Edward  destroyed  all  the 
bridges  and  boats  on  that  river,  and  secured  the 
fords ;  but,  after  some  skilful  manoeuvres,  the  earl 
crossed  the  Severn,  and  encamped  near  Worcester, 
where  he  expected  his  son  would  join  him.  But 
Simon's  conduct  in  war  was  not  equal  to  his  father's, 
for  he  allowed  himself  to  be  surprised  by  night  near 
Kenilworth,  where  Edward  took  his  horses  and 
treasure,  and  most  of  his  knights,  and  forced  him 
to  take  refuge,  almost  naked,  in  the  castle  there, 
the  principal  residence  of  the  De  3Iontfort  family. 
The  earl,  still  hoping  to  meet  his  son's  forces,  ad- 
vanced to  Evesham,  on  the  river  Avon ;  on  the 
morning  of  the  4th  of  August,  as  he  looked  toward 
the  hills  in  the  direction  of  Kenilworth,  he  saw  his 
own  standards  advancing : — his  joy,  however,  was 
but  momentary,  for  he  discovered,  when  too  late  to 
retreat,  that  they  were  his  son's  banners  in  the 
hands  of  his  enemies,  and  nearly  at  the  same  time 
he  saw  the  heads  of  columns  showing  themselves 
on  either  flank  and  in  his  rear.  These  well-con- 
ceived combined  movements  had  been  executed 
with  unusual  precision — the  earl  was  surrounded — 
every  road  was  blocked  up.  As  he  observed  the 
skilful  way  in  which  the  hostile  forces  were  dis- 
posed, he  uttered  the  complaint  so  often  used  by 
old  generals, — "  They  have  learned  from  me  the 
art  of  war  ;''  and  then,  it  is  said,  he  added, 
"  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  our  souls,  for  I  see  our 
bodies  are  Prince  Edward's."  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, neglect  the  duties  of  the  commander,  but 
marshaled  his  men  in  the  best  manner.  He  then 
spent  a  short  time  in  prayer,  and  took  the  sacra- 
ment, as  was  his  wont,  before  going  into  battle. 
Having  failed  in  an  attempt  to  force  the  road  to 
Kenilworth.  he  formed  in  a  solid  circle  on  the  sum- 
mit of  a  hill,  and  several  times  repulsed  the  charges 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  xMlLlTARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


6g; 


^J 


/. 


-<'>>: 


'^^■ 


of  his  foes,  who  gradually  closed  round  him,  attack- 
ing at  all  points.  The  king  being  in  the  earl's  camp 
when  the  royalists  appeared,  was  incased  in  armor 
which  concealed  his  features,  and  was  put  upon  a 
war-horse.  In  one  of  the  charges  the  imbecile  old 
man  was  dismounted  and  in  danger  of  being  slain, 
but  he  cried  out,  "  Hold  your  hand,  I  am  Harry  of 
Winchester  ;"  and  the  prince,  who  happened  to  be 
near,  ran  to  his  rescue,  and  carried  him  out  of  the 
meUc.  Leicester's  horse  was  killed  under  him,  but 
the  earl  rose  unhurt  from  his  fall,  and  fought  bravely 
on  foot :  a  body  of  Welsh  were  broken  and  fled, 
and  the  number  of  his  enemies  still  seemed  to  in- 
crease on  all  sides.  He  then  asked  the  royalists  if 
they  gave  quarter  ?  and  was  told  that  there  was  no 
quarter  for  traitors  :  his  gallant  son  Henry  was  killed 
before  his  eyes,  the  bravest  and  best  of  his  friends 
fell  in  heaps  around  him,  and  at  last  the  great  earl 
himself  died  with  his  sword  in  his  hand.' 

The  hatred  of  the  royalists  was  too  much  inflamed 
to  admit  of  the  humanities  and  usages  of  chivalry : 
no  prisoners  were  taken ;  the  slaughter,  usually 
confined  to  the  "meaner  sort,"  who  could  not  pay 
ransom,  was  extended  to  the  noblest  and  wealthiest; 
and  all  the  barons  and  knights  of  Leicester's  party, 
to  the  number  of  one  hundred  and  eiglity,  were 
dispatched."  The  historians  who  praise  the  clem- 
ency of  the  royal  partj-,  by  whom  "  no  blood  was 
shed  on  the  scaffold,"  seem  to  overlook  the  fact  that 
all  their  dangerous  enemies  were  butchered  at  Eve- 
sham, and  that  little  blood  was  left  to  be  shed  by 

»  Contm.  Matt.  Par.— M.  West  — Cron.  Mai'ros.— Cron.  Dunst 

s  Some  ten  or  a  dozen  knights  who  were  found  breathing,  after  the 

carnage,  were  permitted  to  live,  or,  at  least,  to  have  that  rliaiire  of 

llvin]?  which  their  wounds  allowed 


the  executioner.  Not  even  death  could  save  Lei- 
cester from  their  barbarous  vengeance  :  they  muti- 
lated his  body  in  a  manner  too  brutal  and  disgusting 
to  be  described,  and  so  presented  it,  as  an  acceptable 
spectacle,  to  a  nohle  lady,  the  wife  of  the  Lord 
Roger  Mortimer,  one  of  the  earl's  deadly  enemies. 
"The  people  of  England, "says  Holinshed  cautiously, 
"conceived  an  opinion  that  the  earl  being  thus  slain 
fighting  in  defence  of  the  liberties  of  the  realm  and 
performance  of  his  oath,  as  they  took  it,  died  a 
martyr ;  which,  by  the  bruited  holiness  of  his  past 
life,  and  the  miracles  ascribed  to  him  after  his  death, 
was  gi-eatly  confirmed  in  the  next  age  :  but  the  fear 
of  the  king's  displeasure  stayed  the  people  from 
hastily  honoring  him  as  a  saint  at  this  time,  where 
otherwise  they  were  inclined  greatly  thereto,  re- 
puting him  for  no  less  in  their  conscience,  as  in 
secret  talk  they  did  not  liesitate  to  say."  This  pop- 
ular reverence  was  not  evanescent;  for  many  years 
after,  when  men  could  speak  out  without  danger, 
they  called  the  earl  "  Sir  Simon  the  Righteous," 
and  complained  of  the  church  because  it  would  not 
canonize  him. 

After  the  decisive  victory  of  Evesham,  the  king, 
resuming  the  sceptre,  went  to  Warwick,  where  he 
was  joined  by  his  brother,  th.e  King  of  the  Romans, 
who,  with  many  other  prisoners  taken  by  Leicestei 
at  Lewes,  now  first  recovered  his  lii)erty.  Early 
in  the  next  month,  on  the  "  Feast  of  the  Transla- 
tion of  St.  Edward,"  a  parliament  asseml)led  at 
Winchester.  Here  it  was  seen  that,  even  in  the 
moment  of  success,  the  king  could  not  venluie  t(t 
revoke  any  part  of  the  great  cliarter.  His  victory 
had  been  achieved  by  the  arms  of  English  barons, 
who,  generally  speaking,  had  concurred  in  the  for- 


664 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


iner  measures  aj^aint^t  his  faithless  gnvernnient,  and 
whose  opposition  to  tlie  Earl  of  Leicester's  too 
great  power  had  in  no  sense  weakened  their  love 
of  constitutional  safeguards,  or  their  hatred  of  an 
absolute  king.  Led  away,  however,  by  personal 
animosities,  the  parliament  of  Winchester  passed 
some  severe  sentences  against  the  family  and  parti- 
sans of  the  late  earl,  and  deprived  tlie  citizens  of 
London  of  their  charter. 

A  desperate  resistance  was  thus  provoked,  and 
successive  insurrections  broke  out  in  different  parts 
of  the  kingdom.  Simon  do  Montfort  and  his  asso- 
ciates maintained  themselves  for  a  long  time  in  the 
isles  of  Ely  and  Axholm  ;  the  Cinque  Ports  refused 
to  submit;  tlie  castle  of  Kenilworth  defied  several 
ro3'al  armies ;  and  Adam  (Jourdon,  a  most  warlike 
baron,  maintained  himself  in  the  forests  of  Hamp- 
shire. Prince  Edward's  valor  and  ability  iiad  full 
occupation  for  nearly  two  years,  and  at  last  it  was 
found  necessary  to  relax  the  severity  of  government, 
and  grant  easier  terms  to  the  vanquished,  in  order 
to  oiitain  the  restoration  of  internal  tranquillity. 
With  this  view  a  committee  was  appointed  of  tw-elve 
bishops  and  barons,  and  their  award,  called  the 
"  Dictum  de  Kenilworth,"  was  confirmed  by  the 
king  and  Parliament.  The  Earl  of  Gloucester, 
whose  i)ersonal  quarrel  with  Leicester  had  been 
the  chief  cause  of  the  overthrow  of  the  baronial 
oligarchy,  and  the  restoration  of  Henry,  quarreled 
with  the  king,  and  once  more  took  up  arms,  al- 
leging, that  even  the  Dictum  de  Kenilworth  was  too 
harsh,  and  that  the  court  was  seeking  to  infringe 
the  provisions  of  Oxford,  and  breaking  the  promises 
given  on  the  field  of  Evesham.  The  dissatisfied 
Londoners  made  common  cause  with  him,  and  re- 
ceived him  within  their  walls;  but  losing  heart  at 
the  approach  of  the  king's  army,  Gloucester  opened 
negotiations,  and  submitted,  on  condition  of  receiv- 
ing a  full  pardon  for  himself.  At  the  same  time  the 
Londoners  compounded  for  a  fine  of  25,U00  marks. 
The  Pope  most  laudaljly  endeavored  to  dilfuso  the 
spirit  of  mercy  and  moderation :  he  told  tlie  king, 
who  was  not  naturally  inclined  to  that,  or  to  any 
other  strong  passions,  that  revenge  was  unworthy  of 
a  Christian,  and  that  clemencjMvas  the  best  support 
of  a  throne.  All  this,  with  the  determined  aspect 
of  the  people,  wluuiever  harsh  measures  were 
threatened,  produced  a  salutary  eflect ;  and  the  gal- 
lantry and  generosity  sliown  by  Prince  Edward,  on 
(me  occasion,  did  more  in  subduing  opposition  than 
a  hundred  executions  on  the  scaffold  could  have 
done.  In  a  battle  fought  in  a  wood  near  Alton,  the 
prince  engaged  Adam  Gourdoii  hand  to  hand,  and 
vanquished  that  redoubtable  knight  in  fair  single 
combat.  When  Adam  was  brought  to  the  ground, 
instead  of  dispatching  him,  he  generously  gave  him 
his  life :  on  that  very  night  he  introduced  him  to 
the  queen  at  Guilford,  procured  him  his  pardon, 
received  him  into  his  own  especial  favor,  and  was 
IVom  that  time  forward  most  faithfully  served  by 
Sir  Adam.' 

A.D.  1267.     On  the  18th  of  November,  two  years 
;md  three  months  after  the  battle  of  Evesham,  the 

'   Coutin.  Matt.  Par 


king,  in  parliament  at  Marlborough,  adopted  some 
of  the  most  valuable  of  the  provisions  of  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  and  enacted  other  good  laws.  Thus  all 
resistance  was  disarmed,  and  the  patriots  or  the 
outlaws  in  the  Isle  of  Ely,  who  were  the  lagt  to 
submit,  threw  down  their  arms,  and  accepted  the 
conditions  of  the  Dictum  of  Kenilworth,  which  they 
saw  had  been  faithfully  observed  with  respect  to 
others.  As  soon  as  the  country  was  thoroughly 
tranquilized.  Prince  Edward  and  his  cousin  Henry, 
the  son  of  the  King  of  the  Romans,  took  the  cross ; 
in  which  they  were  followed  by  nearly  one  hundred 
and  fifty  English  lords  and  knights.  Exhortation 
and  example  urged  them  to  this  step.  Ottoboni, 
the  Pope's  legate,  who  liad  been  very  instrumental 
in  restoring  peace  in  the  land,  had  earnestly  and  elo- 
quently recommended  the  crusade;  and  Louis  IX., 
who  was  soon  to  be  called  "  Saint  Louis,"  had  de- 
parted a  second  time  for  the  East. 

Having  taken  many  precautionary  measures  in 
case  his  father  should  die  during  his  absence,  and 
having  most  wisely  obtained  the  grant  of  a  new 
charter,  with  the  restoration  of  their  liberties,  to 
the  citizens  of  London,  and  a  free  ])ardon  to  a  few 
nol)les  who  still  lay  under  the  king's  ban,  Edward 
departed  with  his  wife  Eleanor,  his  cousin  Henry, 
and  his  knights,  in  the  month  of  July,  1270.  Many 
of  the  choicest  chivalry  of  England  left  their  bones 
to  bleach  on  the  Syrian  shore  ;  but  the  fate  of  Henry 
d'Almaine,  as  they  called  the  son  of  the  King  of  the 
Romans,  was  more  tiagical  as  well  as  much  more 
unusual.  Being  dispatched  back  to  England  on  a 
secret  mission  by  liis  cousin  Edward,  he  took  the 
road  through  Italy,  and  loitered  in  the  city  of  Viterbo, 
to  witness  the  election  of  a  new  pope.  One  morn- 
ing, at  an  early  hour,  as  he  was  at  his  prayers  in  a 
church,  he  heaid  a  well-known  voice  exclaiming, 
"Thou  traitor,  Henry!- — thou  slialt  not  escape!" 
Turning  round  he  saw  his  two  cousins,  Simon  and 
Guy  de  IMontfort,  who,  with  their  mother,  the 
Countess  of  Leicester,  King  Henry's  own  sister, 
had  been  driven  out  of  England,  and  who  considered 
the  King  of  the  Romans  as  the  bitterest  en(!my  of 
their  house.  They  were  in  complete  armor,  and 
waved  their  naked  swords  over  their  defenceless 
victim.  He  clung  to  the  holy  altar  before  which 
he  was  kneeling,  and  two  priests  threw  themselves 
between  him  and  them.  But  nothing  could  save 
him  from  the  fuiy  of  his  cousins :  the  two  priests 
lost  their  lives  in  their  generous  endeavors  to  pro- 
tect him ;  and,  pierc(;d  with  many  wounds,  he  was 
dragged  out  of  the  church,  when  the  murderers 
mutilated  his  body  in  horrid  revenge  for  the  treat- 
ment of  their  father's  corpse  at  Evesham.  They 
then  mounted  their  horses  and  rode  away,  being 
protected,  it  is  said,  by  Count  Aldobrandini,  whose 
daughter  had  been  married  to  Guy,  one  of  the 
assassins.'  That  vain  old  man,  the  King  of  the 
Romans,  was  rejoicing  in  the  possession  or  display 
of  a  young  German  bride  he  had  just  married,  and 
was  still  flattering  himself  with  the  hopes  of  the 
imperial  crown,  which  had  now  deluded  liis  imagi- 
nation for  fifteen  long  years,  when  the  melancholy 
'  Rjmcr. — Wjkcs.— Murjlori,  Aunali. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


66.') 


catastrophe  of  his  son  reminded  him  of  the  vanity  of 
human  wishes.  He  did  not  long  survive  the  shock : 
he  died  in  the  month  of  December,  1271 ;  and  in  the 
following  winter  his  brother,  the  King  of  England, 
followed  him  to  the  grave,  expiring  at  Westminster, 
after  a  long  illness  and  great  demonstrations  of  piety, 
on  the  feast  of  St.  Edmund,  the  16th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1272.  He  had  rebuilt  the  abbey  church  of 
St.  Peter's  from  the  foundation,  and  he  had  re- 
moved the  bones  of  Edward  the  Confessor  into  a 


golden  shrine.  According  to  his  wish,  they  there- 
fore carried  his  body  to  that  stately  church,  and 
laid  it  in  the  very  grave  which  the  remains  of  his 
saintly  predecessor  had  once  occupied.  Before  his 
body  was  lowered  to  its  last  resting-place  the  Earl 
of  Gloucester,  putting  his  bare  hand  upon  it,  swore 
fealty  to  the  absent  Edward  ;  and  the  rest  of  the 
barons  present  followed  his  example.  Henry  had 
lived  sixty-eight  years,  and  had  been  fifty-six  years 
a  king — -at  least  in  name. 


EdAVARD    I.- — SURNAMED    LoNGSHANKS. 


Great  Seal  of  Edward  I. 


From  the  Abbey  Church  of  Westminster  the  bar- 
ons, who  had  attended  his  father's  funeral,  went  to 
the  new  temple  and  proclaimed  the  absent  Edwurd 
by  the  style  of  "  King  of  England,  Lord  of  Ireland, 
and  Duke  of  Aquitaine."  This  was  on  Sunday, 
the  20th  of  November,  four  days  after  the  demise 
of  Henry.  A  new  great  seal  was  made ;  Walter 
de  Merton  was  appointed  chancellor ;  Walter  Gif- 
Ibrd,  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Earl  of  Cornwall,  a 
surviving  son  of  Richard,  the  King  of  the  Romans, 
and  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  assumed  conjointly  the 
office  of  guardians  or  regents  of  the  kingdom,  and 
such  wise  measures  were  taken  that  the  public 
peace  was  in  no  way  disturbed ;  and  the  accession 
of  Edward,  though  he  was  far  away,  and  exposed 
to  the  chances  of  war  and  shipwreck,  was  more 
tranquil  than  that  of  any  preceding  king  since  the 
(-onquest. 

When  Edward  departed  on  the  crusade  he  found 
that  the  French  king,  instead  of  sailing  for  Syria  or 
Palestine,  had  turned  aside  to  attack  the  Mussul- 
man king  or  bey  of  Tunis.  The  kings  of  Sicily  had 
some  old  claims  to  tribute  from  this  African  state, 
and  the  Italian  crown,  after  hovering  over  the  heads 
of  so  many  princes,  had  at  last  settled  on  that  of 
Charles  of  Anjou,  who,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
Pope,  won  it  from  Manfred,  the  illegitimate  Sua- 
bian,  at  the  battle  of  the  Grandella,  fought  near  Ben- 


evento,  in  the  year  1266.  This  Charles  was  the 
ferocious,  unworthy  brother  of  the  amial)le  Louis 
IX. ;  and  it  is  generally  supposed  that,  for  his  own 
selfish  ambition  and  interests,  he  craftily  induced 
the  French  king  to  turn  his  arms  against  Tunis  ; 
though  it  is  also  probable  that  the  exaggerated  ac- 
counts of  the  wealth  of  that  city  acted  as  a  strong 
temptation  with  the  crusaders  in  general.  Louis 
landed  on  the  African  shore  in  the  midst  of  summer, 
and  took  the  camp  and  town  of  Carthage  ;  but  the 
excessive  heat  of  the  climate,  the  want  of  jirovis- 
ions,  and  even  of  wholesome  water,  and  pestilential 
miasmata  from  bogs  and  swamps,  soon  caused  dread- 
ful maladies  among  his  host.  Tlio  king  himself  was 
attacked  by  a  fatal  dysentery,  and  he 'laid  liimsclf 
down  to  die  among  the  ruins  and  fragments  of  an- 
cient Carthage.  The  superstition  of  this  excellent 
man  was  the  fault  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived;  but 
the  better  part  of  his  devotion,  his  resignation,  and 
magnanimity,  will  have  a  claim  to  reverence  in  all 
ages.  As  long  as  he  could  act  he  submitted  to  every 
privation,  encountered  every  risk,  in  order  to  allevi- 
ate the  sufferings  of  his  poorest  followers,  who  died 
round  him  by  hundreds.  When  he  could  no  longer 
move,  and  wlien  he  was  himself  snflering  agonies, 
he  incessantly  occupied  his  still  unclouiled  intellect 
in  devisina;  means  for  mitigating  the  pains  of  others  : 
with  Ills  dvincr  breath  he  endeavored  to  reanimnte 


666 


HISTORY  OF   ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


Edward  I.     From  a  Statuo  ia  ihe  Chiur  of  York  Minster 


the  courage  of  his  family  and  of  his  officers,  who 
were  weeping  about  his  bed.  '•  My  friends,"  said 
he,  "  I  have  finished  my  course, — grieve  not  for  me. 
It  is  natural  that  I.  as  your  chief,  should  march  off 
first.  You  must  all  follow  me  in  time, — keep  your- 
selves ready  for  the  journey."  ' 

When  Prince  Edward  arrived  he  found  that  Louis 
was  dead,  and  that  more  than  half  of  his  army  had 
perished  by  disease.  The  survivors  had,  however, 
made  advantageous  terms  with  the  Boy  of  Tunis, 
and  showed  little  inclination  to  leave  that  country 
and  encounter  fresh  dangers  in  Palestine.  The 
English  then  recrossed  the  Mediterranean  to  Sicily 
(a  short  voyage  of  150  miles) ;  but  Edward  would 
not  renounce  his  project,  or  return  home.  He 
passed  the  winter  at  Trapani,  vowing  that,  though 
all  his  soldiers  should  desert  him,  he  would  go  to 
Acre  attended  only  by  Fowen,  his  groom.  Early 
in  the  following  spring  he  set  sail  from  Sicily,  and 
he  landed  at  Acre,  which  was  now  almost  the  only 
residue  of  the  crusaders'  conquests  in  the  East,  with 
a  force  whilh  <lid  not  exceed  a  tliousand  men.  But 
the  fame  of  Richard  was  still  bright  on  those  shores ; 
and,  while  the  Mahoraedans  trembled,  the  Chris- 
tians gathered  round  the  standard  of  the  successor 
of  Lion-heart,  to  whom  Edward  was  scarcely  infe- 
rior in  physical  strength  and  courage,  while  he  was 
his  superior  in  coolness  and  policy,  and  probably  also 
in  military  science.  Bondocar,  the  Sultan  of  Baby- 
lon, who  had  prepared  to  take  that  city  by  assault, 
immediately  retreated  from  the  vicinity  of  Acre, 
and,  crossing  the  Desert,  went  into  Egypt.  Edward 
advanced,  and  obtained  temporary  possession  of 
Nazareth,  which  was  taken  by  storm.  Eiglity  years 
'  Le  Sire  de  JomviUe 


had  elapsed  since  Richard's  massacres  of  Acre,  and 
nearly  two  hundred  since  the  first  capture  of  Jeru- 
salem by  the  Christians  of  the  West;  but  the  cru- 
saders had  made  little  progress  in  humanity-,  and 
the  slaughter  committed  on  the  Moslems  under  the 
eye  of  Edward,  at  Nazareth  was  only  less  atrocious 
than  the  butchery  at  Jerusalem,  because  the  scene 
was  more  confined,  and  the  place  had  fewer  Turkish 
inhabitants.  The  prince,  and  many  of  the  Englisli 
with  him,  were  soon  after  attacked  with  sickness, 
and  returned  to  Acre,  where  they  lingered  some 
fifteen  months,  doing  little  or  nothing ;  for  the  first 
enthiisiasm  among  the  Latin  Christians  had  subsided 
upon  seeing  that  Edward  had  scarcely  anj^  money, 
and  received  no  reinforcements.  lie  had  never 
been  able  to  collect  more  than  seven  thousand  armed 
men,  and  this  mixed  force  could  not  be  kept  togetlier 
for  any  length  of  time.  The  English  chivalry  dis- 
tinguished itself  by  many  feats  of  arms,  and  revived 
the  glory  of  the  national  name  ;  but,  after  all,  th* 
only  other  solid  advantages  gained  were  the  capture 
of  two  castles  and  the  surprise  and  partial  plunder 
of  a  caravan.  The  Mahomedans  were  not  strong 
enough  to  attack  Acre,  which,  chiefly  by  Edward's 
means,  was  so  strengthened  as  to  be  enabled  to  defy 
them  for  twenty  years  longer,  when  the  Mamelukes 
of  Eg^-pt  took  it  and  drove  the  crusaders  and  their 
descendants  from  every  part  of  the  Holy  Land.  Ed- 
ward on  his  side  was  always  too  weak  to  attempt 
any  extensive  operations.  His  presence,  hoAvevei-. 
both  anno3'ed  and  distressed  the  Turks,  and  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  get  rid  of  him  by  assassination. 
The  emir  of  Jafl'a,  under  pretence  of  embracing  the 
Christian  rehgion,  opened  a  correspondence  with 
the  English  prince,  and  gradually  gained  his  confi- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  iMILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


667 


dence.  The  emir  sent  letters  and  presents,  till  his 
messengers  were  allowed  to  pass  and  }-epass  with- 
out examination  or  suspicion.  On  the  Friday  of 
Whitsun  week,  about  the  hour  of  vespers,  as  Ed- 
ward was  reclining  on  a  couch  with  nothing  on  hina 
but  a  loose  robe,  the  emir's  messenger  made  his 
usual  salam  at  the  door  of  his  apartment :  he  was 
admitted  ;  and  as  he  knelt  and  presented  a  letter 
with  one  hand,  he  drew  a  concealed  dagger  with 
the  other,  and  aimed  a  blow  at  the  prince's  heart. 
Edward,  though  wounded,  caught  the  murderer  in 
his  iron  grasp,  threw  him  to  tlie  ground,  and  dis- 
patched him  with  his  own  weapon.  The  prince's 
wound  was  not  deep,  but  the  dagger  had  been 
smeared  with  poison  :  when  he  learned  this  fact, 
he  made  his  will,  and  gave  himself  up  as  lost.  The 
English  soldiers  would  have  taken  a  horrid  venge- 
ance upon  the  poor  Turks  in  their  power,  but  he 
restrained  their  fury,  and  made  them  reflect  on 
what  might  befall  the  helpless  Christian  pilgrims 
then  at  Jerusalem.  Fortunately  there  was  at  Acre 
an  English  surgeon  with  skill  and  nerve  enough  to 
pare  away  the  sides  of  the  wound  ;  and  the  grand 
master  of  the  Templars  sent  some  precious  drugs 
to  stop  the  progress  of  the  venom.  The  piety,  the 
aftectionate  attentions  of  his  loving  wife  Eleanor 
may  have  contributed  very  effectually  to  his  cure, 
but  there  is  no  good  ground  for  believing  that  she 
sucked  the  poison  from  her  husband's  Avound.' 

Henry  had  already  implored  his  son  to  return  to 
England,  and  now  Edward  gladly  listened  to  propo- 
sals of  peace  made  by  the  sultan,  who  was  so  much 
engaged  with  other  wars  in  the  interior  as  to  have 
little  time  to  spare  for  the  prosecution  of  hostilities 
on  the  coast.  A  truce  was  therefore  concluded  for 
ten  years,  and  then  Edward  sailed  again  for  Sicily. 
Theobald,  Archdeacon  of  Liege,  who  had  accom- 
panied the  prince  to  Palestine,  had  been  recalled 
some  months  before  from  Acre  to  fill  the  vacant 
chair  of  St.  Peter.  At  Trapani,  Edward  received 
an  earnest  invitation  from  his  old  companion  and 
steadfast  friend,  now  Gregory  X.,  to  visit  him  at 
Rome.  The  prince  crossed  the  Faro  of  Messina 
to  travel  by  land  through  the  Italian  peninsula.  At 
a  mountain  village  in  Calabria  he  met  messengers, 
by  whom  he  was  informed,  for  the  first  time,  of  the 
death  of  his  father.  He  had  recently  lost  an  infant 
son  whom  Eleanor  liad  borne  him  in  Syria ;  and 
Charles  of  Anjou,  who  had  now  returned  from  Tu- 
nis, and  had  little  tenderness  for  any  one,  expressed 
his  surprise  that  lie  should  grieve  more  for  the  death 
of  his  old  father  than  for  that  of  his  own  offspring. 
«'  The  loss  of  my  child,"  said  Edward,  "  is  a  loss 
which  I  may  hope  to  repair,  but  the  death  of  a 
father  is  a  loss  irreparable  !"^  By  the  month  of 
February,  1273,  he  was  at  Rome,  but  his  friend 
the  Pope  being  absent,  he  staid  only  two  days  in  the 
Eternal  City,  and  then  turned  aside  to  Civita  Vec- 
chia,  where  the  Pope  received  him  with  honor  and 
affection,     Edward  demanded  justice  on  the  assas- 

1  Hemingford. — Chroii.  Pepini  in  Muratori. — Matt.  West. — Wykes. 
The  story  of  Eleanor's  sucking  the  wound  is  not  mentioned  by  any 
chronicler  living  near  the  time.  It  seems  to  he  of  Spanish  origin,  and 
to  have  been  first  mentioned  a  century  or  two  after  the  time. 

■•i  Walsingham.— Trirvet 


sins  of  Henry  d'AImaine  ;  but  Simon  de  Montfort, 
one  of  them,  had  gone  to  account  for  his  crimes 
before  a  higher  tribunal;  Aldobrandini  was  too 
powerful  to  be  rigorously  examined,  and  was  not  a 
principal  in  the  murder ;  and  as  Guy  de  Montfort 
had  absconded,  the  King  of  England  was  obliged  to 
be  satisfied  with  a  very  imperfect  vengeance.  Leav- 
ing the  pontiff,  he  continued  his  journey  through 
Italy,  and  he  Avas  received  in  triumph  at  every 
town.  The  admiring  Milanese  presented  him  witli 
some  fine  horses  and  purple  mantles.  His  exploits 
in  Palestine,  limited  as  they  had  been,  had  gained 
him  the  reputation  of  being  the  champion  of  the 
cross;  the  dangerous  wound  he  had  received  (if  he 
had  died  of  it  he  would  have  been  enrolled  among 
saints  and  martyrs)  created  an  additional  sympathy 
in  his  favor,  and,  as  if  people  knew  he  would  be  the 
last  king  to  embark  in  the  crusades,  he  was  hailed 
with  extraordinary  enthusiasn<i.  It  was  the  bright, 
broad  flash  of  the  flame  about  to  sink  into  the  socket. 
In  a  few  years  the  passion  for  the  crusades,  which 
had  animated  all  Europe  for  more  than  two  centu- 
ries, was  utterly  extinct.  On  crossing  the  Alps. 
Edward  was  met  by  a  deputation  from  England. 
He  traveled  on  to  Paris,  where  he  was  courteously 
received  by  his  cousin,  Philip  le  Hardi,  and  did 
homage  to  that  king  for  the  lands  which  he  held  of 
him  in  France. 

Notwithstanding  the  tranquil  state  of  the  country, 
and  the  loyal  disposition  of  his  subjects,  it  must  ex- 
cite some  surprise  to  see,  that  after  so  long  an  ab- 
sence, Edward  had  no  anxiety  to  reach  England.' 
Instead  of .  crossing  the  Channel,  he  turned  back 
from  Paris,  where  he  had  staid  a  fortnight,  and 
went  to  Guienne.  The  motives  generally  assigned 
for  his  protracted  stay  on  the  continent  are,  his 
wish  to  await  the  decisions  of  a  general  council  of 
the  church,  which  the  Pope  had  summoned  to  meet 
at  Lyons,  and  the  distracted  state  of  Guienne,  which 
province  seems  never  to  have  been  tranquil  for  a 
year  at  a  time.  But  it  is  pretty  evident  that  the 
English  king  entertained  suspicions  of  Philip,  who 
was  a  far  less  conscientious  sovereign  than  his 
father,  Louis  IX.,  who  had  been  severelj-  blamed 
by  the  French  for  not  taking  advantage  of  the 
weakness  of  Henry  to  drive  the  English  out  of  all 
their  continental  possessions.  The  dark  shadows 
of  some  deep  and  disgraceful  intrigues  are  visible  : 
and  it  seems  to  us,  that  when  the  Pope  warned 
Edward  against  the  swords  of  assassins,  he  did  not 
apprehend  danger  fron)  the  ruined  andTugitive  Guy 
de  Montfort,  so  much  as  from  more  prosperous  and 
more  powerful  agents.  In  the  month  of  May,  r274. 
while  the  English  king  was  in  Guienne,  he  received 
a  challenge,  couched  in  all  the  nice  terms  and  cir- 
cumlocutions of  chivalry,  from  the  Count  of  Cha- 
lons, to  meet  him  lance  to  lance  in  a  tournament. 
This  fashion  was  then  at  its  height,  and  knights  and 

1  Ho  had  written  letters  expressing  some  fear  of  the  Londoners,  and 
had  several  times  commanded  the  "  mayor,  sheriffs,  and  commonii ' 
most  carefully  to  keep  the  peace  of  the  city.  The  measures  adopted 
in  consequence  were  more  rigorous  than  legal.  All  persons  suspected 
of  having  been  partisans  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester  were  hunted  down  ii 
every  ward,  and,  without  form  of  trial  or  examination,  ihro-vn  into 
prison  till  Edward's  return 


668 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


QiEEN  Eleanor.    From  her 

nobles  of  liigh  renown  and  princes  royal  were  ac-  ] 
customed  to  defy  each  other  in  ihe  name  of  God,  ' 
of  the  bh'ssed  Virgin  Mary,  and  of  their  respective 
saints  and  mistresses,  and  to  invite  one  another,  out 
of  love  and  reverence,  to  joustings  and  tiltings,  which 
often  terminated  in   blood  and  death  or  fractured 
limbs.     Edward  considered  himself  bound  in  honor  ; 
as  a  true  knight  to  accept  the  count's  challenge,  and, 
on  tlie  appointed  day,  he  entered  the  lists,  as  stal-  | 
wart  and  fearless  a  combatant  as  ever  sat  in  saddle. 
He  was  attended  by   a  thousand   champions;  but 
the  Count  of  Chalons  rode  to  the  spot  with  nearly 
two  thousand.     Whispers  of  bad  faith  on  the  part 
of  the  count  had  already  been  lieard,  and  the  sight  ! 
of  this  unfair  advantage  probably  confirmed  the  worst  ! 
suspicions  of  the  English.     The  image  of  war  was 
converted  into  its  stern  reality — a  sanguinary  battle 
ensued,  in  which  the  foot-soldiers  fook  part  as  well 
as  the  knights.     The  English  crossbowmen  drove 
the  French  infantry  from  the  field,  and  then  mixing  : 
with  the  English  horse,  wlio  were  far  outnumbered 
by  their  opponents,  they  overthrew  many  of  the 
count's  knights  by  stabbing  their  horses  or  cutting 
their  saddle-girths — two  operations  against  all  rule, 
and  deemed  infamous  in  the  code  of  chivalry.     The  '' 
count  himself,   a  man   renowned   for  his  physical  ' 
strength,  after  charging  Edward  several  times  with  j 
his  lance,  rode  in,  and  grasi)ing  the  king  round  the  ' 
neck,  endeavored  to  unseat  liim.     Edward  sate  like 
11  rock,  and  gave  the  proper  touch  with  the  spur;  1 
liis  war-horse  sprang  forward,  the  count  was  pulled  ' 
out  of  his  saddle,  and  hurled  to  the  ground  with  a  ' 
dreadful  shock.     He   was  remounted  by   some  of 
Jiis  knights;    but,  sorely  bruised  and   stupefied  by 
his  f.dl.  he  cried  out  for  quarter.     Edward  was  so 


Ti)inb  in  Westminster  Abbey 

enraged,  that  he  kept  hammering  on  the  iron  ar- 
mor of  his  suppliant  foe  for  some  tmie,  and  at  List 
rejected  his  sword,  and  made  him  surrender  to 
a  common  foot-soldier — an  extremity  of  disgi'ace 
which  the  count,  had  he  been  a  true  knight,  would 
have  avoided  at  the  cost  of  life.  The  English  had 
the  best  of  the  aft'ray,  taking  many  knights,  who 
were  obliged  to  ransom  their  persons,  their  arms, 
and  their  horses  (where  any  were  left  alive),  and 
slai/ing  many  of  the  P'rench  footmen — "  because 
they  were  but  rascals,  and  no  great  account  was 
made  of  them."  The  whole  affair  was  so  fierce 
and  sanguinary,  that  it  aftej-ward  went  bj'  the  name 
of  the  little  war  of  Chalons.' 

A.n.  1274.  Edward  now  turned  his  thoughts  to- 
ward England,  and  Pent  orders  to  prepare  for  his 
coronation.  If  these  orders  were  obeyed,  the  cor- 
onation-feast must  have  been  a  sublime  specimen  of 
a  well-loaded  table ;  for  380  head  of  cattle,  4.30 
sheep,  4.50  pigs,  18  wild  boars,  278  flitches  of  bacon, 
and  19,660  capons  and  fowls,  were  ordered  by  the 
king  for  this  solemn  occasion.-  As  he  traveled 
through  France,  Edward  stopped  at  tlie  pleasant 
town  of  Montreuil,  to  settle  some  diflerences  which 
had  long  existed  between  the  English  and  Flemings, 
and  whicli  had  curiously  committed  the  commercial 
interests  of  both  countries.  For  several  reigns  the 
counts  of  Flanders  had  been  accustomed  to  let  upon 
hire  certain  bands  or  troops  of  foot-soldiers  to  the 
kings  of  England.  These  contracts  ceased  alto- 
gether during  the  reign  of  Heniy  III. ;  but,  some 
time  before  the  death  of  that  sovereign,  Margaret, 
the  reigning  countess,  claimed  pajment  of  a  large 
sum  as  arrears,  and  pressed  her  claim   so  rudely, 

'  Ilemings  — West.— Tnvct.— n  ilinshed.  =  Rymer. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


669 


that  she  seized  all  the  English  wool — then  our  great 
article  of  export — that  could  be  found  in  her  domin- 
ions. Henry  retaliated,  by  seizing  all  the  manu- 
factured Flemish  cloths  in  England,  and  strictly 
forbade  all  trade  between  the  two  countries.  He 
enticed  over  some  Flemish  clothiers,  but  their 
number  was  insufficient ;  and  it  is  said,  that  as  the 
English  were  unskilled  in  the  arts  of  dyeing  cloths, 
they  for  some  time  wore  their  coats  of  the  natural 
color  of  the  fleece.  The  Flemings  stood  in  still 
greater  need  of  our  wool,  wanting  which  their  looms 
remained  idle,  and  their  artisans  were  beggared. 
The  countess,  who  lost  immensely  by  this  stoppage 
of  trade,  now  offered  a  public  apology  to  Edward, 
and  entreated  that  the  commercial  relations  of  the 
country  might  be  renewed.  The  king,  who,  much 
to  his  credit,  took  the  advice  of  some  London 
merchants  of  good  repute,  immediately  made  up 
the  quarrel;  the  countess  agreed  to  certain  repara- 
tions, and  the  trade  was  renewed. 

On  the  2d  of  August,  1274,  after  an  absence  of 
more  than  four  years,  Edward  landed  at  Dover,  and 
on  the  19th  of  the  same  month,  "after  the  feast  of 
the  Assumption,"  he  was  crowned,  together  with 
his  high-minded  wife,  in  Westminster  Abbey.  On 
their  entrance  into  London  they  were  "  received 
with  all  joy  that  might  be  devised  :  the  streets  were 
hung  with  rich  cloths  of  silk,  arras,  and  tapestry ; 
the  aldermen  and  burgesses  of  the  city  threw  out 
of  their  windows  handfuls  of  gold  and  silver,  to  sig- 
nify the  great  gladness  which  they  had  conceived 
of  his  safe  return  ;  the  conduits  ran  plentifully  with 
white  wine  and  red,  that  each  creature  might  drink 
his  fill.'"  The  nation  was  proud  of  the  valor  and 
fame  of  their  king,  who  was  now  in  the  prime  of 
mature  manhood,  being  in  his  thirty-sixth  year ; 
and  the  king  had  good  reason  to  be  proud  of  the 
aftection,  loyaltjs  and  prosperitj'  of  the  nation. 

The  government,  however,  was  poor  and  embar- 
rassed, and,  in  spite  of  all  pretexts,  this  circum- 
stance seems  to  have  been  the  real  whetstone  of  the 
animosity  which  Edward  showed  immediately  after 
his  accession  to  one  class  of  his  subjects, — the  un- 
happy Jews.  The  rest  of  the  nation  were  now 
tolerably  well  protected  from  arbitrary  spoliation  by 
the  great  charter  and  the  power  of  parliaments  ;  but 
the  miserable  Israelites,  considered  unworthy  of  a 
participation  in  the  laws  and  rights  of  a  Christian 
people,  were  left  naked  to  oppression,  no  hand  or 
tongue  being  raised  in  their  defence,  and  the  mass 
of  the  people  rejoicing  in  their  ruin.  As  a  zealous 
crusader,  Edward  detested  all  unbelievers,  and  his 
religious  antipathies  went  hand-in-hand  with  his  ra- 
pacity, and  probably  justified  its  excesses  in  his  own 
eyes.  The  coin  had  been  clipped  and  adulterated 
for  many  years,  and  the  king  chose  to  consider  the 
Jews  as  the  sole  or  chief  authors  of  this  crime.*  To 
bring  a  Jew  before  a  Christian  tribunal  was  almost 
the  same  thing  as  to  sign  his  death-warrant.  Two 
hundred  and  eighty  of  both  sexes  were  hanged  in 
London  alone,  and  many  victims  also  suft'ered  in 
every  other  town  where  they  resided.     As  it  was 

1  Holinshed. 

2  A  few  Christiap'  were  afterward  punished  for  the  same  offence. 


SO  common,  clipped  money  might  be  found  upon 
every  person  in  the  kingdom  ;  but  once  discovered 
in  the  possession  of  an  Israelite,  it  was  taken  as  an 
irrefragable  proof  of  guilt.  The  houses  and  the 
whole  property  of  every  Jew  that  suffered  went  to 
the  crown,  which  thus  had  an  interest  in  multiply- 
ing the  number  of  convictions.  Even  before  these 
judicial  proceedings,  the  king  prohibited  the  Jews 
from  taking  interest  for  money  lent,  from  building 
synagogues,  and  buying  lands  or  any  free  tenements. 
He  put  a  capitation  or  poll  tax  upon  them,  similar 
to  the  kharatch  which  the  grand-signior  exacts  from 
his  Christian  subjects  :  he  set  a  distinctive  and  odious 
badge  upon  their  dress,  that  they  might  be  known 
from  all  others, — another  Turkish  custom,  which  in 
its  time  has  been  the  cause  of  infinite  suffering. 
Thirteen  years  later,  when  Edward  was  engaged  in 
expensive  foreign  wars,  and  the  Parliament,  in  ill- 
humor  thereat,  stinted  his  supplies,  he  ordered  the 
seizure  of  every  Jew  in  England  ;  and  on  an  ap- 
pointed day,  men,  women,  and  children  —  every 
living  creature  in  whose  veins  the  ancient  blood  of 
the  tribes  was  known  or  supposed  to  flow  —  wen; 
brutally  arrested  and  cast  into  loathsome  dungeons. 
There  seems  to  have  been  no  parity  of  justice  on 
this  occasion,  and  the  Jews  purchased  their  enlarge- 
ment by  a  direct  payment  of  the  sum  of  12,000L  to 
the  king.  Edward  might  have  continued  to  make 
good  use  of  them  from  time  to  time  in  this  manner, 
as  most  of  his  predecessors  had  done,  but  his  fanati- 
cism overcame  his  avidity  for  money,  or,  probably, 
he  wanted  a  large  sum  at  once,  for  he  was  now  in 
the  midst  of  his  scheme  for  the  subjugation  of  Scot- 
land, and  had  just  married  two  of  his  daughters.  It 
was  in  the  year  1290,  soon  after  the  sitting  of  a  par- 
liament at  Westminster,  that  his  proclamation  weni 
forth,  commanding  all  the  Jews,  under  the  penalty 
of  death,  to  quit  the  kingdom  forever,  within  the 
space  of  two  months.  Their  total  number  was  con- 
siderable, for  though  long  robbed  and  persecuted  in 
England,  they  had,  notwithstanding,  increased  and 
multiplied,  and  their  condition  in  the  other  countries 
of  Christendom  being  still  worse  than  here,  the 
stream  of  emigration  had  set  prettj'  constantly  from 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Channel.  Sixteen  thousand 
five  hundred  and  eleven  individuals  received  the 
king's  pass,  with  the  gracious  permission  to  carry  with 
them  as  much  of  their  ready  money  as  would  pay 
the  immediate  expenses  of  their  voyage.  Houses, 
lands,  merchandise,  treasures,  debts  owing  to  them, 
with  their  bonds,  their  tallies  and  obligations,  were 
all  seized  by  the  king.  The  mariners  of  London, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Cinque  Ports  generally, 
who  were  as  bigoted  as  the  king,  and  thought  it  no 
sin  to  be  as  rapacious  toward  the  accursed  Jews, 
robbed  many  of  them  of  the  small  |)ittance  left  them, 
and  drowned  not  a  few  during  their  passage.  To 
help  to  keep  alive  a  wholesome  abhorrence  of  these 
detestable  cruelties,  we  will  mention  one  particular 
case,  as  recorded  by  Holinshed  on  the  credit  of  u 
contemporary  chronicle  : — "  Some  of  the  richest  of 
the  Jews  being  shipped  in  a  mighty  tall  ship  which 
they  had  hired,  when  the  .same  was  under  sail,  and 
had  got  down  the  Thames  toward  the  mouth  of  the 


670 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


river,  the  master  mariner  bethought  him  of  a  wile, 
and  caused  his  men  to  cast  anclior,  and  so  rode  at 
the  same,  till  the  ship,  by  ebbing  of  the  stream,  re- 
mained on  tlie  dry  sands.  The  master  then  enticed 
the  .lews  to  walk  out  witli  him  for  recreation.  And 
at  length,  when  the  .lews  were  on  the  sands,  and 
he  understood  the  tide  to  bo  coming  in,  he  gat  him 
back  to  the  ship,  whither  he  was  drawn  by  a  rope. 
The  Jews  made  not  so  much  haste,  because  they 
were  not  aware  of  the  danger;  but  wlien  they  per- 
ceived liow  the  matter  stood,  they  cried  to  the  mas- 
ter for  help.  He,  however,  told  them  that  they 
ought  to  cry  rather  upon  Moses,  by  whose  guidance 
their  fathers  liad  passed  through  tlic  Red  Sea. 
They  cried,  indeed,  but  no  succor  appeared,  and  so 
they  were  swallowed  up  by  tlie  water."  Some  few 
mariners  were  convicted  and  suft'ered  capital  pun- 
ishment ;  for  the  king,  to  use  the  keen  sarcasm  of 
Hume,  was  determined  to  be  the  sole  plunderer  in 
his  dominions. 

Contemporaneously  with  these  shameful  proceed- 
ings against  the  Jews,  Edward  enacted  many  just 
and  wise  laws  for  his  Christian  subjects  ;  and  the 
additions  and  improvements  which  he  made  in  the 
laws  and  the  practices  of  the  courts  will  be  noticed 
in  their  proper  place.  The  nature  of  liis  reforms 
sliows  the  extent  of  the  evil  that  had  existed  :  in 
1299,  all  the  judges  of  the  land  were  indicted  for 
bribery,  and  only  two  of  tlie  number  were  acquit- 
ted ;  the  chief  justice  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench 
was  convicted  of  instigating  liis  servants  to  commit 
murder,  and  of  protecting  them  against  the  law  after 
the  offence  ;  the  chief  baron  of  the  Exchequer  was 
imprisoned  and  heavily  fined,  and  so  was  Sir  Ralph 
de  Hengliain,  the  grand  justiciary.  But  perhaps  in 
some  of  these  cases  we  shall  not  greatly  err  if  we 
deduct  from  the  delinquency  of  the  accused,  and 
allow  something  for  the  arbitrary  will  of  the  accuser. 
It  is  known  that  the  king,  who  had  just  returned 
from  a  costly  sojourn  of  nearly  three  years  in  France, 
was  in  great  want  of  money,  when,  as  the  conse- 
quence of  their  condemnation,  he  exacted  about 
H0,000  marks  from  the  judges.  In  recovering,  or 
attempting  to  recover,  such  parts  of  the  royal  do- 
main as  had  been  encroached  upon,  and  in  examin- 
ing the  titles  by  which  some  of  the  great  barons  held 
their  estates,  he  roused  a  spirit  which  might  have 
proved  fatal  to  him  had  he  not  prudently  stopped  in 
time.  When  his  commissioners  asked  Earl  War- 
enne  to  show  his  titles,  the  earl  drew  his  sword  and 
said, — "  By  this  instrument  do  I  hold  my  lands,  and 
by  the  same  I  intend  to  defend  them !  Our  ances- 
tors, coming  into  this  realm  with  William  the  Bas- 
tard, acquired  their  possessions  by  their  good  swords. 
William  did  not  make  a  conquest  alone,  or  for  him- 
self solely ;  our  ancestors  were  helpers  and  partici- 
pants with  him  !"  Such  title-deeds  were  not  to  be 
disputed  ;  but  there  were  other  cases  where  men 
wore  less  powerful  swords,  and  where  WTitten  deeds 
and  grants  from  the  crown  had  been  lost  or  destroyed 
iluring  the  convulsions  of  the  country;  and  Edward 
seized  some  manors  and  estates,  and  made  their 
owners  redeem  them  by  large  sums  of  money. 
There  was  much  bad  faith  in  these  proceedings, 


but  as  the  king  chose  his  victims  with  much  pru- 
dence, no  insurrection  was  excited. 

We  must  now  retrace  our  steps,  to  take  a  regu- 
lar view  of  this  king's  gi-eat  operations  in  war. 
Edward  was  to  the  full  as  ambitious  and  fond  of 
conquest  as  any  prince  of  the  Norman  or  Plan- 
tagenet  line  ;  but,  instead  of  expending  his  power 
in  foreign  wars,  he  husbanded  it  for  the  grand 
plan  of  reducing  the  whole  of  the  island  of  Great 
Britain  under  his  immediate  and  luidivided  swfiy. 
Ho  employed  the  claim  of  feudal  superiority — a 
right  most  di/TicuIt  to  define,  even  if  its  existence 
had  been  admitted  —  with  final  success  against 
Wales ;  and  though,  with  regard  to  Scotland,  it 
eventually  failed,  the  ruin  of  his  scluMue  there  did 
not  happen  until  after  his  death,  and  he  felt  for 
n  time  the  proud  certainty  of  having  defeated  every 
opponent.  If  the  acknowledgment  of  the  para- 
mount authority  of  the  English  kings,  extracted 
from  unsuccessful  princes,  justified  a  forcible  seizure 
of  territory  against  the  wishes  of  the  people,  Ed- 
ward may  be  acknowledged  to  have  had  that  right 
over  Wales.  Setting  aside  the  somewhat  doubtful 
vassalage  of  the  Welsh  principalities  to  our  Saxon 
kings,  on  which  the  Norman  conquerors  impudently 
founded  a  pretension,  as  being  the  lawful  heirs  to 
those  kings,  W'o  have  repeated  instances  of  a  seem- 
ing submission,  when  the  princes  purchased  peace 
by  engaging  to  paj'  certain  tributes,  and  to  recognize 
the  suzerainty  of  the  English  throne.  This  feudal 
superiority,  however,  was  liable  to  all  sorts  of  varia- 
tion, and  was  never  really  fixed  by  the  written  or 
understood  law  of  the  feudal  system,  though,  in 
certain  cases,  the  forms  of  that  law  could  be  applied 
in  regard  to  it  with  an  appearance  of  regularity  and 
justice.  When  a  weak  state  stood  in  this  relation 
with  a  strong  one,  the  feudal  supremacy  implied  an 
almost  unlimited  right  of  interference  and  control ; 
but  when  the  relation  existed  between  two  states 
of  equal  power,  it  meant  little  or  nothing  beyond  a 
mere  ceremony.  Thus  the  kings  of  England,  as 
vassals  to  the  sovereigns  of  France  for  their  terri- 
tories on  the  continent,  had  for  a  long  time  defied 
the  authority  of  their  liege  lords,  after  making  them 
tremble  in  Paris,  their  own  capital.  Those  other 
nominal  vassals,  the  great  dukes  of  Burgundy,  al- 
though they  had  no  separate  sovereignty  like  the 
Normans  and  Plantagenets,  repeatedly  followed  the 
same  course.  The  forfeiture  pionounced  against 
John  was  generally  considered  as  an  unjustifialde 
stretch  of  the  rights  of  supremacy,  but  it  was  well 
timed — it  was  directed  against  one  who  had  made 
himself  universally  odious,  and  whose  continental 
subjects,  for  the  most  part,  at  this  crisis,  preferred 
a  union  with  France  to  their  old  connection  with 
England.  The  nature  of  Edward's  right  is  scarcely 
deserving  of  a  further  examination  ;  had  no  such 
claims  existed  he  would  have  invented  others — for 
he  was  determined  on  the  conquest  of  the  country, 
and  internal  dissensions  and  other  circumstances 
favored  the  enterprise.  The  expediency  of  the 
measure,  and  the  advantages  that  have  resulted 
from  it,  ought  not  to  make  us  indifferent  to  the  fate 
of  a  brave  people  who  were  fighting  for  their  indc- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


Earl  Warenne  justifyii.o  his  Title  to  his  Estates. 


pendence.  The  Anglo-Normans,  who  had  been 
gradually  encroaching  on  their  territory  for  two 
hundred  years,  accused  the  poor  Welsh  of  cruelty 
and  perfidy — forgetting  that  they  were  themselves 
the  aggressoi's,  and  had  been  guilty  of  treachery  the 
most  manifold,  and  of  cruelties  the  most  atrocious. 
Since  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  civil- 
ization had  advanced  in  the  rich  champaign  of  Eng- 
land, and  had,  from  the  circumstances  in  which  the 
country  was  placed,  retrograded  in  Wales ;  but 
there  are  writers  of  the  time  who  trace  in  that  land 
the  most  interesting  picture  of  a  hospitable  and 
generous  race  of  men,  full  of  the  elements  of  poetry, 
and  passionately  fond  of  their  wild  native  music. 
According  to  their  countryman,  Giraldus  Cam- 
brensis,  no  people  could  well  be  more  gentle  and 
courteous  in  times  of  peace  :  notwithstanding  the 
injuries  constantly  inflicted  upon  them  by  their 
neighbors,  whenever  an  Ane;lo-Norinan  or  English- 
man visited  them  in  their  mountains  without  arms, 
and  as  a  quiet  guest,  he  was  received  with  the 
greatest  kindness,  and  feasted  at  every  house  where 


he  chose  to  stop.  Such  as  arrived  m  the  morning 
hours  were  entertained  till  the  evening  by  the  young 
women  with  the  harp  and  songs.  In  every  houso 
there  was  a  harp ;  and  the  company,  seated  in  a 
circle  round  the  harper,  sang  verses  alternately — 
the  verses  being  sometimes  improvised.  At  times, 
a  challenge  to  improvisation  was  sent  from  man  to 
man,  or  from  a  whole  village  to  another  village. 
Though  chiefly  a  pastoral  people,  they  were  not 
rude  or  clownish.  "  All  the  Welsh,"  says  Giraldus, 
"without  any  exception,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest,  are  ready  and  free  in  speetli,  and  have 
great  confidence  in  replying  even  to  princes  and 
magnates."  The  mass  of  the  nation,  however,  not- 
withstanding this  partial  refinement,  was  poor,  and 
but  rudely  clad,  as  compared  with  their  English 
contemporaries.  One  day,  as  Henry  II.  rode 
through  part  of  their  country  attended  by  his 
splendid  chivalry,  he  looked  with  a  contemptuous 
eye  on  the  Welsh  gentlemen  riding  on  their  rough 
ponies,  and  on  the  poorer  sort  who  were  clad  in 
sheep  or  goats'  skins.     A  mountaineer  approached 


672 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


"the  great  king,  and  said,  with  a  noble  pride,  "  Thou 
seest  tliis  poor  people — but  such  as  they  are  thou 
never  shalt  subdue  them — that  is  reserved  alone  for 
God  in  his  wrath."  And  thougii  this  wrath  may 
have  been  manifested,  and  their  country  reduced 
bv  Henry's  great-grandson,  seldom  has  ever  a  race 
of  mountaineers  made  a  longer  or  more  gallant 
stand  for  liberty.  When  the  sword  of  slaughter 
had  passed  over  them  to  smite  no  more — when  bet- 
ter times  and  better  feelings  came,  though,  as  less 
numerous  and  far  more  exjjosed,  they  had  been 
less  fortunate  than  the  Scots,  their  valor  entitled 
them  to  the  same  admiration  and  sympathy;  and 
perhaps  the  high  national  character  of  the  united 
kingdom  of  Great  Britain  may  be  in  part  owing  to 
the  fact,  that  no  one  ])ortion  of  it  fell  an  easy  or 
degraded  conquest  to  the  other. 

At  the  time  of  Edward's  aggression,  the  principal- 
ity of  North  Wales,  called  by  the  Welsh  tlie  princi- 
pality of  Aberfraw,  or  Snaudcn,  was  still  almost 
untouched  by  English  arms ;  but  the  conquerors 
had  established  themselves  in  iMonmouthshire,  and 
held  a  somewhat  uncertain  and  frequently  disturbed 
possession  of  a  good  part  of  South  Wales.  This 
occupation  had  been  etlccted  very  gradually  by  the 
great  barons  who  had  made  incursions  at  their  own 
expense,  and  with  their  own  retainers.  These 
lords  were  rewarded  witli  the  lands  they  gained 
from  the  Welsh,  and  which  tliey  defended  by 
erecting  sti'ong  castles.  As  they  advanced,  they 
raised  chains  of  fortifications,  building  their  castles 
sulTiciently  near  to  communicate  witli  and  support 
each  other.  Thus,  in  Monmouthshire,  a  regular 
chain  of  fortresses  was  occupied  on  the  banks  of 
the  Monnow,  the  W^'^e,  and  the  Severn  :  these 
were  Scenfreth,  Grosmont,  Monmouth,  Trelech, 
perhaps  Tintern,  Chepstow,  and  Caldecot.  A  sec- 
ond line  stretched  diagonally  from  Grosmont  on  the 
Monnow  to  the  banks  of  the  Rumney  ;  these  were 
Whitecastle,  Tregaer,  Usk,  Langibby,  Caerleon, 
and  Newport ;  this  diagonal  line,  with  the  strong 
castle  of  Abergavenny  to  the  north  of  it,  was  in- 
tended to  curb  the  mountaineers,  who  made  perpet- 
ual incursions  on  their  invaders.'  In  addition  to 
these  strong  fortresses,  many  smaller  castles  were 
constructed  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  natives 
in  awe.  The  more  advanced  posts  were  often  re- 
taken, and  tlie  day  when  one  of  these  castles  was 
destroyed  was  held  by  the  Welsh,  who  foresaw  the 
consequences  of  this  gradual  advance,  as  a  day  of 
universal  joy,  on  which  tlie  father,  who  had  just 
lost  his  only  son,  should  forget  his  misfortune.  But 
still  the  cliains  were  drawn  more  and  more  closely 
around  them  by  the  persevering  invaders;  and, 
since  the  conquest  of  Ireland,  extraordinary  pains 
had  been  taken  to  secure  the  whole  of  the  line 
through  South  Wales  to  Milford  Haven,  the  usual 
place  of  embarkation  for  the  sister  island.  In  the 
wilderness  of  the  Tivy,  and  in  many  of  the  more 
inaccessible  moors,  marshes,  and  mountains,  the 
invaders  were  still  defied;  and,  except  in  Pem- 
brokeshire, where  the  Flemish  colony  had  been 
settled  by  Henrj'  I.,  ond  in  the  lower  part  of  Mon- 

i  Coxe's  Moiimouthshire. 


mouthshire,  the  English  were  scarcely  safe  beyond 
the  walls  of  their  castles,  so  fierce  was  the  recol- 
lection of  past  wrongs,  and  so  enduring  the  hope  of 
the  southern  Welsh  to  recover  all  that  they  had 
lost.  But  the  jealousies  of  their  petty  princes,  and 
the  rancorous  feuds  of  the  clans,  defeated  all  their 
greater  projects;  and,  at  the  critical  moment  which 
was  to  seal  the  fate  of  the  whole  country,  Rees-ap- 
Meredith,  the  Prince  of  South  Wales,  was  induced 
to  join  Edward  and  fight  against  Llewellyn,  the 
ruler  of  the  northojn  principality,  and  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  rival  family.  Llewellyn,  moreover, 
was  opposed  by  his  own  brother  David,  wlio  also 
rallied,  Avith  his  vassals,  round  the  standard  of  the 
English  king. 

In  the  wars  between  Henry  IH.  and  the  barons, 
the  Prince  of  North  Wales  had  taken  i)art  with  the 
latter,  and  had  shown  himself  the  steady  friend  of 
De  Montfort.  A  body  of  northern  Welsh  had 
fought  for,  that  great  earl  against  Edward  at  the 
battle  of  Evesham ;  and  when  De  Montfort  was 
dead,  and  his  family  ruined  and  scattered,  Llewellyn 
still  retained  his  old  aftection  for  the  house,  and 
agreed  ujjon  a  marriage  witli  Elinor  de  Montfort. 
daughter  to  the  deceased  earl.  As  that  young  lady 
was  on  her  voyage  from  France  to  Wales,  witli 
Emeric  her  youngest  brother,  she  was  taken  by  four 
ships  of  Bristol,  and  was  sent  to  King  Edward's 
court,  where  both  brother  and  sister  were  detained 
as  prisoners.  Angry  feelings  had  existed  before, 
but  this  seizure  of  his  bride  transported  Llewellyn 
with  wrath,  and,  bitterly  complaining  of  the  wrong 
and  insult  which  had  been  done  to  him  in  a  time  of 
peace,  he  prepared  for  war.  According  to  some 
accounts,  he  began  hostilities  by  falling  upon  the 
I^nglish  on  his  borders,  killing  the  people,  and  burn- 
ing their  towns ;  but  this  is  not  quite  certain,  and. 
at  all  events,  Edward  had  long  been  employed  in 
making  preparations  for  conquest,  and,  what  was 
equally  notorious,  and  still  more  irritating  to  the 
unfortunate  prince,  he  had  been  intriguing  with 
Llewellyn's  subjects  and  corrupting  the  Welsli 
chiefs  with  bribes  and  promises.  As  to  the  ground 
of  quarrel  chosen  by  Edward,  it  was  quite  true  that 
Llewellyn  had  not  obeyed  the  summons  to  do 
homage  as  one  of  the  great  vassals  of  the  crown  ; 
but  he  had  acknowledged  the  duties  of  his  vassal- 
age, and  excused  his  non-attendance,  which  he 
said  had  solely  arisen  out  of  Edward's  violation  of 
a  solemn  treaty  which  had  been  concluded  by  the 
mediation  of  the  Pope. 

One  of  the  clauses  of  this  recent  treaty  had 
provided  that  neither  part}'  should  harbor  the 
enemies  or  revolted  subjects  of  the  other;  and 
Edward,  it  was  well  known,  had  given  shelter  and 
encouragement  to  all  the  enemies  of  Llewellyn, 
and  continued  to  receive  the  rebellious  Welsh  as 
personal  friends.  Llewellyn  said  that,  under  these 
circumstances,  his  life  would  be  in  danger  if  he 
ventured  to  the  King  of  England's  court,  and  he 
demanded  a  safe  conduct,  which  was  refused. 
After  the  seizure  of  his  bride  his  demands  naturally 
I  rose  :  he  asked  for  hostages  and  for  the  previous 
j  hberation  of  Elinor  de  Montfort,  and  then,  he  said, 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


673 


he  would  go  to  court.  But  Edward  did  not  want 
him  there  :  that  resolute  king  had  now  matured  his 
measures  for  the  subjugation  of  Wales.  He  had 
levied  a  line  army — his  parliament  had  pronounced 
the  sentence  of  forfeiture  against  Llewellyn  as  a 
rebel — it  had  also  voted  a  large  supply — and  the 
church  had  excommunicated  the  Welsh  prince.' 

In  A.D.  1277,  after  the  feast  of  Easter,  Edward 
departed  from  Westminster,  and  with  a  mighty 
force,  which  increased  as  he  advanced,  marched 
toward  Chester.  At  midsummer  he  crossed  the 
Dee,  and,  keeping  between  the  mountains  and  the 
sea,  took  the  two  castles  of  Flint  and  Rhuddlan. 
Cautious  in  the  extreme,  he  made  no  further  prog- 
ress until  he  had  repaired  these  fortresses  and 
strengthened  their  defences.  At  the  same  time 
his  fleet,  which  was  skilfully  managed  by  the  mari- 
ners of  the  Cinque  Ports,  cooperated  along  the 
devoted  coast,  blockading  everj'  port,  and  cutting 
off  the  supplies  which  Llewellyn  had  counted 
upon  receiving  from  the  Isle  of  Anglesey.  On  the 
land  side  every  outlet  was  strongly  guarded,  and 
the  Welsh  prince,  driven  to  the  mountains,  was  soon 
in  want  of  provisions.  Edward  prudently  avoided 
a  battle  with  desperate  men,  and,  girding  in  the 
barren  mountains,  waited  the  effects  of  a  surer  and 
more  dreadful  desti'oyer  than  the  sword.  When 
winter  made  its  approach  the  condition  of  Llewel- 
lyn was  horrible,  and  it  finally  obliged  him  to  throw 
himself  on  the  generosity  of  his  enemy.  On  the 
10th  of  November  Edward  dictated  his  harsh  terms 
at  Rhuddlan  Castle.  The  treaty  stipulated  that 
Llewellj-n  should  pay  fifty  thousand  pounds — that 
he  should  cede  the  whole  of  his  principality  as  far 
as  the  river  Conway — that  he  should  do  homage, 
and  deliver  hostages.  He  was  to  retain  the  Isle 
of  Anglesey;  but  even  that  remnant  was  to  revert 
to  the  English  crown  in  case  of  his  dying  without 
issue  male  ;  and  during  his  possession  he  Avas  to 
pay  for  it  an  annual  tribute  or  rent  of  one  thousand 
marks.^  The  English  king  afterward  remitted  the 
tremendous  fine,  which  so  poor  a  country  could 
never  have  paid,  and  resigned  his  claim  to  the  rent 
of  Anglesey ;  but  he  showed  no  great  alacrity  in 
making  these  concessions,  and  he  let  nearly  a  year 
elapse  before  he  pei'formed  his  promise  of  releasing 
Llewellyn's  bride. 

Such  treaties  as  that  imposed  on  this  occasion 
upon  the  Welsh  are  never  kept,  and  all  Edward's 
art  could  not  reconcile  either  the  prince  or  people 
to  the  sense  of  degradation.  He  gratified  Llewel- 
lyn's brother  David,  who  had  fought  for  him,  by 
marrjing  him  to  the  daughter  of  an  English  earl, 
and  making  him  an  English  baron  ;  but,  when  David 
stood  among  his  native  mountains,  he  forgot  this 
and  other  honors ;  he  cursed  his  own  folly,  which 
had  brought  ruin  upon  his  country,  and  had  excluded 
him  from  the  hope  of  succeeding,  either  in  his  own 
person  or  in  that  of  his  children,  to  the  principalitj.^ 
The  English  conquerors  were  not  sufficiently  re- 
fined to  exercise  their  power  with  moderation;  they 

'■  Rj'mer. — Wykes. — Chron.  Diinst. — Trivet. 

2  Rymer. — Hemingf — Trivet. 

s  Llewellyn,  it  appears,  haJ  no  children. 

VOL.  I. — 43 


derided  the  national  usages,  and  insulted  the  preju- 
dices of  a  susceptible  and  b-.ave  people.  The  inva- 
sion of  their  own  demesnes,  and  the  cutting  down 
of  the  wood  on  the  lands  i-eserved  to  them  by  treaty, 
exasperated  both  Llewellyn  and  David;  but  it  is 
perfectly  clear  that  had  these  princes  been  converted 
into  subservient  vassals,  or  won  by  the  kindest  treat- 
ment to  be  solicitous  for  the  preservation  of  the 
peace,  they  would  still  have  been  forced  into  war 
by  the  unanimous  feeling  of  the  Welsh  people. 
Superstition  allied  itself  with  patriotism,  and,  iu 
order  to  increase  the  popular  confidence,  certain 
old  prophecies  of  bards  and  seers  were  revived 
under  a  happy  coincidence  of  circumstances  which 
seemed  to  denote  a  speedy  accomplishment.  One 
of  these  mystic  predictions  imported  nothing  less 
than  that  the  ancient  race  should  recover  its  tradi- 
tional supremacy  in  the  island,  and  that  the  Prince 
of  Whales  should  be  crowned  king  in  London.  On 
the  night  of  Palm  Sunday,  3Iarch  the  2-Jd,  of  the 
year  1282,  David  surprised  and  took  the  strong 
castle  of  Hawardine,  belonging  to  Roger  Clifford, 
the  justiciary,  "a  right  worthy  and  famous  knight," 
according  to  the  English ;  a  cruel  tyrant,  according 
to  the  Welsh.  Several  men  who  made  resistance 
were  killed,  but  the  lord,  who  was  caught  in  his 
bed,  was  only  wounded,  and  then  carried  off  as 
a  prisoner.  A  general  insurrection  ensued :  the 
Welsh  rushed  in  arms  from  their  mountains,  and 
Llewellyn,  joining  his  brother,  laid  siege  to  the 
castles  of  Flint  and  Rhuddlan.  These  sti'ong  places 
held  out,  but  many  of  the  new  castles  were  taken 
and  destroyed,  and  the  English  intruders  were  in 
some  places  driven  across  the  marches.  Forgetting 
their  own  cruelties  and  oppressions  of  all  kinds,  the 
English  accused  the  Welsh  of  great  barbarity  iu 
this  brief  moment  of  success.  When  the  news 
was  carried  to  Edward  he  affected  surprise  ;  but  it 
has  been  suspected  that  he  was  not  displeased  with 
the  opportunity,  afforded  by  what  had  taken  place, 
of  making  his  conquest  final  and  absolute.  He  was 
in  want  of  mone}',  and  had  no  time  to  assemble  a 
parliament ;  he  therefore  had  recourse  to  the  very 
unconstitutional  means  of  a  forced  loan,  which  was 
levied,  not  only  on  towns  and  religious  establish- 
ments, but  also  on  private  individuals  who  Avere 
known  to  possess  money.  He  then  sent  out  com- 
missioners to  raise  an  army,  and  disj)atched  such 
troops  as  he  had  in  readiness  to  the  relief  of  Flint 
and  Rhuddlan.  He  soon  followed  in  person,  and 
having  assembled  nearly  all  his  military  tenants  and 
1000  pioneers,  he  advanced  into  North  Wales,  leav- 
ing his  fleet,  which  was  still  more  formidable  than 
in  the  preceding  wnr,  to  act  upon  the  coast,  and 
reduce  the  Isle  of  Anglesey.  His  pioneers  cut 
down  woods,  and  opened  roads  into  the  very  fast- 
nesses of  Snowdon,  whither  the  natives  were  again 
forced  to  retire.  Some  intrenched  positions  were 
carried,  but  not  without  a  great  loss ;  and  in  ono 
affair,  which  appears  to  have  been  a  regular  battle. 
Edward  was  completely  checked,  if  not  defeated. 
But  the  means  at  his  disposal  made  the  struggle 
too  unequal;  reinforcements  continually  crossed  the 
Dec,  or  came  up  from  the  coast,  and  he  procured 


Q-H 


HISTORY  OF  E.NGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


the  services  of  foreign  morcennries,  who  were  par-  \  hke  blood-hounds.  These  foreign  hordes  acted 
ticuliirly  well  suited  for  niouiitaiu  warfare.  These  where  the  regular  troops  of  the  English  king  could 
were  bands  of  Basques  from  the  Pyrenees,  whose  not ; — accustomed  in  their  own  country  to  mouu- 
method  of  lighting,  and  whose  general  habits  and  tains  far  more  rugged,  they  penetrated  into  every 
uiaiuiers  differed  little  from  those  of  the  Welsh  part  of  Snowdon,  and  the  last  bulwark  of  Welsh 
people,  whom  they  were  employed  to  hunt  down    independence  was  forced.    Edward,  chielly  by  means 


Summit  of  Snowdon. 


oi"  his  fleet  (the  Welsh  seem  to  have  had  no  ships 
to  oppose  it),  occupied  Anglesey  ;  but,  in  passing 
from  that  island  to  the  main,  a  detachment  of  his 
forces  sustained  a  severe  loss.  They  had  laid  down 
a  bridge  of  boats  across  the  Menai  Strait,  at  or  near 
to  the  place  where  Telford's  suspension-bridge, 
hanging  in  air,  now  affords  a  commodious  commu- 
nication between  the  opposite  shores ;  and  in  the 
absence  of  Edward,  who  was  at  Aberconway,  a 
party  of  English,  with  some  Gascon  lords  and  a 
body  of  Basques,  crossed  over  before  it  was  finished, 
making  part  of  their  way  by  wading  through  the 
water  when  the  tide  was  out.  The  Welsh,  who 
had  thrown  up  some  intrenchments  near  the  spot, 
permitted  them  to  land,  and  even  to  reconnoitre  their 
works ;  but  when  the  tide  rolled  in,  and  made  deep 
water  between  them  and  the  unfinished  bridge  of 
boats,  they  rushed  down  upon  them  and  drove  them 
into  the  sea,  where,  loaded  as  they  were  wMth 
armor,  many  of  them  wen-e  drowned.  Between 
the  sword  and  the  waves  there  perished  thirteen 
knights,  seventeen  esquires,  and  several  hundred 
foot-soldiers.  When  Edward  learned  this  sad  dis- 
aster, he  vowed  he  would  build  a  stone  bridge  at 
the  place :  but  such  an  undertaking  was  soon  found 
to  be  impracticable.  This  reverse  at  the  Menai 
Strait  happened  on  St.  Leonard's  day,  the  6th  of 
November.  In  another  battle,  Edward  himself  was 
worsted,  being  obliged  to  fly  for  protection  to  one 


of  his  castles,  leaving  the  lords  Audley  and  Clifford 
dead  on  the  field.  Llewellyn  was  elated  by  these 
successes,  and  he  fondly  hoped  that  the  severity 
of  winter  would  force  the  English  to  retire ;  but 
Edward  had  collected  a  strong  force  in  Pembroke- 
shire and  Carmarthen,  and  he  now  sent  it  orders 
to  advance  through  South  Wales,  and  attack  his 
enemy  in  the  rear.  Leaving  his  brother  David  to 
carry  on  the  war  in  North  Wales,  his  own  princi- 
pality, Llewellyn  boldly  turned  his  steps  to  the  south 
to  meet  the  new  invaders.  This  movement  may 
possibly  have  been  recommended  by  false  friends; 
and  there  certainly  is  an  appearance  of  treachery  in 
what  followed.  He  had  reached  Bualth,  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Wj-e,  when  the  English,  under  the  savage 
Earl  of  Mortimer,  appeared  suddenly  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  river.  A  W^elsh  force  was  on  the 
neighboring  heights,  but  the  prince  had  been  left 
with  only  a  few  followers.  The  English  crossed 
the  river  and  surprised  liim  before  he  had  time  to 
put  on  his  armor;  he  was  murdered,  rather  than 
slain  in  battle.  They  cut  off  his  head  and  sent  it 
to  Edward,  who  forwarded  it  to  London,  there  to 
be  placed  on  the  Tower,  with  a  crown  of  willow,  in 
mockej-y  of  the  prophecy  of  his  coronation. 

The  struggle  for  liberty  did  not,  however,  end 
with  this  unfortunate  prince.  In  spite  of  the  sub- 
mission of  most  of  the  Welsh  chiefs,  his  brother 
David  still  kept  his  sword  in  his  hand,  and  for  six 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


675 


months  he  wandered  a  free  man  over  his  native 
wilds.  At  last  he  was  betrayed  by  some  unpatriotic 
Welshmen,  and  with  his  wife  and  children  carried 
in  chains  to  the  castle  of  Rhuddlan.  In  the  month 
of  September  following,  an  English  parliament  as- 
sembled by  Edward  at  Shrewsbury,  pronounced 
the  doom — not  of  the  last  champion  of  Welsh  inde- 
pendence (for  Madoc  and  others  soon  followed) — 
but  of  the  last  sovereign  prince  of  one  of  the  most 
ancient  ruling  families  of  Europe.  He  was  sen- 
tenced— 1st.  To  be  dragged  by  a  horse  to  the  pla«e 
of  execution,  because  he  was  a  traitor  to  the  king, 
who  had  made  him  a  knight.  2dly.  To  be  hanged, 
because  he  had  murdered  the  knights  in  Hawardine 
Castle.  3dly.  To  have  his  bowels  burned,  because 
he  had  done  the  deed  on  Palm  Sunday,  the  season 
of  Christ's  passion.  4thly.  To  be  quartered,  and 
have  his  limbs  hung  up  in  different  places,  because 
he  had  conspired  the  death  of  his  lord  the  king  in 
various  parts.  The  sentence  was  executed  to  the 
letter,  and  it  remained  for  many  ages  a  revolting 
precedent  in  cases  of  high  treason.^ 

Edward  had  far  more  patience  and  prudence  than 
'  Ilemiiigf. — Chrou.  Dunst. — Rvnier. — Carte. 


was  common  to  the  warriors  and  conquerors  of  his 
time ;  and  he  devised  wise  means  for  retaining  pos- 
session of  what  he  had  gained  by  force.  He  did  not 
move  from  Wales  until  more  than  a  year  after  the 
death  of  Llewellyn,  and  he  spent  the  greater  part 
of  that  time  in  dividing  the  country  into  shires  and 
hundreds,  after  the  manner  of  England,  and  restor- 
ing order  and  tranquillity.  Immediately  after  the 
affair  of  Bualth,  he  published  a  jn-oclamation,  offering 
peace  to  all  the  inhabitants,  giving  them  at  the  same 
time  assurances  that  they  should  continue  to  enjoy 
all  their  lands,  liberties,  and  properties  as  they  had 
done  before.  He  seems  even  to  have  lightened  the 
taxes  they  paid  to  their  native  princes.  Some  of 
the  ancient  usages  of  the  country  were  respected, 
but,  generally  speaking,  the  laws  of  England  were 
introduced  and  enforced.  He  gave  charters  with 
great  privileges  to  various  trading  companies  in  Rhud- 
dlan, Caernarvon,  Aberystwith,  and  other  towns, 
with  the  view  of  encouraging  trade  and  tempting 
the  Welsh  from  their  mountains,  and  their  wild, 
free  way  of  living,  to  a  more  social  and  submissive 
state.  When  his  wife  Eleanor  bore  him  a  son  in 
the  castle  of  Caernarvon,  he  adroitly  availed  him- 


Caersarvon  Castle. 


.^elf  of  that  circumstance,  by  presenting  the  infant 
Edward  to  the  people  as  their  countryman,  and 
telling  them  that  he  who  was  born  among  them 
should  be  their  prince.  The  Welsh  chiefs  expected 
that  this  "  Prince  of  Wales"  would  have  the  sepa- 
rate government  of  their  country,  for  Alphonso,  an 
elder  brother  of  the  infant  Edward,  was  then  alive, 
and  the  acknowledged  heir  to  the  English  crown. 
For  some  time  they  indulged  in  this  dream  of  a  re- 
stored  independence,  and  professed,  and  probably 


felt,  a  great  attachment  to  the  young  Edward ;  but 
Prince  Alphonso  died;  the  illusion  was  also  dissi- 
pated by  other  circumstances,  and,  in  the  sequel, 
the  Welsh-born  prince  came  to  be  regarded  by  his 
countrymen  with  very  different  feelings  from  either 
pride  or  affection. 

King  Edward  strongly  fortified  the  two  castles  of 
Caernarvon  and  Conway,  and  built  some  other  for- 
tresses, all  which  places  he  supplied  with  good  gar- 
risons and   stores  of   provisions.      To   secure    his 


676 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


conquest  from  the  incursions  of  the  people  of  Snow- 
don,  he  divided  most  of  the  lands  at  the  foot  of  that 
mountain  among  his  great  English  barons,  and  the>' 
again  subdivided  them  among  their  officers  and 
vassals,  wlio  held  them  in  lief,  and  built  other  cas- 
tles and  towers  for  tlieir  defence.  But  these  tyran- 
nical lords  and  greedy  retainers  could  not  follow  the 
examjjle  of  the.  king's  moderation;  and  their  cruel 
excesses  and  their  insulting  demeanor  toward  the 
Welsh,  continually  provoked  hostilities,  and  kept 
alive  feelings  which  frequently  vented  themselves  in 
deeds  of  a  savage  enough  character,  tliougli  scarcely 
more  lawless  than  the  oppressions  out  of  which  they 
arose. 

After  the  subjugation  of  Wales,  Edward's  ambi- 
tion rested  for  about  four  years — three  of  which  he 
passed  almost  wholly  on  the  continent,  where  lie  was 
honorably  engaged  as  umpire  to  settle  a  fresh  dis- 
pute which  had  arisen  between  the  kings  of  France 
and  Arragon,  and  the  house  of  Anjou,  respecting 
the  island  of  Sicily.  His  ability  and  conduct  in 
this  matter  gained  him  a  great  increase  of  re|)uta- 
tion  among  foreign  princes  ;'  but  the  affairs  of  his 
own  kingdom  fell  into  disorder;  the  English  people 
complained  that  he  neglected  their  interests  to  take 
charge  of  what  did  not  concern  them;  and  the  Par- 
liament at  last  refused  him  a  supply  which  he  had 
asked.  The  king  then  returned  in  haste,  and,  al- 
most immediately  after,  he  involved  himself  in  the 
affairs  of  Scotland,  which,  with  a  few  short  inter- 
vals, entirely  occupied  him  all  tlie  rest  of  his  reign. 

Before  proceeding,  however,  to  this  part  of  tlie 
story  of  the  English  king,  it  will  be  most  convenient 
to  resume  our  Scottish  narrative  from  the  point  to 
which  we  brought  it  down  in  the  last  Book.^ 

The  reign  of  Alexander  H.,  who  succeeded  to 
the  throne  in  1-214,  will  not  detain  us  long.  After 
the  death  of  .John,  the  King  of  Scots  continued  to 
cooperate  with  Prince  Louis  of  France  and  the 
confederated  English  barons ;  and  he  himself,  his 
whole  army,  and  kingdom  were,  in  consequence, 
excommunicated  by  the  legate  Gualo ;  but  the  sen- 
tence seems  to  have  been  very  little  minded  either 
by  the  people  or  their  clergy.  It  was  not  even  pub- 
lished by  the  latter  till  almost  a  twelvemonth  had 
passed.  In  the  mean  time  Louis  made  j)eace  with 
Henry,  without  giving  himself  any  concern  about 
his  ally.  On  this,  Alexander,  who  was  on  his  march 
into  England,  returned  home.  He  soon  after,  how- 
ever, effected  his  reconciliation  both  with  the  Pope 
and  the  new  king  of  England.  On  the  1st  of  De- 
cember, 1217,  he  received  absolution  from  the  dele- 
gates of  Gualo  at  Tweedmouth  ;  and  at  the  same 
time  he  surrendered  to  Henry  the  town  of  Carlisle, 
of  which,  although  not  of  the  castle,  he  had  made 
himself  master,  and  did  homage  for  the  earldom  of 
Huntingdon  and  his  other  honors  and  possessions  in 
England.  On  the  25th  of  June,  1221,  Alexander 
married  the  Princess  Joan,  Henry's  eldest  sister. 
A  long  period  of  uninterrupted  peace  and  amity 
between  the  two  countries  was  the  consequence  of 
these  arrangements.      Some   insurrections  or  dis- 

1  Rymer  — Mezeray,  llist.  Franc— Giannone,  Storia  dsl  Re^no  di 
Napuli-  •  »  Sec  autr,  p.  5^7. 


turbances  in  the  as  yet  onlj'  half-subdued  provinces 
of  Argyle,  Caithness,  Moray,  and  (ialloway,  all  of 
which  were  successively  supjiressed,  are  almost  the 
only  events  tliat  mark  the  history  of  the  northern 
kingdom  for  the  next  twelve  or  thirteen  years.  The 
most  serious  of  these  provincial  conuuotions  was  the 
last,  which  broke  out  in  Galloway,  in  1233,  upon 
the  death  of  Alan,  Constable  of  Scotland,  the  lord  of 
that  district,  leaving  three  daughters,  but  no  male 
heir.  This  Alan  of  (ialloway  occupies  an  important 
place  in  Scottish  historj',  in  consequence  of  his  mar- 
riage with  iNIargaret,  the  eldest  of  the  three  daugh- 
ters, and  eventual  lieiresses,  of  David,  Earl  of 
Huntingdon,  the  brother  of  William  the  Lion  ;  u 
connection  through  which  Dervorgoil,  his  eldest 
daughter  by  that  marriage,  transmitted,  as  we  shall 
presently  find,  to  her  descendants  the  lineal  right  of 
succession  to  the  throne.  On  the  death  of  their 
lord,  the  Gallowegians  rose  in  resistance  to  the  par- 
tition of  their  country  among  his  legitimate  heirs  ; 
and,  placing  at  their  head  Thomas,  a  bastard  sou 
of  Alan,  who  was  aided  by  an  Irish  chief  named 
Gilrodh  (or  Ciilderoj-),  they  did  not  even  wait  to  be 
attacked  by  the  Scottish  king,  who  was  marching 
against  them,  but  rushed  forth  from  their  mountains 
with  Celtic  fury,  and  proceeded  to  ravage  the  adja- 
cent country.  They  even  contrived  to  surround 
Alexander,  when  he  had  got  entangled  among  mo- 
rasses, and  he  was  in  imminent  danger  till  the  Earl 
of  Ross  came  to  his  assistance,  and,  assaulting  the 
rebels  in  tlie  rear,  discomfited  them  with  great 
slaughter.  This  victory  put  an  end  to  the  insurrec- 
tion for  the  present.  The  following  year,  however, 
Thomas  and  Gilrodh,  who  had  both  escaped  to  Ire- 
land, returned  with  a  fresh  force,  and  renewed  the 
war.  But  this  second  attempt  was  soon  checked : 
the  two  leaders  were  pardoned  on  their  surrender; 
their  Irish  followers,  crowding  toward  the  Clyde,  in 
the  hope  of  being  able  to  find  a  passage  to  their  own 
country,  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  band  of  the  citizens 
of  Glasgow,  who  are  said  to  have  beheaded  them 
all,  with  the  exception  only  of  two,  whom  they  sent 
to  Edinburgh  to  be  hanged  and  quartered  there. 

Notwithstanding  the  alliance  that  connected  Alex- 
ander and  Henry,  and  the  friendship  and  frequtiut 
intercourse  in  which  they  lived — for  the  King  of 
Scots  made  repeated  visits  to  the  English  court — no 
final  settlement  of  their  claims  upon  each  other  had 
yet  taken  place.  It  was  not  till  September,  1237, 
that  at  a  conference,  held  at  York,  it  was  agreed 
that  Alexander,  who,  among  other  things,  laid  claim, 
by  right  of  inheritance,  to  the  counties  of  Northum- 
berland, Cumberland,  and  W^estmoreland,  should 
receive  lauds  in  the  two  former  of  the  yearly  value 
of  two  hundred  pounds  in  full  satisfaction  of  all  his 
demands.  The  following  year  (4th  March,  1238) 
Queen  Joan,  who  had  been  long  in  a  declining  state, 
died  at  Canterbury.  She  had  left  no  issue,  and 
within  little  more  than  a  year  (15th  May,  1239) 
Alexander  married  again  :  his  new  queen  was  Mary, 
daughter  of  Ingelram  de  Couci,  a  great  lord  of 
Picardy.  The  chief  bond  that  had  attached  the 
two  kings  was  thus  snapped  ;  and  Mary  de  Couci 
whose  family  had  been  distinguished  for  its  opposL- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


677 


tion  to  the  English  interests,  is,  beside,  supposed 
to  have  exercised  an  unfavorable  influence  over  the 
mind  of  her  husband.  It  was  some  years,  however, 
liefore  the  old  friendship  that  had  subsisted  between 
liim  and  Henry  wholly  gave  way;  even  in  1242  we 
find  Henry,  when  about  to  set  out  on  his  expedition 
to  France,  confiding  to  Alexander  the  care  of  the 
northern  borders.  But  in  this  same  year  an  event 
occurred  which  is  especially  memorable  for  the  con- 
sequences attributed  to  it.  An  old  feud  had  existed 
between  the  Bissets,  a  powerful  family  in  the  north 
of  Scotland,  and  the  House  of  Athole.  At  a  tour- 
nament held  at  Haddington,  Patrick,  Earl  of  Athole, 
a  youth  distinguished  for  his  knightly  accomplish- 
ments, chanced  to  overthrow  Walter  Bissct.  Within 
a  day  or  two  after  the  Earl  of  Athole  was  found 
murdered  in  the  house  where  he  lodged,  which 
was  also  set  on  fire.  Suspicion  immediately  fell 
upon  the  Bissets :  the  nobility,  headed  by  the  Earl 
of  March,  immediately  raised  an  armed  force,  and 
demanded  the  life  both  of  Walter  and  of  his  uncle 
William  Bisset,  the  chief  of  the  family.  It  appears 
pretty  certain  that  the  latter  at  least  was  innocent 
of  any  participation  in  the  murder:  he  urged,  what 
seems  to  have  been  the  fact,  that  he  was  not  within 
fifty  miles  of  Haddington  when  it  was  committed  : 
he  offered  to  maintain  his  innocence  by  the  wager 
of  battle ;  and,  still  further  to  clear  himself,  he  had 
sentence  of  excommunication  against  the  murderers 
published  both  in  his  own  chapel  and  in  all  the 
churches  of  the  kingdom.  It  seems  to  liave  been 
against  him,  nevertheless,  that  the  rage  both  of  the 
connections  of  Athole  and  of  the  people  generally 
was  chiefly  turned  ;  the  savage  notions  of  the  period 
could  not  view  what  had  taken  place  in  any  other 
light  than  as  a  gi'ouud  for  hunting  to  death  the  whole 
kindred  of  the  supposed  criminal;  and  the  head  of 
his  family,  as  higher  game,  was  naturally,  in  the 
spirit  of  this  mode  of  considering  the  matter,  pur- 
sued even  with  more  eagerness  than  himself.  The 
king,  however,  seems  to  have  felt  the  injustice  of 
the  popular  clamor;  he  interposed  for  Bisset's  pro- 
tection ;  and  even  the  queen,  according  to  Fordun, 
ottered  to  make  oath  that  he  had  no  part  in  devising 
the  crime  ;  that  is  to  say,  she  was  so  convinced  of 
his  innocence  that  she  was  willing  to  come  forward 
as  one  of  his  compurgators,  if  the  case  should  be 
submitted  to  that  mode  of  trial.  The  opposite  party, 
however,  seem  to  have  declined  submitting  the  ques- 
tion to  decision  either  by  compurgation  or  by  com- 
bat :  they  insisted  that  it  should  be  brought  before  a 
jury;  so  that  this  affair  is  remarkable,  in  addition  to 
its  other  points  of  interest,  as  a  memorial  of  all  the 
three  great  forms  of  judicial  procedure  in  criminal 
cases  Avhich  were  then  in  use.  Bisset  refused  the 
trial  by  jury,  "on  account  of  the  malevolence  of  the 
people,  and  the  implacable  resentment  of  his  ene- 
mies." At  last,  by  the  exertions  of  the  king,  it  was 
agreed  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  escape  with  his 
life  on  condition  of  forfeiting  his  estates  and  leaving 
the  country.  But  he  was  still,  notwithstanding,  in 
the  gi-eatest  danger  from  the  secret  determination 
of  his  enemies  to  have  his  blood  ;  and  it  was  only  by 
remaining  in  concealment  under  the  royal  protec- 


tion for  about  three  months,  that  he  was  at  last  ena- 
bled to  make  his  escape  to  England.  Whatever 
may  have  been  his  injuries,  he  now  certainly  showed 
little  nobleness  of  character.  Stung,  possibly,  with 
an  indignant  sense  of  the  injustice  he  had  experi- 
enced, he  sought  to  avenge  himself  on  his  enemies 
at  the  expense  not  only  of  his  country  but  of  its 
king,  to  whose  zealous  and  energetic  interposition 
in  his  favor  he  owed  his  life.  It  is  said  that  he 
made  his  appeal  to  the  King  of  England  against  the 
judgment  that  had  been  passed  on  him,  on  the  plea 
that  "Alexander,  being  the  vassal  of  Henry,  had  no 
right  to  inflict  such  punishment  on  liis  nobles  with- 
out the  permission  of  his  liege  lord  ;"  and  that,  at  the 
same  time,  he  further  endeavored  to  excite  Henry 
against  the  Scottish  king,  by  describing  the  latter  as 
devoted  to  the  interests  of  France,  and  quoting  in- 
stances in  which,  as  he  afiirmed,  English  traitors 
who  had  escaped  from  prison  were  received  and 
harbored  at  the  northern  court.' 

These  insidious  representations  may  not  improb- 
ably have  had  some  part,  along  Avith  other  causes, 
in  fomenting  the  hostile  disposition  which  Henry 
not  long  after  openly  showed.  At  length,  having 
fully  arranged  his  plans,  he  proclaimed  war  against 
Alexander  in  1244,  and  assembling  a  numerous  army 
at  Newcastle,  prepared  to  invade  Scotland.  Some 
troops,  which  had  been  sent  to  the  assistance  of 
Alexander  by  his  brother-in-law,  John  de  Couci,  had 
been  intercepted  by  Henry,  who  had  also  organized 
a  confederacy  of  Irish  chiefs  to  aid  him  in  his  enter- 
prise, by  making  a  descent  upon  the  Scottish  coast ; 
but  the  country,  nevertheless,  prepared  to  make  a 
vigorous  resistance.  The  contemporary  English 
historian,  Matthew  Paris,  has  given  us  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  force  with  which  Alexander  marched  to 
oppose  the  invasion.  "  His  army,"  he  says,  "  was 
numerous  and  brave ;  he  had  1000  horsemen,  toler- 
ably mounted,  though  not,  indeed,  on  Spanish  or 
Italian  horses  ;  his  infantry  approached  to  100,000, 
all  unanimous,  all  animated,  by  the  exhortations  of 
their  clergy,  and  by  confession,  courageously  to  fight 
and  resolutely  to  die  in  the  just  defence  of  their 
native  land."  The  sword,  however,  was  not  drawn, 
after  all ;  a  negotiation  took  place  between  the  two 
kings,  and  a  peace  was  concluded  at  Newcastle 
(i:3th  August),  by  Avhicli  Alexander  agreed  always 
to  bear  good  faith  and  love  to  his  dear  and  liege  lord, 
Henry  King  of  England,  and  never  to  enter  into  alli- 
ance with  the  enemies  of  Henry  or  of  his  heirs, 
unless  they  should  unjustly  aggrieve  him.- 

The  only  event  of  the  reign  of  Alexander  which 
remains  to  bo  noticed,  is  a  contest  into  which  he 
entered,  in  1248,  with  Angus,  Lord  of  Argyle,  with 
the  view  of  compelling  that  chief  to  transfer  to  the 
Scottish  crown  the  homage  which  he  had  been  wont 
to  render  for  certain  of  the  western  islands  to  the 

1  Ilailcs,  Ann.  of  Scot.  i.  188-190.— Tytler,  Hist,  of  Scot.  i.  4-6. 

2  Nisi  nos  injuste  pravent.  Dr.  Liiigard  describes  this  treaty  as 
"  an  arrangement  by  wliicli,  though  he  eluded  the  express  recognition 
of  feudal  dependence,  he  (Alexander)  seems  to  have  conceded  to 
Henry  the  substance  of  his  demand."  In  fact,  "the  express  rccn^i- 
tion  of  feudal  dependence"  was  not  at  all  eluded  by  Alexander;  it  was 
made  in  the  most  distinct  terms,  but  it  was  not  made  for  the  kingdom 
of  Scotland,  and  therefore  it  was  Henry,  not  Alexander,  who  conceded 
the  point  in  dispute.  i 


678 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


King  of  Norway.  The  position  of  Angus  was  a  very 
difficult  one  ;  he  was  the  vassal  of  both  sovereigns, 
for  diUerent  parts  of  his  possessions;  and  if  he  con- 
sented to  the  demand  of  Alexander,  he  was  as  sure 
to  draw  down  upon  himself  the  vengeance  of  the 
Norwegian  king  as  he  was  to  incur  Alexander's  hos- 
tility if  he  refused.  In  these  circumstances  he 
seems  to  have  considered  it  the  most  expedient, 
perhaps  also  the  fairest  and  most  reasonable  course, 
to  decline  moving  from  his  existing  engagements. 
Alexander's  first  expedition  against  him  seems  to 
have  proved  unsuccessful ;  but  he  renewed  the  at- 
tempt the  following  year.  He  was  engaged  in  this 
war  when  he  was  taken  ill,  and  died  in  the  island 
of  Kerarry,  near  the  Sound  of  Mull,  on  the  8th  of 
July,  1249,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age  and  thirty- 
fifth  of  his  reign.  "  Alexander,"  says  Matthew 
Paris,  "was  a  devout,  ui)right,  and  courteous  person, 
justly  beloved  by  all  the  English  nation,  no  less  than 
by  liis  own  subjects."  It  seems  to  liavc  been  to 
this  general  regard  entertained  for  him  by  the  Eng- 
lish nobility  and  people  that  Henry's  abandonment 
of  his  scheme  of  invading  Scotland  a  few  years 
before  was  in  part  owing  ;  for  it  is  said  that  the  peace 
of  Newcastle  was  brought  about  by  the  mediation 
of  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  and  other  noblemen.  Hen- 
ry's barons  coilld  feel  little  pride  or  interest  in  sup- 
porting the  projects  of  their  own  imbecile  sovereign 
against  the  Scottish  king ;  and  some  of  them  also, 
no  doubt,  still  remembered  their  old  association  of 
arms  with  Alexander  against  Henry  and  the  tyrant, 
his  father.  Alexander,  like  most  of  the  other  Scot- 
tish kings  of  those  times,  stood  up  throughout  his 
reign  for  the  independence  of  the  national  church, 
with  great  spirit.  Although  a  favorer  of  the  clergy, 
however,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  gone  into  any 
extravagant  expenditure  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
their  order.  He  founded,  indeed,  no  fewer  than 
eight  monasteries  for  the  Dominicant  or  Black 
Friars  ;  and  Boece  supposes  that  his  partiality  to 
these  mendicants  may  have  been  occasioned  by  his 
having  seen  their  founder,  St.  Dominic,  in  France, 
about  the  year  1-217.  "  The  sight  of  a  living  saint," 
observes  Lord  Hailes,  >•  may  have  made  an  impres- 
sion on  his  young  mind  ;  but  perhaps  he  considered 
the  mendicant  friars  as  the  clieapest  ecclesiastics  ; 
his  revenues  could  not  supply  the  costly  institution 
of  Cistertians  and  canons  regular,  in  which  his  great 
grandfather,  David  I.,  took  delight." 

Alexander  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by  his  only 
son,  Alexander  III.,  who  was  born  at  Roxburgh  on 
the  4th  of  September,  1241,  and  was  now  conse- 
quently only  in  his  ninth  year.  There  was  reason 
to  apjn-ehend  that  the  King  of  England  might  en- 
deavor to  take  advantage  of  this  occasion  to  renew 
his  cittempt  against  the  independence  of  the  king- 
dom ;  and,  therefore,  by  the  patriotic  advice  of  Will- 
iam Comyn,  Earl  of  Menteith,  no  time  was  lost  in 
proceeding  to  the  coronation  of  the  young  king.  The 
ceremony  took  place  at  Scone  on  the  13th  of  July, 
the  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews  knighting  the  king  as 
well  as  placing  the  crown  on  his  head.  Some  of 
the  other  forms  that  were  observed  are  curiously 
illustrative  of  the  checkered  intermixture  of  the  two 


opposite  colors  of  nationality  now  contending  with 
one  another  in  Scotland — the  old  Celtic  spirit  and 
usages,  and  the  recently  imported  Anglo-Norman 
civilization.  After  the  coronation  oath,  for  instance, 
had  been  administered  to  the  king  both  in  Latin  and 
in  French,  the  language  of  the  nobility,  he  was 
placed  upon  the  sacred  stone  of  destiny,  which  stood 
before  the  cross  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  church, 
and  while  he  there  sate,  with  the  crown  on  his  head 
and  the  sceptre  in  his  hand,  a  gray-headed  High- 
land bard,  stepping  forth  from  the  crowd,  addressed 
to  him  a  long  genealogical  recitation  in  the  Gaelic 
tongue,  in  which,  beginning,  "  Hail  Alexander,  King 
of  Albion,  son  of  Alexander,  son  of  William,  son  of 
David,"  &c.,he  carried  up  the  royal  pedigree  through 
all  its  generations  to  the  legendary  Gathelus,  who 
married  Scota,  the  daughter  of  Pharaoh,  and  was 
the  contemporary  of  Moses.  It  may  be  doubted  if 
Alexander  understood  a  word  of  this  savage  pa^an, 
but  he  is  recorded  to  have  expressed  his  gratifica- 
tion by  liberally  rewarding  the  venerable  rhapsodist. 

It  would  serve  no  useful  end  to  load  our  pages 
with  any  detail  of  the  intricate,  and  in  great  part 
very  imperfectly  intelligible  struggles  of  adverse 
factions  that  jnake  up  the  history  of  the  kingdom 
during  this  as  during  every  other  minority  in  those 
times.  It  is  sufficient  to  st.ite  that  at  the  head  of 
one  of  the  two  great  contending  parties  was  the 
powerful  family  of  the  Comyns,  of  which  name  it 
is  said  there  were  at  this  time  in  Scotland  no  fewer  s 
than  thirty-two  knights,  several  of  whom  were 
barons  ;  the  Baliols,  among  others,  were  adherents  of 
this  party  ;  among  their  most  distinguished  oppo- 
nents were  the  Earl  of  March  and  Dunbar,  the  Earl 
of  Strathern,  the  Earl  of  Carrick,  tJie  Bruces,  the 
Stew-ard  of  Scotland,  and  Alan  Durward.  who  held 
the  ofifice  of  Great  Justiciary,  and  Avas  also  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  soldiers  of  the  age.  But 
many  of  the  nobility  were  constantlj-  changing  sides, 
accoi'ding  to  the  course  and  apparent  chances  of  the 
contest.  The  King  of  England  also  soon  found  a  fair 
pretence  for  interfering  in  Scottish  affairs,  by  giving 
his  daughter  Margaret  in  marriage  to  Alexander, 
according  to  an  agreement  which  had  been  entered 
into  soon  after  the  births  of  the  prince  and  the  prin- 
cess. Although  neither  part}-  was  yet  quite  eleven 
years  old,  the  nuptials  were  celebrated  at  York  with 
great  magnificence,  on  the  26th  of  Decembcj',  1251. 
Matthew  Paris  assures  us  that  six  hundred  oxen, 
given  by  the  Archbishop  of  York  to  furnish  part  of 
the  marriage  feast,  were  all  consumed  upon  the 
first  course  !  Men  were  heroic  eaters  in  those  days, 
certainly ;  but  it  will  probably  be  admitted  that  the 
historian  has  judged  prudentl}^  in  not  entering  into 
further  particulars,  lest,  as  he  saj's,  his  narrative 
"  might  become  hyperbolical,  and  produce  irony  in 
the  hearts  of  the  absent." 

On  this  occasion  Alexander,  according  to  custom, 
did  homage  to  Henry  for  his  English  possessions ; 
but  when  the  latter  demanded  homage  also  for  the 
kingdom  of  Scotland,  the  young  Scottish  sovereign, 
with  a  spirit  and  firmness  remarkable  for  his  years, 
said,  "  that  he  had  been  invited  to  York  to  marry 
the  princess  of  England,  not  to  treat  of  aflairs  of 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


679 


state  ;  and  that  he  could  not  take  a  step  so  important 
without  the  knowledge  and  approbation  of  his  par- 
hament."  It  was  agreed,  however,  that  Henry,  in 
consideration  apparently  of  his  natural  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  his  son-in-law,  should  send  a  person 
in  whom  he  placed  confidence  to  Scotland,  who 
might  act  in  concert  with  the  Scottish  guardians  of 
the  young  king.  He  sent,  accordingly,  Geoffrey  of 
Langley,  keeper  of  the  royal  forests,  a  man  who 
had  already  acquired  the  worst  reputation  in  Eng- 
land by  the  severity  with  which  he  exercised  the 
powers  of  his  odious  office  ;  but  the  Scottish  barons, 
finding  his  insolence  intolerable,  soon  compelled  him 
to  leave  the  country. 

In  1255  we  find  the  English  king  dispatching  a 
new  mission  to  Scotland,  under  pretence  of  inquiring 
into  certain  grievances  complained  of  by  the  queen, 
his  daughter.  At  this  time  Robert  de  Ros  and  John 
de  Baliol,  two  noblemen  of  the  Comyn  party,  appear 
to  have  been  at  the  head  of  government  under  the 
name  of  regents.  Queen  Margaret  complained  that 
she  was  confined  in  the  castle  of  Edinburgh — a  sad 
and  solitary  place — without  verdure,  and  by  reason 
of  its  vicinity  to  the  sea,  unwholesome ;  that  she 
was  not  permitted  to  make  excursions  through  the 
kingdom,  nor  to  choose  her  female  attendants  ;  and 
that,  although  both  she  and  her  husband  had  by  this 
time  completed  their  fourteenth  year,  they  were 
still  excluded  from  each  other's  society.  By  a 
scheme  concerted  between  Henry  and  the  party 
opposed  to  the  Comyns,  the  Earl  of  March,  Dur- 
ward,  and  other  leaders  of  that  party  soon  after  this 
contrived  to  surprise  the  castle  of  Edinburgh,  and 
to  get  possession  of  the  king  and  queen.  They 
ware  immediately  conveyed  to  the  north  of  Eng- 
land, where  Henry  was  with  an  army  ;  and  at  last, 
in  a  meeting  of  the  two  kings  at  Roxburgh  (20th 
September,  1255),  a  new  plan  of  government  was 
settled,  to  subsist  for  seven  years,  that  is,  till  Alex- 
ander should  have  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one, 
by  which  all  the  Comyns  were  deprived  of  office, 
and  the  earls  of  Fife,  Dunbar,  Strathern,  and  Car- 
rick,  Alexander  the  Steward  of  Scotland,  Robert 
de  Bruce,  Alan  Durward,  and  other  principal  per- 
sons of  the  same  faction,  were  appointed  regents 
of  the  kingdom  and  guardians  of  the  king  and  queen. 

This  settlement  appears  to  have  been  maintained 
for  about  two  years  ;  but,  in  1257,  a  counter-revolu- 
tion was  effected  through  the  junction  with  the 
Comyns  of  Mary  de  Couci,  Alexander's  mothei", 
who  had  married  John  de  Brienne,  son  of  the  titu- 
ular  king  of  Jerusalem,  and  had  lately  returned  from 
abroad,  animated  with  all  her  old  hereditary  hatred 
of  the  English  influence,  and  strengthened  both  by 
her  new  alliance  and  by  the  favor  and  countenance 
of  the  Pope.  The  lately  expelled  faction  now  sud- 
denly rose  in  arras,  seized  the  king  and  queen 
at  Kinross,  and  so  completely  carried  everything 
before  them  that  the  principal  adherents  of  the 
Enghsh  intei-est  all  found  it  necessary  to  save  them- 
selves by  instant  flight.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that,  with  whatever  justice  or  by  whatever  means, 
the  Comyns  contrived  to  make  theirs  appear  to  be 
the   patriotic    cause,  and   to  gain,  at   least  for  the 


moment,  the  popular  voice.  They  probably  made 
use  of  the  old  cry  of  independence,  and  worked 
upon  the  sensitive  national  jealousy  of  England  with 
good  effect.  Even  the  king,  now  that  he  was  in 
their  hands,  was  of  course  compelled  to  act  along 
with  them,  and  to  submit  to  be  their  instrument. 
They  put  him  at  the  head  of  their  forces,  and 
marched  toward  the  English  border,  where  it  would 
appear  that  the  adherents  of  the  late  government 
had  rallied  and  collected  their  strength.  No  con- 
test of  arms,  however,  took  place  ;  the  dispute  was 
eventually  settled  by  negotiation  ;  and  it  was  agreed 
that  while  the  chief  power  should  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  Comyns  and  the  queen-dowager,  to 
six  regents  of  this  party  should  be  added  four  of 
the  members  of  the  late  government.  Mary  de 
Couci  and  her  husband  were  placed  at  the  head  of 
this  new  regency. 

The  coalition  thus  formed  seems  to  have  sub- 
stantially subsisted  till  the  king  came  of  age,  and 
took  the  management  of  affairs  into  his  own  hands, 
although,  shortly  after  the  new  government  was 
established,  the  Comyns  lost  their  great  leader, 
Walter,  Earl  of  Menteith,  poisoned,  as  was  sus- 
pected, by  his  countess  :  the  unhapjjy  woman  was 
believed  to  have  been  instigated  to  the  commission 
of  this  crime  by  a  passion  she  had  formed  for  one 
John  Russell,  an  Englishman  of  obscure  birth  accord- 
ing to  Boece,  whom  she  soon  afterward  married.  In 
1260,  on  the  Queen  of  Scots  becoming  pregnant, 
she  and  her  husband  were  permitted  to  go  to  her 
father  in  London,  Henry  engaging  that  neither  the 
king  nor  his  attendants  should  be  required  to  treat 
of  state  affairs  during  their  visit,  and  also  making 
oath  that  he  would  not  detain  either  the  queen  or 
her  child  if  her  delivery  should  take  place  in  Eng- 
land. In  the  event  of  the  death  of  Alexander, 
certain  of  the  Scottish  bishops  and  nobles  were 
appointed  to  receive  the  child  from  the  hands  of 
Henry,  and  to  convey  it  to  Scotland  ;  and  in  the 
list  of  these  appear  the  names  of  the  principal  per- 
sons of  both  the  great  national  parties.  In  Febru- 
ary, 1261,  the  Queen  of  Scots  was  delivered  at 
Windsor  of  a  daughter,  who  was  named  Margaret, 
and  through  whom,  as  she  was  her  father's  first- 
born, his  short  line  was  destined  to  have  its  latest 
prolongation. 

The  year  1263  is  the  most  memorable  in  the 
reign  of  Alexander.  The  Earl  of  Ross  and  other 
northern  chiefs  had,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Scottish 
king,  invaded  the  Hebrides,  or  Western  Islands, 
which  were  under  the  dominion  of  Norway,  and 
had  signalized  their  descent,  according  to  the  Nor- 
wegian clu-oniclers,  by  the  most  frightful  excesses 
of  savage  warfare.  Ilaco,  the  Norwegian  king, 
immediately  prepared  for  vengeance.  Having  col- 
lected a  great  fleet,  he  sailed  from  Ilerlover  in  the 
beginning  of  July.  The  Orkney  Islands,  which, 
although  formerly  belonging  to  Norway,  had  been 
lately  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  sovereignty 
of  Scotland,  were  his  first  destination.  Anchoring 
in  the  bay  of  Ronaldsvoe  (now  Ronaldsay),  the  for- 
midable armament  remained  there  for  some  weeks, 
durin"  which   the   inhabitants   both   of  the   islands 


<3S0 


lIl.STurvY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


and  of  the  opposite  main-buid  were  coiiipelled  to 
supply  it  with  provisions  and  to  pay  tribute.  It  is 
recorded  in  the  Norse  chronicle  of  the  expedition, 
that  while  the  fleet  lay  at  Ronaldsvoe  "a  great 
darkness  drew  over  the  sun,  so  that  only  a  little 
ring  was  bright  round  his  orb  ;"  and  it  is  found  that 
the  remarkable  phenomenon  of  an  annular  eclipse 
must  have  been  seen  at  Ronaldsvoe  this  year  on 
the  5th  of  August.  Such  confirmations  seem  to 
revivify  the  long-buried  past,  and  make  its  history 
read  like  a  narrative  of  events  of  our  own  day.  Haco 
now  sailed  for  the  south,  and  being  joined  as  he 
proceeded  by  his  allies,  Magnus,  the  Lord  of  Man, 
and  various  Ilebridean  chiefs,  he  found  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  fleet  of  above  a  hundred  sail,  most  of 
them  vessels  of  considerable  size.  Dividing  his 
force  he  sent  one  powerful  squadron  to  ravage  the 
Mull  of  Cantyre  ;  another  to  make  a  descent  on 
the  Isle  of  Bute.  The  latter  soon  compelled  the 
Scottish  garrison  of  the  castle  of  Rothsay,  in  that 
island,  to  surrender.  In  the  mean  time  Ilaco  him- 
self entered  the  Frith  of  Clyde  and  anchored  in 
the  sound  of  Kilbrannan,  between  the  main-land 
and  the  Isle  of  Arran.  Additional  accessions  had 
by  this  time  increased  his  fleet  to  a  hundred  and 
sixty  sail.  The  Scottish  government  now  attempted 
to  avert  the  danger  by  negotiation  :  the  abandon- 
jnent  of  all  claim  to  the  Hebrides  was  oft"ered  by 
Alexander ;  but  to  these  terms  Haco  would  not 
listen.  Some  time,  however,  was  thus  gained,  which 
was  in  various  ways  advantageous  to  the  Scots  and 
detrimental  to  their  invaders.  It  allowed  the  for- 
mer to  improve  their  preparations  for  defence ;  it 
embarrassed  the  latter  by  a  growing  difficulty  in 
obtaining  provisions,  and  it  exposed  their  fleet,  upon 
a  strange  coast,  to  the  hazards  of  the  stormy  sea- 
son of  the  year  that  was  f<ist  approaching.  Many 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  country  mean- 
while had  retreated  for  safety  to  the  islets  in  Loch- 
Lomond.  There,  however,  they  were  soon  attacked 
by  a  division  of  the  invading  force  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  King  of  Man,  who,  first  sailing  to  the 
head  of  Loch-Long,  and  plundering  the  shores  as 
they  passed,  then  dragged  their  boats  across  the 
neck  of  land  that  divides  the  two  lakes.  "  The 
persevering  shielded  warriors  of  the  thrower  of  the 
whizzing  spear,"  sings  a  Norwegian  celebrator  of 
the  exploit,  "  drew  their  boats  across  the  broad 
isthmus.  Our  fearless  troops,  the  exacters  of  con- 
tribution, with  flaming  brands,  wasted  the  populous 
islands  in  the  lake  and  the  mansions  around  its 
winding  baj-s."  A  devastating  expedition  into  Stir- 
lingshire followed  under  another  chief.  But  now 
I  he  heavens  began  to  fight  against  them.  One  gale 
ilestroj-ed  ten  of  their  ships  that  lay  in  Loch-Long; 
and  soon  after,  on  Monday,  the  1st  of  October,  a 
tempest  of  tremendous  violence  from  the  southwest 
attacked  the  main  squadron  lying  under  the  com- 
mand of  Haco  in  the  Clyde,  and  tearing  nearly  every 
ship  from  its  moorings,  after  casting  several  of  them 
on  shore,  drove  the  rest,  mostly  dismasted  or  other- 
wise disabled,  up  the  channel.  The  Scottish  forces 
'loUected  in  the  neighborhood  immediately  fell  upon 
ihe  crews  of  the  vessels  that  were  stranded;  but 


the  Norwegians  defended  themselves  with  great 
valor ;  and  assistance  having  been  sent  to  them  by 
Haco,  when  the  wind  had  somewhat  abated,  they 
succeeded  in  driving  off  their  assailants.  As  soon 
as  daylight  appeared,  Haco,  who  had  collected  his 
shattered  ships  off  the  village  of  Largs,  landed  at 
the  head  of  a  strong  force  for  the  jn-otection  of  two 
transports  that  had  been  among  the  vessels  cast 
ashore  the  preceding  afternoon,  and  which  the  Scots 
had  attempted  to  plunder  during  the  night.  This 
movement  may  be  said  to  have  commenced  what  is 
called  the  battle  of  Largs.  The  Scottish  army,  led 
by  Alexander,  the  Steward  of  Scotland,  now  came 
down  from  the  surrounding  high  grounds  ;  it  con- 
sisted of  a  numerous  body  of  foot,  together  with  a 
troop  of  1500  cavalry,  who  are  described  as  being 
armed  from  head  to  heel,  and  as  mounted  on  Spanish 
horses,  which  were  also  clothed  in  complete  armor. 
The  handful  of  Norwegians,  drawn  up  in  three 
divisions,  one  of  which  occupied  a  small  hill,  while 
the  other  two  were  stationed  on  the  shore,  were 
greatly  outnumbered  by  this  force  ;  and  Haco,  as 
the  engagement  was  about  to  commence,  was, 
although  with  much  difTiculty,  prevailed  upon  by  his 
officers  to  row  back  to  the  ships  for  further  aid. 
But  he  had  scarcely  got  on  board  when  another 
furious  storm  came  on  and  rendered  the  landing 
of  more  men  for  the  present  impossible.  In  the 
mean  time  the  Scots  had  attacked  the  most  advanced 
body  of  the  Norwegians,  who  were  soon  obliged  to 
fly  in  confusion.  The  rout  immediately  became 
general;  numbers  of  the  Noi-wegians  threw  them- 
selves into  their  boats  and  attempted  to  regain  their 
ships ;  the  rest  were  driven  along  the  shore  amid 
showers  of  arrows  from  their  pursuing  enemy.  Still 
they  repeatedly  rallied,  and,  turning  round  upon 
their  pursuers,  made  an  obstinate  stand  at  every 
point  where  the  ground  favored  them.  In  this  way, 
although  still  galled  by  the  Scots  hovering  on  their 
rear,  they  seem  to  have  at  length  converted  their 
flight  into  a  slow  and  comparatively  orderly  retreat. 
Toward  night,  a  reinforcement  from  the  ships 
having,  notwithstanding  the  storm,  which  still  con- 
tinued, eft'ected  a  landing  by  extraordinary  efforts, 
the  foreigners,  if  we  may  trust  to  their  own  account, 
even  made  a  general  attack  upon  the  Scottish  army, 
and,  after  a  short  resistance,  succeeded  in  driving 
them  back.  They  then  reembarked  in  their  boats 
and  regained  the  ships.  But  on  the  water  the  ele- 
ments had  been  doing  their  destructive  work  even 
with  more  effect  than  human  rage  on  land.  Haco's 
inagnificent  navy  was  now  reduced  to  a  few  shat- 
tered vessels;  most  of  those  which  the  wrath  of 
the  former  tempests  had  spared,  that  of  this  disas- 
trous day  had  dashed  to  pieces,  and  their  fragments 
covered  the  beach.  The  Norwegian  king  sailed  away 
to  the  island  of  Arran,  and  from  thence  through  a 
course  of  stormy  weather  to  Orkney,  which  he  did 
not  reach  till  the  29th  of  October.  He  proceeded 
no  farther  on  his  homeward  voyage.  An  illness 
seized  upon  him,  brought  on  probably  by  mental 
agony  as  much  as  by  bodily  exposure  and  fatigue, 
under  which  he  lingered  for  some  weeks,  and  at 
last  expired  on  the  15th  of  December. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


681 


The  battle  of  Largs  is  the  great  event  of  the 
reign  of  Alexander.  The  Scottish  historians  make 
24,000  Norwegians  to  have  fallen  in  the  slaughter 
of  that  day ;  and  although  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  this  is  an  enormous  exaggeration,  still  the 
overthrow  sustained  by  the  foreigners  was  com- 
plete, and  the  victory  was  among  the  most  import- 
ant the  Scots  ever  won.  It  was  their  last  conflict 
with  the  pirate  kings. ^  After  negotiations  which 
lasted  for  nearly  three  years,  a  peace  was  conclu- 
ded with  Norway,  by  which  both  the  Hebrides  and 
the  Isle  of  Man,  and  all  other  islands  in  the  western 
and  southern  seas  of  which  that  power  might  have 
hitherto  held  or  claimed  the  dominion,  were  made 
over  in  full  sovereignty  to  Scotland.  The  Western 
Islands  were  never  afterward  withdrawn  from  the 
Scottish  rule. 

There  is  little  more  to  relate  under  the  reign  of 
Alexander.  In  some  transactions  relating  to  eccle- 
siastical aftairs  in  his  later  years,  he  maintained 
the  independence  of  the  national  church  with  great 
firmness,  and  at  the  same  time, 'with  equal  spirit 
and  prudence,  kept  in  check  the  encroaching 
ambition  of  the  clergy.  He  was  present  with  his 
queen  and  many  of  his  nobility  at  the  coronation  of 
Edward  I.,  in  1274,  and  on  that  occasion  did 
homage,  according  to  custom,  for  his  English  pos- 
sessions. In  1278,  he  performed  this  ceremony  a 
second  time,  declaring,  according  to  the  record  pre- 
served in  the  Close  Rolls,  that  he  became  the 
liegeman  of  his  lord,  King  Edward  of  England, 
against  all  people.  This  was  substantially  the  same 
acknowledgment  that  Alexander  II.  had  made  to 
Henry  III.  in  1244.  It  was  no  admission  of 
Edward's  claim  of  feudal  superiority  over  Scotland, 
as  is  conclusively  proved,  if  there  could  be  any 
doubt  on  the  subject,  by  the  sequel  of  the  record, 
which  expressly  states  that  Edward  "  received  it, 
saving  his  right  and  claim  to  homage  for  the  king- 
dom of  Scotland,  when  it  shall  please  him  to  bring 
it  forward." 

The  slight  notice  taken  by  history  of  the  course 
of  events  in  Scotland  for  twenty  years  after  the 
battle  of  Largs,  is  the  best  evidence  of  the  tran- 
quillity and  happiness  of  the  country.  We  can 
collect  little  more  than  the  general  foct  that  the 
government  of  Alexander,  after  he  took  the  man- 
agement of  aftairs  into  his  own  hands,  made  him 
universally  beloved  by  his  people,  and  that  peace 
and  plenty  blessed  the  land  in  his  time.  No  foreign 
enemy  assailed  or  threatened  it;  and  the  turbulence 
of  its  domestic  factions  seems  also  to  have  given 
way  under  the  firm  and  judicious  ride  of  the  king. 
The  friendly  relations,  too,  that  were  maintained 
with  England,  and  the  intercourse  that  subsisted 
i)etween  the  two  countries,  must  have  been  highly 
favorable  both  to  the  increase  of  wealth  and  the 
general  improvement   of  the   useful  arts  and   the 

1  See  "  The  Norwc<?ian  Account  of  Ilaco's  Expedition  ajainst 
Sr.utlanit,"  in  Icelandic  and  English,  with  notes  ;  by  the  Rev.  James 
Johnstone,  A.M. ;  12mo.,  1782:  and  "  Observations  on  the  Norwegian 
Expedition  against  Scotland,  in  the  year  12C3,  and  on  some  previous 
"vents  which  gave  occasion  to  that  War,"  by  John  Dillon,  Esq.,  in 
"  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  the  Antiquaries  of  .Scotland,"  vol.  ii., 
♦to.  Edin.  18?3,  pp.  350-407 


habits  of  social  life  in  Scotland.  ^But  clouds  and 
storms  were  soon  to  succeed  the  sunshine. 

Alexander  had  lost  his  queen,  Margaret  of  Eng- 
land, in  1275 ;  but,  beside  the  daughter  already 
mentioned,  she  had  left  him  a  son,  named  Alexander, 
born  at  .ledburgh  on  the  21st  of  January,  1264 : 
David,  a  younger  son,  had  died  in  his  boyhood.  In 
1281  the  Princess  Margaret  was  married  to  Eric, 
King  of  Norway  ;  and  the  following  year  the  Prince 
of  Scotland,  now  a  youth  of  eighteen,  was  united  to 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Guy,  Earl  of  Flanders.  At 
this  time  the  king  himself,  as  yet  only  in  his  forty- 
first  year,  might  reasonably  have  counted  on  a  much 
longer  reign  ;  the  alliances  which  he  had  formed  for 
his  children  promised  to  enable  him  to  transmit  his 
sceptre  to  a  line  of  descendants ;  and  the  people 
seemed  entitled  to  look  forward  to  the  continuance 
of  the  present  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  country 
for  many  years.  By  a  singular  succession  of  calam- 
ities all  these  fair  hopes  were,  one  after  the  other, 
rapidly  extinguished.  First  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
j^ear  1283,  died  the  Queen  of  Norway,  leaving  only 
an  infant  daughter.  The  death  of  Queen  Margaret 
was  followed  by  that  of  her  brother  the  Prince  of 
Scotland,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1284.  No  time 
was  lost  by  Alexander  in  taking  the  measures  for 
the  settlement  of  the  succession  which  these  events 
rendered  necessary.  On  the  5th  of  February  the 
Parliament  was  assembled  at  Scone,  when  the 
estates  of  the  kingdom  solemnly  bound  themselves, 
failing  Alexander  and  any  children  he  might  yet 
have,  to  acknowledge  for  their  sovereign  the  Nor- 
wegian princess — "  the  Maiden  of  Norway,"  as 
she  is  called  by  the  old  writers.  The  following 
year  (15th  April,  1285)  Alexander  married  Joleta, 
the  young  and  beautiful  daughter  of  the  Count  de 
Dreux.  Thenuptials  were  celebrated  at  Jedburgh 
with  great  magnificence  and  much  popular  rejoicing, 
the  nation  anticipating  from  this  new  union  the 
speedy  restoration  of  all  those  prospects  wdiich  the 
two  recent  deaths  had  overclouded.  But  death  had 
not  yet  done  all  his  work.  Within  a  year  after  his 
marriage,  on  the  ]6th  of  March,  1286,  as  Alexander 
was  riding  in  a  dark  night  between  Kinghorn  and 
Burnt  Island,  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  Frith  of 
Forth,  his  horse,  on  which  he  had  galloped  forward 
from  his  attendants,  stumbled  with  him  over  a  high 
clift',  at  a  place  now  known  by  the  name  of  King's 
Wood  End,  when  he  Avas  killed  on  the  spot. 

The  loss  of  this  excellent  king  would  in  any 
circumstances  have  been  a  heavy  calamity  to  his 
country  ;  but  the  blow  could  not  have  been  received 
at  a  more  unfortunate  moment  than  the  present. 
A  long  minority  was  now  the  least  evil  the  king- 
dom had  to  dread,  and  that  evil  was  certain,  if  a 
worse  should  not  take  its  place.  The  life  of  an 
infont,  in  a  foreign  country,  alone  stood  between 
the  nation  and  all  the  sure  confusion  and  miseries 
of  a  disputed  succession.  The  first  proceeding  of 
the  Estates  was  to  appoint  a  regency,  at  a  meeting 
held  at  Scone  on  the  11th  of  April.  But  scarcely, 
it  would  appear,  had  the  throne  of  Queen  Margaret 
been  thus  set  up,  wlicn  it  began  to  be  undermined 
by  plots  and  secret  tren?on.     The  rule  of  a  female 


682 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


sovereign  was  ne^v  to  the  country  ;  the  attempt  to 
transmit  liis  crown  to  a  daughter  iiad  aheady  failed 
in  England,  even  when  made  in  tlie  most  favorable 
circumstances,  by  Henry  I.;  there  was  everything 
in  the  situation  of  the  infant  Maiden  of  Norway 
to  call  forth,  in  its  utmost  strength,  all  both  of 
prejudice  and  of  reason  that  opposed  itself  to  so 
rigid  and  extreme  an  application  of  the  principle  of 
legitimacy.  Indeed,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the 
refined  view  of  the  rule  of  succession  upon  which 
Margaret's  title  rested  was  much  better  suited  to 
times  in  which  men  have  been  long  and  thoroughly 
habituated  to  the  advantages  of  regular  government, 
than  to  the  circumstances  of  that  rude  age  and 
turbulent  people ;  and  it  was  therefore  not  to  be 
expected  that  it  should  have  been  at  once  generally 
and  unresistingly  acquiesced  in. 

Surprise  has  sometimes  been  expressed  that 
when  the  Scottish  parliament,  in  1284,  settled  the 
crown  upon  Margaret  in  failure  of  other  children 
that  might  be  born  to  Alexander,  it  did  not  go 
further,  and  appoint  who  was  to  succeed  in  default 
of  Margaret  and  her  issue  ;  but  in  truth  it  was  the 
undetermined  state  in  which  this  last  point  was 
left,  that  was  likely  most  effectually  to  contribute  to 
secure  Margaret's  succession.  The  main  strength 
of  her  cause  lay  in  there  being  no  other  certain  heir 
to  the  throne  if  she  was  set  aside.  The  choice  was 
between  her  and  a  disputed  succession.  Had  it 
not  been  for  this,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the 
settlement  in  her  favor  would  have  been  wholly  dis- 
regarded after  Alexander's  death,  with  whatever 
solemnity  it  might  have  been  made.  The  next 
heir,  if  a  male  of  mature  age,  and  a  native  of  the 
country,  would  at  once  have  been  preferred  to  the 
foreign  female  infant.  Even  as  matters  stood, 
there  was,  it  would  seem,  one  party  which  had 
already  formed  the  design  of  displacing  Queen 
Margaret  in  fovor  of  its  own  chief.  Robert  de 
Brus,  or  Bruce,  Lord  of  Annandale  and  Cleveland, 
was  the  son  of  Isabella,  one  of  the  three  daughters 
of  David,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  the  brother  of  Will- 
iam the  Lion.  He  and  a  number  of  his  adherents, 
including  some  of  the  principal  of  the  Scottish 
nobility,  held  a  meeting  on  the  20th  of  September, 
128G,  at  Turnberry  Castle,  in  Ayrshire,  the  seat  of 
Bruce's  son,  Robert  Bruce,  called  Earl  of  Carrick 
in  right  of  his  wife,  and  there  entered  into  an 
agreement,  by  which  they  bound  themselves  to 
adhere  to  one  another  on  all  occasions,  and  against 
all  persons,  saving  their  allegiance  to  the  King  of 
England,  and  to  him  who  should  gain  the  kingdom 
of  Scotland  as  the  rightful  heir  of  the  late  king.' 
The  intention  of  the  parties  to  this  bond  would  ap- 
pear to  have  been  to  obtain  the  crown  for  Bruce, 
by  the  aid  of  the  King  of  England,  whom,  with  that 
view,  they  were  prepared  to  acknowledge  as  Lord 
Paramount  of  Scotland.  Edward  however  had,  for 
the  present,  another  scheme  of  his  own,  with 
which  this  of  theirs  could  not  be  suffered  to  inter- 
fere. 

It  is  doubtfnl  in  what  manner,  or  on  what  pretext, 
Edward  first  found  an  opportunity  of  interposing  in 

'  Tytlcr,  Hist,  of  Scut.  i.  65. 


the  affairs  of  the  northern  kingdom.  It  is  known  that 
two  of  the  chief  members  of  the  regency,  the  Earl 
of  Buchan  and  the  Earl  of  Fife,  died  toward  the 
close  of  the  year  1288  (the  Earl  of  Fife  was  mur- 
dered) ;  and  that  from  this  time  violent  divisions  arose 
in  the  government,  and  all  things  began  to  tend  to 
confusion  and  anarcl)y.  One  account  is,  that  the 
Estates  of  Scotland  now  made  a  formal  application 
to  the  English  king  for  his  advice  and  mediation 
toward  composing  the  troubles  of  the  kingdom. 
But  this  statement  does  not  rest  upon  any  certain 
authority.  In  the  end  of  the  year  1289,  however, 
Eric,  King  of  Norway,  opened  a  negotiation  with 
Edward  on  the  affairs  of  his  infant  daughter  and 
her  kingdom  ;  and  at  Edward's  request  the  Scottish 
regency  sent  three  of  its  members  to  take  part  in  a 
solemn  deliberation  which  was  appointed  to  be  held, 
at  Salisbury.  It  was  here  agreed  that  the  young 
queen  should  be  immediately  conveyed  either  to 
her  own  dominions  or  to  England,  Edward  engaging 
in  the  latter  case  to  deliver  her,  on  demand,  to  the 
Scottish  nation,  provided  that  good  order  should  be 
previously  established  in  Scotland,  so  that  sIk^  might 
reside  there  with  safety  to  her  person.  No  mention 
was  made  in  this  convention  of  an  English  match 
for  Margaret;  but  it  appears  that  Edward  had  al- 
ready obtained  a  dispensation  from  Rome  for  her 
marriage  to  her  cousin,  his  eldest  son.  A  report  to 
that  effect  was  very  soon  after  spread  in  Scotland  ; 
whereupon  the  Estates  immediately  assembled  at 
Bridgeham,  a  village  on  the  Tweed,  and  from 
thence  addressed  a  letter  to  the  English  king, 
expressing  in  warm  terms  their  gratification  at  the 
rumor  that  had  reached  them,  and  beseeching  him 
to  inform  them  if  it  was  true.  "  If  it  is,"  they  con- 
cluded, "we  on  our  part  heartily  consent  to  the 
alliance,  not  doubting  that  you  will  agree  to  such 
reasonable  conditions  as  we  shall  propose  to  your 
council."  They  wrote  at  the  same  time  to  the 
King  of  Norway,  pressing  him  to  send  his  daughter 
instantly  to  England. 

Some  months  after  this  (on  the  18th  of  .Tulj-, 
1200)  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  the  same  place,  by 
which  everjthing  in  regard  to  the  proposed  mar- 
riage was  finally  arranged.  Many  stipulations  were 
made  for  securing  the  integrity  and  independence 
of  the  Scottish  kingdom;  and  all  points,  both  of  sub- 
stance and  of  form,  relating  to  that  matter,  were 
regulated  with  elaborate  scrupulositj'.  But  the 
event  of  a  few  weeks  rendered  all  the  painstaking 
and  oathtaking  of  no  effect.  The  Maiden  of  Norway 
having  at  length  set  sail  for  Britain,  fell  sick  on  her 
passage,  and  landing  on  one  of  the  Orknej'  Islands, 
died  there,  about  the  end  of  September :  she  was 
in  her  eighth  year. 

The  fatality  which  seemed  to  have  pursued  the 
royal  family  of  Scotland  for  about  a  century  past  was 
certainly  very  remarkable.  Within  that  period  it 
will  be  found  tliat  AVilliam  the  Lion  and  his  posterity 
had  made  no  fewer  than  ten  marriages,  and  yet 
thei'e  was  not  now  a  descendant  of  that  king  in 
existence.  Of  these  ten  marriages  so  many  as  six 
produced  no  issue ;  the  remaining  four  produced 
only  four  males  and  five  females :  and  all  these  nine 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


683 


persons  were  now  dead.  It  probably  would  not  be 
possible  to  find  in  history  another  case  of  ten  related 
households,  as  we  may  call  them,  and  these  forming 
the  entire  branch  to  which  they  belonged,  being 
thus  swept  away,  in  so  short  a  space  of  time,  with- 
out leaving  a  vestige  behind  them,  unless  by  the 
sudden  ravages  of  war,  or  pestilence,  or  some  simi- 
lar widely  destructive  casualty.^ 

In  this  failure  of  the  line  of  William  the  Lion,  the 
heir  to  the  crown  was  to  be  sought  for  among  the 
descendants  of  his  younger  brother,  David,  Earl  of 
Huntingdon.  David,  beside  a  son,  who  died  with- 
out issue,  left  three  daughters  ;  the  eldest,  Margaret, 
mai'ried  to  Alan  of  Galloway  ;  the  second,  Isabella, 
married  to  Robert  Bruce ;  the  third,  Ada,  married 
to  Henry  Hastings.  Margaret's  eldest  daughter, 
Dervorgoil  (she  had  no  son),  married  John  de  Baliol, 
Lord  of  Bernard  Castle,  by  whom  she  had  a  son, 
John  Baliol ;  Robert  Bruce,  Earl  of  Carrick  in  right 
of  his  wife,  was  the  son  of  Isabella;  John  Hastings 
was  the  son  of  Ada.  Baliol,  therefore,  Avas  the 
grandson  of  the  eldest  daughter  of  David,  Earl  of 
Huntingdon ;  Bruce  and  Hastings  were  the  sons  of 
his  two  younger  daughters.  According  to  the  rule 
of  descent  as  now  established,  no  question  about 
who  had  the  right  of  succession  could  be  raised  in 
such  a  case  ;  the  descendant  of  the  elder  daughter, 
however  remote,  would  be  preferred  to  the  descend- 
ant of  the  younger  daughter,  however  near ;  and, 
indeed,  even  in  that  age  this  rule,  which  flows 
directly  and  necessarily  from  the  admission  of  the 
principle  of  primogeniture,  seems  to  have  been  all 
but  universally  recognized  by  the  authorities  on  this 
part  of  the  law.  Still  the  point  was  not  so  distinctly 
settled  that  a  debate  might  not  be  raised  on  it,  or 
that,  supported  by  popular  or  party  zeal,  the  one 
claim  might  not  be  put  forward,  and  asserted  to  be 
that  of  law  and  right,  with  as  much  plausibility  to  the 
general  understanding,  and  as  fair  a  chance  of  suc- 
cess, as  the  other. 

"When  the  death  of  the  queen  fii'st  became  known, 
itwas  probably  doubtful  how  many  competitors  miglit 
start  up  for  the  vacant  throne,  or  to  what  extent  the 
controversy  might  be  entangled  by  their  conflicting 
claims.  It  was  certain,  however,  that  a  controversy 
there  would  be,  and  in  all  likelihood  a  long  and  fierce 
one ;  and,  also,  that  a  state  of  circumstances  had 
arisen  in  which  everything  was  to  be  feared  for  the 
national  independence  from  the  ambition  of  the 
English  king,  and  the  ascendency  in  Scottish  affairs 
his  artful  management  and  the  course  of  events  had 
already  given  him.  The  news,  therefore,  spreiul 
universal  grief  and  consternation  throughout  Scot- 
land.    It  seemed  the  heaviest,  as  it  was  the  last  of 

'  As  this  IS  a  curious  fact  in  statistics,  as  well  as  in  history,  we 
subjoin  a  list  of  the  ten  marriages,  with  the  issue  of  each  : — 
A.R    1186.    .  William  the  Lion  (a  son  and  three  (laughters). 
1221.  . .  Alexander  II.  (none). 

1221.  .  .  Margaret,  daughter  of  AVilliam  the  Lion  (none). 
1225.  . .  Isabella,  ditto  (none). 

1235.  .  .  Marjory,  ditto  (none). 

1239. . .  Alexander  11.,  second  time  (a  son). 
1242.  . .  Alexander  III.  (two  sons  and  a  daughter). 
1281. .  .  Margaret,  daughter  of  Alexander  III.  (a  daughterl 
1282.  .  .  Alexander,  son  of  Alexander  III.  (none) . 
1285.  .  .  Alexander  III.,  second  time  (none). 


the  succession  of  sudden  strokes  of  misfortune  that 
had  fallen  upon  the  country,  and  the  consummation 
of  the  pul)lic  calamities. 

According  to  one  account,  it  was  now  that  the 
embassy  to  Edward,  soliciting  his  advice  and  media- 
tion, was  sent  by  the  estates  of  Scotland.  From 
what  immediately  followed,  it  does  appear  probable 
that  some  such  application  may  have  been  now  made 
by  the  Scots.  Upon  this  supposition  we  can  most 
easily  account  for  the  invitation  which  Edward 
addressed  to  their  nobility  and  clergy  to  meet  him 
at  Norham,  a  town  on  the  English  side  of  the  Tweed, 
and  the  readiness  with  which  they  obeyed  his  sum- 
mons. The  conference  took  place  on  the  10th  of 
May,  1291.  Here  Edward  distinctly  announced 
that  he  proposed  to  regulate  the  succession  to  the 
throne  of  Scotland  as  superior  and  lord  paramount 
of  that  kingdom,  and  insisted  upon  their  recognition 
of  his  title  as  such  before  any  other  business  should 
be  proceeded  with.  Little  doubt  can  be  entertained 
that  many  of  the  persons  present  were  perfectly 
prepared  for  all  this  ;  but  it  took  a  part  of  the  assem- 
bly by  surprise  ;  and  at  length  one  voice  ventured 
to  respond,  that  no  answer  could  be  made  to  the 
demand  that  had  been  addressed  to  them  while  the 
throne  was  vacant.  "By  holy  Edward!"  cried  the 
English  king,  "  By  holy  Edward !  whose  crown  I 
wear,  I  will  vindicate  my  just  rights  or  perish  in  the 
attempt !"  At  last  the  meeting  was  adjourned  till  the 
morrow,  and  from  that  day,  on  the  Scots  requesting 
a  longer  delay,  it  was  further  adjourned  to  the  2d 
of  June.  Edward  had  already  issued  writs  to  his 
barons  and  other  military  tenants  in  the  northern 
counties,  commanding  them  to  assemble  at  Norliam 
on  the  3d  of  the  same  month  with  horsps,  arms,  and 
all  their  powers. 

The  meeting  of  the  2d  of  June  took  place  on  a 
green  plain  called  Holywell  Haugh,  near  L^psett- 
lington,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Tweed,  opposite  to 
Norham  Castle,  and  within  the  territory  of  Scotland. 
Among  those  present  were  no  fewer  than  eight 
persons  who,  under  various  titles,  laid  claim  to  the 
crown.  One  of  these  was  Robert  Bi'uce,  Lord  of 
Annandale.  Turning  first  to  him,  Robert  BurneL 
Bishop  of  Bath  and  Chancellor  of  England,  de- 
manded "  Whether  he  acknowledged  Edward  as 
Lord  Paramount  of  Scotland?  and  whether  he  wa« 
willing  to  ask  and  receive  judgment  from  him  in  that 
character?"  Bruce,  says  the  oflficial  record  of  the 
proceedings,  definitively,  expressly,  publicly,  and 
openly,  declared  his  assent.  The  other  seven  com 
petitors  afterward  did  the  same.  Next  day,  John 
Baliol  and  another  competitor,  making  ten  in  all. 
appeared,  and  followed  their  example.  "  The  whole 
form  of  this  business,"  as  Lord  Hailes  remarks,  "ap 
pears  to  have  been  preconcerted."  There  were 
probably  few  of  the  assembled  nobility  and  clergy 
that  were  not  the  sworn  adherents  of  one  or  other 
of  the  competitors ;  they  were  divided  into  the 
Bruce  party  and  the  Baliol  party  ;  and  they  were 
of  course  severally  ready  to  follow  in  whatever  di- 
rection their  chiefs  might  lead  them.  With  regard, 
again,  to  the  two  great  claimants  of  the  crown  them- 
selves, if  either  consented  to  submit  to  the  arbitration 


(J84 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


of  Edward,  it  is  obvious  that  his  rival  had  no  alterna- 
tive but  to  acquiesce  in  the  same  mode  of  deciding 
the  question,  unless  he  were  prepared  to  resign  nil 
hope  and  chance  of  success.  The  true  explanation, 
however,  of  Ualiol's  absence  on  the  first  day  of  the 
meeting  probably  is,  that  he  sought  by  this  piece  of 
management,  perhaps  in  concert  with  Edward,  to 
throw  upon  his  opponent  the  odium  of  taking  the 
first  step  in  the  unpopular  course  of  thus  surren- 
dering the  national  independence.  There  is  reason 
to  believe  that,  whether  swayed  by  his  view  of  the 
justice  of  the  case  or  by  other  considerations,  Ed- 
ward had,  from  the  first,  determined  that  Baliol 
should  have  the  crown,  and  that  all  th(i  anxious  and 
protracted  deliberation  he  affected  to  give  to  the 
subject  was  merely  so  much  hollow  and  hypocritical 
formality.  Of  the  other  claimants  who  presented 
themselves  along  with  Baliol  and  Bruce,  most  seem 
to  have  been  brought  forward  only  to  throw  a  greater 
air  of  perplexity  over  the  case,  and  to  give  some 
chance  of  dividing  any  opposition  that  might  event- 
ually be  made  to  the  successful  candidate,  or  even, 
it  may  be,  with  the  object  of  leaving  the  question  of 
the  succession  to  the  Scottish  crown  still  open,  if 
any  casualty  should  reniove  either  of  the  two  prin- 
cipal competitors  before  Edward's  designs  for  the 
complete  subjection  of  the  country  should  be  ma- 
tured ;  for  Edward's  ultimate  aim  certainly  went 
far  beyond  the  assertion  and  maintenance  of  a  mere 
feudal  superiority  over  Scotland.  The  whole  course 
of  his  conduct  leaves  no  room  to  doubt  that  he  in- 
tended to  treat  Scotland  as  he  had  treated  Wales, 
that  is  to  say,  to  make  it,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
a  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  English  crown.  This 
union  of  the  whole  island  under  one  sceptre  was 
evidently  the  grand  scheme  upon  which  he  had  set 
his  heart,  and  which  inspired  and  directed  his  whole 
policy.  At  first  he  hoped  to  accomplish  his  object, 
in  so  far  as  Scotland  was  concerned,  by  the  marriage 
of  his  eldest  son  with  the  queen  of  that  country ; 
when  the  death  of  Margaret  defeated  this  arrange- 
ment, he  could  not  for  the  present  proceed  to  the 
attainment  of  his  end  by  so  direct  a  path ;  but  that 
end  was  still  the  same,  and  was  never  lost  sight  of 
for  a  moment.  At  this  veiy  meeting  at  Noriiam, 
the  Enghsli  chancellor  protested,  in  the  name  and 
in  the  presence  of  the  king  his  master,  "that, 
although  he  now  asserted  his  right  of  superiority 
with  the  view  of  giving  judgment  to  the  competitors, 
yet  that  he  meant  not  to  relinquish  his  right  of 
property  in  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  acclaimable 
hereafter  in  fit  manner  and  time  convenient."^  And 
the  manner  in  which  he  treated  Baliol  after  he  had 
set  him  upon  the  throne  as  clearly  indicates  the 
same  purpose,  and  indeed  is  only  intelligible  on  that 
supposition.  All  this  has  been  very  strangelj'  over- 
looked by  some  of  the  writer's  of  this  part  of  our 
history. 

The  proceedings  at  Norham,  on  the  3d  of  June, 
were  terminated  by  a  unaniirious  agi-eement  that  a 
body  of  104  commissioners  should  be  appointed  to 
examine  the  cause  and  report  to  Edward;  forty 
being  named  by  Baliol,  the  same  number  by  Bruce, 

1  Foedcra  ii.  551. 


and  the  remainder  by  Edward  himself,  who  was, 
moreover,  empowered  to  add  to  the  commission  as 
many  more  persons  as  he  chose.  On  the  11th  of 
the  same  month,  the  regents  of  Scotland  made  a 
solemn  surrender  of  the  kingdom  into  the  hands  of 
the  English  king,  and  the  keepers  of  castles  made  a 
like  surrender  of  their  trusts;  in  both  cases,  how- 
ever, on  the  condition  that  Edward  should  make  full 
restitution  in  two  months  from  the  date  of  his  award 
in  the  cause  of  the  succession. 

Gilbert  de  Umfraville,  Earl  of  Angus,  alone  re- 
fused to  deliver  the  castles  of  Dundee  and  Forfar, 
which  he  held,  without  an  obligation  to  indemnify 
him  from  Edward  and  all  the  competitors.  It  was 
found  expedient  to  comply  with  the  terms  thus 
insisted  upon  by  "  the  only  Scotsman,"  obsenes 
Lord  Ilailes,  "who  acted  with  integrity  and  spirit 
on  this  trial  of  national  integrity  and  spirit."  On  the 
l.'ith  of  the  same  month  Bruce  and  his  son,  Baliol, 
and  many  of  the  principal  Scottish  barons,  swore 
fealty  to  Edward.  One  churchman  only,  the  Bishop 
of  Sodor,  presented  himself  to  perform  the  disgrace- 
ful ceremony.  The  peace  of  the  King  of  England, 
as  Lord  Paramount  of  Scotland,  was  then  proclaim- 
ed, and  the  assembly  finally  adjourned  to  the  Sd  of 
August.*  Edward  himself,  in  the  mean  time,  made 
a  progress  through  Scotland,  in  the  course  of  which 
he  visited  Edinburgh,  Dunferndine,  St.  Andrews, 
Kinghorn,  Linlithgow,  and  Stirling;  wherever  he 
appeared,  calling  upon  persons  of  all  ranks,  fronj 
bishops  and  earls  to  burgesses,  to  sign  the  rolls  of 
homage  as  his  vassals.  Elsewhere  officers  were 
appointed  to  receive  the  oaths ;  whoever  refused  to 
take  them  being  ordered  to  be  seized  and  imprisoned. 

When  the  commissioners  met  at  Berwick,  and 
proceeded  to  business  in  the  presence  of  Edward, 
on  the  3d  of  August,  twelve  claimants  of  the  crown 
in  all  presented  themselves.  Soon  afterward  a 
thirteenth  was  added  in  the  person  of  King  Eric  of 
Norway.  All  of  them,  however,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Baliol,  Bruce,  and  Hastings,  withdrew  their 
pretensions  before  any  decision  was  pronounced. 
The  rest,  in  fact — some  of  them  descendants  from 
illegitimate  daughters  of  William  the  Lion,  others 
alleging  a  descent  from  some  earlier  king — had  none 
of  them  any  ground  whatever  on  which  to  come  m 
before  the  posterity  of  David,  Earl  of  Huntingdon. 

The  final  decision  of  the  cause  did  not  take  place 
till  the  following  year.  On  the  Sd  of  June,  1292, 
the  commissioners  reported  that  there  appeared  to 
be  a  diversity  of  opinion  among  the  fourscore  Scot- 
tish members  of  their  body,  by  whose  advice,  if 
unanimous,  it  would  have  been  the  duty  of  tlie  king 
to  have  regulated  his  conduct;  and  they  therefore 
declined  to  give  any  advice  without  hearing  the 
better  judgment  of  the  jjrelates,  nobility,  and  other 
wise  men  of  England.  On  this,  the  further  con- 
sideration of  the  question  was  appointed  by  Edward 
to  take  place  in  a  parliament  which  he  summoned 
to  meet  at  Berwick  on  the  15th  of  October.  Here 
Baliol  and  Bruce  were  fully  heard  in  defence  of  their 
respective  claims,  upon  which  the  assembly  came 
unanimously  to  the  conclusion  "  that  by  the  laws 
'•  Hailcs,  i.  212-252. 


Chap.  I. 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


685 


and  usages  of  both  kingdoms,  in  ever}'  heritable  suc- 
cession, the  more  remote  in  one  degree  lineally 
descended  from  the  eldest  sister,  was  preferable  to 
the  nearer  in  degree  issuing  from  the  second  sister;" 
thus  declaring,  by  implication,  against  the  claim  of 
Bruce  as  opposed  to  that  of  Baliol.  In  another 
meeting,  on  the  6th  of  November,  Edward  formally 
pronounced  his  decision  "  that  Bruce  should  take 
nothing  in  the  competition  with  Baliol."  Bruce 
and  Hastings  now  demanded  each  a  third  of  the 
kingdom,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  divisable  inher- 
itance ;  but  this  doctrine  the  assembly  unanimously 
rejected.  Finally,  on  the  17th  of  the  same  month, 
in  the  great  hall  of  the  castle  of  Berwick,  Edward 
gave  judgment,  "  that  John  Baliol  should  have  sei- 
zin of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland."  But  again,  at 
this,  the  termination,  as  a  year  and  a  half  before,  at 
the  commencement  of  these  pi-oceedings,  the  Eng- 
lish king  solemnly  protested  "  that  the  judgment  that 
he  had  thus  given  should  not  impair  his  claim  to  the 
projiciiy  of  Scotland."  On  the  19th  the  regents  of 
Scotland  and  the  governors  of  castles  were  ordered 
to  surrender  their  respective  trusts  to  the  new 
king ;  and  the  same  day  the  great  seal  that  had 
been  used  by  the  regency  was  broken  into  four 
parts,  and  the  pieces  deposited  in  the  Treasury  of 
England,  "  in  testimony,  to  future  ages,  of  England's 
right  of  superiority  over  Scotland."  The  next  day 
Baliol  swore  fealty  to  Edward  at  Norham.  On  the 
30th  (St.  Andrew's  day)  he  was  solemnly  crowned 
at  Scone.  Soon  after  he  passed  into  England,  and 
on  the  26th  of  December  did  homage  to  Edward 
for  his  kingdom  at  Newcastle  :  and  thus  finished 
the  first  act  of  this  extraordinary  drama. 

Events  that  unexpectedly  arose  now  called  away 
the  English  king  to  another  scene.  Edward's  prog- 
ress at  home  had  not  been  viewed  without  serious 
alarm  abroad.  The  subjugation  of  Wales  and  Scot- 
land, by  leaving  him  master  of  the  whole  island  of 
Great  Britain,  rendered  him  most  formidable  to  all 
his  continental  neighbors,  and  to  none  so  dangerous 
as  to  France,  where  there  was  a  source  of  dissen- 
sion ever  open,  and  where  the  English  had  a  footing 
that  enabled  them  at  all  times  to  cany  the  war  into 
the  heart  of  the  country.  On  former  occasions 
several  of  the  French  kings  had  given  countenance 
and  encouragement — if  little  or  nothing  more — to 
both  Scots  and  Welsh  w^hen  up  in  arms  against  the 
Anglo-Norman  sovereigns ;  but  now  Philip  le  Bel 
thought  that  the  best  thing  to  do  was  to  exert  all 
his  strength  and  drive  the  English  from  what  was 
left  of  their  continental  dominion.  The  moment 
seemed  favorable ;  Edward  was  absorbed  by  his 
great  project ;  and  as  for  the  justice  of  the  under- 
taking, had  not  Philip  as  good  a  right  to  gather  up 
the  scattered  fragments  of  France,  and  to  make  of 
them  a  respectable  whole — a  united  and  powerful 
kingdom — as  Edward  had  to  seize  and  consolidate 
the  ancient  independent  states  of  Great  Britain  in 
the  same  view? 

The  English  sovereign,  however,  was  too  politic 
not  to  see  and  provide  for  these  schemes :  he  had 
long  watched  Philip  with  a  jealous  eye,  and  while 
he  wisely  kept  his  own  armies  at  home,  he  had 


courted  alliances  abroad,  and  labored  to  raise  barriers 
against  Philip's  ambition.  In  the  south,  by  means 
of  presents  and  flattering  assurances,  he  had  won 
over  the  powerful  Count  of  Savoy;  in  the  north 
he  had  a  good  understanding  with  the  emperor, 
whom  he  afterward  subsidized  ;  he  had  married  his 
daughter  Margaret  to  Henry,  Count  of  Bar,  whose 
territories  gave  an  easy  access  into  France  on  the 
east ;  and,  at  a  later  period,  he  made  an  alliance 
with  Guy,  Earl  of  Flanders.  The  French,  more- 
over, accuse  him  of  opening  and  maintaining  a  cor- 
respondence in  the  interior  of  France  with  the  dis- 
affected subjects  of  Philip ;  an  accusation  which 
Edward  retorted.  Matters  were  in  this  state  when 
a  paltry  broil  gave  rise  to  sanguinary  hostilities. 
Some  English  and  some  Norman  sailors  met  at  a 
watering-place,  in  or  near  to  the  port  of  Bayonne. 
and  quarreled  about  which  pai-ty  should  fill  their 
casks  first.  An  English  mariner  struck  a  Norman 
with  his  fist ;  the  Norman  drew  his  knife  ;  his  ad- 
versary closed  with  him,  and,  after  a  scuffle,  threw 
him ;  in  the  fall  the  Norman,  it  was  said,  fell  upon 
his  own  knife  and  was  killed.  The  English  sailor's 
comrades  saved  him  from  the  fury  of  the  opposite 
party,  and,  according  to  the  French  account,  the 
authorities  of  Bayoane,  which  city  belonged  to  the 
English,  refused  the  Normans  proper  satisfaction. 
Burning  with  revenge,  for  they  maintained  that 
their  companion  had  been  foully  murdered,  the 
Normans  put  to  sea,  and,  lying  in  wait,  they  seized 
the  first  English  ship  of  inferior  force  they  encoun- 
tered, and  taking  from  it  a  merchant  of  Bayonne, 
they  hanged  him  at  the  yard-arm,  with  a  dog  hung 
to  his  feet.  Reprisals  soon  followed,  and  the  mari- 
ners of  the  Cinque  Ports  pursued  their  vengeance 
with  relentless  fury,  hanging  nearly  every  Norman 
they  could  take  upon  the  seas.  The  Normans 
called  in  the  assistance  of  the  Genoese  and  the 
French,  for  France  was  now  beginning  to  have  a 
considerable  mercantile  navy,  and  even  a  royal  fleet, 
one  of  the  immense  advantages  derived  from  expel- 
ling the  English  and  clearing  her  sea-board.  Our 
mariners  at  the  same  time  procured  the  aid  of 
those  of  Ireland,  Gascony,  and  Holland.  Wherever 
these  opposite  parties  met,  they  fought  with  deadly 
rancor,  carrying  on  a  war  on  their  own  account, 
without  any  commission  from  their  respective  gov- 
ernment ;  for  though  it  was  known  or  suspected 
that  Philip  encouraged  the  French,  he,  as  well  as 
Edward,  seemed  for  a  time  to  remain  indiflerent 
spectators,  A  Norman  fleet  of  200  or  more  vessels, 
of  all  sizes,  swept  the  English  Channel,  plundered 
the  sea- coast  of  Gascony,  hanging  many  mariners, 
and  then  returned  with  their  booty  and  the  cargoes 
of  wine  they  had  been  to  purchase  to  the  port  of 
St.  Mahe,  in  Brittany.  They  had  scarcely  cast 
anchor  when  an  English  fleet  appeared.  The  mari- 
ners of  the  Cinque  Ports,  still  acting  under  their 
own  commission,  had  got  ready  some  stout  ships  z 
they  were  only  eighty  in  number,  but  they  were- 
of  superior  size,  and  manned  with  picked  seamen^ 
In  an  evil  hour  for  themselves  the  Normans  accepted! 
the  challenge  to  a  pitched  battle,  which  was  fought 
round  a  ship  anchored   near  the   coast,  on  a  spot 


(i86 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


iigi'eed  upon  by  both  parties.  After  n  desperate 
conflict,  where  every  man  fought  as  iu  a  personal 
(juavrel,  the  EngUsh  gained  a  complete  victory, 
taking  every  one  of  the  Norman  ships,  and  killing 
or  drowning  nearly  every  mariner  on  board,  for  no 
(juarter  was  given  in  this  savage  war.  Thus  the 
most  vindictive  feelings  were  excited  between  the 
two  nations  before  the  kings  took  any  open  part  iu 
the  hostilities  that  were  carried  on.'  , 

But  now  Pliilip,  enraged  himself  and  borne  for- 
ward to  the  accomplishment  of  his  favorite  project 
by  tlie  universal  wrath  of  the  nation,  declared  his 
determined  enmity.  By  certainly  a  strained  and 
exaggerated  interpretation  of  his  feudal  rights  and 
jurisdiction,  he  pretended  that  he  could  punish 
Edward  as  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  in  which  character 
he  was  a  vassal  of  the  French  crown.  He  sent 
officers  to  seize  some  of  Edward's  estates,  but  these 
were  driven  back  by  John  St.  John,  an  English 
officer:  he  then  caused  a  summons  to  be  issued  by 
his  judges  ordering  the  "  Duke  of  Aquitaine"  to 
appear  at  Paris  after  the  feast  of  Christmas,  and 
answer  for  his  offences  against  his  suzerain.  Ed- 
ward sent  a  bishop,  and  then  liis  own  brother, 
Edmund,  to  negotiate.  This  Edmund  appears  to 
have  been  a  very  believing,  simple  personage  ;  for, 
crediting  Philip's  assertion  that  he  wanted  no  ac- 
(juisition  of  territory,  but  merely  a  striking  show  of 
satisfaction  to  his  own  injured  honor,  he  consented 
to  surrender  Gascony  for  forty  days,  at  the  end  of 
which  it  was  to  be  faithfully  restored  to  the  English 
king.  Upon  this  surrender,  which  in  some  cases 
gave  Philip  a  military  possession  of  the  province, 
the  summons  against  Edward  was  withdrawn,  and 
the  French  king  declared  himself  satisfied.  When 
the  forty  days  had  elapsed,  Edward  demanded  re- 
possession, which,  as  a  matter  of  course,  was  refused 
to  him.  Philip  pleaded  very  triumphantly,  in  his 
own  court,  against  some  English  advocates,  and, 
with  a  bold  contempt  of  appearances  and  of  the 
recent  agreement,  pronounced  a  judgment  of  for- 
feiture because  Edward  had  not  presented  himself 
as  a  vassal  ought.  De  Nesle,  the  Constable  of 
France,  was  sent  to  seize  some  of  Edward's  cities 
and  towns,  and  he  succeeded  in  several  instances 
because  the  nobles  declared  against  the  English. 
Soon  after  the  feast  of  Easter,  Philip  again  sum- 
moned Edward  to  plead  as  Duke  of  Aquitaine 
ftefore  his  peers  of  France,  and,  upon  his  non- 
attendance,  he  declared  him  contunmcious  and  dis- 
seized of  all  his  lands  in  France.^ 

Edward  now  prepared  to  plead,  but  it  was  with 
the  sword.  Having  formally  renounced  the  hom- 
aige  of  the  French  king,  he  got  ready  a  powerful 
ifieet  and  army  ;  but  he  was  detained  for  several 
•\veeks  by  contrary  winds,  and,  while  he  lay  at 
'Portsmouth,  the  Welsh,  who  thought  he  was  gone, 
!})roke  out  in  a  general  insurrection,  to  which  it 
seems  probable  that  Philip  was  no  stranger.  De- 
tained at  home  by  this  circumstance,  Edward 
tlispatched  a  small  force  to  Gascony,  and  gave 
.commission  to  his  ships  to  plunder  the  French 
4;oast,  upon  which  a  number  of  fierce  sea-battles 

'  Walsing. — Heming. — Iluluish.  2  Rynier. 


were  fought,  the  victory  falling  almost  invariably 
to  the  Englisli,  who  were  princii)ally  commanded 
by  the  Lord  John  Botetourt,  Sir  William  de  Ley- 
borne,  and  a  "valiant  knight  of  Ireland,"  whose 
name  is  not  mentioned.  As  for  Edward  himself, 
he  turned  with  his  usual  rapidity  and  vigor  against 
the  Welsh,  who  had  taken  many  castles  and  towns, 
and  driven  the  English  across  the  marches  with 
dreadful  loss.  It  took  him  some  months  to  suppress 
this  bold  struggle  for  independence  :  he  carried  on 
the  war  through  all  the  severities  of  winter,  suffer- 
ing great  hardships,  and  encountering  many  per- 
sonal dangers;  but  in  the  following  spring  the 
Welsh  once  more  fell  beneath  the  miglity  weight 
of  his  arms  and  policy  :  Madoc.  their  brave  leader, 
surrendered  to  the  conqueror  ;  the  most  dangerous 
of  the  chieftains  were  thrown  into  dungeons  for 
life ;  and  after  the  sacred  summits  of  Snowdon  had 
been  again  invaded,  and  the  country  again  wasted 
with  fire  and  sword,  a  mournful  peace  was  restored. 
In  none  of  the  old  accounts  either  of  this  or  of  the 
preceding  conquest  do  we  find  any  mention  of  Ed- 
ward's hanging  the  Welsh  bards  ;  the  circumstance 
seems  to  have  been  first  mentioned  by  a  writer  who 
lived  some  three  centuries  after.^  The  "  ruthless 
king,"  however,  though  not  wantonly  cruel,  was 
still  not  a  man  to  hesitate  at  such  an  execution  if 
he  deemed  it  useful  to  his  state  views;  and  it  is  at 
least  probable  that  many  of  the  bards,  who  must 
have  been  hateful  to  him,  as  they  cherished  and 
gave  enthusiasm  to  the  people's  love  of  independ- 
ence, may  have  felt  his  rigor,  and  that  popular  tra- 
dition has  only  exaggerated  and  generalized  a  real 
fact.^ 

When  Edward  rode  a  conqueror  from  the  moun- 
tains of  Wales,  he  thought  that  he  should  at  Last 
be  allowed  to  proceed  to  France,  and  punish  what 
he  considered  the  execrable  perfidy  of  Philip  ;  but 
the  spirit  of  liberty  was  again  awake  in  the  moun- 
tains of  Scotland,  and  he  was  once  more  compelled 
to  forego  liis  continental  expedition.  He,  however, 
sent  his  brother  Edmund  with  a  small  force  to  Gui- 
enne,  where  the  barons,  who  could  never  remain 
satisfied  for  a  year  with  either  the  Englisli  or  the 
French,  were  already  tired  of  Philip.  Edmund 
died  soon  after  landing  ;  but  the  Earl  of  Lincoln, 
who  succeeded  to  his  command,  drove  the  French 
from  most  of  the  towns  they  had  occupied.  These 
successes,  however,  were  not  lasting  :  Charles  de 
Valois,  Philip's  bi-other,  recovered  those  places  ; 
and  the  Count  d'Artois,  the  king's  uncle,  taking  the 
command  of  a  numerous  and  excellent  army,  beat 
the  English  in  several  encounters,  and  finall}-  ex- 
pelled them  from  nearly  all  the  country,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  maritime  towns.  Edward's 
continental  allies  did  nothing  at  the  time  in  his 
defence.  A  little  later  the  Duke  of  Brittany  raised 
an  insignificant  force,  and  joined  a  body  of  English 
that  lauded  in  his  country ;  but  this  prince  was  as 
volatile  as  the  Gascons,  and  changed  sides  three  or 

1  Sir  John  Wjiine,  Hist,  of  the  Gwydir  family. 

^  W'e  find  the  Welsh  minstrels  in  very  bad  odor  with  the  English 
government  about  a  century  later.  A  statute  of  Henry  IV.  provides 
that  "  no  waster,  rhymer,  minstrel,  or  vagabond  shall  be  suffered  in 
Wales." 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


687 


four  times  in  the  course  of  as  rnany  years.  His 
people  paid  dearly  for  his  vacillating  policy,  being 
harried  at  each  change  either  by  the  soldiers  of 
Philip  or  the  sailors  of  Edward.  On  one  occasion 
an  English  fleet  ravaged  the  whole  coast  of  Brittany 
from  Vannes  to  St.  Malo,  inflicting  great  mischief 
on  the  defenceless  inhabitants,  but  in  no  way  con- 
tributing to  the  recovery  of  Edward's  lost  dominions. 
Several  attempts  were  made  by  Normans,  Bretons, 
and  French,  to  avenge  these  injuries  by  attacks 
and  surprises  on  the  English  coast,  and  on  one 
occasion  the  town  and  priory  of  Dover  were  sacked 
and  partially  burnt.  As  the  men  were  absent,  only 
the  women  and  children  were  butchered ;  but,  be- 
fore the  invaders  could  get  back  to  their  ships  with 
their  plunder,  the  men  of  Dover  returned,  and  slew 
some  hundi-eds  of  them.  But  we  must  turn  from 
this  most  savage  yet  desultory  warfare  on  the  Eng- 
lish coast,  to  the  interior  of  Scotland. 

Scarcely  had  Baliol  been  fairly  seated  on  his 
vassal  throne  when  he  was  made  to  feel  all  the 
dependence  and  degradation  of  his  position.  Even 
befoi'e  the  year  had  expired,  on  one  of  the  last 
days  of  which,  as  related  above,  he  had  done 
homage  for  his  kingdom  to  his  English  lord  para- 
mount, Edward,  in  an  angry  altercation  that  arose 
out  of  an  appeal  brought  by  a  citizen  of  Berwick 
against  a  judgment  of  the  Scottish  courts,  to  defend 
which  he  had  compelled  Baliol  to  appear  with  his 
principal  prelates  and  nobles  in  the  royal  chamber 
at  Newcastle,  frankly  informed  him  that  he  should 
persist  in  hearing  in  England  every  cause  regularly 
brought  before  him  from  Scotland,  and  that  he 
would  summon  the  King  of  Scotland  to  appear  per- 
sonally at  the  hearing  of  every  such  cause  in  which 
he  should  think  his  presence  necessary.  Nor  did 
this  prove  an  empty  threat.  In  the  course  of  the 
following  year  Baliol  was  repeatedly  called  upon  to 
submit  to  the  annoyance  and  intolerable  indignity 
of  thus  appearing  in  the  Enghsli  courts  to  answer 
as  a  defendant  in  all  sorts  of  causes.  Such  treat- 
ment could  only  have  had  one  object,  and,  if  it  had 
been  tamely  acquiesced  in,  one  effect — to  make  the 
menial  king  iitterly  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  his 
subjects.  A  generous  reluctance  to  join  with  the 
crowd  in  bearing  hard  upon  one  otherwise  unfor- 
tunate, has  prompted  some  modern  writers  to  dis- 
pute the  justice  of  the  popular  odium  that  rests  on 
the  memory  of  John  Baliol,  and  to  contend  that  he 
was  by  no  means  deficient  in  eminent  and  estimable 
(|ualities.  Lord  Hailes  attributes  to  him  a  high 
spirit,  and  speaks  of  him  as  having  erred  only  in 
enterprising  beyond  his  strength.  After  all,  how- 
ever, the  estimate  that  seems  to  have  been  formed 
of  him  in  his  own  day  is  perhaps  most  consonant 
with  the  entire  course  of  his  life,  both  while  he  sat 
on  a  throne,  and  after  he  descended  from  that  ele- 
vation ;  on  the  whole,  the  name  of  Toom  (that  is, 
empty)  Tabard,  which  he  used  to  receive  among 
his  countrymen,  seems  to  have  aptly  enough  ex- 
pressed his  unmagnanimous,  inefficient  character. 
At  the  commencement  of  Edward's  rough  usage  he 
bore  it  with  all  submission.  Immediately  after  the 
declaration  of  the  English  king  that  has  just  been 


mentioned,  he  gave  Edward  a  solemn  discharge 
from  all  the  obligations  he  had  contracted  by  tha 
treaty  of  Bridgeham  in  1290,  which  treaty  was  now 
the  sole  remaining  security  to  his  countjy  for  the 
possession  of  any  national  rights,  and  by  which,  in 
particular,  provision  was  made  against  the  very 
grievance,  the  galling  humiliation,  under  which  he 
was  now  made  to  smart,  bj'  one  of  the  clauses  which 
declared  that  no  native  of  Scotland  should  be  com- 
pelled to  answer  out  of  the  kingdom  in  any  legal 
cause,  either  civil  or  criminal.  But  the  tyranny 
was  so  unrelentingly  persisted  in,  and  carried  so 
far,  that  if  he  had  the  spirit  of  a  worm  it  must  have 
roused  him  at  last.  An  appeal  respecting  the  suc- 
cession to  some  lands  in  Fife  was  the  case  in  which 
his  patience  gave  way.  In  the  first  instance  he 
ventured  to  take  no  notice  of  the  usual  older  to 
present  himself  at  the  hearing  of  the  cause.  But 
he  did  not  persist  in  this  bold  course.  On  receiving 
a  second  summons,  he  yielded  obedience  so  far  as 
to  make  his  appearance  in  the  English  parliament 
on  the  day  named,  the  15th  of  October,  1293.  When 
asked  what  defence  he  had  to  make  to  the  appeal, 
he  said — "  I  am  King  of  Scotland.  To  the  com- 
plaint of  the  appellant,  or  to  aught  else  respecting 
my  kingdom,  I  dare  not  make  answer  without  the 
advice  of  my  people."  "  What  means  this  ?"  cried 
Edward :  "  You  are  7ny  liegeman ;  you  have  done 
homage  to  trie ;  you  are  here  in  consequence  of  ?ny 
summons."  Baliol,  however,  would  only  repeat  his 
first  answer.  He  declined  even  to  ask  an  adjourn- 
ment of  the  cause.  The  Parliament  then  resolved 
that  the  King  of  Scots  had  offered  no  defence  ;  that 
in  his  answer  he  had  been  guilty  of  a  manifest  con- 
tempt of  the  court,  and  of  open  disobedience :  that 
the  appellant  should  have  damages  of  the  King  of 
Scots;  and,  finally,  "  because  it  is  consonant  to  law 
that  every  one  be  punished  in  that  which  emboldens 
him  to  offend,  that  the  three  principal  castles  of 
Scotland,  with  the  towns  w^herein  they  are  situated, 
and  the  royal  jurisdiction  thereof,  be  taken  imme- 
diately into  the  custody  of  the  king,  and  there 
remain  until  the  King  of  Scots  shall  make  satisfac- 
tion for  his  contempt  and  disobedience."  On  the 
;  prayer  of  Baliol,  however,  Edward,  before  this  sen- 
tence was  publicly  intimated,  consented  to  stay  all 
proceedings  till  the  day  after  the  Feast  of  the  Trin- 
j  ity  in  the  following  year.  Before  that  day  arrived. 
'  war  between  England  and  France  broke  out  on  the 
seizure  of  Guienne  by  Philip;  and  in  the  new  posi- 
tion of  his  affairs,  Edward  had  his  hands  for  the 
present  too  full  of  work  in  defending  himself  against 
his  own  liege  lord  to  have  leisure  for  the  further 
humiliation  and  oppression  of  the  King  of  Scots. 
!  The  opportunity,  however,  was  too  tempting  a 
'  one  not  to  be  seized  by  the  latter  for  a  strenuous 
i  effort  to  cast  oft'  the  yoke.  Hitherto  the  nation, 
'  struck  down  by  the  irresistible  course  of  events, 
and  deserted  by  its  natural  leaders,  had  lain,  as  it 
were,  stunned  and  in  despair.  Its  old  spirit  now 
began  to  awaken  as  a  new  dawn  of  hope  appeared. 
The  nobles  themselves — they  whose  selfish  or  fac- 
tious ambition  had  laid  their  country  at  the  feet  of 
'  the  English  king — had  many  of  them  by  this  time 


G88 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


been  roused  to  a  sense  of  the  bondage  into  which 
they  had  fallen.  Their  tirst  measures,  howevei", 
were  cautiousily  taken.  A  parliament,  which  met 
at  Scone  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1'294,  on  pre- 
tence of  lightening  the  public  burdens,  directed  that 
all  the  Englishmen  maintained  at  the  court  should 
be  dismissed;  and  then  appointed  a  council  of  four 
bisliops,  four  earls,  and  four  barons,  without  whose 
advice  the  king  was  restricted  from  performing  any 
public  act.  These  arrangements  may  have  been 
made  with  Baliol's  full  concurrence  ;  but  it  is  more 
probable  that  they  were  dictated  by  a  distrust  of 
him.  It  is  asserted  indeed  by  English  writers  that 
Baliol  was  at  this  time  kept  by  his  sul)jects  in  a  state 
very  closely  resembling  captivity. 

The  suspicions  of  Edward  were  naturally  enough 
excited  by  these  proceedings.  He  required  that 
Berwick,  Roxburgh,  and  Jedburgh  should  be  deliv- 
ered to  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  to  remain  in  his  hands 
during  the  war  between  England  and  France.  With 
this  demand  the  Scottish  government  deemed  it  pru- 
dent to  comply,  although  they  were  at  the  moment 
negotiating  an  alliance  with  the  French  king.  This 
treaty — "  the  groundwork,"  observes  Lord  Ilailes, 
"of  many  more,  equally  honorable  and  ruinous  to 
Scotland,"  was  signed  at  Paris  on  the  2.3d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1295.  By  it  the  King  of  Scots,  "grievously 
offended  at  the  undutiful  behavior  of  Edward  to  the 
King  of  France,  his  liege  lord,"  engaged  to  assist 
Philip  in  his  wars  with  his  whole  power,  and  at  his 
own  charges.  Toward  the  end  of  March,  129G, 
accordingly,  a  Scottish  army,  consisting  of  40,000 
foot  soldiers  and  500  cavalry,  invaded  Cumberland, 
and,  laying  waste  the  country  as  they  proceeded, 
marched  to  Carlisle,  and  attacked  that  place.  Here, 
however,  they  were  repulsed,  and  that  with  cir- 


cumstances of  unusual  disgrace,  if  w"e  may  credit 
the  English  historians,  who  assert  that  the  town 
having  been  set  on  fire,  and  the  citizens  having  left 
their  posts  to  extinguish  the  flames,  the  women  flew 
to  the  walls  and  compelled  the  besiegers  to  retire. 
Another  inroad,  which  they  made  a  few  days  after 
into    Northumberland,    was    not    more    successful. 
Meanwhile  Edward  himself,  at  the  head  of  a  great 
army,  was  already  at  the  borders.     A  pardon  had 
been  proclaimed  for  all  outlaws  and  malefactors  who 
should  join  the  expedition  ;  and  the  force  which  now 
rolled  on  to  pour  upon  the  Scottish  rebels  the  venge- 
ance of  their  English  master,  consisted  of  .30,000 
foot  and  4000  horse.      Its   numbers   were  further 
swelled  on  its  arrival  in  the  north  by  a  body  of  1000 
foot  and  700  horse,  brought  bj'  Anthony  Beck,  the 
warlike  Bishop  of  Durham.     Crossing  the  Tweed, 
the  ro^al  army  marched  direct  upon  the  town  of 
Berwick,  which  either  had  never  been  delivered  by 
the   Scots  to  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  according  to 
their  late  promise,  or  had  freed  itself  again  from  his 
authority.     A  strong  garrison,  com|)osed  of  tlie  men 
of  Fife,  now  defended  the  town,  beside  a  smaller 
j  force  that  held  the  castle.     The  English  king  cnm- 
{  menced  the  attack  at  once  by  sea  and  land  ;  of  his 
[  ships,  three  were  burnt,  and  the  rest  compelled  to 
j  retire ;  but  all  resistance  soon  gave  way  before  the 
impetuous  onset  of  the  soldiery  ;  Edward  himself, 
j  mounted  on  his  horse   Bayard,  was  the  first  wlio 
I  leaped  over  the  dike  that  defended  the  town.     In 
I  tlie  devastation  and  carnage  that  followed,  no  quar- 
i  ter  was  given  ;  no  pitj',  no  human  feeling,  turned 
'  aside   the  sword  from  infancy,  or  womanhood,  or 
gray  hairs ;  the  inhabitants,  with  the  garrison,  were 
indiscriminately  butchered.     The  numbers  that  per- 
,  ished    are   variously  stated,   but  they  undoubtedly 


Rci.Ns  OF  THE  Castle  of  Dunbar. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


689 


amounted  to  many  thousands  :  the  massacre  was 
continued  for  two  days,  during  which  no  one  escaped 
whom  the  infuriated  victors  could  reach.  A  party  of 
thirty  Flemings  had  posted  themselves  in  a  building 
called  the  Red  Hall,  which  the  resident  merchants  of 
their  nation  held  by  the  tenure  of  defending  it  at  all 
times  against  the  English.  They  stood  out  gaUantly 
till  the  evening  of  the  first  day  ;  the  building,  which 
they  would  not  surrender,  was  then  set  fire  to,  and 
they  perished,  every  man  of  them,  in  the  flames. 

Berwick  was  taken  on  the  30th  of  March.  On 
the  5th  of  April,  a  bold  ecclesiastic,  Henry,  Abbot 
of  Aberbrothock  (otherwise  Arbroath),  arrived  in 
the  town  a  messenger  from  the  Scottish  king,  and 
delivered  to  Edward  Baliol's  solemn  renunciation  of 
his  allegiance  and  fealty.  "  What  a  piece  of  mad- 
ness in  the  foolish  traitor !"  exclaimed  Edward, 
when  the  message  had  been  delivered  ;  "  since  he 
w  ill  not  come  to  us,  we  will  go  to  him."  ^  A  pause 
of  a  few  weeks,  to  make  the  blow  the  surer,  did  not 
prevent  this   threat  from  being  both  speedily  and 

1  Ha,  ce  fol  felon  tel  folie  faict  1  s'il  ne  voiilt  venir  a  nous,  nous 
vieudroDS  d  lui. 


'  effectually  executed.  Earl  Warenne  was  first  sent 
fot'wai'd  W'ith  a  chosen  body  of  troops  to  recover  the 
castle  of  Dunbar,  which  the  Countess  of  March  had 
delivered  to  the  Scots,  while  her  husband,  by  whom 
it  was  held,  served  in  the  army  of  Edward.  The 
Scottish  army,  in  full  strength,  advanced  to  its  relief, 

!  when  thej'  were  engaged  by  Warenne,  and  com- 
pletely routed,  with  the  loss  of  10,000  men.  This 
action  was  fought  on  the  28th  of  April.  The  castle 
then  surrendered  at  discretion.  On  the  18th  of 
]May  that  of  Roxburgh  was  given  up  by  James  the 
SteAvard  of  Scotland,  who  at  the  same  time  swore 
fealty  to  Edward  and  abjured  the  French  alliance. 
The  castles  of  Dunbarton  and  Jedburgh  soon  after 
suri'endered.     That  of  Edinburgh  stood  a  short  siege, 

,  but  it  also  soon  capitulated  :  no  attempt  was  made  to 

[  defend  that  of  Stirling.  Thus,  in  the  space  of  about 
two  months,  all  the  principal  strongholds  of  the  king- 
dom were  in  Edward's  hand,  and  the  conquest  of 

I  the  country  was  complete.  A  message  (very  differ- 
ent from  his  last)  now  arrived  from  Baliol,  offering 
submission  and  imploring  peace.     Edward,  in  reply, 

I  desired  him  to  repair  to  the  castle  of  Brechin,  where 


liALIOL   SURRENDERING    THE    CrOWS   TO    EdWARD.      OpilJ. 


VOL.  I. — a 


690 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


the  Bishop  of  Durham  would  announce  to  him  the 
terms  on  which  his  surrender  would  be  accepted. 
Soon  after,  Baliol  laid  down  his  kinj^ly  state  in  a 
ceremonial  of  the  last  degree  of  baseness  and  humil- 
iation. Divested  of  every  ensign  of  royalty,  he  pre- 
sented himself  before  the  Bishop  of  Durham  and 
an  assembly  of  English  barons,  and  standing  with  n 
white  rod  in  his  hand,  went  through  a  detailed  con- 
fession of  all  the  o/l'enees  which,  misled  by  evil  and 
false  counsel,  as  he  affirmed,  and  through  his  own 
simplicity,  lie  had  committed  against  his  liege  lord 
— concluding  the  recital  by  an  acknowledgment  of 
the  justice  of  the  English  invasion  and  conquest,  and 
by  therefore  freely  resigning  to  the  English  king 
his  kingdom,  its  people,  and  their  homage.  '^Phe 
old  accounts  differ  as  to  the  exact  date,  and  also  as 
to  the  scene  of  this  penance  ;  but  it  was  most  prob- 
ably j)erformed  on  the  7th  of  .July,  and.  as  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  neighborhood  still  reports,  in  the  church- 
yard of  Strathkathro,  in  Angus.'  Edward  was  at 
this  time  at  Montrose.*  He  proceeded  northward 
as  far  as  Elgin — the  nobility,  wherever  he  passed, 
crowding  in  to  swear  fealty,  and  to  ai)juie  the  French 
alliance.  It  was  on  his  return  from  this  triumi)liant 
progress  that  he  ordered  the  famous  stone  on  which 
the  Scottish  kings  had  been  wont  to  be  crowned,  to 
be  removed  from  the  abbey  of  Scone,  and  conveyed 
to  Westminster,  in  testimony,  says  an  English  con- 
temporary chronicler,  of  the  conquest  and  surrender 
of  the  kingdom.'  He  appears  to  have  been  at  St. 
Johnstone's,  or  Perth,  on  Wednesday,  the  8th  of 
August.  By  the  22d,  he  was  once  more  at  Ber- 
wick; and  on  the  28th  he  held  a  parliament  in  that 
town,  at  which  great  numbers  both  of  the  Scottish 
laity  and  clergy  presented  themselves  to  take  the 
oaths  of  fealty.  He  then  proceeded  to  finish  his 
work,  by  settling  the  government  of  the  conquered 
country.  Here  his  measures  were  characterized 
by  great  prudence  and  moderation.  He  ordered 
the  forfeited  estates  of  the  clergy  to  be  restored. 
He  even  allowed  most  of  the  subordinate  civil  func- 
tionaries who  had  held  office  under  Baliol,  to  retain 
possession  of  their  places.  He  left  the  various  juris- 
dictions of  the  country  in  general  in  the  same  hands 
as  before.  The  chief  castles  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  kingdom,  however,  he  intrusted  to  English 
captains ;  and  lie  also  placed  some  of  his  English 
subjects  in  command  over  certain  of  the  more  im- 
portant districts.  Finally,  he  appointed  John  de 
Warenne,  Earl  of  Surrey,  under  the  name  of  gov- 
ernor, Hugh  de  Cressingham  as  treasurer,  and  Will- 
iam Ormesby  as  justiciary,  to  exercise  the  supreme 
authority.  A  royal  exchequer,  on  the  model  of  the 
English,  was  established  at  Berwick.  Thus  ended 
in  the  utter  extinction,  for  the  present,  of  the  na- 
tional independence  of  Scotland,  the  most  miserably 
abortive  attempt  ever  made  by  any  people  for  the 
preservation  or  recovery  of  that  first  and  most  indis- 
pensable of  national  blessings. 

I  See  Hailes,  i.  293  ;  Tytler  i.  429,  430  ;  and  Chambers's  Picture  of 
Scotland,  ii.  255. 

-  See  a  curious  Diary  of  Edward's  progress,  published  with  ex- 
platiatory  remarks,  by  Sir  N.  H.  Nicolas,  from  a  MS.  in  the  British 
Museum,  in  the  21st  vol.  of  the  Archsologia,  pp.  478-498. 

^  Hemingford. 


[Book  IV. 

But,  although  Edward  had  put  down  the  rebellion 
of  the  Scots,  he  had  not  subdued  their  spirit  of 
resistance.  Within  a  few  months  after  this  settle- 
ment of  the  country  it  was  again  in  insurrection. 
The  last  and  all  preceding  attempts  to  throw  off  the 
foreign  yoke  under  which  the  kingdom  groaned 
had  been  made  under  the  direction  of  the  govern- 
ment; there  was  no  longer  any  native  government; 
but  a  great  leader  of  the  people  had  now  stepped 
forth  from  their  own  ranks.  This  was  the  renowned 
William  Wallace,  the  second  son  of  a  knight  of 
ancient  family.  Sir  Malcolm  Wallace,  of  Ellerslie. 
in  Renfrewsliire.  Wallace  had  all  the  qualities  of 
a  popular  hero — a  strength  and  stature  correspond- 
ing to  his  daring  courage,  and  also,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  from  the  known  history  of  his  career,  as 
well  as  from  his  traditionary  fame,  many  intellectual 
endowments  of  a  high  order — decision,  military 
genius,  the  talent  of  command,  a  stirring  though 
rude  eloquence,  and  in  eveiy  way  a  wonderful  power 
of  reaching  the  hearts  of  men,  and  drawing  them 
along  with  him.  Above  all,  an  enthusiastic  patriot- 
ism, and  a  fierce  and  unextinguishable  hatred  of 
the  English  dominion,  were  passions  so  strong  in 
Wallace,  that  while  he  lived,  be  the  hour  as  dark 
as  it  might,  all  felt  that  the  cause  of  the  national 
independence  never  could  be  wholly  lost.  It  is  his 
glorious  distinction  that,  while  all  others  despaired 
of  that  cause,  he  did  not  despair — that  when  all 
others  submitted  to  the  conqueror,  he  betook  him- 
self to  the  woods,  and  remained  a  freeman — that 
when  there  was  no  other  to  renew  the  struggle, 
he  started  up  in  that  time  of  universal  dismay  and 
prostration,  and  showed,  by  an  example  precious 
to  all  time,  that  even  in  the  worst  circumstances 
nothing  is  reallj'  gone  forever  where  the  spirit  of 
hope  and  eftbrt  is  not  gone. 

Wallace  is  first  mentioned  in  the  month  of  May, 
1297.  At  this  time  he  was  merely  the  captain  of 
a  small  band  of  marauders,  most  of  them  probably 
outlaws  like  himself,  who  were  accustomed  to  infest 
the  English  quarters  by  predatory  attacks.  Their 
nuiubers,  however,  rapidly  grew,  as  reports  of  their 
successful  exploits  were  spread  abroad.  Suddenly 
we  find  the  robber-chief  transformed  into  the  na- 
tional champion,  joined  bj^some  of  the  chief  persons 
in  the  land,  and  heading  an  armed  revolt  against  the 
government.  The  first  pei'son  of  note  who  joined 
Wallace  was  Sir  William  Douglas.  He  had  com- 
manded in  the  castle  of  Berwick  when  it  was  taken 
the  preceding  year  by  Edward  ;  and,  after  his  sur- 
render, had  been  liberated  upon  swearing  fealty  to 
the  English  king.  Disregarding  this  oath,  he  now 
armed  his  vassals,  and  openly  went  over  to  Wallace. 
The  united  chiefs  immediately  marched  upon  Scone, 
the  seat  of  the  government.  Eail  Warenne  was 
at  this  time  absent  in  England,  and  Ormesby,  the 
justiciary,  was  acting  as  his  lieutenant.  That  func- 
tionary, with  difficulty,  saved  his  life  by  flight ;  but 
much  boot}'  and  many  prisoners  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  insurgents,  and  the  English  government  was, 
in  fact,  by  this  bold  and  brilliant  exploit,  for  the 
moment  overthrown.  For  some  time  the  neigh- 
boring  country  was   wholly  at   the   mercy  of  the 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


691 


insurgents,  who  roved  over  it,  assaulting  every  place 
of  strength  that  refused  them  admission,  and  mas- 
sacring every  Englishman  vs'ho  fell  into  their  hands. 

Many  persons  of  note  and  distinguished  rank 
now  crowded  to  the  once  more  uplifted  standard  of 
freedom  and  independence  ;  the  Steward  of  Scot- 
land, and  his  brother,  Robert  Wisheart,  Bishop  of 
Glasgow,  Alexander  de  Lindesay,  Sir  Richard 
Lundin,  and  Sir  Andrew  Moray  of  Bothwell,  are 
especially  mentioned.  But  no  accession  was  more 
important,  or  more  gladly  welcomed,  than  that  of 
the  young  Robert  Bruce,  the  son  of  Robert  Bruce 
who  had  married  the  Countess  of  Carrick,  and  the 
grandson  of  him  who  had  been  a  competitor  with 
Baliol  for  the  crown.  A  few  years  before  this, 
Bruce's  father  had  resigned  the  earldom  of  Carrick, 
which  he  held  in  right  of  his  wife,  to  his  son  ;  and 
the  latter,  by  the  possession  of  this  lordship,  now 
commanded  a  territory  reaching  from  the  Frith  of 
Clj'de  to  the  Solway.  The  course  taken  by  Baliol 
had  hitherto  naturally  determined  the  conduct  and 
position  of  the  rival  family.  So  long  as  Baliol  stood 
even  nominally  at  the  head  of  the  patriotic  cause, 
the  Bruces  were  almost  necessarily  on  the  other 
side.  In  the  last  daj's  of  Baliol's  reign  the  Scottish 
government  issued  an  order  confiscating  the  estates 
of  all  partisans  of  England  and  of  all  neutrals,  which 
was  principally  aimed  at  the  house  of  Bruce  ;  and 
a  grant  of  their  estate  of  Annandale  was  made  to 
Comyn,  Earl  of  Buchan,  who  actually  took  posses- 
sion, in  consequence,  of  the  family  castle  of  Loch- 
inaben.  This  of  course  he  did  not  long  retain  ;  but 
the  wrong  was  not  the  less  one,  which  in  that  fierce 
age  never  could  be  forgiven.  Allowance  must  be 
made  for  these  personal  resentments  and  rivalries, 
and  the  opposition  into  which  men  were  thereby 
thrown,  in  passing  judgment  upon  the  conduct  of 
many  of  the  actors  in  this  turbulent  and  bewilder- 
Hig  drama.  Bruce,  eventually  the  great  liberator  of 
his  country  and  restorer  of  the  Scottish  monarchy, 
makes  his  first  appearance  on  the  scene,  soon  after 
the  fatal  fight  of  Dunbar,  in  the  unpatriotic  part  of 
a  commissioner  empowered  by  the  conqueror  to 
receive  into  favor  the  people  of  Carrick.'  He  was 
nt  this  time  only  in  his  twenty-second  year.  His 
heart,  however,  was  probably  already  drawing  him, 
through  doubts  and  misgivings,  to  the  cause  which 
he  was  at  a  future  day  so  gloriously  to  illustrate. 
Now  that  Baliol  was  removed,  the  time  for  Bruce 
to  show  himself  seemed  to  have  come.  Edward,  it 
would  appear,  was  not  without  some  suspicion  of 
what  his  inclinations  were.  He,  therefore,  had 
summoned  him  to  Carlisle,  and  made  him  rencAV, 
on  the  sword  of  Becket,  his  oaths  of  allegiance  and 
fidelity.  In  the  national  enthusiasm,  however,  ex- 
cited by  the  first  success  of  Wallace,  he  could 
restrain  himself  no  longer.  "  I  trust,"  he  said, 
"that  the  Pope  will  absolve  me  from  oaths  extort- 
ed by  force ;"  and  so,  breaking  from  his  bonds,  he 
joined  the  army  of  the  patriots. 

But,  in  that  camp,  jealousies  and  dissensions  were 
already  actively  at  work,  and  disorganizing  every- 
thing. Edward  was  embarking  for  Flanders  when 
I  Hailes,  i.  292. 


he  received  intelligence  of  the  new  Scottish  revolt. 
The  military  force  of  the  kingdom  to  the  north  of 
the  Trent  was  instantly  called  into  array  by  the 
Earl  of  Surrey ;  and  as  soon  as  the  men  could  be 
collected.  Sir  Henry  Percy  and  Sir  Robert  Clift'ord 
were  sent  forward  to  meet  the  insurgents,  at  the 
head  of  an  army  of  forty  thousand  foot  and  three 
hundred  horse.  They  found  the  Scots,  in  nearly 
equal  numbers,  posted  in  a  strong  position  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  town  of  Irvine,  in  Ayrshire. 
But  no  acknowledged  leader  controlled  the  irregular 
congregation  of  chiefs  who  had  crowded  with  their 
retainers  to  the  standard  that  Wallace  had  raised ; 
his  authority  was  disowned,  or  but  reluctantly  sub- 
mitted to,  by  many  of  the  proud  knights  and  barons, 
who  never  before  had  obeyed  a  plebeian  general ; 
and  there  were  probably  as  many  conflicting  plans  of 
operation  as  there  were  competitors  for  the  supreme 
command.  In  this  miserable  state  of  affairs,  it  ap- 
peared to  all  who  had  anything  to  lose,  that  the 
wisest  plan  was  to  make  their  peace  with  the  gov- 
ernment before  it  should  be  too  late.  All  the  chief 
associates  of  Wallace  accordingly,  including  Bruce, 
the  Steward  of  Scotland,  the  Bishop  of  Glasgow, 
Sir  Alexander  Lindesay,  Sir  Richard  Lundin,  and 
even  Sir  William  Douglas,  the  first  who  had  joined 
him,  laid  down  their  arms  after  a  short  negotiation, 
and,  for  themselves  and  their  adherents,  made  sub- 
mission to  Edward.  The  instrument  in  which  they 
acknowledged  their  ofitences,  and  agreed  to  make 
every  reparation  and  atonement  that  should  be  re- 
quired by  their  sovereign  lord,  is  dated  at  Irvine, 
the  9th  of  July.'  Only  one  baron.  Sir  Andrew 
Moray  of  Bothwell,  continued  to  adhere  to  Wallace. 
Many  of  the  vassals,  however,  even  of  the  lords 
and  knights  that  had  deserted  him,  remained  among 
his  followers  ;  and  he  withdrew  to  the  north  at  the 
head  of  a  force  that  was  still  numerous  and  formi- 
dable. 

No  forther  effort  seems  to  have  been  made  by 
the  government  to  put  down  the  innirrectiou  for 
several  months.  In  the  mean  while  the  army  of 
Wallace  was  continually  receiving  accessions  of 
numbers.  The  English  historian,  Knighton,  affirms 
that  the  whole  of  the  lower  orders  had  attached 
themselves  to  him,  and  that,  although  their  persons 
were  with  the  King  of  England,  the  hearts  of  many 
of  the  nobility  also  were  with  Wallace,  whose  army, 
it  is  added,  now  grew  to  so  immense  a  multitude 
that  the  community  of  the  land  obeyed  him  as  their 
leader  and  prince.  By  the  beginning  of  September, 
it  appears  that  he  had  driven  the  English  from  the 
castles  of  Brechin,  Forfar,  Montrose,  and  most  of  the 
other  strongholds  to  the  north  of  the  Forth,  and 
was  now  engaged  in  besieging  the  castle  of  Dun- 
dee. While  there  he  received  information  that  an 
English  army  was  marching  upon  Stirling.  Leav- 
ing the  siege  to  be  continued  by  the  citizens  of 
Dundee,  he  led  his  whole  force,  amounting  to  forty 
thousand  foot  and  a  hundred  and  eighty  horse, 
toward  Stirling,  and  succeeded,  by  rapid  marches, 
in  reaching  the  banks  of  the  Forth  opposite  to  that 
town  before  the  English  had  arrived.     He  imme- 

1  Rymer,  ii.  774. 


692 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


diately  drew  up  his  army  so  as  to  be  partly  con- 
cealed behind  the  neighboring  high  grounds.  Brian 
Fitzalan  had  by  this  time  been  appointed  by  Edward 
chief  governor  of  Scotland  ;  but  the  Earl  of  Surrey 
still  commanded  the  forces.  The  English  army 
soon  appeared  on  the  other  side  of  the  river ;  it  is 
said  by  Hemingford  to  have  consisted  of  one  thou- 
sand horsemen  and  fifty  thousand  foot.  On  its 
being  perceived  how  Wallace  was  posted  it  was 
resolved  to  offer  him  terms  before  risking  an  engage- 
ment; but  he  refused  to  enter  into  any  negotiation. 
"  Return,"  he  said  to  those  who  came  to  him,  "and 
tell  your  masters  that  we  come  not  here  to  treat, 
but  to  assert  our  rights,  and  to  set  Scotland  free ; 
let  them  advance ;  they  will  find  us  prepared." 
That  night,  however,  no  movement  was  made.  But 
Surrey's  men  impatiently  called  upon  him  to  accept 
of  Wallace's  defiance;  Cressingham,  the  treasurer, 
protested  against  the  waste  of  the  king's  money  in 
keeping  up  an  army  if  it  was  not  to  fight ;  and  to 
this  passionate  importunity  the  English  commander 
weakly  yielded  his  own  better  judgment,  and  suf- 
fered his  army  to  throw  itself,  not  into  a  snare,  for, 
if  the  common  accounts  of  the  aftair  may  be  relied 
upon,  no  stratagem  or  deception  of  anj'  kind  was 
employed  by  Wallace,  but  into  obvious  and  certain 
destruction.  Early  the  following  morning  (the  11th 
of  September)  the  English  began  to  pass  over  bj-  the 
bridge — a  narrow  wooden  structure,  along  which, 
even  with  no  impediment  or  chance  of  interruption 
of  any  kind  to  retard  them,  so  numerous  a  force 
could  not  have  been  led  in  many  hours.  The  issue 
was  what  it  is  unaccountable  should  not  have  been 
foreseen.  Wallace  waited  till  about  half  the  Eng- 
hsh  were  passed  over;  then,  detaching  a  part  of 
his  forces  to  take  possession  of  the  extremity  of  the 


bridge,  as  soon  as  he  perceived  the  communication 
by  this  means  eftectualiy  cut  off,  he  rushed  down 
upon  the  portion  of  the  enemy  who  had  thus  put 
themselves  in  his  power,  as  they  were  still  forming, 
and  in  a  moment  threw  them  into  inextricable  con- 
fusion. Many  thousands  of  the  English  were  slain 
or  driven  into  the  water ;  Cressingham  himself, 
who  had  led  the  van,  was  one  of  those  who  fell ; 
he  had,  by  the  severity  of  his  administration,  made 
himself  particularly  hateful  to  the  Scots,  who  now, 
stripping  the  skin  from  his  dead  bodj',  cut  it  into 
small  pieces  to  be  preserved — not  as  relics,  saya 
Hemingford,  but  for  spite.'"  Wallace  himself,  it  is 
affirmed,  had  a  sword-belt  made  of  part  of  it.  No 
prisoners,  indeed,  seem  to  have  been  taken ;  and 
nearly  all  the  English  that  had  crossed  the  river 
must  therefore  have  been  destroyed.  One  knight, 
however.  Sir  Marmaduke  Twenge,  putting  spurs 
to  his  horse,  gallantly  cut  his  way  back  through  the 
force  that  guarded  the  bridge,  and  regained  the  oppo- 
site side  in  safety.  Surrey  himself  had  not  passed 
over ;  but,  after  the  fortune  of  the  day  became 
clearly  irrecoverable,  charging  Twenge  to  occupy 
the  castle  of  Stirling  with  what  remains  of  the  army 
he  could  collect,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  rode, 
without  stopping,  to  Berwick.  Even  the  portion  of 
the  army  that  had  remained  on  the  south  side  of 
the  river  seems  to  have  been  in  great  part  dispersed. 
The  loss  of  the  Scots  v/as  tritiing :  the  only  man  of 
note  that  fell  was  Sir  Andrew  Moray.  A  lai'ge 
quantity  of  spoil  was  taken.  But  the  great  result 
of  the  victory  was  nothing  less  than  the  almost  com- 
plete liberation  of  the  country  once  more  from  the 
English  dominion.  The  castles  of  Edinburgh,  Dun- 
dee, Roxburgh,  and  Berwick,  all  immediately  sur- 

»  Non  quidem  ad  reliquias,  sed  in  contumelias. 


6T1RUN0  Castle. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


693 


rendered  ;  and  in  a  short  time  there  was  not  a  for- 
tress, from  one  end  of  Scotland  to  the  other,  in  the 
possession  of  the  EngUsh  king.  Wallace  soon  after 
even  invaded  England,  and  for  some  time  maintained 
his  army  in  Cumberland, — a  movement  to  which 
he  was  partly  induced  by  a  severe  famine  that  now 
arose  in  Scotland,  where  unfavorable  seasons  had 
conspired  with  the  waste  of  war  to  afflict  the  soil. 
He  returned  from  this  expedition  about  the  end  of 
the  year ;  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  then  that,  in 
an  assembly  of  the  principal  nobility,  held  at  the 
"orest  Kirk  in  Selkirkshire,  he  was  invested  with 
the  title  of  Guardian  or  Governor  of  the  kingdom, 
and  commander-in-chief  of  the  armies  of  Scotland 
(Custos  regni  Scotiae,  etductor  exercituum  ejusdem), 
in  the  name  of  King  John.  The  Scottish  patriots, 
it  is  to  be  observed,  had  all  along  professed  to  act  in 
the  name  of  Baliol;  so  general,  notwithstanding  all 
that  had  taken  place,  was  the  conviction  that  his 
was  the  legitimate  right  to  the  crown,  or  so  strong 
the  aversion  to  reopen  the  question  of  the  succes- 
sion, from  which  all  the  calamities  of  the  country 
had  sprung. 

Thus  was  Scotland  again  lost  by  Edward  even 
more  suddenly  than  it  had  been  won.  He  was  still 
detained  in  Flanders  by  the  war  in  which  he  had 
engaged  with  the  French  king  for  the  recovery  of 
Guienne,  while  his  conquest  nearer  home  was  thus 
wrested  out  of  his  hands.  It  appears  that  strenuous 
efforts  were  made  bj-  Philip  to  have  the  Scots  in- 
cluded in  the  benefit  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  the  truce 
preliminary  to  which  was  agi-eed  upon  in  October  of 
this  year.^  But  Edward  would  hear  of  no  terms  for 
those  whom  he  called  revolted  subjects  and  ti'aitors. 
By  letters  addressed  to  all  the  earls  and  barons  of 
England,  he  commanded  that  a  general  muster  of 
the  military  force  of  the  kingdom  should  take  place 
at  York  on  the  14th  of  January.  A  week  after  that 
day  a  mighty  army,  of  a  hundred  thousand  foot  and 
four  thousand  cavalry,  was  on  its  march,  under  the 
command  of  Surrey,  across  the  Scottish  border. 
After  this  force,  however,  had  proceeded  as  far  as 
Berwick,  of  which  they  took  possession,  letters  ar- 
rived from  the  king  ordering  them  not  to  continue 
their  advance  till,  he  should  himself  join  them.  On 
this  Surrey  sent  home  the  greater  part  of  the  im- 
mense multitude,  retaining  only  a  body  of  twenty 
thousand  foot  and  fifteen  hundred  horse. 

Edward  returned  to  England  about  the  middle  of 
March,  1298,  and  instantly  summoned  the  barons 
and  other  military  tenants  to  reassemble  with  their 
powers  at  York  on  the  feast  of  Pentecost.  A  still 
more  numerous  army  than  the  last  gathered  at  this 
new  call,  at  the  head  of  which  Edward  proceeded 
in  the  first  instance  to  Roxburgh.  From  this  point 
he  advanced,  in  the  beginning  of  .Tune,  along  the 
east  coast,  a  fleet  with  supplies  for  the  army  having 
been  sent  forward  to  the  Frith  of  Forth  ;  but  for 
several  weeks  no  enemy,  scarcely  even  any  inhab- 
itants, were  to  be  seen,  and  the  invaders  could  only 
take  a  useless  revenge  in  wasting  an  already  de- 
serted country.  The  Scots  meanwhile,  under  the 
direction   of  Wallace,    had    been    collecting    their 

'  See  Rymer,  new  edit.,  i.  8C1  ;  and  Tytler,  i.  173  and  435. 


strength  in  the  interior ;  and  many  of  the  chief  no- 
bility, including  Bruce,  were  now  assembled  again 
around  the  great  national  leader.  The  plan  of 
Wallace,  however,  was  to  avoid,  for  the  present,  a 
general  engagement,  and  only  to  watch,  out  of  sight, 
the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and  hang  upon  his 
line  of  march,  in  readiness  to  take  advantage  of  such 
favorable  circumstances  as  might  arise.  EdwaTd 
soon  became  invoWed  in  very  serious  difficulties  : 
his  ships  were  detained  by  contrary  winds;  and 
while  he  was  waiting  at  Templeliston  (now  Kirklis- 
ton), a  small  town  between  Edinburgh  and  Linlith- 
gow, till  he  should  receive  some  intelligence  of  them 
before  proceeding  upon  his  design  of  penetrating 
into  the  west,  an  alarming  mutiny  broke  out  in  the 
camp,  originating  in  a  quarrel  between  the  English 
and  the  Welsh  soldiers,  the  latter  of  whom,  amount- 
ing in  number  to  forty  thousand,  were  at  one  time 
on  the  point  of  withdrawing  and  joining  the  Scots. 
"  I  care  not,"  said  Edward,  with  his  usual  lofty 
spirit,  when  their  intention  was  reported  to  him ; 
"  let  my  enemies  go  and  join  my  enemies  ;  I  trust 
that  in  one  day  I  shall  chastise  them  all."  No  news 
of  the  ships  arriving,  however,  the  scarcity  of  pro- 
visions soon  became  so  distressing  that  a  retreat 
to  Edinburgh  was  resolved  upon,  when  information 
was  received  that  the  Scottish  army  was  encamped 
not  far  off  in  the  wood  of  Falkirk.  It  is  said  that 
two  noblemen  serving  in  the  Scottish  camp,  the 
earls  of  Dunbar  and  Angus,  came  privately  at  day- 
break to  the  quarters  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  and 
communicated  this  intelligence.  "  Thanks  be  to 
God!"  exclaimed  Edward,  "who  hitherto  hath  de- 
livered me  from  every  danger ;  they  shall  not  need 
to  follow  me ;  I  will  forthwith  go  and  meet  them!" 
That  night  the  army  lay  in  the  fields,  the  king  him- 
self sleeping  on  the  ground.  A  kick  from  his  horse, 
which  stood  beside  him  in  the  night,  broke  two  of 
his  ribs,  and  in  the  first  confusion  occasioned  by  the 
accident,  a  cry  ai'ose  that  the  king  was  seriously 
wounded  or  killed  —  that  there  was  treason  in  the 
camp.  Edward  immediately,  disregarding  the  pain 
he  suffered,  moimted  his  horse,  and,  as  it  was  now 
dawn,  gave  orders  to  continue  the  march.  The 
advanced  guard  of  the  enemy  was  first  seen  on  the 
ridge  of  a  hill  in  front,  after  they  had  passed  Lin- 
lithgow. Soon  after,  the  whole  army  was  descried, 
forming,  on  a  stony  field,  at  the  side  of  a  small  emi- 
nence in  the  neighborhood  of  Falkirk.'  Wallace 
divided  the  infantiy  of  his  army,  which  was  greatly 
inferior  in  numbers  to  that  of  the  English,  into  four 
circular  bodies,  armed  with  lances,  which  the  men 
protruded  obliquely,  as  they  knelt  with  their  backs 
against  each  other  ;  the  archers  were  placed  in  the 
intermediate  spaces:  the  horse,  of  which  there  were 
only  one  thousand,  were  drawn  up  at  some  distance 
in  the  rear.  Edward's  cavalry  were  ranged  in  the 
front  of  his  battle,  in  three  lines.  The  attack  was 
made  at  the  same  time  by  the  first  of  these,  led  by 
Bigot,  earl  marshal,  and  the  earls  of  Hereford  and 
Lincoln ;  and  by  the  second,  under  the  leading  of 
the  bold  Bishop  of  Durham.  The  shock  was  gal- 
lantly met  by  the   Scottish  infantry,  and  for  some 

1  Uailes,  i.  314. 


694 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


time  they  stood  their  ground  firmly.  The  cavahy, 
however,  whether  dismayed  by  the  immense  dis- 
parity between  the  numbers  of  the  enemy  and  their 
own,  or,  as  has  been  conjectured,  from  treason  on 
the  part  of  their  commanders,  fled  without  striking 
a  blow;  and,  thus  left  without  support  against  the 
repeated  charges  of  the  English  horse,  the  lancers 
and  archers  also  at  length  gave  way,  and  the  rout 
became  complete.  The  battle  of  Falkirk  was  fought 
on  the  2-2d  of  July,  1'298.  It  is  said  that  15,000  of 
the  Scots  fell  on  this  fatal  day.  On  the  English 
side  the  loss  was  inconsiderable.  Wallace  retreated 
with  the  remains  of  his  army  to  Stirling,  whither  ho 
was  pursued  by  the  English ;  but  when  they  ar- 
rived, he  was  gone,  and  the  town  was  found  reduced 
to  ashes.  The  victorious  invaders  now  carried  fire 
and  sword  through  the  country  in  all  directions. 
The  whole  of  Fifeshire  was  laid  waste  and  given 
up  to  military  execution.  The  city  of  St.  Andrews, 
which  was  found  deserted,  was  set  on  fire  and  burnt 
to  the  ground.  Perth  was  burnt  by  the  inhabitants 
themselves  on  the  approach  of  the  English.  Ed- 
ward, however,  was  speedily  obliged  to  leave  the 
country  from  the  impossibility  of  finding  the  means 
of  subsisting  his  troops.  He  appears  to  have  re- 
turned to  England  about  the  middle  of  September — 
having,  indeed,  regained  possession  of  the  principal 
places  of  strength  in  the  south  of  Scotland,  but  leav- 
ing the  whole  of  the  country  to  the  north  of  the 
Forth  still  unsubdued. 

The  expensive  wars  of  Wales,  Scotland,  and 
Guienne  had  caused  Edward  to  oppress  the  Eng- 
lish people  with  levies  and  taxes,  in  the  raising  of 
which  he  had  not  always  respected  the  constitu- 
tional charter ;  while  on  some  occasions  he  had 
recourse  to  artifices  similar  to  those  which  had  suc- 
ceeded so  badly  with  his  father,  Henry  III.  At 
one  time,  he  pretended  that  he  had  again  taken  the 
cross,  and  thus  obtained  the  tenth  of  all  church 
benefices  for  six  years.  A  few  years  after  this,  he 
seized  the  mouej^s  deposited  in  the  churches  and 
monasteries,  and  kept  the  greater  part  for  his  own 
xses,  promising,  however,  to  pay  it  back  some  time 
or  other.  His  financial  proceedings  with  the  church 
show  that  times  were  materially  altered — for  the 
main  weight  of  taxation  was  thrown  upon  that  body. 
After  obtaining  a  reluctant  grant  from  the  Im'ds  and 
knights  of  the  shire  of  a  tenth  on  lay  property,  he 
demanded  from  the  clergy  a  half  on  their  entire  in- 
comes. Here,  for  the  first  time,  he  encountered  a 
stern  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  bishops,  abbots, 
and  common  clergy,  but  they  were  bullied  into  com- 
pliance, being  told,  among  other  harsh  things,  that 
every  "reverend  father"  who  dared  to  oppose  the 
king,  would  be  noticed  as  one  who  had  broken  the 
peace.  This  was  in  1294.  In  the  following  year, 
having  obtained  a  very  liberal  grant  from  Pailiament, 
lie  exacted  a  fourth  from  the  cliurchmen,  who  again 
were  obstinate,  and  obliged  him,  in  the  end,  to  be 
satisfied  with  a  tenth.  Beside  these  heavy  bur- 
dens, the  church  was  sorely  racked  by  the  king's 
purveyors  and  commissaries,  who,  particularly  during 
the  more  active  parts  of  the  Scotch  war,  continually 
emptied  the  store-houses,  granaries,  farm-yards,  and 


larders,  and  carried  off  all  the  vehicles,  horses,  and 
other  animals  for  the  transport  of  army  stores,  inso- 
much that  the  poor  abbots  and  priors  complained 
that  the)'  had  scarcely  a  mule  left  in  their  stables 
upon  which  to  go  their  spiritual  rounds.  At  last 
they  applied  to  the  Pope  for  protection,  and  Boni- 
face VIII.  granted  them  a  bull,  ordaining  that  the 
clergy  should  not  vote  away  their  revenues  without 
the  express  permission  of  the  holy  see.  But  the 
Pope  was  engaged  in  many  troubles  ;  the  bull,  which 
applied  equally  to  all  Christian  countries,  was  stren- 
uously opposed  in  P' ranee  by  Philip  le  Bel ;  and  in 
the  following  year,  1297,  he  found  himself  obliged 
to  publish  a  second  bull,  which  explained  away  and 
stultified  the  first ;  for  it  provided  that,  whenever 
the  safety  of  the  kingdom  required  it,  churchmen 
must  pay  their  aids;  and  it  left  to  the  king  and  his 
council  the  right  of  deciding  on  the  necessity.  Be- 
fore this  second  bull  arrived,  the  English  clergy, 
fancying  that  they  were  well  supported  bj'  the  pre- 
vious document,  met,  and  boldly  refused  some  of 
Edward's  demands  ;  upon  which  he  outlawed  the 
whole  body,  both  regular  and  secular,  and  seized 
their  goods  and  chattels,  not  leaving  bishop,  parish 
priest,  abbot,  or  monk,  so  much  as  bread  to  eat,  or 
a  bed  to  lie  upon.  As  there  were  no  Beckets  in  the 
land,  these  measures  produced  a  general  submission 
to  the  king's  arbitrary  will,  even  before  the  arrival 
of  the  explanatory  bull.  A  few  recusants  were  sup- 
ported for  a  season  by  the  charity  of  their  relatives 
and  of  the  common  people,  but  no  popular  move- 
ment took  place  in  their  favor,  nor  does  their  hard 
treatment  appear  to  have  created  any  great  excite- 
ment.' 

It  was  far  otherwise  when  the  king  laid  his  greedy 
hand  on  the  trading  classes  :  they  had  borne  a  great 
deal  in  the  way  of  tallages  and  increased  export  du- 
ties ;  but  when  he  seized  all  the  wool  and  hides  that 
were  ready  for  shipping,  and  sold  them  for  his  own 
profit,  a  universal  and  loud  outcry  Avas  raised,. not- 
withstanding his  assurances  that  he  would  faithfully 
pay  back  the  amount.  The  merchants  assembled, 
the  rich  burghers,  the  landed  proprietors  of  all 
classes  consulted  together ;  and  their  consultations 
were  encouraged  by  some  of  the  greatest  of  the 
nobles,  who  were  not  so  blinded  bj'  the  career  of 
conquest  and  glory  in  which  the  king  was  leading 
them,  as  to  be  neglectful  of  their  more  immediate 
interests,  or  indifferent  to  those  violent  inroads  on 
the  national  rights.  Toward  the  end  of  February, 
1297,  Edward  felt  the  effect  of  these  deliberations. 
He  had  collected  two  armies,  one  of  which  was  to  go 
to  Guienne,  the  other  into  Flanders;  when  the  Earl 
of  Hereford,  the  constable,  and  the  Earl  of  Norfolk, 
the  marshal  of  England,  both  refused  to  quit  the  coun- 
try. Turning  to  the  marshal,  the  king  exclaimed, 
"  By  the  everlasting  God,  Sir  Earl,  you  shall  go,  or 
hang."  "  By  the  everlasting  God,  Sir  King,  I  will 
neither  go  nor  hang ;"  and,  so  saying,  Norfolk  with- 
drew with  Hereford.  Thirty  bannerets  and  fifteen 
hundred  knights  immediately  followed  the  marshal 
and  the  constable,  and  the  king  was  left  almost  alone.- 
An  incautious  step  at  this  moment  might  have  cost 

1  Rymer.— Brady.— 'Wykes.— Knight.— Ilcming.  =*  lleming. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


695 


him  his  crown  or  his  hfe,  but  Edward  was  a  won- 
derful master  of  his  passions  when  necessary,  and 
his  craft  and  policy  were*^iilly  equal  to  his  merits  as 
a  warrior.  He  knew  that  the  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury and  the  clergy  gave  great  weight  to  the 
present  opposition,  and  these  he  detached  by  bland- 
ishments and  promises.  He  knew  that  his  brilliant 
exploits  in  war  had  endeared  him  to  the  unthinking 
multitude,  and  he  also  knew  how  to  touch  their 
hearts.  The  measure  he  adopted  was  singularly 
dramatic  :  he  stood  forth  before  the  people  of  Lon- 
don, mounted  on  a  platform  in  front  of  Westminster 
Hall,  nobody  being  near  him  save  his  son  Edward, 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbuiy,  and  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick :  he  told  them  that  nobody  grieved  more  than 
he  did  for  the  burdensome  taxes  laid  upon  his  dear 
subjects,  but  this  burden  was  one  of  absolute  neces- 
sity, to  preserve  not  only  his  crown,  but  their  blood 
from  the  Welsh,  the  Scots,  and  the  French.^  Then, 
in  the  proper  place,  falling  into  the  pathetic,  he  said, 
"  I  am  going  to  expose  myself  to  all  the  dangers  of 
war,  for  your  sakes.  If  I  return  alive,  I  will  make 
you  amends  for  the  past ;  but  if  I  fall,  here  is  my 
dear  son,  place  him  on  my  throne,  his  gratitude  will 
be  the  rewarder  of  your  fidelity !"  Here  he  stopped, 
and  let  a  few  tears  roll  down  his  iron  cheek.  The 
archbishop  wept ;  the  spectators  were  tenderly  af- 
fected ;  and,  after  a  brief  pause,  the  air  was  rent 
with  shouts  of  applause  and  loyalty.^  This  display 
of  enthusiasm  gave  the  king  great  encouragement, 
and  having  issued  writs  for  the  protection  of  church 
property,  and  appointed  his  former  opponent,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  chief  of  the  council  of  re- 
gency under  Prince  Edward,  he  went  to  embark  for 
Flanders  with  such  troops  as  he  had  kept  together. 
But  a  few  dtiys  after,  on  August  12th,  he  was  brought 
to  a  halt  at  Winchester,  by  reports  of  the  hostile 
spirit  of  the  nobles  ;  and  while  in  that  city,  a  remon- 
strance, in  the  name  of  the  archbishoj)s,  bishops, 
abbots,  and  priors,  the  earls,  barons,  and  commons 
of-  England,  was  presented  to  him.  After  stating 
in  broad  terms  that  they  were  not  bound  to  accom- 
pany the  king  to  Flanders — a  country  where  neither 
they  nor  any  of  their  ancestors  had  ever  done  ser- 
vice for  the  kings  of  England  ;  and  that  even  if  they 
were  inclined  to  take  part  in  that  expedition,  the 
povertj'  to  which  he  had  reduced  them  rendered 
them  unable  to  do  so  :  they  went  on  to  tell  him,  in 
their  bold  remonstrance,  that  he  had  repeatedly  vio- 
lated their  charters  and  liberties;  that  his  "evil  toll" 
(so  they  called  the  export  duty  on  wool)  was  exces- 
sive and  intolerable,  and  that  his  present  expedition 
to  the  continent  was  ill-advised,  seeing  that  his  ab- 
sence would  leave  the  country  open  to  the  incur- 
sions of  the  Scots  and  W^elsh.  The  king  evaded 
any  very  direct  answer,  and  relying  on  the  favor- 
able disposition  of  the  common  people,  and  the  vigi- 
lance of  his  officers,  he  had  the  courage  to  depart  in 
the  verj-  midst  of  these  discontents.^  He  landed 
near  Sluys  in  the  end  of  August:  his  plans  were 

1  The  descent  at  Dover  had  greatly  inflamed  the  people  against  the 
French;  and  in  the  popular  acnmnts  of  the  savage  warfare  by  sea, 
the  atrocities  of  the  enemy  alone  were  dwelt  upon. 

2  Heming. — Knyghton. — Ryraer. 

^  Heming. — Wals. — Knyght. — Rymer. 


concerted  with  his  usual  sagacity  ;  but  coalitions  are 
faithless  and  uncertain  things,  and  he  had  in  Philip 
le  Bel  an  opponent  as  crafty,  and,  at  the  least,  as 
unscrupulous  as  himself.  These  great  kings  had 
long  struggled  for  possession  of  a  young  lady — 
Philippa,  daughter  of  Guy  Count  of  Flanders.  As 
early  as  the  year  1294,  EdAvard  had  concluded  a 
treaty  of  marriage,  which  was  to  unite  the  fair 
Fleming  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  ;  but  it  was  Philip's 
interest  to  prevent  any  close  union  between  Eng- 
land and  Flanders,  and  he  resolved  that  the  mar- 
riage should  not  take  place.  After  many  secret 
intrigues — which  failed,  as  both  the  young  lady  and 
her  father  were  bent  on  the  English  union — the 
French  king  invited  Count  Guy  to  meet  him  at 
Corbeil,  that  he  might  consult  him  on  matters  of 
great  importance.  The  count,  who  was  a  frank, 
honest  old  man,  went,  and  took  his  countess  with 
him  :  he  was  no  sooner  in  his  power  than  Philip 
harshly  reproached  him  with  the  English  treaty — • 
told  him  that  no  vassal  of  the  French  crown,  how- 
ever great,  could  marry  any  of  his  children  without 
the  king's  license — and  then  sent  him  and  his  wife 
prisoners  to  the  tower  in  the  Louvre. 

This  arbitrary  and  treacherous  measure  excited 
great  disgust,  and  the  better  feeling  of  the  French 
peers,  and  the  remonstrances  of  a  papal  legate, 
forced  Philip  to  liberate  the  old  count  and  his 
countess.  Before  letting  go  his  hold,  however,  he 
made  Guy  swear  he  would  think  no  more  of  his 
English  alliance.  The  count  contracted  the  foi'ced 
obligation  ;  but  this  was  not  enough  for  the  French 
king,  who  had  broken  too  many  oaths  himself  to 
have  much  reliance  on  those  of  other  people  :  he 
demanded  that  Philippa  should  be  placed  in  his 
hands  as  a  hostage ;  and  when  that  young  lady  was 
brought  to  Paris — and  not  before — her  parents  were 
liberated.  Their  parting  was  sad  and  tender.  As 
soon  as  the  count  reached  his  own  dominions,  he 
made  an  affecting  appeal  to  the  Pope  ;  the  church 
entered  with  some  zeal  into  the  case ;  but  notwith- 
standing repeated  threats  of  excommimication,  Philip 
le  Bel  persisted  in  keeping  his  innocent  hostage,  who 
was  not  more  than  twelve  years  of  age.  At  last,  the 
old  count  formally  renounced  his  allegiance,  defied 
his  suzerain,  and  entered  heart  and  soul  into  a  league 
with  the  English  king,  whose  notion  was,  that  France 
would  be  found  more  vulnerable  on  the  side  of  Flan- 
ders than  on  that  of  Guienne.  It  was  in  conse- 
quence of  this  treaty,  which  was  sworn  to  in  the 
most  solemn  manner,  that  Edward  went  to  Flan- 
ders, after  preparing  a  formidable  alliance.  The 
other  chief  members  of  the  coalition  were,  the  em- 
peror, the  Duke  of  Austria — who  had  both  been 
subsidized  by  Edward — and  the  Duke  of  Brabant 
and  Count  of  Bar,  who  were  his  own  sons-in-law 
by  their  marriage  with  the  princesses  Margaret  and 
Eleanor  of  England.  When  the  hired  allies  gut 
Edward's  )noney,  they  seem  to  have  considered 
their  part  of  the  business  as  done  ;  and  no  member 
of  the  coalition  was  very  faithful  or  strenuous,  ex- 
cept the  unhappy  Count  Guy,  whose  cruel  wrongs 
bound  him  firmly  to  Edward.  But  the  whole  expe- 
dition became  a  series  of  misadventures,  some  of 


G96 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  IV. 


which  were  sufficiently  disgraceful  to  the  English 
conqueror.  lie  had  scarcely  landed  at  Sluys,  when 
the  mariners  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  and  those  of  Yar- 
mouth and  otlier  ports — between  whom  there  were 
many  rancorous  old  jealousies — quarreled,  and  then 
fought,  as  if  tliey  had  been  national  enemies  ranged 
under  two  opposite  (lags.  On  the  Yarmouth  side, 
tive-and-twenty  ships  were  burnt  and  destroyed  in 
this  wild  conflict.  One  fact  wliich  the  chroniclers 
mention  looks  almost  as  if  the  fight  had  been  for  the 
money  on  board,  and  most  of  the  mariners  little 
better  than  pirates;  "and  also  three  of  their  great- 
est ships — part  of  the  king's  treasure  being  in  one 
of  them — were  tolled  forth  into  the  high  sea,  and 
quite  conveyed  away." '  The  king's  land-forces 
were  scarcely  in  a  better  state  of  discipline,  owing 
probably  to  the  absence  of  most  of  the  great  officers 
whom  they  had  been  accustomed  to  obey.  The 
disorders  they  committed  did  not  tend  to  produce 
unanimity  in  the  countrj%  which  was  already  in 
"  evil  state,  by  reason  that  the  good  towns  were  not 
all  of  one  mind."  The  rich  and  populous  cities  of 
Flanders  were,  in  fact,  as  jealous  of  each  other,  and 
split  into  almost  as  many  factious  as  the  little  Italian 
republics  of  the  middle  ages.  Philip  had  a  strong 
party  among  tliem,  and  that  active  sovereign  had 
gl'eatly  increased  it,  and  weakened  his  enemies,  by 
marching  into  the  Low  Countries  at  the  head  of  sixty 
thousand  men,  and  gaining  a  great  victoiy  at  Furnes, 
before  Edward  could  arrive.  The  French  occupied 
many  of  the  towns ;  and  Lille,  Courtrai,  Ypres, 
Bruges,  and  Damme  were  either  taken  or  given 
up  to  them  soon  after  the  landing  of  the  English. 
Edward  drove  them  with  great  loss  out  of  Damme, 
and  might  have  done  the  same  at  Bruges,  had  it  not 
been  that  his  English  and  the  Flemings,  who  were 
serving  with  them,  fell  into  strife,  and  fought  about 
the  division  of  the  spoils  of  the  town,  which  they 
had  not  yet  taken.  Soon  after  this,  he  went  into 
winter-quarters  at  Ghent,  and  there  deadly  feuds 
broke  out  between  the  townspeople  and  his  troops  : 
seven  hundred  of  the  latter  were  killed  in  a  tumult, 
in  which  E^dward's  own  life  was  endangered.  The 
English  foot-soldiers,  on  their  side,  sacked  the  town 
of  Damme,  and  killed  some  two  hundred  Flemings. 
It  was  not  hkely  that  such  tender  allies  should  do 
much  against  the  common  enemy  ;  and  all  the  ef- 
forts made  by  the  king  and  Count  Guy  failed  to 
reconcile  these  animosities. 

A.D.  1298.  Spring  approached,  but  it  brought  no 
news  of  the  inactive  members  of  the  coalition  ;  and 
as  Edward's  presence  was  much  wanted  at  home, 
he  eagerly  listened  to  overtures  from  Philip,  con- 
cluded a  truce  for  two  years,  and,  leaving  Count  Guy 
to  shift  for  himself,  sailed  for  England. 

It  could  not  be  denied  that,  after  throwing  away 
immense  sums  of  money,  he  returned  humbled  and 
disgraced.  But  his  English  subjects  had  not  waited 
for  this  moment  of  humiliation  to  curb  his  arbitrary 
power.  As  soon  as  he  set  sail  for  Flanders  the  pre- 
ceding year,  the  constable  and  eai-l  marshal,  with 
many  other  nobles,  in  presence  of  the  lord  treas- 
urer and  of  the  judges,  forbade  the  officers  of  the 

'  Holinshed. 


Exchequer,  in  the  name  of  the  whole  baronage  of 
England,  to  exact  payment  of  certain  taxes  which 
had  been  laid  on  without  proper  consent  of  parlia- 
ment. The  citizens  of  London  and  of  the  other 
great  trading  towns  made  connnon  cause  with  the 
barons ;  and,  after  issuing  some  orders  which  the 
Exchequer  durst  not  obey,  and  making  some  fruit- 
less attempts  at  deception  and  evasion,  Edward  was 
obliged  to  send  over  fiom  Ghent  instructions  to  his 
son  and  the  council  of  regency'  to  bend  before  a 
storm  which  there  was  no  opposing ;  and,  in  the 
month  of  Decendjer,  from  the  same  cit}'  of  Ghent, 
he  was  fain  to  grant,  under  the  great  seal,  another 
confirmation  of  the  two  charters,  together  with  a 
full  confirmation  of  the  important  statute  called  "  De 
Tallagio  non  Concedendo,"  declaring  that  hence- 
forth no  tallage  or  aid  should  be  levied  without  as- 
sent of  the  peers  spiritual  and  temporal,  the  knights, 
burgesses,  and  other  freemen  of  the  realm,  which 
had  been  passed  in  a  parliament  held  by  Prince 
Edward  in  the  preceding  September.  For  many 
years  Parliament  had  exercised  a  salutary  control  in 
such  matters,  but  this  statute,  for  the  first  time,  for- 
mally invested  the  representatives  of  the  nation 
with  the  sole  right  of  raising  the  supplies.  Edward 
felt  this  as  a  painful  state  of  dependence  ;  he  knew 
it  would  check  his  ambition,  and  probably  prevent 
his  foreign  wars ;  and  he  had  scarcely  set  foot  in 
England  when  he  betrayed  his  irritation  and  disgust. 
It  is  said  that,  among  his  confidential  friends,  he 
laughed  at  the  restrictions  attempted  to  be  imposed 
upon  him ;  but  his  subjects  were  resolute,  and  soon 
made  him  feel  that  the  matter  was  neither  to  be 
treated  as  of  light  consequence  nor  set  aside  by  sub- 
terfuges.'^ In  full  parliament,  which  met  at  York 
in  the  month  of  May,  some  six  weeks  after  his  re- 
turn, the  Earl  of  Hereford,  the  constable,  and  the 
Earl  of  Norfolk,  the  marshal,  demanded  of  him  that 
he  would  ratify  in  person,  and  with  proper  solemni- 
ties, his  recent  confirmation  of  the  charters.  Ed- 
ward, as  if  the  ceremony  could  not  have  been  per- 
formed in  a  few  hours,  or  even  then,  at  the  moment, 
said,  that  it  could  not  be  now,  as  he  must  hasten  to 
chastise  the  Scottish  rebels  ;  but  he  promised  to  do 
what  was  asked  of  him  on  his  return  from  the  north, 
and  he  pledged  solemn  onths,  vicariously ,  the  Bishop 
of  Durham  and  three  lay  lords  swearing,  by  the 
soul  of  the  king,  that  he  should  keep  his  promise.^ 

It  will  prevent  confusion  to  bring  these  transac- 
tions to  one  point,  without  regard  to  the  strict  chro- 
nological order  in  which  they  occurred.  In  March, 
1299,  about  ten  months  after  the  meeting  at  York, 
Edward  met  his  parliament  again  at  Westminster. 
The  bloody  laurels  of  Falkirk  were  fresh  on  his 
brow  :  he  had  all  the  prestige  of  recent  success : 
but,  undaunted  by  his  glory  and  might,  the  barons 
required  the  fulfilment  of  his  promises.  He  was 
"  nothing  contented  that  this  matter  should  be  so 
earnestly  pressed,  for  loth  he  was  to  grant  their  full 

1  Several  members  of  this  council,  with  the  Archbishop  of  Caii- 
1  terbury  at  their  head,  were  known  to  be  favorable  to  the  cause  of 
I  reform. 

I      2  He  pretended  that  the  confirmation  was  not  binding,  as  he  had  put 
his  seal  to  it  in  a  foreign  country. 

^  Heming. — Walslus- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


697 


request."  He  therefoi'e  endeavoi-ed  to  gain  time,  ' 
putting  off  the  question,  and  giving  no  direct  answer 
one  way  or  the  other.  When  the  lords  urged  him, 
he  withdrew  from  ParUament  and  got  out  of  Lon- 
don, secretly,  and  as  if  by  stealth  ;  but  these  earnest 
men  would  not  be  evaded  :  they  followed  him  ;  and  [ 
then  the  proud  conqueror  was  compelled  to  make  | 
mean  and  debasing  excuses,  throwing  the  blame  of 
his  departure  on  the  air  of  London,  which,  he  said,  j 
did  not  agree  with  his  constitution.  At  last  he 
granted  the  ratification  so  firmly  demanded  ;  but, 
with  singular  bad  faith,  he  took  Parliament  by  sur- 
prise, and  added  a  clause  at  the  end  of  the  document 
— a  saving  of  the  right  of  the  crown — which  utterly 
destroj^ed  the  value  of  the  concession,  and  went  to 
shake  the  very  foundations  of  the  Great  Charter  it- 
self. Upon  this  the  earls  of  Hereford  and  Norfolk, 
with  the  mass  of  the  barons,  returned  sullenly  to 
their  homes.  Edward  was  alarmed  at  their  hostile 
countenance,  but  fancying  he  could  delude  the  plain 
citizens,  he  ordered  the  sheriffs  of  London  to  call  a 
public  meeting,  and  to  read  the  new  confirmation  of 
the  charters.  The  citizens  met  in  St.  Paul's 
churchyard,  and  listened  with  anxious  ears :  at  every 
clause,  except  the  last,  they  gave  many  blessings  to 
the  king  for  his  noble  grants,  but  when  that  last 
clause  was  read,  the  London  burghers  understood 
its  effect  as  well  as  the  noble  lords  had  done,  and 
they  cursed  as  loud  and  as  fast  as  they  had  blessed 
before.  Edward  took  warning :  he  summoned  the 
Parliament  to  meet  again  shortly  after  Easter,  and 
then  he  struck  out  the  detested  clause,  and  granted 
all  that  was  asked  of  him  in  the  forms  prescribed.' 
One  of  the  immediate  benefits  of  these  enactments 
was  a  proper  definition  of  the  limits  of  the  royal  for- 
ests, which,  it  was  decreed,  should  never  again  be 
enlarged  by  encroachments  on  the  subjects'  lands." 
But  still  Edward  only  considered  these  concessions 
as  temporary  sacrifices  of  his  high  prerogative,  and, 
from  the  moment  of  granting  them,  he  occupied  the 
leisure  which  the  Scottish  war  and  his  intrigues  on 
the  continent  allowed  him,  in  devising  means  to 
overthrow  the  power  of  Parliament.  Hereford,  the 
constable,  died  shortly  after  the  ratification,  but  his 
principles  had  taken  too  deep  and  wide  a  root  to  be 
much  injured  by  the  death  of  anj-  one  man,  however 
great.  In  the  course  of  three  years,  the  king  art- 
fully contrived  to  punish,  on  other  charges,  and  im- 
poverish many  of  the  barons  who  had  most  firmly 
opposed  him;  but  this  measure  onlj^  convinced  men 
more  than  ever  of  the  vital  necessity  of  restricting 
his  power.  In  1304,  when  he  had  triumphed,  for 
the  moment,  over  all  opposition  in  Scotland,  Edwaid 
arbitrarily  sent  to  raise  a  tallage  on  all  the  cities  and 
boroughs  of  his  demesne  ;  and  in  the  following  year 
he  dispatched  secret  envoys  to  the  Pope,  to  repre- 
sent that  the  concessions  he  had  made  had  been 
iorced  from  him  by  a  traitorous  conspiracy  of  his 
barons,  and  to  ask  an  absolution  from  his  oaths  and 
the  engagements  he  had  so  repeatedly  and  solemnly 
contracted  with  his  subjects.  Notwithstanding  Ed- 
ward's instancing  the  case  of  his  father,  Henry  III., 
who  was  absolved  of  his  oaths  to  the  Earl  of  Leices- 

>  Hemingford. — Knyghtcm.  2  Brady. 


ter,  the  answer  of  Clement  V.  was  rather  an  eva- 
sive one.  Thus,  but  slightly  encouraged  to  perjury 
on  the  one  hand  —  awed  by  the  unanimity  of  the 
barons  on  the  other — and  then,  once  more  embar- 
rassed by  a  rising  of  the  patriots  in  Scotland,  who 
never  left  him  long  in  tranquil  enjoyment  of  his 
usurpation,  the  mighty  Edward  was  compelled  to 
respect  his  engagements  and  the  will  of  the  nation, 
and  to  leave,  as  a  part  of  the  law  of  the  land,  those 
limitations  on  the  power  of  future  rulers  which  had 
been  wrung  from  him,  one  of  the  most  powerful, 
warlike,  and  skilful  of  kings.  It  required,  indeed, 
an  "  intrepid  patriotism  "  to  contend'  with  and  finally 
control  such  a  sovereign,  and  England  never  has 
produced  any  patriots  to  whom  she  owes  more 
gratitude  than  to  Humphrey  Bohun,  Earl  of  Here- 
ford, and  Roger  Bigod,  Earl  of  Norfolk.  But  Eng- 
lish historians  have  not  borne  sufficiently  in  mind 
the  indirect  obligation  to  the  hardy  patriots  of  Scot- 
land, who  divided  and  weakened  the  strength  of  the 
tyrant,  and,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  served  the 
cause  of  liberty  in  England  by  distracting  his  atten- 
tion at  a  critical  moment,  and  giving  full  employment 
to  his  arms  and  resources  in  the  north.  If  the 
Scots  had  been  mean-spirited  and  submissive,  the 
"  Confirmation  of  the  Charters"  might  have  been 
annulled ;  and  if  the  English  had  succeeded  in  en- 
slaving the  Scots,  they  might  have  found  that  they 
had  been  forging  fetters  for  themselves. 

The  vision  of  the  splendid  inheritance  of  Eleanor 
of  Aquitaine  still  haunted  Edward's  imagination. 
"With  such  an  opponent  as  Philip  le  Bel  he  could 
scarcely  hope  to  recover  all  those  states  which  the 
divorced  wife  of  Louis  VII.  conveyed  to  Henry  II. 
of  England  ;  but  he  was  resolved  to  get  back  at  least 
the  country  of  Guienne,  the  loss  of  which  preyed  on 
his  mind  and  irritated  his  self-esteem,  for  Edward 
prided  himself  as  much  on  his  policy  as  on  his  mili- 
tary prowess,  and  in  that  particular  Philip  had 
fairly,  or  rather  foully,  outwitted  him.  In  the 
transactions  which  now  took  place,  the  two  sove- 
reigns ran  a  pretty  equal  career  of  baseness.  Having 
experienced  the  expensiveness  and  uncertainty  of 
foreign  coalitions,  and  having  no  great  army  of  his 
own  to  spare  for  continental  warfare,  Edward  deter- 
mined to  obtain  his  end  by  treating  diplomatically 
with  the  French  king,  and  sacrificing  his  faithful 
ally,  the  Count  of  Flanders.  In  this  he  had  more 
in  view  than  the  recovery  of  Guienne,  for,  as  a  price 
of  his  own  treachery  to  Count  Guy,  he  expected 
that  Philip  would  be  equally  false  to  his  treaty  with 
the  Scots,  whom  he  had  hurried  into  hostilities  for 
his  own  purposes,  swearing,  however,  that  he  would 
never  abandon  them.  Since  Edward's  unfortunate 
campaign  in  Flanders,  the  arrogance  and  exactions 
of  the  French  had  almost  destroyed  their  party  in 
that  country ;  and  though  they  made  a  temporary 
conquest  of  it,  the  burghers  of  Ghent,  Lille,  Bruges, 
and  the  other  free  cities,  gave  them  a  signal  defeat 
in  the  battle  of  Courtrai,  which  was  fought  in  the 
year  1302.  Philip's  cousin,  the  Count  of  Artois, 
commanded  the  French  on  this  occasion  ;  and  after 
his  disgraceful  defeat,  all  the  Flemish  towns  threw 

1  Ilallam,  Midd.  Ages. 


G98 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


off  the  French  yoke,  and  elected  John  of  Nanmr  to 
be  their  governor-general,  for  Count  Guy  had  been 
once  more  entrapped  by  Phdip,  wlio  kept  him  a 
close  prisoner.  The  French  king  was  as  anxious  to 
recover  Flanders  as  Edward  was  to  keep  .Scotland, 
and  to  get  back  Guienne  ;  and  all  the  chivalry  of 
France  longed  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  their  arms 
had  sustained  at  Courtrai  from  the  "canaille  of 
Flemings.'" 

It  appears  that  the  Pope,  who  liad  been  appealed 
to  as  mediator,  first  suggested,  as  a  proper  means  of 
reconciling  the  two  kings,  that  Edward,  who  had 
been  for  some  years  a  widower,  should  marry  Mar- 
garet, the  sister  of  Philip ;  and  that  his  eldest  son, 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  should  be  affianced  to  Isabeau, 
or  Isabella,  the  daughter  of  that  sovereign.  This 
double  marriage  had  been  for  some  time  imder  dis- 
cussion, and  had  given  scope  to  much  mutual  decep- 
tion. Each  of  the  kings  impudently  affected  a 
delicacy  of  conscience  ai)out  abandoning  his  allies, 
and  Edward  stated  (what  was  perfectly  true)  that  he 
had  pledged  his  soul  and  honor  to  the  marriage 
between  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  Philippa,  the 
daughter  of  the  unfortunate  Earl  of  Flanders,  and 
had  stipulated  that  in  case  of  that  union  being  frus- 
trated by  the  J'oung  lady's  continued  detention,  or 
by  her  death,  then  the  young  prince  should  marry 
her  sister ;  that  he,  King  Edward,  had  sworn  upon 
the  Gospels  to  make  neither  peace  nor  truce  with 
France  unless  it  were  conjointly  with  his  ally  the 
Earl  of  Flanders,  not  even  though  the  Pope  should 
demand  it.  Philip  le  Bel,  on  his  side,  spoke  of  his 
allies,  the  brave,  the  unfortunate  Scots,  and  of  the 
solemn  obligations  he  had  contracted  with  them  ;  but 
each  gracious  king  must  have  laughed  at  the  other, 
and  probably  at  himself,  too,  in  making  this  inter- 
change of  scruples  of  conscience.  Edward  married 
Margaret  of  France,  in  September,  1299;  and  at 
the  same  time  his  son,  who  was  thirteen  years  old, 
was  privately  contracted  by  proxy  to  Isabella,  who 
was  about  six  years  old.  A  sort  of  congress,  held 
at  Montreuil,  which  preceded  this  marriage,  had 
settled  that  there  should  be  peace  between  the 
French  and  English  crowns,  that  the  King  of  Eng- 
land should  make  satisfaction  for  the  many  French 
ships  which  his  mariners  had  illegally  taken  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war,  and  that  the  King  of  France 
should  place  sundry  towns  in  Gascony  in  the  custody 
of  the  Pope,  to  be  by  liim  held  till  the  Guienne 
question  should  be  adjusted  by  peaceful  negotiation. 
This  treaty,  however,  had  not  been  properly  rati- 
fied ;  Philip  le  Bel  quarreled  with  the  arbiter,  and 
even  instigated  Sciarra  Colonna  to  arrest  and  ill-treat 
Pope  Boniface.  Other  circumstances,  beside  the 
national  antipathies  of  the  English  and  French  peo- 
ple, which  were  already  very  strong,  had  prevented 
the  accommodation  ;  but  at  last,  on  the  20th  of  May, 
1303,  the  treaty  of  Montreuil  was  ratified,  a  treaty 
of  commerce  was  concluded  between  the  two  coun- 
tries, and  Edward  recovered  Guienne,  for  which 
the  Earl  of  Lincoln  swore  fealty  and  did  homage  in 
his  name.     In  this  treaty  the  Scots  were  not  even 

^  The  nobles  of  France  seldom  condescended  to  give  the  industrious 
ourghers  of  Flanders  a  better  title 


mentioned  :  their  envoys  at  the  French  court  com- 
plained of  this  dishonoral)le  abandonment,  and  Philip 
solemnly  promised  to  plead  their  cause  like  a  warm 
and  sincere  friend  in  an  interview  which  he  was 
shortly  to  liave  with  the  English  king.  This  per- 
sonal application,  lie  said,  would  have  more  effect 
than  the  discussing  of  clauses  and  provisos  with 
ambassadors:  and  so  it  might;  but  Philip  never 
made  it,  having,  indeed,  bargained  with  Edward  to 
abandon  Scotland  if  he  would  abandon  Flanders. 
In  pai't  through  inability  to  prevent  it,  Edward  luid 
permitted  Philip  to  have  his  way  with  the  Flemings 
ever  since  his  unfortunate  campaign  and  the  truce 
of  1297,  and  now  he  wholly  gave  them  up,  by 
treaty,  to  their  enraged  enemies  the  French,  who, 
a  few  months  after,  avenged  their  defeat  at  Cour- 
trai by  a  frightful  massacre  of  the  ijurghers  and 
peasants  of  Flanders  in  the  battle  of  Monts-en- 
Puelle,  which  was  fought  at  a  place  so  named,  be- 
tween Lille  and  Douai.  The  fate  of  Count  (tuy  and 
of  his  innocent  daughter  was  sad  in  the  extreme. 
After  keeping  him  four  years  in  close  prison,  Philip 
le  Bel  liberated  tht  count  in  a  moment  of  great 
difficulty,  and  sent  him  into  Flanders  to  induce  his 
own  subjects  to  convert  a  truce  they  then  had  with 
the  Fi'ench  into  a  lasting  pcv.ice.  The  count  went, 
and  not  succeeding  in  his  mission, — for  the  Flemish 
citizens  hoped  to  be  able  to  cope  with  the  French 
single-handed, — he  honorably  returned,  as  he  had 
promised  to  do  in  that  case,  to  Philip,  who  again 
committed  him  to  prison,  and  caused  him  to  be 
treated  with  infamous  severity.  The  poor  old  man 
died  soon  after  at  Compeigne,  in  the  eighty-first 
year  of  his  age.  But  neither  the  battle  of  Monts- 
en-Puelle,  nor  a  series  of  bloodj-  engagements  which 
followed  it,  could  break  the  spirit  of  the  free  citizens 
of  Flanders,  whose  wealth,  the  fruit  of  commerce, 
gave  them  many  advantages  over  the  miseraiily  poor 
aristocracy  of  Finance,  and  whose  numbers,  consider- 
ing the  limited  extent  of  the  coxmtry  they  occupied, 
were  truly  prodigious.  After  each  reverse  they 
rallied  again,  and  the  carnage  of  many  battles  left 
no  perceptible  diminution  in  their  ranks.  "By  St. 
Denis,"  cried  Pliilip,  "I  believe  it  rains  Flemings!" 
At  last  he  condescended  to  treat  on  moderate  terms 
with  the  trading  and  manufacturing  citizens  whom 
he  had  once  despised  as  incapable  of  "liigh  deeds 
of  arms;"  and,  about  a  year  after  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty  with  Edward,  he  agreed  to  a  truce  for  ten 
years,  on  condifi<Jii  that  the  Flemings,  while  they  pre- 
served all  their  ancient  liberties,  should  acknowledge 
his  feudal  suzerainty,  pay  him  one  liundred  thou- 
sand francs  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  leave 
liim  in  undisturbed  possession  of  the  cities  of  Lille, 
Douai,  Orchies,  and  Bethune.  Robert,  the  eldest 
son  of  Count  Guy,  was  then  liberated,  and  entered 
on  possession  of  Flanders ;  the  body  of  the  octoge- 
narian state-prisoner,  which  had  been  embalmed, 
was  delivered  up  ;  and  his  younger  son  and  many 
Flemish  gentlemen  recovered  their  liberty.  But  in 
this  general  enlargement  the  fair  Philippa. — the,  at 
one  time,  affianced  bride  of  Prince  Edward  of  Eng- 
land,— was  excepted ;  and  she  died  of  grief  and 
captivity    not   long    ::ftor,   about   two   years  before 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


69!) 


Edward  of  Caernarvon  completed  his  marriage  with : 
Isabella  of  France.  The  events  which  rose  out  of  i 
this  ill-fated  marriage  might  have  satisfied  the  manes 
of  the  most  i-evengeful ;  and  it  could  hardly  happen  ' 
otherwise  than  that  they  should  be  interpreted  into  [ 
a  direct  judgment  of  Heaven  provoked  by  politictal 
perfidy.  If  she  did  not  positively  command  the 
atrocious  deed  herself,  Isabella  was  at  least  a  main 
cause  of  the  murder  of  her  husband,  and  from  her 
union  with  the  Plantagenet  were  derived  those 
English  claims  to  the  French  crown,  in  the  prose- 
cution of  which  her  native  land  was  repeatedly 
wasted  with  fire  and  sword  from  one  extremity  to 
the  other,  and  the  spirit  of  enmity  and  hatred  be- 
tween the  two  countries — already  a  prevalent  feel- 
ing— became  so  envenomed  and  deep-rooted  that 
five  hundred  years  have  scarcely  sufificed  to  remove 
it.' 

All  this  while  Edward  had  never  ceased  to  be 
occupied  with  his  design  of  completing  the  subjuga- 
tion of  Scotland  ;  but  so  long  as  he  was  embarrassed 
by  having  the  French  war  on  his  hands  at  the  same 
time,  his  operations  in  the  norfli  of  Britain  had  been 
comparatively  cramped  and  inefficient.  Accordingly, 
the  four  years  that  followed  the  battle  of  Falkirk  were 
productive  of  no  important  results,  although  during 
the  whole  time  the  hostilities  between  the  two  coun- 
tries never  Avere  suspended  except  occasionally  by  a 
truce  for  a  few  mouths.  Wallace  disappears  from 
the  scene  after  his  great  defeat.  In  his  room,  the 
bai"ons  appointed  William  Lamberton,  Bishop  of-St. 
Andrews,  Johnde  Soulis,  John  Comyn  the  younger, 
and  Robert  Bruce,  Earl  of  Carrick,  guardians  of 
the  kingdom  in  the  name  of  Baliol.  This  was  indeed 
a  strange  union  of  all  the  great  factions,  Bruce  act- 
ing in  the  name  of  Baliol,  and  associated  in  the  same 
(Commission  with  Comyn,  the  only  person  who  stood 
between  him  and  the  throne  if  Baliol  should  be  set 
aside ;  for  Comyn  was  the  son  of  Baliol's  sister 
Marjoiy,  and,  failing  King  John  and  his  issue,  the 
heir  of  right  to  the  crown.  John  Baliol,  who  had 
remained  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  since  his  abdi- 
cation in  1296,  was  liberated  by  Edward  on  the 
intercession  of  Pope  Boniface,  in  July,  1299,  and 
conveyed  to  his  ancestral  estate  of  Bailleul  in  Nor- 
mandy, where,  forgetting  that  he  had  ever  been  a 
king,  he  lived  in  quiet  till  his  death  in  1314.  Edward 
Baliol,  who  had  been  his  father's  fellow-prisoner, 
accompanied  him  to  France ;  but  of  him  we  shall 
hear  more  in  the  sequel.  It  was  not  till  November, 
1299,  that  the  English  king  found  leisure  from  his 
other  aftairs  to  set  about  preparations  for  the  prose- 
cution of  the  Scottish  war,  and  the  effort  he  then 
made  ended  in  nothing;  for  after  an  army  had  been 
assembled  at  Bcrwi-ck  in  November,  his  barons, 
alleging  his  continued  evasion  of  the  charters, 
peremptorily  refused  to  advance,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  return  home.  The  consequence  was  the  cnpitu- 
iation  of  the  castle  of  Stirling  to  a  Scottish  force 
that  had  been  for  some  time  besieging  it.  In  the 
summer  of  1300,  Edward  made  an  incursion  into 
.Vnnandale  and  Galloway ;  but  it  was  attended  with 

1  Rymer. — Sueyro  and  Bzovius,  as  (juoted  in  Southry"s  Navul  Ilist. 
— Mezeray. 


no  result  except  the  devastation  of  the  former  of 
these  districts,  and  the  forma!  and  useless  submission 
of  the  latter.  On  the  30th  of  October,  a  truce  with 
the  Scots  was  concluded  at  Dumfries,  to  last  till 
Whitsunday  in  the  following  year.  It  was  during 
this  interval  that  Pope  Boniface  VIII.,  in  a  letter  to 
Edward,  advanced  the  singular  claim  that  the  king- 
dom of  Scotland  belonged  of  right  to  the  holy  see. 
"  But,"  added  his  holiness,  "  should  you  have  any 
pretensions  to  the  whole  or  any  part  of  Scotland, 
send  your  proctors  to  me  within  six  months :  I  will 
hear  and  determine  according  to  justice.  I  take  thn 
cause  under  my  own  peculiar  cognizance."  To  this 
impudent  demand,  a  parliament,  which  met  at  Lin- 
coln in  February,  1301,  returned  a  short  and  spirited 
answer.  "At  no  time,"  said  the  English  barons, 
"  has  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  belonged  to  tho 
church.  In  temporal  affairs,  the  kings  of  England 
are  not  amenable  to  the  see  of  Rome.  We  have 
with  one  voice  resolved  that,  as  to  temporal  affairs, 
the  King  of  England  is  independent  of  Rome ;  that 
he  shall  not  suffer  his  independency  to  be  ques- 
tioned ;  and  therefore  he  shall  not  send  commission- 
ers to  Rome.  Such  is,  and  such,  we  trust  in  God, 
will  ever  be  our  opinion !"  A  longer  and  more 
deferential  epistle  from  Edward  himself,  a  few 
months  afterward,  entered  into  an  elaborate  exami- 
nation of  the  question ;  and,  in  the  end,  Boniface 
found  it  expedient  to  profess  himself  convinced,  or 
at  least  to  act  as  if  he  had  no  longer  anj^  doubt  of 
the  English  supremacy.  He  soon  after  addressed 
the  Scottish  clergy  in  terms  of  violent  reproof  fo)* 
their  opposition  to  Edward  his  "  dearly-beloved  son 
in  Christ,"  and  enjoined  them  to  strive,  by  repent- 
ance and  by  most  earnestly  pressing  the  submission 
of  their  countrymen,  to  obtain  forgiveness  of  God 
and  man.  Meanwhile,  the  truce  having  expired, 
Edward,  in  the  summer  of  1301,  again  marched  into 
Scotland.  This  campaign,  however,  was  still  more 
unproductive  than  the  last ;  the  Scots,  adhering  to 
the  course  that  had  hitherto  proved  most  effectivtj 
in  ridding  them  of  their  invaders,  as  the  Englis]i 
king  advanced,  laid  the  country  waste  before  him, 
till  at  last,  an  early  and  severe  winter  coming  on,  ho 
was  com])eIled  to  retire  into  the  town  of  Linlithgow. 
Here  he  built  a  castle,  and  kept  his  Christmas.  In 
January,  1302,  by  the  mediation  of  France,  he  was 
induced  to  conclude  another  truce  with  the  Scots, 
to  endure  till  the  30th  of  November  (St.  Andrew's 
Day).  It  is  observable  that  the  Scottish  commis- 
sioners on  this  occasion  still  professed  to  act  in  tho 
name  of  Baliol,  against  whose  title  to  be  called  a  king, 
however,  Edward  protested.  As  soon  as  the  truco 
had  expired,  he  prepared  to  renew  the  war.  This 
time,  however,  instead  of  proceeding  to  Scotland  in 
person,  he  sent  thither  John  de  Segrave,  upon  whom 
he  had  lately  bestowed  the  appointment  of  governor, 
at  the  head  of  an  army  of  twenty  thousand  men, 
mostly  cavalry.  The  issue  of  this  expedition  was 
eminently  disastrous.  Segrave,  advancing  toward 
Edinburgh,  was  suddenly  attacked  early  in  tho 
morning  of  tlie  24th  of  February,  1303,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Roslin,  by  the  Scottish  forces  under 
the  command  of  Comyn,  the  guardian,  and  Sir  Simon 


700 


HISTORV:  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Fraser,  and  sustained  a  total  defeat.  He  had 
arranged  his  forces  in  three  divisions,  which  appear 
to  have  been  successively  fallen  upon  by  the  Scots, 
and  one  after  the  other  completely  put  to  the  rout. 
Fn  the  first  fight,  Segrave  himself,  after  being  dan- 
gerously wounded,  was  made  prisoner,  along  with 
sixteen  knights  and  thirty  esquires ;  his  brother  and 
son  were  afterward  taken  ;  and  it  is  said  that  the 
victors,  on  coming  up  with  the  second  and  third 
divisions  of  the  English,  were  each  time  compelled 
to  disencumber  themselves  for  the  fresh  encounter 
by  the  slaughter  of  all  their  prisoners.  Much  spoil 
was  also  taken ;  and  the  afl'air  once  more  for  the 
moment  cleared  the  country  of  its  invaders. 

But  the  termination  of  the  dispute  witli  France 
now  left  Edward  free  to  turn  with  his  whole  power 
to  the  Scottish  war.  The  treaty  of  Montreuil  was 
ratified  at  Paris,  as  above  related,  on  the  20th  of 
May  ;  on  the  21st  of  that  month,  the  English  king 
was  with  his  army  at  Roxburgh,  and,  on  the  4th  of 
.Tune,  he  haJ  reached  Edinburgh,  his  progress,  in 
which  he  had  encountered  no  opposition,  having 
been  marked  at  every  step  by  fields  laid  waste  and 
towns  and  villages  set  on  fire.  From  Edinburgh 
he  appears  to  have  pursued  his  unresisted  and 
destructive  course  by  Linlithgow  and  Clackmannan 
to  Perth,  and  thence  to  Aberdeen  and  Kinloss  in 
Moray.  At  the  strong  and  extensive  fortress  Loch- 
endorb,  built  on  an  islet  in  the  midst  of  a  lake  in 
the  heart  of  Morayshire,  he  established  his  quarters 
for  some  time,  while  he  received  tlie  homage  and 
oaths  of  fealt}-  of  the  northern  barons.  The  tradi- 
tion of  the  neighborhood,  after  the  lapse  of  more 
than  five  hundred  years,  still  connects  the  ruins  of 
Lochendorb  with  the  name  of  the  great  English 
king.'  From  this  remote  point  he  returned  south- 
ward in  the  latter  part  of  October.  Of  all  the 
places  of  strength  to  which  he  came,  the  castle  of 
Brechin  alone  shut  its  gates  against  him.  It  was 
commanded  by  Sir  Thomas  Maule,  wlio,  while  the 
English  were  battering  the  fortresses  with  their 
engines,  is  said  to  have  exhibited  himself  in  defitince 
on  the  ramparts,  with  a  towel  in  his  hand,  with 
which  he  contemptuously  wiped  off  the  dust  and 
rubbish  that  fell  upon  him.  The  valiant  knight, 
however,  was  at  last  struck  by  a  missile  ;  but  even 
while  expiring  of  his  mortal  wound,  he  inveighed 
against  his  men  as  cowards  when  they  asked  him  if 
they  might  now  surrender  the  castle.  The  garri- 
son, however,  capitulated  the  day  after  their  com- 
mander ceased  to  breathe.  Edward  took  up  his 
winter-quarters  in  Dunfermline  in  the  beginning  of 
December.  Here,  according  to  the  history  attrib- 
uted to  Matthew  of  Westminster,  the  English  sol- 
diers leveled  with  the  ground  the  magnificent  abbey 
of  the  Benedictines,  a  building  so  spacious,  says  this 
writer,  that  three  kings  Avith  all  their  attendants 
might  have  been  lodged  conveniently  within  its 
walls;  but  "the  Scots,"  he  adds,  by  way  of  apology, 
"had  converted  the  house  of  the  Lord  into  a  den  of 
thieves,  by  holding  their  rebellious  parliaments 
there."  The  last  remnant  of  the  Scottish  forces 
that  kept  the  field  now  assembled  in  the  neighbor- 

1  See  Tytler,  i,  200  and  433. 


hood  of  Stirling,  with  the  view  of  protecting  that 
fortress,  the  only  place  in  the  country  that  still  held 
out.  But  the  advance  of  Edward  and  his  cavalry  at 
once  dispersed  this  little  army.  Shortly  after,  on 
the  9th  of  February,  1304,  Coinyn,  by  whom  it  had 
been  commanded,  and  some  other  noblemen,  made 
their  submission  to  the  commissioners  of  the  English 
king  at  Strathorde,'  in  Fifeshire.  It  was  agreed 
that  they  should  retain  their  lives,  liberties,  and 
lands,  subject  only  to  such  fines  as  Edward  might 
impose.  The  capitulation  was  to  include  all  other 
persons  who  might  choose  to  take  advantage  of  it, 
with  the  exception  only  of  Wisheart,  Bishop  of 
Glasgow,  the  steward,  and  Sir  John  Soulis,  who 
were  to  remain  in  exile  for  two  years,  and  not  to 
pass  to  the  north  of  the  Trent ;  of  David  de  Gra- 
ham and  Alexander  de  Lindesay,  who  were  to  be 
banished  from  Scotland  for  six  months;  of  Simon 
Fraser  and  Thomas  Bois,  who  were  to  be  banished 
for  three  years  from  all  the  dominions  of  Edward, 
and  also  to  be  prohibited  from  passing  into  France  ; 
and,  closing  the  honorable  list,  the  illustrious  Wal- 
lace, to  whom  it  was  significantly  accorded  that,  if 
he  chose,  he  might  render  himself  up  to  the  will 
and  mercy  of  Edward.  Not  long  after,  about  the 
middle  of  Lent,  a  parliament  was  assembled  at  St. 
Andrews  in  which  sentence  of  outlawry  was  pro- 
nounced against  Wallace,  Fraser,  and  the  garrison 
of  Stirling,  on  their  being  summoned  and  failing  to 
appear.  All  the  persons  above  named  eventually 
surrendered  themselves  on  the  terms  oflfered  to 
them ;  even  Fraser  at  length  gave  himself  up : 
Wallace  alone  stood  out.  The  rhyming  chronicler, 
Langtoft,  relates  that,  from  his  hiding-place  in  the 
forest  of  Dunfermline,  the  outlaw  sent  some  of  his 
friends  to  Edward,  with  a  proposal  to  sun-ender 
himself  on  a  written  and  sealed  assurance  of  his 
life  and  heritage.  But  "full  grim"  was  Edward, 
it  is  added,  when  this  was  reported  to  him :  he 
cursed  Wallace  and  all  who  supported  him  as 
traitors,  and  set  a  reward  of  three  hundred  marks 
upon  his  head.  On  hearing  this,  Wallace,  flying 
again  to  the  moors  and  marshes,  betook  himself  for 
subsistence  to  his  old  occupation  of  phmder — "in 
mores  and  mareis  with  robberie  him  fedis." 

Scotland,  however,  was  not  yet  completely  sub- 
dued so  long  as  its  chief  place  of  strength,  the  castle 
of  Stirling,  remained  unreduced.  To  the  siege  of 
this  fortress,  therefore,  Edward  now  addressed 
himself.  The  operations  commenced  on  the  22d  of 
April.  Sir  William  Oliphant,  the  governor,  had 
offered,  if  a  cessation  of  hostilities  were  granted,  to 
repair  to  France  and  there  take  the  commands  of 
Sir  John  Soulis,  from  whom  he  had  received  his 
charge.  "  Am  I  to  wait  for  his  orders  ?"  exclaimed 
Edward  :  "  defend  the  castle  if  you  will !"  Thir- 
teen warlike  engines,  according  to  Langtoft,  the 
best  in  the  kingdom,  were  brought  to  be  used 
against  the  devoted  walls ;  and  the  ample  leaden 
roof  of  the  cathedral  of  St.  Andrews,  Fordan  tells 
us,  was  torn  off  to  assist  in  the  consti'uction  of  these 
formidal)le  machines.  Some  of  them,  Hemingford 
says,  threw  stones  of  two  and  three  hundred  weight. 

'  This  place,  we  believe,  is  not  now  known. 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


701 


Another  species  of  engine  that  was  used  was  the 
espringal,  or  springal,  by  which  darts  were  project- 
ed, sometimes  winged  with  brass  instead  of  feathers. 
Edward  himself  directed  everything  that  was  done, 
and  "  though  far  advanced  in  years,"  to  borrow  the 
expression  of  Lord  Hailes,  "  exposed  his  person 
with  the  fire  and  temerity  of  a  young  soldier."  He 
was  several  times  struck  by  stones  and  javelins 
thrown  from  the  castle,  and  once  an  arrow  shot  at 
him  from  a  sort  of  cross-bow  stuck  in  his  armor. 
After  the  siege  had  continued  nearly  a  month,  with- 
out much  progress  having  been  made,  the  sheriffs 
of  York,  Lincoln,  and  London  were  commanded  to 
purchase  all  the  bows,  quarrels,  and  other  warlike 
weapons  that  could  be  pi-ocured  within  their  dis- 
tricts, and  to  send  them  to  Stirling ;  and  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  tower  was  also  desired  to  send  down 
immediately  a  supply  from  those  under  his  charge. 
All  the  efforts  of  these  assailants,  however,  were 
repelled  for  two  months  longer  by  Sir  William 
Oliphant  and  his  handful  of  gallant  associates. 
They  held  out  till  their  provisions  were  exhausted 
and  the  castle  was  reduced  almost  to  a  heap  of 
ruins.  Then,  on  the  20th  of  July,  when  Edward 
would  listen  to  no  other  terms,  they  surrendered  at 
discretion.  The  governor  and  twenty-four  of  his 
companions  of  rank,  all,  except  two  of  them  who 
were  ecclesiastics,  stripped  to  their  shirts  and 
under  garments,  were  led  forth  from  the  castle, 
and  presenting  themselves  before  Edward  on  their 
bent  knees,  with  their  hair  disheveled  and  their 
hands  joined  in  supplication,  acknowledged  their 
guilt  with  trembhng  and  the  semblance  of  shedding 
tears, ^  and  gave  themselves  up  to  his  mercy.  Such 
was  the  ungenerous  price  exacted  from  them  for  a 
chance  of  life.  Their  lives  were  spared,  and  they 
were  sent  to  the  Tower  of  London  and  other  Eng- 
lish prisons.  Beside  the  twenty-five  gentlemen, 
thirteen  ladies,  their  wives,  and  sisters,  had  shared 
along  with  them  the  dangers  and  privations  of  their 
obstinate  defence.  The  garrison,  which  had  so 
long  defied  the  whole  power  of  the  English  army, 
was  found  to  have  consisted  of  no  more  than  a 
hundred  and  forty  soldiers. 

A  few  months  after  the  fiill  of  Stirling,  the  last 
enemy  that  Edward  had  to  dread,  and  the  last  hope 
of  Scottish  independence,  seemed  to  be  cut  off  by 
the  capture  of  Wallace.  It  appears  that  Edward 
had  anxiously  sought  to  discover  his  retreat,  and 
that,  tempted  by  the  prospect  of  the  rewards  his 
baseness  might  earn  for  him,  Ralph  de  Haliburton, 
one  of  the  prisoners  lately  taken  at  Stirling,  had 
proffered  his  services  for  that  purpose.  It  is  not 
dear,  however,  that  it  was  by  Haliburton's  exer- 
tions that  Wallace  was  actually  taken ;  all  that  is 
certainly  known  is,  that  upon  being  seized,  he  was 
conveyed  to  the  castle  of  Dunbarton,  then  held 
under  a  commission  from  the  English  king,  by  Sir 
John  Menteith.  Menteith  has  been  represented  as 
the  betrayer  of  Wallace,  whose  friend  or  intimate 
associate,  moreover,  to  make  his  treachery  the 
blacker,  he  is  said  to  have  been  ;  but  his  part  in  the 
transaction  seems  to  have  gone  no  farther  than  the 
I  Quasi  cum  lacrimis.— Rym.  ii.  951. 


performance  of  the  duty  to  which  his  trust  bound 
him — of  receiving  the  prisoner,  and  having  him 
conveyed  to  England.'  He  was  brought  to  London, 
"with  great  numbers  of  men  and  women,"  says 
Stow,  ''Wondering  upon  him.  He  was  lodged  in 
the  house  of  William  Delect,  a  citizen  of  London, 
in  Fenchurch-street.  On  the  morrow,  being  the 
eve  of  St.  Bartholomew,  he  was  brought  on  horse- 
back to  Westminster,  John  Segrave  and  Geoffrey, 
knights,  the  mayor,  sheriffs,  and  aldermen  of 
London,  and  many  others,  both  on  horseback  and 
on  foot,  accompanying  him ;  and  in  the  great  hall 
at  Westminster,  he  being  placed  on  the  south 
bench,  crowned  with  laurel — for  that  he  had  said 
in  times  past  that  he  ought  to  bear  a  crown  in  that 
hall,  as  it  was  commonly  reported — and  being  ap- 
peached  for  a  traitor  by  Sir  Peter  Malorie,  the 
king's  justice,  he  answered,  that  he  was  never 
traitor  to  the  King  of  England  ;  but  for  other  things 
whereof  he  was  accused,  he  confessed  them." 
These  circumstantial  and  minute  details,  inartificially 
as  they  are  put  together,  and  homely  or  trivial  as 
some  of  them  may  be  thought,  are  yet  full  of  intei*- 
est  for  all  who  would  call  up  a  living  picture  of  the 
scene.  Wallace  was  put  to  death  as  a  traitor,  on 
the  23d  of  August,  1305,  at  the  usual  place  of  exe- 
cution— the  Elms  in  West  Smithfield.  He  was 
dragged  thither  at  the  tails  of  horses,  and  there 
hanged  on  a  high  gallows,  after  which,  while  he  yet 
breathed,  his  bowels  were  taken  out  and  burnt 
before  his  face.  The  barbarous  butchery  was  then 
completed  by  the  head  being  struck  off,  and  the 
body  being  divided  into  quarters.  The  head  was 
afterward  placed  on  a  pole  on  Loudon  Bridge  ;  the 
right  arm  was  sent  to  be  set  up  at  Newcastle,  the 
left  arm  to  Berwick,  the  right  foot  and  limb  to 
Perth,  and  the  left  to  Aberdeen. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  execution  of  Wallace,  ten 
commissioners,  elected  by  a  council  of  the  Scottish 
nation,  which  Edward  had  summoned  to  meet  at 
Perth — namely,  two  bishops,  two  abbots,  two  earls, 
two  barons,  and  two  representatives  of  the  boroughs, 
assembled  in  London,  and  there,  in  concert  with 
twent\'  commissioners  from  the  English  parliament, 
proceeded  to  settle  a  plan  of  government  for  the 
conquered  country.  The  alterations  made  were 
not  greater  than  might  seem  to  be  called  for  to 
secure  the  dependence  of  Scotland  upon  the  English 
crown  ;  but,  as  was  to  be  expected,  a  controlling 
power  over  all  ofifices  and  appointments  was  left  in 
the  hands  of  the  king.  The  whole  arrangement, 
however,  was  suddenly  overthrown  ere  it  had  been 
well  established.  Within  six  months  from  the  death 
of  Wallace,  the  Scots  were  again  up  in  arms,  around 
a  new  champion. 

This  was  Robert  Bruce.  Brace  had  again  made 
his  peace  with  England  some  time  before  the  capit- 
ulation of  Comyn  and  his  friends  at  Strathorde, 
which  he  was  enabled  the  more   easily  to  effect, 

'  There  is  a  very  able  and  spirited  vindication  of  Sir  John  Menteith 
in  Mr.  Mark  Napier's  late  "  Memoirs  of  John  Napier  of  Merchiston," 
4to.  Edin.  1834,  pp.  527,  &c.  See  also"  Tracts  Legal  and  Historical," 
by  J.  Riddell,  Esq.,  6vo.  Edin.  1835,  pp.  145-149.  The  admirable 
Hailes  first  pointed  out  the  improbabilities  and  unfounded  assuiiiptious 
of  the  vulgar  account,  Annals,  i.  343,  344. 


702 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  TV- 


iiiasniucli  as  he  haJ  not  been  present  at  the  battle 
t>f  Falkirk,  havinj;;  previously  shut  hiuiself  up  in  the 
castle  ol"  Ayr,  and  lefused  to  join  the  Scottish  army. 
Kdward  had  since  sought  to  secure  his  adh«?rence, 
by  treating  him  with  especial  favor  and  confidence. 
When  his  father,  who  had  all  along  continued 
attached  to  the  English  interests,  died,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  1304,  young  Bruce  was  immediately 


j)ermitted  to  take  possession  of  the  whole  of  his 
estates  both  in  England  and  Scotland.  At  the  set- 
tlement of  the  latter  kingdom,  in  the  following  year, 
while  his  great  rival,  Comyn,  was  fined  in  thre(! 
years'  rent  of  his  lands,  Bruce  was  intrusted  witli 
the  charge  of  the  important  fortress  of  Kildrummie, 
in  Aberdeenshire,  by  commission  from  the  English 
king.     It  is  never  to  be  forgotten  that,  up  to  this 


Ruins  of  Kildrvmmie  Castle. 


time,  whatever  his  aversion  to  the  English  domina- 
tion may  have  been,  there  had  been  repelling  cir- 
<umstances  of  the  strongest  nature  to  prevent  Bruce 
from  taking  part  cordially  and  steadily  with  the 
patriotic  party  in  his  native  land,  who,  although  they 
were  contending  against  England,  acted  in  the  name 
and  chiefly  under  the  conduct  of  the  enemies  of  his 
house  and  person — of  the  family  which  he  looked 
upon  as  having  come  between  him  and  his  splendid 
birthright,  and  by  which  also  he  must  have  been 
regarded  as  a  natural  rival  and  object  of  suspicion. 
Wallace  might  fight  for  Baliol ;  Bruce  scarcely 
could.  And  as  little,  after  Baliol  might  be  consid- 
ered to  be  set  aside,  could  he  ally  himself  with 
Comyn,  the  near  connection  of  Baliol,  and  the 
inheritor  of  his  pretensions.  Bruce,  indeed,  if  he 
Btill  retained  a  hope  of  seating  himself  on  the  dis- 
puted throne,  must  now  have  looked  upon  Coniyn  as 
the  man  of  all  others  of  whom  it  was  most  necessary 
for  him  to  clear  his  path  ;  and  the  same  also  no  doubt 
were  the  feelings  of  Com)n  in  regard  to  Bruce. 
If  either,  by  whatever  means,  could  put  down  the 
other,  the  strong  necessity  of  self-preservation  would 
banish  many  scruples — for  the  one  was  scarcely  safe 
while  the  other  lived.  It  is  probable  enough  that 
the  favor  of  Edward  was  courted  by  each  with  the 


object  of  depressing  or  destroying  his  rival.  The 
circumstances,  however,  that  led  to  the  fatal  explo- 
sion of  the  inflammable  elements  which  only  required 
to  be  brought  together  to  produce  such  a  catastrophe, 
are  involved  in  much  uncertainty ;  the  real  facts 
were  probably  never  very  generally  known,  and 
tradition  naturally  busied  itself  in  embellishing  so 
remarkable  an  event.  It  appears,  that  in  June, 
130.5,  after  his  last  submission  to  Edward,  Brnce 
had  entered  into  a  secret  league  with  William  de 
Lamberton,  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  by  which  the 
parties  mutually  bound  themselves  to  stand  by  each 
other  against  all  persons  whatsoever.  This  curious 
instrument  is  still  preserved.'  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  what  it  chiefly  contemplated  was  the 
assertion,  at  some  future  day,  of  Bruce's  claim  to 
the  crown.  It  is  sup|)osed  that  Comyn  had  obtained 
a  knowledge  of  this  agreement,  and  that  thereupon 
a  conference  on  tlie  subject  of  their  pretensions  took 
place  between  him  and  Bruce,  when  Bruce  is  said 
to  have  proposed  either  that  he  should  have  the 
crown  and  Comyn  his  estates,  or  that  he  should 
have  Comyn's  estates  and  Comj'n  the  crown.  It 
was  agreed  that  Bruce's  title  to  the  crown  should  be 
supported  by  both.     With  whatever  views  Comyn 

1  See  it  printeJ  iu  Iluiles,  i.  342. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


703 


may  hav^  euceied  into  this  negotiation,  he  eventually 
(so  proceeds  the  story)  communicated  all  that  had 
taken  place  to  Edward.  Bruce  received  the  first 
intimation  of  his  danger  from  Edward's  son-in-law, 
the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  who,  by  waj'  of  warning  him 
to  take  instant  flight,  sent  a  messenger  to  him  with 
twelve  pence  and  a  pair  of  spurs,  under  the  show  of 
restoring  what  he  had  borrowed.  Early  the  next 
morning,  Bruce  set  out  for  Scotland,  taking  the 
precaution  to  make  his  horse's  shoes  be  reversed, 
that  he  might  not  be  tracked  in  the  snow,  which 
had  fallen  heavily  during  the  night.  On  his  way  he 
met  a  person  on  foot,  whom  he  found  to  be  the 
bearer  of  letters  from  Comyn  to  Edward,  urging 
his  death  or  immediate  imprisonment.  He  slew 
this  man,  and,  with  the  letters  in  his  possession, 
pressed  forward  to  his  castle  of  Lochmaben,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  seventh  day  after  his  departure 
from  London.  The  most  of  this,  it  must  be  confess- 
ed, is  more  like  fiction  than  fiict.  It  is  certain,  how- 
ever, that  on  the  10th  of  February,  1306,  Bruce  and 
Comyn  met  alone  in  the  convent  of  the  Minorites  at 
Dumfries,  and  that  there,  a  passionate  altercation 
having  arisen  between  them,  Bruce  drew  his  dagger, 
and  stabbed  Comyn  as  they  stood  together  beside  the 
high  altar.  Hurrying  from  the  sanctuary,  he  called 
*'to  horse!"  and  when  his  attendants,  Alexander 
Lindesay  of  Crawfurd,  and  Roger  Kirkpatrick  of 
Closeburn,  seeing  him  pale  and  violently  agitated, 
inquired  the  cause,  "  I  doubt,"  he  replied,  "  I  have 
slain  Comyn."  •'  You  doubt  ?"  exclaimed  Kirk- 
patrick ;  "  I'll  make  sure."  And,  Avith  these  words, 
he  rushed  into  the  church,  and  gave  the  wounded 
man  his  death-stroke,  dispatching  also  his  kinsman, 
Sir  Robert  Comyn,  who  tried  to  defend  him.  In 
memory  of  this  deed,  the  descendants  of  Kirkpatrick 
still  bear  as  their  crest  a  hand  grasping  a  dagger 
distilling  drops  of  blood,  with  the  words  "  I  make 
sicker"  (that  is,  sure),  as  a  motto. 

Whatever  might  have  been  Bruce's  previous 
plans,  there  was  no  room  for  doubt  or  hesitation 
now.  The  boldest  course  afl'orded  the  only  chance 
of  safe t}'.  He  immediately  called  his  friends  around 
him — they  were  few  in  number ;  but,  desperate  as 
the  hazard  looked,  there  were  some  gallant  spirits 
that  did  not  shrink  from  setting  their  lives  (which 
many  of  them  lost)  upon  another  cast  for  the  freedom 
of  their  country.  The  Bishops  of  St.  Andrews  and 
Glasgow,  the  Abbot  of  Scone,  Bruce's  four  brothers, 
Edward,  Nigel,  Thomas,  and  Alexander,  his  nephew, 
Thomas  Randolph,  his  brother-in-law,  Christopher 
Seton,  and  some  ten  or  twelve  others,  mostly  young 
men,  gathei'ed  at  the  summons.  They  met  at 
Glasgow,  and  from  thence  rode  to  Scone,  where 
Bruce  was  solemnly  crowned  on  the  27th  of  March. 

Edward  was  at  Winchester  when  the  news  of 
this  revolution  was  brought  to  him.  He  immediately 
sent  forward  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  with  the  title 
of  Guardian  of  Scotland,  at  the  head  of  a  small  army 
to  check  the  insurgents ;  and,  advanced  in  years  as 
he  now  was,  proceeded  to  make  ready,  if  it  should 
become  necessary,  to  follow  in  person.  In  prepa- 
ration for  the  expedition,  proclamation  was  made 
that  the    Prince  of  Wales  would  be  knighted  on 


the  feast  of  Pentecost ;  and  all  the  young  nobility  of 
the  kingdom  were  summoned  to  appear  at  West- 
minster to  receive  that  honor  along  with  him.  On 
the  eve  of  the  appointed  day  (the  22d  of  May)  two 
hundred  and  seventy  noble  j'ouths,  with  their  pages 
and  retinues,  assembled  in  the  gardens  of  the  Temple, 
in  which  the  trees  were  cut  down  that  they  might 
pitch  their  tents  ;  they  watched  their  arms  all  night, 
according  to  the  usage  of  chivahy,  the  prince  and 
some  of  those  of  highest  rank  in  the  abbey  of  West- 
minster, the  others  in  the  Temple  church.  On  the 
morrow  Prince  Edward  was  knighted  by  his  father 
in  the  hall  of  the  palace,  and  then  proceeding  to  the 
abbey,  conferred  that  honor  on  his  companions.  A 
magnificent  feast  followed,  at  which  two  swans 
covered  with  nets  of  gold  being  set  on  the  table  by 
the  minstrels,  the  king  rose  and  made  a  solemn  vow 
to  God  and  to  the  swans,  that  he  would  avenge  the 
death  of  Comyn,  and  punish  the  perfidy  of  the 
Scottish  rebels  ;  and  then  addressing  his  son  and  the 
rest  of  the  company,  he  conjured  them,  in  the  event 
of  his  death,  to  keep  his  body  unburied  until  his 
successor  should  have  accomplished  this  vow.  The 
next  morning  the  prince  with  his  companions  de- 
parted for  the  borders  ;  Edward  himself  followed  by 
slow  joui"neys,  being  only  able  to  travel  in  a  litter. 
Meanwhile  Bruce's  adherents  had  been  increas- 
ing in  number,  and  he  had  already  acquired  such 
strength,  that  in  several  parts  of  the  country  the 
officers  of  Edward  and  the  other  English  had  fled 
in  teiTor.  He  now  marched  upon  Pei'th,  where 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke  lay.  It  is  affirmed,  that  when 
the  Scots  challenged  the  English  commander  to 
come  forth  and  give  them  battle,  Pembroke  answered 
that  he  would  fight  them  on  the  morrow ;  on  which 
Bruce  retired  to  the  neighboring  wood  of  Methven ; 
but  that  same  evening  (19th  of  June)  the  English 
fell  upon  them :  it  was  lather  a  rout  than  a  battle ; 
Bruce  himself  was  in  the  greatest  danger,  having 
been  three  times  unhorsed ;  Randolph  and  others 
of  his  friends  were  taken ;  and  he  with  difficulty 
made  good  his  retreat  into  the  fastnesses  of  Atholl, 
with  about  five  hundred  followers,  the  broken  and 
dispirited  remnant  of  his  force.  For  many  months 
after  this,  he  and  his  friends  were  houseless  fugi- 
tives ;  a  price  was  set  upon  their  heads :  to  make 
their  difficulties  and  suflerings  the  greater,  they 
were  joined  after  some  time  bj^  a  party  of  their  wives 
and  daughters;  and  as  they  penetrated  farther  and 
farther  into  the  depths  of  the  Highlands,  to  avoid 
the  English  troops  that  scoured  the  countiy  in  search 
of  them,  their  miseries,  both  from  want  of  shelter 
and  frequent  want  of  food,  as  well  as  from  the 
increasing  danger,  became  daily  more  pressing.  On 
reaching  the  borders  of  Argyle,  Bruce  and  his  little 
band  were  set  upon  in  a  narrow  defile  by  the  Lord 
of  Lorn,  who  had  married  an  aunt  of  Comyn,  at  thc^ 
head  of  a  thousand  followers,  and  after  a  sharp  but 
unequal  encounter,  with  difficulty  escaped  with  their 
lives.  At  last  Brjice's  queen  and  the  other  ladies 
were  conducted  by  his  brother  Nigel  to  the  castle 
of  Kildrummie  ;  and  Bruce  himself  soon  after  found 
means  to  pass  over  to  the  little  isle  of  Rachrin  ow 
the  northern  coast  of  Ireland. 


704 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


While  the  Scottish  king  lay  concealed  here,  ruin 
fell  U|)on  almost  all  the  connections  and  adherents 
he  had  left  behind.  The  Bishops  of  St.  Andrews 
and  (ilasgow,  and  the  Abbot  of  Scone  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  English  soon  after  the  battle 
of  Methven  :  they  were  taken  clad  in  armor,  and 
were  immediately  sent,  so  attired  and  in  fetters,  to 
England,  and  there  consigned  to  dilVerent  prisons. 
Their  sacred  character  alone  saved  their  lives. 
Bruce's  queen  and  his  daughter  Marjory  having  left 
Kildrummie,  and  taken  refuge  in  the  sanctuary  of 
St.  Duthac,  at  Tain,  in  Ross-shire,  were  seized 
there  by  the  Earl  of  Ross.  The  knights  who  were 
with  them  were  put  to  death ;  and  they  themselves 
were  sent  to  England,  where  they  endured  an  im- 
prisonment of  eight  years.  The  youthful  Nigel 
Bruce,  much  beloved  by  the  people  for  his  gallantry 
and  the  graces  of  his  person,  was  compelled  to  sur- 
render the  castle  of  Kildrummie,  and,  being  sent  in 
irons  to  Berwick,  was  there  hanged,  and  afterward 
beheaded,  along  with  divers  other  knights  and  gal- 
lant men.  Christopher  Seton  suffered  a  similar 
death  at  Dumfries,  the  Earl  of  Atholl  and  Sir  Simon 
Eraser  in  London,  and  many  others  there  and  else- 
where. Thus  did  Edward  make  the  best  blood  of 
Scotland  flow  in  torrents  in  expiation  of  what  he 
called  the  rebellion  and  breach  of  faith  of  the  people 
of  that  country.  "  It  is  remarkable,"  as  is  well  ob- 
served by  Hailes,  "  that  in  the  preceding  year  he 
himself  procured  a  papal  bull,  absolving  him  from 
the  oath  which  he  had  taken  for  maintaining  the 
privileges  of  his  people.  But  the  Scots,  without 
papal  authority,  violated  their  oaths,  and  were  pun- 
ished as  perjured  men.  It  is  a  truth  not  to  be  dis- 
guised, that  in  those  times  the  common  notions  of 
right  and  wrong  were,  in  some  sort,  obliterated. 
Conscience,  intoxicated  with  indulgences,  or  stu- 
pefied by  frequent  absolution,  was  no  longer  a  faith- 
ful monitor,  amid  the  temptations  of  interest,  ambi- 
tion, and  national  animosities." 

Bruce,  however,  had  not  been  idle  in  his  winter 
retreat ;  and  early  in  the  spring  of  1.307  he  passed 
over  from  Rachrin  to  the  isle  of  Arran,  with  a  com- 
pany of  about  three  hundred  men,  embarked  in 
thirty-three  galleys,  which,  according  to  Fordun,  he 
had  been  enabled  to  raise  by  the  aid  of  a  chieftainess, 
called  Christiana  of  the  Isles.  Before  venturing  to 
the  opposite  coast,  he  dispatched  one  of  his  follow- 
ers to  ascertain  what  were  the  dispositions  of  the 
people,  with  instructions,  if  he  found  appearances 
favorable,  to  light  a  fire  on  a  certain  day,  on  an  emi- 
nence near  the  castle  of  Turnberry.  This  had  been 
one  of  the  chief  seats  of  his  own  family,  and  the 
surrounding  district  was  his  ancestral  temtory  of 
Carrick.  When  the  appointed  day  amved,  Bruce 
looked  anxiously  for  the  expected  signal :  at  length, 
when  it  was  already  past  noon,  he  saw  the  fire ;  on 
which  he  quickly  embarked  with  his  associates,  and 
they  steered  their  course  during  the  darkness  by  its 
light.  When  they  approached  the  landing-place, 
Bruce's  emissary  stood  on  the  shore.  He  told  them 
that  the  English  were  in  complete  possession  of 
Carrick  ;  that  Lord  Percy,  with  a  numerous  garri- 
son, held  the  castle  of  Turnberry ;  and  that  there  was 


no  hope  of  a  rising  in  favor  of  Brace.  "  Traitor !" 
cried  Bruce  ;  "  why  did  you  make  the  signal  ?"  "I 
made  no  signal,"  replied  the  man ;  "  but,  observing 
a  fire  on  the  hill,  I  feared  that  it  might  deceive  you, 
and  I  hasted  hither  to  warn  you  from  the  coast." 
Bruce  hesitated  what  to  do  ;  but  his  brother  Edward 
boldly  declared  for  pursuing  their  enterprise  at  all 
hazards.  They  immediately  attacked  a  body  of  the 
English  that  lay  close  at  hand,  and  succeeded  in  put- 
ting most  of  them  to  the  sword.  Percy,  who  heard 
the  tumult,  did  not  dare,  in  his  ignorance  of  the 
numbers  of  the  enemy,  to  come  forth  from  the  castle. 
After  this  exploit,  Bruce  sought  shelter,  in  the  first 
instance,  in  the  mountainous  parts  of  the  surround- 
ing country.  But  the  bold  blow  he  had  struck  suf- 
ficed to  rekindle  the  war,  and  it  soon  raged  in  difler- 
ent  quarters.  In  the  beginning  of  February,  Bruce's 
brothers,  Thomas  and  Alexander,  as  they  were 
bringing  over  a  band  of  eleven  hundred  adventurers 
to  his  assistance  from  Ireland,  were  routed  at  Loch- 
rian,  in  Galloway,  by  Duncan  Mac  Dowal,  a  chief 
of  that  region,  who  immediately  carried  the  two 
brothers,  who  had  fallen  into  his  hands  severely 
wounded,  to  the  English  king  at  Carlisle.  Edward 
ordered  both  to  instant  execution.  Some  weeks 
after  this,  Douglas  Castle,  which  was  held  by  Lord 
Clifford,  was  gallantly  surprised  by  its  former  owner, 
Sir  James  Douglas,  one  of  Bruce's  most  distinguished 
followers.  On  this  occasion  he  behaved  with  distin- 
guished ferocity;  for,  not  contented  with  the  num- 
bers of  the  garrison  that  had  fallen  in  the  encounter, 
he  piled  together  the  malt  and  corn  and  wine-casks, 
and  whatever  else  he  found  in  the  castle  that  he 
could  not  carry  away,  and  then  setting  fire  to  the 
heap,  slew  his  prisoners,  and  threw  their  dead 
bodies  among  the  flames,  which  soon  enveloped  the 
whole  building,  and  reduced  it  to  a  blackened  ruin. 
The  tradition  of  the  neighborhood  still  remembers 
this  horrible  revenge  under  the  name  of  the  Douglas 
Larder.'  It  was  some  time,  however,  before  Bruce 
was  strong  enough  to  show  himself  openly  in  the 
field  ;  and  he  was  frequently  again  in  great  personal 
danger  as  he  skulked  from  one  hiding-place  to  an- 
other in  the  wilds  of  Galloway,  while  his  enemies 
in  all  directions  were  hunting  him  for  his  life.  But 
fit  length  he  ventured  to  encounter  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke at  Loudon  Hill ;  when,  through  the  skilful 
disposition  of  his  force,  notwithstanding  a  great  infe- 
riority of  numbers,  he  obtained  a  complete  victory. 
This  action  was  fought  on  the  10th  of  May.  Three 
days  after,  he  attacked  another  English  force  under 
the  command  of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  ;  and  this, 
too,  he  succeeded  in  routing  with  great  slaughter. 
Pembroke  and  Gloucester  having  both  thrown  them- 
selves into  the  castle  of  Ayr,  Bruce  immediately 
laid  siege  to  that  fortress. 

But  here  we  must  break  off  our  account  of  events 
in  Scotland  for  the  present.  King  Edward  all  this 
while  had  advanced  no  farther  than  to  Carlisle,  hav- 
ing been  detained  all  the  winter  at  Lanercost,  by  a 
serious  attack  of  illness.  He  had  directed  all  the 
late  operations  of  the  war  from  his  sick-bed  ;  but 
now,  incensed  at  the  continued  progress  of  the  in- 

1  Tytler,  i.  256. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


705 


surrectiou,  he  offered  up  the  htter  on  Avhich  lie  had 
thus  far  been  carried  in  the  cathedral  church  of 
Carlisle,  and  again  mounting  on  horseback,  gave  or- 
ders to  proceed  toward  the  borders.  It  was  the 
effort  of  a  dying  man.  In  four  days  he  advanced 
about  six  miles,  when,  having  reached  the  village  of 
Burgh-upon-Sands,  he  there  stopped  once  more  for 
the  night ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  the 
7th  of  July,  expired,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his 
age,  and  thirty-fifth  of  his  reign.  His  last  breath 
was  spent  in  enjoining  upon  those  who  should  suc- 
ceed him  the  prosecution  of  the  great  design  of  his 
life — the  complete  subjugation  of  that  country,  the 
hated  sight  of  which,  again,  after  all  his  efforts,  in 
revolt  against  him,  was  thus  fated  to  be  the  last  on 
which  his  eyes  should  rest. 


Prince  Edward  was  not  present  when  his  father 
died,  having  returned  to  London  a  short  time  before. 
Froissart  relates  that  the  old  king,  before  his  death, 
made  his  son  be  called,  and,  in  the  presence  of  his 
barons,  made  him  swear  upon  the  saints,  that  as 
soon  as  he  should  have  expired,  he  would  cause  him 
to  be  boiled  in  a  caldron,  till  the  flesh  should  fall 
from  his  bones,  and  afterward  bury  the  flesh,  and 
keep  the  bones,  and  that  every  time  the  Scots  re- 
belled, he  would  lead  an  army  against  them,  and 
carry  along  with  him  these  dead  relics  of  his  father. 
If  this  singular  oath  ever  was  exacted,  it  must  have 
been  not  when  Edward  was  at  the  point  of  death, 
but  before  he  set  out  from  Carlisle  ;  and  as  at  this 
time  he  imagined  himself  to  be  recovering,  it  is  most 
probable  that  the  incident  never  took  place  at  all. 


Edward  II. — surnamed  Of  Caernarvon. 


Great  Seal  or  Edward  II. 


a.d.  1307.     The  death  of  Edward  I.  was  cau- 
tiously concealed  in  the  capital  for  many  days,  and 
Ralph  de  Baldoc,  Bishop  of  London  and  chancellor 
of  the  kingdom,  continued  to  put  his  great  seal  to 
writs  till  the  25th  of  July.     Edward  II.,  however, 
had  been  peacefully  recognized  at  Carlisle  by  the 
unanimous  consent  of  the  peers  and  magnates  pres- 
ent with  the  army  there,  on  Saturday,  the  8th  of 
July,  the  day  after  his  father's  death. ^     This  prince 
had  the  outward  appearance  of  many  advantages  : 
he  was  young,  of  an  agreeable  person,  and  cheerful 
disposition  ;  and  the  fame  and  greatness  of  his  father 
endeared  him  to  the  Enghsh  people,  and  caused  | 
him  to  be  respected  abroad ;  but  he  had  already  be-  < 
trayed  weaknesses  that  would  overthrow  the  strong- 
est throne,  a,nd  had  incurred  the  suspicion  of  vices  j 
which,  when  once  proclaimed,  were  sure  singularly  j 
to  irritate  a  manly  nation.     On  his  death-bed  his 
father  had  implored  him  to  eschew  the  company  of  l 
favorites  and  parasites,  and  had  forbidden  him,  under  j 

•  Walsingham  says  he  succeeded  to  the  crown,  "  non  tam  jure  haere-  1 
(litario,  quam  unanimi  assensu  procerum  et  mag^natum." 

VOL.  I. — 45 


pain  of  his  curse,  to  recall  his  chief  minion,  Gave- 
ston,  to  England.  Piers  Gaveston  was  a  remarkably 
handsome  youth  of  Gascony,  who  had  been  brought 
up  with  the  prince,  over  whose  heart  he  obtained  a 
disgraceful  ascendency.  The  stern  old  king  had 
driven  him  from  England  ;  but.  forgetful  of  his  dying 
injunctions,  and  his  own  solemn  oaths,  Edward's 
first  thoughts  on  his  accession  were  to  recall  this 
favorite,  and  confer  upon  him  the  earldom  of  Corn- 
wall, with  other  honors  and  immense  estates.  He 
was  obliged,  however,  to  make  a  semblance  of  pros- 
ecuting the  war  in  Scotland  :  he  hastened  from 
London ;  he  marched  as  far  north  as  Cumnock,  on 
the  borders  of  Ayrshire ;  but  at  this  point  he  turned 
round,  and  made  his  way  back  to  England,  without 
having  performed  anything.  Meanwhile,  Gaveston, 
who  had  hastily  arrived  from  the  continent,  joined 
him  in  Scotland,  and  had  scarcely  made  his  appear- 
ance when  the  whole  body  of  the  government  was 
changed.  The  chancellor,  the  treasurer,  the  barons 
of  the  Exchequer,  the  judges— all  the  officers  who 
had  been  appointed  by  the  deceased  king,  were  at 


706 


lIlSTORi:  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Edward  II.     Drawn  from  the  Tomb  at  Gloucester 


once  deprived  of  their  places,  and  in  some  instances 
stripped  of  their  property  and  thrown  into  prison. 
This  fate  particularly  befel  the  lord  treasurer,  Wal- 
ter de  Langton,  Bishop  of  Lichfield,  and  it  was  said 
for  uo  other  reason  than  his  having  reproved  the 
prince,  and  refused  him  money  for  his  extravagance 
during  his  father's  life-time.  In  no  case  does  any 
legal  procedure  appear  to  have  been  resorted  to.  In- 
stead of  fulfilling  his  father's  solemn  behest,  Edward 
buried  his  bones  in  Westminster  Abbey,  at  the  head 
of  Heni-y  III.,  on  the  27th  day  of  October ;  and  soon 
after  he  gave  the  money  which  the  old  king  had  set 
apart  for  the  Holy  War  to  his  insatiable  favorite. 
Indeed,  the  whole  of  Edward's  care  seems  to  have 
been  to  disgust  eveiy  feehng  and  prejudice  of  his 
barons,  and  to  enrich  and  aggi'andize  Gaveston  with 
a  rapidity  and  to  an  amount  unprecedented  even  in 
the  shameful  annals  of  favoritism.  The  great  earl- 
dom of  Cornwall,  which  had  been  appanage  enough 
for  princes  of  the  blood,  was  not  deemed  sufficient 
for  this  Gascon  knight.  Edward  inarried  him  to  his 
own  niece,  Margaret  de  Clare,  made  him  lord  cham- 
berlain, and  gave  him  an  extensive  grant  of  lands  in 
Guienne.  In  traveling  through  England  nothing 
was  so  frequently  seen  as  the  manors,  the  retinues, 
and  houses  of  this  overgrown  minion.  Nothing  was 
granted  without  his  consent ;  and  it  was  reported, 
among  many  other  things,  that  the  king  had  said 
that  he  would  leave  him  his  kingdom  if  he  could.' 

AVhen  the  infatuated  Edward  sailed  for  France, 
in  Januarj',  1308,  to  marry  the  Princess  Isabella,  to 
whom  he  had  long  been  contracted,  he  left  Gaveston 
regent  of  the  kingdom  during  his  absence,  and 
intrusted  him  with  more  absolute  powers  than  had 

I  De  la  More. — Walsing. — Trivet 


ever  been  conferred  in  such  cases.  The  Princess 
Isabella,  daughter  to  Philip  le  Bel,  was  reputed  the 
most  beautiful  woman  in  Europe, — une  des  plus 
belles  dames  du  inonde,  according  to  Froissart.  But 
Edward  from  the  first  was  rather  indifll'erent  to  her 
person.  They  were  married  with  great  pomp  in 
"  our  Lady  Church  of  Boulogne,"  on  the  25th  of 
January  ;  no  fewer  than  four  kings  and  three  queens 
being  present  at  the  ceremony.  Edward  showed 
the  greatest  impatience  to  return  to  England  :  the 
usual  rejoicings  were  cut  short,  and  he  embarked 
with  his  bride  and  a  numerous  company  of  French 
nobles  whom  he  had  invited  to  the  coronation.  Soon 
after  their  landing  they  were  met  by  Gaveston  and 
by  the  flower  of  the  English  nobility,  who  came  to 
salute  their  joung  and  beautiful  queen.  At  this 
moment,  pajing  no  attention  to  his  wife,  or  his 
guests,  or  to  the  rest  of  his  subjects,  Edward  threw 
himself  into  the  arms  of  his  favorite,  hugged  and 
kissed  him,  and  called  him  brother.  The  whole 
court  was  disgusted  at  this  exhibition,  and  two  of 
tiie  queen's  uncles,  who  had  accompanied  her  into 
England,  could  not  conceal  their  displeasure.  At 
the  coronation,  which  was  celebi-ated  with  great 
magnificence  at  Westminster,  on  the  24th  of  Feb- 
ruary, nearly  all  the  honors  were  allotted  to  the 
favorite,  without  any  regard  to  the  hereditary  offices 
of  the  great  barons.  "  None,"  says  an  old  writer, 
"  came  near  to  Piers  in  bravery  of  apparel  or  deli- 
cacy of  fashion."  He  cari'ied  the  crown,  and  walked 
in  procession  before  the  king  and  queen ;  which 
things  greatly  increased  the  anger  of  the  lords 
against  him.  Four  days  after  the  coronation  the 
barons  petitioned  the  king,  and,  without  any  cere- 
monious phrases,  requested  him  to  banish  Sir  Piers 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


707 


Gaveston  immediately.  Edward  promised  to  give 
them  an  answer  in  parliament,  which  was  to  meet 
after  the  festival  of  Easter,  and  in  the  mean  while 
he  did  all  he  could  to  disarm  their  resentment.  But 
the  favorite  himself  had  no  discretion  ;  he  continued 
to  outshine  all  the  nobles  of  the  land,  and  being  Well 
slvilled  in  those  martial  sports,  he  frequented  all 
tournaments,  and  carried  away  many  prizes.  He 
unhorsed  at  different  times  the  earls  of  Lancaster, 
Hereford,  Pembroke,  and  Warenne ;  and  these 
triumphs  are  supposed  to  have  given  a  fresh  edge 
to  their  hatred.  When  the  Parliament  met  Edward 
was  obliged  to  part  with  his  minion.  Gaveston  took 
an  oath  that  he  would  never  return  to  England, 
and  the  bishops  bound  him  to  his  oath  by  threats  of 
excommunication.  The  king  accompanied  him  to 
Bristol,  where  he  embarked  ;  but  a  few  weeks 
after  it  was  ascertained  that  the  exile  had  been 
appointed  governor  of  all  Ireland,  and  that  he  had 
established  himself  in  that  island  with  almost  royal 
magnificence.  From  the  time  of  his  departui'e  till 
that  of  his  return — a  space  of  thirteen  months — the 
whole  soul  of  the  king  seems  to  have  been  absorbed 
by  this  one  subject :  he  employed  every  expedient 
to  mitigate  the  animosity  of  his  barons ;  he  granted 
offices  to  his  cousin,  the  Earl  of  Lancaster ;  he  made 
great  concessions  to  Earl  Warenne  and  others  ;  he 
wrote  to  Rome  for  a  dispensation  for  Gaveston  from 
his  oath ;  and  having,  as  he  fancied,  removed  all 
dangerous  opposition  to  the  measure,  he  sent  to 
recall  the  favorite  from  Ireland.  They  met  at 
Chester,  with  a  wonderful  display  of  tenderness  on 
the  part  of  the  king.  The  Parliament  assembled 
at  Stamford,  and  the  promises  of  the  king,  and  the 
affected  humility  of  Gaveston,  obtained  a  formal 
consent  to  his  reestablishment  in  England. 

The  king  was  now  happy  ;  his  court  was  filled 
with  buffoons,  parasites,  and  such  like  pernicious 
instruments  ;  and  nothing  was  seen  there  but  feast- 
ing and  revelry.  At  the  same .  time  the  upstart 
favorite  became  much  more  arrogant  and  insolent 
than  he  had  ever  been  before.  The  English  peo- 
j)le,  who  despised  him,  would  call  him  nothing  but 
Piers  Gaveston ;  upon  which  he  caused  the  king  to 
put  forth  a  ridiculous  proclamation  ordering  all  men 
to  give  him  the  title  of  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  when- 
ever they  mentioned  him.  He  indulged  in  rude 
witticisms  and  sarcasms  at  the  expense  of  the  Eng- 
lish nobles,  and  he  presumed  to  give  contemptuous 
nicknames  to  some  of  the  greatest  barons  of  the 
kingdom.  Thus,  he  called  the  Earl  of  Lancaster 
the  "  old  hog,"  or  the  "  stage-player :"  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  because  he  was  pale  and  tall,  "  Joseph 
the  Jew:"  the  Earl  of  Gloucester  "the  cuckold's 
bird  :"  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick  "  the  black  dog  of 
Ardenne." '  The  silly  king  laughed  at  this  wretched 
wit,  which  was  sure  to  travel  beyond  the  applaud- 
ing walls  of  the  court.  When  the  stern  Earl  of 
Warwick  heard  it,  he  vowed  a  terrible  vow  that  he 
would  make  the  minion  feel "  the  black  dog's  teeth." 
Even  the  queen  was  so  disgusted  with  this  man's 
predominancy,  that  she  sent  complaints  to  the  king, 
her  father,  and  conceived  an  aversion  to  her  hus- 

1  Packington,  in  Leland's  Collect. — Walsing. 


baud,  which,  though  sometimes  suppressed  or  con- 
cealed, was  never  afterward  removed.  The  grants 
voted  by  Parliament  were  dissipated,  and  Edward 
was  continually  in  great  straits  for  money.  The 
barons,  before  voting  supplies,  had  several  times 
made  him  promise  a  redress  of  grievances ;  but 
when  he  summoned  a  parliament  to  meet  at  York, 
in  October,  1309,  three  months  after  the  favorite's 
return  from  Ireland,  most  of  the  barons  refused  to 
attend,  alleging  that  they  stood  in  fear  of  the  power 
and  malice  of  Gaveston.  The  urgency  of  the  king's 
wants  obliged  him  to  repeat  his  summons,  but  still 
they  came  not.  The  favorite  then  withdrew  for  n 
time ;  and  at  last  the  barons  announced  that  they 
would  assemble  at  Westminster.  They  met  accord- 
ingly in  the  month  of  March,  1310  ;  but  every  baron 
came  in  arms,  and  Edward  was  completely  in  their 
power.  As  they  would  no  longer  be  amused  by 
promises,  he  was  obliged  to  consent  to  the  imme- 
diate appointment  of  a  committee  of  peers,  who 
should  have  power  to  reform  not  only  the  state, 
but  also  the  king's  household.  The  committee  was 
appointed  by  the  primate,  seven  bishops,  eight  earls, 
and  thirteen  barons,  Avho  acknowledged  under  their 
signatures  that  this  grant  proceeded  from  the  king's 
free  wnll ;  that  it  was  not  to  be  considered  as  a  pre- 
cedent for  trenching  on  the  royal  prerogative  ;  and 
that  the  functions  of  the  committee  should  cease 
at  the  feast  of  St.  Michael  in  the  following  year. 
The  committee,  called  "  ordainers,"  sate  in  London. 
The  king,  Avho  considered  them  in  the  light  of  cens- 
ors and  harsh  schoolmasters,  hurried  away  to  the 
north,  preferring  even  the  toils  of  a  campaign  to  a 
residence  under  their  shadow.  He  was  scarcely 
out  of  their  sight  when  he  was  once  more  joined 
by  Gaveston,  upon  whom  he  heaped  fresh  gifts, 
honors,  and  employments.  The  two  passed  the 
winter  and  the  following  summer  at  Berwick  and 
the  country  about  the  Scotch  borders,  doing  little 
or  nothing,  while  the  cautious  Bruce  was  preparing 
his  measures  for  a  final  expulsion  of  the  English. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1311,  Edward  was  obliged 
to  meet  his  parliament  at  Westminster.  The  barons 
were  in  a  Averse  humor  than  ever:  they  recalled 
all  grants  made  by  the  king  to  his  favorite;  they 
decreed  that  all  made  thereafter,  without  consent 
of  Parliament,  should  be  invalid;  that  Gaveston 
should  be  banished,  on  pain  of  death  in  case  of 
return ;  that  the  king  should  not  leave  the  kingdom 
or  make  war  without  the  consent  of  the  baronage  ; 
that  the  baronage,  in  parliament  assembled,  should 
appoint  a  guardian  or  regent  during  the  royal  ab- 
sence ;  and  that  all  the  great  officers  of  the  crown, 
and  the  governors  of  foreign  possessions,  should  at 
all  times  be  chosen  by  the  baronage,  or  with  their 
advice  and  assent  in  parhament.  In  later  times 
these  conditions  were  softened  into  the  important 
principle  that  the  confidence  of  Parliament  is  re- 
quired to  render  the  choice  of  public  officers  agree- 
able to  the  Constitution.'  The  king  had  once  more 
confirmed  the  great  charter,  the  preceding  year, 
before  going  to  the  north,  but  now  a  new  and 
important  provision  was  introduced  respecting  the 

1  Sir  James  Mackintosh. 


708 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


meeting  of  Parliament:  —  "Forasmuch  as  many 
people  be  aggrieved  by  the  king's  ministers  against 
right,  in  respect  to  which  giievances  no  one  can 
recover  without  a  common  parliament,  we  do  ordain 
that  the  king  shall  hold  a  pa)liament  once  a  year, 
or  twice  if  need  be."  More  for  the  sake  of  his 
favorite  than  from  any  other  motive,  Edward  made 
a  show  of  resistance  to  several  of  these  ordinances, 
but  he  was  compelled  to  yield,  and  he  alTTixed  his 
signature  to  them  all  in  the  beginning  of  Octo- 
ber. On  the  1st  of  November  following,  after  many 
tears,  he  took  leave  of  Gaveston,  who  retired  to 
Flanders,  with  ro^al  letters  warndy  recommending 
him  to  the  duke  and  duchess.  The  king,  who  was 
not  incapable  of  a  certain  cuiming,  then  dissolved 
the  Parliament,  and,  without  betraying  his  inten- 
tions, cautiously  retired  to  the  north,  where  he 
hoped  to  collect  an  army  that  would  stand  for  him. 
At  York,  in  less  than  two  months  from  his  last 
departure,  Gaveston  was  again  with  his  royal  mas- 
ter, who  made  hira  a  new  grant  of  all  his  estates 
and  honors.  But  the  career  of  the  favorite  was 
now  drawing  to  its  close.  The  barons,  headed  by 
the  great  Earl  of  Lancaster,  the  king's  cousin,  fell 
suddenly  upon  the  royal  party  at  Newcastle.  Ed- 
ward  had  time  to  escape,  and  he  sailed  away  on 


board  a  vessel  with  Gaveston,  leaving  his  beautiful 
wife  behind  him  with  the  greatest  indiflerence. 
Lancaster  caused  the  queen  to  be  treated  with  all 
resjject,  and  then  marched  to  lay  siege  to  Scarbor- 
ough Castle,  into  which  the  favorite  had  thrown 
himself,  trusting  to  be  able  to  hold  out  until  the 
king,  who  had  gone  from  thence  to  York,  should 
return  to  his  relief  with  an  army.  The  castle  was 
not  tenable,  and  the  favorite  surrendered  on  capitu- 
lation on  the  19th  of  May,  1312,  to  "  Joseph  the 
Jew,"  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who,  with  Lord  Henry 
Percy,  pledged  his  faith  that  no  harm  should  happen 
to  him,  and  that  he  should  be  confined  in  his  own 
castle  of  Wallingford.  From  Scarborough  he  trav- 
eled, under  the  escort  of  Pembroke,  as  far  as  Ded- 
ington,  near  Banbury,  and  here  the  earl  left  him 
for  a  night  to  pay  a  visit  to  his  countess,  who  was 
in  that  neighborhood.  Gaveston  appears  to  have 
had  no  foreboding  of  his  fate  :  on  the  following  morn- 
ing he  was  ordered  to  dress  speedil}' :  he  obeyed 
and  descended  to  the  court-yard,  where,  to  his  con- 
fusion, he  found  himself  in  the  presence  of  the 
"black  dog  of  Ardenne," — the  grim  Earl  of  War- 
wick,— who  was  attended  by  a  large  force.  They 
put  him  on  a  mule,  and  carried  him,  with  shouts  of 
triumph,  to  Warwick  Castle,  where  his  entrance 


Warwick  Castle  ;  Guv's  Tower.' 


was  announced  by  a  crash  of  martial  music.  In 
the  castle-hall  a  hurried  council,  composed  of  the 
earls  of  Lancaster,  Hereford,  and  Arundel,  and 
other  chiefs,  sate  upon  the  prisoner.  A  proposal 
was  made,  or  a  hint  was  offered,  that  no  blood  should 
be  shed  ;  but  a  voice  rung  through  the  hall, — "  You 
have  caught  the  fox  ;  if  you  let  him  go  you  will  have 
to  hunt  him  again."     This  death-note  had  its  effect ; 


the  capitulation  of  Scarborough  was  foully  disre- 
garded, and  it  was  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  the 
unhappy  man  in  conformity  with  the  ordinance 
passed  by  Parliament  for  his  last  exile.  He  threw 
himself  at  the  feet  of  the  "  old  hog," — the  Earl  of 
Lancaster, — whom  he  now  called  "  gentle  lord ;" 
but  there  was  no  mercy  there.  They  hurried  him 
at  once  to  Blacklow-hill,  a  gentle  knoll  a  mile  or  two 


»  So  called  after  the  ninth  earl,  "  The  Black  Dog  of  Ardenne,"  of  the  history ;  though   there  was  also  a  famous  Guy  Earl  of  Warwick, 

of  another  familv.  in  the  Saxon  times. 


Chap.  1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTION S. 


709 


from  the  castle,  on  the  edge  of  the  road  that  leads 
from  Warwick  to  Coventry,  and  there,  in  view  of 
the  beautiful  windings  of  the  placid  river  Avon,  they 
struck  off  his  head.^ 

This  ti'agedy,  unusual  in  England  even  in  those 
turbulent  times,  threw  the  king  into  an  agony  of 
grief;  but  when  he  dried  his  tears  he  thought  of 
revenge.  For  six  months  Edward  and  his  barons 
were  in  arms  against  each  other,  but  no  battle  took 
place,  and  a  temporary  reconciliation  was  effected 
at  the  end  of  the  year,  the  king  postponing  the 
gratification  of  his  vengeance  to  a  more  suitable 
opportunity.  Two  meetings  of  Parliament  (a.d. 
1313)  confirmed  and  completed  this  treaty.  The 
bai'ons  knelt  before  the  king  in  Westminster  Hall, 
amnesties  were  published,  and  the  plate  and  jewels 
of  the  deceased  favorite  were  surrendered  to  Ed- 
ward. But  when  they  asked  him  to  declare  Gaves- 
ton  a  traitor,  he  resolutely  refused.^  This  year 
Edward  took  the  field  in  something  like  earnest, 
but  he  only  marched  to  Scotland  to  add  the  disgrace 
of  a  defeat  in  regular  war  to  the  other  reverses  of 
his  inglorious  reign.  While  he  had  been  occupied 
in  England  with  a  vain  struggle  to  maintain  his 
obnoxious  favorite,  the  Scottish  patriots  had  entirely 
undermined  the  fabric  of  his  able  father's  ambition. 

Ever  since  the  death  of  Edward  I.  the  English 
dominion  in  the  greater  part  of  Scotland  had  been 
little  more  than  nominal.  The  progress  of  Bruce 
in  liberating  the  country  had  been  continued  and 
steady ;  and,  although  something  had  on  different 
occasions  been  attempted,  little  or  nothing  had  been 
done  by  the  indolent  and  incapable  prince  who  now 
occupied  the  English  throne  to  counteract  his  able 
and  persevering  efforts  for  the  establishment  and 
consolidation  of  his  authority.  We  must  content  our- 
selves with  noticing  briefly  the  principal  events  that 
had  marked  the  contest  up  to  the  time  at  which  we 
are  now  arrived.  Edward,  on  returning  home  in  the 
autumn  of  1307,  had  left  the  war  to  be  conducted  by 
the  Earl  of  Richmond,  upon  whom  he  conferred  the 
office  of  Guardian  of  Scotland,  and  who  was  sup- 
ported by  that  part  of  the  nation  which  was  opposed 
to  Bi'uce's  assumption  of  the  ci'own.  The  latter, 
therefore,  had  both  an  English  and  a  Scottish,  both 
a  foreign  and  a  domestic  enemy,  to  contend  with. 
The  great  body  of  his  countrymen  soon  became 
warmly  attached  to  his  cause ;  but  in  some  districts 
even  the  popular  feeling  was  hostile,  and  a  power- 
ful faction  of  the  nobility  was  arrayed  in  determined 
resistance  to  his  pretensions.  For  the  present  at 
least,  and  until  they  should  have  attained  their  im- 
mediate object  of  putting  him  down,  this  party  pro- 
fessed to  be  in  the  English  interest,  and  acted  in 
concert  with  Edward's  officers.  Most  of  the  places 
of  strength  throughout  the  kingdom  were  also  in 
the  hands  of  the  English.  In  these  circumstances 
the  course  which  Bruce  appears  to  have  laid  down 
for  himself  was  to  avoid  a  general  action  as  long  as 
possible,  to  keep  his  enemies  divided  by  constantly 
occupying  their  attention  at  various  points  at  the 
same  moment,  and  so  to  give  himself  the  chance  of 

>  Rymer. — Walsing^. — Knyghton. 

2  Rymer.— Walsiiig.— Statutes  Tth  Ed.  II. 


cutting  them  off  in  detail,  M'hile  in  the  mean  time 
he  overran  and  ravaged  in  succession  those  parts  of 
the  country  tliat  refused  to  submit  to  his  authority, 
and  seized  every  favorable  opportunity  of  reducing 
the  castles  and  other  strongholds.  Most  of  these 
that  he  recovered  he  immediately  dismantled  :  they 
were  of  no  use,  and  would  only  have  been  an  incum- 
brance to  him,  with  the  national  feeling  in  his  favor, 
and  it  was  by  their  occupation  chiefly  that  the  Eng- 
lish had  ever  been  enabled  to  maintain  their  power 
for  any  length  of  time  in  the  country. 

The  severe  bodily  exertion  and  fatigue,  and  the 
still  more  trying  accumulation  of  mental  distresses 
to  which  he  had  been  subjected  since  the  com- 
mencement of  his  great  enterprise,  had  been  too 
much  even  for  his  heroic  heart  and  iron  frame,  and 
had  reduced  Bruce  by  the  spring  of  1308  to  a  state 
of  debility  from  which  it  had  begun  to  be  feared 
that  he  would  not  recover.  On  the  22d  of  May  the 
royal  force  was  encountered  near  Inverury,  in 
Aberdeenshire,  by  a  numerous  force  under  the 
command  of  Mowbray,  an  Englishman,  and  John 
Comyn,  the  Earl  of  Buchan.  At  this  time  Bruce, 
it  is  affirmed,  was  not  able  to  rise  without  assistance 
from  his  couch,  but  he  nevertheless  desired  to  be 
set  on  horseback,  though  he  was  only  enabled  to 
keep  his  seat  by  being  supported  on  each  side.  In 
this  state  he  led  his  men  to  the  charge ;  the  enemy 
was  put  to  flight,  and  pursued  with  great  slaughter 
for  many  miles ;  and  if  we  may  believe  Bruce's 
poetical  historian,  Barbour,  the  king  was  restored 
to  health  by  the  excitement  of  this  day.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  story  to  entitle  us  to  reject  it  as 
incredible. 

Soon  after  this  the  people  of  Aberdeen  rose  and 
stormed  the  castle  there,  put  the  English  garrison 
to  the  sword,  and  razed  the  fortress  to  the  ground. 
An  EngUsh  force  immediately  marched  against  the 
town,  but  the  citizens  finished  their  exploit  by  like- 
wise encountering  and  defeating  this  new  enemy. 
With  the  savage  spirit  which  the  character  of  the 
war  had  engendered,  the  victors  gave  no  quarter, 
but  slew  every  man  who  fell  into  their  hands. 
Edward  I.,  indeed,  had  already  set  the  example  of 
executing  his  prisoners,  and  it  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  other  side  would  fail  to  follow  the 
same  course.  The  capture  of  the  castle  of  Aber- 
deen was  speedily  followed  by  that  of  the  castle  of 
Forfar;  it  was  surprised  by  escalade  during  the 
night ;  and  here  also  the  English  by  whom  it  was 
garrisoned,  and  of  whom  the  number  was  consider- 
able, were  all  massacred,  and  the  fortifications  de- 
stroyed. 

There  were  two  districts  of  the  kingdom  where 
the  opposition  to  Bruce  was  especially  strong — that 
of  Galloway,  the  turbulent  inhabitants  of  which 
had  never  yet  been  thoroughly  reconciled  to  the 
dominion  of  the  Scottish  kings,  and  were  beside 
attached  by  a  sort  of  national  connection  to  the 
Baliol  family  through  their  ancient  lords ;  and  the 
country  of  Lorn  in  Argyleshire,  the  chief  of  which, 
Allaster  (or  Alexander)  Mac  Dougal  (often  called 
Allaster  of  Argyle)  had,  as  mentioned  above,  mar- 
ried an  aunt  of  Conivn.  whom  Bruce  had  slain,  and 


710 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


was  consequently  one  of  the  fiercest  enemies  of  the 
latter.  In  the  course  of  this  summer  both  these 
districts  were  overrun,  and  for  the  present  reduced 
to  subjection,  the  former  by  Bruce's  brother  Ed- 
ward, the  latter  by  the  king  himself.  j 
Meanwhile  the  measures  of  the  English  govern- 
ment were  characterized  by  all  the  evidences  of 
distracted  councils,  and  of  the  decay  of  the  national 
spirit  and  power  under  the  inefficient  rule  of  the 
new  king.  Almost  every  quarter  of  a  year  saw  the 
substitution  of  a  new  guardian  or  chief  governor 
for  Scotland ;  but  none  of  these  changes  brought 
any  change  of  fortune  to  the  English  arms.  The 
country  generally  was  under  subjection  to  Bruce ; 
and  whenever  he  encountered  any  military  force, 
whether  composed  of  Scots  or  of  English,  he  was  ^ 
sure  to  put  them  to  flight.  At  last,  in  the  spring 
of  1309,  a  truce  was  ai-ranged  by  the  mediation  of 
the  King  of  France.  Hostilities,  however,  were 
not  long  suspended.  The  English  charged  the 
Scots  with  having  violated  the  truce ;  but  it  is 
probable  that,  in  the  embittered  state  of  feeling 
between  the  two  parties,  irregular  aggressions  were 
soon  made  by  individuals  on  both  sides.  In  the  end 
of  the  year,  by  a  second  intervention  of  the  French 
king,  the  negotiations  were  renewed,  and  another 
truce  appears  to  have  been  concluded  in  the  year 
1310.  But  this  also  was  soon  broken  by  one  party 
or  by  both.  In  the  state  to  which  affairs  were 
reduced,  which  threatened  to  sweep  away  the  last 
vestiges  of  the  English  authority  if  some  great  effort 
were  not  made,  Edward  II.  fit  last  prepared  to 
proceed  to  Scotland,  and  take  the  field  in  person 
against  the  insurgents.  Probably,  however,  his 
principal  motive,  as  has  been  hinted  above,  for  this 
apparent  exertion  of  vigor  was,  that  he  might 
escape  along  with  his  favorite  out  of  the  observation 
of  the  Committee  of  Ordainers,  which  the  Parlia- 
ment had  recently  set  over  him.  He  entered  Scot-  i 
land  about  the  end  of  September,  but,  after  leading 
his  army  about  from  place  to  place  over  the  border 
counties  for  some  weeks  without  achieving  anything, 
he  returned  to  Bei'wick,  and,  taking  up  his  quarters 
there,  remained  inactive  for  nearly  nine  months. 
Bruce  and  his  adherents,  he  afterward  boasted  in  a 
letter  to  the  Pope,  lay  lurking  in  their  coverts,  all 
the  time  he  was  in  the  country,  after  the  man- 
ner of  foxes.'  He  certainly,  at  any  rate,  did  not 
set  about  unkenneling  them  with  much  ardor. 
Edward  returned  to  England  in  the  end  of  July, 
1311  ;  and,  as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  Bruce  made  an 
irruption  into  Durham,  and  suffered  his  soldiers  to 
wreak  their  vengeance  on  that  unfortunate  district 
l)y  a  week  of  unrestrained  plunder  and  the  most 
merciless  devastation.  Bringing  them  back  loaded 
with  spoil,  he  next  led  them  to  attack  the  castle  of 
Perth,  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  fortresses 
which  the  English  still  held.  After  a  siege  of  six 
weeks,  it  was  taken  in  the  beginning  of  January, 
1312,  by  an  assault  during  the  night,  gallantly  led 
by  the  king  himself.  He  was,  Barbour  says,  the 
second  person  that  mounted  the  wall.  Edward ' 
now  attempted,   but  without  success,   to  negotiate  ' 

'  Ad  iiistar  vulpinm  i 


anotlier  truce,  and  even  solicited  the  intervention 
of  the  Pope.  But,  instead  of  listening  to  these 
overtures,  Bruce  again  invaded  England,  burned 
the  towns  of  Hexham  and  Corbridge,  and  a  great 
part  of  the  city  of  Durham,  afterward  penetrated 
to  Chester,  and,  although  he  was  repulsed  in  an 
assault  upon  Carlisle,  only  consented  to  return 
across  the  border  upon  the  four  northern  counties 
purchasing  a  truce  from  him  by  a  payment  of  two 
thousand  poimds  each.  Not  long  after  he  succeeded 
in  making  himself  master  of  the  castle  of  Dumfries, 
and  of  those  of  Butel  and  Dalswinton  in  Galloway — 
the  former  a  seat  of  the  Baliols,  the  latter  of  the 
Comyns.  On  the  7th  of  3Iarch,  1313,  the  im- 
portant castle  of  Roxburgh  was  suddenly'  taken  by 
assault ;  a  party  under  the  command  of  Bruce's 
friend  Douglas  having  scaled  the  wall  while  the 
English  garrison  were  enjoying  the  revelry  of  the 
carnival.  On  the  14th  of  the  same  month  that  of 
Edinburgh,  which  had  for  some  time  been  block- 
aded by  Bruce's  nephew  Randolph,  now  created 
Earl  of  Moray,  was  taken  in  a  similar  manner  by  a 
party  of  thirty  men,  whom  Randolph  headed,  and 
who  made  their  way  at  midnight  up  the  precipitous 
rock,  on  which  the  castle  stands,  by  a  secret  path, 
along  which  they  were  guided  by  a  man  who  had 
resided  in  the  fortress  in  his  youth,  and  had  been 
wont  to  descend  by  that  intricate  and  perilous 
access  to  visit  a  girl  with  whom  he  was  in  love. 
When  the  assailants  had  by  this  means  reached 
the  foot  of  the  castle  wall,  and  had  sat  down  to 
take  breath,  a  soldier  on  the  ramparts,  calling  out 
"Away!  I  see  you  well!"  threw  down  a  stone  to 
the  spot  where  thej'^  were ;  but  they  remained 
motionless;  and  the  man  walked  away.  In  a  few 
minutes  Randolph  and  his  men,  having  fixed  their 
ladder  of  rope,  were  on  the  top  of  the  wall.  A 
desperate  conflict  ensued;  but  the  superior  numbers 
of  the  garrison  did  not  compensate  for  the  confusion 
into  which  they  were  thrown  by  so  sudden  a  sur- 
prise, and,  after  the  governor  himself  had  fallen 
in  the  melee,  they  surrendered  at  discretion.  The 
castle  was  afterward  demolished.  It  appears  to 
have  been  likewise  about  this  time,  although  the 
event  is  placed  earlier  in  the  common  accounts,  that 
the  castle  of  Linlithgow  was  surprised  by  a  strata- 
gem, which  might  almost  be  supposed  to  have  beeu 
suggested  by  the  classic  tale  of  the  Trojan  horse, 
but  of  which  the  conti'ivance  as  well  as  the  conduct 
is  attributed  to  a  poor  countiyman  named  William 
Binnock  or  Binny.  A  party  of  Scottish  soldiers 
having  been  previously  placed  in  ambush  near  the 
gate,  Binny  introduced  eight  men  into  the  fort  by 
concealing  them  in  a  waggon-load  of  hay  which  he 
had  been  employed  to  bring  in :  as  soon  as  the 
waggon  had  reached  the  middle  of  the  gateway  ho 
cut  the  traces  by  which  the  oxen  were  fastened  to 
it,  when  the  men  immediately  leaped  out ;  in  an 
instant,  while  the  position  of  the  waggon  prevented 
the  portcullis  from  being  let  down,  the  guard  was 
overpowered,  and  the  drawbridge,  which  had  been 
raised,  was  again  lowered ;  the  party  of  soldiers, 
then  rushing  in,  easily  mastered  the  garrison,  and 
put  them  to  the  sword.     This  same  year  Cumber- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


711 


land  was  again  ravaged  by  Bruce,  who  then  crossing 
over  to  Man,  defeated  a  force  which  the  governor 
brought  out  to  oppose  him,  took  the  castle  of  Russin 
by  storm,  and  effected  the  complete  reduction  of 
the  island. 

While  the  king  was  absent  on  this  expedition, 
Edward  Bruce  had  made  himself  master  of  the 
castles  of  Dundee  and  Rutherglen,  and  he  had 
been  for  some  weeks  engaged  in  besieging  that  of 
Stirling,  always  of  chief  importance  as  the  key  to 
the  whole  northern  part  of  the  kingdom,  and  now 
almost  the  only  considerable  place  of  strength  which 
the  English  still  held  in  Scotland.  After  a  gallant 
defence  the  governor,  Philip  de  Mowbray,  offered 
to  surrender  if  not  relieved  by  the  Feast  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist  (the  24th  of  June)  in  the  following 
year ;  and  this  proposal  Edward  Bruce,  without 
consulting  his  brother,  accepted.  It  was  an  agree- 
ment, all  the  advantages  of  which  seem  to  have 
been  on  one  side  ;  for  it  imposed  an  inaction  of 
many  months  upon  the  Scots,  during  the  whole  of 
which  time  the  castle  would  be  in  security,  and  the 
King  of  England  would  have  abundant  leisure  to 
make  the  most  efficient  arrangements  for  its  relief. 
Bruce  expressed  the  highest  displeasure  when  the 
treaty  was  made  known  to  him ;  but  he  resolved, 
nevertheless,  to  abide  by  it.  Every  effort  was  now 
made  on  both  sides  in  preparation  for  a  crisis  which 
it  was  felt  would  be  decisive.  King  Edward,  be- 
side ordering  a  fleet  to  be  fitted  out  to  act  in  concert 
with  the  land  forces,  summoned  all  the  military 
power  of  England  to  meet  him  at  Berwick  on  the 
11th  of  June,  and  also  called  to  his  aid  both  his 
English  subjects  in  Ireland  and  many  of  the  native 
Irish  chiefs.  That  day,  accordingly,  saw  assembled 
at  the  place  of  rendezvous  perhaps  the  most  mag- 
nificent army  that  our  warlike  land  had  ever  yet 
sent  forth ;  its  numbers  are  asserted  by  the  best 
authorities  to  have  exceded  a  hundred  thousand 
men,  including  a  body  of  forty  thousand  cavaliy,  of 
whom  thi-ee  thousand  were  clad  in  complete  armor, 
both  man  and  horse.  At  the  head  of  this  mighty 
array  Edward  took  his  course  into  Scotland,  advan- 
cing by  the  east  coast  to  Edinburgh,  from  which, 
turning  his  face  westward,  he  proceeded  along  the 
right  bank  of  the  Forth  toward  Stirling.  Bruce, 
meanwhile,  had  collected  his  forces  in  the  forest 
called  the  Torwood,  midway  between  that  place 
and  Falkirk ;  they  amounted  to  scarce  forty  thou- 
sand fighting  men,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  on  foot. 
When  the  English  approached,  the  King  of  Scots 
drew  up  his  little  army  immediately  to  the  south  of 
Stirling,  in  a  field  then  known  by  the  name  of  the 
New  Park,  which,  partly  broken  with  wood,  was  in 
some  parts  encompassed  by  a  marsh,  and  had  run- 
ning along  one  side  of  it  the  rivulet  of  Bannockburn, 
between  woody  banks  of  considerable  depth  and 
steepness.  He  arranged  his  men  in  four  divisions, 
three  of  which  formed  a  front  line  facing  the  south- 
east, fi-om  which  direction  the  enemy  was  approach- 
ing, so  that  the  right  wing  rested  on  the  brook  of 
Bannock,  and  the  left  extended  toward  the  town  of 
Stirling.  It  was  a  position  chosen  with  consummate 
skill ;  for  while  obstacles,  partly  natural,  partly  arti- 


ficial, secured  either  flank  from  being  turned,  the 
space  in  front  was  at  the  same  time  so  narrow  and 
impeded  as  to  be  calculated  in  a  great  measure  to 
deprive  a  very  numerous  hostile  force  of  the  advan- 
tage of  its  numerical  superiority.  On  his  most 
assailable  quarter,  his  left  wing,  or  the  northeastern 
extremity  of  his  line  of  battle,  Bruce  had  caused  a 
great  many  pits  to  be  dug,  about  three  feet  in  depth, 
and  then  to  be  covered  over  with  brushwood  and 
sod,  so  as  not  to  be  easily  perceptible ;  they  might, 
says  Barbour,  be  likened  to  a  honeycomb ;  according 
to  another  account,  sharp  stakes  were  also  fixed  in 
the  pits.  Of  the  three  divisions  thus  drawn  up, 
Bruce  gave  the  command  of  that  forming  the  right 
wing  to  his  brother  Edward  ;  of  that  forming  the 
left  to  Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray ;  of  the  centre  to 
Sir  James  Douglas  and  Walter  the  Steward;  the 
fourth  division,  composed  of  the  men  of  Argyle,  the 
islanders,  and  his  own  vassals  of  Carrick,  formed  a 
reserve,  which  was  stationed  in  the  rear,  and  of 
wiiich  he  himself  took  charge. 

On  Sunday,  the  23d  of  June,  intelligence  was 
received  that  the  English  were  at  hand.  Barbour 
has  painted  the  day  as  one  bright  with  sunshine, 
which,  falling  upon  the  burnished  armor  of  King 
Edward's  troops,  made  the  land  seem  all  in  a  glow, 
while  banners  right  fairly  floating,  and  pennons  wav- 
ing in  the  wind,  added  to  the  splendor  of  the  scene. 
When  he  came  within  sight  of  the  Scots,  and  per- 
ceived how  they  were  planted,  Edward,  detaching 
eight  hundred  horse,  sent  them  forward  under  the 
command  of  Sir  Robert  ClifTord,  to  endeavor  to  gain 
the  castle  by  making  a  circuit  on  the  other  side  of 
some  rising  grounds  to  the  northea-st  of  Bruce's  left 
wing.  Thus  sheltered  from  observation,  they  had 
already  passed  the  Scottish  line,  when  Bruce  him- 
self was  the  first  to  perceive  them.  "Randolph!" 
he  cried,  riding  up  to  his  nephew,  "a  rose  has  fallen 
from  your  chaplet — you  have  suffered  the  enemy  to 
pass  !"  It  was  still  possible  to  intercept  Cliftbrd  and 
his  horse.  Randolph  instantly  set  out  to  throw  him- 
self at  every  hazard  between  them  and  the  castle  : 
to  prevent  this,  the  English  wheeled  round  and 
charged  him  ;  but  he  had  drawn  up  his  men  in  a 
circle,  with  their  backs  to  each  other,  and  their  long 
spears  protruded  all  round,  and  they  not  only  stood 
the  onset  firmly,  but  repelled  it  with  the  slaughter 
of  many  of  their  assailants.  Still  they  contended 
against  fearful  odds,  for  the  English  were  not  only 
mounted,  but  greatly  superior  to  them  in  number; 
and,  seeing  the  jeopardy  of  his  friend,  Douglas  re- 
quested to  be  allowed  to  go  and  succor  him.  "You 
shall  not  move  from  your  ground,"  replied  Bruce ; 
"  let  Randolph  extricate  himself  as  he  best  may." 
But  at  length  Douglas  could  no  longer  restrain  him- 
self: "In  truth,  my  liege,"  he  cried,  "I  cannot 
stand  by  and  see  Randolph  perish  ;  with  your  leave, 
I  7nust  aid  him ;"  and  so,  extorting  from  the  king  a 
reluctant  consent,  he  hastened  forward.  But,  as 
he  drew  near,  he  perceived  that  the  English  were 
already  giving  way  :  "  Halt !"  he  cried  to  his  follow- 
ers ;  "  let  us  not  diminish  the  glory  of  these  brave 
men  !" — and  he  did  not  go  up  to  his  friend  till  the 
latter  had,  alone  and  unaided,  compelled  the  Eng- 


712 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


lish  captain  to  retire  in  confusion  with  liis  shattered 
force,  and  relinquisli  his  attempt.  Meanwhile,  be- 
fore this  aliiiir  had  yet  been  decided,  a  brilliant 
achievement  of  Bruce  himselt^  performed  in  full  view 
of  both  armies,  had  raised  the  liopes  of  his  country- 
men with  another  good  omen.  He  was  riding  in 
front  of  his  troops  on  a  little  palfrey,  but  with  his 
battle-€axe  in  his  hand  and  a  crown  of  gold  over  his 
steel  helmet,  when  an  English  knight,  Henry  de 
Bohun,  or  Boone,  mounted  on  a  heavy  war-horse, 
and  armed  at  all  points,  recognizing  the  Scottish 
king,  galloped  forward  to  attack  him.  Instead  of 
retiring  from  the  unequal  encounter,  Bruce  turned 
to  meet  his  assailant,  and,  dextrously  parrying  his 
spear,  in  the  next  instant,  with  one  blow  of  his  battle- 
uxe,  cleft  his  skull  and  laid  him  dead  at  his  feet. 

Although  the  two  armies  were  so  near,  the  Eng- 
lish did  not  venture  upon  tiie  attack  that  night.  But 
next  morning,  soon  after  break  of  day,  their  van,  led 
by  the  earls  of  Gloucester  and  Hereford,  advanced 
at  full  gallop  upon  the  right  wing  of  the  Scots,  while 
the  main  body  of  the  armj',  which  had  been  drawn 
up  in  nine  divisions,  followed  in  a  long  close  column 
under  the  conduct  of  Edward  himself.  The  shock 
did  not  break  the  Scottish  line  ;  and  successive  repe- 
titions of  the  charge  were  more  disastrous  to  the  as- 
sailants than  to  the  firm  phalanx  against  which  their 
impetuous  squadron  was  broken  at  every  collision. 
From  the  advantages  of  their  position,  also,  the  other 
divisions  of  the  Scots  were  soon  enabled  to  take  part 
in  the  contest.  Randolph  pushed  forward  with  his 
men,  till,  as  Barbour  expresses  it,  their  compara- 
tively small  body  was  surrounded  and  lost  amid  the 
English,  as  if  it  had  plunged  into  the  sea ;  Douglas 
and  the  steward  also  came  up  ;  and  thus  the  battle 
became  general  along  the  whole  length  of  the  Scot- 
tish front  line.  Of  the  English  army,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  greater  part  appears  never  to  have  been 
engaged.  A  strong  body  of  archers,  however,  by 
whom  the  attack  of  the  cavalry  was  supported,  did 
great  execution,  till  Bruce  directed  Sir  Robert  Keith, 
the  marshal,  at  the  head  of  a  small  detachment  of 
horse,  to  make  a  circuit  by  the  right,  and  come  upon 
them  in  flank.  The  bowmen,  who  had  no  weapons 
by  which  they  could  maintain  a  fight  at  close  quar- 
ters, gave  way  before  this  sudden  assault  like  an  un- 
armed rabble,  and  spread  confusion  in  all  directions. 
Bruce  now  advanced  with  his  reserve,  and  all  the 
four  divisions  of  the  Scots  pressed  upon  the  con- 
fused and  already  wavering  multitude  of  the  Eng- 
lish. The  latter,  however,  still  stood  their  ground  ; 
and  the  fortune  of  the  day  yet  hung  in  a  doubtful 
balance,  when  suddenly,  on  a  hill  behind  the  Scot- 
tish battle,  appeared  what  seemed  to  be  a  new  army. 
It  was  merely  the  crowd  of  sutlers  and  unarmed  at- 
tendants on  the  camp;  but  it  is  probable  that  their 
sudden  apparition  was  not  made  without  the  design 
of  producing  some  such  effect  as  it  did,  since  they 
are  said  to  have  advanced  with  banners  waving,  and 
all  the  show  of  military  array.  The  sight  spread 
instant  alarm  among  the  English  :  at  the  same  mo- 
ment Bruce,  raising  his  war-cry,  pressed  with  new 
fury  upon  their  failing  ranks  :  his  onset,  vigorously 
supported   by  the   other  division?   of  the   Scottish 


army,  was  scarcely  resisted  by  the  unwieldy,  and 
now  completely  panic-struck  mass  against  which  it 
was  directed  :  horse  and  foot,  in  spite  of  the  most 
energetic  exertions  of  their  leaders  to  rally  them, 
alike  gave  way,  and  fled  in  the  wildest  disorder. 
Many,  trying  to  escape  across  the  river,  were  driven 
into  its  waters  and  drowned ;  many  more  fell  under 
the  battle-axes  of  their  pursuers.  Among  the  slain 
were  twenty-seven  of  the  rank  of  barons  and  ban- 
nerets, including  the  king's  nephew,  the  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  and  others  of  the  chief  nobility  of  Eng- 
land. Of  knights  there  fell  two  hundred,  of  esquires 
seven  luindred,  and  of  persons  of  inferior  rank,  ac- 
cording to  some  accounts,  not  fewer  than  thirty  thou- 
sand. The  slaughter  in  the  fight  and  the  pursuit 
together  was  undoubtedly  very  great.  A  vast  amount 
of  booty  and  manj-^  prisoners  also  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  victors.  Edward  himself  with  difficulty  es- 
caped, having  been  hotly  pursued  as  far  as  Dunbar, 
a  place  sixty  miles  from  the  field  of  battle,  where 
he  found  refuge  in  the  castle.  But  twenty-two 
barons  and  bannerets  and  sixty  knights  were  taken  ; 
and  according  to  one  English  historian,  the  chariots, 
waggons,  and  other  carriages,  loaded  with  baggage 
and  militaiy  stores,  that  were  obtained  by  the  Scots, 
would,  if  drawn  up  in  a  hne,  have  extended  for  sixty 
leagues.  On  their  side  the  loss  of  life,  which  was 
the  only  loss,  was  comparative!}'  inconsiderable,  and 
included  only  one  or  two  names  of  any  note. 

This  great  victory,  in  effect,  liberated  Scotland. 
The  castle  of  Stirling  immediately  surrendered,  ac- 
cording to  agreement.  Bothwell  Castle,  in  which 
the  Earl  of  Hereford  had  shut  himself  up,  capitula- 
ted soon  after  to  Edward  Bruce,  when  the  earl  was 
exchanged  for  the  wife,  sister,  and  daughter  of  the 
King  of  Scots,  who  had  been  detained  in  England  for 
the  last  seven  years,  and  also  for  the  Bishop  of  Glas- 
gow and  the  Earl  of  Mar.  Edward  Bruce  and 
Douglas,  then  entering  England,  ravaged  Northum- 
berland, exacted  tribute  from  Durham,  and,  after 
penetrating  as  far  as  Appleby,  returned  home,  laden 
with  plunder.  "  At  this  time,"  says  Walsingham, 
"  the  English  were  so  bereaved  of  their  wonted 
intrepidity,  that  a  hundred  of  that  nation  would  Jiave 
fled  from  two  or  three  Scotsmen."  Two  other  de- 
structive incursions  by  the  Scots  into  the  northern 
counties  of  England  followed  in  the  autumn  of  1314 
and  the  summer  of  1315.  On  the  latter  occasion, 
they  assaulted  both  Carlisle  and  Berwick,  but  were 
defeated  in  both  attempts. 

Meanwhile,  however,  a  still  bolder  enterprise  had 
been  undertaken  and  entered  upon  by  the  ardent 
and  ambitious  brother  of  the  Scottish  king.  On  the 
25th  of  May,  1315,  Edward  Bruce  landed  at  Carrick- 
fergus,  with  no  less  a  design  than  that  of  winning 
himself  a  crown  by  the  conquest  of  Ireland.  The 
force  which  he  brought  with  him  consisted  of  only 
six  thousand  men  ;  but  he  was  joined,  on  landing,  by 
a  number  of  the  native  chiefs  of  Ulster,  with  whom 
he  had  a  previous  understanding.  The  invaders  and 
their  allies  immediately  began  to  ravage  the  posses- 
sions of  the  English  settlers ;  and  no  attempt  to  op- 
pose them  seems  to  have  been  made  for  nearly  two 
months,  in  the  course  of  which  time  they  plundered 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


7]3 


and  burnt  Dundalk  and  other  towns,  and  wasted  the 
surx'ounding  country  with  merciless  barbarity.     At 
length,  about  the  end  of  July,  Richard  de  Burgh, 
Earl  of  Ulster,  assisted  by  some  of  the  Connaught 
chiefs,  marched  against  them.     The  Scots  at  first 
retreated,  but  suddenly  halting  near  Coyners  (on 
the  10th  of  September),  they  turned  round  upon 
their  pursuers  and  put  them  completely  to  the  rout, 
taking  Lord  William  Burk,  and  many  other  persons 
of  distinction,  prisoners.     Soon  after  this,  a  small 
reinforcement  of  five  hundred  men  arrived  from 
Scotland ;  and  the  invaders  now  proceeded  to  pene- 
trate into  the  heart  of  the  country.     They  advanced 
through  Meath  into  Kildare,  and  there  (on  the  26th 
of  January,  1316),  encountering  the  English  army, 
commanded  by  Edmund  Butler,  the  Justiciary  of  Ire- 
laud,  gained  another  brilliant  victory  over  an  enemy 
greatly  superior  to  them  in  numerical  strength.     A 
severe   famine,  however,  now  compelled  them  to 
return  to  the  north.     On  their  way  they  were  met 
at  Kealis,  in  Meath,  by  Roger  Lord  Mortimer,  who 
thought  to  cut  oft'  their  retrecat ;  but  this  numerous 
force  also  was  defeated  and  dispersed,  and  Morti- 
mer himself,  with  a  few  attendants,  was  glad  to 
take  refuge  in  Dublin.     The  Scottish  prince  now 
assumed   the   government  of  Ulster.      On  the   2d 
of  May,  1316,  at  Carrickfergus,  he  was  solemnly 
crowned  King  of  Ireland  ;  and  from  this  time  he 
actually  reigned  in  full  and  undisputed  sovereignty 
over  the  greater  portion  of  the  northern  province. 
The. castle  of  Carrickfergus,  after  a  long  siege,  at 
last  capitulated  in  the  beginning  of  winter.     By  this 
time  the  King  of  Scots  himself  had  come  over  to 
take  part  in  the  war  :  the  force  which  he  brought 
with  him  is  said  to  have  raised  the  entire  numbers 
of  the  Scottish  army  to  twenty  thousand  men.     Thus 
strengthened  the  invaders  again  set  out  for  the  south, 
advancing  right  upon  the  capital.     They  failed,  how- 
ever, in  their  attempt  to  reduce  Dublin  :  the  citi- 
zens, after  setting  fire  to  the  suburbs,  which  might 
have  sheltered  their  assailants,  set  about  their  de- 
fence   with    such    determination,   that   after    some 
weeks  the  Scots  raised  the  siege.     It  is  probable 
that  the  want  of  provisions  compelled  them  to  re- 
move.    As  they  had  already,  however,  wasted  the 
country  behind  them,  they  proceeded  in  their  course 
southwai-d,  till  at  length,  plundering  and  destroying 
as  they  proceeded,  they  had  penetrated  as  far  as 
the  town  of  Limerick.     Perhaps  they  hoped  that 
they  might  here  be  joined  by  some  of  the  chiefs  of 
Munster  and  Connaught ;  but  if  they  entertained 
any  such  expectation,  it  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  gratified.      The  difficulties  of  their  position 
must  now  have  been  veiy  serious  :   they  were  a 
handful  of  foreigners,  with  many  miles  of  a  hostile 
country  between   them   and    the   nearest   spot  on 
which  they  could  take  up  a  secure  station ;  famine 
was  staring  them  in  the  face  ;  indeed  they  were 
reduced  to  feed  upon  their  horses,  and  want  and 
disease  were  already  beginning  to  thin  their  ranks. 
Notwithstanding,  however,  that  an  English  army  of 
thirty  thousand  men  was  assembled  at  Kilkenny  to 
•    oppose  their   passage,  they  contrived  to  extricate 
themselves    from   all    these    pcrib   and    embarrass- 


ments, and,  by  the  beginning  of  May,  1317,  the  two 
brothers  had  made  their  way  back  to  Ulstei',  after 
having  thus  overrun  the  country  from  nearly  one 
extremity  to  the  other,  without  encountering  any 
eft'ective  opposition  either  from  the  native  Irish  or 
their  English  masters. 

The  English,  however,  had  taken  advantage  of 
the   absence  of  the   King  of  Scots  from  his  own 
dominions  to  make  several  attempts  to  renew  the 
war  there.     In  the  south,  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  a 
Gascon   knight,   named   Edmond  de   Cailand,  who 
was  governor  of  Berwick,  and  Sir  Ralph  Neville, 
were  successively  defeated  by  Sir  James  Douglas. 
Soon  after  a  force  which  had   made  a  descent  at 
Inverkeithing,  on  the  coast  of  Fife,  was  driven  back 
by  the   gallantry  of  Sinclair,  Bishop  of  Dunkeld. 
"the  King's  Bishop,"  as  he  used  afterward  to  be 
called,  in  memory  of  Bruce's  expression  when  he 
was  told  of  the  exploit,  "  Sinclair  shall  be  7ni/ bishop." 
The  Pope  now  interfered,  and  attempted  to  compel 
a   truce   between   the   two   countries ;    but   as   he 
evaded   giving  Bruce  the  title  of  king,  the  latter 
would   enter   into   no   negotiation ;    and  when   the 
papal   truce   was    proclaimed,  he    declined    paying 
any  regard  to  it.     On  the  28th  of  March,  1318,  the 
important  town  of  Berwick  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Scots  :  they  were  admitted  into  the  place  by 
the  treachery  of  one  of  the  English  guards.     The 
castle,  also,  soon  after  surrendered  to  Bruce,  who 
followed  up   these   successes    by  two   invasions   of 
England,  in  the  first  of  which  his  army  took  the 
castles  of  Werk,  Harbottle,  and  Mitford,  in  North- 
umberland;   and,    in    the    second,    penetrated    into 
Yorkshire,    burnt    Northallerton,    Boroughbridge. 
Scarborough,  and   Skipton,  and  forced  the  people 
of  Rippon  to  buy  them  oft"  by  a  payment  of  a  thou- 
sand marks.     They  then  returned  home  laden  with 
booty,  and,  as  the  Chronicler  of  Lauercost  expresses 
it,  "  driving  their  prisoners  before  them  hke  flocks 
of  sheep." 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  year,  however,  the 
career  of  Edward  Bruce  in  Ireland  was  suddenh 
brought  to  a  close.  Scarcely  anything  is  known  ot 
the  course  of  events  for  a  period  of  about  a  year 
and  a  half;  but  on  the  5th  of  October,  1318,  the 
Scottish  prince  engaged  the  English  at  Fagher. 
near  Dundalk,  and  sustained  a  complete  defeat. 
He  himself  was  one  of  two  thousand  Scots  that 
were  left  dead  upon  the  field.  Only  a  small  rem- 
nant, consisting  principiilly  of  the  men  of  Carrick. 
made  good  their  escape  to  Scotland.  This  is  said 
to  have  been  the  nineteenth  battle  which  Edward 
Bruce  fought  in  the  country,  and  till  now,  accord- 
ing to  Barbour,  he  had  been  always  victorious  ;  hut 
one  hour  sufficed  to  destroy  all  that  three  yenrs  had 
set  up:  the  fabric  of  the  Scottish  dominion  in  Ire- 
land passed  away  wholly  and  forever,  leaving  scarce 
a  trace  that  it  had  ever  been. 

In  the  summer  of  1319  Edward  determined  to 
make  another  effort  on  a  great  scale  for  the  reduc- 
tion of  Scotland.  Having- assembled  a  numerous 
army  at  Newcastle,  he  marched  thence  upon  Ber- 
wick, and,  after  much  preparation,  made  his  first 
attnck  upon  that  town  at  once  by  Innd  nnd  sea.  on 


714 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


the  7th  of  September.  He  was,  however,  gallantly 
withstood  by  the  garrison  hujlI  the  inhabitants,  under 
the  command  of  the  Steward  of  Scotland,  and,  after  , 
a  long  and  fierce  contest^  repulsed  at  all  points. 
The  attempt  was  afterward  repeatedly  renewed, 
and  always  with  the  same  result.  Barbour  has 
given  a  minute  and  highly  curious  account  of  this 
siege,  in  which  all  the  resources  of  the  engineering 
science  of  the  age  were  called  into  requisition  on 
both  sides.  iNIeanwhile,  Kandolph  and  Douglas, 
at  the  head  of  a  force  of  fifteen  thousand  men,  pass- 
ing into  England  by  the  West  Marches,  made  a 
dash  at  the  town  of  York,  with  the  hope  of  carry- 
ing olf  Edward's  queen  ;  but  a  prisoner  whom  the 
English  took,  betrayed  their  scheme  just  in  time  to 
prevent  its  success.  The  Scots  then  ravaged  York- 
shire with  a  fury  as  unresisted  as  it  was  unsparing, 
till,  on  the  28th  of  September,  they  Avere  encoun- 
tered by  a  very  numerous,  but  in  all  other  respects 
very  inefficient,  force,  mostly  composed  of  peasantry 
and  ecclesiastics,  under  the  command  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York  and  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  at  Mitton 
on  the  Swale.  This  almost  undisciplined  rabble 
was  routed  at  once,  about  four  thousand  of  them 
l)eing  slain,  including  three  hundred  churchmen 
wearing  their  surplices  over  their  armor.  In  allu- 
sion to  the  presence  of  so  many  shaved  crowns, 
this  battle  used  to  be  termed  the  Chapter  of  Mitton. 
The  Scots  then  continued  their  devastation  of  the 
country  unopposed.  It  appears,  from  a  record  in 
the  Foedera,  that  no  fewer  than  eighty-four  towns 
and  villages  in  Yorkshire  were  the  next  year  ex- 
cused from  the  usual  taxes,  in  consequence  of  hav- 
ing been  burnt  and  pillaged  by  Douglas  and  Randolph 
in  this  destructive  expedition.  At  length,  Edward, 
raising  the  siege  of  Berwick,  marched  to  intercept 
them ;  but  they  succeeded  in  eluding  him,  and  got 
back  to  Scotland  in  safety.  On  the  21st  of  Decem- 
ber, a  truce  for  two  years  was  concluded  between 
the  two  nations,  which  it  was  hoped  might  lead  to 
a  permanent  peace. 

We  now  return  to  the  course  of  domestic  affairs. 
Edward  could  not  live  without  a  favorite  ;  and  almost 
the  whole  of  the  remainder  of  his  reign  is  occupied 
by  another  long  sti'uggle  for  the  support  of  a  minion. 
Soon  after  the  death  of  Gaveston  he  conceived  the 
same  unbounded  affection  for  Hugh  Despenser,  a 
young  man  who  was  first  placed  about  the  court  by 
the  Earl  of  Lancaster.  Hugh  was  an  Englishman 
born,  and  the  son  of  an  Englishman  of  ancient  de- 
scent; he  was  accomplished,  brave,  and  amiable; 
but  all  these  circumstances,  which,  except  that  of 
his  birth,  Gaveston  had  held  in  common  with  him,  did 
not  rescue  him  from  the  deadly  hatred  of  the  barons 
when  they  saw  him  suddenly  raised  above  them 
all.  Edward  married  him  to  the  daughter  of  the 
late  Earl  of  Gloucester,  and  put  him  in  possession 
of  immense  estates,  including  the  county  of  Glamor- 
gan and  part  of  the  Welsh  Marches.  Through  the 
favor  of  the  son  the  eider  Despenser  obtained  as 
much  or  more,  and  all  the  avenues  to  favor  and  pro- 
motion were  stopped  by  this  one  fomily.  In  1331, 
after  long  heart-burnings,  an  imprudent  exercise  or 
abuse  of  authority  armed  all  the  lords  of  the  marches 


against  the  two  Despensers,  whose  castles  were 
taken  and  burnt,  and  their  movable  property  carried 
off.  Soon  after  this  outbreak,  the  Earl  of  Lancas- 
ter, who,  as  a  prince  of  the  blood,  had  considered 
himself  dishonored  by  the  promotion  of  Hugh,  his 
poor  dependent,  marched  from  the  north,  and  joined 
the  Welsh  insurgents  with  thirty-four  barons  and 
knights,  and  a  host  of  retainers.  Having  bound  them 
by  an  oath  not  to  lay  down  their  arms  till  they  had 
driven  the  two  Despensers  beyond  sea,  the  great 
earl  led  them  to  St.  Albans,  whence  he  dispatched 
a  peremptory  message  to  his  cousin,  the  king. 
Edward  again  made  a  show  of  resistance  ;  and  he 
took  up  legal  ground  when  he  asserted  that  it  would 
not  be  proper  to  punish  the  Despensers  without 
form  of  trial.  Lancaster  marched  upon  London, 
and  occupied  the  suburbs  of  Holborn  and  Clerken- 
well.  A  few  days  after,  a  parliament  having  as- 
sembled at  Westminster,  the  barons,  with  arms  in 
their  hands,  accused  the  Despensers  of  usurping 
the  royal  power,  of  estranging  the  king  from  his 
nobles,  of  appointing  ignorant  judges,  of  exacting 
fines  ;  and  they  pronounced  a  sentence  of  perpetual 
banishment  against  both  father  and  son.  The  bish- 
ops protested  against  the  irregularity  of  this  sen- 
tence, but  the  timid  king  confirmed  it.  As  an 
instance  of  the  contempt  in  which  the  royal  author- 
ity was  at  this  time  held,  it  is  related,  that  when 
Queen  Isabella,  passing  on  a  journey  by  the  Lord 
Badlesmere's  castle  of  Leeds,  in  Kent,  desired  a 
night's  lodging,  she  was  not  only  refused  admit- 
tance, but  some  of  her  attendants  were  fiillen  upon 
and  killed. 

Suddenly,  however,  the  position  of  the  two  con- 
tending parties  was  reversed.  The  Despensers 
had  been  banished  in  the  month  of  August.  In 
October  they  returned  to  England,  encouraged  by 
a  bold  move  of  the  king,  who  took  and  hanged  twelve 
knights  of  the  opposite  party.  The  Earl  of  Lan- 
caster retired  to  the  north  and  opened  a  corres- 
pondence with  the  Scots,  who  promised  to  send  an 
army  across  the  borders  to  his  assistance.  This 
force,  however,  did  not  appear  in  time ;  but  mean- 
while the  secret  of  the  application  for  it  transpired, 
and  inflamed  the  hearts  of  the  English  against  the 
earl — for  the  national  animosity  was  at  its  highest 
— and  tliey  were  deemed  traitors  who  could  think 
of  calling  in  the  Scots  to  interfere  in  an  English 
quarrel. 

In  1322  Lancaster  and  his  confederates  were 
suddenly  met  at  Boroughl)ridge  by  Sir  Simon  Ward 
and  Sir  Andrew  Harclay,  who  defended  the  bridge, 
and  occupied  the  ojiposite  bank  of  the  rive.r  with  a 
superior  force.  The  Earl  of  Hereford  charged  on 
foot  to  clear  the  passage  ;  but  a  Welshman,  who  was 
concealed  under  the  bridge,  put  his  lance  through 
a  hole  in  the  flooring,  and  thrust  it  into  the  bowels 
of  the  earl,  who  fell  dead.  Lancaster  then  at- 
tempted a  ford,  but  his  men  were  driven  back  by 
the  enemy's  archers,  who  gathered  like  clouds  in 
all  directions.  Night  interrupted  the  unequal  com- 
bat, but  in  the  morning  the  Efirl  of  Lancaster  was 
compelled  to  surrender.  He  retired  into  a  chapel, 
and   looking  on  the   holy  cross,  exclaimed,  "  Good 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


715 


Leeds  Castle. 


Lord,  I  render  myself  to  thee,  and  put  me  mto  thy 
mercy."  Many  knights  were  taken  with  him  ;  and 
beside  the  Earl  of  Hereford,  five  knights  and  three 
esquires  were  killed.  The  "  common  sort"  are 
neither  named  nor  enumerated.  But  the  more 
fearful  part  of  the  battle  of  Boroughbridge  was  not 
yet  over.  Edward's  oppoi'tunity  for  revenge  had 
arrived,  and  he  determined  that  many  others,  be- 
side his  cousin  Lancaster,  whom  he  always  sus- 
pected of  being  a  principal  mover  in  Gaveston's 
death,  should  perish  by  the  hands  of  the  execu- 
tioner. A  court  was  convoked  at  Pontefract,  in 
the  earl's  own  castle,  about  a  month  after  the  battle. 
It  consisted  of  six  earls  and  a  number  of  barons  of 
the  royal  party  :  the  king  presided.  Lancaster  was 
accused  of  many  treasonable  practices,  and  espe- 
cially of  calling  in  the  Scots.  He  was  told  that  his 
guilt  was  so  well  proved  to  all  men,  that  he  must 
not  speak  in  his  defence,  and  the  court  condemned 
him,  as  a  felon  ti-aitor,  to  be  drawn,  hanged,  and 
quartered.  Froissart  says,  that  the  accusation  had 
no  other  foundation  than  the  malice  of  Hugh  De- 
spenser;  but  the  existence  of  original  documents 
fully  proves  the  earl's  intelligence  with  the  Scots. 
Out  of  respect  to  his  royal  blood,  Edwai'd  remitted 
the  ignominious  parts  of  the  sentence  :  but  his  min- 
isters heaped  every  possible  insult  on  the  earl,  and 
the  mob  were  allowed  to  pelt  him  with  mud  and 
taunt  him  as  he  was  led  to  execution,  mounted  on 
a  wretched  pony  without  saddle  or  bridle.  "  He 
was,"  says  Froissart,  "  a  wise  man,  and  a  holy,  and 
he  did  afterward  many  fine  miracles  on  the  spot 
where  he  was  beheaded."  This  reputation  for 
sanctity  is  mentioned  by  several  contemporary  Eng- 
lish writers  ;  and  it  is  easier  for  a  modern  historian 


to  call  the  earl's  devotion  hypocrisy  than  to  prove 
it  such.  In  his  character,  adventures,  and  fate, 
Lancaster  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  Earl 
of  Leicester,  the  leader  of  the  barons  in  the  time 
of  Henry  III.  Fourteen  bannerets  and  fourteen 
knights-bachelors  were  drawn,  hanged,  and  quar- 
tered;  one  knight  was  beheaded.  "Never  did 
English  earth,  at  one  time,  drink  so  much  blood  of 
her  nobles,  in  so  vile  manner  shed  as  at  this  ;"  and 
their  enemies,  not  contented  with  their  blood,  pro- 
cured also  the  confiscation  of  their  estates  and  in- 
heritances. In  a  parliament  held  at  York,  the 
attainders  of  the  Despenser  family  were  reversed  : 
the  father  was  created  Earl  of  Winchester,  and 
the  estates  of  the  attainted  nobles  were  lavished  on 
him  and  on  his  son,  who  became  dearer  to  his  royal 
master,  and  more  prevalent  in  all  things  than  he 
had  been  before  his  expulsion. 

Many  of  the  partisans  of  Lancaster  were  thrown 
into  prison  ;  others  escaped  to  France,  where  they 
laid  the  gi-oundwork  of  a  plan  which  soon  involved 
the  king,  his  favorite,  and  adherents  in  one  common 
ruin.^  The  arrogance  of  the  younger  Despenser, 
upon  whom  the  lesson  of  Gaveston  was  thrown 
away,  the  ill  success  of  an  expedition  into  Scotland, 
and  then  the  inroads  of  the  Scots,  who  nearly  took 
the  king  prisoner,  and  who  swept  the  whole  country 
as  far  as  the  walls  of  York,  kept  up  a  continual 
irritation,  and  prepared  men's  minds  for  the  worst. 
On  the  3nth  of  May,  lo2r>,  Edward  wisely  put  an  end 
to  a  ruinous  war  which  had  lasted  for  twenty-three 
years.  He  agreed  with  Bruce  for  a  suspension  of 
arms,  which  was  to  last  thirteen  years,  and  which 

1  Ryirer.—Knyghton.—Walsing.— Froissart.— Speed. -P;ilsravp.— 
Clirun.  Abstract. 


716 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  ]V 


was  not  to  be  interrupted  by  the  deutli  of  either  or  of 
both  of  the  contracting  parties  ;  but  the  inestimable 
blessing  of  peace  was  not  unaccompanied  by  a  sense 
of  national  disgrace,  for,  ever  since  the  successes  of 
Edward  I.,  the  hopes  of  the  English  had  been  high 
and  absolute,  and  after  such  immense  sacrifices, 
they  now  saw  themselves  obliged  to  recognize,  in 
fact  if  not  in  express  terms,  the  independence  of 
the  Scots.  Soon  after  the  conclusion  of  this  treaty, 
the  king  was  alarmed  by  a  conspiracy  to  cut  off  the 
elder  Despenser,  and  then  by  a  bold  attempt  to 
hberate  some  of  the  captives  made  at  Borough- 
bridge  from  their  dungeons.  This  attempt  failed; 
but  the  most  important  of  those  prisoners  efl'ected 
his  escape  by  other  means.  This  was  Roger  Mor- 
timer, who  had  twice  been  condemned  for  treason, 
and  who  was  then  lying  under  sentence  of  death 
in  the  Tower  of  London.  His  adventure  resembled 
that  of  Ralph  Flsunbard,  in  the  time  of  Henry  L 
He  made  his  guards  drink  deeply  of  wine,  into 
which  he  had  thrown  some  narcotic  drug  :  while 
they  slept  a  sound  sleep,  he  broke  through  the  wall 
of  his  dungeon,  and  got  into  the  kitchen,  where  he 
found  or  made  a  ladder  of  ropes :  he  climbed  up 
the  chimney,  lowered  himself,  and  contrived  to  pass 
the  sentries  without  being  observed.  Under  the 
Tower  walls  he  found  a  wherry,  and  this  enabled 
him  to  cross  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  Thames, 
where  some  faithful  servants  were  in  attendance 
with  good  horses.  He  rode  with  all  speed  to  the 
coast  of  Hampshire,  and  there  he  embarked  for 
France. 

Charles  le  Bel,  a  brother  to  Isabella,  Queen  of 
England,  was  now  seated  on  the  French  throne.' 
Difl'erences  had  existed  for  some  time  between  him 
and  his  brother-in-law,  Edward  ;  and  the  intrigues 
of  the  suffering  Lancaster  party  contributed  to 
drive  matters  to  extremities.  The  manifestos  of 
Charles  scarcely  merit  attention — as  far  as  the  two 
kings  were  concerned,  it  was  the  quarrel  of  the 
wolf  and  the  lamb  ;  and  after  Edward  had  made 
apologies,  and  offered  to  refer  matters  to  the  arbi- 
tration of  the  Pope,  Charles  overran  a  good  part  of 
the  territories  on  the  continent  that  still  belonged 
to  the  English,  and  took  many  of  Edward's  castles 
'ind  towns.  Isabella,  who  had  long  been  anxious  to 
quit  the  kingdom,  persuaded  her  husband  that  she 
was  the  proper  person  to  be  deputed  to  France,  as 
her  brother  would  yield  to  fraternal  afiection,  what 
ambassadors  and  statesmen  could  not  procure  from 
him.  The  simple  king  fell  into  the  snare  ;  and  in 
the  month  of  March,  1325,  Isabella,  accompanied 
by  a  splendid  retinue,  landed  at  Boulogne,  whence 
she  repaired  to  Paris,  being  most  honorably  enter- 
tained on  her  journey.-  The  treaty  she  concluded 
was  most  dishonorable  to  her  husband ;  but  the 
weak  Edward  found  himself  obliged  to  ratify  it,  and 
to  promise  an  immediate  attendance  in  P^ ranee,  to 
do  homage  for  the  dominions  he  was  allowed  to 
retain  on  the  continent.  A  sickness,  real  or  feigned, 
stopped  him  at  Dover.     At  the  suggestion  of  Isa- 

1  In  thirteen  years,  three  brothers  of  Isabella  occupied,  in  succes- 
sion, the  French  throne — Louis  X.,  Philip  V.,  and  Charles  IV.,  or  Le 
lie!,  who  succeeded  in  lo22.  2  Froissart 


bella,  the  French  court  intimated  that  if  he  would 
cede  Guienne  and  Ponthieu  to  his  son,  then  that 
boy  might  do  homage  instead  of  his  father,  and 
everything  would  be  arranged  in  the  most  peaceful 
and  liberal  manner.  Edward  again  fell  into  the 
snare,  or,  what  is  more  probable,  was  driven  into  it 
with  his  eyes  open  by  the  Despensers,  who  dreaded, 
above  all  things,  the  being  separated  from  the  king, 
and  who  durst  not  venture  with  him  into  P^rance, 
where  their  enemies  were  now  so  numerous  and 
powerful.  Edward,  therefore,  resigned  Guienne 
and  Ponthieu,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  went  and 
joined  his  mother.  The  game  on  that  side  was  now 
made  up.  When  Edw'ard  pressed  for  the  return  of 
his  wife  and  son,  he  received  evasive  answers,  and 
these  were  soon  followed  by  horrible  accusations 
and  an  open  defiance  of  him  and  his  authority. 
Isabella  reported  that  "  Messire  Hugh"  had  sown 
such  discord  between  her  and  her  husband,  that 
the  king  "  would  no  longer  see  her,  nor  come  to 
the  place  where  she  was ;"  '  that  the  Despenser?, 
between  them,  had  seized  her  dower,  and  kept  her 
in  a  state  of  abject  poverty  and  dependence.  The 
modern  historian  can  scarcely  hint  at  certain  parts 
of  Isabella's  complaints  ;  but,  to  finish  the  climax, 
she  accused  the  odious  favorite  of  a  plot  against  her 
life  and  the  life  of  her  son  Edwaid.  The  king's 
reply  was  mild  and  circumstantiar;  but  it  did  not 
suit  the  views  of  a  harshly-treated  and  vindictive 
party  to  admit  of  any  part  of  his  exculpation  ;  and, 
making  every  rational  abatement,  we  believe  that 
it  must  remain  undisputed,  that  the  king  had  most 
justly  earned  the  contempt  and  hatred  of  his  wife  ; 
nor  will  the  derelictions  of  Isabella  at  all  plead  in 
his  excuse.  This  scandalous  quarrel  occupied  the 
attention  of  all  Europe.  During  the  lifetime  of  the 
Earl  of  Lancaster,  the  queen  seems  to  have  leant 
on  that  prince  for  protection  :  the  Lord  Mortimer 
was  now  the  head  of  the  Lancastrian  party  ;  and 
when  he  repaired  to  Paris — which  he  did  immedi- 
ately on  learning  her  arrival — the  circumstances 
and  necessities  of  her  position  threw  Isabella  con- 
tinually in  his  societj'.  Mortimer  was  gallant,  hand- 
some, intriguing,  and  not  more  moral  than  the 
generality  of  knights.  Isabella  was  still  beautiful 
and  young — she  was  not  yet  twenty-eight  years  of 
age — and  it  was  soon  whispered  that  the  intimacy 
of  these  parties  went  far  bej'ond  the  limits  of  a 
political  friendship.  W^hen  Isabella  first  arrived  in 
France,  her  brother  promised,  by  "the  faith  he 
owed  to  God  and  his  Lord  St.  Denis,"  that  he 
would  redress  her  wrongs  ;  and  he  continued  to 
protect  his  sister  even  after  her  connection  with 
Mortimer  was  notorious.  Hugh  Despenser,  how- 
ever, sent  over  rich  presents  to  the  ministers  of  the 
French  king,  and  even  to  the  king  himself,  and  thus 
prevented  the  assembling  of  an  army  on  the  French 
coast.  He  made  his  master,  Edward,  write  to  the 
Pope,  imploring  the  holy  father  to  interfere,  and 
induce  Charles  le  Bel  to  restore  to  him  his  wife 
and  son  ;  and  he  sent,  by  "  subtle  ways,"  much 
gold  and  silver  to  several  cardinals  and  prelates  who 
were  "  nearest  to  the  Pope ;"  and  so,  by  gifts  and 

'  Froissart 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


717 


false  representations,  the  pontiff  was  led  to  write 
I'o  the  King  of  France,  that  unless  he  sent  his  sister, 
the  Queen  Isabella,  back  to  England  and  to  her 
husband,  he  would  excommunicate  him.'  These 
lettei's  were  presented  to  the  King  of  France  by 
the  Bishop  of  Saintes,  whom  the  Pope  sent  in 
legation.  When  the  king  had  seen  them,  he 
caused  it  to  be  intimated  to  his  sister,  whom  he 
had  not  spoken  to  for  a  long  time,  that  she  must 
hastily  depart  his  kingdom,  or  he  would  drive  her 
out  with  shame.*  This  anger  of  Charles  le  Bel 
was  only  feigned — it  appears  to  have  been  a  mere 
sacrifice  for  the  sake  of  appearances  ;  and  when 
his  vassal  the  Count  of  Hainault  gave  shelter  to 
Isabella  and  the  Lancastrian  party,  the  count  prob- 
ably knew  very  well  that  he  was  doing  what  was 
perfectly  agreeable  to  his  liege  lord.  The  more  to 
bind  this  powerful  vassal  to  her  interests,  the  queen 
affianced  the  young  Prince  of  Wales  to  Philippa, 
the  second  daughter  of  the  count.  The  countess 
treated  the  fugitive  queen  with  the  gi-eatest  respect, 
considering  everything  that  was  said  against  her  as 
a  calumny  ;  but  no  one  embraced  Isabella's  cause 
with  such  enthusiasm  as  John  of  Hainault,  a  young 
brother  of  the  count,  who  would  not  listen  to  those 
who  warned  him  of  the  dangers  of  the  enterprise, 
and  told  him  how  jealous  the  English  were  of  all 
kinds  of  foreigners.  The  gentle  knight  constantly 
replied,  that  there  was  only  one  death  to  die,  and 
that  it  was  the  especial  duty  of  all  knights  to  aid 
with  their  loyal  power  all  dames  and  damsels  in  dis- 
tress.* In  a  short  time,  a  little  army  of  two  thou- 
sand men  gathered  round  the  banner  of  Messire 
John.  The  English  exiles  were  both  numerous  and 
of  high  rank,  scarcely  one  of  them  being  less  than 
a  knight.  The  active  and  enterprising  Roger  Mor- 
timer took  the  lead  ;  but  the  Earl  of  Kent,  King 
Edward's  own  brother,  the  Eai'l  of  Richmond,  his 
cousin,  the  Lord  Beaumont,  and  the  Bishop  of 
Norwich,  all  joined  the  queen  in  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, though  they  had  been  sent  by  Edward  as  his 
trusty  ambassadors  into  France.  Nor  had  Isabella 
any  want  of  partisans  in  England  to  make  her  way 
easy  and  straight.  The  leader  of  these  was  another 
bishop — Adam  Orleton — who  had  been  deprived 
by  the  king,  or  by  Hugh  Despenser,  of  the  tempo- 
ralities of  his  see  of  Hereford  for  his  devotion  to  the 
Earl  of  Lancaster.  By  Orleton's  means,  a  general 
outcry  was  raised  against  the  personal  vices  of 
Edward — every  tale  of  tJie  court  was  divulged  to 
the  people — the  fleet  was  won  over,  and  a  reconcil- 
iation effected  between  the  Lancastrian  party  and 
the  barons,  who  of  late  had  supported  the  ro}'al 
cause,  but  who  were  equally  convinced  of  the  king's 
demerits,  or  easily  led  to  join  in  the  enterprise  by 
a  common  hatred  of  the  favorite.  After  a  stormy 
passage,  Isabella,  with  her  little  army  and  her  son 

1  Froissart. 

2  Id.  Charles  le  Bel  was  awkwardly  situated.  He  and  his  two 
brothers,  Louis  and  Philip,  had,  a  few  years  before,  shut  their  wives 
up  in  dungeons  on  suspicion  of  irreg^ularity  of  conduct.  Louis,  on 
ascending  the  throne,  caused  his  wife  to  be  strangled  privately  in 
Chiteau-Gaillard ;  Philip  wag  reconciled  to  his ;  but  the  wife  of 
Charles  was  still  pining  in  prison.  It  was  held  monstrous  that  so  rigid 
a  moralist  with  respect  lo  his  wife  should  be  so  tolerant  with  regard 
to  his  sister.  '  Froissart 


Prince  Edward,  to  whom  all  men  already  looked 
up,  landed  on  the  24th  of  September  at  Orewell, 
in  Suffolk,  and  was  immediately  received  as  the 
deliverer  of  the  kingdom.  The  fleet  had  purposely 
kept  out  of  her  way ;  and  a  land  force  detached  to 
oppose  her  landing  joined  her  banner,  and  hailed 
the  young  prince  with  rapturous  joy.  The  queen 
and  the  prince  stayed  three  days  in  the  abbey  of 
the  Black  Monks  at  St.  Edmunds  Bury,  where  they 
were  joined  by  many  barons  and  knights.  The 
Archbis?hop  of  Canterbury  sent  her  money,  and 
three  bishops  offered  their  services  in  person,  being 
accompanied  by  the  Earl  of  Norfolk,  the  other 
brother  of  the  king.'  Thus  wife,  son,  brothers, 
cousin,  were  all  in  hostile  array  against  Edward, 
who  soon  found  that  he  had  not  a  party  of  any  kind 
in  his  favor.  Never  was  king  so  thoroughly  aban- 
doned and  despised :  his  weak  father  had  always  a 
strong  party  in  the  worst  of  times — even  the  mis- 
creant John,  his  grandfather,  could  always  count  on 
a  certain  number  of  knights,  English  or  foreign ; 
but  round  the  banner  of  Edward  of  Caernarvon 
there  ralhed  not  one.  When  he  appealed  to  the 
loyalty  of  the  citizens  of  London,  they  told  him 
that  their  privileges  would  not  permit  them  to  fol- 
low him  into  the  field ;  and  they  added  that  they 
would  honor  with  all  duty  the  king,  the  queen,  and 
prince,  and  shut  their  gates  against  the  foreigners. 
Upon  this,  Edward  fled,  and  there  were  none  to 
accompany  him  save  the  two  Despensers,  the 
Chancellor  Baldock,  and  a  few  of  their  retainers. 
He  had  scarcely  ridden  out  of  London,  when  the 
populace  rose  and  tore  to  pieces  in  the  street  the 
Bishop  of  Exeter,  whom  he  had  appointed  governor. 
They  afterward  murdered  a  wealthy  citizen,  one 
John  le  Marshal,  because  he  had  been  a  friend  of 
the  king's  favorite ;  and,  falling  upon  the  Tower, 
they  got  possession  of  it,  and  liberated  all  the  state 
prisoners,  who  appear  to  have  been  veiy  numerous. 
Before  Edward  fled,  he  had  issued  a  proclamation, 
oflfering  the  reward  of  a  thousand  pounds  to  any 
one  that  would  bring  him  the  head  of  Mortimer : 
but  he  was  soon  reduced  to  such  straits,  that  he 
knew  not  where  to  put  his  own  head  for  safety 
Even  the  Welsh,  among  whom  he  was  born,  reject- 
ed the  helpless  fugitive,  who  was  at  last  compelled 
to  take  shipping  with  his  favorite."  For  a  time 
the  views  commonly  expressed  among  the  nobles 
and  prelates,  who  had  all,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
joined  the  queen,  were,  that  the  wife  ought  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  husband — that  the  king  should  be 
compelled  to  govern  according  to  the  will  of  his 
Parliament — and  that  measures  of  extreme  rigor 
should  be  adopted  only  against  the  Despensers  ;  but 
Adam  Orleton,  the  Bishop  of  Hereford,  seems  to  have 
had  no  difficulty  in  convincing  them  that  the  king 
was  not  entitled  to  the  society  of  his  wife,  and  that 
it  was  impossible  that  the  queen  could  ever  again 
trust  herself  in  the  power  of  so  fiiithless  and  vindic- 
tive a  man.     The  bishop  produced  instances  of  for- 

i  Knyghton.— Walsing.— Heming.— De  la  More.— Rymer.— Frois- 
sart. 

3  According  to  some  accounts,  he  meant  to  escape  to  Ireland  , 
according  to  others,  merely  to  the  Isle  of  Lundy,  in  the  Bristol 
channel. 


'18 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


iner  brutality;  and,  false  or  true,  exaggerated  or 
not,  no  one,  at  the  time,  seems  to  have  doubted  his 
solemn  assertions ;  and  Edward  was  never  again 
seriously  spoken  of  as  king. 

The  elder  Despenser  had  thrown  himself  into 
Bristol ;  but  the  citizens  rose  against  him  as  soon  as 
the  queen  approached  their  walls ;  and  in  three  days 
lie  was  obliged  to  surrender  at  discretion.  The  earl 
was  brought  to  a  trial  before  Sir  William  Trussel, 
one  of  the  Lancastrian  exiles;  and,  as  was  usual  in 
those  times,  and  as  had  been  the  course  taken  with 
the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  he  was  condemned  to  die  the 
death  of  a  traitor,  without  being  heard  in  his  defence 
— the  triumphant  party,  in  their  savage  fury,  brook- 
ing no  delay.  Old  age  had  not  moderated  his  eager 
grasping  after  the  honors  and  estates  of  others,  which 
seems  to  have  been  his  capital  oll'ence  ;  and  his  ven- 
erable gray  hairs  inspired  neither  pity  nor  respect. 
They  dragged  him  to  the  place  of  execution,  a  little 
beyond  the  walls  of  Bristol ;  they  tore  out  his  bowels, 
then  hanged  him  on  a  gibbet  for  four  days,  and  then 
cut  his  body  to  pieces  and  threw  it  to  the  dogs.  As 
he  had  been  created  Earl  of  Winchester,  they  sent 
his  head  to  that  city,  where  it  was  set  on  a  pole. 
From  Bristol,  the  barons  issued  a  proclamation,  sum- 
moning Edward  to  return  to  his  pro|)er  post.  This 
document  was  merely  intended  to  cover  and  justify 
a  measure  upon  which  they  had  now  unanimously 
determined. 

On  the  26th  day  of  September,  the  prelates  and 
barons,  assuming  to  themselves  the  full  power  of  a 
parliament,  declared  that  the  king,  by  his  flight,  had 
left  the  realm  without  a  ruler,  and  that  they  there- 
fore appointed  the  Prince  of  Wales  guardian  of  the 
kingdom,  in  the  name  and  by  the  hereditary  right  of 
his  father.  In  the  mean  time  the  unhappj^  fugitive 
found  the  winds  and  waves  as  adverse  as  his  fomily 
and  his  subjects.  After  tossing  about  for  many  days 
in  a  tempestuous  sea,  he  was  driven  on  the  coast  of 
South  Wales,  where  he  was  forced  to  land.  He 
concealed  himself  for  some  weeks  in  the  mountains, 
near  Neath  Abbey  in  Glamorganshire  ;  but  an  active 
and  a  deadly  enemy  was  in  pursuit  of  him,  and  the 
country  people,  if  they  did  not  betray  him,  betrayed 
his  favorite  and  his  chancellor,  for  gold.  Despenser 
and  Baldock  were  seized  in  the  woods  of  Lautressan, 
and  immediatelj'  after  their  arrest,  Edward,  help- 
less and  hopeless,  came  forth  and  surrendered  to  his 
pursuer,  who  was  his  own  cousin,  but  also  brother 
to  the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  whom  he  had  put  to  death 
at  Pontefract.  The  wretched  king,  for  whom  not 
a  banner  was  raised,  not  a  sword  drawn,  not  a  bow 
bent  in  any  part  of  his  kingdom,  was  sent  by  way  of 
Ledbury  to  Kenilworth,  where  he  was  put  in  sure 
keeping  in  the  castle.  Despenser  found  his  doom 
at  Hereford,  where  the  queen  was  keeping  the  fes- 
tival of  All  Saints  "most  royally."  He  had  the  same 
judge  as  his  father,  and  his  trial  w'as  scarcely  more 
rational  or  legal ;  for  in  those  times,  even  when  men 
had  good  grounds  upon  which  to  prosecute  to  con- 
viction, their  blind  passions  almost  invariably  hurried 
them  into  irregular  courses.  William  Trussel  pro- 
nounced his  sentence  in  a  rage,  ordering  that,  as 
a  robber,  traitor,  and  outlaw,  he  should  be  drawn. 


hanged,  emboweled,  beheaded,  and  quartered.  The 
sentence  was  executed  with  a  minute  observance  of 
its  revolting  details  ;  and  the  gallows  upon  which  the 
favorite  was  hung  was  made  fifty  feet  high.  His 
confidential  servant,  one  Simon  de  Reding,  was 
hanged  some  yards  below  his  master.  The  Earl  of 
Arundel,  who  was  closely  connected  with  the  De- 
spensers  by  marriage,  and  who  had  been  forward  in 
voting  the  death  of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  was  be- 
headed :  two  other  noblemen  shared  the  same  fate; 
but  here  the  task  of  the  executioners  ceased.  Bal- 
dock, the  chancellor,  was  a  priest — and,  as  such, 
secured  from  the  scaflbld  and  the  gallows  ;  but  a 
ready  death  would  perhaps  have  been  more  merci- 
ful than  the  fate  he  underwent,  and  he  died  not  long 
after,  a  prisoner  in  Newgate.' 

On  the  7th  day  of  January,  1327,  a  parliament, 
summoned  in  the  king's  name,  met  at  Westminster. 
Adam  Orleton,  the  Bishop  of  Hereford,  after  an 
able  speech,  proposed  this  question — whether,  un- 
der circumstances,  the  father  should  be  restored  to 
the  throne,  or  that  the  son  should  at  once  occupy 
that  throne  ?  The  critical  answer  was  deferred  till 
the  morrow,  but  no  one  could  doubt  w-hat  that  an- 
swer would  be.  The  citizens  of  London  crowded 
to  hear  it;  and  they  hailed  the  decision  with  shouts 
of  joy.  The  king  had  now  been  a  prisoner  for  nearly 
two  months,  but  not  the  slightest  reaction  had  taken 
place  in  his  favor ;  and  when  Parliament  declared 
that  he  had  ceased  to  reign,  not  a  single  voice  spoke 
in  his  behalf.  His  son  was  proclaimed  king  by  uni- 
versal acclamation,  and  presented  to  the  rejoicing 
people.  The  earls  and  barons,  with  most  of  the 
prelates,  took  the  oath  of  fealty  ;  but  the  Arclibishoj) 
of  Yoik  and  three  bishops  refused.  The  proceed- 
ings were  followed  bj'  an  act  of  accusation,  which 
surely  ought  to  have  preceded  them.  Five  days 
after  declaring  the  accession  of  the  young  king, 
Stratford,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  produced  a 
bill,  charging  the  elder  Edwaid  with  shameful  indo- 
lence, incapacity,  cow^ardice,  cruelty,  and  oppression 
by  which  he  had  "done  his  best  to  disgrace  and  ruin 
his  country."  Out  of  delicacy  to  his  son,  probably, 
certain  specific  charges  were  suppressed,  and  the 
joung  Edward  was  present  in  Parliament,  and  seated 
on  the  throne,  when  the  articles  were  read  and  ad- 
mitted as  suflicient  grounds  for  a  sentence  of  depo- 
sition. If  this  was  a  plot  or  conspiracy,  as  some 
w-riters  have  labored  to  prove,  it  was  certainly  a 
conspiracy  in  which  the  whole  nation  took  a  part. 
Again  not  a  voice  was  raised  for  Edward  of  Caer- 
narvon, and  again  all  classes  hailed  with  joy  the  an- 
nunciation that  he  had  ceased  to  reign.  The  queen 
alone  thought  fit  to  feign  some  sorrow  at  this  sen- 
tence of  the  nation,  though  she  soon  afterward  took 
pains  to  confirm  it,  and  to  prevent  a  possibihty  of 
her  being  ever  restored  to  her  husband.  On  the 
20th  of  January,  a  deputation,  consisting  of  bishops, 
earls,  and  barons,  with  two  knights  from  each  county, 
and  two  representatives  from  every  borough  in  the 
kingdom,  waited  upon  the  royal  prisoner  at  Kenil- 
worth, to  state  to  him  that  the  people  of  England 

'  Knygliton — More. — Walsing. — Leland, Collect. — Rymer.— Tyrrel, 
Hist 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


719 


were  no  longer  bound  by  their  oath  of  allegiance  to 
him,  and  to  receive  his  resignation  of  the  crown.  | 
The  unfortunate  king  appeared  in  the  great  hall  of 
the  castle,  w^rapped  in  a  common  black  gown.  At 
the  sight  of  Bishop  Orleton,  he  fell  to  the  gi'ound. 
There  are  two  accounts  of  a  part  of  this  remarkable 
interview,  but  that  which  seems  most  consistent  with 
the  weak  character  of  the  king  is,  that  he,  without 
opposition  or  protest — which  would  have  been  of  no 
avail — formally  renounced  the  royal  dignity,  and 
thanked  the  Parliament  for  not  having  overlooked 
the  rights  of  his  son.  Then  Sir  William  Trussel, 
as  Speaker  of  the  whole  Parliament,  addressed  him 
in  the  name  of  the  Parliament,  and  on  behalf  of  the 
whole  people  of  England,  and  told  him  that  he  was 
no  longer  a  king;  that  all  fealty  and  allegiance  were 
withdrawn  from  him,  and  that  he  must  hencefoi'- 
ward  be  considered  as  a  private  man  without  any 
manner  of  royal  dignity.  As  Trussel  ceased  speak- 
ing, Sir  Thomas  Blount,  the  steward  of  the  house- 
hold, stepped  forward  and  broke  his  white  wand  or 
staff  of  office,  and  declared  that  all  persons  engaged 
in  Edward's  service  were  discharged  and  freed  by 
that  act.  This  ceremonj-,  which  was  one  usually 
performed  at  a  king's  death,  w^as  held  as  an  entire 
completion  of  the  process  of  dethronement.  The 
deputation  returned  to  London,  leaving  the  captive 
king  in  Kenilworth  Castle  ;  and  three  or  four  days 
after,  being  Saturday  the  24th  of  January,  Edward 
III.'s  peace  was  proclaimed,  the  proclamation  bear 
ing,  that  Edward  II.  was,  by  the  common  assent  of 
the  peers  and  commons,  "ousted"  from  the  throne; 
that  he  had  agreed  that  his  eldest  son  and  heir  should 
be  crowned  king,  and  that,  as  all  the  magnates  had 
done  homage  to  him,  his  peace,  which  nobody  was  to 
infringe  under  the  penalty  of  forfeiting  life  and  limb, 
was  now  cried  and  published.  The  young  Edward, 
who  was  only  in  his  fourteenth  year,  received  the 
great  seal  from  the  chancellor,  and  re-delivered  it 
to  him  on  the  28th  of  Januaiy,  and  he  was  crowned 
on  the  next  day,  the  29tli,  at  Westminster,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  performing  the  ceremonj' 
in  the  most  regular  manner.' 

As  the  new  king  was  too  young  to  take  the  gov- 
ernment upon  himself,  nearly  the  entire  authority 
of  the  crown  was  vested  in  the  queen  mother,  who 
herself  was  wholly  ruled  by  the  Lord  Mortimer,  a 
man  whose  questionable  position  made  him  unpop- 
ular from  the  first,  and  whose  power  and  ambition 
could  not  fail  of  exciting  jealousy  and  rendering  him 
odious  to  many.  Some  monks  had  the  boldness  to 
denounce  from  the  pulpit  the  connection  existing 
between  the  queen  and  that  lord,  and  even  to  speak 
of  forcing  Isabella  to  cohabit  with  her  imprisoned 
husband,  regardless  of  the  decision  which  Parlia- 
ment had  given  on  that  head.  The  indiscreet  zeal 
of  these  preachers,  and  some  plots  which  were  at 
last  formed,  not  so  much  in  favor  of  Edward  as 
against  Mortimer,  seem  to  have  hurried  on  a  fearful 
tragedy.  The  Earl  of  Lancaster,  though  he  had 
the  death  of  a  bi'other  to  avenge,  was  less  cruel  than 
his  colleagues  ;  the  spectacle  of  his  cousin's  miseries 

1  More. — Walsing.— Knyght.— Rymer.— Sir  II.  Nicolas,  Chron.  of 
Hist. 


touched  his  heart,  and  he  treated  the  king  with  mild- 
ness and  generosity.  It  was  soon  whispered  to 
Isabella  that  he  favored  her  husband  too  much,  and 
more  than  consisted  with  the  safety  of  herself  and 
her  son.  The  deposed  king  was  therefore  taken 
out  of  Lancaster's  hands  and  given  to  the  keeping 
of  Sir  John  Maltravers,  a  man  of  a  fiercer  disposi- 
tion, who  had  suffered  cruel  wrongs  from  Edward 
and  his  favorites.  Maltravers  removed  the  captive 
from  Kenilworth  Castle,  and  his  object  seems  to 
have  been  to  conceal  or  render  uncertain  the  plac«' 
of  his  residence,  for  he  made  him  travel  by  night, 
and  carried  him  to  three  or  four  different  castles  in 
the  space  of  a  few  months.  At  last  he  was  lodged 
in  Berkeley  Castle,  near  the  river  Severn ;  and  the 
Lord  Berkeley,  the  owner  of  the  castle,  was  joined 
with  Maltravers  in  the  commission  of  guarding  him. 
The  Lord  Berkeley  also  had  some  bowels,  and  he 
treated  the  captive  more  courteously  than  was  de- 
sired ;  but,  fiilling  sick,  he  was  detained  aw.iy  from 
the  castle  at  his  manor  of  Bradley,  and  during  his 
absence  the  care  of  Edward  was  intrusted,  by  com- 
mand of  Mortimer,  to  Thomas  Gourney  and  Will- 
iam Ogle — "two  hell-hounds,  that  were  capable  of 
more  villainous  despite  than  became  either  knights 
or  the  lewdest  varlets  in  the  world."  One  dark 
night,  toward  the  end  of  September,  horrible  screams 
and  shrieks  of  anguish  rang  and  echoed  through  the 
walls  of  Berkeley  Castle,  and  were  heard  even  in  the 
town,  "SO  that  many  being  awakened  therewith  from 
their  sleep,  as  they  themselves  confessed,  prajed 
heartily  to  God  to  receive  his  soul,  for  they  under- 
stood by  those  cries  what  the  matter  meant."  '  On 
the  following  morning  the  gates  of  Berkeley  Castle 
were  thrown  open,  and  people  were  freely  admitted 
to  behold  the  body  of  Edward  of  CaernaiTon,  who 
was  said  to  have  expired  during  the  night,  of  a  sud- 
den disorder.  Most  of  the  knights  and  gentlemen 
living  in  the  neighborhood,  and  many  of  the  citizens 
of  Bristol  and  Gloucester,  went  to  see  the  body, 
which  bore  no  outward  marks  of  violence,  though 
the  countenance  was  distorted  and  horrible  to  look 
upon.  The  corpse  was  then  cairied  to  Gloucester, 
and  privately  buried  in  the  Abbey  church,  without 
any  tumult  or  any  investigation  whatsoever. 

It  was  soon  rumored  that  he  had  been  most  cru- 
elly murdered  by  Gourney  and  Ogle,  who  had  thrust 
a  red-hot  iron  into  his  bowels  through  a  tin  pipe  : 
and  there  were  many  who  had  heard  WMth  their 
own  ears  his  "wailful  noise"  at  the  dead  of  night ; 
but  still  the  nation  continued  in  its  unrelenting  indif- 
ference to  all  that  concerned  this  most  wretched 
king.-  Edward  was  forty-three  years  old  :  counting 
from  the  date  of  his  recognition  to  that  of  his  deposi- 
tion, he  had  worn  a  degiaded  crown  nineteen  years 
and  six  months,  wanting  some  days. 

It  was  during  this  unhappy  reign  that  the  great 
Order  of  the  Knights  Templars  was  abolished. 
These  knights,  from  a  very  humble  beginning  in 
1118,  when  nine  poor  crusaders  took  upon  them- 
selves the  obligation  of  protecting  the  faithful  at 
Jerusalem,  had  attained  immense  wealth  and  power. 
Their  association  included  men  of  the  noblest  birth, 

1  Holinsh.  2  More.— Knyght.— Rymer.— Holinsh. 


720 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


Berkeley  Castle. 


— natives  of  every  Christian  country.  Their  valor 
in  battle,  their  wisdom  in  council,  liad  long  been 
the  admiration  of  the  world  ;  but,  after  the  loss  of 
the  Holy  Land,  they  forfeited  much  of  this  consid- 
eration, for  they  did  not,  like  the  Hospitallers  or 
Ivnights  of  St.  John,  secure  an  estabUshment  in  the 
Kast,'  —  a  real  or  fanciful  bulwark  to  Christendom 
against  the  Mahomedans.  Their  luxury  and  pride 
increased,  or  became  more  obvious,  in  their  state  of 
inactivity  at  home  ;  and  in  most  of  the  countries 
where  they  had  houses  and  commanderies,  an  out- 
cry was  gradually  raised  against  them.  It  was  in 
France  that  the  first  blow  was  struck  at  their  exist- 
ence :  Philip  le  Bel,  of  whose  resolute  and  unscru- 
pulous character  we  have  given  several  examples, 
was  involved  in  great  pecuniary  difficulties  by  his 
wars  with  the  English  and  his  other  neighbors;  and 
when  he  and  Enguerrand  de  Marigni,  a  minister  as 
unscrupulous  as  himself,  had  exhausted  all  other 
sources  of  revenue,  they  cast  their  eyes  on  the 
houses  and  lands  and  tempting  wealth  of  the  Red- 
cross  Knights.  Forthwith  they  proceeded  to  form 
a  conspiracy, — for  such  it  really  was, — and  in  a  short 
time  the  knights  were  accused  of  monstrous  and 
contradictory  crimes  by  a  host  of  witnesses,  whose 
depositions  were  either  bought  or  forced  from  them 
by  threats,  or  imprisonment,  or  the  actual  applica- 
tion of  the  rack.  As  soon  as  the  French  Templars 
were  aware  of  these  accusations  they  applied  to  the 
Pope,  begging  hin>  to  investigate  the  matter:  this  pe- 
tition was  repeated  several  times ;  but  Clement  V., 
who  had  been  raised  by  French  interest,  and  who 
had  transferred  the  seat  of  the  popedom  from  Rome 

1  The  Knights  of  St.  John,  it  will  he  remembered,  got  possess-ion  of 
ihe  island  of  Rhodes,  and  when  they  lost  Rhodes,  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, of  Malta  and  Gozo. 


to  Avignon,  in  France,  was  a  subservient  ally  to 
Philip  le  Bel,  and  had  consented  to  leave  the  tri.al 
and  fate  of  the  knights  in  his  hands.  On  the  13th 
of  October,  1307,  Philip  took  possession  of  the  Pal- 
ace of  the  Temple  in  his  capital,  and  threw  the  grand 
master  and  all  the  knights  that  were  with  him  into 
prison.  At  the  same  time, — at  the  very  same  hour, 
— so  nicely  was  the  plot  regulated,  the  Templars 
were  seized  in  all  parts  of  France.  Every  captive 
was  loaded  with  chains,  and  otherwise  treated  with 
great  barbarity.  An  atrocious  inquisition  forged  let- 
ters of  the  grand  master  to  criminate  the  order,  and 
applied  the  most  horrible  tortures  to  the  knights:  in 
Paris  alone  thirty-six  knights  died  on  the  rack,  main- 
taining their  innocence  to  the  last;  others,  with  less 
capability  of  enduring  exquisite  anguish,  confessed 
to  the  charges  of  crimes  wliich  were  in  some  cases 
impossible ;  at  least,  at  the  present  day  few  persons 
will  believe  that  the  Templars  invited  the  devil  to 
their  secret  orgies,  and  that  he  frequently  attended 
in  the  form  of  a  tom-cat.  But  even  the  knights 
whose  firmness  gave  way  on  the  rack,  recanted  their 
confessions  in  their  dungeons,  and  nothing  remained 
uncontradicted  except  the  revelations  of  two  mem- 
bers of  the  community — men  of  infamous  character, 
who  had  both  been  previously  condemned  to  per- 
petual imprisonment  bj'  the  grand  master,  and  who 
both  came  to  a  shameful  end  subsequently,  though 
they  were  now  liberated  and  rewarded.  Two  years 
of  a  dreadful  captivity,  with  infernal  interludes  of 
torture,  and  the  conviction  forced  on  their  minds 
that  Philip  le  Bel  was  fully  resolved  to  annihilate 
their  order  and  seize  their  property,  and  that  there 
was  no  hope  of  succor  from  the  Pope  or  from  any 
other  power  upon  earth,  broke  the  brave  spirit  of  the 
Red-cross  Knights.     Even  Jacques  de  Molai,  the 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


721 


grand  master,  an  hei'oic  old  man,  was  made  to  con- 
fess to  crimes  of  which  he  never  could  have  been 
guilty.  He  afterward,  however,  retracted  his  con- 
fession, and,  in  the  end,  perished  heroically  at  the 
stake.  The  particulars  of  the  long  histoiy  would 
fill  many  pages,  but  the  whole  of  the  proceedings 
may  be  briefly  characterized  as  a  brutal  mockery  of 
the  forms  of  justice.  The  grand  execution  took 
place  on  the  12th  of  May,  1310 — when  fiftyAfour  of 
the  knights  who  had  confessed  on  the  rack,  and 
then  retracted  all  they  had  said  in  their  dungeons, 
were  burnt  alive  as  "relapsed  heretics,"  in  a  field 
behind  the  abbey  of  St.  Antoine  at  Paris.  In  sight 
of  the  flames  that  were  to  consume  them,  they  were 
oftered  the  king's  pardon  if  they  would  again  con- 
fess that  they  were  guilty  ;  but  there  was  not  one 
of  them  who  would  thus  purchase  life,  and  they  all 
died  singing  a  hymn  of  triumph  and  protesting  their 
innocence.  Penal  fires  were  lighted  in  other  parts 
of  France,  and  all  the  surviving  knights  who  did  not 
retract  their  plea  of  not  guilty  were  condemned  to 
perpetual  imprisonment. 

After  a  show  of  dissatisfaction  at  Philip  le  Bel's 
precipitancy,  the  Pope  had  joined  in  the  death-cry; 
and,  in  the  course  of  the  years  1308  and  1309,  he 
addressed  bulls  to  all  the  sovereigns  of  Christen- 
dom, commanding  them  to  inquire  into  the  conduct 
of  the  knights.  He  afterward  declared  that  seventy- 
two  members  of  the  order  had  been  examined  by 
his  cardinals  and  other  officers,  and  had  all  been 
found  guilty,  b^d  in  various  degrees,  of  iiTeligion 
and  immorality;  and  he  threatened  to  excommuni- 
cate every  person  that  should  harbor,  or  give  coun- 
sel and  show  favor  to  any  Templar.  Without 
waiting  for  these  papal  bulls,  Philip,  as  soon  as  he 
had  matured  his  plans,  had  endeavored  to  stimulate 
his  son-in-law,  Edward  of  England,  to  similar  meas- 
ures ;  but  the  English  court  and  council,  while  they 
engaged  to  investigate  the  charges,  expressed  the 
greatest  astonishment  at  them  ;  and  two  months 
later  Edward  wrote  to  the  kings  of  Portugal,  Cas- 
tile, and  Arragon,  imploring  thein  not  to  credit  the 
accusations  which  had  most  maliciously  been  heap- 
ed upon  the  Red-cross  Knights.  He  also  addressed 
the  Pope  in  their  favor,  representing  them  as  an 
injured  and  calumniated  body  of  men.  Our  weak 
king,  howevei',  was  never  firm  to  any  purpose  ex- 
cept where  his  favorite  was  concerned :  he  forgot 
the  old  friendship  which  had  existed  between  the 
English  kings  and  the  Knights  Templars ;  and  the 
barons,  on  their  side,  forgot  the  day  when  Almeric, 
the  master  of  the  English  Templars,  stood  with 
their  ancestors  on  the  field  of  Runnymead,  an  advo- 
cate for  the  nation's  liberties.  The  ruin  of  the 
order  was  therefore  resolved  upon  ;  but,  thank  God  ! 
their  suppression  in  England  was  unaccompanied  by 
atrocious  cruelties. 

In  1308,  the  second  year  of  Edward's  reign,  after 
the  feast  of  the  Epiphany,  one  of  the  royal  clerks 
was  sent  round  with  writs  to  all  the  sheriffs  of 
counties,  ordering  each  and  all  of  them  to  summon 
a  certain  number  of  freeholders  in  the  several  coun- 
ties— "good  and  lawful  men,'' — to  meet  on  an  ap- 
pointed day,  to  treat  of  matters  touching  the  king's 
VOL.  I. — 46 


peace.  The  sheriffs  and  freeholders  met  on  the 
day  fixed,  and  then  they  were  all  made  to  swear 
that  they  would  execute  certain  sealed  orders 
which  were  delivered  to  the  sheriff's  by  king's  mes- 
sengers. These  orders,  when  opened,  were  to  be 
executed  suddenly.  The  same  conspiracy-like 
measures  were  adopted  in  Ireland,  and  in  both 
countries,  on  the  same  day — nearly  at  the  same 
hour — all  their  lands,  tenements,  goods,  and  all 
kinds  of  property,  as  well  ecclesiastical  as  temporal, 
were  attached,  and  the  knights  themselves  ar- 
rested.' The  Templars  were  to  be  kept  in  safe 
custody,  but  not  "  in  vile  and  hard  prison."  They 
were  confined  more  than  eighteen  months  in  difl'er- 
ent  towers  and  castles.  In  the  month  of  October, 
1309,  courts  were  constituted  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  at  London,  York,  and  Lincoln.  Forty- 
seven  of  the  knights,  the  noblest  of  the  order  in 
England,  who  were  brought  from  the  Tower  before 
the  Bishop  of  London  and  the  envoys  of  th#  Pope, 
boldly  pleaded  their  innocence  ;  the  evidence  at 
first  produced  against  them  amounted  to  less  than 
nothing;  but  the  courts  were  appointed  to  convict, 
not  to  absolve,  and,  in  spite  of  all  law,  they  sent 
them  back  to  their  prisons  to  wait  for  timid  minds 
and  fresh  evidence.  The  witnesses,  even  in  France, 
where  they  had  been  well  drilled,  went  through 
their  duties  in  a  most  awkward  manner ;  but  in 
England,  those  first  summoned  became  altogether 
restive ;  and  the  majority  of  them,  both  lay  and 
clergy,  candidly  confessed  their  ignorance  of  the 
secret  principles  and  practices  of  the  order,  and 
bore  strong  testimony  to  the  general  good  conduct 
and  character  of  the  knights.  The  Pope  then  cen- 
sured the  king  for  not  making  use  of  the  torture. 
"  Thus,"  he  wi-ote,  "  the  knights  have  refused  to 
declare  the  truth.  Oh !  my  dear  son,  consider 
whether  this  be  consistent  with  your  honor  and 
the  safety  of  your  kingdom."  The  Archbishop  of 
York  inquired  of  his  clergy  whether  torture,  which 
had  hitherto  been  unheard  of  in  England,  might  be 
employed  on  the  Templars  :  he  added  that  there 
Avas  no  machine  for  torture  in  the  land,  and  asked 
whether  he  should  send  abroad  for  one,  in  order 
that  the  prelates  might  not  be  chargeable  with  neg- 
ligence." From  the  putting  of  such  questions  we 
may  suppose  that  this  archbishop  was  one  who 
would  not  hesitate  at  cruelty ;  but  it  appears  pi-etty 
evident,  whether  his  queries  were  negatived  or  not 
by  his  suff'ragans,  that  the  torture  was  7wf  used  on 
this  occasion  in  England.  The  Templars  were 
worn  down  by  poverty  and  long  imprisonment,  and 
then  the  threat  of  punishing  as  heretics  all  those 
who  did  not  plead  guilty  to  the  charges  brought 
against  them  produced  its  efl'ect.  The  timid  yielded 
first ;  some  of  the  corrupt  were  bought  over  by  the 
court,  and  finally  (more  than  three  years  after  their 
arrest)  the  English  Templars,  with  the  exception 
of  William  de  la  More,  their  grand  prior,  whom  no 
threats,  no  sufferings  could  move,  and  two  or  three 
others  who  shared  his  heroic  firmness,  made  a  vague 

1  Tl>e  number  of  Templars  seized  was  about  two  hundred  and  fifty. 
Of  these  about  tliirty  were  arrested  in  Ireland.  It  appears  that  only 
two  knights  were  seized  in  Scotland.  -  Hcmingford. 


722 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


confession  and  most  general  renunciation  of  heresy 
and  erroneous  opinions,  upon  which  they  were  sent 
into  confinement  in  various  monasteries,  the  king 
allowing  them  a  pittance  for  their  support  out  of 
their  immense  revenues.  In  tlie  17th  year  of  Ed- 
ward's reign  it  was  ordained  by  the  king  and  Parlia- 


ment that  the  Hospitallers,  or  Knights  of  St.  John 
of  Jerusalem,  should  have  all  the  lands  of  the  late 
Templars,  to  hold  them  as  the  Templars  had  held 
them.' 

'  Raynouard,  Hist,  de  la  Condamnation  des  Templiers.— Wilkiiis, 
Concilia. — Rymer. — Stowe. — Hemingford. 


Edw.\rd  III. 


^.^^^^^g^^^K». 


Great  Seal  of  Edward  HI. 


A.D.  ]  327.  When  Edward  was  proclaimed  king, 
about  eight  months  before  his  father's  murder,  as  he 
was  but  fourteen  years  of  age,  Parliament  decreed 
that  a  regency  should  be  appointed,  "  to  have  the 
rule  and  government ;"  and  to  this  end  twelve  of 
the  greatest  lords  of  the  realm,  lay  and  ecclesiastic, 
were  named.  These  noblemen  were,  the  arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury  and  York ;  the  bishops  of 
Winchester,  Worcester,  and  Hereford;  the  earls  of 
Kent,  Norfolk,  and  Surrey  ;  and  the  lords  Thomas 
Wake,  Henry  Percy,  Oliver  Ingham,  and  John  de 
Roos.  The  Earl  of  Lancaster  was  appointed  guard- 
ian and  protector  of  the  young  king's  person.  The 
same  Parliament  reversed  the  attainders  which  had 
been  passed  in  1.322  against  the  great  Earl  of  Lan- 
caster and  his  adherents ;  confiscated  the  immense 
estates  of  the  Despensers ;  granted  a  large  sum  of 
money  to  Isabella,  the  queen-mother,  to  pay  her 
debts;  and  voted  her  a  jointure  of  twenty  thousand 
pounds  a-year — a  most  liberal  allowance  for  those 
times,  and  which  materially  contributed  to  secure 
her  ascendency.  Nearly  the  whole  power  of  gov- 
ernment was  indeed  monopolized  by  her  and  Mor- 
timer, who  now  assumed  the  state  and  magnificence 
<if  a  king. 

Althol^gh  Edward  was  excluded  from  political 
duties,  he  was  not  considered  too  joung  for  those 
of  war.  It  is  said  that  his  martial  spirit  had  already 
declared  itself;  but  it  is  probable  that  Mortimer  at 
least  would  be  glad  to  see  him  thus  occupied  at  a 
<listance  from  the  court,  where  the  death  of  his 
\mhappy  father  was  already  beginning  to  be   agi- 


tated. The  Scots  had  suffered  too  cruelly  not  to 
be  anxious  for  revenge ;  and  the  existing  truce  was 
not  sufficient  to  make  them  resist  the  temptation  of 
what  they  considered  a  favorable  opportunity, — the 
true  King  of  England,  as  they  deemed,  being  shut 
up  in  prison,  and  a  boy  intruded  on  the  throne. 
Nor  were  there  wanting  plausible  reasons  to  cover 
a  breach  of  the  treaty :  for  if  the  truce  had  been 
concluded  for  thirteen  yeai's,  and  to  last  even  in  case 
of  the  death  of  one  or  both  kings,  the  Scots,  on  the 
other  hand,  could  argue  that  Edward  II.,  who  made 
the  treaty,  was  not  dead  ;  that  Edward  III.  was  no 
legitimate  king ;  and  that,  in  making  war,  they  at- 
tacked a  country  that  had  no  lawful  government 
which  could  claim  the  benefit  of  former  treaties.  In 
whatever  way  they  might  reason,  the  Scots  acted 
with  great  vigor  ;  and  all  nations  in  their  circum- 
stances would  have  been  equally  regardless  of  the 
truce.  About  St.  Margaret's  tide,  February  3d, 
they  began  to  make  inroads  into  England,  and  these 
border  forays  were  soon  succeeded  by  the  march 
of  regular  armies.  Age  and  declining  health  had 
no  effect  on  the  valor  and  activity  of  Robert  Bruce, 
who  seems  to  have  hoped  that  he  should  be  able, 
imder  circumstances,  to  convert  the  truce  into  an 
honorable  peace,  if  not  to  recover  the  northern 
provinces  of  England  which  the  Scottish  kings  had 
possessed  at  no  very  remote  date.  He  summoned 
his  vassals  fi'om  all  parts — from  the  Lowlands,  the 
Highlands,  and  the  Isles  ;  and  twenty-five  thousand 
men  assembled  on  the  banks  of  the  Tweed,  all  ani- 
luated  with  the  remembrance  of  recent  wrongs  and 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  xMILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


r23 


Edward  III.    From  the  Tomb  in  Westmmster  Abliey. 


cruel  sufferings.  Of  this  host  about  four  thousand 
were  well  armed  and  well  mounted  ;  the  rest  rode 
upon  mountain  ponies  and  galloways,  which  could 
subsist  upon  anything,  and  support  every  fatigue. 
Froissart,  who  has  left  us  a  most  graphic  description 
of  young  Edward's  "  first  ride  against  the  Scots,"' 
gives  some  curious  details  respecting  the  nimble 
activity  and  hardihood  of  these  children  of  the  mist 
and  the  mountain.  A  force  better  suited  for  sudden 
attack  and  rapid  reti'eat  could  scarcely  be  conceived. 
"  They  carry  with  them,"  says  the  chronicler  of 
chivalry,  "  no  provision  of  bread  or  of  wine,  for 
their  usage  is  such  in  time  of  war,  and  such  their 
sobriety,  that  they  will  do  for  a  long  time  with  a 
little  meat  half-raw,  without  bread,  drinking  the 
water  of  the  rivers,  without  wine.  And  they  have 
no  need  whatever  of  pots  and  caldrons,  for  they 
cook  the  beasts  when  they  have  skinned  them  in  a 
.simpler  manner ;  and  as  they  know  they  will  find 
beeves  in  lots  in  England  they  carry  nothing  with 
them.  Only  every  man  carries  between  his  saddle 
and  his  pennon  a  flat  plate  of  iron,  and  tucks  up  be- 
hind him  a  bag  of  meal,  in  order  that,  when  they 
have  eaten  so  much  flesh  as  to  feel  uncomfortable, 
they  may  put  this  plate  upon  the  fire,  and,  heating 
it,  bake  thereon  oatmeal  cakes  wherewith  to  com- 
fort their  stomachs."  "  And  therefore,"  continues 
the  chronicler,  rather  oddly,  "  it  is  no  wonder  that 
they  make  so  much  longer  marches  than  other  peo- 
ple." Bruce  intrusted  the  command  of  this  army 
(if  invasion  to  Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray,  and  the 
Lord  James  Douglas.  Crossing  Phe  Tweed,  these 
chiefs  marched  through  Northumberland  and  Dur- 
ham,  and    penetrated   into  the   richer   country  of 

1  Sa  premiere  chevauchie  sur  les  Escocois. 


York,  without  meeting  any  valid  resistance.  The 
mountaineers  plundered  and  burnt  all  the  villages 
and  open  towns  that  lay  on  the  road,  and  seized  so 
many  fat  beeves  that  they  hardly  knew  what  to  do 
with  them.  At  the  first  breath  of  this  invasion,  a 
powerful  army,  said  to  have  amounted  to  sixty  thou- 
sand horse  and  foot,  had  gathered  round  the  stand- 
ard of  young  Edward  ;  but  his  movements  were 
retarded  by  a  furious  quarrel  which  broke  out  be 
tween  the  native  English  archers  and  the  foreign 
troops  of  Isabella's  knight-errant,  John  of  Hainault. 
These  allies  fought  in  the  streets  and  suburbs  of 
York,  where  many  lives  were  lost  on  both  sides 
The  fiercest  combatants  among  the  Enghsh  were 
the  bowmen  of  Lincolnshire,  whose  determined 
animosity  sorely  disquieted  the  knights  and  men  of 
Hainault,  who  otherwise  were  well  content  with 
their  service  in  a  land  of  such  plentj",  that  the  pas- 
sage of  a  large  army  raised  neither  the  price  of 
wine  nor  that  of  meat.'  When  these  differences 
were  composed,  Edward  marched  to  the  north,  and 
soon  came  in  sight  of  the  fires  which  the  Scots  had 
lighted.  Instantly  the  cry  to  arms  ran  through 
the  English  force,  and  horse  and  foot,  knights  and 
squires,  with  a  tremendous  body  of  archers,  formed 
in  order  of  battle,  and  so  marched  on,  "even  till 
the  vesper  hour,"  in  search  of  the  Scots.  But  the 
unequal  force  of  Bruce  retired,  and  not  a  Scot  was 
to  be  seen  anywhere,  though  the  flames  of  burning 
villages,  far  and  then  farther  oft',  marked  the  line 
of  their  retreat.  From  Froissart's  account,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  Scots  did  not  move  directly  toward 
the  Tweed,  but  withdrew  toward  the  west,  among 
the    mountains   and    moors  of  Westmoreland    and 

1  Froissart 


724 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Cumberland,  "  savage  deserts,  and  bad  mountains 
and  valleys,"  as  he  calls  them.  The  English,  fa- 
tigued by  the  pursuit,  and  in  order  to  wait  for  their 
supplies  of  provisions,  which  were  not  so  portable 
as  those  of  the  enemy,  encamped  for  the  night,  and 
so  lost  all  chance  of  ever  coming  up  with  the  fleet 
Scots.  After  much  useless  labor,  it  was  determined, 
in  a  council  of  war,  that  Edward  should  move  nortli- 
ward  in  a  straight  line,  and,  crossing  the  Tyne,  oc- 
cupy the  roads  between  that  river  and  the  Tweed, 
by  which,  it  was  calculated,  the  enemy  must  return 
to  their  own  country.  This  manoeuvre  was  exe- 
cuted with  rapidity,  the  troops  making  at  least  one 
night  march;  but  when  the  P^nglish  got  to  the  north 
of  the  Tyne,  they  found  the  country  so  entirely 
wasted  that  they  could  procure  neither  forage  nor 
provisions,  and,  after  staying  there  several  days  in 
vain  expectation  of  intercepting  the  enemy  with 
their  booty,  thej-  recrossed  the  Tyne  and  retraced 
their  steps  toward  the  south,  in  a  perplexing  state 
of  ignorance  as  to  the  movements  of  the  Scots. 
Edward  ordered  it  to  be  cried  through  camp  and 
country  that  he  would  give  a  heritage  worth  a  hun- 
dred pounds  a-year,  together  with  the  honors  of 
knighthood,  to  any  man  that  would  bring  him  cer- 
tain information  of  the  place  where  he  might  find 
the  enemy.  The  prize  was  won  by  one  Thomas 
of  Rokeby,  who  came  riding  very  hard  to  the  king, 
and  brought  intelligence  that  the  Scots,  who,  he 
said,  were  equally  ignorant  of  the  whereabout  of 
the  English,  were  encamped  on  a  hill  not  more 
than  three  leagues  oft".  Edward  confessed,  ordered 
a  number  of  masses,  and  then  marching,  soon  came 
in  sight  of  the  enemy,  who  were  advantageously 
posted  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Wear.  The  river 
was  rapid  and  dangerous  to  pass,  and  there  was  no 
other  way  of  getting  at  the  Scots.  As  the  latter 
showed  themselves  in  order  of  battle,  the  young 
king  sent  a  herald  to  challenge  them  to  meet  him 
like  soldiers,  on  a  fair  and  open  field,  oft'ering  them 
the  undisturbed  passage  of  the  river  if  they  would 
go  over  to  fight  him  on  his  side.  The  Scots  were 
not  so  chivalrously  inclined  :  the  fiery  Douglas,  in- 
deed, was  nettled  at  the  defiance,  and  would  fain 
have  accepted  the  challenge,  but  he  was  overruled 
by  the  better  prudence  of  Moray.  That  night  the 
English  lay  on  the  bare  ground  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  river,  facing  the  Scots,  who  lighted  a  prodigious 
number  of  fires  along  their  strong  position,  and, 
from  dark  till  dawn,  kept  "  horning  with  their  horns, 
and  making  such  a  noise  that  it  seemed  as  if  all  the 
great  devils  from  hell  had  come  thither."  Thus 
passed  the  night,  which  was  the  night  of  St.  Peter 
ad  Vincula,  in  the  beginning  of  August,  and  in  the 
morning  the  English  lords  heard  mass.  In  the 
course  of  the  next  day,  a  few  knights  and  men-at- 
arms,  who  had  strong  horses,  swam  the  river  and 
skirmished  with  the  enemy  ;  but  these  were  idle 
bravadoes  that  cost  many  lives  and  produced  no 
eflfect.  For  three  days  and  nights  the  English 
lay  on  the  river-side  :  it  is  said  that  the  Scots 
were  suftering  from  want  of  provisions  and  of  salt, 
and  that.  Edward  expected  that  their  necessities 
would  force  thcni  to  abandon  their  position  ;   but, 


from  Froissart's  account,  it  should  appear  that  the 
English,  less  accustomed  to  privations,  were  sufter- 
ing from  severe  want,  and  that  their  army  was 
dwindling  away.  On  the  morning  of  the  fourth 
day,  when  the  English  looked  toward  the  hill  on 
the  right  bank,  they  saw  no  arm}',  for  the  Scots 
had  secretly  decamped  in  the  middle  of  the  night. 
It  was  presently  ascertained  that  they  had  only 
moved  to  a  short  distance  farther  up  the  river, 
where  they  had  taken  up  a  position  still  stronger 
than  the  one  they  had  left.  Edward  made  a  cor- 
responding movement  on  the  other  bank,  and  en- 
camped on  another  hill,  immediately  opposite, — the 
river  between  them  as  before.  The  young  king, 
whose  patience  was  exhausted,  would  have  forced 
the  passage  and  marched  to  the  attack  of  the  Scot- 
tish position,  but  he  was  restrained  by  Moitimer. 
who  was  afterward  accused  of  treachery  for  this 
step,  though  it  seems  to  have  been  dictated  only  by 
proper  military  prudence.  For  eighteen  days  and 
nights  the  two  hosts  thus  lay  facing  each  other  and 
doing  nothing,  but  only  suftering  great  discomfort. 
One  night,  however,  Douglas  made  a  sudden  on- 
slaught, which  had  well-nigh  proved  fatal  to  young 
Edward.  Toward  midnight,  he  took  about  two 
hundred  of  his  best  men,  and,  marching  silently  up 
the  river,  crossed  it  at  a  considerable  distance  above 
the  English  position,  and  then  turning  with  equal 
caution,  entered  the  English  camp  without  being 
discovered.  Then  he  made  a  desperate  rush  to- 
ward the  spot  where  the  king  lay,  shouting  as 
he  went,  "  A  Douglas !  you  shall  die,  ye  English 
thieves!"  and  he  and  his  companions  killed  more 
than  three  hundred  before  they  left  oft".  He  came 
before  the  rojal  tent,  still  shouting,  "  A  Douglas ! 
a  Douglas!"  and  he  cut  in  twain  several  cords  of 
the  tent ;  but  Edward's  attendants,  roused  from 
their  sleep,  made  a  gallant  stand,  and,  his  chaplain 
and  his  chamberlain  having  sacrificed  their  lives  for 
his  safety,  he  escaped  in  the  dark.  Missing  the 
king,  Douglas  fought  his  way  back,  and  contrived 
to  return  to  his  friends  on  the  opposite  hill  with 
but  little  loss.  At  last  the  Scots  abandoned  this 
second  position,  taking  the  English,  it  is  said,  again 
by  surprise,  and  marching  away  unheard  and  un- 
seen at  the  dead  of  night.  If  this  account  be  true, 
the  English  were  sadly  wanting  in  proper  military 
vigilance  :  but  it  appears  more  than  probable  that 
they  were  as  anxious  to  be  rid  of  the  Scots  as  the 
Scots  were  to  be  quit  of  them,  and  that  Edward's 
officers  were  glad  to  be  able  to  cross  the  Wear 
without  fighting  at  disadvantage  for  the  passage. 
At  all  events  it  was  determined  that,  as  the  enemy 
had  got  the  start  of  them,  it  would  be  useless  to 
follow  them  an}-  farther  ;  and  soon  after,  fording 
the  river,  Edward  marched  straight  to  York,  where 
the  army  was  disbanded.'  The  Scots,  after  their 
extraordinary  campaign,  got  back  to  their  own  coun- 
try with  much  booty.  The  young  king,  "  right 
pensive,"  returned  to  London,  breathing  nothing 
but  fresh  wars  and  vengeance  :  as  yet,  however, 
he  had  no  power,  and  both  Mortimer  and  his  moth- 
er, who  controlled  his  destiny.  Avere,  for  their  own 

1  Fniissart. 


CUAP.   I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


725 


Ql'een  Philii'pa.    From  the  Tomb  in  Westminster  Aljbey. 


private  interests,  desirous  of  peace,  and,  soon  after,  ' 
they  opened  negotiations  with  Robert  Bruce,  who, 
on  his  side,  laboring  under  his  "  heavy  malady," 
and  seeing  that  his  son,  who  was  to  succeed  bim, 
was  still  an  infant,  was  anxious  to  terminate  the 
war  by  a  definitive  and  honorable  treaty,  which  he 
fondly  hoped  would  secure  peace  to  his  country 
when  he  should  be  no  longer  alive  to  protect  it  with 
his  consummate  ability. 

Before  this  treaty  was  concluded,  young  Edward 
was  married  to  Philippa  of  Hainault,  to  whom  his 
mother  had  contracted  him  during  her  scapade  on 
the  continent.  This  young  lady,  who  proved  an 
excellent  and  loving  wife,  was  brought  over  to  Eng- 
land by  her  uncle,  John  of  Hainault,  a  little  before 
Christmas.  She  was  received  at  London  with  great 
pomp, — "  with  jousts,  tournaments,  dances,  carols, 
and  great  and  beautiful  repasts," — and,  on  the  24th 
of  January  following  (a.  d.  1328),  the  marriage 
ceremonies  were  completed  at  York.  A  few  months 
after,  aboutthe  Feast  of  Whitsuntide,  the  Parliament 
met  at  Northampton,  and  there,  "  by  the  evil  and 
naughty  counsel  of  the  Lord  Mortimer  and  the 
queen-mother,"  as  it  was  afterward  maintained, 
they  put  the  last  hand  to  the  peace  with  Bruce, 
concluding  what  the  English  called  both  an  unprofit- 
able and  dishonorable  treaty.  The  basis  of  this 
treaty  was  the  recognition  of  the  complete  indepen- 
dence of  Scotland.  One  of  its  leading  articles  was, 
that  a  marriage  should  take  place  between  Prince 
David,  the  only  son  of  Robert  Bruce,  and  the  Prin- 
cess Joanna,  a  sister  of  King  Edward.  In  spite  of 
the  tender  age  of  the  parties  (for  the  bride  was  in 
her  seventh,  and  the  bridegroom  only  in  his  fifth 
year),  this  part  of  the  ti'eaty  was  carried  into  almost 


immediate  effect :  the  queen-mother  Isabella  carried 
her  daughter  to  Berwick,  where  the  marriage  was 
solemnized,  on  the  day  of  Mary  Magdalen,  the  22d 
of  July.  With  the  princess,  whom  the  Scots  sur- 
named  "  Joan  Makepeace,"  were  delivered  up  many 
of  the  jewels,  charters,  and  other  things  which  had 
been  taken  out  of  Scotland  by  Edward  I.  In  return 
for  these  and  the  other  advantages  of  the  compact, 
Bruce  agreed  to  pay  to  the  King  of  England  the  sum 
of  thirty  thousand  marks  in  compensation  for  the 
damages  done  by  the  Scots  in  their  recent  invasion. 
The  great  Bruce,  who  had  raised  his  counhy  from 
the  depth  of  despair  and  servitude  to  this  glorious 
enfranchisement,  did  not  long  survive  the  peace, 
dying  at  his  little  castle  of  Cardross  on  the  7th  of 
June  in  the  following  year.  He  was  buried  under 
the  pavement  of  the  choir  in  the  abbey  church  of 
Dunfermline. 

The  position  occupied  by  Mortimer  inevitably 
exposed  him  to  envy,  yet  he  continued  to  grasp  at 
fresh  power  and  honors,  and  to  show  that  he  would 
hesitate  at  no  crime  to  preserve  what  he  got.  In 
the  month  of  October,  Parliament  met  again  at  Salis- 
bury, and  then  Mortimer  was  created  Earl  of 
March,  or  Lord  of  the  Marches  of  Wales.  The 
council  of  regency  was  in  a  manner  displaced,  and 
the  whole  government  seemed  more  than  ever  to 
be  shared  between  him  and  the  queen-mother. 
His  expenses  knew  no  bounds,  and  he  caused  an 
immoderate  quantity  of  provisions  to  be  taken  up  in 
the  name  of  the  queen,  "  at  the  king's  price,  to  the 
sore  oppression  of  the  people."  This  abuse  of  the 
right  of  purveyance  caused  great  discontents,  and 
popular  odium,  arising  from  other  causes,  was  added 
to  the  grudge  of  the  nobles.     The  Earl  of  Lancas- 


726 


HISTORr  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


-!:>, 


Ui'NKERMLiNE  Abbey,  Fxfe  :  ilie  Burial  Place  of  liruce 


ter  was  the  first  to  attempt  to  make  head  against 
this  new  favorite ;  but,  though  he  was  guardian  of 
the  young  king,  Edward  remained  with  Mortimer 
and  his  mother,  and  after  a  show  of  force  at  Win- 
chester, the  earl  was  obUged  to  retreat.  Mortimer 
fell  upon  his  estates  and  plundered  them,  as  if  he 
had  been  fighting  in  a  foreign  country.  The  young 
king's  uncles,  the  earls  of  Kent  and  Norfolk,  who 
were  equally  disgusted  with  the  favorite's  arbitrary 
ascendency,  joined  Lancaster ;  but,  from  some 
cause  or  other,  they  abandoned  him  almost  imme- 
diately after,  upon  which  the  earl  was  compelled  to 
submit  to  ask  pardon  in  a  humiliating  manner,  and 
to  pay  an  immense  fine.  Blind  to  the  fact  that 
Edward  was  every  day  approaching  that  age  when 
he  would  act  for  himself,  Mortimer  still  pursued  his 
wild  career  of  ambition.  It  was  said  at  the  time 
that  he  entertained  a  design  of  destroying  the  king 
and  placing  himself  on  the  throne,  but  there  is  no 
proof  of  this  improbable  story.' 

A.  D.  1330. — The  Earl  of  Kent  was  now  made  to 
pay  an  awful  price  for  his  levity  in  joining  and  then 
deserting  Lancaster.  He  was  surrounded  by  the 
artful  agents  of  Mortimer  and  the  queen,  and  led  to 
believe  a  story  which  was  then  widely  circulated, 
that  his  brother,  Edward  IL,  in  whose  deposition  he 
had  taken  so  active  a  part,  was  not  dead,  but  living. 
The  body  exhibited  at  Berkeley  Castle,  and  afterward 
buried  at  Gloucester  (so  went  the  legend),  was  not 
that  of  the  deposed  king,  who  was  actually  shut  up 
in  Corfe  Castle.  Some  monks  urged  the  Earl  of 
Kent  to  release  his  captive  brother,  and  restore  him 
to  the  throne,  assuring  him  that  several  bishops  and 
nobles,  whose  messengers  they  were,  or  pretended 
to  be,  would  aid  him  in  this  meritorious  enterprise. 

1  Heming. — Knyght. — Wals. — Rymcr. — Holinsh. 


The  eai'l  even  received  letters  from  the  Pope,  ex- 
horting him  to  pursue  the  same  course.  These 
letters  appear  to  have  been  forgeries,  but  they  im- 
posed upon  the  credulous  earl,  who  even  went  the 
length  of  writing  to  his  dead  brother,  wliich  letters 
were  delivered  to  Sir  John  Maltravers,  one  of  the 
suspected  assassins  of  the  late  king.  These  strange 
epistles  were  put  into  the  hands  of  Isabella  and 
Mortimer,  who,  considering  them  proofs  sufficient 
of  treasonable  practices,  immediately  summoned  a 
parliament  to  try  the  traitor.  The  Earl  of  Kent 
was  inveigled  to  Winchester,  and  there  a  parlia- 
ment, consisting  solely  of  the  partisans  of  Isabella 
and  Mortimer,  met  on  the  11th  of  March.  The 
Earl  of  Kent,  who  had  been  seized  as  soon  as  he 
was  in  their  power,  was  produced  as  a  prisoner; 
and,  on  the  16th,  he  was  convicted  of  high  treason, 
for  having  designed  to  raise  a  dead  man  to  the 
throne ;  at  least  nothing  else  was  proved  or  at- 
tempted to  be  proved  against  him ;  and  thus  this  trial 
is  entitled  to  a  place  among  the  curiosities  of  juris- 
prudence. The  earl's  accomplices  were  all  liber- 
ated, with  the  exception  of  one  Robert  de  Touton, 
and  a  poor  London  friar  who  had  told  the  Earl  of 
Kent  that  he  had  raised  a  spirit  in  order  to  be  more 
fully  assured  that  Edward  II.  was  really  living. 
This  monk  was  kept  in  prison  till  he  died.  On  ac- 
count of  his  royal  birth  it  was  not  expected  that  the 
sentence  against  the  earl  would  be  carried  into  exe- 
cution ;  but  people  had  not  taken  the  proper  meas- 
ure of  Mortimer's  audacity: — on  the  19th,  the  son 
of  the  great  Edward  was  carried  to  the  place  of 
execution  outside  the  town  of  Winchester ;  but 
when  he  reached  the  spot,  nobody  could  be  found 
that  would  perform  the  office  of  headsman.  For 
four  hours  the  life  of  the  earl  was  painfully  pro- 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


727 


longed  by  this  popular  scruple :  at  last  a  convicted 
felon  took  up  the  axe,  on  condition  of  a  free  pardon, 
and  the  head  was  struck  off.  His  death  was  the 
less  lamented,  "  because  of  the  insolence  and  rapa- 
ciousness  of  his  servants  and  retinue,  who,  riding 
abroad,  would  take  up  things  at  their  pleasure, 
neither  paying  nor  agreeing  with  the  parties  to 
whom  such  things  belonged."  From  which  state- 
ment it  should  appear,  as  also  from  complaints  in 
parliament,  that  all  the  princes  of  the  blood,  and 
occasionally  other  great  lords,  were  accustomed  to 
consider  the  oppressive  privileges  of  purveyance  as 
part  of  their  ways  and  means,  or,  in  other  words,  to 
plunder  the  defenceless  portion  of  the  people  of 
such  stock  and  provisions  as  they  wanted.  But  the 
iniquity  of  the  sentence  was  apparent,  and  attributed 
by  all  to  the  malice  of  Mortimer  and  Isabella.  The 
young  king,  it  is  true,  had  confirmed  the  sentence, 
and  sent  his  own  uncle  to  the  block ;  but  Edward 
was  not  considered  a  free  or  competent  agent.^ 

About  three  months  after  the  execution  of  the 
Earl  of  Kent,  Philippa,  the  young  queen,  was  de- 
livered, at  Woodstock,  of  her  first  child, — the  Prince 
Edward,  afterward  so  celebrated  under  the  title  of 
the  Black  Prince.  A  father,  and  eighteen  years  of 
age,  the  king  now  thought  it  time  to  assert  his 
authority ;  and,  though  their  party  was  strong,  the 
nation  was  most  willing  to  assist  him  in  overthrow- 
ing the  usurpation  of  his  mother  and  her  daring 
lover.  The  immorality  of  the  connection  had  long 
been  a  theme  of  popular  outcry  :  some  had  believed, 
or  affected  to  believe,  that  scandal  had  exaggei'ated 
indiscretions,  but  now  it  was  generally  reported  and 
credited  that  Isabella  was  with  child  by  Mortimer. 

'  Hemiiig. — Knyght. — Murira. — Holinshed. 


At  first,  however,  no  person  about  the  (!0urt  was 
bold  enough  to  declare  himself;  and  when  Edward 
opened  his  mind  to  the  Lord  Montacute,  it  was 
with  the  most  circumspect  secrecy,  and  the  first 
steps  taken  in  conjunction  with  this  prudent  noble- 
man were  cautious  in  the  extreme.  Probably  to 
make  it  be  thought  that  his  mind  was  still  occupied 
by  the  trivial  pleasures  with  which  Mortimer  had 
long  contrived  to  amuse  him,  Edward  held  a  joust 
in  Cheapside,  when  he,  with  twelve  others  as  chal- 
lengers, answered  to  all  knights  that  appeared  in 
the  lists.  This  "  solemn  joust  and  tourney  "  was 
held  in  the  month  of  September,  and  lasted  three 
days.  The  young  queen  presided  ;  and  the  inter- 
est felt  in  her  favor,  already  high,  was  heightened 
among  the  people  by  a  perilous  accident.  A  stage 
or  platform,  on  which  she  was  seated  with  many 
other  beautiful  dames,  broke  down ;  "  but  yet,  as 
good  hap  would,  they  had  no  hurt  by  that  fall,  to  the 
rejoicing  of  many  that  saw  them  in  such  danger.'" 
In  the  month  of  October  following,  the  Parliament 
met  at  Nottingham :  Edward  with  his  mother  and 
Mortimer  were  lodged  in  the  castle  :  the  bishops 
and  barons  who  attended  took  up  their  quarters  in 
the  town  and  the  neighborhood.  Mortimer  never 
moved  without  a  strong  body-guard ;  and  the  knights 
in  his  splendid  retinue  were  known  to  be  devoted 
to  his  interests.  On  the  morning  of  the  19th,  Ed- 
ward had  a  private  conference  with  the  Lord  Mont- 
acute, who  immediately  after  was  seen  to  ride 
away  into  the  country  with  many  friends  and  at- 
tendants. In  the  afternoon  Mortimer  appeared 
before  the  council  with  a  troubled  countenance. 
The  plot  was  made  up,  but  it  was  well  nigh  being 

1  Holinshed. 


An  lENT  Caves  near  Nottinqiiam  Castlk, --supposed  to  communicate  witli  the  Caslle. 


728 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


defeated  when  at  the  point  of  execution;  for  the 
favorite,  by  some  means  or  other,  had  obtained  a 
vague  hint  of  what  was  going  on.  Tliis  was  a  ner- 
vous moment  for  the  young  king :  3Iortinier  pro- 
claimed to  the  members  of  the  council  that  a  base 
attempt  was  making  against  him  and  the  queen- 
mother,  and  that  Edward  himself  was  privy  to  the 
conspiracy.  Edward  denied  the  cliarge  ;  but  the 
favorite  treated  him  as  a  har.  At  the  dead  of  the 
uisrht  tho   Lord  Montacute  and  his  associates  re- 


turned quietly  to  Nottingham.  The  strong  castle 
was  not  a  place  to  be  taken  by  assault  or  surprise. 
A  proper  military  guard  was  kept,  and  the  keys  of 
the  great  gates  were  carried  every  evening  to  Isa- 
bella, who  laid  them  by  her  bedside.  But  the  con- 
sj)irators  liad  taken  measures  to  defeat  all  these 
precautions  ;  Montacute  had  won  over  the  governor 
of  the  castle,  who  had  agreed  to  admit  them  through 
a  secret  subterraneous  passage,  the  outlet  of  which, 
concealed  by  brambles  and  rubbish,  opened  at  the 


Mortimer's  Hole,  Nottingham  C'asti-e, — llie  passage  through  which  Lord  Momacute  ami  his  iiaily  entered  the  Castle. 


foot  of  the  castle  hill.  It  was  near  the  hour  of  mid- 
night when  Montacute  and  his  friends  crawled 
through  this  dismal  passage  :  when  within  the  cas- 
tle walls  and  at  the  foot  of  the  main  tower,  they 
were  joined  by  Edward,  who  led  them  up  a  silent 
staircase  into  a  dark  apartment.  Here  they  heard 
voices  proceeding  from  a  hall  which  adjoined  to  the 
(|ueen-mother's  chamber ;  they  were  the  voices  of 
Mortimer,  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  other  adhe- 
rents, who  were  sitting  in  late  and  anxious  consul- 
tation. The  inti'uders  burst  open  the  door,  killing 
two  knights  who  tried  to  defend  the  entrance.  The 
guilty  Isabella  rushed  from  her  bed,  and  in  tears 
and  in  an  agony  of  grief  implored  her  "sweet  son" 
to  spare  "her  gentle  Mortimer,"  "that  worthy 
knight,  her  dearest  friend,  her  well-beloved  cousin." 
The  favorite  was  not  slaughtered  there,  which,  con- 
sidering the  barbarity  of  the  times  and  the  violent 
excitement  against  him,  was  rather  extraordinary ; 
but  he  was  dragged  dut  of  the  castle,  and  committed 
to  safe  custody.  On  the  following  morning,  Edward 
issued  a  proclamation  informing  his  lieges  that  he 
had  now  taken  the  government  into  his  own  hands  ; 
and  he  summoned  a  new  parliament  to  meet  at 
Westminster  on  the  2.5th  of  November.' 

Before   this   parliament  the   fallen    favorite   was 
arraigned :    the  principal  charges  brought  against 

'  Knyght  — Ileming. — Wals. — Rymer 


him  were,  his  having  procured  the  death  of  the  late 
king,  and  the  judicial  murder  of  the  Earl  of  Kent ; 
his  having  "accroached"  or  usurped  the  power 
which  lawfully  belonged  to  the  council  of  regency, 
and  appropriated  to  himself  the  king's  moneys, — 
especially  the  twenty  thousand  marks  recently  paid 
by  the  King  of  Scots.  His  peers  found  all  these 
articles  of  impeachment  to  be  "  notoriously  true, 
and  known  to  them  and  all  the  people  ;"  and,  as  his 
proper  judges  in  parliament,  they  sentenced  him  to 
be  drawn  and  hanged  as  an  enemy  of  the  king  and 
kingdom.'  Edward,  who  was  present  in  court 
during  the  trial,  then  requested  them  to  judge  Mor-, 
timer's  confederates,  but  this  they  would  not  do 
until  they  had  protested  in  form  that  they  were  not 
bound  to  sit  in  judgment  on  any  others  than  men 
who  were  peers  of  the  realm  like  themselves.  Sir 
Simon  Bereford,  Sir  John  Maltravers,  John  Dev- 
erel,  and  Boeges  de  Bayonne,  were  condemned  to 
death  as  accomplices,  but  three  of  these  individuals 
had  escaped.  Mortimer  was  accompanied  to  the 
gallows  only  by  Bereford.  They  were  hanged,  at 
"the  Elms,"  on  the  29th  of  November.  The 
queen-mother  was  deprived  of  her  enormous  joint- 
ure, and  shut  up  in  her  castle  or  manor-house  at 
Risings,  where  she  passed  the  remaining  twenty- 
seven  j-earsof  her  life  in  obscurity.     Edward,  how- 

1  Rot.  Pari.— Knyghton. 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


729 


ever,  paid  her  a  respectful  visit  at  least  once  a  year,  ' 
and  allowed  her  three  thousand,  and  afterward  four 
thousand  pounds,  for  her  annual  expenses.  In  this 
same  Parliament  a  price  was  set  upon  the  heads  of 
Gourney  and  Ogle,  the  reputed  murderers  of  the 
late  king.  Gourney  was  arrested  in  Spain,  and  de- 
livered over  to  an  English  officer,  who,  obeying 
secret  instructions,  cut  off  his  head  at  sea,  without 
bringing  him  to  England  for  trial.  From  this  and  ' 
other  circumstances  it  has  been  imagined  that  there 
were  persons  who  still  retained  their  influence  at 
court,  to  whom  silence  upon  all  that  regai'ded  this 
hoiTid  subject  was  particularly  convenient.  What 
became  of  Ogle  does  not  appear ;  but  it  is  probable 
that  he  died  abroad  before  the  murder  of  Gourney. 
Sir  John  Maltravei"s  was  taken  and  executed,  but 
on  a  different  charge,  namely,  for  having  aided  Mor- 
timer in  misleading  the  Earl  of  Kent  by  false  reports 
of  the  late  king's  life.  The  Lord  Berkeley,  in 
whose  castle  the  deed  had  been  done,  demanded  a 
trial,  and  was  fully  acquitted  by  a  jury ;  nor  does 
there  appear  to  be  any  good  reason  for  questioning 
the  propriety  of  this  verdict. 

Edward  was  now  his  own  master,  and  accounta- 
ble for  the  good  and  evil  of  his  government.  His 
first  transactions  are  not  very  honorable  to  his  char- 
acter; but  it  might  be  said  in  justification  of  an! 
older  head  and  a  better  heart  than  his  (and  his  was  ] 
not  a  bad  heart),  that  he  was  carried  away  by  the 
general  feeling  of  the  nation,  whose  pride  was  hurt 
by  the  last  treaty  with  the  Scots,  and  who  eagerly  , 
longed  for  a  fresh  war.  On  the  borders,  indeed, 
this  war  had  scarcely  ceased,  having  been  prolonged 
in  an  irregular  manner  by  the  vindictive  spirit  of 
the  people  on  both  sides.  We  have  noticed  the 
death  of  the  great  Bruce,  which  happened  in  1330  : 
in  the  following  year  his  brave  companion  in  arms, 
the  Lord  James  Douglas,  was  killed  by  the  Moors 
in  Spain  as  he  was  carrying  his  master's  heart  to 
the  Holy  Land;  and  in  the  month  of  July,  1332, 
Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray,  who  had  been  appointed 
regent  of  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  and  guardian  of 
Prince  David,  died  suddenly.  The  Earl  of  Moray 
was  succeeded  in  the  regency  by  Donald,  Earl  of 
Marr,  a  man  inferior  to  him  in  prudence  and  ability. 
An  article  in  the  last  treaty  of  peace  had  stipulated 
that  a  few  English  noblemen  should  be  restored  to 
estates  they  held  in  Scotland.  This  article  was 
faithfully  observed  with  regard  to  Henry  de  Percy  ; 
but,  for  various  reasons,  it  was  disregarded  with 
respect  to  the  lords  Wake  and  Henry  de  Beaumont, 
and  these  two  noblemen  resolved  to  obtain  redress 
by  changing  the  dynasty  of  Scotland.  Setting  up 
the  rights  of  Edward  Baliol,  the  sou  and  heir  of  the 
miserable  John  of  that  name,  whom  Edward  I.  had 
crowned  and  uncrowned,  they  went  into  the  coun- 
ties near  the  borders,  where  they  were  presently 
joined  by  other  English  lords  who  had  claims  simi- 
lar to  their  own,  though  they  had  not  had  the  ad- 
dress to  get  theu"  estates  in  Scotland  tacked  to  a 
treaty.  In  those  northern  districts  the  elements  of 
war  and  havoc  were  rife  and  ready ;  and  when 
Edward  Baliol  came  over  from  Normandy,  and 
raised  his  standard  there,  a  few  disaffected  Scots 


came  over  the  borders  to  join  him.  Edward  felt, 
or  pretended  to  feel,  many  scruples — for  the  infant 
Queen  of  Scotland  was  his  own  sister,  and  he  had  also 
sworn  to  observe  the  treaty.  Proclamations  were 
issued  prohibiting  the  gathering  of  any  army  of  inva- 
sion on  the  borders  ;  but  this  did  not  prevent,  nor 
was  it  intended  to  prevent  Baliol  and  the  lords  Wake 
and  Henry  de  Beaumont,  with  their  associates,  from 
getting  ready  a  small  fleet  and  army  on  the  shores  of 
the  Humber.  In  the  beginning  of  August  this  expe- 
dition sailed  from  Ravenspur :  entering  the  Frith  of 
Forth,  the  army  landed  at  Kinghorn,  on  the  coast  of 
Fife,  on  the  6th,  and  five  days  after  won  one  of  the 
most  astonishing  victories  recorded  in  history.  Ed- 
ward Baliol — we  use  his  name  because  he  was  first 
in  dignity,  though  it  is  evident  the  campaign  was 
directed  by  some  bolder  and  abler  mind  than  his — on 
finding  himself  suddenly  in  presence  (or  nearly  so) 
of  two  Scottish  armies — the  one  commanded  by 
the  regent  Marr,  the  other  by  the  Earl  of  March — 
boldly  threw  himself  between  them,  and  encamped 
at  Fortpviot,  with  the  river  Earn  running  between 
him  and  the  forces  of  the  regent.  At  the  dead  of 
night  he  crossed  the  Earn  by  a  ford,  and  fell  upon 
the  sleeping  Scots,  who  were  slaughtered  in  heaps 
before  they  could  get  ready  their  arms  or  ascertain 
the  force  of  the  assailants.  As  day  dawned,  the 
regent  blushed  to  see  the  insignificant  band  that  had 
done  all  this  mischief:  he  was  still  in  a  condition  to 
take  vengeance,  but  in  his  blind  fury,  he  engaged  in 
a  wretched  pass  whei'e  his  men  could  not  form ; 
and  his  own  life,  with  the  lives  of  many  of  the 
Scottish  barons,  and  of  nearly  all  the  men-at-arms, 
paid  forfeit  for  his  military  blunder.  Thirteen 
thousand  Scots,  in  all,  are  said  to  have  fallen,  while 
Baliol,  who  had  not  three  thousand  when  he  began 
the  battle,  lost  but  a  few  men.  From  Duplin 
Moor,  where  this  victory  was  gained,  Edward  Baliol 
ran  to  Perth,  being  closely  pursued  the  whole  way 
by  the  Earl  of  March,  at  the  head  of  the  other 
strong  division  of  the  Scots.  He  had  just  time  to 
get  within  that  city,  and  throw  up  some  barricades. 
March  besieged  him  there ;  but  there  were  both 
scarcity  and  treachery  in  the  Scottish  camp ;  their 
fleet  was  destroyed  by  the  English  squadron  which 
Baliol  had  ordered  round  to  the  mouth  of  the  Tay ; 
the  ancient  followers  of  his  family,  with  all  those 
who  had  forfeited  their  estates  for  their  treasons 
under  Bruce,  with  all  who  were  in  any  way  disaf- 
fected, or  who  hoped  to  benefit  largely  by  a  revolu- 
tion, flocked  to  the  standard  of  the  Pretender,  who 
was  crowned  King  of  Scotland,  at  Scone,  on  the 
24th  of  September.  Edward  Baliol  had  thus  gained 
a  crown  in  some  seven  or  eight  weeks,  but  he  lost 
it  in  less  than  three  months.  Having  secretly  re- 
newed to  the  English  king  all  the  forms  of  feudal 
submission  imposed  on  his  father  by  Edward  I.,  and 
having  stupefied  his  opponents  in  Scotland  by  the 
rapidity  of  his  success,  he  retired  with  an  inconsid- 
erable force  to  Annan,  in  Dumfi-iesshire,  where  he 
intended  to  pass  his  Christmas.  On  the  night  of 
the  16th  of  December  he  was  surprised  there  by  a 
body  of  horse  commanded  by  the  young  Earl  of 
Moray,    Sir   Archibald    Douglas,    and    Sir    Simon 


iO 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Frazer.  He  got  to  horse,  but  had  no  time  to  sad- 
dle, aud,  nearly  naked  himself,  he  galloped  away  on 
a  bare  back,  leaving  his  brother  Henry  dead  behind 
him.  He  succeeded  in  crossing  the  borders  into 
England,  where  Edward  received  him  as  a  friend. 
There  was  probably  not  a  man  in  Scotland  but 
knew  that  the  English  king  had  secretly  counte- 
nanced the  whole  expedition  :  the  greatest  exas- 
peration prevailed,  and,  with  or  without  orders,  the 
people  near  the  Tweed  and  the  Soiwaj-  Frith  made 
incursions  into  England,  carrying  fire  and  slaughter 
with  them.  Edward  had  applied  to  his  Parliament, 
assembled  at  York,  to  legalize,  or  at  least  to  justify 
in  the  eyes  of  the  English,  his  ambitious  projects  on 
Scotland  ;  but  the  prelates,  barons,  and  commons 
were  much  divided  in  opinion,  and  gave  no  direct 
answer.  The  inroads  of  the  Scots,  however,  gave 
Edward  a  colorable  pretext  for  declaring  that  they 
had  infringed  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  he  prepared 
for  war — the  Parliament  then  engaging  to  assist  him 
to  the  utmost.' 

In  the  month  of  May,  1333,  Berwick  was  invested 
by  a  powerful  English  army;  and  on  the  16th  of 
July,  Sir  AVilliam  Keith,  the  governor  of  that  im- 
portant town,  was  obliged  to  treat,  and  to  promise 
that  he  would  surrender  on  the  20th  at  sunrise,  if 
not  previously  relieved  by  Lord  Archibald  Douglas, 
who  now  acted  as  regent  of  Scotland.  Ou  Monday, 
the  19th,  after  a  fatiguing  march,  Douglas  came  in 
sight  of  Berwick,  and  found  Edward's  main  army 
drawn  up  on  Halidon  Hill,  about  a  mile  to  the 
northwest  of  the  town.  This  elevation  was  in  part 
surrounded  by  bogs  and  marshes ;  yet,  in  spite  of 
all  these  advantages,  the  Scots,  whose  heads  were 
heated,  resolved  to  attack  them.  As  they  moved 
slowly  through  the  bogs  they  were  sorelj-  galled  by 
the  English  bowmen ;  when  the)'  got  firm  footing 
they  rushed  up  the  hill  with  more  rapidity  than 
order:  their  onslaught,  however,  was  tremendous, 
and  for  a  moment  seemed  to  be  successful;  but  the 
English,  who  were  fresh,  and  admirably  posted,  re- 
pelled the  attack  :  the  regent  Douglas  was  killed 
in  the  melee ;  many  lords  and  chiefs  of  clans  fell 
around  him ;  and  then  the  Scots  fell  into  confusion, 
and  fled  on  everj-  side.  Edward  spurred  after  them 
with  his  English  cavalry — the  Loi-d  Darcy  followed 
up  with  a  horde  of  Irish  kerns  who  were  emploj'ed 
as  auxiliaries.  Between  the  battle  and  the  flight 
the  loss  was  prodigious  :  never,  saj'  the  old  writers, 
had  Scotland  sustained  such  a  defeat  or  witnessed 
such  slaughter.  The  young  king,  David  Bruce, 
with  his  wife,  Edward's  innocent  sister,  was  con- 
veyed into  France,  and  Edward  Baliol  was  again 
seated  on  a  dishonored  throne.  The  price  which 
Edward  exacted  for  this  service  was  immense,  and 
the  readiness  with  which  Baliol  paid  it  incensed  the 
nation  against  him,  and  even  estranged  many  of  his 
former  partisans.  He  openly  professed  homage  and 
feudal  service  in  its  full  extent  to  the  King  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  he  not  only  made  over  the  town  of  Ber- 
wick, which  surrendered  the  day  after  the  battle  of 
Halidon  Hill,  but  ceded  in  perpetuity  the  whole  of 
Berwickshire,  Roxburghshire,  Selkirkshire,  Peeble- 

'  Fordun. — Knyght. — Ileming^.— Rymer. 


shire,  and  Dumfriesshire,  together  with  the  Lothians 
— in  short,  the  best  part  of  Scotland.  Edward  left 
his  mean  vassal  an  armj'  of  Irish  and  English  to 
defend  him  in  his  dismembered  kingdom  ;  but  soon 
after  his  departure  the  indignant  Scots  drove  Baliol 
once  more  across  the  borders,  and  sent  to  request 
assistance  from  the  King  of  France,  who  hospitably 
entertained  their  young  king  and  queen  in  the 
Chftteau  Gaillard.  Edward,  on  his  side,  reinforced 
Baliol,  who  returned  to  the  south  of  Scotland,  and 
maintained  himself  there  among  English  garrisons, 
though  he  could  make  no  impression  north  of 
Edinburgh. 

In  1335,  Edward  having  still  further  reinforced 
his  vassal,  marched  with  a  powerful  army  along  the 
western  coast  of  Scotland,  while  Baliol  advanced 
from  Berwick  by  the  eastern.  In  the  month  of 
August  these  two  armies  formed  a  junction  at 
Perth,  and,  as  they  had  met  with  little  opposition, 
it  was  thought  that  the  spirit  of  the  Scots  was  sub- 
dued; but  no  sooner  had  Edward  turned  his  back 
than  the  patriots  fell  upon  Baliol  from  all  quarters, 
and  harassed  his  forces  with  continual  skirmishes 
and  surprises.  In  the  following  summer  Edward 
was  again  obbged  to  repair  to  the  assistance  of  his 
creature,  and  having  scoured  the  countiy  as  far 
north  as  Inverness,  and  burnt  several  towns,  he 
flattered  himself  that  he  had  at  last  subdued  all 
opposition.  During  this  campaign,  which  was  mark- 
ed with  more  than  usual  cruelty  and  waste,  the 
Scottish  patriots,  who  had  not  been  able  to  procure 
any  aid  from  France,  kept  themselves  in  inaccessi- 
ble mountains  and  wilds,  but,  again,  as  soon  as  the 
English  king  had  crossed  the  borders,  they  fell  upon 
Baliol.  This  obliged  Edward  to  make  a  second 
campaign  that  same  year  :  he  marched  to  Perth  in 
the  month  of  November,  and,  after  desolating  other 
parts  of  the  country,  he  returned  to  England  about 
Christmas,  once  more  buoyed  up  by  the  confident 
hope  that  he  had  mastered  the  Scots.  As  long  as 
he  was  thus  supported,  Baliol  contrived  to  maintain 
a  semblance  of  authority  in  the  Lowlands ;  but  the 
nation  regarded  him  with  that  hatred  and  contempt 
wliich  will  ever  be,  or  ever  ought  to  be,  the  recom- 
pense of  an  intrusive  king  imposed  on  a  free  people 
by  foreign  arms. 

Affairs  were  in  this  uncertain  state  in  Scotland 
when  Edward's  attention  was  withdrawn,  and  his 
mind  filled  by  a  wilder  dream  of  ambition — the  plan 
of  attaching  the  whole  French  kingdom  to  his  domin- 
ions. The  idea  was  not  altogether  new — it  had  been 
suggested  several  years  before ;  but  Edward's  youth, 
and  other  circumstances,  had  then  prevented  the 
pressing  of  his  absurd  claims  by  force  of  arms.  It 
would  occupy  a  volume  to  discuss  at  length  the 
grounds  of  this  dispute,  and  many  volumes  have 
been  written  upon  the  subject ;  the  main  facts  of 
the  case  may  be  stated  in  short  compass.  Charles 
IV.,  the  last  of  the  three  brothers  of  Isabella,  the 
queen-mother  of  England,  died  in  1328,  in  the  sec- 
ond year  of  Edward's  reign  :  he  had  no  children,  but 
left  his  wife  enceint.  A  regency  Avas  appointed, 
and  the  crown  was  kept  in  abeyance  ;  if  Joan  should 
be  delivered  of  a  son,  then  that  infant  was  to  be 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY^  TRANSACTIONS. 


731 


king ;  but  in  due  time  she  gave  birth  to  a  daughter, 
and,  by  an  ancient  interpretation  of  a  portion  ot  the 
SaUc  law,  and  by  the  usages  and  precedents  of  many 
ages,  it  was  held  that  no  female  could  reign  in  France. 
The  daughter  of  the  last  king  was  set  aside  without 
debate  or  hesitation  ;  and  Philip  of  Valois,  cousin- 
german  to  the  deceased  king,  ascended  the  throne, 
taking  the  title  of  Philip  VI.  Edward's  mother, 
Isabella,  with  the  state  lawyers  of  England  and  some 
foreign  jurists  in  English  pay,  pretended  from  the 
first  that  Edward  had  a  preferable  right ;  but  it  was 
deemed  unsafe  to  press  it  at  the  time:  and  when 
Philip  of  Valois  demanded  that  the  King  of  England 
should,  in  his  quality  of  Duke  of  Aquitaiue,  go  over 
to  France  and  do  homage  to  him,  threatening  to 
dispossess  him  of  his  continental  dominions  if  he 
refused,  the  young  King  of  England  was  obliged  to 
comply,  though  he  rendered  the  homage  in  vague 
terms,  and,  according  to  one  account,  entered  his 
protest  against  the  measure,  not  before  Philip  or  , 
his  ambassadors,  but  before  his  own  council  in  Eng- 
land, the  majority  of  whom,  it  is  said,  advised  this 
base  but  childish  subterfuge.  Putting  aside  the  in- 
capacity of  females,  Edward  certainly  was  nearer 
in  the  line  of  succession  ;  he  was  grandson  of  Philip 
IV.  by  his  daughter  Isabella,  whereas  Philip  of 
Valois  was  grandson  to  the  father  of  that  monarch, 
Philip  III.,  by  his  younger  son  Charles  of  Valois. 
But  Philip  traced  through  males,  and  Edward  only 
through  his  mother.  The  latter,  however,  main-  i 
tained  that,  although  by  the  fundamental  laws  of 
France  his  mother,  as  a  female,  was  herself  ex- 
cluded, he,  as  her  son,  was  not ;  but  Philip  and  all  ; 
France  insisted,  on  the  contrary,  that  a  mother  could 
not  transmit  to  her  children  any  right  which  she  ! 
never  possessed  herself.  The  principle  assumed  by 
Edward  was  a  startling  novelty — it  had  never  been 
heard  of  in  France  :  but,  even  if  he  had  been  able 
to  prove  it,  he  would  have  proved  a  great  deal  too 
much,  and  would  have  excluded  himself  as  well  as  _ 
Philip  of  Valois  ;  for  by  that  very  principle  the  suc- 
cession rested  with  the  son  of  Joan,  Queen  of  j 
Navarre,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Louis  X.,  the 
eldest  brother  of  Isabella,  as  also  of  Philip  V.  and 
Charles  IV.,  who  had,  in  default  of  issue  male,  suc- 
ceeded the  one  after  the  other ;  and  if  this  son  of 
the  Queen  of  Navarre  had  been  born  a  little  earlier 
than  he  was,  then,  by  this  same  principle,  Charles 
IV.,  the  last  king,  must  have  been  an  usurper  ;"■  and  i 
the  same  king,  from  the  moment  that  the  boy  really 
was  born,  must  have  occupied  an  unsteady  throne. 
Such  a  principle  was  contrary  to  the  maxims  of ' 
every  country  in  Europe,  and  repugnant  alike  to  the  , 
practice  in  public  and  in  private  inheritances  ;  the 
latter  of  which  had  been  pretty  clearly  defined. 
The  French,  moreover,  who  ought  to  have  been 
the  only  judges  in  this  case,  maintained  it  to  be  a 
fundamental  law,  that  no  foreigner  could  reign  in 
France,  and  contended  that  one  of  the  principal  | 
objects  of  the  so-called  Salic  law  was  to  exclude  the 

1  Joan  was  married  in  1318,  during  the  reign  «(  her  first  uncle, 
Philip  V. ;  she  was  then  only  six  years  old,  and  certainly  had  not  borne 
a  son  four  years  after  (1322),  when  lier  second  uncle,  Charles  IV., 
ascended  the  throne.  I 


husbands  and  children  of  the  princesses  of  France, 
who  generally  married  foreigners.  It  is  very  true 
that,  when  it  suited  their  own  interests,  the  French 
kings  insisted  on  a  dift'erent  law  of  succession  in 
some  of  the  gi-eat  fiefs  of  the  crown  ;  but  here  they 
tried  to  cover  themselves  with  local  laws  or  usages 
particular  to  the  province  or  territory,  and  when 
they  could  not  do  this, — as  happened  more  than 
once, — the  injustice  of  their  procedure  formed  but 
a  bad  precedent  for  others.  It  was  in  every  sense 
with  a  peculiarly  bad  grace  that  the  English  set 
themselves  up  as  authorities  in  the  laws  of  royal 
succession :  by  no  people  had  such  laws  been  more 
thoroughly  disregarded  at  home  :  from  the  time  oi 
William  the  Norman,  who  was  an  usurper  by  con- 
quest, four  out  of  ten  of  their  kings  had  been  usurp- 
ers, or  were  only  to  be  relieved  from  that  imputation 
by  the  admission  of  the  principle  that  the  estates  of 
the  kingdom  had  the  right  of  electing  the  king  from 
among  the  members  of  the  royal  family.  The  pres- 
ent question  would  have  been  at  once  decided  by 
leaving  this  same  right  of  election  to  the  French, 
who  were  unanimous  in  their  support  of  Philip  of 
Valois.  The  peers  of  the  kingdom  had  voted  that 
the  crown  belonged  to  him ;  the  Assembly  of  Paris 
had  decreed  the  same  thing ;  and  the  States  Gen- 
eral afterward  confirmed  their  judgment :  and  not 
only  the  whole  nation,  but  all  Europe,  had  recognized 
Phihp.  Edward  himself,  in  1331,  had  repeated  his 
homage  to  him  in  a  more  satisfactory  way  than  on 
the  former  occasion  ;  and  it  was  not  till  1336  that  he 
openly  declared  that  the  peers  of  France  and  the 
States  General  had  acted  rather  like  villains  and  rob- 
bers than  upright  judges  ;  and  that  he  would  no 
longer  submit  to  their  decision,  or  recognize  the 
French  king,  who  had  now  reigned  in  peace  more 
than  seven  years.'  But  the  plain  truth  was,  that 
Edward  had  not  been  able  to  shape  his  intrigues 
and  make  his  preparations  earlier;  and  now  several 
concurring  circumstances  hurried  him  on.  Philip 
had  not  only  given  an  asylum  to  David  Bruce,  but 
was  actually  beginning  to  aid  the  Scottish  patriots 
with  ships,  arms,  and  money.  Edward,  on  his  side, 
had  given  shelter  to  Robert  of  Artois,  who  was  de- 
scended from  the  blood  royal  of  France,  who  had 
inarried  King  Philip's  sister,  and  who  was  supposed 
to  have  a  strong  party  in  France.  On  account  of  a 
disputed  succession  to  the  great  fief  of  Artois,  this 
Robert  had  been  involved  in  a  quarrel,  that  entailed 
disgrace  on  both  parties,  with  his  brother-in-law  of 
France,  who  eventually  had  driven  him  into  exile 
and  hanged  some  of  his  adherents.  Robert  was  a 
man  of  violent  passions  ;  his  rage  against  the  French 
king  was  boundless  ;  and  it  is  said  that,  before  raising 
him  up  a  formidable  rival  in  the  person  of  Edward 
of  England,  he  had  attempted  his  life  by  spells  and 
witchcraft,  and  by  the  surer  agency  of  the  assassin's 
dagger.     He  was  also  gifted  with  great  eloquence 

I  Rymer.— Froissart.— Villaret.  Hist.  Fr.— Gaillanl,  Hist,  dc  la  Ri- 
valit6  de  la  France  et  de  I'Angleterre.— Edward  repeatedly  offered 
to  give  up  his  claims  if  Philip  would  abandon  the  cause  of  the  King 
of  Scots,  and  restore  some  places  he  had  seized  in  Gascony.  See 
Rymer.— Philip  thought  the  claims  too  ridi<ulous  to  be  worth  any 
sacrifice  of  honor,  and  he  was  not  captivated  by  Edward's  proposal  of 
intermarrying  their  children. 


732 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


or  powers  of  persuasion ;  he  was  skilful  aliiie  in  the 
cabinet  and  the  field,  few  princes  enjoying  a  higher 
militai-y  reputation.  PhiUp,  who  foresaw  the  con- 
sequences of  his  stay  in  England,  threatened  to  fall 
upon  Guienne,  where,  in  fact,  he  had  seized  several 
castles,  if  Edward  did  not  immediately  dismiss  him. 
There  was  not  a  sovereign  in  Europe  so  little  likely 
to  bear  this  insulting  threat  as  the  powerful  English 
king,  who  sent  over  a  commission,  bearing  date  the 
7th  October,  1337,  to  the  Earl  of  Brabant  and  oth- 
ers, to  demand  for  him  the  ci"own  of  France  as  his 
indisputable  right.  The  nation  went  along  with  the 
king  ;  the  coining  war  with  France  was  most  pop- 
ular with  all  men ;  and  having  obtained  subsidies, 
tallages,  and  forced  loans, — having  seized  the  tin  in 
Cornwall  and  Devonshire,  and  the  wool  of  the  year 
all  over  the  kingdom,  —  having  even  pawned  the 
jewels  of  the  crown,  and  adopted  almost  every  pos- 
sible means  of  raising  money  to  subsidize  his  allies 
on  the  continent,  Edward  sailed  from  Orewell,  in 
Suffolk,  with  a  respectable  fleet,  and  a  fine  but  not 
large  army,  on  the  loth  of  July,  1338.  Four  days 
after  he  landed  at  Antwerp,  where  he  had  secured 
himself  a  friendly  reception.  The  Earl  of  Flanders 
was  bound  to  his  rival  Philij) ;  but  this  prince  had 
scarcely  a  shadow  of  authority  in  the  country,  where 
the  democratic  party  had  triumphed  over  the  nobles, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  trading  cities  had 
placed  themselves  under  the  government  of  James 
Von  Artaveldt,  a  brewer  of  Ghent,  who  was  in  fact 
in  possession  of  a  more  than  sovereign  authority  in 
that  rich  and  populous  country, — an  authority  which 
he  exercised  rigorously  enough,  but  on  the  whole 
with  great  wisdom.  •'  To  speak  fairly,"  says  Frois- 
sart,  whose  sympathies  were  enlisted  on  the  other 
side,  and  who  was  all  for  knights  and  chivalry,  "  there 
never  was  in  Flanders,  nor  in  any  other  country, 
prince,  duke,  nor  other,  that  ruled  a  country  so 
peaceably  as  D'Artaveldt."  Under  this  rule,  indus- 
try, trade,  and  prosperity  had  wonderfully  increased. 
The  King  of  France  was  hated  by  the  Flemings,  as 
the  declared  enemy  of  this  state  of  things,  and  the 
avowed  protector  of  the  expelled  or  humbled  nobles; 
and  when  Edward,  doing  violence  probably  to  his 
own  feelings,  did  not  hesitate  to  court  their  plebeian 
alliance,  they  forgot  some  old  grudges  against  the 
English,  and  engaged  to  assist  heart  and  hand  in 
their  wars.  Edward's  other  allies  were,  the  Em- 
peror of  Germany,  the  dukes  of  Brabant  and  Guel- 
dres,  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  the  Marquis  of 
Juliers,  the  counts  of  Hainault  and  Namur,  the  lords 
of  Fauquemont  and  Bacquen,  and  some  others,  who, 
for  certain  subsidies,  engaged  to  assist  him  with 
their  forces.  The  English  kmg,  like  his  grandfather, 
Edward  I.,  soon  found  how  little  reliance  is  to  be 
placed  on  such  coalitions.  At  the  same  time  Philip 
of  France  allied  himself  with  the  kings  of  Navarre 
and  Bohemia,  the  dukes  of  Brittany,  Austria,  and 
Lorraine,  the  Palatine  of  the  Rhine,  and  with  sev- 
eral of  the  inferior  princes  of  Germany.  For  the 
present,  however,  the  operations  in  the  field  did  not 
correspond  with  the  magnitude  of  these  prepara- 
tions. The  whole  of  this  year,  1338,  was  passed  in 
inactivity  ;  and  after  granting  trading  privileges  to 


the  Flemings  and  Brabanters,  and  spending  hrs 
money  among  the  Germans,  all  that  Edward  could 
procure  from  them  was  a  promise  to  meet  him  next 
year  in  the  month  of  July.  But  it  was  the  middle 
of  Septembei-,  1339,  ere  the  English  king  could  take 
the  field,  and  then  only  fifteen  thousand  men-at-arms 
followed  him  to  the  siege  of  Cambray.  On  the  fron- 
tiers of  France  the  counts  of  Nanmr  and  Hainault 
abandoned  him.  Edward  thanked  them  for  their 
past  sen'ices,  and  then  advanced  to  Pcronne  and 
St.  Quentin,  burning  all  the  villages  and  open  towns. 
Here  the  rest  of  his  allies  halted,  and  refused  to  go 
farther.  Edward  then  turned  toward  the  Ardennes, 
and,  as  Philip  avoided  a  battle,  he  fonnd  himself 
obliged  to  retire  to  Ghent,  having  spent  all  his  money 
and  contracted  an  enormous  debt,  without  doing 
anything  except  inflicting  ruin  on  some  unoft"endiug 
citizens  and  miserable  French  peasants.  The  Pope, 
Benedict  XII.,  made  an  attempt  to  restore  peace; 
but  Edward,  unaffected  by  his  failure,  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  his  remonstrances,  and  immediately  after- 
ward, by  the  advice,  it  is  said,  of  Von  Artaveldt, 
publicly  assumed  the  title  of  King  of  France,  and 
quartei'ed  the  French  lilies  in  liis  arms.'  About 
the  middle  of  February,  1340,  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land to  obtain  fresh  resources,  and  the  Parliament, 
still  sharing  in  his  madness,  voted  him  immense 
supplies.  Before  he  could  return  to  Flanders  he 
was  informed  that  Philip  had  collected  a  tremen- 
dous fleet,  in  the  harbor  of  Sluys,  to  intercept  him. 
His  council  advised  him  to  stay  till  more  ships  could 
be  collected ;  but  he  would  not  be  detained,  and  set 
sail,  with  such  an  English  fleet  as  was  ready,  on  the 
22d  of  June.  On  the  following  evening  he  came  in 
sight  of  the  enemy,  who,  on  the  morning  of  the 
24th,  drew  out  to  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  of  Sluys. 
As  Edward  saw  this  movement,  he  exclaimed,  "  Ha! 
I  have  long  desired  to  fight  with  the  Frenchmen, 
and  now  I  shall  fight  with  some  of  them  by  the  grace 
of  God  and  St.  George."^  The  battle  soon  joined; 
stones  were  cast  and  arrows  discharged  from  the 
decks  ;  and  then  fastening  their  ships  together  with 
grappling-irons  and  chains,  the  enemies  fouglit  hand- 
to-hand  with  swords,  and  pikes,  and  battle-axes. 
The  English  gained  a  complete  victoiy ;  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  French  fleet  was  taken,  and  from  ten 
to  fifteen  thousand  of  their  mariners  were  killed  or 
drowned.  So  dreadful  was  this  disaster  in  the  eyes 
of  all  of  them,  that  none  of  Philip's  ministers  or 
courtiers  dared  to  break  the  news  to  him.  This 
task  was  left  to  his  buffoon.  "  The  English  are  but 
cowards,"  said  the  fool.  "How  so?"  inquired  the 
king.  "Because  they  had  not  the  courage  to  leap 
into  the  sea  like  the  French  and  Normans  at  Sluys," 
replied  the  fool.^ 

After  this  frightful  loss  of  human  life  (and,  beside 
the  French,  four  thousand  English  had  perished), 
Edward  went  to  church  to  say  his  prayers  and 
return  thanks ;  and  in  the  letter  which  he  wrote  to 
the  bishoi)s  and  clergy  of  England,  he  told  them 

1  Until  he  assumed  the  title  of  lawful  Kin^  of  France,  many,  even 
among  the  turbulent  Flemings,  had  scruples  ;  they  cared  nothing  for 
Philip  or  his  authority,  but  as  vassals  (nominal  at  least)  they  re- 
spected the  name  of  King  of  France. 

-  Froissart  ^  Wals.— Froissart.— Avesb.— Knyght. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


733 


how,  by  heavenly  grace  and  mercy,  he  had  won  so 
great  a  victory.  This  splendid  success,  and,  still 
more,  the  great  sums  of  money  he  carried  with 
him,  brought  his  allies  trooping  round  his  standard. 
Two  hundred  thousand  men,  in  all,  are  said  to 
have  followed  him  to  the  French  frontier;  but 
again  the  mass  of  this  incongruous  host  broke  up 
without  doing  anything,  and,  after  challenging  the 
French  king  to  single  combat,  and  spending  all  his 
money,  Edward  was  obliged  to  agree  to  an  armis- 
tice. The  Pope  agaiu  laudably  interfered,  and  en- 
deavored to  convert  the  truce  into  a  lasting  peace ; 
but  Philip  would  not  treat  with  his  rival,  so  long  as 
he  bore  the  lilies  in  his  arms  and  took  the  title  of 
King  of  France.  Edwai'd  could  not  chastise  his 
lukewarm  allies,  but  he  resolved  to  vent  his  spite 
on  his  ministers  at  home,  who,  he  pretended,  had 
not  done  their  duty.  One  night,  in  the  end  of  No- 
vember, he  appeared  suddenly  at  the  Tower  of 
London,  where  no  one  expected  him,  and  where 
there  were  very  evident  signs  of  a  culpable  negli- 
gence. The  next  morning  he  threw  three  of  the 
judges  into  prison,  displaced  the  chancellor,  the 
treasurer,  and  the  master  of  tlie  rolls,  and  ordered 
the  arrest  of  several  of  the  officers  who  had  been 
employed  in  collecting  the  revenue.  Stratford,  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  was  president  of 
the  council  of  ministers,  fled  to  Canterbury,  and 
when  summoned  to  appear,  appealed  for  himself  and 
his  colleagues  to  the  protection  of  Magna  Charta, 
and  issued  the  old  excommunication  against  all  such 
as  should  violate  its  provisions  and  the  liberties  of 
the  subject  by  arbitrary  arrests  or  the  like.  He 
Mould  be  tried,  he  said,  by  his  peers,  and  would 
plead  or  make  answer  to  no  other  persons  or  per- 
son whatsoever.  The  king  then  ordered  a  procla- 
mation to  be  read  in  all  the  churches,  accusing  the 
aixhbishop  of  having  appropriated,  or  irregularly 
applied  to  other  purposes,  the  supplies  voted  by 
Parliament  for  the  king's  use.  The  archbishop 
replied  by  a  circular  letter,  exonerating  himself, 
and  stating  that  the  taxes  raised  were  mortgaged 
for  the  p'ayments  of  debts  coioiracted  by  the  king  in 
the  preceding  year.  Edward  rejoined,  but  as  he 
fell  into  a  violent  passion  in  his  letter,  it  has  been 
fairly  concluded  that  he  had  the  worst  of  the  argu- 
ment ;  and  in  the  end  of  this  long  quarrel,  he  was 
fairly  beaten  on  constitutional  grounds  by  the  arch- 
bishop.' The  king  was  now  gi'eatly  distressed  for 
money,  and  acting  on  that  wise  system,  from  the 
observance  of  which  it  has  happened  that  the  liber- 
ties of  England  have  been  purchased  rather  by  the 
money  than  by  the  blood  of  the  subject.  Parliament 
refused  to  pass  the  grants  he  wanted,  unless  he 
gave  them  an  equivalent  in  the  shape  of  a  reform 
of  past  abuses  and  a  guarantee  against  future  ones. 
In  the  coui-se  of  the  year  1341,  the  French  king 
allowed  David  of  Scotland,  who  had  now  attained 
his  eighteenth  year,  to  i-eturn  to  his  own  dominions. 
David,  with  his  wife,  landed  at  Inverbervie,  on  the 
4th  of  May,  and  was  received  with  enthusiastic  joy. 
Long  before  his  coming  the  patriots  had  triumphed  ; 
they  had  taken  castle  after  castle,  and,  in  1338,  had 

'  Rymer.— Ro'   Pari. — Ileming. 


again  driven  Baliol  mto  England.  They  now  ena- 
bled the  young  king  to  form  a  respectable  govern- 
ment. The  alliance  with  France  was  continued,  and 
within  a  year  after  his  return,  the  Bruce  made  sev- 
eral successful  inroads  into  the  northern  counties  of 
England.  Edward  was  so  absorbed  by  his  conti- 
nental schemes  that  he  delayed  his  vengeance,  and 
was  even  glad  to  conclude  a  truce  with  the  restored 
King  of  the  Scots.  This  truce  was  prolonged  till 
the  end  of  the  year  1344.  Baliol,  who  had  been 
driven  three  times  from  a  throne,  was  provided  foi- 
in  the  north  of  England,  where  for  some  years  he 
did  the  duty  of  keeping  watch  and  ward  against  the 
Scottish  borderers. 

As  long  as  Edward  fought  with  foreign  mercena- 
ries and  fi-om  the  side  of  Flanders,  he  was  unsuc- 
cessful ;  but  now  he  was  about  to  try  the  effect  of 
the  arms  of  his  native  English,  and  circumstances 
soon  opened  him  a  new  road  into  France,  and  ena- 
bled him  to  change  the  seat  of  the  war  from  the 
Flemish  frontier  to  Normandy,  Brittany,  and  Poic- 
tou,  the  real  scenes  of  his  military  glory.  It  was 
another  disputed  succession  that  occasioned  the  re- 
newal of  the  war.  John  III.,  Duke  of  Brittany, 
died  in  1341,  and  left  no  children,  though  he  had 
had  three  wives.  Of  his  two  brothers,  Guy  and 
John  de  Montfort,  Guy,  the  elder,  had  died  some 
time  before  him,  leaving  only  a  daughter,  Jane, 
surnamed  La  Boiteuse  (or  The  Lame),  who  was 
married  to  Charles  de  Blois,  nephew  of  the  French 
king.  A  dispute  then  arose  between  the  uncle  and 
the  niece,  each  claiming  the  duchy  by  the  laws  of 
inheritance.  The  uncle,  John  de  Montfort,  was  by. 
far  the  more  active  and  the  more  popular  of  these 
two  competitors  :  as  soon  as  his  brother  was  dead, 
he  rode  to  Nantes,  and  caused  his  claim  to  be  rec- 
ognized by  the  majority  of  the  bishops  and  nobles ; 
he  got  possession  of  the  treasures  of  the  late  duke, 
besieged  and  took  Brest,  Vannes,  and  the  other 
chief  fortresses,  and  then  crossed  over  to  England, 
privately,  to  solicit  the  cooperation  of  Edward,  being 
well  assvired  that,  with  or  without  reference  to  the 
old  laws  of  Brittany,  Philip  would  protect  his  nephew. 
Charles  de  Blois,  in  effect,  went  to  Paris  with  his 
wife,  and  having  no  party  in  Brittany,  threw  him- 
self upon  the  protection  of  Philip,  who  received  him 
in  a  manner  that  left  no  doubt  as  to  his  decision. 
John  de  Montfort  soon  returned  from  England,  and 
when  summoned  to  attend  a  court  of  peers  and 
other  magnates  (all  of  them  French)  which  Philip 
had  convoked  to  try  this  gi'eat  cause,  he  went  boldly 
to  Paris,  accompanied  by  four  hundred  gentlemen 
of  Brittany.  Montfort's  pleadings,  which  have  been 
preserved,  are  remarkable  specimens  of  the  taste, 
the  law,  and  the  spirit  of  the  times.  The  divine 
law,  the  natural  law,  the  Roman  law,  and  the  feudal 
law,  the  canons  of  the  church,  and  the  ancient  cus- 
toms of  Brittany  were  all  put  in  requisition.  Hf 
maintained,  or  his  lawyers  maintained  for  him,  that 
the  Salic  law,  excluding  females,  which  obtained  in 
France,  must  now  be  the  law  of  Brittany,  which 
was  a  fief  of  France — that  he  was  nearer  in  blood 
to  the  late  duke,  his  brother,  than  Jane,  who  was 
only   the   daughter  of  another  brother;   but  whiit 


734 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


waa  evidently  considered  the  strongest  ground  of 
all  was,  the  incapacity  of  females,  and  on  this  par- 
ticular point  heathen  philosophers,  Moses,  and  the 
Christian  apostles  were  cited  in  most  admired  con- 
fusion. "We  have,"  said  he,  "the  example  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  who  never  succeeded  her  son 
either  in  temporal  or  spiritual  government ;  and  it 
ought  to  appear  that  women  cannot  succeed  to  peer- 
ages, for  the  peers  are  counselors  of  the  king,  and 
ai'e  bound  at  his  coronation  to  put  their  hands  to  the 
sword  ;  and  what  in  sooth  would  become  of  us  if  all 
the  peers  of  France  were  females?"  To  all  this 
Charles  de  Blois  replied,  that  Jane,  his  wife,  had  all 
the  rights  of  her  father, — that  she  was  the  last 
shoot  of  the  elder  branch, — that  females  had  repeat- 
edly inherited  the  duchy, — and  that  her  sex  did  not 
exclude  her  from  holding  a  French  peerage,  seeing 
that  the  Countess  of  Artois  had  shortly  before  been 
preferred  to  her  nephew  Robert,  who  had  disputed 
the  succession  with  her.'  But  this  was  a  question 
where  interests  had  more  weight  than  arguments. 
Philip  demanded  of  De  Montfort  the  immediate 
surrender  of  the  treasures  of  tlie  late  duke.  This 
demand  convinced  John  that  the  judgment  of  the 
French  court  would  be  against  him ; — he  saw,  or 
suspected,  preparations  for  arresting  him,  and  leav- 
ing his  parchments  and  most  of  his  friends  behind 
him,  he  fled  from  Pai'is  in  disguise.  A  few  days 
after  his  flight,  sentence  was  pronounced  in  favor  of 
his  opponent.  As  Voltaire  has  remarked,  the  two 
parties  here  might  be  said  to  have  changed  sides : 
the  King  of  England,  who  claimed  the  French 
crown  through  a  female,  ought  to  have  sustained 
Jane  and  the  rights  of  women  ;  and  the  King  of 
France,  who  was  so  deeply  interested  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  Salic  law,  ought  to  have  sided  with  De 
Montfort.*  But  law  or  right  of  any  kind  had  little 
to  do  with  these  decisions,  and  neither  Edward  nor 
Philip  was  likely  to  be  much  embarrassed  by  a  legal 
inconsistency. 

After  his  escape  from  Paris,  De  Montfort  repaired 
to  London,  and  there  did  homage  for  his  duchy  to 
Edward  as  lawful  King  of  France.  At  the  same 
time  Charles  de  Blois  did  homage  to  Philip,  who 
furnished  him  with  an  army  of  six  thousand  men. 
Edward's  assistance  was  not  so  prompt;  but  De 
Montfort,  relying  on  the  aff'ection  of  the  people  of 
Brittany,  returned  to  make  head  against  the  French 
invaders.  Soon  after,  he  was  taken  prisoner  by 
treachery,  and  sent  to  Philip,  who  committed  him 
to  close  confinement  in  the  tower  of  the  Louvre. 
Charles  de  Blois  then  got  possession  of  Nantes  and 
other  towns,  and  thought  that  the  contest  was  over ; 
but  De  Montfort's  wife  was  still  in  Brittany,  and  the 
fair  countess  had  "  the  courage  of  a  man  and  the 
heart  of  a  lion."'  With  her  infant  son  in  her  arms, 
she  presented  herself  to  the  people,  and  implored 

•  Daru,  Hist,  de  la  Bretagne.  The  original  manuscripts  quoted  are 
preserved  in  the  Archives  of  Nantes,  and  in  the  Bibliotheque  du  Roi 
at  Paris. 

2  Essai  snr  les  Mceurs.  Philip,  however,  was  so  far  nght  that,  by 
the  old  usages  of  Brittany,  women  had  succeeded  ;  but  then  the  other 
party  could  assert  and  prove  that  this  had  only  been  the  case  in  default 
of  males,  or  when  there  was  no  near  male  bliod  relation  of  the  reigning 
family.  ^  Froissart 


their  assistance  for  the  only  male  issue  of  their  an- 
cient line  of  princes.  Such  an  appeal  from  a  young 
and  beautiful  woman  made  a  deep  impression,  and 
by  eloquent  discourse,  by  promising,  and  giving,  she 
reanimated  the  courage  of  her  party.  As  if  ex- 
pressly to  refute  the  argumentations  of  her  husband, 
she  put  her  hand  to  the  sword,  put  a  steel  casque 
on  her  head,  and  rode  from  castle  to  castle, — from 
town  to  town, — raising  troops  and  commanding  them 
like  a  hardy  knight.  She  sent  over  to  England  to 
hasten  the  succor  which  Edward  had  promised  her 
husband ;  and  to  be  at  hand  to  receive  these  auxil- 
iaries, she  threw  herself  into  Hennebon,  one  of  the 
strongest  castles  of  Brittany,  situated  on  the  coast 
at  the  point  where  the  small  river  Blavet  throws 
itself  into  the  sea,  leaving  what  was  then  a  conve- 
nient port  at  its  mouth.  Long  before  the  English 
ships  arrived  at  this  port,  she  was  besieged  by  the 
French  under  Charles  de  Blois.  Within  the  walls 
she  had  the  worst  of  enemies  in  a  cowardly  old 
priest,  tlie  Bishop  of  Leon,'  who  was  incessantly 
expatiating  to  the  inhabitants  on  the  horrors  of  a 
town  taken  by  assault,  and  showing  them  how  pru- 
dent it  would  be  to  capitulate  ;  but  the  young  count- 
ess constantly  visited  all  the  posts,  showed  herself 
upon  the  ramparts,  where  the  arrows  of  the  enemy 
fell  thickest,  and  repeatedly  headed  sorties  against 
the  besiegers.  They  could  not  be  men  who  were 
not  animated  by  this  spectacle; — the  women  of  the 
place  caught  the  spirit  of  their  chieftainess,  and, 
without  distinction  of  rank,  dames,  demoiselles,  and 
others,  took  up  the  pavement  of  the  streets  and  car- 
ried the  stones  to  the  walls,  or  prepared  pots  full 
of  quicklime  to  throw  over  the  battlements  on  the 
assailants.  One  day,  during  an  assault  which  had 
lasted  nearly  ten  hours,  the  fair  countess  ascended 
a  lofty  tower  to  see  hoAvher  people  defended  them- 
selves :  looking  beyond  the  walls,  she  saw  that 
Charles  de  Blois  had  brought  up  nearly  all  his 
forces  to  the  attack,  and  that  his  camj)  was  badly 
guarded.  She  descended  and,  "armed  as  she 
was,"  mounted  her  war-horse  ;  three  hundred  brave 
knights  and  squires  sprang  into  the  saddle  to  follow 
her,  and  issuing  through  a  gate  on  the  side  opposite 
to  that  where  the  French  were  fighting,  she  gal- 
loped round,  under  cover  of  some  hills  and  woods, 
and  fell  upon  the  camp,  where  she  found  none  but 
horse-boys  and  varlets,  who  instantly  fled.  She  set 
fire  to  the  tents,  and  caused  a  wonderful  disorder. 
When  the  lords  of  France  saw  their  lodgings  burn- 
ing and  heard  the  alarm,  they  ran  back  to  the  camj) 
crying  out,  "  Treason  !  treason !"  and  nobody  re- 
mained to  carry  on  the  assault.  Having  thus  re- 
lieved the  town,  the  countess  would  have  returned 
into  it,  but  the  besiegers  threw  themselves  across 
her  path,  and  obliged  her  to  fly  for  safetj-  into  tlm 
open  country.  Louis  d'Espagne,  who  was  marshal, 
pursued  the  enemy  without  knowing  that  she  was 
among  them,  and  he  killed  several  of  her  men-at- 
arms  that  were  not  well  mounted  ;  but  the  countess 
"rode  so  well"  that  she  and  a  great  part  of  her 
three   hundred    companions   escaped   unhurt,   and 

1  It  is  not  quite  clear  whether  this  liishop  was  coward  or  traitor  ;  iu- 
had  a  brother  in  the  service  of  Charles  de  Blois 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


735 


soon  after  threw  themselves  into  the  castle  of  Aul-  | 
ray,  which,  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  Bretons, 
had  been  built  by  King  Arthur.     When  the  French 
knew  that  it  was  the  countess  who  had  done  them  j 
all  that  mischief,  they  marveled  greatly.     Within  i 
Hennebon   it  was  not  known  for  five  whole  days 
what  had  become  of  the  brave  lady  ;  some  thought 
she  must  be  slain,  and  all  were  ill  at  ease  on  her  [ 
account.     But  the  wife  of  De  Montfort  had  made  '. 
good  use  of  this  time ;  she  summoned  her  friends 
in  the  neighboring  country,  and  managed  so  well,  j 
that  instead  of  three  hundred,  she  had  five  hundred 
or  six  hundred  companions,  armed  and  well  mount-  j 
ed.     Leaving  Aulray  at. midnight,  she  appeared  at 
sunrise  on  the  sixth  morning  under  Hennebon,  and 
dashing  between  the  besiegers'  camp  and  the  ram- 
parts, she  got  safely  to  a  gate  which  was  opened 
for  her,  and  entered  the  town  with  the  triumphant 
sounds  of  ti'umpets   and  horns,  at  all  which   the 
French  host  marveled  mightily,  and  then  went  to 
arm  themselves.' 

At  last,  a  scarcity  of  provisions  began  to  be  felt 
within  these  well-defended  walls,  and  still  the  suc- 
cors of  Edward  did  not  arrive.  Day  after  day, 
anxious  eyes  were  cast  seaward,  and  still  no  fleet 
was  seen.  The  Bishop  of  Leon  renewed  his  dis- 
mal croaking,  and  at  length  was  allowed  to  propose 
a  capitulation.  The  countess,  howevei%  entreated 
the  lords  of  Brittanj^  for  the  love  of  God,  to  conclude 
nothing  as  yet,  and  told  them  she  was  sure  she 
should  receive  great  help  before  three  days.  On 
the  morrow,  the  garrison  was  wholly  disheartened, 
the  bishop  again  communicated  with  the  enemy, 
and  the  French  were  coming  up  to  take  possession, 
when  the  countess,  who  was  looking  over  the  sea 
from  a  casement  in  the  tower,  suddenly  cried  out 
with  great  joy,  "The  English,  the  English!  I  see 
the  succors  coming."  And  it  was,  indeed,  the 
English  fleet  she  saw  crossing  the  Une  of  the  hori- 
zon. It  had  been  detained  forty  days  by  contrary 
winds,  but  it  now  came  merrily  over  the  waves  with 
a  press  of  sail.  The  people  of  Hennebon  crowded 
the  seaward  rampart  to  enjoy  the  sight.  All  thoughts 
of  surrendering  were  abandoned  ;  in  brief  time  the 
English  ships,  "  great  and  small,"  shot  into  the  port, 
and  landed  a  body  of  troops,  under  the  command  of 
Sir  Walter  Manny,  as  brave  a  soldier  as  ever  drew 
sword.  The  fair  countess  received  her  deliverers 
with  enthusiastic  gratitude,  and  with  a  refinement 
of  courtesy.  For  the  lords  and  captains  she  dressed 
up  chambers  in  the  castle  with  fine  tapestry,  and  she 
dined  at  table  with  them.  On  the  following  day, 
after  a  good  dinner.  Sir  Walter  Manny  said,  "  Sii-s, 
I  have  a  great  mind  to  go  forth  and  break  down  this 
gi-eat  battering  engine  of  the  French,  that  stands  so 
near  us,  if  any  will  follow  me."  Then  Sir  Hugh  of 
Tregnier  said  that  he  would  not  fail  him  in  this  first 
adventure;  and  so  said  Sir  Galeran.  The  knights 
armed,  and  the  yeomen  of  England,  who  really  did 
the  business,  took  their  bows  and  arrows.  Manny 
went  quietly  out  by  a  postern  with  three  hundred 
archers,  and  some  forty  men-at-arms.  The  archers 
shot  "  so  thick  together,"  that  the  French  in  charge 
1  Froissart. 


of  the  engine,  could  not  stand  it;  they  fled,  and  the 
machine  was  destroj'ed.  Manny  then  rushed  on 
the  besiegers'  tents  and  lodgings,  set  fire  to  them  in 
many  places,  smiting  and  killing  not  a  few,  and  then 
withdrew  with  his  companions  "  fair  and  easily." 
The  countess,  who  had  seen  the  whole  of  this  gal- 
lant sortie  from  the  high  tower,  now  descended,  and 
came  forth  joyfully  and  kissed  Sir  Walter  Manny 
and  his  comrades  one  after  the  other  two  or  three 
times,  like  a  brave  lady.' 

The  French  now  despaired  ;  and  the  very  morn- 
ing after  this  affair  they  raised  the  siege  of  Henne- 
bon, and  carried  the  war  into  Lower  Brittany, 
where  they  took  several  towns.  But  soon  after, 
they  suffered  a  tremendous  loss  at  Quimperle, 
where  an  army,  under  the  command  of  Don  Louis 
d'Espagne,  was  cut  to  pieces  almost  to  a  man  by  the 
English  and  the  people  of  the  countess.  Some 
months  after,  however,  Charles  de  Blois  reappeared 
in  great  force  before  Hennebon,  and  began  a  fresh 
siege.  Encouraged  by  the  recollection  of  their  for- 
mer defence,  and  by  the  presence  of  their  heroic 
countess  and  Sir  Walter  Manny,  the  people  in  the 
town  cared  little  for  the  number  of  the  besiegers,  to 
whom  they  cried  in  mockery,  from  the  walls,  "  You 
are  not  numerous  enough  yet;  you  are  not  enough  ! 
go,  and  seek  your  companions  who  sleep  in  the  fields 
of  Quimperle."  Another  brilliant  sortie,  headed 
by  Sir  Walter,  put  an  end  to  this  second  siege — the 
French  retreating  with  disgrace.  The  wife  of  De 
Montfort  then  went  over  to  England  to  press  for 
further  reinforcements  which  had  been  promised. 
Edward  furnished  her  with  some  chosen  troops, 
which  were  placed  under  the  command  of  Robert 
of  Artois,  and  embarked  in  forty-six  vessels,  most 
of  which  were  small  and  weak.  Oft'  Guernsey,  the 
ships  encountered  a  French  fleet  of  thirty-two  tall 
ships,  on  board  of  which  were  a  thousand  men-at- 
arms,  and  three  thousand  Genoese  crossbow-men. 
A  fierce  fight  ensued,  during  which  De  Montfort's 
wife  stood  on.  the  deck  with  a  "stiflf  and  sharp 
sword"  and  a  coat  of  mail,  fighting  manfully;  but 
the  combat  was  interrupted  by  the  darkness  of  night 
and  a  tremendous  storm,  and  the  English,  after  suf- 
fering some  loss,  got  safely  into  a  little  port  between 
Hennebon  and  Vannes.  Robert  of  Artois  landed 
the  troops,  and  proceeded  with  the  countess  to  lay 
siege  to  Vannes,  which  had  been  taken  for  Charles 
de  Blois.  Vannes  was  carried  by  a  night  assault, 
and  then  the  lady  returned  to  Hennebon.  Soon 
after,  Vannes  Avas  retaken  by  an  immense  host,  led 
on  by  Olivier  de  Clisson  and  De  Beaumanoir. 
Robert  of  Artois  escaped  with  difficulty  through  a 
postern  gate,  but  he  was  sorely  wounded,  and  obliged 
to  return  to  London,  where,  within  a  few  weeks, 
he  finished  his  stormy  career,  to  the  infinite  joy  of 
his  loving  brother-in-law,  the  French  king.  Edward 
then  determined  to  head  the  war  in  Brittany  him- 
self, and  sailed  to  Hennebon  with  twelve  thousand 
men.  He  marched  to  Vannes,  and  estai)lished  a 
siege  there;  he  then  proceeded  to  Reniies,  and 
thence  to  Nantes,  wasting  the  country,  and  driving 
the  French  before  him. 

'  Froissart. 


736 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


But  Charles  de  Blois  was  reinforced  by  the  Duke 
of  Nonnaudy,  tlie  eldest  son  of  the  French  king, 
and  then  Edward  retraced  his  steps  to  Vannes, 
which  his  captains  had  not  been  able  to  take.  When 
the  Duke  of  Normandy  followed  him  witli  u  far  su- 
perior force  he  intrenched  himself  in  front  of 
Vannes,  and  then  the  French  formed  an  intrenched 
camp  at  a  short  distance  from  him.  Here  both  ])ar- 
ties  lay  inactive  for  several  weeks,  during  which 
winter  set  in.  The  Duke  of  Normandy  dreaded 
every  day  that  Edward  would  be  reinforced  from 
England;  and  it  appears  that  an  English  fleet  was 
actually  on  the  way.  On  the  other  side,  Edward 
dreaded  that  he  should  be  left  without  provisions 
before  it  arrived.  At  this  juncture,  two  legates  of 
the  Pope  arrived  at  the  hostile  camps,  and,  by  their 
good  offices,  a  truce  was  concluded  for  three  years 
and  eight  months.  The  English  departed,  boasting 
that  the  cardinals  had  saved  the  city  of  Vannes — the 
Frenclf  vaunted  that  the  truce  had  saved  Edward.' 

Never  was  a  truce  less  observed.  One  of  the 
conditions  of  it  was,  that  Philip  should  release  John 
de  Montfort ;  but  Philip  kept  him  in  closer  impris- 
onment than  before,  and  answered  the  remon- 
strances of  the  Pope  with  a  miserable  quibble.  The 
war  was  continued  against  the  Bretons,  who  still 
fought  gallantly  under  their  countess,  and  hostilities 
were  carried  on,  both  by  sea  and  land,  between  the 
French  and  English  The  people  of  both  nations 
were  so  exasperated  against  each  other,  that  they 
seldom  missed  an  opportunity  of  fighting,  caring 
nothing  for  the  armistice  which  their  princes  had 
sworn  to.  A  savage  deed  threw  an  odium  on  King 
Philip,  and  roused  the  enmity  of  many  powerful 
families.  During  a  gay  tournament,  he  suddenly 
arrested  Olivier  de  Clisson,  Godfrey  d'Harcourt, 
and  twelve  other  knights,  and  had  their  heads  cut 
off  in  the  midst  of  the  Halles,  or  market-place  of 
Paris.  He  sent  the  head  of  De  Clisson  into  Brit- 
tany, to  be  stuck  up  on  the  walls  of  Nantes.  Other 
nobles  were  disposed  of  in  the  same  summary  man- 
ner in  Normandy  and  elsewhere.  They  were  all  said 
to  have  been  guilty  of  a  treasonable  correspondence 
with  England;  but  not  one  of  them  was  brought  to 
trial,  or  subjected  to  any  kind  of  legal  examination. 
A  cry  of  horror  ran  through  the  land.  The  lords 
of  Brittany,  who  had  supported  Charles  de  Blois, 
instantly  went  over  to  the  countess ;  other  lords, 
fearing  they  might  be  suspected,  fled  from  the  court, 
and  Ihen  really  opened  a  correspondence  with  Ed- 
Avard,  and  doomed  Philip  to  destruction.  But  of 
all  the  enemies  created  by  this  atrocious  act,  none 
was  so  ardent  as  .Tane  de  Belville,  the  widow  of  the 
murdered  De  Clisson — a  daring  woman,  who  soon 
rivaled  the  exploits  of  the  Countess  de  Montfort, 
to  whom  she  presented  her  son,  a  boy  of  seven 
yeai-.s,  that  he  might  be  brought  up  with  the  young 
De  Montfort.  Soon  after  these  events,  John  de 
Montfort,  who  liad  been  a  captive  for  three  years, 
and  who  now  probably  feared  fur  his  life,  contrived 
to  escape  in  tlie  disguise  of  a  pedler,  and  to  get 
over  to  England.  Having  renewed  his  homage  to 
Edward,  he  received  a  small  force,  with  which  he 

'  r.  L'jbincau. — Daru. — Fr  lissart 


repaired  to  Hennebon.  The  joy  of  his  heroic  wif** 
was  of  short  duration — for  De  Montfort  sickened 
and  died  shortly  after,  apjminting  bj'  will  the  King 
of  England  guardian  to  his  son.  Charles  de  Blois 
returned  into  the  country,  and  renewed  the  war 
with  greater  ferocity  than  ever ;  but  he  had  no 
chance  of  success,  and  Brittany  remained  an  effi- 
cient ally  of  Edward.  Whether  he  carried  the 
war  into  Normandy  or  Poictou,  it  covered  one  of 
his  flanks,  and  remained  open  to  him  as  a  place  of 
retreat  in  case  of  a  reverse.  For  some  time,  both 
he  and  Philip  liad  been  preparing  for  more  ex- 
tended hostilities.  The  latter  had  adulterated  the 
coinage,  had  impoverished  France  with  all  manner 
of  levies  and  taxes,  and  at  this  crisis  he  established 
the  monopoly  of  salt.  Edward  declared  that  his 
rival  now,  indeed,  reigned  by  salic  law;  Philip  re- 
torted by  calling  Edward  a  wool  merchant.' 

A.D.  1345.  Sharing  in  the  ])opular  feeling,  the 
English  parliament  recommended  war,  begging, 
however,  that  the  king  would  not  sufler  himself  to 
be  duped  by  foreigners,  and  expressing  their  hope 
that  he  would  finish  the  contest  in  a  short  time  by 
battle  or  by  treaty.  An  army  was  sent  into  Guienne, 
where  the  French  had  seized  many  towns,  under 
the  command  of  Edward's  cousin,  the  brave  and 
accomplished  Earl  of  Derby.  The  earl  fell  like  a 
thunderbolt  among  the  French ;  beat  them  in  a 
decisive  battle  near  Aberoche ;  took  many  of  the 
nobles  prisoners,  and  drove  them  out  of  the  coun- 
try, leaving  only  a  few  fortresses  in  their  liands. 
About  the  same  time  Edward  went  in  person  to 
Sluys,  to  treat  with  the  deputies  of  the  free  cities 
of  Flanders.  As  Louis,  the  Count  of  Flanders, 
though  deprived  of  nearly  all  his  revenues,  and  left 
with  scarcely  any  authority,  still  refused  to  acknowl- 
edge the  rights  of  the  English  king  to  the  crown  of 
France,  Edward,  endeavored,  rather  prematurely, 
to  persuade  the  Flemings  to  transfer  their  alle- 
giance to  his  own  son.  His  old  ally,  James  Von 
Artaveldt,  entered  into  this  view  :  and  his  exertions 
for  Edward  cost  him  his  life.  Many  of  the  cautious 
burgomasters  opposed  this  extreme  measure,  and 
set  intrigues  on  foot ;  and  Von  Artaveldt's  long  and 
great  power,  however  wisely  used,  in  the  main,  for 
the  good  of  the  country,  had  raised  him  up  numer- 
ous enemies.  Bruges  and  Ypres  assented  to  his 
proposals,  but  Ghent  was  in  the  worst  of  humors. 
As  he  rode  into  the  town  he  saw  the  people,  who 
were  wont  to  salute  liim  cap  in  hand,  turn  their 
backs  upon  him.  Doubting  some  mischief,  he  got 
to  his  house,  and  made  fast  his  gates.  Scarcely 
had  he  done  this,  when  the  street  in  wliich  he 
dwelt  was  filled  from  one  end  to  the  other  by  a 
furious  mob,  who  i)resently  proceeded  to  force  his 
doors.  With  the  help  of  his  trusty  servants  he 
defended  his  liouse  for  some  time,  and  killed  and 
wounded  several  of  the  assailants ;  but  the  mob 
still  incre.ised,  the  mansion  was  surrounded,  was 
attacked  on  all  sides — further  resistance  was  hope- 
less. Then  Von  Artaveldt  presented  himself  at  a 
window   bareheaded,   and  spoke   with  fair  words. 

1  Most  of  Edward's  grants  were  voted  on  wool — tlie  great  stap'c  of 
England 


ClIAP.   1.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


737 


"  Good  people,"   said  he,    "  what   aileth  you,  and    other  advantaj^es  and  promises,  among  which  was 
why  are  you  so  troubled  against  me?"     "We  want    one  that  the  Flemings  would,  in  the  course  of  the 


to  have  an  account  of  the  great  treasures  of  Flan- 
ders, which  you  have  sent  out  of  the  country  with- 
out any  title  of  reason,"  cried  the  multitude  as  with 
one  voice.  Von  Artaveldt  replied  very  mildly, 
'•  Certes,  gentlemen,  of  the  treasures  of  Flanders 
never  have  I  taken  anything :  return  quietly  to 
your  homes,  I  pray  you,  and  come  here  to-morrow 
morning,  when  I  will  give  you  so  good  an  account 
that  you  must  in  reason  be  satisfied."  But  they 
cried  "Nenny!  Nenny !  [No!  No!]  we  will  have  it 
now  ;  you  shall  not  escape  us  ;  for  we  know  that 
you  have  emptied  the  treasury,  and  sent  the  money 
into  England  without  our  assent ;  for  which  thing 
jou  must  die."  When  Von  Artaveldt  heard  these 
words  he  joined  his  hands  together,  and  began  to 
weep  very  tenderly,  and  said,  "  Gentlemen,  what  I 
am,  you  yourselves  have  made  me  :  in  other  days 
you  swore  to  defend  me  against  all  men,  and  now 
}ou  would  kill  me  without  reason  :  do  it  you  can,  for 


following  year,  pour  an  army  into  France,  while 
Edward  attacked  the  kingdom  from  another  quarter. 
In  1346  Edward  collected  a  fine  army,  consisting 
solely  of  English,  Welsh,  and  Irish,  and  landed 
with  them  on  the  coast  of  Normandy,  near  Cape  la 
Hogue,  about  the  middle  of  July.  That  province 
was  defenceless,  for  Edward's  attack  had  been  ex- 
pected to  fall  upon  the  south.  In  the  latter  direc- 
tion the  Duke  of  Normandy  had  fallen  upon  the 
gallant  Earl  of  Derbj',  and  was  endeavoring,  with 
the  flower  of  the  French  army,  to  drive  the  English 
from  Guienne.  One  of  Edward's  principal  objects 
was  to  create  an  alarm  wiiich  should  draw  the 
French  out  of  that  province,  and,  by  crossing  the 
Seine,  to  join  his  allies,  the  Flemings,  who  had 
actually  passed  the  French  frontier.  Having  taken 
Carenton,  St.  Lo,  and  Caen,  and  plundered  and 
wasted  the  country,  he  marched  to  the  left  bank  of 
the  Seine,  intending  to  cross  that  river  at  Rouen  ; 


I  am  but  one  man  against  so  many.  Take  counsel  of  but,  when  he  got  opposite  that  town,  he  foimd  that 
yourselves,  for  God's  love,  and  remember  the  past.  Philip. was  there  before  him,  that  the  bridge  of 
You  would  now  render  me  a  sorry  reward  for  all  boats  w'as  removed,  and  that  a  French  armjs  in 
the  good  I  have  done  you.  Do  you  not  know  how  j  numbers  far  superior  to  his  own,  occupied  the  right 
trade  was  ruined  in  this  country,  and  how  I  recovered  bank.  The  English  then  ascended  the  river  toward 
it.  After  that  I  governed  you  in  so  great  peace  ;  so  |  Paris  by  the  left  bank,  the  French  manoeuvring 
that  in  time  of  my  governing  ye  have  had  all  things  as  '  along  the  right,  breaking  down  all  the  bridges,  and 


you  could  wish — corn,  oats,  money,  and  all  other 
merchandises ;  by  the  which  you  have  restored  your- 
selves, and  got  into  good  condition."  But  the  fury  of 
the  mob  was  unabated  by  this  touching  appeal,  though 
the  truth  it  contained  was  undeniable  :  they  cried 
out,  "  Come  down,  and  do  not  preach  to  us  from 
such  a  height ;"  and  they  renewed  their  attack. 
Then  Von  Artaveldt  shut  the  window,  and  intended 


preventing  the  enemy  from  passing  the  river.  Ed- 
ward burnt  the  villages,  sacked  the  towns  of  Vernon 
and  Mantes,  and  at  last  came  to  Poissy,  within  eight 
or  nine  miles  of  Paris.  Here  there  was  a  good 
bridge,  but  it  had  been  partially  destroyed  by  order 
of  Philip,  who  was  as  anxious  to  keep  his  enemy  on 
the  left  bank  as  Edward  was  to  get  to  the  right. 
The  English  marched  from  Poissy  to  St.  Germain, 


getting  out  of  his  house  the  back  way,  to  take  shel-  j  which  they  burnt  to  the  ground  :  by  seizing  some 
ter  in  a  church  adjoining  :  but  his  hotel  was  already  '  boats  on  the  river  they  were  enabled  to  do  still 
broken  into  on  that  side,  and  more  than  four  hun-  further  mischief;  and  St.  Cloud,  Bourg-la-Reine, 
dred  fierce  men  were  there  calling  out  for  him.  and  Neuilly  were  reduced  to  ashes.  Still,  however. 
At  last  he  was  seized,  and  slain  without  mercy:  i  Edward's  situation  was  critical;  he  was  separated 
his  death-stroke  was  given  by  a  saddler  who  was  j  from  his  auxiliaries,  and  Philip  was  reinforced 
named  Thomas  Denys.  Thus,  James  Von  Artaveldt  i  daily.  Having  examined  the  bridge  at  Poissy, 
finished  his  days  ;  the  brewer  of  Ghent,  who,  in  his  Edward  struck  his  tents,  and  advanced  as  if  he 
time,  had  been  complete  master  of  Flanders.  »  Poor  ,  would  attack  Paris,  and  his  van  really  penetrated 
men  first  raised  him,  and  wicked  men  killed  him."  '  j  to  the  suburbs  of  that  capital.  This  movement 
The  news  of  this  great  event  gave  great  joy  to  obliged  the  French  to  march  over  to  the  opposite 
the  Count  of  Flanders,  and  great  grief  to  King  !  bank,  to  the  relief  of  that  city.  This  was  what 
Edward,  who  sailed  away  from  Sluys,  vowing  ,  Edward  wanted :  he  then  wheeled  round,  cleared 
vengeance  against  the  Flemings  who  had  thus  the  remains  of  the  bridge  of  Poissy,  by  means  ot 
murdered  his  steady  friend  and  most  valuable  ally.  '  his  bowmen,  repaired  it,  and  crossed  to  the  right 
The  free  towns  fell  into  great  consternation— their  '  bank  with  little  loss.  From  the  Seine  he  continued 
prosperity  depended  on  their  trade ;  their  trade  in  his  way,  by  forced  marches,  toward  the  river  Som- 
a  great  measure  depended  on  England.  If  Edward  me,  burning  the  suburbs  of  Beauvais,  and  plundering 
should  shut  his  ports  to  their  manufactured  goods,  the  town  of  Pois.  Philip  now  determined  to  pre- 
or  prohibit  the  exportation  of  English  wool,  they  j  vent  his  crossing  the  Somme  :  by  rapid  movements 
knew  that  they  would  be  little  better  than  ruined,  'he  got  to  Amiens  on  that  river,  and  sent  detach- 
Bruges,  Ypres,  Courtray.  Oudenarde— all  the  chief  ments  along  the  right  bank  to  destroy  the  bridges 
towns  except  Ghent— sent  deputies  to  London  to  and  guard  every  ford.  The  English  attempted  to 
soften  the  dangerous  wrath  of  the  English  king,  pass  at  Pont  St.  Remi,  Long,' and  Pequigny,  but 
and  to  vow  that  they  were  guiltless  of  the  murder,  failed  at  each  place.  Meanwhile,  Philip,  who  had 
Edward  waved  his  claim  to  the  formal  cession  of  now  one  hundred  thousand  men,  divided  his  force, 
Flanders  to  his  son,  and  contented  himself  with 
1  Froissart. 

VOL.  I. — 47 


and  while    one    division  was   posted   on    the    right 
bank  to  prevent  the    passage   of  the   English,  tie 


738 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


marched  with  the  other  along  the  Jeft,  to  drive 
them  toward  the  river  and  the  sea.  So  close  was 
he  upon  his  enemy,  tliat  he  entered  Airaines,  wliere 
Edward  had  slept,  only  two  hours  after  liis  depart- 
ure. That  evening  the  English  reached  Oiseniont, 
near  the  coast,  where  they  found  themselves  cooped 
up  between  the  sea,  the  Somme,  and  the  division  of 
the  French  army  with  Philip,  which  was  six  times 
more  numerous  than  their  whole  force.  The  mar- 
shals of  the  army  were  again  sent  to  see  whether 
there  were  any  ford,  but  they  again  returned  witli 
the  sad  news  that  they  could  find  none.  Edward 
then  assembled  all  his  prisoners,  and  promised  lib- 
erty and  a  rich  reward  to  any  one  of  them  that 
could  show  him  where  he,  his  army,  and  waggons 
might  cross  without  danger.  A  common  fellow, 
whose  name  was  Gobin  Agace,  told  him  that  there 
was  a  place,  a  little  lower  down,  called  Blanche- 
Taque,  or  the  White  Spot,  which  was  fordable  at 
the  ebb  of  the  tide.  "The  King  of  England,"  sajs 
Froissart,  "  did  not  sleep  much  that  night,  but,  rising 
at  midnight,  ordered  his  trumpets  to  sound."  In- 
stantly the  baggage  was  loaded,  and  everything  got 
ready.  At  the  peep  of  day  the  army  set  out  from 
the  town  of  Oisemont  under  the  guidance  of  Gobin 
Agace,  and  soon  came  to  the  ford  of  Blanche-Taque ; 
but  Edward  had  the  mortification  to  find  not  only 
that  t)ie  tide  was  full,  but  that  the  opposite  bank  of 
the  river  was  lined  with  twelve  thousand  men  under 
the  command  of  a  great  baron  of  Normandy  called 
Sir  Godemar  du  Fay.  He  was  obliged  to  wait  till 
the  hour  of  "primes,"  when  the  tide  was  out. 
This  was  an  awful  suspense,  for  every  moment  he 
expected  Philip  in  his  i-ear.  The  French  king, 
however,  did  not  come  up,  as  he  certainly  ought  to 
have  done  ;  and  as  soon  as  it  was  reported  that  the 
river  was  fordable,  Edward  commanded  his  marshals 
to  dash  into  the  water,  "  in  the  names  of  God  and 
St.  George."  Instantly  the  most  doughty  and  the 
best-mounted  spurred-  into  the  river.  Half-way 
across  they  were  met  by  the  cavalry  of  Sir  Gode- 
mar du  Fay,  and  a  fierce  conflict  took  place  in  the 
water.  When  the  English  had  overcome  this  op- 
position they  had  to  encounter  another,  for  the 
French  still  occupied,  in  battle  array,  a  narrow  pass 
which  led  from  the  ford  up  the  right  bank.  Among 
others  posted  there,  was  a  strong  body  of  Genoese 
crossbow-men,  who  galled  them  sorely ;  but  the 
English  archers  "shot  so  well  together,"  that  they 
forced  all  their  opponents  to  give  way,  upon  which 
Edward  cleared  the  bank  of  the  river;  and  while 
part  of  his  forces  pursued  Du  Fay,  he  encamped 
with  the  rest  in  the  pleasant  fields  between  Crotoy 
and  Crecy.  Philip  now  appeared  on  the  opposite 
bide  of  the  ford,  where  Edward  bad  so  long  waited ; 
but  he  was  too  late — the  tide  was  returning  and 
covering  the  ford  ;  and,  after  taking  a  few  stragglers 
of  the  English  army  who  had  not  crossed  in  time, 
he  thought  it  prudent  to  return  up  the  river,  to 
cross  it  by  the  bridge  of  Abbeville.  On  the  follow- 
ing day  Edward's  marshals  rode  to  Crotoy,  in  the 
harbor  of  which  they  found  many  vessels  laden 
with  wines  from  Poictou,  Saintonge,  and  La  Ro- 
cfelle  :  the  best  of  the  wines  they  carried  oft'  as  a 


seasonable  refreshment  to  the  army — the  town  they 
burnt. 

Edward  was  now  within  a  few  days'  march  of 
the  frontiers  of  Flanders,  but  nothing  was  seen  or 
heard  of  his  Flemish  auxiliaries.  He  was  probably 
tired  of  retreating,  and  encouraged  by  the  result  of 
the  remarkable  battle  at  Blanche-Taque — or  there 
might  have  been  other  strong  motives  with  which 
we  are  unacquainted  to  induce  him  to  stay  where 
he  was  and  fight  the  whole  French  army,  with 
what,  to  most  men,  would  have  appeared  a  hopeless 
disparity  of  numbers.  When  told  that  Philip 
would  still  pursue  him,  he  merely  said,  "  We  will 
go  no  farther;  I  have  good  reason  to  wait  for  him 
on  this  spot ;  I  am  now  upon  the  lawful  inheritance 
of  my  lady-mother — upon  the  lands  of  Ponthieu, 
which  were  given  to  her  as  her  marriage  portion  ; 
and  I  am  resolved  to  defend  them  against  my  ad- 
versary, Philip  de  Valois."  As  he  had  not  the 
eighth  part  of  the  number  of  men  that  Philip  had, 
his  marshals  selected  an  advantageous  position  on 
an  eminence  a  little  behind  the  village  of  Crecy. 
There  the  army  set  about  briglitening  and  repairing 
their  armor,  and  the  king  gave  a  supper  that  even- 
ing to  the  earls  and  barons  —  and  he  made  good 
cheer.  After  supper  he  entered  his  oratory,  and, 
falling  on  his  knees,  prajed  God  to  bring  him  off 
with  honor  if  he  should  fight  on  the  morrow.  Ris- 
ing at  eaily  dawn,  he  and  his  son  Edward  heard 
mass,  and  communicated  :  the  greater  part  of  his 
people  confessed,  and  put  themselves  in  a  comfort- 
able state  of  mind.  They  had  not  been  harassed 
for  many  hours  ;  they  had  fared  well ;  they  had 
had  a  good  night's  rest,  and  were  fresh  and  vigor- 
ous. After  mass  the  king  ordered  the  men  to  arm 
and  assemble,  each  under  his  proper  banner,  on 
spots  which  had  been  carefully  marked  out  during 
the  preceding  day.  In  the  rear  of  his  army  he 
inclosed  a  large  park  near  a  wood,  in  which  he 
placed  all  his  baggage-wtiggons  and  all  his  horses ; 
for  every  one,  man-at-arms  as  well  as  archer,  was 
to  fight  that  day  on  foot.  Then  his  constable  and 
marshals  went  to  look  to  the  three  divisions.  The 
first  division  was  under  the  command  of  his  young 
son,  with  whom  were  placed  the  earls  of  AVarwick 
and  Oxford,  Sir  Godfrey  d'Harcourt,  Sir  John 
Chandos,  and  other  experienced  captains;  it  con- 
sisted of  about  eight  hundred  men-at-arms,  two 
thousand  archers,  and  one  thousand  Welsh  foot» 
A  little  behind  them,  and  rather  on  their  flank,  stood 
the  second  division  of  eight  hundred  men-at-arms 
and  twelve  hundred  archers,  who  were  command- 
ed by  the  earls  of  Northampton  and  Arundel,  the 
lords  De  Roos,  Willoughby,  and  others.  The  third 
division  stood  in  reserve  on  the  top  of  the  hill ;  it 
consisted  of  seven  hundred  men-at-arms  and  two 
thousand  archers.  The  archers  of  each  division 
formed  in  front,  in  the  shape  of  a  portcullis  or  har- 
row. When  thej'  were  thus  arranged,  Edward, 
mounted  on  a  small  palfrey,  with  a  white  wand  in 
his  hand,  and  a  marshal  on  either  side  of  him, 
rode  gently  from  rank  to  rank,  speaking  to  all  his 
officers,  exhorting  them  to  defend  his  honor  and 
his  right;    and  he  spoke  so  gently  and  cheerfully 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


739 


that  those  who  wei-e  discomforted  were  comforted 
ou  hearing  him  and  looking  into  his  confident  coun- 
tenance. This  courageous  serenity  was  one  of  the 
greatest  advantages  that  Edward  had  over  his  rival. 
At  the  hour  of  three  he  ordered  that  all  his  people 
should  eat  at  their  ease,  and  drink  a  drop  of  wine; 
and  they  all  ate  and  drauk  very  comfortably  :  and 
when  that  was  over,  they  sat  down  in  their  ranks, 
on  the  ground,  with  their  helmets  and  bows  before 
them,  so  that  they  might  be  the  fresher  when  their 
iniemies  should  arrive. 

After  his  march  and  counter-march,  on  the  day 
of  Blanche-Taque,  Philip  rested  at  Abbevdle,  and 
he  lost  a  whole  day  there,  waiting  for  reinforce- 
ments, among  which  were  a  thousand  lances  of  the 
Count  of  Savoy,  "and,"  says  Froissart,  "they  ought 
to  have  been  there,  as  the  count  had  been  well  paid 
for  them  at  Troyes  in  Champagne  three  months  in 
advance."  This  morning,  however,  the  French  king 
marched  to  give  battle,  breathing  fury  and  vengeance : 
his  countenance  was  clouded — a  savage  silence  could 
not  conceal  the  agitation  of  his  soul — all  his  move- 
ments were  precipitate,  without  plan  or  concert.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  shades  of  De  Clisson  and  his  mur- 
(Jered  companions  flitted  before  his  eyes  and  ob- 
scured his  vision.  He  marched  rapidly  on  from 
Abbeville,  and  when  he  came  in  sight  of  the  well- 
ordered  divisions  of  Edward,  his  men  were  tired 
and  his  rear-guard  for  behind.  By  the  advice  of  a 
Bohemian  captain,  he  agreed  to  put  off  the  battle 
till  the  morrow,  and  two  officers  immediately  rode, 
one  along  the  van  and  the  other  toward  the  rear, 
crying  out,  "  Halt,  banners,  in  the  name  of  God  and 
St.  Denis  !"  Those  that  were  in  front  stopped,  but 
those  behind  rode  on,  saying  that  they  would  not 
lialt  until  they  were  as  forward  as  the  first.  When 
the  van  perceived  the  rear  pressing  on  them,  they 
pushed  forwai-d,  and  neither  the  king  nor  the  mar- 
shals could  stop  them,  but  on  they  marched  without 
any  order  until  they  came  near  the  English,  when 
they  stopped  fast  enough.  Theii  the  foremost  ranks 
fell  back  at  once  in  great  disorder,  which  alarmed 
those  in  the  rear,  who  thought  there  had  been  fight- 
ing. There  was  then  room  enough  for  those  behind 
to  pass  in  front,  had  they  been  willing  so  to  do  : 
"  some  did  so,  and  some  remained  very  shy."  All  the 
roads  between  Abbeville  and  Crecy  were  covei'ed 
with  common  people,  who,  while  they  were  yet 
three  leagues  from  their  enemy,  drew  their  swords. 


bawling  out,  "Kill!  kill!"  and  with  them  were  many 
great  lords  that  were  eager  to  make  a  show  of  their 
prowess.  "There  is  no  man,"  says  Froissart,  "un- 
less he  had  been  present,  that  can  imagine  or  truly 
record  the  confusion  of  that  day,  especially  the  bad 
management  and  disorder  of  the  French,  whose 
troops  were  innumerable."  If  all  these  circum- 
stances are  borne  in  mind,  the  most  marvelous  parts 
of  the  story  will  be  reconcilable  to  probability  and 
truth.  The  kings,  dukes,  earls,  barons,  and  lords 
of  France,  advanced  each  as  he  thought  best.  Philip 
was  carried  forward  by  the  torrent,  and,  as  soon  as 
he  came  in  sight  of  the  English,  his  blood  began  to 
boil,  and  he  cried  out,  "Order  the  Genoese  forward, 
and  begin  the  battle,  in  the  name  of  God  and  St. 
Denis!"  These  Genoese  were  famous  crossl)nw- 
men,  under  the  command  of  a  Doria  and  a  Grimaldi : 


Genoese  Archer,  winding  ip  or  bending  his  Cross-bow 

according  to  Froissart,  they  were  fifteen  thousand 
strong.  But  they  were  quite  fotigued,  having  that 
day  marched  six  leagues  on  foot,  completely  armed 
and  carrying  their  heavy  cross-bows.  Thus  they 
I  told  the  constable  that  they  were  not  in  a  state  to 


Cross-bow  and  Quarrel 


740 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  I\^ 


do  any  great  exploit  of  battle  that  day.  The  Count 
d'Aienyon,  King  Pliilip's  brother,  h(;aring  this,  said, 
"  See  what  wo  get  by  employing  such  scoundrels, 
who  fail  us  in  our  need."  The  susceptible  Italians 
were  not  likely  to  forget  these  hasty  and  insulting 
words,  but  they  formed  and  led  the  van.  They 
were  supported  by  the  Count  d'Alencon,  with  a 
numerous  cavalry,  niasnificently  equipped.  While 
these  things  were  passing,  a  heavy  rain  fell,  accom- 
panied by  thunder  ;  and  there  was  a  fearful  eclipse 
of  the  sun  :  and  before  this  rain  a  great  fliglit  of 
crows,  the  heralds  of  the  storm,  had  hovered  in  the 
air,  screaming  over  both  armies.  About  five  in  the 
afternoon,  the  weather  cleared  up  and  the  sun  shone 
forth  in  full  splendor.  His  rays  darted  full  in  tlie 
eyes  of  the  French,  but  the  English  had  the  sun  at 
their  backs.  When  the  Genoese  had  made  their 
approach,  they  set  up  a  terrible  sliout,  to  strike  ter- 
ror into  the  English  ;  but  the  English  yeomen  re- 
mained motionless,  not  seeming  to  care  for  it:  thej' 
sent  up  a  second  shout,  and  advanced,  but  still  the 
English  moved  not:  they  shouted  a  third  time,  and 
advancing  a  little,  began  to  discharge  their  cross- 
bows. Then  the  English  moved,  but  it  was  one  step 
forward,  and  they  shot  their  arrows  with  such  ra- 
pidity and  vigor,  "that  it  seemed  as  if  it  snowelk" 
These  well-shot  arrows  pierced  shield  and  armor; 
the  Genoese  could  not  stand  them.  On  seeing  these 
auxiliaries  waver  and  then  fall  back,  the  King  of 
France  cried  out  in  a  fury,  "  Kill  me  those  scoun- 
drels, for  they  stop  our  way  without  doing  any 
good!"  and  at  these  words  the  French  men-at-arms 
laid  about  them,  killing  and  wounding  the  retreating 
Genoese.  All  this  wonderfully  increased  the  con- 
fusion ;  and  still  the  English  yeomen  kept  shooting 
as  vigorously  as  before  into  the  midst  of  the  crowd  : 
many  of  their  arrows  fell  among  D'Alen9on's  splen- 
did cavalry,  and,  killing  and  wounding  many,  made 
them  caper  and  fall  among  the  Genoese,  "  so  that 
they  could  never  rally  or  get  up  again."  Many  of 
these  knights  were  dispatched  by  Cornishmen  and 
Welshmen,  who  had  armed  themselves  with  long 
knives  for  the  purpose,  and  who  crept  through  the 
ranks  of  the  English  archers  and  men-at-arms  to  fall 
upon  the  French,  among  whom  they  spared  no  one, 
killing  earls  and  barons,  knights  and  common  men 
alike.  Having  got  free  from  the  rabble-rout,  D' Alen- 
9on  and  the  Count  of  Flanders  skirted  the  English 
archers  and  fell  upon  the  men-at-arms  of  the  prince's 
battalion,  where  they  fought  fiercely  for  some  time. 
The  second  division  of  the  English  moved  to  the 
support  of  the  prince.  The  King  of  France  was 
eager  to  support  D'Alencon,  but  he  could  not  pene- 
trate a  hedge  of  English  archers  which  formed  in 
his  front.  But,  without  the  king's  forces,  D'Alencon, 
with  whom  fought  French,  Germans,  Bohemians, 
and  Savoyards,  seemed  to  all  eyes  more  than  a  match 
for  the  prince.  At  a  moment  when  the  conflict 
seemed  doubtful,  the  Earl  of  Warwick  sent  to  re- 
quest a  reinforcement  from  the  reserve.  Edward, 
who  had  watched  the  battle  from  a  windmill  on  the 
summit  of  the  hill,  and  who  did  not  put  on  his  hel- 
met the  whole  day,  asked  the  knight  -^vhether  his  son 
wfte  killed,  or  wounded,  or  thrown  to  the  ground  ? 


The  knight  replied.  "  No,  sire,  please  God,  but  he 
is  hard  beset."  "Then,"  said  the  king,  "return  to 
those  who  sent  you,  and  tell  them  that  they  shall 
have  no  help  from  me.  Let  the  boy  win  his  spurs, 
for  I  am  resolved,  if  it  please  (tod,  that  this  day  be 
his,  and  that  the  honor  of  it  be  given  all  to  him  and 
to  those  to  whose  care  I  have  intrusted  him."  When 
Sir  Thomas  Norwich  reported  this  message,  they 
were  all  greatly  encouraged,  and  repented  of  hav- 
ing ever  sent  him.  Soon  after  this,  D'Alencon  was 
killed,  and  his  battalions  were  scattered.  The  King 
of  France,  who  certainly  showed  no  deficiency  of 
courage,  made  several  brilliant  charges,  but  he  was 
repulsed  each  time  with  great  loss :  his  horse  was 
killed  linder  him  by  an  English  arrow,  and  the  best 
of  his  friends  had  fallen  around  him.  Night  now 
set  in,  but  not  before  he  liad  lost  the  battle.  At  the 
hour  of  vespers  he  had  not  more  than  sixty  men 
about  him  of  all  sorts.  John  of  Hainault,'  who  had 
once  remounted  the  king,  now  said,  "  Sire,  with- 
draw, it  is  time  ;  do  not  sacrifice  yourself  foolishly  : 
if  you  have  lost  this  time,  you  may  win  on  some 
other  occasion  ;"  and  so  saying,  he  laid  liold  of  his 
bridle-rein  and  led  him  away  by  force,  for  he  had 
entreated  him  to  retire  before  this,  but  in  vain.  The 
king  rode  away  till  he  came  to  the  castle  of  La 
Broye,  where  he  found  the  gates  shut,  for  it  was 
dark  night.  He  summoned  the  chfitelain,  who  came 
u[)on  the  battlements  and  asked  who  called  at  such 
an  hour.  The  king  answered,  "Open,  open,  chftte- 
lain,  it  is  the  fortune  of  France!"  The  governor 
knew  the  king's  voice,  descended,  opened  the  gates, 
and  let  down  the  bridge.  The  king  and  his  com- 
pany entered  the  castle,  but  he  had  with  him  only 
five  barons.  After  drinking  a  cup  of  wine,  they  set 
out  again  about  midnight,  and  rode  on,  under  the 
direction  of  guides  who  knew  the  country,  until  day- 
break, when  they  came  to  Amiens,  Avhere  the  king 
rested.  On  the  side  of  the  English,  matters  went 
on  much  more  joyousl3^ :  the  soldiers  made  great 
fires,  and  lighted  torches  because  of  the  great  dark- 
ness of  the  night.  And  then  King  Edwai-d  camB 
down  from  his  post,  and,  in  front  of  his  whole  army, 
took  the  prince  in  his  arms,  kissed  him,  and  said. 
"  Sweet  son !  God  give  you  good  perseverance .' 
You  are  my  true  son,  for  loyalh'^  have  you  acquitted 
yourself  this  day,  and  worthy  are  you  of  a  crown." 
Young  Edward  bowed  very  lowly,  and,  humbling 
himself,  gave  all  the  honor  to  the  king  his  father.* 

Such  was  the  memorable  battle  of  Crecy  :  it  was 
fought  on  Saturday,  the  2Rth  day  of  August,  134G. 
That  night,  however,  Edward  was  scarcely  aware 
of  the  extent  of  his  victory;  and  on  the  following 
day  he  gained  another,  if  that  could  be  called  a  vic- 
tory where  there  was  no  resistance  made,  the 
French  falling  like  sheep  in  the  shambles.  On  the 
Sunday  morning  a  fog  arose,  so  that  the  English 
could  scarcely  see  the  length  of  half  an  acre  before 
them.     The   king   sent  out  a  detachment  of  five 

1  This  preux  chevalier  of  Queen  Isabella  had  quitted  the  English 
service,  and  entered  the  French,  some  time  before.  When  first 
applied  to  by  Philip,  he  urg^sd  that  he  had  spent  the  flower  of  his 
youth  in  fighting  for  England,  and  that  King  Edward  had  always 
treated  him  with  affection  ; — but  he  was  not  proof  against  a  promise 
of  increased  pay.  2  Froissart. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


741 


hundred  lances  and  two  thousand  archers  to  recon-  | 
noitre  and  learn  whether  there  were  any  bodies  of 
French  collecting  near  him.  This  detachment  soon 
found  themsehes  in  the  midst  of  a  body  of  militia 
from  Beauvais  and  Rouen,  who,  wholly  ignorant  of 
what  had  happened,  had  inarched  all  night  to  over- 
take the  French  army.  These  men  took  the  English 
for  French,  and  hastened  to  join  them.'  Before 
they  found  out  their  mistake,  the  English  fell  upon 
them  and  slew  them  without  mercy.  Soon  after, 
tlie  same  party  took  a  different  road,  and  fell  in  with 
a  fresh  force,  under  the  Archbishop  of  Rouen  and 
the  Grand  Prior  of  France,  who  were  also  ignorant 
of  the  defeat  of  the  French,  for  they  had  heard  that 
the  king  would  not  fight  till  the  Sunday.  Here 
began  a  fresh  battle,  for  those  two  spiritual  lords 
were  well  provided  with  stout  men-at-arms.  They 
could  not,  however,  stand  against  the  English  ;  the 
two  lords  were  killed,  and  only  a  few  of  their  men 
escaped  by  flight.  In  the  course  of  the  morning 
the  English  found  many  Frenchmen,  who  had  lost 
their  road  the  preceding  evening,  and  had  lain  all 
night  in  the  open  fields,  not  knowing  what  was  be- 
come of  the  king  or  their  own  leaders.  All  these 
were  put  to  the  sword;  and  of  foot  soldiers  sent 
from  the  municipalities,  cities,  and  good  towns  of 
France,  there  were  slain  this  Sunday  morning  more 
than  four  times  as  many  as  in  the  great  battle  of 
Saturday.  When  this  destructive  detachment  re- 
turned to  head-quarters,  they  found  King  Edward 
coming  from  mass,  for  during  all  these  scenes  of 
carnage,  he  never  neglected  the  offices  of  religion. 
He  then  sent  to  examine  the  dead,  and  learn  what 
French  lords  had  fallen.  The  lords  Cobham  and 
Stafford  were  charged  with  this  duty,  and  they  took 
with  them  three  heralds  to  recognize  the  arms,  and 
two  secretaries  to  write  down  the  names.  They 
remained  all  that  day  in  the  fields,  returning  as  the 
king  was  sitting  down  to  supper,  when  they  made 
a  correct  report  of  what  they  had  seen,  and  told 
him  that  they  had  found  the  bodies  of  eleven 
princes,  eighty  bannerets,  twelve  hundred  knights, 
and  about  thirty  thousand  common  men. 

On  Monday  morning,  the  King  of  England  ordered 
the  bodies  of  the  great  knights  to  be  taken  from  the 
ground,  and  carried  to  the  mouasteiy  of  Montenay, 
there  to  be  buried  in  holy  ground  :  and  he  made  it 
known  to  the  people  of  the  country  that  he  gave 
them  three  days'  truce,  that  they  might  clear  the 
field  of  Crecy  and  inter  all  the  dead.  He  then 
marched  off  to  the  north,  keeping  near  the  coast, 
and  passing  through  Montreuil-sur-mer.  Among 
the  princes  and  nobles  that  fell  were  Philip's  own 
i)rother,  the  Count  d'Alencon,  the  dukes  of  Lor- 
raine and  Bourbon,  the  counts  of  Flanders,  Blois, 
Vaudemont,  and  Aumale.  But  the  most  reniarka- 
l)le  victim  was  .lohn  de  Luxembourg,  King  of  Bohe- 
mia :  he  was  old  and  blind,  but  on  hearing  that  his 
son  was  dangerously  wounded  and  forced  to  abandon 
the  field,  and  that  nothing  could  resist  the  Black 
Prince,  he  resolved  to  charge  himself;  and  placing 
himself  between  two  knights,  whose  bridles  were 

1  Some  old  Frenih  writers  say  tliat  the  Englisli  hoisted  French 
colors,  and  so  decoyed  the  militia. 


interlaced  on  either  side  with  his,  he  charged  and 
fell.  His  crest,  three  ostrich  feathers  with  the 
motto  ^^  Ich  dicn"  (I  serve),  was  adopted  by  Prince 
Edward,  and  has  ever  since  been  borne  by  the 
princes  of  Wales.' 

On  Thursday  the  31st  of  August,  five  days  after 
the  great  battle  of  Ci-ecy,  Edward  sate  down  before 
Calais,  and  began  his  famous  siege  of  that  strong 
and  important  place, — a  siege,  or  rather  a  blockade, 
which  lasted  nearly  a  year,  and  which  was  enlivened 
by  many  brilliant  feats  of  arms.  Vn  immediate 
consequence  of  his  victory  at  Crecy  was  the  with- 
drawing of  the  Duke  of  Normandy  from  Guienno, 
where  the  Earl  of  Derby  was  almost  reduced  to 
extremities,  notwithstanding  the  gallant  assistance 
of  Sir  Manny,  who  had  removed  a  small  body  from 
Brittany  to  Gascony.  As  soon  as  the  French  army 
had  cleared  the  country,  Derby,  Avith  an  inconsid- 
erable force,  left  Bordeaux,  and  crossing  the  Ga- 
ronne and  the  Dordogne,  laid  Avaste  the  land  even 
as  far  as  the  walls  of  Poictiers,  which  rich  city  he 
took  by  storm  and  plundered.  After  these  exploits, 
he  returned  loaded  with  booty  to  Bordeaux. 

While  Edward  was  occupied  at  Calais,  Philip  re- 
sorted to  measures  which  lie  hoped  would  create 
such  a  confusion  in  England  as  to  oblige  his  imme- 
diate return  thither.  Ever  since  his  guest  David 
Bruce  had  been  reseated  on  the  throne  he  had  kept 
up  an  active  correspondence  with  Scotland,  and 
three  successful  inroads  on  the  English  frontier  had 
arisen,  not  less  from  his  suggestions  than  from  the 
eagerness  of  the  Scots  for  revenge  and  plunder. 
His  communications  were  now  more  frequent,  and, 
in  the  month  of  September,  King  David  himself 
marched  from  Perth  at  the  head  of  three  thousand 
regular  cavalry  and  about  thirty  thousand  others, 
mounted  on  galloways.  It  is  said  that  he  Avas  con- 
fident of  success,  seeing  that  nearly  the  whole  chiv- 
alry of  England  was  absent.  He  rode  into  Cumber- 
land, took  the  peel,  or  castle,  of  Liddel  on  the  2d  of 
October,  and  then  marched  into  the  bishopric  of 
Durham.  While  he  lay  at  Bearpark,  near  the  city 
of  Durham,  the  English  assembled  an  army  in 
Auckland  Park.  Queen  Philippa,  according  to 
Froissart,  mounted  a  horse  and  rode  among  these 
troops,  discoursing  like  a  heroine,  and  recommend- 
ing to  their  courage  the  safety  of  their  .country,  and 
the  honor  of  their  absent  king.  She  did  not,  how- 
ever, he  admits,  like  the  Countess  of  Montfort  and 
the  other  heroines  in  Brittany,  take  a  part  in  the 
battle,  but  after  recommending  them  to  God  and 

1  Froissart.  He  says  that  he  had  his  accounts  of  the  battle  of 
Crecy,  not  only  I'rom  Englishmen  enfraged  in  it,  but  also  from  the 
l)eople  of  John  of  Hainault,  who  was  near  the  person  ol  the  King  of 
France  the  whole  day.  A  contemporary  writer,  Giovanni  Villaiii.  in 
his  "  History  of  Florence,"  relates  that  cannon  were  used  by  the 
English  at  the  battle  of  Crecy,  and  that  four  of  these  newly-invcnted 
engines  which  Edward  planted  in  the  front  of  his  army  did  great 
execution.  This  circumstance  is  not  mentioned  by  Froissart ;  nor  is 
his  account  very  consistent  with  the  supposition  that  cannon  were 
used.  It  seems  unlikely,  too,  that  he  should  have  omitted  so  re- 
mark.ible  aud  so  material  a  circumstance.  It  appears  to  be  certain, 
however,  that  the  use  of  cannon  was  introduced  some  years  befr)rc  the 
battle  of  Crecy  Ducanere  (art.  "  Bombarda  ")  shows  that  the  French 
employed  cannon  at  the  siege  of  Tuy  Guillaume.  in  1338;  and  a 
species  of  fire  arms  at  least,  which  Barbour,  in  his  "  I.ifc  of  Druce." 
calls  "crakys  of  war,"  was  used  by  Ihe  English  in  the  expe^tion 
against  Scotland,  in  1327.  ^ 


742 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


St.  George,  she  witlidrew  to  a  safe  place.  But  no 
old  Englisli  writer  mentions  the  presence  of  Phi- 
lippa  on  this  occasion ;  and  we  fear  the  story,  how- 
ever ornamental,  must  be  reckoned  among  the 
fabulous  embeliishmeuts  of  history.  The  Scots 
were  ignorant  of  all  the  movements  of  the  English  : 
Douglas,  the  famous  knight  of  Liddesdale,  who  had 
scoured  the  country  as  far  as  Ferry  Hill,  was  inter- 
cepted on  his  return  by  the  English  at  Sunderland 
Bridge.  He  cut  his  way  through  them,  but  lost 
five  hundred  of  his  best  men.  David,  though  taken 
by  surprise,  immediately  formed  his  troops,  and  a 
decisive  battle  was  fought  at  Nevil's  Cross.  The 
English  counted  among  their  forces  three  thousand 
archers,  and  these  men  as  usual  decided  the  a(fair. 
Wiiile  the  Scottish  liorse  were  crowded  together, 
they  let  fly  at  them  from  under  cover  of  hedges, 
and  choosing  their  aim,  they  soon  unhorsed  many  of 
their  best  knights.  On  this  occasion  David  showed 
much  of  the  courage  of  his  father,  but  that  great 
man's  prudence  and  generalship  were  altogether 
•wanting.  After  being  twice  wounded,  and  still  dis- 
daining to  flee  or  surrender,  lie  was  forcibly  made 
prisoner  by  one  Copland,  a  gentleman  of  Northum- 
berland, who  carried  him  off  the  field  to  his  tower 
of  Ogle.  Three  earls  and  forty-nine  barons  and 
knights  shared  the  fate  of  the  king.  The  Earl  of 
Menteith,  who  had  accepted  office  under  Edward, 
and  the  Earl  of  Fife,  who  had  done  homage  to  Ed- 
ward Baliol,  were  condemned  as  traitors  without  any 
form  of  trial,  by  the  king  in  council  at  Calais.  Men- 
teith was  barbarously  executed,  but  Fife  was  re- 
prieved on  account  of  his  relationship,  his  mother 
having  been  niece  to  Edward  I.  King  David  was 
soon  carried  to  London  and  safely  lodged  in  the 
Tower.  The  battle  of  Nevil's  Cross,  which  wonder- 
fully elated  the  English,  was  fought  on  the  17th  of 
October.' 

In  the  mean  time  Edward's  all}',  the  Countess  of 
Montfort,  continued  to  defend  the  inheritance  of  her 
infant  son,  being  well  supported  by  an  English  force 
of  one  thousand  men-at-arms  and  eight  thousand 
foot,  under  the  command  of  Sir  Thomas  Dagworth. 
On  the  night  of  the  18th  of  June,  1347,  while  her 
bitter  enemy,  Charles  de  Blois,  was  lying  before 
Roche-Derrien,  which  he  was  besieging  with  fifteen 
thousand  men,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  the 
English.  In  the  confusion  of  a  nocturnal  battle.  Sir 
Thomas  was  twice  taken  prisoner,  and  twice  re- 
leased by  his  brave  followers.  A  sortie  from  the 
garrison  finished  this  affair — the  French  were  thor- 
oughly beaten  and  dispersed ;  Charles  de  Blois 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  sent  over  to  England,  to 
add  another  royal  captive  to  those  already  in  Ed- 
ward's power:  he  was  confined  in  the  tower  of 
London,  as  his  rival,  De  Montfort,  had  been  confined 
in  the  tower  of  the  Louvre.  The  affairs  of  Charles 
were  hereby  ruined  ;  but  his  w  ife,  Joan  the  Lame, 
fought  some  time  for  her  captive  husband,  as  the 
wife  of  De  Montfort  had  fought  for  hers  when  he 
was  a  prisoner  at  Paris.  This  has  been  well  called 
the  age  of  heroines ;  in  Brittany  alone  there  were 
three  ladies  showing  the  firmness  and  valor  of  men  ; 

'  Froissart.— Knvghton. — Rvmer 


but,  in  the  end,  the  Countess  Joan  was  foiled,  and 
the  Countess  of  Montfort  preserved  the  dominion 
for  her  son,  who  afterward  held  the  country,  and 
transmitted  it  to  his  children.' 

Edward,  meanwhile,  pressed  the  blockade  of 
Calais,  the  garrison  and  inhabitants  of  which  were 
neither  won  by  his  promises  nor  intimidated  by  his 
threats.  As  it  was  a  place  of  incredible  strength, 
he  wisely  resolved  not  to  throw  away  the  lives  of 
liis  soldiers  in  assaults,  but  to  reduce  it  by  famine. 
He  girded  it  on  the  land  side  by  intrenchments,  and 
he  built  so  many  wooden  houses  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  his  troops,  that  his  encampment  looked 
like  a  second  town  growing  round  the  first :  the  old 
French  writers,  indeed,  call  it  La  V'dle  de  Bois. 
At  the  same  time  his  fleet  blockaded  the  harbor, 
and  cut  ofi'  all  communication  by  sea.  John  de 
Vienne,  the  governor  of  Calais,  could  not  mistake 
Edward's  plan,  and,  to  save  his  provisions,  he  deter- 
mined to  rid  himself  of  such  as  are  called,  in  the 
merciless  language  of  war,  "useless  mouths."  Sev- 
enteen hundred  poor  people,  of  both  sexes  and  of  all 
ages,  were  turned  out  of  the  town  and  driven  toward 
the  English  lines.  Edward  gave  them  all  a  good 
dinner,  and  then  dismissed  them  into  the  interior 
of  the  country,  even  presenting  them  with  a  little 
money  to  supply  their  immediate  wants.  As  pro- 
visions waxed  low  the  governor  made  a  fresh  search 
for  "useless  mouths,"  and  five  hundred  more  of  the 
inhabitants  were  thrust'  out  of  the  town  :  but  this 
time  Edward  was  not  so  merciful,  and  all  of  them 
are  said  to  have  perished  miserably  between  his 
lines  and  the  town  walls,  as  the  governor  would  not 
readmit  them.  A  few  Norman  vessels  eluded  the 
vigilance  of  the  English  fleet,  and  conveyed  some 
victuals  into  the  town  ;  but  from  that  time  the  mouth 
of  the  port  was  quite  blocked  up,  and  the  Earl  of 
Warwick,  wnth  eighty  "tall  ships,"  constanrty  swept 
the  Channel.  Fresh  squadrons  of  English  ships 
were  sent  to  sea  from  time  to  time,  till  at  length 
their  united  number  Avas  prodigious.-  A  French 
fleet,  attempting  to  relieve  the  place,  was  met  by 
the  Earl  of  Oxford,  and  carried  to  England.  After 
this  the  hopes  of  the  garrison  began  to  fail  them, 
and  thej'  wrote  to  King  Philip  that  they  had  eaten 
their  horses,  their  dogs,  and  all  the  unclean  animals 
they  could  procure,  and  that  nothing  was  left  for 
them  but  to  eat  one  another.  This  letter  was  inter- 
cepted bj-  the  English;  but  Philip  knew  the  straits 
to  which  they  were  reduced,  and  resolved  to  make 
a  great  effort  to  save  this  important  place.  The 
"Oriflamme,"  the  sacred  banner  of  France,  which 
was  not  to  be  used  except  against  infidels,  was  un- 
furled ;  the  vassals  of  the  crown  were  summoned 

1  After  nine  years'  captivity,  Charles  de  Blois  was  liberated  on  a 
ransom,  which  he  never  paid  ;  and  he  was  killed  in  1364,  at  the  battle 
of  Aulray,  or  Auray,  where  the  young  Count  de  Montfort,  and  his 
English  allies,  gained  a  great  victory. 

2  Hakluyt  has  printed  the  roll  of  these  fleets,  extant,  in  his  time, 
in  the  king's  great  wardrobe.  The  south  fleet  consisted  of  493  sail, 
and  9630  men  ;  the  north  of  217  sail,  and  4521  men.  There  were  38 
foreign  ships,  among  which  was  includrd  1  fnin  Ireland ;  the  others 
were,  15  from  Bayonne,  7  from  Spain,  14  from  Flanders,  and  I  from 
Guelderland.  Most  of  these  vessels  must  have  been  very  small  ;  hut 
there  were  some  carrying  crews  of  100  to  200  men  each. — Hakluyt, 
Souther's  Naval  Hist 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


743 


from  all  parts ;  and,  in  the  month  of  July,  Philip 
marched  toward  Calais.  That  town,  however,  was 
only  approachable  by  two  roads — the  one  along  the 
sea-shore,  the  other  over  bogs  and  marshes  ;  and 
Edward  guarded  both — the  one  with  his  ships  and 
boats,  which  were  crowded  with  archers ;  the  other 
by  means  of  towers,  fortified  bridges,  and  a  great 
force  of  men-at-arms  and  archers,  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  brave  Earl  of  Derby,  who,  as  well  as 
Sir  Walter  Manny,  had  come  from  Gascony  for  this 
gi-eat  enterprise.  Philip  was  not  bold  enough  to 
attempt  either  passage;  and,  after  a  fruitless  attempt 
at  negotiation,  and  an  idle  chiiUenge,  he  withdrew 
his  army,  and  left  Calais  to  its  fate.  When  the 
faithful  garrison  had  witnessed  his  departure,  they 
hung  out  the  flag  of  England,  and  asked  to  capitu- 
late. Edward,  enraged  at  their  obstinate  resistance, 
and  remembering,  it  is  said,  the  many  acts  of  piracy 
they  had  formerly  committed  upon  the  English,  re- 
fused them  any  terms,  saying  that  he  would  have 
an  unconditional  surrender.  Sir  Walter  Manny, 
and  many  barons  who  were  then  present,  pleaded 
in  favor  of  the  men  of  Calais.  "  I  will  not  be  alone 
against  you  all,"  said  the  king.  "  Sir  Walter,  you 
will  tell  the  captain  that  six  of  the  notable  burgesses 
must  come  forth  naked  in  their  shirts,  barelegged, 
with  halters  round  their  necks,  and  the  keys  of  the 
town  and  castle  in  their  hands.  On  these  I  will  do 
my  will,  and  the  rest  I  will  take  to  my  mercy." 
When  Sir  Walter  Manny  teported  this  hard  condi- 
tion to  John  de  Vienne,  that  governor  went  to  the 
market-place  and  ordered  the  church  bells  to  be 
rung.  The  people — men,  women,  and  children — 
repaired  to  the  spot,  and,  when  they  had  heard 
Edward's  message,  they  all  wept  piteouslj-,  and 
were  incapable  of  forming  any  resolution.  Things 
were  in  this  state  when  the  richest  burgess  of  the 
town,  who  was  called  Messire  Eustace  de  St.  Pierre, 
rose  up  and  said,  before  them  all,  "  Gentlemen,  gi-eat 
and  little,  it  were  great  pity  to  let  these  people  per- 
ish— I  will  be  the  first  to  offer  up  my  life  to  save 
theirs."  After  him  another  notable  burgess,  a  very 
honest  man,  and  of  great  business,  rose  and  said 
that  he  would  accompany  his  compeer,  Messire 
Eustace  ;  and  this  one  was  named  JMessire  Jehan 
d'Aire.  After  him  rose  up  Jaques  de  Wisant,  who 
was  very  rich  in  goods  and  lands,  and  said  that  he 
would  accompany  his  two  cousins,  as  did  Peter 
Wisant,  his  brother ;  then  the  fifth  and  the  sixth 
offei-ed  themselves,  which  completed  the  number 
the  king  demanded.  The  governor,  John  de  Vi- 
enne, mounted  a  small  hackney,  for  his  wounds  pre- 
vented him  from  walking,  and  conducted  them  to 
the  gate.  The  English  barriers  were  opened,  and 
the  six  were  admitted  to  the  presence  of  Edward, 
before  whom  they  prostrated  themselves,  and,  pre- 
senting the  keys,  begged  for  mercy.  All  the  barons, 
knights,  and  others  who  were  there  present,  shed 
tears  of  pity,  but  the  king  eyed  them  very  spite- 
fully, for  much  did  he  hate  the  people  of  Calais  ;  and 
then  he  commanded  that  their  heads  should  be  struck 
oft".  Every  Englishman  enti-eated  him  to  be  more 
merciful,  but  he  would  not  hear  them.  Then  Sir 
Walter  Manny  said,  "Ha!  gentle  sire,  let  me  beseech 


you  to  restram  your  wrath  !  You  are  renowned  for 
nobleness  of  soul — do  not  tarnish  your  reputation  by 
such  an  act  as  this.  These  worthy  men  have,  of 
their  own  free  will,  nobly  put  themselves  at  your 
mercy,  in  order  to  save  their  fellow-citizens."  Upon 
this  the  king  made  a  grimace,  and  said,  "  Let  the 
headsman  be  summoned."  But  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, who  was  far  advanced  in  her  pregnancy,  fell 
on  her  knees,  and,  with  tears,  said,  "Ah!  gentle 
sire  !  since  I  have  crossed  the  sea  with  great  dan- 
ger, I  have  never  asked  you  anything :  now,  I  hum- 
bly pray,  for  the  sake  of  the  son  of  the  Holy  Mary 
and  jour  love  of  me,  that  you  will  have  mercy  of 
these  six  men."  The  king  looked  at  her,  and  was 
silent  awhile  :  then  he  said,  "Dame,  I  wish  you  had 
been  somewhere  else  ;  but  I  cannot  refuse  you — 1 
put  them  at  your  disposal."  Philippa  caused  the 
halters  to  be  taken  from  their  necks,  gave  them 
proper  clothes  and  a  good  dinner,  and  then  dis- 
missed them  with  a  present  of  six  nobles  each.' 

On  the  following  day,  August  4th,  1347,  the  king 
and  queen  rode  toward  the  town,  which  they  en- 
tered to  the  sound  of  trumpets,  drums,  and  all  kind? 
of  warlike  instruments.  Thej-  remained  there  until 
the  queen  was  delivered  of  a  daughter,  who  was 
called  Margaret  of  Calais  ;  and  after  that  they  re- 
turned to  England,  Edward  having  agi'eed  to  a  truce 
with  Philip,  which  was  gradually  prolonged  for  six 
years.  The  French  king's  finances  were  completely 
exhausted  ;  but  it  appears  that  neither  he  nor  his 
rival  would  have  suspended  hostilities  had  it  not  been 
for  tl>e  interference  of  the  Pope,  who  had  never 
ceased  to  implore  for  peace. 

Encouraged  by  his  brilliant  successes,  the  Par- 
liament had  hitherto  voted  grants  to  the  king  with 
great  liberality,  but  now  the  weight  of  taxation 
began  to  be  felt,  and  people,  as  usual,  wearied  of 
the  war  for  which  they  had  been  so  eager.  The 
Avealth  brought  into  the  country  by  the  plunder  of 
France,  was  probably  far  from  being  equal  to  that 
which  was  taken  out  of  it,  though,  in  numerous 
instances,  the  scenes  of  the  Conquest  were  reversed, 
and  men  who  went  "  poor  wights"  out  of  England 
returned  rich  lords ;  and  though,  what  with  prizes 
made  by  sea  and  pillages  by  land,  the  country  was 
stocked  with  French  goods  and  furniture  of  all 
kinds.  The  siege  of  Calais  had  cost  immense 
sums,  and  Edward  on  his  return  was  greatly  in 
want  of  money.  On  the  14th  of  January,  1348,  he 
asked  the  advice  of  his  Parliament  touching  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  with  France.  The  Com- 
mons, suspecting  that  this  was  but  a  prelude  to  the 
demand  of  a  subsidy,  declined  giving  any  answer. 
When  the  Parliament  met  again,  on  the  17th  of 
March,  the  king  told  them  that  the  French  were 
making  mighty  preparation  to  invade  England,  and 
he  demanded  an  aid  on  that  account.  In  real 
truth,  there  was  no  danger  whatever:  but.  after 
bitter  complaints  of  taxation,  and  consequent  pov- 
erty, three  fifteenths  were  voted  to  be  levied  in 
three  years.  In  the  course  of  this  year,  an  attempt 
made  by  the  French  to  recover  Calais,  by  bribing 
the  governor,  gave  Edward  an  opportunity  of  dis- 

•  Froissart. 


741 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


QlKEN    PlIILll'PA    INTERCEDING    FOR   THE    BlRGESSES    OT   CALAIS 


playing  his  personal  valor  and  generosity ;  and  in 
the  following  jear  he  commanded  in  a  naval  battle 
against  the  Spaniards  belonging  to  the  ports  of  the  i 
Bay  of  Biscay,  who  had  given  him  many  causes 
of  discontent  by  joining  the  French  and  by  plun-  i 
dering  his  trading  vessels.  The  battle  was  fought  j 
within  sight  of  the  hills  behind  Winchelsea,  whence  | 
the  queen's  servants  watched  it  with  an  anxious 
eye.  Edward  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  were  never 
in  such  danger :  the  king's  ship  was  sinking,  when 
the  brave  Earl  of  Derby,  recently  created  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  came  to  his  assistance,  and  in  the  end 
they  gained  a  brilliant  victorj-,  taking  fourteen  of 
the  Spanish  ships,  but  not  without  great  loss  of 
knights  and  men.  About  this  time  Philip  of  France 
died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  the  Duke  of 
Normandy,  now  .John  L  This  new  king  gladly 
consented  to  prolong  the  truce,  which,  however, 
was  but  indifl'erently  observed,  the  English  and 
French  frequently  fighting  at  sea,  in  Brittany,  and 
in  the  south  of  France. 

As  if  in  mockery  of  the  pettj*  carnage  of  men, 
who,  doing  their  most,  could  only  sacrifice  a  few  thou- 
sand lives  at  a  time,  and  on  a  given  spot,  the  plague 
now  invaded  Europe,   destroying   its   hundreds  of 


thousands,  and  depopulating  hundreds  of  towns  and 
cities  at  one  and  the  same  time.  From  the  heart 
of  China,  this  pestilence,  sweeping  across  the  desert 
of  Gobi  and  the  wilds  of  Tartary,  found  its  way 
through  the  Levant,  Egypt,  Greece,  Italy,  Ger- 
many, France,  and  at  last  embraced  the  western 
coast  of  England,  whence  it  soon  spread  all  over 
the  land.  It  appeared  in  London  in  November, 
1348,  and  there  committed  the  most  frightful  rav- 
ages. According  to  some  historians  one  half  of  the 
whole  pojjulation  of  England  was  swept  away,  and 
the  dreadful  malady  aftected  the  cattle  in  an  equal 
degree.  The  poor  suffered  most;  and,  at  the  end 
of  the  great  pestilence,  there  were  not  hands  enough 
left  to  till  the  soil. 

Edward  repeatedly  complained  to  his  Parhament 
of  the  bad  faith  of  the  French,  and  got  money  from 
them  to  provide  against  their  reported  preparations 
for  a  renewal  of  the  war;  but  this  money  was  not 
thrown  away,  for  at  nearly  every  grant  some  con- 
cession favorable  to  the  liberty  of  the  subject  was 
asked  and  obtained  from  this  warlike  king.  In  part 
probably  from  a  desire  to  reduce  the  Scots,  who 
maintained  their  independence  in  spite  of  the  cap- 
tivity of  their  king,  he  several  times  made  offers  of 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


745 


peace  to  John  of  France,  on  condition  of  renoun- 
cing his  pretensions  to  the  French  crown  in  ex- 
change for  the  absohite  sovereignty  of  Guienne, 
Calais,  and  the  other  hinds  which  had  been  held  as 
liefs  by  the  former  kings  of  England.  The  pride 
of  the  French  people,  however,  revolted  at  this  no- 
tion :  and  after  the  king  had  committed  his  honor,  and 
promised,  at  the  congress  of  Guisues,  to  accede  to 
Edward's  propositions,  they  drove  him  into  a  most 
unfortunate  war.' 

In  1355,  Prince  Edward  opened  the  campaign  in 
the  south  of  France  with  an  army  of  sixty  thousand 
men,  only  a  small  part  of  whom  were  English. 
From  Bordeaux  he  marched  to  the  foot  of  the 
Pyi'enees,  burning  and  destroying:  from  the  Pyre- 
nees he  turned  northward,  and  ravaged  the  countrj' 
as  far  as  Toulouse  :  he  then  proceeded  to  the 
southeast,  to  the  wealthy  cities  of  Carcassonne  and 
Xarbonne,  both  which  he  plundered  and  burnt. 
Loaded  with  booty,  his  destructive  columns  got 
safely  back  to  Bordeaux.  A  simultaneous  move- 
ment made  by  his  father  in  the  north  of  France 
proved  a  failure  ;  for  the  country  was  cleared  of 
everything  before  his  approach.  King  John,  though 
at  the  head  of  a  numerous  army,  would  not  fight, 
And  Edward  was  obliged  to  turn  back  upon  Calais 
through  want  of  provisions;  and  there  he  was 
amused  by  a  sort  of  challenge  to  a  general  battle, 
to  take  place  some  day  or  other,  till  the  Scots 
retook  their  town  of  Berwick,  and  rushed  across 
the  borders  in  hopes  of  rescuing  their  captive  king, 
or  of  retrieving  the  honor  they  had  lost  at  Nevil's 
Cross.  At  this  news  Edward  hurried  to  meet  his 
Parliament,  which  assembled  on  the  23d  of  Novem- 
l)er,  and  promptly  voted  him  supplies  for  this  emer- 
gency. 

It  was  the  middle  of  January,  1356,  before  Ed- 
ward could  appear  at  Berwick;  but,  at  his  approach, 
us  the  Scots  had  only  got  possession  of  the  town, 
and  not  of  the  castle,  they  withdrew.  Edward 
was  now  fully  resolved  to  put  an  end  to  the  inter- 
ruptions which  the  Scottish  wars  had  so  frequently 
ottered  to  his  wars  in  France,  and  to  effect  a  final 
conquest  of  the  kingdom.  His  army  was  immense, 
and  composed  in  great  part  of  tried  soldiers,  men 
elated  by  the  many  victories  thej'  had  obtained  on 
the  continent.  As  if  nations  were  to  be  bought  and 
sold,  and  made  over  by  sheets  of  parchment,  he 
purchased,  at  Roxburgh,  on  the  20th  of  January, 
all  Edward  Baliol's  rights  to  the  Scottish  throne 
for  five  thousand  marks,  and  a  yearly  annuity  of 
2000/. — a  vast  deal  more  than  they  were  worth — 
for  Baliol  had  no  rights  acknowledged  by  the  nation, 
which  had  thoroughly  expelled  and  renounced  him 
ever  since  the  year  1341.  With  these  parchments 
in  his  chest,  the  King  of  England  marched  through 
the  Lothians,  burnt  Haddington  and  f>dinlnirgh, 
and  wasted  the  neighboring  country.  But  here 
again  he  was  compelled  to  retreat,  by  want  of  pro- 
visions :  the  Scots,  who  could  not  meet  him  in  the 
field,  harassed  his  retiring  forces,  and  inflicted  a 
dreadful  vengeance  on  the  rear,  and  on  all  strag- 
glers, for  the  horrible  devastations  they  had  coni- 
1  Rymer. — Mezeray. 


mitted.  The  Scots  called  this  inroad  the  "burnt 
Candlemas  ;"  and  many  an  English  village  afterward 
was  made  to  blaze  for  the  fires  which  Edward  had 
kindled.  From  this  time  Edward  Baliol  drops  out 
of  notice,  and  he  died  a  childless  and  a  childish  old 
man,  at  Doncaster,  in  the  year  1363. 

From  causes  which  are  not  explained,  but  at 
which  it  is  not  difficult  to  guess,  Edward  neither 
renewed  the  war  in  Scotland,  nor  reinforced  his 
son  in  France  ;  for  the  Black  Prince,'  as  late  as 
July  in  the  following  year,  took  the  field  with  only 
twelve  or  fourteen  thousand  men,  few  of  whom 
were  English,  except  a  body  of  archers,  the  rest 
being  chiefly  Gascons.  The  prince's  plan  seems 
to  have  been  merely  to  repeat  the  plundering, 
devastating  expedition  of  the  j)receding  year.  By 
rapid  marches,  he  overran  the  Agenois,  the  Limou- 
sin, and  Auvergne,  and  penetrated  into  Berri,  in 
the  very  heart  of  France,  burning,  destroying,  and 
plundering.  He  advanced  so  far,  that  he  "  came 
to  the  good  city  of  Bourges,  where  there  was  a 
grand  skirmish  at  one  of  the  gates."  He  found 
Bourges,  and  afterward  Issodun,  too  strong  for 
him,  but  he  took  Viei"son  bj-  storm,  and  burnt 
Romorantin,  a  town  about  ten  leagues  from  Biois. 
The  King  of  France  advanced  from  Chartres,  and, 
crossing  the  Loire,  at  Blois,  made  for  the  city  of 
Poictiers.  Edward,  it  appears,  had  so  exasperated 
the  French  by  his  destructive  proceedings,  that  not 
a  man  could  be  found  to  give  him  information  ot 
John's  march ;  and,  in  utter  ignorance,  he  turned 
to  the  southwest,  and  marched  also  for  Poictiers. 
On  the  17th  of  September,  the  English  van  came  un- 
expectedly upon  the  rear  of  the  great  French  army 
at  a  village  within  two  short  leagues  of  Poictiers  ; 
and  Edward's  scouts  soon  after  discovered  that  the 
whole  surrounding  country  swarmed  with  the  ene- 
mj',  and  that  his  retreat  toward  Gascony  was  cut 
oft".  "God  help  us!"  said  the  Black  Prince;  "we 
must  now  consider  how  we  can  best  fight  them." 
He  quartered  his  troops  for  the  night  in  a  very 
strong  position,  among  hedges,  vineyards,  and 
bushes.  On  the  following  luorning,  Sunday,  the 
18th  of  September,  John  drew  out  his  host  in 
order  of  battle :  he  had,  it  is  said,  sixtj-  thousand 
horse,  beside  foot;  wliile  the  whole  force  of  the 
Black  Prince,  horse  and  foot,  did  not  exceed  ten 
thousand  men.  But  Edward  had  chosen  a  most 
admiral)le  position,  and  the  issue  of  this  battle,  in- 
deed, depended  on  his  "  military  eye  "  and  on  "the 
sinewy  arms  of  the  English  bowmen."  -  When 
the  battle  was  about  joining,  a  legate  of  the  Pope, 
the  Cardinal  Talleyrand,  arrived  on  the  field,  and 
implored  the  French  king  to  avoid  the  carnage 
which  must  inevitably  ensue.  John  reluctantly 
consented  to  let  the  cardinal-legate  go  to  the  Eng- 
lish camp,  and  represent  to  the  English  prince  the 
great  danger  in  which  he  stood.  "  Save  my  honor.'* 
said  the  Black  Prince,  "and  the  honor  of  my  army, 
and  I  will   listen  to  any  reasonable  terms."     The 

1  It  apppars  to  be  now  that  the  vo'inser  Edward  was  first  rallrd  the 
"  Black  Prince,"  from  the  color  of  his  armor,  which,  snys  the  Pere 
d'Orleans,  "  pave  eclat  to  the  fairness  of  his  compleiion.  ard  a  relief 
to  his  bonne  mine."'  '  St  J-  Mackintosh 


746 


HISTORV  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Boor  IV 


cardinal  answered,  "Fair  son,  you  say  well,  and  I 
will  endeavor  to  procure  you  such  conditions."  If 
this  j)rince  of  the  church  failed,  it  was  no  fault  of 
his ;  for  all  that  Sunday  he  rode  from  one  army  to 
the  other,  exerting;  himself  to  the  utmost  to  procure 
a  truce.  The  prince  offered  to  restore  all  the 
towns  and  castles  which  he  had  taken  in  this  expe- 
dition, to  give  up  all  his  prisoners  without  ransom, 
and  to  swear  that  he  would  not,  for  the  next  seven 
years,  bear  arms  against  the  King  of  France.  But 
John,  too  confident  in  his  superiority  of  numbers, 
would  not  agree  to  these  terms,  and,  in  the  end,  he 
sent,  as  his  ultimatum,  that  the  prince  and  a  hundred 
of  his  best  knights  must  surrender  themselves  pris- 
oners, or  he  would  not  allow  them  to  pass.  Neither 
the  prince  nor  his  people  would  ever  have  agreed 
to  such  a  treaty.  All  Sunday  was  spent  in  these 
negotiations.  The  prince's  little  army  were  but 
badly  off  for  provisions  and  forage ;  but,  during  the 
day,  they  dug  some  ditches,  and  threw  up  some 
banks  round  their  strong  position,  which  could  only 
be  approached  b}'  one  narrow  lane.  They  also  ar- 
ranged their  baggage-waggons  so  as  to  form  a  ram- 
part or  barricade,  as  had  been  done  at  Crecy.  On 
the  following  morning,  Monday,  September  19th, 
the  trumpets  sounded  at  earliest  dawn,  and  the 
French  again  formed  in  order  of  battle.  Again 
Cardinal  Talleyrand  spoke  to  the  French  king ; 
but  the  Frenchmen  told  him  to  return  whence  he 
came,  and  not  bring  them  any  more  treaties  or 
pacifications,  lest  worse  should  betide  him.  The 
cardinal  then  rode  to  Prince  Edward,  and  told  him 
he  must  do  his  best,  for  that  he  could  not  move 
the  French  king.  "  Then  God  defend  the  right," 
said  Edward,  preparing  >vith  a  cheerful  counte- 
nance, like  his  father  at  Crecy,  for  the  unequal 
conflict.  A  mass  of  French  cavalry  charged  along 
the  lane  to  force  his  position,  but  such  a  flight  of 
arrows  came  from  the  hedges,  that  they  were  soon 
brought  to  a  pause,  and  at  last  were  compelled  to 
turn  and  flee,  leaving  the  lane  choked  up  with 
their  dead  and  wounded  and  their  fallen  horses. 
Of  the  two  marshals  of  France  who  led  this  attack, 
Arnold  d'Andreghen  was  wounded,  and  taken  pris- 
oner ;  and  Clermont,  the  other,  was  killed,  by  the 
stout  bowmen  of  England.  After  this  success, 
Edward  became  the  assailant.  Six  hundred  Eng- 
lish bowmen,  making  a  circuit,  suddenly  showed 
their  green  jackets  and  white  bows  on  the  flank 
and  rear  of  John's  second  division.  "  To  say  the 
truth,"  quoth  Froissart,  "  these  English  archers 
were  of  infinite  service  to  their  army,  for  they  shot 
so  thickly  and  so  well  that  the  French  did  not 
know  which  way  to  turn  themselves."  The  second 
division  scarcely  waited  to  feel  the  points  of  their 
arrows:  the  knights  becoming  alarmed  for  their 
horses,  which  they  had  left  in  the  rear,  quitted 
their  banners.  Eight  hundred  lances  were  detach- 
ed to  escort  the  French  princes  from  this  scene  of 
danger,  and  presently  after  the  whole  division  dis- 
persed in  shameful  disorder.  .At  this  pleasant  sight 
the  knights  and  men-at-arms  under  the  Black 
I'rince,  who  had  as  yet  done  nothing  but  look  on, 
mounted    their   horses.      As    soon    as    they   were 


mounted,  they  gave  a  shout  of  "  St.  George  for 
Guienne !"  and  Sir  John  Chandos  said  to  the 
prince,  "  Sire,  ride  forward,  the  day  is  yours !  let 
us  address  ourselves  to  our  adversary,  the  King  of 
France ;  for  in  that  part  lies  ail  the  strength  of  the 
enterprise.  Well  I  know  that  his  valiancy  will 
not  permit  him  to  flee,  and  he  will  remain  with  us, 
please  God  and  St.  George."  Then  the  prince 
said  to  his  standard-bearer,  "Advance  banners,  in 
the  name  of  (Jod  and  St.  George  !"  They  went 
through  the  lane — charged  across  the  open  moor 
where  the  French  had  formed  their  battalia — and 
the  shock  was  dreadful.  The  Constable  of  France 
stood  firm  with  many  squadrons  of  horse,  his  knights 
and  squires  shouting,  "  3Iountjoy,  St.  Denis !"  but 
the  duke  was  slain,  with  most  of  his  knights.  The 
Black  Prince  then  charged  a  body  of  German 
cavalry,  who  were  soon  put  to  flight.  But  even 
here  it  seems  to  have  been  rather  the  arrow  of  the 
English  yeomanry  than  the  lance  of  the  knight  that 
gained  the  advantage.  A  strong  body  of  reserve, 
under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  fled 
without  striking  a  blow.  But  Chandos  was  not 
mistaken  as  to  the  personal  braverj-  of  John  ;  that 
king  led  up  a  division  on  foot,  and  fought  desperately 
with  a  battle-axe  ;  and  when  nearly  all  had  forsaken 
him,  his  youngest  son,  Philip,  a  boy  of  sixteen, 
fought  by  his  side.  John  received  two  wounds  in 
the  face,  and  was  beaten  to  the  ground ;  but  he 
rose  and  still  strove  to  defend  himself,  while  the 
English  and  Gascons  pressed  upon  him,  crying, 
"  Surrender,  or  you  are  a  dead  man !"  They 
would  have  killed  him,  but  a  young  knight  from  St. 
Omer,  named  Sir  Denis,  burst  through  the  crowd 
and  said  to  the  king  in  good  French,  "  Sire,  sur- 
render!" The  k4ng,  who  found  himself  in  desper- 
ate case,  said,  "  To  whom  shall  I  surrender  ?  Where 
is  my  cousin,  the  Prince  of  Wales  ?"  "  He  is  not 
here,"  replied  Sir  Denis;  "but  surrender  to  rae, 
and  I  will  conduct  you  to  him."  "  But  who  are 
you?"  said  the  king.  "Denis  de  Morbecque,"  he 
answered,  "  a  knight  of  Artois ;  but  I  serve  the 
King  of  England  because  I  cannot  belong  to  France, 
having  forfeited  all  I  had  there."  '  King  John  then 
gave  him  his  right-hand  glove,  and  said,  "I  surren- 
der to  you."  There  was  much  crowding  and  strug- 
gling round  about  the  king,  for  every  one  was  eager 
to  say — "  I  took  him."  At  last  John  was  removed 
out  of  a  situation  of  great  danger  (for  the  English 
had  taken  him  by  force  from  Sir  Denis,  and  were 
quarreling  with  the  Gascons)  by  the  Earl  AVarwick 
and  the  Lord  Cobham,  who  saluted  him  with  pro- 
found respect,  and  conducted  him,  with  his  young- 
est son  Philip,  to  the  Prince  of  Wales.*^ 

Edward  received  his  illustrious  captive  with  the 
greatest  modesty  and  respect,  treating  him  with  all 
the  courtesy  of  the  most  perfect  chivalry.  He  in- 
vited him  to  supper,  waited  on  him  at  table  as  his 
superior  in  age  and  dignity,  soothed  his  grief,  and 
praised  his  matchless  valor,  which  had  gained  the 
admiration  of  both  armies.  The  day  after  this 
victory,   Edward  continued  his  march ;   he  passed 

1  Sir  Denis,  it  appears,  had  been  banished  from  France  for  killing  it 
man  in  an  affrav.  2  Froissart. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


747 


through  Poictou  and  Saintonge  without  meeting 
with  any  resistance,  for  the  French  nowhere  ral- 
Hed  to  rescue  their  king,  and,  coming  to  Blaye,  he 
crossed  the  Garonne,  and  presently  came  to  the 
good  city  of  Bordeaux,  where  he  safely  lodged  all 
his  prisoners.  He  then  concluded  a  truce  for  two 
years  with  the  Dauphin  Charles,  now  appointed 
Lieutenant  of  France,  and  in  the  spring  he  returned 
to  England,  taking  King  John  and  Prince  Philip 
with  him.  Their  entrance  into  London  (24th  April, 
1357)  was  magnificent;  the  King  of  France  was 
mounted  on  a  cream-colored  charger,  richly  capari- 
soned ;  the  Prince  of  Wales  rode  by  his  side,  as  his 
page,  on  a  small  black  palfrey ;  but  the  former  could 
scarcely  be  flattered  by  being  made  the  principal 
figure  in  such  a  procession.  The  King  of  England 
received  John  with  all  the  honors  due  to  a  crowned 
head ;  and  yet,  if  Edward's  pretensions  were  well 
founded,  what  was  John  but  a  rebel  and  usurper  ? 
The  truth,  however,  seems  to  be  that,  even  in  his 
own  eyes,  these  pretensions,  as  also  those  to  the 
crown  of  Scotland,  appeared,  if  not  unreasonable  in 
themselves,  at  least  surrounded  by  too  many  diffi- 
culties of  execution,  and  Edward  soon  showed  an 
inclination  to  renounce  his  French  scheme,  and  to 
follow  up  the  Scottish  project  by  other  means  than 
those  of  conquest.  As  early  as  the  year  1351,  he 
had  opened  negotiations  with  the  Scots  for  the  lib- 
eration of  their  king,  but  the  ransom  he  then  fixed 
was  extravagantly  high ;  in  1354,  these  negotiations 
were  renewed,  and  the  Scots  consented  to  pay 
ninety  thousand  marks  in  nine  years ;  but  their 
alhes,  the  French,  induced  them  to  depart  from 
this  agreement,  and,  leaving  their  king  a  prisoner, 
they  prepared  to  invade  England.  Edward's  "  burnt 
Candlemas"  and  the  victory  over  their  allies  at 
Poictiers  made  them  willing  to  treat  again,  and  the 
English  king,  in  spite  of  those  successes,  was  not  in 
a  condition  to  renew  a  war  in  the  north.  On  the 
3d  of  October,  1357,  a  treaty  was  concluded,  the 
Scots  agreeing  to  pay  one  hundred  thousand  marks 
in  ten  yeai-s,  and  to  give  hostages  as  security  for 
such  payments ;  and  in  the  month  of  November, 
David,  after  a  captivity  of  eleven  years,  recovered 
his  hberty  and  returned  to  Scotland.'  It  was  soon 
made  to  appear  that  his  long  residence  in  England 
and  his  intimate  association  with  Edward  had  pro- 
duced their  eflfect  on  the  weak  mind  of  David  Bruce, 
and  that  Edward,  in  discontinuing  the  struggle  by 
arms,  had  not  renounced  his  ambitious  hopes.  In 
1362,  David's  wife  died  childless,  and,  in  a  parlia- 
ment held  at  Scone  in  the  following  year,  David 
coolly  proposed  that  they  should  choose  Lionel, 
Duke  of  Cambridge,  Edward's  third  son,  to  fill  the 
throne  in  the  event  of  his  dying  without  issue.  At 
this  time  the  next  heir  in  the  regular  line  was  the 
Stewart  of  Scotland,  the  son  of  David's  elder  sister. 
David  hated  his  nephew,  and  this  feeling  may  have 
had  a  great  share  in  influencing  him  to  make  this 
strange  proposal,  and  it  also  appears  probable  that 
Edward  had  bound  him  by  some  secret  compact  be- 
fore he  consented  to  his  release.  But  the  Parlia- 
ment of  Scotland  rejected  the  project  with  indigna- 

'  Rvnier. — Hailes. 


tion.  The  death  of  Edward  Baliol  without  children, 
which  happened  soon  after  this  conference  at 
Scone,  made  David  less  careful  in  his  proceedings : 
he  went  to  London  and  agreed,  in  a  secret  confer- 
ence with  Edward,  that,  in  default  of  the  King  of 
Scots  and  his  issue  male,  the  King  of  England  for 
the  time  being  should  succeed  to  the  throne  of  Scot- 
land. Edward  could  not  be  blind  to  the  difficulties 
that  stood  in  the  way  of  this  project,  and  the  un- 
worthy son  of  the  great  Bruce  was  instructed  to 
sound  the  inclinations  of  his  people,  and  to  keep 
Edward  and  his  council  informed  of  the  result.  The 
King  of  England  took  advantage  of  the  debt  owing 
to  him  for  David's  ransom  to  trouble  and  insult  the 
Scots  on  many  occasions,  and  the  intrigues  of  his 
agents  added  to  the  unhappiness  of  that  people  ;  but 
David  remained  steady  to  his  purpose,  and,  probably 
to  escape  the  reproaches  of  his  subjects,  spent  a 
good  deal  of  his  time  in  England.  When  Edward 
was  engaged  abroad,  the  Scots  breathed  more  free- 
ly:  in  1365,  it  was  agreed  that  the  truce  between 
the  two  countries  (for  it  had  been  repeatedly  re- 
newed, and  as  yet  there  was  no  treaty  of  peace) 
should  be  prolonged  till  1371 ;  and  four  years  later 
a  reduction  was  made  on  the  amount  of  the  money 
due  for  the  ransom.  King  David  died  in  February, 
1371,  and  his  project  died  with  him:  his  nephew, 
the  Stewart  of  Scotland,  ascended  the  throne  with- 
out opposition,  taking  the  title  of  Robert  II. ;  and 
though  Edward  at  one  moment  seemed  inclined  to 
undertake  another  Scottish  war,  old  age,  the  loss  of 
his  son  the  Black  Prince,  and  other  misfortunes, 
prevented  his  so  doing.  Of  all  his  conquests  in 
Scotland,  none  were  permanent  except  that  of  the 
town  of  Berwick.  The  house  of  Stewart  held  the 
independent  crown  of  Scotland  for  two  lumdred  and 
thirty-two  years,  and  then  James  VI.  succeeded  by 
inheritance  to  the  throne  of  England,  thus  laying  a 
better  foundation  for  the  happy  union  between  the 
two  countries  than  could  ever  have  been  efl'ected  by 
conquest.  Edward's  proceedings  with  his  other 
kingly  ca])tive  may  be  briefly  related.  Two  legatee 
of  the  Pope  followed  John  and  the  Prince  of  Wale." 
to  London,  where  they  labored  to  promote  an  ami- 
cable arrangement  between  England  and  France. 
Edward  readily  consented  to  wave  his  absurd  claim 
to  the  French  crown,  and  to  liberate  John,  on  con- 
dition of  receiving  an  enormous  ransom,  and  the 
restoration  of  Normandy,  of  the  heritage  of  Eleanor 
of  Aquitaine,  and  of  all  the  provinces  which  had  be- 
longed to  Henry  II.,  to  be  held  in  separate  sovereign- 
ty without  any  feudal  dependence  on  the  French 
king.'  John  hesitated  and  tried  to  gain  time,  but 
time  only  increased  the  wretchedness  and  weak- 
ness of  his  kingdom,  which  fell  into  a  frightful  state 
of  anarchy.  The  King  of  Navarre,  who  descended 
from  the  ro3al  t^imily  of  P'' ranee,  defied  the  author- 
ity of  Charles  the  Dauphin,  and  was  in  close  alliance 
with  the  citizens  of  Paris,  who  were  engaged,  as 
they  had  been  for  some  years,  in  a  laudable  attempt 
to  put  constitutional  checks  on  the  arbitrary  power 
of  their  kings.  These  men  acted  imprudently  and 
impetuously :  after  being  led  into  bloody  excesses. 


r48 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


they  were  betrayed  and  abandoned  by  the  King  of 
Navarre  and  their  other  royal  and  noble  allies ;  but 
still  their  original  project  was  worthy  of  all  praise  ; 
its  unfortunate  failure  delaj-ed  for  centuries  the 
inarch  of  a  rational  liberty  in  France,  and  the  Eng- 
lish writers  who  denounce  the  attempt  as  altogether 
base  and  treasonable,  must  have  been  ignorant  of 
the  subject,  or  void  of  sympathy  for  the  glorious 
struggle  which  had  taken  place  in  their  own  coun- 
try. By  breaking  their  faith  with  the  people,  the 
dauphin  and  his  nobles  provoked  the  excesses  of 
which  they  afterward  complained,  and  John  himself 
had  left  behind  him  a  mass  of  unsatisfied  revenge  by 
certain  illegal  executions  resembling  those  of  his 
father  Phihp.  The  streets  of  Paris  ran  with  blood  ; 
and  on  the  22d  of  February,  1358,  Stephen  Marcel, 
the  provost  of  the  merchants,  killed  two  of  the  dau- 
phin's counselors,  Robert  de  Clermont  and  John  do 
Conflans,  so  near  that  prince  that  their  blood  sprin- 
kled his  robes ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  people 
obliged  the  Cardinal  de  la  Forest,  chancellor  and 
chief  minister,  to  resign  his  places  and  flee  for  his 
life.  The  noble's,  not  excepting  those  who  had  been 
in  the  league,  grew  jealous  of  the  citizens  ;  and  then 
the  peasants,  or  serfs,  who  had  been  treated  like 
beasts  of  burden  for  many  ages,  even  until  they  had 
lost  the  qualities  of  humanity,  rose  against  their  op- 
pressors, plundered  and  burnt  their  castles,  and 
massacred  the  nobles,  men,  women,  and  children, 
wherever  they  could  find  them.  This  horrible  ! 
Jacquerie,^  which  was  but  faintly  imitated  in  Eng- 
land during  the  next  reign  (by  Wat  Tyler  and  Jack  1 
Straw),  lasted  the  greater  part  of  the  years  1357 
and  1358,  and  was  not  suppressed  without  slaughter 
■equally  atrocious  on  the  part  of  the  government. 
On  one  occasion,  the  dauphin  killed  more  than 
twenty  thousand  peasants  :  the  Sire  de  Couci  made 
such  a  butchery  of  them  in  Picardy  and  in  Artois 
that  the  country  was  soon  cleared  of  them.  They 
were  cut  down  in  heaps, — crushed  to  death, — 
slaughtered  like  beasts  by  the  knights  and  men-at- 
arms.  No  quarter  was  given  ;  no  prisoners  were  I 
taken  except  a  few  hundreds  to  furnish  an  exhibition 
and  expire  in  horrible  tortures.  This  dreadful  state 
of  things  conquered  the  pride  of  John,  and  he  signed 
the  treaty  of  peace  as  dictated  by  Edward  ;  but  the 
French  nation,  divided  as  it  was,  unanimously  re- 
jected it.  Edward,  enraged  at  what  he  termed  the 
bad  faith  of  the  enemy, — for  he  thought  that  the 
signature  of  a  king  was  everjtliing,  and  the  will  of 
the  nation  nothing, — passed  over  into  France  in  the 
autumn  of  1359  with  an  army  more  numerous  than 
any  which  he  had  hitherto  employed  on  the  conti- 
nent. From  his  convenient  landing-place  at  Calais, 
he  poured  his  irresistible  forces  through  Artois  and 
Picardj-,  and  laid  siege  to  Rheims,  with  the  inten- 
tion, it  is  said,  of  being  crowned  King  of  France  in 
that  city,  where  such  ceremony  was  usually  per- 
formed. But  the  winter  season  and  the  strength  of 
the  place  baffled  his  eflbrts :  after  losing  seven  or 
eight  weeks,  he  raised  the  siege,  and  fell  upon  Bur- 
gundy.    The  duke  was  forced  to  pay  fifty  thousand 

1  So  called  from  Jacques  Bon-homnie,  or  James  Good-man,  a  name 
applied  in  derision  to  the  French  peasantry. 


marks,  and  to  engage  to  remain  neutral.  While 
Edward  was  in  Burgundy,  a  French  fleet  took  and 
plundered  the  town  of  Winchelsea,  committing  great 
barbarities,  which  the  English  soon  after  retaliated 
on  the  French  coast.  From  Burgundy  Edward 
marched  upon  Paris,  and,  on  the  last  day  of  March, 
1360,  the  English  encamped  in  front  of  that  capital. 
He,  however,  was  not  strong  enough  to  besiege 
Paris ;  the  dauphin  wisely  declined  a  chaflenge  to 
come  out  and  fight;  and  in  the  month  of  April,  a 
want  of  provisions  compelled  Edward  to  lead  his 
army  toward  Brittany.^  His  route  was  soon  cov- 
ered by  men  and  horses,  who  died  from  want  or 
dropped  from  the  severe  fatigues  they  had  under- 
gone in  this  winter  campaign.  Edward's  lieart  was 
touclied  ;  but  it  was  a  terrific  tempest  of  thunder, 
lightning,  wind,  hail,  and  rain,  which  he  encounter- 
ed near  Chartres,  and  which  reminded  him  of  the 
day  of  judgment,  that  completely  subdued  his  reso- 
lution. "  Looking  toward  the  church  of  Notre- 
Dame,  at  Chartres,  he  took  a  vow ;  and  he  after- 
ward went  devoutly  to  that  church,  confessed  liim- 
self,  and  promised  (as  he  afterward  said)  that  he 
would  grant  peace ;  and  then  he  went  to  lodge  at  a 
village  near  to  Chartres  called  Bretigny."' 

An  armistice  was  arranged,  and,  on  the  8th  of 
May,  1360,  the  great  peace  was  concluded  by  the 
treaty  of  Bretigny.  "  The  King  of  England,  Lord 
of  Ireland  and  of  Aquitaine,"  as  Edward  was  now 
content  to  style  himself,  renounced  his  pretensions 
to  the  crown  of  France,  and  his  claim  to  Nor- 
mandy, Anjou,  and  Maine,  with  some  other  terri- 
tories that  had  belonged  to  his  ancestors :  he  re- 
stored all  the  conquests  made  by  himself  and  his 
son,  with  the  exception  of  Calais  and  Guisnes,  and 
reserved  to  himself  Guienne  and  Poictou,  with 
their  dependencies  Saintonge,  Agenois,  the  Li- 
mousin, Perigord,  Thouars,  and  other  districts  in 
the  south,  and  the  country  of  Ponthieu  in  the 
northwest,  the  inheritance  of  his  mother.  The 
Dauphin  of  France^  agreed  that  Edward  and  his 
heirs  forever  should  have  full  and  free  sovereignty 
of  the  countries  ceded  bj'  this  treaty;  that  thi'ee 
million  crowns  of  gold  should  be  paid  in  six  years  as 
John's  ransom,  and  that  sixteen  of  the  prisoners 
taken  at  Poictiers,  tweut^'-five  French  barons,  and 

1  Petrarra,  who  visited  Paris  about  this  time  {in  1360),  has  left  a 
lamentable  picture  nf  the  state  of  the  country,  the  consequence  of  the 
English  war,  and  of  internal  anarchy.  "  I  could  not  believe,"  says 
the  Italian  poet,  "that  this  was  the  same  kingdom  which  I  had  oixe 
seen  so  rich  and  flourishing.  Nothing  presented  itself  to  my  eye.t 
but  a  fearful  solitude,  an  extreme  poverty,  lands  uncultivated,  houses 
in  ruins.  Even  the  neighborhood  of  Paris  manifested  everywhere 
marks  of  destruction  and  conflagration.  The  streets  are  deserted, — 
the  roads  overgrown  with  weeds  ;— the  whole  is  a  vast  solitude."'  Ac- 
cording to  Mczeray,  the  French  bore  all  these  calamities  with  their 
usual  light-hcartedness, — "  Misfortunes  did  not  correct  them, — pomps 
and  games  and  tournaments  continued  all  the  while.  The  French' 
danced,  so  to  speak,  over  the  dead  bodies  of  their  relations  ;  they 
seemed  to  rejoice  at  the  burntDg  of  their  castles  and  houses,  and  at 
the  death  of  their  friends.  While  some  were  getting  their  throats 
cut  in  the  country,  others  amused  themselves  in  the  towns.  The 
sound  of  the  violin  was  not  interrupted  by  the  blast  of  the  trumpet ; 
and  the  voices  of  those  who  sang  and  rejoiced  at  bails  and  festivals,  and 
the  piteous  cries  of  those  who  perished  in  the  flames,  or  by  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  were  heard  at  one  and  the  same  time." 

-  Froissart.— Kr.yghton. — Rymer. 

3  John,  as  a  prisoner,  was  at  first  no  party  to  the  compact,  but  when 
he  went  to  Calais,  'in  parole,  he  was  considered  as  a  free  agent. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


749 


forty-two  burghers  chosen  in  the  richest  cities  of 
France,  should  be  constituted  hostages  for  the  faith- 
ful fulfilment  of  the  articles.  In  July,  John  was 
sent  over  to  Calais  that  he  might  ratify  the  treaty. 
Three  mouths  were  spent  in  explanations  and  at- 
tempts at  mutual  deception,  and  then  this  treaty 
was  ratified  at  Calais  on  the  absurd  condition  that 
the  really  important  clauses  should  remain  in  sus- 
pense and  not  be  executed  till  the  Feast  of  the  As- 
sumption, or  that  of  St.  Andrew,  in  the  following 
year.^  On  the  24th  of  October,  1360,  there  was  a 
solemn  interchange  of  oaths  in  the  church  of  St. 
Nicholas  at  Calais  :  King  John  with  twenty-four 
French  barons  swore  to  be  true  to  the  treaty,  and 
Edward  swore  to  the  same  effect  with  twenty- 
seven  English  barons.  On  the  following  day.  King 
John  was  set  at  liberty,  and  Edward  returned  to 
England. 

John,  with  all  his  fiiults  and  vices  (and  these 
were  so  numerous  that  we  wonder  how  he  ever 
obtained  the  surname  of  "the  Good"),  was  sen- 
sitive on  the  point  of  honor,  and  a  scrupulous 
observer  of  his  word,  but  the  impoverished  con- 
dition of  his  country,  and  the  decided  opposition  of 
his  sons  and  great  nobles,  prevented  his  fnlfiling 
any  of  the  important  parts  of  the  treaty.  There 
was  no  money  to  pay  the  heavy  ransom,  and, 
whenever  he  mentioned  the  renunciation  of  the 
suzerainty  of  his  crown  over  the  provinces  ceded 
to  Edward,  he  encountered  a  violent  opposition.  It 
is  not  so  written  in  the  annals  of  France,  but  it 
appears  to  us  pretty  evident,  that  the  uncomfortable 
life  he  led  in  his  own  dominions  had  a  good  deal 
to  do  with  what  followed.  The  Duke  of  Anjou 
dishonorably  broke  his  parole,  and,  flying  from 
Calais,  where  he  was  living  as  one  of  the  hostages, 
lepaired  to  Paris.  His  father  was  much  affected 
by  this  breach  of  honor,  and  he  felt  that  part  of  his 
own  conduct  since  his  return  required  explanation. 
It  is  said  that  he  also  hoped  to  obtain  some  modifi- 
cation of  the  treaty  of  Bretigny,  and  to  speak  with 
Edward  about  a  new  crusade.  The  French  cour- 
tiers laughed  at  his  scruples,  but,  to  their  astonish- 
ment, he  went  over  to  London,  where  Edward 
received  him  with  eveiy  token  of  affection.  It  was 
then  said,  in  France,  that  it  was  his  violent  love  for 
an  English  lady,  and  not  his  honor,  that  induced 
him  to  put  himself  again  in  the  power  of  his  en- 
emy. John  quietly  took  up  his  old  quarters  in  the 
Savoy  ;  but  soon  after  his  arrival,  and  before  any 
business  was  transacted,  he  fell  dangerously  ill. 
He  died  at  London  in  the  month  of  April,  1364, 
much  regretted,  it  is  said,  by  Edward  and  the  Eng- 
lish nobles.^ 

The  dauphin,  now  Charles  V.,  held  the  treaty 
of  Bretigny  in  the  same  state  of  suspense,  and 
complained  bitterly  of  the  ravages  committed  in 
his  dominions  by  the  "  cCmpanics  of  adventure " 
which  had  been  in  the  service  of  the  Black  Prince. 
The  truth  was,  that  many  of  these  lawless  bands 
had  been  in  the  pay  of  France,  so  that  Edward  was 
not  accountable  for  the  whole  of  the  mischief.    The 

1  That  is,  the  15th  of  August  or  thfi  30ih  of  November,  1361. 

2  RviTier. — Froissarl. — Continuator  of  Nangis. — ViUaret. 


"  free  companions,"  as  they  called  themselves, 
were  mercenaries,  vagabonds,  and  adventurers, 
from  nearly  every  country  in  Europe,  who  sold 
their  services  to  the  best  payers,  and  as  Edward 
was  by  far  the  wealthier  of  the  two  kings,  he  cer- 
tainly liad  the  greater  number  of  them.  When 
peace  was  concluded  between  the  sovereigns,  they 
associated  together,  chose  skilful  captains,  took  or 
retained  castles  which  they  had  been  paid  to  gar- 
rison, and  carried  on  a  war  on  their  own  account. 
They  defeated  a  royal  army  led  against  them  by 
John  de  Bourbon,  who  was  mortally  wounded  in 
that  action.  They  made  Charles  tremble  in  Paris, 
and  the  Pope  at  Avignon.'  Edward  engaged  to 
clear  the  country  of  them,  but  Charles  had  no  wish 
to  see  another  English  army  in  his  territory. 
Events  in  Spain  afforded  opportunity  of  getting  rid 
of  the  marauders.  Pedro  IV.,  called  "  the  Cruel," 
Avas  then  legitimate  King  of  Castile,  but  his  atroci- 
ties provoked  an  insurrection.  He  was,  however, 
strong  enough  to  defeat  the  insurgents,  who  fled 
for  refuge  to  the  King  of  Arragon.  The  latter 
sovereign  was  unable  to  resist  the  arms  of  the 
tyrant,  who  made  war  upon  him ;  and  then  th>» 
Castilian  exiles,  among  whom  were  two  illegiti- 
mate half-brothers  of  Pedro, — Enrique,  Count  of 
Trastamara,  and  Telle,  Count  of  Biscay, — fled  into 
France.  Among  his  many  recent  murders,  Pedro 
the  Cruel  had  poisoned  his  wife,  a  French  princess. 
It  occurred  to  Enrique  of  Tiastamara,  or  probably 
it  was  suggested  to  him  by  the  French  court,  that 
he  might  collect  among  the  veteran  "companies" 
such  a  force  as  would  give  him  a  decided  superi- 
ority over  his  half-brother  Pedro.  The  King  of 
France  gave  money  ;  the  Pope  gave  more ;-  and 
thirty  thousand  of  the  adventurers  put  themselves 
under  the  command  of  the  celebrated  warrior  Du- 
guescliu  and  of  Don  Enrique,  and,  marching  across 
the  Pyrenees,  drove  the  tyrant  from  his  throne. 
Don  Pedro,  who  had  not  even  the  satisfaction  of 
fighting  a  battle  in  his  defence,  fled  through  Portu- 
gal to  Coruna,  where  he  embarked  in  the  first  ship 
he  found,  and  sailed  with  his  daughters  for  Bor- 
deaux. The  Black  Prince,  to  whom  his  father  had 
ceded  all  his  dominions  in  the  south,  was  residing 
at  Bordeaux,  and  there  gave  the  tyrant  a  most 
friendly  reception,  considering  him  as  an  unfortu- 
nate legitimate  sovereign,  and  his  half-brother  Don 
Enrique  as  a  usurper.  His  father  took  the  samt- 
view ;  and  it  was  soon  determined  to  restore  the 
fugitive  king  by  force  of  arms.  Charles  of  France 
at  the  same  time  took  measures  to  supjiort  Doii 
Enrique  ;  but  his  means  were  very  limited.  Th' 
Black  Prince  had  been  married  some  time  to  n 
beautiful  widow,  his  second  cousin,  Joan  Countess 
of  Kent,^  who  had  been  familiarly  and  endearing!} 

1  On  one  orrasion  a  troop  of  these  banditti  commanded  by  Arnaldi- 
di  Cervola,  forced  the  Pope  to  redeem  himself  in  Avignon  by  the  pay 
meat  of  forty  thousand  crowns. 

2  At  first  tlie  Pope  wanted  Dugnesclin  to  remain  satisfied  with  his 
blessin?,  but  the  bold  advenlurer  assured  his  holiness  that  the  compa- 
nies could  make  shift  without  absolulion,  but  not  without  money.— Sei' 
Hist.  Duguesclin,  a  very  curious  old  book. 

3  The  history  of  this  fair  lady,  the  mother  of  the  unfortunate  Rich- 
ard II.,  as  of  an  elder  brother  (Edward)  who  die.l  in  infancy,  is  rather 
curious.     She  was  daughter  and  heiress  to  the  Earl  of  Kent,  uncle  to 


750 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


called  "  the  Fair  Maid  of  Kent ;"  but  the  arrival  of 
Pedro's  daughters  was  not  without  its  ellect ;  and 
the  marriage  of  two  of  them  to  Edward's  brothers, 
the  Duke  of  Lftncaster  and  the  Earl  of  Cambridge, 
which  took  place  a  few  years  after,  gave  rise  to  the 
claim  of  an  English  prince  to  the  throne  of  Castile, 
a  ridiculous  claim,  like  many  others  of  those  times, 
but  which  did  not  the  less  cost  England  some  blood 
and  treasure.  For  the  present  the  fair  Spaniards 
remained  at  the  gay  and  splendid  court  of  Bor- 
deaux, while  their  father  and  the  Black  Prince  and 
the  Duke  of  Lancaster  raised  their  banners  of  war. 
Among  the  adventurers  who  had  taken  service 
under  Don  Eni'ique,  there  were  several  English 
captains  ;  and  such  was  Prince  Edward's  popularity' 
among  the  companions  generally,  that  as  soon  as 
they  knew  what  was  preparing,  twelve  thousand 
men,  under  the  command  of  Sir  John  Calverly  and 
Sir  Robert  Knowles,  abandoned  their  new  master, 
and  returned  with  all  speed  to  join  Edward  in 
(Tuienne.  As  Pedro's  promises  were  most  liberal, 
and  the  fame  of  Edward  so  prevalent,  they  soon 
marched  with  thirty  thousand  men.  The  King  of 
Navarre,  who  was  master  of  that  pass  of  the  Py- 
renees, was  bought  over ;  and  in  the  midst  of 
winter,  snow-storms,  and  tempests,  the  Black 
Prince  led  his  army  in  safety  through  Roncesvalles, 
the  famed  scene  of  the  "  dolorous  rout"  of  Charle- 
magne and  all  his  paladins — the  deep  and  danger- 
ous valley,  which,  at  the  distance  of  four  centuries 
and  a  half,  was  threaded  in  a  contrary  direction  by 
a  victorious  English  army  under  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington. 

On  the  3d  of  April,  1367,  Don  Enrique  met  the 
invaders  in  the  open  plains  between  Navarete  and 
Xajara,  with  an  army  which  is  represented  as  being 
three  times  as  numerous  as  that  of  Prince  Edward 
and  Don  Pedro.  The  battle  was  begun  by  the 
young  Duke  of  Lancaster,  who  was  emulous  of  the 
military  fame  of  his  brother  Edward,  and  who  prob- 
ably entertained  alieady  the  hope  that  the  plains 
over  which  he  was  charging  would  one  day  acknowl- 
edge him  as  their  king.  When  the  Black  Prince 
charged  Don  Telio,  the  brother  of  Don  Enrique, 
that  prince  wheeled  about,  and  fled  in  disorder  with 
his  whole  division,  without  striking  a  blow.  After 
this,  Edward  advanced  against  the  main  division, 
which  was  commanded  by  King  Enrique  in  person  : 
and  now  the  fight  began  in  earnest.  The  Castilians 
had  slings,  with  which  tliey  threw  stones  with  such 
force  as  to  break  helmets  and  skull-caps :  the  Eng- 
lish archers,  "as  was  their  wont,"  shot  briskly  with 
their  bows,  "to  the  great  annoyance  and  death  of 
the  Spaniards,"  who,  feeling  the  sharpness  of  the 
English  arrows,  soon  lost  all  order.     In  the  end  the 

Edward  III.,  who  had  been  put  to  death  at  the  beginning-  of  the  present 
reign,  by  Mortimer  anil  Isabella.  She  was  married  when  very  young 
!o  Montacute,  Earl  of  Salistmry,  from  whom  she  was  divorced  ;  she 
then  espoused  Sir  Thomas  Holland,  who  assumed  in  her  right  the  tillft 
iif  Earl  of  Kent,  and  was  summoned  to  Parliament  as  such.  By  this 
second  husband  she  had  two  sons. — Thomas  Holland,  who  inherited 
the  honors  of  his  father,  and  John  Holland,  who  was  afterward  created 
Earl  of  Huntingdon  and  Duke  of  Exeter.  They  will  both  appear  m 
the  sequel — John  as  the  perpetrator  of  a  savage  murder.  Her  second 
husband  had  scarcely  been  dead  three  months  when  she  married  the 
Black  Prince 


Black  Prince  gained  a  complete  victory  ;  Enrique 
fled,  and  Don  Pedro  reascended  the  throne.'  Mis- 
fortune had  not  taught  him  mercy;  Pedro  wanted  to 
massacre  all  his  prisoners,  but  this  Prince  Edward 
prevented.  Now  came  the  time  for  the  tyrant  to 
show  his  gratitude  ;  but  he  was  alike  unable  and 
unwilling  to  keep  his  engagements  ;  and  after  being 
half-starved  in  the  country  he  had  won  for  anotlier, 
and  contracting  heavy  debts  and  a  malady  from  which 
he  never  recovered,  Edward  was  obliged  to  lead  his 
army  with  all  haste  back  to  Guienne,  where  he  ar- 
rived in  the  month  of  July,  13()7.  Pedro,  however, 
liad  soon  cause  to  deplore  his  departure  :  in  a  little 
more  than  a  year  his  bastard  half-brother  returned 
to  Castile,  and  defeated  him  in  battle.  A  confer- 
ence was  arranged,  but,  as  soon  as  the  two  brothers 
met,  they  flew  at  each  other  with  the  fury  of  wild 
beasts,  and  in  the  struggle  Don  Enrique  killed  Pe 
dro  with  his  dagger.  The  bastard,  who  was  still 
supported  by  Charles  of  France,  again  took  posses- 
sion of  the  throne.* 

The  wary  Charles  had  been  recovering  strength 
W'hile  the  English  were  losing  it ;  he  was  now  almost 
ready  for  an  open  war,  and  he  bound  Enrique  by 
treaty  to  assist  him  as  soon  as  he  should  declare  it. 
At  the  same  time  he  conciliated  the  King  of  Navarre, 
and  entered  into  a  secret  understanding  with  the 
disartected  lords,  vassals  of  the  Black  Prince,  whose 
lands  lay  near  the  Pyrenees.  For  seven  years  the 
treaty  of  Bretigny  had  been  little  more  than  a  dead 
letter  :  John's  ransom  had  never  been  paid  f  many 
of  the  hostages,  breaking  their  parole,  had  returned 
to  France  ;  some  of  the  territory  stipulated  had 
never  been  ceded ;  the  sovereign  title  to  the  whole 
had  been  withheld  by  Charles,  who  had  watched 
with  a  keen  eye  the  decaying  vigor  of  King  Edward, 
now  an  old  man,  and  the  shattered  health  of  the 
Black  Prince,  who,  melancholy  and  spirit-broken, 
was  evidently  sinking  to  a  premature  grave.  The 
expedition  for  Don  Pedro  proved  a  curse  in  more 
ways  than  one — it  so  embarrassed  the  prince  that 
he  was  obliged  to  impose  additional  taxes  upon  his 
subjects  of  Guienne,  in  order  to  obtain  the  means  of 
paying  his  ai"my.  Upon  this  the  Count  of  Armagnac, 
and  other  Gascon  lords,  already  in  the  interest  of 
France,  went  to  Paris,  and  appealed  to  the  King  of 
France,  as  the  lord  paramount.  Charles  had  waited 
patiently  for  years,  but  he  now  thought  that  circum- 
stances, and,  above  all,  the  deplorable  state  of  the 
prince's  health,  would  allow  him  to  declare  himself. 
He  summoned  Edward,  as  Prince  of  Aquitaine  and 
his  vassal  (which  he  was  not  since  the  treaty  of 
Bretigny),  to  appear  in  his  court  at  Paris  to  answer 
to  the  complaints  of  the  Gascon  lords.  The  prince 
knew  what  this  meant ;  and  he  replied  that  he  would 

1  Froissart. 

2  Froissart. — Walsing. — Mariaija.— Edward's  assisting  the  monster 
Don  Pedro  has  been  attributed  to  a  defect  in  chivalrous  morality  ;  bat 
it  seems  to  us  that  chivalry  had  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Pedro  was,  not 
only  hy  treaty,  but  also  by  blood,  an  ally  of  England  ;  but  what  still 
more  powerfully  urged  King  Edward  and  his  son,  was  Enrique  de 
Trastamara's  throwing  himself  into  the  French  interests.  Had  there 
been  no  French  interference,  it  is  probable  that  Edward  would  never 
have  undertaken  to  restore  the  tyrant. 

3  It  appears  that  Edward  received  about  a  fourth  of  the  sum  prom- 
ised 


Chap.  L] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


751 


go,  indeed,  to  Paris,  but  it  should  be  at  the  head  of 
sixty  tliousand  men.  His  father,  however,  was  less 
violent,  or  probably  only  better  acquainted  with  the 
increasing  difficulties  of  raising  money  in  England 
for  such  purposes ;  and,  lowering  his  claims,  the 
elder  Edward,  setting  aside  some  territory  which 
had  been  included  in  the  treaty  of  Bretigny,  said  he 
would  content  himself  with  the  separate  sovereignty 
of  Guienne  and  Poictou,  with  the  adjoining  prov- 
inces, which  he  actually  possessed.  But  Charles 
took  this  moderation  as  a  certain  proof  of  weakness, 
and,  declaring  the  Prince  of  Aquitaine  to  be  contu- 
macious, he  poured  his  troops  into  his  territories. 
In  Poictou,  and  still  more  in  Guienne,  his  arms  were 
assisted  by  the  people,  who  never  had  been  steady 
to  either  party  :  when  united  with  the  French  they 
complained  of  an  arbitrary  and  excessive  taxation, 
and  of  checks  put  upon  the  freedom  of  trade ;  and 
when  united  with  the  English  they  complained  of 
the  insolence  and  arrogance  with  which  they  were 
treated  by  the  proud  islanders. 

Edward  nowreassumed  his  title  of  King  of  France, 
and  offered  lands  and  honors  in  that  kingdom  to  any 
soldier  of  fortune  that  could  conquer  them  with  his 
good  sword.  He  sent  reinforcements  to  the  Black 
Prince  in  the  south ;  and  at  the  same  time  dis- 
patched his  other  bi-ave  son,  the  Duke  of  Lancas- 
ter, with  a  gallant  army  from  Calais.  The  duke 
marched  through  the  northwestern  provinces,  but 
the  French  would  not  risk  an  engagement  with  him; 
and,  while  he  laid  waste  the  open  country,  Charles 
gradually  extended  his  conquests  in  the  south,  where 
some  towns  and  castles  were  taken,  and  still  more 
delivered  up  by  the  garrisons  and  inhabitants.  The 
Black  Prince  was  sick  almost  to  death,  but  when 
he  heard  that  the  dukes  of  Anjou  and  Berri  were 
marching  against  him  from  opposite  points,  he  roused 
himself  and  took  the  field.  The  royal  dukes  had 
not  heart  to  meet  him — they  both  retieated  with 
precipitation  ;  and,  after  garrisoning  the  places  they 
had  acquired,  they  disbanded  their  army.  Limoges, 
the  capital  of  the  Limousin,  had  been  betrayed  to 
the  dukes  by  the  bishop  and  the  inhabitants  ;  and 
the  prince  was  the  more  sensible  to  this  treachery, 
as  it  was  a  place  upon  which  he  had  conferred  many 
honors  and  benefits,  so  that  he  had  counted  on  the 
gratitude  and  affection  of  the  people.  He  swore, 
by  the  soul  of  his  father,  that  he  would  have  the 
town  back  again — that  he  would  not  move  or  attend 
to  any  other  thing  until  he  got  it — and  that  then  he 
would  make  the  traitors  pay  dearly  for  their  perfidy. 
He  was  now  so  ill  that  he  could  not  mount  his  horse, 
but  he  caused  himself  to  be  carried  on  a  litter  from 
post  to  post,  and  he  pressed  the  siege  with  a  savage 
fury  which  had  not  hitherto  been  observed  in  him. 
After  a  month's  labor  a  part  of  the  works  was  under- 
mined, and  a  wide  breach  made  in  the  walls,  appa- 
rently by  the  explosion  of  gunpowder :  the  besiegers 
rushed  through  the  breach,  with  orders,  which  were 
but  too  faithfully  obeyed,  to  massacre  all  they  found. 
Men,  women,  and  children  thi-ew  themselves  on 
their  knees  before  the  prince,  crying  "  Mercy ! 
Mercy!"  but  ho  would  not  hear  them;  although,  as 
the  Chronicler  remarks,  most  of  the  poor  and  hum- 


ble class  could  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  be- 
traying the  town  to  the  French.  They  were  all 
murdered — upward  of  three  thousand.  "God  have 
mercy  on  their  souls  !"  says  Froissart,  with  more 
feeling  than  usual,  "  for  they  were  veritable  mar- 
tyrs.' John  de  Villemnr,  Hugh  de  la  Roche,  and 
the  other  knights  whom  the  dukes  had  thrown  into 
Limoges,  in  all  about  eighty  persons,  retreated  to 
one  of  the  squares,  placed  themselves  with  their 
backs  to  an  old  wall,  and  with  their  banners  before 
them,  resolved  to  sell  their  lives  dearly,  as  good 
knights  ought.  The  English  knights,  as  soon  as  they 
saw  them  thus,  dismounted,  and  attacked  them  on 
foot.  The  French  fought  with  the  courage  of  de- 
spair against  very  superior  numbers.  The  prince, 
who  came  up  in  his  litter,  looked  on  with  admiration 
at  their  feats,  and  he  became  mild  and  merciful  at 
the  sight  of  such  gallantry.  Three  of  the  French 
knights,  looking  at  their  swords,  said,  "We  are 
jours — you  have  conquered — treat  us  according  to 
the  laws  of  arms."  Edward  relented  ;  and,  instead 
of  being  massacred,  they  were  received  as  prison- 
ers, and  their  lives  were  spared  in  the  midst  of  that 
universal  butcher}-.  But  no  mercy  was  shown  to 
any  of  the  meaner  sort — the  whole  city  of  Limoges 
was  ransacked,  and  then  burnt  to  the  ground.^  The 
massacre  of  Limoges  was  the  last  militarj'  exploit 
of  the  Black  Prince.  Hoping  that  the  air  of  his 
native  country  might  benefit  his  ruined  constitution, 
he  returned  to  England,  leaving  the  command  in  the 
south  to  his  brother  John  of  Gaunt,  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster. 

Soon  after  his  departure  the  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
having  now  married  the  Lady  Constance,  eldest 
daughter  of  Don  Pedro,  assumed  in  her  right  the 
arms  and  title  of  King  of  Castile  and  Leon,-  an  im- 
prudent step,  which  complicated  the  difficulties  of 
the  English,  for  Pedro's  bastard  brother,  Don  En- 
rique, who  was  firmly  seated  on  the  throne,  drew 
the  bonds  of  his  alliance  with  P\-ance  still  closer, 
and  prepared  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  wai-.  In 
the  month  of  June,  1.372,  when  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke came  off  Rochelle  with  a  fleet  carrying  rein- 
forcements to  the  duke,  he  found  a  Spanish  fleet, 
consisting  of  ships  far  larger  than  his  own,  and  fur- 
nished with  engines — prol)ably  cannons — lying  be- 
tween La  Rochelle  and  the  Isle  of  Rlie.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  town  and  coast,  though  they  were 
as  yet  subjects  of  the  English,  assisted  the  Spaniards 
in  every  possible  manner.  Pembroke  either  could 
not  or  would  not  avoid  u  battle  :  he  fought  desjje- 
rately  the  whole  day,  and  renewed  the  uiu'qual 
combat  on  the  morrow;  but  at  last,  his  sliip  was 
wrappled  by  four  Spiuiish  ships  at  once,  and  boarded 
on  every  side  :  he  was  made  prisoner,  and  not  a 
single  sail  of  his  fleet  escaped.  Many  of  them  went 
down  with  their  flags  flying ;  and  a  ship  carrying 
the  military  chest,  with  20,000Z.  in  it,  sank  with  the 
rest.^     This  was  a  heavy  blow  to  the  king  and  to 

'  The  Bishop  of  Limosfes,  the  real  offender,  escaped  death  ihrough 
the  management  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster. 

2  The  daughters  nf  Don  Pedro  were  illegitimate;  but  after  the  death 
of  their  mother,  the  celebrated  Maria  Padilla,  he  twk  an  oath  that  he 
had  been  married  to  her,  and  he  declared  her  (laughters  his  heirs 

3  Froissart. 


7.1-2 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAiND. 


[Book  l\- 


the  whole  nation,  who  had  already  begun  to  consider 
the  sea  as  their  proper  element.  And  from  this 
time,  one  ill  success  followed  another  with  amazing 
rapid  it}'.  Charles  V.,  wlio  not  without  reason  was 
called  "the  Wise,"  had  determined  not  to  hazard  a 
general  battle  with  the  English  ;  and  he  did  not  alter 
this  resolution  when  he  appointed  Duguesclin,  that 
consummate  general,  to  be  Constable  of  France  and 
leader  of  his  armies.  The  war  became  a  succes- 
sion of  surprises  and  sieges,  the  French  general  ad- 
vancing slowly  and  methodically,  but  surely,  leaving 
no  strong  fortress  in  his  rear,  and  retreating  when- 
ever  the  English  showed  themselves  in  force.  , 
Charles  established  the  same  system  everywhere,  ' 
and  Edward,  in  his  old  age,  was  often  heard  to  say,  j 
that  he  had  never  known  a  king  fight  so  little  and  j 
yet  give  so  much  trouble.  Sir  Robert  Knowles  j 
swept  the  whole  of  France  from  Calais  to  the  walls  j 
of  Paris,  which  he  insulted ;  and  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster marched  through  France  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  without  meeting  any  opposition  ;  but  they 
found  all  the  important  fortresses  and  great  towns 
well  guarded,  and  they  both  lost  many  men  from 
want  of  provisions,  while  every  straggler  from  their 
army  was  cut  to  pieces.  Benon,  Surgere,  Saint 
Jean  d'Angely,  and  Saintes  were  taken  by  the  con- 
stable. The  fortune  of  the  war  seemed  to  lie  for 
some  time  within  the  walls  of  Thouars,  but  after  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  made  to  relieve  it,  that  place 
fell  before  the  arms  and  engines  of  Duguesclin  ;  and 
Niort,  Aunay,  and  other  towns  soon  shared  the  same 
fate.  The  Duke  of  Lancaster  marched  and  counter- 
marched, but  could  never  bring  the  French  to  a  bat- 
tle. He  concluded  a  truce  with  the  Duke  of  Anjou, 
and  departed  for  England  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  had 
gone  Charles  broke  the  armistice.  Of  all  Edward's 
allies  none  proved  true  to  him  except  young  De 
Montfort,  and  he  had  enough  to  do  to  maintain  him- 
self in  Brittany,  where  there  was  a  strong  French 
party,  headed  by  De  Clisson. 

A.D.  1374. — The  Pope  had  never  ceased  his  en- 
deavors to  procure  a  lasting  peace  ;  his  legates  had 
followed  the  army  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  in  all 
his  last  campaign,  and  other  envoys  were  constantly 
about  the  court  of  Charles.  When  the  French  had 
gained  almost  all  they  could  hope  to  get,  and  when 
Edward's  confidence  in  his  own  resources  was 
broken  by  long  disappointment,  the  arrangement 
for  a  treaty  was  commenced  at  the  town  of  Bruges, 
whither  the  Duke  of  Burgund}',  who  negotiated  for 
France,  carried  some  of  the  real  blood  of  our  Savior 
to  give  greater  solemnity  to  the  contract.'  After 
months  of  negotiation,  a  truce  was  concluded  for  one 
year  only;  but  this  was  subsequently  renewed,  and 
lasted  till  the  death  of  Edward.  At  this  time  all 
thfit  the  English  king  retained  of  his  continental 
dominions  was  Bordefiux.  Bayonne,  a  few  towns  on 
the  Dordogne,  and  his  own  important  conquest  of 
Calais,  with  a  strip  of  territory  round  it. 

On  his  return  to  England,  the  Black  Prince  em- 
braced a  course  of  popular  opposition  in  Parliament, 
and  if  he  irritated  his  old  father  therel)y,  he  had  the 
good  fortune  to  please  the  nation,  whose  idol  he  had 

1  Barante,  Ilisl.  dcs  Dues  de  Bourgogne. 


ever  been.  But  the  state  of  his  health  obliged  him 
to  seek  quiet  and  retirement,  and  then  his  unpopular 
brother,  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  monopolized  all  the 
authority  of  government,  for  the  king  had  become 
indolent  and  reckless,  and,  like  other  heroes  in  their 
old  age,  a  slave  to  a  young  and  beautiful  woman.  In 
the  spring  of  137G  the  Black  Prince  rallied  and  took 
part  in  public  affairs,  or  at  least  it  is  supposed  that 
he  directed  the  measures  now  adopted  by  Parlia- 
ment. Peter  de  la  Mare,  as  Speaker  of  the  Com- 
mons, complained  of  taxation,  venality,  and  corrup- 
tion, and  impeached  nearly  ail  the  ministers,  who 
were  little  more  than  agents  of  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster. The  Lord  Latimer  was  expelled  from  the 
king's  council  and  tlirown  into  prison ;  the  Lord 
Nevil  was  deprived  of  all  his  employments ;  and 
certain  farmers  of  the  customs  were  arrested  and 
put  at  the  king's  mercy.  Not  stopping  here,  the 
Commons  raised  their  voice  in  accusation  against 
the  royal  mistress.  Philippa,  Edward's  excellent 
wife,  had  died  seven  years  before,  and  the  fortunes 
of  her  husband  were  overcast  from  the  day  of  her 
death.  Alice  Perrers,  a  married  woman,  whose 
wit  is  said  to  have  equaled  her  beauty,  and  who  had 
been  a  lady  of  the  bed-chamber  to  the  queen,  so 
captivated  Edward  that  he  could  refuse  her  nothing, 
and  was  never  happy  excejjt  when  he  was  in  her 
company.  Among  other  presents,  he  gave  her  the 
late  queen's  jewels,  and  these  Alice  was  vain  enough 
to  show  in  public.  She  soon  became  an  object  of 
popular  outcry;  but  the  Commons  stopped  short 
with  this  significant  ordinance, — "  Whereas  com- 
plaints have  been  laid  before  the  king  that  certain 
women  have  pursued  causes  and  actions  in  the  king's 
courts  by  way  of  maintenance,  and  for  hire  and  re- 
ward, which  thing  displeases  the  king,  the  king  for- 
bids that  any  woman  do  it  for  the  future,  and  in 
particular  Alice  Perrers,  under  the  penalty  of  for- 
feiting all  that  she,  the  said  Alice,  can  forfeit,  and 
of  being  banished  out  of  the  realm."  It  is  said  that 
the  mistress  was  removed  from  about  the  king's 
person ;  but  the  reformers  do  not  appear  to  liave 
carried  their  severity  so  tar : — at  all  events,  she  was 
with  him  at  his  last  moments  if  a  revolting  story  be 
true.' 

But  the  nation  lost  all  thoughts  of  Alice  Perrers 
in  the  great  event  which  now  took  place  :  the  Black 
Prince  died  on  Trinity  Sunday,  the  8th  day  of  June, 
1376.  It  will  appear,  from  our  unadorned  narrative 
of  facts,  that  this  extraordinary  man,  though  gener- 
ally both  merciful  and  generous,  was  not  wholly 
exempt  fiom  the  vices  and  barbarity  of  his  times ; 
but  it  is  clear,  from  the  universal  popularity  which 
he  enjoyed  at  home,  and  from  the  frequent  praises 
extorted  from  liis  bitterest  enemies  abroad,  that  he 
had  endearing  qualities,  and  many  virtues  beside 
those  of  gallantry  and  courage,  in  which  he  was 
probably  never  surpassed  by  a  mortal  being.  So 
entirely  had  the  nation  been  accustomed  to  look  up 
to  him,  that,  though  the  melancholj-  event  had  long 
been  expected,  his  death  seemed  to  toll  the  knell  of 
the  country's  glory.  "  The  good  fortune  of  Eng- 
land,"  says   a  contemporaiy,   "  as  if  it  had    been 

'  Rot.  Pari. — Murimuth.— Walsiiigham. — Rymer 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


753 


inherent  in  his  person,  flourished  in  his  health, 
languished  in  his  sickness,  and  expired  in  his  death ; 
for  with  him  died  all  the  hopes  of  Englishmen  ;  and 
during  his  life  they  had  feared  no  invasion  of  the 
enemy  nor  encounter  in  battle."^     His  body  was 

'  Walsingham. 


carried  in  a  stately  herse,  drawn  by  twelve  horses, 
to  Canterbury,  the  whole  court  and  Parliament 
attending  it  in  mourning  through  the  city,  and 
he  was  buried  with  great  pomp  on  the  south  side 
of  the  cathedral,  near  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas 
Becket. 


Effioy  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince.    From  the  Tomb  in  Canterbury  Cathedral. 


The  nation  seemed  well  inclined  to  transfer  all 
fheir  affection  to  Prince  Edward's  only  surviving 
legitimate  son,  Richard  of  Bordeaux,  who  was  only 
in  his  tenth  year;  and  a  few  days  after  the  funeral, 
Parliament  petitioned   the   king   to  inti'oduce   the 
young  prince  among  them,  that  he  might  receive 
the  honors  due  to  him  as  heir  to  the  crown.     The 
dislike  of  Prince  Richard's  uncle,  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster, who  was  suspected  of  aiming  at  the  throne, 
no   doubt  hastened  this  measure.     With  the  full 
consent  of  the  old  king,  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury presented  the  young  prince  to  the  two  houses 
as  "  the  fair  and  perfect  image  of  his  father,"  and 
the  successor  to  all  his  rights.     Lancaster,  however, 
resumed  all  his  former  power ;  and  as  soon  as  the 
Black  Prince  was  dead,  the  whole  efficacy  of  the 
parliamentary  opposition  which   he    had   directed 
ceased.     Sir  Peter  de  la  Mare,  the  Speaker  of  the 
Commons,  was  arrested,  and  William  of  Wickham, 
the  celebrated  Bishop  of  Winchester,  was  deprived 
of  his  temporalities  without  trial,  and  dismissed  the 
court.     In  the  next  Parliament,  which  met  on  the 
•27th  of  January,  1377,  the  duke  had  a  strong  major- 
ity ;  and  Sir  Thomas  Hungerford,  his  steward,  was 
appointed  Speaker  of  the  Commons.     It  appears  to 
have  been  the  object  of  Lancaster  to  conciliate  the 
doating  king  and  the  royal  mistress  ;  for  Parliament 
drew  up  a  petition,  imploring  that  the  Lord  Lati- 
mer, Alice  Perrers,  and  others,  might  be  freed  from 
the  censures  and  restrictions  passed  upon  them,  and 
restored  to  their  former  state.     Although  forming 
ii  very  weak  minority,  there  still  existed  an  opposi- 
tion with  spirit  enough  to  speak  and  remonstrate ; 
and  while  the  Commons  demanded,  in  right  of  the 
great  Charter,  that  Sir  Peter  de  la  Mare  should  be 
liberated  or  put  upon  his  trial,  the  bishops  demanded 
the  same  thing  in  behalf  of  their  bi-other  of  Win- 
chester.    Wyclifte,  a  poor  parish  priest,  the  pre- 
cursor of  Huss,  Luther,  Calvin,  and  the  great  men 
who  effected  the  Reformation,  had  long  been  preach- 
ing and  writing  against  the  abuses  of  the  Catholic 
clergy,  and  his  party,  though  small,  already  included 
some  persons  of  the  highest  rank  in  England.     It  is 
generally  stated  that  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  took  up 
the  cause  of  Wycliffe,  who  was  lying  under  a  dan- 
voii.  I. — 48 


gerous  prosecution,  merely  to  spite  the  bench  of 
bishops.  On  the  day  of  trial,  when  the  English  re- 
former stood  up  to  plead  in  the  great  church  of  St. 
Paul's,  before  Courtenay,  Bishop  of  London,  he 
was  accompanied  and  supported  by  the  duke,  and  by 
his  friend,  the  Lord  Percy,  Marshal  of  England. 
These  two  great  laymen  were  so  ardent  that  a  vio- 
lent altercation  ensued  in  the  church  between  them 
and  the  bishops:  Lancaster,  it  is  said,  even  threat- 
ened to  drag  the  prelate  out  of  the  church  by  the 
hair  of  his  head.  The  Londoners  hotly  resented 
the  insult  offered  to  their  bishop.  On  the  following 
morning  a  mob  broke  open  the  lord  marshal's  house, 
and  killed  an  unlucky  priest  whom  they  mistook  for 
Earl  Percy  in  disguise  :  they  then  proceeded  to  the 
Savoy,  the  duke's  palace,  and  gutted  it.  The  duke 
and  Percy,  who  were  dining  at  the  time  in  the  house 
of  a  great  Flemish  merchant,  ran  to  the  water-side, 
got  into  a  boat,  and  rowed  themselves  over  to  Ken- 
nington,  where  young  Prince  Richard  and  his  mother 
were  residing.  The  Bishop  of  London  put  down 
the  riot  by  his  admonitions ;  but  to  show  their 
hatred,  the  people  reversed  the  duke's  arms  as 
those  of  a  traitor.^  The  riot  was  so  terrible  that  it 
interrupted  the  debates  in  Parliament ;  and  one  of 
the  last  audiences  of  the  great  Edward  was  given 
at  Shene  (now  Richmond)  to  the  lord  mayor  and 
aldermen  of  the  city  of  London,  who  were  brought 
there  to  submit  themselves  to  the  duke,  and  crave 
pardon  for  their  grievous  offence.  But  neither 
their  submission  nor  their  protestations  of  innocence 
saved  them  from  Lancaster's  wrath ;  they  were  all 
"  ousted,"  and  creatures  of  the  duke  put  into  their 
places. 

When  Parliament  resumed  business,  they  took 
into  consideration  the  circumstance  that  the  truco 
with  France  was  on  the  point  of  expiring ;  and  to 
provide  for  a  renewal  of  the  war,  which  seemed 
probable,  they  granted  an  aid  in  the  shape  of  a  poll- 
tax — a  disastrous  precedent.  All  beneficed  clergy- 
men were  taxed  at  a  shilling  a  head,  and  all  other 
individuals  in  the  kingdom,  male  or  female,  above 
the  age  of  fourteen — common  beggars  excepted— 
were  to  pay  fourpence  a  head.     In  the  month  of 

■'  Walsingham.— Murimiith.—SU'W 


754 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


February  the  kiug  had  completed  the  fiftieth  year 
of  his  reign,  and  he  published  a  general  ainnestj-  for 
all  minor  offences — from  which,  however,  the  Bishop 
of  Winchester,  who  seems  to  have  committed  no 
offence  at  all,  was  excepted  by  name.'  This  was 
Edward's  last  public  act :  he  spent  the  remaining 
four  months  of  his  life  between  Eltham  Palace  and 
the  beautiful  manor  of  Shene.  Decay  had  fallen 
alike  on  body  and  spirit ;  he  was  incapable  of  doing 
much,  and  he  did  nothing.  The  ministers  and  cour- 
tiers crowded  round  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  or  round 

1  III  the  month  of  June,  the  bishop  got  back  the  revenues  of  his  see 
by  making  a  rich  present  to  the  unstress 


Prince  Richard  and  his  mother :  the  old  man  was 
left  alone  with  his  mistress  :  and  even  she,  it  is  said, 
after  drawing  his  valuable  ring  from  his  finger,  aban- 
doned him  in  his  dying  moments.  What  followed 
was  not  unusual — indeed  it  seems  generally  to  have 
happened  at  the  demise  of  a  king; — his  servants  left 
his  chamber  to  plunder  the  house  :  but  a  priest  was 
not  unmindful  of  his  duty:  he  went  to  the  deserted 
bedside,  preselited  a  crucifix,  and  stood  there  till 
the  great  sovereign  was  no  more.  Edward  died  at 
Shene,  on  the  21st  of  June,  1377,  in  the  sixty-fifth 
year  of  his  hfe,  and  the  fifty-first  of  his  reign.' 

'  Walsiiigham. — Rot.  Pari. — Rynier. — Slow 


Richard  11. — surnamkd  Or  Bordkaux. 


Great  Seal  of  Richard  II. 


A.  D.  1377. — The  reign  of  this  young  king  was 
counted  to  begin  on  the  feast  of  St.  Alban,  the  22d 
of  June,  the  day  after  the  death  of  his  grand- 
father ;  on  which  day  the  great  seal  was  delivered 
to  the  king,  and  bj'  him  intrusted  to  Sir  Nicholas 
Bonde  until  the  return  of  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  the 
chancellor,  who  was  engaged  in  business  beyond 
sea,  but  who  returned  on  the  25th  of  the  same 
month,  and  opened  the  purse  containing  the  seal 
and  divers  letters  patent  in  his  chapel  at  his  house 
in  Fleet-street,  London.'  The  funeral  obsequies 
of  the  late  king  occupied  some  time,  but  on  the 
16th  of  July  Richard  was  crowned  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  The  ceremony  was  unusually  splendid, 
but  the  fatigue  and  excitement  were  too  much 
for  the  royal  boy,  who,  after  being  anointed  and 
crowned,  was  so  completely  exhausted  that  they 
were  obliged  to  carry  him  in  a  litter  to  his  apart- 
ment. After  some  rest  he  was  summoned  to  the 
great  hall,  where  he  created  four  earls  and  nine 
knights,  and  partook  of  a  magnificent  banquet, 
which  was  followed  by  a  ball,  minsti-elsy,  and 
other  somewhat  turbulent  festivities  of  the  time.^ 

1  Rot.  Pari.— Sir.  H.  Nicolas,  Chron.  Hist. 

-  Wa'.sinehara. — He  gives  an  elaborate  account  of  the  coronation. 


Considerable  pains  were  taken  to  spoil  this  young 
king  from  the  first;  such  adulation  and  prostrations 
had  not  been  seen  before  in  England  ;  and  if  the 
bishops  and  courtiers  did  not  preach  to  the  boy  the 
"  divine  right,"  they  seemed  to  have  made  a  near 
apjn'oach  to  that  doctrine ;  and  they  spoke  gravely 
of  the  intuitive  wisdom  and  of  the  heroism  of  a 
child  not  yet  eleven  years  old.  These  men  were 
indisputably  answerable  for  much  of  the  mischief 
that  followed  ;  but  now  the  beauty  of  the  young 
king's  person,  and  the  memory  of  his  father,  en- 
deared him  to  his  people,  and  a  long  time  passed 
before  they  would  think  any  ill  of  the  son  of  their 
idol,  the  Black  Prince.  The  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
the  titular  King  of  Castile,  more  popularly  known 
under  the  name  of  "  John  of  Gaunt,'"  had  long 
been  suspected  of  the  project  of  supplanting  his 
nephew ;  but  his  unpopularity  was  notorious,  and 
lie  yielded  with  tolerably  good  grace  to  the  force  of 
circumstances.  As  if  on  purpose  to  exclude  the 
duke,  no  regular  regency  was  appointed ;  but  the 
morning  after  the  coronation  the  prelates  and 
barons  chose,  "  in  aid  of  the  chancellor  and  treas- 

1  He  was  so  called  from  the  town  of  Ghent  or  Gand  (then  pronounced 
Gaunt),  the  place  of  his  birth. 


Chap.  I.j 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIOxNS. 


755 


Richard  II.    From  a  Painting  in  the  Old  Jerusalem  Chamber  in  the  Palace  at  Westminsier 


uror,"  twelve  permanent  counselors,  among  whom 
not  one  of  the  king's  uncles  was  named.  John  of 
Gaunt  withdrew  to  his  castle  of  Kenilworth,  and,  it 
is  said,  in  some  discontent  with  the  advisers  of  the 
young  king,  who  had  taken  from  him  the  castle  of 
Hereford.  But  nothing  could  remove  the  popular 
belief  that  the  duke  aimed  at  the  throne,  and 
prophecies  were  afloat  which  probably  helped  to 
work  their  own  fulfilment  a  few  years  later  when 
his  son,  Henry  of  Bolingbi-oke,  dethroned  his  cousin 
Richard. 

The  French  were  not  slow  in  trying  to  take  the 
usual  advantage  of  a  minority.  The  truce  expired 
before  the  death  of  Edward,  and  Charles  refused 
to  prolong  it.  In  close  union  with  Henry  of  Tras- 
tamara,  who  was  provoked  by  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster continuing  to  assume  the  title  of  King  of 
Castile,  he  got  together  a  formidable  fleet,  and 
insulted  the  English  coast  before  Richard  had  been 
a  month  on  the  throne.  In  August  the  whole  of 
the  Isle  of  Wight,  with  the  exception  of  Caris- 
brook  Castle,  was  plundered  and  wasted,  and  the 
town  of  Hastings  was  burnt,  as  that  of  Rye  had 
been  a  short  time  before.  The  town  of  Winchelsea 
made  a  good  resistance,  and  at  Southampton  the 
French  and  Spaniards  were  repulsed  with  great 
loss  by  the  Earl  of  Arundel.  But  the  combined 
fleets,  which  were  occasionally  joined  by  marauders 
of  other  nations,  were  strong  enough  to  interrupt 
the  foreign  commerce  of  the  country,  and,  as  this 
had  become  considerable,  the  injury  was  a  very 
serious  one.'     A  parliament  was  assembled  while 

1  Not  long  after  several  places  on  the  coast  of  Sussex  and  Kent  were 
pl'iudered      A  fleet  even  ascended  the  Thames,  and  burned  the  greater 


the  impression  of  these  injuries  was  fresh ;  and  in 
order  to  obtain  supplies  of  money  (the  treasury 
being  exhausted),  it  was  stated  that  the  realm  was 
in  greater  danger  than  it  had  ever  been.  Supplies 
were  voted,  and,  by  borrowing  greater  sums  of  the 
merchants,  government  was  enabled  to  put  to  sea  a 
considerable  fleet  under  the  command  of  the  Earl 
of  Buckingham,  one  of  the  Duke  of  Lancaster's 
brothers.  Buckingham  met  with  little  success, 
and  his  failure,  however  unfairly,  added  to  the  un- 
popularity of  the  Lancastrian  party.  In  this  verj' 
Parliament,  the  first  which  Richard  held,  and  be- 
fore the  Earl  of  Buckingham  took  the  command 
of  the  fleet,  it  was  made  evid&nt  how  much  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster  had  declined  in  power.  The 
majority  of  the  House  of  Commons  consisted  of  the 
very  men  who  had  driven  his  party  from  office  in 
1376,  and  the  new  speaker  was  his  old  enemy  Sir 
Peter  de  la  Mare,  whom  he  had  arbitrarily  thrown 
into  prison  soon  after  the  death  of  the  Black  Prince. 
When  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  had 
been  made  chancellor,  requested  the  advice  of  the 
Commons  as  to  how  the  enemies  of  the  kingdom 
might  be  opposed  with  the  least  expense  and  the 
most  honor,  the  Commons  rej)lied  that  they  could 
not  of  themselves  answer  so  great  a  question  ;  and 
they  asked  for  the  aid  of  twelve  peers,  with  "  my 
Lord  of  Spain"  at  their  head.  The  duke  com- 
plained of  the  reports  circulated  against  him,  ant! 
said  that  the  Commons  had  no  claim  on  him  for 
advice  or  assistance.     They  had  charged  him,  the 

part  of  the  town  of  Gravesend.  These  irritating-  oircnmstan'-es  were 
recent  at  the  time  of  Wat  Tyler's  rehellion  (as  it  is  called),  aid  the> 
helped  to  hasten  ihat  Icrrihle  ou'.break. 


756 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLA.ND. 


[Book  IV. 


most  loyal  of  men.  with  that  which  amounted  to 
treason  ;  but  let  his  accusers  declare  themselves, 
and  he  would  meet  them  as  if  he  were  the  poorest 
knight  of  England,  either  in  single  combat  or  in  any 
other  way.  After  a  great  ferment,  the  bishops 
and  lords  declared  that  no  living  mortal  would 
credit  the  scandalous  reports;  the  Commons  asserted 
their  belief  of  his  innocence ;  and  a  reconciliation 
took  place  without  any  immediate  increase  of  Lan- 
caster's power.  The  Commons,  indeed,  insisted 
that,  as  so  much  monej'  had  been  wasted,  two  citi- 
zens, John  Philpot  and  William  Walworth,  both 
?nerchants  of  London,  should  bo  appointed  to  re- 
ceive tlie  moneys  now  voted  for  the  defence  of  the 
country ;  and  this  important  point  was  yielded  to 
them.  In  other  pretensions,  which  would  have 
given  them  the  appointment  of  all  the  justices, 
ministers,  and  court  functionaries,  they  were  only 
partially  defeated.'  In  this  same  session  of  Par- 
liament Alice  Ferrers  was  prosecuted,  and  being 
abandoned  by  her  former  ally,  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
K-aster,  she  was  sentenced  to  banishment  and  the 
forfeiture  of  all  her  property. 

A.D.  1378.  John  of  Gaunt,  however,  obtained 
the  command  of  the  fleet,  with  nearly  all  the  money 
which  had  been  voted.  He  detached  a  squadron 
under  the  earls  of  Arundel  and  Salisbury,  who,  in 
crossing  the  Channel,  fell  in  with  a  Spanish  fleet, 
and  suffered  considerable  loss.  The  two  earls, 
however,  succeeded  in  their  main  object,  and  took 
possession  of  the  town  and  port  of  Cherbourg,  on 
the  coast  of  Normandy,  which  were  ceded  to  Eng- 
land by  the  King  of  Navarre,  who  was  again  engaged 
in  a  war  with  the  French  king,  and  who  was  glad 
to  purchase  the  assistance  of  England  at  any  price. 
Nine  large  ships,  which  the  duke  had  hired  at  Ba- 
yonne,  on  their  way  to  England,  met  a  Spanish  fleet 
of  merchantmen,  and  took  fourteen  ships  laden  with 
wine  and  other  goods.  In  the  month  of  July  the 
duke  sailed  with  the  great  fleet  for  the  coast  of 
Brittany,  where  the  conquests  of  the  French  had 
reduced  another  ally  of  England  almost  to  despair. 
The  Dxike  of  Brittany,  the  son  of  the  heroic 
Countess  of  Montfbrt,  cedqd  to  the  English  the  im- 
portant town  and  harbor  of  Brest,  which  Lancaster 
secured  with  a  good  garrison.  The  duke  then  in- 
vested St.  Malo,  but  the  Constable  Duguesclin 
marched  with  a  very  superior  force  to  the  relief  of 
that  place,  and  compelled  the  duke  to  return  to  his 
ships:  the  great  fleet  then  came  home.  The  pos- 
session thus  obtained  of  Cherbourg  and  of  Brest  was 
an  immense  advantage:  it  deprived  the  French  of 
two  ports,  whence  they  could  best  attack  England, 

I  The  Commons  had  petitioned  that  eight  new  counselors,  the  great 
officers  of  state,  the  chief  justices,  and  all  the  household  of  the  king, 
should  be  named  by  the  Lords  in  concurrence  with  the  Commons  ;  or, 
at  least,  it  was  asked  that  the  Lords  should  certify  all  such  appoint- 
iTients  to  the  Commons  in  parliament.  The  Lords,  in  the  king's  ranie, 
appointed  a  new  council,  consisting  of  nine  persons  of  different  ranks  ; 
three  bishops,  two  earls,  two  bannerets,  and  two  knights-bachelors, 
who  were  to  continue  in  office  for  one  year ;  to  these  the  Lords  added 
eight  others,  at  the  request  of  the  Commons.  The  Lords  reserved  to 
themselves  the  appointment  of  the  chancellor,  chamberlain,  and  steward 
of  the  household,  during  the  minority.  Even  by  this  arrangement 
•nearly  the  whole  executive  government  was  transferred  to  the  two 
houses  of  Parliament. — Hallam,  Middle  Ages.  — Lingard,  Hist. — Rot 
I'arl. 


and  it  gave  the  English  two  other  keys  to  France ; 
but  the  places  had  been  given  up  by  friendly  treaty, 
and  not  gained  by  arms  ;  and  the  people,  who  were 
evidently  disinclined  to  allow  Lancaster  any  merit, 
said  that  he  had  wasted  the  money  and  done  no- 
thing. A  striking  aircumstance  which  had  occurred 
did  not  tend  to  brighten  the  duke's  laurels.  The 
Scots,  receiving  their  impulse  from  France,  renewed 
the  war,  surprised  the  castle  of  Berwick,  made 
incursions  into  the  northern  counties,  and  equipped 
a  number  of  ships  to  ciuise  against  the  English. 
Berwick  was  recovered  soon  after  by  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland ;  but  one  John  Mercer,  who  had 
got  together  certain  sail  of  Scots,  French,  and  Span- 
iards, came  to  Scarborough,  and  made  prize  of  every 
ship  in  that  port.  Upon  learning  the  injuries  done, 
and  the  still  greater  damage  apprehended  from  these 
sea-rovers,  John  Philpot — "  that  worshipful  citizen 
of  London" — lamenting  the  negligence  of  those  that 
should  have  provided  against  such  inconveniences, 
equipped  a  small  fleet  at  his  own  expense,  and, 
without  waiting  for  any  commission  from  the  gov- 
ernment, went  in  pursuit  of  Mercer.  After  a  fierce 
battle,  the  doughty  alderman  took  the  Scot  prisoner, 
captured  fifteen  Spanish  ships,  and  recovered  all 
the  vessels  which  had  been  taken  at  Schrborough. 
On  his  return,  Philpot  was  received  in  triumph  by 
his  fellow-citizens  ;  but  he  was  harshly  handled  by 
the  council  of  government  for  the  unlawfulness  of 
acting  as  he  had  done  without  authority,  he  being 
but  a  private  man.  The  alderman,  who  was  backed 
by  the  people,  replied  very  boldly :  according  to  an 
old  historian,  "he  incurred  the  hard  censure  of 
most  of  the  noblemen,  from  whom  he  seemed  to 
have  snatched,  by  this  his  fortunate  attempt,  the 
native  cognizance  of  true  nobihty  ;"  but  the  council 
dared  not  proceed  further  than  a  reprimand.' 

In  the  month  of  October,  the  Parliament  met  at 
Gloucester,  and  in  a  veiy  bad  humor :  the  govern- 
ment wanted  money — the  Commons  a  reform  of 
abuses.  The  disputes  entJed  in  a  compromise — the 
Commons  being  allowed  to  inspect  the  accounts  of 
the  treasurers,  which  was  granted  as  a  matter  of 
favor,  but  not  of  right,  nor  were  they  to  consider  it 
as  a  precedent :  they  also  obtained  copies  of  the 
papers,  showing  how  the  moneys  they  had  voted 
had  been  raised ;  but  this  also  was  granted  as  if 
proceeding  from  the  king's  good  pleasure.  In  the 
end,  they  granted  a  new  aid  by  laying  additional 
duties  on  wool,  woolfels,  hides,  leather,  and  other 
merchandise.  John  de  Montfort,  the  Duke  of 
Brittany,  had  been  driven  to  seek  refuge  in  Eng- 
land, and  the  French  king  annexed  his  dominions 
to  the  crown  of  France.  This  premature  measure 
reconciled  all  the  factions  in  the  country;  and  John 
was  recalled  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Bretons. 
Leaving  his  wife,  an  aunt  of  King  Richard,"  in 
England,  he  embarked  with  one  hundred  knights 
and  men-at-arms,  and  two  hundred  ai'chers.  St. 
Malo  opened  its  gates  at  his  approach ;  the  nobles, 
including  even  many  who  had  helped  to  expel  him, 

1  Trussell,  Contin.  of  Daniel's  Hist.— Southey,  Nav.  Hist. — Walsin?. 
-  De  Montfort  married  Mnrv,  the  fourth  daughter  of  Edward  IH. 
and  Queen  Philippa. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TKANSACTIONS. 


757 


rushed  into  the  water  chin-deep  to  meet  him ;  the 
people  hailed  his  return  with  transports  of  joy  ;  and 
the  States,  meeting  at  Rennes,  wrote  respectfully 
to  the  King  of  France,  for  permission  to  retain  their 
native  prince.^     Instead  of  consenting,  Charles  in- 
stantly prepared  to  send  a  French  army  into  Brit- 
tany,  and   then  the  duke  implored  the  assistance 
of  a  force  from  England.     A  considerable  army  was 
raised,  and  sent  to  his  relief,  under  the  command  of 
the  Earl  of  Buckingham,  one  of  the  king's  uncles. 
Buckingham  landed   at  Calais,  which  the  English 
had  rendered  stronger  than  ever ;  and  from  Calais 
he  marched  through  Artois,  Picardy,  Champagne, 
and  other  inland   provinces  of  France,  plundering 
and   devastating  the   open  country.     His   progress 
was  watched  by  far  superior  forces,  but,  firm  to  the 
system  which  the   cautious  Charles  had   adopted, 
the  French  would  not  risk  a  battle,  and  the  English, 
after  a  circuitous  march,  reached  the  frontiers  of 
Brittany   without    meeting    any    resistance.      But 
the  Earl,  of  Buckingham  was  scarcely  there  when 
the  King  of  France  died,  and  the  Bretons,  who  knew 
that  a  boy  w^as  to  ascend  the  throne,  thinking  that 
they  should  no  longer  stand  in  need  of  their  assist-  [ 
ance,  began  to  entertain  as  much  jealousy  and  ha-  , 
tred  of  the  English  as  they  had  hitherto  done  of  the 
French.     De  Montfort,  though  certainly  inclined  to 
maintain  his  close  alliance  with  England,  was  unable 
to  resist  the  Wishes  of  his  subjects,  and  as  the  uncles 
of  the  young  King  Charles  VI.,  who  formed  the  I 
regency,  were  willing  to  treat  and  to  recognize  his 
restoration,  he  concluded  a  peace  with  France,  and  i 
engaged  wholly  to  abandon  the  interests  of  England.  ' 
Buckingham  owed  his  safety  only  to  the  brave  men  ! 
he  had  about  him  and  to  the  supplies  of  provisions  j 
he  received  from  home,  and  he  returned  in  the  fol- 
lowing spring,  glad  to  escape  from  the  hostility  of 
the    Bretons.       The    English    complained    of    the 
treachery  and   unsteadiness   of  the  Bretons ;    the 
Bretons  complained  of  the  pride  and  rapacity  f^f  the 
English.*     These   proceedings,  though  they  were 
considered   as    failures,    had    certainly    given    the 
French  occupation  in  their  own  country,  and  had 
kept  them  from  our  shores  ;  but  they  had  cost  large 
sums  of  money,  and  the  nation  was  sorely  harassed 
by  taxation,  or  by  the  way  in  which  the  taxes  were 
levied.     In  an  evil  hour,  Parliament  passed  a  capi- 
tation tax :  this  was  a  repetition  of  the  tax  imposed 
in  the  last  year  of  the  preceding  reign,  but  slightly 
modified,  so  as  to  make  it  fall  less  heavily  on  the 
poor.     Every  male  and  female  of  fifteen  years  of 
age  was  to  pay  three  groats  ;  but  in  cities  and  towns 
the  aggregate  amount  was  to  be  divided  among  the 
inhabitants  according  to  their  abilities,  or  in  such  a 
way   that  no   individual  should   pay  less   than  one 
groat,  or  more  than  sixty  groats  for  himself  and  his 
wife.     Where  there  was  little  or  no  registration, 
the  fixing  of  the  age  was  sure  to  lead  to  disputes: 
the  collectors  might  easily  take  a  boy  or  girl  of  four- 
teen to  be  fifteen,  and  poverty  would  induce  many 
of  the  poor  knowingly  to  make  a  mis-statement  of 
the  opposite  kind.     But  the  levying  of  this  awkward 

1  Daru,  Hist,  de  la  BretagTie. 

2  Froissarl. — Archives  de  Nantes,  quoted  by  Uaru. 


tax  might  have  passed  over  with  nothing  more  se- 
rious than  a  few  riots  between  the  people  and  the 
tax-gatherers,   had   it  not   been   for  other  circum- 
stances involved  in  the  mighty  change  which  had 
gradually  been  taking  place  in   the  whole  body  of 
European  society.     The  peasantiy  had  been  gradu- 
ally emerging  from  slavery  to  freedom,  and  began 
to  feel  an  ambition  to  become  men,  and  to  be  treated 
as  such  by  their  superiors  in  the  accidental  circum- 
stances of  rank  and  wealth.     In  this  transition  state 
there  were  mistakes  and  atrocious  crimes  commit- 
ted by  both  parties ;  but  ignorance  may  be  particu- 
larly pleaded  in   exculpation  of  the  people,  whilt^ 
that  very  ignorance  and  the  brutalized  state  in  which 
they  had  been  kept  were  crimes  and  mistakes  on 
the  part  of  the  upper  classes,  who  had  now  to  pay 
a  horrible  penalty.     The   enfranchisement  of   the 
peasantry,  which  was  the  real  motive  of  the  move- 
ment, for  the  rest  was  an  after-thought,  begotten 
in  the  madness  of  success  and  the  frenzy  inspired 
in  unenlightened  minds  by  the  first  consciousness 
of  power,  was  so  sacred  an  object  that  nothing  could 
disgrace  or  eventually  defeat  it.     "  Their  masters 
in  some  places  {tve  believe  in  all)  pulled  them  back 
too  violently  ;   they  were  themselves  impatient  of 
the   time  which  such  an  operation  requires.     Ac- 
cidental provocations — malignant  incendiaries — fre- 
quently incited  them  to  violence  ;  but  in  general  the 
commotions  of  that  age  will  be  found  to  be  near  that 
point  in  the  progress  of  slaves  toward  emancipation 
when  their  hopes  are  roused  and  their  wrongs  not 
yet  redressed.'"     In  Flanders,  notwithstanding  that 
there  the  more  respectable  burghers  took  a  share 
in  the   insurrection,   many  frightful   excesses   had 
been  committed  upon  the  aristocracy,  and  in  France 
the   recent  Jacquerie  had   been   little  else  than  a 
series  of  horrors.     The  attempt  of  the  French  peas- 
antry offered  a  discouraging  example  to  their  neigh- 
bors in  England  ;  but  the  democratic  party  had  had 
a  long  triumph  m  Flanders ;  and  at  this  very  mo- 
ment the  son  of  Von  Artaveldt,  the  brewer  of  Ghent, 
with  Peter  du  Bois,  was  waging  a  successful  war 
against  their  court,  their  nobles,  and  the  whole  aris- 
tocracy of  France.     From  the  close  intercourse  be- 
tween the  two  countries,  many  of  the  English  must 
have  been   perfectly  acquainted  with   all  that  was 
passing  in  Flanders,  and  may  have  derived  encour- 
agement therefrom.     A  new  revolt  had  also  com- 
menced in  France  lieaded  by  the  burghers  and  in- 
habitants of  the  towns:  it  began  at  Rouen,  where 
the  collectors  of  taxes  and  duties  on  provisions  were 
massacred,  and  it  soon  spread  to  Paris  and  other 
great  cities.     Manj-  of  our  historians  have  attributed 
part  of  the  storm  which  was  now  gathering  in  Eng- 
land to  the  preaching  of  WyclifTe's  disciples,  but 
their  original  authorities  seem  to  have  been  preju- 
diced witnesses  against  the  church  reformer.      Tho 
convulsion  is  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  the  actual 
condition  of  the  people  of  England  at  this  period, 
considered  in  connection  with  the  particular  point 
in  its  progress  at  which  society  had  arrived.     That 
condition,  though  far  superior  to  the  state  of  the- 
French  people,  was  sufficiently  wretched  and  gall- 

i  Sir  J.  Mackintosh,  Hist. 


758 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


ing.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  peasantry  were 
still  serfs  or  "  villains,"  bound  to  the  soil,  and  sold 
or  transmitted  with  the  estates  of  the  nobles  and 
other  lauded  proprietors.  With  the  exception  of 
some  of  the  lower  order  of  the  secular  clergy,  there 
were  but  few  persons  disposed  to  consider  or  treat 
them  as  fellow-creatures.  The  discontents  and 
sufferings  of  the  classes  immediately  above  these 
serfs — the  poor  towns-people  on  the  coast,  more  par- 
ticularly, who  had  been  plundered  by  the  foreign 
fleets — no  doubt  contributed  to  hurry  on  the  san- 
guinary crisis;  but  it  was  the  poll-tax  that  was  the 
proximate  cause  of  the  mischief.  At  first  the  tax 
was  levied  with  mildness ;  but,  being  farmed  out  to 
some  courtiers  who  raised  money  upon  it  from 
Flemish  and  Lombard  merchants,  it  was  exacted 
by  their  collectors  with  great  severity,  and  this 
severity  increased  as  it  became  more  and  more  evi- 
dent that  the  receipts  would  in  no  case  come  up  to 
the  amount  calculated.  But  the  obstinacy  of  the 
people  kept  pace  with  the  harshness  of  the  collec- 
tors ;  many  of  the  rural  districts  refused  payment. 
The  recusants  were  handled  very  sorely  and  un- 
courteously,  "  almost  not  to  be  spoken,"  in  various 
places  in  Kent  and  Essex,  "  which  some  of  the 
people  taking  in  evil  part,  secretly  took  counsel 
together,  gathered  assistance,  and  resisted  the  ex- 
actors, rising  against  them,  of  whom  some  they  slew, 
some  they  wounded,  and  the  rest  fled."  Alarmed 
at  these  proceedings,  government  sent  certain  com- 
missioners into  the  disturbed  districts.  One  of  these 
commissioners,  Thomas  de  Bampton,  sat  at  Brent- 
wood in  Essex ;  the  people  of  Fobbing,  on  being 
summoned  before  him,  said  that  they  would  not  pay 
one  penny  more  than  they  had  done,  "  whereupon 
the  said  Thomas  did  grievously  threaten  them,  hav- 
ing with  him  two  sergeants-at-arms  of  the  king." 
These  threats  made  matters  worse,  and  when 
Bampton  ordered  his  sergeants  to  arrest  them,  the 
peasants  drove  him  and  his  men-at-arms  away  to 
London.  Upon  this  Sir  Robert  Belknape,  Chief 
.Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  was  sent  into  Essex 
to  try  the  offenders ;  but  the  peasants  called  him 
traitor  to  the  king  and  realm,  forced  him  to  flee,  and 
chopped  oft'  the  heads  of  the  jurors  and  clerks  of  the 
commission.  They  stuck  these  heads  upon  poles 
and  carried  them  through  all  the  neighboring  town- 
ships and  villages,  calling  upon  all  the  poor  to  rise 
and  join  them.  Sir  Robert  Hales,  Prior  of  the 
knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  recently 
been  created  Lord  Treasurer  of  England,  was  an 
especial  object  of  the  popular  fury.  He  had  a  goodly 
and  delectable  manor  in  Essex,  "  wherein  were  or- 
dained victuals  and  other  necessaries  for  the  use  of 
a  chapter-general,  with  great  abundance  of  fair  stuff 
of  wines,  arras,  cloths,  and  other  provisions  for  the 
knights  brethren."  "The  Commons  of  England"  (for 
so  the  peasants  called  themselves,  and  were  called 
by  others)  ate  up  all  the  provisions,  drank  all  the 
wine,  and  then  destroyed  the  house.  Nothing  was 
wanting  but  a  leader,  and  this  they  soon  found  in 
the  person  of  a  "  riotous  priest,"  who  took  the  name 
of  Jack  Straw.  Messages  and  letters  were  sent  in 
all  directions  ;  and  in  a  few  dajs,  not  only  the  whole 


agricultural  population  of  Essex  was  up  in  arms,  but 
their  neighbors  in  Kent,  Suffolk,  and  Norfolk  were 
following  the  example.  In  Kent,  an  act  of  brutality 
on  the  part  of  a  tax-gatherer,  and  an  act  of  great 
imprudence  (considering  the  prevailing  excitement) 
on  the  part  of  a  knight,  fanned  the  flames  of  revolt. 
One  of  the  collectors  of  the  poll-money  went  to  the 
house  of  one  Walter  the  Tyler,  in  the  town  of  Dart- 
ford,  and  demanded  the  tax  for  a  young  maiden,  the 
daughter  of  Walter.  The  mother  maintained  that 
she  was  but  a  child,  and  not  of  the  womanly  age 
set  down  by  the  Act  of  Parliament :  the  collector 
said  he  would  ascertain  this  fact,  and  he  offered  an 
intolerable  insult  to  the  girl;  "and  in  many  places 
they  made  the  like  trial."  The  maiden  and  her 
mother  cried  out,  and  the  father,  who  was  tiling  a 
house  in  the  town,  ran  to  the  spot  and  knocked  out 
the  tax-gatherer's  brains.  The  neighbors  applauded 
the  deed,  and  eveiy  one  prepared  to  support  the 
Tyler.  About  the  same  time  Sir  Simon  Burley^ 
went  to  Gravesend  with  an  armed  force,  and  claimed 
an  industrious  man  living  in  that  town  as  his  escaped 
bondsman.  A  villain,  according  to  the  law,  acquired 
his  freedom  by  a  residence  of  a  year  and  a  day  in  a 
town ;  but  in  this  case  Burley  demanded  the  great 
sum  of  three  hundred  pounds  of  silver  for  the  sur- 
render of  his  claim  to  the  man  ;  and  when  this  was 
refused,  he  earned  him  off  a  prisoner  to  Rochester 
Castle.  The  commons  of  Kent  now  rose  as  one 
man,  and  being  joined  by  a  strong  body  of  the  men 
of  Essex,  who  crossed  the  Thames,  they  fell  upon 
Rochester  Castle,  and  either  took  it  or  compelled 
the  garrison  to  deliver  up  Sir  Simon's  serf  with 
other  prisoners.  In  the  town  of  Maidstone,  the 
insurgents  appointed  Wat  the  Tyler  their  captain, 
and  then  took  out  of  prison,  and  had  for  their  chap- 
lain or  preacher,  "  a  Avicked  priest  called  John  Ball," 
who  had  been  several  times  in  confinement,  and 
who  was  then  under  prosecution  by  the  archbishop 
for  irregularity  of  doctrine. 

On  the  Monday  after  Trinity  Sunday,  1381,  Wat 
Tyler  entered  Canterbury,  denouncing  death  to  the 
archbishop,  who,  however,  was  absent :  af):er  ter- 
rifying the  monks  and  the  clergy  of  the  cathedral, 
he  forced  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and  commons  of  the 
town  to  swear  to  be  true  to  Richard  and  the  lawful 
commons  of  England  :  then  beheading  three  rich 
men  of  Canterbury,  Wat  marched  away  toward 
London,  followed  by  five  hundred  of  the  poor  towns- 
folk. On  his  march  recruits  came  to  him  from  all 
quarters  of  Kent  and  Sussex  ;  and  by  the  time  he 
reached  Blackheath  (11th  June)  there  were,  it  is 
said,  one  hundred  thousand  desperate  men  obeying 
the  orders  of  Wat  Tyler.  While  at  this  spot  the 
widow  of  the  Black  Prince,  the  young  king's 
mother,  fell  into  their  hands ;  but,  in  the  midst  of 
their  fury,  they  respected  her,  and  after  granting  a 
few  kisses  to  some  dirty-faced  and  rough-bearded 
men,  she  was  allowed,  with  her  retinue  and  maids 
of  honor,  to  proceed  quietly  to  London,  the  leaders 
even  engaging  to  protect  her  and  her  son.     While 

'  This  knight  was  tutor  or  guardian  to  the  young  kin?,  and  pos- 
sessed great  influence  at  court.  His  nielaucholy  end  will  be  noticed 
presently. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


759 


this  host  was  bivouacked  about  Blackheath  and 
Greenwich,  John  Ball,  the  priest  of  Kent,  kept 
them  to  their  purpose  by  long  orations  or  sermons, 
in  which  he  insisted  that  all  men  were  equal  before 
God,  and  ought  to  be  so  before  the  laws — and  so  far 
he  was  right ;  but  it  appears  that  he  went  on  to 
recommend  an  equality  of  propertj-,  which  is  im- 
practible,  and  a  destruction  of  all  the  upper  classes, 
which  was  monstrous.  It  has  been  suspected,  and 
not  without  probability,  that  Ball's  real  views  may 
have  been  somewhat  misrepresented  by  his  enemies, 
but  the  nature  of  his  discourses  may  be  collected 
from  his  standing  text,  which  was — 

"When  Adam  delved,  and  Eve  span, 
Who  was  then  a  gentleman  ?" 

His  eloquence  had  such  an  efiect  on  the  multitude, 
that,  forgetting  his  own  doctrines  of  equality,  they 
vowed  that  they  would  make  him  primate  and 
chancellor  of  England.  They  occupied  all  the 
roads,  killed  all  the  lawyers  and  judges  that  fell 
into  their  hands,  and  made  all  the  rest  of  the  pas- 
sengers swear  to  be  true  to  King  Richard  and  the 
commons,  to  accept  no  king  whose  name  was 
"John,"^  and  to  pay  no  tax  except  the  fifteenths 
which  had  been  paid  by  their  forefathers.  The 
young  king,  with  his  mother,  with  his  cousin  Hepry 
of  Bolingbroke,  with  Simon,  Archbishop  of  Canter 
bury  and  chancellor.  Sir  Robert  Hales,  treasurer, 
and  some  other  members  of  the  government,  threw 
himself  into  the  tower  of  London.  The  Duke  of 
Lancaster  was  in  Scotland  negotiating  a  peace,  and 
Gloucester  and  York,  the  other  uncles  of  the  king, 
were  absent.  Some  of  the  council  were  of  opinion 
that  Richard  should  go  and  speak  with  the  insur- 
gents, but  the  archbishop  and  the  treasurer  strongly 
objected  to  this  measure,  and  said  that  nothing  but 
force  should  be  used  "  to  abate  the  pride  of  such 
vile  rascals."  On  the  12th  of  June,  however, 
Richard  got  into  his  barge,  and  descended  the  river 
as  far  as  Rotherhithe.  where  he  found  a  vast  multi- 
tude drawn  up  along  shore,  with  two  banners  of 
St.  George  and  many  pennons.  "  When  they  per- 
ceived the  king's  barge,"  says  Froissart,  "  they  set 
up  shouts  and  cries  as  if  all  the  devils  from  hell  had 
come  into  their  company."  Startled  and  terrified, 
the  persons  with  the  king  put  about  the  boat,  and, 
taking  advantage  of  the  rising  tide,  rowed  back  with 
all  speed  to  the  Tower.  The  commons,  Avho  had 
always  professed  the  greatest  attachment  to  Rich- 
ard's person,  now  called  aloud  for  the  heads  of  all 
the  ministers ;  and  marching  along  the  right  bank 
of  the  river  to  Southwark,  and  then  to  Lambeth, 
destroyed  the  Marshalsea  and  King's  Bench,  and 
burned  the  furniture  and  all  the  records  and  books 
in  the  palace  of  the  primate.  At  the  same  time 
the  men  of  Essex  advanced  along  the  left  bank  of 
the  river,  and  after  destroying  a  mansion  of  the  lord 
treasurer's  at  Highbury,  threatened  the  northeast- 
ern part  of  London.  Walworth,  the  mayor,  caused 
the  movable  part  of  London  bridge  to  be  drawn  up, 

1  Jnhn  was  an  unhappy  name  in  English  history  ;  and  John  of  Gannt, 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  the  king's  uncle,  was  held  guilty  of  all  the  oppres- 
sions the  people  had  recently  suffered.  The  notion,  moreover,  of  his 
having  designs  on  the  crown  was  as  prevalent  as  ever. 


'  to  prevent  the  men  of  Kent  from  crossing  the  river  ; 
but  on  the  following  day  a  passage  was  yielded  to 
them  through  fear,  and  the  insurgents  entered  the 
city,  where  they  were  presently  joined  by  all  the 
rabble.  At  first  their  demeanor  was  most  moderate  ; 
"they  did  no  hurt,  they  took  nothing  from  any 
man,  but  bought  all  things  they  wanted  at  a  just 
price."  But  the  madness  of  drunkenness  was  soon 
added  to  political  fury.  The  rich  citizens,  hoping 
to  conciliate  the  mob,  had  set  open  their  wine-cel- 
lars for  them,  to  enter  at  their  pleasure,  and,  when 
the  peasants  had  once  tasted  of  this  rare  luxury, 
they  thought  they  never  could  have  enough  of  it, 
and  seized  it  and  other  strong  drinks  by  force 
wherever  they  could  find  them.  Thus  excited,  they 
went  to  the  Savoy,  the  house  of  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster, "  to  which  there  was  none  in  the  realm  to 
be  compared  in  beauty  and  stateliness."  They 
broke  into  this  palace,  and  set  fire  to  it.  To  show 
that  plunder  was  not  their  object,  the  leaders  pub- 
lished a  proclamation  ordering  that  none,  on  pain  of 
death,  should  secrete  or  convert  to  his  own  use 
anything  that  might  be  found  there,  but  that  plate, 
gold,  and  jewels  should  all  be  destroyed :  and  so 
particular  were  they  on  this  head,  that  a  fellow  who 
hid  a  silver  cup  under  his  clothes  Avas  thrown  into 
the  Thames,  cup  and  all.  It  would  have  been  well 
had  the  prohibition  extended  to  the  duke's  wines ; 
but  they  drank  there  immoderately,  and  thirtA'-two 
of  the  rioters,  engaged  in  the  cellars  of  the  Savoy, 
were  too  drunk  to  remove  in  time,  and  were  buried 
under  the  smoking  ruins  of  the  house.  Newgate 
was  then  deiuolished ;  and  the  prisoners  who  had 
been  confined  there  and  in  the  fleet  joined  in  the 
work  of  havoc.  The  Temple  was  burnt,  with  all 
the  books  and  ancient  and  valuable  records  it  con- 
tained ;  and  about  the  same  time  a  detachment 
set  fire  to  the  priory  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  in 
Clerkenwell,  which  had  been  recently  built  by  Sir 
Thomas  Hales,  the  prior  of  the  order,  and  treasurer 
of  the  kingdom.  They  now  also  proceeded  to  the 
shedding  of  blood  :  to  eveiy  man  they  met  they  put 
their  watchword — "  For  whom  holdest  thou  ?" — 
the  answer  was — "  With  King  Richard  and  the  true 
commons :"  and  whosoever  knew  not  that  w.'itch- 
word,  off  went  his  head.  They  probably  felt  that 
antipathy  to  foreigners  common  to  uneducated  peo- 
ple ;  but  against  the  Flemings,  who  it  was  popularly 
said  fattened  on  their  miseries,  they  bore  the  most 
deadly'  rancor.  The  sanctuary  of  the  church  was 
disregarded,  and  thirty  Flemings  were  dragged  from 
the  altar  into  the  streets,  and  beheaded  amid  shouts 
of  triumph  and  savage  jo}- ;  thirty-two  more  were 
seized  in  the  Vintrj%and  underwent  the  same  fate. 
Many  of  the  rich  citizens  were  massacred  in  at- 
tempting to  escape  :  those  who  remained  did  noth- 
ing for  the  defence  of  the  city;  and  all  that  night 
London  was  involved  in  fire,  murder,  and  de- 
bauchery. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th  it  was  resolved  to 
try  the  efliect  of  concession,  and  of  promises  which 
the  court  had  no  intention  of  keeping,  nor  had  it 
the  power  of  so  doing,  had  the  will  been  ever  so 
strong.     A  proclamation  was  issued  to  a  multitude 


760 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


Ruins  of  the  Savoy  Palace,  Strand.    1711. 


that  crowded  Tower-hill,  preventing  the  introduc- 
tion of  provisions  into  the  fortress,  and  clamoring 
for  the  heads  of  the'  chancellor  and  treasurer  ;  and 
they  were  told  that,  if  they  would  retire  quietly  to 
Mile  End,  the  king  would  meet  them  there,  and 
grant  all  their  requests.  The  gates  were  opened, 
the  drawbridge  was  lowered,  and  Richard  rode 
forth  with  a  few  attendants  without  arms.  The 
commonalty  from  the  countiy  followed  the  king: 
"  but  all  did  not  go,  nor  had  they  the  same  objects 
in  view."  On  the  way  Richard's  half-brothers, 
the  Earl  of  Kent  and  Sir  John  Holland,  alarmed 
for  their  own  safety,  put  spurs  to  their  horses,  and 
left  him.  On  arriving  at  Mile  End,  Richard  saw 
himself  surrounded  by  upward  of  sixty  thousand 
peasants ;  but  their  demeanor  was  mild  and  re- 
spectful, and  they  presented  no  more  than  four 
demands,  three  of  which  were  wise  and  moderate, 
and  the  exceptionable  one,  which  went  to  fix  a 
maximum  for  the  price  of  land,  was  not  more  absurd 
than  an  act  of  their  rulers  in  the  preceding  reign, 
which  fixed  the  maximum  price  of  agricultural 
labor.  These  four  demands  of  the  peasants  were — 
1.  The  total  abolition  of  slavery  for  themselves  and 
their  children  forever.  2.  The  reduction  of  the 
rent  of  good  land  to  fourpence  the  acre.  3.  The 
full  liberty  of  buying  and  selling,  like  other  men, 
in  all  fairs  and  markets.  4.  A  general  pardon  for 
all  past  offences.  The  king,  with  a  gracious  coun- 
tenance, assured  them  that  all  these  demands  were 
granted  ;  and,  returning  to  town,  he  employed  up- 
ward of  thirty  clerks  to  make  copies  of  the  charter 
containing  the  four  clauses.  In  the  morning  these 
copies  were  sealed  and  delivered,  and  then  an  im- 
mense body  of  the  insurgents,  consisting  chiefly  of 


the  men  of  Essex  and  Hertfordshire,  quietly  with- 
drew from  the  capital ;  but  more  dangerous  men 
remained  behind.  The  people  of  Kent,  who  had 
been  joined  by  all  kinds  of  miscreants,  had  com- 
mitted some  atiocious  deeds  on  the  preceding  day, 
while  the  king  was  marching  to  Mile  End.  Almost 
as  soon  as  his  back  was  turned,  with  a  facility 
Avhich  excites  a  suspicion  of  treachery  or  disafiec- 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  garrison,'  they  got  into  the 
Tower,  where  they  cut  oft'  the  heads  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  the  chancellor ;  Sir  Robert 
Hales,  the  treasurer;  William  Apuldore,  the  king's 
confessor;  Legge,  one  of  the  farmers  of  the  tax, 
and  three  of  his  associates.  The  Princess  of 
Wales,  who  was  in  the  Tower,  was  completely  at 
their  mercy  ;  but  the  ci-devant  "  Fair  Maid  of  Kent  " 
was  s'gain  quit  for  a  few  unsavory  kisses.  The 
horror  of  the  scene,  however,  overpowered  her; 
and  she  was  carried  by  her  ladies  in  a  senseless 
state  to  a  covered  lioat,  in  which  she  was  rowed 
across  tli6  river.  As  soon  as  he  could  the  king 
joined  his  mother,  who  had  been  finally  conveyed 
to  a  house  called  the  Royal  Wardrobe,  in  Carter- 
lane,  Bernard's  Castle  Ward. 

Wat  Tyler  and  the  leaders  with  him  rejected 
the  charter  which  the  men  of  Essex  had  so  gladly 
accepted.  Another  charter  was  drawn  up,  but  it 
equally  failed  to  please,  and  even  a  third,  with  still 
larger   concessions,  was  rejected   with  contempt.'^ 

1  There  were  six  hundred  men-at-arms,  and  as  many  archers,  in  the 
Tower.  The  rebels  or  insurgents  were  miserably  armed  and  equipfei'. 
"Of  those  commons  and  husbandmen,"  says  Holinshed.  "many  were 

weaponed  only  with  sticks Among  a  thousand  of  that  kind  of 

persons  ye  should  not  have  seen  one  well  armed." 

^  According  to  Knyghton,  Wat  Tyler  insisted  on  the  total  repeal  of 
the  forest  or  game  laws  and  that  all  warrens  waters,  parks,  and  woods 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


761 


The  next  morning  the  king  left  the  Wardrobe,  and 
went  to  Westminster,  where  he  heard  mass  and 
paid  his  devotions  before  a  statue  of  "  our  Lady " 
in  the  abbey,  which  had  the  reputation  of  perform- 
ing many  miracles,  particularly  in  favor  of  English 
kings.  After  this  he  mounted  his  horse,  and  with 
a  retinue  of  barons  and  knights  rode  along  the 
"  causeway "  toward  London.  On  coming  into 
West  Smithfield,  he  met  Wat  Tyler,  who  was 
there  with  a  great  multitude.  The  mayor  and 
some  other  city  magistrates  had  joined  the  king, 
but  his  whole  company,  it  is  said,  did  not  exceed 
sixty  persons,  who  were  all  on  horseback.  In  the 
front  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Bartholomew,  Richard 
drew  rein,  and  said  that  he  would  not  go  thence 
until  he  had  appeased  the  rioters.  Wat  Tyler,  on 
seeing  him,  said  to  his  men,  "  Here  is  the  king ! 
I  will  go  speak  with  him.  Move  not  hand  or  foot 
unless  I  give  you  a  signal."  Wat,  who  had  pro- 
cured arms  and  a  horse,  rode  boldly  up  to  Richard, 
and  went  so  near  that  his  horse's  head  touched  the 
flank  of  Richard's  steed.  "  King !"  said  he,  "  dost 
thou  see  all  those  men  there  ?"  "  I  see  them," 
replied  the  king,  "  why  dost  thou  ask  ?"  "  Because 
they  are  all  at  my  will,  and  have  sworn  by  their 
faith  and  loyalty  to  do  whatsoever  I  should  bid 
them."     During  this  parley  the  Tyler  played  with 

should  be  commoii,  so  that  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich  might  freely 
fish  in  all  waters,  hunt  the  deer  in  forests  and  parks,  and  the  hare  in 
the  field. 


his  dagger,  and,  it  is  said  by  some,  laid  hold  of 
Richard's  bridle.  It  is  probable  thai  this  unedu- 
cated man,  intoxicated  by  his  brief  authority,  was 
coarse  and  insolent  enough;  but  to  suppose  that 
he  intended  to  kill  the  king  is  absurd.  Some  say 
that  Richard  ordered  his  arrest ;  others  that  John 
Walworth,  the  lord  mayor,  thinking  that  he  in- 
tended to  stab  the  king,  rode  up,  and  plunged  a 
short  sword  into  his  throat  without  any  orders. 
All  accounts  agi-ee  in  stating  that,  whether  with 
sword,  dagger,  or  mace,  it  was  the  mayor  that 
struck  the  first  blow.  Wat  Tyler  turned  his  horse's 
head  to  rejoin  his  men,  but  Raiph  Standish,  one  of 
the  king's  esquires,  thrust  his  sword  through  his 
side,  "  so  that  he  fell  flat  on  his  back  to  the  ground, 
and  beating  with  his  hands  to  and  fro  for  a  while, 
gave  up  his  unhappy  ghost."  When  the  men  of 
Kent  saw  his  fall  they  cried  out,  "  We  are  be- 
trayed !  They  have  killed  our  captain  and  guide !" 
and  the  foremost  men  in  that  disordered  array  be- 
gan to  put  their  arrows  on  the  string.  The  per- 
sonal intrepidity  of  the  royal  boy — for  Richard  was 
only  in  his  fifteenth  year — saved  his  hfe.  He  rode 
gallantly  up  to  the  insurgents  and  exclaimed, 
"  What  are  ye  doing,  mj'  lieges  ?  Tyler  was  a 
traitor — I  am  your  king,  and  I  will  be  your  cap- 
tain and  guide."  On  hearing  these  words,  many 
slipped  away  —  others  remained  ;  but,  Avithout  a 
leader,  they  knew  not  what  to  do.  The  king  rode 
back  to  his  lords,  and  asked  what  steps  he  should 


J    ^ 


ssji  ill  HUM  n\U      ,  I  lir  >  ,1  l,]i,,iii|l!!l|',,l|ijll 


Dkath  of  Wat  Tyler.— Northcote. 


7G2 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Bock  IV. 


take  next.  "  jNInke  for  the  fields,"  said  the  lord 
mayor:  "if  we  attempt  to  retreat  or  flee,  our  ruin 
is  certain ;  but  let  us  gain  a  little  time,  and  we  shall 
be  assisted  by  our  good  friends  in  the  city,  who  are 
preparing  and  arming  with  all  their  servants."  The 
king  and  his  party  made  for  the  northern  road,  and 
ihe  mob,  wavering  and  uncertain,  followed  him  to  the 
open  fields  about  Islington.  Here  one  thousand  men- 
at-arms  (Froissart  says  from  seven  thousand  to  eight 
thousand,  joined  the  king,  under  the  command  of 
Sir  Robert  Knowles.  The  insurgents,  now  thinking 
their  case  hopeless,  either  ran  away  through  the  corn- 
fields, or,  throwing  their  bows  on  the  ground,  knelt 
and  implored  for  mercy.  "  Sir  Robert  Knowles  was 
in  a  violent  rage  because  they  were  not  attacked 
and  slain  in  a  heap,  but  the  king  would  not  consent, 
saying  that  he  would  have  his  full  revenge  on  them 
in  another  way,  which  in  truth  he  afterward  had." 

While  these  events  were  passing  in  London  and 
its  neighborhood,  the  servile  war  had  spread  over  a 
great  part  of  England — on  the  southern  coast,  as  far 
as  Winchester,  on  the  eastern  as  far  noi"th  as  Scar- 
borough. As  the  nobles  shut  themselves  uu  in  their 
strong  castles,  but  little  blood  was  shed.  Henry 
Spencer,  the  Bishop  of  Norwich,  despised  this  safe 
course  ;  he  armed  his  retainers,  collected  his  friends, 
and  kept  the  field  against  the  insurgents  of  Norfolk, 
Cambridge,  and  Huntingdon.  He  surprised  several 
bodies  of  peasants,  and  cut  them  to  pieces :  others 
he  took  prisoners.  Then,  putting  oflf  the  complete 
armor  which  he  wore,  and  laying  down  the  sword, 
he  took  up  the  crucifix,  confessed  his  captives,  gave 
them  absolution,  and  sent  them  straight  to  the  gibbet 
or  the  block.' 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Wat  Tyler,  Richard  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  forty  thousand  horse,  and  then 
he  told  the  villains  that  all  his  charters  meant  noth- 
ing, and  that  they  must  return  to  their  old  bondage. 
The  men  of  Essex,  whose  conduct  had  been  the 
mildest  and  most  rational,  made  a  stand,  but  they 
were  defeated  with  great  loss.  Then  courts  of  com- 
mission were  opened  in  different  towns  to  condemn, 
rather  than  to  try  the  chief  offenders.  Jack  Straw 
and  John  Ball,  the  strolling  preachers.  Lister  and 
Westbroom,  who  had  taken  to  themselves  the  titles 
of  Kings  of  the  Commons  in  Norfolk  and  Sufi'olk, 
with  several  hundred  more,  were  executed.  At 
first  they  were  beheaded :  afterward  they  were 
hanged  and  left  on  the  gibbet,  to  excite  horror  and 
terror ;  but  their  friends  cut  down  the  bodies  and 
carried  them  ofii";  upon  which  the  king  ordered  that 
they  should  be  hanged  in  strong  iron  chains.*  Ac- 
cording to  Holinshed  the  whole  number  of  execu- 
tions amounted  to  fifteen  hundred. 

When  Parliament  assembled,  it  was  seen  how 
little  the  upi)er  classes  of  society  were  prepared  for 
that  recognition  of  the  rights  of  the  poor,  to  which 
in  the  present  day  no  one  could  demur  without 
incurring  the  suspicion  of  insanity.  In  truth,  it 
would  have  belied  all  history  and  all  experience,  if 
the  victorious  party  in  such  a  contest  should  have 

1  Froissart. — Knyghton. — Walsingham. — Stowe. — Holinshed. 

2  This  is  believed  to  be  the  first  introduction  of  this  disgusting 
practice. 


immediately  followed  up  their  success  by  giving  in 
to  the  demands  of  their  opponents.  The  king  had 
annulled,  by  proclamation  to  the  sheriffs,  the  char- 
ters of  manumission  which  he  had  gi'anted  to  the 
insurgents,  and  this  revocation  was  warmly  approved 
by  both  Lords  and  Commons,  who,  not  satisfied  with 
saying  that  such  enfranchisement  could  not  be  made 
without  their  consent,  added,  that  they  would  never 
give  that  consent,  even  to  save  themselves  from 
perisliing  altogether  in  one  day.  There  was  a 
talk  indeed  about  the  propriety  and  wisdom  of  abol- 
ishing villainage ;  but  the  notion  was  scouted,  and 
the  owners  of  serfs  showed  that  they  neither  doubted 
the  right  by  which  they  held  their  fellow-creatures 
in  a  state  of  slavery,  nor  would  hesitate  to  increase 
the  severity  of  the  laws  affecting  them.  They 
passed  a  law  by  which  "  riots,  and  rumors,  and  other 
such  things,"  were  turned  into  high  treason,'  a  law 
most  vaguely  expressed,  and  exceedingly  likely  to 
involve  those  who  made  it  in  its  fangs.  But  this 
Parliament  evidently  acted  under  the  impulses  of 
panic  and  of  revenge  for  recent  injuries.  The 
Commons  presented  petitions  calling  for  redress  of 
abuses  in  the  administration  :  they  attributed  the 
late  insurrection  to  the  extortions  of  purveyors,  to 
the  venality  and  rapacity  of  the  judges  and  officers 
of  the  courts  of  law,  to  the  horrible  doings  of  a  set 
of  banditti  called  Maintaiuers,  and  to  the  heavy 
weight  of  recent  taxation  ;  but  they  said  not  a  word 
about  that  desire  for  lil)erty  which  was  in  fact  the 
main  torrent  in  that  inundation,  the  others  being 
but  as  tributary  streams  swelling  its  waters.  When 
the  king  demanded  a  supply,  the  Commons  refused, 
averring  that  a  new  tax  would  provoke  a  new  insur- 
rection. When  the  Commons,  in  their  turn,  asked 
for  a  general  pardon,  not  for  the  insurgents,  but  for 
themselves  and  others,  for  illegal  acts  committed  by 
them  in  putting  down  the  rebels,  the  king  gave  them 
to  understand  that  the  Commons  must  make  theii* 
grants  before  he  dispensed  his  favors.  This  discus- 
sion was  curious :  when  the  king  pressed  again  for 
money,  thej^  told  him  that  they  must  have  time  for 
consideration  :  and  then  the  king  told  the  Commons 
that  he  too  must  have  time  to  deliberate  on  their 
petition  of  pardon.  The  Commons  gave  way  first, 
and  voted  that  the  tax  upon  wool,  woolfels,  aiid 
leather  should  be  continued  for  five  years.  The 
obnoxious  poll-tax  was  not  mentioned.  The  king 
then  gave  the  general  pardon  requested, /or  a/Z  loyal 
subjects  ;  and  this  grace  was  a  few  weeks  later  ex- 
tended to  the  peasantry.^ 

A.  D.  1382.  The  king,  being  now  in  his  sixteenth 
year,  was  married  to  Anne  of  Bohemia,  daughter 
of  the  late  Emperor  Charles  IV.,  an  accomplished 
and  excellent  pi-incess,  who  deserved  a  better  and  a 
wiser  husband.  A  few  days  after  the  marriage,  on 
January  the  24th,  Parliament  reassembled,  and 
Lancaster,  yearning  after  his  kingdom  of  Castile, 
proposed  carrying  an  army  into  Spain.  He  only 
wanted  sixt}'  thousand  pounds,  but  after  a  warm  de- 
bate, the  duke  was  defeated. 

At  this  time  there  were  two  popes.  Urban  VI..  an 
Italian,  and  Clement  VII.,  a  Frenchman.  When 
»  Stat.  Rich.  ii.  c.  7.  2  R.t.  Pari 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


76* 


there  was  no  schism,  the  Pope  was  generally  a  peace- 
maker ;   but  on  occasions  like  the  present,  each  of 
the  rival  pontiffs  tried  to  arm  Europe  in  his  cause. 
France,  Scotland,  Spain,  Sicily,  and  Cyprus  were  for 
Clement ;  England,  Flanders,  and  the  rest  of  Europe 
for  Urban,  who,  on  good  grounds,  considered  France 
his  greatest  enemy.     The  Italian  pope,  after  looking 
about  for  a  brave  and  sure  champion,  fixed  his  eyes 
on  the  warlike  Bishop  of  Norwich,  who  had  so  lately 
distinguished  himself  in  the  servile  war  of  England. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Flemings,  who  were  devoted 
adherents  of  Urban,  were   sorely  pressed  by  the 
French ;   and  they  renewed  their  applications  to 
England  for  assistance.^     After  preaching  a  sort  of 
crusade,  the  Bishop  of  Norwich  asked  in  the  Pope's 
name  a  tenth  on  church  property,  obtained  the  prod- 
uce of  a  fifteenth  on  lay  property,  and  raised  two 
thousand  five  hundred  of  the  best  lancers  in  the  land, 
and  about  an  equal  number  of  archers,  and  so  passed 
over  the  Channel  to  make  war,  "  for  he  was  young 
and  adventurous,  and  loved  the  profession  of  arms 
above  all  things."^     The  war  in  which  this  military 
churchman  engaged,  presented  two  aspects  :  under 
one,  it  was  a  sacred  crusade  for  the  Pope,  but  under 
the  other,  it  was  a  conflict  waged  in  union  with, 
iind  for  the  rights  and  independence  of  the  burghers 
and  commons  of  Flanders  against  the  aristocracy. 
He  was  so  fond  of  war,  that  he  probably  cared  little 
how  he  indulged  in  it.     After  the  murder  of  James 
Von  Artaveldt,  the  cause  of  democracy  declined; 
and  thirty-six  years  after  that  event,  the  Flemings 
were  almost  reduced  to  extremities.     In  this  state 
they  fixed  all  their  hopes  on  Von  Artaveldt's  son, 
who  had  been  named  Philip,  after  his  godmother 
Philippa,  the  wife  of  Edward  III.     Philip  Von  Ar- 
taveldt, warned  by  his  father's  fate,  had  passed  his 
life  in  a  quiet  and  happy  retirement ;  and  in  1381  he 
was  dragged,  with  his  eyes  open  to  the  worst  conse- 
quences, to  head  the  council  and  lead  the  armies  of 
the  dispirited  people.     His  character  and  his  fate 
form  one  of  the  most  interesting  episodes  in  the  his- 
tory of  modern  Europe.     For  about  fifteen  months, 
which  included  the  whole  of  his  public  life,  his  ca- 
reer was  as  brilliant  as  a  romance :  he  forced  the 
enemy  to  raise  the  siege  of  Ghent,  the  center  and 
soul  of  the  confederacy  ;  with  the  weavers  and  other 
artisans  of  Ghent  he  defeated  the  French,  the  count, 
and  the  whole  chivalry  of  Flanders  ;  he  took  Bruges, 
burnt  Elchin,  a  town  in  France,  and  laid  siege  to 
the  strong  fortress  of  Oudeuarde  ;  but  in  the  month 
of  November,  1382,  he  was  defeated  in  the  sangui- 
nary battle  of  Rosebecque,  and  (in  this  more  fortu- 
nate  than  his  father)  was   killed    by  the   enemy. 
After  that  dreadful  defeat,  the  cause  of  the  com- 
mons again  declined  :  many  towns  submitted,  and 
Ghent  was   besieged   or    threatened,   but  without 
eflfect.^ 

Affairs  were  in  this  state  at  the  arrival  of  the 
English  force,  whose  main  object  it  was  to  assist  the 
free  burghers  of  Ghent.     The  Bishop  of  Norwich 

1  In  the  preceding  year  they  had  shown  themselves  bad  negotiators, 
for,  at  the  moment  of  soliciting  a  favor,  they  demanded  payment  of  two 
hundred  thonsand  florins,  a  debt  of  Edward  III.,  which  they  asserted 
had  been  due  to  them  forty  years.  3  Froissart 

3  Froissart.— Barante,  Hist,  des  Dues  de  Bourgogne. 


led  his  little  army  to  Gravelines,  which  he  stormed 
and  took  :  he  next  defeated  an  army  of  the  Count  of 
Flanders,  took  the  town  of  Dunkirk,  and  occupied 
the  whole  coast  as  far  as  Sluys  :  he  then  marched 
with  an  impetuosity  which  astonished  more  regular 
warriors  to  lay  siege  to  Ypres,  where  he  was  joined 
by  twenty  thousand  of  the  men  of  Ghent.  Mean- 
while the  count  implored  the  protection  of  the  young 
King  of  France,  who,  convoking  the  ban  and  the 
arriere  ban,  sent  a  splendid  army,  in  which  were 
counted  twenty-six  thousand  lances,  across  the 
frontier.  The  bishop  made  one  furious  assault; 
but,  on  the  approach  of  the  French,  he  ran  back  to 
the  coast  more  rapidly  than  he  had  advanced  from 
it.  A  part  of  his  army  got  back  with  considerable 
booty  to  Calais ;  the  bishop,  with  the  rest,  threw 
himself  into  Gravelines — where  the  French  were 
glad  to  be  rid  of  him,  by  permitting  him  to  destroy 
the  fortifications  of  the  place,  and  then  embark 
with  bag  and  baggage.  The  French  chroniclers 
say  that  he  made  but  a  bad  use  of  the  Pope's  money, 
and  that  the  issue  of  the  expedition  was  owing  to 
his  own  folly  and  precipitation ;  but  in  England  his 
failure  was  attributed  to  the  jealousy  of  the  Duke  of 
Lancaster.  The  bishop,  on  his  return,  was  prose- 
cuted by  Parliament,  and  was  for  some  time  deprived 
of  his  temporalities.  At  the  same  time,  four  of  his 
principal  officers  were  condemned  for  having  sold 
stores  and  provisions  to  the  enemy. 

A.  D.  1384.  In  her  jealousy  of  the  powers  of  his 
imcles,  the  Princess  of  Wales  had  surrounded  her 
son  with  ministers  and  officers  who  were  chiefly 
men  of  obscure  birth  and  fortune.  Richard,  who 
lived  almost  entirely  in  the  society  of  these  individ- 
uals, contracted  an  exclusive  affection  for  them,  and, 
as  soon  as  he  was  able,  he  began  to  heap  weahh  and 
honors  upon  them.  Hence  there  arose  a  perpetual 
jealousy  between  the  favorites  and  the  king's  uncles, 
and  a  struggle  in  which  both  parties  seem  to  have 
resorted  to  the  ^ost  nefiirious  proceedings.  A  dark 
mystery  will  forever  hang  ovei-  most  of  these  trans- 
actions. Once  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  was  obliged 
to  hide  himself  in  Scotland,  and  he  would  not  return 
until  Richard  publicly  proclaimed  his  conviction  of 
his  innocence,  and  allowed  him  to  travel  always  with 
a  strong  body-guard.  In  the  mouth  of  April  of  this 
year,  just  after  the  duke  had  done  good  service 
against  the  Scots,  the  Parliament  met  at  Salisbury. 
One  day  during  the  session,  John  Latimer,  a  Car- 
melite friar,  a  native  of  Ireland,  gave  Richard  a 
parchment,  containing  the  particulars  of  a  conspiracy 
to  place  the  crown  on  the  head  of  his  uncle.  The 
king  communicated  the  contents  to  Lancaster,  who 
swore  that  they  were  all  utterly  false, — offered  to 
fight  in  proof  of  his  innocence,  and  insisted  that  his 
accuser  should  be  placed  in  safe  custody  to  bo  ex- 
j  amined  by  the  council.  The  monk  was  accordingly 
committed  to  the  care  of  John  Holland,  the  king's 
half-brother,  who  is  said  to  have  strangled  him  with 
his  own  hands  during  the  night.  The  king's  fVifMids 
asserted  that  the  friar  had  killed  himself.  The 
Earl  of  Buckingham  swore  that  he  would  kill  any 
man  that  dared  to  accuse  his  brother  Lancaster  of 
,  treason.     The  Lord   Zouch,  whom  the  friar  had 


r64 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


named  as  the  author  of  the  memorial,  declared  upon 
his  oath  that  lie  knew  nothing  about  it,  and  the  mat- 
ter dropped.  Some  suspicions,  however,  hugered 
in  the  mind  of  Richard,  and  an  attempt  was  made 
some  time  after  to  arrest  Lancaster.  But  the  duke 
threw  himself  into  his  strong  castle  of  Pontefract, 
and  stayed  there  till  the  king's  mother  brought 
about  a  reconciliation,  and  obtained  a  pardon  for  her 
own  son.  Sir  John  Holland. 

Truces  with  Scotland,  which  had  been  negotiated 
by  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  were  prolonged  till  the 
month  of  May,  1385,  when  the  French,  in  order  to 
bring  about  the  renewal  of  hostilities,  sent  John  de 
Vienna,  lord  admiral  of  France,  with  one  thousand 
men-at-arms,  and  forty  thousand  francs  in  gold,  and 
other  supplies,  to  induce  the  Scots  to  make  an  in- 
road into  England.  The  French  knights  soon  com- 
plained bitterly  of  the  pride  of  the  Scots,  the  pov- 
erty of  the  land,  and  the  lack  of  amusements,  such 
as  banquets,  balls,  and  tournaments.  The  common 
soldiers  were  not  sufficiently  respectful  to  the  wo- 
men ;  and,  on  the  whole,  these,  allies  agreed  very 
badly.  At  last,  however,  the  French  and  Scots 
broke  into  Northumberland ;  but  Richard,  who  now 
took  the  field  for  the  first  time,  came  up  from  York, 
and  forced  them  to  retire.  With  eighty  thousand 
men,  Richard  crossed  the  borders,  burnt  Edinburgh, 
Perth,  and  other  towns ;  but  then  he  was  obliged  to 
retreat — for  information  was  brought  that  John  de 
Vienne  had  crossed  the  Sohvay  Frith,  and  was  be- 
sieging Carlisle.  The  French  and  Scots  marched 
off  by  the  west,  and  returned  toward  Edinburgh, 
boasting  that  they  had  done  as  much  mischief  in 
England  as  the  English  had  done  in  Scotland.  Rich- 
ard then  disbanded  his  army,  without  ever  having 
had  an  opportunity  of  measuring  swords  with  the 
enemy.  During  this  campaign,  the  royal  quarters 
had  been  disgraced  by  a  vile  murder,  and  by  fre- 
quent quarrels  between  the  king's  uncles  and  his 
favorites.  At  York,  during  the  advance.  Sir  John 
Holland  assassinated  one  of  the  favorites,  and  the 
grief,  shame,  and  anxiety  caused  by  this  event,  broke 
the  heart  of  the  Princess  of  Wales,  who  died  a  few 
days  after.  On  the  retreat  from  Scotland,  Sir  Mi- 
chael de  la  Pole,  another  of  the  favorites,  who  was 
then  chancellor,  excited  some  fresh  jealousy  in  the 
mind  of  Richard,  who  thereupon  had  a  violent  and 
indecent  altercation  with  his  uncle  Lancaster.  Af- 
ter the  campaign  the  king  made  great  promotions  to 
quiet  the  jealousy  of  his  relations;  honors  fell  upon 
them,  but  these  were  nothing  compared  to  the 
honors  and  grants  conferred  on  the  king's  minions. 
Henry  of  Bohngbroke,  Lancaster's  son,  was  made 
Earl  of  Derby ;  the  king's  uncles,  the  earls  of  Cam- 
bridge and  Buckingham,  were  created  dukes  of 
Y'ork  and  Gloucester ;  Michael  de  la  Pole  was  cre- 
ated Earl  of  Suffolk  ;  and  Robert  de  Vere,  a  still 
more  influential  favorite,  Marquis  of  Dublin,  receiv- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  the  extraordinary  grant  of  the 
whole  revenue  of  Ireland,  out  of  which  he  was  to 
pay  a  yearly  rent  of  five  thousand  marks  to  the 
king.  He  was  soon  after  made  Duke  of  Ireland. 
As  Richard  had  no  children,  he  declared  at  the 
same   time    that    his    lawful   successor  would    be 


Roger,  Earl  of  March,  the  grandson  of  Lionel. 
Duke  of  Clarence.' 

Soon  after  these  arrangements,  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster was  enabled  to  depart  to  press  his  claim  to 
the  throne  of  Castile  by  force  of  arms.  A  disputed 
succession  in  Portugal,  and  a  war  between  that 
country  and  Spain,  seemed  to  open  a  road  for  him. 
The  king  was  evidently  glad  to  have  him  out  of 
England.  Parliament  voted  supplies,  one  half  of 
wliich  were  given  to  the  duke;  and  in  the  month  of 
July,  he  set  sail  for  the  Peninsula,  with  an  army  of 
ten  thousand  men.  Lancaster  landed  at  CoruFia, 
opened  a  road  through  Gallicia  into  Portugal,  and 
formed  a  junction  with  the  king  of  that  countrj', 
who  married  Philippa,  the  duke's  eldest  daughter 
by  his  first  wife.  At  first,  the  duke  was  every- 
where victorious  ;  he  defeated  the  Spaniards  in  a 
pitched  battle,  and  took  many  towns ;  but,  in  a  sec- 
ond campaign,  his  army  was  almost  annihilated  by 
disease  and  famine  ;  and  his  own  declining  health 
forced  hiin  to  retire  to  Guienne.  In  the  end,  how- 
ever, he  concluded  an  advantageous  treaty.  His 
daughter  Catherine,  the  granddaughter  of  Peter 
the  Cruel,  was  married  to  Henry,  Prince  of  Astu- 
rias,  the  heir  of  the  reigning  King  of  Castile.  Two 
hundred  thousand  crowns  were  paid  to  the  duke 
for  the  expenses  he  had  incurred ;  and  the  King  of 
Castile  agreed  to  pay  forty  thousand  florins  by  way 
of  annuity  to  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Lancaster. 
The  issue  of  John  of  Gaunt  reigned  in  Spain  for 
many  generations. 

Encouraged  by  the  absence  of  the  duke  with  so 
many  choice  warriors,  the  French  determined  to 
invade  England.  Never  had  that  nation  made  such 
mighty  preparations.  Upward  of  a  hundred  thou- 
sand men,  including  nearly  all  the  chivalry  of  France, 
were  encamped  in  Flanders,  and  an  immense  fleet 
lay  in  the  port  of  Sluys  ready  to  carry  them  over. 
This  fleet  was  composed  of  ships  collected  in  all 
maritime  countries  from  Cadiz  to  Dantzic.  Charles 
VI.,  who  determined  to  take  a  part  in  the  expedi- 
tion, went  to  Sluys,  and  even  embarked ;  but  this 
j-oung  king  was  entirely  in  the  power  of  his  in- 
triguing and  turbulent  uncles,  who  seem  to  have 
determined  (not  unwisely,  perhaps)  that  the  expe- 
dition should  not  take  place.  There  were  other 
impediments  and  causes  of  delay,  and  in  the  end 
the  army  was  disbanded.  The  fleet  was  dispersed 
by  a  tempest,  and  many  of  the  ships  were  taken  by 
the  English.  The  expenses  incurred  by  France  in 
these  preparations  were  enormous,  and  ground  the 
people  who  had  to  pay  them  to  the  very  dust.  That 
country  indeed  was  so  exhausted  by  the  outlay  that 
there  was  no  fear  of  its  making  any  such  great  at- 
tempt for  many  years  to  come. 

Richard  gained  no  increase  of  comfort  by  the  ab- 
sence of  Lancaster,  whose  jounger  brother,  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  was  far  harsher  than  John  of 
Gaunt  had  ever  been.  At  the  meeting  of  Parlia- 
ment, in  the  month  of  October,  the  Duke  of  Glou- 
cester headed  an  opposition  which  determined  to 
drive  Richard's  favorites,  De  la  Pole  and  De  Vere, 
from  office.  They  began  with  De  la  Pole,  who, 
1  Froissart. — Walsingham. — Knyghton. — Rot.  Pari. — Rynier 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AxND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


765 


after  n  weak  attempt  to  save  him,  was  dismissed.^ 
After  his  expulsion,  the  Commons  impeached  him 
of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  and  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  pay  a  heavy  fine  and  to  be  imprisoned. 
Gloucester  and  his  party  then  said  th.at  no  good 
government  could  be  expected  until  a  permanent 
council  was  chosen  by  Parliament  to  reform  the 
state  of  the  nation — a  council  like  those  which  had 
been  appointed  in  the  reigns  of  John,  Henry  III., 
and  Edward  II.  Richard  said  he  would  never 
consent  to  any  such  measure,  and  threatened  to 
dissolve  the  Parliament.  The  Commons  then  coolly 
produced  the  statute  by  which  Edward  II.  had 
been  deposed ;  and  while  he  was  agitated  by  this 
significant  hint,  one  of  the  lords  reminded  him  that 
his  life  would  be  in  danger  if  he  persisted  in  his  re- 
fusal. Upon  this  Richard  yielded,  and  the  govern- 
ment was  substantially  vested  for  a  year  in  the 
hands  of  eleven  commissioners,  bishops  and  peers, 
to  Avhom  were  added  the  three  great  officers  of  the 
crown.  At  the  head  of  all  was  placed  his  uncle 
Gloucester,  whom  from  that  moment  he  hated  with 
an  intensity  which  seems  almost  incompatiWe  with 
his  light,  frivolous  character.^ 

The  king  was  now  twenty  years  of  age,  but  he 
was  reduced  to  as  mere  a  cipher  as  when  he  was 
but  eleven.  In  the  month  of  August  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  1387,  acting  under  the  advice  of  De  la 
Pole  and  Tresilian,  the  chief  justice,  he  assembled 
a  council  at  Nottingham,  and  submitted  to  some  of 
the  judges  who  attended  it  this  question — whether 
the  commission  of  government  appointed  by  Parlia- 
ment, and  approved  of  under  his  own  seal,  were 
legal  or  illegal  ?  These  judges  certified  under  their 
hands  and  seals  that  the  commission  was  illegal,  and 
that  all  those  who  introduced  the  measure  were 
liable  to  capital  punishment;  that  all  who  supported 
it  were  by  that  act  guilty  of  high  treason  ;  and  in 
short,  that  both  lords  and  commons  were  traitors. 
On  the  11th  of  November  following,  the  king,  who 
had  returned  to  London,  and  who  seems  thus  early 
to  have  formed  the  absurd  idea  of  governing  the 
country  by  a  junta  or  council  of  his  own  choosing, 
was  alarmed  by  the  intelligence  that  his  uncle  Glou- 
cester and  the  earls  of  Arundel  and  Nottingham, 
the  constable  admiral,  and  marshal  of  England,  were 
approaching  the  capital  with  forty  thousand  men. 
The  decision  of  the  judges  had  been  kept  secret, 
but  one  of  the  number  betrayed  it  to  a  friend  of 
Gloucester.  As  soon  as  Richard's  cousin,  the  Earl 
of  Derby,  Lancaster's  son  and  heir,  learned  the 
approach  of  his  uncle  of  Gloucester,  he  quitted  the 
court  with  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  went  to  Waltham 
Cross,  and  there  joined  him.  The  members  of  the 
Council  of  Eleven  were  there  already.  On  Sunday 
the  17th  of  November  the  duke  entered  London 
with  an  irresistible  force,  and  "  appealed  "  of  treason 
the  Archbishop  of  York,  De  Vere,  now  Duke  of  Ire- 
land, De  la  Pole,  Earl  of  Sufliolk,  Robert  Tresilian, 
chief  justice,   and    Sir  Nicholas  Brember,  knight, 

1  According  to  Knyghton,  when  Richard  first  received  the  message 
nf  Parliament,  requesting  that  De  la  P<i)e,  Earl  of  Suffolk  and  chan- 
cellor, might  be  removed,  he  replied  with  boyish  petulance,  that  he 
would  not  for  them  remove  the  meanest  scullion  from  his  kitchen 

2  Rot.  Pari. 


and  lord  mayor  of  London.  The  favorites  instant- 
ly took  to  flight.  De  la  Pole,  the  condemned  chan- 
cellor, who  had  returned  to  court,  and  seemed 
dearer  than  ever  to  his  master,  succeeded  in  reach- 
ing France,  where  he  died  soon  after ;  De  Vere, 
the  Duke  of  Ireland,  got  to  the  borders  of  Wales, 
where  he  received  royal  lettei-s  authorizing  him  to 
raise  an  army,  and  begin  a  civil  war.  He  collected 
a  few  thousand  men,  but  was  met  on  the  banks  of 
the  Isis,  near  Radcot,  and  thoroughly  defeated  by 
Gloucester  and  Henry  of  Bolingbroke.  He  then 
fled  to  Ireland,  and  afterward  to  Holland,  where  he 
died  about  four  years  after.  The  Archbishop  of 
York  was  seized  in  the  north,  but  was  allowed  to 
escape  by  the  people  :  he  also  finished  his  days  not 
long  after,  in  the  humble  condition  of  a  parish  priest 
in  Flanders.  Tresilian  and  Brember  remained  con- 
cealed in  or  about  London.  After  the  defeat  of  his 
army  under  De  Vere,  Richard,  who  was  only  cour- 
ageous by  fits  and  starts,  lost  all  heart,  and  retired 
into  the  Tower.  His  uncle  Gloucester,  who  be- 
lieved on  pretty  good  grounds  that  the  king  and  the 
favorites  had  intended  to  arrest  him  secretly  and 
put  him  to  death,  showed  little  mercy.  He  drove 
eveiy  friend  of  Richard,  even  down  to  his  confessor, 
away  from  the  court,  and  threw  some,  ten  or  twelve 
of  them  into  prison.  The  "  wonderful  Parliament," 
which  met  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1388,  car- 
ried out  the  impeachments  he  had  made,  and  gave 
him  their  full  support.  The  five  obnoxious  counsel- 
ors were  found  guilty  of  high  treason,  their  prop- 
erty was  confiscated,  and  Tresilian  and  Brember,  the 
mayor,  who  were  discovered,  were  executed,  to  the 
joy  of  the  people. 

With  the  cause  of  Brember's  great  unpopularity 
we  are  not  acquainted ;  but  the  chief  justice  had 
made  himself  odious  by  his  "bloody  circuit"  against 
the  peasants  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  insurrec- 
tion. The  judges  who  had  signed  and  sealed  the 
answer  at  Nottingham  were  next  impeached.  Their 
only  plea  was,  that  they  had  acted  under  terror  of 
the  king  and  the  favorites  :  they  were  capitally  con- 
victed ;  but  the  bishops  interceded  in  their  behalf, 
and,  instead  of  being  sent  to  the  scaflToId,  they  were 
sent  into  exile  for  life  to  Ireland.  Blake,  however, 
who  had  drawn  up  the  questions  at  Nottingham, 
was  executed,  and  so  was  Usk,  who  had  been  se- 
cretly appointed  under-sheriff  to  seize  the  person  of 
the  Duke  of  Gloucester.  The  king's  confessor, 
who  swore  that  no  threats  had  been  used  with  the 
judges  at  Nottingham,  was  also  condemned  to  exile 
in  Ireland.  It  was  hoped  that  the  shedding  of 
blood  would  stop  here,  but  such  was  not  the  inten- 
tion of  Gloucester.  After  the  Easter  recess  he  im- 
peached four  knights,  and  these  unfortunate  men 
were  all  convicted  and  executed.  Of  these,  the 
fiite  of  Sir  Simon  Burley  excited  most  sympathy : 
he  had  been  the  much-esteemed  friend  of  P^dward 
III.  and  the  Black  Prince  ;  he  had  acted  as  guar- 
dian to  Richard  ;  had  negotiated  his  raan-iage  ;  and 
was  tenderly  loved  both  by  the  king  and  the  queen. 
Richard  was  not  so  base  as  to  abandon  this  worthy 
knight  without  making  an  effort ;  but  his  uncle 
Gloucester  told  him  that  his  keeping  the  crown 


766 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


would  depend  on  the  immediate  execution  of  this 
individual.  The  young  queen— the  "good  Queen 
Anne,"'  as  she  was  called  by  the  people— in  vain 
begged  on  her  knees  that  he  might  be  spared :  in 
vain  Henry  of  Bolingbroke,  who  liad  been  Glouces- 
ter's right  hand  in  this  enterprise,  added  his  most 
earnest  solicitations.  The  iron-hearted  Gloucester 
had  a  violent  quarrel  on  this  occasion  with  his 
nephew  Henry,  who  never  forgave  him. 

'  Rot.  Pari.— Kuyghton 


[Book  IV. 


For  about  twelve  months  Richard  left  the  whole 
power  of  government  in  the  hands  of  his  uncle 
and  of  the  council  or  commission.  It  was  during 
this  interval  that  the  battle  of  Otterbourne,  famous 
in  song  under  the  name  of  Chevy  Chase,  was 
fought  (15th  August,  1388)  between  the  Scottish 
Earl  Douglas,  and  the  Lord  Harry  Percy,  the 
renowned  Hotspur.  Douglas  was  slain,  but  the 
English  were  in  the  end  driven  from  the  field,  after 
both  Hotspur  and  his  brother,  Lord  Rali)h  Percy, 


Field  or  the  Battle  of  Chevy  Chase. — Bird 


had  been  taken  prisoners.  At  length  Richard  gave 
a  proof  of  that  decisive  promptitude  which  visited 
his  mind  at  uncertain  intervals.  In  a  great  council 
held  in  the  month  of  May,  1389,  he  suddenly  ad- 
dressed his  uncle — "How  old  do  you  think  I  am?" 
"  Your  highness,"  replied  Gloucester,  "  is  in  your 
twenty-second  year."  "  Then,"  added  the  king, 
"I  am  surely  of  age  to  manage  my  own  aft'airs.  I 
have  been  longer  under  the  control  of  guardians 
than  any  ward  in  my  dominions.  I  thank  ye,  my 
lords,  for  your  past  services,  but  I  want  them  no 
longer."  Before  they  could  recover  from  their 
astonishment  he  demanded  the  great  seals  from 
the  archbishop,  and  the  keys  of  the  Exchequer 
from  the  Bishop  of  Hereford ;  and  within  a  few 
days  he  drove  Gloucester  from  the  council,  and 
dismissed   most  of  the  officers  he  had  appointed, 


without  meeting  with  any  opposition.  He  informed 
the  people,  by  proclamation,  that  he  had  now  taken 
the  reins  of  government  into  his  own  hands  ;  but, 
in  fact,  tliis  was  far  from  being  the  case.  Richard 
had  not  the  needful  application  to  business,  and  the 
chief  administration  of  affairs  was  left  to  another 
uncle,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  to  his  cool-headed 
and  calculating  cousin,  Henry  of  Bolingbroke,  Earl 
of  Derby.' 

For  some  j-ears  this  government  was  undisturbed, 
and  the  nation  tranquil ;  but  Richard  was  evidently 
simulating  or  dissimulating  the  whole  time.  Lan- 
caster returned  from  the  continent  after  an  absence 
of  more  than  three  years,  and,  from  circumstances 
with  which  we  are  not  sufficiently  acquainted,  he 
became  all  at  once  exceedingly  moderate  and  popu- 

1  Walsingham. — Knyghton. — Rot.  Pari. 


Cl  AP.    I  ] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


767 


lar.  He  conducted  bis  brother  Gloucester  and  the 
nobles  of  his  party  to  court,  where  an  affecting 
reconciliation  took  place,  the  king  plfiying  his  part 
so  ably  that  nobody  seems  to  have  doubted  the  sin- 
cerity with  which  he  embraced  his  "  dear  uncle  " 
Gloucester.  The  duke  was  readmitted  into  the 
council ;  Lancaster  was  created  Duke  of  Aquitaine 
for  life,'  and  intrusted  with  the  negotiation  of  a 
peace  with  France,  the  Parliament  voting  a  liberal 
sum  to  defray  his  expenses  at  a  sort  of  congress 
held  at  Amiens.  Hostilities  had  been  suspended 
by  a  succession  of  armistices,  and  in  1394  a  truce 
was  concluded  for  four  years.  This  truce  also 
embraced  Scotland,  the  king  of  which  country, 
Robert  II.,  had  died  the  19th  of  April,  1390,  leaving 
the  crown  to  his  eldest  son,  John,  Earl  of  Carrick, 
who  took  the  name  of  Robert  III.^ 

A.D.  1394.  After  the  death  of  the  good  Queen 
Anne,  wliich  happened  at  Shene,  on  Whit  Sunday, 
the  king  collected  a  considerable  army,  and  crossed 
over  to  Ireland,  where  the  native  chiefs  had  been 
for  some  time  making  head  against  their  English 
oppressors,  and  where  some  of  the  English  them- 
selves had  revolted.  This  campaign  was  a  blood- 
less one  :  the  Irish  chiefs  submitted  ;  Richard  en- 
teitained  them  with  gi"eat  magnificence,  knighted 
some  of  them,  and,  after  spending  a  winter  in  the 
country,  and  redressing  some  abuses,  he  returned 
home,  and  was  well  received  by  his  subjects. 
Although  the  council  was  divided  on  the  matter, 
Richard  at  last  decided  on  conti'acting  a  matrimonial 
alliance  with  France  ;  and  in  the  month  of  October, 
1396,  he  passed  over  to  the  continent,  and  married 
Isabella,  the  daughter  of  Charles  VI. — a  princess, 
a  miracle  of  beauty  and  of  wit,  according  to  Frois- 
sart,  but  who  was  little  more  than  seven  years  old. 
The  blessing  of  a  peace,  or  at  least  of  a  truce,  for 
twenty-five  years,  was  the  consequence  of  this 
union,  and  yet  the  marriage  was  decidedly  unpop- 
ular -in  England.  The  Duke  of  Gloucester  had 
always  opposed  it;  and  the  people,  whose  favor  he 
had  never  forfeited,  now  considered  him  in  the 
light  of  a  champion  for  the  national  honor.  "Our 
Edwards,"  said  the  duke,  "  struck  terror  to  the 
heart  of  Paris,  but  under  Richard  we  court  their 
alliance,  and  tremble  at  the  French  even  in  Lon- 
don." It  is  said  that  the  duke's  declamations  were 
the  more  vehement,  because  he  suspected  what 
would  follow  to  himself;  and  it  is  certain  that 
Richard  asked  assistance  from  Charles  VI.,  to  be 
given  in  case  of  need,  and  that  this  alliance  with 
France  gfive  him  courage  to  undertake  a  scheme 
which  his  deep  revenge  had  nourished  for  many 
years.  The  year  after  his  marriage,  in  the  month 
of  July,  Richard  struck  his  blow  with  consummate 
treachery;  after  entertaining  him  at  dinner,  in  his 
usual  bland  manner,  he  arrested  the  Earl  of  War- 
wick. Two  days  after  he  craftily  induced  the 
primate  to  bring  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Arundel, 

1  This  grant  was  subsequently  recalled. 

2  The  same  popular  prejudice  against  the  name  of  John,  at  least  fur 
a  king,  which  we  have  seen  displayed  l>y  the  English  followers  of  Wat 
Tyler,  was  also  entertained  at  this  time  hy  the  Scots.  It  is  commonly 
traced  to  the  unfortunate  reigns  of  .John  of  England,  John  of  France, 
and  J'jhn  Baliol. 


to  a  friendly  conference ;  and  then  Arundel  was 
arrested.  He  had  thus  got  two  of  his  victims :  to 
entrap  the  third,  and  the  greatest  of  all,  he  went 
with  a  gay  company  to  Pleshy  Castle,  in  Essex, 
where  his  uncle  Gloucester  was  residing  with  his 
family.  The  duke,  suspecting  no  mischief,  came 
out,  with  all  his  household,  to  meet  the  royal  guest, 
and,  while  Richard  entertained  the  duchess  with 
friendly  discourse,  Gloucester  was  seized  by  the 
earl  marshal,  carried  with  breathless  speed  to  the 
river,  put  on  board  ship,  and  conveyed  to  the  castle 
of  Calais.  A  report  ran  that  the  duke  wms  mur- 
dered :  to  quiet  the  agitation,  Richard  issued  a 
proclamation  stating  that  the  recent  arrests  had 
been  made  by  the  assent  of  the  chief  officers  of  the 
crown,  and  with  the  knowledge  and  approbation  of 
his  uncles  of  Lancaster  and  York,  and  his  cousin 
Henry,  Earl  of  Derby.' 

A  few  days  after  Richard  Avent  to  Nottingham 
Castle,  and  there,  taking  his  uncles  Lancaster  and 
York,  and  his  cousin  Henry,  by  surprise,  he  made 
them,  with  other  noblemen,  put  their  seals  to  a 
parchment,  by  which  Gloucester,  Arundel,  and 
Warwick  were  "  appealed  "  of  treason  in  the  same 
manner  that  they  (with  Henry  of  Bolingbroke 
among  them)  had  appealed  the  king's  favorites  ten 
years  before.  A  parliament  was  then  summoned 
to  try  the  three  traitors,  for  so  they  were  now  called 
by  men,  like  Henr}^  of  Bolingbroke,  who  had  been 
partakers  in  all  their  acts,  and  by  others  who  had 
supported  them  in  their  boldest  measures.  These 
men  can  only  escape  the  suspicion  of  being  a  set  of 
fickle  and  unprincipled  scoundrels  by  our  admitting 
that  many  circumstances  remain  untold;  and  in- 
deed the  contemporary  accounts  of  the  transaction 
are  unusually  vague  and  unsatisfactory.  One  great 
key  to  the  secret  might  be  found  m  the  terror 
inspired  by  Richard's  masterlj^  craft  and  his  display 
of  military  force.  On  the  17th  of  September,  he 
went  to  Parliament,  with  six  hundred  men-at  arms 
wearing  his  livery,  and  a  bodj'-guard  of  choice  arch- 
ers. The  Commons,  who  had  received  their  lesson, 
began  by  impeaching  Thomas  Arundel,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  of  high  treason.  Fearing  the  pri- 
mate's eloquence,  Richard  artfully  prevented  his 
attending  in  the  Lords,  and  he  was,  at  the  king's 
will,  banished  for  life.  On  the  following  day  his 
brother,  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  who  offered  to  prove 
his  innocence  by  wager  of  battle,  who  challenged  a 
trial  by  jury,  and  who  at  last  pleaded  a  general  and 
particular  pardon,  was  condemned  and  immediately 
beheaded  on  Tower  Hill.  On  the  21st  of  Septem- 
ber, a  writ  was  issued  to  the  earl  marshal,  governor 
of  Calais,  commanding  him  to  bring  the  body  of  his 
prisoner,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  before  the  king 
in  parliament,  that  he  might  answer  to  the  Lords, 
who  had  appealed  him  of  treason.  On  the  24th 
(and  three  days  were  probably  then  scarcely  enough 
for  a  king's  messenger  to  travel  to  Calais  and  back) 
an  answer  was  returned  to  the  Lords,  that  the  earl 
marshal  could  not  produce  the  duke,  for  that  he. 
being  in  custody  in  the  king's  prison  in  Calais,  had 
died  there.     This  Parliament,  which  was  assembled 

>   Rot.  Pari  — Rymcr. 


768 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


to  procure  his  death,  cared  httle  how  he  had  died, 
and  made  no  inquiries.  The  Lords  appellants  de- 
manded judgment;  the  Commons  seconded  their 
demand,  and  the  dead  duke  was  declared  to  be  a 
traitor,  and  all  liis  property  was  confiscated  to  the 
king.  On  the  next  day  a  document,  purporting  to 
be  Gloucester's  confession  taken  by  Sir  William 
Rickhill,  one  of  the  justices  who  had  been  sent  over 
to  Calais  in  the  preceding  month  for  that  sole  pur- 
pose, as  was  pretended,  was  produced  and  read  in 
parliament.'  On  the  28th,  Gloucester's  friend,  the 
Earl  of  Wai-wick,  was  brought  before  the  bar  of  the 
House :  the  earl  pleaded  guilty,  but  his  sentence 
was  commuted  into  perpetual  imprisonment  in  the 
Isle  of  Man.  In  passing  sentence  on  these  nobles, 
there  were  many  who  condemned  themselves.  The 
Duke  of  York,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Sir 
Richard  Scroop  had  been  members  of  the  Com- 
mission of  Eleven ;  the  Earl  of  Derby  and  the 
Earl  of  Nottingham  had  been  two  out  of  the  five 
who  entered  London  in  arms  and  appealed  the 
favorites  of  treason.  After  their  recent  experience 
of  the  king,  nothing  but  fatuity  could  make  them 
repose  confidence  in  any  of  his  assurances,  or  in  the 
steadiness  of  Parliament ;  but  for  want  of  any  better 
security,  they  extracted  from  Richard  a  declaration 
of  their  own  innocence  in  regard  to  all  past  transac- 
tions. This  declaration  was  made  in  full  parliament. 
After  this  the  king,  who  was  veiy  fond  of- high- 
sounding  titles,  and  a  great  conferrer  of  them,  made 
several  promotions  of  his  nobles.  Among  these,  his 
cousin  Henry  Bohngbroke  was  created  Duke  of 
Hereford  ;  Mowbray,  the  Earl  of  Nottingham,  Duke 
of  Norfolk  ;  and  the  king's  half-brother,  .John  Hol- 
land, who  had  committed  the  murder  at  York,  was 
made  Duke  of  Exeter.^ 

Gloucester's  "  wonderful"  parliament  of  1386  had 
taken  an  oath  that  nothing  there  passed  into  law 
should  be  changed  or  abrogated ;  and  now  the  very 
same  men,  with  a  few  exceptions,  took  the  same 
oath  to  the  decisions  of  the  present  parliament, 
which  undid  all  that  was  then  done.  The  answers 
of  the  judges  to  the  questions  put  at  Nottingham, 
which  had  then  been  punished  as  acts  of  high  trea- 
son, were  now  pronounced  to  be  just  and  legal.  It 
was  declared  high  treason  to  attempt  to  appeal  or 
overturn  any  judgment  now  passed  ;  and  the  issue 
male  of  all  the  persons  who  had  been  condemned 
were  declared  forever  incapable  of  s'tting  in  parlia- 
ment or  liolding  office  in  council.  "  These  violent 
ordinances,  as  if  the  precedent  they  were  then  over- 
turning had  not  shielded  itself  with  the  same  sanc- 
tion, were  sworn  to  by  Parliament  upon  the  cross  of 
Canterburj',  and  confirmed  by  a  national  oath,  with 
the  penalty  of  excommunication  denounced  against 
its  infringers.  Of  those  recorded  to  have  bound 
themselves  by  the  adjuration  to  Richard,  far  the 
greater  part  liad  touched  the  same  relics  for  Glou- 

1  Rickhill  saw  the  duke  alive,  at  Calais,  on  the  7th  of  Septemher. 
The  real  object  of  his  mission,  and  the  real  circumstances  of  Glouces- 
ter's death,  are  involved  in  a  mystery  never  likely  to  be  cleared  up. 
But  it  seems  that  the  universal  impression,  not  only  in  England  but 
also  on  the  continent,  was  correct,  and  that  he  was  secretly  murdered, 
and  in  a  manner  not  to  disfigure  the  corpse,  which  was  afterward  de- 
livered to  his  family  2  Rot.  Pari. — Froiss. — Knyghl. 


cester  and  Arundel  ten  years  before,  and  two  years 
afterward  swore  allegiance  to  Henry  of  Lancas- 
ter." '  Before  this  obsequious  Parliament  separa- 
ted, it  set  the  dangerous  precedent  of  granting  the 
king  a  subsidy,  for  life,  upon  wool ;  and  a  commis- 
sion was  granted  for  twelve  peers  and  six  common- 
ers, "  all  persons  well  aftected  to  the  king,"  to  sit 
after  the  dissolution,  and  examine  and  determine 
certain  matters  as  to  them  should  seem  best.  These 
eighteen  commissioners  usurped  the  entire  rights 
of  the  legislature :  they  imposed  a  perpetual  oath 
on  prelates  and  lords,  to  be  taken  before  obtaining 
possession  of  their  estates,  that  they  would  main- 
tain the  statutes  and  ordinances  made  by  this  Par- 
liament, or  afterward  by  the  lords  and  kniglits,  hav- 
ing power  committed  to  them  by  the  same;  and 
they  declared  it  to  be  high  treason  to  disobey  any 
of  their  ordinances.  Thus,  with  the  vote  of  a  rev- 
enue for  life,  and  with  the  power  of  parliament 
notoriously  usurped  by  a  junto  of  his  creatures, 
Richard  was  not  likely  soon  to  meet  his  people 
again,  and  he  became  as  absolute  as  he  could  wish. 
Some  people,  admitting  the  follies  and  extravagances 
of  this  king,  profess  to  be  blind  to  any  serious  state 
crime  in  him  that  can  justify  the  contempt  and 
hatred  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  subjects;  but 
we  think  that  the  few  preceding  lines  are  sufficient 
to  clear  their  vision  in  this  respect. 

Richard  was  elated  with  his  success,  and  he  glo- 
ried in  his  dissimulation,  which  he  fondly  hoped 
had  overthrown  all  opposition.  He  began  to  reign 
much  more  fiercely  than  before.  "  In  those  days," 
says  Froissart,  "  there  was  none  so  great  in  Eng- 
land that  durst  speak  against  anything  that  the  king 
did.  He  had  a  council  suitable  to  his  fancies,  who 
exhorted  him  to  do  what  he  list:  he  kept  in  his 
wages  ten  thousand  aixhers,  who  watched  over 
him  day  and  night."  This  high  and  absolute  bear- 
ing was,  however,  of  short  duration.  The  people, 
a  share  of  whose  attachment  or  respect  had  been 
preserved  by  Gloucester  even  in  his  worst  moments, 
because  he  always  showed  a  concern  for  the  public 
interest,  were  soon  disgusted  with  Richard,  who 
appeared  only  to  crave  power  and  money  that  he 
might  lavish  them  on  his  minions  and  indulge  him- 
self in  an  indolent  and  luxurious  life.  His  grand- 
'  father,  Edward  III.,  had  maintained  a  magnificent 
court ;  but  his  was  a  homely  affair  compared  to  that 
kept  by  Richard.  Never  had  the  nation  seen — nor 
did  it  see  for  long  after — such  gorgeousness  in  fur- 
niture and  apparel,  such  pageants,  such  feasting,  and 
such  Apician  extravagance  and  delicacy  in  repasts. 
Putting  aside  the  tailors,  the  drapers,  and  the  hosts 
of  servants,  all  clad  in  costly  liveries,  Richard's  cooks 
and  adjutants  of  the  kitchen  alone  formed  a  little  army. 
In  some- respects  his  taste  and  magnificence  might 
have  benefited  the  nation,  but  they  were  carried  to 
excess,  and  the  spectators  of  his  riotous  living  were 
but  too  often  a  beggared  and  a  starving  people. 

A  general  murmur  was  soon  raised  against  the 
late  Parliament :  people  said  that  it  had  not  been 
freely  chosen  ;  that  it  had  with  bad  faith  and  bar- 
barity revoked  former  pardons  and  connived  at  il!e- 

J  Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  iii.  115. 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


769 


gal  exactions  ;  that  it  had  been  a  party  to  the  shame- 
ful impunity  of  the  murderers  of  Gloucester ;  and 
that  it  had  assisted  the  king  in  destroying  the  liber- 
ties of  the  kingdom.  Matters  were  approaching 
this  state  when  the  mutual  distrusts  of  two  great 
noblemen,  and  the  fears  they  both  entertained  of 
the  cunning  and  vindictive  spirit  of  the  king,  hur- 
ried on  the  catastrophe.  Henry  of  Bolingbroke,  now 
Duke  of  Hereford,  and  Mowbray,  now  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk, were  the  only  two  that  remained  of  the  five 
appellants  of  1386.  To  all  outward  appearance 
they  enjoyed  the  favor  and  confidence  of  the  king ; 
but  they  both  knew  that  their  original  sin  had  never 
been  forgiven.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who,  much 
to  his  honor,  had  shown  a  reluctance  to  join  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  former  friends,  seems  to  have 
been  the  more  alarmed  or  the  more  communicative 
of  the  two.  Overtaking  the  Duke  of  Hereford,  who 
was  riding  on  the  road  between  Windsor  and  Lon- 
don, in  the  month  of  December,  during  the  recess 
of  Parliament,  Mowbray  said,  "  We  are  about  to 
be  ruined."  Henry  of  Bolingbroke  asked,  "  For 
what?"  and  Mowbray  said,  "For  the  aflair  of  Rad- 
cot  bridge."  "  How  can  that  be  after  his  pardon 
and  declaration  in  parliament?"  "He  will  annul 
that  pardon,"  said  Mowbray,  "  and  our  fate  will  be 
like  that  of  others  before  us.  It  is  a  marvelous  and 
treacherous  world  this  we  live  in !"  And  then  he 
went  on  to  assure  Hereford  (what  must  have  been 
unnecessary)  that  there  was  no  trust  to  be  put  in 
Richard's  promises  or  oaths,  or  demonstrations  of 
affection,  and  that  he  knew  of  a  certainty  that  he 
and  his  minions  were  then  compassing  the  deaths 
of  the  dukes  of  Lancaster,  Hereford,  Albemarle, 
and  Exeter,  the  Marquis  of  Dorset,  and  of  himself. 
Henry  then  said,  "  If  such  be  the  case,  we  can  never 
trust  them ;"  to  which  Mowbray  rejoined,  "  So  it 
is,  and  though  they  may  not  be  able  to  do  it  now, 
they  will  contrive  to  destroy  us  in  our  houses  ten 
years  hence." ' 

This  reign,  as  abounding  in  dark  and  treacherous 
transactions,  is  rich  in  historical  doubts.  It  is  not 
clear  how  this  conversation  was  reported  to  Rich- 
ard, but  the  damning  suspicion  rests  upon  Henry 
of  Bolingbroke.  When  Parliament  met  after  the 
recess,  in  the  month  of  January,  1398,  Hereford 
was  called  upon  by  the  king  to  relate  what  had 
passed  between  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  himself, 
and  then  Hereford  rose  and  presented  in  writing 
the  whole  of  the  conversation  as  we  have  related  it. 
Norfolk  did  not  attend  in  parliament,  but  he  surren- 
dered on  proclamation,  called  Henry  of  Lancaster 
a  liar  and  false  traitor,  and  threw  down  his  gauntlet. 
Richard  ordered  both  parties  into  custody,  and  in- 
stead of  submitting  the  case  to  Parliament,  refen'ed 
it  to  a  court  of  chivalry,  which,  after  many  delays, 
awarded  that  wager  of  battle  should  be  joined  at 
Coventry  on  the  16th  of  September.  As  the  time 
approached  Richard  was  heard  to  say,  "  Now  I  shall 
have  peace  from  henceforward ;"  but,  on  the  ap- 
pointed day,  when  the  combatants  were  in  the  lists, 
and  had  couched  their  lances,  throwing  down  his 

1  Rot.  Pari.— This  is  the  account  which  Hereford  gave  in  Parlia- 
ment. 

voT,.  I. — 49 


warder  between  them,  he  took  the  battle  into  his 
own  hands.  After  consulting  with  the  committee 
of  Parliament — the  base  eighteen  (who  had  just 
been  appointed) — to  the  surprise  and  bewilder- 
ment of  all  men,  he  condemned  Hereford  to  banish- 
ment for  ten  years,  and  Norfolk  for  fife.  Hereford, 
apparently  confident  in  his  abilities  and  many  re- 
sources, went  no  farther  than  France :  Norfolk 
made  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  and  not  long  after 
died  broken-hearted  at  Venice.  On  the  death  of 
the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  which  happened  about  three 
months  after  the  exile  of  his  son  Hereford,  Richard 
seized  his  immense  estates  and  kept  them,  notwith- 
standing his  having,  before  his  departure  out  of  Eng- 
land, granted  letters  patent  to  Hereford,  permitting 
him  to  appoint  attorneys  to  represent  him  and  take 
possession  of  his  la^vful  inheritance.^  The  illegality 
and  dishonor  of  this  proceeding  did  not  prevent  the 
court  lawyers  from  justifying  it.  But  now  there 
was  no  law  in  the  land  except  what  proceeded  from 
the  will  of  Richard,  who,  after  ridding  himself,  as 
he  fancied,  forever,  of  the  two  great  peers  whom 
he  feared  and  hated,  set  no  limits  to  his  despotism. 
He  raised  monej'  by  forced  loans  ;  he  coerced  th»- 
judges,  and  in  order  to  obtain  fines  he  outlawed  sev- 
enteen counties  by  one  stroke  of  the  pen,  alleging 
that  they  had  favored  his  enemies  in  the  affair  of 
Radcot  bridge.  He  was  told  by  some  friends  that 
the  country  Avas  in  a  ferment,  and  that  plots  and 
conspiracies  were  forming  against  him  ;  but  the  in- 
fatuated man  treated  them  with  contempt,  and  chose 
this  very  moment  for  leaving  England.  In  the  end 
of  the  month  of  May,  1399,  he  sailed  from  Milford 
Haven  with  a  splendid  fleet,  which,  however,  con- 
veyed more  courtiers  and  parasites  than  good  sol- 
diers. After  some  delay  he  took  the  field  against 
the  Irish  on  the  20th  of  June,  and  a  fortnight  after, 
his  cousin,  the  Duke  of  Hereford,  landed  at  Raven- 
spur  in  Yorkshire.  The  duke  had  not  escaped 
from  France  without  difficulty,  and  all  the  retinue 
he  brought  with  him  consisted  of  the  exiled  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  the  son  of  the  late  Earl  oi" 
Arundel,  fifteen  knights  and  men-at-arms,  and  a  few 
servants. 

But  the  wily  Henry  was  strong  in  the  affections 
of  the  people :  he  knew  by  the  grief  shown  when 
he  set  out  on  his  exile  that  many  thousands  would 
be  glad  to  see  hmi  back ;  and  both  he  and  the 
archbishop  had  many  personal  friends  among  the 
nobles.  As  soon  as  he  landed,  he  was  joined  by 
the  great  earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westmore- 
land ;  and  as  he  declared  that  he  only  came  for  his 
right,  or  for  the  estates  belonging  to  his  father,  he 
was  speedily  reinforced  by  many  who  did  not  fore- 
see, and  who,  at  that  stage,  would  not  have  approved 
his  full  and  daring  sclieme.  He  marched  with  won- 
derful rapidity  toward  the  capital,  and  arrived  there 
at  the  head  of  sixty  thousand  men.  His  uncle,  the 
Duke  of  York,  having  no  confidence  in  the  Lon- 
doners, quitted  the  city  before  hie  approach,  and,  as 
regent  of  the  kingdom  during  Richard's  absence, 
raised  the  royal  standard  at  St.  Albans.  The  Lon- 
doners received  Hereford  as  a  deliverer,  and  still 

1  Rot.  Parl.-Rvmer. 


770 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


farther  strengthened  his  army.  A  general  panic 
prevailed  among  the  creatures  of  Richard,  some  of 
whom  shut  themselves  up  in  Bristol  Castle.  The 
iJuke  of  York,  with  such  forces  as  he  could  collect, 
moved  toward  the  west,  there  to  await  the  arrival 
of  Richard,  to  whom  messengers  had  been  dis- 
patched. After  staying  a  few  days  in  London, 
Henry  of  Boiingbroke  marched  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, and  so  rapid  was  his  course  that  he  reached 
the  Severn  on  the  same  day  as  the  regent.  The 
Duke  of  York  had  discovered  before  this  that  die 
could  place  no  reliance  on  his  troops :  he  was  him- 
self a  man  of  no  energy,  and  ])robabIy  his  resent- 
ment for  the  murder  of  his  brother  Gloucester 
was  greater  than  his  affection  for  his  nephew 
Richard.  Henry  of  Boiingbroke  was  also  his  neph- 
ew :  and  when  he  agreed  to  meet  that  master- 
mind in  a  secret  conference,  the  effect  was  in- 
evitable. York  joined  his  forces  to  those  of 
Flenry,  turned  aside  with  him,  and  helped  him 
to  take  Bristol  Castle.  Three  members  of  the 
standing  committee  of  eighteen,  the  Earl  of  Wilt- 
shire, Bussy,  and  Green,  were  found  in  the  castle, 
and  executed,  without  trial,  but  to  the  infinite  joy 
»)f  the  people,  who  had  clamored  for  their  deaths. 


Henry  then    marched   toward    Chester,  but  York 
sto])ped  at  Bristol.' 

For  three  weeks  Richard  remained  ignorant  of 
all  that  was  passing.  Contrary  w  inds,  and  storms, 
are  made  to  bear  the  blame  of  this  omission,  but  it 
is  probable  that  some  of  the  messengers  had  proved 
unfaithful.  When  he  received  the  astounding  in- 
telligence, his  first  remark  was,  that  he  sorely  re- 
gretted not  having  put  Henry  to  death,  as  he  might 
have  done.  From  Dublin  he  dispatched  the  Earl" 
of  Salisbury  with  part  of  his  forces,  and  then  he 
repaired  himself  to  Waterford,  with  the  intention 
of  crossing  over  with  the  rest.  Salisbury  landed  at 
Conway,  and  was  reinforced  by  the  Welsh ;  but 
the  king  did  not  appear  so  soon  as  was  expected, 
and  the  earl  was  soon  deserted  by  his  whole  army, 
botli  Welsh  and  English.  A  few  days  after,  when 
Richard  at  last  arrived  at  Milford  Haven,  he  was 
stunned  by  bad  news  of  every  kind ;  and  on  the 
second  day  after  his  landing,  the  few  thousands  of 
troops  which  he  had  brought  with  him  from  Ire- 
land deserted  him  almost  to  a  man.  At  midnight, 
disguised  as  a  priest,  and  accompanied  only  by  his 
two  half-brothers,  Sir  Stephen   Scroop,  his  chan- 

1  Walsiiigham. 


Mkktino  of  Richard  and  Bolinobroke  at  Flint  Casti.e.* 
(Richard  is  disguised  as  a  Priest,  and  Boiingbroke  is  represented  in  mourning  lor  tiie  death  of  his  father,  John  of  Gaunt.) 

*  From  the  Ilarleian  MS.  1319,  a  History  of  tlie  Deposition  of  Richard  II.,  in  French  verse,  professing  to  be  "composed  by  a  French  gentle- 
man of  mark,  who  was  in  the  suite  of  the  said  king,  with  permission  of  tlie  King  of  France."  "  The  several  illuminations  contained  in  this 
hook,"  says  a  MS.  note  by  Bishop  Percy,  appended  to  the  volume  ;  "  are  extremely  valuable  and  curious,  not  only  for  the  exact  display  o< 
the  dresses,  etc.  of  the  time,  but  for  the  finislied  portraits  of  so  many  ancient  characters  as  are  presented  in  them."  These  interesting  and 
beautiful  illuminations  are  sixteen  in  number;  our  copies  of  three  of  them,  which  have  been  carefully  traced  from  the  originals,  will  convey 
Bome  notion  of  the  style  of  minute  and  high  finish  in  which  they  are  executed.  The  whole  have  been  engraved  in  the  20th  volume  of  the 
Archaologia,  where  the  poem  is  printed  with  an  English  translation,  and  ample  explanatory  notes,  by  the  Rev.  John  Webb,  M.A.,  F.A.S., 
Rector  of  Tretire,  in  Herefordshire  ;  pp.  1-423 


Chap.  I.] 


CIVIL  AND  MILITARY  TRANSACTIONS. 


771 


cellor,  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  and  nine  other  indi- 
viduals, he  fled  to  Conway,  to  seek  refuge  in  the 
strong  castle  there.  At  Conway  he  found  the  Earl 
of  Salisbury  and  about  one  hundred  men,  who,  it 
appears,  had  already  consumed  the  slender  stock 
of  provisions  laid  up  in  the  fortress.  Richard  then 
dispatched  his  two  half-brothers  to  Chester,  Henry's 
head-quarters,  to  ascertain  what  were  his  intentions. 
Henry  put  them  under  arrest.  Soon  after  sending 
them,  Richard  rode  to  the  castles  of  Beaumaris  and 
Caernaivon  ;  they  were  both  bare  of  provisions,  and 
he  returned  in  despair,  and  probably  in  hunger,  to 
Conway  Castle.  A  romantic  and  touching  story  is 
usually  told,  on  the  faith  of  two  anonymous  manu- 
scripts, according  to  which,  Richard  was  lured  from 
his  stronghold  by  the  ingenious  treachery  of  the 
Earl  of  Northumbei-land ;  but  we  are  inclined  to 
believe  that  famine  drove  him  from  Conway  Castle, 
and  that,  in  a  hopeless  state,  he  surrendered  to 
Northumberland,  who,  however,  very  probably 
offered  him  delusive  terms.*     At  the  castle  of  Flint, 

I  It  is  said  that  the  sea  was  open  to  him,  and  that  he  might  have 
escaped  to  Guienne  ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that,  at  this  moment, 
he  hud  eitlier  a  ship  or  provisions  fur  such  a  voyage.  Beside,  after 
such  repeated  desertions,  he  may  well  have  feared  trusting  himself  in 
the  hands  of  a  few  sailors.  And  then,  agaiu,  he  knew  that  quitting  his 
kingdom  at  tliis  moment  would  be  equivalent  to  an  abdication. 


Henry  of  Bolingbroke  met  him,  and  bent  his  knee, 
as  to  his  sovereign.  "  Fair  cousin  of  Lancaster," 
said  Richard,  uncovering  his  head,  "you  are  right 
welcome."  "My  lord,"  answered  Henry,  "I  am 
come  somewhat  before  my  time;  but  I  will  tell  you 
the  reason.  Your  people  complain  that  you  have 
ruled  them  harshly  for  twenty-two  years;  but  if  it 
please  God  I  will  help  you  to  rule  them  better." 
The  fallen  king  replied,  "  Fair  cousin,  since  it 
pleaseth  you,  it  pleaseth  me  well."  The  trumpets 
then  sounded  to  horse,  and,  mounted  on  a  miserable 
hackney,  Richard  rode  a  prisoner  to  Chester.  No 
one  appeared  to  pity  his  fate ;  and  if  we  are  to  be- 
lieve Froissart,  his  very  dog  left  his  side  to  fawn 
upon  his  destroyer.  At  Lichfield,  while  on  the 
way  from  Chester  to  the  capital,  the  king  eluded 
the  vigilance  of  his  guards,  and  escaped  out  of  a 
window;  but  he  was  retaken,  and  from  that  time 
treated  with  greater  severity.  On  their  arrival  in 
London,  Richard  was  cursed  and  reviled  by  the 
populace,  and  thrown  into  the  Tower.  Henry  was 
received  by  the  mayor  and  the  pi-incipal  citizens ; 
while  at  Chester,  writs  were  issued  in  Richard's 
name  for  the  meeting  of  Parliament  on  the  29th  ot 
September.  On  the  day  of  that  meeting,  a  depu- 
tation of  lords  and  commons,  which  included  the 


Boi.iNQBROKE  cosDUf  TiNo  RicHARD  H.  INTO  LONDON.    Harle  an  MS.  1319. 


Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Earl  of  Northumber- 
land, two  justices,  two  doctors  of  law,  with  many 
others,  ecclesiastics  and  laymen,  waited  on  the  king 
in  the  Tower,  who  there,  according  to  the  reporters, 
made,  "with  a  cheerful  countenance,"  a  formal 
renunciation  of  the  crown,  acknowledged  his  unfit- 


homage  and  fealty,  gave  his  royal  ring  to  his  cousin 
Henry,  and  said,  that  he  of  all  men  should  bo  his 
successor,  if  he  had  the  power  to  name  one. 
Whether  all  this  passed  as  thus  stated  by  the  tri- 
umphant party  of  Lancaster  is  of  little  consequence, 
and  Henry  was  too  sagacious  to  rest  his  title  to  the 


ness  for  government,  absolved  all  his  subjects  from  I  crown  upon  what  could  never  be  considered  in  any 


772 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


other  light  than  that  of  a  compulsory  resignation.  I  some  were  nugatory  or  conflicting,  and  in  reality 
The  only  right  that  Henry  could  pretend,  was  a  weakened  instead  of  strengthening  his  claim ;  but 
concise  and  obvious  one ;  but  in  his  "  abundant  cau-    the  lawyers  were  gratified,  and  possibly  some  deli- 


tion,  and  to  remove  all  scruple,"  he  determined  to 
prop  himself  with  all  sorts  of  devices,  and  to  heap 
title  upon  title.     Of  these  accumulated  oretensions, 


cate  consciences  were  tranquilized  by  each  of  the 
clauses.  On  Tuesday,  the  30th  day  of  September, 
the  Parliament  having  met  in  Westminster  Hall, 


Parliament  assembled  for  the  Deposition  or  Richard  II.     Ilarleian  MS.  1319. 
(The  Earl  of  Westmoreland  on  the  right  of  the  Throne ;  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  on  the  left ;  Henrv  of  Bolingbroke  behind  tne  latter.) 


the  resignation  of  Richard  was  read.  All  the  mem- 
bers then  stood  up,  and  signified  their  acceptance 
of  it,  and  a  great  concourse  of  people  outside  the 
hall  shouted  with  joy.  Thirty-three  articles  of  im- 
peachment against  Richard  were  afterward  read, 
and  being  declared  guilty  on  every  charge,  his  dep. 
osition  was  pronounced ;  thus  a  deposition  was 
added  to  an  act  of  abdication.  Only  one  voice  was 
raised  in  his  favor.  Thomas  Merks,  Bishop  of  Car- 
Usle,  spoke  manfully  in  vindication  of  his  character ; 
but  as  soon  as  he  sat  down,  he  was  arrested  and 
removed  to  the  abbey  of  St.  Albans.' 

During  these  proceedings  Henry  remained  seated 
in  his  usual  place  near  to  the  throne,  which  was 
empty,  and  covered  with  a  cloth  of  gold.  As  soon 
as  eight  commissioners  had  proclaiined  the  sentence 
of  deposition,  he  rose,  approached  the  throne,  and 
having  solemnly  crossed  himself,  said,  "  In  the  name 

^  Among  the  many  doubts  that  beset  this  remarkable  part  of  our 
history,  it  is  doubted  whether  Bishop  Merks'  speech  be  not  a  fabrica- 
tion. 


of  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  I,  Henry 
of  Lancaster,  challenge  this  realm  of  England,  be- 
cause I  am  descended  by  right  line  of  blood  from 
the  good  lord  King  Henry  III.,  and  through  that 
right,  that  God  of  his  grace  hath  sent  me,  with  help 
of  my  kin  and  of  my  friends,  to  recover  it ;  tho 
which  realm  was  in  point  to  be  undone  for  default 
of  government  and  undoing  of  the  good  laws."  He 
knelt  for  a  few  minutes  in  prayer  on  the  steps,  and 
then  was  seated  on  the  throne  by  the  archbishops 
of  Canterbury  and  York.' 

The  history  of  Scotland  during  this  period  is  so 
intermixed  with  that  of  England,  and  has  necessa- 
rily in  consequence  been  so  fully  detailed  in  the 
preceding  narrative,  that  no  further  summary  of  it 
is  required.  The  reign  of  the  meek  and  pious,  but 
feeble-minded  Robert  III.  continued  down  to  the 
date  at  which  we  are  now  arrived,  without  furnish- 
ing any  events  beyond  what  have  been  above  re- 
lated. 

1  Rot.  Pari. — Knygiilon.— Brady. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


773 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE   HISTORY  OF   RELIGION. 


HE  papal  dominion  in 
Europe  attained  to  its 
height  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  maintain- 
ed itself  with  little  out- 
ward evidence  of  decline 
nearly  throughout  the 
century.  BonifaceVIII. 
was  as  arrogant  an  as- 
sertor  of  the  suprema- 
cy of  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter  over  all  other 
earthly  powers  and  principalities,  as  his  predeces- 
sor. Innocent  III.,  but  he  was  not  so  fortunate  in 
the  time  and  circumstances  in  which  he  attempted 
to  compel  submission  to  his  high  pretensions.  In 
truth,  it  was  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  such  a 
dominion  should  last;  it  was  thrown  up,  as  it  were, 
into  the  air,  by  a  violent,  volcanic  force  ;  and  the 
greater  the  height  it  had  attained,  the  nearer  it  was 
to  the  commencement  of  its  descent  and  downfall. 
The  very  success  of  Innocent,  by  the  extravagance 
of  the  assumptions  to  which  it  gave  rise  in  him- 
self and  those  who  came  after  him,  and  the  dream 
of  security  in  which  it  lulled  them,  was  more  fatal 
than  anything  else  could  have  been  to  the  stability 
of  their  colossal  sovereignty  ;  its  pressure,  thus  ag- 
gravated, awoke  and  gradually  diffused  a  spirit  of 
resistance  both  among  kings  and  people ;  till  at 
length  Philip  le  Bel  began,  and  Wycliffe,  nearly  a 
hundred  years  later,  carried  forward,  the  great  re- 
bellion, which,  after  little  more  than  another  hun- 
dred years,  was  to  be  fought  out  triumphantly  by 
Luther.  But  for  nearly  a  century  before  the  time 
of  Philip  le  Bel,  the  causes  which  were  preparing 
this  conflict  were  in  active,  though  hidden  operation, 
and  the  proud  pontificate  of  Innocent  may  be  prop- 
erly fixed  upon  as  the  culmination  of  the  papacy — 
the  point  at  which  it  both  attained  its  highest  rise 
and  commenced  its  decline.  From  the  time  of 
Boniface  the  decline  became  apparent,  and  has  been 
progressive  to  our  own  day.  "  Slowly,"  as  it  has 
been  finely  said,  "  like  the  retreat  of  waters,  or  the 
stealthy  pace  of  old  age,  that  extraordinary  power 
over  human  opinion  has  been  subsiding  for  five  cen- 
turies." ' 

In  no  country  were  the  exactions  and  encroach- 
ments of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, carried  to  a  more  exorbitant  extent  than  in 
England.  The  good-nature  of  the  people,  and  some- 
thing perhaps  of  a  turn  for  superstition  in  their  tem- 
per or  their  habits,  their  insular  separation  from 
ihe  rest  of  Europe,  and  their  wealth,  which,  even 

)  Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  n   329 


at  this  period,  was  considerable,  concurred  with  the 
political  circumstances  of  the  country,  Avhich  from 
the  latter  years  of  Henry  II.  had  been  eminently 
favorable  to  the  spread  of  this  foreign  usurpation, 
in  making  England  the  great  field  of  papal  imposi- 
tion and  plunder.  Throughout  this  century  the 
bishoprics  were  filled  either  by  the  direct  nomina- 
tion of  the  Pope,  or,  what  was  perfectly  equivalent, 
by  his  arbitration  in  the  case  of  a  disputed  election. 
The  course  that  was  taken  in  regard  to  this  matter 
may  be  illustrated  by  the  history  of  the  succession 
of  the  archbishops  of  Canterbury.  On  the  death  of 
Cardinal  Langton,  in  1228,  the  Chapter  chose  aa 
his  successor  one  of  their  own  number,  Walter  de 
Hemesham ;  but  both  the  king  and  the  bishops  of 
the  province  having  appealed  to  Rome  against  this 
election,  the  Pope  annulled  it,  and  appointed  Rich- 
ard le  Grand,  or  Weathershead,  chancellor  of  Lin- 
coln, to  be  archbishop.  Le  Grand  died  in  1231,  on 
which  three  successive  elections  were  made  by  the 
Chapter  and  set  aside  by  the  Pope :  and  at  last  Ed- 
mund Rich,  ti-easurer  of  Salisbury,  whom  the  Pope 
recommended,  was  chosen  and  consecrated.  Arch- 
bishop Edmund  died  in  1242,  when  King  Henry 
first  compelled  the  Chapter  by  threats,  and  almost 
by  force,  to  nominate  Boniface  of  Savoy,  the  queen's 
uncle,  and  then  purchased  the  confirmation  of  the 
election  at  Rome.  On  occasion  of  the  preceding 
vacancy  the  Pope  had  made  no  scruple  in  setting 
aside  the  original  selection  of  the  Chapter,  although 
the  king  had  concurred  in  it.  On  the  death  of  Boni- 
face, in  1270,  "William  Chillenden,  their  sub-prior, 
was  elected  by  the  Chapter;  but  the  Pope  nomi- 
nated Robert  Kirwarby,  and  he  became  archbishop. 
Exactly  the  same  thing  was  repeated  in  1278,  when 
Kirwarby  resigned  on  being  made  a  cardinal ;  the 
monks  elected  Robert  Burnel,  Bishop  of  Bath  and 
"Wells,  but  John  Peckham,  a  Franciscan  friar,  was 
nevertheless  appointed  to  the  see  by  the  Pope  of 
his  own  authority.  The  next  time  the  Chapter  at 
once  elected  the  person  who  it  was  understood 
would  be  agreeable  to  the  Pope,  namely,  Robert 
Winchelsey,  who  succeeded  Peckham  in  1293,  and 
fought  the  battle  of  the  clergy  against  the  crown 
with  great  valor  during  a  twenty  years'  occupation 
of  the  see.  The  right  of  nominating  to  inferior 
benefices  was  seized  in  a  still  more  open  manner. 
It  had  been  a  frequent  practice  of  the  popes  to  re- 
quest bishops  to  confer  the  next  benefice  that  should 
become  vacant  on  a  particular  clerk.  Gradually 
these  recommendations,  which  were  called  man- 
dates, became  more  frequent;  but  it  was  not  till 
the  time  of  Gregory  IX.  (a.d.  1227-1241)  that  tliey 
were  distinctly  avowed  to  be  of  an  authoritative 
character.     Even  that  pope  claimed,  in  words,  no 


774 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


more  than  the  right  of  nominating  one  clerk  to  a 
benefice  in  every  church.  But  he  and  Innocent  IV. 
are  asserted  to  have,  in  fact,  phxced  Itahan  priests 
by  their  mandatory  letters  in  all  the  best  benefices 
in  England.  In  the  three  last  years  of  (Jregory  IX. 
it  is  said  that  three  hundred  Italians  were  sent  over 
to  this  country  to  be  provided  for  in  the  church. 
It  was  solemnly  stated  by  the  English  envoys  to  the 
Council  of  Lyons  (held  in  1245)  that  Italian  priests 
drew  from  England  at  this  time  sixty  or  seventy 
thousand  marks  every  year — a  sum  greater  than 
the  whole  revenue  of  the  crown.  Nor  did  these 
foreigners  even  spend  their  incomes  in  the  country. 
Most  of  them  continued  to  reside  at  Rome,  or  else- 
where in  Italy,  where,  in  general,  they  held  other 
preferments  :  it  is  affirmed  that  in  some  cases  fifty 
or  sixty  livings  were  accumulated  in  the  possession 
of  one  individual.  At  length  the  universal  right  of 
nomination  to  church  livings  was  asserted  in  plain 
terms  by  Clement  IV.,  in  a  bull  published  in  12C>G. 
Nor  was  even  this  the  utmost  extent  to  which  the 
claim  was  carried.  By  what  was  called  a  reserva- 
tion, the  Po])e  assumed  the  power  of  reserving  to 
himself  the  next  presentation  to  any  benefice  he 
pleased  which  was  not  at  the  time  vacant;  or,  by 
another  instrument  called  a  provision,  he  at  once 
named  a  person  to  succeed  the  present  incumbent. 
In  this  way  all  the  benefices  in  the  kingdom,  both 
those  that  were  vacant  and  those  that  were  not, 
were  turned  to  account,  and  made  available  in  sat- 
isfying the  herd  of  clamorous  suitors  for  prefennent 
and  dependents  on  the  holy  see.  In  a  letter  ad- 
dressed to  the  Pope  by  the  king,  the  prelates,  and 
barons  of  England,  in  124G,  complaint  is  made  that 
the  foreigners  upon  whom  livings  were  thus  be- 
stowed not  only  did  not  reside  in  the  countrj%  nor 
understand  its  language,  but,  even  in  their  absence 
and  incompetency,  appointed  no  substitutes  to  per- 
form their  duties.  In  the  numerous  churches  filled 
by  them,  it  is  declared  there  was  neither  almsgiving 
nor  hospitality,  nor  any  preaching  or  care  of  souls 
whatever.  The  Italians,  it  is  moreover  affirmed, 
were  invested  with  their  livings  without  trouble  or 
charges,  whereas  the  English  were  obliged  to  prose- 
cute their  rights  at  Rome  at  a  great  expense.  The 
letter  also  touches  upon  some  of  the  other  vexatious 
modes  by  which  the  hoi}--  see  labored  to  extend  its 
power  or  to  gratify  its  rapacity,  particularly  the 
great  grievance  of  di'awing  all  causes  of  importance 
to  be  heard  and  decided  at  Rome.  This  was  a 
material  part  of  the  scheme  for  bringing  the  civil 
under  subjection  to  the  ecclesiastical  power,  which 
had  been  pursued  with  such  pertinacity  from  the 
time  of  Anselm  and  the  first  Henry.  It  Avas  also  a 
means  of  drawing  much  wealth  from  the  country, 
and  augmenting  the  ample  stream,  fed  by  multiplied 
contrivances  of  exaction  and  drainage,  that  was  con- 
stantly flowing  thence  into  the  papal  treasury.  The 
entire  taxation  or  tribute  annually  paid,  under  a 
variety  of  names,  by  England  to  Rome,  must  have 
amounted  to  an  immense  sum.  Gregoiy  IX.  is 
eaid  to  have,  in  one  way  and  another,  extracted 
from  the  kingdom,  in  the  course  of  a  very  few 
years,  not  less  than  nine  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 


marks  ;  a  sum  which  Mr.  Hallam  estimates  as  equiv- 
alent to  fifteen  millions  at  present.' 

In  137G,  the  Commons,  in  a  remonstrance  to  the 
king  against  the  intolerable  extortions  of  the  court 
of  Rome,  affirmed  that  the  taxes  yearly  paid  to  the 
Pope  out  of  England  amounted  to  five  times  as  much 
as  all  the  taxes  paid  to  the  crown.  A  considerable 
portion,  indeed,  of  the  revenue  thus  extracted  by 
the  Roman  pontifl'  was  levied  directly  from  the 
clergy  themselves,  in  the  form  of  Peter-pence,  an- 
nates, or  first-fruits,  fees  upon  institution  to  bene- 
fices, etc. ;  but  it  did  not  the  less  on  that  account 
come  ultimately  out  of  the  property  and  industry  of 
the  nation.  The  church  was  but  the  vast  conduit 
or  instrument  of  suction  by  which  the  money  was 
drawn  from  the  country.  It  is  calculated,  from  a 
statement  of  the  historian  Knyghton,  that  in  the  early 
part  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  annual  revenue 
of  the  church  amounted  to  the  enormous  sum  of 
seven  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  marks,  which 
was  more  than  twelve  times  tlie  amount  of  the 
whole  civil  revenue  of  the  kingdom  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.*  Very  nearly  one  half  of  the  soil  of 
England  was  at  tliis  period  in  the  possession  of  the 
church.  At  the  same  time,  as  we.  have  seen,  all 
the  I'ichest  benefices  were  in  the  hands  of  foreign- 
ers. Where  a  cure  thus  held  by  a  non-resident 
incumbent  was  served  at  all,  it  was  iuti'usted  to  a 
curate,  who  appears  to  have  been  usuallj'  paid  at 
the  most  wretched  rate.  In  his  account  of  the 
great  pestilence  of  1349,  Knyghton  observes,  that 
before  that  plague  a  curate  might  have  been  hired 
for  four  or  five  marks  a-year,  or  for  two  marks  and 
his  board ;  but  that  so  many  of  the  clergy  were 
swept  away  by  it,  that  for  some  time  afterward  no 
one  was  to  be  had  to  do  duty  for  less  than  twenty 
marks  or  pounds  a-year.  To  remedy  this  evil,  a 
constitution  or  edict  was  published  a  few  years  after- 
ward by  the  authority  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, forbidding  any  incumbent  to  give,  or  any  curate 
to  demand,  more  than  one  mark  a-year  above  what 
had  been  given  to  the  curate  of  the  same  church 
before  the  plague. 

The  extensive  and  more  systematic  form  given 
to  the  canon  law  in  the  course  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  considerably  aided  the  Pope  and  the  church 
in  their  contest  with  the  civil  jiower.  We  extract 
from  Mr.  Hallam  the  following  summary  of  the  ad- 
ditions made  during  this  period  to  the  Decretum  of 
Gratian,  originally  the  great  text-book  of  that  juris- 
prudence.^ "  Gregory  IX.  caused  the  five  books 
of  decretals  to  be  published  by  Raimond  de  Pen- 
nafort  in  1234.  These  consist  almost  entirely  of 
rescripts  issued  by  the  later  popes,  especially  Alex- 
ander III.,  Innocent  III.,  Honorius  III.,  and  Greg- 
ory himself.  They  form  the  most  essential  part  of 
the  canon  law,  the  Decretum  of  Gratian  being  com- 
paratively obsolete.  In  these  books  we  find  a  regu- 
lar and  copious  system  of  jurisprudence,  derived,  in 
a  great  measure,  from  the  civil  law,  but  with  con- 
siderable deviation,  and  possibly  improvement.  Bo- 
niface VIII.  added  a  sixth  part,  thence  called  the 

1  Middle  Ages,  ii.  306.  -  Ma'plierson,  An   of  Com.  i.  519. 

3  Sec  ante,  r   5i9 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


776 


Sext,  ilself  divided  into  five  books,  in  the  nature  of 
a  supplement  to  the  other  five,  of  which  it  follows 
the  arrangement,  and  composed  of  decisions  pro- 
mulgated since  the  pontificate  of  Gregory  IX." 
•'  The  canon  law,"  proceeds  Mr.  Haliam,  "  was 
almost  entirely  founded  upon  the  legislative  author- 
ity of  the  Pope ;  the  decretals  are  in  fact  but  a  new 
arrangement  of  the  bold  epistles  of  the  most  usurp- 
ing pontiffs,  and  especially  of  Innocent  III.,  with 
titles  or  rubrics  comprehending  the  substance  of 
each  in  the  compiler's  language.  The  superiority 
of  ecclesiastical  to  temporal  power,  or,  at  least,  the 
absolute  independence  o{  the  former,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  a  sort  of  key-note  which  regulates  every 
passage  in  the  canon  law.  It  is  expressly  declared 
that  subjects  owe  no  allegiance  to  an  excommuni- 
cated lord,  if  after  admonition  he  is  not  reconciled 
to  the  church.  And  the  rubric  prefixed  to  the  dec- 
laration of  Frederick  II. 's  deposition  in  the  Council 
of  Lyons  asserts  that  the  Pope  may  dethrone  the 
emperor  for  lawful  causes.  These  rubrics  to  the 
decretals  are  not  perhaps  of  direct  authority  as  part 
of  the  law ;  but  they  express  its  sense,  so  as  to  be 
fairly  cited  instead  of  it.  By  means  of  her  new 
jurisprudence,  Rome  acquired  in  every  country  a 
powerful  body  of  advocates,  who,  though  many  of 
them  were  laymen,  would,  with  the  usual  bigotry 
of  lawyers,  defend  every  pretension  or  abuse  to 
which  their  received  standard  of  authority  gave 
sanction."' 

But  a  still  higher  power  assumed  by  the  popes 
tlian  even  that  of  declaring  or  making  the  law,  was 
that  of  dispensing  with  its  strongest  obligations  in 
any  particular  case  at  their  mere  will  and  pleasure. 
They  assumed  and  exercised  this  power  in  particu- 
lar in  regard  to  the  canonical  impediments  to  mar- 
riage, and  in  regard  to  oaths.  By  the  ancient  laws 
of  the  church,  marriages  were  forbidden  both  be- 
tween blood  relations  and  relations  by  affinity 
within  the  seventh  degi-ee.  "  It  was  not  until  the 
twelfth  century,"  says  Mr.  Haliam,  "  that  either 
this  or  any  other  established  rules  of  discipline 
were  supposed  liable  to  arbitrary  dispensation ;  at 
least  the  stricter  churchmen  had  always  denied  that 
the  Pope  could  infringe  canons,  nor  had  he  asserted 
any  right  to  do  so.  But  Innocent  III.  laid  down 
as  a  maxim,  that  out  of  the  plenitude  of  his  power 
he  might  lawfully  dispense  with  the  law ;  and 
accordingly  granted,  among  other  instances  of  this 
prerogative,  dispensations  from  impediments  of  mar- 
riage to  the  Emperor  Otho  IV.  Similai-  indul- 
gences were  given  to  his  successors,  though  they 
did  not  become  usual  for  some  ages.  The  fourth 
Lateran  Council,  in  121.5,  removed  a  great  part  of 
the  restraint,  by  permitting  marriages  beyond  the 
fourth  degree,  or  what  we  call  third  cousins  ;  and 
dispensations  have  been  made  more  easy,  when  it 
was  discovered  that  they  might  be  converted  into  a 
source  of  profit.  They  served  a  more  important 
purpose,  by  rendering  it  necessary  for  the  princes 
of  Europe,  who  seldom  could  marry  into  one  anoth- 
er's houses  without  transgressing  the  canonical 
Umits.  to  keep  on  good  terras  with  the  court  of  Rome, 

I  MidJle  Al'cs   •:.  CSQ 


which,  in  several  instances  that  have  been  men- 
tioned, fulminated  its  censures  against  sovereigns 
who  lived  without  permission  in  what  was  consid- 
ered an  incestuous  union.'"  And  as  uncanonical 
unions  could  be  legalized  by  the  Pope,  so  it  was 
held,  and  equally  to  the  benefit  of  the  holy  see, 
that  any  illegitimacy  of  birth  could  be  entirely 
removed  by  the  same  authority.  With  regard  to 
oath,  again,  it  was  expressly  laid  down  as  the  law, 
not  only  that  any  oath  extorted  by  fear  might  be 
annulled  by  ecclesiastical  authority,  but  that  an  oath 
disadvantageous  to  the  church  was  essentially,  and 
from  the  first,  without  any  force,  whether  it  were 
formally  dispensed  with  or  not.  These  convenient 
principles  required  very  little  ingenuity  to  be  so 
applied  as  to  get  rid  of  the  obligation  of  any  oath 
whatever. 

As  in  preceding  ages,  new  monasteries  still  con- 
tinued to  be  founded,  and  additions  to  be  made,  by 
the  gifts  and  bequests  of  the  pious,  to  the  landed 
property  of  the  clergy ;  although  in  England  the 
zeal  which  displayed  itself  in  these  ways  perhaps 
rather  declined  after  the  twelfth  century.  Indeed, 
independently  of  the  restraints  which,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  the  law  now  began  to  place  upon  the 
disposition  to  make  over  estates  to  the  church,  both 
the  motive  and  the  means  of  that  kind  of  liberality 
were  of  course  diminished  by  the  extent  to  which 
it  had  been  already  carried.  When  the  clergy 
were  in  possession  of  nearly  half  the  land  of  the 
kingdom,  it  must  have  appeared  to  the  most  excited 
devotee  less  necessary  than  it  formerly  might  have 
been  to  augment  their  endowments.  But  the  rise 
in  the  thirteenth  century  of  the  new  religious  orders 
of  the  Mendicant  Friars  amply  compensated  for 
any  falling  off  in  the  old  rate  of  increase  of  the 
houses  of  the  regular  monks.  The  Dominicans  or 
Black  Friars  (called  also  Friar-Preachers),  insti- 
tuted by  St.  Dominic  de  Guzman,  and  the  Francis- 
cans or  Gray  Friars  (called  also  Cordeliers),  founded 
by  St.  Francis  of  Assisa,  were  formally  established 
by  the  authority  of  Pope  Honorius  III.,  in  121(; 
and  1223.  Of  many  other  orders  which  soon 
sprung  up  in  imitation  of  these,  all  were  eventually 
suppressed  except  two — the  Carmelites,  or  White 
Friars,  and  the  Augustines,  also  known,  as  well  as 
the  Franciscans,  by  the  name  of  Gray  Friars,  from 
the  color  of  their  cloaks.  The  success  of  this  novel 
mode  of  appeal  to  the  religious  passions  of  the  time 
was  prodigious.  The  profession  of  poverty,  the 
peculiar  distinction  of  the  Mendicant  Friars,  was 
well  calculated  to  work  a  powerful  effect,  thus  ex- 
hibited in  contrast  with  the  wealth  and  grasping 
spirit  of  the  other  clergy  of  all  degrees  and  kinds- 
secular  and  regular,  priests  and  monks,  alike.  It  is 
true  the  poverty  of  the  3Iendicants,  like  the  same 
vow  of  the  elder  orders  of  monks,  in  no  long  time 
became,  in  so  far  as  the  community  of  the  brethren 
was  concerned,  a  profession  merely,  and  their  es- 
tablishments gradually  accumulated  extensive  est«te4 
and  ample  revenues;  but  it  served  its  purpose  in 
the  first  instance,  as  well  as  if  it  never  was  to  give 
way  to  this  corruption.     And   the   individual  friar 

1  MiJJle  .\2cs,  290. 


7/fr 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


JJOMINICAN,   OR    BlaiK    FrIAR 

mendicant  always  continued,  it  is  to  be  remembered, 
to  present  the  show,  and,  it  must  be  admitted  to  a 
j^reat  extent,  the  reahty,  also,  of  destitution  and  a 
hard  rule  of  life.  Tlie  very  name  of  the  Mendicants 
was  a  standing  proclamation  of  their  sympathy  with 
the  humbler  and  more  numerous  classes,  and  their 
indifference  to  the  pomp  and  preeminence  which 
appeared  to  be  so  much  coveted  by  the  other  clergy. 
Meanwhile  their  activity  in  preaching,  and  in  all 
,the  ministrations  of  religion,  and  the  pains  they  took 
to  win  the  favor  of  the  multitude,  completely  dis- 
tanced whatever  had  been  before  attempted  in  the 
same  line.  Nor  must  it  be  omitted,  that  among  the 
means  of  influence  of  which  they  availed  themselves, 
while  some  were  perhaps  less  creditable,  others 
were  of  the  liighest  and  most  legitimate  description  ; 
for  it  was  not  long  before  the  Franciscans  and  Do- 
minicans became  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
clergy  in  all  the  learning  of  the  age,  and  numbered 
in  their  ranks  the  most  eminent  names  in  every  de- 
partment of  such  scholarslii[)  and  philosophy  as  were 
then  in  vogue.  With  all  these  arts  and  real  merits, 
it  was  impossible  that,  with  the  support  of  author- 
ity, the  concurrence  of  favoring  circumstances,  and 
wise  management  in  the  direction  of  their  proceed- 
ings, they  should  have  failed  to  be  at  once  taken  up 
and  borne  along  by  a  gale  of  popular  enthusiasm. 
Accordingly  we  find  the  historian,  Matthew  Paris, 
in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  already 
complaining  that  nobody  confessed  except  to  these 
new-fashioned  monks-errant,  and  that  the  parish 
churches  were  deserted.  But  in  course  of  time, 
many  of  the  parochial  cures  came  to  be  served  by 
Mendicant  friars,  to  whose  communities  the  advow- 
sons  of  the  livings  had  been  made  over  by  admirers 
of  the  order.  So  rapidly  did  the  members  of  these 
new  orders  increase,   that  in  less  than  ten  years 


Franciscan,  or  Gray  Friar. 

after  the  institution  of  that  of  the  Franciscans,  the 
delegates  to  its  general  chapter  formed  alone  a  mul- 
titude of  more  than  five  thousand  persons.  "  And 
by  an  enumeration  in  the  early  part  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  when  the  Reformation  must  have 
diminished  their  amount  at  least  one  third,  it  was 
found  that  even  then  there  were  twenty-eight 
thousand  P^ranciscan  nuns  in  nine  hundred  nunner- 
ies, and  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  Francis- 
can friars  in  seven  thousand  convents,  beside  very 
many  nunneries,  which,  being  under  the  immediate 
jurisdiction  of  the  ordinary,  and  not  of  the  order, 
were  not  included  in  the  returns."' 

All  these  troops  of  religious  persons  were  bound 
in  their  whole  interests  and  affections  to  the  church, 
not  only  by  their  voluntary  vows,  but  i)y  the  strong 
incorporating  tie  of  celibacy,  the  practice  of  which, 
in  conformity  to  what  had  certainly  been  the  dis- 
tinctly-declared law  of  the  church  from  very  early 
times,  was  now  also  enforced  upon  all  descriptions 
of  the  clergy  with  a  strictness  greatly  beyond  wliat 
it  had  heretofore  been  found  possible  to  maintain. 
In  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  it  is  stated  that  more  than 
half  the  English  clergy  were  married  ;  but  after 
the  twelfth  century,  although  a  few  occasional  vio- 
lations of  the  rule  may  have  still  occurred,  celibacy 
was  certainly  the  general  practice  as  well  as  the 
law  of  the  church. 

The  rise  of  the  Mendicant  orders  probably  more 
than  made  up  to  the  church  for  the  destruction  of 
the  Templars  in  the  beginning  of  the  next  century; 
it  was  the  substitution  of  a  force  strong  with  the 
inspiration  of  a  new  principle,  and  happily  adapted 
to  the  time,  for  another,  the  first  vigor  of  which,  as 
well  as  its  fit  occasion,  was  in  a  great  degree  worn 
out.     And  as  to  the  era  of  the  Templars  belonged 

1  Southey,  Book  of  the  Church,  i.  325. 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


777 


the  Crusades,  so  with  the  Mendicant  Friars  ap- 
peared the  Inquisition,  of  which,  indeed,  St.  Dominic 
is  commonly  reputed  the  founder,  or  at  least  the 
first  suggester.  The  crusades  which  took  place 
in  this  age  were  animated  by  little  or  nothing  of 
the  old  spirit.  In  the  preceding  Book  we  noticed 
the  fourth,  which  was  undertaken  in  1203,  but 
which  was  diverted  from  an  expedition  against  the 
infidels  in  Palestine  to  a  war  with  the  Greeks  in 
Constantinople.  Both  this  and  the  fifth  crusade 
(a.d.  1218)  were  undertaken  at  the  instigation  of 
the  energetic  Innocent  III. ;  but  even  his  breath 
was  impotent  to  blow  up  again  into  a  blaze  the  dying 
fire.  As  Gibbon  observes,  "  except  a  King  of  Hun- 
gary, the  princes  of  the  second  order  were  at  the 
head  of  the  pilgrims  ;  the  forces  were  inadequate  to 
the  design  ;  nor  did  the  eflects  correspond  with  the 
hopes  and  wishes  of  the  Pope  and  the  people."  Of 
the  sixth  and  seventh  crusades,  both  conducted  by 
St.  Louis,  the  former  (which  set  out  in  1248)  issued 
in  the  captivity,  the  latter  (in  1270)  in  the  death  of 
the  enthusiastic  monarch  ;  and,  ere  the  century  had 
closed,  the  Christians  were  driven  forever  from 
their  last  narrow  footing  in  the  Holy  Land.  Mean- 
while, in  the  midst  of  these  abortive  attempts  to 
revive  crusading  in  the  East,  a  new  species  of  cru- 
sades, as  they  were  also  called,  was  introduced  in 
the  West — namely,  military  expeditions  against  the 
unconverted  heathen  in  various  parts — against  the 
•Tews,  against  the  Albigenses,  and  other  heretics ; 
the  object  being  in  each  case  to  extirpate  indiffer- 
ently either  the  misbelief  or  the  misbelievers. 
Here,  then,  was  exactly  the  object  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, to  which,  therefore,  these  expeditions  may 
be  regarded  as  the  natural  transition  from  the  ori- 
ginal crusades.  Both  the  crusades  and  the  inqui- 
sition equally  operated,  though  in  different  ways, 
to  uphold  for  their  season  the  fabric  of  the  papal 
ascendency. 

It  was  in  the  nature,  however,  of  most,  if  not  of 
all  of  these  stimulants,  to  contribute  something  to 
the  weakening,  in  the  end,  of  the  system  upon  which 
they  apparently  bestowed  an  immediate  strength. 
Even  the  strict  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  if  it  invigo- 
rated the  internal  organization  of  the  church,  tended 
to  loosen  its  roots  in  the  general  soil  of  human  so- 
ciety. Nor  did  the  Mendicant  orders  themselves 
always  continue  to  be  the  same  manageable  and 
subservient  allies  of  the  papal  power  which  they 
were  at  first;  when  certain  questions  came  to  be 
debated  between  the  church  and  the  people,  the 
constitution  and  position  of  these  bodies  inevitably 
led  them  to  a  great  extent  to  side  with  the  latter. 
But  especially  the  various  usurpations  and  extrava- 
gant assumptions  of  the  church,  whatever  tempo- 
rary advantages  may  have  accrued  from  them,  all 
proved  incumbrances  and  sources  of  debility  in  the 
long  run,  and,  by  tlie  manner  in  which  they  out- 
raged the  natural  feelings  and  common  sense  of  luen, 
became  the  main  provocatives  of  the  alienation  and 
hostility  under  which  this  once  sovereign  power  in 
human  affairs  gi-adually  sunk.  Excommunications, 
interdicts,  dispensations,  the  inquisition,  the  arrogant 
pretensions  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  the  oppres- 


sive exactions  of  the  popes,  the  enormous  wealth  of 
the  clergy,  and  their  still  unsatisfied  rapacity,  had 
all  been  long  preparing  the  elements  of  the  mighty 
explosion,  to  which  indulgences  and  Luther  at  last 
set  the  match. 

Meanwhile  many  less  violent  efforts  were  made 
to  shake  off  the  yoke,  or  at  least  to  mitigate  its  press- 
ure. In  our  own  country,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
from  the  time  of  Henry  I.,  and  more  especially  from 
that  of  Henry  II.,  both  the  crown  and  the  Parlia- 
ment had  repeatedly  attempted,  with  various  suc- 
cess, to  check  the  encroachments  of  the  ecclesiastical 
power.  In  the  course  of  the  period  now  under  re- 
view, some  important  measures  were  adopted  against 
the  more  glaring  and  intolerable  evils  of  this  foreign 
tyranny.  Even  during  the  feeble  reign  of  Henry 
III.  considerable  progress  was  made  in  restiaining 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  ecclesiastical  tribunals.  "  The 
judges  of  the  king's  courts,"  says  Mr.  Hallam,  "had 
until  that  time  been  themselves  principally  ecclesi- 
astics, and  consequently  tender  of  spiritual  privileges. 
But  now,  abstaining  from  the  exercise  of  temporal 
jurisdiction,  in  obedience  to  the  sti'ict  injunctions  of 
their  canons,  the  clergy  gave  place  to  common  law- 
yers, professors  of  a  sj'stem  very  discordant  from 
their  own.  These  soon  began  to  assert  the  su- 
premacy of  their  jurisdiction,  by  issuing  writs  of 
prohibition  whenever  the  ecclesiastical  tribunals 
passed  the  boundaries  whic-  approved  use  had  es- 
tablished. Little  accustomed  to  such  control,  the 
proud  hierarchy  chafed  under  the  bit;  several  pro- 
vincial synods  reclaim  against  the  pretensions  of 
laymen  to  judge  the  anointed  ministers  whom  they 
were  bound  to  obey ;  the  cognizance  of  rights  of 
patronage  and  breaches  of  contract  is  boldly  asserted: 
but  firm  and  cautious,  favored  by  the  nobility,  though 
not  much  by  the  king,  the  judges  receded  not  a  step, 
and  ultimately  fixed  a  barrier  which  the  church  was 
forced  to  respect."^  In  the  next  reign  we  find  an 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  unreservedly  admitting 
the  right  of  the  king's  bench  to  issue  prohibitions. 
The  question  was  finally  settled  in  the  thirteenth 
year  of  Edward  I.,  by  the  statute  entitled  "Circum- 
specte  agatis,"  which,  under  the  form  of  an  order 
to  the  judges  to  respect  the  privileges  of  the  spiritual 
jurisdiction,  in  fact  restrained  them,  by  express  enu- 
meration, within  certain  specified  limits.  Ten  years 
before  this,  by  the  statute  of  Westminster  the  First, 
it  had  been  provided  that  clerks  charged  with  felony 
should  be  first  indicted  by  solemn  inquest  in  the 
King's  Court,  and  that,  being  then  delivered  to  the 
ordinary,  if  found  guilty  by  such  inquest,  they  should 
in  no  manner  be  let  free  without  due  purgation — 
words  which  were  afterward  construed  to  moan 
that  their  property,  both  real  and  personal,  should 
be  forfeited>to  the  crown.  In  the  seventh  year  of 
this  reign,  also,  as  will  be  more  particularly  noticed 
in  the  next  chapter,  the  making  over  of  lands  to  reli- 
gious persons  or  societies  was,  for  the  first  time, 
effectually  restrained,  by  what  is  commonly  called 
the  fiist  statute  of  mortmain.  By  another  statute, 
passed  in  the  thirty-fifth  j-ear  of  his  reign,  Edward 
prohibited  all  abbots,  priors,  or  other  religious  per- 
1  Middle  Agps,  ii.  317. 


778 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


eons  of  wliatsoever  condition,  from  henceforth  send- 
ing any  money,  under  nny  name  or  pretence  what- 
soever, as  n  payment  to  their  superiors  beyond  the 
sea.  It  is  also  stated  that  one  of  this  king's  subjects 
having  obtained  a  bull  of  excommunication  against 
another,  Edward  ordered  him  to  be  executed  as  a 
traitor,  according  to  the  ancient  law,  and  was  only 


induced  to  commute  the  punishment  into  banish- 
ment out  of  the  realm  on  a  representation  made  by 
the  chancellor  and  treasurer,  on  their  knees,  that 
the  law  in  question  had  not  for  a  long  time  been  put 
in  execution.' 

I  See  Blackstone,  by  Coleridge,  iv.  110,  and  the  authorities  there 
quoted. 


Archbishop  reading  a  Papal  Bill.    Harleian  MS.  1319. 


One  of  the  principal  charges  made  by  the  Par- 
liament against  Edward  II.,  on  his  deposition,  was, 
that  he  had  given  allowance  to  the  bulls  of  the  see 
of  Rome.     "But   Edward  III.,"  says  Blackstone, 
"was   of  a   temper   extremely  different;    and    to 
remedy  these  inconveniences  first  bj*  gentle  means, 
he  and  his  nobility  wrote  an  expostulation  to  the 
Pope  ;  but  receiving  a  menacing  and  contemj)tuous 
answer,  withal  acquainting  him  that  the  emperor, 
and  also  the  King  of  France,  had  lately  submitted 
to  the  holy  see,  the  king  replied,  that  if  both  the 
emperor  and  the  French  king  should  take  the  Pope's 
part,  he  was  ready  to  give  battle  to  them  both  in 
defence  of  the  liberties  of  the  crown.     Hereupon 
more   sharp  and  penal  laws  were  devised  against 
provisors,  which  enact,  severally,  that  the  court  of 
Rome  shall  not  present  or  collate  to  any  bishopric 
or  living  in  England;  and  that  whoever  disturbs  any  1 
patron  in  the  presentation  to  a  living  by  virtue  of  a 
papal  provision,  such  provisor  shall  pay  fine  and  ran-  j 
som  to  the  king  at  his  will,  and  be  imprisoned  till 
he  renounces  such  provision ;  and  the  same  punish-  , 
ment  is  inflicted  on  such  as  cite  the  king,  or  any  of , 
his  subjects,  to  answer  in  the  court  of  Rome.     And  ; 
when  the  holy  see  resented  these  proceedings,  and 
Pope  Urban  V.  attempted  to  revise  the  vassalage  ' 
and  annual  rent  to  which  Kin^r  John  had  subjected  ' 


his  kingdom,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  by  all  the 
estates  of  the  realm  in  Parliament  assembled,  40 
J^dw.  III.,  that  King  John's  donation  Avas  null  and 
void,  being  without  the  concurrence  of  Parliament 
and  contrary  to  his  coronation  oath  ;  and  all  the 
tempoi-al  nobility  and  commons  engaged,  that  if  the 
Pope  should  endeavor,  by  process  or  otherwise,  to 
maintain  these  usurpations,  they  would  resist  and 
withstand  him  with  all  their  power.'"  By  subse- 
quent statutes,  passed  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  it 
was  enacted  that  no  alien  should  be  capable  of  be- 
ing presented  to  anj-  ecclesiastical  preferment,  and 
that  all  liegemen  of  the  king  accepting  of  a  living  by 
any  foreign  provision  should  forfeit  their  lands  and 
goods,  and  be  banished  from  the  realm,  and  the  ben- 
efice made  void.  It  was  also  piovided  that  any 
person  bringing  over  any  citation  or  excommuni- 
cation from  beyond  sea,  on  account  of  the  execu- 
tion of  the  above-mentioned  statutes,  should  "  be 
taken,  arrested,  and  put  in  prison,  and  forfeit  all  his 
lands  and  tenements,  goods  and  chattels,  forever, 
and  incur  the  pains  of  life  and  of  member."  Finally, 
by  the  famous  statute  commonly  called  the  Statute 
of  Praemunire,*  passed  in  1392,  it  was    "ordained 

1  See  Blackstone,  iv   111. 

-  This  statute  (the  16th  Rich.  II.  c   5),  and  also  the  offenre  against 
\vhi;h  it  is  directed,  nrc  so  caV.od  f.om  the  words  "  Pmn-iiiirc,"  or 


Chap.  II.] 


THE  HISTORY  OF  RELIGION. 


779 


and  estiablished,"  in  still  more  comprehensive  terms, 
that  any  person  purchasing,  in  the  court  of  Rome 
or  elsewhere,  any  provisions,  excommunications,  i 
bulls,  or  other  instruments  whatsoever,  and  any 
person  bringing  such  instruments  within  the  realm,  i 
or  receiving  them,  or  making  notification  of  them, 
should  be  put  out  of  the  king's  protection  ;  that  their 
lands  and  goods  should  be  forfeited ;  and  that  they 
themselvjes,  if  they  could  be  found,  should  be  at- 
tached and  brought  before  the  king  and  council, 
there  to  answer  for  their  offence.  The  popes  main- 
tained the  struggle  for  some  time,  even  after  the 
passing  of  this  statute,  continuing  at  least  to  present, 
as  before,  to  all  English  benefices  the  incumbents  of 
which  had  died  at  Rome ;  but  the  king  and  the 
Parliament  were  resolute  and  steady  in  their  re- 
sistance ;  in  no  instance  were  these  foreign  presen- 
tations permitted  to  have  eti'ect ;  and  at  last,  although 
the  Roman  pontiflt'  still  formally  conferred  many  of 
the  chief  benefices  by  presentations  and  provisions, 
these  instruments  were  issued  only  in  favor  of  per- 
sons who  had  been  previously  uommated  by  the 
crown.  The  victory,  therefore,  obtained  by  the 
civil  over  the  ecclesiastical  power,  in  this  great  bat- 
tle, was  complete. 

These  eftbrts  of  the  legislature,  however,  were 
only  one  of  the  forms  in  which  a  spirit  expressed 
itself  that  was  now  extensively  diffused  over  the 
nation.  While  the  king,  lords,  and  commons  were 
repelling  the  encroachments  of  the  papal  power  by 
the  statutes  of  provisors  and  preemunire,  a  great 
reformer  and  his  disciples  were  shaking  the  church, 
at  once  in  its  doctrine,  its  discipline,  and  the  whole 
fabric  of  its  polity.  This  was  John  de  Wycliffe, 
whom  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention  in 
the  preceding  chapter.  He  was  born  about  the 
year  1324,  in  the  parish  from  which  he  takes  his 
name,  in  Yorkshire ;  and  having  previously  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  Oxford  by  an  extraordinary 
proficiency  in  almost  every  branch  of  learning  then 
cultivated,  he  had  so  early  as  1356,  in  a  treatise 
entitled  "  Of  the  Last  Age  of  the  Church,"  assailed 
the  high-flown  notions  then  commonly  held  on  the 
subject  of  the  authority  of  the  Pope.  A  few  years 
later,  he  began  to  direct  his  attacks  against  the 
Mendicant  orders ;  but  it  was  not  long  before  the 
church  in  general,  and  all  orders  in  it,  became  the 
subject  of  his  unsparing  and  indiscriminate  invec- 
tive. In  one  of  his  works  we  find  him  enumerating 
twelve  classes  of  religious  pei'sons,  beginning  with 
the  Pope  and  ending  with  the  Mendicant  friars,  all 
of  whom  he  denounces  as  anti-Christs  and  the  proc- 
tors of  Satan.  This  general  corruption  of  the 
church  Wycliffe  traced  chiefly  to  the  profusion  of 
wealth  with  which  it  had  been  endowed  in  later 
times :  his  favorite  topic  was  the  recommendation 
of  the  poverty  of  the  first  teachers  of  the  Gospel ; 
and  by  his  own  example,  and  that  of  a  body  of  dis- 
ciples whom  he  called  his  poor  priests,  and  who, 
like    himself,   went  about    preaching  his   doctrines 

'•  Pra?monere  facias,"  used  to  command  a  citation  of  the  party  in  the 
writ  for  the  executioti  of  this  and  the  preceding  statutes  respecting 
provisions.  It  does  not  clearly  appear  that  the  statute  of  Praemunire 
was  ever  regularly  passed  by  the  Parliament ;  hut  it  has  been  repeat- 
edly recognized  as  a  sftitute  by  subsequent  acts  of  the  legislature. 


barefoot  and  clothed  in  the  coarsest  attire,  he  gave 
the  strongest  evidence  of  the  reality  of  his  convic- 
tions, and  made  a  prodigious  impression  upon  the 
popular  mind.  The  coincidence  of  many  of  his 
views,  also,  with  the  objects  of  one  of  the  political 
parties  which  divided  the  state,  obtained  for  him 
the  countenance  and  support  of  some  of  the  greatest 
of  the  nobility.  We  have  already  related  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  appearance  before  the  Bishop  of 
London  at  St.  Paul's,  in  the  last  year  of  the  reign 
of  Edward  III.,  on  which  occasion  he  was  sup- 
ported by  personages  of  no  less  consequence  than 
the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  and  Percy,  the  lord  mar- 
shal.' A  paralytic  stroke  terminated  the  stormy 
career  of  Wyclifle  on  the  31st  of  October,  1384. 
at  his  rectory  of  Lutterworth,  in  Leicestershire. 
During  his  hfe,  those  of  his  novel  views  that  made 
the  greatest  apparent  impression  and  progress  were 
those  respecting  the  constitution  of  the  church,  and 
the  subject  of  ecclesiastical  authority.  When  he 
latterly  began  to  attack  the  docti-ines  of  the  church, 
he  seems  to  have  met,  in  the  first  instance,  with 
less  success  even  among  the  common  people,  and 
his  patrons  among  the  higher  ranks  generally  de- 
clined supporting  him  in  that  new  course.  But 
here,  also,  it  was  eventually  found  that  he  had 
awakened  a  spirit  of  inquiry  bj"  his  preaching  and 
his  writings,  which  did  not  die  when  he  himself  was 
taken  from  among  men.  What  the  opinions  of 
Wyclifle  really  were  on  many  points  of  theologj' 
has  been  matter  of  much  disputation  ;  and  his  own 
writings,  voluminous  as  they  are,  seem  scarcely  to 
afford  the  materials  for  a  complete  and  consistent 
exposition  of  his  creed :  his  views  enlarged  or 
varied  as  he  prosecuted  his  inquiries ;  and  much 
that  he  has  written  is  so  obscure  as  to  defy  any  very 
precise  or  satisfactory  interpretation.  But,  what- 
ever became  of  some  of  his  peculiar  notions,  the 
principle  of  his  mode  of  investigating  the  truths  of 
Christianity  took  root  and  flourished,  and  in  no  long 
time  came  to  bear  abundant  fruit.  Wyclifl'e's  fun- 
damental position  was,  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
revealed  will  of  God  was  to  be  found  in  the  Scrip- 
tures onlj',  and  moreover,  was  to  be  found  there, 
not  by  the  church  alone,  or  its  recognized  heads, 
but  by  every  private  individual  who  should  earnest- 
ly and  humbly  address  himself  to  the  search.  Eng- 
lish translations  of  many  parts,  perhaps  of  the 
whole,  of  the  Scriptures  existed  before  the  time  of 
Wyclifle,  but  they  appear  to  have  been  entirely 
unknown  to  the  great  body  of  the  people.  In  his 
writings  and  discourses,  the  paramount  authority  of 
the  Hoi}'  Books  was  acknowledged  and  inculcated 
in  the  most  explicit  terms ;  whatever  he  advanced 
he  endeavored  to  rest  upon  their  testimony ;  and 
he  at  once  familiarized  the  popular  ear  to  manj" 
passages  of  the  word  of  God  to  which  it  had  never 
before  listened,  and  excited,  by  these  quotations,  the 
anxious  curiosity  of  men  to  obtain  access  to  the 
whole  of  the  sacred  volume.  It  is  Wyclifl'e's  high- 
est title  to  the  gratitude  of  his  countrymen  and  to 
everlasting  renown,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
conclusive  vindication  that  now  remains  of  the  sin- 

1  Sec  ante,  p.  "53. 


780 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


cerity  of  his  professions,  as  well  as  our  best  evi- 
dence of  the  true  learning  and  laborious  industry  of 
the  man,  that,  like  his  great  successor  Luther,  he 
devoted  several  years  of  his  life  to  the  completion 
of  a  translation  of  both  tho  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments into  his  native  tongue.  This  is  the  oldest 
English  version  of  the  Scriptures  that  is  now  ex- 
tant,— the  next  that  has  come  down  to  us  after  the 
partial  Saxon  version  attributed  to  Alfred.'     Many 

1  Wycliffe's  translation  of  the  New  Testament  has  been  twice  print- 
ed; first  in  folio,  under  the  c:ire  of  the  Rev.  J.  Lewis,  Lon.  17.11  ;  sec- 


copies  of  this  translation  are  said  to  have  been  dis- 
persed by  the  care  of  the  author  and  his  disciples ; 
and  the  effects  which  it  had  produced  became  very 
perceptible  not  many  years  after  the  death  of  Wyc- 
liffe,  when,  under  the  new  name  of  the  Lollards, 
the  inheritors  of  his  opinions,  in  formidable  num- 
bers, again  awoke  the  cry  of  reformation.  The 
history  of  the  Lollards,  however,  must  be  reserved 
for  the  next  period,  to  which  chiefly  it  belongs. 

ondly,  in  4to.,  edited  by  11.  H.  Baber,  Lon.  1810.  The  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament  still  remains  in  manuscript. 


l3  yz^^)0m)tK^\^%iptm^tyj^\^o^^ 


Specimen  from  a  Copy  of  Wycliffe's  Bible,  in  tho  British  Museum.    Royal  MS.  1.  C.  viii. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


78J 


CHAPTER  III. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


E  now  emerge,  us 
it  were,  from  the 
Y,*^  twilight  in  which 
f;^  we  have  hither- 
^'^  to  journeyed,  and 
we  enter  upon  a 
path  illumined  by, 
at  least,  some  por- 
tion of  the  light 
of  day  ;  or,  to  lay 
aside  our  figura- 
tive language,  en- 
ter now  upon  the 
period  of  the  commencement  of  the  authentic  leg- 
islative records  of  England,  enacted  by  the  great 
national  council  or  Parliament.  Of  the  formation 
of  the  Parliament,  or  rather  of  its  settlement  into 
the  form  which  it  still  retains,  we  must  first  speak  ; 
though,  while  engaged  with  that  pait  of  our  sub- 
ject, we  must  still  continue  our  course  in  compara- 
tive darkness. 

As  we  have  ah-eady  seen,  the  Commune  Conci- 
lium, or  great  council  of  the  realm,  was,  in  the  first 
ages  after  the  Conquest,  composed  only  of  the  ten- 
ants in  chief,  or  immediate  vassals  of  the  king.  Of 
these,  one  portion  consisted  of  the  bishops  and  ab- 
bots, or  heads  of  religious  houses  holding  immedi- 
ately of  the  crown.  It  has  been  the  opinion  of  the 
most  eminent  English  lawyers  that  these  spiritual 
lords  sat  in  parliament  by  virtue  of  their  baronies. 
From  this  opinion  Mr.  Hallam  dissents.  "  I  think," 
says  he,  carrying  his  view  back  to  the  Saxon  Wit- 
enagemot,  "  that  this  is  rather  too  contracted  a 
view  of  the  rights  of  the  English  hierarchy,  and, 
indeed,  by  imphcation,  of  the  peerage.  For  a 
great  council  of  advice  and  assent  in  matters  of  leg- 
islation or  national  importance  was  essential  to  all 
the  northern  governments.  And  all  of  them,  ex- 
cept perhaps  the  Lombards,  invited  the  superior 
ecclesiastics  to  their  councils ;  not  upon  any  feudal 
notions,  which  at  that  time  had  hardly  begun  to 
prevail,  but  chiefly  as  representatives  of  the  church 
and  of  religion  itself:  next,  as  more  learned  and 
enlightened  counselors  than  the  lay  nobility,  and  in 
some  degree,  no  doubt,  as  rich  proprietors  of  land. 
It  will  be  remembered,  also,  that  ecclesiastical  and 
temporal  affairs  were  originally  decided  in  the 
same  assemblies,  both  upon  the  continent  and  in 
England.  The  Norman  Conquest,  which  destroy- 
ed the  Anglo-Saxon  nobility,  and  substituted  a  new 
race  in  their  stead,  could  not  affect  the  immortality 
of  church  possessions.  The  bishops  of  William's 
age  were  entitled  to  sit  in  his  councils  by  the  gen- 
eral custom  of  Europe,  and  by  the  common  law  of 
England,   which  the    Conquest   did   not   overturn. 


Some  smaller  arguments  might  be  urged  against  the 
supposition  that  their  legislative  rights  are  merely 
baronial ;  such  as  that  the  guardian  of  the  spiritual- 
ities was  commonly  summoned  to  Parliament  during 
the  vacancy  of  a  bishopric,  and  that  the  five  sees 
created  by  Henry  VIII.  have  no  baronies  annexed 
to  them ;  but  the  former  reasoning  appears  less 
technical  and  confined."* 

The  lay  portion  of  the  great  council  consisted  of 
the  earls  and  barons,  meaning  by  the  latter  those 
holding  of  the  king.  It  is  agreed  that  the  only 
baronies  known  for  two  centuries  after  the  Con- 
quest arose  from  the  tenure  of  land  held  imme- 
diately of  the  crown.  As  to  the  exact  nature, 
however,  of  these  baronies,  the  opinions  of  some  of 
the  most  eminent  legal  antiquaries  vary  :  Selden 
holding  that  very  tenant  in  capite,  or  in  chief,  by 
knight  service,  was  a  parliamentary  baron  by  reason 
of  his  tenure ;  Madox,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
tenure  by  knight's  service  in  chief  was  always 
distinct  from  that  by  barony,  but  in  what  the  dis- 
tinction consisted  he  has  not  clearly  explained. 
"  The  distinction,"  says  Mr.  Hallam,  "  could  not 
consist  in  the  number  of  knight's  fees,  for  the  barony 
of  Hwayton  consisted  in  only  three,  while  John  de 
Baliol  held  thirty  fees  by  mere  knight  service.  Nor 
does  it  seem  to  have  consisted  of  the  privilege  and 
service  of  attending  parliament,  since  all  tenants  in 
chief  were  usually  summoned.  But  whatever  may 
have  been  the  line  between  these  modes  of  tenure, 
there  seems  complete  proof  of  their  separation  long 
before  the  reign  of  John.  Tenants  in  chief  are 
enumerated  distinctly  from  earls  and  barons  in  the 
charter  of  Henry  I."* 

It  is  evident,  however,  from  a  passage  in  the 
Great  Charter  of  King  John,  that  by  that  time  at 
least  all  tenants  in  chief  were  entitled  to  a  sum- 
mons ;  the  greater  barons  by  particular  writs,  the 
rest  through  a  writ  directed  to  their  sheriff";  without 
a  summons  a  baron  certainly  could  not  sit  by  mere 
right  of  his  tenure.  It  is  not  ascertained  how  long 
the  inferior  tenants  in  chief  continued  to  sit  per- 
sonally in  parliament ;  but  the  attendance  of  these, 
some  of  whom  were  too  poor  to  have  received 
knighthood,  became  intolerably  vexatious  to  them- 
selves, and  was  not  agreeable  to  the  king.  This 
led  at  last  to  the  complete  establishment  of  a  prac- 
tice from  which  the  most  important  results  were 
to  flow — the  adoption  of  tlie  principle  of  represen- 
tation. 

Among  the  few  earlier  instances  of  apparent 
representation  which  have  been  collected,  the  most 
remarkable  belongs  to  the  year  1255,  the  thirty- 
eighth  of  Henry   HI.     In   that  year  a  writ  was 

I  Middle  Ages,  iii.  p.  6.  *  Ibid.  iii.  p.  13. 


782 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


issued,  which,  after  reciting  that  the  earls,  barous, 
and  other  great  men,  were  to  meet  at  London  three 
weeks  after  Easter,  with  horses  and  arms,  for  the 
purpose  of  sailing  into  Gascony,  required  the  sheriff  , 
to   compel   all   within    his  jurisdiction,   who   held  | 
twenty  pounds  a-year  of  the  king  iu  chief,  or  of 
those  in  ward  of  the  king,  to  appear  at  the  same 
time  and  place;  and  that,  beside  those  mentioned,  ; 
lie  should  cause  to  come  before  the  king's  council 
at  Westminster,  on  the  fifteenth  day  after  Easter, 
two  good  and  discreet  knights  of  his  county,  whom  ] 
the  men  of  the  county  should  have  chosen  for  this  ; 
purpose,  in  the  stead  of  all  and  each  of  them,  to  < 
consider,  along  with  the  knights  of  other  counties,  [ 
what  aid  they  would  grant  the  king  in   such  au  • 
emergency.  I 

At  length,  in  the  year  1265,  the  forty-ninth  of  j 
Henry  HI.,  who  was  then  a  captive  in  the  hands  ' 
of  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester,  Lord 
High  Steward  of  England,  writs  were  issued  in  the 
Ling's  name  to  all  the  sheriffs,  directing  them  to 
return  two  knights  for  their  county,  with  two  citi- 
zens or  burgesses  for  every  city  and  borough  within 
it.  In  regard  to  the  question  whether  the  knights 
were  elected  by  none  but  the  king's  tenants  in 
chief,  or  by  all  freeholders  without  distinction,  the 
legal  antiquaries  are  divided.'  But  here  the  really 
great  innovation  is  the  appearance  of  the  burgesses 
in  the  national  assembly — an  innovation  destined  to 
exercise  a  most  momentous  influence  on  the  future 
destinies  not  only  of  England  and  Europe,  but  of 
the  world. 

Before  the  Norman  Conquest  several  of  the 
towns  had  been  populous,  rich,  and  of  considerable 
importance.  Immediately  after  that  great  revolu- 
tion, as  we  have  had  occasion  to  show  in  a  former 
chapter,"  a  considerable  decay  seems  to  have  taken 
place  in  most  of  them.  The  burgesses  were  griev- 
ously oppressed  by  the  tallages  and  other  exac- 
tions, to  which  they  were  suiijected  by  the  king  or 
other  lord  who  was  held  to  be  the  proprietor  of  the 
town.  Although  some  of  these  payments  were  of 
fixed  amount,  others  appear  to  have  been  levied  at 
the  discretion  of  the  lord,  and  from  such  of  the  bur- 
gesses as  he  chose  to  select. 

"  One  of  the  earliest  and  most  important  changes 
in  the  condition  of  the  burgesses,"  saj^s  Mr.  Hal- 
lam,  "was  the  conversion  of  the  individual  tributes 
into  a  perpetual  rent  from  the  whole  borough. 
The  land  was  then  said  to  be  aflerined,  or  let  in 
fee-farm,  to  the  burgesses  and  their  successors  for- 
ever."' This  was  called  burgage-tenure,  which  is 
said  by  Littleton  to  be  "tenure  in  socage,'"*  and  is 
by  Blackstone  said  to  be  "  only  a  kind  of  town 
socage  ;  as  common  socage,  by  which  other  lands 
are  holden,  is  usually  of  a  rural  nature."* 

Beginning  with  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  the  towns 
gradually  rose  in  importance  and  independence. 
From  that  prince  the  city  of  London  received  a 
charter,  which,  beside  other  immunities,  grants  to 

1  Mattliew  Paris  gives,  for  the  first  time,  in  1246,  the  name  of  Par- 
liament to  the  great  council  of  the  barons.  The  word  parliament,  Bar- 
rington  observes  (On  the  Statutes,  p.  56),  seems  anciently  to  have  been 
used  for  any  kind  of  conference.  ^  See  Book  III  ,  chapter  vii. 

3  Middle  Ages,  iii.  32.  *  Ibid.  iii.  162.  =  Com.  li.  82. 


the  citizens  the  right  of  choosing  their  own  sherifl' 
and  justice,  to  the  exclusion  of  every  external  juris- 
diction. The  right  of  choosing  magistrates  began 
to  be  more  generally  given  from  the  reign  of  John 
In  the  mean  time,  however,  the  voluntary  incorpo- 
rations of  the  burgesses,  which  had  existed  in  the 
Saxon  times  under  the  name  of  guilds  (from  guildan, 
to  pay  or  contribute),  had  gradually  acquired  more 
and  more  of  the  character  of  associations  for  the 
protection  and  regulation  of  trade. 

From  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  to  that  of  the 
thirteenth  century  the  trading  towns  greatly  in- 
creased iu  prosperity.  London  was  distinguished 
above  the  rest  for  the  number  and  wealth  of  its  cit- 
izens, who  were  remarkable  for  their  free  and  insur- 
gent spirit.  They  bore  a  part  in  deposing  William 
Longchamp,  the  chancellor  and  justiciary  of  Richard 
I.,  as  well  as  in  the  great  struggle  for  Magna  Charta, 
in  which  the  privileges  of  their  city  are  specially  con- 
firmed ;  and  the  Mayor  of  London  Avas  one  of  the 
twenty-five  barons  to  whom  the  maintenance  of  its 
provisions  was  delegated.  Nevertheless,  until  the 
date  of  the  writs  above  mentioned,  of  Simon  de 
Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester — namely,  the  12th  of 
December,  1264 — we  have  no  clear  evidence  that 
the  cities  and  boroughs  had  any  regular  place  in  the 
national  councils.  At  the  same  time  it  is  remark- 
able that  no  writer  of  the  time  notices  the  calling 
of  the  burgesses  to  Parliament  by  De  Montfort  as 
an  innovation,  nor  are  the  writs  so  expressed  as  to 
lead  us  to  suppose  that  the  practice  was  then  inti"o- 
duced  for  the  first  time. 

But  though  the  trading  part  of  the  community 
held  from  this  time  a  regular  place  in  the  national 
council,  they  appeared  there  at  first  in  a  very  humble 
and  unimportant  character,  scarcely  daring  to  raise 
their  eyes  in  presence  of  the  haughty  prelates  and 
nobles.  "  To  grant  mouej^"  says  3Ir.  Hallam,  "  was 
the  main  object  of  their  meeting ;  and  if  the  ex- 
I  igencies  of  the  administration  could  have  been  re- 
lieved without  subsidies,  the  citizens  and  burgesses 
might  still  have  sat  at  home,  and  obeyed  the  laws 
which  a  council  of  prelates  and  barons  enacted  for 
their  government.  But  it  is  a  difficult  question, 
whether  the  king  and  the  peers  designed  to  make 
roomfor  them,  as  it  were,  in  legislation,  and  whether 
the  purse  drew  after  it  immediately,  or  onlj^  by  de- 
grees, those  indispensable  rights  of  consenting  to 
I  laws  which  tliey  now  possess."' 

The  business  of  the  Commons  appears  to  have 
been,  from  the  first,  to  petition  for  redress  of  griev- 
ances, as  well  as  to  provide  for  the  necessities  of 
the  crown.     And  in  fact  the  high  court  of  Parlia- 
ment, as  far  as  they  at  their  first  introduction  into 
I  it,  and  for  a  considerable  time  after,  were  concerned, 
t  is  to  be  viewed  not  so  much  in  the  light  of  a  legis- 
lative council  or  assembly  as  in  that  of  a  court  of 
justice,  in  which,  on  condition  of  paying  certain  fees, 
by  no  means  very  low  ones,  in  the  shape  of  subsi- 
dies, they  enjojed  certain  privileges  in  the  capacity 
of  suitors.     Indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  understand 
fully  the  character  of  the  English  parliament,  espe- 
cially in   the  earlier  stages  of  its  history,  without 
>  Com.  iii.  p.  52. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


783 


viewing  it  more  as  a  judicial  than  as  a  legislative 
establishment. 

With  regard  to  the  question  at  what  time  Parlia- 
ment was  divided  into  two  houses,  we  extract  the 
following  passage  from  Mr.  Hallam  : — ■"  It  has  been 
a  very  prevailing  opinion  that  Parhament  was  not 
•divided  into  two  houses  at  the  first  admission  of  the 
commons.  If  by  this  is  only  meant  that  the  com- 
mons did  not  occupy  a  separate  chamber  till  some 
time  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  the  proposition, 
true  or  false,  will  be  of  little  importance.  They 
may  have  sat  at  the  bottom  of  Westminster  Hall 
while  the  lords  occupied  the  upper  end ;  but  that 
they  were  ever  intermingled  in  voting  appears  in- 
consistent with  likelihood  and  authority.  The  usual 
object  of  calling  a  parliament  was  to  impose  taxes ; 
and  these,  for  many  years  after  the  introduction  of 
the  commons,  were  laid  in  different  proportions  upon 
the  three  estates  of  the  realm.  Thus,  in  the  twen- 
ty-third of  Edward  I.,  the  earls,  barons,  and  knights 
gave  the  king  an  eleventh,  the  clergy  a  tenth,  while 
he  obtained  a  seventh  from  the  citizens  and  bur- 
gesses :  in  the  twenty-fourth  of  the  same  king  the 
two  former  of  these  orders  gave  a  twelfth,  the  last 
an  eighth :  in  the  thirty-third  year  a  thirtieth  was 
the  grant  of  the  barons  and  knights  and  of  the  clergy, 
a  twentieth  of  the  cities  and  towns.  In  the  first  of 
Edward  II.  the  counties  paid  a  twentieth,  the  towns 
a  fifteenth :  in  the  sixth  of  Edward  III.  the  rates 
Avere  a  fifteenth  and  a  tenth.  These  distinct  grants 
imply  distinct  grantors  ;  for  it  is  not  to  be  imagined 
that  the  commons  intermeddled  in  those  affecting 
the  lords,  or  the  lords  in  those  of  the  commons.  In 
fact,  however,  there  is  abundant  proof  of  their  sep- 
arate existence  long  before  the  seventeenth  of  Ed- 
ward III.,  which  is  the  epoch  assigned  by  Carte,  or 
even  the  sixth  of  that  king,  which  has  been  chosen 
by  some  other  writers.  Thus  the  Commons  sat  at 
Acton  Burnell  in  the  eleventh  of  Edward  I.,  while 
the  upper  house  was  at  Shrewsbury.  In  the  eighth 
of  Edward  II.  'the  Commons  of  England  complain 
to  the  king  and  his  council,'  &c.  These  must  surely 
have  been  the  Commons  assembled  in  Parliament, 
for  who  else  could  thus  have  entitled  themselves? 
In  the  nineteenth  of  the  same  king  we  find  several 
petitions,  evidently  proceeding  from  the  body  of  the 
Commons  in  Parliament,  and  complaining  of  public 
grievances.  The  roll  of  1  Edward  III.,  though 
mutilated,  is  conclusive  to  show  that  separate  peti- 
tions were  then  presented  by  the  Commons,  accord- 
ing to  the  regular  usage  of  subsequent  times ;  and, 
indeed,  the  preamble  of  1  Edward  III.,  stat.  2,  is 
apparently  capable  of  no  other  inference."' 

Having  thus  put  the  reader  in  possession  of  the 
few  leading  facts,  that  have  been  established  on  suf- 
ficient evidence,  respecting  the  formation  of  the 
legislative  body,  we  shall  proceed  to  give  an  account 
of  the  legislation  itself  during  the  present  period  of 
our  history. 

The  principal  legislative  acts  worthy  of  notice  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  III.  are  his  confirmation  of  the 
(ireat  Charter  and  of  the  Charter  of  the  Forest. 
"  These,"  observes  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  "  were  the 

'   Middle  Ages,  iii.  pp.  54-56 


great  basis  upon  which  the  settlement  of  the  English 
laws  stood  in  the  time  of  this  king  and  his  son. 
There  are  also  some  additional  laws  of  this  king  yet 
extant  which  much  polished  the  common  law, — 
namely,  the  statutes  of  Merton  and  Marlbridge,  and 
some  others."'  To  this  reign  belongs  Bracton's 
Treatise,  of  which  Sir  Matthew  Hale  gives  the  fol- 
lowing account : — "  It  yields  us  a  great  evidence  of 
the  growth  of  the  laws  between  the  times  of  Henry 
II.  and  Henry  III.  If  we  do  but  compare  Glanville's 
book  with  that  of  Bracton,  we  shall  see  a  very  great 
advance  of  the  law  in  the  writings  of  the  latter  over 
what  they  are  in  Glanville.  It  would  be  needless 
to  instance  particulars.  Some  of  the  writs  and 
processes  do,  indeed,  in  substance  agree,  but  the 
proceedings  are  much  more  regular  and  settled,  as 
they  are  in  Bracton  above  what  they  are  in  Glan- 
ville. The  book  itself,  in  the  beginning,  seems  to 
borrow  its  method  from  the  civil  law.  But  the 
greatest  part  of  the  substance  is,  either  of  the  course 
of  proceedings  in  the  law  known  to  the  author,  or 
of  resolutions  and  decisions  in  the  courts  of  King's 
Bench  and  Common  Bench,  and  before  justices 
itinerant ;  for  now  the  inferior  courts  began  to  be  of 
little  use  or  esteem."" 

There  are  one  or  two  statutes  or  ordinances  of 
Henry  HI.,  upon  which,  though  not  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, it  seems  proper  to  make  a  few  remarks.  And 
first  in  respect  to  the  Assisa  Panis  et  Cervisiae,  the 
Assize  of  Bread  and  Ale,  which,  however,  though 
generally  given  as  a  statute  of  51  Henry  HI.,  is 
printed  in  the  Record  Commission  edition  of  the 
Statutes  as  of  uncertain  date,  what  is  remarkable  is, 
that  to  the  Parliament  or  council  at  which  it  was 
passed,  held  at  Winchester,  were  called  not  only 
'■^  omnes  magnates  terrac"  all  the  great  men  of  the 
land,  but  "  omnes  uxores  comitum  et  baronum  qui 
in  bello  occisi  fuerunt,  vel  captivorum," — that  is,  all 
the  WIVES  of  the  earls  and  barons  who  Avere  slain  in 
battle  or  captive.' 

The  Statutum  de  Scaccario,  the  Statute  of  the 
Exchequer,  which  is  usually  attributed  to  the  fifty- 
first  year  of  Henry  III.,  though  printed  by  the 
Record  Commission  among  the  statutes  of  uncertain 
date,  is  remarkable,  if  we  assume  the  common  date, 
as  being  the  first  in  the  French  language,  and  just 
two  centuries  after  the  Conquest.  Barrington  con- 
siders this  fact  as  showing  that  the  reason  usually 
assigned  for  our  laws  being  in  the  French  language, 
— namely,  that  it  was  the  will  of  the  conquering 
Normans, — is  by  no  means  satisfactorj* ;  and  he  con- 
ceives the  practice  to  have  arisen  from  there  "  being 
a  standing  committee  in  Parliament  to  receive  peti- 
tions from  the  provinces  of  France  which  formerly 
belonged  to  the  crown  of  England.  This  conjec- 
ture," he  adds,  "seems  to  be  strongly  confirmed  by 
the  statutes  having  continiu^d  to  be  in  English  from 
the  time  in  which  we  fortunately  were  dispossessed 
of  the  French  provinces,  as  most  of  the  statutes  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  continue  to  be  in  French. 
Another  reason,"  he  proceeds,  "for  the  statutes 
being  in  French  arose  from  the  general  affectation 

1  History  of  the  Common  Law  of  England,  chnp.  vii.  »  Ibid. 

3  Annal.  Wavcrl.,  quoted  by  Barrington,  On  the  Statutes,  p.  41. 


784 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


which  prevailed  at  this  time  of  speaking  the  French 
language,  iusoniuch  that  it  became  a  proverb,  that 
Jack  would  he  a  gentleman  if  he  could  speak  French. 
It  was  very  corrupt  indeed,  and  therefore  Chaucer 
says  [of  his  Prioress,  in  the  Canterbury  Tales] — 

'  Full  wfill  she  sange  the  senice  divine, 
Entuned  iu  her  nose  full  swetely, 
And  French  she  spake  full  fair,  and  fetisly,' 
After  the  school  of  Stratford  atte  Bow  ; 
For  French  of  Paris  was  to  her  unknow.'" 

Barringtou  further  says — "  I  cannot  conclude 
these  observations  without  taking  notice  that  the 
present  statute  of  Henry  HI.,  in  French,  is  inserted 
between  others  in  Latin  ;  and  that,  during  the  same 
session  of  Parliament,  there  is  an  instance  in  the 
statute  of  Westminster  the  Second  (which  is,  prop- 
erly speaking,  a  CapitulariumY  of  P^rench  chapters 
being  inserted  in  the  same  law,  preceded  and  fol- 
lowed by  chapters  in  Latin.  From  a  very  diligent 
and  attentive  perusal  of  the  Statute-Book,  the  best 
general  rule  which  can  be  given  with  regard  to  an 
Act  of  Parliament  being  in  Latin  or  French  is,  that 
where  the  interests  of  the  clergy  are  particularly 
concerned  the  statute  is  in  Latin.  I  do  not,  how- 
ever, pretend  to  say  that  this  rule  is  without  excep- 
tions."^ 

We  may  add  to  what  has  been  said  on  this  sub- 
ject the  following  remark  in  the  Introduction  to  the 
edition  of  the  Statutes  by  the  Record  Commission  : 
— "  Nothing  is  known  with  certainty  on  this  subject ; 
and  at  the  present  day  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  ac- 
count, in  each  instance,  for  the  appearance  of  the 
statute  in  French  or  in  Latin.  It  seems,  on  the 
whole,  to  be  highly  probable  that,  for  a  long  period 
of  time,  charters,  statutes,  and  other  public  instru- 
ments were  drawn  up  indiscriminately  in  French  or 
Latin,  and  generally  translated  from  one  of  those 
languages  into  the  other  before  the  promulgation  of 
them,  which  in  many  instances  appears  to  have 
been  made  at  the  same  time  in  both  languages." 

The  title  of  Capitalis  Justitiarius  Anglice,  i.  e.. 
Chief  Justiciary  of  England,  ended  in  Philip  Basset 
(the  third  of  his  faiuily  who  had  held  the  office), 
who  was  advanced  to  that  place  in  the  forty-fifth  of 
Henry  HI. ;  and  the  first  who  had  the  office  of  Cap- 
italis Justitiarius  ad  jjladla  coram  Rcge  tenenda, 
i.  e.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench,  was  Robert 
de  Bruis,  appointed  in  the  fifty-second  of  Henry  HI.'' 

The  salary  of  the  Justices  of  the  Bench  (i.  e.  of 
the  Common  Pleas)  in  the  twenty-third  year  of  this 
reign  was  20^  ;  in  the  forty-third  year,  40/.  In  the 
twenty-seventh  year  the  Chief  Baron  of  the  Ex- 
chequer had  forty  marks  ;  the  other  barons  twenty 
marks  ;  and  in  the  forty-ninth  year,  40L  per  annum. 
The  salary  of  the  Justices  Coram  Rege  (of  the 
King's  Bench)  was,  in  the  forty-third  year,  40/.  per 
annum.  The  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas 
had,  in  the  forty-fourth  of  Henry  HI.,  one  hundred 
marks  per  annum ;  and  another,  who  succeeded  in 
this  same  year,  had  100/.  per  annum.     In  the  thir- 

>  "  Neatly." — We  have  corrected  the  quotation,  which  is  given  by 
Harrington  from  a  very  bad  text. 

^  That  IS,  a  collection  of  laws,  and  not  a  single  law. 

S  Observ.  on  Stat.  pp.  47,  48.  *  Dugd.  Orig.  38 


ty-fifth  of  Henry  HI.  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's 
Bench  had  one  hundred  marks  per  annum.' 

We  come  now  to  the  time  of  Edward  I.,  who  has 
been  styled  the  English  Justinian,  not  because  he 
resembled  that  monarch  in  making  either  a  digest 
or  a  code,  but  because,  according  to  Sir  Matthew 
Hale,  "  in  his  time  the  law,  quasi  per  sallum,  ob- 
tained a  very  great  perfection." 

We  shall  divide  the  enactments  of  this  prince,  to 
which  we  propose  more  particularly  to  call  the  read- 
er's attention,  into  two  classes — ] .  Those  of  a  politi- 
cal or  constitutional  nature — 2.  Those  that  regard 
the  rights  of  private  property  and  the  administration 
of  justice  between  man  and  man.  And  we  shall  be 
guided  in  our  notice  of  them  not  so  much  by  the 
mere  chronological  order,  as  by  what  may  appear 
their  relative  degree  of  importance. 

I.  The  first  in  importance  in  the  first  class  are 
the  several  confirmations  of  the  Great  Charter  and 
of  the  Charter  of  the  Forest.^  In  the  thirteenth 
year  of  this  reign  the  king  was  entreated  by  the 
Parliament  to  confirm  all  former  chailers ;  a  form 
of  inspeximus^  and  confirmation  Avas  accordingly 
agreed  upon.  In  the  twenty-fifth  year  there  was 
a  more  solemn  confirmation  of  the  Great  Charter 
in  the  statute  called  Covfirmatio  Chartarum.  This 
statute  ordained  that  the  charters  of  Liberties  and 
of  the  Forest  should  be  kept  in  every  parish ;  and 
that  they  should  be  sent  under  the  king's  seal  as 
well  to  the  justices  of  the  Forest  as  to  others,  to  all 
sheriffs  and  other  officers,  and  to  all  the  cities  in  the 
realm,  accompanied  by  a  writ  commanding  them  to 
publish  the  said  charters,  and  declare  to  the  people 
that  the  king  had  confirmed  them  in  all  points.  All 
justices,  sheritTs,  mayors,  and  other  ministers  were 
directed  to  allow  them  when  pleaded  before  them ; 
and  any  judgment  contrary  thereto  Nvas  to  be  null 
and  void.  The  charters  were  to  be  sent  under  the 
king's  seal  to  all  cathedral  churches  throughout  the 
realm,  there  to  remain,  and  to  be  read  to  the  people 
twice  a-year.  It  was  ordained  that  all  archbishops 
and  bishops  should  pronounce  sentence  of  excom- 
munication against  those  who,  by  word,  deed,  or 
counsel,  did  contrary  to  the  aforesaid  charters.  It 
was  likewise  ordained  that  such  aids  and  tasks  as 
had  been  granted  to  the  king  by  the  people  of  his 
realm  "  beforetime  toward  his  wars  and  other  busi- 
ness, of  their  own  grant  and  good-will,  however 
they  were  made,"  should  not  be  drawn  into  custom 
or  precedent.  Moreover,  the  king  granted,  for  him 
and  his  heirs,  that  no  aids  or  prizes  should  be  taken 
but  by  consent  of  the  realm,  saving  the  ancient  aids 
and  prizes  due  and  accustomed.  Mr.  Reeves  re- 
marks* that  this  is  the  first  mention  in  the  Statute- 
Book  of  a  renunciation  of  right  to  levy  money  on 
the  subject  without  consent  of  Parliament.  There 
had  been  a  like  declaration  in  the  charter  of  John, 
but  it  was  omitted  in  that  of  Henry  III.  Further, 
because  there  had  been  a  particular  outcry  against 

1  Dugd.  Orig.  104. 

2  The  Charter  of  the  Forest  was  first  granted  in  the  9th  of  Henry 
III.  (a.d.  1224.) 

3  That  is,  an  inspection  and  ratification  of  the  fonuer  virbalim. 

4  Hist,  of  Eng.  Law,  ii.  p.  102. 


Chap.  lit.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


rso 


a  tax  of  forty  "  souch '"  upon  every  sack  of  wool,  it 
was  declared  that  this  should  not  be  again  levied 
without  the  "common  assent  and  good-will  of  the 
commonalty  of  the  realm." 

The  next  notice  of  the  two  charters  of  liberties 
is  in  the  preamble  to  the  statute  De  finihus  Levalis, 
■27  Edw.  I.,  where  the  king  refers  to  the  former 
confirmations  of  them,  and  again  solemnly  ratifies 
them.  In  this  ratification,  however,  there  is  a 
somewhat  ominous  clause,  "  saving  always  our  oath, 
the  right  of  our  crown,  and  our  exceptions  and 
challenges,  and  those  of  all  other  persons." 

In  the  next  year  something  more  was  done  for 
the  confirmation  of  the  charters  in  the  statute  of 
Articuli  super  Cliartas,  28  Edw.  I.  This  Act  men- 
tions that  the  charters,  notwithstanding  the  several 
confirmations  of  them,  were  not  observed,  and  this 
is  attributed  to  there  being  no  specific  penalty  pre- 
scribed for  the  violation  of  them.  To  remedy  this 
the  charters  are  directed  to  be  delivered  to  every 
sheriff  in  England,  under  the  king's  seal,  to  be 
read  four  times  a-year  before  the  people  in  the  full 
county.  For  the  punishing  of  offenders  it  is  enacted 
that  "  there  shall  be  chosen,  in  every  shire  court, 
by  the  commonalty  of  the  same  shire,  three  sub- 
stantial men,  knights,  or  other  lawful,  wise,  and 
well-disposed  persons,  which  should  be  justices 
sworn  and  assigned  by  the  king's  letters  patent 
under  the  great  seal,  to  hear  and  determine  without 
any  other  writ,  but  only  their  commission,  such 
plaints  as  shall  be  made  upon  all  those  that  commit 
or  offend  against  any  point  contained  in  the  foresaid 
charters,  in  the  shires  Avhere  they  be  assigned,  as 
well  within  franchises  as  without,  and  as  well  for 
the  king's  officers  out  of  their  places  as  for  others ; 
and  to  hear  the  plaints  from  day  to  day  without  any 
delay,  and  to  determine  them,  without  allowing  the 
delays  which  be  allowed  by  the  common  law.  And 
the  same  knights  shall  have  power  to  punish  all 
such  as  shall  be  attainted  of  any  trespass  done  con- 
trary to  any  point  of  the  foresaid  charters,  where  no 
remedy  was  before  by  the  common  law,  as  before 
is  said,  by  imprisonment,  or  by  ransom,  or  by  amer- 
ciament, according  to  the  trespass."  The  statute 
expressly  declares  that  this  special  proceeding  shall 
only  be  iu  cases  where  there  was  no  remedy  before 
by  the  common  law.  If  the  three  commissioners 
could  not  attend,  two  were  declared  sufficient.  The 
king's  sheriffs  and  bailiffs  were  to  be  attendant  on 
these  commissioners. 

The  next  public  Act  upon  the  subject  of  the 
charters  is  the  Ordinatio  Forestte,  33  Edw.  I.,  con- 
taining some  regulations  respecting  the  purlieus  of 
the  forests.  In  the  following  year  there  was  another 
•'Ordinance  of  the  Forest." 

The  famous  statute  De  Tallagio  non  concedendo 
was  first  passed  in  the  year  1297  (the  2.5th  of  Ed- 
ward I.),  but  in  more  explicit  terms,  and  in  the  form 
in  which  it  was  always  afterward  referred  to,  in 
1306,  the  last  year  but  one  of  the  reign.  This 
statute  was  occasioned  by  the  question  about  levying 
money  for  foreign   wars.     In  its  latter  and  more 

1  This  word  is  put  "  shillings  "  in  the  translation,  but  it  could  hardly 
1)C  that ;  it  was  more  probably  "  pence  "  or  "  half-pence,''— sous. 

VOL.  I. — 50 


complete  form  it  declares  that  no  tallage  or  aid 
(which  Mr.  Reeves  thinks'  included  those  feudal 
aids  that  had  been  excepted  in  the  statute  of  Con- 
firmatio  Chartarum)  should  be  imposed  or  levied  by 
the  king  or  his  heirs  without  the  will  and  assent  of 
the  archbishops,  bishops,  earls,  barons,  knights,  bur- 
gesses, and  other  freemen  of  the  land.  Nothing 
was  to  be  taken  by  way  of  male-tolt^  of  sacks  of 
wool.  In  regard  to  purveyance,  it  was  declared 
that  no  officer  of  the  king  should  take  any  corn, 
leather,  cattle,  or  other  goods,  of  any  one  without 
the  consent  of  the  owner.  The  following  general 
declaration  was  also  made  in  favor  of  the  liberties  of 
the  subject:  "  That  all  men,  both  clerks  and  lay- 
men, should  have  their  laws,  liberties,  and  free 
customs,  as  largely  and  wholly  as  they  had  used  to 
have  the  same  at  any  time  when  they  had  them 
best;  and  if  any  statutes  had  been  made  by  the 
king,  his  ancestors,  or  any  customs  brought  in  con- 
ti'ary  to  them,  or  anj'  manner  of  article  contained 
in  the  present  charter,  that  such  manner  of  statutes 
and  customs  should  be  void  and  frustrate  for  ever- 
more." Finally,  all  archbishops  and  bishops,  for- 
ever, were  directed  to  read  the  statute  in  their  ca- 
thedral churches,  and  openly  pronounce  a  curso 
against  all  those  who  violated  it  in  any  point.  The 
king  put  his  seal  to  this  statute  or  charter,  as  did 
the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  others,  who  all  volun- 
tarily swore  to  observe  the  tenor  of  it  —  a  sanction 
attended  with  the  same  solemnities  as  the  several 
confirmations  of  the  charters  of  liberties. 

Of  the  same  nature  with  the  political  statutes 
already  mentioned  were  the  Statuta  Wallife,  12 
Edw.  I.,  by  which  Wales  was  in  a  great  measure 
put  on  the  same  footing  as  England  with  respect  to 
its  laws  and  their  administration. 

II.  The  other  statutes  of  this  king  relate  more 
particularly  to  the  administration  of  justice  between 
subjects  ;  and  though  they  contain  many  chapters 
and  clauses  which  may  be  considered  as  bearing 
upon  the  general  or  political  interests  of  the  country 
at  large,  as  indeed  in  a  certain  sense  all  law  may  be 
viewed  as  doing,  yet  it  will  be  convenient  to  class 
them  under  a  separate  head,  as  we  previously  inti- 
mated. Of  these  the  principal  are,  the  Statute  of 
Westminster  the  First,  Statute  of  Gloucester, 
Statute  of  AVestminster  the  Second,  of  Westmin- 
ster the  Third,  and  Articuli  sujjcr  Chartas. 

The  statute  3  Edw.  I.,  or  of  Westminster  the 
First  (so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  subsequent 
statutes,  likewise  named  from  parliaments  held  at 
Westminster  in  this  reign),  contains  fifty-one  chap- 
ters on  a  variety  of  subjects,  and  was  made,  says 
the  preamble,  "  because  the  state  of  the  holy  church 
had  been  evil  kept,  and  the  prelates  and  rchgious 
persons  of  the  land  grieved  many  ways,  and  the 
people  otherwise  intreated  than  they  ought  to  be, 
and  the  peace  less  kept,  and  the  laws  less  used,  and 
the  offenders  less  punished  than  they  ought  to  be." 

1  Hist.  Eng.  Law.,  ii.  p.  105. 

-  Otherwise  male-tent,  and  male-toute.  It  is  supposed  by  some  to 
have  been  a  kind  of  excise  ;  by  others,  an  impost  laid  on  by  the  roynl 
authority  without  consent  of  Parliament.  Others  conceive  that  tho 
male-tolt  was  a  duty  upon  malt— a  notion  which  the  Act  mentioned  m 
the  text  is  suflicicnt  to  confute. 


78G 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV^. 


This  collection  of  statutes,  though  usually  termed  ' 
the  "  Statute  of  Westminster  the  First,"  is,  in  fact,  ; 
as  we   before    observed,  not  one  law  but  a  body  of 
laws,  made  at  Westminster  in  Edward's  first  Par-  ] 
liament.     The  same  remarks  will  apply  to  the  other 
capitularia,  called  the  Statutes  of  Westminster,  as 
well  as  to  other  documents,  pach  of  which  is  not  a  ; 
statute,  but  a  body  of  statutes,  each  chapter  being  a 
distinct  law,  generally  on  one  subject,  though  some- 
times the  same  chapter  refers  to  different  subjects. 
Technically,  however,   all  the  Acts  passed  in  any 
one  session  of  Parliament  are  considered  as  forming 
onlj'  one  statute,  of  which  they  are  severally  the 
chapters.     A   few  of  the  subjects  treated  in   the  j 
Statutes  of  Westminster  the  First  more  especially 
demand  our  attention  here. 

Chapter  V.  is  as  follows:  —  "And  because  elec- 
tions ought  to  be  free,  the  king  commandeth,  upon 
great  forfeiture,  that  no  man  by  force  of  arms,  nor 
by  malice,  or  menacing,  shall  disturb  any  to  make 
free  election."  It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that 
this  law  referred  rather  to  the  election  of  sheriffs, 
coroners,  and  other  officers,  than  to  any  represent- 
atives of  the  people  in  the  Parliament.  However,  it 
is  admitted  by  the  same  parties  that,  as  it  is  in  gen- 
eral words,  it  may  have  a  construction  which  will 
extend  it  to  elections  that  have  been  appointed  since 
for  any  purpose  whatever. 

Concerning  wrecks  of  the  sea,  it  is  agreed,  says 
Chapter  IV.,  that  when  a  man,  a  dog,  or  a  cat 
escape  quick  (alive)  out  of  the  ship,  such  ship  or 
barge,  or  anything  therein,  shall  not  be  adjudged 
wreck ;  but  the  goods  shall  be  saved  and  kept  by 
view  of  the  sheriff,  coroner,  or  king's  bailiff,  and 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  such  as  are  of  the  town 
where  the  goods  were  found  ;  so  that,  if  any  within 
a  year  and  a  day  sue  for  them,  and  prove  them  to 
be  his,  or  his  lord's,  and  that  they  perished  in  his 
keeping,  they  shall  be  restored  ;  if  not,  they  shall 
remain  to  the  king;  and  where  wreck  belongeth  to 
another  than  to  the  king,  he  shall  have  it  iu  like 
manner. 

Chapter  XII.  of  this  statute  deserves  considera- 
tion on  account  of  the  discussion  to  which  it  has 
given  rise,  some  being  of  opinion  that  the  peine 
forle  et  dure  (which  will  be  explained  presently) 
arose  out  of  it.  The  words  of  the  chapter  are, 
"  That  notorious  felons,  and  w^hich  openly  be  of 
evil  name,  and  will  not  put  themselves  in  enquests 
of  felonies  that  men  shall  charge  them  with  before 
the  justices  at  the  king's  suit,  shall  have  strong  and 
hard  imprisonment  [prison  forte  et  dure),  as  they 
which  refuse  to  stand  to  the  common  law  of  the 
land  :  but  this  is  not  to  be  understood  of  such  pris- 
oners as  be  taken  of  light  suspicion."' 

Britton  describes  this  penance  in  the  following 
terms  : — "  If  they  will  not  put  themselves  upon  the 
country,  let  them  be  put  to  their  penance  until  they 
pray  to  do  it;  and  let  their  penance  be  this:  that 
they  be  barefooted,  ungirded,  and  bareheaded,  in 
their  coat  only,  in  prison  upon  the  bare  ground,  con- 
tinually, night  and  day  ;  that  they  eat  only  bread 
made  of  barley  and  bran  ;  that  they  drink  not  the 

1  Chap.  x!i. 


day  they  eat,  nor  eat  the  day  they  drink  ;  nor  drink 
anything  but  water  the  day  they  do  not  eat ;  and 
that  they  be  fastened  down  with  irons.'" 

Lords  Chief  Justices  Coke-  and  Hale^  have  both 
given  their  opmion,  that  the  peine  forte  et  dure — the 
punishment  of  pressing  to  death — was  anciently  a 
punishment  by  the  common  law,  and  not  such  as 
any  judges  could  have  framed  upon  the  general  di- 
rection of  this  Act.  But  they  both  seem  to  have 
supposed  that,  though  the  statute  could  not,  from 
the  generality  of  its  terms,  have  established  that 
terrible  punishment,  it  referred  to  that  punishment 
already  established  and  well  known,  which  is  proved 
by  Barrington,*  from  a  record  in  Rymer,  not  to  have 
been  the  case,  the  statute  meaning  nothing  more 
than  confinement  after  the  mode  above  described  by 
Britton,  as  the  word  prison  implies.  As  to  the 
mode  in  which  the  peine  forte  et  dure  arose  out  of  it, 
Barrington  has  the  following  ingenious  conjecture : 
— "  I  should  conceive,  upon  the  whole,  that  the 
words  in  the  present  statute,  which  have  occasioned 
these  observations,  namely ,  prison  forte  et  dure,  have 
been  misconstrued,  by  substituting  in  the  room  of 
prison  the  word  pcync.  The  record  cited  from  Ry- 
mer proves  beyond  a  possibility  of  doubt  that,  soon 
after  this  statute,  the  punishment  was  merely  im- 
prisonment, and  an  injunction  to  the  oflScers,  in 
whose  custody  the  criminal  was,  not  to  provide  him 
with  any  nourishment.  I  should  imagine  that  the 
alteration  in  this  punishment,  by  the  different  tor- 
tures afterward  used,  arose  from  justices  in  eyre 
and  justices  of  jail-delivery  not  staying  above  two 
or  three  days  in  a  county  town,  and  who  therefore 
could  not  wait  for  this  tedious  method  of  forcing  the 
criminal  to  plead  ;  as  the  record  from  Rymer  shows 
that,  in  the  instance  already  observed  upon,  the 
criminal  had  been  forty  days  in  this  close  confine- 
ment. It  seems  likewise  clear  that,  whatever  this 
punishment  might  have  been  by  the  common  law, 
this  statute  hath  superseded  it ;  and  it  is  a  presump- 
tion (against  even  such  great  authorities  as  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Coke  and  Lord  Chief  Justice  Hale) 
that  there  was  no  such  punishment  by  the  common 
law,  as  it  is  admitted  that  a  traitor  cannot  receive 
this  punishment,  because  the  words  of  the  statute 
confine  it  to  the  case  of  felons  ;  the  argument  is  also 
very  strong,  that,  if  felons  were  subjected  to  this 
sentence,  traitors  would  still  less  have  escaped  it.'"^ 

The  judgment  of  peine  forte  et  dure,  which,  as 
latterly  administered,  consisted  in  pressing  the  pris- 
oner to  death  by  loading  him  with  heavy  weights — 
a  sharp  stone,  or  piece  of  timber,  being  also  some- 
times, hy  way  of  favor,  laid  under  his  back — to  ac- 
celerate the  extinction  of  fife,  was  submitted  to 
with  the  object  of  avoiding  the  corruption  of  blood 
and  escheat  of  lands  which  would  have  followed 
conviction  after  a  plea.  Instances  of  the  application 
of  this  torture,  or  the  preliminary  and  warning 
process  of  tying  the  thumbs  together  with  whipcord, 
which  appears  to  have  been  introduced  in  later 
times,  from  motives  of  humanity,  without  any  stat- 

i  Britton,  iv.  II.  2  2  Inst.  178,  179. 

3  Hist,  of  the  Pleas  of  the  Crown,  c.  43,  sub  Jin. 

♦  Obs.  ou  Stat.  p.  59.  ^  ibid,  pp  61,  62. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


787 


utory  sanction,  occur  down  to  a  comparatively  re- 
cent period.  A  prisoner  was  foi'ced  to  plead  at  the 
Old  Baile}',  by  tying  his  thumbs  together,  in  the 
year  1734.  At  last,  however,  the  peine  forte  et  dure 
was  in  effect  abolished  by  the  statute  12  Geo.  III. 
c.  20,  which  enacted  that  every  prisoner,  who,  being 
arraigned  for  felony,  should  stand  mute  or  not  an- 
swer dii-ectly  to  the  offence,  should  be  convicted  of 
the  same,  and  the  same  judgment  and  execution 
thereupon  awarded  as  if  he  had  been  convicted  by 
verdict  or  confession  of  the  crime. 

The  Statute  of  Gloucester  consists  of  fifteen 
chapters,  most  of  which  relate  to  the  amendment 
of  the  common  law  as  then  practiced.  One  of  its 
chapters  (the  8tli)  enacts  that  the  cause  of  action  in 
the  king's  superior  courts  shall  amount  at  the  least 
to  forty  shillings. 

In  the  next  year  was  passed  the  famous  statute 
7  Edw.  I.,  entitled  De  Viris  Religiosis,  and  com- 
monly referred  to  as  the  first  statute  of  mortmain. 
The  object  of  this  law  was  to  enforce  and  to  extend 
a  provision  of  Magna  Charta,  which  prohibited  all 
gifts  of  land  to  reUgious  societies  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  lord  of  the  fee.  Notwithstanding  that 
provision,  religious  men  continued  to  appropriate 
lands  wViereby  services  due  for  such  lands  were 
withdrawn,  and  the  incidents  of  tenure  were  dimin- 
ished. The  statement  of  Baker  in  his  Chronicle, 
even  allowing  for  a  little  exaggeration,  that  the 
number  of  monasteries  built  in  the  reign  of  Henry 
I.  was  so  great  that  almost  all  the  laborers  of  the 
country  became  bricklayers  and  carpenters,  conveys 
an  idea  of  the  extent  to  which  this  had  proceeded. 
It  was  now  ordained,  in  the  most  comprehensive 
expressions  that  could  be  devised,  that  no  person, 
religious  or  other,  should  buy  or  sell,  or  under  the 
color  of  any  gift  or  lease,  or  by  any  other  "  craft  or 
engine,"  appropriate  to  himself  any  lands  or  tene- 
ments, so  as  such  lands  should  anywise  come  into 
mortmain,'  under  pain  of  forfeiture  of  the  same. 
Notwithstanding  the  care  with  which  this  statute 
was  worded,  a  method  of  evading  it  was  soon  dis- 
covered by  the  ecclesiastics ;  for,  as  the  statute  ex- 
tended only  to  gifts  and  conveyances  between  the 
parties,  the  religious  houses  set  up  a  fictitious  title 
to  the  land  which  they  wished  to  have,  and  brought 
an  action  to  recover  it  against  the  tenant,  who  by 
fraud  and  collusion  made  no  defence,  and  thereby 
judgment  was  given  for  the  religious  house,  which 
then  recovered  the  land  by  sentence  of  law^  upon 
a  supposed  prior  title.  "  And  thus,"  observes  Black- 
stone,  "  they  had  the  honor  of  inventing  those 
fictitious  adjudications  of  right  which  are  since 
become  the  great  assurance  of  the  kingdom  under 


'  la  "  mortuam  manum," — literally, into  a  dead  hand.  Lands  made 
over  lo  corporate  bodies  of  ai)y  description,  whether  clerical  or  civil, 
are  now  said  to  go  into  mortmain  ;  but  the  term  seems  at  first  to  have 
been  used  only  in  reference  to  religious  bodies,  which,  indeed,  were 
formerly  the  only  corporations.  As  religious  or  professed  persons  were 
considered  dead  in  law,  lands  coming  to  them  were  said  to  pass  into 
dead  hands.  In  the  preamble  to  the  present  statute  the  reference  is 
exclusively  to  religious  corporations,  and  the  eflect  of  lands  passing 
into  their  possession  is  described  to  be  that,  thereby,  "  the  services  that 
are  due  of  such  fees,  and  which  at  the  beginning  were  provided  for 
defence  of  the  realm,  are  wrongfully  withdrawn,  and  the  chief  lords 
do  lose  their  escheats  of  the  same."' 


the  name  of  Common  Recoveries." '  This  was  also 
again  defeated  by  another  provision  in  13  Edw.  I.  c. 
32.  Another  provision  was  made,  by  statute  35 
Edward  I.,  to  check  the  waste  suffered  by  religious 
possessions  being  drained  into  foreign  countries.  It 
is  thereby  ordained  that  no  abbot,  prior,  master, 
warden,  or  other  religious  person  of  whatsoever 
condition,  shall  convey  any  tax  imposed  by  them 
or  their  superiors  upon  their  respective  religious 
houses  out  of  the  kingdom  under  heavy  penalties. 

We  now  come  to  the  famous  collection  of  laws 
passed  in  the  13th  of  Edward  I.,  commonly  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Statute  of  Westminster  the 
Second.  The  first  chapter  of  this,  entitled  De 
Donis  Conditionaiihus,  has  given  rise  to  more  dis- 
cussion, perhaps,  than  any  other  enactment  in  the 
Statute  Book.  A  conditional  fee  was  a  fee  or  gift 
restrained  to  some  particular  heirs,  to  the  exclusion 
of  others.  "  It  was  called  a  conditional  fee,"  says 
Blackstone,  "by  reason  of  the  condition  expressed 
or  implied  in  the  donation  of  it,  that,  if  the  donee 
died  without  such  particular  heirs,  the  land  should 
revert  to  the  donor."  "  Now,"  he  proceeds,  "  with 
regard  to  the  condition  annexed  to  these  fees  by 
the  common  law,  our  ancestors  held  that  such  a 
gift  (to  a  man  and  the  heirs  of  his  body)  was  a  gift 
upon  condition  that  it  should  revert  to  the  donor  if 
the  donee  had  no  heirs  of  his  body ;  but  if  he  had, 
it  should  then  remain  to  the  donee.  They  there- 
fore called  it  a  fee-simple  on  condition  that  he  had 
issue  ;  so  that,  as  soon  as  the  grantee  had  any  issue 
born,  his  estate  was  supposed  to  become  absolute 
by  the  performance  of  the  condition,  at  least  for 
three  purposes : — 1.  To  enable  the  tenant  to  alien 
the  land,  and  thereby  to  bar  not  only  his  own  issue 
but  also  the  donor  of  his  interest  in  the  reversion : 

2.  To  subject  him  to  forfeit  it  for  treason,  which  he 
could  not  do  till  issue  born  longer  than  for  his  own 
life,  lest  thereby  the  inheritance  of  the  issue,  and 
reversion  of  the  donor,  might  have  been  defeated; 

3.  To  empower  him  to  charge  the  land  with  rents, 
commons,  and  certain  other  incumbrances,  so  as  to 
bind  his  issue.  However,  if  the  tenant  did  not,  in 
fact,  alien  the  land,  the  course  of  descent  was  not 
altered  by  this  performance  of  the  condition ;  for 
which  reason,  in  order  to  subject  the  lands  to  the 
ordinary  course  of  descent,  the  donees  of  these 
cooditional  fee-simples  took  care  to  alieti  as  soon  as 
they  had  performed  the  condition  by  having  issue, 
and  afterward  repurchased  the  lands,  which  gave 
them  a  fee-simple  absolute,  that  would  descend  to 
the  heirs  general,  according  to  the  course  of  the 
common  law." -^  Now  the  feudal  aristocracy,  to 
put  a  stop  to  this  practice,  obtained  the  chapter  De 
Donis  in  the  Statute  of  Westminster  the  Second, 
which  enacted  that  thenceforth  the  will  of  the 
donor  be  observed  ;  and  that  the  tenements  so  given 
(to  a  man  and  the  heirs  of  his  body)  should  at  all 
events  go  to  the  issue,  if  there  were  any;  or,  it 
none,  should  revert  to  the  donor.  "  Upon  the  con- 
struction of  this  Act  of  Parliament,"  proceeds 
Blackstone,  "the  judges  determined  that  the  donee 
had  no  longer  a  conditional  fee-simple,  which  be- 


1  Com.  ii.  271 


2  Com.  ii.  110,  111. 


788 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


came  absolute  and  at  his  own  disposal  the  instant 
any  issue  was  born  ;  but  they  divided  the  estate  into 
two  parts,  leaving  in  the  donee  a  new  kind  of  par- 
ticular estate,  which  thk^y  denominated  a  fr.e-tail;^ 
and  vesting  in  the  donor  the  ultimate  lee-simple 
of  the  land,  expectant  on  the  failure  of  issue, 
which  expectant  estate  is  what  we  now  call  a  re- 
version." 

"  The  perpetuities,"  says  Barrington,  "  estab- 
lished by  this  statute,  in  process  of  time,  had  so 
much  contributed  to  the  increase  of  power  in  the 
great  barons  that,  about  two  centuries  afterward, 
it  was  in  a  great  measure  evaded  by  the  invention 
i)f  what  is  called  a  common  recovery  ^^  (of  which  we 
shall  speak  in  the  proper  place) :  "  it  was  impossible 
for  the  crown  to  procure  a  repeal  of  the  law  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  and  therefore  the  judges  had 
probably  an  intimation  that  they  must,  by  ashitia, 
as  it  is  called,  render  a  statute  of  no  eflect,  which 
the  king  could  not  extort  an  alteration  of  from  one 
part  of  the  legislature."-  Barrington  adds,  in  a 
note,  that  the  Statute  of  Westminster  the  Second, 
in  refei'ence  to  Chapter  L  of  it,  has  been  called  the 
Statute  of  Great  Men. 

A  considerable  portion  of  this  statute,  which 
consists  of  fifty  chapters,  treats  of  improvements  in 
the  administration  of  justice,  as  far  as  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  courts  and  the  course  of  proceeding  are 
concerned. 

The  30th  ch.ipter  contains  the  law  respecting  the 
justices  of  nisi  'prius^  which  has  since  been  called 
the  Statute  of  Nisi  Prius.  It  ordained  that  two 
justices  sworn  should  be  assigned,  before  whom 
only,  associated  with  one  or  two  of  the  discreetest 
knights  of  the  shire  into  which  they  came,  should 
be  taken  all  assizes  of  novel  disseisin,  mortdaunces- 
tor,  and  attaints.  It  was  also  ordained  that  no 
inqnest  should  be  taken  before  any  of  the  justices 
of  the  bench,  vnlcss  a  certain  day  and  place  were 
appointed  in  the  county,  in  presence  of  the  parties, 
and  the  day  and  place  inserted  in  a  judicial  writ,  in 
certain  prescribed  words,  declaring  that  the  inquest 
should  be  taken  at  Westminster  unless  (nisi J  cer- 
tain persons  named  (namely,  the  judges  of  assize) 
should  come  to  those  parts  before  a  certain  day — 
by  which  day  the  said  judges,  however,  were  sure 
to  be  there.  Thus,  the  trial  in  the  county  was  in 
later  times,  from  the  clause  in  the  writ,  said  to  be 
at  7nsi  prius  (unless  first),  though  in  the  form  given 
in  the  statute  the  word  ^>rn/s  is  not  inserted,  as  it 
now  is,  and  indeed  was  usually  at  that  time.  It  is 
proper  here  to  add,  that  these  justices  have,  by  vir- 
tue of  several  statutes,  a  criminal  jurisdiction  also. 
The  judges  of  assize  and  7iisi  prius  superseded  the 
ancient  justices  in  eyre,  juslitiarii  in  itinerc. 

There  were  other  improvements  made  in  the 
administration  of  justice  by  this  statute,  such  as  an 
execution  given  against  land  by  the  writ  called 
Elegit,  the  introduction  of  bills  of  exception,  and 
the  proceeding  by  scire  fdcias,  to  revive  a  judgment 
of  a  year's  standing.  These  we  shall  only  name, 
partly   because   our   space   is   limited,    and   partly 

•  From  the  French  tailltr  or  the  barbarous  Latin  taliare,  to  cut. 
»  Obs.  on  Stilt,  p.  92. 


because  a  satisfactor}'  explanation  of  them  would 
be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  in  a  popular  work. 
The  mere  mention  of  them,  however,  will  help  to 
convey  some  idea  of  the  importance  of  this  statute 
of  Westminster  the  Second  in  the  history  of  Eng- 
lish law. 

The  next  statute  of  this  year,  13  Edw.  I.,  is  the 
Statute  of  Winchester,  containing  some  provisions 
for  enforcing  the  ancient  police,  and  ordaining 
some  new  regulations.  This  statute  throws  con- 
siderable light  on  the  state  of  society  then  existing. 
The  preamble  recites,  that  when  robberies,  mur- 
ders, i:c.  were  committed,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
comity  were  more  willing  to  excuse  the  offender 
than  to  punish  for  the  injury  to  a  stranger;  and 
that  if  the  felon  was  not  himself  an  inhabitant  of 
the  county,  yet  the  receiver  of  the  stolen  goods 
frequently  was  so,  which  produced  the  same  par- 
tiality in  juries,  who  did  not  give  proper  satisfaction 
in  damages  to  the  party  robbed.^  To  remedy  this, 
a  penalty  is  established  by  the  statute,  making  the 
people  of  the  county  ansAverable  for  the  felonies 
done  among  them.  It  further  directs  that  cries, 
that  is,  the  hue"  and  cry,  should  be  solemnly  made 
in  all  counties,  hundreds,  markets,  Arc,  so  that 
none  might  excuse  himself  by  ignorance.  It  also 
directs  that  the  walls  of  the  great  towns  shall  be 
shut  from  sunsetting  to  sunrising,  and  that  watch- 
men shall  be  set ;  that  the  highways  shall  be  cleared 
of  wood  to  the  breadth  of  two  hundred  feet,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  felon's  concealing  himself;  and  that 
every  man,  according  to  his  substance,  shall  have 
arms  in  his  house,  in  order  to  pursue  the  felon 
effectually. 

The  statute  called  Quia  Emptores,  from  the  two 
first  words  of  it,  belongs  to  the  18th  Edw.  I.  It 
was  occasioned  by  the  consequences  of  the  restraint 
imposed  on  the  alienation  of  land.  "  Forasmuch," 
says  the  Act,  "as  purchasers  of  lands  and  tene- 
ments of  the  fees  of  great  men  and  other  lords  have 
entered  into  their  fees,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  lords, 
the  freeholders  of  such  great  men  having  sold  their 
lands  and  tenements  to  be  hoiden  in  fee  of  their 
feoffors,  and  not  of  the  chief  lords  of  the  fees,  where- 
by the  same  chief  lords  have  many  times  lost  their 
escheats,  marriages,  and  wardships  of  lands  and  ten- 
ements belonging  to  their  fees,"  it  is  ordained,  "  that 
from  henceforth  it  shall  be  lawful  to  every  freeman 
to  sell  at  his  own  pleasure  his  lands  and  tenements, 
or  part  of  them,  so  that  the  feoflfee  shall  hold  the 
same  lands  or  tenements  of  the  chief  lord  of  the 
same  fee,  by  such  service  and  customs  as  his  feoffor 
held  before."  This,  therefore,  was  a  permission  to 
alienate  in  such  a  manner  that  the  new  holder  of 
the  land  became  the  immediate  vassal  of  the  chief 
lord,  but  a  prohibition  of  subinfeudation,  by  which 
the  new  holder  of  the  land  became  the  immediate 
vassal  of  the  former  tenant,  who  thus  constituted 
himself  what  was  called  a  mesne,  that  is,  an  inter- 
mediate, lord. 

1  We  give  this  preamble  from  Barrington,  who  observes  in  a  note, 
"  I  have  given  the  substanoo  of  this  preamble,  which  is  absolutely  un- 
intelligible in  the  common  translation." — P.  105. 

-  Barrington  thinks  that  hue  cunies  from  the  word  huer,  to  pursue  ■ 
I  and,  therefore,  that  hue  and  cry  will  mean  p'lrsuit  and  cry. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


789 


Another  Act  usually  printed  as  of  this  year,  though 
inserted  by  the  Record  Commission  among  the 
statutes  of  uncertain  date,  is  the  Modus  levandi 
Fines,  stating  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  levying  a 
fine.  "A  fine,"  saj's  Blackstone,  "is  sometimes 
said  to  be  a  feoffment  of  record,  though  it  might 
with  more  accuracj^  be  called  an  acknowledgment 
of  a  feoffment  of  record  ;  by  which  is  to  be  under- 
stood that  it  has  at  least  the  same  force  and  effect 
with  a  feoffment  in  the  conveying  and  assuring  of 
lands,  though  it  is  one  of  those  methods  of  trans- 
ferring estates  of  freehold  by  the  common  law,  in 
which  livery  of  seisin  is  not  necessaiyto  be  actually 
given,  the  supposition  and  acknowledgment  thereof 
in  a  court  of  record,  however  fictitious,  inducing  an 
equal  notoriety.  But,  more  particularly,  a  fine  may 
be  described  to  be  an  amicable  composition  or  agree- 
ment of  a  suit,  either  actual  or  fictitious,  by  leave  of 
the  king  or  his  justices,  whereby  the  lands  in  ques- 
tion become,  or  are  acknowledged  to  be,  the  right 
of  one  of  the  parties.  In  its  original  it  was  founded 
on  an  actual  suit,  commenced  at  law  for  recovery 
of  the  possession  of  land  or  other  hereditaments ; 
and  the  possession  thus  gained  by  such  compositions 
was  found  to  be  so  sure  and  effectual  that  fictitious 
actions  were,  and  continued  to  be,  every  day  com- 
menced, for  the  sake  of  obtaining  the  same  secu- 
rity." 1 

A  fine  (from  the  Latin  finis,  an  end)  is  so  called, 
says  the  statute  18  Edw.  I.,  because  it  puts  an  end 
to  all  suits  concerning  the  matter  in  question.  The 
statute  18  Edw.  I.,  Modus  levandi  Fines,  did  not 
originate  fines,  but  declared  and  regulated  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  should  be  levied  or  carried  on. 
Upon  the  detail  of  these  technical  minutia?,  how- 
ever, we  cannot  enter  here ;  but  we  shall  have  oc- 
casion to  return  in  a  future  chapter  to  the  subject 
of  fines,  which  makes  an  important  figure  in  the 
history  of  English  tenures. 

It  remains  to  give  some  account  of  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  various  courts  in  this  reign. 

The  diffei'ent  courts  are  mentioned  by  Fleta  in 
the  following  order:  1.  The  High  Court  of  Parlia- 
ment, of  which,  having  already  spoken,  and  having 
again  to  speak,  we  shall  not  say  more  here.  2.  The 
Court  of  the  Seneschal,  Dapifer,  or  Steward  of  the 
Household,  who  is  described  by  Fleta^  as  filling  the 
place  of  the  chief  justiciary  (an  office,  as  was  be- 
fore observed,  abolished  in  the  last  reign),  who  used 
to  determine  the  king's  own  causes,  and  administer 
justice  without  writ.  The  jurisdiction  of  this  court, 
both  before  and  after  the  passing  of  the  statute, 
ma}'  be  learned  from  the  3d  chapter  in  the  statute, 
Articuli  super  Chartas,  28  Edw.  I.,  expressly  made 
to  limit  it.  It  is  thereby  ordained  that  this  court 
"  from  henceforth  shall  not  hold  plea  of  freehold, 
neither  of  debt  nor  of  covenant,  nor  of  any  contriict 
made  between  the  king's  people,  but  only  of  tres- 
pass done  withi-n  the  house,  and  of  other  trespasses 
done  within  the  verge,  and  of  contracts  and  cove- 
nants that  one  of  the  king's  house  shall  have  made 
with  another  of  the  same  house,  and  in  the  same 
house,  and  none  other  where.  And  they  shall  plead 
1  Com.  ii.  349.  »  Fleta,  66. 


no  plea  of  trespass,  other  than  that  which  shall  be 
attached  by  them  before  the  king  depart  from  the 
verge  where  the  trespass  shall  be  committed ;  and 
shall  plead  thence  speedily  from  day  to  daj',  so  that 
they  may  be  pleaded  and  determined  before  that 
the  king  depart  out  of  the  limits  of  the  same  verge 
where  the  trespass  was  done.  And  if  it  so  be  that 
they  cannot  be  determined  within  the  Umits  of  the 
same  verge,  then  shall  the  same  pleas  cease  before 
the  steward,  and  the  plaintiffs  shall  have  recourse 
to  the  common  law."  The  verge  or  bounds  of  the 
household  contained  twelve  miles,'  which  circuit  or 
space  was  called  the  virgata  regia,  because  it  was 
within  the  government  of  the  marshal,  who  carried 
a  virga  (rod)  as  the  badge  of  his  office.  Before  the 
passing  of  the  statute  above  quoted,  the  steward  of 
the  household  appears  to  have  exercised  a  very 
considerable  portion  of  the  powers  of  the  chief  jus- 
ticiary, and  to  have  been  virtually  the  high  steward 
(of  which  officer  we  hear  little  or  nothing,  he  being, 
for  the  reasons  mentioned  in  the  last  Book,  probably 
considered  as  in  in  a  state  of  abeyance).  The  judi- 
cial functions  which,  as  shown  in  the  last  Book,  the 
chief  justiciary  had  borrowed  from  the  steward  on 
the  extinction  of  the  office  of  the  former,  appear  to 
have  returned  again  to  the  latter. 

3.  The  next  court  of  the  king  mentioned  in  Fleta. 
is  that  held  in  his  Chancery,  over  which,  says  Fleta. 
was  set  some  discreet  person,  as  a  bishop,  or  other 
dignified  ecclesiastic ;  and  to  him  was  committed 
the  keeping  of  the  great  seal.  4.  After  this,  he 
places  a  court  held  before  auditors  specially  appoint- 
ed a  latere  regis,  as  it  was  called,  that  is,  from  the 
persons  usually  in  attendance  upon  the  king.  The 
business  of  these  auditors  was,  not  to  determine, 
but  to  report  to  the  king  what  they  had  heard. 
5.  His  justices,  before  whom,  and  no  others  (except 
himself  and  his  council,  or  special  auditor),  false 
judgments  and  errors  of  justices  were  reversed  and 
corrected.  6.  Next  to  these,  are  ranked  "the  jus- 
tices sitting  at  the  Exchequer ;"  and  7,  those  in  banco 
at  Westminster.  8.  The  justices  of  jail-delivery. 
9.  Those  assigned  to  take  assizes,  jurors,  inqui- 
sitions, certificates,  and  attaints.  10.  The  justices 
itinerant  or  in  eyre,  "  appointed  to  the  first  assizes 
for  hearing  and  determining  all  pleas  criminal  and 
civil."  11.  The  justices  itinerant  for  pleas  of  the 
forest.  All  these  were  the  king's  courts.  There 
were,  beside,  the  county,  town,  and  hundred  courts; 
those  in  the  king's  manors,  and  those  in  cities  and 
boroughs.^ 

Some  account  has  already  been  given  in  the  last 
Book  of  the  trial  by  jury,  or  rather  of  what  it  origi- 
nally was.  It  appears  from  Fleta  and  Britton,  that 
at  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  writing,  the  jurors 
were  still  considered  as  witnesses ;  and  to  call  wit- 
nesses before  them  would  have  been  contrary  to  tlu' 
supposition  by  which  they  sat  as  jorors ;  viz.,  that 
they  knew  more  about  the  matter  in  question  than 
any  other  equal  number  of  men.  Coming  from  the 
vicinage  where  the  fact  took  place,  they  were  bet- 
ter able  than  any  others  to  speak  the  truth,  as  they 
were  sworn  to  do,  and  that  from  their  own  knowl- 

1  Fleta,  66.  "  l^id. 


790 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


edge,  and  not  from  testimony  brought  before  them 
in  court.  When  the  condition  of  society  was  so 
changed,  that,  notwithstanding  the  supposition  of 
their  personal  knowledge  of  the  fact,  they  were,  in 
reality,  wholly  ignorant  of  it ;  and  it  was  necessary 
that  evidence  should  be  brought  before  them,  before 
they  could  pronounce  on  the  guilt  or  innocence  of 
the  party ;  then  the  old  proceeding  became  produc- 
tive of  injustice  and  oppression,  till  it  was  at  length 
reformed  by  the  calling  of  witnesses  to  furnish  the 
twelve  jurors  with  the  necessary  information.  But 
this  last  improvement  was  not  thoroughly  effected 
till  the  time  of  Edward  VI.  and  Queen  Marj-.  The 
first  evidence  admitted  consisted  of  written  evidence ; 
such  as  depositions,  informations,  and  examinations, 
taken  out  of  court :  this  led  gradually  to  a  sparing 
use  of  oral  testimony.* 

"  The  inclination  in  favor  of  juries,"  says  Mr. 
Reeves,  "had  gone  so  far  in  this  reign,  that  there 
seemed  a  backwardness  to  allow  the  trial  by  duel, 
when  a  defendant  insisted  upon  it  as  his  right ; 
which  could  only  be  in  an  appeal.  Should  there  be 
any  slip  in  the  pi'oceedings  of  which  the  defendant 
had  omitted  to  avail  himself,  the  judge  was  ex  officio 
to  examine  and  point  it  out,  in  order  to  stop  the  duel. 
Fleta  says  that  this  was  a  trial  not  to  be  resorted 
to  rashly,  if  by  any  possible  means  it  could  be  avoid- 
ed. Another  alteration  in  our  criminal  proceedings 
was,  that  the  eyre  was  no  longer  to  be  a  time  of 
limitation  for  the  prosecution  of  offenders;  but  they 
might  be  prosecuted  at  any  distance  of  time."^ 
The  eyres  were  every  seven  years,  and  sometimes 
at  shorter  intervals :  no  one  could  be  indicted  for 
anything  done  before  the  preceding  eyre. 

We  shall  conclude  our  account  of  the  state  of 
the  laAV  in  this  reign  with  some  remarks  by  Lord 
Chief  Justice  Hale,  on  various  points  not  included 
in  what  has  preceded.  With  regard  to  the  rolls  of 
judicial  proceedings,  especially  those  in  the  King's 
Bench  and  Common  Pleas,  and  in  the  eyres,  he 
says,  "  I  have  read  over  many  of  them,  and  do  gen- 
erally obsei-ve  :  1.  That  they  are  written  in  an  ex- 
cellent hand.  2.  That  the  pleading  is  very  short, 
but  verj-  clear  and  perspicuous ;  neither  loose  or 
uncertain,  nor  perplexing  the  matter  either  with 
impropriety,  obscurity',  or  multiplicity  of  words : 
they  are  clearly  and  orderly  digested — effectually 
representing  the  business  that  they  intend.  3.  That 
the  title  and  the  reason  of  the  law  upon  which  they 
proceed  (which  many  times  is  expressly  delivered 
upon  the  record  itself)  is  perspicuous,  clear,  and 
rational.  So  that  their  short  and  pithy  pleadings 
and  judgments  do  far  better  render  the  sense  of  the 
business,  and  the  reasons  thereof,  than  those  long, 
intricate,  perplexed,  and  formal  pleadings,  that  often- 
times of  late  are  unnecessarily  used."  ^ 

With  regard  to  the  reports,  he  says,  "  They  are 
VERT  GOOD,  but  VERY  BRIEF.  Either  the  judges 
then  spoke  less,  or  the  reporters  were  not  so  ready- 
handed,  as  to  take  all  they  said.  Some  of  these 
reports,  though  broken,  yet  the  best  of  their  kind, 
are  in  Lincoln's  Inn  library."  *     W^ith  respect  to 


1  Reeves'  Hist,  of  Eng.  Law,  ii.  p.  271. 
3  Hist,  of  Com.  Law.  c.  7. 


=  Ih.  p.  272. 
*  Ibid 


the  law  treatises  written  in  this  reign,  such  as  those 
books  known  by  the  names  of  Fleta,  the  Mirror, 
Britton,  and  Thornton,  he  saj-s  that,  by  comparing 
them  with  Bracton,  "  there  appears  a  growth  and  a 
perfecting  of  the  law  into  a  greater  regularitj-  and 
order."  Lord  Chief  Justice  Coke  observes,  that 
"in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  Edward  I.,  and  up- 
ward, the  pleadings  were  plain  and  sensible,  but 
nothing  curious  ;  evermore  having  chief  respect  to 
the  matter,  and  not  to  forms  of  words." ' 

We  have  mentioned  the  title  of  Capitalis  Justitia- 
rius  (or  chief  justice)  as  having  been  borne  by  the 
chief  of  the  King's  Bench,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.  The  first  mention  of  capitalis 
justitiarius  of  the  bench  (Common  Pleas)  is  in  the 
first  year  of  Edward  I. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  begin  the  year-books, 
so  called  because  they  were  published  annually  from 
the  notes  of  certain  persons  who  were  paid  a  stipend 
by  the  crown  for  the  work.  These  contain  reports 
of  cases  adjudged  from  the  beginning  of  this  reign 
to  the  end  of  Edward  III.,  and  from  the  beginning 
of  Henry  IV.  to  the  end  of  Henry  VIII.  It  niiiy 
be  useful  to  add  a  short  explanation  of  the  technical 
meaning  of  the  terms  "report"  and  "record."  A 
record  is  a  concise  entry  of  all  the  effective  steps 
made  in  a  judicial  proceeding.  A  report  is  a  short 
note  of  the  progress  toward  making  those  steps ;  of 
the  debate  in  court  concerning  some  of  them ;  the 
decision  and  the  grounds  on  which  it  is  supported. 

We  may  here  notice  the  compilation  entitled  the 
"  Mirror  of  Justices,"  about  the  antiquity  of  which 
much  difference  of  opinion  has  existed ;  some  pro- 
nouncing it  older  than  the  Conquest — others  ascrib- 
ing it  to  the  time  of  Edward  II. ;  both  which  opinions 
may  be  partly  right.  A  work  as  old  as  the  earlier 
date  may  have  been  taken  up  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
II.,  and  worked  into  the  present  form,  which  par- 
takes somewhat  of  the  marvelous,  or  even  the 
monstrous.  "  This  book,"  observes  Mr.  Reeves, 
"  should  be  read  with  great  caution,  and  some 
previous  knowledge  of  the  law  as  it  stood  about  the 
same  period ;  for  the  author  certainly  writes  with 
very  little  precision.  This,  with  his  assertions  about 
Alfred,  and  the  extravagant  punishments  inflicted  by 
that  king  on  his  judges,  has  brought  his  treatise 
under  some  suspicion."^ 

3Ir.  Reeves  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
foundation  of  Lincoln's  Inn  : — 

"  There  is  nothing  but  a  vague  traditiop  to  give 
us  any  trace  of  the  places  where  the  practicers  and 
students  of  the  law  had  their  residence  before  the 
i-eign  of  this  king.  But  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II. 
we  are  informed  that  such  places  were  called  hostels^ 
or  inns  of  courts  because  the  inhabitants  of  them  be- 
longed to  the  king's  courts.  It  is  reported  that 
William,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  about  the  beginning  of 
this  reign,  being  well  affected  to  the  study  of  the 
laws,  first  brought  the  professors  of  them  to  settle  in 
a  house  of  his,  since  called  Lincoln'' s  Inn.  The  earl 
was  only  lessee  under  the  bishops  of  Chichester; 
and  many  succeeding  bishops,  in  after  times,  let 
leases  of  this  house  to  certain  persons,  for  the  use 

1  1  Inst.  304.  a.  2  Hist,  of  Eng.  Law,  ii.  350. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


791 


and  residence  of  the  practicers  and  students  of  the 
law ;  till,  in  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.,  the  Bishop  of  Chichester  granted  the 
inheritance  to  Francis  Sulyard  and  his  brother  Eus- 
tace, both  students ;  the  survivor  of  whom,  in  the 
twentieth  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  sold  the  fee  to 
the  benchers  for  520L"^ 

Since  the  separation  of  the  Chancery  from  the 
Aula  Regis,  the  rolls  and  records  of  the  former  had 
been  kept  separate,  and  of  late  they  had  greatly 
multiplied.  To  relieve  the  chancellor  of  that  duty, 
a  particular  officer  was  appointed  for  the  keeping  of 
them.  With  the  consent  of  the  chancellor,  John  de 
Sandale.  William  de  Armyn  was  appointed  lieejier,  or 
master  of  the  rolls,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  this  reign.^ 

As  we  have  before  observed,  the  reign  of  a  single 
weak  prince  interpolated  here  and  there  in  the 
course  of  a  long  line  of  princes,  most  of  whom  are 
energetic  and  able,  will  finally  be  found  to  advance 
the  liberty  of  the  subject.  Thus,  compare  the  state 
of  things  under  Henry  II.  or  Richard  I.,  with  that 
under  Edward  I.,  and  we  find  the  effect  of  the  in- 
terpolation of  the  two  feeble  princes  John  and  Henry 
III.  The  royal  prerogative  had  dechned  consider- 
ably from  Henry  II.  to  Edward  I. :  and  when  we 
again  compare  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  with  that  of 
Edward  I.,  we  are  struck  with  the  change,  produced 
no  doubt  in  gi-eat  part  by  the  feeble  reign  of  Edward 
II.  When  we  come  to  look  at  the  state  of  things 
under  Edward  III.,  notwithstanding  his  vigorous 
and  warlike  character,  and  notwithstanding  even  his 
great  victories  over  the  French,  and  the  prestige  of 
military  glory  attached  to  his  name,  we  find  the 
royal  prerogative  sensibly  declining,  as  exemplified 
in  the  statutes  respecting  purvej^ance,  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  steward's  and  marshal's  courts,  the  power 
of  ahenation  accorded  to  the  king's  tenants  in  capite, 
&c.  The  Great  Charter  and  the  Charter  of  the 
Forest  were  confirmed  no  less  than  fifteen  times  in 
this  reign.  This  has  by  some,  indeed,  been  taken 
as  an  indication  rather  of  the  king's  disposition  to 
break  them  than  of  anything  else.  However,  it  also 
indisputably  showed  a  power  in  the  Parliament,  to 
which  the  king  deemed  it  convenient  to  manifest  a 
semblance  of  respect.  To  these  two  charters  was 
sometimes  added  a  confirmation  of  all  franchises  and 
privileges  enjoyed  by  cities,  boroughs,  or  individuals. 
Beside  this,  particular  parts  of  Magna  Charta  were 
especially  reenacted.  Thus,  it  was  declared  by 
Stat.  5  Edw.  III.  c.  9,  that  no  man  should  from 
thenceforth  be  attached  on  any  accusation,  nor  fore- 
judged of  life  or  limb,  nor  his  lands,  tenements, 
goods,  nor  chattels,  seized  into  the  king's  hands, 
against  the  form  of  the  Great  Charter  and  the  law 
of  the  land ;  and  agjiin,  by  stat.  28  Edw.  III.  c.  3, 
that  no  man,  of  what  estate  or  condition  soever, 
should  be  put  out  of  land  or  tenement,  nor  taken, 
nor  imprisoned,  nor  disinherited,  nor  put  to  death, 
without  being  brought  in  to  answer  by  due  process 
of  law.  It  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  in  the 
same  spirit  that  the  stat.  4  Edw.  III.  c.  14  was 
made,  ordaining  that  "  a  parliament  should  be  holden 
every  year  once,  and  more  often  if  need  be  ;"  which 

1  Hist,  of  Eng.  Law,  ii.  p.  360.  -  Reeves,  ii.  p.  302 


enactment  was  renewed  by  stat.  36  Edw.  HI.  st.  1, 
c.  10.  It  is  true  that  these  constant  renewals  of 
important  laws  which  we  meet  with  in  our  earlier 
reigns,  show  very  lax  notions  as  to  the  binding  force 
of  laws  ;  and,  indeed,  our  earlier  kings  do  not  seem 
to  have  considered  any  laws  of  their  predecessors 
which  seemed  against  their  own  interests  binding 
on  them  till  they  had  specially  confirmed  theJTi ;  and 
moreover  did  not  scruple  to  use  the  meanest  subter- 
fuges to  evade  them.  But  sincerity  and  love  of 
truth  are  among  the  last  virtues  learned  by  civilized 
men  ;  and  it  is  vain  to  look  for  them  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  anj^  people's  social  progress. 

"  The  statutes  now,"  (14  Edw.  HI.)  obsenes 
Barrington,  "begin  to  appear  in  a  new  and  more 
regular  form ;  the  titles  henceforward  are  almost 
always  English ;"  (though  the  body  of  the  statutes 
continues  to  be  in  the  French  language ;)  "  and  the 
session  of  Parliament  is  generally  held  at  West- 
minster, while  the  preamble  in  every  instance 
makes  express  mention  of  the  concurrence  of  the 
Coni7nons."'- 

The  most  important  statute  of  this  reign — at  least 
that  which  most  demands  notice  in  a  work  like  the 
present— is  the  Statute  of  Treasons,  the  25th  Edw. 
HI.  St.  5,  c.  2.^^  It  defines  far  more  particularly 
than  had  been  done  before  what  should  be  consid- 
ered as  treason.  The  treasons  declared  are  under 
the  following  heads : — To  compass  or  imagine  the 
death  of  the  king,  queen,  or  that  of  their  eldest  son 
and  heir;  to  violate  the  king's  companion,  or  the  king's 
eldest  daughter  unmarried,  or  the  wife  of  the  king's 
eldest  son  and  heir;  to  levy  war  against  the  king  in 
his  realm,  or  be  adherent  to  the  king's  enemies  in 
his  realm,  giving  to  them  aid  and  comfort  in  the 
realm,  or  elsewhere  ;  of  which  a  man  must  be  prov- 
ably  attainted  of  open  deed  by  people  of  his  own 
condition ;  to  counterfeit  the  king's  great  or  privy 
seal,  or  his  money ;  to  bring  into  the  realm  false 
money  counterfeit  to  the  money  of  England,  or  the 
money  called  Lvshhurgh,  or  other,  like  to  the  money 
of  England,  knowing  it  to  be  false,  to  merchandise, 
or  make  payment  in  deceit  of  the  king  and  his  peo- 
ple ;  to  slay  the  chancellor,  treasurer,  or  the  king's 
justices  of  the  one  bench  or  of  the  other,  justices 
in  eyre  or  of  assize,  or  any  other  justices  assign- 
ed to  hear  and  determine,  being  in  their  places, 
doing  their  offices.  All  the  above  cases,  says  the 
statute,  shall  be  judged  treason  that  extends  to  our 
lord  the  king  and  his  royal  majesty;  and  of  such 
treasons  the  forfeiture  of  the  escheats  belongs  to 
the  king,  as  well  of  lands  and  tenements  holden  of 
another  as  of  himself.  Moreover  (the  statute  goes 
on  to  say),  there  is  another  manner  of  treason,  viz. 
— when  a  servant  slays  his  master,  a  wife  her  hus- 
band, or  when  a  man,  secular  or  religious,  slays  his 
prelate,  to  whom  he  owes  faith  and  obedience  :  in 
these  treasons  the  forfeiture  is  to  go  to  the  lord  of 
the  fee.     And  thus  this  act  divides  treasons    into 

1  Obs.  on  Stat.  192. 

2  Barrington  sajs,  with  regard  to  this,  "  I  shall  take  a  vcr)-  extra- 
ordinary liberty  with  regard  to  the  title  of  this  statute,  which  I  have 
altered  from  the  Statute  of  Purveyors,  to  that  of  the  Statute  of  Trea- 
ions."— Slot.  p.  211  The  first  chapter  related  to  purveyance  as  well 
as  the  fifteenth. 


792 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


high  and  petit — the  distinction  by  which  they  have 
since  been  known. 

There  have  been  many  comments  on  the  words 
compass  and  imagine ;  and  it  does  not  seem  proba- 
ble that  any  comments  would  be  able  to  render  them 
very  precise.  Mr.  Harrington  observes,  "  I  have 
looked  into  the  laws  of  most  countries  in  Europe  on 
this  head,  which  in  general  are  much  more  loosely 
worded  than  the  present  statute."' 

By  the  statute  36  Edw.  III.  stat.  1,  c  15,  it  was 
ordered  that  henceforth  pleas  should  be  pleaded  in 
the  English  tongue,  and  enrolled  in  Latin.  The 
reasons  stated  for  this  alteration  we  shall  give  in  the 
words  of  the  statute  (with  which  reasons,  by  the  by, 
the  French,  in  which  the  statute  is  worded,  seems 
strangely  at  variance) :- — "  Because  it  is  often  show- 
ed to  the  king  by  the  prelates,  dukes,  earls,  barons, 
and  all  the  commonalty,  of  the  great  mischiefs  which 
have  happened  to  divers  of  the  realm ;  because  the 
laws,  customs,  and  statutes  of  this  realm  be  not 
commonly  holden  and  kept  in  the  same  realm,  for 
that  they  be  pleaded,  showed,  and  judged  in  the 
French  tongue,  which  is  much  unknown  in  the  said 
realm ;  so  that  the  people  which  do  implead,  or  be 
impleaded,  in  the  king's  courts,  and  in  the  courts  of 
other,  have  no  knowledge  nor  understanding  of  that 
which  is  said  for  them  or  against  them  by  their  Ser- 
jeants and  other  pleaders ;"  and  because  the  king, 
the  nobles,  and  others  who  have  been  in  divers  re- 
gions and  countries  have  observed  that  they  are 
better  governed,  because  their  laws  are  in  their 
own  tongue.  The  same  enactment  contains  the 
following  clause  : — "  That,  bj-  the  ancient  terms  and 
forms  of  the  declarations,  no  man  be  prejudiced,  so 
that  the  matter  of  the  action  be  fully  showed  in  the 
declaration  and  in  the  writ.'' 

Though  the  language  of  the  courts  in  all  argu- 
ments and  decisions  Avas  henceforward  to  be  Eng- 
lish, the  written  language  of  the  laws  still  contin- 
ued French,  and  so  continued  for  some  centuries. 
Moreover,  many  significant  terms  and  phrases  of 
that  language  were  still  retained  in  debate  and  con- 
versation upon  topics  of  law. 

The  history  of  the  courts  of  justice  throws  more 
light  perhaps  than  the  discussion  of  anj'  other  ques- 
tion, on  the  subject  of  constitutional  law.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that  we  have  already  devoted  so  much 
attention  to  the  investigation  of  the  real  position  and 
character  of  the  great  officers  of  the  king's  court : 
and,  for  the  same  reason  we  shall  continue  through- 
out to  devote  as  much  of  our  space  as  we  can  spare 
to  the  discussion  of  the  nature  and  jurisdiction  of 
the  respective  courts. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  its  historj",  the  Parliament 
appears  to  have  partaken  considerably  more  of  the 
character  of  a  supreme  court  of  judicature  than  it 
afterward  did  ;  for  not  only  were  suits  depending 

1  Obs.  on  Stat.  p.  213. 

2  In  18  Edw.  III.  Stat.  2,  there  is  a  still  more  striking  instance  ol 
this.  The  French  preamble  of  this  statute  recites  that  the  French 
Icing  "  s'afforce  tant  comnie  il  poet  a  deslruir  notre  dit  seigneur  le  roi, 
ses  alliez,  et  subgitz,  terres  et  lieus,  et  I.A  LANOE  d'Engleterre" 
(enforceth  himself  as  much  as  he  may  to  destroy  our  said  sovereign 
lord  the  king,  and  his  allies,  subjects,  lands,  and  places,  and  the  tongue 
of  England). 


in  the  courts  below  brought  into  Parliament  by  peti- 
tion of  the  parties,  but  also  on  the  motion  of  the 
judges  themselves,  who,  in  cases  of  difficult^-,  would 
rather  take  the  advice  of  the  Parliament  than  hazard 
their  own  judgment.  It  was  in  this  spirit  that  the 
statute  of  treasons  (25  Edw.  111.)  ordains,  that  when 
any  new  case  of  supposed  treason  should  arise,  not 
expressly  within  the  terms  of  that  act,  the  judges 
should  not  proceed  upon  their  own  conceptions  of 
the  case,  but  should  take  the  opinion  of  the  Parlia- 
ment. 

Toward  the  latter  end  of  this  reign  the  commons 
first  began  to  ap|)ear  as  prosecutors,  and,  among 
their  other  petitions,  to  exhibit  accusations  for 
crimes  and  misdemeanors  against  oflenders  who 
were  thought  to  be  out  of  the  reach  of  the  ordinary 
course  of  the  law.  In  these  prosecutions  the  king 
and  lords  were  considered  as  judges.  Thus  began 
prosecution  by  impeachincnt  of  the  commons. 

The  tribunal  next  in  authority  to  the  Parliament 
was  the  council.  As  the  Parliament  was  often  called 
by  this  name,  much  difficulty  has  arisen  in  distin- 
guishing them.  The  king  had  a  council  which  con- 
sisted of  all  the  lords  and  peers  of  the  realm.  This 
was  called  the  grand  council,  as  well  as  the  Parlia 
ment  (being  probably  the  original  commune  concilium 
regni,  before  the  commons  were  summoned  thither), 
and  was  thereby  distinguished  from  the  other  coun- 
cil, which  the  king  had  most  commonl}-  about  him 
for  advice  in  matters  of  law.  This  last  council 
(corresponding  somewhat  to  what  has  since  been 
called  the  j^^i^'l/  council)  consisted  of  the  treasurer, 
chancellor,  justices,  keeper  of  the  rolls,  justices  in 
eyre,  Arc.  The  method  of  address  to  the  two 
councils  was,  like  that  to  the  Parliament,  bj-  petition.' 
In  consequence  of  the  jealousy  entertained  of  the 
arbitrary  authority  of  these  councils  of  the  king, 
several  statutes  were  made  in  this  reign  to  regulate 
and  check  it.  But,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  sequel,  it 
was  not  to  be  effectuallj-  checked  yet  for  several 
centuries. 

There  is  nothing  more  indicative  of  the  form  the 
English  government  and  constitution  were  gradually 
assuming,  than  the  decline  of  the  court  of  the  stew- 
ard and  marshal — a  tribunal  which,  when  the  king 
was  everything,  and  the  nation  and  the  law  nothing, 
was  of  great  power  and  importance  ;  but  now,  that 
there  were  other  powers  in  the  country  than  that 
of  the  king,  and  when  the  common  law  had  attained 
a  considerable  degree  of  perfection,  was  sinking  both 
in  jurisdiction  and  importance.  This  might  be  not 
altogether  because  lawyers  did  not  preside  in  this 
court  (for  Littleton  was  at  one  time  steward  or 
judge  of  this  court"),  but  rather  from  an  idea  that 

'  Reeves's  Hist,  of  Eiig.  Law,  ii.  p.  415. 

2  Coke  says  (2  lust.  548),  that  "the  steward  of  the  court  of  the 
marshalsea  of  the  household  is  ever  a  professor  of  the  commim  law  ;'' 
and  that  in  the  statute  ArlicuU  super  Chartas,  c.  3,  the  words  "  des 
seneschals  et  marshals,"  are  to  be  "  understood  of  the  steward  of  the 
court  of  the  marshalsea  of  the  household,  and  not  of  the  steward  of  the 
king's  household."  This,  we  apprehend,  is  incorrect.  A'arious  stat- 
utes, for  example  (5  Edw.  III.  c,  2,  and  10  Edw.  III.  st.  2,  c.  1),  ex- 
pressly call  that  officer  "steward  of  the  king's  house"  (seneschal  del 
hostiel  le  roi)  in  the  singular.  Indeed,  in  the  Record  Corauiission  edi- 
tion of  the  statutes,  seneschal  is  singular,  not  plural,  in  the  passage 
commented  on  by  Coke  in  the  Arl.  sup.  Chart,  c.  3.     In  point  of  fact. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT,  AND  LAWS. 


795 


the  rules  of  decision  of  the  court  were  framed  more 
upon  the  king's  pleasure  than  the  rules  of  law. 

A  large  portion  of  the  original  power  of  the  court 
of  the  steward  of  the  king's  household  passed  to  the 
court  of  King's  Bench.  By  statute  5  Edw.  III.  c. 
2,  it  was  ordained,  that  if  any  one  would  complain  of 
error  in  the  former  court,  he  should  have  a  writ  to 
remove  the  record  and  process  before  the  king  in 
his  place,  that  is,  in  the  King's  Bench.  The  court 
of  the  steward  was  originally  the  court  of  the  king 
in  his  place,  since  the  steward  was  originally  the 
king's  immediate  representative.  The  above  pro- 
vision was  reenacted  in  statute  10  Edw.  III.  st. 
2,  c.  ] .  "  So  that,"  obsei-ves  Mr.  Reeves,  "  the 
King's  Bench  was  confirmed  in  that  appellate  juris- 
diction, which  the  court  of  the  steward  and  marshal 
possessed  once  over  the  other  courts."' 

As  the  law  became  complicated  and  voluminous, 
it  became  necessary  to  have  professional  lawyers  to 
administer  it;  and,  as  shown  in  the  preceding  note, 
the  business  of  the  steward  of  the  household's  court 
came  to  be  performed  by  a  deputy,  who  was  a  law- 
yer, and  was  called  the  steward  of  the  court  of  the 
marshalsea  of  the  household.  In  like  manner  it  is 
at  least  highly  probable  that  the  marshal  of  the  mar- 
shalsea of  the  King's  Bench  was  originally  the  dep- 
uty of  the  marshal  ofthe  king's  household,  who  was 
originally  the  same  as  the  earl  marshal,  as  appears 
from  a  passage  of  Britton  quoted  in  the  preceding 
Book  of  this  History. 

In  this  reign  several  regulations  were  made  for 
the  keeping  of  the  peace.  Statute  1  Edw.  III.  c. 
16,  ordained,  "  for  the  better  keeping  and  mainte- 
nance of  the  peace,  that  in  everj^  county,  good  men 
and  lawful,  that  were  no  maintainers  of  evil,  or  bar- 
rators in  the  county,  should  be  assigned  to  keep  the 
peace."  Three  years  after,  these  officers  were  in- 
ti'usted  with  gi-eater  powers,  having  the  additional 
authority  to  take  indictments.^ 

In  the  eighteenth  j-ear  of  this  reign  they  were 
empowered  to  hear  and  determine  felonies  and  tres- 
passes done  against  the  peace  in  tiie  same  counties, 
and  to  inflict  punishment  according  to  law  and  rea- 
son, and  the  ciixumstances  ofthe  facj:.^  The  statute 
34  Edw.  III.  c.  1,  enacts,  that  in  every  county  there 
should  be  assigned  for  the  keeping  of  the  peace,  one 
lord,  and  three  or  four  of  the  most  worthy  in  the 
county,  with  some  learned  in  the  law.  These  were 
to  have  power  to  restrain  offenders,  rioters,  &c., 
and  chastise  them  according  to  their  trespass  or  of- 
fence. "  They  were,"  says  the  Act,  "to  take  of  all 
them  that  be  not  of  good  fame,  where  they  shall  be 
found,  sufficient  surety  and  mainprise  of  their  good 
behavior  toward  the  king  and  his  people."     On  this 

the  steward  spoken  of  by  Coke  as  a  professor  of  the  common  law,  was 
merely  the  steward  of  the  household's  acting  deputy.  Coke's  object 
always  was  to  magnify  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  of  which  he  had 
been  chief  justice  ;  and  if  he  knew — which  is  doubtful— he  would  not 
like  to  acknowledge  the  real  magnitude  ofthe  original  authority  of  the 
lord  steward's  court,  from  which,  as  shown  in  the  text,  was  borrowed 
the  appellate  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  over  the  other 
courts.  Coke  calls  the  grand  justiciary  (the  mighty  Capitalis  Justitia- 
rius  Anglics)  merely  Chief  Justice  of  England  ;  and  he  bestows  upon 
himself  (Sir  E.  Coke)  the  same  title,  instead  of  his  proper  one,  that  of 
Chief  Justice  of  the  King's  Bench. 

I  Hist,  of  Eng.  Law,  ii.  p.  420.  »  4  Edw.  III.  c.  2. 

»  18  Edw.  III.  St.  2,  c.  2. 


clause  Mr.  Reeves  remarks,  «'  This  was  the  first  au- 
thority they  had  to  take  sureties  for  good  behavior ; 
and,  indeed,  the  first  mention  of  it  in  any  statute  or 
law  book."i  In  the  statute  3G  Edw.  III.  st.  1,  c.  12, 
the  keepers  of  the  peace  are  for  the  first  time  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name,  which  is  now  so  well 
known,  of  "justices  of  the  peace."  The  words 
of  the  French  statute  are,  '■'justices  de  la  pecs." 
And  thus,  at  the  close  of  the  reign,  the  keepers  of 
the  peace  were  become  justices,  presiding  over  a 
court. 

In  the  reign  of  Richard  II.  the  only  act  of  legis- 
lation that  peculiarly  seems  to  demand  attention  is 
the  famous  statute  of  Praemunire  ;  and  of  that,  as 
well  as  the  other  acts  of  a  similar  tendency  by  which 
it  was  preceded,  an  account  has  already  been  given 
in  the  preceding  chapter. 

The  subject  of  the  royal  revenue  now  becomes 
more  closely  connected  than  in  earlier  times  with 
that  of  the  constitution  and  government,  inasmuch 
as  in  the  present  period  the  king  came  to  be  de- 
pendent for  his  income  chiefly  upon  parliamentary 
gi'ants.  The  several  charters  of  liberties  had  con- 
siderably curtailed  the  ancient  pecuniary  resources 
of  the  crown,  by  the  abridgment  of  the  prerogative  ; 
and  the  greater  part  even  of  the  hereditary  estates 
that  survived  the  reigns  of  Richard  and  John  was 
dissipated  by  the  weak  profusion  of  Henry  III. 
This  prince  was  reduced  by  his  own  folly,  and  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  to  the  most 
pitiable  state  of  destitution.  From  the  terms  on 
which  he  stood  with  his  barons,  their  assistance  in 
raising  money  was  very  grudgingly  afforded  ;  and 
the  only  extraordinary  aids  levied  by  him  during 
his  long  reign  were  two-fifteenths,  one-thirtieth, 
and  one-fortieth  for  himself,  and  one-twentieth  for 
the  relief  of  the  Holy  Land.  According  to  Mat- 
thew Paris,  his  entire  income  did  not  amount,  on  an 
average  for  the  whole  reign,  to  more  than  twenty- 
four  thousand  marks,  or  about  16,000?.  per  annum. 
His  principal  resource  in  his  later  years  was  the 
plunder  of  the  clergy,  which  he  was  enabled  to  ef- 
fect through  the  assistance  of  his  friend  Pope  Alex- 
ander IV.  In  1256,  a  tenth  part  of  all  ecclesiastical 
benefices  was  ordered  to  be  paid  for  five  years  into 
the  royal  exchequer.  The  Jews  were  another 
still  more  defenceless  class  of  his  subjects,  from 
whom  he  repeatedly  extorted  larger  sums  of  money. 
Matthew  Paris  records  that,  in  the  year  1241  alone, 
they  were  forced  to  pay  no  less  than  twenty  thous- 
and marks ;  and  scarcely  a  year  seems  to  have  passed 
in  which  they  were  not  subjected  to  exactions  of 
the  like  arbitrary  character,  though  not  perhaps  to 
the  same  amount.  One  individual,  Aaron  of  York, 
from  whom  four  thousand  marks  had  been  wrung  in 
1243,  was  again,  in  1250,  condemned,  on  pretence 
that  he  had  been  guilty  of  forgery,  to  pay  a  fine  of 
thirty  thousand.  Altogether,  in  the  course  of  his 
reign,  Henry  is  said  to  have  obtained  four  hundred 
thousand  marks  from  the  Jews.  But  this,  and  all 
his  other  sources  of  income,  regular  and  irregular, 
were,insufficient  to  supply  the  waste  occasioned  by 
his  imprudent  management,  his   donations  to   his 

1  Hist,  of  Eng.  Law.  ii.  p.  473. 


794 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


miuions,  and  the  foolisli  and  expensive  projects  in 
which  he  engaged.  Toward  tlie  end  of  his  reign 
his  debts  were  declared  by  himself  to  amount  to 
nearly  three  hundred  thousand  marks.  In  order  to 
raise  money,  he  was  sometimes  obliged  to  jiawn  the 
jewels  of  the  crown,  and  to  sell  the  very  furniture 
of  his  palace  ;  at  other  times  he  went  from  place  to 
place  personally  soliciting  contributions  almost  in  the 
fashion  of  one  asking  alms. 

The  reign  of  Edward  I.  is  an  important  era  in 
the  history  of  English  taxation.  The  popularity  of 
this  monarch's  Scottish  wars  long  induced  the  Par- 
liament to  be  liberfil  in  their  supplies,  and  even 
made  the  nation  submit  without  much  murmuring 
to  many  arbitrary  exactions.  The  church  and  the 
.lews  (till  they  were  finally  expelled  from  the  king- 
dom in  1290)  continued  to  yield  large  returns  to  the 
royal  exchequer.  It  was  upon  the  liberality  of  his 
parliament,  however,  that  Edward  wisely  placed  his 
chief  reliance  :  this  assembly,  by  the  complete  estab- 
lishment of  county  and  borough  representation,  was 
now  become  a  national  organ  ;  and  when  the  statute 
De  Tallagio  non  Concudendo  was  passed  in  1297, 
the  first  decided  step  aiay  be  considered  to  have 
been  taken  toward  the  great  constitutional  object  of 
subjecting  the  public  income  and  expenditure  to  the 
public  control.  It  was  not,  however,  till  after  a  long 
struggle  that  this  object  was  practically  accomplished 
CTen  to  the  extent  to  which  it  was  aimed  at  by  the 
present  statute.  The  concession  of  the  statute  was 
extorted  from  Edward,  and  he  made  repeated  at- 
tempts to  evade  a  restriction  to  which  he  never  had 
intended  to  yield  further  compliance  than  the  press- 
ure of  the  moment  might  render  convenient.  One 
source  of  revenue  which  was  greatlj'  improved  in 
the  reign  of  Edward  I.  was  that  afforded  by  the 
customs  on  the  export  and  import  of  goods.  Edward 
considerably  raised  the  rate  of  these  ancient  duties 
by  his  own  authority,  and  also  imposed  certain  ad- 
ditional duties  upon  foreign  merchants,  which  came 
to  be  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  new  or  alien 
customs.  But  Edward  did  not  satisfy  himself  with 
mere  taxation.  On  pressing  emergencies  he  did  not 
hesitate  openly  to  seize  the  goods  of  merchants  and 
the  property  of  his  other  subjects  whenever  he 
could  lay  his  hands  upon  it.  Forced  loans  formed 
another  of  his  occasional  resources.  In  short,  al- 
though the  foundations  of  parliamentary  taxation 
were  laid  in  this  reign,  by  the  establishment  of  the 
practice  of  regularly  summoning  to  Parliament  rep- 
resentatives of  the  shires  and  boroughs,  and  by  the 
passing  of  the  statute  De  Tallagio,  most  of  the  old 
arbitrarj-  modes  of  raising  money  by  the  crown 
continued  to  be  exercised  throughout  the  whole  of 
it,  in  the  face,  indeed,  of  considerable  dissatisfaction 
and  outcry,  but  without  encountering,  except  in  a 
few  instances,  any  effectual  resistance.  The  old 
method  of  taxation  by  scutages  fell  into  disuse  in 
this  reign  ;  and  taxes  upon  personal  property,  which 
had  not  been  known  in  the  first  ages  after  the  Con- 
quest, came  to  be  common.  Edward,  notwithstand- 
ing the  heavj-  expenses  of  his  military  operations, 
never  was  reduced  to  anything  resembling  the  pe- 
cuniary difficulties   that   his   father    had   suffered. 


The  vigor  of  his  character  and  his  general  popular- 
ity enabled  him,  in  addition  to  his  arbitrary  exactions, 
to  obtain  vastly  more  ample  supplies  from  Parlia- 
ment than  had  been  granted  to  Henry ;  and  in  one 
way  and  another  the  amount  of  money  which  he 
raised,  in  the  course  of  his  long  reign,  must  have 
been  very  great.  At  his  death  he  is  said  to  have 
left  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  accumulated 
treasure,  which  he  had  intended  to  devote  to  the 
prosecution  of  the  Scottish  war. 

One  benefit  which  the  country  reaped  from  the 
feeble  and  otherwise  calamitous  rule  of  Edward  II. 
was  a  great  reduction  of  taxation.  The  law,  called 
the  New  Ordinances,  enacted  by  the  Parliament 
Avhich  met  in  August,  1311,*  altogether  abolished 
the  new  customs.  Very  few  grants  were  made  by 
Parliament  in  this  reign. 

The  fifty  years  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  on 
the  contrary,  were  a  period  both  of  parliamentary 
taxation  on  a  large  scale,  and  also  of  many  illegal 
imposts.  The  grants  by  Parliament,  indeed,  now 
became  almost  annual,  being  generally  in  the  form 
of  a  certain  portion,  varying  from  a  fiftieth  to  a 
seventh,  of  the  value  of  the  movable  property  of 
persons  of  all  ranks.  These  repeated  grants  tended 
no  doubt  to  establish  the  practice  of  the  ciown 
coming  for  supplies  to  Parliament ;  but  Edward 
also  resorted  to  many  arbiti'aiy  methods  of  raising 
money.  Beside  granting  inonopolies,  a  practice 
which  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  introduce, 
and  compelling  all  persons  having  estates  of  a 
certain  value  to  accept  of  knighthood,  he  renewed 
the  old  practice  of  imposing  tallages  on  cities  and 
boroughs ;  he  extorted  money  fiom  the  clergy  and 
others  by  what  were  called  forced  loans ;  he  even 
made  direct  seizures  of  merchandise  and  other 
propertj'  on  some  occasions,  just  as  his  gi-andfather 
had  done.  In  1339  he  restored,  by  his  own  author- 
ity, the  new  customs  which  liad  been  abolished  in 
the  preceding  reign  ;  and  all  the  opposition  of  the 
Parliament  could  not  prevail  upon  him  to  renounce 
the  right  he  claimed  to  collect  these  duties,  al- 
though he  at  last  consented  not  to  continue  them 
longer  than  two  years.  They  were  maintained,  in 
fact,  for  a  considerably  longer  period.  Another 
duty  which  was  now  regularly  levied  was  that 
afterward  called  the  tunnage  and  poundage  duty, 
being  an  assessment  of  two  shillings  on  every  tun 
of  wine  imported,  and  of  sixpence  on  every  pound 
of  other  merchandise  either  imported  or  exported, 
which  was  originally  gi-anted,  not  by  the  full  Parlia- 
ment, but  by  annual  vote  of  the  representatives 
of  the  cities  and  boroughs  only.  From  1373,  how- 
ever, it  came  to  be  granted  by  both  houses  in  the 
usual  form.  The  first  parliamentary  gi-ant  of  a 
specific  sum  is  said  to  have  been  made  in  1371, 
when  a  subsidy  of  oO,OOOL  was  voted  to  be  raised 
by  an  average  assessment  of  twenty-two  shillings 
and  fourpence  on  each  parish,  the  number  of  par- 
ishes being  taken  at  forty-five  thousand,  whereas 
they  turned  out  to  be  only  eight  thousand  six  hun- 
dred, on  which  the  assessment  was  afterward  raised 
to  one  hundred  and  sixteen  shillings  on  each.^  It 
1  See  ante,  p.  707.  2  Ibid.  p.  336. 


Chap.  III.] 


CONSTITUTION,  GOVERNMENT.  AND  LAWS. 


795 


was  also  in  this  reign  that  the  first  poll-tax  was 
granted.  A  pell,  or  exchequer  roll,  of  the  year 
1347,  makes  Edward's  entire  revenue  for  that  year 
to  have  amounted  to  154,139^.  17s.  bd.  It  is  proba- 
ble, however,  that  this  sum  does  not  include  many 
irregular  payments.  Notwithstanding  his  numer- 
ous resources,  Edward  was  constantly  in  want  of 
money  and  oppressed  by  debts.  The  straits  in 
which  he  was  involved  were  occasionally  so  ex- 
treme as  to  force  him  to  the  most  painful  and 
degrading  expedients.  At  one  time  Queen  Philippa 
was  obliged  to  pawn  her  jewels ;  on  another  occa- 
sion the  crown  itself  was  given  in  pledge,  and  re- 
mained unredeemed  for  eight  years. 

A  tax  imposed  in  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of 
Richard  II.  is  said  to  be  the  first  that  was  distin- 
guished by  the  name  of  a  Subsidy,  which  afterward 
became  the  common  name  for  a  parliamentary 
grant  to  the  crown.  It  was  in  fact  a  poll  or  capi- 
tation tax,  graduated  according  to  the  rank  and 
property  of  each  individual.  This  was  followed 
the  same  year  by  the  famous  poll-tax  which  occa- 
sioned the  insurrection  of  Wat  Tyler.     This,  also, 


was  to  be  regulated  according  to  each  person's 
ability,  it  being  arranged  that  no  one  should  pay  for 
himself  and  his  wife  less  than  one  groat,  or  more 
than  sixty.  The  entire  sum  proposed  to  be  raised 
was  160,O00Z.  Richard's  expenditure,  in  the  latter 
part  of  his  reign,  was  extravagantly  lavish,  and  was 
sustained  by  various  arbitrary  exactions,  and  also  by 
hberal  grants  almost  annually  made  by  a  servile 
Parliament.  Much  of  what  he  thus  obtained  was 
wasted  in  the  mere  maintenance  of  his  household, 
which  is  affirmed  to  have  consisted  of  ten  thousand 
persons,  of  whom  three  hundred  were  employed  in 
the  royal  kitchens.  The  first  parliamentary  grant 
for  life  was  made  to  Richard  II. ;  it  consisted  of  a 
duty  on  the  exportation  of  wool,  woolfels,  and 
lefither.  In  1382,  also,  the  Parliament  passed  an 
Act  (the  5th  Rich.  II.  stat.  2,  c.  2)  offering  a  certain 
discount  from  the  duties  on  the  exportation  of  wool, 
woolfels,  and  hides,  to  all  merchants  who  would 
pay  the  Calais  duties  beforehand,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  the  first  attempt  ever  made  to  anticipate 
the  revenue ;  a  practice  which,  in  later  times,  gave 
rise  to  the  national  debt. 


79G 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  INDUSTRY 


HE  history  of  Eng- 
li.><h  coniinercc  durin<T 
tlio  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries 
IS  in  great  part  the 
record  of  a  course  of 
legislative  attempts  to 
annul  the  laws  of  na- 
ture, such  as  probably 
never  was  outdone  in 
any  other  country.  A 
full  detail,  if  our  limits 
would  allow  us  to  give 
it,  w^ould  serve  no  useful  purpose  here ;  biit  a 
few  samples  will  be  found  both  curious  and  in- 
structive. 

A  term  which  makes  a  great  figure  in  the  com- 
mercial regulations  of  this  period  is  that  of  the 
Staple.  The  word,  in  its  primary  acceptation,  ap- 
pears to  mean  a  particular  port  or  other  place  to 
which  certain  commodities  were  obliged  to  be  brought 
to  be  w^eighed  or  measured  for  the  payment  of  the 
customs,  before  they  could  be  sold,  or  iu  some  cases 
exported  or  imported.  Here  the  king's  staple  was 
said  to  be  established.  The  articles  of  English  prod- 
uce upon  which  customs  were  anciently  paid,  were 
wool,  sheep-skins,  woolfels,  and  leather ;  and  these 
were  accordingly  denominated  the  staples  or  staple 
goods  of  the  kingdom.  The  persons  who  exported 
these  goods  were  called  the  merchants  of  the  staple  : 
they  were  incorporated,  or  at  least  recognized  as 
forming  a  society,  with  certain  privileges,  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  II.,  if  not  earlier.  Hakluyt  has 
printed  a  charter  gianted  by  Edward  II.,  the  20th 
of  May,  131.3,  to  the  mayor  and  council  of  the 
merchants  of  the  staple,  in  which  he  ordains  that 
all  merchants,  whether  natives  or  foreigners,  buying 
wool  and  woolfels  in  his  dominions  for  exportation, 
should,  instead  of  carrying  them  for  sale,  as  they 
had  been  wont  to  do,  to  several  places  in  Brabant, 
Flanders,  and  Artois,  carry  them  in  future  only  to 
one  certain  staple  in  one  of  those  countries,  to 
be  appointed  by  the  said  mayor  and  council.  It 
appears  that,  upon  this,  Antwerp  was  made  the 
staple.  But  although  the  power  of  naming  the 
place,  and  also  of  changing  it,  was  thus  conferred 
upon  the  society,  this  part  of  the  charter  seems 
to  have  been  very  soon  disregarded.  In  subse- 
quent times  the  interferences  of  the  king  and  the 
legislature,  with  regard  to  the  staple,  were  incessant. 
In  1326  it  was,  by  the  royal  order,  removed  alto- 
gether from  the  continent,  and  fixed  at  certain  places 
within  the  kingdom.  Cardiff,  in  Wales,  a  town  be- 
longing to  Hugh  Despenser,  is  the  onlj-  one  of  these 
new  English  staples  the  name  of  which  has  been 


preserved.  It  may  be  noted,  also,  that  tin  is  now 
mentioned  as  one  of  the  staple  commodities.  In 
1328  (by  the  statute  2  FAw.  HI.,  c.  9),  it  was  en- 
acted, "  that  the  staples  beyond  the  sea  and  on  this 
side,  ordained  by  kings  in  times  past,  and  the  pains 
thereupon  provided,  shall  cease,  and  that  all  mer- 
chant strangers  and  privy  (that  is,  foreigners  and 
natives)  may  go  and  come  with  their  merchandises 
into  England,  after  the  tenor  of  the  Great  Charter." 
In  1332,  however,  we  find  the  king  ordaining,  in 
the  face  of  this  Act,  that  staples  should  be  held  in 
various  places  within  the  kingdom.  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, indeed,  on  all  kinds  of  subjects,  were  as  yet 
accustomed  to  be  regarded  by  all  degrees  of  people 
as  little  more  than  a  sort  of  iry)ral  declarations  or 
preachments  on  the  part  of  the  legislature — expres- 
sions of  its  sentiments — but  scarcely  as  laws  which 
Avere  compulsory,  like  the  older  laws  of  the  kingdom. 
Most  of  them  were  habitually  broken,  until  they  had 
beeu  repeated  over  and  over  again ;  and  this  repe- 
tition, rather  than  the  exaction  of  the  penalty,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  recognized  mode  of  enfor- 
cing or  establishing  the  law.  In  many  cases,  indeed, 
such  a  way  of  viewing  the  statute  was  justified  by 
the  principle  on  which  it  was  evidently  passed ;  it 
was  often  manifestly,  if  not  avowedly,  intended  by 
its  authors  themselves  as  only  a  tentative  or  exper- 
imental enactment,  the  ultimate  enforcement  of 
which  was  to  depend  upon  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  found  to  work.  The  Act  of  Parliament  was 
frequently  entitled,  not  a  statute,  but  an  ordinance ; 
and  in  that  case  it  seems  to  have  been  merely  pro- 
posed as  an  interim  regulation,  which  was  not  to 
become  a  permanent  law  until  some  trial  should 
have  been  had  of  it,  and  such  amendments  made  in 
it  as  were  found  by  experience  to  be  necessary.' 
In  other  cases,  again,  and  those  of  no  rare  occur- 
rence, the  law  was  of  such  a  nature  that  it  could 
not  be  carried  into  execution  ;  it  was  an  attempt  to 
accomplish  what  was  impossible.  These  .consider- 
ations may  account  for  the  numerous  instances  in 
which  our  old  laws  are  merely  confirmations,  or,  iu 
other  words,  repetitions  of  some  preceding  law,  and 
also  for  the  extraordinary  multiplication  which  we 
find  of  fluctuating  or  contradictory  laws.  Of  this 
latter  description,  those  relating  to  the  staple  afibrd 
an  eminent  example.  In  1334,  all  the  lately  estab- 
lished staples  were  again  abolished  by  the  king  in  a 
parliament  held  at  York.  In  1341,  the  staple  was 
reestablished  b}-  a  royal  Act  at  Bruges,  in  Flanders. 
In  1348,  again,  after  the  capture  of  Calais,  that  town 
was  made  the  staple  for  tin,  lead,  feathers,  English- 
made  woolen  cloths,  and  worsted  stufTs.  for  seven 
years.  All  the  former  inhabitants  of  Calais,  with 
1  See  on  this  subject  Ilallam's  Middle  Ages,  iii.  72-75 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


797 


the  exception,  it  is  said,  of  one  priest  ami  two  law- 
yers, had  been  removed,  and  an  English  colony,  of 
which  thirty-six  merchants  from  London  were  the 
principal  members,  had  been  settled  in  their  room. 
In  1353,  by  the  statute  called  the  Ordinance  of  the 
Staples  (27  Edw.  III.,  st.  2,  c.  1),  the  staple  for 
wool,  leather,  woolfels,  and  lead,  was  once  more 
removed  from  the  continent  by  Act  of  Parliament, 
and  ordered  to  be  held  forever  in  the  following 
places,  and  no  others — namelj',  for  England,  at  New- 
castle-upon-Tyne, York,  Lincoln,  Norwich,  West- 
minster, Canterbury,  Chichester,  Exeter,  and  Bris- 
tol ;  for  Wales,  at  Caermarthen  ;  and  for  Ireland,  at 
Dublin,  AVaterford,  Cork,  and  Drogheda.  The 
"  forever  "  of  this  statute  remained  in  force  for  ten 
years,  and  no  longer.  From  the  preamble  of  the 
statute  43  Edw.  III.,  it  appears  that  it  had  been  or- 
dained, for  tlie  profit  of  the  realm,  and  ease  of  the 
merchants  of  England,  that  the  staple  of  wool,  wool- 
fels, and  leather,  should  be  hoklen  at  Calais ;  and  that 
there  accordingly  it  had  been  hclden  since  the  1st  of 
3Iarch,  1363.  By  this  last-mentioned  Act,  however, 
passed  in  1369,  it  was  again,  in  consequence  of  the 
renewal  of  the  war  with  France,  fixed  at  certain 
places  within  the  kingdom — being  for  Ireland  and 
Wales  the  same  that  have  been  just  mentioned,  but 
with  the  substitution,  in  the  case  of  England,  of  Hull, 
Boston,  Yarmouth,  and  Queenburgh,  for  Cantei'- 
bury,  York,  Lincoln,  and  Norwich.  In  1376,  nev- 
ertheless, on  the  complaint  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ca- 
lais, that  their  citj'  was  dechning,  the  staple  was 
restored  to  that  place ;  and  it  was  now  made  to 
comprehend,  not  only  the  ancient  commodites  of 
wool,  woolfels,  and  leather,  and  those  more  recently 
added,  of  lead,  tin,  worsted  stufts,  and  feathers,  but 
also  cheese,  butter,  honey,  tallow,  peltry  (or  skins 
of  all  kinds),  and  what  are  called  "  gauke,"  which  | 
have  been  supposed  to  mean  osiers  for  making  bas- 
kets ;  these  different  articles  probably  comprehend- 
ing all  the  ordinary  exports  from  the  kingdom.  But 
this  restriction  of  the  whole  export  trade  to  one 
market  was  soon  relaxed.  In  1378  (by  the  2d 
Rich.  II.,  Stat.  1,  c.  3),  it  was  enacted,  that  all  mer- 
chants of  Genoa,  Venice,  Catalonia,  Arragon,  and 
other  countries  toward  the  west,  that  would  bring 
their  vessels  to  Southampton,  or  elsewhere  within 
the  realm,  might  there  freely  sell  their  goods,  and 
also  recharge  their  vessels  with  wools,  and  the  other 
merchandises  of  the  staple,  on  paying  the  same 
customs  or  duties  that  would  have  been  paj-able  at 
Calais;  and  in  1382  (by  the  5th  Rich.  II.,  stat.  2. 
c.  2),  all  merchants,  whether  foreigners  or  natives, 
were  permitted  to  carry  wool,  leather,  and  woohels, 
to  any  country  whatever,  except  France,  on  pay- 
ment of  the  Calais  duties  beforehand.  In  1384,  we 
(ind  the  wool-staple  altogether  removed  from  Ca- 
lais, and  established  at  Middleburgh.  1388  (by  the 
statute  12  Rich.  II.  c.  16),  it  was  ordered  to  be 
fixed  once  more  at  Calais;  but  in  1390  (by  the  14th 
Rich.  II.  c.  1),  it  Avas  brought  back  to  the  same 
English  towns  in  which  it  had  been  fixed  in  1353. 
The  very  next  year,  however,  it  was  enacted,  that 
instead  of  these  towns,  the  staple  should  be  held  at 
such  others  upon  the  coast  as  the  lords  of  the  coun- 


cil should  direct ;  and  it  would  even  appear  (from 
the  15th  Rich.  II.,  c.  8),  that,  at  least  for  a  part  of 
the  year,  the  staple  of  wool  and  also  of  tin  was  still 
at  Calais.  "  Staples  and  restraints  in  England,  and 
a  second  staple  and  other  restraints  at  the  same 
time  on  the  continent !"  exclaims  the  historian  of 
our  commerce,  in  noticing  this  fact :  "  the  condition 
of  the  merchants  who  were  obliged  to  deal  in  staple 
goods  was  truly  pitiable  in  those  days  of  perpetual 
changes."  '■  It  is  not  quite  clear,  however,  that  the 
English  staples  were  still  continued;  it  is  perhaps 
more  probable  that  they  had  been  abolished  when 
the  staple  was  restored  to  Calais.  However  this 
may  be,  it  appears  from  the  statute  21  Rich.  II. 
c.  17,  passed  in  1398,  that  at  that  time  Calais  was 
the  only  staple ;  and  such  it  continued  to  be  from 
this  time  till  it  was  recovered  by  the  French  in 
1538,  when  the  staple  was  established  at  Bruges. 
The  old  staple  laws,  however,  had  been  consider- 
ably relaxed  in  the  course  of  that  long  interval. 

The  history  of  the  staple  is  an  important  part  of 
the  history  of  our  early  foreign  commerce,  of  which 
it  in  some  degree  illustrates  the  growth  and  gradual 
extension  from  the  progressive  development  of  the 
resources  of  the  country,  as  well  as  the  artificial 
bonds  and  incumbrances  against  the  pressure  and 
entanglement  of  which  the  principle  of  that  natural 
gi'owth  had  to  force  its  way.  We  now  proceed  to 
quote  some  further  instances  of  the  perplexities,  the 
blunders,  and  the  generally  oppressive  or  annoying 
character  of  our  ancient  commercial  legislation. 

One  of  the  prerogatives  assumed  by  the  crown  in 
those  days,  somewhat  similar  in  its  nature  to  that  of 
fixing  the  staple  of  the  foreign  trade  of  the  kingdom, 
was  the  right  of  restricting  all  mercantile  dealings 
whatever,  for  a  time,  to  a  certain  place.  Thus, 
Matthew  Paris  tells  us  that,  in  the  year  1245,  Henry 
HI.  proclaimed  a  fair  to  be  held  at  Westminster, 
on  which  occasion  he  ordered  that  all  the  traders  of 
London  should  shut  up  their  shops,  and  carry  their 
goods  to  be  sold  at  the  fair,  and  that  all  other  lairs 
throughout  England  should  be  suspended  during  the 
fifteen  days  it  was  appointed  to  last.  The  king's 
object,  no  doubt,  was  to  obtain  a  supply  of  money 
from  the  tolls  and  other  dues  of  the  market.  What 
made  this  interference  be  felt  as  a  greater  hiirdship 
was,  that  the  weather,  all  the  time  of  the  fair,  hap- 
pened to  be  excessively  bad ;  so  that  not  only  the 
goods  were  spoilt,  exposed  as  they  were  to  the  rain 
in  tents  only  covered  with  cloth,  and  that  probably 
imperfectly  enough ;  but  the  dealers  themselves, 
who  were  obliged  to  eat  their  victuals  with  their  feet 
in  the  mud,  and  the  wind  and  wet  about  their  ears, 
suffered  intolerably.  Four  years  afterward  the 
king  repeated  the  same  piece  of  tyranny,  and  was 
again  seconded  by  the  elements  in  a  similar  fashion 
This  time,  too,  the  historian  tells  us,  scarcely  any 
bujers  came  to  the  fair  ;  so  that  it  is  no  wonder  the 
unfortunate  merchants  were  loud  iu  expressing  their 
dissatisfaction.  But  the  king,  he  adds,  did  not  mind 
the  imprecations  of  the  people. 

There  was  nothing  that  more  troul)led  and  be- 
wildered both  the  legislature  and  the  popular  under- 
'  Macphcrson,  Aunals  of  Com.  i.  C04. 


798 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


standing,  during  the  whole  of  this  period,  than  the 
new  phenomena  connected  with  the  increasing 
foreign  trade  of  the  country.  The  advantages  of 
this  augmented  intercourse  with  other  parts  of  the 
world  were  sensibly  enough  felt,  but  very  imper- 
fectly comprehended ;  hence  one  scheme  after 
another,  to  retain  the  benefit  upon  terms  wholly 
inconsistent  with  the  necessary  conditions  of  its 
existence.  Of  course,  in  all  exchange  of  commodi- 
ties between  two  countries,  beside  that  supply  of 
the  respective  wants  of  each  which  constitutes  the 
foundation  or  sustaining  element  of  the  commerce, 
a  certain  portion  of  what  the  consumer  pays  must 
fall  to  the  share  of  the  persons  by  whose  agency 
the  commerce  is  carried  on.  It  is  this  that  properly 
forms  the  profits  of  the  commerce,  as  distinguished 
from  its  mere  advantages  or  conveniences.  The 
general  advantages  of  the  commerce,  apart  from 
the  profits  of  the  agents,  are  alone  the  proper  con- 
cern of  the  community :  as  for  the  mere  profits  of 
the  agency,  the  only  interest  of  the  community  is, 
that  they  shall  be  as  low  as  possible.  From  the 
course,  however,  that  the  popular  feeling  has  at  all 
times  taken,  it  might  be  supposed  that  the  very  con- 
trary was  the  case  ;  for  the  cry  has  constantly  been 
in  favor  of  making  this  agency,  as  far  as  possible,  a 
monopoly  in  the  hands  of  the  native  merchants, 
although  the  eftect  of  the  exclusion  of  foreign  com- 
petition, if  it  could  be  accomplished,  really  could  be 
nothing  else  than  an  enhancement  of  the  profits  of 
the  agency,  and  consequently  of  the  charge  upon 
the  consumer.  In  fiict,  if  the  exclusion  were  not 
expected  to  produce  this  eftect,  it  never  would  be 
sought  for  by  the  native  merchants.  That  it  should 
be  sought  for  by  them  is  natural  enough,  but  that 
they  should  be  supported  in  this  demand  by  the 
community  at  large  is  only  an  instance  of  popular 
prejudice  and  delusion.  In  all  commerce,  and  es- 
pecially in  all  foreign  commerce,  a  body  of  interme- 
diate agents,  to  manage  the  exchange  of  the  com- 
modities, is  indispensable ;  the  goods  must  bo  brought 
from  one  country  to  the  other,  which  makes  what 
is  called  the  carrying  trade  ;  they  must  be  collected 
in  shops  or  warehouses  for  distribution  by  sale  ;  even 
their  original  production,  in  many  cases,  cannot  be 
efficiently  accomplished  without  the  regular  assist- 
ance of  a  third  class  of  persons — namely,  dealers  in 
money  or  in  credit.  But  to  the  public  at  large  it  is 
really  a  matter  of  perfect  indifierence  whether 
these  merchants,  ship-owners,  and  bankers  or  other 
capitalists,  be  natives  or  foreigners.  Not  so,  how- 
ever, thought  our  ancestors  in  the  infancy  of  our 
foreign  commerce.  The  commerce  itself  was  suffi- 
ciently acceptable  ;  but  the  foreigners,  by  whose  aid 
it  was  necessarily  in  part  carried  on,  were  the  ob- 
jects of  a  most  intense  and  restless  jealousy.  What- 
ever poi'tion  of  the  profits  of  the  commerce  fell  to 
their  share  was  looked  upon  as  nothing  better  than 
so  much  plunder.  This  feeling  was  even  in  some 
degree  extended  to  the  whole  of  the  foreign  nation 
with  which  the  commerce  was  carried  on  ;  and  in 
the  notion  that  all  trade  was  of  the  nature  of  a  con- 
test between  two  adverse  parties,  and  that  whatever 
the  one  country  gained  the  other  lost,  the  inflam- 


mation of  the  popular  mind  occasionally  rose  to  such 
a  height  that  nothing  less  would  satisfy  it  than  an 
abjuration  of  the  foreign  trade  altogether.  But  it 
never  was  long  before  this  precipitate  resolution 
was  repented  of  and  revoked. 

In  the  wars  between  Henry  III.  and  liis  barons, 
the  latter  endeavored  to  turn  to  account  against  the 
king  the  national  jealousy  of  foreigners,  which  his 
partiality  to  his  wife's  French  connections  had 
greatly  exasperated.  In  I'JGl,  they  passed  a  law 
which  may  be  regarded  as  the  first  attempt  to  estab- 
lish what  has  been  called,  in  modern  times,  the  man- 
ufacturing system.  It  prohibited  the  exportation  of 
wool,  the  chief  staple  of  the  country,  and  ordained 
that  no  woolen  cloths  should  be  worn  except  such 
as  were  manufactured  at  home.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  policy  of  nursing  the  infancy  of  do- 
mestic manufactures  in  certain  circumstances  by 
protections  of  this  description,  the  present  attempt 
was  undoubtedly  premature,  and  its  authors  confess- 
ed as  much  by  appending  to  their  prohibition  against 
the  importation  of  foreign  cloth  an  injunction  or 
recommendation  that  all  persons  should  avoid  every 
superfluity  in  dress.  What  were  thus  denounced 
as  extravagant  superfluities  were  evidently  those 
finer  fabrics  which  could  not  yet  be  produced  in 
England.  The  eftect  of  this  law,  in  so  far  as  it  was 
enforced  or  obeyed,  could  only  have  been  to  add  to 
the  general  distress,  by  embarrassing,  more  or  less, 
all  classes  of  persons  that  had  been  ever  so  remotely 
connected  with  the  foreign  trade,  and,  above  all 
others,  the  chief  body  of  producers  in  the  kingdom. 
If  the  wool  was  not  to  go  out  of  the  country,  mucli 
wealth  both  in  money  and  in  goods  would  be  pre- 
vented from  coming  in,  and  all  the  branches  of  in- 
dustry which  that  wealth  had  hitherto  contributed 
to  sustain  and  feed,  would  suft'er  depression. 

It  would  appear  that,  either  from  want  of  skill 
or  a  scarcity  of  woad,  in  consequence  of  the  usual 
importations  from  the  continent  being  checked,  dyed 
cloths  could  not  be  obtained  in  sufficient  quantity  in 
England  a  few  yeai's  after  this  time ;  for  it  is  re- 
corded that  many  people  were  now  wont  to  dress 
themselves  in  cloth  of  the  natural  color  of  the  wool. 
Simon  de  Montfort,  it  seems,  professed  to  be  an 
admii'er  of  this  plainness  of  apparel,  and  was  accus- 
tomed to  maintain  that  foreign  commerce  was  un- 
necessary, the  produce  of  the  country  being  fully 
sufficient  to  supply  all  the  wants  of  its  inhabitants. 
And  so  no  doubt  it  was,  and  would  be  still,  on  this 
principle  of  rigidly  eschewing  all  superfluities  ;  but 
that  is  the  principle  of  the  stationary  and  savage 
state,  not  of  civilization  and  progressive  improvement. 

The  prohibition  against  the  importation  of  foreign 
cloth,  however,  appears  to  have  been  soon  repealed. 
In  1271,  when  disputes  broke  out  between  Hcnrj- 
and  the  Countess  of  Flanders,  we  find  it  renewed 
in  terms  which  imply  that  the  trade  had  for  some 
time  previous  been  carried  on  as  usual.  This  sec- 
ond suspension,  also,  was  of  short  duration  ;  and  on 
various  subsequent  occasions  on  which  the  attempt 
was  made  to  break  oft'  the  natural  commercial  in- 
tercourse between  the  English  producers  and  the 
Flemisli  manufacturers,  the  result  was  the  same: 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


799 


the  inconvenience  was  found  to  be  so  intolerable  to 
both  countries  that  it  never  was  submitted  to  for 
more  than  a  few  months  or  weeks. 

Absurd  regulations,  however,  were  from  time  to 
time  imposed  on  the  trade  carried  on  by  foreigners, 
the  temper  and  principle  of  which  would,  if  carried 
out,  have  led  to  its  complete  extinction,  and  which, 
half-measures  as  they  were,  could  only  have  had 
the  effect  of  diminishing  its  natural  advantages. 
In  1275,  for  instance,  an  order  was  issued  by  Ed- 
ward I.,  obliging  all  foreign  merchants  to  sell  their 
goods  within  forty  days  after  their  arrival.  If  for- 
eigners continued  to  resort  to  the  country  in  the 
face  of  the  additional  risks  created  by  this  law — 
risks  of  inadequate  returns  if  they  complied  with 
it,  of  detection  and  punishment  if  they  attempted 
to  evade  it — we  may  be  certain  they  exacted  a  full 
equivalent  in  the  shape  of  higher  prices  for  their 
goods  ;  or,  if  they  failed  to  do  this,  they  must  soon 
have  been  forced  to  give  up  the  trade  altogether, 
for  there  was  no  other  way  by  which  it  could  be 
made  to  yield  its  usual  profits. 

No  foreign  merchants  were  in  those  days  allowed 
to  reside  in  England  except  by  special  hcense  from 
the  king;  and  even  under  this  protection,  they  were 
subjected  to  various  oppressive  liabilities.  It  was 
not  till  1303  that  a  general  charter  was  granted  by 
Edward  I.,  permitting  the  merchants  of  Germany, 
France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Navarre,  Lorabardy,  Tus- 
cany, Provence,  Catalonia,  Aquitaine,  Toulouse, 
Quercy,  Flanders,  Brabant,  and  all  other  foreign 
countries,  to  come  safely  to  any  of  the  dominions  of 
the  English  crown  with  all  kinds  of  merchandise, 
to  sell  their  goods,  and  to  reside  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  laws.  But  even  this  general  toleration 
was  clogged  with  many  restrictions.  The  goods 
imported,  with  the  exception  of  spices  and  mercery, 
were  only  to  be  sold  wholesale.  No  Avine  was  to 
be  carried  out  of  the  country  without  special  license. 
Above  all,  no  relaxation  was  granted  of  the  ancient 
grievous  liability  under  which  every  resident  stran- 
ger was  placed  of  being  answerable  for  the  debts, 
and  even  for  the  crimes  of  every  other  foreign 
resident.  It  appears  from  the  records  of  the  Ex- 
chequer that,  in  1306,  a  number  of  foreign  mer- 
chants were  committed  to  the  Tower,  and  there 
detained  until  they  consented  severally  to  give 
security  that  none  of  their  munber  should  leave  the 
kingdom,  or  export  anything  from  it,  without  the 
king's  special  license.  Each  of  them  was  at  the 
same  time  obHged  to  give  in  an  account  of  the  whole 
amount  of  his  property,  both  in  money  and  goods. 
Security  against  being  subjected  to  this  kind  of 
treatment  had  been  accorded  in  a  few  particular 
instances;  but  it  was  not  till  the  year  1353  that  the 
law  was  formally  altered  by  the  Statute  of  the 
Staple  already  mentioned,  and  the  ancient  practice 
was  not  wholly  discontinued  till  long  afterward. 

The  general  charter  of  1303  was  followed  within 
four  years  by  a  still  more  extraordinary  attempt 
than  any  that  had  yet  been  made  to  control  the 
natural  course  of  commerce.  In  1307,  Edw.'u-d 
issued  an  order  prohibiting  either  coined  money  or 
bullion  to  be  carried  out  of  the  kingdom   on  any 


account.  The  merchants,  therefore,  who  came 
from  other  countries,  were  now  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  either  directly  bartering  their  com- 
modities for  the  produce  of  the  kingdom,  or,  if 
they  sold  them  for  money  in  the  first  instance,  of 
investing  the  proceeds  in  other  goods  before  they 
could  be  permitted  to  return  home.  This  was  a 
restriction  so  thoroughly  opposed  to  eveiy  com- 
mercial principle  that  it  could  not  be  rigidly  main- 
tained;  the  very  year  following  its  promulgation, 
an  exemption  from  it  was  accorded  to  the  merchants 
of  France  by  the  new  king,  Edward  II.,  and  similar 
relaxations  of  it  were  afterward  permitted  in  other 
cases.  But,  although  from  its  nature  it  did  not 
admit  of  being  strictly  enforced,  it  long  continued 
to  be  regarded  as  the  law  of  the  country,  and  re- 
peated attempts  were  made  to  secure  its  observance. 
In  1335,  by  the  9th  Edw.  III.  st.  2,  it  was  enacted 
that  no  person  should  henceforth  carry  out  of  the 
kingdom  either  money  or  plate  without  special 
license,  upon  pain  of  forfeiture  of  whatever  he 
should  so  convey  away.  Sworn  searchers  were 
appointed  to  see  that  the  law  was  observed  at  all 
the  ports  ;  and  it  was  further  ordered  that  the  inn- 
keepers at  every  port  should  be  sworn  to  search 
their  guests :  the  fourth  part  of  all  forfeits  was  as- 
signed as  the  reward  of  the  searchers.  In  1343, 
by  the  17th  Edw.  III.,  nearly  the  same  regulations 
were  repeated,  the  principal  variation  being  that, 
to  induce  them  to  do  their  duty  more  diligently, 
the  reward  of  the  searchers  was  now  raised  to  a 
third  part  of  the  forfeits,  and  penalties  were  pro- 
vided for  their  neglect  or  connivance.  We  may 
gather  from  all  this  that  the  law  had  been  exten- 
:  sively  evaded.  At  length  permission  was  given 
j  generally  to  foreign  merchants  to  carry  away  one 
j  half  of  the  money  for  which  they  sold  their  goods; 
the  law  is  thus  stated  in  the  14th  Eich.  II.  c.  1, 
passed  in  1390,  and  more  explicitly  in  the  2d  Hen. 
IV.  c.  5,  passed  in  1400;  but  it  is  still  expressly 
ordered  by  the  former  of  these  statutes  that  every 
alien  bringing  any  merchandise  into  England  shall 
find  sufficient  sureties  before  the  officers  of  the 
customs  to  expend  the  value  of  half  of  what  he  im- 
ports, at  the  least,  in  the  purchase  of  wools,  leather, 
woolfels,  lead,  tin,  butter,  cheese,  cloths,  or  other 
commodities  of  the  land. 

The  ignorance  and  misconception  from  which  all 
this  legislation  proceeded,  are  exhibited  in  a  striking 
point  of  view  by  the  fact  that  the  above-mentioned 
original  order  of  Edward  I.,  prohibiting  the  ex- 
portation of  money,  expressly  permits  the  amount 
of  the  money  to  be  remitted  abroad  in  bills  of  ex- 
change. And  at  all  times,  while  the  exportation 
of  money  was  forbidden,  the  remittance  of  bills 
seems  to  have  been  allowed.  •  But  a  bill  of  ex- 
change remitted  abroad  is  merely  an  order  tliat  a 
certain  party  in  the  foreign  country  shall  receive 
a  sum  of  money  which  is  due  to  the  drawer  of  the 
bill,  and  which  would  otherwise  have  to  be  sent  to 
the  country  where  he  resides  ;  if  no  such  money 
were  due,  the  bill  would  not  be  negotiable ;  every 
such  bill,  therefore,  if  it  did  not  carry  money  out  of 
the  country,  produced  precisely  the  same  eflCect  by 


800 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


[Book  IV. 


preventing  money  from  coming  in.  It  was  fit  and 
niitural  enough,  however,  that  this  simple  matter 
should  fail  to  be  perceived  in  times  when  it  was 
thought  that  a  great  advantage  was  gained  by  com- 
pelling the  foreign  merchant  to  sell  his  goods  for 
produce  instead  of  for  the  money  which  the  produce 
was  worth;  indeed,  it  may  be  fairly  said,  instead  of 
for  less  money  than  the  produce  was  worth,  for  all 
restraints  of  this  description  inevitably  operate  to 
enhance  the  price  of  what  is  prevented  from  being 
openly  bought  and  sold  on  the  terms  that  would  bo  nat- 
urally agreed  upon  between  the  parties  themselves. 
Another  strange  attempt  of  the  English  commer- 
cial legislation  of  those  times  was  to  impose  a  cer- 
tain measure  upon  all  foreign  cloths  brought  to  the 
country.  By  the  Act  2  Edw.  III.  c.  14,  passed  in 
1.3'28,  it  was  ordered  that,  from  the  Feast  of  St. 
Michael  ensuing,  all  cloths  that  were  imported 
should  be  measured  by  the  king's  aulnagers,  and 
that  all  those  that  were  not  found  to  bo  of  a  certain 
specified  length  and  breadth  should  be  forfeited  to 
the  king.  The  dimensions  fixed  by  the  statute  were, 
for  cloth  of  ray  (supposed  to  mean  striped  cloth), 
twenty-eight  yards  in  length  b}'  six  quarters  in 
breadth ;  and  for  colored  cloth,  twenty-six  yards  in 
length  by  six  and  a  half  quarters  in  breadth.  The 
regulation  of  weights  and  measures  within  the  king- 
dom was  a  proper  subject  of  legislation,  and  had  ne- 
cessarily engaged  attention  long  before  this  date ; 
though  at  a  period  when  science  was  unknown,  the 
methods  resorted  to  were  necessarily  very  inartifi- 
cial, and  sometimes  singular  enough;  Henry  I.,  for 
example,  soon  after  he  came  to  the  throne,  in  ordain- 
ing that  the  ell  or  j^ard  should  be  of  uniform  length 
throughout  the  kingdom,  could  find  no  better  stand- 
ard for  it  than  the  length  of  his  own  arm.  It  might 
also  have  been  found  expedient,  both  for  fiscal  and 
other  purposes,  to  direct  that  all  cloth  made  for  sale 
within  the  kingdom  should  be  of  certain  specified 
dimensions ;  regulations  to  that  eflfect  have  at  least 
been  usual  down  to  our  own  day.  But  it  was  to  stretch 
legislation  on  such  matters  beyond  all  reasonable  lim- 
its, to  attempt  to  fix  a  measure  for  the  cloth  made  in 
all  foreign  countries.  Such  a  law,  in  so  far  as  it 
was  enforced,  could  only  have  the  effect  of  dimin- 
ishing the  supply — in  other  words,  of  raising  the 
prices  of  foreign  goods.  But,  like  most  of  the  other 
absurd  restrictions  of  the  same  character,  the  main- 
tenance of  this  regulation  was  soon  found  to  be  im- 
practicable ;  if  it  had  been  rigorously  insisted  upon, 
it  would  have  excluded  the  manufactured  goods  of 
certain  foreign  countries  from  the  English  market 
altogether;  and  accordingly,  after  giving  a  great 
deal  of  useless  annoyance  both  to  foreign  merchants 
and  their  English  customers,  and  after  special 
exemptions  from  it  had  been  granted  to  several 
nations,  it  was  at  last  repealed  by  the  27  Edw.  III. 
Stat.  1,  c.  4,  passed  in  1353,  which  provided  that, 
"  whereas  the  gi-eat  men  and  commons  have  showed 
to  our  lord  the  king  how  divers  merchants,  foreigners 
as  well  as  denizens,  have  withdrawn  them,  and  yet 
do  withdraw  them,  to  come  with  cloths  into  England, 
to  the  great  damage  of  the  king  and  of  all  his  peo- 
ple, because  that  the  king's  aulnnger  surmiscth  to 


merchant  strangers  that  their  cloths  be  not  of 
assize,"  therefore  no  foreign  cloths  should  in  future 
be  forfeited  on  that  account,  but  when  any  was 
found  to  be  under  assize,  it  should  simply  be  marked 
by  the  aulnager,  that  a  proportionate  abatement 
might  be  made  in  the  price. . 

This  was  also  the  era  of  various  statutes  against 
the  supposed  mischiefs  of  forestalling.  The  statute 
'•  De  Pistoribus"  (attributed  by  some  to  the  51st 
year  of  Hen.  III.,  by  others  to  tlie  13th  of  Edw.  I.) 
contains  tlie  following  impassioned  description  and 
denouncement  of  this  offence:  "But  especially  be 
it  commanded,  on  the  behalf  of  our  lord  the  king, 
that  no  forestaller  be  sufl'ered  to  dwell  in  any  town, 
which  is  an  open  oppressor  of  poor  people,  and  of 
all  the  commonalty,  and  an  enemy  of  the  whole 
shire  and  country;  which  for  greediness  of  his 
private  gains  doth  prevent  others  in  buying  grain, 
fish,  herring,  or  any  other  thing  to  be  sold  coming 
by  land  or  water,  oppressing  the  poor  and  deceiving 
the  rich  ;  which  carrieth  away  such  things,  intend- 
ing to  sell  them  more  dear;  the  which  come  to 
merchant  strangers  that  bring  merchandise,  offering 
them  to  buy,  and  informing  them  that  their  goods 
might  be  dearer  sold  than  they  intended  to  sell,  and 
an  whole  town  or  a  country  is  deceived  by  such 
craft  and  subtlety."  It  might  be  supposed  from  all 
this  that  the  forestaller  bought  the  commodity  for 
the  purpose  of  throwing  it  into  the  sea  or  otherwise 
destroying  it ;  it  seems  to  have  been  forgotten  that, 
like  all  other  dealers,  he  bought  it  only  that  he 
might  sell  it  again  for  more  than  it  cost  him,  that  is 
to  say,  that  he  might  preserve  it  for  a  time  of  still 
higher  demand  and  greater  necessity.  But  for 
liim,  when  that  time  of  greater  scarcity  came,  thei'e 
would  be  no  provision  for  it;  if  the  people  were 
pinched  now,  they  Avould  be  starved  then.  The 
forestaller  is  merely  the  economical  distributor, 
who,  by  preventing  waste  at  one  time,  prevents 
absolute  want  at  another;  he  destroys  notliing; 
on  the  contrary,  wliatever  he  reserves  from  present 
consumption  is  sure  to  be  reproduced  by  him  in 
full  at  a  future  day,  when  it  will  be  still  more  need- 
ed. Were  it  otherwise,  forestalling  would  be  the 
most  losing  of  all  trades,  and  no  law  would  be  re- 
quired to  put  it  down.  The  English  laws  against 
forestalling,  regrating,  and  engrossing,  however, 
cannot  well  be  made  a  reproach  to  the  thirteenth 
century,  seeing  that  they  were  formally  renewed 
and  extended  in  the  sixteenth,^  and  were  not  finally 
removed  from  the  Statute  Book  till  toward  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth.- 

A  still  more  direct  attempt  to  derange  the  nat- 
ural balance  of  supply  and  demand  was  made  by 
Parliament  in  1315,  when,  with  the  view  of  re- 
lieving the  people  from  the  pressure  of  a  severe 
famine,  it  was  enacted  that  all  articles  of  food 
should  be  sold  at  certain  prescribed  prices.  It  was 
strangely  forgotten  that  the  evil  did  not  lie  in  the 
high  prices,  but  in  the  scarcity,  of  which  they  were 
the  necessary  consequence.  That  scarcity,  of 
course,  the  Act  of  Parliament  could  not  cure.     In 

1  By  the  5  and  6  Edward  VI.  c.  14  and  15. 
-  By  the.  12Gen.  III.  c.  71. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


801 


fact,  food  became  more  difficult  to  procure  than 
ever ;  for  even  those  who  had  any  to  sell,  and  would 
have  brought  it  to  market  if  they  could  have  had  a 
fair  price  for  it,  withheld  it  rather  than  dispose  of 
it  below  its  value.  What  was  sold  was  for  the 
most  part  sold  at  a  price  which  violated  the  law, 
and  which  was  made  still  higher  than  it  would 
otherwise  have  been  by  the  trouble  and  risk  which 
the  illegality  of  the  transaction  involved.  Butcher- 
meat  disappeared  altogether  ;  poultry,  an  article  of 
large  consumption  in  those  times,  became  nearly  as 
scarce ;  grain  was  only  to  be  had  at  enormous 
prices.  The  result  was,  that  the  king  and  the  Par- 
liament, after  a  few  months,  becoming  convinced  of 
their  mistake,  hastened  to  repeal  the  Act. 

The  same  thing,  in  principle  and  effect,  however, 
was  repeated  not  many  years  after,'  by  Acts  passed 
to  fix  the  wages  of  laborers, — in  other  words,  the 
price  of  the  commodity  called  labor.  In  1349  (the 
twenty-third  of  Edward  I.),  after  a  pestilence 
which  had  carried  oft'  great  numbers  of  the  people, 
was  issued  (apparently  by  the  authority  of  the  king, 
although  it  is  printed  as  a  statute)  "an  ordinance 
concerning  laborers  and  servants  ;"  which  directed, 
first,  that  persons  of  the  class  of  servants  should  be 
bound  to  serve  when  required  ;  and  secondly,  that 
they  should  serve  for  the  same  wages  that  were 
accustomed  to  be  given  three  years  before.  This 
ordinance,  indeed,  further  proceeded  to  enjoin  that 
all  dealers  in  victual  should  be  bound  to  sell  the 
same  "for  a  reasonable  price,"  and  inflicted  a  pen- 
alty upon  persons  oftending  against  that  enactment 
— although  it  did  not  presume  expressly  to  fix  a 
maximum  of  prices.  The  next  year,  by  the  25  Edw. 
[II.  St.  2,'  after  a  preamble,  declaring  that  ser- 
vants had  had  no  regai'd  to  the  preceding  ordinance, 
"  but  to  their  ease  and  singular  covetise,"  the  Par- 
liament established  a  set  of  new  provisions  for  eflfect- 
ing  its  object :  this  Act,  however,  contains  nothing 
on  the  subject  of  the  price  of  provisions.  The 
statute  of  laborers  was  confirmed  by  Parliament  in 
1360  (by  the  34  Edw.  III.  c.  9),  and  its  principle 
was  long  obstinately  clung  to  by  the  legislature,  not- 
withstanding the  constant  experience  of  its  ineffi- 
ciency, and  indeed  of  its  positive  mischief,  and  its 
direct  tendency  to  defeat  its  own  proposed  object ; 
for  a  law  is  rarely  harmless  because  it  is  of  im- 
practicable execution  ;  the  unskilful  surgery  of  the 
body  politic,  as  of  the  body  natural,  tears  and  tor- 
tures when  it  does  not  cure,  and  fixes  deeper  and 
more  firmly  the  barb  which  it  fails  to  extract.  By 
the  13  Rich.  II.  st.  1,  c.  8  (passed  in  1389-90),  it  is 
ordained  that,  "  forasmuch  as  a  man  cannot  put  the 
price  of  corn  and  other  victuals  in  certain,"  the  jus- 
tices of  peace  shall  every  year  make  proclamation 
"  by  their  discretion,  according  to  the  dearth  of  vict- 
uals, how  much  every  mason,  carpenter,  tiler,  and 
other  craftsmen,  workmen,  and  other  laborers  by 
the  day,  as  well  in  harvest  as  in  other  times  of  the 
year,  after  their  degree,  shall  take  by  the  day,  with 
meat  and  drink,  or  without  meat  and  drink,  and 
that  every  man  obey  to  such  proclamations  from 
time  to  time,  as  a  thing  done   by  statute."     It  is 

1  Commonly  entitled  Statute  the  First. 
VOL.  I. — 51 


also  ordered  that  victualers  "  shall  have  reasonable 
gains,  according  to  the  discretion  and  limitation  of 
the  said  justices,  and  no  more,  upon  pain  to  be 
grievously  punished,  according  to  the  discretion  of 
the  said  justices."  Finally,  provision  is  made  for 
the  correct  keeping  of  the  assize  (or  assessment 
from  time  to  time)  of  the  prices  of  bread  and  ale. 
The  earliest  notice  of  an  assize  in  England  is  found 
in  the  rolls  of  parliament  for  1203,  the  5th  of  John  ; 
but  the  first  introduction  of  the  practice  is  probably 
of  older  date.  The  most  ancient  law  upon  the  sub- 
ject that  has  been  preserved  is  that  entitled  the 
Assisa  Panis  et  Cervisife,  commonly  assigned  to  the 
51st  Hen.  III.  (a.d.  1266.)  The  assize  of  bread 
and  ale,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  determined  the 
prices  of  these  commodities,  not  arbitrarily,  but  bj- 
a  scale  regulated  according  to  the  market  prices  of 
wheat,  barley,  and  oats,  so  that  the  prices  that 
were  really  fixed  were  those  of  baking  and  of  brew- 
ing. The  assize  of  bread  was  reenacted  so  lately 
as  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  was  only 
abolished  in  London  and  its  neighborhood  about 
twenty  years  ago :  in  regard  to  other  places,  al- 
though it  has  fallen  into  disuse,  the  old  law  still  re- 
mains unrepealed.  But  various  other  articles,  such 
as  wine,  fish,  tiles,  cloths,  wood,  coal,  billets,  &c., 
have  at  diflTerent  times  been  made  subject  to  assize  ; 
and  in  the  case  of  most  of  these  the  assize  was  a 
perfectly  arbitrary  determination  of  the  price.  The 
present  period  furnishes  us  with  a  curious  example 
of  the  manner  in  which  some  of  these  attempts 
operated.  By  an  ordinance  issued  in  1357  (coin- 
monly  called  the  31  Edw.  III.  st.  2),  it  was  directed 
that  no  herrings  should  be  sold  for  a  higher  price 
than  forty  shillings  the  last.  But,  in  1361,  we 
find  the  king  and  his  council,  in  a  second  ordinance 
(commonly  called  the  statute  35  Edw.  III.),  frankly 
confessing  that  the  eftect  of  the  attempt  to  fix  prices 
in  this  case  had  been,  "  that  the  sale  of  herring  is 
much  decayed,  and  the  people  greatly  endamaged, 
that  is  to  say,  that  many  merchants  coming  to  the 
fair,  as  well  laborers  and  servants  as  other,  do 
bargain  for  herring,  and  every  of  them,  by  malice 
and  envy,  increase  upon  other,  and  if  one  proffer 
forty  shillings,  another  will  proft'er  ten  shillings 
more,  and  the  third  sixty  shillings,  and  so  every 
one  surmounteth  other  in  the  bargain,  and  such 
proffers  extend  to  more  than  the  price  of  the  her- 
ring upon  which  the  fishers  proffered  it  to  sell  at 
the  beginning."  The  ordinance,  promulgated  with 
the  intention  of  keeping  down  the  price  of  herrings, 
had  actually  raised  it.  Wherefore  "  we,"  con- 
cludes the  new  statute,  "perceiving  the  mischiefs 
and  grievances  aforesaid,  by  the  advice  and  assent 
of  our  Parliament,  will  and  grant,  that  it  shall  be 
lawful  to  every  man,  of  what  condition  that  he  may 
be,  merchant  or  other,  to  buy  herring  openly,  and 
not  privily,  at  such  price  as  may  be  agi-eed  be- 
tween him  and  the  seller  of  the  same  herring." 
This  fiiilure,  however,  did  not  deter  the  Parliament 
two  years  after  from  fixing  a  price  for  poultry  (by 
the  Stat.  37  Edw.  III.  c.  3);  but  the  next  year 
that  also  was  repealed  by  the  38  Edw.  III.  st.  1, 
0.  2,  which   ordained  that  all  people,  in  regard  to 


802 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


buying  and  selling  and  the  other  matters  treated  of 
in  the  preceding  statute,  should  be  as  free  as  they 
were  before  it  passed,  and  as  they  were  in  the 
time  of  the  king's  grandfather  and  his  other  good 
progenitors. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  impediments  and 
embarrassments  occasioned  by  all  this  blind  and  con- 
tradictory legislation,  English  commerce  undoubt- 
edly made  a  very  considerable  progress  in  the  course 
of  the  space  of  nearly  two  centuries  included  within 
the  present  period. 

The  directing  property  of  the  magnet,  and  its 
application  in  the  mariner's  compass,  appear  to 
have  become  known  in  Europe  toward  the  end  of 
the  tsvelfth  century,  and  the  instrument  was  proba- 
bly in  common  use  among  navigators  soon  after 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth.  Both  Chaucer  the 
English,  and  Barbour  the  Scottish  poet,  allude 
familiarly  to  the  compass  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  Barbour  tell  us  that  Robert 
Bruce  and  his  companions,  when  crossing,  during 
the  night,  from  Arran  to  the  coast  of  Carrick,  in 
1307,'  steered  by  the  hght  of  the  fire  they  saw  on 
the  shore, — "  for  they  na  needle  had  nor  stane  :" 
the  words  seem  to  imply  rather  that  they  were  by 
accident  without  a  compass,  than  that  the  instru- 
ment was  not  then  known.  Chaucer,  in  his  prose 
treatise  on  the  Astrolabe,  says  that  the  sailors  reckon 
thiity-two  parts  (or  points)  of  the  horizon ;  evi- 
dently referring  to  the  present  division  of  the  card, 
of  which  the  people  of  Bruges  are  said  to  have  been 
the  authors.  Gioia,  of  Amalfi,  who  flourished  in 
the  beginning  of  this  century,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  the  first  who  attached  a  divided  card  to  the 
needle ;  but  his  card  seems  to  have  had  only  eight 
winds  or  points  drawn  upon  it. 

The  contemporary  chroniclers  have  not  recorded 
the  effects  produced  by  the  introduction  of  the 
compass  on  navigation  and  rfiommerce  ;  but  it  must 
have  given  a  great  impulse  to  both.  A  few  in- 
teresting facts,  however,  connected  with  English 
shipping  during  the  present  period,  have  been  pre- 
served. Henry  III.  appears  to  have  had  some 
ships  of  his  own.  One  of  the  entries  in  the  Liber- 
ate Roll  of  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  is  as  fol- 
lows : — "  Henry,  by  the  grace  of  God,  &:c. — Pay 
out  of  our  treasury  to  Reynold  de  Bernevall  and 
Brother  Thomas,  of  the  Temple,  twenty-two 
marks  and  a  half,  for  repairs,  &c.  of  our  great 
ship ;  also  pay  to  the  six  masters  of  our  great  ship, 
to  wit,  to  Stephen  le  Vel,  one  mark  ;  Germanus  de 
la  Rie,  one  mark ;  John,  the  son  of  Sampson,  one 
mark ;  Colmo  de  Warham,  one  mark ;  Robert 
Gaillard,  one  mark ;  and  Simon  Westlegrei,  one 
mark.  Witness  ourself  at  Westminster,  the  17th 
day  of  May,  in  the  tenth  year  of  our  reign.  For 
the  mariners  of  the  great  ship."*  The  vessel 
here  referred  to  is,  we  suppose,  the  large  ship 
called  the  Queen,  which,  in  1233,  Henry  chai-- 
tered  to  John  Blancbally,  for  the  life  of  the  latter, 
for  an  annual  payment  of  fifty  marks.^     In  an  order 

1  See  ante,  p.  704. 

2  Issuesof  the  Excheq.  from  Hen.  III.  to  Hpn.  VI.  inclusive.  By  Fred. 
Devon     4to.  Lon.  1837.  =  Madox's  Hist.  Excheq.  o.  13,  «  11. 


of  the  same  king  to  the  barons  of  the  Cinque  Ports, 
in  1242,  mention  is  made  of  the  king's  galley  of 
Bristol,  and  of  the  king's  galleys  in  Ireland.  Ed- 
ward I.  probably  had  a  much  more  numerous  navy. 
When  ho  was  preparing  for  his  war  with  France,  in 
1294,  this  king  divided  his  navy  into  three  fleets,  over 
each  of  which  he  placed  an  admiral,  this  being  the 
first  time  that  that  title  is  mentioned  in  English  his- 
tory. We  are  not,  however,  to  suppose  that  all  the 
ships  forming  these  three  fleets  were  the  property 
of  the  king ;  the  royal  navy  was  still,  as  it  had  liere- 
tofore  been,  chiefly  composed  of  vessels  belonging 
to  private  merchants,  which  were  pressed  for  the 
public  service.  The  names  of  the  following  king's 
ships  are  mentioned  in  an  Issue  Roll  of  the  ninth 
of  Edward  II< :  —  the  Peter,  the  Bernard,  the 
Marion,  the  iNIary,  and  the  Catherine  ;  all  of 
Westminster.'  In  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  we 
find  many  ships  belonging  to  Yarmouth,  Bristol, 
Lynne,  Hull,  Ravensere,  and  other  ports,  distin 
guished  as  ships  of  war ;  but  this  designation  does 
not  seem  to  imply  that  they  were  royal  or  pubhc 
property. 

The  dominion  of  the  four  seas  appears  to  have 
been  first  distinctly  claimed  by  Edward  III.  At 
this  time  the  Cinque  Ports  were  bound  by  their 
charter  to  have  fifty-seven  ships  in  readiness  at  all 
times  for  the  king's  service ;  and  Edward  also  re- 
tained in  his  pay  a  fleet  of  galleys,  supplied,  accord- 
ing to  contract,  by  the  Genoese.  By  far  the  greater 
number,  however,  of  the  vessels  employed  in  every 
considerable  naval  expedition  of  those  times  con- 
sisted, as  we  have  said,  of  the  private  merchantmen. 
The  English  mercantile  navy  was  now  veiy  consid- 
erable. When  Henry  III.,  in  1253,  ordered  all  the 
vessels  in  the  country  to  be  seized  and  employed  in 
an  expedition  against  the  rebel  barons  of  Gascony, 
the  number  of  them,  Mattliew  Paris  tells  us,  was 
found  to  be  above  a  thousand,  of  which  three  hund- 
red were  large  ships.  The  foreign,  as  well  as  the 
English  vessels,  however,  are  included  in  this  enu- 
meration ;  the  former  as  well  as  the  latter  were 
subject  to  be  thus  pressed.  According  to  an  account 
given  in  one  of  the  Cotton  manuscripts  of  the  fleet 
employed  by  Edward  III.  at  the  siege  of  Calais  in 
1346,  it  consisted  of  25  ships  belonging  to  the  king, 
which  carried  419  mariners ;  of  37  foreign  ships 
(from  Bayonne,  Spain,  Flanders,  and  Guelderland), 
manned  by  780  mariners ;  of  one  vessel  from  Ire- 
land, carrying  25  men  ;  and  of  710  vessels  belonging 
to  English  ports,  the  crews  of  which  amounted  to 
14,151  persons.  These  merchantmen  were  divided 
into  the  south  and  the  north  fleet,  according  as  they 
belonged  to  the  ports  south  or  north  of  the  Thames. 
Among  the  places  that  supplied  the  greatest  number 
of  ships  and  men  were  the  following :  —  London, 
25  ships  with  662  men;  Margate,  15  with  160; 
Sandwich,  22  with  504  ;  Dover,  16  with  336  ;  Win- 
chelsea,  21  with  596;  Weymouth,  20  with  264; 
Newcastle,  17  with  414  ;  Hull,  16  with  466  ;  Grims- 
bj%  11  with  171;  Exmouth,  10  with  193;  Dart- 
mouth, 31  with  757  ;  Plymouth,  26  with  603  ;  Looe, 

1  Issues  of  Excheq.  ut  supra.     The  editor  adds,  "The  names  ot 
other  shijis  are  also  mentioned." 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY, 


803 


Ships  of  the  time  of  Richard  II.    Harleiaa  MS.  1310. 


20  with  32.5  ;  Fowey,  47  with  170  ;  Bristol,  24  with 
<)08;  Shoreham,  20  with  329;  Southampton,  21 
with  572;  Lynne,  16  with  482;  Yarmouth,  43 
with  1095;  Gosport,  13  with  403;  Harwich,  14 
with  283;  Ipswich,  12  with  239;  and  Boston,  17 
with  361.  These,  therefore,  it  may  be  assumed, 
were  at  this  time  the  principal  trading  towns  in  the 
kingdom. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  vessels,  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  numbers  of  the  men,  were  of  veiy 
various  sizes ;  and  none  of  them  could  have  been  of 
any  considerable  magnitude.  A  ship,  manned  by 
thirty  seamen,  which  the  people  of  Yarmouth  fitted 
out,  in  1254,  to  carry  over  Prince  Edward,  after- 
ward Edward  I.,  to  the  continent,  is  spoken  of  with 
admiration  by  the  writers  of  the  time  for  its  size  as 
well  as  its  beauty.  Some  foreign  ships,  however, 
were  considerably  larger  than  any  of  the  English  at 
this  period.  Thus,  one  of  the  vessels  which  was 
lent  by  the  republic  of  Venice  to  St.  Louis,  in 
1270,  when  he  set  out  on  his  second  crusade,  meas- 
ured one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  length, 
and  carried  one  hundred  and  ten  men.  But  this 
was  reckoned  a  vessel  of  extraordinarj^  size  even  in 
the  Mediterranean.  In  1360,  Edward  III.,  in  an 
order  for  arresting  all  the  vessels  in  the  kingdom 
for  an  expedition  against  France,  directed  that  the 
largest  ships  should  carry  forty  mariners,  forty 
armed  men,  and  sixty  archers.  A  ship,  which  was 
taken  from  the  French  in  1385,  is  said  to  have  been, 
a  short  time  before,  built  for  the  Norman  merchants 
in  the  East  country  at  a  cost  of  five  thousand  francs 
(above  8301.  sterling),  and  to  have  been  sold  by 
them  to  Clisson,  the  Constable  of  France,  for  three 
thousand  francs.     This  was  one  of  eighty  vessels  of 


various  kinds,  ships,  galleys,  cogs,  carracks,  barges 
lines,  balingars,  &c.,  which  were  captured  thi3 
same  year  by  the  governor  of  Calais  and  the  sea- 
men of  the  Cinque  Ports.  "There  were  taken," 
says  the  historian  Walsingham,  "  and  slain  in  those 
ships,  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  seamen  and 
mercenaries.  Blessed  be  God  for  all  things."  One 
ship  taken  by  the  Cinque  Port  vessels  Avas  valued — 
her  cargo  no  doubt  included — at  twenty  thousand 
marks.  But  half  a  century  before  this,  we  read  of 
Genoese  galleys,  loaded  with  wool,  cloth,  and  other 
merchandise,  which  were  reckoned  to  be  worth 
60,000L  and  70,000Z.  in  the  money  of  Genoa. 

Some  notices  that  have  been  preserved  of  the 
shipping  of  Scotland  during  this  period  prove  its 
amount  to  have  been  more  considerable  than  might 
be  expected.  Indeed,  that  country  seems  to  have 
had  some  reputation  for  ship-building  even  on  the 
continent.  Matthew  Paris  relates  that  one  of  the 
great  ships  in  the  fleet  that  accompanied  St.  Louis 
on  his  first  crusade,  in  1249,  had  been  built  at  In- 
verness, for  the  Earl  of  St.  Paul  and  Blois.  The 
historian  calls  her  "  a  wonderful  ship,"  in  allusion, 
apparently,  to  her  magnitude.  Mention  is  made, 
in  an  ancient  charter,  of  one  ship  which  belonged 
to  the  Scottish  crown  in  the  reign  of  Alexander  III., 
who  died  in  1286;  and  Fordun  states  that,  at  this 
time,  the  King  of  Man  was  bound  to  furnish  his 
liege  lord,  the  King  of  Scots,  when  required,  with 
five  warlike  galleys  of  twenty-four  oars,  and  five  of 
twelve  oars,  and  that  other  maritime  vessels  con- 
tributed vessels  in  proportion  to  their  lands.  One 
of  Alexander's  commercial  laws  was  of  a  singular 
character,  if  we  may  believe  this  historian.  In  con- 
sequence of  several  merchant  vessels  belonging  to 


804 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


his  subjects  having  been  taken  by  ph-ates  or  lost  at 
sea  while  voyaging  to  foreign  parts,  he  prohibited 
the  merchants  of  Scotland  from  exporting  any  goods 
in  their  own  vessels  for  a  certain  time.  The  con- 
sequence, it  is  affirmed,  was,  that  before  the  end  of 
a  jear,  numerous  foreign  vessels  arrived  with  goods 
of  all  kinds  ;  and  the  kingdom  obtained  a  cheaper 
and  more  abundant  supply  of  the  produce  of  other 
countries  than  it  had  ever  before  enjoyed.  If  any 
such  effect  as  this  was  produced,  the  law,  at  the 
same  time  that  it  restrained  the  native  ship  owners 
from  importing  goods,  probably  removed  some  re- 
strictions that  had  previously  been  imposed  on  the 
entry  into  the  kingdom  of  foreign  merchants.  In 
the  wars  between  England  and  Scotland,  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  III.,  the  latter  country  frequently 
made  considerable  naval  exertions,  sometimes  by 
itself,  sometimes  in  conjunction  with  its  allies.  In 
1335,  a  vessel  belonging  to  Southampton,  laden  with 
wool  and  other  merchandise,  was  taken  by  some 
Scottish  and  Norman  privateers  in  the  mouth  of  the 
Thames ;  and,  in  the  following  year,  a  numerous 
fleet  of  ships  and  galleys,  equipped  by  the  Scots,  at- 
tacked and  plundered  Guernsey  and  Jersey,  and 
captured  sevei'al  English  vessels  lying  at  anchor  at 
the  Isle  of  Wight.  In  the  autumn  of  1357,  again, 
three  Scottish  ships  of  war,  carrying  three  hundred 
chosen  armed  men,  are  stated  to  have  cruised  on 
the  east  coast  of  England,  and  greatly  annoyed  the 
trade  in  that  quarter,  till  the  equinoctial  gales  drove 
them,  along  with  a  number  of  English  vessels,  into 
Yarmouth,  where  they  were  taken.  These  appear 
to  have  been  unauthorized  private  adventurers — 
there  being  at  this  time  a  truce  between  the  two 
counti'ies.  The  bold  enterprise  of  the  Scottish 
captain,  John  Mercer,  in  1378,  till  a  stop  was  put  to 
his  career  by  the  public  spirit  of  a  citizen  of  Lon- 
don, John  Philpot,  has  been  mentioned  in  a  former 
page.'  Mercer  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of  a 
burgess  of  Perth,  one  of  the  most  opulent  merchants 
of  Scotland,  who,  the  year  before,  when  returning 
from  abroad,  had  been  driven  by  stress  of  weather 
upon  the  English  coast,  and  there  seized  and  con- 
fined for  some  time  in  the  castle  of  Scarborough. 
It  was  to  revenge  this  injury  that  the  son  fitted  out 
his  armament.  A  few  years  after  this,  some  pri- 
vateers of  Hull  and  Newcastle  captured  a  Scottish 
ship,  the  cargo  of  which,  according  to  Walsingham, 
was  valued  at  seven  thousand  marks. 

The  most  ancient  record,  which  presents  a  gen- 
eral view  of  the  foreign  trade  of  England,  is  an  ac- 
count preserved  in  the  Exchequer  of  the  exports 
and  imports,  together  with  the  amount  of  the  cus- 
toms paid  upon  them,  in  the  year  1354.  The  exports 
here  mentioned  are,  31,65H  sacks  of  wool  at  6/. 
per  sack;  3036  cwt.  (120  lbs.)  of  wool  at  40s.  per 
cwt. ;  65  woolfels,  total  value  '21s.  8d.;  hides  to  the 
value  of  89?.  5s. ;  4774§  pieces  of  cloth  at  40s.  each  ; 
and  8061^  pieces  of  worsted  stuff  at  16s.  8d.  each  : 
— total  value  of  the  exports,  212,338Z.  5s.,  paying 
customs  to  the  amount  of  81,846L  12s.  2d.  Wool, 
therefore,  would  appear,  by  this  account,  to  have 
constituted  about  thirteen  fourteenths  of  the  whole 

>  See  ante,  p.  756 


exports  of  the  kingdom.  The  customs  would  seem 
to  have  been  almost  entirely  derived  from  wool ; 
the  amount  paid  by  the  hides  and  cloth  exported 
amounts  only  to  about  220/.  The  duty  on  the  ex- 
port of  wool  exceeded  40  per  cent,  on  the  value. 
The  imports  mentioned  are,  1831  pieces  of  fine 
cloths,  at  61.  each  ;  397|  cwt.  of  wax  at  40s.  per 
cwt.  ;  1829^  tuns  of  wine  at  40s.  per  tun  ;  and  lin- 
ens, mercery,  grocery,  &c.,  to  the  value  of  22,943/. 
6s.  lOf/. : — making  a  total  value  of  38,383/.  16s. 
lOd.  The  great  excess,  according  to  this  statement, 
of  the  exports  over  the  imports,  has  been  regarded 
as  evincing  the  moderation  and  sobriety  of  our  an- 
cestors. "  But  when  we  look  at  the  articles,"  it 
has  been  well  observed,  "and  find  that  of  raw  ma- 
terials for  manufactures,  which  constitute  so  great  a 
part  of  the  modern  imports,  there  was  not  one  single 
article  imported,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
exports  consisted  almost  entirely  of  the  most  valua- 
ble raw  materials,  and  of  cloths  in  an  unfinished 
state,  which  may,  therefore,  also  be  classed  among 
raw  materials,  we  must  acknowledge  that  it  affords 
only  a  proof  of  the  low  state  of  manufactures  and 
of  commercial  knowledge  among  a  people  who 
were  obliged  to  allow  foreigners  to  have  tjje  profit 
of  manufacturing  their  own  wool,  and  finishing  their 
own  cloths,  and  afterward  to  repurchase  both  from 
them  in  the  form  of  finished  goods.'" 

This  account  is  probably  to  be  considered  as 
comprehending  only  those  articles  from  M'hich  the 
revenue  of  the  customs  was  derived.  We  know 
that  several  other  articles  beside  those  mentioned 
were,  at  least  occasionally,  exported.  A  demand 
for  the  tin  of  Britain,  for  instance,  appears  to  have 
always  existed  on  the  continent.  A  Cornish  miner, 
indeed,  who  had  been  banished  fi-om  his  native 
country,  is  said  to  have,  in  the  year  1241,  dis- 
covered some  mines  of  tin  in  Germany,  the  prod- 
uce of  which  was  so  abundant  that  the  metal  was 
even  imported  into  England,  by  which  the  price  in 
this  country  was  considerably  reduced.  But  this 
competition  certainly  did  not  permanently  destroy 
either  the  domestic  or  the  export  trade  in  British 
tin.  In  1338  we  find  Edward  III.  ordering  all  the 
tin  in  Cornwall  and  Devonshire,  including  even 
what  might  have  been  already  sold  to  foreign  mer- 
chants, to  be  seized  and  sent  to  the  continent,  there 
to  be  sold  on  his  account,  the  owners  being  obliged 
to  accept  of  a  promise  of  payment  in  two  years. 
In  1348,  it  is  recorded  that  the  merchants  and 
others  complained  to  the  Parliament  that  all  the 
tin  of  Cornwall  was  bought  and  exported  by  Tid- 
man  of  Limburgh,  so  that  no  Englishman  could 
get  any  of  it ;  they  therefore  prayed  that  it  might 
be  freely  sold  to  all  merchants ;  but  they  received 
for  answer  that  it  was  a  profit  belonging  to  the 
prince,  and  that  every  lord  might  make  his  profit 
of  his  own.  Cornwall  had,  in  1337,  been  erected 
into  a  duchy  in  fiivor  of  the  Black  Prince,  and 
settled  by  Act  of  Parliament  on  the  eldest  son  of 
the  king,  as  it  still  remains.  The  export  of  tin  is 
mentioned,  in  1390,  in  the  statute  14  Rich.  II.  c.  7, 
Avhich  declares  Dartmouth  the  only  port  at  which 

1  Macpherson,  Ann.  of  Com.  i.  554. 


Uhap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


805 


it  shall  be  shipped  ;  and  also  in  the  following  year, 
in  the  15th  Rich.  II.  c.  8.,  which  repeals  the  last- 
mentioned  Act,  and  allows  the  exportation  of  the 
commodity  from  any  port,  but  provides  that  it  shall 
be  carried  only  to  Calais,  so  long  as  wool  shall  be 
carried  to  that  place.  Lead,  butter,  and  cheese 
are  likewise,  as  we  have  seen,  enumerated  among 
the  "  commodities  of  the  land,"  in  which  foreign 
merchants  Were  compelled,  by  the  14th  Rich.  II. 
c.  1,  to  invest  half  the  money  which  they  should 
receive  for  the  commodities  they  imported.  The 
exportation  of  lead  in  particular  is  repeatedly  al- 
luded to  in  the  regulations  respecting  the  staple, 
and  other  Acts  of  Parliament ;  and  considerable 
quantities  of  that  metal  are  supposed  to  have  been 
noAV  obtained  from  the  Welsh  mines.  It  may  be 
presumed,  also,  that  iron  was  occasionally  exported 
during  this  period,  from  the  statute  28  Edw.  III. 
c.  5  (passed  in  1354),  which  enacts  that  no  iron, 
whether  made  in  England  or  imported,  shall  be 
carried  out  of  the  country.  Salted  fish,  and  es- 
pecially herrings,  formed  another  article  of  export, 
at  least  from  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  probably  from  a  much  earlier  date. 
Corn  appears  to  have  been  sometimes  exported, 
sometimes  impoi'ted,  but  apparently  never  without 
the  special  license  of  the  crown.  Thus  we  find 
Edward  III.,  in  1359,  granting  liberty  to  the 
Flemings  to  trade  in  England,  and  to  export  corn 
and  other  provisions  from  the  country  on  obtaining 
his  special  license  and  paying  the  customs.  In 
1376,  on  the  other  hand,  a  permission  is  recorded 
to  have  been  granted  to  import  four  hundred  quarters 
of  corn  from  Ireland  to  Kendal  in  Westmoreland. 
In  1382  a  general  proclamation  was  issued,  prohibit- 
ing, under  penalty  of  the  confiscation  of  the  vessel 
and  cargo,  the  exportation  of  corn  or  malt  t«  any 
foreign  country,  except  to  the  king's  territories  in 
Gascony,  Ba}'onne,  Calais,  Brest,  Cherbourg,  Ber- 
wick-upon-Tweed, and  other  places  of  strength 
belonging  to  the  king.  But  twelve  years  afterward, 
by  the  statute  17  Rich.  II.  c.  7,  all  English  subjects 
were  allowed  to  export  corn  to  any  country  not 
hostile,  on  paying  the  due  customs;  a  power,  how- 
ever, being  still  reserved  to  the  king's  council  to  stop 
the  exportation  if  necessary.  The  introduction  of 
the  use  of  coal,  as  an  article  both  of  foreign  trade 
and  of  domestic  consumption,  is  probably  to  be 
assigned  to  this  period,  though  some  have  been 
disposed  to  carry  it  farther  back.  The  earliest 
authentic  document  in  which  coal  is  distinctly 
mentioned  is  an  order  of  Henry  III.,  in  1245,  for 
an  inquisition  into  trespasses  committed  in  the  royal 
forests,  in  which  inquiry  is  directed  to  be  made  re- 
specting sea-coal  ("  de  carbone  maris ")  found  in 
the  forests.  This  expression  appears  to  imply  that 
coals  had  before  this  time  been  brought  to  London 
by  sea,  and  probably  from  Newcastle.  Sea-coal 
lane,  between  Skinner-street  and  Farringdon-street, 
is  mentioned  by  that  name  in  a  charter  of  the  year 
1253.  Regulations  are  laid  down  for  the  sale  of 
coals  in  the  statutes  of  the  guild  of  Berwick-upon- 
Tweed,  which  were  established  in  1284.  There 
is  extant  a  charter  of  William  of  Obervell,  in  1291, 


granting  liberty  to  the  monks  of  Dunfermline,  in 
Scotland,  to  dig  coals  for  their  own  use  in  his  lands 
of  Pittencrief,  but  prohibiting  them  from  selling  any. 
It  is  probable,  however,  that  this  description  of  fuel 
was  not  as  yet  much  used  for  domestic  purposes  ; 
for  the  smoke,  or  smell,  of  a  coal-fire  was  at  first 
thought  to  be  highly  noxious.  "  This  same  year," 
(1360),  says  Maitland,  in  his  History  of  London, 
"  sea-coals  being  very  much  used  in  the  suburbs  of 
London  by  brewers,  dyers,  and  others  requiring 
great  fires,  the  nobility  and  gentry  resorting  thither 
complained  thereof  to  the  king  as  a  public  nui- 
sance, whereby,  they  said,  the  air  was  infested  with 
a  noisome  smell,  and  a  thick  cloud,  to  the  great 
endangering  of  the  health  of  the  inhabitants; 
wherefore  a  proclamation  was  issued,  strictly  for- 
bidding the  use  of  that  fuel.  But  Httle  regard 
being  paid  thereunto,  the  king  appointed  a  com- 
mission of  Oyer  and  Terminer  to  inquire  after 
those  who  had  contumaciously  acted  in  open  de- 
fiance to  his  proclamation,  strictly  commanding  all 
such  to  be  punished  by  pecuniary  mulcts ;  and 
for  the  second  offence,  to  have  their  kilns  and  fur- 
naces destroyed."  What  would  these  sensitive 
alarmists  of  the  fourteenth  century  have  said  if 
they  could  have  been  informed  that  the  day  would 
come  when  London  should  have  constantly  some 
ten  or  twelve  tuns  of  coal-dust  suspended  over  it? 
The  prejudice  against  coal-fires,  however,  seems  to 
have,  in  no  long  time,  died  away.  In  1325  we 
find  mention  made  of  the  exportation  of  coals  from 
Newcastle  to  France  ;  and  the  first  leases  of  coal- 
works  in  the  neighborhood  of  that  town  of  which 
there  is  any  account  are  dated  only  a  few  years 
later.  They  were  granted  by  the  monks  of  Tyne- 
mouth  to  various  persons  at  annual  rents,  varying 
from  two  to  about  five  pounds.  Ten  shillings' 
worth  of  Newcastle  coals  are  recorded  to  have  been 
purchased  for  the  coronation  of  Edward  III.  in 
1327.  Before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  an  active  trade  was 
carried  on  in  the  conveyance  of  Newcastle  coal  by 
sea  to  London  and  elsewhere. 

Wool,  however,  was,  during  the  whole  of  this 
period,  as  for  a  long  time  afterward,  the  great 
staple  of  the  kingdom.  In  1279,  in  a  petition  to 
Edward  I.,  the  nobles  asserted  that  the  wool  pro- 
duced in  England,  and  mostly  exported  to  Flanders, 
was  nearly  equal  to  half  the  land  in  value.  Eng- 
lish wool  appears  also  to  have  been  in  great  request 
in  France,  in  which  countiy,  as  well  as  in  Flan- 
ders, the  manufacture  of  woolen  cloth  was  early 
established.  Little  cloth,  as  we  have  already  had 
occasion  to  observe,  was  made  in  England,  and  that 
little  only  of  the  coarsest  description,  till  the  wise 
poHcy  of  Edward  III.,  by  a  grant  dated  in  1331, 
invited  weavers,  dyers,  and  fullers,  from  Flanders, 
to  come  over  and  settle  in  the  country,  promising 
them  his  protection  and  favor  on  condition  that 
they  should  carry  on  their  trades  here,  and  com- 
municate the  knowledge  of  them  to  his  subjects. 
The  first  person  who  accepted  of  this  invitation 
was  John  Kempe,  a  weaver  of  woolen  cloth ;  he 
came  over  with  his  goods  and  chattels,  his  servants 


806 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


and  his  apprentices.  Miiny  of  his  counti-ymeu  soon 
followed :  a  few  years  later  other  weavers  came 
over  from  Brabant  and  Zealand;  and  thus  was 
established  certainly  the  first  manufacture  oi  fine 
woolen  cloths  in  England.  It  was  many  years, 
however,  as  we  have  seen,  before  this  infant  manu- 
facture was  able  even  to  supply  the  domestic  de- 
mand, far  less  to  maintain  any  export  trade  in 
woolens.  The  cloths  of  the  continent,  in  spite  of 
various  legislative  attempts  to  exclude  them,  long 
continued  to  be  imported  in  considerable  quantities. 
The  47741  pieces  of  cloth  exported  in  1354  were 
evidently,  from  their  price,  of  the  old  coarse  fabric 
of  the  country.  Large  quantities  of  the  English 
wool  also  continued  annually  to  go  abroad.  With 
the  view  of  keeping  up  the  price  of  the  article,'  it 
was  enacted  by  the  statute  14  Kich.  II.  c.  4,  passed 
in  1390,  that  no  denizen  of  England  should  buy 
wool  except  of  the  owners  of  the  sheep,  and  for 
his  own  use  ;  in  other  words,  the  entire  export 
trade  in  the  commodity  was  made  over  to  the 
foreign  merchant,  and  he  was  at  the  same  time 
confined  to  the  export  trade.  The  object  obviously 
was  to  secure  to  the  grower  not  only  his  proper 
profits,  but  in  addition  those  of  the  wool-mer- 
chant and  retailer,  in  so  far  as  regarded  the  domes- 
tic consumption.  But,  beside  the  injury  done  to 
the  native  merchant  by  his  exclusion  from  the  ex- 
port trade,  it  was  strangely  forgotten  that  the  mo- 
nopoly of  that  trade,  secured  to  the  foreigner,  must 
have  deprived  the  grower  of  perhaps  half  his  cus- 
tomers,— namely,  of  all  the  English  dealers  who 
would  have  purchased  the  article  for  exportation ; 
and  must  thus,  by  diminishing  competition,  have 
tended  to  depress  prices  instead  of  raising  them. 
Such,  accordingly,  is  stated  to  have  been  the  eifect 
produced.  The  contemporary  historian,  Knyghton, 
tells  us  that,  in  consequence  of  this  prohibition  of 
the  export  of  wool  by  English  merchants,  the 
article  lay  unsold  in  many  places  for  two  or  three 
years,  and  many  of  the  growers  were  reduced  to 
the  greatest  distress.  In  1391,  however,  although 
the  quantity  of  wool  exported  is  affirmed  to  have 
been  that  year  much  less  than  formerly,  the  cus- 
toms on  it  amounted  to  1G0,000Z.  According  to 
Robert  of  Avesbury,  who  is  supposed  to  have  died 
about  1356,  the  annual  exportation  of  wool  from 
England  had,  in  his  day,  reached  to  above  a  hun- 
dred thousand  sacks  ;  the  customs  on  which,  at  the 
duty  of  50s.  on  the  sack,  would  produce  a  revenue 
of  above  250,000L  This  estimate,  however,  is 
very  inconsistent  with  the  official  account  already 
quoted  of  the  entire  exports  and  imports  for  1354. 
If  it  is  to  be  at  all  received,  it  ought  probably  to 
be  assigned  to  a  date  considerably  later  than  that 
at  which  Avesbury  is  commonly  assumed  to  have 
died. 

The  principal  society  of  foreign  merchants  at  this 
time  established  in  England  appears  to  have  been 
that  of  the  merchants  of  Cologne.  They  had  a 
hall  or  factory  in  London  called  their  Guildhall,  for 
the  saisine  (or  legal  possession)  of  which  they  paid 
thirty-  marks  to  the  crown  in  a.d.  1220.     "  It  seems 

'  Por  meutz  garde r  le  liaut  pris  des  leyns. 


probable,"  says  INlacpherson,  "  that  this  Guildhall,  by 
the  association  of  the  merchants  of  other  cities  with 
those  of  Cologne,  became  in  time  the  general  fac- 
tory and  residence  of  all  the  German  merchants  in 
London,  and  was  the  same  that  was  afterward 
known  by  the  name  of  the  German  Guildhall  {Gild- 
halla  Tcutonicorum).  It  appears  that  the  mer- 
chants of  Cologne  were  bound  to  make  a  payment 
of  two  shillings,  probably  a  reserved  aimual  rent 
(for  we  are  not  told  upon  what  occasions  it  was  pay- 
able), out  of  the  Guildhifll,  beside  other  customs  and 
demands,  from  all  which  they  were  exempted  in 
the  year  1235,  by  King  Henry  III.,  who  moreover 
gave  them  permission  to  attend  fairs  in  any  part  of 
England,  and  also  to  buy  and  to  sell  in  London, 
saving  the  liberties  of  the  city." '  The  principal 
part  of  the  foreign  trade,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  merchants  of  the  Staple, 
otherwise  called  the  merchants  of  England,  who, 
as  noticed  above,  were  incorporated  at  least  as  early 
as  the  year  1313.  This  society  was  composed  of 
native  merchants. 

It  has  also  been  affirmed  that  there  existed,  so 
early  as  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  an 
association  of  English  merchants  for  trading  in  for- 
eign parts,  called  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Thomas 
Becket  of  Canterbury,  ft-om  which  originated  the 
afterward  celebrated  company  of  the  Merchant  Ad- 
venturers of  England ;  but  this  story  does  not  rest 
on  any  sufficient  authority." 

The  historian  Walsingham  has  preserved  the 
record  of  a  remarkable  proposal  which  was  made 
in  1379  to  Richard  II.  by  an  opulent  merchant  of 
Genoa.  This  foreigner,  it  is  said,  submitted  to  the 
English  king  a  plan  for  raising  the  port  of  South- 
ampton to  a  preeminence  over  every  other  in  the 
west  of  Europe,  by  making  it  the  deposit  and  mart 
of  all  the  oriental  goods  which  the  Genoese  used  to 
carry  to  Flanders,  Normandy,  and  Bretagne,  which 
countries  would  thenceforth  be  supplied  with  these 
commodities  from  England.  All  that  the  Genoese 
merchant  asked,  according  to  Walsingham,  was, 
that  he  should  be  allowed  to  store  his  goods  in  the 
royal  castle  of  Southampton.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  this  was  only  one  of  the  minor  features 
of  his  plan,W'hich  must  have  been  chiefly  dependent 
for  its  success  upon  the  resources  and  connections 
of  its  author,  the  spirit  with  which  it  Avas  taken  up 
and  supported  by  the  English  king,  and  the  natural 
aptitude  of  the  port  of  Southampton  to  serve  as  a 
reservoir  of  the  oriental  trade.  As  yet,  it  is  to  bo 
remembered,  no  direct  trade  existed  between  India 
and  Europe ;  all  the  produce  of  the  former  that 
found  its  way  to  the  latter  was  procured  by  the 
merchants  of  Venice,  Genoa,  and  other  cities  of 
Italy,  from  the  cmporia  in  the  eastern  parts  of  the 
Mediterranean,  of  which  the  principal  at  this  time 
were  Acre,  Constantinople,  and  Alexandria.  It  is 
not  very  obvious  what  advantage  the  Italian  import- 
ers were  to  expect  from  bringing  all  their  goods  in 
the  first  instance  to  Southampton,  instead  of  pro- 

I  Annals  of  Com.  i.  3S3. 

-  See  Wheeler's  Treatise  of  Commerce,  pp.  10  and   14  ;  and  Mac- 
pherson,  i.  SOT  and  OCO. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


807 


ceeding  with  tliem  directly  to  the  continental  mar- 
kets. Walsingliam  says  it  was  expected,  if  the  plan 
had  been  carried  into  execution,  that  pepper  would 
have  been  sold  in  England  at  four  pennies  a  pound, 
and  other  spices  at  a  proportionably  low  rate.  Silk 
was  now  manufactured,  and  the  silk-worm  reared, 
in  Ital}^  and  other  countries  of  the  south  of  Europe, 
and  little,  if  any,  was  brought  from  Asia;  so  that 
spiceries  and  fruits  seem  to  have  been  the  principal 
commodities  which  were  received  from  the  eastern 
trade.  The  cargo  of  a  Genoese  ship,  which  was 
driven  ashore  atDunster,  in  Somersetshire,  in  1380, 
consisted  of  green  ginger,  ginger  cured  with  lemon- 
juice,  one  bale  of  arquinetta,^  dried  grapes  or  raisins, 
sulphur,  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  bales  of  wadde 
(perhaps  woad),  twenty-two  bales  of  writing  paper, 
white  sugar  (perhaps  sugar-candy),  six  bales  of 
empty  boxes,  dried  prunes,  eight  bales  oirisce  (prob- 
ably rice),  five  bales  of  cinnamon,  one  pipe  "  pul- 
veris  salvistri,"  the  meaning  of  which  is  unknown, 
and  five  bales  of  bussus  (probably  fine  Egyptian  flax). 
Some  Genoese  cogs  and  carracks,  however,  bound 
for  Flanders,  that  were  seized  on  the  coast  of  Kent 
in  1386,  are  said  to  have  been  laden,  not  only  with 
spices,  but  with  wines,  stuffs  of  gold  and  silk,  gold, 
silver,  precious  stones,  etc.  The  scheme  of  the 
Genoese  merchant  with  regard  to  Southampton 
was  put  an  end  to  by  its  author  being  murdered  in 
the  streets  of  London  by  assassins,  whom  some 
English  merchants  are  charged  with  having  hired, 
in  the  apprehension  that  his  proposal  was  calculated 
to  be  injurious  to  their  interests.  It  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  those  bold  designs  wliich  have  more  in 
their  character  of  the  prophetic  than  of  the  practi- 
cal ;  it  was  a  conception  that  shot  ahead  of  the  age, 
and  the  attempt  to  realize  it  at  that  time  would 
probably,  in  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  have 
proved  a  failure  ;  but  this  selection  of  Southampton 
for  a  great  European  emporium  in  the  fourteenth 
century  may  be  regarded  as  in  some  degree  an  an- 
ticipation of  the  project  which  promises  to  be  accom- 
plished in  the  nineteenth,  of  bringing  that  place 
within  two  or  three  hours'  distance  of  London  by 
means  of  a  railway,  and  thus  turning  the  natural 
advantages  of  its  position  to  full  account  by  making 
it  one  of  the  ports  of  the  metropolis. 

A  few  facts  remain  to  be  added  respecting  the 
commerce  of  Scotland  during  this  period,  in  addition 
to  those  that  have  already  been  incidentally  noticed. 
The  chief  seat  of  the  Scottish  foreign  trade  contin- 
ued to  be  at  Berwick  till  the  capture  of  that  town 
by  Edward  I.  in  1296.  A  society  of  Flemish  mer- 
chants, similar,  apparently,  to  the  Teutonic  Guildhall 
of  London,  was  established  in  that  place  :  the  gal- 
lantry with  which  they  defended  a  strong  building, 
called  the  Red  Hall,  which  was  their  factory,  has 
been  mentioned  in  the  account  of  the  siege."  Ber- 
wick, before  this  catastrophe,  is  described  in  the 
contemporary  Chronicle  of  Lanercost  as  a  second 
Alexandria,  for  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  and 

1  Both  Ande7snn  and  Alacphorson  quote  this  term  from  the  original 
statement  in  the  Fcedera  (vii.  233),  without  either  explanation  or  ques- 
tion.    We  have  not  licen  able  to  discover  the  meaning  of  the  word. 

2  Sec  ante,  p.  6S9. 


the  extent  of  its  commerce.  The  sea,  it  is  added, 
was  its  wealth  ;  the  waters  were  its  walls  ;  and  the 
opulent  citizens  were  very  liberal  in  their  donations 
to  reUgious  houses.  The  customs  of  Berwick  were 
rented  from  Alexander  III.  by  a  merchant  of  Gas- 
cony  for  2197Z.  8s.,  a  sum  which  would  in  those 
days  have  bought  about  sixteen  thousand  quarters 
of  wheat.  "  By  the  agency  of  the  merchants  of 
Berwick,  the  wool,  hides,  woolfels,  and  other  wares, 
the  produce  of  Roxburgh,  Jedburgh,  and  all  the 
adjacent  country,  were  shipped  for  foreign  coun- 
tries, or  sold  upon  the  spot  to  the  Flemish  company. 
The  exportation  of  salmon  appears  to  have  been 
also  a  considerable  branch  of  their  trade,  as  we  find 
it  some  time  after  an  object  of  attention  to  the  leg- 
islature of  England,  and  the  regulation  of  it  intrust- 
ed to  the  great  officers  of  the  government.  AVhen 
Edward  III.  wanted  two  thousand  salmon  for  his 
own  use  in  the  year  1361,  he  sent  orders  to  procure 
them  for  him  at  Berwick  (then  belonging  to  Eng- 
land) and  Newcastle — no  doubt  the  places  most 
famous  for  them  in  his  dominions." '  Berwick, 
however,  never  recovered  from  the  blow  given  to 
its  prosperity  by  the  destructive  sack  of  1296.  In 
the  middle  of  the  following  century  we  find  the 
Scottish  pearls  still  exported  to  the  continent.  In 
the  statutes  of  the  goldsmiths  of  Paris,  drawn  up  in 
1355,  it  is  ordered  that  no  worker  in  gold  or  silver 
shall  set  any  Scottish  pearls  along  with  oriental 
ones,  except  in  large  jeAvels  (that  is,  figures  adorned 
with  jewelry)  for  churches.  The  Scottish  gi'ay- 
hounds  were  also  at  this  time  in  request  in  other 
countries.  "  The  trade  of  driving  cattle  fi-om  Scot- 
land for  sale  in  England,  Aviiich  has  continued  down 
to  the  present  day,"  JNIr.  Macpherson  observes,  "  is 
at  least  as  old  as  the  times  now  under  our  consider- 
ation ;  for  we  find  a  letter  of  safe  conduct  granted 
(12th  January,  1359)  to  Andrew  Moray  and  Alan 
Erskine,  two  Scottish  drovers,  with  three  horsemen 
and  their  servants,  for  traveling  through  England 
or  the  king's  foreign  dominions  for  a  year,  with 
horses,  oxen,  cows,  and  other  goods  and  merchan- 
dise."" An  Act  of  the  Scottish  parliament  in  13G7 
orders  the  strict  levj-ing  of  the  duties  formerly  im- 
posed of  forty  pennies  in  the  pound  on  the  price  of 
all  horses,  and  twelve  pennies  on  that  of  all  oxen 
and  cows  carried  out  of  the  country.  Both  corn 
and  malt  were  often  imported  into  Scotland  at  this 
period  from  England  and  other  countries. 

From  Ireland  there  was  now  a  consideraI)le  ex- 
portation both  of  raw  produce  and  of  manufactured 
goods.  In  the  records  of  the  Exchequer  for  the 
first  year  of  Edward  I.  a  notice  occurs  of  some 
cloth  of  Ireland  having  been  stolen  at  "Winchester 
in  the  preceding  reign,  along  with  some  cloth  of 
Abingdon,  and  some  cloth  of  London  called  burrel. 
Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  supplies  of 
corn  that  appear  to  have  been  occasionally  obtained 
from  Ireland.  It  seems  to  have  been  exported  to 
the  continent  as  well  as  to  England,  till  an  ordinance 
was  issued  in  1288,  prohibiting  corn  and  other  vict- 
uals and  merchandise  from  being  carried  from  Ire- 
land anj-where  except  to  England  and  Wales.    Yet. 

'  Macpherson,  i.  446.  *  H'id  i.561. 


808 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


in  1291,  we  find  some  Flemish  merchants  mentioned 
us  being  in  the  ports  of  Waterford,  Youghail,  and 
Cork.  In  1300,  while  Edward  I.  was  in  Scotland, 
the  people  of  Drogheda  sent  him  a  present  of  eighty 
tuns  of  wine  to  Kirkcudbright,  in  a  vessel  belonging 
to  their  own  port ;  and  the  same  year  several  car- 
goes of  Irish  wheat,  oats,  malt,  and  ale  were  brought 
to  him,  and  mostly  by  the  merchants  of  Ireland  and 
in  Irish  vessels.  In  1322,  we  find  Edward  II.,  when 
preparing  to  march  into  Scotland,  giving  orders  for 
nine  thousand  quarters  of  wheat  and  other  grain  to 
be  sent  from  Ireland.  By  the  statute  34  Edward  III. 
c.  17,  18,  passed  in  13G0,  liberty  was  given  to  all 
merchants  and  others,  whether  aliens  or  natives,  to 
trade  freely  to  and  from  Ireland,  on  paying  the  an- 
cient customs  and  duties.  "  At  this  time,"  says 
Mcicpherson,  "there  were  some  considerable  man- 
ufactures in  Ireland.  The  stuffs  called  sayes  made 
in  that  country  were  in  such  request,  that  they 
were  imitated  by  tho  manufacturers  of  Catalonia, 
who  were  in  the  practice  of  making  the  finest  woolen 
goods  of  every  kind ;  they  were  also  esteemed  in 
Italy,  and  were  worn  by  the  ladies  of  Florence,  a 
city  abounding  with  the  richest  manufactures,  and 
in  which  the  luxury  of  dress  was  carried  to  the 
greatest  height.  The  annual  revenue  derived  from 
Ireland,  which  amounted  to  nearly  10,000/.,  gives  a 
very  respectable  idea  of  the  balance  drawn  into  that 
country  by  its  commerce  and  manufactures,  though 
we  know  next  to  nothing  of  the  particular  nature 
of  them ;  unless  we  suppose  a  great  part  of  the 
money  to  have  been  drawn  from  the  mines,  for 
which,  I  believe,  there  is  neither  authority  nor 
probability."^  This  year,  King  Edward,  under- 
standing, as  the  record  in  the  "Foedera"  says,  that 
there  were  various  mines  of  gold  and  silver  in  Ire- 
land, which  might  be  very  beneficial  to  himself  and 
the  people  of  that  country,  had  commissioned  his 
ministers  there  to  order  a  search  for  the  mines,  and 
to  do  what  would  be  most  for  his  advantage  in  the 
matter.  The  statute  50  Edw.  III.  c.  8  (a.d.  1376) 
makes  mention  of  cloth  called  frize  as  being  made 
in  Ireland,  and  also  of  cloth  manufactured  in  Eng- 
land from  Irish  wool. 

The  denominations  and  relative  values  of  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  English  money  continued  the  same 
in  this  as  in  the  preceding  period.  The  coinage 
had  been  greatly  corrupted,  partly  by  clipping,  partly 
by  the  issue  of  counterfeits,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  HI. ;  in  consequence  of  which  that 
king,  in  the  year  1247,  called  in  the  old  coin,  and 
issued  a  new  penny  of  a  different  stamp.  In  the 
exchange  a  deduction  of  thirteen  pence  in  the  pound 
was  made  from  the  nominal  value  of  the  old  coin, 
which  occasioned  great  compkints ;  but  the  new 
coin  was  not  depreciated,  nor  made  of  a  less  quan- 
tity of  silver  than  formerly.  The  pennies  of  Hen- 
ry HI.  are  very  common,  and  there  also  exist  silver 
half-pence  and  farthings  of  his  coinage.  All  the 
money  was  now  made  round.  It  is  also  said  that, 
in  12.57,  Henry  issued  a  gold  coin  of  the  weight  of 
two  silver  pennies,  which  was  ordered  to  pass  for 
twenty  pennies  of  silver.     It  was,  however,  soon 

1  Macpherson,  i.  562,  where  the  authorities  are  quoted 


recalled  on  the  complaint  of  the  citizens  of  London 
that  gold  was  rated  al)ove  its  value,  in  being  thus 
made  equal  to  ten  times  its  weight  in  silver;  and 
no  specimens  of  this  earliest  English  coinage  of  gold 
are  now  known  to  exist. 


Penny  of  Henry  111. 
Soon  after  the  accession  of  Edward  I.  the  country 
was  again  found  to  be  inundated  with  base  or  light 
money,  consisting  ciiiefly  of  pieces  fabricated  on 
the  continent,  and  known,  from  their  impresses,  by 
the  names  of  mitres,  lionines,  pollards,  crockards, 
rosaries,  staldings,  steepings,  and  eagles,  —  some 
being  imitations  of  English  money,  others  profess- 
ing to  be  foreign  coins.  Various  laws  were  made 
both  against  the  importation  of  this  counterfeit 
money,  and  against  the  clipping  of  the  proper  coin- 
age of  the  realm.  The  severity  with  which  these 
crimes  were  visited  upon  the  Jews  in  particular  has 
been  already  recorded.^  Edward  himself,  however, 
in  the  latter  part  of  his  I'eign,  began  the  pernicious 
practice  of  depreciating  the  coin  by  diminishing  its 
legal  weight.  In  1301  he  issued  a  coinage  of  pen- 
nies, of  which  two  hundred  and  forty-three  (instead 
of  two  hundred  and  forty,  as  formerlj)  were  coined 
out  of  the  pound  of  silver.  In  1279  Edward  had 
issued  a  new  silver  coin  in  imitation  of  one  which 
had  been  introduced  in  France,  being  of  the  value 
of  four  pennies,  and  called  a  gross  or  gi'oat,  that  is, 
a  great  penny.  This  coinage  of  groats  seems  to 
have  been  a  small  one,  but  some  specimens  are  still 
extant. 


Penny  of  Edward  I. 

No  coins  of  Edward  II.  are  certainly  known  to 
exist,  though  it  is  possible  that  some  of  those  that 
have  been  attributed  to  his  father  may  be  of  his 
coinage ;  for  it  was  still  usual  to  omit  on  the  legend 
the  numerical  distinction  of  the  king's  name. 


Penny  (sltposed)  of  Edward  II. 

Edward  HI.,  in  1344,  issued  no  feAver  than  six 
different  gold  coins — namely,  by  one  coinage,  pieces 

'  See  ante,  p.  669. 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


809 


marked  with  two  leopards  to  pass  for  six  shillings, 
others  of  half  that  weight  and  value  marked  with 
one  leopard,  and  others  marked  with  a  helmet,  of 
half  the  value  of  the  last :  and  by  a  second,  nobles 
of  the  value  of  six  shillings  and  eight  pence,  and 
halves  and  quarters  of  nobles.  The  second  coinage 
was  made  necessary  by  the  refusal  of  the  people 
to  take  the  coins  first  issued  at  the  value  placed 
upon  them.  This  king  also  carried  the  depreciation 
of  the  coin  much  farther  than  his  grandfather  had 
done,  by  an  issue  this  same  year  of  silver  pennies, 
of  which  two  hundred  and  sixty-six  were  made  out 


of  the  pound.  Two  years  after  he  coined  two 
hundred  and  seventy  pennies  out  of  the  pound  of 
silver;  and  in  1351  he  issued  a  new  groat,  to  be 
current  at  the  old  rate  of  four  pence,  although  it 
scarcely  weighed  more  than  three  pennies  and  a 
half  even  of  his  last  diminished  money.  There  are 
two  groats  of  Edward  III.,  one  with  the  title  of 
King  of  France,  the  other  without.  It  is  upon  his 
coins  also  that  we  first  read  the  motto  Dieu  el  mon 
droit  (God  and  my  right),  which  was  originally 
adopted  in  allusion  to  the  claim  to  the  French 
crown.     He  also  coined  half-groats. 


Penny  of  Edward  III 


Groat  of  Edward  III. 


Half-Groat  of  Edward  HI. 


The  coins  of  Hichard  II.,  which  are  nobles,  half- 
nobles,  quarter-nobles,  groats,  half-groats,  pence, 
and  half-pence,  are  of  the  same  real  values  with 


those  last  coined  by  his  grandfr.ther.  It  is  some- 
times difficult  to  distinguish  his  silver  money,  from 
the  want  of  the  numerals,  from  that  of  Richard  III. 


Penny  of  Eichard  II. 


Groat  of  Richard  II. 


Half-Groat  of  Richard  II. 


The  Scottish  money  was  deteriorated  in  the 
course  of  this  period  to  a  still  greater  extent  than 
the  English  :  the  Parliament  in  13G7  having  ordered 
that  three  hundred  and  fifty-two  pennies  should  be 
made  out  of  the  pound  of  silver.  It  is  supposed 
that  gold  money  was  first  coined  in  Scotland  in 
the  reign  of  Robert  II.  (a.  d.  1371-1390.)  There 
were  repeated  coinages  of  money  in  Ireland ;   but 


in  1339  we  find  a  species  of  coin  of  inferior  quality, 
and  apparently  of  foreign  fobrication,  authorized  to 
pass  current  in  that  country,  on  the  ground  of  the 
insufficient  amount  of  good  money.  These  base 
pieces  were  called  turneys,  or  black-money,  or 
sometimes  black-mail,  from  the  French  word  maille, 
anciently  used  for  a  piece  of  money. 

Even  the  legal  coins  of  this  period  are  generally 


8lt) 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


rude  in  workmanship,  and  by  no  means  of  uniform 
weight.  The  standard  of  weight  at  this  time  was 
scarcely  more  artificial  than  that  wliich  Henry  I. 
estabUshed  for  measures  of  length,  wlion  he  ordered 
that  the  ell  should  be  as  long  as  the  royal  arm. 
The  statute  called  the  Assize  of  Weights  and 
Measures,  which  is  attributed,  in  some  copies,  to 
the  reign  of  Henry  HI.,  in  others  to  that  of  Edward 
I.,  states  that,  "by  consent  of  the  whole  realm,  the 
king's  measure  was  made  so  that  an  English  penny, 
which  is  called  the  sterling,  round,  without  clipping, 
shall  weigh  thirty-tivo  grains  of  wheat  dry  in  the 
midst  of  the  ear.'''  This  is  the  origin  of  the  weight 
still  called  a  pennyweight,  though  it  now  contains 
only  twenty-four  gi'ains.  The  process  of  coining 
was  equally  rude.  First,  the  metal,  as  appears 
from  an  entry  in  the  Red  Book  of  the  Exchequer 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  "  was  cast  from  the 
melting-pot  into  long  bars ;  those  bars  were  cut 
with  shears  into  square  pieces  of  exact  weights  ; 
then  with  the  tongs  and  hammer  they  were  forged 
into  a  round  shape ;  after  which  they  were  blanched, 
that  is,  made  white  or  refulgent  by  nealing  or  boil- 
ing, and  afterward  stamped  or  impressed  with  a 
hammer,  to  make  them  perfect  money.  And  this 
kind  of  hammered  money  continued  through  all  the 
succeeding  reigns,  till  the  j'ear  1663,  when  the 
milled  money  took  place."  ' 

The  various  necessary  and  useful  arts  continued 
in  much  the  same  state  throughout  the  present,  as 
in  the  previous  period.  With  regard,  however,  to 
the  state  of  the  important  art  of  agriculture  in  par- 
ticular, we  now  derive  from  various  authentic 
sources  much  more  detailed  information  than  we 
have  hitherto  possessed. 

Sir  T.  Cullum,  in  a  history  of  the  parish  of  Haw- 
sted,  in  Suffolk,  has,  from  books  of  accounts,  inqui- 
sitions, and  other  documents,  given  as  complete  a 
view  of  the  ancient  practices  of  husbandry  in  Eng- 
land as  can  be  expected,  considering  the  difficulties 
of  such  an  inquiry ;  and  we  shall  now  proceed  to 
extract  some  of  the  most  material  statements  from 
his  work.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  there  were 
fifty  messuages  or  houses  in  the  parish,  being  only 
two  less  than  in  1784.  Two  thirds  of  the  land  in 
the  parish  was  held  by  seven  persons,  and  the  re- 
maining third  was  occupied  by  twenfy-six  persons. 
In  1831,  when  the  last  census  was  taken,  the  num- 
ber of  occupiers  in  the  same  parish  was  only  eleven, 
being  one  third  only  of  the  number  five  centuries 
before.  Several  of  the  ancient  occupiers  were  appa- 
rently merely  laborers,  for  whom  there  was  no  con- 
tinuous employment,  but  who,  by  this  occupancy  of  a 
small  piece  of  land,  were  enabled  to  eke  out  a  sub- 
sistence. The  traces  of  cultivation  which  have  been 
most  probably  left  by  this  class  of  the  rural  popula- 
tion are  still  visible  in  many  of  the  southern  coun- 
ties on  laud  now  converted  into  pasture.  The 
manor-house  was  surrounded  by  a  moat,  and  occu- 
pied a  large  site,  as  it  comprised  three  gardens  and 
two  court-yards.  A  pigeon-house,  fish-ponds,  and 
a  rabbit-warren  were  the  usual  appendages  of  a 
manorial  residence.     The   rabbit-warren  supplied 

1  Leake's  Historical  Account  of  English  Money,  2d  edit.  p.  77. 


not  only  food,  but  materials  of  dress  in  common 
'  use ;  and  on  fast-days  the  fish-ponds  were  a  vnlua- 
:  ble  resource.  From  two  successive  surveys  of  the 
I  manor  of  Hawsted  which  are  recorded  within  the 
'  present  period,  it  appears  that  a  change  was  taking 
'  place  in  the  proportion  of  meadow  and  arable  land, 
the  former  being  to  the  latter  as  twenty-four  to  one, 
I  at  the  time  of  the  first  survey,  and  only  as  about  elev- 
1  en  to  one  at  the  time  of  the  second.  This  effect  is  to 
be  attributed  to  the  increasing  value  of  wool,  which 
rendered  sheep  a  profitable  stock.  The  quantity  of 
woodland  was  only  sixtj'-eight  acres  in  the  whole 
parish  of  Hawsted;  but  it  is  surmised  that  the  hedge- 
rows and  borders  of  the  fields  were  broad,  and  inter- 
spersed with  timber,  and  also  contained  patches 
which  furnished  a  considerable  addition  to  the  quan- 
tity of  fodder.  The  lord  of  the  manor  retained  in  his 
own  hands  572  acres  of  arable  and  50  of  meadow  land ; 
pasture  for  24  cows,  12  horses,  and  as  many  oxen  ; 
and  40  acres  of  woodland.  The  live  stock  consisted 
of  10  horses  and  10  oxen,  1  bull,  20  cows,  6  heifers, 
6  calves,  92  sheep,  200  two-year  old  sheep,  5 
geese,  30  capons,  1  cock,  and  26  hens.  The  num- 
ber of  tenants  who  did  suit  and  service  in  the  ma- 
norial court  was  32.  They  performed  various 
services  in  husbandry,  according  to  the  tenure 
under  which  they  occupied  their  land,  and  received 
from  the  lord  payments  in  kind  and  in  money,  but 
chiefly  in  the  former.  One  tenant  occupied  only 
three  acres,  and  his  condition  probably  bore  a 
strong  resemblance  to  the  Irish  cotter  of  the  pres- 
ent day.  Plenty  was,  at  least,  to  be  found  in  the 
manor-house,  and  it  was  occasionally  dispensed 
with  a  liberal  hand.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  II., 
the  estate  of  the  elder  Despeuser  was  ravaged  by 
his  enemies,  who  are  asserted  to  have  carried  away, 
among  other  things,  twenty-eight  thousand  sheep, 
one  thousand  oxen  and  heifers,  twelve  hundred 
cows  with  their  calves  for  two  years,  five  hundred 
cart  hoi'ses,  and  two  thousand  hogs. 

The  diet  of  the  laborers  in  husbandry  usually 
consisted,  in  harvest,  of  herrings,  a  loaf  of  bread, 
and  beer.  The  principal  meals  were  two — dinner 
at  nine,  and  supper  at  five.  In  the  parish  of  Haw- 
sted the  allowance  of  food  to  the  laborer  in  harvest 
was,  two  herrings  per  day,  milk  from  the  irianor 
dairy  to  make  cheese,  and  a  loaf  of  bread,  of  which 
fifteen  were  made  from  a  bushel  of  wheat.  Messes 
of  po_ttage  made  their  frequent  appearance  at  the 
rustic  board.  When  the  crops  were  harvested,  the 
l)ortions  of  the  produce  to  which  each  tenant  was 
entitled  would  be  distributed,  and  the  quantity. which 
he  obtained  at  this  period  was  intended  to  last  until 
the  next  harvest.  In  ancient  valuations,  both  in 
towns  and  in  rural  districts,  the  inhabitants  are  men- 
tioned as  having  stores  of  corn  of  various  kinds. 
Those  who  purchased  corn  would  do  so  immedi- 
ately after  harvest ;  but  gi"ain  was  not  an  object  of 
internal  commerce  to  any  great  extent.  The  fam- 
ines which  occurred  during  this  and  the  preceding 
period  arose  in  a  great  measure  from  the  improvi- 
dent consumption  which  ensued  immediately  after 
harvest.  In  1317,  the  harvest  was  all  secured  by 
the  1st  of  September,  and  wheat  fell  to  one  twelfth 


Chap.  IV.] 


NATIONAL  INDUSTRY. 


811 


of  the  price  at  which  it  had  been  sold  a  few  weeks 
before.  In  the  poem  called  the  "  Visions  of  Pierce 
Plowman,"  written  in  the  time  of  Edward  III.,  it 
is  said  that  when  the  new  corn  began  to  be  sold, — 

"  Would  no  beggar  eat  bread  that  in  it  beanes  were, 
But  of  cockit  and  clemantyne,  or  else  clene  whcte." 

Draget  and  siligo  were  common  crops.  The  former 
consisted  of  a  mixture  of  oats  and  barley,  and  the 
latter  V'as  a  light  description  of  wheat,  about  one 
half  the  price  of  wheat. 

Many  documents  relating  to  the  occupancy  of  land 
during  this  period  do  not  contain  any  clauses  bind- 
ing the  tenant  to  pursue  a  particular  course  of  hus- 
bandry ;  but  in  some  of  them  a  stipulation  is  made 
that  the  landlord  shall  not  interfere  with  the  mode 
of  culture.  There  was  much  jealousy  on  both  sides, 
each  party  surrounding  himself  with  various  pre- 
cautions. Two  days  of  grace  were  allowed  for  the 
payment  of  the  rent,  and  if  it  were  not  made  within 
a  fortnight  the  landlord  could  distrain ;  and  if  the 
rent  remained  unpaid  a  month  after  becoming  due, 
he  could  reenter  upon  the  possession  of  the  land. 
There  are  records  extant  showing  the  value  of  es- 
tates ;  but  as  the  services  of  the  tenantry  were  in- 
cluded, the  price  of  the  land  alone  cannot  perhaps 
be  accurately  determined.  Sir  T.  CuUum  supposes 
Ad.  an  acre  to  have  been  about  the  average  rate  at 
which  land  was  let  toward  the  close  of  the  thirteenth 
century;  and  that  the  avei'age  price  of  wheat  per 
quarter  was  4s.  Qd.,  and  the  average  produce  about 
twelve  bushels  per  acre.  Attention  appears  to  have 
been  paid  to  the  quality  of  the  seed;  and  an  item 
occurs  in  one  year  of  3s.  4fZ.  for  exchange  of  barley 
seed.  A  century  earlier,  according  to  the  law-book 
entitled  "Fleta,"  which  contains  various  notices  on 
agricultural  affairs,  land  often  yielded  only  three 
times  the  quantity  sown.  At  a  later  period,  sixty- 
one  acres  in  the  manor  of  Hawsted  produced  sev- 
entj-  quarters  of  wheat,  on  an  average  of  three  years. 
The  cows  belonging  to  the  manor  of  Hawsted 
twenty-six  in  number)  were  let  to  a  dairyman  for  8/. 
per  annum ;  and  even  the  lactage  of  the  ewes  was 
let  at  \\d.  each  for  the  season.  The  milk  was  mixed 
with  that  of  the  cows,  and  made  into  cheese.  In 
"  Fleta,"  directions  are  given  for  the  collection  of 
manure,  the  value  of  which  was  generally  api)re- 
ciated ;  but  the  fertile  properties  of  the  soil  Avere 
most  likely  exhausted  by  taking  off  successive  crops 
of  the  same  kind.  The  tenants  on  many  manors 
were  not  permitted  to  fold  their  flocks  on  their  own 
inclosures,  but  were  compelled  to  drive  them  on 
the  lord's  demesne  land.  On  a  manor  in  Norfolk 
all  copyholders  were  obliged  to  have  sheep  in  their 
lord's  fold  from  Pentecost  to  St.  Martin.  The  ten- 
ants who  enjoyed  the  right  of  foldage  were  of  a- 
superior  class.  Many  of  the  smaller  tenants  had 
no  pasturage  or  meadow-land,  and  could  therefore 
scarcely  keep  any  live  stock  unless  where  common 
rights  existed.  Under  these  circumstances  they 
would  with  difficulty  derive  the  means  of  a  scanty 
subsistence  from  their  allotments.  On  the  manorial 
farms  the  case  would  be  somewhat  better.  In 
138G,  the  produce  of  the  Hawsted  manor  farm  was 
69  qrs.  of  wheat,  54  qrs.  of  barley,  11  qrs.  of  pease, 


29  qrs.  of  haras  (horse's  food),  and  65  qrs.  of  oats. 
In  1387,  the  quantity  of  land  sown  with  wheat  was 
66  acres,  2  bushels  to  an  acre  ;  barley  26  acres,  4 
bushels  to  the  acre  ;  pease  25  acres  ;  haras  25  acres ; 
oats  62  acres,  2i  bushels  to  the  acre. 

The  persons  employed  on  a  manorial  farm  were, 
the  steward,  the  bailiff',  the  head  haiTest-man, 
carters,  ploughmen,  plough-drivers,  shepherds, 
swineherds,  and  deyes  ;  which  last  were  the  lowest 
order  of  agricultural  laborers.  The  steward  held 
the  manor-courts,  and  saw  that  the  manorial  privi- 
leges did  not  become  obsolete.  He  kept  accounts 
of  the  farming-stock  and  of  the  consumption  of  the 
family,  and  the  domestics  were  under  his  care. 
The  steward's  accounts  for  the  manor  of  Hawsted 
are  regularly  audited,  and  written  out  in  Latin, 
probably  hj  the  auditor,  who,  it  is  supposed,  was 
an  ecclesiastic.  The  bailiff"  was  next  in  authority, 
and  was,  in  fact,  a  practical  farmer,  who  superin- 
tended the  cultivation  of  the  demesne.  The  head 
harvest-man  was,  in  the  manor  of  Hawsted,  annu- 
ally ejected  by  the  tenantry  from  among  themselves, 
and  was  presented  by  them  to  the  lord.  During 
the  year  of  his  appointment  he  enjoyed  an  exemp- 
tion from  various  services,  and  obtained  other  privi- 
leges. He  had  his  meals  at  the  lord's  table,  if  he 
kept  house,  and  if  not,  a  livery  of  corn,  and  a  horse 
was  kept  for  him  in  the  lord's  stable.  In  1283, 
when  "Fleta"  was  written,  the  plough-driver  was 
accustomed  to  sleep  in  the  same  building  with  his 
cattle.  Women  took  part  in  the  lighter  labors  of 
husbandry.  For  winnowing  corn  and  tending  the 
young  cattle,  as  also  the  geese  and  poultry  belong- 
ing to  the  Hawsted  manor-farm,  for  fourteen  weeks, 
a  woman  received  eight  bushels  of  siligo.  It  has 
been  already  observed,  that  the  labors  of  the  field 
did  not  proceed  so  uninterruptedly  as  at  a  later  pe- 
i-iod.  Except  in  seed-time,  the  weeding  season, 
and  the  hay  and  corn  harvests,  there  must  have 
been  a  real  lack  of  occupation.  It  seems  to  have 
been  an  object  to  finish  harvest  in  the  shortest  pos- 
sible time  ;  and  the  business  of  seed-time  must  have 
been  conducted  with  equal  rapidity.  There  are 
items  in  the  Hawsted  accounts  showing  that  sixty 
persons  were  paid  for  one  day,  at  2d.  each,  to  weed 
the  corn.  Harvest  was  a  scene  of  still  greater  ani- 
mation. In  one  year,  five  hundred  and  twenty  per- 
sons were  hired  for  one  day  ;  in  another  year,  five 
hundred  and  thirty-three ;  and  in  a  third,  five  hun- 
dred and  thirty-eight;  and  yet  the  number  of  acres 
to  be  reaped  did  not  exceed  two  hundred.  The 
old  and  young  of  both  sexes  must  have  been  a-field. 
The  termination  of  the  harvest  wiis  followed  by4hos<- 
festivities  which  are  not  yet  altogether  obsolete. 

A  list  of  the  various  trades  and  handicrafts  of  the 
time  will  aflford  as  good  an  idea  of  the  general  state 
of  the  useful  arts  as  more  detailed  notices  of  the 
minute  operations  of  each.  Before  the  50th  Edward 
III.,  (1376)  the  "  mysteries,"  or  trades  of  London, 
who  elected  the  common  council  of  the  city,  were 
thirty-two  in  number,  but  they  were  increased,  by 
an  ordinance  of  the  above  year,  to  fortj--five,  which 
were  as  follows  : — Grocers,  masons,  ironmongers, 
mercers,  brewpis.  leather-dressers,  drapers,  fletch- 


812 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


ers,  armorers,  fishmongers,  bakers,  butchers,  gold- 
smiths, skinners,  cutlers,  vintners,  girdlers,  spur- 
riers, tailors,  stainers,  plumbers,  saddlers,  cloth- 
measurers,  •\vax-chandlers,  Webbers,  haberdashers, 
barbers,  tapestry-weavers,  braziers,  painters,  leather- 
sellers,  salters,  tanners,  joiners,  cajipers,  pouch-ma- 
kers, pewterers,  chandlers,  hatters,  woodmongers, 
I'ullers,  smiths,  pinners,  curriers,  horners. 

The  incorporation  of  several  of  the  great  city 
companies  took  place  in  this  period.  Many  of  them 
had  long  subsisted  as  guilds  and  fraternities,  but  now 
obtained  additional  powers  for  regulating  their  re- 
spective crafts.  To  the  goldsmiths,  for  instance, 
was  assigned  the  assaying  of  metals  ;  to  the  vintners, 
the  gauging  of  wines  ;  and  to  the  fishmongers,  the 
inspection  of  fish.  In  1298,  the  trades  of  London 
got  up  a  pageant  in  honor  of  the  return  of  Edward 
III.  from  Scotland  ;  and  at  all  times,  when  the  honor 
and  dignity  of  the  city  was  concerned,  they  took 
from  this  time  a  most  important  shfire  in  the  proceed- 
ings. In  the  reigu  of  Edward  III.  there  were  but 
two  earls  and  one  bishop  among  the  honorary  mem- 
bers of  the  Merchant-Tailors'  Company  ;  but  in  the 
following  reign  there  were  four  royal  dukes,  ten 
earls,  ten  barons,  and  five  bishops  enrolled  in  the 
company.  Edward  III.  became  a  member  of  the 
fraternity  of  linen-armorers,  a  sort  of  tailors,  who 
made  the  padding  and  lining  of  armor.' 

A  large  portion  of  the  trade  of  the  country  was 
transacted  at  fairs  and  markets.  The  tradesmen 
of- London  had  shops  in  the  Cheap,  which  resem- 
bled sheds,  and  many  of  them  had  simply  stalls ; 
and  traveling  occasionally  from  place  to  place,  they 
may  be  considered  as  having  been  pedlers  as  well 
as  tradesmen.  The  mercers  dealt  in  toys,  drugs, 
spices,  and  small  wares  generally;  their  stocks  be- 
ing of  the  same  miscellaneous  description  as  that 
which  is  kept  at  a  village-shop  in  the  present  day. 
The  station  of  the  mercers  of  London  was  between 
Bow  Church  and  Friday-street ;  and  here,  around 
the  old  cross  of  Cheap,  they  sold  their  goods  at  little 
standings  or  stalls,  surrounded  by  those  belonging  to 
other  trades.  The  scene  would  resemble  a  market 
(jr  fair.  The  places  at  Avhich  they  transacted  their 
business  were  let  at  rates  varying  from  lis.  to  28s. 
;)er  year.^  The  trade  of  the  modern  grocer  was 
preceded  by  that  of  the  pepperer,  which  was  often 
in  the  hands  of  Lombards  and  Italians,  who  dealt 
also  in  drugs  and  spices.  The  drapers  were  origi- 
nally manufacturers  of  cloth :  to  drape  signified  to 
make  cloth.  The  trade  of  the  fishmonger  was 
divided  into  two  branches,  the  persons  belonging  to 
one  of  which  dealt  chiefly  or  altogether  in  salted 
fish,  then  a  common  article  of  diet.  The  skinners 
were  incorporated  during  the  present  period.  They 
were  in  the  habit  of  attending  the  fairs,  particularly 
those  of  Stamford   and   Winchester.      The    gold- 

'  Herbert's  Hist,  of  the  Livery  C unpanies  of  Loudon.      -  Stow 


smiths  were  also  incorporated  about  the  same  time. 
They  existed  previously  as  a  guild ;  and  all  those  who 
were  members  of  the  fraternity  had  their  shops  in 
the  street  of  Cheap  ;  but  fraudulent  traders  set  up 
shops  in  obscure  lanes,  where  they  endeavored  to 
sell  goods  of  inferior  metal.  Many  of  the  gold- 
smiths were  foreigners.  Tailors  were  employed 
in  making  women's  garments.  The  hal)_erdashers 
dealt  in  a  great  number  of  articles.  The  dealers 
in  hats  were  called  haberdashers  of  hats  ;  and  those 
who  sold  ribbons,  &c.,  haberdashers  of  small  wares. 
They  dealt  in  articles  of  dress  brought  from  JMilan  ; 
and  a  distinct  branch  arose  out  of  this  trade,  the 
persons  engaged  in  it  being  called  milliners.  The 
vintners  were  anciently  known  as  the  Merchant 
Vintners  of  Gascony ;  and  the  retail  dealers  in 
wine  as  the  Wine-tunners.  The  division  of  em- 
ployments was  most  complete  in  connection  with 
the  woolen  manufacture. 

In  the  provincial  towns,  triide  was  of  course  con- 
ducted on  a  smaller  scale  than  in  London.  The 
exchange  of  commodities  was  eflfected  to  a  gi'eat  ex- 
tent at  the  fairs  and  at  the  markets,  and  they  gave 
an  air  of  animation  and  life,  which  would  strongly 
contrast  with  the  dulness  by  which  they  were  pre- 
ceded and  followed.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  III. 
Colchester  contained  three  hundred  and  fifty-uine 
houses,  some  built  of  mud.  others  of  timber,  and 
none  having  any  but  latticed  windows  ;  and  yet  there 
were  only  about  nine  towns  in  England  of  greater 
importance.  The  number  of  inhabitants  was  about 
three  thousand.  In  the  year  1301,  all  the  movable 
property  of  the  town,  including  the  furniture  and 
clothing  of  the  inhabitants,  was  worth  only  518/. 
Colchester  was  the  center  of  resort  for  a  large  dis- 
trict, and  the  trades  carried  on  in  it  were  the  twenty- 
nine  following  : — baker,  barber,  blacksmith,  bowyer, 
brewer,  butcher,  carpenter,  carter,  cobbler,  cook, 
dyer,  fisherman,  fuller,  furrier,  girdler,  glass-seller, 
glover,  linen-draper,  mercer,  miller,  mustard  and 
vinegar  seller,  old  clothes'  seller,  spice  seller,  tailor, 
tanner,  tiler,  weaver,  wood-cutter,  and  wool-comber. 
The  tools  of  a  carpenter  at  Colchester  consisted  of 
a  broad-ax,  valued  5d. ;  another  3d. ;  an  adze  2d. ; 
a  square  Id. ;  a  navegor  (probably  a  spoke-shave) 
Id.;  making  the  total  value  of  the  implements  of 
his  art  only  Is.  The  tools  and  stock  of  a  blacksmith 
were  valued  at  only  a  few  shillings,  the  highest  sum 
being  12s.  The  stock  in  trade  and  household  goods 
of  a  tanner  were  estimated  at  9/.  17s.  lOd.  A  mer- 
cer's stock  was  valued  at  3/. ;  his  household  prop- 
erty at  2l.  9s.  The  mustard  and  vinegar  seller  was 
a  necessary  trade  when  so  much  meat  was  eaten  in 
a  salted  state.  Several  trades,  including  those  of 
the  brewer,  the  baker,  and  the  miller,  appear  to 
have  been  carried  on  by  women  as  well  as  by 
men.' 

'  Eden's  S.  itc  of  the  Poor.  i.  13-21. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


81.3 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  LITERATURE.  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  AilTS. 


FTER  the  detailed 
nccouiit  given  in  the 
last  Book  of  the  va- 
rious branches  of 
science  and  learning 
cultivated  in  the  elev- 
enth and  twelfth  cen- 
turies, a  very  few  ad- 
ditional remarks  will 
suffice  to  indicate  the 
state  of  knowledge  in 
the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth.  The  stu- 
dy of  elegant  literature  was  now  nearly  altogether 
abandoned  in  the  passion  which  everywhere  raged 
for  metaphysical  disputation.  Almost  the  only 
■writer  of  this  period  who  can  be  regarded  as  be- 
longing to  the  same  class  with  the  numerous  Latin 
poets  of  the  preceding  age,  is  William  the  Breton, 
the  author  of  the  epic  on  the  actions  of  Philip  Au- 
gustus, to  which  we  have  more  than  once  referred. 
In  the  univei-sity  of  Paris,  and  it  was  doubtless  the 
same  elsewhere,  from  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  the  ancient  classics  seem  nearly  to  have 
ceased  to  be  read ;  and  all  that  was  taught  of  rheto- 
ric, or  even  of  grammar,  consisted  of  a  few  lessons 
from  Priscian.  The  habit  of  speaking  Latin  cor- 
rectly and  elegantly,  which  had  been  so  common  an 
accomplishment  of  the  scholars  of  the  last  age,  was 
now  generally  lost :  even  at  the  universities,  the 
classic  tongue  was  corrupted  into  a  base  jargon,  in 
which  frequently  all  grammar  and  syntax  were  dis- 
regarded. This  universal  revolt  from  the  study  of 
words  and  of  aesthetics  to  that  of  thoughts  and  of 
things  is  the  most  remarkable  event  in  the  intel- 
lectual history  of  the  species.  Undoubtedly  all  its 
results  were  not  evil.  On  the  whole,  it  was  most 
probably  the  salvation  even  of  that  learning  and  ele- 
gant literature  which  it  seemed  for  a  time  to  have 
overwhelmed.  The  excitement  of  its  very  novelty 
awakened  the  minds  of  men.  Never  was  there 
such  a  ferment  of  intellectual  activity  as  now  sprimg 
up  in  Europe.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  crusades 
seem  to  have  been  succeeded  by  an  enthusiasm  of 
study,  which  equally  impelled  its  successive  inun- 
dations of  devotees.  In  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century  there  were  thirty  thousand  students 
at  the  university  of  Oxford  ;  and  that  of  Paris  could 
probably  boast  of  the  attendance  of  a  still  vaster 
multitude.  This  was  something  almost  like  a  uni- 
versal diffusion  of  education  and  knowledge.  The 
studies  of  the  former  age,  exacting  as  they  did  a 
long  and  laborious  course  of  preparation,  and  the 
culture  of  the  taste  to  the  most  delicate  degree  of 
refinement,  were  essentially  unsuited  either  to  pro- 


duce such  a  state  of  things,  or  to  satisfy  its  demands 
after  it  was  produced ;  it  required  something  of  a 
coarser  or  homeUer  fabric,  something  that  tasked 
rather  the  native  vigor  of  men's  minds  than  their 
artificial  resources  and  accomplishments,  and  ap- 
pealed to  passions  or  senses  of  a  much  lower  and 
more  common  order,  than  those  connected  with  the 
imagination  or  the  taste.  The  new  studies  at  once 
tempted  men's  curiosity  and  flattered  their  vanity  ; 
thej^  seemed  to  promise  a  positive  accession  of 
knowledge  and  power,  instead  of  a  mere  l)arren  in- 
tellectual gratification.  And  they  did  undoubtedly 
tend  to  sharpen  and  strengthen  various  faculties, 
which  were  scarcely  at  all  called  into  exercise  by 
the  old  mode  of  education  an4  mental  culture.  It 
was  no  doubt  a  barbarous  mistake  to  assume  that 
nothing  was  worth  studying  except  things  and  no- 
tions— of  the  three  great  departments  of  the  intel- 
lectual world,  the  physical,  the  metaphysical,  and 
the  imaginative,  to  overlook  altogether  the  widest 
and  highest — not  to  speak  of  the  veiy  partial  view 
that  was  taken  of  the  two  others.  But  essentially 
defective  and  perishable  also  was  the  opposite  sj-s- 
tem,  which  left  both  the  latter  wholly  unregarded. 
The  brief  revival  of  elegant  literature  in  the  twelfth 
century  was  a  premature  spring,  which  could  not 
last.  The  preliminary  processes  of  vegetation  were 
not  sufficiently  advanced  to  sustain  any  general  or 
enduring  efflorescence ;  nor  was  the  state  of  the 
world  such  as  to  call  for  or  admit  of  any  extensive 
diffusion  of  the  kind  of  scholarship  then  cultivated. 
The  probability  is,  that  even  if  nothing  else  had 
taken  its  place,  it  would  have  gradually  become 
feebler  in  character,  as  well  as  confined  within  a 
narrower  circle  of  cultivators,  till  it  had  altogether 
evaporated  and  disappeared.  The  excitement  of 
the  new  learning,  turbulent  and  in  some  respects 
debasing  as  it  was,  saved  western  Europe  from  the 
complete  extinction  of  the  light  of  scholarship  and 
philosophy  which  would  in  that  case  have  ensued, 
and  kept  alive  the  spirit  of  intellectual  culture, 
though  in  the  mean  while  imprisoned  and  limited  in 
its  vision,  for  a  happier  future  time  when  it  should 
have  ampler  scope  and  full  freedom  of  range. 

Almost  the  only  studies  now  cultivated  by  the 
common  herd  of  students  were  the  Aristotelian  logic 
and  metaphysics.  Yet  it  was  not  till  after  a  strug- 
gle of  some  length  that  the  supremacy  of  Aristotle 
was  established  in  the  schools.  The  most  ancient 
statutes  of  the  University  of  Paris  that  have  been 
preserved,  those  issued  by  the  Pope's  legate,  Robert 
de  Cour^on,  in  1215,  prohibited  the  reading  either 
of  the  metaphysical  or  the  physical  works  of  that 
philosopher,  or  of  any  abridgment  of  them.  This, 
however,  it  has  been  remarked,  was  a  mitigation  of 


814 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


the  treatment  these  books  had  met  with  a  few  years 
before,  when  all  the  copies  of  them  that  could  be 
found  were  ordered  to  be  thrown  into  the  fire.' 
Still  more  lenient  was  a  decree  of  Pope  Gregory  IX. 
in  1231,  which  only  ordered  the  reading  of  them  to 
be  suspended  until  they  should  have  undergone  cor- 
rection. Certain  heretical  notions  in  religion,  pro- 
mulgated or  suspected  to  have  been  entertained  by 
some  of  the  most  zealous  of  the  early  Aristotelians, 
had  awakened  the  apprehensions  of  the  church ; 
but  the  general  orthodoxy  of  their  successors  qui- 
eted those  fears  ;  and  in  course  of  time  the  author- 
ity of  the  Stagyrite  was  universally  recognized  both 
in  theology  and  in  the  profane  sciences. 

Some  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  scholastic 
doctors  of  this  period  were  natives  of  Britain.  Such, 
in  particular,  were  Alexander  de  Hales,  styled  the 
IiTofragable,  an  English  Franciscan,  who  died  at 
Paris  in  1245,  and  who  is  famous  as  the  master  of 
St.  Bonaventura,  and  the  first  of  the  long  list  of 
commentators  on  the  Four  Books  of  the  Sentences  : 
the  Subtle  Doctor,  John  Duns  Scotus,  also  a  Fran- 
ciscan and  the  chief  glory  of  that  order,  who,  after 
teaching  with  unprecedented  popularity  and  ap- 
plause at  Oxford  and  Paris,  died  at  Cologne  in 
1308  at  the  early  age  of  forty-three,  leaving  a  mass 
of  writings,  the  very  quantity  of  which  would  be 
sufficiently  wonderful  even  if  they  were  not  marked 
by  a  vigor  and  penetration  of  thought  which,  down 
to  our  own  day,  has  excited  the  admiration  of  all 
who  have  examined  them ;  and  William  Occam, 
the  Invincible,  another  Franciscan,  the  pupil  of 
Scotus,  but  afterward  his  opponent  on  the  great 
philosophical  question  of  the  origin  and  nature  of 
Universals  or  General  Terms,  which  so  long  divided, 
and  still  divides,  logicians.  Occam,  who  died  at 
Munich  in  1347,  was  the  restorer,  and  perhaps  the 
most  able  defender,  that  the  middle  ages  pi'oduced, 
of  the  doctrine  of  Nominalism,  or  the  opinion  that 
general  notions  are  merely  names,  and  not  real 
existences,  as  was  contended  by  the  Realists.  The 
side  taken  by  Occam  was  that  of  the  minority  in 
his  own  day,  and  for  many  ages  after,  and  his  views 
accordingly  were  generally  regarded  as  heterodox 
in  the  schools  ;  but  his  high  merits  have  been  recog- 
nized in  modern  times,  when  perhaps  the  greater 
number  of  speculators  have  come  over  to  his  way  of 
thinking. 

In  the  mathematical  and  physical  sciences,  Roger 
Bacon  is  the  great  name  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  indeed  the  greatest  that  either  his  country  or 
Europe  can  produce  for  some  centuries  after  this 
time.  He  was  born  at  Ilchester  about  the  year 
1214,  and  died  in  1292.  His  writings  that  are  still 
preserved,  of  which  the  principal  is  that  entitled 
his  Opus  Majus  (or  Greater  Work),  show  that  the 
range  of  his  investigations  included  theology,  gram- 
mar, the  ancient  languages,  geometry,  astronomy, 
chronology,  geography,  music,  optics,  mechanics, 
chemistry,  and  most  of  the  other  branches  of  exper- 
imental philosophy.  In  all  these  sciences  he  had 
mastered  whatever  was  then  known  ;  and  his  knowl- 
edge, though  necessarily  mixed  with  much  en-or, 

1  Crevier,  Histoire  de  I'Univ  de  Paris,  i   313 


extended  in  various  directions  considerably  farther 
than,  but  for  the  evidence  of  his  writings,  we  should 
have  been  warranted  in  believing  that  scientific  re- 
searches had  been  carried  in  that  age.  In  optics, 
for  instance,  he  not  only  understood  the  general  laws 
of  reflected  and  refracted  light,  and  had  at  least  con- 
ceived such  an  instrument  as  a  telescope,  but  he 
makes  some  advances  toward  an  explanation  of  the 
phenomenon  of  the  rainbiw.  It  may  be  doubted 
whether  what  have  been  sometimes  called  his  in- 
ventions and  discoveries  in  mechanics  and  in  chem- 
istry were  for  the  greater  part  more  than  notions 
he  had  formed  of  the  possibility  of  accomplishing 
certain  results  ;  but  even  regarded  as  mere  specu- 
lations or  conjectures,  many  of  his  statements  of 
what  might  lie  done  show  that  he  was  familiar  with 
mechanical  principles,  and  possessed  a  considciable 
acquaintance  with  the  powers  of  natural  agents. 
He  appears  to  have  known  the  effects  and  compo- 
sition of  gunpowder,  which  indeed  there  is  other 
evidence  for  believing  to  have  been  then  known  in 
Europe.  Bacon's  notions  on  the  right  method  of 
philosophizing  are  remarkably  enlightened  for  the 
times  in  Avhich  he  lived ;  and  his  general  views 
upon  most  subjects  evince  a  penetration  and  liberal- 
ity much  beyond  the  spirit  of  his  age.  With  all 
his  sagacity  and  freedom  from  prejudice,  indeed, 
he  was  a  believer  both  in  astrology  and  alchemy; 
but,  as  it  has  been  observed,  these  delusions  did 
not  then  stand  in  the  same  predicament  as  now  : 
they  were  "irrational  only  because  unproved,  and 
neither  impossible  nor  unworthy  of  the  investigation 
of  a  philosopher,  in  the  absence  of  preceding  exper- 
iments." '  Another  eminent  English  cultivator  of 
mathematical  science  in  that  age  was  the  celebrated 
Robert  Grostete,  or  Greathead,  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 
the  friend  and  patron  of  Bacon.  Grostete,  who 
died  in  1253,  is  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  the 
sphere,  which  had  been  printed.  A  third  name 
that  deserves  to  be  mentioned  along  with  these  is 
that  of  Sir  Michael  Scott,  of  Balwirie,  in  Fife, 
famous  in  popular  tradition  as  a  practitioner  of  the 
occult  sciences,  but  whom  his  writings,  of  which 
several  are  extant  and  have  been  printed,  prove  to 
have  been  possessed  of  acquirements  both  in  science 
and  literature,  of  which  few  in  those  times  could 
boast.  He  is  said  to  have  been  born  about  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  to  have 
survived  till  the  year  1290.  Like  Roger  Bacon, 
Scott  was  addicted  to  the  study  of  alchemy  and 
astrology ;  but  these  were  in  his  eyes  also  parts  of 
natural  philosophy.  Among  other  works,  a  Trea- 
tise on  Physiognomy  and  a  History  of  Animals  are 
ascribed  to  him.  He  is  said  to  have  translated 
several  of  the  works  of  Aristotle  from  the  Greek 
into  Latin,  at  the  command  of  the  Emperor  Fred- 
eric II.  He  is  spoken  of  as  having  been  eminently 
skilled  both  in  astronomy  and  medicine;  and  a  con- 
temporary, John  Bacon,  himself  known  by  the  title 
of  Prince  of  the  Averroists,  or  followers  of  the 
Arabian  Doctor  Averroes,  celebrates  him  as  a  great 
theologian.^ 

1  Penny  Cyclopfedia,  iii.  243. 

2  See  an  Article  on  Michael  Scott  in  Bavle. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE.  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


815 


A  Tower  which  formerly  stood  on  the  Bridge  at  Oxford,  traditionally  known  as  Roger  Bacon's  Study, — the  "  Bacon  Mansion"  alluded 

to  by  Johnson  in  his  "Vanity  of  Human  Wishes." 


These  instances,  however,  were  rare  exceptions 
to  the  general  rule.  Metaphysics  and  logic,  togeth- 
er with  divinity — which  was  converted  into  little 
else  than  a  subject  of  metaphysical  and  logical 
contention — so  occupied  the  crowd  of  intellectual 
inquirers,  that,  except  the  professional  branches  of 
law  and  medicine,  scarcely  any  other  studies  were 
generally  attended  to.  Roger  Bacon  himself  tells 
us  that  he  knew  of  only  two  good  mathematicians 
among  his  contemporaries  —  one  John  of  Leyden, 
who  had  been  a  pupil  of  his  own,  and  another 
whom  he  does  not  name,  but  who  is  supposed  to 
have  been  John  Peckham,  a  Franciscan  friar,  who 
afterward  became  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Few 
students  of  the  science,  he  says,  proceeded  farther 
than  the  fifth  proposition  of  the  first  book  of  Euclid 
— the  well-known  asses'  bridge.  The  study  of 
geometry  was  still  confounded  in  the  popular  under- 
standing with  the  study  of  magic — a  proof  that  it 
was  a  very  rare  pursuit.  In  arithmetic,  although 
the  knowledge  of  the  Arabic  numerals  had  found 
its  way  to  Europe  before  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  come 
into  general  use  till  a  considerably  later  date.  As- 
tronomy, however,  was  sufficiently  cultivated  at 
the  University  of  Paris  to  enable  some  of  the 
members  to  predict  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  which 
happened  on  the  31st  of  January,  1310.^  This 
science  was  indebted  for  part  of  the  attention  it 
received,  to  the  belief  that  was  universally  enter- 
tained in  the  influence  of  the  stars  over  human 
1  Crevier,  ii.  224 


affairs.  And  as  astrology  led  to  the  cultivation  and 
improvement  of  astronomy,  so  the  other  imaginaiy 
science  of  alchemy  undoubtedly  aided  the  pi'ogress 
of  chemistiy  and  medicine.  Beside  Roger  Bacon 
and  Michael  Scott  in  the  13th  century,  England 
contributed  the  names  of  John  Daustein,  of  Rich- 
ard, and  of  Cremer,  Abbot  of  Westminster,  the 
disciple  and  friend  of  the  famous  Raymond  Luliy, 
to  the  list  of  the  writers  on  alchemy  in  the  four- 
teenth. Lully  himself  visited  England  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  I.,  on  the  invitation  of  the  king;  and  he 
affirms  in  one  of  his  works,  that  in  the  secret  cham- 
ber of  St.  Catherine  in  the  Tower  of  London,  he 
performed  in  the  royal  presence  the  experiment  of 
transmuting  some  crystal  into  a  mass  of  diamond, 
or  adamant  as  he  calls  it,  of  which  Edward,  he  says, 
caused  some  little  pillars  to  be  made  for  the  taber- 
nacle of  God.  It  was  popularly  believed,  indeed,  at 
the  time,  that  the  English  king  had  been  furnished 
by  Lully  with  a  great  quantity  of  gold  for  defraying 
the  expense  of  an  expedition  he  intended  to  make 
to  the  Holy  Land.  Edward  III.  was  not  less  cred- 
ulous on  this  subject  than  his  grandfather,  as  ap- 
pears by  an  order  which  he  issued  in  1329,  in  the 
following  terms  : — "  Know  all  men,  that  we  have 
been  assured  that  John  of  Rous  and  Master  Will- 
iam of  Dalby  know  how  to  make  silver  by  the  art 
of  alchemy ;  that  they  have  made  it  in  former 
times,  and  still  continue  to  make  it ;  and,  consider- 
ing that  these  men,  by  their  art,  and  by  making  the 
precious  metal,  may  be  profitable  to  us  and  to  our 
kingdom,  we   have    commanded   our   well-beloved 


816 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


Thomas  Cary  to  apprehend  the  aforesaid  John  and 
WiUiam,  -wherever  they  can  be  found,  within  hber- 
ties  or  without,  and  bring  them  to  us,  together  Avith 
all  the  instruments  of  their  art,  under  safe  and  sure 
custody."  The  earliest  English  writer  on  medi- 
cine, whose  works  have  been  printed,  is  Gilbert 
English  (or  Anglicus),  who  flourished  in  the  thir- 
teenth century ;  and  he  was  followed  in  the  next 
century  by  John  de  Gaddesden.  The  practice  of 
medicine  had  now  been  taken  in  a  great  measure 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  clergy  ;  but  the  art  was  still 
in  the  greater  psirt  a  mixture  of  superstition  and 
quackery,  although  the  knowledge  of  some  useful 
remedies,  and  perhaps  also  of  a  few  principles,  had 
been  obtained  from  the  writings  of  the  Arabic  phy- 
sicians (many  of  which  had  been  translated  into 
Latin),  and  from  the  instructions  delivered  in  the 
schools  of  Spain  and  Italy.  The  distinction  between 
the  physician  and  the  apothecary  was  now  well 
understood.  Surgery  also  began  to  be  followed  as 
a  separate  branch :  some  works  are  still  extant, 
partly  printed,  partly  in  manuscript,  by  John  Ar- 
dern,  or  Arden,  an  eminent  English  surgeon,  who 
practiced  at  Newark  in  the  fourteenth  centurj'.  A 
lively  picture  of  the  state  of  the  surgical  art  at  this 
period  is  given  by  a  French  writer,  Guy  de  Cauliac, 
in  a  system  of  surgery  which  he  published  in  1363: 
"  The  practitioners  in  surgery,"  he  sajs,  " are 
divided  into  five  sects.  The  first  follow  Roger  and 
Roland,  and  the  four  masters,  and  apply  poultices 
to  all  wounds  and  abscesses;  the  second  follow 
Brunus  and  Theodoric,  and  in  the  same  cases  use 
wine  only  ;  the  third  follow  Saliceto  and  Lanfranc, 
and  treat  wounds  with  ointments  and  soft  plasters ; 
the  fourth  are  chiefly  Germans,  who  attend  the 
armies,  and  promiscuously  use  charms,  potions,  oil, 
and  wool;  the  fifth  are  old  women  and  ignorant 
people,  who  have  recourse  to  the  saints  in  all 
cases." 

Yet  the  true  method  of  philosophizing,  by  ex- 
periment and  the  collection  of  facts,  was  almost  as 
distinctly  and  emphatically  laid  down  in  this  age  by 
Roger  Bacon,  as  it  was  more  than  three  centuries 
afterward  by  his  illustrious  namesake.  Much 
knowledge,  too,  must  necessarily  have  been  accu- 
mulated in  various  departments  by  the  actual  appli- 
cation of  this  method.  Some  of  the  greatest  of  the 
modern  chemists  have  bestowed  the  highest  praise 
on  the  manner  in  which  the  experiments  of  the 
alchemists,  or  hermetic  philosophers,  as  they  called 
themselves,  on  metals  and  other  natural  substances, 
appear  to  have  been  conducted.  In  another  field, 
namely,  in  that  of  geography,  and  the  institutions, 
customs,  and  general  state  of  distant  countries,  a 
great  deal  of  new  information  must  have  been  ac- 
quired from  the  accounts  that  were  now  published 
by  various  travelers,  especially  by  Marco  Polo,  who 
penetrated  as  far  as  to  Tartary  and  China,  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  by  our 
countryman.  Sir  John  Mandeville,  who  also  trav- 
ersed a  great  part  of  the  East  about  a  hundred  years 
later.  Roger  Bacon  has  inserted  a  very  curious 
epitome  of  the  geographical  knowledge  of  his  time 
in  his  "  Opus  Majus." 


About  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  both 
in  England  and  elsewhere,  the  universities  began 
to  assume  a  new  form,  by  the  erection  of  colleges 
for  the  residence  of  their  members  as  separate 
communities.  The  zeal  for  learning  thfit  was  dis- 
played in  these  munificent  endowments  is  the  most 
honorable  characteristic  of  the  age.  Within  the 
present  period  the  following  colleges  were  founded 
at  Oxford:  —  University  Hall,  by  William,  Arch- 
deacon of  Durham,  who  died  in  1249;  Baliol  Col- 
lege, by  John  Baliol,  the  father  of  King  John  of 
Scotland,  about  12G3;  Morton  College,  by  AValter 
Merton,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  in  1268;  Exeter 
College,  by  Walter  Stapleton,  Bishop  of  Exeter, 
about  1315;  Oriel  College,  originally  called  the 
Hall  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  of  Oxford,  by  Edward 
II.  and  his  almoner,  Adam  de  Brom,  about  1324  ; 
Queen's  College,  by  Robert  Eglesfield,  chaplain  to 
Queen  Philippa,  in  1340;  and  New  College,  in 
1379,  by  the  celebrated  William  of  Wykeham. 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  the  munificent  founder  also 
of  Winchester  College.  In  the  University  of 
Cambridge  the  foundations  were,  Peter  House,  by 
Hugh  Balsham,  sub-prior  and  afterward  Bishop 
of  Ely,  about  1256;  Michael  College  (afterward 
incorporated  with  Trinity  College),  by  Herby  de 
Stanton,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  to  Edward 
II.,  about  1324 ;  University  Hall  (soon  afterward 
burnt  down),  by  Richard  Badew,  Chancellor  of 
the  University,  in  1326;  King's  Hall  (afterward 
united  to  Trinity  College),  by  Edward  HI. ;  Clare 
Hall,  a  restoration  of  University  Hall,  by  Elizabeth 
de  Clare,  Countess  of  Ulster,  about  1347  ;  Pem- 
broke Hall,  or  the  Hall  of  Valence  and  Mary  in  the 
same  year,  by  Mary  de  St.  Paul,  widow  of  Aymer 
de  Valence,  Earl  of  Pembroke ;    Trinity  Hall,  in 

1350,  by  William  Bateman,  Bishop  of  Norwich; 
Gonvil  Hall,  about  the  same  time,  by  Edmond  Gon- 
vil,  parson  of  Terrington  and  Rushworth,  in  Nor- 
folk ;  and  Corpus  Christi,  or  Bennet  College,  about 

1351,  by  the  United  Guilds  of  Corpus  Christi  and 
St.  Mary,  in  the  town  of  Cambridge.  The  erection 
of  these  colleges,  beside  the  accommodation  which 
they  afforded  in  various  ways  both  to  teachers  and 
students,  gave  a  permanent  establishment  to  the 
universities,  which  they  scarcely  before  possessed. 
The  original  condition  of  these  celebrated  seats  of 
learning  in  regard  to  all  the  conveniences  of  teach- 
ing appears  to  have  been  humble  in  the  extreme. 
Great  disorders  and  scandals  are  also  said  to  have 
arisen,  before  the  several  societies  were  thus  as- 
sembled each  within  its  own  walls,  from  the  inter- 
mixture of  the  students  with  the  townspeople,  and 
their  exemption  from  all  discipline.  But  when  the 
members  of  the  University  were  counted  by  tens 
of  thousands,  discipline,  even  in  the  most  advan- 
tageous circumstances  must  have  been  nearly  out  of 
the  question.  The  difficulty  would  not  be  lessened 
by  the  general  character  of  the  persons  composing 
the  learned  mob,  if  we  may  take  it  from  the  quaint 
historian  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  Many  of 
them,  Anthony  a  Wood  affirms,  were  mere  "  varlets 
who  pretended  to  be  scholars :"  he  does  not  scruple 
to  charge  them  with  being  habitually  guilty  of  thiev- 


C.iAP.  v.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


817 


The  School  of  Pythagoras,  Cambridoe. 
An  ancient  Hostel,  said  to  have  been  used  for  the  residence  of  Students,  before  the  foundation  of  Colleges. 


ing  and  other  enormities  ;  and  he  adds,  "  they  lived 
under  no  discipline,  neither  had  any  tutors,  but 
only  for  fashion  sake  would  sometimes  thrust  them- 
selves into  the  schools  at  ordinary  lectures,  and 
when  they  went  to  perform  any  mischiefs,  then 
would  they  be  accounted  scholars,  that  so  they 
might  free  themselves  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
burghers."  To  repress  the  evils  of  this  state  of 
things,  the  old  statutes  of  the  University  of  Paris, 
in  1215,  had  ordained  that  no  one  should  be  reputed 
a  scholar  who  had  not  a  certain  master.  Another 
of  these  ancient  regulations  may  be  quoted  in  illus- 
tration of  the  simplicity  of  the  times,  and  of  the 
small  measure  of  pomp  and  circumstance  that  the  j 
heads  of  the  commonwealth  of  learning  could  then 
atfect.  It  is  ordered  that  every  master  reading  ; 
lectures  in  the  faculty  of  arts  should  have  his  cloak  ^ 
or  gown,  round,  black,  and  falling  as  low  as  the 
heels,  "  at  least,"  adds  the  statute,  with  amusing 
naivete,  «'  while  it  is  new."  But  this  famous  sem- 
inary long  continued  to  take  pride  in  its  poverty 
as  one  of  its  most  honorable  distinctions.  There 
is  something  very  noble  and  aftecting  in  the  terms 
in  which  the  rector  and  masters  of  the  faculty  of 
arts  are  found  petitioning,  in  1362,  for  a  postpone- 
ment of  the  hearing  of  a  cause  in  which  they  were 
parties  :  "We  have  diflficulty,"  they  say,  "in  find- 
ing the  money  to  pay  the  pi-ocurators  and  advo- 
cates, whom  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  employ — ue 
whose  profession  it  is  to  possess  no  weallJt.^^ '  Yet, 
when  funds  were  wanted  for  important  purposes  in 
connection    with   learning   or  science,    they    were 

I  Crevicr.  ii  404 

VOL.  I. — 52 


supplied  in  this  age  with  no  stinted  liberality.  We 
have  seen  with  what  alacrity  opulent  persons  came 
forward  to  build  and  endow  colleges,  as  soon  as  the 
expediency  of  such  foundations  came  to  be  per- 
ceived. In  almost  all  these  establishinents,  more  or 
less  provisions  were  made  for  the  permanent  main- 
tenance of  a  body  of  poor  scholars,  in  other  words, 
for  the  admission  of  even  the  humblest  classes  to  a 
share  in  the  benefits  of  that  learned  education 
whose  temples  and  priesthood  were  thus  planted  in 
the  land.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  the  same  kind 
of  liberality  was  often  shown  in  other  ways.  Roger 
Bacon  tells  us  himself  that,  in  twenty  years  in 
which  he  had  been  engaged  in  his  experiments,  he 
had  spent  in  books  and  instruments  no  less  a  sum 
than  two  thousand  French  livres,  an  amount  of 
silver  equal  to  about  6,0001.  of  our  present  money, 
and  in  effective  value  certainly  to  many  times 
that  sum.  He  must  have  been  indebted  for  these 
large  supplies  to  the  generosity  of  rich  friends  and 
patrons. 

Notwithstanding  the  general  neglect  of  its  ele- 
gances, and  of  the  habit  of  speaking  it  correctly  or 
grammatically,  the  Latin  tongue  continued  through- 
out this  period  to  be  in  England,  as  elsewhere,  tlm 
common  language  of  the  learned,  and  that  in  Avhich 
books  were  generally  written  that  were  intended 
for  their  perusal.  Among  this  class  of  works  may 
be  included  the  contemporary  chronicles,  many  of 
which  wei'e  compiled  in  the  monasteries,  and  tlie 
authors  of  almost  all  of  which  were  churchmen 
The  most  eminent  English  historian  of  the  thir 
teenth  century  is  Matthew  Paris,  wl'.o  v>'as  a  Ben» 


818 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Matthew  Paris. 
Fioin  a  drawing  by  hiiuscif,  in  a  MS.  of  the  "  flistoria  Major." 


which,  he  a.sscrts,  he  has  found  between  it  and  au- 
thentic records  or  contemporary  writers,  in   most 
instances  when  he  could  confront  the  one  with  the 
other.'     The  "  Historia  Major"  has  been  continued 
to  the  death  of  Henry  HI.,  by  William  Rishanger, 
a  monk,   as  it   is   supposed,   of  the   same    abbey.* 
Among  the  other  contemporary  chroniclers  of  this 
period   who    wrote    in    Latin,    the    principal    are, 
Thomas  Wykes  (in  Latin,  Vicanus  or  Wipelus),  a 
canon  regular  of  Osney,  near  Oxford,  whose  chron- 
icle extends  from  the  Conquest  to  1304  ;  Walter 
llemingford,  a  monk  of  Gisborough  in  Yorkshire, 
the  author  of  a  valuable  history  from  the  Conquest 
to  1347;  Robert  de  Avesbury,  register  of  the  court 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  whose  history  of 
the  reign  of  Edward  IIL  is  esteemed  for  its  accu- 
racy, but  comes  down  only  to  135G ;  Nicholas  Trivet, 
prior  of  a  Dominican  monastery  in   London,  who 
wrote  a  history  of  national  afl'airs  under  the  title  of 
•'Annals"   from   1130   to   1307;    Ralph   Iligden,   a 
monk  of  St.  Wesburg  in   Chester,  whose  "  Poly- 
chronicon,"  which  ends  in  1357,  was  translated  into 
English  by  John  de  Trevisa,  a  Cornish  divine,  be- 
fore the  end  of  the   fourteenth  century ;    Henry 
Knyghton  (or  Cnitton,  as  he  himself  spells  the  name), 
a  canon  of  Leicester,  the  author  of  a  History  from 
the  time  of  King  Edgar  to  1395,  and  also  of  an  ac- 
count of  the  deposition  of  Richard  H.;  and  Adam 
Merimuth,  a  canon  regular  of  St.  Paul's,  whose 
annals  commence  in  1302  and  extend  to  1380.'    To 
these  may  be  added  various  monastic  registers,  such 
as  those  of  Mailros,  ending  in  1270;  of  Margan, 
ending  in  1232  ;  of  Burton,  ending  in  12G3  ;  of  Wa- 
verly,  ending  in  1291,  &:c.     John  Fordun,  the  ear- 
liest of  the  Scottish  regular  chroniclers,  also  flour- 
ished in  the  fourteenth  century.    His  Scotichronicon 
brings  down  the  history  of  Scotland  to  the  year  1385. 
Latin  was   also,  throughout  a  gi-eat  part  of  this 
period,  the  usual  language  of  the  law,  at  least  in 
writing.     All  the  charters  of  liberties  are  in  Latin. 
So  is  every  statute  down  to  the  jear  1275.     The 
first  that  is  in  French  is  the  Statute  of  Westminster 
the  First,  passed  in  that  year,  the  3d  of  Edward  L 
Throughout  the  remainder  of  the  reign  of  Edward 
they  are  sometimes  in  Latin,  sometimes  in  French, 
but  more  frequently  in  the  former  language.     The 
French  becomes  more  frequent  in  the  time  of  Ed- 
ward n.,  and  is  almost  exclusively  used  in  that  of 
Edward  HL  and  Richard  H.     Still  there  are  stat- 
utes in  Latin  in  the  sixth  and  eighth  years  of  the 
last  mentioned   king.     It  is    not   improbable    that, 
from  the  accession  of  Edward  I.,  the  practice  may 
have  been  to  draw  up  every  statute  in  both  lan- 
guages.    Of  the  law  treatises,  Bracton  and   Fleta 


dictine  monk  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Albans,  and 
was  also  much  employed  in  affairs  of  state  during 
the  reign  of  Henry  III.  He  died  in  1259;  and  his 
principal  work,  entitled  "  Ilistoria  Major "  (the 
Greater  History),  begins  at  the  Norman  Conquest 
and  comes  down  to  that  year.  The  portion  of  it, 
however,  extending  to  the  year  1235,  is  said  to  be 
copied  from  a  work  by  Roger  Windsor,  or  Wendo- 
ver,  a  manuscript  of  which  is  in  the  Cottonian  Li- 
brary. Matthew  Paris  is  one  of  the  most  spirited 
and  rhetorical  of  our  old  Latin  historians;  and  the 
extraordinary  freedom  with  which  he  expresses  him- 
self, in  regard  especially  to  the  usurpations  of  the 
court  of  Rome,  forms  a  striking  contrast  to  the  almost 
uniform  tone  of  his  monkish  brethren.  Nor  does 
he  show  less  boldness  in  animadverting  upon  the 
vices  and  delinquencies  of  kings,  and  of  the  great  in 
general.  These  qualities  have  in  modern  times 
gained  him  much  admiration  among  writers  of  one 
party,  and  much  obloquy  from  those  of  another.  His 
-work  has  always  been  bitterly  decried  by  the  Cath- 
olics, who,  at  one  time,  indeed,  were  accustomed  to 
maintain  that  much  of  what  appeared  in  the  printed 
copies  of  it  was  the  interpolation  of  its  Protestant 
editors.  This  charge  has  now  been  abandoned ; 
but  an  eminent  Catholic  historian  of  the  present 
day  has  not  hesitated  to  denounce  the  narrative  of 

the  monk  of  St.  Albans  as  "a  romance  rather  than      .,        , ,        ,  ;    ,.^  „  .,  „,■    ,    ,  f,„,    „  ,,  n.,.„.„j„..     «;„„  .„,„ 

fithcr  editors,  or  in  the  rollections  oi  UaJe  and  Iwysdeu.     see  ante, 

a  history,"  on  the  ground  of  the  great  discrepancy  ;  p.  594 


1  Dr.  Lingard,  Uist.  of  Eng.  ill.  160.     Edit,  of  ]63;. 

2  The  History  of  Matthew  Paris  was  first  printed  at  London  in  1571, 
in  folio.  The  subsequent  editions,  also,  all  in  folio,  arc,  Zurich,  1606  ; 
London,  by  Dr.  W.  Wats,  1640;  Paris,  1644  ;  and  London,  1664.  To 
the  latter  edition.s  are  appended  some  other  historical  pieces  of  the 
author,  under  the  title  of  "  Additamenta."  There  also  exists,  in  man- 
uscript, an  abridgment  of  Matthew  Paris's  History,  drawn  up  by  him- 
self, and  generally  referred  to  as  the  "  Ilistoria  Minor,"  or  the  "  Chron 
ica,"  which  last  appears  to  have  been  the  original  title. 

3  All  these  have  been  published,  either  separately  by  Hearne  and 


Chap.  V.J 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


819 


are  in  Latin ;  Britton  and  the  Miroir  des  Justices, 
in  French. 

Latin  was  the  language  in  which  not  only  all  the 
scholastic  divines  and  philosophers  Avrote,  but  which 
was  also  employed  by  all  writei's  on  geometry, 
astronomy,  chemistry,  medicine,  and  the  other 
branches  of  mathematical  and  natural  science.  All 
the  works  of  Roger  Bacon,  for  example,  are  in 
Latin ;  and  it  is  worth  noting  that,  although  by  no 
means  a  writer  of  classical  purity,  this  distinguished 
cultivator  of  science  is  still  one  of  the  most  correct 
writers  of  his  time.  He  was  indeed  not  a  less  zeal- 
ous student  of  literature  than  of  science,  nor  less 
anxious  for  the  improvement  of  the  one  than  of  the 
other :  accustomed  himself  to  read  the  works  of 
Aristotle  in  the  original  Greek,  he  denounces  as 
mischievous  impositions  the  wretched  Latin  trans- 
lations by  which  alone  they  were  known  to  the  gen- 
erality of  his  contemporaries :  he  warmly  recom- 
mends the  study  of  grammar  and  the  ancient 
languages  generally ;  and  deplores  the  little  atten- 
tion paid  to  the  Oriental  tongues  in  particular,  of 
which  he  says  there  were  not  in  his  time  more 
than  three  or  four  persons  in  western  Europe  who 
knew  anything.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  most 
strenuous  effort  made  within  the  present  period  to 
revive  the  study  of  this  last  mentioned  learning 
proceeded  from  another  eminent  cultivator  of  natu- 
ral science,  the  famous  Raymond  Lully,  half-phi- 
losopher, half-quack,  as  it  has  been  the  fashion  to 
regard  him.  It  was  at  his  instigation  that  Clement 
v.,  in  1311,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Council  of 
Vienna,  published  a  constitution,  ordering  that  pro- 
fessors of  Greek,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  and  Chaldaic 
should  be  established  in  the  universities  of  Paris, 
Oxford,  Bologna,  and  Salamanca.  He  had,  more 
than  twentj^  years  before,  urged  the  same  measure 
upon  Honorius  IV.,  and  its  adoption  then  was  only 
prevented  by  the  death  of  that  Pope.  After  all,  it 
is  doubtful  if  the  papal  ordinance  was  ever  carried 
into  effect.  There  were,  however,  professors  of 
strange,  or  foreign  languages  at  Paris  a  few  years 
after  this  time,  as  appears  from  an  epistle  of  Pope 
John  XXII.  to  his  legate  there  in  1325,  in  which 
the  latter  is  enjoined  to  keep  watch  over  the  said 
professors,  lest  they  should  introduce  any  dogmas 
as  strange  as  the  languages  they  taught.' 

French,  which  had  been  the  language  of  the 
court  and  of  the  nobility  in  England  from  the  Con- 
quest, and  in  some  measure,  indeed,  from  the  ac- 
cession of  the  Confessor,  was  now  also  extensively 
employed  in  literary  compositions.  There  were  at 
this  time  two  great  dialects  of  the  French  tongue, 
which  were  familiarly  distinguished  as  the  Langue 
d^oc  and  the  Longue  (Voyl,  from  the  two  words  for 
yes,  which  were  oc  in  the  one,  and  oyl,  afterward 
oy  or  oui,  in  the  other.  The  Langue  d'oc  was  the 
popular  speech  of  the  southern  :  the  Langue  d'oyl, 
of  the  northern   provinces;"   Toulouse   being    ac- 

1  Crevier,  Hist,  de  TUiiiv.  de  Paris,  ii.  112  and  227. 

-  The  Langue  d'oc  is  also  often  called  the  Provencal  tongue  ;  and  to 
the  Langue  d'oyl  exclusively  it  has  been  usual  to  apply  the  names  of 
the  old  French  and  the  Romance,  though  the  latter,  at  least,  belongs 
as  nghtfully  to  the  Langue  d'oc,  meaning,  a-s  it  does,  nothing  more 
than  the  Roman  or  Latin  dialect,  as  the  provincial  Latin  of  Gaul  was 


counted  the  capital  of  the  former,  Paris  of  the  lat- 
ter ;  and  the  river  Loire  forming  (though  by  no 
means  with  strict  accuracy)  the  general  line  of  di- 
vision. The  French  which  was  brought  over  to 
England  by  the  Norman  conquerors  was,  of  course, 
a  dialect  of  the  Langue  d'ojd  ;  and  such  accordingly 
our  law  French  always  continued  to  be.  But  tin- 
annexation  to  the  English  crown  of  Poitou  and 
Aquitaine,  on  the  accession  of  Henry  II.,  immedi- 
ately established  as  intimate  a  connection  between 
this  country  and  that  of  the  Langue  d'oc,  as  had 
existed  for  a  century  before  with  that  of  the  Langue 
d'oyl.  The  former  had  already  for  some  time  re- 
ceived a  literary  cultivation,  and  had  been  made  to 
flow  in  song  in  the  compositions  of  the  troubadours, 
or  professors  of  the  gay  science,  as  the  Provenya! 
poets  called  themselves.  Duk-e  William  IX.  of 
Aquitaine,  the  father  of  Henry's  Queen  Eleanor, 
had  himself  been  one  of  the  most  distinguished  oi' 
these  sires  of  the  minstrelsy  of  modern  Europe, 
from  whom  sprung  alike  Dante  and  his  successors, 
the  cultivators  of  the  Lingua  volgare  of  Italy,  and 
the  trouveurs,  or  first  metrical  writers  in  the  dia- 
lect of  northern  France.  It  appears,  at  least,  to  be 
most  probable  (although  some  eminent  authorities 
have  maintained  a  different  opinion)  that  the  latter 
dialect  was  not  made  use  of  for  poetical  composition 
till  a  considerable  time  after  that  of  the  south  had 
begun  to  be  so  employed ;  but  it  is  certain  that  long 
poems  were  already  written  in  it  before  the  close 
of  the  twelfth  century ;  and,  various  circumstances 
now  contributing  to  the  depression  of  the  Provencal 
troubadours,  the  poets  of  the  Langue  d'oyl  ere  long 
came  to  be  still  more  famous  than  those  of  the 
Langue  d'oc,  and  the  former  to  be  even  generally 
accounted  the  idiom  the  most  happily  adapted  for 
poetry.  Most  of  these  early  poets  in  the  language 
of  the  north  of  France  were  Normans  or  English- 
men. Yet  the  Provencal  poetrj%  too,  was  undoubt- 
edly well  known  and  in  high  favor  in  England,  espe- 
cially after  the  accession  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion. 
Of  the  principal  poem  attributed  to  that  king,'  there 
are  two  versions,  one  (that  commonly  given)  in  Pro- 
vencal, the  other  in  Norman ;  and  it  is  disputed  in 
which  dialect  it  was  originally  composed." 

In  speaking  of  the  French  literature  of  this 
period,  it  would  be  unpardonable  to  omit  noticing 
its  most  remarkable  pi-oduct,  or  that  at  least  of  all 
its   remains   which   has    the    most   of  an    English 

denominated,  in  contradistinction  to  the  original  Celtic  language  of  the 
people.  Both  the  Langue  d'oyl  and  the  Langue  d'oc,  therefore,  were, 
properly  speaking,  Romance.  They  were  also  equally  French  in  every 
respect  except  one,  namely,  that  it  is  from  the  Langue  d'oyl,  certainly, 
that  the  modern  French  has  been  principally  formed.  In  the  proper 
sense  of  this  term,  however,  it  is  applicable  to  neither ;  the  French,  or 
Franks,  were  a  Teutonic  people,  speaking  a  purely  Teutonic  tongue, 
resembling  the  German,  or  more  nearly  the  Flemish  ;  and  this  tongue 
they  continued  to  speak  for  several  centuries  after  their  conqnest  ot 
Gaul.  This  old  Teutonic  French  is  denominated  by  philologists  the 
Frankish  or  Francic.  and  it  is  altogether  of  a  different  family  from  the 
modern  French,  which  has  come  to  be  so  called  only  from  the  accident 
of  the  country  in  which  it  was  spoken  having  been  conquered  by  the 
French  or  Franks, — the  conquerors,  as  in  other  cases,  in  course  of  time 
adopting  the  language  of  the  conquered,  and  bestowing  upon  it  their 
own  name.  '   See  ante.  p.  492. 

2  For  the  most  complete  account  of  the  Anglo-Norman  poets,  see  a 
scries  of  papers  by  M.  de  la  Rue,  in  :he  I2l!i,  13th,  and  14th  vol- 
umes of  the  Archaeologia 


820 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


interest,  the  Chronicle  of  the  inimitable  Sire  Jean 
Froissart.  Froissart  was  a  native  of  Valenciennes, 
where  he  appears  to  have  been  born  about  13.37; 
but  the  four  books  of  his  Chronicle,  which  relate 
principally  to  Enghsh  affiiirs,  though  the  narrative 
i^mbraces  also  the  course  of  events  in  France, 
Flanders,  Scotland,  and  other  countries,  compre- 
hend the  space  from  1326  to  1400,  or  the  whole  of 
the  reigns  of  our  Edward  III.  and  Kichard  II. 
Froissart,  however,  is  rather  of  authority  as  a 
painter  of  manners  than  as  an  historian  of  events; 
for  his  passion  for  the  marvelous  and  the  decorative 
was  so  strong  that  the  simple  fact,  we  fear,  would 
have  little  chance  of  acceptance  with  him  in  any 
case  when  it  came  into  comjietition  with  a  good 
story.  In  his  own,  and  in  the  next  age,  accordingly, 
his  history  was  generally  reckoned  and  designated 
a  romance.  Caxton,  in  his  "  Boke  of  the  Ordre  of 
Chevalrye  or  Knighthood,"  classes  it  with  the 
romances  of  Lancelot  and  Percival;  and  indeed 
the  "Roman  au  Chroniques"  seems  to  liave  been 
the  title  by  which  it  was  at  first  commonly  known. 
On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  is  fair  to  remember 
that  a  romance  Avas  not  in  those  daj^s  held  to  be 
necessarily  a  fiction.  Froissart's  Chronicle  is  cer- 
tainly the  truest  and  most  lively  picture  that  any 
writer  has  bequeathed  to  us  of  the  spirit  of  a  par- 
ticular era;  it  shows  "  the  very  age  find  body  of  the 
time  his  form  and  pressure."  In  a  higher  than  the 
literal  sense,  the  most  apocryphal  incidents  of  this 
most  splendid  and  imaginative  of  gossips  are  full  of 
truth;  they  cast  more  light  upon  the  actual  men 
and  manners  that  are  described,  and  bring  back  to 
life  more  of  the  long  buried  past  than  the  most  care- 
ful details  of  any  other  historian.  Tlie  popularity 
of  Froissart's  Chronicle  has  thrown  into  the  shade 
his  other  productions  ;  but  his  highest  fame  in  his 
own  day  was  as  a  writer  of  poetry.  His  greatest 
poetical  work  appears  to  have  been  a  romance  en- 
titled "  Meliader,  or  the  Knight  of  the  Sun  of  Gold  ;" 
and  he  also  wrote  many  shorter  pieces,  chants  roy- 
aux,  ballads,  rondeaux,  and  pastorals,  in  what  was 
then  called  the  New  Poetry,  which,  indeed,  he  cul- 
tivated with  so  much  success  that  he  has  by  some 
been  regarded  as  its  inventor.^  On  his  introduction 
to  Richard  II.,  Avhen  he  paid  his  last  visit  to  Eng- 
land in  1396,  he  presented  that  monarch,  as  he  tells 
us,  with  a  book  beautifully  illuminated,  engrossed 
with  his  own  hand,  bound  in  crimson  velvet,  and 
embellished  with  silver  bosses,  clasps,  and  golden 
roses,  comprehending  all  the  pieces  of  Amours  and 
3Ioralities  which  he  had  composed  in  the  twenty- 
four  preceding  years.  Richard,  he  adds,  seemed 
much  pleased,  and  examined  the  book  in  many 
places  ;  for  he  was  fond  of  reading  as  well  as  speak- 
ing French. 

But  while  Latin  was  thus  the  language  of  the 
learned,  and  French  of  the  noble,  the  body  of  the 
people  kept  to  the  expressive  Teutonic  speech  of 
their  ancestors — the  Saxon  or  English.  Notwith- 
standing the  circumstances  which,  even  before  the 
Norman  conquest,  and  more  especially  after  that 
event,  operated  to  establish  the  partial  use  of  the 

1  See  Wartou's  Hist,  of  Eng.  Poetry,  ii.  173  and  300 


French  tongue,  it  is  certain  that  French  never 
made  any  progress  toward  becoming  the  vernacu- 
lar language  of  this  country.  On  the  contrary,  it 
seems,  from  the  first,  to  have  lost  rather  than 
gained  ground  in  the  effort  to  maintain  itself  in 
competition  with  the  Saxon,  even  as  a  separate 
speech.  Although,  however,  it  neither  supplanted 
the  Saxon  in  the  mouths  of  the  general  population, 
nor  even,  as  has  been  asserted,  acquired  the  pre- 
dominance in  the  mixture  or  fluctuation  of  the  two 
languages,  it  unquestionably  did,  in  course  of  time, 
infuse  itself  largely  into  the  vocabulary  of  the  old 
national  tongue.  But  the  essential  forms  and 
structure  of  that  tongue  it  does  not  seem  to  have  at 
all  all'ected.  So  much  of  it  as  was  received  into  the 
body  of  the  Saxon  was  assimilated  in  the  process, 
and  converted  into  one  substance  with  the  soil 
which  it  enriched.  The  Saxon,  however,  even  in 
its  forms,  underwent,  undoubtedlj-,  a  very  consid- 
erable change  in  the  course  of  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries.  "  But  that  these  mutations," 
says  a  late,  able,  and  learned  writer,  "  were  a  con- 
sequence of  the  Norman  invasion,  ox  were  even 
accelerated  by  that  event,  is  wliolly  incapable  of 
proof;  and  nothing  is  supported  upon  a  firmer  prin- 
ciple of  rational  induction,  than  that  the  same  effects 
would  have  ensued  if  William  and  his  followers  had 
remained  in  their  native  soil.  The  substance  of  the 
change  is  admitted  on  all  hands  to  consist  in  the 
suppression  of  those  grammatical  intricacies  occa- 
sioned by  the  inflection  of  nouns,  the  seemingly 
arbitrary  distinctions  of  gender,  the  government  of 
prepositions,  &:c.  How  far  this  may  be  considered 
as  the  result  of  an  innate  law  of  the  language,  or 
some  general  law  in  the  organization  of  those  who 
spoke  it,  we  may  leave  for  the  present  imdecided ; 
but  that  it  was  in  no  Avay  dependent  upon  exter- 
nal circumstances,  upon  foreign  influence  or  politi- 
cal disturbances,  is  established  by  this  undeniable 
fact — that  every  branch  of  the  Low  German  stock, 
from  whence  the  Anglo-Saxon  sprang,  displays  the 
same  simplification  of  its  grammar.  In  all  these 
languages  there  has  been  a  constant  tendency  to 
relieve  themselves  of  that  precision  which  chooses 
a  fresh  symbol  for  every  shade  of  meaning,  to 
lessen  the  amount  of  nice  distinctions,  and  de- 
tect, as  it  were,  a  royal  road  to  the  interchange  of 
opinion.' 

The  change  here  described  may  be  considered  as 
having  been  the  first  step  in  the  passage  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  into  the  modern  English;  the  next 
was  the  change  made  in  the  vocabulary  of  the  lan- 
guage by  the  introduction  of  numerous  terms  bor- 
rowed from  the  French.  Of  this  latter  innovation, 
however,  we  find  little  trace  till  long  after  the  com- 
pletion of  the  former.  For  nearly  two  centuries 
fifter  the  Conquest  the  Saxon  seems  to  have  been 
spoken  and  written  with  scarcely  any  intermixture 
of  Norman.  It  only,  in  fact,  began  to  receive  such 
intermixture  after  it  came  to  be  adopted  as  the 
speech  of  that  part  of  the  nation  which  had  pre- 
viously spoken  French.  And  this  adoption  was 
plainly  the  cause,  and  the  sole  cause,  of  the  inter- 

'  Preface,  by  Price,  to  Warton's  Hist  of  Enp.  Poetry,  p.  110 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


821 


mixture.  So  long  as  it  remained  the  language 
only  of  those  who  had  been  accustomed  to  speak  it 
from  their  infancy,  and  who  had  never  known  any 
other,  it  might  have  gradually  undergone  some 
change  in  its  internal  organization,  but  it  could 
scarcely  acquire  any  additions  from  a  foreign  source. 
What  should  have  tempted  the  Saxon  peasant  to 
substitute  a  Norman  term,  upon  any  occasion,  for 
the  word  of  the  same  meaning  with  which  the  lan- 
guage of  his  ancestors  supplied  him?  As  for  things 
and  occasions  for  which  new  names  were  necessary, 
they  must  have  come  comparatively  little  in  his 
way ;  and,  when  they  did,  the  capabilities  of  his 
native  tongue  were  abundantly  sufficient  to  furnish 
him  with  appropriate  forms  of  expression  from  its 
o^vn  resources.  The  corruption  of  the  Saxon  by 
the  intermixture  of  French  vocables  must  have 
proceeded  from  those  whose  original  language  was 
French,  and  who  were  in  habits  of  constant  inter- 
course with  French  customs,  French  literature,  and 
everything  else  that  was  French,  at  the  same  time 
that  they  spoke  Saxon.  And  this  supposition  is  in 
perfect  accordance  with  the  historical  fact.  So 
long  as  the  Saxon  was  the  language  of  only  a  part 
of  the  nation  (though  that  was  always  infinitely  the 
most  considerable  part  in  respect  of  numbers),  and 
the  French,  as  it  were,  struggled  with  it  for  mas- 
tery, it  remained  unadulterated  ; — when  it  became 
the  speech  of  the  whole  people,  of  the  higher 
classes  as  well  as  of  the  lower,  then  it  lost  its  old 
Teutonic  purity  (though  only  in  its  vocabulary,  not 
in  its  forms  or  its  genius),  and  received  a  large  alien 
admixture  from  the  alien  lips  through  which  it 
passed.  Whether  this  was  a  fortunate  circum- 
stance, or  the  reverse,  is  another  question.  It  may, 
however,  be  observed,  that  the  Saxon,  as  has  just 
been  intimated,  had  already  lost  some  of  the  chief 
of  its  original  characteristics,  and  that,  if  left  to  its 
own  spontaneous  and  unassisted  development,  it 
would  probably  have  assumed  a  character  resem- 
bling rather  that  of  the  Dutch  or  the  Flemish  than 
that  of  the  German  of  the  present  day. 

With  the  exception  of  several  songs  and  other 
short  poetical  pieces — one  of  the  most  remarkable 
of  which  is  a  ballad  in  celebration  of  Simon  de 
Montfort's  victory  at  Lewes  in  1264 — a  few  met- 
rical chronicles  and  romances,  for  the  most  part 
translated  from  the  French,  constitute  the  only 
compositions  now  remaining  that  can  be  said  to  be 
written  in  the  English,  as  distinguished  from  the 
Anglo-Saxon  language,  before  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  Edward  I.'  The  Chronicle  of  Robert  of  Glou- 
cester, being  a  history  of  England  from  the  lauding 
of  Brutus  to  the  accession  of  Edward  I.,  is  a  metri- 
cal, but  anything  rather  than  a  poetical,  version  of 

'  The  celebrated  romance  of  the  Geste  of  King  Hume,  generally 
quoted  as  the  earliest  English  romance,  must  be  considered  (whether 
it  be  translated  or  original)  as  rather  a  Saxon  than  an  English  poem, 
even  in  the  form  in  which  we  now  possess  it.  Its  language  appears  to 
be  of  the  same  date  with  that  of  the  Saxon  translation  of  Wace's  Le 
Brut,  by  Layamon,  or  the  paraphrase  of  the  Gospel  histories,  entitled 
"  Ormulum,"  both  of  which  are  assigned  to  the  reign  of  Henry  H.  The 
romance  of  Sir  Tristiem,  again,  which  has  been  supposed  to  be  the  pro- 
duction of  the  Scottish  poet  Thomas  of  Ercildown,  or  the  Rymer,  who 
lived  in  the  thirteentli  century,  is  now  generally  considered  not  to  be, 
in  its  present  form,  of  that  antiqu:ty 


the  Latin  History  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth.  It  is 
supposed  to  have  been  written  about  the  year  1280. 
The  similar  performance  of  Robert  Manuyng,  often 
called  Robert  de  Brunne  (from  his  monastery  of 
Brunne,  or  Bourn,  in  Lincolnshire),  which  was 
produced  about  twenty  years  later,  is  scarcely  of 
any  higher  order  of  merit.  It  is  translated  from 
two  French  chronicles,  one  itself  a  translation  from 
Geoff"rey  of  Monmouth  (and  the  same  that  Laya- 
mon had  ali-eady  translated  into  Saxon),  by  Wace 
of  Jei-sey,  who  flourished  in  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century  the  other  written  by  Peter  Lang- 
toft,  a  monk  of  Bridlington  in  Yorkshire,  who  lived 
not  long  before  Mannyng  himself.'  The  language 
appears  in  these  works  in  almost  the  rudest  possi- 
ble state,  though  Mannyng's  style  is  somewhat  less 
harsh  and  confused  than  that  of  his  predecessor. 
Some  improvement,  however,  is  discernible  in  the 
next  reign  in  the  devotional  poems,  dull  as  they 
are,  of  Adam  Davy,  and  still  more  in  the  romance 
entitled  "  The  Life  of  Alexander,"  which  has  been 
improperly  attributed  to  that  writer.  But  of  all 
the  writers  before  Chaucer,  the  one  in  whose  hands 
the  language  seems  to  have  made  the  most  remark- 
able advance  in  flexibility  and  correctness,  was 
Laurence  Minot,  who  flourished  in  the  earlier  part 
of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  wrote  a  series  of 
poetical  pieces  on  the  warlike  achievements  of  that 
king,  which  have  gained  for  him,  from  an  eloquent 
modern  critic,  the  title  of  '  the  Tyrtseus  of  his 
age.''^* 

Toward  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III., 
Robert  (or,  as  he  ought  more  probably  to  be  called, 
William)  Langland  wrote  his  singular  poem  enti- 
tled "  The  Visions  of  (that  is,  concerning)  Pierce 
Plowman,"  in  a  diction  and  fashion  of  versification, 
both  of  which  seem  to  have  been  intended  as  imita- 
tions of  a  Saxon  model.  The  fines  here  are  con- 
structed upon  the  principle,  not  of  rhyme,  but  of 
alliteration;  and  instead  of  the  introduction  of  any 
new  words  or  forms  of  expression,  the  aim  of  the 
author  evidently  is  to  revive  as  many  as  possible  of 
those  that  had  become  obsolete.  In  vigor,  anima- 
tion, and  general  poetical  merit,  however,  Lang- 
land  far  excels  any  of  the  writers  that  have  yet 
been  named. 

But  he  does  not  distance  his  predecessors  nearly 
so  far  as  he  is  himself  distanced  by  his  immortal 
contemporary,  Geoffrey  Chaucer,  the  true  father 
of  our  English  literature.  Compared  with  the  pro- 
ductions of  this  great  writer,  all  that  precedes  is 
barbarism.  It  is  curious  that  at  the  very  time  when 
the  author  of  the  "  Visions  of  Pierce  Plowman" 
was  laboring  to  reinvigorate  the  language  by  the 
restoration  of  its  lost  forms,  another  mind  should 
have  entered  upon  the  work  of  its  renovation  by  the 
opposite  process,  of  moulding  it  to  a  spirit  and  man- 
ner of  expressiou  different,  in  various  respects,  from 

1  Hearne  published  Robert  of  Gloucester's  Chronicle  in  two  vols. 
8vo.  Oxford,  1724  ;  and  the  second  part  of  Mannyng's,  under  the  title 
of  "Peter  Langtoft's  Chronicle,"  2  vols.  8vo.,  Oxfurd.  1725.  Mannyng, 
accordingly,  is  usually  quoted  under  the  name  of  I.angtuft.  The  first 
part  of  Mannyng's  Chronicle  has  never  bien  printed. 

2  Essay  prefixed  lo  Specimens  of  the  British  Poets,  by  T.  Campbell, 
Esq. 


822 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV . 


what  it  had  ever  before  known.  Yet  it  was  no 
doubt  the  same  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  its  ex- 
isting state  that  prompted  the  endeavors  of  both. 
The  mightier  genius,  however,  undoubtedly  chose 
the  wiser  course.  To  Chaucer  our  language  prin- 
cipally owes  the  foundations  of  its  still  enduring 
constitution,  as  well  as  the  wliole  body  of  our  poetry 
much  of  its  peculiar  and  characteristic  spirit.  He 
is  the  father  of  our  literature  in  a  much  higher  and 
truer  sense  than  in  that  of  merely  standing  formally 
and  by  accident  at  its  head.  It  has  been  made  in 
gi-eat  part  what  it  is  through  the  example  which 
he  set  to  his  successors,  and  the  influence  and  in- 
spiration of  the  works  which  he  bequeathed  to  them. 
But  for  two  hundred  years  Chaucer  had  no  succes- 
sor; in  that  early  morn  of  his  language  he  produced 
compositions  which  the  most  gifted  of  his  country- 
men were  scarcely  able  to  appreciate,  far  less  to 
rival,  till  after  the  commencement  of  altogether  a 
new  era  of  civilization.  Nor  has  there  even  yet 
arisen  among  us  any  poet,  Shakspeare  alone  except- 
ed, surpassing,  in  the  entire  assemblage  of  his  vari- 
ous qualities,  this  wonderful  minstrel  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  Spencer's  is  a  more  aerial,  Milton's 
a  loftier  song  ;  but  the  poetry  of  neither  of  these  dis- 
plays anything  of  the  rich  combination  of  contrasted 
excellences  that  gives  so  much  life  aud  splendor  to 
that  of  Chaucer — the  sportive  fency,  painting  and 
gilding  everything,  with  the  keen,  observant,  mat- 
ter-of-fact spirit  that  looks  through  whatever  it 
glances  at, — the  soaring  and  creative  imagination, 
with  the  homely  sagacity,  and  healthy  relish  for 
all  the  realities  of  things, — the  unrivaled  tenderness 
and  pathos,  with  the  subtlest  humor  and  the  most 
exuberant  merriment, — the  wisdom  at  once  aud  the 
wit, — the  all  that  is  best,  in  short,  both  in  poetry 
and  in  prose,  at  the  same  time.  The  comprehen- 
siveness and  manifold  character  of  Chaucer's  genius 
is  evidenced  by  the  very  diversity  of  the  springs  of 
inspiration  to  which  he  resorted.  The  Provencal 
troubadours,  the  Norman  romancers,  the  bright 
array  of  the  stars  of  the  young  poetry  of  Italy,  were 
all  sought  out  by  him,  and  made  to  yield  light  to  his 
"  golden  urn."  His  works  comprise  translations  or 
imitations  of  his  predecessors  or  contemporaries, 
the  restorers  of  poetry,  in  all  these  langua-ges,  and 
m  all  the  various  kinds  of  composition  which  they 
had  made  famous.  No  writer  has  taken  a  wider 
range  in  respect  of  subject  and  manner,  or  has 
evinced  a  more  triumphant  mastery  over  the  whole 
compass  of  the  lyre.  His  "Canterbury  Tales" 
alone,  indeed,  include  nearlj-  every  variety  of  gay 
and  serious  poetry  :  in  this  crowning  work  his  ma- 
tured genius  revels  in  the  luxuriance  of  its  strength, 
and  seems  to  rejoice  in  multiplying  proofs  of  its 
command  over  all  the  resoiu'ces  of  its  arr. 

Another  name  is  commonly  mentioned  along  with 
that  of  Chaucer — "  the  3Ioral  Gower,"  as  his  friend 
Chaucer  himself  has  designated  him.^  And,  in  truth, 
he  is  more  moral  than  poetical — though  he  wi'ote  a 
great  quantity  of  Latin  and  French  verse,  as  well 
as  English. 

This  is  also  the  age  of  the  birth  of  Scottish  poetry. 

1  In  the  "  Troilus  and  Creseide  " 


Jons  Gower. 

Two  remarkable  works  in  that  dialect,  the  "  Bruce," 
by  John  Barbour,  Archdeacon  of  Aberdeen,  and  the 
"Cronykil"  of  Andrew  Wynton,  Prior  of  Loch- 
leveu,  remain,  both  of  which  are  productions  of  the 
latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Barbour  dis- 
plays occasionally  considerable  poetical  spirit.  This 
writer,  it  may  be  remarked,  calls  his  language  Eng- 
lish, as  in  truth  it  was ;  for  the  Lowland  Scottish 
is  undoubtedly  nothing  else  than  a  dialect  of  the 
Saxon. 

Of  the  English  prose  literature  of  the  fourteenth 
century  that  has  survived,  the  most  remarkable 
specimens  are  Trevisa's  translation  of  Higden,  men- 
tioned above,  and  Wycliffe's  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. The  Bible  is  said  to  have  been  also  trans- 
lated by  Trevisa.  An  indenture,  dated  in  1343, 
has  been  refeiTed  to  as  the  earliest  known  legal 
instrument  in  English.  Although  Edward  HI.  or- 
dered the  pleadings  in  courts  to  be  carried  on  in 
English  in  1362,  the  earliest  instance  that  occurs  of 
the  use  of  the  language  in  parliamentary  proceed- 
ings is  in  1388. 


Gothic  architecture,  which  prevailed  throughout 
the  greater  part  of  Europe  from  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury to  the  sixteenth,  presents  itself  to  our  inquiries 
in  a  constant  state  of  progression.  One  change  is 
only  a  transition  to  another.  It  is  also  variously 
modified  by  the  several  countries  which  adopted  it, 
aud  considerable  dilYerences  occur  even  in  the  man- 
ner of  its  original  transition  from  the  Romanesque. 
The  thirteenth  century  is  the  period  of  its  nearest 
approach  to  general  uniformity.  It  then  diverges 
into  different  national  characteristics,  which  are  no- 
where more  strongly  or  distinctive!}-  marked  than 
in  England  ;  and.  finally,  when  a  classical  style  of 
building  is  revived,  as  if  by  common  consent  among 
nations,  each  arrives  at  its  object  by  a  different  path. 

In  no  countrj"  has  Gothic  architecture  produced 
more  numerous  or  remarkable  results  than  in  Great 
Britain ;  for,  although  our  later  stjie  may  want 
something  of  the  grace  and  luxuriance  of  the  Nor 


Chap.  V.l 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


S23 


Gower's  Monument,  St.  Savior's  Church,  Southwark. 


man  Gothic,  and  our  religious  and  other  public  edi-  ' 
fices  may  not  equal  the  vastness  of  some  of  the  Ger- 
man cathedrals,  yet  we  possess  structures  display- 
ing architectural  combinations  peculiarly  our  own, 
and  preeminent  in  decorative  effect  and  boldness  of 
execution. 

Gothic  must  not  be  considered  merely  as  differ- 
ing from  classical  architecture.  It  is  diametrically 
opposed  to  it  upon  principles  no  less  fixed  and  con- 
sistent than  its  own.  In  the  two  preceding  Books 
we  have  traced  the  gradual  disappearance  of  every 
distinguishing  feature  of  regular  architecture  as  it 
became  applied  to  new  purposes,  and  its  parts  formed 
into  new  combinations ;  and  in  this  state  architect- 
ure remained,  destitute  of  any  real  principle,  until 
the  forms  necessarily  resulting  from  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Christian  Basilica,  and  the  general  intro- 
duction of  vaulted  roofs,  appear  to  have  suggested 
the  predominance  of  the  vertical  line  as  the  prin- 
ciple of  composition. 

Gothic  architecture  consists  in  the  perfect  devel- 
opment of  this  principle.  It  was  in  gradual  progress 
during  the  last  modification  of  the  Romanesque,  and 
was  soon  carried  to  its  utmost  extent :  the  pillars 
were  clustered  throughout  to  assimilate  with  the 
lofty  and  slender  shafts  supporting  the  vaulting  of 


the  nave  ;  the  capitals  reduced,  and  their  salient  an- 
gles suppressed  so  as  to  produce  the  least  possible 
interruption  to  the  eye  in  its  progress  upward. 
The  same  tendency  was  observed  in  pointing  the 
arch  ;  and  the  distinct  and  deeply  cut  mouldings 
which  replaced  the  ancient  archivolt,  were  calcu- 
lated to  continue  the  impression  produced  by  the 
vertical  lines  of  support.  The  buttress  became  an 
important  feature  both  in  composition  and  construc- 
tion, being  spread  toward  the  base,  and  carried  above 
the  walls,  in  order  to  resist  the  thrust  of  the  main 
vaulting,  through  the  medium  of  the  dying  buttress 
— the  boldest  combination  of  strength  and  lightness 
ever  imagined.  Every  horizontal  member  was  re- 
duced to  comparative  insignificance. 

In  every  step  of  its  progress  Gothic  architecture 
is  based  upon  this  general  principle ;  but  the  modi- 
fications in  its  subordinate  and  decorative  forms  are 
such  as  unerringlj^  to  distinguish  the  Gothic  of  one 
period  from  that  of  another.  Three  styles  arising 
from  such  medications  have  been  discriminated'  in 
that  peculiar  to  Great  Britain,  of  which  two  appeared 
and  passed  away  nearly  within  the  limits  of  the 
historical  period  now  under  consideration,  viz. : — 
the   Lancet,   or  Early  English    Gothic,   extending 

1  Rickmaa 


824 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


tlirough  the  reign  of  Edward  i.,  and  the  Decorated 
English,  extending  to  nearly  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth century.' 

I.  The  early  English  style,  of  which  Salisbury 
Cathedral  (founded  in  1'2'20  by  Bishop  Poore,  on 
the  removal  of  the  see  from  Old  Sarum)  is  the  most 
complete  and  extensive  example,  maintains  great 
simplicity  in  its  composition.  Pinnacles  are  little 
used,  being  confined  to  the  principal  angles  of  the 
edifice ;  and  the  buttresses,  with  which  they  were 
afterward  principally  combined,  finish  -with  a  tri- 
angular pediment.  Arched  paneling  is  still  used 
abundantly ;  and  to  this  mode  of  decorating  the 
walls  we  owe  the  introduction  of  niches  and  cano- 
pies, Avhich  make  an  early  appearance  in  the  west 
front  of  Salisbury,  and  are  still  further  advanced  in 
the  contemporary  facade  of  Wells.  As  yet,  how- 
ever, they  consist  only  of  a  deepened  arch  sur- 
mounted by  a  pediment,  and  a  corbel,  or  very  small 
pedestal,  for  the  figure.  Detached  and  banded 
shafts  are  a  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  columns  of 
this  period.  They  are  also  much  used  in  door- 
ways, of  which  the  larger  sort  are  planned  with  a 
deep  arch,  composed  of  an  immense  cluster  of 
mouldings,  forming  several  planes  of  decoration,  and 


Niches. 

I.  Early  English,  from  Seilisbury  Cathedral. 

2.  Decorated  English— York.     3.  Decorated  Englisli — York. 

inclosing  a  double  entrance.  These  entrances  are 
not  always  arched,  but  sometimes  turned  into  a  form 
peculiar  to  the  peiiod,  being  a  square  head  with 
small  rounded  haunches.     This  sort  of  opening  is 


m 


also  common   in  smaller  doorways  and  in  domestic 
architecture.     Segmental  arches,  as  in  the  triforium 

1  As  the  world  have  agreed  to  understand  the  term  Gothic,  it  has  a 
good  claim  (to  whatever  objections  it  may  be  open)  to  be  used  until  a 
better  shall  be  established.  Mr.  Whcwell  has  advanced  good  reasons 
for  its  use  in  a  generic  sense.  The  term  English  as  applied  to  a  spe- 
cies of  Gothic  is  perfectly  definite 


of  the  south  transept  at  York,  and  a  depressed  arch 
with  a  knee,  are  also  very  generally  in  use  where  a 
high  pitch  might  be  inconvenient.  The  latter  oc- 
curs in  the  doorway  to  the  south  transept  of  West- 
minster Abbey. 

The  windows  of  this  style,  in  its  early  stage,  are 
tall  and  narrow,  without  any  division  or  tracery,  but 
generally  combined  in  groups  of  two,  three,  five,  or 
seven  openings  ;  thus,  as  in  the  beautiful  example 
of  the  north  transept  of  York,  opening  the  whole 
compartment  of  the  building  in  a  manner  analogous 
to  the  spacious  windows  shortly  afterward  intro- 
duced. 

This  simple  form  was  not  long  maintained  ;  and 
the  enlargement  of  the  windows,  their  division  into 
two  or  more  lights  within  a  single  external  arch, 
and  the  introduction  of  tracery,  form  a  second  divis- 
ion in  the  early  English  architecture.  An  early 
double  window  occurs  in  the  south  transept  of  York, 
founded  in  1227;  but  in  Westminster  Abbey,  begun 
by  Henry  III.,  in  1245,  the  plain  lancet  window  is 
nearly  laid  aside,  the  openings  being  for  the  most 
part  divided  by  a  shaft,  and  the  head  of  the  arch  oc- 
cupied by  a  feathered  circle.  In  the  triforium  of 
the  same  building  the  tracery  is  to  be  observed  coin- 
ciding with  the  mouldings  of  the  arch,  differing  in 
this  respect  from  the  earlier  examples  of  York  and 
Salisbury,  where  the  openings  are  all  merely  inde- 
pendent quatrefoils,  pierced  through  the  blank  space 
in  the  spandrils  of  the  arches — a  certain  indication 
of  an  early  date. 

Tracery  in  circles,  varied  only  by  multiplying  its 
parts,  may  be  followed  down  to  the  end  of  this  pe- 
riod, when  the  increased  breadth  of  the  window, 
and  the  number  of  its  subdivisions,  led  to  a  more 
minute  and  complicated  manner  of  laying  out  the 
space  above  the  springing  of  the  arch. 

With  regard  to  the  decorations  of  this  period, 
the  trefoil  and  quatrefoil  were  introduced  and  freely 
used  in  its  earliest  stage ;  but  the  most  character- 
istic ornament,  and  one  almost  peculiar  to  the  Eng- 
Ush  Gothic,  is  the  indentation  known  as  the  dog^s 
tooth.  This  was  soon  improved  into  a  sort  of  py- 
ramidal four-leaved  flower,  in  which  shape  it  is  used 
in  the  most  extraordinary  profusion,  as  in  the  south 
transept  of  York,  where  it  not  only  fills  most  of  the 
hollow  mouldings  inside  and  out,  but  follows  the  line 
of  the  pediments,  the  angles  of  the  buttresses,  and 
even  the  shafts  which  decorate  the  window-jambs. 
It  appears  to  have  been  laid  aside  about  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century — being  used  more  spar- 
ingly in  the  north  transept,  and  not  occurring  in  any 
part  of  Westminster  Abbey.  The  Early  English 
foliage  is  more  easily  understood  from  prmts  than 
from  description.  A  trefoil  leaf  of  peculiar  charac- 
ter enters  largely  into  its  composition.  It  is  always 
deeply  cut,  and  in  capitals  turns  over,  so  as  fre- 
quently to  resemble  a  volute.  One  great  charac- 
teristic of  this  period  is,  the  careful  manner  in 
which  all  the  decorations  are  executed.  There  is 
much  of  the  other  styles  (as  Mr.  Rickman  ob- 
serves), which  appears  to  be  the  copy  by  an  infeiior 
hand  of  better  workmanship  elsewhere  :  this  is  re- 
markably the  case  in  Perpendicular  work,   but  is 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


825 


Early  E.nqlisii  Capitals— York  Cathedral. 


Decorated  English  Capitals — York  Catliedral. 


hardly  anywhere  to  be  found  in  the  early  English 
style. 

The  first  step  was  made  during  this  period 
toward  that  magnificent  style  of  roofing  peculiar  to 
the  English  Gothic,  by  the  addition  of  interme- 
diate ribs  to  the  arches  and  cross-springers  of  the 
early  vaulting.  In  the  continental  Gothic  the  vault- 
ing seldom  advances  beyond  these  simple  elements 
— a  circumstance  which  gives  an  appearance  of  bald- 
ness and  want  of  consistency  to  some  of  its  most 
splendid  examples.  This  early  improvement  in  the 
style  of  vaulting  may  be  connected  with  the  intro- 
duction of  polygonal  chapter-houses,  in  which  it 
branches  out  in  a  rich  cluster  of  moulded  ribs  from 
a  central  column.  That  of  Lincoln  is  one  of  the 
earliest  examples,  exhibiting  the  lancet-window  and 
the  toothed  ornament.  It  was  followed  by  many 
others,  particularly  those  of  Westminster,  Salisbury, 
York,  Southwell,  and  Wells  :  the  last  mentioned, 
however,  is  of  a  later  style.  The  complete  quad- 
rangular cloister  is  another  improvement  made  at 
this  date,  of  which  Salisbury  remains  among  the 
earliest  and  most  perfect  examples. 

In  the  general  arrangement  of  the  greater  church- 
es of  this  period,  the  suppression  of  the  apsis  must 
be  noticed  as  one  of  the  points  in  which  the  English 
style  already  diverged  from  that  of  the  continent, 
where  the  apsis  was  always  retained.  It  was  caused 
probably  by  the  innovation  of  adding  the  lady  chapel 
to  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  building. 

Parish  churches  are  numerous  in  the  early  Eng- 
lish style.  It  is  probable  that  many  of  those  erected 
before  the  Conquest  may  have  fallen  into  decay,  and 
been  replaced  about  this  time.  The  ancient  plan 
of  a  nave  and  chancel  without  side  aisles  is  still  re- 
tained in  those  of  the  smaller  class. 

We  must  not  quit  this  style  without  noticing  the 
spire,  which  was  introduced  at  a  very  early  date. 
Jn  fact,  an  example  remains  at  Sleaford,  in  Lincoln- 
shire, which  evidently  belongs  to  the  transition.  In 
its  first  form  the  spire  retains  something  of  its  ori- 
ginal character  of  a  pointed  roof,  rising  immediately 
from  the  projecting  cornice  of  the  tower ;  but  though 
this  form  runs  occasionally  far  into  the  succeeding 
style,  a  more  gi'aceful  mode  of  construction  was  soon 
adopted  by  placing  the  spire  within  the  parapet  of 
the  tower,  and  grouping  it  with  the  pinnacles  at  the 
angles,  as  in  that  of  Chichester  Cathedral,  which 
may  be  assigned  to  this  period,  though  perhaps 
completed  somewhat  later. ^  The  spire  of  Old  St. 
Paul's,  rising  to  the  height  of  520  feet,  was  added 

*  Rickraan 


to  that  structure  as  early  as  1222.'  It  was,  how- 
ever, of  timber,  covered  with  lead. 

II.  The  reign  of  Edward  II.  brings  with  it  the 
Decorated  English  stj'le,  of  which  the  most  striking- 
characteristics  are  furnished  by  the  tracery  of  the 
windows.  The  great  east  and  west  windows  were 
introduced  into  churches  at  this  period — another 
striking  deviation  from  the  continental  Gothic,  in 
which  the  decoration  of  the  west  front  is  centered 
in  its  lofty  and  gorgeous  portals,  and  wheel-win- 
dows. This  latter  form  is  comparatively  rare  in 
English  churches  ;  and,  where  it  does  occur,  is  con- 
fined to  the  transepts,  as  in  the  cathedrals  of  York 
and  Lincoln,  which  afl'ord  fine  examples  both  of  the 
Early  and  Decorated  styles.  The  earliest  stjle  of 
tracery  at  this  epoch  is  that  known  by  the  name  of 
Geometrical,  fi-om  its  formation  in  regular  figures, 
trefoils,  quatrefoils,  &c.,  instead  of  a  combination  of 
circles  alone,  though  the  latter  figure  is  by  no  means 
abandoned,  and  frequently  forms  the  leading  line  in 
the  head  of  the  window.  Of  this  description  are 
the  windows  of  Exeter  Cathedral,  the  work  of  the 
early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  but  they  are 
not  without  a  mixture  of  compound  curves,  harmo- 
nizing the  abrupt  junction  of  the  more  formal  geo- 
metrical shapes,  in  a  manner  which  forms  a  natural 
transition  to  the  flowing  and  ramified  tracery  of  the 
time  of  Edward  III.  This  latter  style  is  displayed 
in  its  ultimate  form  in  the  magnificent  nave  and 
west  front  of  York  Cathedral,  completed  about 
1330.  But  its  reign  was  short,  and,  if  considered 
as  analogous  to  the  Golhique  flamboijant  of  Norman- 
dy, it  must  be  admitted  to  have  been  but  imperfectly 
developed  in  this  country ;  and  it  presents  varieties 
which  it  is  not  always  easy  to  reconcile  or  assimi- 
late. It  speedily  passed  into  a  transition  ending  in 
the  Perpendicular  style,  in  which  the  English  Gothic 
finally  diverged  from  that  of  the  continent.  The 
peculiarities  of  the  latter  style  are  sti-ongly  infused 
into  the  choir  of  York  Cathedral,  begun  as  early  as 
1361,  though  not  completed  till  the  beginning  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 

The  other  characteristics  of  the  Decorated  Eng- 
lish may  perhaps  be  best  understood  by  a  compari- 
son with  those  of  the  preceding  period.  The  but- 
tresses are  now  finished  by  pinnacles,  and  their 
gradations  marked  by  pediments  highly  enriched 
with  crockets.  In  the  early  part  of  this  style  the 
pediment  is  greatly  increased  in  height  and  deco- 
rated with  tracery ;  but,  at  a  later  period,  the  prev- 
alence of  the  flowing  line  eflects  another  revolution 

1  Stow. 


826 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


8  9  10 

Trogressive  Examples  of  Windows  in  the  Thirteenth  and  Fourteenth  Centiries. 

1    Early  Enclish.—l.  From  the  Lady  Chapel,  Winchester.  2.  York  3.  North  Transept,  York.  4.  Westminster  Abbey. 

5.  Chapter  House,  York,  transition  to II.  Decorated  English.—').  Exeter.— Genmetrical  Tracery.  7.   Kirlon  Church, 

Lincolnshire— Flowing  Tracery.        8.  Badgeworth  Church,  Gloucestershire,— Example  of  the  Ball-Flower  Decoration.        9,  10.  Choir, 
York,  transition  to  the  Perpendicular. 


in  its  shape  and  proportion,  and  it  is  lowered  and 
curved  into  the  form  of  an  ogee.  Diirinis;  this  trans- 
ition the  two  pediments  were  frequently  used  one 
within  the  other,  as  in  the  abbey  gateway  at  Bury 
St.  Edmunds. 

Tiie  shafts  of  the  piers  are  no  longer  detached 
from  the   main   columns,  but   are   worked    in   the 


same  stone,  the  whole  forming  an  integral  clus- 
tered pillar.  The  capitals  are  more  varied  than  in 
the  earlier  style,  and  the  form  of  the  abacus  alters 
from  a  circle  to  an  octagon.  The  arch  mouldings 
become  bolder,  and,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  style, 
are  often  continued  uninterruptedly  down  the 
column    alternating    with    the    shafts.     Shafts   are 


Chap.  V. 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


827 


]    Early  English,  from  Wells  Cathedral.  2.  Decorated  English, 

St.  Mary's,  O.xford.  3.  Decorated  English,  York. 


Early  English  ConNicEs  and  Caps  of  Buttresses. 
1.  Salisbury  Cathedral.  2.  Southwell  Minster. 

still  used  in  the  decoration  of  doors  and  windows, 
but  in  the  composition  of  ornamental  paneling 
they  begin  to  be  superseded  by  slender  buttresses 
and  pinnacles.  Niches  make  great  progress  early 
iu  this  style,  being  much  increased  in  size  and 
importance.  The  screen  to  the  west  front  of 
Exeter  Cathedral,  composed  entirely  of  niches  and 
tabernacles,  is  the  work  of  Bishop  Grandisson  in 
1330.  In  another  stage  of  improvement,  the  cano- 
pies were  thrown  out  beyond  the  face  of  the 
building,  terminated  with  lofty  finials,  and  deco- 
rated with  clusters  of  pinnacles. 

The  cornices  of  this  period  are  composed  with  a 
hollow  moulding,  in  which  large  flowers,  grotesque 
heads,  and  other  forms  are  placed  at  intervals. 
Open  parapets  came  at  this  time  into  use,  but  were 
gradually  superseded  by  battlements,  either  plain 
or  pierced  with  tracery,  as  the  building  is  more  or 
less  decorated. 

The  foliage  of  this  period  is  extremely  rich  and 
in  a  more  natural  style  than  the  stiff,  curled  forms 


of  the  Early  English.  The  ornament  called  "  the 
ball  flower"  is  altogether  peculiar  to  this  style.  It 
is  described  by  Rickman  as  "  a  small  round  bud 
of  three  or  four  leaves,  which  open  just  enough  to 
show  a  ball  in  the  center."  It  is  sometimes  used 
in  the  same  profusion  as  the  toothed  ornament  in 
the  Early  English,  and  is  a  no  less  certain  ijidica- 
tion  of  the  period  to  which  it  belongs.  The  vault- 
ing continues  to  advance  in  decoration.  At  Exeter 
the  spandrils  of  the  roof  have  three  intermediate 
ribs  on  each  side,  between  the  cross  springers, 
forming  a  pendentive  of  great  richness  of  efiect, 
though  without  complication.  In  the  nave  of  York, 
the  mouldings  begin  to  be  crossed  and  interlaced, 
a  system  which,  in  the  choir  of  Gloucester,  vaulted 
by  Abbot  Boyfield  at  the  very  close  of  the  period, 
is  carried  to  the  point  of  confusion.  The  choir  of 
Tewkesbury  is  an  excellent  specimen  of  this  age 
and  of  the  first  step  in  the  transition  to  fan-tracery. 

The  two  styles  occupying  the  present  period  . 
contributed  greatly  to  our  national  monuments  of 
ecclesiastical  ai-chitecture.  Salisbury  is,  indeed, 
the  only  cathedral  built  entirely  and  uniformly  in 
the  early  English  Gothic,  but  important  additions 
were  made  in  that  style  to  several  others. 

The  presbytery  at  Winchester  is  to  be  noticed 
as  one  of  the  earhest  examples  of  unmixed  Gothic, 
being  the  work  of  Godfrey  de  Lucy,  who  held  that 
see  from  1189  to  120.5.  The  transepts  at  York 
have  already  been  mentioned  incidentally.  They 
are  further  deserving  of  attention  as  exhibiting  two 
gradations  of  the  style,  the  south  having  been 
begun  at  an  early  period,  and  continued  by  Arch- 
bishop Grey  in  1227,  and  the  north  being  the  work 
of  John  le  Romayne  about  the  middle  of  the  cen- 
tuiy.  To  these  examples  may  be  added  the  pres- 
bj'tery  of  Ely,  and  the  nave  and  choir  of  Lichfield, 
both  erected  about  123-5;  the  nave  and  choir  of 
Wells,  dedicated  by  Bishop  Joscelin  about  1240; 
and  the  nave  of  Durham,  erected  by  Piior  Mel- 
sonby  between  1242  and  1290.  Of  Westminster 
Abbey,  the  eastern  part  only  was  completed  by 
Henry  III.,  and  its  subsequent  continuations,  on  a 
uniform  design,  furnish  an  interesting  study  of  the 
progressive  changes  in  detail.  In  Scotland,  the 
Early  English  stylo  prevails  in  the  cathedrals  of 
Glasgow  and  Aberdeen,  in  the  magnificent  ruins  of 
Elgin,  and  the  abbey  of  Holyrood. 

Of  the  Decorated  English  style  there  arc  early 
examples  in  the  ruins  of  Croyland  anJ  Tintern, 
and  in  Exeter  Cathedral,  already  noticed.  The 
nave  of  York  was  the  work  of  forty  years,  and  was 
completed  in  1330.     The  south  aisle  of  Gloucester 


828 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Cathedral,  remarkable  for  the  peculiar  tracery  of 
its  windows,  <iiid  the  profusion  of  the  "  ball-flower," 
dates  from  l.'iJO.  A  great  part  of  the  cathedral  of 
Bristol,  including  the  tower,  was  erected  between 
1320  and  1363.  The  choir  of  Lincoln,  1324,  is 
one  of  the  most  magnificent  works  of  the  age,  but 
rather  peculiar  in  style,  and  retaining  in  an  unusual 
degree  some  characteristics  of  an  earlier  date.  The 
chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  at  Westminster,  begun  in 
1330,  was  remarkable  as  a  complete  work  of  the 
period,  and  also  for  the  transcendent  splendor  of 
its  decorations.  The  unrivaled  lantern  of  Elj-^  was 
begun  in  1328  ;  the  nave  of  the  cathedral  of  Bev- 
erley, the  choir  of  that  of  Rippon,  and  the  east 
end  of  that  of  Carlisle,  all  date  between  1330  and 
1370,  during  the  period  when  ramified  tracery  was 
in  its  greatest  perfection.  The  great  window  in 
the  last  surpasses  everj'  other  English  example  in 
the  same  style.  The  choir  of  York  has  been 
already  referred  to  :  the  central  tower  is  of  the  same 
date  and  character,  and  was  erected  by  Walter 
Skirlaw  in  1372.  The  choir  of  St.  Nicholas  at 
Aberdeen,  the  College  church  at  Edinburgh,  and 
the  celebrated  abbey  of  Melrose,  may  be  cited  as 
beautiful  examples  of  this  style  in  Scotland.  The 
High  Church  of  Edinburgh  is  of  the  same  period, 
but  modern  alterations  have  left  little  of  its  original 
character  visible. 

The  spires  of  this  period  are  numerous  and 
magnificent.  Among  them  stands  that  of  Salis- 
bury, added  to  the  structure  in  1331,  preeminent 
in  height  and  graceful  proportions :  that  of  St. 
Mary's,  Oxford,  1340,  is  remarkable  for  the  rich 
clustered  group  formed  by  the  surrounding  pin- 
nacles. Many  spires  of  this  date  are  lighted  by  a 
graduated  series  of  windows,  crowned  by  the  high 
pediment  ])eculiar  to  the  stjle,  as  at  Newark  and 
St.  Mary's,  Stamford.  None  of  these  examples  are 
crocketed,  though  the  angles  of  that  of  Salisbury 
ai"e  thickly  studded  with  knobs ;  but  the  crocketed 
spire  became  common  before  the  end  of  the  period. 

Parish  churches  in  the  Decorated  English  style 
are  numerous  and  splendid,  particularly  in  Lincoln- 
shire, where  ecclesiastical  architecture  appears  to 
have  flourished  in  an  especial  manner  during  the 
fourteenth  centurj-. 

The  foregoing  list  of  examples  might  be  gi'eatly 
increased,  but,  instead  of  extending  a  catalogue  of 
names,  we  have  endeavored  to  comprise  everything 
that  can  interest  the  general  reader  in  a  progres- 
sive series  of  examples  selected  from  the  buildings 
best  known  and  most  easily  referred  to.' 

There  is  little  to  record  respecting  castellated 
and  domestic  architecture  during  the  Early  En- 
glish period.  Castle  building  had  received  a  check 
at  the  accession  of  Henry  H.,  by  the  enactment 
that  no  subject  should  fortify  his  residence  without 
a  license  from  the  crown.  Of  domestic  architect- 
ure there  are  fewer  remains  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury than  of  any  other  period  since  the  Conquest, 
and  those  few  (to  use  Walpole's  words)  still  imply 

I  See  Britton's  Cathedrals  and  Architectural  Antiquities, — Storer's 
Cathedrals, — Carter's  Antiquities, — Halfpenny's  York,— iind  the  pub- 
lications of  the  Anti<iuarian  Society 


the  dangers  of  society  rather  than  its  sweets.  Ad- 
ditions, bespeaking  some  advance  in  refinement, 
began  indeed  to  collect  round  the  sullen  keeps  of 
the  Norman  era;  and  we  find  a  precept  from 
Henry  HL  for  the  erection  of  an  apartment  within 
the  castle  of  Guildford  for  the  use  of  his  daughter- 
in-law,  Eleanor  of  Castile,  consisting  of  a  chamber 
with  a  raised  hearth  and  chimney,  a  wardrobe,  and 
other  conveniences,  and  an  oratory ;  and  it  is  par- 
ticularly specified  that  the  windows  are  to  be 
glazed.  But  with  the  reign  of  Edward  L  a  new 
era  commences,  and  the  castles  raised  by  that 
monarch  for  the  security  of  his  new  dominion  in 
Wales  are  among  the  first  which  combine  the  for- 
tress and  the  palace  in  an  integral  structure.  Con- 
way Castle  includes  two  ctmrts  within  the  body  of 
tlie  building,  the  great  hall  (thenceforward  indis- 
pensable in  every  royal  and  noble  habitation)  occu- 
I)ying  one  side  of  the  lower  area.  The  separate 
apartments  of  the  king  and  queen  are  to  be  distin- 
guished both  at  Conway  and  Caernarvon.  In  the 
former,  tradition  points  out  the  "  Queen's  Oriel,"  a 
room  witli  some  pretensions  to  elegance,  opening 
upon  a  terrace,  and  commanding  a  beautiful  view  of 
the  surrounding  scenery.  Still  the  domestic  con- 
veniences of  the  buildings  of  this  sige  by  no  means 
keep  pace  with  their  increased  extent;  and  the 
room  in  which  Edward  II.  was  born,  at  Caernarvon, 
is  a  confined  cell,  dark  and  misshapen. 

From  these  innovations  in  the  plan  of  construct- 
ing castles,  new  architectural  features  are  naturally 
developed,  of  which  the  most  striking  is  the  group- 
ing of  the  numerous  and  variously  shaped  towers, 
those  flanking  the  gateway  being  usually  conspicuous 
by  their  size  and  lofty  proportion.  The  grand  and 
picturesque  combinations  of  which  this  style  of 
building  is  susceptible  were  not  overlooked  by  the 
architects  of  a  later  date,  and  the  castellated  out- 
line, especially  in  the  gateways,  was  retained  in  our 
baronial  residences  long  after  eveiy  essential  point 
belonging  to  a  fortress  was  given  up.  Strength, 
however,  was  still  an  object  in  the  majestic  struct- 
ures of  the  fourteenth  century,  among  which  it  may 
be  suflficient  to  cite  the  castles  of  Alnwick,  Raby, 
Bolton,  and  Warwick.  In  the  last,  Guy's  Tower, 
the  work  of  Thomas  Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
latest  constructed  w  ith  Norman  solidity  and  for  the 
real  purposes  of  defence.  The  magnificent  hall 
and  other  buildings  constituting  the  upper  ward  of 
Kenilworth  were  begun  by  John  of  Gaunt  in  the 
same  reign.  Windsor  is  also  of  this  period.  It  had 
always  been  a  royal  residence,  but  was  rebuilt  and 
enlarged  by  Edward  III.  to  the  extent  of  at  least 
the  whole  upper  ward  as  it  now  exists,  though  its 
original  features  have  long  been  obliterated.  It 
must  not  be  omitted  that  the  architect  of  this  proud 
pile  was  William  of  Wykeham,  afterward  the  mu- 
nificent Bishop  of  Winchester. 

The  machecoulis,  a  contrivance  for  casting  mis- 
siles on  the  head  of  an  assaulting  enemy  by  pro- 
jecting the  parapets  upon  corbel  stones  with  open- 
ings between,  is  an  innovation  of  the  time  of  Edward 
I.     It  was  used  in  its  boldest  form  in  gateways,  as 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


829 


I  This  tower  contains  three  large  rooms,  in  as  many 
stories  communicating  by  a  spiral  stair.  A  similaf 
tower  at  the  opposite  angle  appears  to  have  been 
left  incomplete:  it  is  planned  in  smaller  divisions 
belonging  to  the  offices.  Markenfield  Hall,  in  York- 
shire, is  a  building  of  the  same  class,  and  of  nearly 
the  same  date  ;  embattled,  but  not,  properly  speak- 
ing, fortified,  and  without  any  towers  except  a  stair- 
case turret. 

The  mere  domestic  style  of  this  period  is  very 
simple,  consisting  of  plain  gabled  outhnes,  combined, 
when  the  extent  of  the  building  renders  combina- 
tion necessary,  without  much  attempt  at  general 
eflfect.  Northborough  Hall,  in  Northamptonshire, 
is  a  quadrangular  house  of  this  description ;  it  is 
nevertheless  executed  with  much  architectural  lux- 
ury. The  decorations  are  elegant  and  highly  fin- 
ished ;  and  the  free  use  of  the  ball-flower  places  it 
in  the  first  half  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Another 
example  of  later  date  remains  near  the  cathedral  at 
Lincoln,  and  is  remarkable  for  a  very  early  pendent 
oriel,  a  form  which  figures  so  conspicuously  in  the 
architecture  of  the  next  century.  It  was  soon  car- 
ried to  perfection,  and  a  highly  enriched  specimen 
survives  in  the  palace  erected  in  the  same  city  by 
John  of  Gaunt  about  1.390. 


Guv's  Tower,  Warwick  Castlk. 

in  that  of  Lancaster  Castle,  and  was  retained  as  a 
picturesque  ornament  long  after  it  ceased  to  be  of 
use. 

The  gradual  improvement  of  domestic  architect- 
ure at  a  period  when  security  was  not  to  be  disre- 
garded, combined  probably  with  the  jealous  re- 
strictions imposed  upon  the  erection  of  domestic 
fortresses,  produced,  toward  the  close  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  the  embattled  and  moated  house. 
Stokesay,  or  Stoke  Castle,  in  Shropshire,  may  be 
described '  as  the  type  of  a  very  numerous  class  of 
manor-houses  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies. Laurence  de  Lodelow  had  license  to  em- 
battle this  house  in  1291,  and  with  this  date  the 
architectural  details  are  perfectly  consistent.  The 
building  is  a  parallelogram,  inclosing  a  court  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  feet  by  seventy,  and  is  pro- 
tected by  a  moat.  The  house  and  offices,  with  the 
entrance  tower  and  gateway,  occupy  three  sides  of 
the  court ;  the  fourth  is  inclosed  by  a  wall  only. 
The  hall,  fifty-four  feet  long  and  thirty-two  wide, 
is  lighted  by  four  arched  windows  on  one  side,  and 
three  on  the  other.  It  has  no  chimney,  and  the 
massive  rafters  of  the  high-pitched  roof  are  black- 
ened with  the  smoke  from  the  hearth  in  the  center. 
The  hall  communicates  at  one  end  with  the  iireat 
chamher,  and  at  the  other  with  the  offices.  A  large 
polygonal  tower,  rising  at  one  of  the  angles,  and 
surmounted  by  an  embattled  parapet  witli  loop- 
holes, gives  a  castellated  appearance  to  the  edifice. 

'  See  Britton's  Architectural  Antiquities,  vol.  iv. 


House  of  the  Fourteenth  Century,  at  Lincoln. 
The  Roof,  Chimney  Shafts,  and  Square  Windows,  are  Modem. 

Little  change  took  place  in  the  principles  of  do- 
mestic architecture  in  the  north  ; '  but  tlie  fortalices 
of  this  period,  both  in  Scotland  and  on  the  border, 
are  marked  by  the  introduction  of  overhanging  tur- 
rets at  the  angles,  seldom  seen  in  the  castellated 
buildings  of  England. 

1  See  ante,  p  603 


830 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Great  alterations  took  place  during  the  Early 
English  period  in  the  style  of  sepulchral  monu- 
ments, which  must  thenceforward  be  considered 
under  the  head  of  Architecture.  The  first  change 
was  the  general  adoption  of  the  altar-tomb,  a  flat, 
raised  table,  on  which  the  recumbent  effigy  is 
placed.  This  form  soon  became  general  even  when 
there  was  no  effigy.  The  altar-tomb  of  ^¥iHiam 
LoBgspee,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  in  the  cathedral  at 
that  place,  is  one  of  the  earliest :  he  died  in  122C.' 
Both  the  tomb  and  effigy  are  of  wood,  painted  and 
gilt.  The  effigy  of  William  de  Valence,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  at  Westminster,  who  died  in  I'JOG,  is 
also  of  wood,  but  plated  with  copper,  and  enameled 
in  colors;  an  art  supposed  to  have  been  introduced 
about  this  time  from  Constantinople.  The  sides  of 
these  tombs  are  paneled  and  filled  up  with  shields 
of  arms,  a  mode  of  decoration  never  afterward  laid 
aside;  but  niches,  containing  effigies  of  the  family 
of  the  deceased,  were  added  before  the  end  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  afterward  carried  to  a  high 
pitch  of  decoration. 

The  flat  grave-stone,  with  the  inscription  deeply 
cut  and  filled  with  metal,  was  also  introduced  very 
early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  so  that  the  coffin 
en  dos  d'dne  became  generally  superseded. 

The  next  great  feature  in  monumental  architect- 

'  The  altar-tomb  of  King  John  is  much  later  than  the  effigy.— See 
ante,  p.  499. 


Tomb  of  AncuBisnop  Grey. — York  Cathedral. 


ure  is  the  canopy,  probabl}'  suggested  by  the  cata- 
falque, still  used  iii  funeral  ceremonies  abroad,  and 
sometimes  on  extraordinary  occasions  in  our  own 
country.  This  being  united  with  the  altar-tomb, 
in  which  the  body  was  deposited  above  ground,  the 
mode  of  sepulture  (as  King  observes)  became  a 
sort  of  perpetual  lying  in  state.  The  most  magnifi- 
cent of  these  canopied  tombs  are  detached ;  many 
more  are  engaged  in  the  walls.  They  continued  in 
vogue  long  enough  to  survive  the  style  which  gave 
them  birth,  and  were  executed  with  all  the  luxury 
of  art  until  the  seventeenth  century,  varying  in 
their  details  with  the  march  of  architecture.  The 
monument  of  Walter  Grey,  Archbishop  of  York, 
who  died  in  1225,  and  those  of  Aymer  de  Valence, 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  at  Westminster  (1334),  and 
Hugh  le  Despenser,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  in  Tewkes- 
bury Abbey  (1359),  may  be  cited  as  progressive 
examples  of  this  species  of  architecture  in  the  thir- 
teenth and  fourteenth  centuries. 

The  higher  branch  of  sculpture  advanced  greatlj' 
during  the  thirteenth  century.  Monumental  effi- 
gies of  this  period  are  numerous  and  interesting. 
Among  the  earhest  works  of  this  class  the  figure  of 
Lord  de  Ros,  in  the  Temple  Church,  displays  both 
grace  and  spirit.  Basso-relievo  was  also  cultivated. 
It  is  often  introduced  upon  flat  surfaces,  as  in  the 
spandrils  of  the  arches  at  Worcester  and  the  Chap- 
ter House  of  Salisbury,  and  before  the  middle  of 
the  century  the  sculptures  on  the  front  of  Wells 
Cathedral,  representing  the  history  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  were  executed.  These  sculp- 
tures possess  sufficient  merit  to  have  excited  the 
admiration  of  Flaxman,  who  pronounces  especially 
upon  the  relievo  representing  the  creation  of  Eve, 
that  among  many  compositions  on  this  subject  by 
Giotto,  Buonamico,  Buftalmacco,  Ghiberti,  and  Mi- 
chael Angelo,  this  is  certainly  the  oldest,  and  not 
inferior  to  many  others.  He  further  observes  of 
these  sculptures  in  generiJ,  that  though,  owing  to 
the  disadvantages  under  which  such  works  were 
produced  in  that  age,  they  are  necessarily  ill-drawn 
and  deficient  in  principle,  "  yet  in  parts  there  is  a 
beautiful  simplicity,  an  irresistible  sentiment,  and 
sometimes  a  grace  excelling  more  modern  produc- 
tions." He  argues,  from  the  contemporary  state  of 
the  arts  in  Italy,  that  these  sculptures  are  entirely 
due  to  native  artists.*  There  is  certainly  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  foreigners  were  employed  upon  any 
work  of  importance  in  England  until  a  later  period, 
when  the  tomb  of  Henry  III.  and  the  shriue  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  are  known  to  have  been 
executed  by  Italian  hands.  With  regard  to  the 
statues  of  Eleanor  of  Castile,  on  the  crosses  erect- 
ed to  her  memory,  Flaxman,  after  praising  their 
simplicity  and  delicacy,  observes  that  they  partake 
of  the  grace  particularly  cultivated  in  the  school  of 
Nicolo  Pisano,  and  might  possibly  be  executed  by 
some  of  the  traveling  pupils  from  his  school.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  sculpture  by  no  means  maintained 
the  same  high  tone  during  the  fourteenth  century ; 
and  though  we  have  many  effigies  of  the  greatest 
value  as  portraits,  which  their  strong  character  of 

1  See  Walpole's  Ar.ecdctes  o,""  Painting. 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


831 


Tomb  of  Aymer  de  Valent  e — VVestininster  Abbuy 


Monument  of  Hugh  le  Despexser,  Earl  of  Gloucester, 
AND  Ills  Countess — Tewkesbury  Cathedral. 


individuality  warrants  them  to  be,  none  are  com- 
parable to  those  of  Queen  Eleanor  as  works  of  art. 
But  the  works  of  this  period  are  very  unequal. 
There  is  no  comparison  between  the  gi'aceful  weep- 
ers on  the  tomb  of  Aymer  de  Valence  and  those  on 
the  later  monument  of  Edward  III.  ;  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  superior 
skill  of  foreigners  was  occasionally  employed. 

The  state  of  painting  during  this  period  offers 
little  to  detain  us.  Numerous  records  are,  indeed, 
extant'  relative  to  the  painting  of  the  palace  of 
Westminster  and  other  royal  houses  during  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  lib- 
eral patron  of  the  art ;  but  the  works  of  the  period, 
as  fiir  as  we  have  the  means  of  judging,  are  not 
worthy  of  much  investigation  on  the  score  of  merit ; 
neither  do  they  possess  the  interest  attached  to  the 
early  efforts,  perhaps  equally  imperfect,  of  Italy, 

'  Flaxman's  Lectures 


since  they  led  to  no  parallel  results,  and  contribute 
nothing  to  the  history  of  the  art.  The  reader  may, 
however,  be  curious  to  knoAv  upon  what  subjects 
the  painters  employed  by  this  king  exercised  their 
pencils ;  and  we  learn  from  these  documents  that 
they  executed  the  figures  of  our  Lord  and  the  Four 
Evangelists,  with  St.  Edmund  and  St.  EdAvard,  in 
the  chapel  at  Woodstock ;  the  Last  Judgment,  for 
that  of  St.  Stephen,  in  the  palace  of  Westminster  ; 
the  History  of  Antioch  (conjectured  to  be  some  feat 
of  the  Crusades),  for  the  room  called  the  Antioch 
Chamber,  in  the  same  palace ;  and  the  History  of 
Alexander,  for  the  queen's  chamber  in  Nottingham 
Castle.  The  paintings  executed  in  St.  Stephen's 
Chapel,  after  its  restoration  by  Edward  HI.,  sur- 
vived till  the  final  destruction  of  that  building  by 
fire.  The  ornamental  parts  of  this  work  (for  the 
details  of  which  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  publi- 
cation by  the  Society  of  Antiquaries)  furnished  the 


S32 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


most  complete  example  which  Time  had  spared  of 
the  extent  to  which  polychromatic  decoration  was 
carried  at  this  period  ;  but  those  portions  appertain- 
ing to  the  liigher  branches  displayed  no  proficiency 
in  any  of  the  principles  of  art,  though  the  school  of 
Giotto  was  alreadj'  flourishing  in  Italy  under  his 
successors.  We  must  not,  however,  pass  without 
notice  the  curious  portrait  of  Richard  II.,  preserved 
in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  at  Westminster.  In  its 
style  it  is  merely  an  enlargement  of  the  miniature 
painting  which  was  cultivated  at  this  period  with 
great  success.  Numerous  manuscrij)ts  are  extant, 
illusti'ated  by  compositions  displaying  the  most  brill- 
iant colors,  and  the  utmost  delicacy  of  execution, 
whatever  their  deficiencies  may  be  in  other  respects. 
Several  specimens  from  a  metrical  history  of  Rich- 
ard II.  have  been  given  in  the  foregoing  pages  of 
this  work,  and  will  convey  the  best  idea  that  mere 
lines  can  aftord  of  this  branch  of  the  fine  arts  at  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

In  the  above  mentioned  records  we  have  the  first 
notice  of  painting  on  glass,  in  the  form  of  precepts 
for  glazing  three  windows  in  St.  John's  Chapel,  in 
the  Tower  of  London,  with  a  little  Virgin  3Iary 
holding  the  Child,  a  Trinity,  and  a  St.  John  the 
Apostle,  and  for  executing  the  history  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus  in  glass  at  Nottingham  Castle.  The  stjie 
of  executing  such  works  at  this  period  was  in  small 
medallions  of  difierent  forms,  inlaid  upon  a  sort  of 
mosaic  ground  in  various  patterns  and  the  most 
brilliant  colors.  Windows  of  this  date  were  some- 
times surrounded  by  elaborate  borders,  and  may  be 
further  distinguished  by  the  predominance  of  a  rich 
deep  blue.  This  style  was  continued  to  the  end  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  In  that  which  succeeded, 
the  compartments  are  still  small,  but  of  more  sim- 
ple forms,  among  which  a  pointed  egg  shape  is  com- 
mon, and  they  are  often  filled  by  a  single  figure. 
The  ground  is  no  longer  disposed  in  mosaic,  but 
drawn  with  beautiful  scroll  or  arabesque  work. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
during  the  period  of  the  zenith  of  the  Decorated 
English  style,  figures  of  larger  size  were  represent- 
ed, occupying  the  whole  breadth  of  the  light,  stand- 
ing in  a  niche,  decorated  with  canopies,  columns, 
and  buttresses.  These  figures  generally  relate  to 
benefactors  of  the  church,  and  their  names  and 
deeds  are  recorded  by  inscriptions,  and  illustrated 
by  their  armorial  bearings.  The  west  window  of 
York  Cathedral  is  glazed  in  this  style,  and  the  in- 
denture entered  into  with  the  artist,  of  which  the 
particulars  are  preserved,'  fixes  the  date  of  its  exe- 
cution to  the  year  1338.  Robert,  a  glazier,  con- 
tracted to  glaze  and  paint  the  said  window  at  the 
rate  of  six  pence  per  foot  for  plain,  and  twelve  pence 
for  colored  glass. 


The  history  of  English  Music,  so  far  as  it  can  be 
traced  by  any  ancient  musical  compositions  extant, 
does  not  commence  within  the  period  at  which  we 
are  now  arrived.  The  art,  indeed,  as  has  been 
already  shown,  appears  to  have  been  generally  cul- 
tivated in  this  country  from  a  very  early  date  ;  but 

'•  See  Britton's  History  of  York  Cathedral,  Appendix 


we  are  strongly  inclined  to  susi)ect  that  for  many 
ages  it  was  practiced  almost  invariably  as  a  mere 
accessory  to  poetry,  or  in  union  with  the  church 
service.  And  here  we  may,  in  passing,  express  our 
belief  that,  with  the  ancients.  Music  was  rarely  sep- 
arated from  her  sister  art, — a  fact  which,  if  admit- 
ted, will  render  more  probable  some  of  the  other- 
wise incredible  stories  of  the  power  of  harmony 
handed  down  to  us  from  remote  ages. 

From  a  passage  in  Bede,  referred  to  in  the  last 
Book,  and  indeed  from  other  statements,  it  appears, 
that  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  an  essential  qualifica- 
tion for  admission  into  the  upper  classes  of  society 
Avas  a  certain  degree  of  skill  on  the  harp ;  that  is, 
we  suppose,  a  power  of  accompanying  on  that  in- 
strument the  musical  delivery  of  the  popular  poems 
of  the  day.  By  the  laws  of  Wales,  a  harp — or,  as 
we  presume,  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  instru- 
ment— was  one  of  the  three  qualifications  necessary 
to  constitute  a  gentleman  ;'  none  but  the  king,  his 
musicians,  and  freemen,  were  allowed  to  possess  a 
harp;  and  he  who  played  on  it  was  legally  a  gentle- 
man. According  to  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  the  people 
of  York,  and  those  beyond  the  Humber,  sang  in 
two  parts,  treble  and  base.  He  also  tells  us  that  the 
Welsh  practiced  vocal  harmony  in  many  parts  ;  but 
perhaps  he  mistook  some  such  rude  chorus  as  we 
now  occasionally  meet  with  at  numerously  attended 
festive  entertainments,  for  singing  harmoniously  in 
several  parts. 

The  ancient  national  habits  that  have  been  de- 
scribed continued  to  be  kept  up  in  later  ages.  '« In 
the  statutes  of  New  College,  Oxford,  given  about 
the  year  1380,  the  founder  orders  his  scholars,  for 
their  recreation  on  festival  days  in  the  hall  after  din- 
ner and  supper,  to  entertain  themselves  with  songs, 
and  other  diversions  consistent  with  decency."-  A 
manuscript  roll  of  the  officers  of  Edward  III.'s 
household  contained  a  list  of  performers  on  the 
trumpet,  oboe,  clarion,  dulcimer,  tabret,  violin,  flute, 
etc.  To  these  may  be  added  several  instruments 
mentioned  by  Chaucer  in  his  "Canterbury  tales" 
and  "  House  of  Fame."  The  same  poet,  too,  in 
"  The  Romaunt  of  the  Rose,"  speaks  of  a  lady's 
singing,  in  language  which  implies  much  vocal  abil- 
ity and  great  practical  knowledge  : — 

"  Well  coud  she  sine,  and  lustily. 
None  halfe  so  well  and  semily,^ 
And  rothe  make  in  song  siioh  refraining.* 
It  sateS  her  wondir  well  to  sin^. 
Iter  voice  fuil  clear  was,  and  full  swete  , 
She  was  not  rude,  ne  yet  uninete, 
But  coutlip''  inoughe  for  soche  doing 
As  longith  unto  karolling." 

Yet  no  remains  are  to  be  found,  up  to  the  fifteenth 
century,  of  what  can  properly  be  called  a  British 
musical  composition  ;  not  so  much  as  a  simple  mel- 
ody ;  for  the  intonations  of  the  church  at  that  period 
exhibit  nothing  that  comes  under  the  denomination 
of  air,  at  least  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term  : 
and  after  much  research,  we  are  satisfied  of  the 
correctness  of  what  is  asserted  by  one  of  the  most 

1  Leges  Wallicae,  301.         =  Wart.  Hist.  Eng.  Poet.        3  .-rem-T.gly 
*  Refrain,  the  burden  of  a  song,  or  return  'o  the  first  part 
5  Became.  '  Knew 


Chap.  V.] 


LITERATURE,  SCIENCE,  AND  THE  FINE  ARTS. 


833 


Hand-Organ  or  Dulcimer,  anb  Violin.     Royal  MS.  14  E.  iii. 

eminent  of  oui*  musical  antiquaries,  that,  prevalent 
as  dancing  was  in  this  country  from  the  earliest 
times,  no  appearance  can  be  discovered  of  the  nota- 
tion, or  the  name,  of  even  an  English  dance-tune 
before  the  year  1400.^  "  Sellinger's  (or  St.  Legei-'s) 
Round"  may  be  traced  back  to  nearly  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII. ;  nothing  beji-ond. 

This  is  the  more  remarkable  because  there  were 
some  good  English  writers  on  music  during  the  thir- 
teenth and  fourteenth  centuries,  whose  works  are 
to  be  found  in  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum, 
the  Bodleian,  and  other  libraries.  Of  these  works 
we  shall  only  notice  one,  entitled  "De  Specula- 
tione  Bliisices,"  by  Walter  Odington,  preserved  in 
Corpus  College,  Cambridge.  This  excellent,  but 
almost  unknown  author  was  a  monk  of  Evesham 
during  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and 

1  Sir.  ,1.  Uawliins,  History  of  Music. 


Hand-Bells.    Royal  MS.  15  D.  iii. 

is  mentioned  by  Stephens,  the  translator  and  con- 
tinuator  of  Dugdale's  Monasticon,  as  "  a  man  of 
fiicetious  wit,  who  used  at  spare  hours  to  divert  him- 
self with  the  decent  and  commendable  diversion  of 
music,  to  render  himself  the  more  cheerful  for  other 
duties."  Odington  was  the  author  of  other  learned 
productions  beside  this.^  Of  his  present  Treatise  it 
has  been  said,  and  justly,  that  if  all  other  nmsical 
tracts,  from  the  time  of  Boethius  to  that  of  Franco, 
were  destroyed,  we  should  sustain  little  loss  were 
the  MS.  of  Odington  saved.  Not  one  specimen, 
however,  of  the  invention  of  his  countrymen,  either 
in  melody  or  harmony,  is  given  by  this  Benedictine 
monk ;  and  we  must  patiently  wait  till  we  advance 
into  the  fifteenth  century  ere  we  shall  be  enabled 
to  name  a  single  composition,  even  of  the  most  trivial 
kind,  from  the  pen  of  a  British  musician. 

1  See  Tanner,  Moreri,  &c. 


S3  4 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


ROM  the  accouut  that 
has  been  given  of  the 
interior  decorations  and 
furniture  of  EngUsh  pa- 
laces and  houses  during 
tlie  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries,  it  would  ap- 
j)ear  that  the  practice  of 
painting  the  walls  and 
ceilings  of  chambers  ex- 

f^"'a\WC,=*As^  '/5\]]  ^^^""^  previously  to  the 
%i^rf-^^\'<^~  J'Nk^^'-' A>/  reign  of  Henry  III. — 
During  the  reign  of  that 
monarch  and  his  immediate  successors,  the  fashion 
seems,  from  the  frequency  of  the  royal  orders  con- 
cerning it,  to  have  obtained  considerably,  and  almost, 
if  not  entirely  to  have  superseded  the  more  costly 
and  laboriously  executed  hangings  of  needle-work, 
of  which  in  several  instances  the  paintings  are  di- 
rected to  be  made  in  imitation.  The  principal  sub- 
jects were  selected  from  the  holy  scriptures,  or 
from  the  numerous  lajs  and  fabliaux  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  and  the  incidents  were  surmounted 
b}'  scrolls  inscribed  with  the  text  or  the  legend,  as 
it  might  be.  The  well-knoAvn  "  Painted  chamber" 
at  Westminster  obtained  its  name  from  this  style 
of  decoration.  The  remaining  part  of  its  curious 
pictures  executed  during  the  reign  of  Edward  I. 
was  destroyed  on  the  enlargement  of  the  old  House 
of  Commons  :  but,  fortunately,  not  before  accur;ite 
drawings  had  been  made  of  them  by  the  late  Mr. 
Charles  Stothard.  In  the  romance  of  "  Arthur  of 
Little  Britain,"  written  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II., 


we  read  of  a  chamber  in  which  there  was  no  man- 
ner of  history  nor  battle  "  since  God  first  made 
mankind,  but  in  that  chamber  it  was  portrayed 
with  gold  azure  and  other  fresh  colors,  as  quickly 
(to  the  life)  adorned  that  it  was  wonder  to  behold." 

As  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  we  read  of 
the  painted  glass  windows  in  domestic  buildings ; 
and  from  the  above  mentioned  romance  we  learn 
that,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  they  were  made 
with  lattices  to  open  and  shut.  Strutt  has  engraved 
a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  chairs  of  the  time  of 
Henry  III.,  from  a  MS.  copy  of  Matthew  Paris.'- 
He  has  also  given  one  of  the  latest  specimens  of  the 
square-backed  chairs  of  the  thirteenth  century,'  at 
tlie  close  of  which  they  began  to  be  fashioned  after 
the  pointed  stjie  of  arcliitecture  then  just  intro- 
duced. One  of  the  most  interesting  specimens  now 
existing  is  the  coronation  chair,  called  St.  Edward's, 
preserved  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  in  which  all 
our  sovereigns  from  Edward  II.  inclusive  (with  the 
exception  perhaps  of  Mary)  have  been  crowned. 

The  use  of  tressels  for  tables  appears  to  have 
been  introduced  dm-ing  the  fourteenth  century.  In 
the  beautiful  French  work  on  furniture,  Arc,  by  M. 
Willemin,  there  is  an  ornamental  specimen  from  a 
MS.  copy  of  the  "Roman  de  Lancelot  du  Lac,"  in 
the  Royal  Library  at  Paris. 

An  elegant  bedstead,  chair,  and  reading-desk  of 
the  fourteenth  century  are  also  given  in  that  work, 
wdiich  deserves  to  be  better  known  in  England.    We 

.  1  ITurda  Angel-Cynnan,  pi.  86. 

2  lb.  pi.  39;  and  Sporls  and  Pastimes  ol  People  of  England,  plates 
39,  40,  42,  and  45. 


CnAiR.     Royal  MS.  M  E.  iii. 


I.iBRART  Chair,  Reading  Table,  and  Reading  DiMi 
Royal  MS.  15  D.  iii. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


835 


Bed.    Royal  MS.  14  E.  iii. 

have  a  splendid  description  of  a  bedstead  in  the  ro- 
mance of  "  Arthur"  before  mentioned.  One  which 
stood  in  the  middle  of  the  chamber  surmounted  in 
beauty  all  others ;  for  the  "  utterbrases"  thereof 
were  of  green  jasper,  with  great  bars  of  gold  set 
full  of  precious  stones,  and  the  crampons  of  fine 
silver  bordered  with  gold;  the  posts  were  of  ivory 
with  pomels  of  coral,  and  the  staves  closed  in  buck- 
ram covered  with  crimson  satin.  The  sheets  were 
of  silk,  with  a  i-ich  covering  of  ermine  and  other 
cloths  of  gold,  and  four  square  pillows  wrought 
among  the  Saracens.  The  curtains  were  of  green 
sendal  (silk),  ornamented  with  gold  and  azure ;  and 
round  about  the  bed  there  lay  on  the  floor  carpets 
of  silk  "  poynted  and  embroidered  with  images  of 
gold"  (one  of  the  earliest  notices  of  carpets) ;'  and 
at  the  head  of  the  bed  stood  an  image  of  fine  gold, 
having  a  bow  of  ivory  in  his  left  hand,  and  an  arrow 
of  fine  silver  in  his  right. 

Another  bed,  in  the  same  romance  is  described  as 
being  furnished  with  a  rich  quilt  wrought  with  cot- 
ton, covered  with  sendal,  stitched  with  threads  of 
gold,  and  sheets  of  white  silk,  and  over  all  a  rich 
fur  of  ermines.  In  front  of  this  bed  there  stood  a 
t)ench  with  great  "  brases"  (arms)  of  ivory.  Our 
readers  must  take  into  consideration  that  this  is 
from  a  romance,  but  it  nevertheless  is  a  description 
founded  upon  facts,  and  exaggerated  only  with  re- 
gard to  the  materials.  We  learn  from  it,  in  con- 
junction with  the  pictorial  representations  of*  the 
period,  that  the  bedsteads  of  that  day  resembled  the 
modern  crib  used  for  children  in  England,  and  for 
everybody  in  Germany,  being  a  sort  of  long  box, 
the  sides  or  railing  of  which  Avas  called  the  outer 
hras.  The  posts  at  the  corners  sometimes  only  rose 
u  little  above  this  railing,  and  were  surmounted  with 
panels,  at  others  they  supported  a  tester."  But  the 
wills  of  our  sovereigns  and  chief  nobility  prove  that, 

1  Matthew  Paris  tells  us  that  Eleanor  o(  Castile,  wife  of  Edward  I., 
followed  the  example  of  Siuchius,  Bishop  of  Toledo,  who,  in  1255, 
rnvered  his  floor  -wilh  tapestry,  at  which  there  was  much  sneering. 

-  lu  the  will  of  Lady  Neville,  1385,  we  find  nieiuion  of  a  coverlet  or 
cnnnterpaue  {"  convrfclitz"')  and  a  tester  of  doulile  worsted  :  also  of  a 
white  couvrclit  and  tester,  ))Owdered  with  popinjays. 


Bed.    Royal  MS.  15  D.  iii 

during  the  fourteenth  century,  the  beds  of  person- 
ages of  distinction  were  magnificent  enough  almost 
to  relieve  the  romancer  of  the  suspicion  of  exag- 
geration. Agnes,  Countess  of  Pembroke,  in  1367. 
gives  to  her  daughter  a  bed,  "  with  the  furniture  of 
her  father's  arras."  William  Lord  Ferrers  of 
Groby,  in  1368,  leaves  to  his  son  his  green  bed, 
with  his  arms  thereon,  and  to  his  daughter  his 
"  white  bed  and  all  the  furniture,  with  the  arms  of 
Ferrers  and  Ufibrd  thereon."  Edward  the  Black 
Prince,  in  1376,  bequeaths  to  his  confessor.  Sir 
Robert  de  Walsham,  a  large  bed  of  red  camera, 
with  his  arms  embroidered  at  each  corner,  also  em- 
broidered with  the  arms  of  Hereford  ;  and  to  M. 
Alayne  Cheyne  "  our  bed  of  camera,  powdered  with 
blue  eagles."  His  widow,  in  1385,  gives  "  to  my 
dear  son  the  king  (Richard  II.)  my  new  bed  of  red 
velvet,  embroidered  with  ostrich  feathers  of  silver, 
and  heads  of  leopards  of  gold,  with  boughs  and 
leaves  issuing  out  of  their  mouths."  Beds  of  black 
satin,  of  blue,  red,  and  white  silk,  and  of  black  vel- 
vet, all  more  or  less  richly  embroidered  with  gold, 
silver,  and  colors,  are  mentioned  in  the  wills  of  Ed- 
mond  Earl  of  March,  1380  ;  Richard  Earl  of  Arun- 
del, 1392;  and  .John  Duke  of  Lancaster,  1397. 
Chaucer,  in  his  Dream  (v.  255),  says — 

"  Of  diiwne  of  pure  dove's  white 
I  wol  give  hini  a  feather  lied, 
Rayed  with  gold  and  rig^ht  wel  clad 
In  fine  black  sattin  d'oiUreinere, 
And  many  a  pillow,  and  every  here 
Of  cloth  of  Raynes,  to  slepe  on  soft." 

Cloth  of  Raynes  (Rcnnes  in  Britanny)  was  much 
esteemed  during  the  middle  ages,  and  is  mentioned 
as  early  as  the  twelfth  century.  It  was  used  for 
sheets,  and  seems  to  have  been  linen  of  very  fine 
manufacture. 

Clocks  that  struck  and  chimed  the  hour  are  men- 
tioned as  early  as  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, as  part  of  the  furniture  of  a  mansion,  i»y  the 
author  of  the  "  Roman  do  la  Rose": — 

••  Et  puis  fait  sonnor  ses  orloges 
Par  ses  salles  et  par  ses  loges 
A  roes  trop  subtilleinenls 
Do  pardurable  mouvomriils." 


S36 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


The  word  clock,  however,  was  used  to  signify  tlie 
l)ell  only  till  the  time  of  Henry  VHI.,  the  French 
word  horloge  being  used  for  the  entire  machine  be- 
fore that  period. 

A  cupboard  of  plate  in  the  thirteenth  century  is 
described  as  consisting  of  a  cup  of  gold  covered,  six 
quart  standing  pots  of  silver,  twenty-four  silver 
bowls  with  covers,  a  bason,  ewer,  and  chasoir  of 
silver.' 

The  wills  of  Sir  John  Dcvereux.  1385,  of  Sir 
William  de  Walworth  (the  celebrated  Lord  Mayor 
of  London,  who  also  died  in  1385), and  of  Alice  de 
Nerford,  Baroness  Neville,  of  Essex,  1394,  contain 
repeated  notices  of  silver  and  silver-gilt  plate,  con- 
sisting of  dishes,  chargers,  basons,  ewers,  salt-cel- 
lars, and  spoons.  Sh*  William  leaves  a  dozen  silver 
spoons  to  his  brother  Thomas  Walworth,  twelve 
dishes  and  twelve  salt-cellars,  two  chargers,  two 
basons,  with  a  silver  lavatory,  and  six  pieces  of  plate 
with  two  covers.  In  Lady  Neville's  will  mention 
is  made  of  silver  spice-plates  and  hanaps  (hanapes), 
with  covers  or  lids  to  them.  Hanaps  are  also  men- 
tioned among  the  articles  of  plate  in  the  inventory 
of  Charles  V.,  of  France.*  Some  of  these  hanaps 
were  splendidly  chased,  and  ornamented  with 
eagles,  herons,  &c.;  and  one  is  described  as  "a 
hanap  with  a  leopard ;"  the  figure  of  one  being 
probably  upon  the  "couvercle."  In  the  same  will, 
napkins  and  towels  ("  towailles"),  manufactured  at 
Paris  and  Diuant,  are  mentioned  among  the  house- 
hold linen. 

A  pair  of  knives,  witli  sheaths  of  silver,  enameled, 
and  a  fork  of  crystal,  are  mentioned  in  the  ward- 
robe accounts  of  Edward  I.;  and  forks  are  said  to 
have  been  used  in  Italy  as  early  as  1330,  but  they 
were  not  introduced  at  tables  here  till  the  seven- 
teenth century.  The  one  above  mentioned,  from 
the  very  material  of  which  it  was  made,  must  evi- 
dently have  been  an  object  of  curiosity  rather  than 
an  article  for  use.  Fire-screens,  with  feet  and 
stands,  occur  in  1383;  and  fire-dogs,  or  andirons, 
are  mentioned  in  the  wardrobe  accounts  of  Ed- 
ward I. 

The  civil  costume  in  England  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.  does  not  appear  to  have  diflfcred  essen- 
tially from  that  worn  during  the  reign  of  Eichard 
and  John.  The  tunic,  with  sleeves  tight  to  the 
wrist,  the  chausses,  or  tight  pantaloons,  with  shoes 
or  short  boots,  the  toes  being  long  and  pointed,  form 
the  ordinary  dress  of  the  middle  classes.  Caps  of 
singular  and  varied  shapes  are  more  frequently  met 
with,  but  the  cowl  or  the  coif  is  the  general  head- 
gear of  the  traveler.  A  large  cloak  with  sleeves, 
and  a  capuchon  or  cowl  attached  to  it  is  mentioned 
as  a  garment  for  foul  weather,  under  the  name  of 
"  super-totus,"  or  over-all,  and  a  similar,  if  not  the 
same   habit,  called  a  balandrana,  is  among  others 

1  Matthew  Paris,  p.  2G9. 

-  The  word  hanaper  has  generally  been  ex]>lnincd  as  meaiiincr  a 
basket  with  handles,  and  derived  from  hand-hamper.  It  is  evident, 
from  the  document  now  quoted,  that  in  the  fourteenth  century  the  term 
was  applied  to  vessels  of  silver;  and  we  think  the  true  derivation  of 
the  word  to  be  from  the  Saxon  and  German  word  hand  and  napf, — the 
latter  signifying  a  bowl,  bason,  or  porringer  (nap  in  Dutch,  and  nappo 
in  Italian) ;  and  that  hiving  a  lid  (couvercle)  to  it  as  well  as  handles, 
its  appeariuce  would  be  that  of  a  soup-bason. 


forbidden  to  be  worn  by  the  monks  of  St.  Benedict 
at  this  period.  Robes  and  mantles  continued  to 
distinguish  the  higher  orders,  and  the  materials  of 
which  they  were  composed  appear  to  have  been  of 
the  most  costly  description.  Velvet  is  mentioned 
by  Matthew  Paris  imder  its  Latin  name  of  villosa 
(from  whence  the  French  villusc  and  velours),  and 
two  very  splendid  sorts  of  gold  and  silk  stuff  manu- 
factured at  Baldeck  and  in  the  Cyclades  were  intro- 
duced here  about  this  period.  The  first,  called 
cloth  of  Baldekins,  was  used  to  form  the  vestments 
in  which  William  de  Valence  Avas  arrayed  when 
knighted  by  Henrj'  in  1247,  and  the  second  gave  its 
name  to  a  super-tunic,  or  surcoat,  which  opened  up 
the  front  to  the  waist,  and  was  called,  after  it,  Cy- 
clas,  orCidatoB.  The  whimsical  fashion  of  indent- 
ing, escaloping,  and  otherwise  cutting  the  edges  of 
garments,  which  had  provoked  a  legislative  prohi- 
bition as  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  appears  to 
have  ra^ed  more  than  ever  toward  the  close  of 
Henry  HL's  reign.  William  de  Loris,  who  died  in 
12G0,  describes  the  dress  of  Mirth  in  his  "Roman 
de  la  Rose,"  as  being — 

"  En  maint  lien  inrisste 
Et  ducoppfee  par  cointisse  ;"' 

and  robes  so  "  slyttered,"  as  Chaucer  describes 
them,  were  thence  called  cointises.  The  nobles 
who  attended  at  the  marriage  of  Henry's  daughter 
with  Alexander,  King  of  Scotland,  in  1251,  "were 
attired,"  says  Matthew  Paris,  "  in  vestments  of 
silk,  commonly  called  cointises." 

Mantles  lined  with  ermine  are  first  mentioned 
during  this  reign  :  two  are  ordered  for  Henry  and 
his  queen ;  nnd  MattheAV  Paris  mentions  the  doub- 
led or  lined  winter  garments  of  the  king  and  his 
courtiers.  As  an  exterior  ornament,  however,  furs 
do  not  make  their  appeai-ance  till  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward I.  In  the  Ilarleian  MS.,  926,  is  an  initial 
letter  in  which  is  represented  the  coronation  of  that 
monarch,  and  his  mantle  of  state  is  not  only  lined 
Avith  ermine,  but  has  the  broad  cape  or  collar  of  the 
same  fur,  which  has  ever  since  been  worn  by  sov- 
ereign princes. 

The  principal  change  in  the  female  dress  of  this 
period  took  place  in  the  fashion  of  wearing  the  hair, 
which,  instead  of  being  plaited  as  previously,  was 
turned  up  behind,  and  entirely  inclosed  in  a  caul  of 
net-work  composed  of  gold,  silver,  or  silk  thread, 
over  which  was  worn  the  peplum  or  veil;  and  some- 
times, in  addition,  a  round  hat  or  cap.  Garlands,  or 
chaplets  of  goldsmith's  work,  were  also  worn  by  the 
nobility  over  or  without  the  caul;  and  wreaths  of 
natural  flowers  formed  a  still  more  elegant  summer 
head-dress,  attainable  by  all  classes.  The  wimple 
or  headkerchief  continued  to  cover  the  gray  hairs  of 
age,  and  give  a  conventual  appearance  to  the  cos- 

1  That  is,  tastefully,  or  with  fanciful  elegance.  The  old  French 
verb  se  cointiser  is  rendered  se  parer  comme  ur.e  coquette,  and  the  sub- 
stantives feminine,  cointise,  cointerie, — gentiUesse,  mannicres  elegantes, 
polies.  Landais,  Dictionnaire  General,  &c.  Paris,  1834.  Quinteux 
and  quinteuse  signifies  uihimsicaUtr  fantastical,  and  Chaucer  translates 
the  line  thus — 

"  All  to  slyttered  for  gueintise," — 
cut  all  to  slits  or  pieces  for  whim's  sake,  or  in  a  fantastical  manner 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


837 


Ladies'  Head-Dresses.    Royal  MS.  15  D.  ii. 

tume  of  the  matron  and  the  widow.  This  piece  of 
jittire  was  increased  in  size  and  rendered  still  more 
unbecoming,  toward  the  close  of  Henry's  reign,  by 
the  introduction  of  a  neckcloth  called  the  gorget. 
.lean  de  Meun,  the  continuator  of  Lorris's  "  Roman 
de  la  Rose,"  describes  it  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I., 
as  being  wrapped  two  or  three  times  round  the 
neck,  and  then  fastened  with  a  great  quantity  of 
pins,  on  either  side  of  the  fece,  higher  than  the 
(^ars.  "Par  Dieu!"  he  exclaims,  "I  have  often 
thought  in  my  heart,  when  I  have  seen  a  lady  so 
closely  tied  up,  that  her  neckcloth  was  nailed  to 
lier  chin,  or  that  she  had  the  pins  hooked  into  her 
Hesh."  In  the  Sloane  MS.,  3983,  are  some  figures 
perfectly  illustrating  this  tirade  of  the  poet. 

The  extravagance  and  foppery  which  disgusted 
-Matthew  Paris  during  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  was 
partially  checked  by  the  personal  example  of  Ed- 
ward I.,  who  despised  "  the  foreign  aid  of  orna- 
ment," and  answei'ed  those  who  inquired  his  reason 
for  not  wearing  richer  apparel,  that  "  it  was  absurd 
to  suppose  he  could  be  more  estimable  in  fine  than 
simple  clothing."  He  never  wore  his  crown  after 
the  day  of  his  coronation,  "  saying  merrily,  that 
crowns  do  rather  onerate  than  honor  princes."^ 
Buttons,  very  closely  set  from  the  wrist  almost  to 
the  elbow  of  the  sleeve  of  the  under  tunic,  form  the 
most  remarkable  distinction  of  the  civil  dress  of  Ed- 
ward's reign.  The  fashion  is  particularly  alluded  to 
in  a  MS.  poem  written  before  1300": — 

"  Botones  azard  (azure)  everilke  ane 
From  his  elbolh  to  his  hande  :" 

and  it  is  represented  in  the  illuminations  and  effigies 
of  the  time.  Gloves  were  more  generally  worn; 
and  the  hair  appears  to  hang  in  waved  locks  lower 
than  the  ears,  and  to  have  been  curled  with  great 
precision. 

The  ladies  are  cruelly  attacked  by  the  poets  of 
the  day  on  account  of  their  whimsical  head-tires 
and  extravagantly  long  trains.  By  one  writer  they 
are  compared  to  peacocks  and  pies,  having  "  long 

1  Camden,  Remains,  p.  259.  The  original  authority  is  John  of  Lon- 
don, who  wrote  a  "  Commemoratio,"  addressed  to  Edward's  widow, 
yueen  Margaret,  and  now  in  the  Cotton  collection,  marked  Nero,  D.  ii. 

2  Cotton  M.S.  Julius  V 


Ladies'  Costume,  time  of  Edward  I.    Sloane  MS.  3983. 

tails  that  trail  in  the  dirt,"  a  thousand  times  longer 
than  those  of  such  birds.  The  authors  of  the  "  Ro- 
man de  la  Rose  "  indulge  also  in  invectives  against 
certain  head-dresses,  which,  however,  are  not  very 
clearly  described,  and  have  been  improperly  con- 
sidered to  mean  the  horned  head-dress  of  a  much 
later  date.  The  figures  already  alluded  to  in  the 
Sloane  MS.,  3983,  and  the  heads  in  a  royal  MS., 
marked  15  D.  ii.,  will  better  illustrate  the  female 
costume  of  this  period  than  pages  of  description. 
The  pernicious  system  of  tight  lacing  already  alluded 
to  under  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  is  continually  men- 
tioned in  works  of  this  date.  The  damsels  in  "  The 
Lay  of  Sir  Launfal,"  are  described  as  being 

"  Lacies  moult  estreitment." 

Their  kirtles  were  of  light  blue  silk ;  their  mantles 
of  green  velvet,  richly  embroidered  with  gold,  and 
furred  with  "  gris  and  gros  "  (i.  e.  the  finest  gray 
fur  and  vair  distinguished  from  the  ininevRir),  their 
heads  attired  with  kerchiefs  well  cut,  and  rich  gold 
wire,  and  surmounted  by  coronets,  each  adorned 
with  more  than  sixty  precious  gems.  A  girdle  of 
beaten  gold,  embellished  with  emeralds  and  rubies, 
is  mentioned  in  another  poem  as  worn  by  a  lady 
"about  her  middle  small." 


Male  Costume,  time  of  Edward  II.    Koyal  MS.  E.  iii. 
Sloane  MS  340. 


S38 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


The  reign  of  Edward  IT.  presents  us  with  the 
partj'^-colored  habits  so  fashionable  during  the  two 
following  centuries,  and  the  sleeves  of  the  surcoat, 
or  super-tunic,  terminating  at  the  elbow  in  tippets 
or  lappets,  which  became  long,  narrow  streamers 
reaching  to  the  ground  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III. 
They  are  visible  in  the  effigy  of  Edward  II.  in  Glou- 


apparent  in  the  illuminations.  In  one  of  the  accom- 
panying examples  a  female  is  seen  with  an  apron, 
which  Chaucer  afterward  calls  a  barme,  or  lap-cloth . 


Effioy  of  Edward  II.— Gloucester  Cathedral. 

cester  Cathedral.  An  approach  is  made  also  to  the 
picturesque  chaperon  or  hood  of  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  by  the  curious  fashion,  appa- 
rently, of  twisting  or  folding  the  capuchon  or  cowl 
into  fanciful  shapes,  and  bearing  it,  little  more  than 
balanced,  seemingly,  on  the  head,  as  the  women  of 
the  Paj-s  de  Basque  wear  their  scarlet  hoods  in 
summer,  to  this  day.  The  ladies  wore  it  so  as  well 
as  the  men,  and,  we  may  presume,  secured  it  by 
pins  to  the  hair ;  but  the  mode  of  fastening  is  not 


Head-dresses,  time  of  Edward  II.    Royal  MS.  14  E. 


Fe.male  Dres.s,  time  of  Edward  11.    Sloane  MS.  346. 

The  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  is  chiefly  re- 
markable in  the  history  of  costume,  as  presenting  us 
with  some  particular  distinctions  in  the  attire  of  the 
legal  classes.  Law3ers  were  originally  priests,  and 
consequently  wore  the  tonsure ;  but,  on  the  clergy 
being  forbidden  to  meddle  with  secular  afiairs,  the 
lay  lawyers  discontinued  the  practice  of  shaving  the 
head,  and  wore  the  coif  for  distinction's  sake.  It 
was  first  made  of  linen,  and  afterward  of  white  silk  : 
its  shape  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  coif  worn  by 
travelers  and  huntsmen  in  the  reign  of  Henry  HI., 
and  has  a  very  imdignified  and  unbecoming  ap- 
pearance, resembling  an  exceedinglj'  scanty  child's 
night-cap  tied  under  the  chin.  Some  judicial  per- 
sonages wear  caps  and  capes  of  fur,  and  have  a  pe- 
culiarly shaped  collar  of  the  latter,  or  of  some  white 
stuff  round  the  neck  of  their  long  priest-like  robes. 
The  fur  lining  of  the  robe  is  generally  either  white 
lambskin  or  vair. 

The  ecclesiastical  costume  in  England  was  at 
this  time  so  sumptuous  as  to  excite  the  admiration 
and  avarice  of  Innocent  IV.  Some  of  the  sacerdotal 
habits  wei'e  nearly  covered  with  gold  and  precious 
stones,  and  others  elaborately  embroidered  with 
figures  of  animals  and  flowers :  their  shape  will  be 
best  understood  from  our  engravings.     The  mitre 


Cardinal's  Hat     Royal  MS.  16  G.  vi. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


839 


had  assumed  its  modern  form  by  the  reign  of  Ed- 
ward I.  The  red  hat  is  said  to  have  been  given  to 
the  cardinals  by  Pope  Innocent  VI.  at  the  Council 
of  Lyons,  in  1245  ;  and  De  Curbio  says  they  first 
wore  it  in  1246,  at  the  interview  between  the  Pope 
and  Louis  IX.  of  France.  Its  shape  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  fourteenth  century  may  be  seen 
in  the  preceding  cut. 

The  reign  of  Edward  III.  presents  us  with  an 
entire  change  of  costume.  The  long  robes  and 
tunics,  the  cyclases  and  cointises  of  the  preceding 
reigns  vanished  altogether.  A  close-fitting  gar- 
ment called  a  cote  hardie,  buttoned  down  the  front, 
and  confined  over  the  hips  (which  it  barely  covered) 
by  a  splendid  girdle,  was  the  general  habit  of  the 
male  nobility.  It  was  composed  of  the  richest  ma- 
terials, magnificently  embroidered,  sometimes  party- 
colored,  the  sleeves  occasionally  terminating  at  the 
elbow,  from  which  depended  the  long  white  tippets 
or  streamers  before  mentioned.  In  such  cases  the 
sleeve  of  an  under  garment  is  visible,  ornamented 
with  a  close  row  of  buttons  from  the  wrist  upward, 
as  in  Edward  I.'s  time.  A  mantle  exceedingly 
long,  lined  with  silk  or  furs,  and  fastened  upon  the 
right  shoulder  by  four  or  five  large  buttons,  was 
worn  over  this  cote  upon  state  occasions,  the  edges 
indented,  or  cut  in  the  form  of  leaves  in  the  most 
elaborate,  and  sometimes  a  very  elegant  manner. 
A  monk  of  Glastonbury  named  Dowglas,  in  a  work 
of  which  there  is  a  MS.  in  the  Harleian  collec- 
tion, informs  us,  that  the  Englishmen  in  this  reign 
"haunted  so  much  unto  the  folly  of  strangers,  that 
every  year  they  changed  them  in  diverse  shapes 
and  disguisings  of  clothing — now  long,  now  large, — 
now  wide,  now  strait, — and  every  day  clothings  new 
and  destitute  and  divest  of  all  honesty  of  old  array 
or  good  usages;  and  another  time  to  short  clothes, 
and  so  strait-waisted,  with  full  sleeves  and  tippets  of 
surcoats  and  of  hoods  over  long  and  large,  all  so 
nagged  and  knib  on  every  side,  and  all  so  shattered 
and  also  buttoned,  that  they  seemed  more  like  to 
tormentors  in  their  clothing  and  also  in  their  shoe- 
ing and  other  array  than  they  seemed  to  be  like 
men."     The  extravagance  of  these  fashions  induced 


the  Commons  to  present  a  complaint  on  the  subject 
in  parliament,  a.d.  1363;  and  various  restrictions 
were  promulgated  in  a  sumptuary  kw  passed  on 
that  occasion.  Long  hose  frequently  of  two  colors, 
and  pointed  shoes  of  cloth  of  gold  richly  embroider- 
ed, with  a  capuchon  or  cowl  attached  to  a  cape, 
having  a  long  tail  behind,  and  being  closely  buttoned 
up  to  the  chin  in  front,  completed  the  strange  ha- 
biliment. 

Long  beards  came  again  into  fashion  during  this 
reign  ;  and  on  the  door  of  St.  Peter's  church  at  Stan- 
gate  were  fastened  one  day  the  following  lines, 
which  had  been  made  by  the  Scots  in  ridicule  of 
their  southern  enemies  : — 

"Longbeirds  herliless, 
Peyiited  hoods  witless, 
Gay  cotes  graceless, 
Maketh  Engloiide  thriftless." 

Beaver  hats  are  spoken  of  about  this  time,  proba- 
bly manufactured  in  Flanders,  as  in  the  next  reign 
we  find  Chaucer  mentioning  "a  Flaundrish  beaver 
hat."  They  are  sometimes  worn  over  the  capu- 
chon. The  knight's  chapeau,  as  still  borne  on  coats 
of  arms,  is  seen  in  some  illuminations,  and  various 
other  caps,  some  of  which  are  for  the  first  time 
decorated  with  a  single  feather  worn  straight  up  in 
front;  but  its  occurrence  is  so  rare,  and  in  such 
particular  instances,  that  we  are  inclined  to  believe 
it  worn,  not  as  a  fashion,  but  as  a  royal  badge — Ed 
ward  III.  and  all  his  sons  bearing  an  ostrich  feather, 
differenced  in  the  blazoning  for  distinction's  sake  ; 
the  quill  of  the  king's  feather  being  gold,  that  of  the 
pi'ince's  argent,  and  the  Duke  of  Lancaster's  ermine. 
The  Duke  of  Somerset,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Lan- 
caster, wore  the  feather  with  the  quill  blazoned 
argent  and  azure.' 

The  ladies  in  this  reign  are  said  to  have  surpassed 
"the  men  in  all  manner  of  arraies  and  curious 
clothing."     Like  them,  they  wore  the  cote  hardie, 

1  This  unfortunate  fact  puts  the  interesting  legend  of  the  Bohemian 
plume  (the  supposed  origin  of  the  "  Prince  of  Wales's  feathers  ")  iiUo 
extreme  peril,  even  without  the  additional  evidence  of  the  seal  of  John 
to  prove  that  the  crest  of  Bohemia  was  an  entire  wing  or  pinion,  or,  as 
it  is  represented  on  the  tombs  of  the  Bohemian  monarchs  at  Prague, 
two  wings  endorsed. 


Male  Costume,  time  of  Edward  III.    Royal  MS.  19  D  ii.  and  Strutt.        Female  Costume,  time  of  Edward  III.    Royal  MS.  19  D.  ii 


b40 


HISTORY  OF  ExNGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Tomb  of  William  ok  Windsor  and  Blanch  de  la  Tour, 
W'tsiiniiister  Abbey. 

with  the  long  white  tippets  streaniing  from  the 
elbows ;'  but  the  most  characteristic  dress  of  this 
period  is  a  sort  of  sideless  gown  with  veiy  full 
skirts,  worn  over  the  kirtle  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
give  the  appearance  of  a  jacket  to  that  portion  of  it 
which  is  visible.  This  gown  is  generally  bordered 
with  fur  or  velvet,  and  sometimes  has  a  kind  of 
stomacher  of  the  same  materials,  ornamented  with 
jewels,  thereby  increasing  the  illusion  ;  but  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of 
this  garment  by  description,  and  we  must  there- 
fore refer  him  to  the  engraving  above,  from  the 
effigy  of  Blanch  de  la  Tour,  daughter  of  Edward 
III.,  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  others  from  illu- 
minations of  the  period.  We  have  not  been  able 
to  ascertain  the  name  allotted  to  this  most  peculiar 
hnbit. 

Knyghton  tells  us,  that  at  tournaments  the  ladies 
rode  in  party-colored  tunics,  with  short  hoods  and 
Hripipcs  (that  is,  the  tippets,  or  long  tails  of  the 
hoods)  wrapped  about  their  heads  like  cords.  Their 
girdles  were  richly  decorated  with  gold  and  silver, 
and  they  were  small  swords,  "commonly  called 
daggers,"  stuck  through  pouches  before  them — a 
fashion  observable  among  the  beaux  of  the  opposite 
sex  at  this  time. 

Mourning  habits  are  first  distinguished  on  the 
monuments  and  in  the  illuminations  of  this  reign. 
Sometimes  the  mourners  are  clothed   entirely  in 

'  Vide  Royal  MS.  19  D.  ii. 


black.  On  the  tomb  of  Sir  Roger  de  Kerdeston, 
who  died  a.d.  1.337,  his  relations  are  seen  wearing 
the  mourning-cloak  over  their  ordinary  colored 
clothes. 


JIorRNiNG  Habits.    From  the  Tomb  of  Sir  Roger  de  Kerilcgton. 

Richard  II.  set  his  subjects  an  example  of  fop- 
pery, which  they  required  very  little  inducement  to 
imitate.  Knyghton  assures  lis  that  all  distinction  of 
ranks  and  classes  was  soon  lost,  in  the  general  ex- 
travagance and  rage  for  magnificent  clothing  that 
now  prevailed.  Chaucer,  in  his  "  Parson's  Tale," 
and  the  author  of  the  "Eulogium,"  cited  by  Cam- 
den, both  inveigh  loudly  and  in  the  same  strain 
against  the  inordinate  waste  aud  excessive  cost  of 
the  apparel  of  all  classes  down  to  the  menial  ser- 
vants, whom  Harding  describes  as  arrajed  in  silk, 
satin,  damask,  and  green  and  scai'let  cloth.  The 
old  fashion  of  cutting  the  edges  of  garments  into 
the  shape  of  leaves  and  other  devices  was  carried 
now  to  the  gi'eatest  extreme.  Letters  and  mottoes 
were  embroidered  upon  the  gowns  or  mantles ;  and 
the  sleeves  of  the  former  were  so  long  and  wide, 
that  they  trailed  upon  the  ground,  and  are  scarcely 
distinguished  in  some  instances  from  the  ample 
folds  of  the  main  portion  of  the  garment.  Jackets 
indecently  short  were  also  worn  by  many,  as  though 
rejoicing  only  in  extremes ;  and  Chaucer's  Parson 
bitterly  reprobates  the  party-colored  hose  which 
were  generally  attached  to  them.  The  short  jacket 
when  itself  of  two  colors  is,  we  presume,  the  habit 
alluded  to  by  the  name  of  courtepie — an  appellation 
it  retained  even  when  composed  of  one  color  only. 
The  shoes  had  enormously  long-piked  toes,  some- 
times crooking  upward  in  the  Polish  fashion,  and 
called  "  Crackowes,"  probably  from  the  city  of 
Cracow,  in  Poland,  whence  the  fashion  may  have 
been  imported  by  the  followers  of  Richard's  queen, 
Anne,  whose  grandfather  had  incorporated  the 
kingdom  of  Poland  with  that  of  Bohemia.  The 
author  of  the  "  Eulogium,"  before  mentioned,  says 
they  fastened  the  toes  to  their  knees  with  chains  of 
silver;  but  this  curious  custom  has  not  been  illus- 
trated by  any  pictorial  representation  that  we  have 
yet  met  with 

Hats   and  caps   of  various    singular   shapes   are 
worn.     One  cap,  a  tall,  uiufl'-looking  affair,  is  seen 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


841 


Male  Costume,  time  of  Richard  II. 
Royal  MS.  20  B.  vi.,  and  Harleian  MS.  1319. 

frequently  ia  illuminations  of  this  date.  It  is  worn 
by  the  Duke  of  Lancaster  in  tlie  illuminations  of 
the  Harleian  manuscript  history  of  Richard  II.,  in 
French  verse,  of  which  an  account  lias  been  given 
in  a  former  page,^  and  is  painted  black,  but  of  what 
material  does  not  appear.  The  hoods,  of  which 
many  specimens  are  portrayed  in  the  same  manu- 
script, are  still  of  a  most  inexplicable  shape.  They 
appear  more  like  a  bundle  of  cloth  upon  the  head 
than  a  regular  article  of  apparel :  some  are  deco- 
rated by  a  single  feather.  The  gowns,  in  the  same 
miniatures,  exactly  answer  to  the  description  of  the 
author  of  the  "  Eulogiura" — "a  garment  reaching 
to  the  heels,  close  before,  and  strutting  out  at  the 
sides  ;  so  that  at  the  back  they  make  men  seem  like 
women."  Beards  seem  to  have  come  again  into 
fashion,  and  were  worn  forked  as  in  the  old  Anglo- 
Saxon  time.  The  hair  was  worn  long,  and  care- 
fully curled. 

The  ecclesiastical  costume  presei-ved  its  sump- 
tuous character  to  the  end  of  this  period.  From  a 
record  in  the  Lord  Treasurer's  Remembrancer's 
office,  in  the  Exchequer,  we  find  that  the  mitre  of 
Alexander  de  Neville,  Archbishop  of  York,  in  the 
time  of  Richard  II.,  was  pledged  to  Sir  W.  Wal- 
worth, Lord  Mayor  of  London,  for  the  sum  of  193^. 
6s.  8d.,  and  was  valued  at  ten  marks  more  than 
that  sum  "  at  least ;" — a  tolerable  proof  of  its  mag- 
nificence. 

The  armor  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  is  gen- 
erally to  be  recognized  by  the  admixture  of  plate 
with  the  various  sorts  of  mail  worn  from  the  time 
of  the  Conquest.  It  is  confined,  however,  to  caps 
for  the  knees  and  protections  for  the  shoulders  and 
elbows.  In  some  instances,  but  rarely  as  yet, 
greaves  are  seen,  but  the  hands  and  feet  are  still 
covered  by  mail.  The  quilted  or  padded  armor  of 
silk,  buckram,  etc.,  which  we  have  before  spoken 
of,  came  still  more  into  use,  and,  from  its  style  of 
ornament,  was  called  'pourpoint  or  counterpoint. 
Chain-mail,  properly  so  called,  is  supposed  to  have 
been  introduced  during  this  reign  from  Asia,  where 
it  is  worn  to  this  day ;  but  it  is  not  clear  to  us  that 

1  See  ante,  p.  770. 


Female  Costume,  time  of  Richard  H. 
Royal  MS.  16  G.  v.,  and  Harleian  MS.  4379 

it  had  not  been  known  to  the  Anglo-Saxons  and 
Danes,  as  we  have  already  remarked  under  that 
period.  From  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  however,  there  is  no  doubt  of  its  use  in 
Europe ;  and  the  interlacing  of  the  rings  them- 
selves, in  lieu  of  stitching  them  either  flat,  or  in 
layers  one  over  the  other,  upon  leather  or  cloth, 
was  a  decided  improvement  on  the  clumsy  hauberk 
of  the  early  Norman  era.  Over  the  shirt  of  chain 
was  worn  the  surcoat,  bliaus,  or  cyclas,  of  silk  or 
rich  stuff's,  and  occasionally  perhaps  emblazoned.' 
It  descended  to  the  middle  of  the  leg,  and  the 
edges  were  frequently  indented  or  escalloped,  like 
the  cointise  and  other  civil  garments  we  have  pre- 
viously described.  Of  this  period  are  some  military 
figures  on  the  exterior  of  Wells  Cathedral,  and  also 
the  drawings  in  Matthew  Paris's  "  Lives  of  the 
Two  Offas." 

A  very  heavy  and  ugly  shaped  helmet,  of  a  bar- 
rel form,  with  an  aperture  for  sight  cut  in  the 
ti-ansverse  bar  of  a  cross,  covered  the  head  entirely 
and  rested  on  the  shoulders.  Skull-caps  of  various 
forms,  with  and  without  nasals,  were  worn  by  men- 
at-arms,  esquires,  etc.  In  Matthew  Paris's  "  Lives 
of  the  Two  Oftas,"  written  and  illuminated  about 
this  period,  the  archers  are  seen  in  mail-jackets  or 
habergeons,  with  sleeves  reaching  to  the  elbow, 
over  which  are  vests  of  leather,  defended  by  four 
circular  iron  plates.  Round  targets  and  iron  mauls, 
or  martels  de  fer,  appears  to  have  been  used  by 
knights  even  in  this  reign  (the  effigy  of  one  is 
to  be  seen  in  Great  Malvern  Church,  Worcester- 
shire) ;  but  the  emblazoned  shield,  the  sword,  and 
the  lance,  were  the  most  general  appointments  of 
knighthood.  The  roweled  spur  is  first  met  with 
during  this  reign,  but  it  is  not  common  till  that  of 
Edward  I.,  who,  simple  and  unostentatious  as  he 
was  in  his  private  or  civil  attire,  and  regardless  of 
personal  finery  upon  most  occasions,  nevertheless 
seems  to  have  encouraged  a  taste  for  splendor  and 
display  among  his  companions  in  his  favorite  pursuit 
of  arms. 

1  The  fashion  cf  emblazoning  the  surcoat  did  not,  however,  become 
general  till  the  rei^  of  Edward  I.  ♦ 


842 


EIISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


Armor  of  the  period,  exhibited  in  the  Effigy  of  John  of 
Eltham,  from  his  Tomb  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

The  armorial  bearings  of  the  knight  were  now 
fully  emblazoned  on  his  banner,  shield,  surcoat,  and 
the  housings  of  his  horse.  His  war-helmet,  im- 
proved in  shape,  was  surmounted  by  the  heraldic 
crest,  and  additionally  adorned  by  a  kerchief  or 
scarf,  cut  and  slashed  like  the  fashionable  tunics  of 
the  previous  reign,  and  like  them,  and  for  the  same 
reason,  called  a  cointise.  To  the  offensive  weapons 
we  find  added  the  falchion,  a  peculiarly  shaped  broad- 
bladed  sword ;  the  estoc,  a  small  stabbing-sword ; 
the  anelase  or  anelace,  a  broad  dagger  tapering  to  a 
line  point;  the  conlel  or  coutdas  (whence  cutlas) ; 
the  mace,  and  perhaps  the  cbnetar ;  both  the  latter 
being  of  Oriental  origin. 

The  mail-gloves  are  about  this  time  first  divided 
into  fingers;  and  in  instances  where  the  sleeves  of 
the  hauberk  terminate  at  the  wrist,  leather  gauntlets 
are  worn,  but  not  yet  defended  by  plate.  Flat 
shields  of  the  triangular  or  heater  form  now  appear. 
The  banner  is  oblong;  and  the^;e««on,  a  triangular 
standard,  is  mentioned.  It  was  generally  charged 
with  the  crest,  badge,  or  war-cry  of  the  knight;  the 
banner  being  distinguished  by  the  arms  only. 

The  general  military  costume  of  this  period,  with 
the  shape  of  the  banner,  may  be  seen  in  the  draw- 
ing of  the  Conqueror  on  making  a  grant  of  land  to 
his  nephew,  the  Duke  of  Brittany,  copied  in  a  pre- 
ceding page.'  The  original  document  from  which 
Mr.  Kerrich  copied  this  drawing  is  preserved  in  the 
College  of  Arms ;    although  representing  William 

1  See  ante,  p.  547. 


the  Conqueror  and  his  great  officers,  it  is  the  work 
of  some  illuminator  of  the  thirteenth  centur}-. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  a 
curious  ornament  of  the  military  dress  appears  in 
the  form  of  a  pair  of  plates  fastened  to  the  shoulders, 
sometimes  square,  sonietimes  oblong,  and  occasion- 
ally, but  more  rarely,  round  ;  emblazoned  like  the 
sliield  and  the  surcoat  with  the  arms  of  the  wearer, 
or  with  a  plain  St.  George's  cross.  They  were 
called,  from  their  situation  and  appearance,  ailcttes, 
or  little  wings.  They  came  generally  into  fashion, 
and  afterward  disappeared  altogether  during  the 
reign  of  Edward  II. ;  the  principal  alterations  in 
which  consisted  of  the  increase  of  plate-armor,  not 
only  greaves  for  the  front  of  the  legs,  but  brassarts 
and  vanhraces  or  avant  bras,  being  worn  on  the 
arms.  Two  round  i)lates  also,  called,  from  their 
position,  mamalieres,  were  fastened  on  the  breast 
over  the  surcoat  or  cyclas,  and  from  them  depended 
chains  to  which  the  helmet  and  the  sword  of  the 
knight  were  attached  ;  the  helmet  being  now  worn 
rarely  except  during  the  actual  shock  of  battle, 
when  it  was  placed  over  the  usual  head-piece 
called  a  bascinet,  the  successor  of  the  old  cliapel 
de  fer,  which,  with  its  nasal,  disappears  in  this 
reign. 

The  suiToat  was  sometimes  much  shorter  in 
front  than  behind  ;  and  the  hauberk,  instead  of 
having  a  hood  of  mail  attached  to  it,  now  termi- 
nated at  the  collar,  a  neck-guard  of  chain,  called 
the  camail,  being  fastened  to  the  edge  of  the  basci- 
net, and  falling  down  upon  the  shoulders  over  the 
surcoat,  leaving  a  shield-shaped  opening  for  the 
face.  A  vizor  was  occasionally  attached  to  the  bas- 
cinet, in  which  case  the  helmet  was  dispensed 
with.  The  pole-axe  was  wielded  by  leaders,  and 
several  scythe-bladed  weapons,  varieties  of  the  bill 
and  the  guisarm,  are  seen  in  illuminations  of  the 
period. 

During  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  plate-armor 
began  to  supersede  the  chain-mail  on  almost  every 
part  of  the  body.  The  legs  and  arms  were  soon 
entirely  defended  by  plate,  gussets  of  mail  being 
only  worn  under  the  arm  and  at  the  bend  of  it. 
The  feet  were  guarded  by  pointed  shoes  of  over- 
lapping steel  plates  called  sollcrets,  and  the  leathern 
gauntlets  were  similarly  cased  with  steel  and  pro- 
vided with  steel  tops.  On  the  knuckles  were  placed 
small  spikes,  knobs,  or  other  ornaments,  called  gads  ^ 
or  gadlings.  Those  on  the  gauntlets  of  Edward 
the  Black  Prince,  preserved  at  Canterbury,  are 
made  in  the  form  of  lions.  A  breastplate,  called  a 
plastron,  kept  the  chain-shirt,  divested  of  its  sleeves, 
from  pressing  on  the  chest,  or  a  pair  of  plates  for 
back  and  breast  rendered  the  shirt  of  mail  alto- 
gether unnecessary,  and  a  short  apron  of  chain 
hung  merely  from  the  waist  over  the  hips.  The 
surcoat  was  gradually  discarded  for  an  upper  gar- 
ment called  a  jupon  or  guipon  (a  name  sometimes 
given  to  the  under  one  of  leather,  which  supported 
either  the  breastplate  or  the  hauberk),  made  of 
velvet,  and  richly  embroidered  with  the  arms  of 
the  wearer.  It  fitted  the  body  tightly,  and  was  con- 
fined over  the  hips  by  a  magnificent  belt,  to  which 


^ 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


8i[i 


on  the  right  side  was  attached  a  dagger,  and  on  the 
left  a  sword. 

In  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  little  alteration,  if 
any,  was  made  in  the  military  costume  of  the  close 
of  that  of  Edward  III.  The  most  remarkable  fea- 
tm"e  is  the  movable  vizor  which  was  attached  to 
the  bascinet,  now  always  worn  in  war,  the  more 
ponderous  helmet,  with  its  crest  and  wreath,  being 
used  only  for  the  joust  and  the  tournament.  The 
shape  of  this  said  vizor  may  be  best  understood 
from  an  engraving ;  an  original  vizored  bascinet  of 
this  time  is  in  the  Tower  of  London,  and  another  at 
Goodrich  Court  (the  only  two  known  in  Kngland).' 
In  the  Musee  d'Artillerie,  at  Paris,  two  more  are 
preserved ;  a  fifth  is  said  to  be  in  the  Hotel  de 
Ville  at  Chartres.  There  is  one  in  the  Chateau 
d'Ambras  in  the  Tyrol;  and  a  vizor  only,  without 
the  bascinet,  in  the  collection  at  the  Lowenburg, 
Hesse  Cassel. 

1  See  ail  interesting  specimen  of  the  military  costume  of  this  reign 
in  the  carved  figure  of  St.  George  at  Dijon,  an  engraving  from  a  beau- 
tiful cast  of  which  is  in  the  Archieoingia,  vol.  x!cv.  The  jupon  is  very 
peculiar,  being  full  and  plaited,  and  buttoned  at  the  wrists  and  in 
front. 


In  many  effigies  and  illuminations  of  the  reigns 
of  Edward  III.  and  Richard  II.,  the  cuisses  or 
thigh-pieces  of  the  knights  are  covered  with  pour- 
pointed  work ;  and  Chaucer's  Sir  Thopas  wore 
jambeaux  or  jambs  of  "  cuir-bouly,"  a  preparfition 
of  leather  much  used  in  the  fourteenth  century,  not 
only  for  armor,  but  for  effigies  and  various  works  of 
art.  The  shield,  which  was  triangular  throughout 
the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  began,  about  the  close  of 
Richard  II.,  to  be  rounded  oft'  at  the  bottom ;  and 
a  niche  was  made  in  it  on  one  side  or  at  top,  called 
the  bouche,  or  mouth,  which  served  as  a  rest  for 
the  lance. ^  The  shield  of  John  of  Gaunt,  which 
was  suspended  over  his  tomb  in  old  St.  Paul's,  and 
burnt  at  the  conflagration  of  that  building,  is  en- 
graved in  Dugdale's  "  History,"  and  Bolton's  "  Ele- 
ments of  Armories."  It  is  of  the  form  afterward 
used  in  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.,  and  the  bouche  is 
at  the  top.  By  the  latter  writer  it  is  described 
thus:  —  "It  is  very  convex  toward  the  bearer, 
whether  by  warping  through  age  or  as  made  ot 
purpose.     It  hath  in  dimension  more  than  three 

•  Vide  figure  of  St.  George  before  mentioned 


St.  Georoe  at  Dijo:< 


844 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


quarters  of  a  yard  of  length,  and  about  half  a  yard 
in  breadth ;  next  to  the  body  is  a  canvass  glued  to  a 
board,  upon  that  board  are  broad  thin  axicles,  slices 
iir  plates  of  horn  nailed  fast,  and  again  over  them 
twenty  and  six  pieces  of  the  like,  all  meeting  or 
centering  about  a  round  plate  of  the  same  in  the 


Shield  of  John  of  Gaunt 


navel  of  the  shield  ;  and  over  all  is  a  leather  closed 
fast  to  them  with  glue  or  other  holding  stulf,  upon 
which  his  armories  were  painted,  but  now  they, 
with  the  leather  itself,  have  very  lately  and  very 
lewdly  been  utterly  spoiled."  The  engraving  rep- 
resents the  leather  as  torn  up  and  curling  away 
from  the  shield,  so  as  to  show  the  nature  of  its 
fabrication. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  notice  the  prob- 
ability that  the  use  of  fire-arras  in  war  was  intro- 
duced as  early  as  the  reign  of  Edward  III.'  The 
lines  in  which  the  Scottish  poet  Barbour  speaks  of 
the  "  novelties"  first  seen  by  his  countrymen  in  one 
of  their  encounters  with  the  Enghsh  in  1327,  are  as 
follows : — 

"Twa  noweltyps  that  day  they  saw, 
That  forwith  Scotland  had  been  nanc, 

Tyinmcris  (timbres,  i.  e.  crests)  for  helmetys  war  the  tanc,^ 
The  tolhyr  crakys  were  of  war." 

We  have  also  mentioned  the  story  told  by  tlie  Italian 
writer,  Giovanni  Villani,  about  the  employment  of 
cannons  by  Edward  at  the  battle  of  Crecy.  In  the 
fifth  volume  of  the  Archsologia  is  an  engraving  of 
HU  ancient  cannon  raised  from  the  Goodwin  Sands, 
and  supposed,  from  a  coat  of  arms  on  it,  to  have 
been  made  about  1370.  If  so,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  compare  it  with  the  ancient  English  cannon  pre- 
served in  the  Tower,  and  said  to  have  been  used  at 
Crecy,  to  be  assured  of  the  falsity  of  the  assertion 

1  See  ante,  p.  741. 

2  By  this  we  also  perceive  that  crests  upon  helmets  were  till  then  un- 
known in  Scotland,  though  worn  for  thirty  or  forty  years  previously  in 
England. 


A.  Ancient  Cannon  raised  from  the  Goodwin  Sands,  and  supposed,  from  a  coat  of  arms  which  it  bears,  to  have  been  made  about  the  year 
1370.  See  Archa-ologia,  vol.  V.  B.  Chamber  for  loading.  C.  Spanish  Cannon  of  the  same  date.  D.  Chamber  for  loading.  E,  F. 
Earliest  forms  of  English  Cannon,  from  examples  in  the  Tower  of  London. 


Mounting  of  a  Cannon.    From  Froissart.    Royal  MS.  Plut.  X.  H.  294. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


845 


respecting  the  latter.  In  a  copy  of  Fi'oissart  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  Bib.  Reg.  Plut.  X.  H.  294,  al- 
though nearl^^  a  hundred  years  later  than  the  battle, 
we  have  a  representation  of  the  mode  in  which 
cannon  were  mounted  previously  to  the  invention 
of  the  modern  gun-carriage. 

Social  life  in  England  during  this  period  assumed, 
in  some  respects,  a  refinement  and  splendor  to 
which  it  had  been  hitherto  a  stranger.  Chivalry, 
which  had  been  partially  inti'oduced  into  the  country 
by  the  Norman  invasion,  and  carried  to  a  consider- 
iible  height  under  the  lion-hearted  Richard,  ap- 
pears to  have  experienced  a  check  during  the 
troubled  and  disastrous  reigns  of  John  and  Henry 
III.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  the  latter  established  a 
round  table,  in  imitation  of  the  fabulous  King  Ar- 
thur, the  knights  belonging  to  which  exercised 
themselves  in  joustings,  and  dined  at  a  circular 
board,  on  a  footing  of  equality  and  good-fellowship  ; 
and  that  the  citizens  of  London,  emulating  the 
knights  and  nobles,  were  wont  to  display  their  skill 
in  horsemanship  by  running  at  the  quintain,  while 
a  peacock  was  the  reward  of  the  victor.  But  it 
was  under  the  energetic  rule  of  Edward  I.,  and 
more  especially  under  that  of  Edward  III.,  that  the 
chivalrous  spirit  attained  its  highest  exaltation,  and 
the  singular  system  of  institutions  and  manners  that 
arose  out  of  it,  its  most  complete  and  brilliant  de- 
velopment. The  reign  of  this  last  monarch,  indeed, 
may  be  termed  the  noon  of  English  chivalry,  al- 
though it  may  be  questioned  whether  it  is  most 
indebted  for  the  strong  light  of  knightly  renown,  in 
which  it  stands  out  from  the  ages  before  and  after 
it,  to  Edward  himself,  and  his  higli-minded  queen, 
and  his  gallant  son, — the  very  mirror  of  knigiithood, 
— or  to  the  pen  of  Froissart,  by  which  its  gallant 
exploits  and  gorgeous  solemnities  have  been  so  faith- 
fully and  so  eloquently  chronicled. 

Amid  the  heroic  daring  which  the  chivalrous  spirit 
cherished,  and  the  generous  deeds  it  occasionally 
inspired,  our  admiration  is  continually  interrupted 
by  the  whimsical  extravagances,  and  sometimes  by 
the  revolting  atrocities,  of  which  chivalry  was  the 
fruitful  parent.  The  courage  of  the  knight  became 
frequently  exaggerated  into  the  most  frantic  daring; 
courtesy  toward  the  female  sex  assumed  the  char- 
acter of  an  idolatrous  fanaticism,  and  liberality  that 
of  a  reckless  profusion  that  cared  neither  for  the  end 
nor  the  object  of  its  largesses.  The  fantastic  spirit 
of  the  system  was  introduced  into  the  most  serious 
affairs.  Knights,  even  when  engaged  in  a  national 
contest,  fought  less  upon  public  considerations  than 


to  uphold  the  renown  of  their  mistresses ;  and  it 
was  the  fashion  among  them  to  subject  themselves  to 
some  absurd  penance,  until  a  specified  deed  of  arms 
was  achieved.  Thus,  in  one  of  Edward  III.'s  expe- 
ditions against  France,  the  knights  who  joined  the 
army,  we  are  told  by  Froissart,  wore  a  patch  on  one 
eye,  under  a  vow  that  it  should  not  be  removed  until 
they  had  performed  exploits  worthy  of  their  mis- 
tresses. Of  the  mad  heedlessness  with  which,  on 
other  occasipns,  the  boasted  knightly  virtue  of  liber- 
ality was  displayed,  a  single  instance  may  serve  for 
an  illustration.  When  Alexander  III.  of  Scotland, 
accompanied  by  a  hundred  knights,  repaired  to 
London,  to  attend  the  coronation  of  Edward  I.,  he 
and  his  knights,  as  soon  as  they  alighted,  let  loose 
their  richly  caparisoned  steeds,  to  be  scrambled  for 
by  the  multitude  :  and  five  of  the  great  EngUsh 
nobles,  not  to  be  outdone  in  generosity  by  the  stran- 
gers, immediately  followed  the  example.' 

We  are  not  to  suppose  that  the  sovereigns  who 
during  this  period  were  the  most  distinguished  pro- 
tectors and  ornaments  of  chivalry,  were  wholly  under 
the  control  of  the  spirit  which  they  thus  fostered. 
They  were  not,  of  course,  exempted  from  the  influ- 
ence of  the  spirit  of  their  age,  and  therefore  they  were 
most  anxious  to  be  accounted  true  knights,  as  well 
as  wise  rulers ;  but  they  had  sagacity  and  dexterity 
to  seize  upon  the  ruling  feeling,  and  turn  it  to  the 
support  of  their  schemes  of  policy  and  ambition. 
Such  especially  was  the  case  with  Edward  III.  He 
saw  in  chivalry  the  instrument  most  suited  to  the 
temper  and  circumstances  of  the  age,  and  that, 
therefore,  by  which  his  vast  designs  could  be  best 
accomplished.  Every  showy  tournament  he  pro- 
claimed increased  the  number  and  spirit  of  his  sup- 
porters, and  added  to  his  real  strength.  His  great 
opponent,  Philip  of  Valois,  adopted  the  same  course, 
and  a  rivalry  in  these  splendid  pageantries  was  the 
consequence.  Edward  established  what  was  called 
a  round  table  at  Windsor,  two  hundred  feet  in  diam- 
eter, which  was  maintained  at  the  expense  of  a 
hundred  pounds  weekly ;  the  French  king,  in  re- 
prisal, established  one  similar  at  Paris,  by  the  at- 
tractions of  which  ho  intercepted  sundry  German 
and  Italian  knights  who  were  coming  to  England. 
Edward  then  instituted  the  since  illustrious  Order 
of  the  Garter;  and  PhiUp  increased  the  number 
and  splendor  of  his  jousts  and  tournaments.  It  was 
thus  that  national  and  royal  rivalry  contributed  to 
the  extension  and  aggrandizement  of  the  chivalric 
system :  it  was  now  the  arbiter  of  kingdoms,  and 

1  H.  Knyghton. 


K>(ionT3  PREPARINO  TO  CoMBAT.     Hoyal  WS.  14  E.  ill 


S46 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


therefore   all  its  forms,  however  puerile,  became 
objects  of  the  highest  public  importance.' 

The  "  passages  of  arms,"  as  the  sportive  encoun- 
ters of  chivalry  were  termed,  were  of  various  de- 
Hcriptions.  Sometimes  a  baron  proclaimed  a  joust 
or  tournament  to  be  held  before  his  castle,  which 
was  furnished  with  permanent  lists  for  the  purpose. 
Sometimes  a  certain  number  of  knights  leagued  to- 
tiether  to  answer  all  comers ;  and  sometimes  a  sin- 
gle knight,  especially  venturous  and  hardy,  would 
enter  the  lists  with  a  general  challenge,  and  encoun- 
ter every  foe  in  succession,  until  he  conquered  all, 
or  was  himself  overcome.  Frequently  a  simple 
joust  was  tried  by  two  knights,  who  challenged  each 
I  ither  to  a  trial  of  skill  in  all  love  and  courtesy,  with 

'  M.  Westminster  — Froissart. 


headless  or  sharpened  lances ;  in  this  case  one, 
three,  or  more  courses  were  run,  till  one  party 
yielded,  or  was  disabled.  And  sometimes,  when 
surpassing  skill  was  to  be  displayed,  or  when  addi- 
tional danger  was  sought  to  give  a  zest  to  the  con- 
flict, a  place  was  selected  for  the  combat  where  a 
career  of  the  lance  was  the  least  part  of  the  hazard, 
— a  rough  plot  of  ground,  or  a  narrow  bridge,  with 
a  river  or  fosse  beneath,  into  which  a  false  step 
would  plunge  the  unwary  combatant.  A  singular 
course  of  this  nature  was  run  on  the  bridge  of  Lon- 
don, during  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  between  a 
Scottish  and  an  English  knight,  in  consequence  of 
a  formal  challenge  after  the  battle  of  Otterbourne.' 
Little  remains  to  be  added  to  the  description  given 

1  Froissart, 


KsiouTS  Jousting.    Roval  MS.  14  E.  iii. 


lu  the  last  Book  of  the  nature  and  general  forms  of 
The  tournament.  The  display,  however,  both  of 
rxpense  and  of  taste,  was  greater  now  than  in  the 
])recediug  period.  The  lists  were  now  magnificently 
ilecorated ;  they  were  surrounded  by  gay  pavilions 
belonging  to  the  knights  who  intended  to  take  part 
in  the  combat,  which  were  distinguished  by  the 
rich  armor  and  honored  banners  of  their  I'espective 
owners;  and  the  scaffolds  erected  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  ladies  and  nobles  were  hung  with 
tapestry,  and  embroidery  of  gold  and  silver.  The 
spectacle  regularly  commenced  with  the  jousts, 
which  were  performed,  on  these  occasions,  ■with 
headless  lances,  and  each  knight  endeavored,  in  his 
rapid  career,  to  strike  his  adversary  full  on  the  vizor 
or  crest.  This  was  a  difficult  mark  to  hit,  but  when 
accomplished,  it  seldom  failed  to  unseat  the  firmest 
rider.     To  avoid  such  defeat,  some  knights  adopted 


the  practice  of  fastening  the  helmet  to  the  cuirass 
by  a  single  lace  so  that  it  might  give  way  at  the 
slightest  touch  of  the  spear ;  but  this,  Froissart 
states,  w^as  condemned  by  John  of  Gaunt  as  an  un- 
fair expedient.  To  lose  .a  stirrup  in  the  shock  of 
encounter  was  equal  to  a  defeat;  to  be  unhorsed, 
whether  in  joust  or  tournay,  was  an  additional  igno- 
miny. In  the  furious  melee  of  the  general  combat, 
those  who  threw  their  antagonists  to  the  earth,  or 
mastered  their  weapons,  were  also  sometimes 
obliged  to  drag  them  to  the  extremity  of  the  lists ; 
and  when  this  was  accomplished,  the  discomfited 
knights  had  to  remain  prisoners,  and  take  no  further 
share  in  the  battle.  In  this  way,  both  parties  fought 
until  so  many  on  one  side  were  disabled  or  captured 
as  to  make  further  contention  hopeless.  As  might 
be  expected,  these  sports,  even  in  their  gentlest 
forms,  were  plentifully  accompanied  with  wounds 


KxiGHTs  Combating.     Royal  MS.  14  E.  iii 


K.MGHTs  Joi-sTiNG.    Koval  MP.  14  E.  iii. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


847 


and  bruises  ;  a  death-wound  was  sometimes  unwarily 
dealt,  and  a  dismounted  knight  was  occasionally 
smothered  in  his  armor ;  but  when  the  excitement 
of  conflict  rose  to  its  height,  aggravated,  too,  as  it 
was  in  many  cases,  by  party  or  national  enmities, 
then  the  two-handed  sword  or  heavy  battle-axe  de- 
scended with  the  same  fury  as  on  the  plains  of 
France  or  Syria,  and  the  lists  assumed  the  character 
of  a  battle-field  on  which  deadly  enemies  were  con- 
tending. The  king,  or  the  person  presiding,  how- 
ever, had  always  the  power  to  still  the  confusion  at 
the  wildest.  He  threw  down  his  warder,  and  cried 
•'Ho!" — and  in  an  instant  the  fiercest  strife  was 
suspended;  the  mailed  combatants  stood  as  motion- 
less as  statues  of  bronze. 

Froissart  gives  us  the  description  of  a  tourna- 
jnent  held  at  London,  in  1389,  during  the  reign  of 
Richard  H.  Heralds  were  sent  to  every  country 
in  Europe  where  chivalry  was  honored,  to  proclaim 
the  time  and  the  occasion ;  and  brave  knights  were 
invited  to  sphnter  a  lance,  or  wield  a  sword  in  honor 
of  their  mistresses.  Knights  and  nobles  from  far 
and  near  assembled  at  the  inspiring  summons;  so 
that  London  was  thronged  with  warriors  of  every 
climate  and  language.  Smithfield  (at  that  time 
without  the  city  walls),  in  which  the  lists  were 
erected,  was  surrounded  with  temporary  chambers 
and  pavilions,  constructed  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  king  and  the  princes,  the  queen  and  the  maidens 
of  her  court;  and  when  the  solemnity  was  about  to 
commence,  sixty  horses  richly  accoutred  were  led 
to  the  lists  by  squires,  accompanied  by  heralds  and 
minstrels  ;  after  which  sixty  ladies  followed  on  pal- 
freys, each  lady  leading  an  armed  knight  by  a  chain 
of  silver.  The  first  day,  the  games  commenced,  as 
usual,  with  encounters  of  the  lance  ;  and  at  evening, 
when  the  trials  had  closed,  the  two  combatants  who 
had  most  highly  signalized  their  skill  received,  as 
prizes,  a  golden  crown,  and  a  rich  girdle  adorned 
with  precious  stones;  after  which  the  night  was 
spent  in  feasting  and  dancing.  On  the  next  morn- 
ing, and  for  five  successive  days,  the  more  serious 
competitions  of  the  tournament  followed  ;  and  still, 
as  evening  came,  the  same  joyous  festivities  suc- 
ceeded— the  actors  thus  realizing  all  that  their  pa- 
gan ancestors  had  hoped  for  from  the  fighting  and 
feasting  paradise  of  Odin.  But  the  appetites  of  the 
noble  assembly  for  blows  and  beeves  had  not  yet 
been  satiated.  The  immense  cavalcade  now  rose, 
and  passed  on  to  Windsor,  where  the  same  jousts, 
combats,  and  banquets  were  renewed  for  several 
days  more  ;  after  which,  the  foreign  knights  depart- 
ed to  their  own  homes. 

The  ordeal  combats,  which  were  so  closely  con- 
nected with  chivalry,  appear,  during  the  reign  of 
Richard  H.,  to  have  increased  in  frequency.  Regu- 
lations for  these  judicial  duels  were  settled  by  the 
king's  uncles.  By  these  regulations,  the  king  was 
to  find  the  field  upon  which  the  combat  was  to  be 
fought ;  the  lists  were  to  be  erected  on  ground  sixty 
paces  in  length,  and  forty  in  breadth,  hard,  firm,  and 
level,  with  one  gate  to  the  east,  and  another  to  the 
west;  and  the  whole  was  to  bo  inclosed  by  a  paling 
so  high,  that  a  horse  could  not  lenp  over  it.     Tlie 


Ordeal  Combat  or  Dukl.    Royal  MS.  14  E.  iii. 

nature  of  these  duels,  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  will  be  best  illustrated  by  the  account  of  a  sin- 
gular combat  of  this  nature,  which  is  detailed  by 
Holinshed.  A  knight  accused  a  squire  of  treason, 
which  the  latter  denied,  and  craved  the  purgation 
of  combat ;  and  accordingly  the  trial  was  held  in 
presence  of  the  king,  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  and 
the  nobles.  The  appellant  first  entered  the  field  of 
battle,  and  waited  for  the  accused,  who,  after  being 
thrice  summoned  by  the  herald-at-arms,  entered 
the  lists  at  the  third  call.  The  sealed  indenture 
containing  the  knight's  charge  was  then  opened, 
and  read,  and  a  denial  formally  returned ;  after 
which,  nothing  remained  but  an  immediate  appeal 
to  arms.  The  oaths  of  battle  were  therefore  ad- 
ministered, and  the  accuser  and  accused  solemnly 
swore,  that  "  they  dealt  with  no  witchcraft,  nor  art 
magic,  whereby  they  might  obtain  the  victory  of 
their  adversary ;  nor  had  about  them  any  herb,  or 
stone,  or  other  kind  of  experiment,  with  which  ma- 
gicians use  to  triumph  over  their  enemies."  The 
combatants  then  betook  themselves  to  prayer,  after 
which  they  rose,  and  joined  battle  at  the  given  sig- 
nal, first  with  spears,  then  with  swords,  and  finally 
with  daggers.  After  a  long  and  cruel  fight,  the 
knight  managed  to  beat  down  and  disarm  his  enemy ; 
but  just  when  he  was  about  to  throw  himself  upon 
the  body  of  the  vanquished,  to  deprive  him  of  life, 
the  sweat  within  his  barred  helmet  flowed  into  his 
eyes,  and  so  completely  blinded  him,  that  he  fell 
wide  of  the  mark.  The  squire,  finding  what  had 
happened,  contrived  to  .raise  his  battered  limbs  from 
the  ground,  and  threw  himself  upon  his  enemy, 
when,  at  this  perilous  juncture,  the  king  ordered 
the  pair  to  be  plucked  asunder,  which  was  imme- 
diately done  by  the  attendants  of  the  lists.  The 
knight,  as  soon  as  he  got  upon  his  legs,  prayed  earn- 
estly to  be  replaced  in  his  former  position,  with  the 
squire  above  him;  for  ''he  thanked  God  he  was 
well,  and  mistrusted  not  to  obtain  the  victory  ;"  but 
this  request  wa.s  refused  by  the  king,  although 
pleaded  repeatedly,  and  with  vehemence,  and 
backed  i)y  the  ofler  of  goodly  sums  of  money.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  squire,  exhausted  with  wounds 


848 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


and  toil,  swooned  away,  and  fell  from  his  chair ; 
his  hai'ness  was  speedily  doffed,  and  means  were 
used  for  his  recovery  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  had  opened 
his  eyes,  and  began  to  breathe,  the  pertinacious 
knight  advanced,  and,  after  calling  him  traitor  and 
perjured,  summoned  him  to  commence  the  battle 
anew.  But  the  squire's  last  combat  had  been  fought. 
He  was  unable  to  answer,  perhaps  even  to  under- 
stand, the  reproach  of  his  antagonist ;  and  he  died 
the  same  night.  No  better  proof  could  bo  required 
of  his  guilt  by  the  most  scrupulous  judges  of  that 
age ;  and  thus  was  the  affair  terminated  "  to  the 
great  rejoicing  of  the  common  people,"  says  the  old 
chronicler,  "and  discouragement  of  traitors." 

The  ostentatious  splendor  and  recklessness  of 
expense  which  the  chivalrous  spirit  tended  to  en- 
courage, was  not  confined  to  mere  courtly  parades, 
and  tournaments,  and  solemn  festivals.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  seems  to  have  pervaded  every  department 
of  domestic,  as  well  as  public  and  out-door  life.  We 
still  find  in  fashion  during  the  present  period  the 
same  unwieldy  retinues  that  encumbered  the  march 
of  Ilenry  II.  and  his  nobles  ;  and  if  these  trains  of 
attendants  were  now  somewhat  superior  in  point  of 
elegance  and  splendor  to  those  of  preceding  ages, 
they  were  still  productive  of  many  evils.  Each 
man  strove  to  outdo  his  neighbor;  and  a  writer  of 
the  time,  the  Monk  of  Malmsbury,  bitterly  coin- 
plains  of  the  unhappy  rivalry  in  prodigality  which 
such  a  spirit  had  produced,  when  he  tells  us  that 
the  squire  endeavored  to  outshine  the  knight,  the 
knight  the  baron,  the  baron  the  earl,  and  the  earl 
the  king.  All  this  was  nothing  more  than  the  nat- 
ural result  of  such  an  excited  and  artificial  state  of 
life.  Unfortunately,  too,  the  semblance  of  an  ex- 
cuse was  still  afforded  for  large  and  well  armed 
trains  in  the  journeyings  of  the  rich  and  powerful, 
from  the  fact  that  England  was  still  traversed  by 
strong  bands  of  robbers,  that  plundered  not  only 
peaceful  bishops  and  cardinals,  but  well  accompa- 
nied earls,  and  even  powerful  princes.^  But  still  i 
stronger  motives  for  these  throngs  of  followers  were 
to  be  found  in  the  restlessness  and  ambition  of  the 
nobility,  constantly  seeking  to  supplant  each  other 
when  not  engaged  in  a  common  contest  with  the 
crown.  Such  regiments  and  armies  of  retainers,  of 
course,  demanded  plentiful  supplies  and  an  unbound- 
ed hospitality ;  and  instances  are  furnished  of  the 
household  expenditure  of  these  periods  that  almost 
stagger  belief.  Richard  II.,  we  are  told,  entertained 
ten  thousand  persons  daily  at  his  tables.  The  rich 
and  powerful  Thomas  Earl  of  Lancaster,  grandson 
of  Henry  III.,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  expended  in  one  year  about  twenty-two 
thousand  pounds  of  silver  in  this  open  style  of  house- 
keeping ;  of  wine  alone  there  were  consumed,  du- 
ring the  course  of  that  year,  by  his  household,  three 
hundred  and  seventy-one  pipes. 

In  the  article  of  meats  and  drinks,  the  common 
people  seem  to  have  still  adhered  to  the  plain  fash- 
ions of  their  ancestors :  the  old  dishes,  whatever 
they  were,  as  yet  sufficed  them,  with  copious 
draughts  of  ale,  cider,  and  mead;  and  quantity,  not 

1  M.  Paris.— H.  Knvpl.f.m.-S.  Wa!sin"h»m. 


qualit}',  was  the  main  essential  of  a  banquet.  Very 
different,  however,  was  the  case  with  the  nobles. 
The  solemn  feastings  of  chivalry  seem  gradually  to 
have  crept  into  the  everyday  life  of  the  great,  so 
that  the  comparative  abstinence  for  which  their 
Norman  ancestors  were  distinguished  had  given 
place  to  inordinate  extravagance.  Attempts  to  re- 
strain this  extravagance  were  repeatedly  made  in 
the  reigns  of  Edward  II.  and  III.,  by  sumptuary 
laws  ;  the  very  repetition  of  which,  however,  proves 
that  they  were  generally  disregarded.  The  records 
of  some  of  the  great  feasts  of  this  period  exhibit  as- 
tounding bills  of  fare.  At  the  marriage  banquet  of 
Richard  Earl  of  Cornwall,  in  124.3,  thirty  thousand 
dishes  were  served  up;'  and  in  the  following  cen- 
tury, at  the  installation  feast  of  the  Abbot  of  St.  Au- 
gustin,  no  less  than  three  thousand  dishes  honored 
the  promotion  of  the  fortunate  ecclesiastic."  .  The 
meals  were  still  nominally  only  two  a  day ;  but  this 
limitation  mattered  little,  when  the  greater  part  of 
the  day  was  devoted  to  those  two  meals.  Inter- 
meats  also  appear  to  have  been  introduced  during 
this  period.  These  were  delicate  and  light  dinhes, 
served  up  at  the  intervals  of  the  meal,  intended 
probal)ly  as  provocatives  to  the  more  substantial 
courses  that  followed.^  Wines  also,  as  they  were 
technically  called,  formed  a  sort  of  connecting  link 
between  the  two  daily  meals.  These  v.ines  were 
light  refections  of  fine  cakes  and  different  kinds  of 
wine,  that  were  taken  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  or 
upon  the  arrival  of  a  visitor,  but  more  especially  at 
bed-time."*  Cookery  had  now  also  increased  into 
a  most  complicated  and  artificial  system,  though  wo 
are  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  details  to 
speak  of  them  with  certainty.  Many  dishes  are 
now  mentioned  for  the  first  time,  composed  of  ma- 
terials sufficiently  heterogeneous  according  to  the 
present  taste,®  and  so  excessively  sea.^oiicd  tliat  they 
were  said  to  be  "  burning  with  wildfire ;"  while 
others,  that  were  required  to  please  the  eye  as  well 
as  the  palate,  were  gaily  painted,  and  turreted  with 
paper.  In  seasoning  these  inflammable  dainties, 
the  cooks  made  abundant  use  of  ginger,  grein  de 
Paris,  cloves,  and  liipiorice.  We  also  find  that  jel- 
lies, tarts,  and  rich  cakes  formed  a  copious  accom- 
paniment of  every  banquet.  The  wines  used  at 
this  period  were  eithei*  compounded  or  pure  :  of  the 
former  were  hippocras,  pigment,  and  claret;  the 
latter  were  chiefly  the  imported  wines  of  France, 
Spain,  Greece,  and  Syria.'' 

A.  style  of  life  such  as  this  required  vigorous 
digestion  ;  and  out-door  sports,  accordingly,  were 
still  eagerly  followed  by  all  classes.  Fleet  steeds, 
high-soaring  hawks,  good  hounds,  and  bright  armor, 
still  occupied  the  cares  of  the  great  and  wealthy  ; 
and  as  so  many  of  the  restrictions  in  hunting  had 
been  abolished,  that  seductive  sport  was  also  largely 
followed  by  the  commons.  The  priesthood  also 
continued  to  be  so  strongly  attached  to  "venerie," 
that,  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  every  clergyman 
was  prohibited  from  keeping  a  dog  for  hunting  who 
had  not  a  benefice  of  the   annual  amount  of  10?; 

I  M.  Paris.  =  W.  Thorn.  '  Ryley's  Placita  Pari. 

*  Fniissarf,  '  Strutt's  Anrel  Cvnnnn.  *  IWil. 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


S4'J 


and,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  the  Bishop  of 
Ely  actually  excommunicated  certain  persons  who 
had  stolen  one  of  his  hawks  during  the  period  of 
divine  service. 

We  find  from  the  illuminated  manuscripts  of  this 
period,  that  eveu  ladies  both  hunted  in  company 
with  gentlemen,  and  formed  hunting  parties  of  their 
own,  in  which  they  pursued  the  deer,  mounted 
asti'ide  on  fleet  horses,  and  brought  down  the  game 
with  their  arrows.  Sometimes,  indeed,  ladies  went 
much  further  than  this,  riding,  we  are  told,  from 
castle  to  castle,  and  from  town  to  town,  with  pon- 
iards at  their  girdles  and  javelins  in  their  hands,  in 
quest  of  adventures.^  Falconry  still  continued  to 
be  the  most  cherished  sport ;  and  the  prices  at 
which  hawks  were  purchased,  as  well  as  the  penal- 
ties enacted  against  those  who  should  steal  them, 
show  the  estimation  in  which  they  were  held. 
Edward  III.  himself  appears  to  have  been  an  en- 
thusiastic hawker.  In  one  of  his  expeditions  to 
France  he  carried  with  him  thirty  falconers ;  and, 
during  the  campaign,  he  appears  to  have  hawked 
and  fought  alternately  with  equal  ardor.  The  wolf, 
it  may  be  observed,  was  still  to  be  found  in  England, 
as  appears  by  various  evidences. 

When  we  pass  from  these  active  exercises  to 
the  in-door  amusements  of  the  nobility  and  gentry 
of  this  period,  we  find  that  most  of  the  games  of 
the  former  period  were  still  in  use  :  and  some  games 
are  also  mentioned  of  which  we  do  not  read  in 
earlier  times.  That  of  cross  and  pile  is  said  to  have 
been  introduced  at  court  by  Edward  II.*  Persons 
playing  at  draughts  are  represented  in  some  of  the 


Playino  at  Draughts.    Harleian  MS.  4431. 

illuminations.  We  have  already  mentioned  the 
game  of  chess  as  forming  a  common  amusement 
among  the  higher  classes.  The  game,  as  far  as 
we  can  judge  from  the  figures  in  the  ancient  paint- 
ings, appears  to  have  been  played  nearly  in  the 
same  manner  as  at  present.  Beside  a  square  chess- 
board, however,  like  that  commonly  in  use,  we 
sometimes  see  one  of  a  circular  form.     The  chess- 

i  H.  Kiiyghton.  2  Antiquit.  Repert.,  tome  11. 

VOL.  I. — 54 


men  were  somewhat  different  in  form,  and  also  i:i 
name  ;  the  queen  being  called  the  fevee  ;  the  rook, 
or  castle,  the  rock  ;  and  the  bishop,  the  alfin. 


Circular  Chess-Board.     Cotton  MS.  .ind  Strutt. 
The  Figures  show  the  places  of  the  pieces:—].  The  Kin?.— 2.  Tho 
Queen,  or  Fevee.— 3.  The  Castle,  Kook,  or  Rock.— 4.  The  Kiiiglii 
—5.  The  Bishop,  or  Alfin.— 6.  The  Pawns. 

The  jester  was  now  a  regular  appendage  of  a 
princely  or  noble  household  :  his  office  was  to  divert 
the  jaded  spirit  of  his  lord  by  jests  either  intellect- 
ual or  practical,  and  to  keep  the  banquet  in  a  roar 
by  his  wit,  as  well  as  by  the  jingling  of  his  bells  and 
the  grotesque  display  of  his  cap  and  bauble.  The 
castles  also  continued  to  be  visited  by  crowds  of 
jugglers,  whose  wonderful  feats  were  still  attribu- 
ted, even  by  the  wisest  and  most  learned,  to  infei"- 
nal  agency — by  tumblers,  who  exhibited  their  agility 
and  skill — by  rope-dancers  and  buftoons — and  by 
minstrels  and  glee-singers.  The  inferior  animals, 
as  before,  were  pressed  into  the  service  of  these 
strolling  exhibitors ;  and  the  high-born  spectators 
were  still  delighted  with  such  exhibitions  as  horses 
dancing  on  tight-ropes,  or  oxen  riding  upon  horses 
and  holding  trumpets  to  their  mouths. 

Mummings  also  formed  a  particular  amusement 
of  this  period.'  These  seem  to  have  been  a  coarse 
and  primitive  kind  of  masquerade,  where  the  actoi's, 
if  we  may  judge  from  the  old  illuminations,  moro 
frequently  applied  themselves  to  mimic  certain 
of  the  brute  creation,  than  to  support  fictitious 
human  characters.  At  the  intermeats  between  tho 
courses  of  great  public  banquets  we  also  find  that 
pageants  were  sometimes  introduced  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  guests.  In  these  exhibitions  ships 
were  brought  forward  filled  with  mariners,  or  tow- 
ers garrisoned  by  armed  men,  while  the  actors 
proceeded,  with  the  help  of  this  scenery,  to  repre- 
sent some  allegorical  lesson  or  historical  incident. 
Theatrical  amusements  were  still  frequented ;  but 
the  age  that  produced  such  a  genius  as  Chaucer 
could  offer  nothing  better  to  the  stage  than  such 
miracles  and  mysteries  as  have  been  noticed  in  a 
former  chapter.  These  strange  representations,  as 
far  as  their  fragments  have  survived,  are  calculated 
to  give  us  no  favorable  idea  either  of  the  taste  or 
the  piety  of  our  ancestors.  Although  founded  upon 
scriptural  or  religious  history,  they  yet  appear  to 

1  iM.  Pans.— Froissart.— Sainte  Palayu. 


850 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


Mr.MMERs.    Bodleian  MS. 


have  been  stuft'etl  with  such  egregious  buft'oonery 
that  tliey  can  only  be  hkened  to  the  sayings  and 
doings  of  Punch  and  his  associates.  Dancing  con- 
stituted an  indispensable  acconjplishment  of  a  gal- 
lant knight,  and  generally  followed  the  banquet  and 
the  tournament. 

The  great  popular  exercise  of  this  period  was 
that  of  archeiy,  the  cultivation  of  which,  to  the 
exclusion  even  of  all  other  sports,  was  enjoined  by 
various  legislative  enactments  or  royal  ordinances. 
By  a  law  of  tho  thirteenth  century,  every  person 
having  an  annual  income  of  more  than  one  hundred 
pence,  was  obliged  to  furnish  himself  with  a  ser- 
viceable bow  and  arrows.  In  the  reign  of  Edward 
III.  proclamation  was  made  that  all  persons  should 
practice  archery  on  the  liolidajs  during  the  hours 
not  occupied  by  divine  service  ;  and  the  games  of 
quoits,  hand-ball,  foot-ball,  stick-ball,  canibuca,  and 
cock-fighting,  were  at  the  same  time  strictly  pro- 
hibited. The  villages  were  furnished  with  pricks, 
butts,  and  rovers,  for  the  competition  of  the  people 
in  archery  ;  and  at  these  trials  of  skill,  in  later  times 
at  least,  as  appears  from  a  statute  of  Henry  VIII., 
no  man  was  allowed  to  shoot  at  a  mark  less  distant 
than  eleven  score  feet.^  But  it  would  seem,  not- 
withstanding the  surpassing  dexterity  of  tho  English 
bowmen,  that  they  did  not  like  to  play  with  bows 
and  arrows  upon  compulsion — there  was  something 
too  grave  and  formal  in  the  sport  of  shooting  accord- 
ing to  the  statute — and,  when  it  could  be  safely 
done,  they  escaped  from  the  village  butts,  to  more 
spontaneous  and  stirring  amusements.  As  archery 
required  such  long  practice,  the  young  were  fur- 
nished with  bows  according  to  their  age  and  strength. 
Those  of  the  yeomen  for  real  service  were  required 
to  be  of  the  height  of  the  bearer.  The  arrows 
were  generally  a  yard  in  length,  notched  at  the 
extremity  to  fit  tlie  string,  and  fletched  with  the 
feathers  of  the  goose,  the  eagle,  and  sometimes  the 
peacock.  The  cross-bow  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  much  encouraged  in  England. 

The  mumraings  and  masqueradings,  which  were 
in  such  high  favor  with  the  great,  appear  to  have 
also  been  attractive  to  the  common  people.  Ed- 
ward III.,  in  the  sixth  year  of  his  reign,  is  said  to 
have  issued  an  ordinance  against  vagrants  who  ex- 
hibited scandalous  masquerades  in  low  ale-houses, 

1  Slat   33  Hen.  VIII.  c.  9. 


and  to  have  directed  thjit  such  persons  should  be 
whipped  out  of  London.  But  the  Feast  of  Fools, 
which  was  enacted  by  the  populace  at  large,  and 
which  was  the  most  singular  of  all  these  exhibitions, 
requires  a  more  particular  notice.  Its  celebration, 
which  took  place  at  Christmas,  somewhat  resem- 
bled the  Saturnalia  of  Ancient  Rome.  It  w'as  a 
season  of  universal  license  among  the  commonalty, 
in  which  all  orders  and  authorities  were  reversed  : 
the  churl  became  a  pope,  the  buffoon  a  cardinal, 
and  the  lowest  of  the  mob  were  converted  into 
pi'iests  and  right  reverend  abbots.  In  this  wild 
merriment  they  took  possession  of  the  churches, 
and  parodied  every  part  of  the  sacred  service,  sing- 
ing masses  composed  of  obscene  songs,  and  preach- 
ing sermons  full  of  all  manner  of  lewdness  and  buf- 
foonery. Such,  especially  upon  the  continent,  was 
the  manner  in  which  this  sacred  festival  was  com- 
memorated ;  while  the  church,  in  the  pride  of  it.s 
power  and  security,  felt  no  alarm  whatever  at  thesis 
popular  ebullitions,  and  therefore  seldom  took  steps 
to  prevent  them.  In  England  the  Festival  of  Fools 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  attended  with  such 
wild  excesses  as  prevailed  in  the  continental  observ- 
ance of  it,  and  it  was  soon  put  down,  either  by  the 
authority  of  the  church  or  the  good  sense  of  the 
people.  A  part  of  it,  however,  long  survived,  undei 
the  designation  of  the  Dance  of  Fools.  This  ex 
hibition,  which  was  also  held  at  Christmas,  consisted 
of  a  set  of  drolleries  sufficiently  profane,  the  actor^' 
wlio  figured  in  the  pageant  being  dressed,  in  all 
respects,  like  the  court-fool,  a  personage  Avho. 
as  he  occupied  the  highest  place  of  his  order,  be- 
came naturally  the  model  to  all  the  fools  of  Eng- 
land. 

From  this  root  also  sprang  the  Abbots  of  Unrea- 
son and  Lords  of  Misrule — a  class  of  personages 
that  will  fall  to  be  mentioned  under  a  later  period. 
We  shall,  however,  at  present,  notice  verj'  briefly 
the  institution  of  the  Boy-Bishop,  another  of  these 
fooleries,  which  appears  to  have  been  peculiar  to 
England,  and  to  have  been  known,  at  least,  so  early 
as  the  fourteenth  century.  In  this  ridiculous  force, 
the  boys  belonging  to  the  choirs  of  the  collegiate 
churches,  on  the  arrival  of  the  feast  of  St.  Nicholas 
or  of  the  Holy  Innocents  (and  often  on  both  occa- 
sions), dressed  themselves  in  full  pontificals,  and 
obtained  possession  of  the  sacred   building,  while 


Chap.  VI.] 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOxMS. 


851 


ijne  of  their  number  for  the  thne  became  their  prel- 
ate, and  was  adorned  with  mitre  and  crozier.  The 
urchins  then  proceeded  to  mimic  the  devotional 
services  of  their  clerical  superiors :  they  prayed, 
chanted,  and  performed  mass;  and  the  Boj-Bisliop, 
from  the  altar  or  the  pulpit,  delivered  a  sermon  to 
the  crowd  that  assembled  to  witness  the  sport,  and 
received  from  them  conti'ibutions  of  money  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  service.  After  this  profane  parody, 
the  whole  choir  sallied  into  the  streets  headed  bj' 
their  juvenile  prelate,  dancing  and  singing  from 
house  to  house,  scattering  clerical  benedictions 
among  the  people,  and  receiving  offerings  in  their 


progi-ess.  So  far,  indeed,  was  this  mummery  en- 
couraged by  the  heads  of  the  church,  that  proper 
dresses  for  the  pageant  were  kept  in  most  of  those 
churches  where  the  ceremony  was  performed;  and 
it  maintained  its  ground  until  it  was  suppressed  by 
an  edict  of  Henry  VIII.  Mary,  his  daughter,  en- 
deavored to  revive  the  festival;  but,  after  her  death, 
it  was  entirely  annihilated.  Even  in  the  present 
day,  the  curious  eye  can  trace  certain  modifications 
of  these  sports,  in  the  Christmas  festivities  of  chil- 
dren;  and  Warton  supposes,  with  some  probability, 
that  the  ad  monteni  of  the  Eton  scholars  originated 
in  the  procession  of  the  Boy-Bishop. 


^  %\ 


Tomb  of  ihe  Boy  Bisiiop.-Salisbiiry.     Height  about  three  feel  and  a  hull" 


852 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV 


CHAPTER  VII. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


HE  institutions  and 
the  social  condition  of 
England  had  both  be- 
pun  before  the  close 
of  the  present  period 
distinctly  to  show  the 
rude  outline  of  the  pe- 
culiar form  and  char- 
acter into  which  they 
have  become  settled. 
The  system  impress- 
ed upon  the  country 
at  the  period  of  the 
Conquest  had  in  great 
part  passed  away,  and  a  new  order  of  things  had 
taken  its  place. 

The  government  was  now  no  longer  that  either 
of  the  king  alone,  as  it  may  be  said  to  have  been  in 
the  time  of  the  Conqueror  and  his  sons,  or  of  the 
king  and  the  barons  merely,  as  it  afterward  came 
to  be.  In  profession  and  design  at  least,  it  was, 
from  the  accession  of  Edward  I.,  a  government  of 
king,  lords,  and  commons,  as  it  still  is. 

Not  the  exact  constitution,  certainly,  but  yet  what 
we  may  call  the  principle  of  the  constitution,  of 
each  house  of  the  legislature  had  also  come  to  be 
nearly  the  same  as  it  is  at  present.  The  House 
of  Lords  now  consisted  of  the  greater  barons  onlj-. 
The  custom  of  summoning  to  that  assembly  all  the 
immediate  tenants  of  the  crown,  if  it  ever  existed, 
had  certainly  become  obsolete  before  the  end  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.  After  the  complete  estab- 
lishment of  the  House  of  Commons,  the  lesser  bar- 
ons were  undoubtedly  held  to  be  commoners,  as 
their  representatives,  the  great  body  of  the  landed 
gentry,  are  at  this  day.  If  it  could  be  clearly  shown 
that  it  ever  was  otherwise, — that  at  any  time  the 
entire  body  of  the  tenants  of  the  crown  sat  as  lords 
of  Parliament, — the  remarkable  concurrence  of  the 
date  from  which  it  is  on  all  hands  admitted  that  they 
did  so  no  longer  with  that  usually  assigned  to  the 
origin  of  the  House  of  Commons,  would  go  far  to 
make  it  probable  that  that  house  really  did  take  its 
beginning  at  the  period  in  question.  In  any  case, 
it  seems  likely  enough  that  the  lower  house  of  the 
Norman  parliament  may  have  been  originally  the 
house  of  the  lesser  barons,  whether  they  sat  in  it 
at  first  personally  or  by  representation.  All  that 
we  know  is,  that  from  the  time  at  least  when  all  the 
freeholders  in  each  county  were  associated  in  this 
matter  with  the  immediate  tenants  of  the  crown, 
the  House  of  Commons  was  a  representative 
body. 

From  this  time,  also,  as  we  have  said,  if  not  before, 
the  House  of  Lords  consisted  of  the  greater  barons 


only.  Fj'oni  the  reign  also  of  Henry  HI.  barons  by 
tenure  ceased  to  be  the  only  description  of  barons. 
There  is  an  instance  on  record  of  a  barony  being 
created  by  writ, — that  is,  simply  by  the  king's  sum- 
mons to  Parliament, — in  the  year  12(5.5,  the  49th  of 
that  king,  the  same  in  which  we  have  the  first  re- 
corded writs  to  the  sheriffs  for  the  election  of  county 
and  borough  representatives.  It  is  generally  sup- 
posed, however,  that  this  mode  of  creating  baronies 
is  of  earlier  introduction.  Edward  III.  introduced 
another  mode  namely,  by  creation  in  parliament, 
or,  as  it  has  been  called,  by  statute,  although  it  has 
been  doubted  whether  the  consent  of  the  Lords  and 
Commons  was  actually  in  such  cases  either  given 
or  asked.  Finally,  the  usual  modern  form  of  crea- 
tion by  letters  patent  was  introduced  by  Richard  II., 
the  first  instance  of  a  barony  so  conferred  having 
been  in  1387,  the  tenth  year  of  that  king,  when 
Sir  John  de  Beauchamp  of  Holt  was  made  Baron 
Beauchamp  of  Kidderminster.  All  the  existing 
ranks  of  the  peerage,  also,  with  the  exception  of 
that  of  viscount,  had  been  now  introduced.  The 
first  English  duke  was  the  Black  Prince,  who  was 
created  Duke  of  Cornwall,  in  13.37,  the  eleventh 
year  of  his  father's  reign ;  the  first  marquis  was 
Robert  de  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  who  was  created 
Marquis  of  Dublin  for  life,  by  Richard  II.  in  1386. 
The  most  remarkable  feature  by  which  the  compo- 
sition of  the  upper  house  of  parliament  at  this  peri- 
od was  distinguished  from  its  composition  in  modern 
times  was  the  numerical  preponderance  of  the  spir- 
itual over  the  temporal  peers,  and  that  it  retained  in 
some  degree  till  the  abolition  of  the  old  religion  in 
the  sixteenth  century. 

The  Constitution,  on  the  whole,  may  now  be 
shortly  described  as  being  an  immature  or  imper- 
fectly established  system  of  liberty.  It  was  a  free 
constitution,  to  a  great  extent,  in  form  and  theory, 
but  with  much  of  the  spirit  and  substance  of  the 
old  despotism  still  remaining  in  its  practice.  To 
quote  the  words  of  a  distinguished  writer — "  Al- 
though the  restraining  hand  of  Parliament  was  con- 
tinually growing  more  effectual,  and  the  notions  of 
legal  right  acquiring  more  precision,  from  the  time 
of  Magna  Charta  to  the  civil  wars  under  Henry  VI., 
we  may  justly  say  that  the  general  tone  of  adminis- 
tration was  not  a  little  arbitrary.  The  whole  fabric 
of  English  libertj^  rose  step  by  step,  through  much 
toil  and  many  sacrifices,  each  generation  adding 
some  new  security  to  the  work,  and  trusting  that 
■  posterity  would  perfect  the  labor  as  well  as  enjoy 
'  the  reward.  A  time,  perhaps,  was  even  then  fore- 
!  seen  in  the  visions  of  generous  hope,  by  the  brave 
knights  of  Parliament,  and  by  the  sober  sages  of 
\  justice,  when  the  proudest  ministers  of  the  crown 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


853 


would  recoil  from  those  barriers  which  were  then 
daily  pushed  aside  with  impunity."^ 

The  state  of  the  country  during  the  present 
period,  in  regard  to  security  and  order,  still  beto- 
kened considerable  barbarism,  both  of  manners  and 
of  institutions.  The  most  distinct  and  indisputable 
testimony  to  the  great  prevalence  of  rapine  and  vio- 
lence is  that  which  is  borne  by  some  of  the  acts 
passed  by  the  legislature  with  the  view  of  remedy- 
ing the  evil.  Of  these  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
lias  been  shortly  noticed  in  a  former  chapter,  the 
Statute  of  Winchester,  passed  in  1285,  the  thir- 
teenth of  Edward  I.  The  preamble  of  this  statute 
begins  by  averring  that,  "  from  day  to  day,  robberies, 
murders,  burnings,  and  theft  be  more  often  used 
than  they  hsive  been  heretofore,"  a  statement  which 
may  at  least  be  taken  as  evidence  that  these  crimes 
were  very  frequent  at  the  time  when  the  statute 
was  enacted.  It  goes  on  to  recite  that,  owing  to 
the  partiality  of  jurors,  who  would  rather  sulier 
strangers  to  be  robbed  than  have  the  offenders  pun- 
ished when  they  Avere  of  the  same  county  with 
themselves,  great  difficulty  was  found  in  obtaining 
the  conviction  of  felons.  In  consequence,  it  is  or- 
dered, among  other  regulations,  that  the  hundred 
shall  be  answerable  for  robberies  ;  that  in  all  walled 
towns  the  gates  shall  be  shut  from  sun-setting  until ' 
the  sun-rising;  that  no  man  shall  lodge  during  the 
night  in  the  suburbs  of  towns  unless  his  host  will 
answer  for  him ;  and  that  every  stranger  found  in 
the  streets  from  sunset  to  sunrise  should  immedi- 
ately be  apprehended  by  the  watch.  This  is  the  pic- 
ture of  a  state  of  society  in  which  the  general  prev- 
alence of  crime  destroyed  at  once  all  feehng  of 
securit}''  and  all  freedom  of  movement.  Every 
stranger  who  made  his  appearance  in  a  town,  we 
see,  was  treated  as  a  suspected  person;  unless  he 
could  find  an  inhabitant  to  be  his  surety,  he  was  to 
i)e  at  once  either  thrust  forth  or  taken  into  custody. 
The  next  cljxuse  of  the  Act  is  equally  illustrative 
of  the  insecurity  of  the  rural  districts,  and  especially 
of  the  public  roads.  It  directs  that  every  highway 
leading  from  one  market-town  to  another  shall  be 
cleared  for  two  hundred  feet  on  each  side  of  every 
ditch,  tree,  or  bush,  in  which  a  man  may  lurk  to  do 
hurt ;  and  if  a  park  be  near  a  highway,  it  is  ordered 
to  be  removed  to  the  same  distance,  or  at  least  to 
be  carefully  defended  by  a  wall  or  otherwMse,  so  that 
it  may  not  serve  as  a  harbor  from  which  malefactors 
may  issue  forth  to  attack  the  traveler.  Finally,  it  is 
commanded  that  every  man  shall  provide  himself 
with  armor  according  to  his  station,  the  richest  with 
a  hauberk,  a  breastplate  of  iron,  a  sword,  a  knife, 
and  a  horse,  the  poorest  with  bows  and  arrows  at 
the  least,  that  when  offenders  resist  being  arrested, 
uU  the  town  and  the  towns  near  may  follow  them 
with  hue  and  cry,  "  and  so  hue  and  cry  shall  be 
made  from  town  to  town,  until  that  the}'  be  taken 
and  delivered  to  the  sheriff."  "  This  last  provision," 
as  Mr.  Hallam  remarks,  "  indicates  that  the  robbers 
plundered  the  country  in  formidable  bands."  The 
old  Saxon  law  of  frank-pledge,  it  may  be  observed, 
was  kept  up,  in  form  at  least,  till  a  later  date  than 

I  M  ddle  A^cs,  iii.  218 


this  ;  there  is  a  statute  directing  the  mode  of  taking 
the  view  of  frank-pledge,  which  is  generally  assign- 
ed to  the  seventeenth  or  eighteenth  year  of  Edward 
II. ;'  but  that  ancient  system  had  probably,  long  ere 
now,  been  found  unsuitable  to  the  changed  circum- 
stances of  the  country.  Its  spirit,  also,  which  left 
the  maintenance  of  order  and  the  repression  of  crime 
in  a  great  measure  in  the  hands  of  the  people  them- 
selves, was  wholly  opposed  to  the  temper  of  the 
Norman  institutions  and  government,  which  tended 
to  concentrate  all  power  and  authority  in  the  crown, 
and  regarded  any  popular  interference  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  law  with  extreme  jealousy  and 
aversion.  The  contest  of  the  two  principles  is  to 
be  discerned  in  various  passages  of  the  legislation  of 
the  present  period  on  matters  of  police.  It  may  be 
illustrated,  for  example,  by  the  history  of  the  county 
magistrates  called  justices  of  the  peace.  These 
were  originally  called  conservators  of  the  peace, 
and  were  elected  by  the  votes  of  the  freeholders 
till  the  accession  of  Edward  III. ;  when,  in  the 
midst  of  the  revolution  that  placed  the  new  king 
upon  the  throne,  a  clause  was  introduced  into  an 
Act  of  Parhament,-  giving  the  right  of  appointing 
them  to  the  crown.  Their  authority  was  afterward 
gradually  enlarged  by  successive  statutes,  till  at  last, 
in  13G0,^  they  were  invested  with  the  power  of 
trying  felonies ;  and  then,  instead  of  conservators, 
wardens,  or  keepers  of  the  peace,  "  they  acquired," 
says  Blackstone,  "the  more  honorable  appellation 
of  justices."  It  appears,  however,  from  the  rolls  of 
parliament,  that,  ever  since  their  appointment  had 
been  assumed  by  the  crown,  they  had  been  the  ob- 
jects of  popular  odium,  and  every  act  or  royal  ordi- 
nance, by  which  their  powers  were  subsequently 
enlar'jed,  seems  to  have  excited  much  dissatisfaction 
and  remonstrance.  Meanwhile  the  state  of  the 
country  did  not  improve  under  the  new  system. 
The  preamble  of  an  ordinance  passed  in  1378  ■*  gives 
us  the  following  remarkable  description  of  the  law- 
lessness and  violence  which  prevailed  : — "  Our  sove- 
reign lord  the  king  hath  perceived,  as  well  by  many 
complaints  made  to  him  as  by  the  perfect  knowledge 
(that  is,  the  notoriety)  of  the  thing,  that  as  well 
divers  of  his  liege  people  in  sundry  parts  of  the 
realm,  as  also  the  people  of  Wales  in  the  county  of 
Hereford,  and  the  peoi)le  of  the  county  of  Chester, 
with  the  counties  adjoining  to  Chestershire,  some 
of  them  claiming  to  have  right  to  divers  lands,  tene- 
ments, and  other  possessions,  and  some  espying 
women  and  damsels  unmarried,  and  some  desiring 
to  make  maintenance  in  their  marches,  do  gather 
them  together  to  a  great  number  of  men  of  arms 
and  archers,  to  the  manner  of  war,  and  confederato 
themselves  by  oath  and  other  confederacy,  not  iiav- 
ing  consideration  to  God,  nor  to  the  laws  of  holy 
church,  nor  of  the  land,  nor  of  right,  nor  justice,  but, 
refusing  and  setting  apart  all  process  of  the  law,  do 
i  ride  in  great  routs  in  divers  parts  of  England,  and 
'  take  possession  and  set  them  in  divers  manors,  lands, 
and  other  possessions  of  their  own  authority,  and 

J  Statutes  of  the  Realm,  Record  Com.  edit.  i.  216. 

a  1  Edw.  in.  St.  2,  c.  16.  '  Uy  the  statute  31  Edvr   III  c.  1 

♦  Called  the  2  Ricli.  11.  st.  J,  c.  6. 


854 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


hold  the  same  long  with  force,  doing  many  manner 
iipparelmeiits  of  war ;  and  in  some  places  do  ravish 
women  and  damsels,  and  bring  them  into  strange 
countries,  where  please  them ;  and  in  some  places, 
lying  in  wait  with  such  routs,  do  beat  and  maim, 
murder  and  slay  the  people,  for  to  have  their  Avives 
and  their  goods,  and  the  same  women  and  goods  re- 
rain  to  their  own  use  ;  and  some  time  take  the  king's 
liege  people  in  their  houses,  and  bring  and  hold  them 
as  prisoners,  and  at  the  last  put  them  to  fine  and  ran- 
som, as  it  were  in  aland  of  war ;  and  some  tiine  come 
before  the  justices  in  their  sessions  in  such  guise  with 
great  force,  whereby  the  justices  be  afraid  and  not 
liardy  to  do  the  law;  and  do  many  other  riots  and 
horrible  ofl'ences,  whereby  the  realm  in  divers  parts 
is  put  in  great  trouble,  to  the  great  mischief  and 
grievance  of  the  people,  and  the  hurt  of  the  king's 
majesty,  and  against  the  king's  crown."  To  repress 
these  daring  outrages  power  was  now  given  to  the 
magistrates,  as  soon  as  they  were  credibly  certified 
of  anj'  such  "assemblies,  roiits,  or  ridings  of  offend- 
ers, baratours,  and  other  such  rioters  ....  to  assert 
rhem  incontinent,  Avithout  tarrying  for  indictments, 
or  other  process  of  the  law,  by  their  body,  and  es- 
pecially the  chieftains  and  leaders  of  such  routs, 
and  send  them  to  the  next  jail,  with  the  cause  of 
their  arrest  clearly  and  distinctly  put  in  Avriting, 
there  to  abide  in  prison  in  sure  keeping,  till  the 
coming  of  the  justices  into  the  country,  without 
being  delivered  in  the  mean  time  by  mainprise,  bail, 
or  in  other  manner."  The  remedy  here  would 
seem  to  have  scarcely  gone  beyond  the  necessity  of 
the  ease  ;  but  the  dislike  that  wiis  entertained  to  the 
functionaries  intrusted  with  the  administration  of 
the  new  law  was  too  strong  for  even  the  sense  of 
that  necessity  to  overcome.  Next  year  Ave  find  the 
Commons  petitioning  against  it  as  "  a  horrible  griev- 
ous ordinance,  by  Avhich  every  freeman  in  the  king- 
dom AA'ould  be  in  bondage  to  these  justices,  contrary 
to  the  great  charter,  and  to  many  statutes,  Avhich 
tbrbid  any  man  to  be  taken  Avithout  due  course 
of  law."  "  So  sensitive,"  observes  ]Mr.  Ilallam, 
■•was  their  jealousy  of  arbitrary  imprisonment,  that 
they  preferred  enduring  riot  and  robbery  to  chas- 
tising them  by  any  means  that  might  afford  a  prece- 
dent to  oppression,  or  Aveaken  men's  reverence  for 
Magna  Charta.'"  The  real  feeling,  however,  prob- 
ably Avas  an  aversion  to  the  magistrates  nominated 
by  the  crown.  In  consequence  of  this  petition  of 
the  Commons,  the  ordinance  Avas  "  utterly  repealed 
and  annulled."^ 

As  yet,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  the  government 
and  the  law  had  been  little  knoAA'n  or  felt  in  their 
proper  character  of  the  great  protecting  powers  of 
society ;  the  notion  of  them  that  AA'as  by  far  most 
familiar  to  men's  minds  Avas  that  of  mighty  engines 
of  oppression,  which,  indeed,  they  had  principally 
been.  Every  attempt  accordingly  to  arm  them  Avitli 
additional  force  Avas  naturally  regarded  Avith  much 
apprehension  and  jealousy.  It  was  not  merely  in 
the  hands  of  the  croAvn  that  the  law  Avas  turned  to 
purposes  of  tyranny  and  plunder.  It  is  especially 
deserving  of  notice,  that  at  this  time  it  Avas  actually 

>  Middle  Ages,  iii.  253.  =  Bv  ihe  2  Rich.  II.  st.  2,  c.  2. 


employed  as  one  of  their  most  common  instruments 
by  spoliators  and  disturbers  of  all  classes,  as  if  such 
had  been  its  proper  use.  One  of  the  offences  againsl 
Avhich  statute  after  statute  Avas  passed,  Avas  that 
called  maintenance ;  Avhich  Avas  really  nothing  else 
than  the  confederating  to  do  Avrong,  not  by  the  de- 
fiance or  evasion,  but  through  the  aid  and  under  the 
direct  authority,  of  the  law.  "  Conspirators,"  says 
an  ordinance  of  the  thirty-third  of  Edward  I.,  "be 
they  that  do  confeder,  or  bind  themselves,  by  oath, 
covenant,  or  other  alliance,  that  every  of  them  shall 
aid  and  bear  the  other,  falsely  and  maliciously  to 
indict  or  cause  to  indict,  or  falsely  to  move  or  jnain- 
tain  pleas ;  and  also  such  as  cause  children  Avithin 
age  to  appeal  men  of  felony,  Avherei)y  they  are  im- 
prisoned and  sore  grieved ;  and  such  as  retain  men 
in  the  country  AA'ith  liveries  or  fees  for  to  maintain 
their  malicious  enterprises."  That  all  these  de- 
scriptions of  conspiracy  Avere  pursued  systematically 
and  on  a  great  scale,  the  language  of  other  statutes 
sufficiently  attests.  Thus,  in  the  4  EdAV.  111.  c.  2, 
it  is  affirmed,  that  "divers  people  of  the  realm,  as 
AA'ell  great  men  as  other,  have  made  alliances,  con- 
federacies, and  conspiracies,  to  maintain  i)arties, 
pleas,  and  quarrels,  Avhereby  divers  have  been 
Avrongfully  disinherited,  and  some  ransomed  and 
destroyed,  and  some,  for  fear  to  be  maimed  and 
beaten,  durst  not  sue  for  their  right  nor  complain, 
nor  the  jurors  of  inquests  give  their  verdicts,  to  the 
great  hurt  of  the  ])eople,  and  slander  of  the  laAv  and 
common  right."  In  many  cases,  these  confederated 
ru Allans  Avere  openly  protected  bj'  some  poAAerful 
baron,  whose  livery  they  Avore.  "  We  be  inform- 
ed," says  the  20  EdAV.  III.  c.  5,  "that  many  bearers 
and  maintainers  of  quan*els  and  parties  in  the  coun- 
try be  maintained  and  borne  by  lords,  Avliereby  they 
be  more  encouraged  to  offend,  and  by  procurement, 
covine  (covenant),  and  maintenance  of  such  bearers 
in  the  country,  many  people  be  disinherited,  and 
some  delayed  and  disturbed  of  their  riglit,  and  some 
not  guilty  convict  and  condemned,  or  otherwise  op- 
pressed, in  the  undoing  of  their  estate,  and  in  th<' 
notorious  destruction  of  our  people."  Some  of  the 
modes  in  AA'hich  this  system  of  confederation  Avan 
carried  on  are  more  precisely  explained  in  the  1 
Rich.  II.  c.  7,  AA'here  it  is  asserted  that  "  divers  peo- 
ple of  small  revenue  of  land,  rent,  or  other  posses- 
sions, do  make  great  retinue  of  people,  as  Avell  of 
esquires  as  of  other,  in  many  parts  of  the  realm, 
giving  to  them  hats  and  other  liveries,  of  one  suit  by 
year,  taking  of  them  the  value  of  the  same  livery,  or 
percase  the  double  value,  by  such  covenant  and  as- 
surance, that  every  of  them  shall  maintain  other  in 
all  quarrels,  be  they  reasonable  or  unreasonable,  to 
the  great  mischief  and  oppression  of  the  people  ;" 
and  in  c.  9,  which  records  the  complaints  made  to 
the  king,  "  that  many  people,  as  Avell  great  as  small, 
having  right  and  true  title,  as  Avell  to  lands,  tene- 
ments, and  rents,  as  in  other  personal  actions,  be 
Avrongfulty  delayed  of  their  right  and  actions,  by 
means  that  the  occupiers  or  defendants,  to  be  main- 
tained and  sustained  in  their  AA'rong,  do  commonly 
make  gifts  and  feoff'ments  of  their  lands  and  tene- 
ments Avhich  be  in  debate,  and  of  their  other  goods 


Chap.  VIL] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


855 


und  chattels,  to  lords  and  other  great  men  of  the 
realm,  against  whom  the  said  pursuauts,  for  gi-eat 
menace  that  is  made  to  tlieiii,  cannot  nor  dare  not 
make  their  pursuits ;  and  that,  on  the  other  part, 
oftentimes  many  people  do  disseize  other  of  their 
tenements,  and  anon,  after  the  disseizin  done,  they 
make  divers  alienations  and  feoffments,  sometimes 
to  lords  and  gi"eat  men  of  the  realm  to  have  main- 
tenance, and  sometimes  to  many  persons  of  whose 
names  the  disseizees  can  have  no  knowledge,  to  the 
intent  to  defer  and  delay  by  such  frauds  the  said 
disseizees,  and  the  other  demandants  and  their 
heirs,  of  their  recovery,  to  the  great  hindrance  and 
oppression  of  the  people."  But  many  of  these  re- 
tainers of  the  great  lords  were  accustomed  to  follow 
still  more  daring  courses.  In  1349  (the  22d  of  Ed- 
ward III.),  the  rolls  of  parliament  record  the 
prayer  of  the  Commons,  that  "  whereas  it  is  noto- 
rious how  robbers  and  malefactors  infest  the  coun- 
try, the  king  would  charge  the  great  men  of  the 
land,  that  none  such  be  maintained  by  them,  privily 
or  openly,  but  that  they  lend  assistance  to  arrest 
and  take  such  ill-doers."  "  Highway  robbery,"  ob- 
serves Mr.  Hallam,  "  was,  from  the  earliest  times,  a 
sort  of  national  crime.  Capital  punishments,  though 
very  frequent,  made  little  impression  on  a  bold  and 
licentious  crew,  who  had,  at  least,  the  sympathy  of 
those  who  had  nothing  to  lose  on  their  side,  and 
dattering  prospects  of  impunity.  We  know  how 
long  the  outlaws  of  Sherwood  lived  in  tradition  ; — 
men,  who,  like  some  of  their  betters,  have  been 
permitted  to  redeem,  by  a  few  acts  of  generosity, 
the  just  ignominy  of  extensive  crimes. ,  These,  in- 
deed, were  the  heroes  of  vulgar  applause  ;  but  when 
such  a  judge  as  Sir  John  Fortescue  could  exult  that 
more  Englishmen  were  hanged  for  robbery  in  one 
year  than  French  in  seven,  and  that  'if  an  English- 
man be  poor,  and  see  another  having  riches,  which 
may  be  taken  from  him  by  might,  he  will  not  spare 
to  do  so,'  it  may  be  perceived  how  thoroughly  these 
sentiments  had  pervaded  the  public  mind."  ' 

It  is  the  remark  of  another  modern  writer,  that 
the  number  of  old  statutes  against  going  armed  and 
wearing  liveries,  are  a  proof  that  the  people  of  this 
country  were  formerly  much  more  irascible  and 
vindictive  than  they  are  at  present ;  and  that  the 
law-books  also  show  that  many  crimes  were  then 
prevalent  of  which  we  now  hardly  ever  hear.  He 
particularly  mentions  maiming  and  mutilation,  the 
obtaining  of  deeds  by  violence  or  duresse,  and  the 
various  abuses  of  the  powers  of  the  law  which  have 
been  already  adverted  to.  "  Notwithstanding  the 
i|;eneral  inclination  to  decry  everything  modern,  I 
cannot  but  imagine,"  he  very  sensibly  concludes. 
•'  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  are,  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  infinitely  more  virtuous  than 
rhey  were  in  the  thirteenth ;  and  that  the  improve- 
snents  of  the  mind  and  regard  for  social  duties  have 
gone  hand  in  hand  with  the  improvements  by  learn- 
ing and  commerce;  nor  have  I  any  doubt  but  that, 
if  anything  like  a  regular  government  continues  in 
ihis  island,  succeeding  ages  will  not  only  be  more 

1  Middle  Ages,  iii.  249.  The  passage  from  Fortescue  is  in  his  "  Dif- 
ference between  an  Absolute  and  Limited  Monarchy,"  p.  99 


refined  and  polished,  but  consist  of  still  more  de- 
serving members  of  society." ' 

A  great  social  revolution  was  gradually  effected  in 
England,  in  the  course  of  the  present  period,  by  the 
general  transformation  of  the  villains  into  freemen. 
The  subject  is  one,  in"  some  parts  of  it,  of  much 
obscurity,  and  the  few  facts  upon  which  we  have  to 
proceed  in  considering  it  leave  us  to  form  most  of 
our  conclusions  from  theory  and  conjecture.  Mr. 
Hallam  has  advanced  the  opinion  that  there  was 
really  no  difference  between  the  conditions  of  the 
villain  in  gross  and  the  villain  regardant,  and  that 
the  distinction  between  them  was  merelj^  formal  or 
technical,  affecting  only  the  mode  of  pleading.  He 
also  adopts  the  notion  that  tenants  in  villenage  have 
been  inaccurately  confounded  with  villains,  and  that 
these  two  classes  were  altogether  distinct.*  We 
confess  we  strongly  doubt  the  correctness  of  both 
the  one  and  thd  other  of  these  positions.  We  con- 
ceive the  distinction  between  the  villain  regardant 
and  the  villain  in  gross  to  have  been  of  the  most 
material  character,  and  the  tenant  in  villenage  to 
have  been  merely  the  villain  regardant  under  a  new 
name.  Notwithstanding  some  expressions  in  the 
law-books  of  dubious  import,  we  cannot  account 
otherwise  than  upon  this  supposition  for  the  general 
course,  as  far  as  it  is  known,  of  the  history  of  the 
ancient  villenage,  and  more  especially  for  the  fiicta 
that  are  now  to  be  mentioned. 

The  villain  regardant  appears  to  have  been  really 
a  tenant  of  his  lord,  though  holding  both  by  base 
and  uncertain  services  ;  and  his  loi'd,  whatever  other 
rights  he  might  hiive  over  him,  had  no  power,  we 
apprehend,  to  dispossess  him  of  his  tenure  so  long 
as  he  performed  the  services  required  of  liim.  If 
he  was  said  by  the  law  to  be  a  tenant  at  the  will  of 
his  lord,  that  expression,  apparently,  was  conform- 
able merely  to  the  original  theory  of  his  condition. 
In  one  sense,  a  tenimt  bound  to  uncertain  services 
might  really  be  considered  as  sitting  at  will ;  for 
his  lord,  in  order  to  turn  him  out,  had  only  to  de- 
mand from  him  such  services  as  he  would  rather 
resign  his  holding  than  render.  But  this  purely 
arbitrary  power,  although  it  might  remain  unlimited 
in  the  legal  expression,  would  soon  come  to  be  re- 
strained in  its  actual  exercise  within  certain  well 
understood  bounds  ;  and  in  this,  as  in  other  respects, 
the  will  of  the  lord  would,  in  point  of  fact,  mean 
only  his  will  exercised  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  manor.  If  it  had  ever  been  otherwise,  the 
complete  establishment  of  this  understanding  would 
be  the  first  step  taken  in  the  improvement  of  the 
villain's  condition.  The  next  would  be  the  confine- 
ment of  his  services,  not  only  within  certain  cus- 
tomary limits  in  regard  to  their  general  description 
or  character,  but  yet  more  strictly  to  a  clearly  de- 
fined amount,  which  would  liavo  nearly  all  the  pre- 
cision of  a  money  payment,  and  would  soon  come 
to  be  exacted  with  as  little  either  of  excess  or  of 
abatement  as  is  usual  in  the  case  of  a  modern  rent. 
The  practice  of  entering  the  amount  of  service 
upon  the  roll  of  the  court-baron  would  naturally  fol- 
low, which  would  at  once  give  to  tenure  by  villenage 

1  BarriDgton,  on  the  Statutes,  118.  =  Mid.  Ages,  iii.  25G,  257 


856 


HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND. 


[Book  IV. 


iill  the  stability  and  independence  of  auj'  other  kind 
of  tenure.  Meanwhile  the  condition  of  the  tenant 
vas  improving  in  another  way  with  the  rise  in  the 
value  of  land  ;  and  this  change  in  his  circumstances 
would  gradually  raise  him,  in  many  instances,  above 
the  personal  performance  of  whatever  there  was 
degrading  in  the  services  he  owed  to  his  lord  ;  he 
would  perform  his  services  by  a  hired  substitute ; 
imtii  at  length  it  would  be  found  for  the  interest  of 
both  parties  that  they  should  be  commuted  for  a 
fixed  money-rent.  It  is  hardly  necessaiy  to  observe, 
that  the  same  progressive  movement  of  society 
which  brought  about  this  change  would  also  natu- 
rally and  inevitably  elevate  the  villain  in  other  res- 
pects above  whatever  was  base  or  servile  in  his 
original  condition — above  the  practical  operation, 
more  especially,  of  every  old  figment  of  the  law 
which  made  him  in  any  sense  the  property  of  his 
lord,  or  gave  the  latter  any  rights  over  him  incon- 
sistent with  the  new  position  to  which  he  had  ad- 
vanced. This  was  a  result  which  no  mere  law 
could  resist.  The  villain,  having  thus  acquired  the 
free  disposal  of  his  person  and  property,  would  be  a 
villain  no  longer  in  an}- thing  but  in  name  ;  even  that 
would  be  changed,  and  he  would  be  called,  not  a 
villain,  but  a  tenant  in  villenage.  It  does  not  ap- 
pear that  any  other  account  can  be  given  of  the 
origin  of  tenure  in  villenage  but  this.  It  has  been 
.said  that  freemen  might  hold  land  by  villain  tenure  ; 
und  we  may  be  certain  that  after  that  mode  of  ten- 
ure began  to  outgi-ow  its  original  servile  character 
in  the  manner  that  has  been  explained,  persons 
who  had  not  been  born  villains  would  not  be  scared 
by  its  mere  name  from  the  acquisition  of  estates 
Tinder  it  by  purchase  or  otherwise.  It  is  generally 
admitted  that  what  are  now  called  copyhold  es- 
tates are  the  same  estates  that  were  formerly  said 
to  be  held  by  villain  tenure.  In  fact,  according  to 
the  view  that  has  been  given,  there  is  no  difference 
lietween  the  present  tenure  by  copyhold  and  the 
ancient  tenure  by  villenage,  excepting  merely  that 
in  the  former,  as  it  now  exists,  we  have  the  com- 
pletion of  the  process  of  gradual  change  which,  as 
we  have  shown,  was  in  all  probabilitj^  going  on  from 
the  earliest  stage  in  the  history  of  the  latter.  A 
copyhold  estate  is  now,  for  all  practical  purposes,  as 
much  a  property  as  a  freehold  estate;  but  its  legal 
incidents,  though  reduced  to  mere  formahties  or 
fictions,  are  still  very  expressively  significant  of  its 
true  origin.  The  mode  of  alienating  a  copyhold,  for 
instance,  still  is  for  the  copj-holder  first  to  make  a 
surrender  of  his  land  into  the  hands  of  his  lord,  who 
thereupon  admits  the  purchaser  as  his  tenant;  and 
the  new  tenant,  like  his  predecessor,  is  still  aflfirmed 
to  hold  the  land  "at  the  will  of  the  lord."  The 
tenants  in  villenage  appear  to  have  been  making 
progress  in  throwing  olT  the  original  servile  or  nom- 
inally precarious  character  of  their  tenure,  at  least 
from  the  commencement  of  the  present  period,  and 
in  the  course  of  it  they  no  doubt  effected  a  consider- 
rtble  advance  in  substantial  stability  and  independ- 
ence ;  but  the  decisions  of  the  courts,  as  well  as  the 
letter  of  the  law,  probably  continued  to  be  adverse 
to  their  pretensions  down  to  its  close.     It  is  said  to 


have  been  not  till  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.  that  the 
judges  expressly  declared  the  light  of  the  copy- 
holder to  bring  his  action  of  trespass  against  the 
lord  for  dispossession. 

While  the  villain  regardant  was  thus  rising  into 
the  copyhold  proprietor,  the  villain  in  gross  was 
also  undergoing  a  corresponding  transformation,  and 
becoming  a  free  laborer.  We  have  not  much  evi- 
dence of  the  manner  in  which  this  change  was 
effected,  but  the  most  distinct  intimations  of  its  hav- 
ing, to  a  large  extent,  taken  place  in  the  course  of 
the  thirteenth,  and  more  especially  in  that  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  Some  of  them  were  no  doubt 
emancipated  by  their  masters ;  the  liberation  of 
their  slaves  is  said  to  have  been  an  act  of  piety  to 
which  persons  on  their  death-bed  used  to  be  strongly 
urged  by  the  clergy  ;  but  the  majority  of  the  villains 
in  gross  appear  to  have  shaken  off  the  fetters  of 
their  thraldom  by  their  own  act, — in  other  words, 
by  effecting  their  escape  from  the  power  of  those 
who  held  them  in  bondage.  The  law,  as  we  have 
already  had  occasion  to  notice,  held  a  villain  to  be 
free  after  a  residence  in  any  walled  town  for  a  year 
and  a  day.  This  provision,  there  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve, was  the  means  of  enabling  many  villains  to 
acquire  their  liberty.  But  many  more  seem  to 
liavo  merely  fled  to  another  part  of  the  country,  the 
distance  of  which  placed  them  out  of  the  reach  of 
their  masters.  What  is  certain,  at  all  events,  is, 
that  by  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  a  large 
body  of  free  laborers  had  grown  up  in  England. 
The  most  distinct  evidence  to  that  fact  is  afforded 
by  the  famous  ordinance,  commonly  called  the  Stat- 
ute of  Laborers,  passed  in  1349  (the  23d  of  Edward 
III.),  which  proceeds  upon  the  averment  that  be- 
cause a  great  part  of  the  people,  and  especially  of 
workmen  and  servants,  had  lately  died  of  the  pes- 
tilence, "  many,  seeing  the  necessity  of  masters,  and 
great  scarcity  of  servants,  will  not  serve  unless  they 
may  receive  excessive  wages,  and  some  rather  will- 
ing to  beg  in  idleness  than  bj"-  labor  to  get  their 
living."  Those  whom  the  statute  binds  to  serve 
when  required  at  certain  specified  rates  of  wages 
are  afterward  thus  described  : — "  Every  man  and 
woman  of  our  realm  of  England,  of  what  condition 
he  be,  free  or  bond,  able  in  body,  and  Avithin  the 
age  of  threescore  years,  not  living  in  merchandise, 
nor  exercising  any  craft,  nor  having  of  his  own 
whereof  he  may  live,  nor  proper  land  about  whose 
tillage  he  may  himself  occupy,  and  not  serving  any 
other."  From  the  rest  of  the  ordinance  and  the 
statute  by  which  it  was  followed  up  two  years  after- 
ward (the  25  Edw.  III.  st.  2),  it  appears  that  this 
class  of  laborers  who  were  not  bondsmen  included 
carters,  ploughmen,  drivers  of  the  plough,  shep- 
herds, swineherds,  deyes,  reapers,  mowers,  thresh- 
ers, and  other  laborers  in  husbandry ;  carpenters, 
masons,  tilers,  "  and  other  workmen  of  houses  ;" 
plasterers,  "and  other  workers  of  mud-walls;"  cord- 
wainers  and  shoemakers;  goldsmiths,  sadlers,  horse 
smiths,  spurriers,  tanners,  curriers,  tawers  of  leather, 
tailors,  and  others.  So  that  in  every  branch  of  in- 
dustry, whether  carried  on  in  town  or  in  country, 
there  would  appear  by  this  time  to  have  been  nura- 


Chap.  VII.] 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


857 


bers  of  working  people  who  were  not  in  a  state  of 
villenage. 

A.  statute  passed  in  1377  (the  1st  Rich.  II.  c.  6) 
nftbrds  us  some  information  as  to  the  courses  taken 
both  by  villains  in  gross  and  villains  regardant  in  the 
great  struggle  to  effect  their  emancipation,  in  which 
they  were  now  engaged.  The  Act  professes  to  be 
passed  "at  the  grievous  complaint  of  the  Lords  and 
Commons  of  the  realm,  as  well  men  of  holj^  church 
as  other,  made  in  the  Parliament,  of  that  that  in 
many  seigniories  and  parts  of  the  realm  of  England, 
the  villains  and  land  tenants  in  villenage,  who  owe 
services  and  customs  to  their  said  lords,  have  now 
bite  withdrawn,  and  do  daily  withdraw  their  ser- 
vices and  customs  due  to  their  said  lords,  by  com- 
fort and  procurement  of  other  their  counselors, 
maintainers,  and  abettors  in  the  country,  which 
hath  taken  hire  and  profit  of  the  said  villains  and 
land  tenants,  by  color  of  certain  exemplifications 
made  out  of  the  book  of  Domesday,  and,  by  their 
evil  interpretations  of  the  same,  they  affirm  them 
to  be  quite  and  utterly  discharged  of  all  manner 
servage,  due  as  well  of  their  body  as  of  their  said 
tenures,  and  will  not  suffer  any  distress  or  other 
justice  to  be  made  upon  them  ;  but  do  menace  the 
ministers  of  their  lords  of  life  and  member,  and, 
which  more  is,  gather  themselves  together  in  great 
routs,  and  agree  by  such  confederacy  that  eveiy 
one  shall  aid  other  to  resist  their  lords  with  sti'ong 
hand;  and  much  other  harm  they  do,  etc"  Here 
we  have  apparently  the  villains  in  gross  and  the  vil- 
lains regardant  (for  such  we  take  to  be  the  meaning 
of  the  expression,  "the  villains  and  land  tenants  in 
villenage")  associating  together  to  resist,  partly  by 
an  appeal  to  the  law,  partly  by  force,  the  claims  of 
their  lords  to  the  services  due  "of  their  bodies" 
by  the  former,  and  "of  their  tenures"  by  the  latter. 
Differently  situated  as  they  were  in  some  respects, 
they  wisely  felt  that  their  cause  for  the  present  was 
the  same. 

The  abolition  of  slavery  was  one  of  the  demands 
made  by  the  insurgents  in  the  rebellion  of  1381, 
which  proves  that  the  class  of  villains  in  gross  was 
by  no  means  then  extinct.     This  great  popular  out- 


break was  probably  little  favorable  in  its  immediate 
consequences  to  the  condition  of  these  unhappy 
persons.  As  soon  as  it  was  suppressed,  the  king  is 
represented  as  addressing  the  villains  of  Essex  in 
terms  manifesting  a  sufficient  determination  thsil 
they  sliould  derive  no  benefit  from  their  baffled  at 
tempt.  "  Rustics  ye  have  been  and  are,"  he  told 
them,  according  to  Walsingham,  "  and  in  bondage 
shall  ye  remain,  not  such  as  ye  have  heretofore 
known,  but  in  a  condition  incomparably  more  vile." 
Various  severe  laws  affecting  the  poorer  classes 
were  also  passed  in  the  course  of  the  following  ten 
or  twelve  years.  Among  others,  by  the  statute  I'J 
Rich.  II.  c.  3,  it  was  ordained  that  "no  servant  nor 
laborer,  be  he  man  or  woman,  shall  depart  at  the 
end  of  his  term  out  of  the  hundred  where  he  is 
dwelling  to  serve  or  dwell  elsewhere,  or  by  color 
to  go  from  thence  in  pilgrimage,  unless  he  bring  a 
letter  patent  containing  the  cause  of  his  going,  and 
the  time  of  his  retnrn,  if  he  ought  to  return,  under 
the  king's  seal ;"  and,  by  chap.  5,  that  all  persons 
who  had  been  emplo3'ed  in  any  labor  or  service  of 
husbandry  till  the  age  of  twelve,  should  from  thence- 
forth abide  at  the  same  labor,  and  be  incapable  of 
being  put  to  any  mystery  or  handicraft.  The  Com- 
mons, a  few  years  afterward,  even  went  the  length 
of  petitioning  (though  their  demands  were  negatived 
by  the  king)  that  the  old  law  which  protected  vil- 
lains after  a  residence  of  a  year  and  a  day,  in  towns, 
should  be  repealed;  and  that,  "for  the  honor  of 
all  the  freemen  in  the  kingdom,"  villains  might  not 
be  allowed  to  put  their  children  to  school,  in  order 
to  advance  them  by  the  church.  But  these  anxious 
endeavors  to  keep  down  the  people  testify  how 
greatly  their  fears  had  been  excited;  and  the  salu- 
tary impression  thus  made  upon  them,  of  the  for- 
midable character  of  the  popular  strength,  could 
not  fail,  ere  long,  to  operate  to  the  advantage  of  the 
portion  of  the  communitj'  that  had  been  hitherto  so 
much  despised  and  oppressed.  From  this  time 
little  mention  is  made  of  villenage ;  no  efforts  ap- 
pear to  have  been  interposed  by  the  law  to  retard 
its  decay  ;  and  it  seems  to  have  steadily  and  some- 
what rapidly  moved  on  toward  its  entire  extinction. 


END  OF  VOLUME  THE  FIRST 


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